Quoth The Raven #21 Front Matter Quoth the Raven #21 This product is a work of fiction. Names of characters, locations, businesses, races, cultures, and events are either the products of the authors’ imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events, or places is purely coincidental. No ravens were harmed in the writing of this book. All articles and content are copyright © 2014 and the property of their respective writers or the Fraternity of Shadows The Fraternity of Shadows gives permission to print or photocopy this work for person Table of Contents Quoth The Raven #21 .................................................................................................................................... 0 Front Matter ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 The Criminal Rings of Nova Vaasa ............................................................................................................ 4 To Granny’s House ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Nora Metzenger .......................................................................................................................................... 22 The Missing Piece ..........................................................................................................................................27 Song of the Cypress .................................................................................................................................... 34 Scalies of the Sea of Sorrows .................................................................................................................... 44 Sennentuntschi ............................................................................................................................................... 53 Ol’ Reaper ....................................................................................................................................................... 55 The Eternal Smith ......................................................................................................................................... 60 Dark Shadows ................................................................................................................................................. 67 Sour Ground .................................................................................................................................................. 77 The Clay of Heroes ...................................................................................................................................... 83 Mikhail ............................................................................................................................................................. 92 Heart of the World...................................................................................................................................... 94 The Domain of the Endless Word ............................................................................................................ 114 Demise ............................................................................................................................................................ 139 Fey Lost ......................................................................................................................................................... 175 Credits ............................................................................................................................................................ 186 Legal ................................................................................................................................................................ 187 Back Cover .................................................................................................................................................... 188 Introduction "Change, my dear. And it seems not a moment too soon" -The Doctor Welcome to the twenty-first issue of Quoth the Raven, the online net magazine for Ravenloft and Gothic Earth. This magazine has been a labor of love, produced by fans of Ravenloft who crave a vehicle for new adventures in the Mist. Nice to see you again, and hello it's a pleasure to meet you. This is a new start for Quoth the Raven. For the past twelve years and twenty issues, Quoth the Raven has been the work of Stephen Sutton (aka ScS of the Fraternity of Shadows). From the magazine's early days of being a straight Word document to the more recent tome-like PDFs, ScS has been the guiding force. Sadly, ScS decided issue 20 was his final issue of Quoth the Raven. We thank ScS for all his time, hard work, dedication (Vecna know it wasn't always easy putting up with the rest of us). And so issue 21 is a new start, with David Gibson (aka Jester of the Fraternity of Shadows) taking up the task of making Quoth the Raven. During the tenure of ScS the netbook improved issue after issue, and Jester David has big shoes to fill. Issue 21 is themed "dark desires" and features almost 200 pages of Ravenloft content. It also contains another Sea of Sorrows FoS Report, this time on the island of Demise. We also begin a new series revisiting old domains, We hope you enjoy. -"Jester" David Gibson October, 2014 The Criminal Rings of Nova Vaasa Ravenloft Revisited Written and Illustrated by Eleanor “Isabella” Ferron [email protected] considered anathema to the church, as they The Nova Vaasan are attempting to hide their divine punishment from the pious. The result of Underworld this is a dedicated criminal "caste" - a group of people in Vaasi society that have no Given the Iron Faith's prohibitive bans on means to survive except through a criminal gambling, opium, subversive literature, lifestyle. magic, and prostitution, as well as the stiff Although the core of the criminal class tariffs on the export of horseflesh and is made of the disfigured and the inhuman, restrictions on the sale of alcohol, it's not the underworld is teeming with Nova surprising that a criminal underworld has Vaasans from every walk of life. Some have exploded in Nova Vaasa's cities. The domain been disenfranchised by the nobility; some is simply too large to be effectively policed, are in it for the thrill; some in it due to and the noble families keep their power addictions and debts; still others are in it for centralized for fear of spreading themselves the money. Crime is one of the only ways to too thin. Bandits ride openly along the rural get ahead in a land choked by oppression steppes, and smugglers run every and corruption. The criminals put on a great commodity imaginable across the Vaasi face of being noble brothers refusing to aid borders. But the Lawgiver's dogma adds to a tyrannical government, citing a thieves' the criminal class in another way: anyone code to live by and a camaraderie between who is possessed of moral degeneracy is all thieves. In truth, the criminals kill each believed to also be cursed by physical other more often than they kill lawmen, and degeneracy. Thus, those with physical the nobility is so corrupt that there is often deformities, disfiguring diseases, or little to differentiate the criminal from the transformative magical curses are shunned legitimate. Smugglers bribe border guards as immoral. Criminals are often branded or to carry on business, criminals often have tattooed as punishment, so that their crimes nobles and priests on their payrolls, and have a physical marker on their flesh. All lawmen are given a cut of illegal proceeds demihuman races are seen as being from gangs in their area. Many criminals physically altered by the Lawgiver's have taken over large chunks of the displeasure; and shapeshifters are government, and it's not uncommon for 4 criminal groups to own large swaths of relevant skills they might have. In time, legitimate businesses. however, the criminals began to tattoo Despite this congruence of the criminal themselves as well, learning techniques and the legitimate, most of Vaasi criminal from Hazlani travelers and making inks from culture is built around thumbing their nose alchemical reagents. Criminal tattoos are at the government, and the Lawgiver in often a telltale shade of bluish grey, as ash particular. Thieves are expected to never is the easiest pigment to obtain in exile or cooperate with the government, nor betray prison. The tattoos are disparate but laden their fellow thieves to any authority, though with symbolism, a secret code that only the inter-criminal conflict is permitted and criminals seem to understand. The most common. Criminals and those who live in common symbol is that of the cat, which gang controlled areas are expected to turn represents a thief or a criminal. Ironically, to criminal authorities for any trouble they religious symbols tend to be very common; might have, not to the nobility or legitimate for instance, many criminals have the iron lawmen. Given the nobility's general apathy spear of the Lawgiver