The Land: This is a humid, bug-infested domain that most visitors from the Mists try to leave as quickly as possible. It is most frequently found by sailors heading east from Nevuchar Springs. Still, due to the difficulty in navigating those mist-shrouded waters, no merchants have attempted to establish regular contact with Souragne.
Visitors to this isolated land report that as the fog lifts around their ship, they find themselves about a mile from shore in shallow waters teeming with fish. Referred to as Maison d'Sablet by natives, a dark, looming swamp extends along most of the visible coastline. Oppressive humidity greets the visitors, and the temperature usually hovers between eighty and ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit during the day, rarely dropping below sixty-five degrees even at night. During the rainy season, which lasts about three months, the temperatures are about five degrees lower.
The small town of Port d'Elhour lies along the coast east of the swamp. This cramped town with low, stone buildings and winding, narrow streets is home to about one thousand people. Most of these inhabitants survive primarily by fishing, but a fair number of skilled artisans ply their craft here as well. From here, a road leads inland to Marais d'Tarascon, the domain's only other human settlement. This village is a cluster of small wood-and-thatch buildings on the edge of the swamp, housing about three hundred people.
Cultural Level: Chivalric.
The Folk: Two distinct races of humans exist here - light-skinned people with hair colors ranging from red to chestnut brown, and dark-skinned folk who generally have black, kinky hair. Souragniens are all generally short in stature and light of build. Racial prejudice is not evident here, so both races mingle freely.
Though racial differences are not important to Souragniens, financial status is. Owning fields, a fishing boat, or even one of the small businesses in Port d'Elhour places a person among the elite. The rest of the population strive to get by as serfs.
In the lower classes, both men and women wear baggy trousers and loose-fitting shirts, usually in earth tones or other subdued colors. The upper-class men favor colorful, silk tunics and high leather boots, while the women wear low-cut, pastel colored dresses. Both men and women favor earrings, necklaces, and other jewelry that lets them show off their wealth. It is evident to visitors, however, that what Souragniens consider wealthy is what most merchants in other domains would consider barely getting by.
At first glance, the Souragniens appear to be a simple-minded, superstitious people. Most are illiterate, and those who can read still have little or no grasp of literature or poetry. In addition, Souragniens do not believe in gods, but instead worship a variety of nature spirits whom they believe dwell in the swamp. Chief among these spirits is the Lord of the Dead. Residents have several festivals each year designed exclusively to appease this powerful being. All but the shamans fear the spirits, and no villager ventures into the swamp willingly.
Significantly, the spirits they worship are very real. Souragne's swamp is home to many loas, powerful manifestations of nature and guardians of the wild. Also, somewhere in the shadowy heart of this damp maze is the home of the Lord of the Dead, master of everyone in Souragne - dead or alive, mortal or spirit.
Native Player Characters: Characters from Souragne may be of any character class allowed in the RAVENLOFT setting, and players may choose between the two human races in this domain for their characters. Before starting money is awarded to the character, however, the player must roll 1d100 to determine whether the character is upper or lower class. If the result is 10% or less, the character is of the upper-class, receiving standard starting money. All other characters receive half the amount they would normally have to buy equipment with.
Additionally, Souragnien priests all worship the spirits of the swamp. They should be allowed major access to all, necromantic, and plant and minor access to animal, healing, and weather. (Dungeon Masters who have access to the AD&D accessory Shaman could allow players to use the spellcasting system and priest kits detailed in there for Souragnien priests.)
Personalities of Note: Anton Misroi, the Lord of the Dead, is the single most important figure in Souragne, even though he never leaves the swamp. The people also whisper of the Maiden of the Swamp, a hamadryad who dwells somewhere among the tangles of weeping willows. Some claim she is a servant of the Lord of the Dead, while others say she is the only being who can resist his will.
The mysterious spellcaster known as Chickenbone is a slightly more accessible being. For the right price, this crippled old man will cast spells or perform dangerous supernatural services. Some folks say he can even arrange audiences with the Lord of the Dead. He is described in the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I&II.
The Law: Anton Misroi, Lord of the Dead, is respected and feared by all in the domain. He rarely leaves his manor, which is hidden somewhere in the swamp, but community leaders defer to him whenever he chooses to makes his presence known.
Misroi permits the people to govern themselves, and leaders are elected through popular election. The current mayor of Port d'Elhour is a pale, spidery man named Bernard Foquelaine. Foquelaine also serves as the highest authority in Marais D'Tarascon, but the wealthy Tarascon family, for whom the village is named, manages to keep lar and order. Each community has a rotation system of young men to serve as constables. They are 0-level fighters who wear no armor and wield clubs.
Misroi has personally established only two laws. First, the bodies of dearly departed are never to be cremated, mutilated, or buried until at least four days after death. All dead bodies are property of the Lord of the Dead, and he may choose to animate a body and call it to him. Only clerical and necromantic magic are allowed in Souragne. The practice of other kinds of magic will not be tolerated, and what Misroi will not tolerate, he destroys.
Encounters: Incidental encounters in the swamp include crocodiles, leeches, zombies, juju zombies, evil treants, will o' wisps, and will o' dawn. Away from the swamp, such creatures are rare.
Heroes who venture into the swamp may also encounter some of the many spirits who dwell here, perhaps even the Maiden of the Swamp or the Lord of the Dead. However, these latter encounters should only happen as part of an adventure plot.
Further Reading: The RAVENLOFT novel Dance of the Dead spotlights the inhabitants of Souragne's swamp, including Anton Misroi. The adventure module Night of the Walking Dead features details on Marais D'Tarascon.
Anton Misroi
Zombie Lord, Lawful Evil
| Armor Class | 6 | Str | 15 | ||||
| Movement | 6 | Dex | 18 | ||||
| Level/ Hit Dice | 6 | Con | 14 | ||||
| Hit Points | 45 | Int | 16 | ||||
| THAC0 | 15 | Wis | 8 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 2 | Cha | 14 | ||||
| Damage/ Attack | 2d4/2d4 | ||||||
| Special Attacks | As zombie lord, magic | ||||||
| Special Defences | As zombie lord, magic | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | Nil | ||||||
Anton Misroi is a tall human with lustrous dark hair and eyes that sparkle with devilish humor. His features are noble, if somewhat sunken, and he dresses in the habit of nobility. When Anton is so inclined, he is the very image of gentility, particularly gallant to ladies. However, if crossed or insulted, his rage is swift and his retribution violent.
Background: Misroi was once the master of a huge plantation and a minor dabbler in a form of magic known as "spellsinging" (in which the somatic and material components involve either singing or dancing). He was powerful, wealthy, and thoroughly ruthless with everyone in his life. Anton dealt harshly with enemies and insubordinate (in his estimation) servants. He commanded a group of brutal thugs, who snatched his victims in the night, taking them into the nearby swamps and feeding them to the alligators or drowning them.
One day, Misroi entered his mansion and found his wife in the arms of a neighboring plantation owner. In truth, she had been weeping about her miserable state of existence and the gentleman had merely been comforting her, but Misroi assumed that they were lovers. He called his henchmen and had the two of them taken to his favorite murdering spot: a patch of quicksand barely deep enough to cover a man's head. The murderers threw them in and left Anton alone to enjoy their pleas for mercy.
The two of them went down slowly in the shallow pool, and the gentleman ultimately bade Misroi's wife to climb upon his shoulders and survive while he went under. Anton waited until the man had drowned and then took a pole and pushed his wife under himself. She cursed him as she sank, mud and sand spraying from her lips. The dark powers heard her cries. The swamp grew deathly quiet for a moment, and then the two murder victims suddenly reached out of the quicksand and yanked Anton in with them.
"I don't want to die!" he screamed as they tugged at him. "Don't let me die!" he cried to the heavens, and the dark powers responded. They transformed Anton into a zombie lord (see the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I&II) and allowed him to crawl free of the pool. He lived, but he became a grotesque undead creature. Anton stumbled back to his plantation, but the slaves rose up against the "invading monster" and drove Anton back to the swamp. Meanwhile, the Mists on the brackish waters grew thick and blind, and the Island Souragne was created.
Anton wandered the swamp for years, watching from the shadows as his servants and former slaves claimed his mansion. He used his horrendous powers to kill them when he desired, but mostly he pined to regain his lost humanity and expanded his arcane knowledge by dealing with certain spirits and creatures of the swamp. Over the years, he discovered that the dead of Souragne were his to control. The legends of the Lord of the Dead were born as he started using those powers.
Eventually, Anton came upon the Maiden of the Swamp. As he was the personification of death in Souragne, so was she the personification of life. Anton thought he had found his salvation. The Maiden was more than happy to attempt to help Anton, whom she believed was suffering wrongly. As an aspect of nature personified, she erroneously believed Anton to be the same - a younger member of her own eldritch race who had not been properly taught.
She revealed to Anton many of the secrets of life and death and the nature of the Demiplane of Ravenloft, information no mortal was ever meant to know. She taught him powerful magics that grew from the very elemental fabric of reality, and through those Anton discovered a magic of his own - the dance of the dead. The dance of the dead made Anton one with his domain, transforming him from one of the weakest lords to one of the most powerful. When the Maiden realized her mistake, it was too late. She and all other beings of Souragne were at Anton's absolute mercy. In the end, Anton even reclaimed his lost humanity, but not without paying a great price. Through the Maiden's training, Anton actually became the natural force she believed him to be. He has fused with the powerful aura of death existing in Souragne's swamp, so he can never leave it. Where other lords can roam their domains, Anton can never again set foot beyond the heavy canopies of weeping willows.
Current Sketch: Since learning to control his appearance, Misroi has reclaimed his manor house in the swamp. The servants who claimed his property, and their children, serve him once again, though now they are all zombies. He is again the undisputed master of Souragne, though he can never leave the swamp.
Souragne is one of the oldest Islands of Terror on the Demiplane. It would have joined either the Core or melded with other domains into a Cluster if not for Anton's absolute control. He has the power to mind-travel beyond the borders of Souragne, and he does not like what he sees out there. Thus, through force of will, he keeps his domain isolated in the Mists.
Closing the Borders: The Mists help Anton seal his land. Characters who enter the Misty border merely find themselves back in Souragne.
Combat: When he desires, Anton Misroi can wield the full powers of a normal zombie lord as defined in the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I&II. Anton is capable of disappearing into the swamps by stepping into a tree or sinking into the ground as if he were ethereal. Doing so immediately restores him to full hit points, so he is extremely difficult to kill. This action also allows him to either travel from place to place (as the druid spell plantwalk) or transfer his mind to any corpse within the domain. That body then takes on Anton's visage, regardless of its species.
Anton's most devastating power is his ability to animate an unlimited number of bodies at will. Once per round, he also can mimic the effects of any necromantic spell through the dance of the dead. These spells function as if cast by an 18th-level necromancer.
