Guide to the Mists

VanVan Richten’sRichten’s GuideGuide toto thethe MistsMists

Credits Authors:: Carla Hollar and Rucht Lilavivat Special Acknowledgements Developers:: Andria Hayday (1st ed. design) Jackie Cassada and Nicky Rea (1st ed. design) Editor: Tracy & Laura Hickman (original concept) Dale Donovan Sword & Sorcery Managing Editor: Stewart Wieck Layout and Typesetting: Ron Thompson

Additional Thanks Based on the Original Dungeons & Dragons ® rules created by E. and and the new Dungeons & Dragons game designed by Johnathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker and Peter Adkison.

©2005 , Inc. , Van Richten’s Guide to the Mists, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons and its logo, the logo, and Wizards of the Coast and its logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc., a subsidiary of Inc., in the USA and other countries, and are used by Arthaus under license. Arthaus and its logo are trademarks of Arthaus Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Sword and Sorcery and its logo are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

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VanVan RichtenRichten’’ss GuideGuide toto thethe MistsMists

Table of Contents Introduction 3 Chapter One: Veiled Origins 8 Chapter Two: Hidden Compositions 18 Chapter Three: Extraordinary Powers of Mist Creatures 28 Chapter Four: Vulnerabilities of Mist Creatures 46 Chapter Five: Those Who Dwell Within 54 Chapter Six: Traveling Through the Mists: Byways 64 Chapter Seven: Wanderers in the Mist: and Outlanders 72 Chapter Eight: Secret Places of the Mists 80 Chapter Nine: Hunting Those Who Dwell Within the Mists 87 DM’s Appendix 97

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Sword & Sorcery http://www.swordsorcery.com Guide to the Mists

Introduction

Fear death? — to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face, When the snows begin, and the blasts denote I am nearing the place, The power of the night, the press of the storm, The post of the foe; Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form; Yet the strong man must go….” —Robert Browning, “Prospice”

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elcome Dear Reader, she believed was a true accomplishment. Van My name is Laurie Weathermay- Richten carefully studied our script and gently laid Foxgrove. it upon the herbalist counter in front of him. It was Many of you are already familiar then that he turned and peered at me, cocking a with the dread creatures that roam this land. The brow in my direction. vampire, the lycanthrope, the created — most of “What is the meaning of this?” he asked. these are known to our readers, either through the “Uncle Rudolph, I present to you a publica- works of our mentor, Rudolph Van Richten, or tion that we…” I paused and corrected myself, “…a through unfortunate personal experience. What proposed work that we have been working on.” many people do not know about are the creatures of Van Richten rubbed the bridge of his nose the Mists, beings that exist within those mysterious with a sigh. His voice dropped to a low hiss. “What borders that cordon off our land and, from time to you two have written, what I see here is quite time, intrude upon it. brilliant,” Van Richten nodded his gray head, What we propose in this book is that these sighing. “Yes, what you have set before me is well beings are far more common than previously be- researched, backed up with evidence and corrobo- lieved. Indeed, we are daring to make that claim rated by witnesses. Your writing even has a certain that these creatures surround us— all the time. style that appeals to me.” Furthermore, numerous properties of the Mists For a rare moment in my life, I was without themselves have never been considered by others words. in the field. In this volume, we attempt to delve “But what you are writing,” said Van Richten, into the nature of these unspoken powers. “is dangerous. It can only lead to sorrow, not only for As you know, the year is 758, eight years past you and your sister, Laurie, but for everyone that the date in which the acclaimed Rudolph Van you hold dear.” Richten disappeared from the face of the land. I stood back for a moment and crossed my Since that time my sister and I have carried on his arms, beginning to feel a tingling curiosity. “How work to the best of our ability, exploring the nature can writing a simple book be dangerous, Uncle?” of the dead that walk and the mysterious inhabit- “You, of all people should know about books ants of the Shadow Rift. and the inherent danger that they — no, wait, that This latest publication, however, takes a new was Gennifer that found—” turn, for not only does it branch out into new, Before the good doctor could finish his thought, unpenned territory, it treads through the very a large man came bursting into the herbalist shop. ground that we were warned not to explore. The Instantly, I recognized the tri-cornered hat, the Mists have ever been a source of both mystery and iron lantern and the alert eyes that darted with fear. They seem to come and go for no reason that caution. we are aware of and only the wandering Vistani “A lamplighter,” I whispered. traverse them with any degree of surety or safety. “Dr. Van Richten,” said the lamplighter, his So, understand, by merely reading this book, voice bellowing from his bearded face. “They told you subject yourself to new and unheard of dangers. me to come get you. There is need for you at the Therefore, be warned. Halloway House.” From Small Beginnings Van Richten looked back at me. We read each The creation of this manual began just a year others’ thoughts. The Halloway House was well- before the disappearance of the great Dr. Van known to us, for it had once belonged to one of the Richten, when my sister and I were at the impetu- great ruling families of Mordent. Each of its mem- ous age of seventeen. We were tending his herbalist bers had been found murdered, or had disappeared shop in Mordent, already interested in the study of without a trace over the years. Each time a family the strange and peculiar. To this end, we had begun member vanished, the incident had always been writing our first text together. At that time, it was accompanied with a night of thick, viscous fog. entitled, “Weathermay-Foxgrove’s Inclusive Guide Now, the house stood completely empty, its vacant to the Curious Properties of the Mists.” windows staring hollowly over an unoccupied town — a testament to the loneliness and sadness that Indeed, I showed the text to Uncle Rudolph consumed the Halloway family in its final years. himself, a proud seventeen-year old basking what

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“Make ready, Laurie,” said Dr. Van Richten. “I thought you wanted to accompany me on “We have work to do.” my missions,” said Van Richten. “I do,” I replied, abashed at my mentor’s sharp A Glimpse of Darkness hearing. “I simply have a…trepidation where root We rode out from the herbalist shop as fast as cellars are concerned.” our carriage horses would take us. Tamsin, the Soon, we could see that not only had the door lamplighter, rode out ahead of us, illuminating the to the root cellar shattered, but the stairs beneath way through the moors and dense forests. the cellar doors had given way as well. Down When we finally arrived at the Halloway house, below, the lantern shone upon a mass of broken we saw a small crowd of people assembled outside boards, splinters and rusted nails. Past the scattered of that dreaded place. Tiny flickers of torchlight remains of the door and stairs, I could see a mass of played upon the splintering walls of the mansion. footprints. Dozens of tiny prints made their marks The large porch, sagging from the weight of age, upon the dusty floor. grinned at our approach, as if sardonically noting “What is it?” I wondered aloud with the faint- our arrival. As we drew nearer, I was startled to find est whisper. the house looming towards me, as if trying to peer The lantern swung back and forth. As the light into the carriage that I was riding. It was only later swayed through the room, the shadows reached that I discovered that the house was naturally first to the left and then to the right — and there, tilting forward in the earth, leaning due to the I saw it, that terrible detail that not only bewildered weight of age. The slanted angle of the house made me, but left me with a cold feeling of dread. it look as if it were crouching like some great cat, “You see it, too?” whispered Van Richten, patiently watching for its prey as it crept ever noting my swift intake of breath. “You note the closer. same thing?” “What news?” cried Van Richten, opening the I nodded in silence. Hooves. All of the small door to the carriage and hopping out even before footprints were actually marks where miniature the horses had stopped. hooves had tread upon the ground as if a herd of I saw now that a number of lamplighters stood miniature goats had tromped back and forth in that at the scene. Beside them stood a weeping woman spot. Van Richten tilted the rope that dropped dressed in a plain cotton dress. A balding man with down into the cellar. The lantern rocked further long jowls stood beside her, his head bowed. Be- into the empty cellar, swinging its pool of light hind them stood a number of wide-eyed children. deeper into the darkness. For a moment, I thought “Two boys,” said one of the lamplighters. “A a saw something — a form of some sort waiting number of playmates decided to explore Steadwall. down there in the damp darkness. They wandered too close to Halloway House. Two The good doctor saw it as well and tilted the of the children fell into the root cellar — there.” swaying lantern just a bit further. At first I caught With his hand, he indicated a direction a little only a glimpse, but then saw plainly what chilled distance away. “When their playmates called for me to the bone. them, there was no answer. We wanted to know if Words had been assembled out of the splinters there was anything that could be done.” and broken planks. Van Richten slowly crossed over the weed- strangled hill and looked at what everyone was gathered around. Sure enough, a massive hole we keep what we take peered out from the now broken door to the root cellar. A cold, wet draft wafted up from the dark- Van Richten signaled for Tamsin to pull the ness within. lantern up from the depths. He turned and walked toward the woman, who now looked at the doctor “Please,” said Van Richten, would one of you with a mixture of terror and hope. Her face was red gentlemen lower a lamp through the hole?” from crying, her eyes completely blood-shot. Ev- It was Tamsin who obliged. He tied a rope to erything was silent but for the ragged breath of that his own lantern and carefully slid the light down poor woman. through the jagged hole. The sputtering flame I saw the doctor lean in close and whisper to illuminated a dusty atmosphere. her. He took her hands and held them tightly. The “I hate this,” I muttered under my breath.

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woman trembled for but a moment and then I bowed my head in the affirmative, “Indeed, crumpled, fainting. The tall, balding man that had what is it, Smythe? I do hope this is not one of your stood beside her all this time swiftly caught her wild stories.” limp body. He buried his face into her neck and “No, ma’am,” croaked Smythe, putting a began to sob. gnarled hand upon his sunken chest. For a mo- Van Richten glanced at me over his shoulder. ment, he looked genuinely hurt. “You of all people His eyes shimmered in the gathering lights. I knew know what an honest soul I am.” what was on his mind, I knew exactly who he was I sighed, waving away his protestations. “I thinking about at that moment. For the first time, have not come here to debate your ‘boundless I truly understood why he sought so assiduously to integrity.’ If there is nothing further….” protect my sister and me. “There’s something further all right,” said Smythe. With a speed that belied his age and Unexpected Returnings decrepit form, he grabbed my arm with surprising Greetings Gentle Reader, strength. “There’s something further indeed. Just My name is Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove. look up that hill right now. You’ll see what I’m As one might deduce, we dropped the idea of talking about.” our then-titled, “Weathermay-Foxgrove’s Inclu- I struggled in his iron grasp for a moment, sive Guide to the Curious Properties of Mists.” angered by his audacity. As I did, however, I noted When Laurie told me of what happened and what that Smythe no longer looked at me. His eyes were Dr. Van Richten had said, we both decided that it cast past my shoulder, and they were full of loath- was not the time to pursue our own, independent ing. His lips quivered with genuine fear. The face research. of the liar had gone. Of course, the disappearance of Van Richten Slowly, I turned to peer up the hill as he reinvigorated us, but it also made us forget all about indicated. Halloway House stood as it always had, our personal work. We instead saw fit to bring to leaning down from the top of the hill, but around light Uncle Rudolph’s unpublished work. the corner of the house came a long column of mist. As you might have guessed, however, circum- Pouring from that bank of mist came a gathering of stances forced us to explore old territory. Something small, white figures. Dozens upon dozens of tiny, gave us cause to reexamine that ground which even naked forms sprang out, their skin white and lumi- Dr. Van Richten warned not to explore. nous as moonlight. Their legs tapered down to end Not three months before we began work on in hooves and their gaunt arms were as thin as this tome, I had reason to go back to Halloway spindles. Strangest of all, however, were their ter- House. The reason for my venture there was en- rible faces, with wide, staring eyes and mouths tirely different from my sister’s, however. Instead of caught in a perpetual “O”. an emergency summons, I was called by Smythe, The forms began running down the hill to- the local ferryman. wards us. Instantly Smythe recoiled, releasing my It had been nine years since the great Dr. Van arm and retreating back to his raft. Richten had been called there to investigate the “I told you! They’ve been haunting me! Haunt- disappearance of the poor Freidlin boys. Symthe ing me!” Without looking back, Smythe leapt onto had sent a message, claiming that he had seen his river ferry and pushed away from the shore. something curious and, knowing that I was a pur- I called out to Smythe, but he did not even veyor of the unusual, requested my presence. I met slow his pace. Within the span of a heartbeat, I saw my summoner by the shores of the river where he the ferry plow forward into the waters of the river. worked, not far at all from the accursed Steadwall. I felt the cold, slimy hands of the creatures As always, I regarded Smythe with a bit of caution. upon my ankles and upon my skin. I called out While mostly harmless, Symthe was known to us to again to him, but the ferry kept drifting farther into be a bit of a liar. the river. As I watched, the fog swallowed up both “I’m glad you could make it out this eve, Smythe and his ferry. ma’am,” said Smythe, grinning his toothless grin. I could feel the tugging of a dozen little arms “I knew that you in particular would take an upon my dress, actions accompanied by the sounds interest in what I saw up on the hill.” of a hundred tiny whispers. As I turned back toward

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Sword & Sorcery http://www.swordsorcery.com Guide to the Mists the house, I saw that the creatures had gathered all uncovered answer bred more questions. We hope around me. I heard their chatter. Their incessant that as you explore these words, you will uncover chant: more answers than we did. But remember, dear reader, you have been warned. we keep what we take Chapter Overview As the creatures closed in around me, I saw Our Introduction makes plain enough our what could only have been a vision. Behind the desires and reason for completing this text. tiny beings stood what appeared to be a pair of small Chapter One: Veiled Origins makes the case boys. Their hands were linked together, and they for Mist creatures and speculates upon their ori- were staring straight at me with blank, shining gins. It also reviews the known properties of the eyes. Mists themselves, as well as discusses properties of I felt the slippery hands of the creatures tug- the Mists that have thus far been undiscovered. ging at my arms. Something was crawling through Chapter Two: Hidden Compositions explains my hair, tangling its fingers in my locks. Through the physiology, psychology and common powers of the blanket of noise around me, through the hum the denizens of the Mists. and din of the collected speech that threatened to Chapter Three: Extraordinary Powers re- overwhelm me completely, I thought I could hear veals the myriad salient abilities that Mist creatures a tiny voice. “Look upon them,” it said, “look upon might sometimes exhibit. them and know that they are the Lost.” Chapter Four: Those Who Dwell Within I felt a quivering mass of hands swarm over my covers the sad plight of the mistlorn — those body. I stepped back to try to regain my balance, hapless souls who have been captured and taken in but in that moment, a wave of maggot-white flesh by the Mists. pressed against me. Little fingers clutched my face. Chapter Five: Hidden Places discusses a new Little arms pulled me back and I tumbled into the discovery — the dread oubliettes, those dark and cold, dark river. chilling places which act as pockets of dread within When I awoke, I was on Smythe’s ferry. His the rolling Mists. back was to me, and I saw that he was examining Chapter Six: Traveling Through the Mists my pistol. reveals the properties and nature of the mysterious “This all you have on you?” he muttered. Mistways, paths within the Mists themselves. “Yes,” I gasped, suddenly realizing how cold I Chapter Seven: The Vistani covers the great was. navigators of the Mists, the enigmatic gypsies who Smythe stood up and spoke gruffly, never travel through the Mist as sailors do an ocean. turning around to face me. “Mm,” he snorted, “always thought you carried a bit more on you.” How to Use this Book Thus began a second time our quest to inves- This book is a new addition to the series of Van tigate the Mists. Instantly, a mystery lay before us. Richten Guides. As in the books before it, informa- Who exactly were “the Lost” that the horde of tion regarding game rules and rules-related creatures spoke of? Were they the missing boys that commentaries on the topics appear in sidebars. Van Richten had been called to save so long ago? The Appendix at the end of the guide includes How were we to find these lost beings, and where descriptions for new monsters as well as a creature could we find them? Why had I been allowed to see creation laboratory which explains how the DM them? What was the nature of the strange creatures might create his own Mist terrors. Finally, the stats that tried to drown me? and backgrounds of specific characters that appear These are the questions that we explored in in this guide can be found in the Appendix as well. this tome. As it is in the nature of science, each

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ChapterChapter One:One: VeiledVeiled Origin

I have my own views about Nature’s methods, though I feel that it is rather like a beetle giving his opinions upon the Milky Way.

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters

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reetings one and all, The Case for Mist Creatures Allow me, Laurie Weathermay- Imagine the lone vampire that preys upon the Foxgrove, to delve now into the origins small hamlet in the middle of the wilds. What if of those that dwell within the Mists. that creature was not acting of its own accord, but Creatures such as the savage lycan- was instead doing so because of a curse from the thrope, the walking dead, the spectral ghost and Mists? Could such a thing be possible? My sister other foul entities are all subjects of intense study and I state emphatically that it must be so. around the core. These are the beings of dread that plague our land. Allow us, however, to make a What led us to this outrageous idea? It was supposition. Presume, for a moment, that there simply this: as youngsters, we could not travel exists another category of creature that roams the throughout the core with Van Richten. We were land. These creatures are just as deadly, just as confined to the library, where the study of other insidious and just as terrible as their better known lands occurred through the pages of books. Through counterparts. our constant reading, we both noticed one thing — that numerous domains claimed similar, if not The question arises: how could such a class of identical folklore. heretofore unknown creatures exist? Would we have not heard of such beings by now? Surely some For example, the legendry of numerous lands evidence of these undiscovered creatures must claimed the tale of the Hitchhiker. This legend is exist. But then let us make another supposition— known to many in the land and is especially popu- that these creatures constantly surround us, hiding in lar among children. The legend goes thusly: plain sight. A carriage driver traveling down a road late at Here lies the very premise that this tome night happens upon a sad-looking woman while boldly states — that this unspoken class of monster crossing a bridge. has been with us for centuries, but has remain Being kind-hearted, the carriage driver picks undetected by us. up the young woman and offert to carry her to the Of course, with such dramatic claims as these, destination of her choice. With a forlorn sigh, the the burden of proof lies upon us to produce a proper woman asks to be taken to her father’s house, case. And here is our second controversial asser- providing directions from the bridge. tion: many of the creatures of dread, many of those Following the woman’s instructions, the driver sinister monsters that we battle are, in fact, beings approaches a small cottage. As the driver of the that belong to this undiscovered category. Many of carriage looks over to the woman to tell her that these day-hating fiends are creatures of the Mists. they have arrived, he finds that she has vanished. Perplexed, he knocks upon the door of the cottage,

Dread Possibility: Introducing New Threats To Your Campaign Introducing a brand new monster or villain into your Ravenloft campaign is sometimes difficult because of the existing power structure of the realm. If you place a dragon in the middle of a domain, that dragon would eventually contend with the Darklord for power. A coven of vampires in a major city might take it over after just a few months. While such power struggles can make for great campaigning, sometimes you may want a simpler plot where the Darklord of the domain doesn’t figure into the picture. Other times, you may want to bring in a challenge to your players without shaking up the political boundaries of your campaign world with the threat that you introduce. By making your favorite monster or villain a creature of the Mists, it can be wherever you want it to be without disrupting the structure of the setting. For instance, your vampires could show up for a short story arc, conflict with the campaign’s heroes and then disappear into the Mists when the conflict was over. This allows the DM to explore the use of more powerful creatures in Ravenloft if they so wish. Simply have the creature arrive via the Mists, encounter the heroes, and then leave once the clash is over.

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wondering if she has already entered unseen by him. The door opens, and out steps a wizened, old Dread Possibilities – man. To the driver’s surprise, the old man is not at The Urban Legend all shocked or concerned but quietly explains that I’ve heard the story a thousand times. Bloody his daughter died long ago when the bridge was Mary is supposed to be the ghost of a girl who died while washed out. Even though the bridge has since been looking into a mirror. To see her, they say you have to repaired, the young woman’s spirit continually go into your bathroom and turn out your lights. Then, haunts it, trying to get home so that her dear father when everything is totally quiet, you spin around will not worry. Sadly, her spirit is doomed never to thirteen times. You have to chant the words, ‘Bloody make it to the doorstep of her cottage. Mary’ each time you spin. When you open your eyes, While most in the realm have dismissed this Bloody Mary will be standing there. story as a mere myth, we have spoken with numer- We didn’t think anything was going to happen. ous subjects who have all had the same experience. We were just going to see if it was true, I promise. They each claim to have picked up a strange We didn’t think it was actually true… woman on a bridge and taken her to a cottage only Urban legends have existed for as long as people to discover her missing upon arrival. have gathered together in communities, whether At first, this seems to be a typical haunting, cities, towns or villages. Urban legends began as with a phantom doomed to attempt to repeat an simple ghost stories that people told around the fire unfinished task from its life. However, we found to while away the long nights. Many of the old “ghost numerous curious details concerning this tale. Each stories” known throughout the world arise from of the individuals we spoke to described the same popular urban legends that have been continually house and the same old man, even though each updated for the current age and modified to fit their person we spoke to lived in a different domain. culture and locale. As we studied this case, we wondered how a Imagine that you live in a world where each phantom could travel so freely from realm to realm. and every “urban legend” is true. Visualize a It is well known that phantoms or ghosts are tied to land haunted by ghosts, stalked by malformed a particular horrors and inhabited by creatures of night- area, that by their very nature, they do not mare. Welcome to Ravenloft. roam. And what of the old man and the cottage? Urban legends serve as great templates of How could they be in several places at once? gothic horror, because they often reveal the The answer is deceptively simple: the woman, flaws in the characters of the tale or bring to the old man and even the cottage are properties of light some flaw within us. the Mists. The haunting moves to where the Mists So many of Ravenloft’s themes and ideas see fit. come from the ghost stories of old. Since urban legends are merely ghost stories with a modern twist, why not de-modernize urban legends and Concluding the Case for Mist make them something you can draw from for Creatures your Ravenloft campaign? How does this book allow you recreate As a result of our exhaustive investigations, we these ideas in a roleplaying game? Simple. Most believe that beings we now refer to as “creatures of creatures in a fantasy adventure can only be in the Mists” exist in this realm. Many of these crea- one place at one time. But through the Mists, tures are haplessly possessed by the Mists, which your Ravenloft creatures can now travel the keep them in a “temporal vault” until such time as realms at your convenience. Better yet, you’ll they are needed. Others — fen hounds, ferryme