The Land: This tiny Island consists of a single village. The Mists constantly surround this island, and a fog clings to the top of the buildings. Never quite managing to burn away this haze, a pale sun traces a path across the sky for six hours out of each day before plunging the domain into total darkness.
Most of the buildings here are two stories tall. Once they were mostly whitewashed, but the paint has peeled off in many-cases, revealing the gray, rotting wood below. Gaping holes in many of the shingled roofs expose the inside to the elements. Though a couple of well-maintained gardens exist, the fruit and vegetables that grow here are small and sickly.
At the square in the heart of the village is a fountain with a statue of a woman, sorrow etched in her features, holding a marionette as though it were a child. Burned ruins line one side of this square.
Cultural Level: Medieval. (Note: Before becoming an Island of Terror, the community was at the renaissance level, so it is possible to find unused equipment expected of a higher cultural level.)
The Folk: The entire population of Odiare consists of fifty-one young people, mostly ranging in age from twelve to twenty-five years old, although a few toddlers and infants can be found as well. They are all fit and lean - some might even say skinny - and are generally in good health. This domain was snatched from the Gothic Earth setting, and the language spoken here is Italian. Most heroes who reach the Island will need to use magical means in order to understand the natives, or to make themselves understood.
Visitors who emerge from the Mists are greeted with apprehension and whispered encouragements to leave before it is too late. Once the language barrier is overcome, they will explain that ten years ago, the toys in the village came to life and murdered all the adults. The most powerful of these evil toys, the carrionette Maligno, still exists. He hides somewhere in the village, emerging only to slay travelers who come to Odiare.
Native Player Characters: Native Odiarans have grown up without schooling. For this reason, they may not be wizards or priests. Additionally, any nonweapon proficiencies that require a great deal of study are off limits to these characters. (Crafts are available, however, as many children were taught by their parents.) Reading/writing costs two proficiency slots for Odiare natives. They speak only Italian when they enter play but may learn other languages as a campaign progresses. The urban nature of Odiare also excludes rangers.
Personalities of Note: The village is led by Giselle Velutto (age eighteen) and her husband Rudolfo (age twenty-two), who are expecting their first child. Both are 1st-level thieves. Qiselle is a striking beauty, though sullen and withdrawn. Rudolfo has a dark and sinister air about him but is actually quite outgoing.
The sole-surviving adult is Guiseppe, the toymaker who created Maligno. The old man is hopelessly insane and remains in the attic of one of the homes, where he continues to make toys.
The Law: Once the children of Odiare realized that they would have to fend for themselves or starve, they became surprisingly organized. The five oldest children began tending gardens and rationing what food still remained. Each inhabitant of Odiare has specific tasks to perform every day, ranging from weaving and fixing roofs to picking fruit. Once a child reaches thirteen years of age (the age of the oldest child at the time Maligno arose), punishment for sloughing duties entails being locked in one of the basements. Maligno still hides in these areas, creeping from basement to basement via the sewers. Occasionally, he slays the lazy person. Repeated offenses prompt exile to the Mists.
Encounters: Odiarans are peaceful and can be encountered in groups of 1d4 at any time. The domain abounds with pets, such as cats, dogs, and white mice. Odiare has no monsters, save Maligno and a handful of carrionettes. (See the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III for details on this unique type of doll golem.)
Further Reading: The origins of Odiare are detailed in the adventure module The Created. Some of Guiseppe's sinister creations are featured in the accessory Forged of Darkness.
Maligno
Carrionette, Chaotic Evil
| Armor Class | 4 | Str | 9 | ||||
| Movement | 9 | Dex | 13 | ||||
| Level/ Hit Dice | 6 | Con | - | ||||
| Hit Points | 30 | Int | 16 | ||||
| THAC0 | 15 | Wis | 10 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 1 | Cha | 15 | ||||
| Damage/ Attack | 1d3 | ||||||
| Special Attacks | Taunt and Otto's irresistible dance, animate toy, paralyzation | ||||||
| Special Defences | Immune to poison, electricity, cold, and most spells | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | Nil | ||||||
Maligno is a one-foot-tall wooden marionette, carved and painted to look like a friendly, happy little boy. He wears loose green shorts, a white short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved jacket, and a cap with a single white feather stuck in it.
Maligno's voice is like that of an eight-year-old boy, pitched high and even a bit shrill. However, he is a skilled voice actor and can sound honest, friendly, sorrowful, naive, bullying, or petulant. He is not able to imitate other people's voices, though.
Maligno's body and face have dozens of detailed parts. His eyebrows, lips, mouth, fingers can all move independently. This gives him great expressiveness and agility.
Background: Maligno is the creation of the toymaker Guiseppe. Driven by a demented fantasy of making a son for himself, Guiseppe created a marionette like no other, with a body so finely crafted it moved almost like a real person. So strong was his desire for a son that some shadowy force took notice and breathed a kind of pseudo-life into the puppet.
Guiseppe's delight knew no bounds. He named the puppet Figlio and showered him with love. Delighted with his work, Guiseppe presented Figlio to the town. While the toymaker adored his creation, most of the townsfolk did not. Their skepticism made Figlio realize that he was not truly alive. For causing that realization, Figlio came to hate the adults of Odiare. The children were another matter, since they believed he was real and alive. The puppet loved the children, and they loved him in return.
To extract his revenge, the puppet hatched a devious plot to kill all the adults of Odiare. With only children left, he would receive all the adoration and love he felt he deserved, Figlio soon coerced Ouiseppe into making more puppets like him. Instead of "living" dolls like Figlio, however, these were cold and inhuman. To Guiseppe's horror, they obeyed only Figlio, ignoring their creator.
During a performance, Figlio's carrionettes (as he called the puppets) slew all of the adults present, sparing only the children. This act caused the dark powers to draw Odiare into the Demiplane of Dread, awarding Figlio with his own domain. During that terrible event, Figlio renamed himself Maligno. The carrionettes then went forth to look for other adults in order to take over their bodies and become the new "adults" of Odiare, all loyal to Maligno.
Maligno in turn, tried to take over the body of Guiseppe but discovered that he could not. He alone of all the carrionettes is cursed to be unable to inhabit a human body. He even discovered that he could not kill Guiseppe. Any harm that befalls the toymaker is inflicted upon Maligno as well.
Maligno's plan to reshape Odiare into a community centering around him would have worked if not for the intervention of a group of adventurers. They freed the adults of Odiare from the influence of the carrionettes and destroyed most of the evil creations. Maligno himself was almost destroyed as well, but somehow he managed to escape. From a hidden lair, he commanded Guiseppe - whose already-tenuous grip on sanity was slipping - to create yet more carrionettes. This second batch went on an unchecked, murderous rampage, and when they were done, all the adults were dead. Only Maligno and the children remained in Odiare.
Current Sketch: To this day, Maligno burns with rage and frustration. He abhors his own body and wishes to be human.
For the first few years after the adults of Odiare were slain, Maligno was able to satisfy himself with the adoration of the children, even if that adoration was now as much out of fear as love. He continued to force Guiseppe to create magical toys for them and carrionette servants for himself. However, as the children of Odiare grew to adulthood, Maligno retreated from the community.
Now, it has been years since any of the residents of Odiare have seen Maligno, so he is sometimes believed to be merely a legend. Only mad, old Guiseppe can say for certain that Maligno still exists, for the puppet frequently visits his father to make sure the citizens of Odiare are feeding and taking care of him. Guiseppe is the only being who can repair severe damage suffered by Maligno, so even though he has grown to hate his father, Maligno protects the old man.
The children of Odiare have begun to have children of their own. Soon, Maligno will have a new adoring audience, and already the carrionettes are eyeing the bodies of the young adults as their own.
Closing the Borders: When Maligno seals the borders of Odiare, the village's streets twist back upon themselves like the thoughts of a madman. Characters who attempt to enter the Mists will find themselves reentering the domain on one of the village's other streets.
Combat: Maligno carries ten silver needles. He can throw them up to fifteen feet, and they paralyze whatever limb they strike (his choice). Victims who make successful saving throws vs. paralyzation fight off the magical effect from that strike.
A normal carrionette can drive a needle into the neck of any victim that has been immobilized, transferring its own dark essence into the living body. Maligno cannot do this, however. Instead, he carries a folding straight razor with a four-inch-long blade. He slits the throats of paralyzed victims and watches their life pump from their bodies, giggling gleefully.
Maligno may climb walls like a thief with 85% chance of success. If using string or thread to help him, his chances rise to 95%. He can cast taunt and ventriloquism at will. His touch has the effect of Otto's irresistible dance, except the victim can attempt a saving throw vs. spell (not allowed under the normal spell description).
Maligno's most potent ability is his power to animate toys. He can affect any toy within thirty feet of him, but he can never animate more than six toys per round or have more than twenty-four toys animated at a time. He can still move and attack while animating the toys. Each toy has a THACO of 19, 8 hit points, and inflicts 1d6 points of damage. Some toys may have special attacks, but these are left up to Dungeon Master to determine.
Maligno is immune to all nonarea-affecting spells, except those that cause burning damage or affect wood. A warp wood spell inflicts 3d6 points of damage upon Maligno and slows him for three rounds (as per the slow spell).
If Maligno is injured, he can be repaired. Guiseppe or any of the carrionettes can repair one hit point per round on the lord. However, if he takes more than twenty-four points of damage, only Guiseppe can repair him.
If reduced to 0 hit points, Maligno is unable to move, although he can still talk and use his spell-like abilities. If reduced to -10 hit points or burned to a cinder, he is "dead", but not destroyed; Giuseppe can still build a new body for him, using the ashes to infuse Maligno's foul spirit into it. As of yet, no one knows if Maligno can be completely destroyed.
