Ravenloft domains

The fictional campaign setting of Ravenloft for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game is divided geographically into a number of domains.

Overview

There are many Domains of Dread that makeup the landscape of Ravenloft. The concept of Domains and locations in Ravenloft besides Barovia and Mordent was introduced in the 2nd Edition campaign setting book Ravenloft: Realm of Terror (1990). This book outlined that the size of Ravenloft is "40,000 square miles [spanning] 26 different domains, including Barovia and Mordent. All of the core domains are overviewed in Ravenloft, as are eight 'islands'." The revised 2nd Edition boxset Ravenloft Campaign Setting (1994) is an update to Realm of Terror, however, it removes Domains that were destroyed in the Grand Conjunction adventure series and adds new Domains. The metaplot of the adventure series was used to update the setting; "David Wise, leader of the 'Kargat' of Ravenloft designers at TSR, has said there were a few reasons for the changes. Some domains were changed or removed because they didn't fit into Ravenloft ecologically [...]. Some domains were removed or merged because their lords were too similar, and finally some islands of terror were kicked to the curb just because they were 'less exciting'. [...] A few domains that had appeared since the publication of Ravenloft: Realm of Terror were notably missing [...]. All told, Ravenloft Campaign Setting covers 20 core domains and nine islands". While the 2nd Edition supplement The Nightmare Lands (1995) confirmed that the Domains of Dread were located in the Deep Ethereal plane, the 4th edition supplement Manual of the Planes (2008) moved the Domains of Dread into the Shadowfell. The 5th Edition campaign guide Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021) includes an overview of 39 Domains and many Domains are given a "wholesale revision" while "other Domains keep their original lore but are advanced in other ways". Rob Wieland writing for Forbes explained that in this book "Many of the domains have new Darklords that reflect their original character but have details changed to better fit the type of horror the domain is supposed to represent."

The Domains are surrounded by strange mists that can ensnare both people and places in Prime Material Plane and pull them into the Domains. Each Domain is ruled by a Darklord, however, each Darklord was imprisoned in their Domain by the Dark Powers. The Dark Powers "are believed to have been responsible for the overall creation of the Dread Domains".

Reception

Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, highlighted that in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021) the Domains of Dread "all now function as originally intended: prisons meant to torture specific souls. Many of the original Ravenloft domains featured strange punishments that didn't necessarily fit the crime of the Darklord. The revised domains are usually a better utilization of the ironic intent that flavors the immortal prisons of Ravenloft. The domains also now include a variety of different horror genres rather than a fixation on gothic horror. Finally, much of the misogynistic, colonialist, or racist elements have been purged out of this new iteration of Ravenloft. Although these changes will likely be the most talked about part of the book in some circles, these changes seem to have occurred naturally during the course of updating Ravenloft to reflect more diverse horror genres and to make the domains conform to Ravenloft's internal laws".

List of domains

Aggarath

Aggarath is a unique domain that is in actuality a ruby gemstone just roughly an inch across, but appears as much larger once entered. Once just an empty, featureless realm it is now the personal domain of Chardath Spulzeer who was transported inside with his undead sister Marble from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and—changed by their arrival—it is now divided into sections called Facets, which reflect aspects of Chardath's personality and his twisted memories.

Arak

Arak was originally conceived as a realm of drow in Realm of Terror, but was later retconned into the original domain of Gwydion and the shadow fey in the late 2nd Edition AD&D product The Shadow Rift. The drow were later explained away as being drawn in by the Mists and influencing shadow fey culture with their worship of Lolth. Shadow fey who embraced the worship of the Spider Queen transformed into a drow-like appearance (called "Zelldrow" by the shadow fey).

During the Grand Conjunction, when the planar boundaries between Ravenloft and the Prime Material Plane were weakened, Gwydion was able to exert his influence and moved his domain to the south and west, displacing G'Henna and Markovia and creating the Shadow Rift. While Arak was a domain, it was an underground realm. It shared many qualities with the current Shadow Rift, such as a weird otherworldly appearance and temporal fugue.

Arkandale

Originally formed by an adventurous natural werewolf by the name of Nathan Timothy. Son of Eowin Timothy, a powerful werewolf from Mordent, Nathan was always compelled to wander. On some level, he seemed to believe that he might escape the Demiplane of Dread through his wanderings. Being a natural werewolf and raised as a monster, he left a trail of murders in his wake. When there was nowhere left to explore, he entered the Mists. They obliged him with a domain of his own: Arkandale.

Arkandale is riddled with small, sharp hills and thick forests. The land is abundant with game animals and wolves, and Arkandale is (was) well known for the furs its settlements produced. These small villages are clustered around the Musarde River, which cuts a broad swath across the domain. Captain Nathan Timothy pilots his paddleboat, the Virago, up and down the river as a merchant.

His curse was to be unable to leave the river, lest he begin entering a helpless, comatose state. Unlike most darklords, Nathan learned to live with the curse, even coming to enjoy the river all the more. While he was not a good man, and was still a ruthless werewolf, his evils were no longer so dramatic or pervasive that he warranted a domain of his own. His son, Alfred, however, was indulging in worship of a Wolf God, and making ruthless sacrifices and decisions for no reason greater than his own sense of hatred and desire to be a monster.

When the Grand Conjunction (or Great Upheaval) was finished, Verbrek had absorbed Arkandale. Nathan Timothy was released from his curse, and remains captain of the Virago as of 755 Barovian Calendar. His travels now take him all over the core, and he is famous for providing a safe ride and gregarious company. Then again, no one would hear from anyone who disappeared on his ship.

Note: Nathan's son, Alfred, is the darklord of Verbrek, to the south.

Avonleigh

Part of the Shadowborn Cluster ruled by the ghost of a necromancer named Morgoroth. Morgoroth exemplifies the concept of an "omnipresent" darklord, existing only as the influence he exerts on his domain (whispers in the wind, unnaturally cold wind) until the mirror shards in which his soul is trapped are reassembled. The Knights of the Circle, a knightly order founded by Alexi Shadowborn, meets at a circle of standing stones located within this domain.

Barovia

Barovia is the oldest domain in Ravenloft. It was formed from a part of the ancestral lands of Strahd von Zarovich when he murdered his brother Sergei to win the hand of the beautiful Tatyana in the year 351 of the Barovian Calendar.

Barovia is loosely based on real-world Transylvania, and more closely related to the stereotypical Hollywood depiction of that place. The country is mostly mountainous (the Balinok range) and covered in dense woods. The climate is cold with frigid winters.

Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire and necromancer, remains the darklord of Barovia, inhabiting the castle Ravenloft, close to the original village of Barovia (otherwise unnamed), the de facto political centre of the land. Other large settlements include Zeidenberg, Immol, Teueldorf, Vallaki and Krezk.

The population is 98% human, with native Barovians and the lower-class emigres from Gundarak, the Gundarakites. The Vistani, though a one percent minority, are influential due to their compact with Strahd.

The most popular language, Balok, is loosely based on Romanian.

Barovia was the setting of the 1994 PC game Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession by SSI.

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft includes instructions for placing it in north eastern Faerun.

Barovia was the first Domain introduced and home of Strahd von Zarovich. This domain was "inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula".

Blaustein

An island domain, battered by storms, Blaustein (German: "blue stone") is the domain of Bluebeard, a charming but murderous man, rumoured to be an ex-pirate. Much like the fictional character he is based on, Bluebeard is a serial wife-killer who, prior to acquiring his Domain, acted almost exactly like his fairy-tale counterpart. His curse is that his slain wives rise as undead ghosts devoted to him, but he finds them abhorrent. They are bound to the castle where he lives, and the curse also forces him to return there around every 3–4 days.

Bluetspur

Bluetspur (from the German word "Blutspur" - "blood trail") is a Lovecraftian domain, a bleak, storm-wracked, blasted wasteland with no life on the surface.

Deep within the ground, massive cities of insane architecture sprawl in all directions, teeming with tortured slaves and their masters; the hideous, unspeakably inhuman illithids (known as "mind flayers" for their powerful psionic talents and their penchant for eating brains). For the will of their insane ruler, the Illithid God-Brain, these twisted beings perform malicious bio-engineering experiments, all for the purpose of breeding a superior slave race.

In the 5th Edition campaign guide Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, it is revealed that an elder-brain became diseased by discovering a "malignant truth" and it began to prey "upon its peers [...]. Horrified by an affliction that infected only them, the other elder brains united and psionically expelled the diseased brain from existence. Or so they thought. From a place without time or reality, the Dark Powers plucked the dying elder brain and planted it upon a tormented world". Polygon highlighted that Bluetspur is "a world of cosmic horror populated by malevolent mind flayers that will make your heroes question their own memories".

Borca

Borca is a nation ruled by noble poisoners, filled with poverty-crushed peasants, and ruthless social climbers. Loosely modeled after real-world Italy during the time of the Borgia family's rule, Borca is also the birthplace of the Church of Ezra. The ruler, Ivana Boritsi, is eternally young and beautiful, but her touch is death. Likewise, Borca is a land of pastoral beauty that is rotten and foul beneath the surface.

Borca was created when Camille Dilisnya murdered her husband in a jealous pique and then left Mordent to avoid mob justice. Granted her own domain by the Mists, Camille was blessed with the ability to craft any poison she could imagine, though she was not immune to them, herself. She also suffered under a horrific curse: anyone who she trusted completely would betray her. She ruled her nation with an iron hand and married several times, though each of her husbands was unfaithful and she eventually murdered them. Ivana's father, Klaus Boritsi, was poisoned by a contact concoction which merged his skin with the chambermaid he was having an affair with.

When Ivana fell in love with a young bard named Pieter, Camille was incensed at her daughter finding love when it had eluded her for so long. Camille disguised herself as Ivana and seduced Ivana's one true love. She then claimed he had seduced her, and succeeded in proving in Ivana's eyes that all men were evil. Ivana took the lesson to heart, and killed Pieter by saturating her own body with a virulent poison. Two years later, she assassinated her mother and became the new ruler of Borca.

During the Grand Conjunction in 740 Barovian Calendar, Borca absorbed neighboring Dorvinia, ruled by Ivana Boritsi's cousin Ivan Dilisnya. Born on the same night and sometimes called "the Dark Twins," the cousins had long corresponded and considered themselves close friends. After their countries merged and they were forced to become co-rulers, however, they grew to loathe one another.

Cavitius

Cavitius is a domain in the Burning Peaks cluster ruled by the demigod Vecna, named after his old citadel on the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash. Most of the domain is a desert which saps the life force of anyone who sets foot in it. The only settlement in the domain is Citadel Cavitius, where undead are leading citizens and the living have no rights.

Cavitius is constantly at war with Kas the Destroyer's domain of Tovag, but neither side ever gains an advantage. Cavitius may have survived after its master Vecna's escape from the Demiplane of Dread, but it is unclear who would be its new master, if the land has escaped simply dissolving into the Mists.

Castle Island

Home to a twisted sirine (a type of fey) bard, who pursued a vendetta with the castle's original master on the prime material plane, after the latter had erroneously slain her husband, who had been transformed into a monster called the Avanc. The Lady of the Lake sacrificed her own offspring to achieve a revenge which has ultimately been denied to her. An Avanc still roams the black water of Lake Kronov, but is not the one she loved.

This domain is located within Tepest, and draws some inspiration from The Lady of the Lake of Arthurian legend.

Darkon

A feudal fantasy nation ruled over by the lich-king Azalin Rex, Darkon is the largest domain in Ravenloft. Physically, it takes up the northern third of the main continent, the Core, and its population easily exceeds that of any other single domain. Politically, Darkon is stable but not very influential, with its various nobles kept in check by Azalin's machinations.

In a real sense, Darkon's history is Azalin's history. After being driven out of his original homeland and finding himself in Ravenloft, Azal'Lan (originally a title meaning simply "Wizard King") was briefly befriended by Strahd von Zarovich, the darklord of Barovia. They were experimenting with a few magic spells to help each other escape until eventually Azalin gave up, and wandered into Darkon. After escaping, Azalin found himself the master of a sprawling domain that reflected his cruelty, his obsession with order, his cunning, and his greatest frustration: the inability to learn new magic.

Due to Azalin's desire for unswerving loyalty, Darkon has the most obvious and unique curse in Ravenloft. After spending from one to three months within its borders, anyone not native to Darkon loses all memory of their original homeland, instead believing themselves to have always lived in Darkon. Additionally, they lose all personal desire to leave the country, though some do so anyway out of necessity or circumstance. The lost memories return upon leaving the domain.

Azalin's desire to escape Ravenloft led to the disastrous Grand Conjunction in 740 Barovian Calendar, nearly destroying the Demiplane of Dread. His next escape attempt resulted in the equally catastrophic Requiem, destroying his physical form and turning the capital city of Darkon, Il Aluk, into a city of the undead, now called Necropolis. For the five years of Azalin's disappearance, Darkon itself was known as Necropolis due to the influence of that city's darklord, Death. Azalin was restored to his body and his throne in time, and now plots a third escape attempt, the details of which are unknown.

Darkon is one of the few domains of Ravenloft to accept demihumans such as elves and dwarves as equal citizens, and one of the few to embrace arcane magic openly. Darkon is often considered decadent by its neighbors, appropriate enough as Azalin encourages his citizens to debase themselves as a means of salving his own ego.

Darkon is described as "a broken land [...] whose central castle is frozen mid-explosion, its disparate rooms desperately trying to reassemble the whole in mid-air". "Darkon is now a Domain in decline after the disappearance of the iconic lich Azalin".

Alexander Sowa of CBR said that "Darkon was forever changed when its Darklord managed to escape Ravenloft, disappearing in a magical cataclysm known as the Hour of Ascension. Leaving behind a golden star known as the King's Tear, Azalin vanished. Without a Darklord Darkon is slowly collapsing, as the mists that surround all Domains creep inwards, slowly shrinking the realm and consuming all those that enter within."

Davion

A pocket domain ruled by a power-hungry and insane wizard called Davion, whose identity is shared with three other people. Each of these identities, a wizard named Augustus, a priestess of Loviatar called Narana, and a fighter named Boromar, becomes dominant over the others over a period of time, and the domain's guise changes to suit the identity currently in command.

Davion can only be accessed through the Nightmare Lands. The portal to Davion there is one of many dreamspheres found throughout the domain.

Dementlieu

Modelled after Renaissance France, Dementlieu is ruled by the charismatic and manipulative Dominic D'Honaire. It is considered the cultural heart of the Core. The language spoken is a sort of 'French' "Mordentish".

D'Honaire's power is hypnotism; virtually all of his subjects are under his control, and he knows whatever goes on in his domain. His personal curse is that any woman he woos sees him as more repulsive the more he is attracted to her. Also, for some time his rule is challenged by an entity who is called (and virtually is) the Living Brain, the last remains of Rudolph von Aubrecker, the youngest son of Lamordia's political ruler.

Demise

The small isle of Demise sits on the tip of The Finger, a cluster of islands that protrude from Lamordia into the Sea of Sorrows. A labyrinth dominates the island, where stand countless statues of people seemingly in the throes of terror. Demise is ruled by Althea, a medusa, though, she is not really a darklord.

Dominia

Dominia is an island ruled by Dr. Dominiani (Also known as Dr. Daclaud Heinfroth), a psychiatrist and cerebral vampire who seeks to find a cure for madness by inflicting it on others, observing the effects and searching for treatments. The island is home to his renowned Asylum for the Mentally Insane.

Before Dominia's formation, Dr. Dominiani was an assistant to Duke Nharov Gundar of Gundarak. The Doctor was directly responsible for the Duke's death, and temporarily held the position of Darklord of Gundarak until Barovia and Invidia moved to annex the territory.

Dorvinia

A small, mountainous realm north of Barovia and northeast of Borca before the Grand Conjunction, Dorvinia was ruled by Ivan Dilisnya, who gained the domain when he fled into the mists for poisoning his sister and her husband, and trying to kill their newborn child. Formerly flamboyant and a lover of the finer things in life, his personal curse is the loss of his sense of taste, leaving him murderously frustrated when others around him enjoy what he cannot anymore.

Dorvinia was centered around Mt. Gries, a misty, ragged mountain covered with evergreens that stretched into its valleys. Civilization existed in the form of three riverside villages, Lechburg, Ilvin, and Vor Ziyden.

During the Grand Conjunction, Dilisnya was in close proximity to the darklord of neighboring Borca, his own cousin Ivana Boritsi. Due to their similarities and proximity, their domains merged, and Dorvinia was absorbed into Borca. While Ivana still holds the majority of power, Ivan is no doubt a major part of the evil in the land.

Falkovnia

Falkovnia is ruled by Vlad Drakov, a mad tyrant (and former Krynnian mercenary) with a love of impaling as an execution method (an obvious reference to the Wallachian voivode Vlad Ţepeş, sometimes known as "Vlad the Impaler", although Drakov also shows echoes of Hitler and Stalin).

Falkovnia produces much of the Core's grain and wheat, which Drakov uses to fund his war machine. As absolute ruler of Falkovnia, everything is his property, including the population, which are branded with the mark of a hawk on their foreheads shortly after birth (perhaps a reference to Italian fascism symbols).

Drakov has attempted to invade Darkon, the vast domain to the north, no less than four times since Falkovnia was formed, and every time his army reached the border, an army of undead creatures rose again to stop them. Every man in Drakov's army who fell rose to fight for Darkon. The domains around Falkovnia (Borca, Richemulot, Dementlieu, and Mordent) have signed a mutual defence treaty in the event that Drakov invades any of them, although he believes that they are not worth invading, being run by women and fops.

Falkovnia, in its original incarnation, this domain's "Darklord was a fairly basic analog for Vlad the Impaler [...] and it had few defining characteristics beyond being a land ruled by a brutal warlord with a penchant for ultraviolence". In Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, "Falkovnia has been reimagined as a nightmarish Groundhog's Day-style loop, where a struggling nation—which happens to be ruled by a brutal warlord—is endlessly besieged by massive hordes of the walking dead, who just so happen to look like everyone this warlord has ever killed". The Darklord Vladeska "Drakov's ruthless efficiency and relentless perfectionism has turned her into a tyrant. Rather than retreat and save the lives of citizens and soldiers alike, every day she rebuilds the barricades that keep death at bay. Those same walls keep her trapped within".

Farelle

Farelle is an Island of Terror. It is wild, covered by forests filled with dangerous beasts. Jack Karn, a jackalwere called the wandering tinker, rules the domain. There are only two towns, Kaynis in the west, and Mortilis in the east. The villages are surrounded by farmlands. The domain was dropped after the Grand Conjunction.

Forlorn

Forlorn is a tiny nation mainly inhabited by goblyns, monstrous servitors created by dark magic. A handful of druids live in the woods and underground, fighting the goblyns. The darklord is a cursed man named Tristan ApBlanc, vampyre by day, ghost by night, who inhabits a castle caught in temporal flux due to the massive amounts of ethereal resonance created by the ghosts there. Those who enter castle Tristenoira are subject to time travel to one of three time lines, each pivotal to the creation of the domain.

G'Henna

G'Henna is now an Island of Terror, but used to be part of the Core. G'Henna was removed from the Core and Markovia became an island in the Sea of Sorrows during the Great Upheaval/Grand Conjunction, the place where they used to be is now the location of the Shadow Rift.

G'Henna is a starving land of religious zealotry, where the populace slave to produce food to be sacrificed to their false deity; Zhakata the Destroyer. The lord of the domain is High Priest Yagno Petrovna. Their religion states that Zhakata has two forms, the Destroyer - to whom they sacrifice all of their food, receiving only enough to keep themselves alive - and the Provider - the opposite of the Destroyer, the arrival of whom the G'Hennans pray for fervently. Cruelly ironic, Zhakata - like the Wolf God worshipped in Verbrek - does not exist. Generations of G'Hennans have starved themselves to death in hopes of attracting the Provider, but this will never happen.

Ghastria

Ghastria is a dull, gray domain, ruled by a darklord who literally is gray, in a pastiche of The Picture of Dorian Gray with some inspiration by the Marquis De Sade. The domain is infested with undead ghasts and ghouls and with monstrous carrion crawlers. No food produced here has any flavour whatsoever. The domain is the core's leading producer of Umbral Gray, an element used in paintings to add a smoky, misty effect but which is also lethally poisonous; however, the darklord has discovered that by mixing carrion crawler venom with Umbral Gray, you eliminate the strong flavour, thus making it much more useful as a poison.

The darklord Marquis Stezen D'Polarno is also the political lord, his curse being that he cannot feel any form of emotion (this has the physical effect of leaving him a dull gray in colour) unless he first shows a living being his self-portrait, which sucks the life from them and leaves him with emotions until the effect wears off. He always plans great things to do when he regains his emotions, but he lacks the self-drive to do them; thus he never gets anything accomplished.

Ghastria was a domain in the second edition of Ravenloft, and hasn't been translated into the third edition. Ghastria first appeared in the 2-round RPGA tournament "Dance of the Dead" written by James Lowder and Bruce Nesmith.

Har'Akir

Har'Akir is the centre domain which makes up the Amber Wastes cluster, being merged with Sebua and Pharazia. Har'Akir's Darklord is an Ancient Dead (DnD mummy) by the name of Ankhtepot, infamous amongst the natives for the cruel experiments into obtaining immortality he performed whilst he was alive. The natives blame him for their current state, for their belief is that his actions angered the gods and led to the destabilization of Ma'at.

Ankhtepot's curse is the desire to be both mortal and a great ruler again, but both his wishes are denied. All he could rule is a barren wasteland with only one village full of people; and the only way to have mortality granted to him again is to sacrifice a human being - but this condition only holds from dawn to dusk.

Har'Akir is also the domain featured in the 1995 computer game by SSI, Ravenloft: Stone Prophet.

Hazlan

Hazlan is a moderately arid country ruled over by Hazlik, a former Red Wizard of Thay (from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting). Hazlik was ostracized by his peers for his lack of social graces, ambition, and (in a risky move displaying the evils of social intolerance) homosexuality, and finally was deeply humiliated by them when they captured him, burned his tower, and tattooed his head with arcane symbols of femininity. He eventually got his revenge on two of them, murdering them as they were caught up in a tryst, and was drawn into Ravenloft before he could find the others.

Hazlik initially banned the practice of arcane magic in his nation, making its use punishable by death through torture or experimentation, but he reversed his policy after the Grand Conjunction and even founded a wizarding academy. His long-term plan with this reversal is unknown, but it is suspected to relate to his desire for vengeance.

Hazlan's population is divided into two distinct human ethnic groups: the Mulan and the Rashemani. The Rashemani make up over ninety percent of the population and serve as a worker caste to the aristocratic Mulan. The Mulan keep the Rashemani in line by fear and force, keeping them ignorant and poor enough to prevent uprisings and treating them as veritable slaves. Though Hazlik himself is Mulan, his hatred for his own people is well known; he bears no great love for the Rashemani, however, and so leaves the social structure unchanged.

Hazlan is a magocracy ruled by the Red Wizard Hazlik who treats the domain as a "vast magical laboratory". Wes Schneider, lead designer of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, highlighted that "Hazlan’s a great example of a Ravenloft domain where the 'technology' behind its horror concept has improved since its origin. [...] Since the ‘90s, our collective imaginations have expanded on what an evil magic dystopia might look like. [...] Hazlan is a domain where anything wizards could do they’ve done to the extreme, and they’re still doing it, all in the name of magical discovery and with the effects scarring the realm’s people and land. This makes it the domain for all manner of weird monsters, amoral experiments, magical contagions, unnatural weather, collapsing reality, meteor showers, mutations, disasters, and so much more".

Alexander Sowa of CBR describes Hazlan as "a massive laboratory experiment gone wrong, both in the small disasters that cover its surface and in the nature of the world itself" and that the domain "doubles down on magic itself as a theme to the world's horror. The land is ruled by Hazlik, a terrifyingly powerful wizard who bestows his favor upon only the most magically talented."

House of Lament

This small pocket domain is always found within another domain, and moves. It consists of a large old house with an attached stone tower. The tower was once part of a castle built by a sadistic lord who would stop at nothing to prey on his neighbours, even to the point of entombing Mara, one of his neighbours' daughters (who had been promised to him to end the endless pillaging), alive in its newly built foundations. Her apparition eventually killed him and his men, however, and the castle - with the exception of the tower - fell into disrepair. The house was later added by a merchant, who, along with his family, fell victim to the haunt in the house.

The darklord for the house is actually the house itself, which has fused with the spirit of Mara. Because Mara was entombed in it, she became intensely lonely. As a result, the house will not let any visitors leave until one of them sacrifices himself or herself to placate her unquenchable loneliness.

The house will manifest its true nature gradually. First of all, neither doors nor windows will open, not even with magic; strange noises will begin to be heard. Then, the walls may begin to bleed, or messages such as "Mara is lonely" will appear in random places. If the walls are attacked, they bleed, too; if enough blood is shed, the house can form a blood elemental with it. No amount of hitting will cause the house any damage. Lastly, the house will begin to pulsate noticeably, with a distinct heartbeat. Furniture may move and attack, and planar rifts may surge open from the ground, releasing horrible creatures. In the end, Mara will make it clear that she has singled out one of the visitors for sacrifice, and she will not let the others out of the house until this is done. True to her word, the house will release the remaining visitors if this occurs. However, no matter how many people are sacrificed, none are ever enough to sate Mara's loneliness, and the process repeats itself whenever new visitors arrive. It is suggested that if one of the visitors sacrifices himself or herself willingly, then the house's destruction might be possible.

As of its last, consistent sighting (according to maps of the Core circa BC 755–758) signal that the House is located in south-western Borca.

I'Cath

I'Cath is a small domain ruled by Tsien Chiang, a powerful sorceress from Kara-Tur who hates all men.

Invidia

Gabrielle Aderre rules Invidia. A cruel and manipulative half-vistana, she mothered Malocchio Aderre, considered the prophesied Dukkar who would bring about the destruction of the Vistani, from her union with the Gentleman Caller. Gabrielle is an enchantress that draws from her vistana heritage. After willingly allowing her mother to be ripped apart by a werewolf, Gabrielle was taken by the Mists to Invidia, where she used her evil eye to slay Bakholis, the werewolf darklord. Gabrielle then became darklord of Invidia in Bakholis' place.

Isle of Ravens

The Isle of Ravens is a small island in the Nocturnal Sea. The only known inhabitant is the darklord, the enigmatic Lady of Ravens, who seems to command large flocks of ravens. Little else is known about her or her domain.

Kalidnay

Kalidnay is a domain taken from Athas (Dark Sun setting). It is ruled by the High Priestess Thakok-An, whose defining crime was the sacrifice of her family in order to transform her Sorcerer King, Kalid-Ma, into a dragon. Instead of transforming, the King was put into a deep sleep, and half of the city's population was killed. As soon as this happened, Kalidnay was added to Ravenloft as an island of terror. Thakok's curse is having her beloved master at her side, as she wanted, but in a sleeping state, thus never having his favor. Worse, she cannot even try to awake him, because she knows if he awakens, he will probably kill her, or worse!

-- Thakok-An and Kalid-Ma's gender are up for debate as they are two versions of this dark domain's origin. When Kalidnay first appeared in the Forbidden Lore supplement, Thakok-An was a high priest and Kalid-Ma was his Sorceress-Queen. The Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium I & II supplement follows this view (see page 116—the monster Palik's story). In the Domains of the Dread corebook their genders were swapped: Kalid became a King while Thakok was transformed into a female priestess. The reasons for this change seem to be due to the fact that Dark Sun products refer to Kalid-Ma as a male. [1]

Since Kalidnay strongly depended on the Dark Sun setting, and 3rd edition Ravenloft was published by Arthaus/White Wolf, this domain was left aside and forgotten by the new publisher, probably because using it would have required them to pay the rights to Wizards of the Coast as Arthaus/WW would need to cite Dark Sun's and Athas's names, as they could not unbind it from his home scenario (as they did to all the other domains).

Kartakass

Kartakass is the most musical domain in Ravenloft, and most native bards originate from or have been trained there. İt lies in the south of the Core.

A domain with lush forests, it contains only two major settlements: Skald and Harmonia. It is crisscrossed with the rivers that originate from the Musarde River, which flows in from Sithicus and disappears into Hazlan. The domain is bordered by Barovia in the north, Hazlan in the east, and Sithicus in the west. South of this domain lay the mists. Wedged between Barovia and Kartakass lies Forlorn, a mostly empty domain.

Kartakass is infested with Wolfweres (wolves that transform into humans and humanoid-wolf hybrids), the darklord being the Meistersinger (German for "master singer"), Harkon Lukas. This fact is unknown to outsiders - who regard the country as simply being the homeplace for bards and a particular potent alcoholic drink called Meeklebrau. The natives suspect that the very numerous wolves of the land are more than they appear to be but the literal truth about them is rarely whispered. The figurative truth is, however, lent voice in song by the wolfwere bards themselves, who never tire of recounting the tales of the cunning of Grandfather Wolf over and against the stupidity of Grandfather Boar and the feebleness of mankind.

Keening

Tristessa, a shadow fey banshee who perpetually seeks her dead daughter, rules Keening. In life she was a noble in Arak's Unseelie Court. When three outlander drow were brought to Arak by Ravenloft's Mists, they were initially welcomed by the shadow fey. Their worship of Lolth became a popular cult among the Arak. When the drow had all been killed through a series of assassinations, Tristessa became the head priestess of Lolth's cult. The followers of this cult began to change in appearance: instead of their normally bone-white skin, they became similar in appearance to the drow. Tristessa then gave birth to daughter born with spider's legs. This was the final straw for Prince Loht, ruler of the Unseelie shadow fey, and he outlawed the cult and Tristessa and her deformed baby were killed by her fellow shadow fey by being staked to the ground and left to die in the sun. Vistani and others occasionally leave babies for Tristessa, but because she lacks the physical requirements to care for a baby (such as the ability to nurse a child), all of her surrogate babies die of starvation. Tristessa is served by undead fey from across the demiplane, alternately referred to as "widderìbhinn" or "umbra."

Lamordia

Lamordia is ruled by Adam, also known as the Creature, an extremely intelligent and nimble flesh golem, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Adam is the most successful creation of Dr. Victor Mordenheim in his research into the creation of life, albeit the one that caused him the most grief. Adam mangled the doctor's wife Elise and apparently murdered their adopted daughter Eva.

The two are inextricably bound together: Dr. Mordenheim has Adam's hit points, and in return Adam shares the doctor's constant anguish.

Usually hidden from sight, Adam is often thought to spend most of his time on Devil's Island, part of the archipelago known as the Finger.

Lamordia "paid homage" to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. "In its original incarnation, Lamordia was a coastal domain with two small settlements" and was "ruled by Adam, a flesh golem-like creature created by Doctor Victor Mordenheim. In Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, the region is now ruled by Viktra Mordenheim, a mad scientist tormented by her inability to replicate the Unbreakable Heart device that keeps her reborn lover Elise alive, even as Elise flees from her at every turn".

James Grebey for Syfy states that in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Lamordia is now "more than just a Frankenstein pastiche".

L'île de la Tempête

L'île de la Tempête is a small island in the Nocturnal Sea. Its sole inhabitant, aside from swarms of bats, is the domain's darklord, Captain Monette. Monette is a pirate and a werebat. Monette dwells on the island's solitary structure, a cursed lighthouse which can draw mariners from Prime Material Plane seas into the demiplane.

Liffe

Liffe is a small island in the Nocturnal Sea. It is ruled by a Baron Lyron Evensong, a bard from Krynn whose curse is to spend 100 years trapped in his study for every day that goes by in real time. The three settlements in Liffe are Armeikos, Moondale, and Claveria.

Markovia

Markovia is an island situated in the Sea of Sorrows and based on the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. The domain's sole inhabitants are Dr. Frantisek Markov and his unique Broken Ones (tormented humanoids created by twisting animals with Markov's surgical methods). Dr. Markov is based on Dr. Moreau, and so his obsession and is to always attempt to create humans from animals, but to never succeed fully; his creations are inhuman looking and will slowly degenerate back into mere mindless beasts.

Dr. Markov can transform into any animal shape he chooses (although his face remains the same), and his curse is that he can never assume human form, only those of beasts. Normally, he stays in the shape of a gorilla.

Mordent

Mordent is the setting of the module Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill. After one of Strahd and Azalin's many attempts to escape the Demiplane of Dread, they found themselves in Mordent. After the events involving the Alchemist and the Apparatus, they were sent back, and Mordent was added to the demiplane as a new domain.

Mordent is ruled by the ghost of Sir Wilfred Godefroy, a cruel and brutal aristocrat who murdered his wife and daughter and framed the act as an accident. Their ghosts rise every night to haunt and consume him eternally.

Necropolis

Necropolis is the domain formed during the Grim Harvest. At first, it included all of Darkon, but with Azalin's return, it only includes the area around the former city of Il Aluk. The only inhabitants of Necropolis are undead, due to the deadly shroud of negative energy throughout the domain. The darklord of Necropolis is a negative energy elemental named Death.

Nidala

Nidala is part of the Shadowborn cluster, bordering Avonleigh on the west and Shadowborn manor on the southwest. The fallen paladin Elena Faith-hold rules it. A fanatical follower of Belenus, Elena enforces her interpretation of Belenus's will upon the population through Decrees of Faith, which have forbidden many activities, and she uses a network of informants to root out those who defy her will and has them publicly punished. Only the threat of Banemaw, an evil dragon, keeps Faith-hold in power. In reality, Banemaw does not exist. Elena merely invented him to frighten potential dissenters. Typically, she will surround a small and isolated town that she has deemed as "evil" and wipe it off of the map, then spend the next several days publicly bemoaning the fact that she "failed to stop the dragon."

Elena has discovered that the Shadowborn is held within Shadowborn Manor, but is unable to reach it.

Nightmare Lands

The Nightmare Lands are a pocket domain, ruled by the Nightmare Court. The landscape is always shifting, reflecting its dreamlike nature, although it is often nightmarish. The only native inhabitants are the Abber Nomads, a band of primitive humans who are naturally immune to the many illusions this domain creates.

Nocturnal Sea

The Nocturnal Sea is ruled by Meredoth the Necromancer, who lives in an island entirely populated by his intelligent but mindless undead creations, the lebendtod (from the German term "lebende Tote" - "living dead"). In his original realm on Mystara, Meredoth came to hold a barony through award. However, as the barony's problems constantly got in the way of his wicked experiments, Meredoth concocted a plan to kill all the inhabitants and turn them all into mindless undead who would never bother him again. It was this crime that led him to the Mists, and stewardship of the Nocturnal Sea.

Nosos

Nosos is a domain of over-industrialization, a land buried under garbage and poison.

The darklord of the domain is Malus Scleris, a male human. The only son of a widowed druid, Malus never received any affection from his father. He eventually murdered him by contaminating his bed linen with disease pathogens. His curse is that he is always under the effects of a Speak with Plants spell, which affects all plants within a mile of him. Any trees speak to him with the voice of the ancient forest where he grew up, forcing him to go through his guilt. Because of this, he orders all trees in his domain destroyed, and only allows people to grow other forms of plants if they pay a "Green Tax", basically one gold coin per month for every cubic foot of flora owned.

Malus is immune to level draining, ability score damage and all forms of poison and disease. He has several scientists experimenting with creating newer and deadlier varieties of toxin, and uses these to his advantage. Because of his immunity, he can simply smear the pathogen on his hands - which is why he always wears white gloves. When he wishes to infect someone, he simply removes his gloves and shakes their hand. One of the diseases he has bred is Brain Fever, which lowers Intelligence. Because his minions have spread the rumour that Brain Fever originates from prostitutes, anyone infected suffers from both the brain draining effects and a shake in his reputation - which makes the disease perfect for discrediting rivals. A more lethal disease is "Elevens", a muscular disease which causes two vertical muscles in the neck to stand erect, hence the name.

Nosos was an Island of Terror in the second edition version of Ravenloft, but was left out of the third edition version.

Nova Vaasa

Nova Vassa is a feudal domain and the only one whose darklord, Malken, is not in total control of his domain. Because Malken is the alter-ego of Sir Tristan Hiregaard, he can only access his darklord abilities when Sir Hiregaard is not in control of their shared body. Likewise, because of their dual-nature, Malken is unable to close the borders of his domain.

Hiregaard's curse laid by his mother upon his father, who murdered her when he erroneously believes himself to have been cuckolded. Tristan's father escaped through suicide, but the curse jumped on to Tristen: he would from thereafter always murder any woman he came to love. Sir Hiregaard's repentance and regret, coupled with the pleasure he had felt when murdering the woman, eventually caused his personality to split. Thus Malken, his vicious alter ego, was born. When the Dark Powers seized Tristen, they allowed Malken to manifest in an arrangement similar to that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sir Tristen is actively trying to fight the evil inside of him, seeking to rid himself of Malken and to curtail his rampages (over which he otherwise has no control).

Odiare

An Island of Terror, Odiare is made up of a small town inhabited mostly by children. The overlord is a marionette named Maligno. Maligno, who was created by the toymaker Giuseppe out of his desire for a son, ended up murdering the entire adult population, who would not believe that he was real, and leaving the children, who (originally) loved him and did believe he was real, to adore him. Malligno keeps Giuseppe, now driven mad, in an attic in one of the houses, making (more) toys and carionnettes for Maligno (Maligno had originally planned to use a cadre of carionnettes under his control to possess the adults of Odiare, but was foiled by a group of adventurers and was forced to slaughter them all instead).

Although he hates Giuseppe, Malgino needs him, for he is the only one who can repair him. Also, Maligno cannot harm Giuseppe, for all harm inflicted on Giuseppe is inflicted on himself.

It is not especially difficult to see that this domain is based upon a twisted version of the traditional Italian children's fable, 'Pinocchio' by Carlo Collodi. Indeed, this domain is originated in the Gothic Earth, and the language used is Italian.

Paridon

Paridon is a domain revolving around the idea of social decay, one which happens to be infested with dread doppelgängers. The darklord is the doppleganger Sodo, and is referred to by the human inhabitants as "Flickerflame", because he cannot control his shape-changing powers and is constantly "flickering" in form. Paridon and the domain of Timor (located within the sewers) form the Zherisia cluster.

Phantom Lover's Domain

This otherwise nameless, subterranean domain is the home of the Phantom Lover, a creature which appears before young women who have lost the love of their life by tragic circumstances. Assuming the shape of their beloved, he makes them depend upon his presence, and when their desire has become too strong to bear, he leads them to the entrance to his realm, which they enter willingly, never to return.

Its entrance may always appear in any graveyard, including such outside of Ravenloft.

Pharazia

Pharazia is part of the Amber Wastes cluster with Har'Akir and Sebua, ruled by a moralistic despot named Diamabel. Diamabel appears as a shining winged celestial during the day, and as a hollow, psychotic monster called "The Black Herald" at night. Pharazian society revolves around purity for its own sake, and Diamabel's inquisitors relentlessly hunt transgressors and put them to the lash.

Diamabel is obsessed with moral purity to the point of madness, and killed his own father, as well as countless others, in a genocidal campaign against impurity before the dark powers took him.

Richemulot

Richemulot's darklord is Jacqueline Renier, a wererat trained in the dark arts who is forced to turn into rat form in the presence of anyone she loves. Jealous of her sister, she would often arrange her lovers' death just to sadden her. A well-versed conversationist, Jacqueline inherited the title of darklord after murdering the previous holder, her grandfather Claude.

Rokushima Taiyoo

The Six Islands of the Sun are ruled by four brothers (originally six, but the youngest and oldest were murdered) who constantly wage war with one another, grinding the populace under their heels. Their father, Shinpi Haki, is the true darklord, but he is a geist, a type of ghost that cannot interact with the material realm.

Sanguinia

Sanguinia is a frozen land ruled by the vampire Ladislav Mircea. In life, Mircea was a handsome and vain prince. When a gruesome plague swept his lands, he abandoned his subjects and sealed himself and his friends inside his keep to escape the plague. When the plague penetrated his castle, he had anyone who showed signs of the disease tossed over the walls. Eventually, Mircea himself contracted the disease. He turned to a desperate study of alchemy in order to find a cure using the untainted blood of his guests. After he finally died, Mircea rose again as a disease-ridden, hideously deformed type of vampire known as a vrykolaka.

Saragoss

Saragoss is a sea domain, consisting of a vast ocean of seaweed ringed by reefs where ships get stuck. Saragoss is perhaps the harshest domain in which to live, as all inhabitants above and below the waves are forced to prey on each other (both figuratively and literally) to survive. It is ruled by the wereshark Draga Salt-Biter, a former pirate lord who is now doomed to rule a domain which will never know unity.

Scaena

Scaena is a floating pocket domain, consisting of an opulent theater. It is ruled by the demented playwright Lemot Sediam Juste, who can force visitors to his domain into participating in his plays. Those who participate in these plays perceive them as real, though the particularly strong-willed have a chance to break free of the illusion. If this happens, Lemot will burn the theater down in an attempt to kill the visitors. This does not harm him, however, and he and the theater will re-form shortly afterwards.

Sea of Sorrows

The Sea of Sorrows is on the western side of the Core. It is home to various islands, including Demise and Markovia. The Sea of Sorrows is usually covered in fog.

The darklord is the captain of a ghost pirate ship known as the Relentless, which can manifest and appear real. The captain, a ghost called Pieter van Riese, perpetually navigates and attempts to chart all the islands in the Sea of Sorrows, but is always foiled by the shifting geography. The original crime of his was driving his crew to the death while trying to search for a new passage to a land laden with riches.

Van Riese can also never set foot on land.

Sebua

One of the three desert domains which make up the Amber Wastes cluster, Sebua is the largest, separated from Har'Akir by three ranges of mountains and "inhabited" by nomads, desert caravans and a large tribe of feral children. The darklord of the domain is an "ancient dead" named Tiyet. This undead woman appears as a normal human woman, but her heart has been removed and placed in a jar near the altar and (animate) idol of Apophis, within Apophis' temple within the Valley of Death in the northeastern reaches of Sebua. Because of her missing heart, she is nigh-invulnerable. Her darklord curse forces her to consume the hearts of living beings; she can only be defeated if she is tricked into devouring her own heart.

Shadowborn Manor

Shadowborn Manor is a lesser domain contained within the Shadowborn cluster. All Domains in the cluster are fragments of the same world, in this case the former estate of Kateri Shadowborn and the surrounding landscape. Now, it is a prison of a monstrous, spiritual entity called the darkblade Ebonbane. Within the manor it is death to bring any sword or dagger, as the Ebonbane can control these with a thought. Ebonbane's evil suppresses all natural healing in the domain, except in the Shadowborn chapel.

Originally, the sword Ebonbane was created to utterly destroy Kateri Shadowborn, a powerful paladin who had fought against the darkest evils all her life. But the spirit creature the dark disciples tried to bind to the sword was much too powerful for them; it enslaved them easily and had itself transported to the manor, where it struck down Kateri Shadowborn with its innate power to command sword blades.

However, now it is trapped in the manor along with Kateri's ghost, who cannot oppose him directly but can direct others (i.e. passing adventurers) to do so. The only way to defeat Ebonbane, however, is to collect four elemental "keys" which are symbolic for Ebonbane's creation: earth (from the soil deep beneath the house), water (holy water from the chapel), air (the "breath of the dead"), and fire (a fire-related spell cast by an adventurer priest or wizard in order to release the power of the other "keys").

Shadow Rift

The Shadow Rift was created during the Grand Conjunction in 740 Barovian Calendar when the nations of G'Henna and Markovia vanished from the center of the main continent, the Core. Left in their place was a great, yawning chasm splitting the Core in two. The Shadow Rift is a sheer canyon filled with darkness and black fog. None that have entered it have ever returned.

At the bottom of the Shadow Rift is a kingdom of shadow fey, the Arak, shrouded in perpetual night. The domain is reachable through a number of cracks and crevices that run beneath neighboring domains. Those that pass through these cracks understand that roughly two days of travel pass in either direction, but they retain no memory of the journey itself.

The Shadow Rift is ruled over by Loht, the Prince of Shadows and head of the Unseelie Court, and his sister Maeve, the Faerie Queen and mistress of the Seelie Court. These two children of the former shadow fey king, Arak, jointly rule the land in the father's stead. Arak died fighting the monstrous entity known as Gwydion, a being that had enslaved and altered their race to conquer worlds for him. Arak freed his people and trapped Gwydion between worlds. Gwydion, called the Sorcerer-Fiend, is the true master of the Shadow Rift, though he can exert very little control over it, since he is stuck in transit between the Plane of Shadow and the Demiplane of Dread.

Sithicus

Sithicus, meaning The Land Of Specters in the Elven tongue, is unique in being the only domain inhabited primarily by non-humans, in this case elves. Created and formerly ruled by the Death Knight Lord Soth, Sithicus is now officially the kingdom of the werebadger Azrael, who is far more interested in the fates of his subjects than Soth was. Other than elves, the other sentient races inhabiting Sithicus include a few small pockets of humans, and several tribes of tortured, tormented vampiric Kender, who are usually mistaken for halflings. The Darklord of Sithicus is a half-Vistani/half-shadow woman by the name of Inza Kulkevich, daughter of Magda.

Souragne

Souragne is a domain based around stereotypical Louisiana voodoo, and as such consists primarily of a vast swamp. The two most important individuals in Souragne are the darklord Anton Misroi (a Zombie Lord) and Chicken Bone, the most powerful voodan (Ravenloft's equivalent of a houngan) in the swamp.

Sri Raji

Sri Raji is a distant jungle domain based on the cultures of India, ruled by a tiger-headed rakshasa named Arijani. Arijani is the child of Ravana, the rakshasa deity, and a human priestess of Kali. When he came to maturity, Arijani slew his father's avatar with a blessed crossbow bolt. For this betrayal he was snatched up by the Mists of Ravenloft and became Sri Raji's darklord. He spends all of his time in his temple on Mt. Yamatali in the guise of a human priest of Kali. The people of Sri Raji are required to send regular human sacrifices to Arijani which he devours whole. Sri Raji forms part of the Verdurous Lands cluster.

Staunton Bluffs

Staunton Bluffs is a small island of terror ruled by the ghost of Torrence Bleysmith. A nobleman who was jealous of his eldest brother for surpassing him in everything, Torrence arranged his family castle to be stormed by enemy mercenaries who were assigned to kill his brother only, but these villains murdered his entire family as well. Enraged, he tried to take revenge by changing his people into berserker-like fighters, but this makeshift army was no match for the experienced mercenary force. Wracked by guilt, Torrence hung himself in the castle's attic but returned as a ghost.

Tepest

Tepest is a forest domain infamous for the superstitious nature of its inhabitants. The darklords are a coven of three Hags and the domain itself contains a pocket domain in the western area, Castle Island, home to a twisted fey sorceress and her husband, now transformed into a monster called the Avanc, which roams the black water of Lake Kronov.

The Hags were originally three human sisters, who were wished for by a peasant's wife (who ironically died while caring for them). Unloved by their adoptive father and brothers, the sisters plotted to get away from the farm by murdering travellers, cooking them into stew, and stealing their gold. Finally all three fell victim to a dandyman rogue, and finding out about his betrayal, the sisters slew him together. The Dark Powers responded to their deed, abducting them into Ravenloft and changing them into a trio of hideous flesh-eating monsters.

Among other things, this domain traces its inspiration to William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, and the witch burnings which have occurred throughout history, from the Spanish Inquisition to Salem.

Timor

Timor is an Island of Terror which, along with Paridon, forms part of the Zherisia Cluster. In Zherisia, Timor is located within the sewers of Paridon. It is inhabited by insectile beings called Markith. The darklord was a human princess who asked a wizard to turn her into a Markith Queen so she could scare her mother to death. Her mother ruled Timor through terrifying illusions, and she intended to surpass her mother by assuming a more terrifying visage, but it ended up that this new visage came to be real, not illusionary.

Tovag

Tovag is the domain ruled by Kas the Destroyer (who has become a vampire after spending such a long time in Vecna's fortress on the border of the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash and the Negative Energy Plane). It is part of the Burning Peaks cluster with Vecna's domain of Cavitius. Tovag is thickly forested, but any stake fashioned from this wood will not harm the vampiric darklord; only a stake of wood from his homeworld, Oerth, can do this. Kas wages an endless war of attrition with Vecna's forces across the Burning Peaks, and believes that Vecna possesses the Sword of Kas, which Vecna forged for him, the powerful magical weapon which he used to sever Vecna's hand and eye. It has been suggested that Vecna killed Kas just prior to escaping from the Demiplane of Dread. Even if he did not, it is uncertain whether Tovag would have escaped destruction with the demi-lich's departure. If Cavitius survived, Tovag would probably also have, but it is uncertain who its current lord would be.

Valachan

Valachan is ruled by Urik von Kharkov, a nosferatu vampire that can transform into a panther. Originally a panther, he was polymorphed into human form by a wizard of Thay, who wanted to use him to commit murders (by polymorphing him back in appropriate times). As a human, the wizard educated him in manners and some of his wizardry. Well mannered, he became appalled and driven insane because of the atrocities he was forced to commit under panther form, and he eventually slew his master. With time, he also became a nosferatu vampire.

Unlike other vampires, however, von Kharkov is careful not to drain people completely of their blood (unless he needs servants); instead he feeds on several people in one night, and he commands his vampire subjects to do so as well. The general populace refers to the anemia-related symptoms caused by this feeding as "White Fever". The only thing Kharkov truly fears is a magical artifact called the Cat of Felkovnic, a magical (and willful) statuette which can turn into a sabre-toothed tiger.

Valachan is notable for the abnormal amount of mushrooms and molds growing in the domain. In fact, mushrooms have become a staple diet for the domain's people, although this is not without dangers. The dead are usually buried in middens in which a household grows its own mushrooms, thus providing for their progeny.

Vechor

Vechor is ruled by Easan the Mad, a tormented wood elf whose soul has been fused with that of a fiend. Easan searches for a way to separate his soul from the fiend's with dark experiments. In the meantime, he rules Vechor, which literally fluctuates at his will depending on his mood. No one in Vechor has true control of themselves, as everyone is dominated by the darklord's whims. All inhabitants are branded with an E on their forehead, denoting subordination to Easan.

Verbrek

Verbrek is a wilderness land ruled by savage werewolf tribes. These tribes are in turn dominated by Alfred Timothy, the high priest of the Wolf God, a deity that embodies savagery and bloodlust. Timothy invented this deity out of a desire to purge his weak human half, and has committed innumerable atrocities in his false god's name. Timothy is constantly haunted by his curse: whenever he indulges in his animal passions he is shifted into his weakling human form, so he must constantly control his temperament, lest he be seen as weak by his followers.

The werewolves dominate the primitive human inhabitants by culling their numbers and subjecting them to horrific tests of survival. A number of other were-creatures inhabit the land as well, and have banded together in a resistance movement to overthrow the tyranny of the werewolves. Unfortunately, they bear no greater love for the human inhabitants than the lycanthropes, and would most likely just exterminate them out of hand were they to succeed in their goals.

Vorostokov

A land resembling Dark Ages Russia, Vorostokov is locked in perpetual winter, its inhabitants struggling to survive day to day. The darklord is Gregor Zolnik, a hunter who can transform into a unique form of werewolf called a loup du nuit by donning a bonded wolf's pelt. He is also a warlord who has brought virtually all the people of Vorostokov (a little over 1,000) under his iron fist with his boyarsky, a collection of thugs and hunters loyal to him. Originally, Zolnik assumed his wolf form to provide for his people during a harsh winter, but the compulsion to assume wolf form eventually made him slay his wife (a local lord's daughter) and eventually his mother - deeds which banished him to Ravenloft. Now, since Vorostokov seems to lack any game to hunt, Zolnik and his followers have but one choice only: to prey upon the inhabitants of hapless villages surrounding his home hamlet.

After the Grand Conjunction, the domain of Sanguinia appeared beyond a valley in the northwest. The domain cluster is called "the Frozen Reaches."

Vorostokov's size has fluctuated between editions; in Domains of Dread, the scale provided indicated it was larger than the Core.

Wildlands

The Wildlands is a domain populated by intelligent talking animals. Humans and other "civilized" races are not welcome and usually hunted by the local predators. The domain is ruled by King Crocodile, a gigantic crocodile who took the special powers of the other animals to drive out the "hairless apes" (humans) but chose not to return those powers, instead using them to satisfy his unending hunger by preying on the other animals.

Winding Road

The Winding Road is a pocket domain that shifts from place to place. It is perpetually haunted by the Headless Horseman who decapitates everyone in his wake.

Zherisia

Zherisia is the cluster which contains the domains of Paridon and Timor.

Additional reading

• Hickman, Tracy; Laura Hickman (1983). Ravenloft. TSR. ISBN 0-88038-042-X. Search this book on
• Hickman, Tracy; Laura Hickman, David "Zeb" Cook, Jeff Grubb, Harold Johnson, Douglas Niles (1986). Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill. TSR. ISBN 0-88038-322-4.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce; Andria Hayday (1990). Realm of Terror. TSR. ISBN 978-0880388535. Search this book on
• Mobley, Blake (1990). Feast of Goblyns. TSR. ISBN 0-88038-877-3. Search this book on
• Hensen, Dale; J. Robert King (1991). Book of Crypts. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-142-3. Search this book on
• Hayday, Andria; William Connors, Bruce Nesmith, James Lowder (1991). Darklords. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-137-7.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Brown, Anne (1991). Ship of Horror. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-127-X. Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce (1991). Touch of Death. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-144-X. Search this book on
• Connors, William (September–October 1991). "Bane of the Shadowborn". Dungeon. TSR. VI (31).
• Connors, William; Bruce Nesmith (1992). Forbidden Lore. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-354-X. Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce (1992). From the Shadows. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-356-6. Search this book on
• McComb, Colin; Scott Bennie (1992). Islands of Terror. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-349-3. Search this book on
• Slavicsek, Bill (1992). Night of the Walking Dead. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-350-7. Search this book on
• Wise, David (1992). Thoughts of Darkness. TSR. ISBN 978-1560763536. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1993). Castles Forlorn. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-645-X. Search this book on
• Connors, William (1993). Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-586-0. Search this book on
• Haddock, Eric; David Wise (1993). Roots of Evil. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-597-6. Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce (1993). The Created. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-610-7. Search this book on
• Connors, William (1993). Web of Illusion. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-618-2. Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce; Andria Hayday, William Connors (1994). Ravenloft Campaign Setting. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-942-4. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1994). Adam's Wrath. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-833-9. Search this book on
• Reid, Thomas (1994). Dark of the Moon. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-688-3. Search this book on
• Nesmith, Bruce; Lisa Smedman (1994). Hour of the Knife. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-892-4. Search this book on
• McComb, Colin (1994). Howls in the Night. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-927-0. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1994). The Awakening. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-883-5. Search this book on
• Culotta, Paul (November–December 1994). "Felkovic's Cat". Dungeon. TSR. IX (50).
• Connors, William (1995). A Light in the Belfry. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0133--0. Search this book on
• Bittner, Drew (1995). Circle of Darkness. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0128-4. Search this book on
• Grubb, Jeff (1995). Neither Man Nor Beast. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0205-1. Search this book on
• Kurtz, Steve (1995). The Evil Eye. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0167-5. Search this book on
• Hensley, Shane; Bill Slavicsek (1995). The Nightmare Lands. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0174-8. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1995). When Black Roses Bloom. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0101-2. Search this book on
• Connors, William (1996). Bleak House - The Death of Rudolph van Richten. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0386-4. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1996). Death Ascendant. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0414-3. Search this book on
• Smedman, Lisa (1996). Death Unchained. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0408-9. Search this book on
• Connors, William; Lisa Smedman (1996). Requiem: The Grim Harvest. TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0431-3. Search this book on
• Stewart, Doug (1997). Castle Spulzeer. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-0669-3. Search this book on
• Connors, William; Steve Miller (1997). Domains of Dread. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-0672-3. Search this book on
• Melka, Kevin; Steve Miller (1997). Servants of Darkness. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-0659-6. Search this book on
• Connors, William (1997). The Forgotten Terror. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-0699-5. Search this book on
• Connors, William; Cindi Rice, John Rateliff (1998). The Shadow Rift. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-0737-1. Search this book on
• Cook, Monte (1998). Vecna Reborn. TSR/Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1201-4. Search this book on
• Lowder, James (April 1999). "Rogues Gallery: The Land of Spectres". Dragon. TSR/Wizards of the Coast (258).
• Cordell, Bruce; Steve Miller (2000). Die Vecna Die!. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1662-1. Search this book on
• Cermak, Andrew; John Mangrum, Andrew Wyatt (2001). Ravenloft Campaign Setting (3rd Edition). Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-075-4. Search this book on
• Cermak, Andrew; John Mangrum, Andrew Wyatt (2001). Secrets of the Dread Realms. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-076-2. Search this book on
• Cermak, Andrew; John Mangrum, Chris Nichols, Andrew Wyatt (2002). Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-080-0.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Mangrum, John; Ryan Naylor, Chris Nichols, Andrew Wyatt (2002). Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-830-5.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Mangrum, John; Brian Campbell, Carla Hollar, Rucht Lilavivat, Anthony Pryor, Peter Woodworth, Andrew Wyatt (2003). Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-084-3.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Mangrum, John; Stuart Turner, Peter Woodworth, Andrew Wyatt (2003). Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume III. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-086-X.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
• Lowder J, Mangrum J, Naylor R, Pryor A, Whitney-Robinson V, Wyatt A (2004). Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume IV. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-087-8. Search this book on
• Cermak A, Mangrum J, Miller S, Naylor R, Wyatt A (2004). Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume V. Arthaus. ISBN 1-58846-964-6. Search this book on
• Cordell, Bruce; James Wyatt (2006). Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3946-X. Search this book on
• Lowder, James (January 2007). "The Shadows of Sithicus". Dragon. Paizo Publishing (351).

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