The Land: Tepest is nestled in the Balinok Mountains directly south of Keening and Necropolis. East Timori Road (which used to cross the mountains of Ravenloft, but now dead-ends at the Shadow Rift) bisects Tepest from east to west. Near the center of the domain, the road hugs the southern shore of Lake Kronov. The lake's clear waters never freeze completely, though snow and ice cling to the surrounding peaks more than half the year.
Tepest has two villages, Viktal and Kellee, each home to about three thousand people. Viktal lies on the south-eastern shore of Lake Kronov, while Kellee is about twenty-five miles east on the Timori Road. These are a poor folk, who live in small whitewashed cottages with thatched roofs. As a matter of pride, they carefully adorn the cottage walls with intricate floral patterns, and in the summer the window boxes overflow with blossoms.
Viktalians fish for sturgeon on the lake or herd goats and sheep. The lead goat in every herd wears a bell, and as the herders guide their animals home at dusk, haunting clangs echo across the valley. The wood in this domain burns poorly, causing lots of smoke; hence, dried animal dung often fuels Viktalian fires.
In addition to the human settlements, Tepest is home to an indeterminable number of goblin tribes. The humanoids lair in caves in the mountains and hills of the domain, preying on travelers and shepherds. The goblins, in turn, are preyed upon by horrid hags who also make their homes here.
Cultural Level: Early medieval.
The Folk: Tepestani are fair of skin, with freckles. Their hair colors range from auburn to orangish shades. They speak a tongue entirely dissimilar to that of any other Core domain. Their clothing is simple, consisting of cotton blouses and skirts for the women, and loose-fitting shirts and trousers for the men. Both sexes wear boots and heavy furs in winter, though adults and children alike tend to go barefoot as soon as the weather turns warm.
Tepestani are an extremely superstitious lot. They believe the night is haunted by "little beasties" who kidnap small children. There was a time when the Tepestani humans shut their doors tight against these creatures, huddling around their hearths in fear. However, that began to change a decade ago.
In 740 on the Barovian calendar, the stars shifted in the heavens, and two nations to the west and south of Tepest simply ceased to exist. Where G'Henna and Markovia had once been was now just an immense canyon filled with dark, swirling Mists, known only as the Shadow Rift.
The Tepestani could think of only one explanation for what had happened: magic. The hags and "little beasties" of the night must have wrought evil spells that had destroyed entire nations. Fearful that the same might happen to them, the Tepestani declared war on the creatures of the night - and all who consorted with them.
Native Player Characters: Tepest has no mages, so this class is not available to native player characters. Further, the literacy level in Tepest is so low that heroes must devote an additional slot to purchase the reading/writing nonweapon proficiency. However, Tepestani are remarkably well-informed about the monstrous denizens of the land. Whenever a Tepestani is confronted with a certain kind of creature (or even hears reports of one), he has a 60% chance of being familiar with the creature and knowing at least one of its vulnerabilities. (This check is rolled by the Dungeon Master, in secret. If the check fails, the Dungeon Master may feed the hero false information, since the knowledge comes from folk tales.) All Tepestani priests belong to the cleric class described in Appendix Three: Character Classes.
Personalities of Note: Wyan, an elderly priest in Viktal, spearheads the crusade against the "little beasties". This crusade has managed to destroy some of the land's more foolish hags, but several innocent bystanders have also been targeted. More than one unfortunate elf traveler was declared a "night-creature" and slain. Almost a dozen innocents have been destroyed this way over the last ten years. Wyan and his crusaders are well-meaning, but they are becoming increasingly overzealous.
The Law: Wyan and his crusaders have become something of a militia in Tepest. They are an even mix of 1st-level fighters and 1st-level clerics.
Encounters: Those who travel southwest of Lake Kronov will enter the dire forest of Blackroot, an evil treant with particularly terrible powers.
Goblins are very common in this domain. Fortunately, the voracious appetite of the hags keeps their numbers in check. Unfortunately, the hags also hunger for human and demihuman flesh. Travelers in Tepest have a 50% chance of an encounter once each day and twice each night. If characters venture into remote areas, the number of rolls doubles.
Tepest is a unique domain in Ravenloft as it has three lords, although they are all hags.
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Laveeda Annis, Chaotic Evil | |||||||
| Armor Class | 0 | Str | 19 | ||||
| Movement | 18 | Dex | 16 | ||||
| Level/Hit Dice | 7+7 | Con | 17 | ||||
| Hit Points | 78 | Int | 14 | ||||
| THAC0 | 13 | Wis | 15 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 3 | Cha | 3 | ||||
| Damage/Attack | 1d8+8/ 1d8+8/ 2d4+1 | ||||||
| Special Attacks | See below | ||||||
| Special Defences | See below | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | 20% | ||||||
|
Leticia | |||||||
| Armor Class | 2 | Str | 19 | ||||
| Movement | 18, Sw 15 | Dex | 16 | ||||
| Level/Hit Dice | 5 | Con | 17 | ||||
| Hit Points | 39 | Int | 12 | ||||
| THAC0 | 15 | Wis | 13 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 2 | Cha | 3 | ||||
| Damage/Attack | 1d4+6/ 2d4+2 | ||||||
| Special Attacks | See below | ||||||
| Special Defences | See below | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | 50% | ||||||
|
Lorinda | |||||||
| Armor Class | -2 | Str | 18/51 | ||||
| Movement | 18, Sw 12 | Dex | 16 | ||||
| Level/Hit Dice | 9 | Con | 16 | ||||
| Hit Points | 81 | Int | 14 | ||||
| THAC0 | 11 | Wis | 18 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 2 | Cha | 3 | ||||
| Damage/Attack | 1d2+6/ 1d2+6 | ||||||
| Special Attacks | See below | ||||||
| Special Defences | See below | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | 35% | ||||||
Like all hags, the three sisters can change shape at will, assuming any appearance they like. However, no shape really pleases them, for they always see themselves and each other as they truly are: hideous, wretched, scrawny creatures, with wrinkles, baggy skin, pointed noses, sharp black teeth, and warts. In addition, each shares common characteristics with other hags of her type (see the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome).
Background: As babies, the three hags were left upon the porch of Rudella Mindefisk by fairies in response to her ardent wish for daughters. Although her husband Holger, a farmer, had no use for "weakling daughters", she insisted on rearing them. The girls were weak and sickly at first (as their reluctant adoptive father feared) but strengthened as time went on. Meanwhile, Rudella sickened and eventually died, somehow drained of her vitality.
After his wife's death, Holger unsuccessfully set about trying to rid himself of the girls. Eventually, he accepted the fact that they could not be dismissed and grouchily demanded that they keep his house tidy and cook for him and his sons.
Often left to themselves, the girls spent much time plotting how they would leave the farm behind. They needed gold to make it on their own, but they did not know where to get it. Then, a wealthy man sought shelter at the farm one stormy night, and they murdered him for his money. Rather than bury the body, they cooked it into stew and served it to their unsuspecting father and brothers. That plan worked so well that they continued the practice for several years.
Eventually they realized that they could not make enough money this way, so they decided to entice some traveler to take them away. Before long, a roguish dandy came along, but he had no intention of taking any of them away with him. Instead, he masterfully played them against each other until their jealousy for one another peaked. Ultimately, they murdered him so that none would lose him, but as they did so, the Mists claimed them, depositing them in the new domain of Tepest.
Current Sketch: The hags have not been in Ravenloft long, and they are not well known by either natives or travelers. The goblins that plague their domain are a more immediate and visible threat, so those carnivorous humanoids are always blamed for the disappearance of natives and travelers. In fact, the hags are responsible for many of those deaths, for they have become gourmet cannibals. They use trickery to ensnare their victims and then take them back to their innocent-looking whitewashed cottage in the woods for dinner.
Closing the Borders: When the hags want their borders sealed, a violent storm encircles the domain. Stinging rain, snow, and bolts of lightning drive travelers inland, toward the lake. Magic does not affect the bizarre storm.
Combat: The sisters have ravenous appetites, but they feed for pleasure more than for survival. Each hag can devour an entire man-sized creature in ten minutes. Their steely claws and incredible strength help them finish the job quickly.
Each hag can mimic the voice of any creature, though after two rounds, there is a 35% chance that she will cackle strangely. Each sister also has the natural ability to change shape and size at will (as the wizard spell shape change). If and when one of them reveals her true appearance to an unsuspecting victim, he may be called upon to make both a fear check and a horror check.
Casting together, the sisters can invoke the following magic: animate dead, control weather, curse, dream, forcecage, mindblank, polymorph other, veil, and vision. They can use these spells twice per day, casting as if they were 9th-level mages. Because they are telepathically linked, they need not be near each other as they cast. The connection is natural and instantaneous, although engaging one of them in battle or any other preoccupying activity prevents them from casting their group spells.
Singularly, each sister can cast the following spells at will, once per round: audible glamer, fog cloud, invisibility, pass without trace, speak with monsters, and weakness.
Each hag has her own abilities as well. Laveeda, the annis, can smell human flesh a half-mile away - up to a mile away if the wind blows the scent to her. If she has seen the person before, she can identify who it is by smell. Also, her hearing is so acute that she cannot be surprised. In combat, if she makes three successful attacks in a single round, she has grappled her opponent; all subsequent attacks automatically hit as she heartily rakes and chews her victim alive.
Leticia, the sea hag, can cast a deadly glance, up to three times per day, on any creature within thirty feet. If the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison, there is a 25% chance that he dies of sheer horror and a 75% chance that he becomes paralyzed for three days.
Lorinda, the greenhag, can move through the forest in absolute silence. She also imposes a -5 penalty upon opponents' surprise rolls in that environment.
Mirrors and sunlight are the sisters' least favorite things. Any mirror will crack if one of them looks into it (much to their embarrassment and rage), and sunlight is painful, preventing their ability to shapechange (although it inflicts only one point of damage per turn).
