2 CHAPTER | SUBCHAPTER Return to Ravenloft to experience an entirely new Gothic Horror Adventure! Featuring: • A new Dread Realm that twists nature itself into something monstrous! • A Vampire Queen unmatched by any other Dark Lord! • A bone chilling campaign that takes adventurers from levels 1 - 5! • Over 100k words of Dark Fantasy Horror, complete with 28 full color maps! • 6 Legendary Scaling Magic Items! • New Character Creation Options! • New Monsters and Villains! So gather your party and venture forth into a twisted new Campaign that you will never forget!
3 CHAPTER | SUBCHAPTER Realm Volume 1 By Cayce Corday of the Blood Queen
4 INTRODUCTION| Credits DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2021 by Cayce Corday (Josh Kaufman) and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild All art used in this work is used with appropriate commercial license. Artists: Amélie Hutt - http://smirtouille.com/illustration/ - Cover Art Sick Joe - [email protected] - B&W Images Albu Alexandra - Mata Yezinka, The Cairn, Ruins of Nemeth, Mad Alchemist Ralph Barrientos - Cover 2, Margins, Corpse Manuel Dikrán Delgado Olivares - Inbarev Vojislav Vasiljevic - Silver Graves, Garden of Evil Jozef Boza - Abbey, Raffenburg, Revolution, Garden of Evil 2 Artbreeder images licensed under Creative Commons CC0 license Cival, Constantin, Ekaterina, Hajek, Stefan, Iphigenia Paper Art Credits: Direquest Nimgyu Photoshop Image Template: From Matthew Gravelyn https://www.dmsguild.com/product/259105/DMs-Guild-Cover-ImageTemplate-Photoshop InDesign Template: Nathanaël Roux http://www.barkalotdesigns.com https://www.dmsguild.com/product/249157/InDesign-Templates-and-Beginners-Guide Additional Art: DMsGuild Stock Art: https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/articles/217029188-Logo-andArtwork-Questions Token Borders: https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/ Licensed under: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Written by Cayce Corday Art Directed by Cayce Corday Designed by Cayce Corday
5 INTRODUCTION| Contents Introduction - pg6 Campaign Overview pg 7 How To Use This Book pg 8 The Three Elements of Fear pg 10 Player’s Guide to Wreythau - pg 12 Advanced Character Creation Options pg 13 Character Creation Feats pg 15 Character Motivation pg 17 Background Hooks pg 19 Class Hooks pg 22 Making the Best of a Bad Situation pg 23 Chapter 1 - Welcome To Wreythau - pg 24 The Dark Power pg 25 The Dark Lady: Czerina Gavranova pg 26 Czerina’s Goals pg 30 Roleplaying Czerina pg 31 Czerina’s Statblock pg 36 Encounters with the Blood Queen pg 37 History of Wreythau pg 39 Glimpses of Wreythian History pg 41 The People of Wreythau pg 50 The Beastfolk pg 52 The Inquisition of the Morning Lord pg 58 The Order of Blood pg 63 The Wreythian Merchant Consortium pg 66 The House of Reinwald pg 70 The Court of the Blood Queen pg 70 Encounters in Wreythau pg 73 Scaling Relics of Legend pg 78 Dealing with Death 82 Chapter 2 - The Drowned Dead - pg 85 Act 1: The Flowers of Evil pg 86 Act 2: The Voyage pg 99 Act 3: The Storm pg 114 Act 4: The Wrecks pg 117 Act 5: The Shore pg 139 Chapter 3 - Leshehoff - pg 140 A Babe in the Woods pg 141 Caeltos Village pg 144 Caeltos Village: Quests pg 148 Leshehoff pg 152 L1 - Town Gates - pg 155 L2 - Barony Mansion - pg 156 L3 - The Market - pg 166 L4 - Copper Crown Tavern - pg 167 L5 - Consortium Outpost - 173 L6 - Alchemist’s Shop - 178 L7 - The Blacksmith’s Guild - 179 L8 - The Tailor’s Shop - 180 L9 - The Abbey of St. Zharkov L10 - The Catacombs pg 188 Special Events pg 194 Sir Constantin Arrives pg 195 The Baroness’ Dinner pg 195 Meeting at the Crossroads pg 196 Sample Quest Trajectory pg 198 Chapter 4 - Blood Queen Awakens - pg 199 Czerina Awakens pg 205 Chapter 5 - RRaffenburg affenburg - pg 207 Encounters with the Awoken Blood Queen - PG 208 City of Raffenburg - PG 209 Signs of Tension - PG 214 The Authority - PG 215 The Revolution - PG 218 The Cult of Decadence - PG 220 The Church of the Morning Lord - PG 221 The Reinwalds - PG 222 City Events - PG 226 R1 City Gates - PG 232 R2 Grand Marketplace - PG 235 R3 House of the Drowning Sun - PG 236 R4 Skalek’s Icy Delights - PG 245 R5 Menagerie Livestock Market - PG 247 R6 Reinwald Estate - PG 249 R7 University of Raffenburg - PG 266 R8 University Prosthetics Department - PG 276 R9 The Grand Theatre - PG 277 R10 House of Gisella - PG 285 R12 Banka de Borostok Paternalis - PG 286 R13 Wreythian Courier Service - PG 286 R14 Mercenary Guild - PG 287 R15 Hunting Guild - PG 288 R16 Brewers Guild - PG 289 Chapter 6 - Revolution -Pg 290 Solstice Masquerade - pg 290 City Revolution Events - pg 304 Revolution HQ - pg 390 Morning Lord HQ - Pg 309 Cult HQ - pg 310 Reinwald HQ - pg 314 Authority HQ - pg 314 Chapter 7 - Inbarev - pg 316 Iv1 - City Gates - pg 321 Iv2 - Baron’s Mansion - pg 325 Iv3 - Crafted Sewer Hideout - pg 328 Iv4 - Zlattov House - pg 329 Killing the Mad Alchemist - pg 331 CHH 8 - TThe Siilver GGravess - pg 334 Entrance - pg 336 Exploring the Graves - pg 339 The Guardian’s Lair - pg 341 The Forge of the Ancestors - pg 343 CHH 9 - TThe RRuiinss of nemeth - pg 351 The bagnytsa Ferry - pg 352 The court of Corrupted Sidhe - pg 353 CHH 10 - TThe Caiirn - PPg 361 Appendix 1 - The Mirror of Czerina Gavranova - pg 368 Entry 1 - pg 369 Entry 2 - pg 370 Entry 3 - pg 373 Entry 4 - pg 374 Entry 5 - pg 377 Entry 6 - pg 378 Entry 7 - pg 379
6 INTRODUCTION| Introduction R avenloft: Dread Realm of the Blood Queen is a campaign module that will take you on a spine chilling journey through a new Domain of Dread, one filled with fresh monstrosities, brutal encounters, and sickening lore that will thrill and inspire fans of gothic horror on both sides of the table. And yet, this campaign is also a module which will delve into many of the shadows cast by the legendary Curse of Strahd module, shadows that were never fully explored, never given that deliciously visceral flesh needed to really sink your teeth into. Those half-formed shadows have since haunted me, echoing in my dreams and mixing with the strange alchemy that is my love of gothic horror, and have since formed the monstrous creation you see before you. Gothic horror is a genre with a rich history that has been expanded upon for hundreds of years, and as magnificent as Curse of Strahd is, one module can only explore so much. Why else would Van Richten’s Guide and the Ravenloft Domains of Dread be such thrilling editions to the world’s most popular role-playing game, after all? In particular, this first part of the module will emphasize the horrors of religion, transforming the Church of the Morning Lord into the fanatical, witch-burning inquisition it was always meant to be, along with adding mysteries and depth to the Old Faith: the worship of nature, the Fey, and all else that a domineering religious monolith might wish to destroy. Of course, the Fey are not without their own horrors, and thus the players will encounter all manner of grim terrors wrought by the Fair Folk and their dark courts. Yet, all this and more are nothing but the malevolent fruits born from the rule of the dreaded Vampire Queen, Czerina Gavranova, herself. Born the daughter of cruel nobles, her very name was uttered as a curse on the night of her birth. Raised a pariah, hated and abused, she nonetheless rose as the champion her The Name of the Dread Realm Wreythau. Pronounced Ray -thauw. That last part is a little tricky. Think of what you say when you hurt yourself: “Ow!” Now just add Wrayth in front of it and you’ve got it! As for what to call the people of the realm, Wreythian, the pronunciation is Ray -thee -in.
7 INTRODUCTION| hapless travelers that cross their path into their prey. Only the settlements offer safety, though safety is perhaps a relative term as ruthless factions plot and scheme to fill the void created by Czerina’s absence. Spreading from the town of Leshehoff are the fanatical ranks of the Inquisition of the Morning Lord, an order of religious zealots that torture and burn all those who oppose their theocratic reign. Then there is the Wreythian Merchant Consortium, an organization that dominates all trade and uses as much cruelty and guile as any guild of thieves. Of course, Czerina’s servants also stalk the land, and none are more notorious or feared as her collector of taxes and tithes: the ancient Beleroth Haar an Thell. This tension between the factions will finally come to a head in the mighty city of Raffenburg, where the harsh taxation spurs a violent revolution that leaves the city caught in the throes of bloody clashes in the streets. Navigating these new dangers, the adventurers will catch Beleroth’s attention, who will extend to them an invitation they cannot refuse. He will take them to the heart of the domain, to the towering castle known as The Cairn, and it is there they shall awaken the dreaded vampire queen, Czerina Gavranova. When she rises, she will turn her attention upon the adventurers themselves, keen to torment and corrupt them so that they might become her champions, her agents that will spread her influence upon the Material Plane once again. Faced with such a threat, the heroes must brave the deadly reaches of the land, exploring ancient ruins and battling the abominations that lurk within. From undead monstrosities, to manufactured abominations, to grim creatures from the depths of the Feywilds, the adventurers must triumph over all in their quest to free the land of evil. And the further they delve into danger, the further they’ll unravel the eldritch mystery surrounding the land of Wreythau and its ruler, until at last they are ready to confront her once and for all... people needed as the extinction of her kingdom drew near. Yet, even as she rose as a savior, the forces of darkness found a way to spread their roots, and upon the eve of a profound betrayal, the darkness began to blossom. In the centuries since, Czerina has reigned as an immortal Queen of Blood, the tortured tyrant of twisted land that would make Barovia seem pleasant in comparison. If this entices the horror fan and roleplayer within you, then read on! Delve inside these pages and discover a campaign that will guide you and your players through a bleak, inhospitable landscape and send them hurtling into a desperate battle against a supernatural evil so great that it may devour their very souls. Or, should you wish it, raid and pillage the contents of these pages for dungeons, encounters, and twisted lore to add to your own Domain of Dread. No matter how you use this book you will find a trove of dark delights and thrilling dangers to enhance your games! Campaign Overview In the Domain of Dread known as Wreythau, the vampire queen Czerina Gavranova slumbers, tormented by fragmented dreams and the horrors of the past. Seeking to awaken their mistress, the servants of Czerina send forth their fleet of merchant ships to spread the cursed flowers of Gulthias and lure fresh blood back to their dark realm. Czerina senses the coming of the adventurers and in her troubled sleep summons a storm that leaves them shipwrecked. Battling ashore, the brave adventurers find themselves trapped in a deadly and unnatural land. The forests are filled with horrible creatures, cursed and twisted into parodies of human and beast. These are the beastfolk of the Old Faith, the persecuted and hunted tribes forced to raid and pillage and to conduct their obscene rituals in the shadows of the woods. Of course, there are other unnatural horrors that lurk along the highways and in the darkened corners of the wilderness, eager to make any
8 INTRODUCTION| Campaign Structure Ravenloft: Dread Realm of the Blood Queen, is a campaign module that will take an adventuring party of 4-5 players through levels 1-12. It is designed to allow as much freedom as possible, while still acknowledging the mechanics of the game, namely, that being challenge rating. Dungeon Masters and players should read through The Player’s Guide to Wreythau to determine what character options are allowed and which hooks best suit the party. Chapter 2. The Drowned Dead begins the adventure taking the characters on a harrowing journey from level 1 to level 3. Chapter 3. Leshehoff, picks up where Chapter 2 ended, and introduces the Beastfolk, the Inquisition, and the Court of Czerina itself. At the end of Chapter 3, the adventurers will have reached level 5, and will be taken to the Cairn, Czerina’s castle lair, where they will awaken the Blood Queen and begin their danse macabre. This is where Volume 1 ends. In the second volume (which will be published shortly after the first), the campaign opens up, presenting several new areas, each with their own wicked factions and brutal storylines, including a city gripped in the terror of revolutionary fervor, a town beset by the creatures of a mad alchemist, the haunted ruins of a dwarven city filled with undead monstrosities, a county ruled by werewolves, a fortress filled with vampiric knights, and the rest of the magnificent Cairn itself. Additionally, antagonists will be presented with scaled stat blocks in Volume 2 to help transform Ravenica into a sandbox rather than a group of areas blocked by Challenge Rating requirements. Milestones will be given for character progression, and it is highly recommended that milestone advancement is used instead of tracking experience. This way, the focus is on the narrative, and doesn’t penalize exploration or roleplaying. Ultimately it is at the Dungeon Master’s discretion, though adapting to the flow of the narrative with milestones usually makes for a better experience. That said, the natural progression would be the following: HOW TO USE THIS BOOK In the Players’ Guide To Wreythau, you will find optional character creation rules as well as story hooks for character’s backgrounds and classes, providing a host of options and inspiration to meaningfully tie characters to the setting and story of the campaign. Additionally, players will find advice on creating positive character motivations and dealing with the dark and deadly challenges of the campaign. In Chapter 1, Welcome to the Dread Realm of Wreythau, you will be introduced to the Domain of Dread itself. At the start of the chapter you’ll be introduced to Wreythau’s Dark Power and it’s Dark Lady, with a summary of their history, psychology, and how they interact with the players. This is followed by a detailed timeline of the Domain to help you learn it’s history, along with more focused glimpses into the Domain’s history to help flesh out important events, organizations, and places. This leads into an exploration of the people of Wreythau and the Volume 1 Level 1-3 Ch 2. The Drowned Dead Level 3-5 Ch 3. Leshehoff Level 5 Ch 4. The Cairn (visit) Volume 2 Level 5-6 Ch 5 - 6. Raffenburg + Revolution Level 6 - 8 Ch 7. The Silver Graves Level 8 - 9 Ch 8. Inbarev and the Drowned Basin Level 9 - 10 Ch 9. Wolf Lake and Ch 10. Frey’s Rest Level 11-12 Ch 10. The Cairn
9 INTRODUCTION| important factions that have formed through the centuries, and ends with a curated selection of encounters that will help bring Wreythau to life. Chapter 2, The Drowned Dead, will guide you through an introductory adventure that helps establish the Blood Queen, Czerina Gavranova, and helps set the tone and atmosphere of the campaign. This adventure will open with the introduction of a supernatural plague, a deliberate attack upon the material plane. As the characters follow the trail of evidence they will board a ship that secretly belongs to their enemies, followed by a supernatural storm that shipwrecks the players and forces them to cross a haunted ship graveyard in order to find safety ashore. And all the while the haunted echoes of the bloodstained past craft the mystery of the Dark Lady responsible for it all. This chapter will take adventurers through levels 1 to 3. Chapter 3, Leshehoff, and will introduce the first major region of Wreythau, as well as feature all of its plot-hooks, encounters, dungeons, and lore. The adventurers will discover a region beset by conflict and hidden plots. A village of part human, part beast outcast lurks in the midst of the wilderness, an eldritch protector trying to save them from the coming fires of war. Meanwhile, the only bastion of civilization in the region, a town ruled by a militaristic Baroness, is plagued town plagued from without by marauders, and plagued from within by the presence of the forces of a bloodthirsty Inquisition. As tensions mount, the adventurers must choose sides, deciding the fate of the region itself. This chapter will take adventurers through levels 4 and 5. Chapter 4, The Cairn, presents an epilogue for Volume 1, bringing the adventurers to a dramatic confrontation with Czerina Gavranova, the Blood Queen herself. The adventurers will gain a greater insight into the history of the Dark Lady, as well as come to understand the true nature of the evil controlling the land. WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE HORROR ANYWAYS? There’s a lot of research that’s been done on the question why people like horror, but of all the explanations I’ve read, my favorite two are below: Excitation Transfer: Scary stuff tugs at our fight-or-flight response, which releases various chemicals such as adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine. These powerful chemicals stew together in our brains and make us feel excited, and on edge, but when our brains recognize that we’re not actually in any danger because that the threat isn’t real, that’s when we relax and are left with all those “feel good” chemicals still in our brain. Obviously, everyone’s brain is different, but for some, this is why horror is such a fun genre to explore!
10 INTRODUCTION| Catharsis: That’s right, it’s not just for sadness, anger, or grief! Sure, catharsis is great for those emotions, but it applies to other emotions, too. When we encounter a story, or other work of art, that evokes something that we are struggling to process, that is when catharsis kicks in and helps us to experience what has been troubling us in a safe and controlled way. This allows us to process it in a new context, one more removed from the reasons why we’re struggling in the first place, and that helps us to work towards a resolution. This applies to horror, where catharsis helps us to process our anxiety, trauma, and other forms of stress. The world can be a horrible place in a lot of ways, so having a genre that helps us to process our experiences is incredibly important. For a roleplaying game, that can be even more powerful, as rpgs have been reported by many people to have wonderfully therapeutic aspects all on their own. Additionally, as Stephen King once conceptualized it, horror also allows us to experience catharsis for that primeval part of our brains that were once hunter and hunted. It taps into that visceral aspect of our psyches that told our ancestors to pick up branches and stones and go bring down animals, as well as the part that knew we could also become prey for animals red in tooth and claw. That’s just a theory, of course, but either way, it’s one more example of why catharsis is an important aspect of why we love horror stories. ATMOSPHERE An overwhelming, supernatural evil. A dark, oppressive, and deadly landscape. These are the foundations of gothic horror, but also happen to appear in many other D&D adventures. What is a dungeon, after all, if not a dark and oppressive landscape hiding some foul evil within? Obviously, though, there’s a big difference between a horror adventure and your typical high fantasy fare, and that difference is always due (at least in part) to the atmosphere. The atmosphere (or mood, as it’s often known) is absolutely essential for evoking the right experience for you and your group. Without it, the soul wrenching evil you’ve fought so hard to establish might end up looking like a guest star on What We Do in the Shadows, and as entertaining as that might be, it’s really only fun if that’s what you intended. Otherwise...it’s disappointing, to say the least. Thankfully, though, atmosphere isn’t just something you have to achieve, it is also a tool that you can use, and a very powerful one at that. For a gothic horror adventure, the atmosphere that you want to create is simple: an atmosphere of fear. But what is fear? Ultimately, fear is about the stress that builds in response to a threat. Everything from economic troubles, to relationship doubts, or even the possibility of bloody dismemberment: all are threatening in their own way and all create varying degrees of stress that we must cope with. Thus is fear. But, by playing with the nature of the imaginary threats your party faces, you’ll be able to not only create stress, but manage it as well, turning the atmosphere itself into a potent tool for your games. Just remember, too little stress and the atmosphere becomes laughable, too much stress and you start to lose the fun. But don’t worry, there is a framework and a system that you can use to help you harness and navigate this atmosphere of fear, so take heart and read on! THE THREE ELEMENTS OF FEAR 1. Unease: the first element of fear, the sense that something is VERY WRONG. This is when the stress begins to build. Subtle clues are used to hint at a threat, and as the players recognize and respond to this threat the stress grows. 2. Dread: the second element of fear, building off of the first, is based on finding evidence that YES, something is VERY WRONG, and danger is near. This is the confirmation of unease, finding clear evidence that a threat is near. This is where the stress begins to near its peak. 3. Resolve: the third and final element of fear is when the danger is finally upon you! The stress
11 INTRODUCTION| spikes, but is quickly resolved as the party copes with the situation at hand. If this is in response to a physical threat, the party will likely cope with their terror by brutally killing the threat, or perhaps running away. If this is a more existential threat, then horror will settle in over a longer period as the party plots and strategizes. Regardless, you’ll need to return to using unease and dread to once more generate stress. Remember, the purpose of this framework is to help you create and manage stress for your players, thus heightening the excitement and thrills of the campaign, as well as establishing a spooky, frightening, and otherwise horrifying atmosphere. Just remember, this process isn’t as simple as 1, 2, 3. Element one, unease, is always first, but you’ll want to alternate between dread and unease to build and manage stress during the adventure. Stress shouldn’t be near the peak all the time, after all. Players need a chance to relax, to explore other important dynamics of the story and their party cohesion, and otherwise have some fun. If not, you’ll be facing severe burn out. Remember, contrast is good. Let your group relax at times, and then use unease and dread to ease them back into the atmosphere of fear for the campaign. Having a variety of stress is much, much, much more important than having really high levels all the time. Personally, I like to think back to The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) film as an example. After almost getting brutally murdered by ancient, cursed wraiths, Frodo and company get to chill in Rivendell with the elves before setting off again. Then you get an increasingly harrowing journey, culminating in the shadowed halls of Moria, a party member is cut down, and then you get Lothlorien and Galadriel before they face more violence and betrayal. In other words, by allowing moments of wonder and relaxation you’ll help re-invigorate your party as well as create contrast that keeps the horror refreshing! For a more detailed example of this process at work, read Ch. 2 The Drowned Dead. The Genius of Ash Law • For those wishing for a more detailed analysis of how to use fear in roleplaying games, find a copy of Ash Law’s “The Trajectory of Fear - How to Use Horror Tropes Effectively in your Game”. The elements below were inspired by Law, although she provides a different conception than what you’ll find in this book. Nonetheless, it is an excellent read and gives very detailed examples and a more in-depth look at the aspects of fear and stress. Highly recommended. The Importance of Normality •One incredibly important thing to understand about the elements of fear is that they rely upon a foundation of “normality”. Or, to put it another way, the story needs to start out grounded in a sense of the ordinary. Then, as the players pick up on the unnatural hints and clues around them, this will create a contrast that induces stress. This is why there’s such an obsession with ‘realism’ in ‘dark and gritty’ stories. By establishing a sense of the real, or ordinary, there is a greater contrast and thus greater stress. This is also why many horror movies begin by featuring the very ordinary aspects of the setting and the characters before introducing all the creepy children, unsettling music cues, and other techniques that create unease. • Obviously, for a fantasy adventure game, “ordinary”, “normal”, or “real” looks a little bit different than it does in our daily lives. What’s important, however, is establishing a baseline before you introduce the unnatural and unsettling. See Ch. 2 for a more detailed example.
12 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Mayhaps you’ve seen it out there in the deeps, an island, floating where none should be, shrouded in fog and crowned with a writhing mass storm clouds blacker than night. They say it is a cursed island, a foul land that hungers for the very souls of all who dare set foot upon it. Mayhaps those are just tales, aye, but such tales are told far beyond this land, here. In every port they whisper of that blasted island, wreathed in crackling lightning and the howl of storm winds. They say that under the light of the moon, a fleet of ships sail from there, carrying wonders and riches fit for kings in their holds, all meant to tempt the unwary and curry favor with those in power. But for what purpose, you must ask, do these ships sail from an island that drifts ‘round the world? What purpose do they have, selling their marvels and curiosities? Be they traders of beauty and wonder, marvelous beings from beyond our ken? Or be they monsters in disguise, horrors just waiting to peel back their masks and laugh as we cower before their true faces? I’ve heard many things about that island that appears like a wave of fog itself, an island ringed with jagged cliffs and bristling with woods as thick and dark as the most inhospitable wilderness you’ve ever seen. I’ve heard that there are things in those woods that would empty the bowels of even the most battle-scarred warrior, unnatural creatures twisted and warped by a power so foul that not even the devils themselves will treat with them. But what secrets do they guard? What treasures might lurk at the heart of the island? They say there is a palace there, as well. A grand structure the like of which has never been seen anywhere else, and that a river of silver and platinum flow ‘round it in a mighty moat. It is Player’s Guide to Wreythau
13 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| like to just be a story, aye, though I’ve seen the ingots that come from the holds of those ships. Oh, aye, I have. I used to work as a stevedore in Waterdeep, I did, and I saw them with my own eyes, big, fat ingots shining like the scales of Bahamut himself, and stamped with the face of a Raven. They say that’s the sign of their Queen, a great sorceress and warrior as old as time itself, that she moves the island and wields the power of nature for herself. Those are like to just be stories, of course, told to a gullible stevedore, though I’ve always wondered what other mysteries and secrets must lurk in that land. Of course, I’m not the sort brave enough to venture forth and sail to that land. Aye, and then there’s me hands, too. Lost them I did, near a week after those ships sailed into port. Helped unload crates and crates of flowers, brilliant crimson things, though foul with pollen they were. It was red as blood, that pollen, and it stained my fingers and palms for days. My skin began to itch, and over the days my flesh began to rot before me eyes. Lost them both, I did, though I was saved the worst of it. My mate breathed in a lungful of the stuff, and they say he went mad. Attacked a man in a tavern, sinking his teeth into that poor sods neck, and that the guards had to behead him as he rampaged through the tavern, a dozen knives already in his back. Horrible, horrible way to go. Worse, too, because of the widow and children he left behind. I suppose losing a pair of hands is nothing next to that, though should you ever see that island appear, or see those ships sail into the harbor, a Raven with its wings spread in flight upon the sails, well, take care, lest you meet a dark fate. Now, how about another round for a poor old stevedore, eh? My throat is dry, and I have many more stories to tell! - Brontus Colfax, wandering storyteller There are many legends that float across the lands of a mysterious island ruled by an Undying Queen. They say it is a land of great treasures and mysteries, offering power and wealth to those with the courage and determination to claim it, yet how many of those who have ventured to its shores ever come back? Can anyone say? All that is known is that the island is known as Wreythau to those who call it home, and that trouble often appears in the ports that its merchants visit, yet its goods are so rare and valuable that the trouble is often overlooked. Will you be brave enough to investigate what others don’t dare? Will you take up the sword with an oath against evil upon your lips, or dreams of mystical power swirling through your mind? In short, will you embrace the call of adventure? If so, then venture forth, for the Dread Realm of the Blood Queen awaits! In this player’s guide you’ll be provided with alternate character creation options, hooks for character backgrounds and classes, a preview of powerful, scaling relics, and tips on writing character motivations and other roleplaying advice to help you on your adventure! Advanced Character Creation Options Characters that venture forth into Wreythau will face great evils and powerful foes, and as such, must be powerful exemplars of might and magic in their own right. For this reason, it’s recommended that the following optional character creation rules are used, though only with your DM’s permission. These rules are designed to help establish an even balance between party members as well as provide better odds for survival in the deadly challenges and trials to come.
14 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Ability Scores Instead of having your party roll for stats, it is encouraged that you use the following modified standard array: 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8. Players will distribute these scores as they see fit, prioritizing the abilities most important for their character. This is a notable powerful array, but given the high stakes of the campaign, this will provide players with the most balanced challenge. For those that prefer to roll their ability scores, it is suggested that they still begin with one score at 18, and then roll for the other five ability scores using the standard 4d6, drop the lowest, though with the additional rule of re-rolling any dice roll that results in a score below 8. Luck is fickle, after all, and a score of 5 or 6 in an ability will likely mean death for that character. Finally, for those that prefer to instead use the point buy method, it is still suggested that one ability score starts at 18, and the following five ability scores are purchased using a pool of 27 points, with the cost for each score listed in the table below. For example, this could provide a stat array of: 18, 15, 15, 13, 12, 8 or even 18, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12, 8. Score Cost 8 0 9 1 10 2 11 3 12 4 13 5 14 7 15 9 For DM’s wary about how powerful this will make the players, fear not, this has been accounted for in the design of the module. And, for those DMs that prefer to make things even more challenging for their party (and this will make things more challenging), then standard ability score generation can be used. An Adventure born, or an Adventurer forged… With the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, modular character creation options for lineages in D&D have finally become official! Of course, there are those who dislike this flexible, complex means of generating their character’s racial abilities and bonuses, but this section isn’t written for them. If you like using standard D&D lineages, then please use what you find the most enjoyable. For those that prefer having more diversity in your games, however, then modular racial design is an exciting new option, and for this module customization is greatly encouraged. Remember, more options not only means more mechanical synergy, it can also mean more options that will enhance roleplay, too. After all, mechanics are what help us to interact with the world of the game itself! Sure, you don’t need mechanics to interact with the world, but they can provide us with exciting opportunities that help us and inspire us to use our imaginations in new ways. So, if you’re intrigued, read on! If not, then feel free to skip the following section. It’s an experiment, if nothing else, and is by no means required. However, if your Dungeon Master has given you permission, and you’d like to experiment, then first, use the Custom Lineage options presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Secondly, each player will also choose one character creation feat. Character creation feats are feats that can only be chosen during character creation, and are meant to provide characters with abilities that are commonly found as part of standard racial bonuses (like fly speed), but are not part of standard feats. This will allow players to further customize their characters, coming up with new and fantastical creatures that they can play as, or allowing for more fantastical backstories, while also helping to provide more balance for the party itself. Not all features are created equal, after all, and yet character creation
15 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| feats have been tailored to provide parity as much as possible while still remaining unique and useful for every player. CHARACTER CREATION FEATS Flight Adept: Your character has been blessed with the ability to fly, whether due to possessing literal wings, such as those of a bird, butterfly, or pixie, or they’ve been blessed with an enchantment that allows them to temporarily escape the tyranny of gravity. • Activating this ability takes 1 action. This ability lasts for 1 hour, and can only be used again after a long rest. • When this ability is active you gain a flight speed equal to 10ft. This increases to 20ft at 5th level, and 40ft at 12th level. • You can use the dash action to double your flight speed for that turn. Climbing Adept: Your character has been blessed with the supernatural ability to climb almost any surface. Perhaps you were raised by creatures dwelling among the trees, or on the faces of perilous cliffs and have learned special techniques and tools that allow you to scale most any obstacle. Or, perhaps this ability is the result of a blessing from some divine or eldritch being, or the result of magical contamination seeping into your body. • Activating this ability takes 1 action. This ability lasts for 1 hour, and can only be used again after a long rest. • When this ability is active you gain a climbing speed equal to 15ft. This increases to 20ft at 5th level, and equal to your walking speed 12th level. • You can use the dash action to double your climbing speed for that turn. Swimming Adept: You were raised in an aquatic environment that allowed you to develop the ability to traverse aquatic environments like the creatures of the deep. Or, perhaps your parents or distant ancestors were creatures of the deep themselves, or you gained the blessing of a supernatural being tied to aquatic environments. • Activating this ability takes 1 action. This ability lasts for 1 hour and can only be used again after a long rest. • When this ability is active you gain the ability to hold your breath for as long as the ability lasts. • When this ability is active you gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. The duration of the ability increases to 8 hours at 5th level. At 12th level this ability is considered always active, and no longer requires resting. • You can use the dash action to double your swimming speed. A Dash of Magic: Whether you learned this trick from a mentor, a tome, or observation, or whether it is an innate ability granted by your ancestry or some higher power, you can perform a dash of magic. How this magic appears depends on the origin of the ability. A magical creature might cast ray of
16 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| frost as a breath weapon, or shocking grasp as a natural ability. Let your imagination set the limits, though be consistent once the origin and manifestation of this ability is chosen. • You learn one cantrip from the Wizard spell list. Choose between Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as the spellcasting ability for this cantrip. • This cantrip improves for you at 5th, 11th, and 17th levels just as it would for a magic caster. Dangerous over short distances: You’ve become a natural sprinter, whether due to extensive training, your natural physiology, or adapting to extreme environments. • In combat, you can double your movement speed for one round. • This ability refreshes after you have not moved for one round. Natural Resistance: You are able to withstand adverse conditions that would put other creatures into a fresh grave. • You gain resistance to one elemental damage of your choice from the following list: fire, cold, acid, lightning, or poison. Tough Hide: Whether due to a hyper-developed survival instinct or an altered anatomy that includes scales, horns, bony protrusions, or other means of natural defense, you’ve become very hard to hit. • You gain +1 to AC. Blind Sense: Either as a physiological response to total darkness, or advanced sensory training, you have developed the ability of limited Blind Sense. • At first level, you have 10ft. of Blind Sense. This increases to 15 ft. at 5th level, and 30 feet at 10th level. Haunted By a Past Life Through deep meditation and connection to the cosmos, a freak magical accident, possession, or having been resurrected, you have a connection to a past life that haunts you. • At character creation, choose one additional Background. You gain all the benefits of this Background. Martial Training Due to brutal military training or a martial upbringing you have become a proficient warrior. • You become proficient in one Fighting Style of your choice. Relentless Endurance
17 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Due to physiological resilience, the result of merciless training, or supernatural willpower, you didn’t hear no bell. • Whenever an attack would bring you to 0 hp, you instead drop to 1 hp instead. You cannot use this ability again until you finish a short or long rest. Natural Jumper Are your legs made of springs? Perhaps. Most likely, you’re simply a highly evolved or highly trained jumper. Your long jump and high jump distances are doubled. Character Motivation in a Gothic Horror Setting Horror campaigns are strange beasts that require a little more thought than your average campaign. While your character is still a hero, they’re also a hero that should react to creatures and events that invoke dread, and abhorrence, and disgust. Your character is a hero, but also a hero that will taste failure, and that will have to cope with more danger and gloom than your average adventurer gallivanting around the Sword Coast. In fact, that’s one of the major differences between a Gothic Horror campaign and a more standard high fantasy one: the sense of alienation. The world your character will step into will be strange and hostile and entirely not the kind of place any sane person would want to be. So, the question is, what kind of characters thrive in Gothic Horror settings? Obviously there are many answers to that question, but if you’re not sure how to answer that question, then allow me to offer a good rule of thumb: desperate characters do well in a Gothic Horror setting. Characters that are desperate are characters that are willing to face hardship and overcome failure. Characters that are desperate are willing to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes, and desperate characters are also those who don’t rely upon the status quo to protect them. Desperation can also manifest in many different ways. A desperate character can also appear as a very driven character, or even a very naive character. Someone suddenly forced out of their life and forced to adapt to a new reality can be an excellent character for a horror game, as there is a great deal of room to grow and react to dreadful events as they happen. Alternatively, a very curious character can also make for a wonderful adventurer in a horror game. Sure, they say that curiosity killed the cat, but that’s kind of the point of a horror game, isn’t it? Something is trying to kill you. So, congratulations, you’re already leaning into the setting. What’s more, there’s a lot of similarities between a driven character and a curious character. There are a lot of things that can make a person driven or curious, whether it’s boredom or there’s a specific threat pushing them in one direction or another. Lastly, ensure that, whatever your character motivations are, they amount to something more than escape. Gothic Horror is all about exploring a mysterious, alienating landscape. The want to run away from that landscape makes perfect sense, but is also absolutely terrible for the game itself. This includes having strong backstory ties to
18 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| something besides the campaign. Have an archnemesis that’s just part of your backstory and not in the game? Surprise, you’re gonna have a bad time, your DM is gonna have a bad time, everyone is going to have a bad time. Ensure that your motivations directly tie into the campaign itself. Ensure that your motivations encourage you to engage with the campaign and the other players and characters at the table. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing: engagement. As long as your motivation encourages you to be engaged, you’re gonna have a good time. Take a look at the character hooks below to get a better idea of the points illustrated above, as well as inspire you as you think up your character. The hooks are organized by background and class. Feel free to choose one, or both, or neither. Whatever inspires you. And, once you’ve chosen a hook, or thought of one on your own, make sure to coordinate with your DM so that you can collaborate on an engaging story for the whole group.
19 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Acolyte The god, pantheon, or divine being you’ve spent your life in service to has begun to send you an endless stream of apocalyptic nightmares. Every night you awaken with the screams of entire civilizations ringing in your ears. You see legions of the dead marching upon cities, you see some foul corruption warping the forests and fields, twisting the animals into horrible perversions of themselves, and at the center of all of it are the crimson petals of a flower you’ve never seen before. You don’t understand this warning, but have begun to follow the trail of this strange flower, and have heard that it grows in only one place: a mysterious island known as Wreythau. Charlatan Someone has begun to impersonate you! Or rather, to impersonate your false identity, and you’ve been framed for a series of terrible crimes. All you know is that you’re now wanted in several kingdoms, and that the villain behind this all is a part of something called “The Wreythian Merchant Consortium”. If you have any chance of clearing your name or putting a stop to this, you must find out what’s going on. Criminal Maybe you stole from, or accidentally killed the wrong person. Maybe you betrayed a powerful friend, or a crime lord simply wants to make an example of you. Now there’s a massive bounty on your head and “alive” wasn’t listed as an option. You know that your only hope of evading the assassins on your trail is to get off the continent by any means necessary. Criminal (Spy) Your employer was killed. Assassinated by a poison laced into a bottle of ink. The trail is cold, but you have one clue: the merchants who sold the ink. They call themselves the Wreythian Merchant Consortium, though you suspect there’s more lurking behind that facade. Entertainer You’ve struggled for years to get noticed, to play somewhere fitting to your talents and scrape in a living better than a few handfuls of copper every now and then. And it’s finally happened! You attracted the notice of a Queen! She wants you to come and play for her and her court, except... you’re not sure how to get there. Where the hell is Wreythau, anyways? All you know is the messenger who gave you the offer of patronage also presented you with a real signet ring and a downpayment of 50 gold for travel expenses, so it has to be real, doesn’t it? Entertainer (Gladiator) You made a name for yourself protecting your village from monsters, until one night under the full moon. You were bitten by a werewolf, and though a local healer’s herbs have helped you delay your transformation, you desperately search for a cure. You’ve heard of a noble family in the foreign land of Wreythau that might have what you seek: the Reinwalds. Folk Hero You made a name for yourself protecting your village from monsters, until one night under the full moon. You were bitten by a werewolf, and though a local healer’s herbs have helped you delay your transformation, you desperately search for a cure. You’ve heard of a noble family in the foreign land of Wreythau that might have what you seek: the Reinwalds. Guild Artisan You were a simple apprentice in a guild, but now you’re a criminal on the run from the law. You built something using special materials found only in Wreythau and your creation turned into something monstrous! You were blamed for the deaths, and now your life is in ruins. CHARACTER BACKGROUND HOOKS
20 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Guild Artisan (Guild Merchant Your entire guild was slaughtered. They said it was just a fire, but you were inside the building as it burned, you knew someone had been blocking the doors. And then there was the message: a single coin from the land of Wreythau. Your guild had been having trouble with some sort of Merchant Consortium flying the colors of Wreythau, and you’re positive those murderous cheats must be behind this. Hermit You lived a peaceful life in the wilderness. That is, until you started to notice that something was amiss. The animals and plants had begun to act strangely. Something was corrupting them, turning them into monstrous perversions of all that you loved. Unable to find the source, you knew the only way to stop the spread was to burn all that you loved. Now, you search for the source of that which destroyed your home. Noble You’ve been married off. You don’t want it, but you’re a noble, and arranged marriages are the key to securing your family’s wealth and power, so who cares what you want? Well, obviously, you care, and now you’re on the run, forced to confront a world without all the wealth and privilege you’re used to, all in the name of freedom itself. You know your family has hired bounty hunters to drag you back in chains, no matter how gilded they might be. Noble (Knight) Your honor has been stained, your order and your family shamed. You ran from a duel. No matter that you had skewered your opponent and all they did was laugh. No matter that to stay was to surely die. You ran, and that’s all that matters. Now the only way to reclaim your honor is to defeat the champion of that dark knight’s Order, and that means traveling to Wreythau. Outlander You’ve heard of a land filled with flora and fauna unlike anywhere else. But why? What’s caused this strange land of Wreythau to produce such strange wildlife? The only way to find out is to venture there and discover the secrets of the land for yourself. Sage You’ve been on the hunt for the Book of Vile Darkness for the majority of your life. Perhaps you seek to destroy it, or lock it away where it can never harm anyone ever again. Or, perhaps you seek to unlock its mysteries and take its power for yourself, power that could unlock even greater secrets of the multiverse. Either way, you’ve finally tracked it’s last known location down: the fabled island kingdom of Wreythau. Sailor/Sailor (Pirate) You thought it was just the stuff of legend, one of the many tall tales that float across the seas. But then an old crewmate contacted you. Said they’d found it, that Wreythay was real, and that fantastic treasures awaited any brave enough to sail to it. They told you to find a ship, The Pelican, and that it would be your best chance to find the mythical isle of Wreythau. Soldier Your unit has been disbanded. Too many casualties. You helped fight off a plague, but now that the mass graves have been dug and the kingdom is left in shambles, there’s no more place for you. But your duty hasn’t ended. You know that plague wasn’t natural. No disease makes the dead walk. No disease spreads that quickly. No simple disease is responsible for all the death you witnessed. Someone, or something, else is responsible, and you’re going to find them. Urchin Law, Honor, Good, Evil, they’re all just meaningless words when you’re starving to death in the gutter. You do what you need to do in order to survive, and damn those who would judge you for it. If there’s a chance to make money, a chance to find a way to do more than survive, well, you’ll grab it with both hands, nevermind the consequences.
21 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU|
22 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| CHARACTER CLASS HOOKS Artificer You’ve heard rumors about an artificer that can do what others cannot. A true master of alchemy and engineering, the wonders he crafts far surpass any master still living. He dwells in a Barony known as Inbarev on the mythical island of Wreythau. Barbarian You know not peace. No matter how hard you might try, your life will be one of rage and bloodshed and until the day you die. Why not venture into a land cursed with violence and terror? Why not brave the dark and see how many monsters you can take with you? Bard Over a thousand years ago an entire empire was wiped off the map. What was the cause, and what other secrets, mysteries, and stories might lie between here and the answer? As far as you can tell, the mythical island of Wreythau holds all the answers you seek. Cleric Your god or goddess has heard a cry for help, and sent you in answer. Are you prepared for this sacred duty, or do you feel as though you will buckle beneath the weight? Druid The spirits of the wild have begun to grow troubled. Unnatural corruption has begun to spread across the world. For now it is contained, but if the source is not found, all could be threatened. Fighter You’ve heard of a legendary weapon of great power, long thought to be lost. But a drunkard you met in a tavern knew of this weapon, claimed to have seen it with his own eyes in the bowels of a wrecked ship. You travel to Wreythau to claim it for your own and forge your own legend. Monk Your master has been brought low, their meditations corrupted by some eldritch force you do not understand. You gathered bits and pieces of information from the ramblings that spilled from between their cracked lips, and now you search for the danger they spoke of, the dark spirit known as Czernobog. Paladin Vampires. Werewolves. Monsters crafted from flesh. They’ve begun to appear along the coasts, brought to the continent by a mysterious fleet of Merchant ships, though for what purpose? Ranger You hunt monsters. The more dangerous, the more rare, the better. It just so happens you’ve heard of a kingdom absolutely full of them, and you’re eager to get there. Rogue Though you might not work a trade as others would understand it, you’re a professional, and you can’t help but recognize the work of others like yourself. Recently, you’ve been stumbling onto a lot of their work, a floating thieves guild disguised as a merchant fleet. They call themselves a Merchant Consortium, but you know what they really are. Sorcerer You were found as an orphan, washed up on the tide, clutching a coin with a raven stamped upon it. You’ve never known where the coin was from until recently when a shopkeep handed one back to you. Now you know: you hail from a land known as Wreythau. Warlock Your soul is forfeit. You struck a bargain you shouldn’t have, and have searched long and hard for a way to save your soul. Finally, you’ve found it, a tale of a Queen that cheated the fey themselves of what they are owed. Certainly if she could do it, you could, too. All you have to do is hope she left a record of how she accomplished this so long ago, and what better place to look than her kingdom, the island of Wreythau? Wizard You’ve heard the tales of Wreythau and believe there is more truth to them than most believe. Obviously, there is great magic at work, magic that can be studied, learned, and known. All you have to do is travel there to witness it for yourself.
23 PLAYER’S GUIDE TO WREYTHAU| Making the Best of a Bad Situation One final point that I want to discuss is that being a player in a horror game, especially a gothic horror game, is not only about being a hero, it’s also about making the best out of a bad situation. You will face horrendous challenges. Your characters will experience suffering. The path forward will often be clouded and uncertain. What’s important is recognizing that, at the end of the day, you are meant to overcome those challenges, you are meant to find the path forward, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t struggle along the way. And that struggle is good. What good is a hero without struggle? Without danger? Or, more importantly, without failure? After all, failure is how we learn. It’s by failing that we figure out what we need to do to succeed. So don’t look at failure or challenge as negative things. Look at them as part of what makes your character a hero. For instance, say that you and your fellow adventurers run into a powerful villain that just seems to be begging for a beatdown. Immediately picking a fight would probably lead to failure, though that failure would teach you about that villain and what they’re capable of. It would give you a chance to plan for your next encounter, as well as gain more strength until you go back to fight them again. It was that failure that allowed you to learn about the villain and that failure that made that villain all the more important because they already triumphed once before. So as you walk into the game, plan for failure. Think about how your character might react to losing a fight, or failing to achieve an objective. How would they react and how can that reaction make the story all the better? If you can do that, you’re going to have an awesome time, even as your characters are scarred by the brutal story they’re delving into. Lastly, one other thing to consider is that it is the times when we struggle that we most need the support of those around us. Thankfully, Dungeons and Dragons is a game built around the concept of the adventuring party, a found family of heroes and misfits that must rely on each other in order to succeed. This makes the bond that your characters have with one another incredibly important, and it means that, in addition to thinking about how awesome our characters are, we also need to answer the question of what’s awesome about the other characters, as well. When we have that answer, that helps us form a strong and positive dynamic that truly makes the game more fun. That’s the beauty of pen and paper roleplaying games, after all: we get to tell stories with our friends instead of by ourselves. So put effort into your character, but also put effort into the other characters, and this will make your party all the stronger. Soon, it doesn’t matter how brutal the struggle is, as you’ll have the support of each other. So, remember to make the best of a bad situation. Plan for failure and learn from it. Take heart, work with your fellow players, and remember that the harder the struggle, the sweeter the victory. Enjoy exploring the wonders and horrors of Wreythau!
24 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Dark storm clouds roil and loom over the island kingdom of Wreythau, threatening to unleash a torrent of driving rain and merciless lashes of lightning and thunder. The freezing seas seeth around it, jagged rocks jutting from the surf like the broken teeth of a foul beast from the beneath the sea. The wind begins to rise, tearing across the land in a furious gale, rattling shutters and tearing shingles from roofs as it sweeps through the city and villages, sending the populace scurrying for cover like too many rats. Even the great timbers of the island’s dense forests groan and tremble as they’re buffeted by the wind, a furious green wave writhing across their canopies with the fury of the storm. Something is stirring. Something that has long slumbered is beginning to come awake. As thunder booms and echoes across the land, furious strikes of lighting tear down from the blackened sky as freezing sheets of rain begin to pound down into the churning surf and over the mud, rock, and mortared stone of the island itself. As the storm rages, a voice can be heard riding upon the wind. Faint and ethereal, and just at the edge of hearing, whispering fell musings to all with the courage and the will to listen. This is the voice of Czerina Gavranova, the Dark Lady of Wreythau and its reigning vampire queen. Lost in the depths of an unnatural slumber, Czerina beholds all, and yet dreams, her restless mind stirring the elements of rain and wind, lightning and tide, into an unnatural tempest across her dread domain. Welcome to Wreythau. Chapter 1 Welcome to Wreythau
25 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU The Dark Power The Dread Domain of Wreythau is ruled not just by its dark mistress, but also twisted and influenced by the Dark Power known as Czernobog. Long ago, before cities were built of stone and forges tasted metal, Czernobog was a dark spirit of field and forest, hated and feared. It was the reason why hunters disappeared into the depths of the woods, never to return. It was the reason crops became blighted, why livestock would turn upon their owners with crushing hooves and gnashing teeth. It was the terror of the wilderness and the wrath of nature combined. All feared it, yet almost none understood it, and for ages it grew in power, feasting off of the death and suffering it caused. Thus, in some ways, the rise of civilization was itself a devastating blow against Czernobog, diminishing its power. With the rise of the first cities, it seemed as though the peoples of the land would find safety from this dark spirit. No longer was it a cursed name whispered in fearful prayers, and soon it became nothing but a myth often forgotten. And yet, even though it was weakened, Czernobog did not go away. Instead, it learned of new ways to feed and thrive. When dwarves and gnomes carved into the earth with greed in their hearts, Czernobog was the stone waiting to fall and crush their skulls. When humans and orcs brought axes to the forests, Czernobog was there, waiting to drink the blood spilled by elven arrows and the beasts of the land. And, when great armies met in the field to stain the soil red, Czernobog feasted and only grew stronger. Now, as with many of the Dark Powers, the exact nature of Czernobog is hard to define, but a few things are clear. For one, it is a being that feeds off of death and suffering, and has grown immensely powerful. For another, it is tied in some fashion to nature and creation itself. Bough and stone, fang and thorn, this is where Czernobog’s influence is most often felt, but not exclusively. Which is to say, its influence extends farther than most would dare dream. Even the mightiest of cities rely upon grain and meat, as well as wood and stone, and fuel, metal, gems, and all that makes civilization possible. And, when a civilization demands more and more of these things, with no regards for the cruelty or suffering that is caused, well, that is when Czernobog is at its strongest. It imbues itself into all of these things, its corruption thriving even as they are refined, processed, and turned into something else. It becomes the knife that always seems to cut its owner. The painting which inspires insanity. The cobblestones stained with years of blood from the headsman’s axe. It is all of these things and more. Of course, there are other Gods, along with any number of other powerful forces throughout the planes, all of whom help to limit Czernobog’s influence. Thus the Dark Power is actively suppressed and pushed to the fringes of the cosmos, and that is why it sought to create its own dark realm, a place where it could reign supreme, or at least, that was its wish. The other Dark Powers also vie for influence and control of its Dread Domain, and ultimately, it is the material plane which hosts the greatest amount Why not Vampyr? • Czerina Gavranova is the Vampire Queen, right, so why isn’t the Dark Power just Vampyr? Well, who says all vampires are the same? Instead of attempting to define that which was left intentionally vague, I turned to a different Dark Power, one that still belongs in Ravenloft, yet one which we could explore in as much depth as we wanted. I, personally, always wanted better descriptions of the dark powers so that I could gain a better understanding, though I recognize it is important to leave room for ambiguity so that others can create and fill in the gaps that they see. So it is that Czerina’s vampirism comes from a dark power tied to nature, death, and suffering, emphasizing the cruel and predatory aspect of the vampire rather than the undead portion. Of course, as the one running the module, it’s really up to you. If you prefer Vampyr, there’s nothing stopping you.
26 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU of souls ripe for the taking. Thus, ultimately, Czernobog’s goal isn’t to dwell only within its own demiplane, but rather to gain access to the material plane once again and continue to feast off of the suffering and death until it can challenge and consume the gods themselves. The Dark Lady: Czerina Gavranova Originally, Czerina Gavranova was conceived as a female equivalent to Strahd von Zarovich, and while she can absolutely still serve that purpose for your Curse of Strahd games, the more I delved into her history, and the more I delved into all of those half formed shadows that I wanted to explore, the more Czerina became something far more. Now, she is very much her own dark champion, driven by a unique psychology and obsession with her own ambitions, and so it is my delight to introduce her to you: Czerina Gavranova, the Blood Queen of Wreythau, herself! Below you will find a section summarizing Czerina’s history, a section on her goals and roleplaying advice for DMs. The Blood Queen’s History In the now dead kingdom of Nostrovishte, there a daughter was born to two cruel nobles, the Boyar Gavran I and his wife, Boyarina Evengja III. This was a great shame for both, as in their barbaric, patriarchal kingdom, only men could inherit titles and land. Only through marriage could this daughter secure her power, and yet, in truth, that power would only belong to the husband and all of their lands and riches would pass on through his family line. Thus, in Czernobog in a nutshell (of infinite space)... • Czernobog needs suffering and death in order to feast upon souls and grow ever stronger. In order to make this happen, Czernobog will twist and pervert nature and creation to meet these ends. • Czernobog will create horrors such as: horses and elk that feast upon meat. Burrs that dig into the skin to leech away blood. Pollen and seeds which infects and takes root in the host, transforming them into an undead meat puppet with roots threading through their veins. Clothing dyes that leach toxins into the bloodstream and drive the wearer insane. • Or, you know, any other horrific abomination that might come to mind. There really is no limit beyond your imagination and the scope of your game, so feel free to adapt Czernobog to fit your needs! In the meanwhile, I’ve attempted to provide a helpful framework for you, but ultimately Czernobog is an alien being of immense power and evil, and such never truly bends to our simple conceptions of them. So, lean into the ambiguity and make it your own Dark Power!
27 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU a moment of profound anger, humiliation, and spoiled ambitions, Evengja III cursed her own daughter. She named her Czerina, a perversion of the title of Tsarina which Evengja so coveted with the profane spectre of Czernobog, a reviled spirit of darkness that haunted folk tales and legends. It was a name meant to inspire revulsion and fear, a name meant to wreak unending misery upon the innocent child she’d born. Perhaps, then, it is no surprise that Czerina eventually became the champion of the very abomination she was named after, though whether this was due to having drawn Czernobog’s attention, or due to the monstrous natures of her own parents, none can say. Regardless of fate or mere happenstance, what is clear is this: she was doomed to a life of torment from the moment she first drew breath. Her upbringing was one filled with pain and death. The servants and nobles always feared and distrusted her as a child due to her cursed name, yet when tragedy struck and her lone friend and companion was found dead in the gardens, she truly became loathed and abhorred. To be raised in such hostility only led to shameful displays of grief and rage which only fueled the rumors surrounding her. Then, by the order of her very own mother and father she was imprisoned and tortured until that terrible abuse became politically inconvenient. From then on, she was forced to train as a warrior, a path which would not only lead to further disgrace, but which became a foul excuse for further violent abuse. Nevertheless, it was through this crucible of terror, grief, and pain that Czerina transformed into a fell warrior with the knowledge, skills, and perspective that would both save and doom her land. By the time she was in her twenties, Czerina seemed doomed to live a life of infamy and dishonor, with no chance at a future let alone hope for one. She’d been raised by the sword but was banned from both tournaments and military service, and marriage didn’t appeal to her, which was fortunate due to her utter lack of suitors. So, overcome with bitterness and rage at the state of her life, she came upon a devious scheme, and began to engage in illegal, midnight duels. She would ride out of the castle under the cover of night and stalk the highways of the oblast, setting upon any knights or warriors that she found upon the road. Hidden beneath the guise of a dread spirit she dueled dozens of other warriors and claimed their heads, unknowingly spreading the grim legend of a bloodthirsty evil spirit throughout the kingdom. Soon, warriors of every description flocked to the southern oblast, heads full of foolish bravery and the desire to become legends of their own. Whoever could kill the spirit of the Dark Rider would have their name praised across the land, and many rode to their deaths with visions of glory dancing through their heads. As for Czerina, she soon tired of the slaughter and began to ride out with only the hope of finding death on the edge of a blade, but it was not to be so. Yet, after almost two years of her bloody midnight rides, everything changed. Her kingdom, Nostrovishte, was invaded by a powerful alliance formed by Bacia and Gronturia, two rival kingdoms. With their combined might, defeat was certain. The Northern, Western, and Eastern Oblasts had all fallen and the Tsar and his family had already been put to the sword. Only her father, a famed warleader, and his army had survived, though they were soon trapped in a siege doomed to end in defeat. With no hope, the people of Nostrovishte despaired. It seemed that all hope was lost. That is, until the Dark Rider emerged again, that fearsome spirit that had haunted their highways and killed so many brave and foolish souls now began to harry and kill their enemies. Stealth, terror, and bloodied steel gave rise to a new legend, and the Dark Rider became known as a spectral protector of the land. The Dark Rider became a symbol to her people, and so it was that under this guise Czerina was able to raise an army of the people. Brawny farmwives, shrewd hunters, dedicated smiths, and all those willing to pick up an axe or a spear were welcomed to her banner. Yet, even with thousands of callused hands and desperate hearts at her back, it was another group of allies that truly gave them hope for victory: the worshippers of the Old Faith. The druids, witches, and hedge wizards of Nostrovishte had been persecuted and pushed to the fringes of the kingdom long
28 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU ago, yet they had never been driven out entirely, and it was with their knowledge of magic and of healing that allowed Czerina’s army to triumph in the end. And Czerina was more than happy to welcome them into the fold. She’d been reviled and shunned by those wearing the vestments of Lathander and Bahamut alike, so she had no love for the clerics and temples of the land. She found kinship in the Outcasts of the Old Faith, and so she became one of them and began to learn many of their lessons and mysteries. So it was that she became a champion of the people and managed to not only crush the armies of their enemies and drive them back, but to conquer their kingdoms in an act of vengeance. Her parents were crowned as Tsar and Tsarina of this massive, if war-torn, kingdom, and yet she soon learned nothing had truly changed. She would still never inherit land or title no matter what she had accomplished. They would not change the laws. Her fame and prowess only seemed to make her parents revile her more than before and soon all this became more apparent on the day when Czerina presented her mother with an enchanted gem of great power. This gift had been taken from the broken crown of Bacia and was symbolic of the new kingdom she’d gifted to her family. More importantly, the gem was said to grant a single wish to each monarch it was presented to, and as Evengja took hold of the gem, her eyes avoiding those of her daughter, she loudly proclaimed for all the court to hear that what she wished for beyond all other things was for the birth of a son. Only a son could carry on their familial line, only a son could take the crown after they died, and so, feeling utterly betrayed, Czerina fled from the capitol and sequestered herself among those of the Old Faith for years afterwards. Less than a year after Evengja had made her wish, Czerina’s brother was born. The babe was dubbed Alexandros and he grew as the seasons came and went in their endless dance. Czerina had resigned herself to living with the followers of the Old Faith until the end of her days, but then the lands of Nostrovishte came under threat once again. A horrible plague was spreading, heralding the arrival of an unnatural and twisted army led by the dreaded Gulthias, the fabled champion of Czernobog. The Old Faith remembered Gulthias, remembered how he had terrorized the Elven kingdom that had once existed where Nostrovishte now stood, and they realized that Gulthias had escaped his exile in order to conquer and reclaim his ancient home. The Temple and the Nemeton • What’s the difference between the Old Faith and the worshippers of the rest of the Pantheon? Like, isn’t Lathander a sun god? That’s nature, right? • Well, of course, but the main difference lies in how the faiths perceive the world. Clerics and their temples represent an anthropocentric faith. That is, a faith that believes the universe is centered around humanity (and elves, halfings, etc). Either the gods created everything for the sentient beings, OR those sentient beings are their most important creations. In other words, it is the needs of civilization that are most important, since it is the societies of sentient creatures that are at the center of existence. • For the Old Faith, it is the natural world that is at the center of everything. Sentient beings like humans and orcs, are simply a part of the natural world. What’s more, they view all life as having a spirit. All life is sacred and divine, and it is finding a way to exist with all other life that is most important. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have civilization, of course, just that the civilization will look much different than your average fantasy kingdom with its gods and temples. Furthermore, it also doesn’t mean that the followers of the Old Faith don’t worship Gods and Goddesses, but that worship is usually directed towards the natural manifestations of those Gods and Goddesses. That is why the druid’s place of worship is the Nemeton, a sacred glade of trees or stones, rather than a temple
29 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Gulthias proved himself to be as terrifying and vile as the legends foretold, though Nostrovishte was far from defenceless. Czerina raised her banners once more, attracting a new army of the people, and eventually they pushed Gulthias’ forces back into the sea. For all his profane might and ancient knowledge, it was clear Gulthias was unprepared for just how numerous his new enemies turned out to be and his followers realized that he would be defeated once more. Thus, Gulthias’ most cunning followers deserted, joining with Czerina and secretly marking her as Czernobog’s next prey. They came to believe that Czerina had been chosen to become the next champion of Czernobog on the day that she was born. Clearly, Gulthias had been abandoned, manipulated and coerced decades ago and his recent defeat surely proved that she was destined to replace Gulthias. And while that might, perhaps, have been true, all that can be truly known is that Czerina did become the next champion of the Dark Power. With new allies at her back, Czerina conquered Gulthias’ lands and cast his lifeless body into the dirt, building a new kingdom atop the bones of the old. For Czerina, it seemed as though fate had finally seemed fit to bless her with hope for a new future. It seemed that, at least, she had found a home that would be all her own, a home that could be built into something so much better than that which she was born to. For a time, she had at last found some happiness, though it was not to last. The day came when her rule and her life itself were once again to be challenged. Her brother, who had assumed the crown of the Tsar upon her parents’ mysterious passing, had sailed for his sister’s kingdom with an army at his command. He was intent upon winning glory for himself and surpassing his sister’s fame. He had been raised to view her as a stain upon the honor of the family, a black mark that he was destined to erase, and so it was that the two siblings met in battle. Though her new kingdom was hardy, Czerina’s forces were no match for the sheer numbers Alexandros had brought to the shores of her new land. Shields splintered, spears were shattered, and bones were broken. Defeat seemed inevitable. Filled with grief and rage, Czerina called upon her most dangerous of allies: those of the Fey. Long ago she’d bargained for aid from the Court of Night and Twilight and had formed an alliance with vassals of their great ruler, the Archfey known as the Queen of Terror. Now, in this hour of her most anguished need, she sought an audience with the Queen of Terror herself. Czerina was prepared to offer anything in order to save her kingdom and the people who had pledged their allegiance to her rule. No matter what it might cost, it would be worth it to save her people from annihilation, and this is what the Queen of Terror preyed upon. There was, in fact, a way for Czerina to save her people and destroy her brother’s armies, though it would not come without grave risk. Should Czerina fail, it would mean the death of all who stood upon the island of Wreythau, her people and the invaders alike. But considering the alternative, which was watching as her people were cleansed from the land with sword and spear and fire, Czerina felt she had no choice. She had no illusions that clemency or quarter would be granted to her people, and so she agreed to the plan, understanding that even if she were successful, her own soul would be forfeit to the Fey. So it was that Czerina Gavranova, Queen of Wreythau, began the Fey’s fell ritual, one that would pull upon the skein of the land itself to bind earth and stone, lighting and rain, surf and tide to Czerina’s very soul itself. She would become as the land, and as such, could turn the very elements against Alexandros and his army. In turn the Queen of Terror would gain a permanent foothold onto the material plane. The soul of the land would be bound to the Fey because Czerina’s soul and that of the land would be one and the same. Czerina might have realized the implications of this, but the constant reports that the blood of her people now ran in crimson rivers across the land convinced her that there was no choice. Blinded to the motivations of her socalled ally and blind to its future cost, Czerina struck the bargain and led the priests and priestesses of the Old Faith in this mighty ritual. Yet, as the ritual neared its end, it became clear
30 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU that something was wrong. Alexandros’ most powerful mages had detected the ritual and had formed a mighty circle of their own to strike out at Czerina and her allies. Her mentors and spiritual guides were claimed by death before her very eyes, struck down by her brother’s foul servants. Their bodies crumbled to blackened ash and as her terror and despair grew, a new voice echoed out into Czerina’s mind. It promised salvation and power, but only if she would make one more bargain. In the grip of hopelessness, Czerina accepted. This new voice did not belong to one of the fey, but to Czernobog, the Dark Power itself. With this new bargain, the ritual was completed, but that meant that the land of Wreythau and its queen were ripped free from the material plane and joined with the Domains of Dread. Finally, Czernobog had stolen a domain of its own, a domain that could be controlled by its foul whims, with a dark Champion at its beck and call. A thousand years passed with Czernobog’s influence worming its way in Czerina’s psyche, along with the pain that comes from the unnatural fusion of her soul and that of the land itself. Czerina’s Goals Above all, Czerina seeks to preserve herself and her rule from the corrupting influence of Czernobog. She believes that, should she manage to gain a foothold back upon the material plane, she might be able to find a way to sever the ties that bind her and her land to the Dark Power, and so she bends her every effort in this regard. Little does she know, however, that spreading influence onto the material plane is something that Czernobog greatly wishes for, too, and so it has subtly twisted Czerina’s attempts to benefit itself instead. This is why Czerina needs new heroes to join her cause and rise as her champions, acting as bulwarks against Czernobog as well as agents that can do her bidding beyond the boundaries of her realm. So it is that Czerina has come to form the following objectives: 1. Find and Corrupt Champions: This is by far the most important step in Czerina’s overall plan. Without powerful champions to carry out her will beyond the bounds of her prison, she will doubtlessly succumb to the foul influence of Czernobog. Her most trusted servants know this, too, though all are aware she seeks to draw fresh blood into her realm (even if they know not the true reasons why). Czerina sees the adventurers as potential allies at best, and useful puppets at worst. No matter how violently they despise or oppose her, Czerina knows that she can corrupt them if given enough time and leverage. She’s done it before. She twisted and warped an angel in service to Lathander into an abomination of hate and fire, and turned a holy order of paladins into a foul mockery of their faith, now devoted solely to her. The concept of failure hasn’t even crossed her mind. For Czerina, the idea that the adventurers will become her creatures in body and soul is a foregone conclusion, and it is this arrogance which could very well be her downfall. Nevertheless, despite her arrogance, Czerina is a master manipulator, and bends all of her attention upon the adventurers themselves. She will compliment them, laude them, offer gifts and rewards, and most importantly, cause them to question their own morals and beliefs. By venturing through her land their swords will be wetted with blood and the ground scorched and broken by the might of their spells. They will leave death in their wake, and not all will deserve it. This, coupled with the powerful temptations she will dangle before the party, will challenge their righteousness and, perhaps, corrupt them far enough to bend to her will. 2. Test the strength of her Servants: Czerina has become a monster that was forged through suffering, and in her distorted world view she believes that suffering is the key to growth. She knows the importance of testing the strength of her servants and of learning from their defeats. In essence, she is keen on using the adventuring party to help her test and troubleshoot her own minions and tactics. Thus,
31 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU when the adventurers are ready to become her champions, they will have forged a far more powerful collection of monsters, abominations, and psychotic killers to call their allies. The Blood Queen is delighted when the party triumphs, as it not only proves their strength but gives her yet more knowledge and insight into how to succeed. She is an ageless being, after all, and so the thought of needing a few centuries to build up her forces again is hardly a concern. Even losing her most trusted allies and servants, such as Beleroth Haar An Thell, will ultimately be seen as a necessary sacrifice, though Czerina will never waste the resources at her disposal. But, most importantly, this conflict must be a challenge, and so she will not shy away from making things even more difficult for one side or the other should she feel the need. 3. Strengthen her realm: In the long centuries during which Czerina has slept, her kingdom has changed and evolved. On the whole, Czerina has delighted in this, as it is endlessly entertaining to see how the political and mystical landscape blossoms into something new, but at the end of the millenia, she still wishes for her kingdom to be united and solidified under her rule. Somewhere, buried deep in her heart, is a love of her people, and she believes that it is only through strength that they can be saved, and only through suffering can strength be built. Thus the adventurers will become the main tool that she uses to accomplish this, preying upon their greed, morality, and valour to snuff out those that challenge her rule and thereby unite her people once again. If that means that the people of her realm will unite against her for a time, so be it. That simply means the loyalty of her people hinges upon the adventurers themselves, and once they are corrupted, her people will fall in line. In the end, the would-be heroes will have done the work of uniting the land for her, and what’s not to love about that? Roleplaying Czerina Ultimately, Czerina Gavranova was once a great heroine to her people, but has since fallen to darkness and become a brutal tyrant and sadistic killer. This is partly due to Czernobog’s insidious connection to her, but is also largely due to the torturous connection she shares with the land. The human mind was never meant to experience the feeling of tectonic plates shifting against one another with such force that rock itself is liquefied. The human mind was never meant to experience the collective mind of every insect hive in the land, let alone the sway of the leaves, or the last gasps of an elk as its throat is torn open by bloodied fangs. All of this, at once, is what Czerina now experiences, and though she’s found the strength to cope, the experience has no doubt left her warped. Where once there was an icon, now there is a monster given human form, her soul having been twisted and warped by countless acts of cruelty and murder, many of which were performed by her own hand, and many of which she was forced to witness through her connection to the land. Now, she is very much a monster, though an intelligent monster does not readily show its true face. Instead, it hides behind a veneer of humanity, wearing a mask stitched together from echoes of the past. This is the key to accomplishing her goals. If she truly is to tempt, entice, and manipulate the adventurers into becoming her corrupted servants, then she must first charm, fascinate, and entice them. Which means, in essence, Czerina must come off as a compelling character to the players. This is always a tall order, but by following the guide below you’ll find it much easier to achieve. To begin, you must understand Czerina herself, who she was, who she is, and what lies in store for those she interacts with. We’ve already covered her history and goals above, so let’s delve more deeply into her current psychology and explore how that will shape her interactions with the adventuring party. First, we’ll cover the more admirable parts of her personality, followed by her more monstrous traits, and finally, discuss the cracks which might show through her facade.
32 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU This will help you understand how to roleplay Czerina, but of course, these are only suggestions. Feel free to alter or add to traits below in order to make Czerina a compelling character of your own as you guide the players through the campaign. Admirable Traits There are certain characteristics which most people will aspire to have, or at least enjoy their presence in the company of others. The following list emphasizes which of those traits Czerina appears to embody to entice and fascinate your players. She’s charming: Overall, Czerina is polite and complimentary. She respects the party, and wants them to know it. They delight and amuse her, and more importantly, they can be shaped into very useful tools, so she wants them to know how valuable they are. Even if they are rude to her, Czerina will most often laugh it off, or at worst, assume they must be taught better. Her lessons, however, are not intended as punishment, or even necessarily a consequence, but rather as a source of motivation. Even the most disrespectful and outright insulting adventurer will not be struck or tormented, but might, instead, only be given a minor curse. Perhaps their mouths will seal shut (matrix style) whenever they attempt to speak an insult, but the effect would only be temporary, and multiple opportunities would be given to release them from the curse. Even an outright hostile adventurer wouldn’t be killed. Czerina is impervious to harm until much further into the campaign, and even being beheaded is nothing more than a minor inconvenience for her. Czerina doesn’t need to lord her power over anyone, she knows exactly who and what she is, and so she chooses to offer a facsimile of kindness to the adventurers, all for the purpose of drawing them to her side. Keep this in mind when the party interacts with her, but remember that Czerina merely hides her teeth, not that she doesn’t have them. She has no qualms about using her servants to brutalize or torment the party, so long as they don’t realize it’s really her holding the strings. She’s generous: Czerina knows that rewards are most important when trying to encourage (and corrupt) the adventurers. She will offer the adventurers positions of power (such as the rule of Raffenburg, see Ch 5. Revolution of Raffenburg), along with wealth, magic items, or even the deaths of others should the party wish it (High Inquisitor Tarasov is perhaps a likely candidate). These gifts are always posed as rewards. Rewards for amusing her, for having solved a problem, or to recognize a great accomplishment. Czerina wants the party to feel that they’ve earned these rewards, after all, so that she might appear to them more as an ally and less as the damning influence that she wishes to be. Bribery, after all, is much harder to resist if it’s wrapped in a different package. She never breaks her word: Czerina is like the Fey. She’ll deceive you, but will never, ever go back on her word. As such, she’s very, very careful with the promises she makes, but should she trip up and make a promise that puts her at a disadvantage, well, then she will live up to her word no matter how painful The Charismaniac • Czerina is meant to be magnificently evil, a charismatic villain that should tempt the party almost as much as she repulses them. Such is a very tricky balance to strike, but with the help of the Charismaniac trope, it gets a bit easier. You see, a charismaniac (also known as a magnificent bastard), is essentially a villain that possesses undeniably admirable traits, thus making them enticing and sympathetic even as they go about their dastardly plans. Usually, these traits form a sort of ‘Code of Conduct’ that adds a sense of familiarity even as the villain matches wits against the players. If you find it helpful, feel free to research and incorporate other elements of this trope into your version of Czerina to thrill and entertain your party.
33 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU it might be. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Czerina won’t set something else in motion to make up for this setback. After all, if one of her many servants gets an idea into their heads and decides to act upon it, well, that can’t always be helped, now, can it? She’s brilliant: A master strategist and tactician, Czerina should be able to earn the party’s respect. Obviously, this is a fine tightrope to walk, but it’s helped by the fact that Czerina has countless spies and even more divination magic at hand. Except for what happens in consecrated spaces, Czerina will know the party’s every move and hear every word that passes their lips. To her, watching the adventurers’ journey through her land is more entertaining than anything you’d find on TV, so she’s always tuning in and is almost always able to plan ahead. Beyond that, her entire realm is essentially constructed as a trial to test her future champions as well as her servants, so almost every scenario is a win-win for her. Every victory and defeat provides her with more insight into how to improve and grow her power for next time. This makes the party one of her greatest tools, whether they wish to be or not, and that alone is pretty brilliant. She is willing to learn: Well, that’s not entirely true. Czerina has become profoundly egotistical and arrogant, mostly in response to her hatred for the flaws she sees in others, but she knows that there is always more knowledge to gain, more skills to learn, and most importantly, she knows that other people enjoy being able to mentor and guide others. When it comes to the party, Czerina will exploit this fact should they point out her flaws (depending on what the flaws are, of course). Should she see an opportunity she’ll admit to her ignorance of morality, or to having forgotten what it’s like to be mortal over the centuries, and feign a desire to improve under the adventurer’s guidance. Such can be a powerful tool of manipulation, particularly for religious or highly principled characters. She was a total badass: That’s right, was. Now, she’s essentially a godlike being that can eat 9th level fireballs for breakfast, but when she was still a mortal she was as brave, skilled, and determined as they come. As players explore the dreams of the past (see the interactive encounters in App 1. The Mirror of Czerina) and see or hear evidence of her past exploits, they’ll hopefully see a sympathetic heroine that was tragically corrupted, a history meant to make her even more compelling. This will also shine through in the final battle against her, when much of her protections are stripped away and she’s forced to confront the party on more even footing, though still as an unholy being of tremendous power.
34 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Monstrous Traits As mentioned above, Czerina is no longer a troubled paragon, or a flawed heroine. Now, she has descended into darkness, though it is a darkness tinged by her past while she still drew breath. The following monstrous traits will help you understand what other motivations lurk within her mind. She feeds off of suffering: No matter how charming or generous she may be, Czerina feeds on suffering. As the champion of Czernobog, suffering is a great source of her unnatural power, though the psychological scars she bears from life have also twisted her into a cruel and hateful mockery of the once sympathetic warrior-queen. As such, she finds it most delightful to engineer moments of emotional torment just as much as she revels in physical pain. Obviously, she doesn’t wish for the adventurers to know this, and will attempt to deceive them through deflection, justification, or outright blame placed upon her servants (who, to be fair, are usually responsible). This will likely make her come across as a negligent Queen at best, but considering the terrible boredom which comes from being an immortal being, such might be forgiven should she feign the desire to learn from the party themselves (see She is willing to learn above). She feeds off of death: Due to her connection with Czernobog, every death that happens by her hand or within her realm grants her more power. This is yet another reason why she delights in the presence of the adventuring party, and why she has designed her realm to be as violent and brutal as it is. The Silver Graves, in particular, are testament to this, although being a brilliant strategist, Czerina knows that death is a resource that must be carefully managed. Too much death and she will ultimately be weakened. Do to this, she carefully considers just how much murder she can allow, and is yet another reason why she is fond of undead servants: what is already dead cannot be killed twice. She revels in perverse creation: The more warped and twisted something can become, the more Czerina enjoys it. Once upon a time, she was simply a lover of art and music, architecture and poetry, drama and sculpture, but due to Czernobog’s influence, this love of creation and artistry has been warped. Hence the curse upon the Beastfolk, her patronage of the Mad Alchemist of Inbarev, and most of all, the unnatural horrors the party comes across. She is full of hubris: Czerina’s life was full of trauma and suffering, and she knows it is the same for countless others. The gods allow the world to be like this, no matter what their hypocritical and disingenuous priests and priestesses might say, and thus she considers herself to be no worse than the gods themselves. They cause pain and suffering, she causes pain and suffering. They have tremendous power, she has tremendous power. It is all one and the same, except that Czerina recognizes there is a slight difference in scale and hopes to one day surpass them. Such is a terrifying arrogance, true, but it is also a desire to flout all of the divine laws of the universe as well as she may. The cracks in the facade As consummate a manipulator as Czerina might be, there is still an element of humanity buried inside her monstrously tormented spirit. This inevitably leads to cracks which might show through. These cracks present opportunities for crafty players to manipulate Czerina in turn, though this might also expose them to danger that they would not have found otherwise. So, below you will find a list of the most obvious cracks in her facade. This isn’t a complete list, of course, and you’re encouraged to come up with more if you so desire. Blaming Czerina for Teadora’s Death: The deepest wound Czerina carries is still the murder of her friend and the blame which she received for it. Depending on the information they gather from the first entry of The Mirror (see App 1), the players might surmise that
35 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Czerina was responsible. Or, perhaps they might simply wish to lash out and wound her with their words, or simply manipulate her. Regardless, they would reveal a peak at the monster hiding beneath her facade. Should they blame her in secret, she would plan a hidden reprisal for the party. Remember, unless the adventurers are standing upon consecrated ground (and good luck finding that), Czerina would most likely hear the conversation. The land itself, the sky, the creatures, all act as her eyes and ears. Thus, a reprisal would be iminent, and most likely Czerina would respond by framing a member of the party for the murder of someone they cared about (altering her own appearance, or that of a servant to mimic that of the adventuerer, for instance). However, should the party blame Czerina to her face, that is when the crack would break wide open and tear through her composure. Her eyes would blaze with almost unfathomable rage, tears of blood shining at the corners of her eyes, lips peeled back in a snarling display of bared fangs. That is when she would threaten the adventuerers, using a portion of her power to try to strike fear into the hearts of the party and demand that they take their words back. Regardless of what they do (assuming it is not the final battle), she will manage to restrain herself, fleeing in a cloud of bloody mist and swirling ravens. Later, she would apologize for the outburst, and explain why it troubles her, though the party would occasionally catch her glaring death at whoever uttered the accusation every so often. And, of course, should the accuser repeat the claim to her face, well...at that point, use your best judgement. She has the ability to raise the dead back to life, so she might decide to vent her anger more directly after repeated accusations (see Dealing with Death at the end of the chapter). Should this accusation be thrown during the final battle Czerina will solely focus upon the character to issue the claim first. No matter what else is happening, she will attempt to kill them, and perhaps lose the advantage as a result. Supporting Alexandros’ claim to the throne: Unlike the previous crack in the facade discussed on this page, should the adventurers claim that Alexandros did, in fact, have a legitimate claim to Czerina’s throne, she will not explode into anger. Instead, the charm, generosity, and feigned kindness will slip and she will begin to ridicule and insult the party, demanding they prove why their opinion matters at all. She would attempt to poke holes in their argument in the most biting and vicious ways that she knows how. This will show the party some of Czerina’s true face, and might well sway her in favor of throwing just a bit more torment their way. Czerina Gavranova’s Statblock Psychology is well and good, but you also need to know what Czerina is capable of, too! Which is actually everything...up to a point. For much of the campaign, Czerina’s powers will operate on a scale of “whatever the DM needs or thinks is cool for the narrative”. This isn’t an excuse to flout mechanics, of course, but is encouragement to think outside the box and not to let the question of “...wait, but what spell does that?” get in the way. Being creative is much more important than placing arbitrary limitations upon yourself. As long as you do this to make things more enjoyable for the players and their experience, you’ll have a wonderful time. That said, eventually the party will uncover powerful means to fight Czerina directly, and when that night comes, you’ll need her stats. Besides, knowing what she can mechanically do might provide inspiration for her interactions with the party and the story itself. So, good thing her stat block is listed, take a look at the next page!
36 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Czerina Gavranova, The Blood Queen —Medium Undead (shapechanger), Neutral Evil Armor Class 20 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 495 (30d12 + 300) Speed 50 ft. Fly 60 ft. . —STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA —26 (+8) 18 (+4) 24 (+7) 20 (+5) 20 (+5) 24 (+7) Saves Str +8, Dex +10, Con +15, Int + 11, Wis +11, Cha +7 Skills Arcana +11, Athletics +14, Deception +13, Stealth + 10, Perception +11 Damage Resistances necrotic, poison Damage Immunities All sources not enchanted by the Forge of Ancestors (See Ch 8 The Silver Graves) Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified, charmed, frightened, poisoned Senses True Sight 120ft, Tremorsense 60 feet, passive Perception 21 Languages Common, Sylvan, Druidic, Draconic, Elvish, Dwarvish, Goblin, Celestial, Infernal, Abyssal, Undercommon, Deep Speech Challenge — 26 (90,000 XP) Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Czerina fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead. Magic Resistance. Czerina has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Magic Weapons. Czerina’s weapon and unarmed attacks are magical. Czernobog’s Blessing: As the champion of Czernobog, Czerina’s magical abilities are augmented, allowing her to bypass the need for material components for even the most powerful spells. Additionally, she has +2 to spell attacks (added above) and her spell save DC. Furthermore, this blessing provides natural armor and the resistances and immunities listed above (which are separate from the Immunity granted by the Mantle of Wreythau). The Mantle of Wreythau: Long ago, when Czerina forged her bond with the land itself, she gained a tremendous mantle of power. She is immune to all sources of damage. Only with the enchantment found in the Forge of Ancestors in the Silver Graves can she be harmed, though she still retains resistance to necrotic and poison damage due to her vampiric nature. Spellcasting. Czerina’s spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: • At will: Misty Step • Cantrips: All Druid cantrips (cast at 17th level) • 1st (4 slots): Entangle, Faerie Fire, Fog Cloud, Ice Knife, Thunderwave • 2nd (3 slots): Heat Metal, Moonbeam, Pass Without Trace • 3rd (3 slots): Call Lightning, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Tidal Wave • 4th (3 slots): Blight, Guardian of Nature, Wall of Fire • 5th (3 slots): Geas, Insect Plague, Maelstrom, Scrying, Steel Wind Strike • 6th (2 slots): Harm, Wall of Thorns Spells Continued... 7th (2 slots): Finger of Death, Fire Storm, Whirlwind • 8th (1 slots): Feeblemind, Tsunami • 9th (1 slots): Storm of Vengeance Czerina has access to every Druid spell (including expanded druid spell lists). The above list is suggested but can be modified. Actions Multiattack. Czerina makes 3 attacks, chosen from the options below. Greatsword. Melee weapon attack. +14 to hit. One target. Deals 14 (2d6 + 8) slashing damage and 26 (4d12) necrotic damage. Unarmed Attack. Melee weapon attack. +14 to hit. One target. Deals 12 (1d8 + 8) bashing damage OR Czerina can choose to grapple the target. Bite. Melee weapon attack. One willing creature, or one creature grappled by Czerina. Hit: 11 (1d6 + 8) piercing damage plus 13 (2d12) necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and Czerina regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid slain in this way and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under Czerina’s control. Legendary Actions Czerina can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Czerina regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Attack. Czerina may make one weapon attack. Fey Movement. Czerina may cast Misty Step. Cast (Cost 2). Czerina may cast one spell Lair Actions On Initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Czerina can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects, based on which room she is in. • Lair Actions listed in each room below.
37 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU ENCOUNTERS WITH THE QUEEN OF BLOOD In many ways, this campaign has a number of main characters, those being the player characters and their archvillain, Czerina herself. Czerina will need to interact with the party frequently, almost as a representative of the DM and the narrative, just as the adventuring party is representatives of the players and their role in the narrative, too. In other words, Czerina needs to be a presence in the campaign, though the ways in which this presence can be felt is almost infinite, and all of them should provide engaging moments for the player characters to shine. What hero is a hero without a challenge to overcome or a villain to defeat, after all? The encounters below will help you provide creepy, fascinating, and brutal encounters for your players as well as navigate the ways in which Czerina makes her presence felt throughout the story. In the early parts of the campaign, these encounters will primarily manifest in the way Czerina’s psyche affects the land as she fitfully dreams. These encounters will help create dread and unease, as well as add more character to the setting. Later on (in Volume 2), these encounters become much more personal. ENCOUNTERS WHILE CZERINA SLUMBERS A Soul Tortured For All Time After her brother sailed with an army at his back to kill her, Czerina finally abandoned the last shred of misguided love that she once held for her family. With the powers granted to her by her ascension as Czernobog’s champion, she reached out and ripped her fathers soul from the depths of the abyss so that she could personally torture him for all time. She forced his soul to reincarnate, to live his life afresh, from birth to death, tormented all the while by his immortal daughter. With every rebirth she forced his new parents to name him Gavran, and through each phase of his life she found ways to cause him anguish. And, to her horror, she found that Gavran was capable of being something besides a monster. If given a different life, with different experiences, he could become a loving father and a good man. It was only the life he’d lived before becoming her father that had twisted him into such a vicious and hateful man. Such a revelation might have brought solace to some, but it only filled Czerina with more hatred and for centuries she redoubled her efforts to bring as much pain, fear, and grief into his many lives as she could. By the time the adventurers encounter Gavran, he will have been reincarnated so many times, and have lived so many horrible lives that a deep sorrow has settled into his soul even though he has no memory of his past lives. That is to say, he only has fleeting memories, echoes that little more than dreams. When the adventurers come across Gavran (which can be wherever you wish, essentially), describe the following: You come upon a small hut that sits to the left of the path. Smoke rises from the hut’s chimney, and firelight blazes through the windows. Yet, as you approach, the sound of weary sobs reaches your eyes from around the back of the hut. As you round it, you see a large bear of a man down on his hands and knees, sobbing over three fresh graves. A Queen of Many Names • As a godlike being of immense power, Czerina goes by many names including: The Queen of Ravens, The Blood Queen, The Lady of the Cairn, The Voice of the Storm, The Land’s Bride, She Who Never Dies, The Queen of Beasts, and The Endless Hunger. Sprinkle these sobriquets throughout the story, whenever an NPC is discussing Czerina. Each name reveals a new dimension of the Dark Lady and adds to the sense of mystery.
38 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU If the adventurers speak to the man, they will learn that his name his Gavran. He appears just as he does in the portrait hanging in the library of The Cairn, as well as his appearance in the Mirror of Czerina: he stands over six feet tall with a large, musclebound frame. He has a large black beard and long black hair threaded with grey. Unlike the ancient portrait, however, he now wears simple peasant’s garb. This incarnation of Gavran was raised in Leshehoff, though his parents died in a house fire. He was taken in by a Town Watch Captain and later joined the Watch, though every friend he made was cut down in the line of duty. Eventually he married, though his wife bore two Beastfolk children. In order to take care of their children, they fled into the woods, eking out a dangerous living as woodcutters, herb gatherers, and trappers. Yet, for all the horror they endured in order to survive in the woods, a sickness struck and proceeded to kill his family over long and grueling months. Of course, that’s just a suggestion. You’re welcome to invent an even more horrible life if you’d like. The point of this encounter is to emphasize Czerina’s past and how it’s shaped the present. The adventurers won’t understand this at first, but once they reach the Cairn at the end of Volume 1 it will become apparent and the characters could use this knowledge in several ways. If you wish to emphasize a theme of redemption, they could attempt to finally mediate a reconciliation between Gavran and his daughter. This would require awakening Gavran’s spirit to all of his past lives, though this could be done with by performing the Ritual of the Underworld (see Caeltos Village). Alternatively, Gavran could be used as a distraction or bargaining chip, depending on the goals of the adventuring party. Or, at worst, he simply helps illustrate a key part of Czerina’s history. Either way, this is a chilling encounter the players won’t want to miss. Dream Visitations: This encounter is a reflection of the dream encounters the adventurers will unlock once they retrieve Czerina’s autobiography (see App 1. The Mirror of Czerina). Essentially, as Czerina slumbers, her mind will reach out into the dreams of the adventurers, leading to strange nightmares exploring the adventurers’ pasts. These encounters can take place any time after the Shipwreck in Chapter 2, The Drowned Dead, and should happen at least once for each player character. In order to properly execute these encounters, you need to do a little bit of planning with the players before the session starts. Either have a brief discussion with the players or ask them to send you an answer to the following questions: what is one of your character’s happiest memories, and what is one of your character’s most traumatizing memories? These questions are just starting places, of course, and you’re encouraged to choose other parts of the characters’ backstories if you see fit. Either way, having a baseline for a happy moment, and a terrible moment will furnish you with the information you need to craft these personalized encounters. Once the encounters begin, each adventurer will receive a dream visitation. The dreams will mimic the memories of the characters, but with the subtle differences and sense of the surreal that surrounds all dreams. As the memory plays out, Czerina will insert herself into it. For some she might merely be an ominous observer, lurking in the background. For others, she might replace an important person in the character’s life, such as a mother, sibling, spouse, or even an enemy. If the dream starts out as something happy, then Czerina will twist the dream into a nightmare. If the dream begins as a nightmare, she’ll simply twist it further, adding her own little spin where appropriate (this is also a good way to add foreshadowing for the other dangers in the realm). Have fun with this! Make sure not to cross any lines that your players have, but try to push the characters buttons. Not the players, but the characters.
39 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU This will ensure that the story feels more personal for the adventurers and the players, and will add a deeper dynamic to their interactions with Czerina once she awakens. Furthermore, you can continue to intersperse the dream visitations throughout the rest of the campaign, using more recent events rather than aspects of the characters’ pasts. This could be to point out mistakes or flaws, or to celebrate the more disturbing aspects of their victories. There’s a whole lot of death in the adventurers’ futures, after all. Murder Presents: This last encounter with the Blood Queen’s subconscious is my personal favorite. In essence, as Czerina sleeps, her subconscious will recognize the presence of the adventurers are develop an appreciation for them, an appreciation that manifests as the delivery of murder presents for them. These murder presents could start out as something cryptic and unsettling, such as the adventurers finding the corpses of rats impaled on splinters of wood poking up from the floor, or having birds crash through their windows only to die in a bleeding mess upon the floor with shiny objects clutched in their talons, such as coins or jewelry. As the adventurers continue on through the campaign and achieve more victories, the form of the murder presents might escalate to the level of staged corpses recreating scenes of the adventurers’ victories. In addition to just being entirely macabre, these encounters should also help establish some paranoia. The presents suggest that there is something very powerful and very dark watching the characters, something that is apparently able to reach out and affect the world near them. This will create tension and help establish an atmosphere of horror, as well as help the events of the campaign feel more personal for the adventurers themselves. HISTORY OF WREYTHAU Just as Strahd von Zarovich was bound to a Dark Power and ascended as the Dark Lord of Barovia, so too has Czerina Gavranova come into her unholy powers. Yet, she was not the first to become the champion of the Dark Power known as Czernobog, and to the torment of many, she likely will not be the last. Below is a detailed timeline of Wreythau that will help illustrate how the insidious influence of Czernobog first began to warp the land of Wreythau and eventually culminated in the rise of its dark lady. More detailed historical glimpses follow the timeline, expanding upon important details and illuminating plot hooks that will appear later in the module. Timeline of Wreythau Long forgotten past: When the fangs of an animal met the flesh of another and blood was first spilt, seeping down into the soil to nourish buried seeds and roots, something in the weave and weft of the cosmos began to stir. Then, when blood was spilt in the name of murder, it began to awaken. Finally, rivers of blood first seeped into the battlefield, it gained a name: Czernobog. Approx. 2300 years ago: The Archdruid Gulthias begins to recognize strange emanations echoing in his dreams. Determined to learn more, he enters deep meditation for over 100 years to commune with the entity and learn eldritch secrets about the cycles of life and death. Approx. 2200 years ago: Gulthias ends his meditation, enthralled with the dark knowledge gleaned from Czernobog. Gulthias begins to recruit followers and teach them this new, corrupted form of druidism. So begins the struggle between Czernobog and the Old Faith. Approx. 2000 years ago: Horrified by the unconscionable acts and brutal sacrifices performed by Gulthias and his followers, they are exiled from their home among the wood elves and imprisoned upon a remote island populated by primitive human tribes. Gulthias and his
40 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU followers forge prey upon the tribes and forge the kingdom of Ghul Sildreth from their blood. Approx. 1500 years ago: Humans, orcs, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, goblins, hobgoblins and many other briefly lived creatures continue to populate and expand outward, displacing the kingdom of the wood elves. Three of the most powerful allied kingdoms form: Nostrovishte, Bacia, and Gronturia. With their founding, the Old Faith is pushed to the margins of the kingdoms by more militant clergies. 1050 years ago: In the war torn kingdom of Nostrovishte, the brutal warlord Gavran I gains the title of Boyar and the reign of the southern oblast. He marries the bewitching courtier Evengja, creating a powerful alliance. However, after several failed attempts, Evengja finally bears an heir, a daughter, and in a fit of resentment, names her Czerina. 1025 years ago: Nostrovishte is invaded by Bacia and Gronturia. When it seems all hope is lost, Czerina raises an army of the common folk and begins a campaign of resistance. Aided by followers of the Old Faith, Czerina allies with the Queen of Terror, a powerful Fey. With the support of Babd, Macha, and Nemain, vassals of the Queen of Terror, Czerina wins several tremendous victories and pushes the invaders out. Then, determined to crush those who had threatened her people, Czerina goes on to conquer Bacia and Gronturia. Her parents are crowned Tsar and Tsarina of the newly conquered lands. 1022 years ago: After having long since given up hope of bearing a suitable heir, Czerina presents Evengja with a magic gem that can grant a wish. In return, Evengja wishes for a son and soon gives birth to a male heir named Alexandros. Due to the archaic laws of their kingdom, Alexandros will inherit everything and Czerina will be left with nothing once again. 1020 years ago: Strange raids begin along the coast. Unnatural deaths and brutal sacrifices are found in ransacked villages. An unnatural plague begins to spread. Czerina’s mentors among the Old Faith recognize this threat as the Ghul Sildreth and urge her to raise an army to crush them. Allied with a dwarven kingdom she enters into battle with the Ghul Sildreth and pushes them back into the sea. 1019 years ago: Leading her army into selfexile, Czerina invades the kingdom of the Ghul Sildreth. Frustrated by Gulthias’ power, Czerina searches for a way to defeat him. Sensing the potential of this new champion, Czernobog betrays Gulthias and sends servants to ally with Czerina and begin to corrupt her. 1018 years ago: Aided by her new allies among the Ghul Sildreth, Czerina kills Gulthias and establishes a new kingdom. She names the land Wreythau, after the symbol of her family, and to pay homage to the Old Faith and the Queen of Terror. 1005 years ago: Gavran and Evengja mysteriously die. Alexandros is crowned Tsar, and he publically embraces the faith of Lathander in an effort to erode the power of the Old Faith, and by extension, that of his sister. 1001 years ago: Alexandros, Tsar of Nostrovishte, sails with an army for Wreythau, determined to strip his sister of her lands. 1000 years ago: After a year besieged by her brother, Czerina is desperate for a way to save her people. She bargains with the Archfey known as the Queen of Terror and learns of a dangerous ritual which might save her. By tying her soul to the land, she could command the elements to crush Alexandros and his army, but in doing so would be forever bound to the Fey. Uncaring for the cost, Czerina agrees, but the ritual goes wrong. Sensing an opportunity, Czernobog presents an offer, and desperate to save her land, Czerina accepts Czernobog’s offer of power, but is betrayed. After the death of her brother and his army, Wreythau is ripped free from the Mortal Plane and joins the Domains of Dread. 900 years ago: A merchant fleet arrives from seemingly nowhere, bearing the name of
41 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU the Wreythian Merchant Consortium. They recruit famous artisans, architects, musicians, playwrights, and others blessed with genius to sail with them back to their kingdom. None ever return... 600 years ago: Czerina’s magnificent new castle, known by Wreythians as The Cairn, is completed. 598 years ago: The Wreythian Merchant Consortium begins to entice, kidnap, and bring fresh blood into Wreythau… 500 years ago: Legendary paladin of Lathander, Frey, leads a crusade into Wreythau to destroy the evil found there and avenge all those who have disappeared. 478 years ago: Frey summons the angel Temelloth in an effort to kill Czerina once and for all. Czerina corrupts many of Frey’s followers, crushes his army, and imprisons Temelloth. 400 years ago: A newly released Temelloth, brutally tortured by Czerina and driven insane, begins the Church of the Morning Lord, a horrific perversion of the Church of Lathander. This allows a new Dark Power, a power that feeds off of death by fire, to establish a foothold into Wreythau. 350 years ago: An incredibly skilled alchemist comes to Wreythau. Driven insane by Czerina, he usurps control of the town of Inbarev and torments the populace. 300 years ago: Czerina betrays the descendents of her dwarven allies and kills many in a brutal genocide. The dwarven diaspora flees from the newly minted Silver Graves. Czerina raises their corpses to serve as a tireless workforce and to fund the Wreythian Merchant Consortium’s influence on the material plane. 150 years ago: Czerina falls into slumber deeper and longer than any before. Present Day: The Wreythian Merchant Consortium begins to sell the Flowers of Gulthias on the Material Plane, spreading an undead plague and further extending Czerina and Czernobog’s influence. Glimpses of Wreythian History Gulthias Long ago, in an ancient forest kingdom of the wood elves, the Archdruid known as Gulthias was disturbed in the night. His dreams echoed with strange emanations and utterances of things
42 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU he’d never conceived, challenging much of what he’d come to believe in his long life. He entered a deep state of meditation in order to commune with the mysterious entity that had brushed against his dreams, and so began his dark tutelage under Czernobog. For a century Gulthias meditated beneath the boughs of a sacred dragonwood tree, vines twining around him, moss growing across his skin. His acolytes would join him in meditation before going about their other tasks. All wondered at what captured the thoughts of their holy teacher so, and all became worried when the sacred tree began to die. Yet Gulthias continued to meditate, his body untouched by thirst, hunger, or age, and just as things seemed lost, the tree withering into a husk of its former self, leaves the color of horrid blood began sprouting once again. The bark grew twisted, and the boughs began to grow thorns. By the time the tree had completed its transformation, Gulthias awoke, a horrid new knowledge burning in his mind, knowledge he was eager to teach. Druids, clerics, monks, and other religious devotees flocked to Gulthias, and over the decades, many converted, while others watched on in slowly dawning horror. What Gulthias taught was a perversion of the cycles of nature. The relationship of plant, predator, and prey were all but evaporated. Everything became red in tooth and claw, everything became cruel. Even rabbits became terrible beasts that hunted in packs, their mouths like lampreys, latching onto anything with a pulse, one by one, until their hapless prey was brought down by added weight and blood loss. New species of plants were bred, many of which were meant to live inside the body, growing beneath the skin or twining around organs. Even the wind became a grave threat, sweeping across the land, carrying a terrible, incessant frequency that drove many who heard it insane. Suffering became the goal rather than harmony, and for those enthralled by Gulthias’ teachings, great power was found. So his legion of followers grew, but so, too, did their enemies. Eventually, it became clear just what a monstrosity Gulthias’ teachings represented, and the kingdom of the wood elves called the clans together, raising the banners and assembling an army to drive this new terror from their lands. Many advised that these horrible teachings should die with Gulthias, but ultimately, it was decided that exile and imprisonment was the most fitting punishment. To kill a weed, one must attack the roots, after all, and Gulthias was perhaps only the tendrils sprouting from the surface. So they choose to imprison and watch over Gulthias and his corrupted druids. This allowed the exiled to begin to regain their strength, and they soon renamed themselves the Ghul Sildreth to mark their flourishing power. The Ruins of Nemeth and the Queen of Terror The island that became the Ghul Sildreth’s prison was not uninhabited. Tribes of humans and orcs had settled it decades before, but this wasn’t a concern for the kingdom of the Wood Elves, as they had more pressing issues rising to confront them. Though they had defeated a threat from within, threats from without, namely the human kingdoms, soon began to encroach upon their territory, leaving the Ghul Sildreth effectively alone. This delighted the Ghul Sildreth, and they soon began to build their foul kingdom with the blood and bone of their neighbors. They built a mighty capitol from the earth itself, raising
43 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU massive pillars of warped stone that rose high above the trees, ringed and arranged like a circle of sacred standing stones, except the alignment was far, far different. From this new place of power, the land itself would be bent to their whims, the ordinary cycles of nature perverted into a mockery of what it once was, and that included the spirits of nature, the Fey, as well. Any of the Fey that were drawn to this strange place of power were soon corrupted, slowly forming a new Court of the Sidhe dedicated to Czernobog and it’s horrible visions for the world. Almost a millenia later, when Czerina and her allies stormed what would later be named the Bay of Raffen, it was from Nemeth that Gulthias and his followers mounted their defense. Unfortunately for them, Czerina had many powerful allies amongst the Old Faith and the Fey, and thus they were able to fight back against the corrupted influence that the depraved Ghul Sildreth wrought upon the land. In particular, it was the Fey from the Court of Night and Twilight that helped Czerina the most, striking back at the Corrupted Sidhe with the promise that Nemeth would one day become theirs. When Gulthias was finally slain and thousands of his followers put to the sword, Czerina held up her end of the bargain, and for a time Nemeth became the home of the Court of Night and Twilight. For decades, this was a place of diplomacy and trade between her people and the Fey, though that was soon to end. When Alexandros came with his fleet of warships and thousands of soldiers at his command, even the Fey realized all this could change. So it was that the Great Queen of the court came to Nemeth. She was a dreaded and mysterious being known only as the Queen of Terror, and only Czerina herself was able to meet with her, engaging in a furious negotiation that lasted over two straight days. When Czerina finally left Nemeth, a new pact had been forged, one with an ocean of blood as the cost. The Queen of Terror had shown Czerina how to conduct a horrible ritual, one forged in aeons past. She could tie herself to the
44 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU land, her soul bound to the elements themselves, yet her soul would no longer be her own. The Fey would own it, yet what that would mean for her people was banished from thought. So she agreed, but unfortunately for the Fey, Czerina failed during the ritual. Death was approaching, and sensing its opportunity, Czernobog offered another bargain, one that resulted in Wreythau being pulled into the Domains of Dread. When this happened, all of the remaining Fey residing in Nemeth were trapped inside along with the rest of the island’s inhabitants. One by one, they fell to the predations of the Corrupted Sidhe, the court Czernobog had built around itself, until only a handful remained. These few remaining Fey loyal to the last to the Queen of Terror allied themselves to those of the Old Faith, and together they miraculously managed to create a refuge that preserved the true tenets of the Old Faith. Nevertheless, the influence of Czernobog and the Corrupted Sidhe continue to chip away at them, slowly siphoning followers and power away with the passage of the years. The Silver Graves of Barrukhirrim Over a millenia ago, when the land of Nostrovishte was still in the jaws of an invasion, Czerina sought out allies from a kingdom of the dwarves. Her father had fought beside their people at the order of the Tsar decades ago, and so she sought to draw upon a possible alliance that might have existed. Ultimately, she was turned away, though the dwarves acknowledged that by doing so, they were creating debt which they would eventually have to repay. The kingdom of Nostrovishte had ridden to battle beside them, after all, and that created a bond of honor between them that couldn’t be ignored. Nevertheless, the battle against the invaders seemed impossible to win, and so they were reluctant to enter a war which could doom their own kingdom. Thus, the debt was forged, and decades later Czerina came calling. So it was that when Czerina sailed to the island of the Ghul Sildreth, she did so with a detachment of dwarves at her side, eager to help her conquer this new land and create a new home. They fought valiantly, and after Gulthias and his followers were struck down, Czerina gave them reign over an entire mountain range. Soon the lost dwarven kingdom of Barrukhirrim was formed. A great mining city was dug into a mountain rich in valuable gems and minerals, and for decades they flourished. When Wreythau was invaded again, they once more took up arms, but the dwarves were horrified by what they saw Czerina become. They despaired as they, too, were ripped away into the Domains of Dread, and began to plot a way to slay the monster their ally had become and, perhaps, find a way to escape. This did not go unnoticed by Czerina, who had put eldritch spies in place, and when it became clear that the people of Barrukhirrim had managed to actually become a threat, she marched upon them. Great legions of the undead and foul, warped monsters besieged the mountain kingdom and ruthlessly butchered everyone they found inside. Only a few hundred dwarves survived, those who did business and traveled throughout the land, and none who realized the true extent of the atrocity that had befallen their kingdom. Many suspected, but misinformation
45 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU spread like wildfire, and now the lost kingdom of Barrukhirrim is simply known as the Silver Graves, a place of horrible secrets and misfortune to all who venture there. Nevertheless, many dream of retaking their ancestral home, dreams fueled by evidence that silver, platinum, and jewels still make their way up out of the mines, though who now digs them from the earth remains a mystery... The Fall of Frey Not long after the completion of The Cairn, Czerina’s monstrous palace, a legendary Paladin of Lathander found his way into her Domain. The question of how, or why, has been intensely debated among Czerina’s followers, many speculated that perhaps the deaths of so many magnificent artisans had captured the notice of the Gond, Lathander, and Sune, who had conspired to send a champion when the opportunity finally arose. Whatever the reason, the paladin, known as Frey, found his way into Wreythau and set out to right the wrongs he witnessed all around him. He worked carefully, becoming a leader of the people rather than a lone avenger, building a following that could one day rise up in a holy crusade against the dark Queen of the land. Czerina, for her part, simply watched and waited, amused by this self-righteous upstart that had come into her kingdom, spewing the promises of the faithful just as all the hypocrites of her homeland had done. Through her veil of contempt, Frey was yet another fraud disguising power as righteousness, and so she began to search through his followers’ ranks, hunting for soil ripe and ready to accept the seeds of corruption. Even as Frey began to construct a fortress for his growing army, Czerina and her servants circled like hawks upon the wind, ready to dive upon their unsuspecting prey. By the time Frey’s fortress was completed and a holy order of knights had been formed, Czerina’s influence had already taken root. Just as she’d suspected, those impure of heart had also been drawn to Frey’s banner, thirsty for recognition, revenge, and blood. She’d hardly needed to plant her own servants amongst his recruits, so fertile were those sinful fields of damaged souls. Through her subtle urgings, dissent began to fester within the Order of the Sun. Fearing that the tide had begun to turn upon him, Frey reached out to his god for a blessing of inspiration and hope, and was amazed when an Angel came in answer to his prayers. Perhaps it was a blessing given due to his years of faultless service, or perhaps it was Lathander’s last attempt to save his faithful priest, though it was the last miracle the Morning Lord granted the blighted land for centuries to come. The Angel’s name was Temelloth, and it joined Frey’s side as he began to lead his crusade against the foul monster that ruled those lands. Unfortunately for Frey, Czerina was ready, and her servants fell upon the still-born crusade in all their unholy fury. Ironically, if Frey had had less faith in the purity of his followers, perhaps he could have triumphed, during a key moment of the battle, he was betrayed by his own second in command, Lady Oksanna Jehanette Delora Ysemgrin, who had hungered more for power than faith. Temelloth set upon her in a rage, but with their messiah fallen the crusade crumbled and Czerina herself subdued the Angel, binding its wings and dragging it deep into The Cairn to enjoy her tender mercies for nearly eight decades. In the meanwhile, Lady Ysemgrin rose as the grandmaster of a new knightly order, the profane Order of Blood, sworn to serve their new queen and goddess. Frey’s fortress became the seat of their new commandery, mockingly dubbed Frey’s Rest as a final sign of disdain for their former leader and his pledge to never tire until evil was purged from the land. Together with the servants of Beleroth Haar an Thell, Czerina’s most skilled general, the Order of Blood became Wreythau’s standing military force and a symbol of oppression for the land. The Rise of the Inquisition of the Morning Lord Bound in the dungeons beneath the Cairn for decades, the Angel Temelloth was tortured and driven insane by Czerina’s own hand, forced
46 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU to endure suffering unimaginable for any being with a mortal frame, let alone mind. Countless victims were used to toy with the Angel, killed or tortured before his eyes, or worse yet, encouraged to torture and betray him in turn. For an entire human lifetime, Czerina spent every moment, without rest, without end, torturing and corrupting the Angel, transforming into a broken reflection of what it once had been, and then she released it back into the world, keen to watch what it would do. Steeped in a hatred so dark and complete it transcended mortal comprehension, Temelloth began to wage a holy war on Czerina and her servants, its corrupted spirit severed entirely from Lathander’s service and, instead, pledged to a new master, a Dark Power of wildfire and arson and death by flame. The horrifying miracles of immolation that Temelloth performed soon gained it a following of its own/ Preaching this new, tainted faith, Temelloth built a religion around itself: the Church of the Morning Lord. Complete with its own saints and priesthoods, the Church soon evolved into an Inquisition sworn to purge the corruption and evil from the land, though what was considered corrupt and evil soon became any and all that opposed them as the Church became as great an evil as all else within Czerina’s domain. The Founding of the Merchant Consortium Of all Czerina’s servants, none are perhaps more foul than the Merchant Consortium, for there is no supernatural coercion forcing them into a life of deception, extortion, and murder. It is simply the result of disgustingly benign greed, the very same greed that would bind sentient beings in chains or let poison seep into the town water supply. It is all for profit. All for personal gain and enrichment at the expense of all others. Whatever might be said of the vampiric knights of the Order of Blood, or even the zealots of the Inquisition, they at least can claim they seek a higher truth, or a more evolved state of being. The Merchant Consortium, however, simply lusts for gold, though perhaps that in itself is a form of unnatural evil. Perhaps there truly is another Dark Power at work, so subtle and insidious that not even Czernobog’s servants realize this... Regardless, the Wreythian Merchant Consortium wasn’t always this way. In the beginning the Merchant Consortium was formed as a result of a royal decree that was intended to allow for the efficient management of the Wreythian Economy. As a new kingdom, it would take all of the people working together as one to lay the foundations of their new home. Many could say that it was this decree, in fact, which helped Wreythau to flourish in the decades before it was stolen by darkness once again. Now, however, it is simply a financial conglomerate that would be the envy of any modern corporation. Now, the entire economy of the nation is controlled by a single entity, and one that is largely left to do as it will. Czerina and her court are no longer to be bothered with such material, pedantic concerns, which means there is nothing to stop the Consortium from doing what it wants. That’s not to say, of course, that the Consortium is separate from Czerina’s rule. No,
47 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU rather, they are firmly at the beck and call of their Queen. Their true purpose is no longer to manage the Wreythian economy (though they still fulfill this role), but rather to carry out the edicts and commandants which she places upon them. They are her agents, utterly and completely, yet outside of this dury they have free reign to exploit the people of Wreythau. All of the goods that are produced must be sold to them before they can be distributed around the kingdom or readied for export. All of the trades and artisans must be registered to guilds which the Consortium manages. And, as they are in charge of maintaining the kingdom’s roads, all courier and travel services are overseen by them. Most importantly, however, it is their control of the ports and their ability to sail beyond the bounds of the Domain and into the seas of the Material Plane that gives them their greatest amount of profit and power. In fact, it was once the Consortium was able to sail out from the freezing waters of Wreythau to ply the seas of the Material Plane once again that the organization began to shift. This was over a century after Wreythau had been ripped away to join the Domains of Dread, a century of complete isolation, and so it is perhaps understandable why the Consortium was at first desperate for gold and trade goods. Or, perhaps was it also due to the nature of their other mission: to collect the finest artisans, architects, artists, musicians, and other geniuses of the lands and bring them back to Wreythau. Many came with the promise of vast fortunes or lands, yet others had to be convinced through more persuasive means, such as strong rope and a ride on a Consortium ship. This began to make the Consortium enemies amongst the kingdoms of the Material Plane, and soon they began to operate well outside of any respect for morality or the law. Thus the Consortium adapted its function, both in and outside of Wreythau, over the millenia transforming into something to rival the most cunning of merchants and the most ruthless of thieves guilds alike. All throughout the material plane, in each of the iterations that it exists, the Consortium sails from port to port, offering their goods and services to all with the gold to pay, and ever eager to strike when the opportunity presents itself. They’ve made alliances with others driven by a lust for gold, be they corrupt officials or brutal criminals, and so the Consortium has spread its creeping tendrils as far as they can possibly go. Were it not for the limited size of the Consortium, they might perhaps become a significant threat in their own right, but as they are bound to Wreythau, they are simply like a weed or infestation of vermin that is particularly difficult to stamp out. On the next page you’ll find a summary of the goods and services they offer (notably, outside of Wreythau), along with a small explanation for each:
48 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU Most Profitable Wreythian Exports 1. Clothing Dyes: Using the profane influence of Czernobog, Czerina has twisted many of the plants in her kingdom into unnatural organisms found nowhere else in the planes. This has led to the discovery of dozens of incredibly rare clothing dyes that fetch tremendous prices in the markets of the Material Plane. Whether it be the foul sap running through the stalks and boughs of the plants, the intoxicating juices of its berries, or the brilliantly colored petals of their flowers, these dyes are truly magnificent and are famous among the textile industries of many kingdoms. Of course, not all of the dyes are safe, a truth the Consortium has used to great advantage when dealing with uncooperative monarchs or officials 2. Alchemical Reagents: Just as the beautifully horrible plants of Wreythau have led to the creation of rare clothing dyes, so too has it also led to the discovery of tremendously powerful alchemical reagents. These potion ingredients are not only rare, but many of them are unique (not to mention highly dangerous), leading to the creation of an almost entirely new market for Wreythian reagents. Much of this is due to the famed Alchemist of Inbarev, who has allowed many of his more harmless secrets to be passed onto the Consortium, though what wonders still lurk within his workshop few can dare to comprehend even in their nightmares. 3. Refined Platinum: The mines of the Silver Graves are filled with rich veins of platinum that run deep into the mountains. Nevermind that the Graves themselves are little more than a tomb, cart after cart of platinum somehow finds its way to the surface... 4. Spices: Less profitable than the dyes and reagents, the flora of Wreythau has also led to the proliferation of new spices, as well as more common staples such as salt, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. Unlike some of the dyes and reagents, the Consortium is careful to only sell those spices safe for human consumption, as the more poisonous variety is much more valuable sold upon the black market. 5. Cloth: Wreythian wool is particularly magnificent, as are many of the plant based textiles that come out of the weaving houses of the cities or off the looms of the farmers in their cottages. Nevertheless, these textiles have rivals from many other kingdoms, and as such are merely a staple of trade rather than a foundation of the Consortium’s wealth. 6. Refined Silver: There is a reason why the tomb of Barrukhirrim was renamed the Silver Graves. Vast quantities of silver lurk beneath the mountains of Wreythau, and a river of ingots regularly makes its way to the surface and then out to sea where it is later minted and pressed into service by the Kingdoms of the Material Plane. 7. Ink and Paper: Almost as profitable as the silver the Consortium ships, the ink and paper from Wreythau is of a particularly fine quality, made from special tree bark and plant fibers, along with a variety of dyes, making many scholars and wizards quite happy to hear the Consortium has come to town. 8. Refined Iron and Tin: Just as with the Platinum and Silver from the Graves, Iron and Tin flows in great quantities from Wreythau. Much less profitable due to the long shipping voyages, it nonetheless brings a significant profit.
49 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU 9. Furs: Luxurious furs also find their way from Wreythau, though few realize just what sort of creature they now wear about their necks. Most all animals in Wreythau have been disturbingly altered, after all, from the softest bunny to the largest bear. This has made the fur trade conducted by the Consortium more niche, though many nobles prize their Wreythian mink, fox, blepas, and giant bat cloaks and stoles for their softness and shine. 10. Alcohol: Wreythian brews are certainly not unique, but there are few who’ve tasted a brew, wine, or distilled spirit from the mysterious Island that wouldn’t wish to have a second mug. In particular, there is a spirit from Wreythau known as the Sangecopac that is as nuanced and powerful as any other and is a popular export. Most Valuable Wreythian Services 1. Banking (Loans): Having large quantities of platinum and silver, along with revenue from all of their other exports, the Consortium has become a prolific lender considering the size of its operations. Many kingdoms hold small loans with the Consortium, though primarily the loans are used as leverage to advance their other trade goods or criminal activities. 2. Extortion: Just as their loans are often used purely for the leverage and access that they can grant, the Consortium uses threats and cunning schemes to ensure their interests aren’t opposed. Less a generator of profit, and more of a pro-active insurance policy, the Consortium’s practice of foreign extortion has helped their operation expand deep into many kingdoms of the Material plane. 3. Information and Blackmail: Beyond just furthering their own interests, one of the Consortium’s orders is to gather knowledge of the worlds outside Wreythau, and as such they devote significant resources to gathering information and conducting espionage, although they aren’t shy from using these resources for their own ends and profit as well. 4. Piracy: Though the Consortium fleet is small compared to many Navies or trading armadas, it is nevertheless well armed. There are many dangers in the waters around Wreythau, after all, though beyond that they are always eager to make a profit, and what is more profitable than simply taking what they wish? So much the better if there are no witnesses, although the Consortium will usually partner with other gangs of pirates and obey the rules of their alliance. 5. Assassination: Due to their profoundly vast repertoire of poisons, toxins, and mind altering substances, the Consortium is eager to ply their trade in the business of death, building a reputation as a dependable contractor for others, and a fearsome enemy for those who cross them.
50 CH 1 WELCOME TO WREYTHAU The People Of Wreythau Long ago, the people of Wreythau were a diverse group of immigrants from many kingdoms, all seeking the opportunities that came with the founding of a new land and the building of new lives. The fact that this new land would be built upon the bones of the old troubled very few, as even the Ghul Sildreth had been conquerors in ages past. Nevertheless, when Wreythau was ripped out of the sea and dragged across The Great Wheel, the kingdom was irrevocably changed. No longer did trade flow through the ports. No longer was the land safe for tilling, planting, and settling as even the most harmless of plants and animals became deadly predators in their own right. Resources became scarce, and as the pressure of necessity crushed down upon them, the people of Wreythau turned upon themselves. Neighbor turned upon neighbor and society devolved back into desperate tribes with wary eyes and hands clasped upon the handles of blades. Violence between groups became common, though an age of terror truly descended when the people became struck with a foul curse. None but the Blood Queen know the true origin of the curse, though even she only has her suspicions. Regardless of whoever called it into being, though, it is certainly Czernobog’s doing. For, almost a decade after it joined the other Dread Realms of Barovia, half of the babes born in Wreythau, whether to human and orc, elf and halfling, and all but the dwarves, was twisted into a horrendous blend of sentient being and animal. From that moment on, only the most quickly breeding of creatures, the humans, were able to grow and thrive, pushing everyone else to the fringes of the community. Then, centuries later when the Dwarven kingdom of Barrukhirrim fell, even the sole community unaffected by the curse became a minority in Czerina’s dark land. So it is that while halflings, gnomes, orcs, dwarves, and elves are not uncommon in Wreythau, they’ve merely been absorbed into the fringes of human settlements and societies. After nearly a millennium, a measure of harmony has descended once again, with people of every description to be found in the villages or city, except, of course, for those inflicted with the curse. Otherwise, the people of Wreythau are a rather homogenous lot within the cultures of their own communities. The dangers of their land encourage unity and conformity, though the relative isolation between settlements has led to a smattering of different holidays, rituals, and beliefs. That said, most Wreythians share common beliefs and superstitions that guide them through their lives, many of which have no basis in reality. Many, but not all. There are some true gems of mystical wisdom hidden within their labyrinthine collection of practices and convictions. Prejudice among Wreythians Few characters will arouse the ire and suspicion of the Wreythians based on something besides their actions and mannerisms. Note: classes and subclasses fall under the ‘actions and mannerisms’ category. After all, just being strangers traveling through the land has made the adventurers a wondrous curiosity, though there are a few exceptions: Aasimar: Depending on the visibility of their divine heritage, Aasimar are greatly feared by the common folk. They are seen as manifestations of the Morning Lord’s Will, divine avengers come to punish the wicked and root out corruption and weakness wherever it is to be found. Any word or action might bring down a terrible wrath upon them or their loved ones, and so all but the most faithful adherents to the Church will avoid the aasimar and say as little as possible in their company. Great acts of compassion are necessary to overcome this superstition, although word won’t travel very far, making each new settlement its own challenge. As for the Church of the Morning Lord and its Inquisition, the aasimar will become a focus of their attention almost immediately. At first, they will be seen as a tool at worst, and an ally at best, though should the aasimar fail to live up to their strict expectations for how a holy being should act, the aasimar might quickly