The main antagonists of this adventure are not restricted to a given locale, nor even to this adventure. For as long as the heroes are in Invidia, or perhaps even in the Ravenloft Core domains, these characters may touch their lives again. Descriptions of these characters are presented below.
Lord of Invidia
8th level Enchanter, Neutral Evil
| Armor Class | 10 | Str | 8 | ||||
| Movement | 12 | Dex | 14 | ||||
| Level/ Hit Dice | 8 | Con | 10 | ||||
| Hit Points | 21 | Int | 13 | ||||
| THAC0 | 18 | Wis | 16 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 1 | Cha | 16 | ||||
| Damage/ Attack | By weapon (1d4+1) | ||||||
| Special Attacks | Evil Eye, Spells | ||||||
| Special Defences | Nil | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | Special (see magic ring) | ||||||
Gabrielle is a small woman with hypnotic black eyes. Her dark hair and eyes come from her mother, Isabella, her pale skin is drawn from her mysterious giorgio (non-Vistani) father. Despite being of middle age, she has the appearance of a younger woman.
Gabrielle cloaks herself in disguises and deception. She sometimes covers her head with a kerchief, or when she wants to appear mysterious, she draws a dark veil across her face. Although this is her favorite disguise, Gabrielle is capable of assuming many others.
Role-Playing. Despite her great hatred for the Vistani, Gabrielle still takes fierce pride in her heritage, and is very much a a would-be Vistani. She frequently dresses like a Vistana, in vibrant, tiered skirts that swirl about her ankles, blouses embroidered with silver and golden threads, and opulent jewelry. Her ability to confer the evil eye (detailed below) is a dark gift bestowed directly by the Powers of the Demiplane. She may also cast the tarokka, but only when using the powerfully enchanted Madame Eva's Deck. Like all darklords, she is a prisoner in her domain.
Gabrielle's two greatest weaknesses are her hatred for full-blooded Vistani and her loathing of wolves. Even when her mother was alive, the Vistani shunned her, but since her mother's death - due indirectly to Gabrielle's own betrayal - the Vistani have openly scorned and denounced her. Gabrielle wants to take revenge, but the dark powers will not let her harm a Vistani. Gabrielle also fears wolves and lycanthropes, since she has had at least three unpleasant encounters with such creatures in the past: the first encounter was when her mother died; the second occurred when she killed baron Bakholis to assume the lordship of Invidia; and the third incident transpired when she learned her former lover Matton was a wolfwere.
Nonetheless, Gabrielle remains a cunning, ruthless, and domineering person. She is a master manipulator who relishes spreading anger, fear, and jealousy throughout her domain by ruining friendships and marriages. She is widely feared as the Witch of Loupet - not as the lord of Invidia.
Combat. In addition to the magical abilities of an 8th level enchanter, Gabrielle Aderre has the power of the evil eye: she can "cast" any memorized enchantment/charm spell from her eyes once per round, at will, without spell components. Spells invoked with her evil eye do not count against those she has memorized, and the victims of such an attack must make an evil eye check (not a saving throw vs. spells).
Characters with Vistani blood receive an additional +2 bonus to their checks against Gabrielle's evil eye. Full-blooded Vistani are completely immune to both her evil eye and her cast spells. She can never wreak the vengeance she seeks on the Vistani - that is part of her mother's dying curse. Of course, Gabrielle's charmed servitors are in no way hindered from harming the Vistani.
Gabrielle has a number of talents which make her a dangerous opponent in combat. Her greatest defense includes her charmed servitors that always join her when outside Castle Loupet. She also has access to a number of magical items and potions. Her most powerful item is Madame Eva's Deck, a set of tarokka cards of legendary power. She uses the cards infrequently, for they bring her excruciating pain. Gabrielle's other magical items include a ring of spell turning, a hat of disguise (usually masquerading as a kerchief or veil), an assortment of evil eye amulets (giving her a +4 bonus against such attacks), a curved dagger +1, +3 against lycanthropes, and four potions: extra-healing, flying, glibness, and speed. Despite these accouterments, Gabrielle is very weak in hand-to-hand melee, and will always seek to flee an encounter that involves such danger.
Spell List
1st level (4/day, plus 1 enchantment): affect normal fires, charm person *, detect magic, friends*, hypnotism*, mending, read magic, sleep*, wizard mark.
2nd level (3/day, plus 1 enchantment): alter self, bind, ESP, fog cloud, forget*, ray of enfeeblement*, scare*, Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter*, whispering wind.
3rd level (3/day, plus 1 enchantment): dispel magic, hold person *, spectral force, suggestion, wraithform.
4th level (2/day, plus 1 enchantment): charm monster*, confusion*, curse, emotion*, magic mirror.
* Enchantment/Charm spells, which can be cast through the evil eye.
The Dukkar, Chaotic Evil
| Armor Class | 5 (3) | Str | 9 (14) | ||||
| Movement | 9 (12) | Dex | 14 (16) | ||||
| Level/ Hit Dice | 4 (5) | Con | 8 (10) | ||||
| Hit Points | 21 (33) | Int | 14 (16) | ||||
| THAC0 | 17 (15) | Wis | 9 (11) | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 1 (2) | Cha | 16 (17) | ||||
| Damage/ Attack | 1-2 (1-3/1-3) | ||||||
| Special Attacks | Evil eye, animal summoning | ||||||
| Special Defences | +1 weapons to hit, resistant to fire, lightning, and poison | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | 10% (20%) | ||||||
Malocchio's appearance and supernatural abilities change during the course of the adventure. Initially, Malocchio appears to be an adolescent boy of about ten years of age. He stands four feet tall, has a wild mop of midnight black hair, and has dark penetrating eyes. There is something disturbing about the lad. His hypnotic eyes glimmer with malign intellect, while his voice is surprisingly mature for a child of his age.
By the end of the adventure, Malocchio will have matured into a young adult, appearing to be about six feet tall and 18 years of age. As Malocchio matures, his evil powers grow with him. Game statistics in parenthesis refer to his mature stage.
Regardless of his age, the most obvious clue to Malocchio's monstrous nature can be found in his hands: each bears a sixth tiny, clawlike-digit beside the pinky. Malocchio's "witch finger" is quite small and usually concealed beneath a pair of gloves.
Background. As the Dukkar, Malocchio has the potential to bring about the destruction of Ravenloft. He has the power to transcend the boundaries of the Demiplane due to his mixed Vistani and fiendish bloodlines, and release the darklords from their prisons.
As an adolescent, Malocchio can call upon the Mists to transport him to an adjacent domain - regardless of a darklord's will. By the time he reaches maturity, however, Malocchio will be able to not only travel anywhere within Ravenloft, but he will also be able to escape. Most importantly, Malocchio can bring along passengers, including imprisoned darklords, and thus cause the dissolution of their land. For this reason, the Dukkar is regarded as a figure of awesome evil among the Vistani. (In game terms, Malocchio as an adolescent can teleport I/round at will, and in maturity can teleport without error.)
If the heroes trap Malocchio in Invidia, Ravenloft is safe... for now. Should Malocchio emerge as lord of Invidia the mists will seal Invidia's borders at his command.
Role-Playing. Regardless of his initial childlike appearance, Malocchio is a cruel and sadistic monster. As an adolescent, he is constantly testing the limits of his evil powers, regardless of the pain, suffering, and death he brings. Other living beings are his toys, to manipulate or destroy at his leisure. In the course of this adventure, he even reduces his mother to this state, causing her downfall and becoming the new darklord. Like all bullies, Malocchio is devoid of courage. When cowed by a superior opponent (such as Gabrielle) he either meekly submits or flees via teleportation.
Combat. Malocchio's combined fiendish and Vistani heritage make him a dangerous opponent. Physically, he is very weak in combat, but as the prophesied Dukkar, his magical abilities are terrible indeed. Malocchio's most dangerous power is the evil eye, which enables him to effectively cast a small number of enchantment/charm spells, I/round, at will. At first, he can only invoke charm person, hypnotism, or suggestion using the evil eye; once he reaches maturity, he will also be able to cast charm monster and fear as well.
From his tanar'ri heritage, Malocchio gains the ability to call upon wild creatures native to Invidia. He has a 25% chance of summoning 2-12 dire wolves, 1-6 poisonous snakes, or 2-8 giant ravens once per day. After reaching maturity, his chance of success increases to 40%. Summoned creatures arrive in 1-4 rounds and will follow Malocchio's commands to the death.
Finally, Malocchio enjoys some of the innate defenses of the tanar'ri. He can only be harmed by +1 or better weapons, and is resistant to fire, lightning, and all poisons (+4 on saving throws for quarter instead of half damage).
