Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 highpriestmikhal Mar 20, 2008 17:37:29	Considering how dark The Lost Journals are becoming, I thought it fair I at least post some background on the BBEG that I mentioned in "path of terror help (mind flayer)." I can't really post stats (mainly because I'm still working on them) or go into specifics on certain things (too much for a PG-13 Ravenloft), so I'll try to make the most out of what I can post. Background Sonia Blackleaf--Female Elf Clr6/Wiz6/True Necromancer7--Born Sonia Willowsong April 2, 670 BC in a town in northern Mordent, from the beginning Sonia's life was not an easy one. As non-humans in the insular Mordentish country her family was often suspected of everything from petty theft to black magic. Her parents endured the sneers, the snide comments, and the outright hate by some and eventually won acceptance for themselves. Sonia, however, was never one to sit back and take it. Born in 680 BC she wasn't afraid of fighting back--with words or fists. Her reputation as a ruffian and a troublemaker only further ostracized her from the rest of the children growing up and made it hard for her to get along with the adults. Loneliness and constant peer abuse scarred her from an early age, leaving her bitter towards others even while longing constantly for true companionship. When the Church of Ezra first appeared in Mordent, young Sonia was forced to join by her parents. Her heart was never into the faith, but she found great satisfaction in the magical powers she wielded. The church also did a lot to temper her anger towards others. She even found a friend among the acolytes of the new religion, a young man named Anthony. For years she thought at last she had a friend. Then in 699 BC, Anthony invited her to a party the other acolytes were holding. There she was stripped and forced to walk outside nude in front of several senior clerics. The plan backfired when one of these senior clerics busted the acolytes; they were forced to endure penance and then excommunicated, seen as unfit for the order. Meanwhile Sonia's faith--in Ezra, in others, even in herself--began to wither away. A mere month after the incident she ran away from her temple to the western half of Darkon. There she witnessed a wizard, a woman fighting off a clan of ghouls with magic unlike any the girl had seen before. This woman, Aleira Salum, saw the potential for wizardry in Sonia and agreed to take her on as an apprentice. It didn't take long for the young elf to pick up the basics of arcane magic and prove herself quite talented at it. After only six months her mentor could teach her no more, and she left to attend the University of Il Aluk to further her studies. In magic Sonia found solace and meaning, yet the scars of the past had never healed. Her experiences growing up, her betrayal at the hands of the first person she counted as a friend, all began haunting her again. Slowly the old anger, the old sadness overwhelmed her and turned into raw hate. Hatred for the Mordentish, towards the Church of Ezra, towards everyone who had ever wronged her in life. Then, while out gathering spell components, she encountered the people that would change her life and turn her down the path of darkness. Vanatha, a greater succubus and cleric of the goddess Elisime, and her fallen cherub cohort Caeserus could see the darkness in her heart and offered to teach her about the Succubus Goddess. For six weeks she met the duo in secret, absorbing all she could about her new patron and allowing herself to be reordained as a cleric of Elisime. In particular the dogma of corruption struck a chord in her, and she embraced the idea wholeheartedly. The two disappeared after that and left Sonia to her own devices. Back at the University her studies turned toward the dark arts of necromancy even as she explored her rediscovered clerical magic. In them she found the tools to take painful revenge on her old tormentors and a way to make others suffer as she had by perverting the things they held dear and corrupting others into sin, only to leave them to face their own guilt and the consequences of their actions. But more than anything, she wanted power. The power to take what she wanted, to destroy those who crossed her, but mainly to protect herself from being hurt in the affairs of love and friendship ever again. Eventually she began to pursue the path of a True Necromancer, finding that the undead were loyal without question and often emotionless. No questions, no betrayals, the cold peace she sought so much. Sonia returned to Mordent in 740 BC, having taken her first steps down her path and ready to begin her plans of vengeance. In an old estate outside Mordentshire she setup shop as a simple mystic, selling potions to those willing to pay. Despite the mistrust of magic and non-humans, business was good. Customers from Dementlieu, Richemulot, Borca, Darkon, even as far as Nova Vaasa began taking advantage of her abilities. None ever guessed as to her true motivations. To hide her origins she changed her surname to Darkleaf, the name of a drug she had come to thoroughly enjoy. In 750 BC she was ready to move onto the next stage by turning her gloomy estate into a palace on the outside, all the while hiding a vice den deep underground. She also began taking on apprentices of her own, the beginnings of a small cult devoted to Elisime and her ideals of vice, perversion, and wrath. These students began to take over making potions as she used an army of the undead built up over a decade to begin taking her revenge and scare off anyone who dared threaten her "business." In over sixty years she had done more than most elves accomplished in six-hundred and felt quite pleased with her pace. Contacts in other domains helped her spread her influence via the black markets of Dementlieu, Invidia, Richemulot, and Borca in particular. Among the criminal societies it's open knowledge what Sonia is doing, and care is taken not to let any authority figures in on the reality. To everyon else, Sonia and her followers are merely potion makers and followers of an obscure religion. But to those with the right contacts, a world of earthly pleasures can be had for a reasonable amount of coin. Current Sketch Sonia is still building her "temple," an underground dungeon that even the most debauched noble would find disgusting, to Elisime. The walls are a cold, unadorned stone and lit regularly by everburning torches. Individual rooms are equipped solely for function and never for aesthetics or comfort. A "wash room" contains three stone tubs that drain into an underground stream, a wash bin for clothing, and a sink with a thin plate of polished steel for a mirror. Water is fed in from a system of rain catchers through copper pipes and is always ice cold. Prison rooms are likewise bare and often no more than chains anchored to the stone walls with crude holes in the floor for hygeine and lit by glass lanterns with continual flame spells cast on them, making them even more gloomy as deep shadows are cast. Only the torture room is cared for by Sonia and her cultists, the equipment leaning toward "painful pleasure" torture than regular pain. A grand altar encrusted in jewels and stained by blood and other fluids stands at the back, the site of weekly blood sacrifices. Up top her mansion is a gaudy affair of expensive rugs, finely done if lewd art, gold and silver candles, and rare hardwoods. Rooms are furnished in only in the best Lamordian furniture and covered with rich velvets and silks. The library is filled with illuminated books, most of which would be best described as fancy pillow books or the memoirs of debauched individuals. Food and drink are the finest money can buy and the cutlery is polished silver. Out back a vast garden stretches, surrounded by wrought-iron fencing topped with wicked spikes. All manner of odd and exotic plants grow in sheltered spots, including passionflesh fruit, abfalduz vine, and even poppy plants. Inside of a magically heated greenhouse are rows of strangely colored plants. Those versed in such matters would recognize the unnatural origins of these things; each has been transplanted from a Lower Plane and is cultivated to supply the endless demand for drugs. Luhix, darkleaf and various other supernatural drugs are made from these plants. All manner of magical locks and wards protect this greenhouse; even the glass has been magically hardened. In public Sonia comes across as a refined and even chaste woman of noble bearing, always dressing in clothing that covers her entire body from the neck down. But in the privacy of her temple or among her fellow cultists she doffs such confining attire for silk and leathers that leave very little to the imagination. Her demeanor also changes, the chastity replaced by lasciviousness and the refined manners by barely contained anger. Sometimes she will change her appearance with alter self and join revelers in their hedonism upstairs as her true self, but increasingly she finds that it doesn't ease her loneliness. Rather it only increases her feelings of isolation and a growing desire for the genuine affection of others. Lately her experiments into vampirism have seemingly paid off. Her physical strength and beauty have increased and she has limited regenerative powers when the moon isn't new. However this has also come with the inability to digest regular food or drink. Instead she must consume a goblet of fresh blood each day or begin to starve. Further she has become unable to stand the presence of roses and anything made from them (especially perfume), and suffers caustic burns if her skin comes in contact with such.
#2 highpriestmikhal Mar 27, 2008 15:26:23	Seems I'm not getting replies. I guess I should add to the story. Current and Future Plans With her power over the undead and magic growing, Sonia has turned her hate-filled green eyes towards her former home, Anderstown. Trade with Darkon and Lamordia has swollen the hamlet to a large town of at least five-thousand, mostly Darkonian and Lamordian immigrants. Once insular, the place has become cosmopolitan by anyone's standards and no one even remembers the Willowsongs or Sonia and her antics. This fact hasn't lessened the fires of Sonia's wrath any and the descendents of those who treated her so poorly in her youth will pay for the sins of their ancestors. Where once she relied solely on black magic and undead soldiers, Sonia has learned to harness the power of addiction to acquire living slaves who will do whatever she says. All she has to do is promise them more drugs and there's nothing they won't do. To that end she's begun slowly, offering drugs that are already known. Examples include opium, abfalduz, and old-fashioned alcohol. In particular she has been importing a new and extremely potent spirit from Dementlieu called absinthe. To date her targets have been fairly high on the social ladder, often the wives of wealthy merchants who seek new and more exciting ways of spending their free time. "Gifts" of a bottle of absinthe and five sugar cubes--each cube laced with laudunum--with the requisite glasses and strainers are sent to her targets along with a simple silver and greenstone rings; those who recognize the rings are "to be counted as friends and confidantes." The social nature of opium addiction has worked quite well for Sonia Darkleaf. This plan, first enacted five years ago, has created something of an epidemic among the upper-class of Anderstown. But of course no one talks about it. A few merchants have noticed their significant others spending more and more money for booze and sugar, including dipping into company coffers. Those who try and interfere are often killed by Sonia's undead assassins, the drug-addled widower then enticed to sign over all rights and profits to their spouse's company in exchange for a lifetime supply of their "medicine." Most of the first addicts have already died of overdose, malnutrition, or even suicide. Yet there are always more in positions that Sonia can exploit. Back home Sonia has been maintaining the ploy of being a drug-addicted junkie to draw out those that would use her "weakness" to usurp her. While in truth she is heavily addicted, she uses healing spells to remove her cravings and restore herself to normal soon after each dose wears off. Not even her two most trusted aides, twin sisters and powerful magic users themselves (one a cleric of Elisime, the other a wizard), are aware of Sonia's plans. Both are genuinely concerned about their mistress's condition, despite being evil to the core themselves. Their loyalty is borne out of a twisted idea of comradery and a healthy fear of Sonia's powers as a true necromancer. Missy (who calls herself "Riff, and is a wizard) is in charge of half of Sonia's total minions, while her sister Misty ("Raff," cleric) is in charge of the other half. This leaves their mistress free to pursue more important matters. Several "partners" outside of Sonia's immediate sphere of influence have been receiving word of her "impaired condition." One of these is Franco Boritsi-Allio, a second cousin of Ivana's and mid-ranking member of the Boritsi Trading Company. A year ago he sent some poisoned wine to Sonia Darkleaf herself, but her undead lackeys discovered the ploy when they handled the wine. In retaliation his daughter, Julia Allio, was found dead in an opium den after having disappeared for three months. To further drive the point home her corpse was animated and continues to haunt her family, especially her father. Another threat is closer to home. Alice Hunter is a native of Mordent but was never like her peers. In truth she's a sociopath and a sadist, finding enjoyment in tormenting and torturing others. She was a natural choice as the torturer for Sonia's underground temple and has developed several new ways of causing pleasure through pain and vice versa. Yet her hunger for more power may cause her to be on the receiving end of her favorite activity in short order. Currently Alice has gathered a few of the "working girls" in the mansion above and turned them away from Sonia and her cult. Further she has begun to entice adventurers with tales of the truth behind the estate and the cult of Elisime. Riff and Raff are already aware of her plans and are just gathering enough evidence to have Ms. Hunter turned into the next sacrifice.
#3 ravenloftlover347 Mar 30, 2008 20:15:56	Two questions: First, is Sonia supposed to be a darklord? Second, what's her domain if so?
#4 highpriestmikhal Mar 30, 2008 21:30:32	No, she's not a darklord--not yet, at least. She's failed three powers checks so far and isn't likely to atone for her sins. Rather she's a non-darklord BBEG that represents the sin of temptation and its corrupting influence, and as you'll read in future entries, the spiritual and emotional void left behind by such hollow pleasures.
#5 redking Mar 31, 2008 6:40:12	Any ideas about how she might come into contact with the PCs?
#6 highpriestmikhal Mar 31, 2008 12:26:30	Some ideas that just spring off the top of my head... There's a pandemic of substance abuse (alcohol, opium, maybe even luhix) among the people of a certain town. The PCs are sent to investigate, only to find that the drugs are being supplied by criminal cartels, who are being supplied by something far more powerful--and far more evil. High-ranking aristocrats ask the PCs to investigate a strange new house of sin located in Mordent. This is Sonia's mansion and the PCs soon discover themselves in something far deeper than a mere brothel or drug den. The Bortsi Trading Company wants to take revenge for what's been done to Franco Boritsi-Allio, seeing it as a challenge to the whole company. They have the PCs disrupt the flow of goods from Sonia's network, only to find that wave after wave of undead begin to haunt them at every corner (great for misdirection; most players will think it's a lich, not a mortal). Finally, it's impossible to keep the Darkleaf Den (as her mansion will be dubbed) a total secret. Someone will say the wrong thing and rumors will spread and folks may stumble on the truth and get word out before being...silenced.
#7 highpriestmikhal Apr 03, 2008 16:58:28	(Having just played through the House of Night in The Witcher, I got a few ideas for this little post) Darkleaf Manor To most of the locals in Mordentshire, this is merely the home of an elf with rather bad taste who dares tempt the Mists by being so far outside the town, even if she does sell high quality potions. To those in the know it's a place where anything can be had--for a price. Not even the Corvara can come close to the number of unspoken desires that are satisfied here, though a few tribes do play a part and even receive a cut for every new giorgio that they send as customers. On the surface the Manor is gawdy but otherwise unremarkable. Magic is not at a premium, as continual flame spells are used everwhere and often light the inner rooms--where little to no sunlight can reach. The smells of exotic flowers, rare spices, and many more things fill the halls. Sonia claims these are the ingredients in her potions and she's not lying. In reality it's also a mixture of perfume and fragrant drugs as well as the scent of humanoid lust and passion. Most rooms are arcane locked, with most left to individuals that serve Sonia--her "apprentices." These apprentices are also cultists of Elisime, most of them women, who often possess a level or two of cleric, sorcerer, or wizard and aid in creating potions for sale. Only a few prostitute themselves; most act as staff and hosts and hostesses for various activities in which only the customers take part. Grand, hedonistic balls are just the beginning; using a combination of illusions and even willing participants, any manner of desire can be satiated. The Cult Those who show the deepest devotion to perversion and depravity are sometimes invited to join the cult; those who refuse are killed, while those who agree are then trained as spellcasters. Those of CN or any evil alignment are the only ones allowed to join. Others are often enslaved by their own addictions; such souls often lose everything--friends, family, even fortunes--and turn to the one place that will take them in. These poor souls are treated as chattel at best, and some let themselves drift into madness. These Lost Ones literally live only for the pleasures of the flesh and often wear rings of sustenance, if only to keep them alive. More than a few are also used to spread disinformation on the outside using dominate spells, working them like mere puppets on a string. Clerics and paladins of moralistic or just "ethical" deities, such as Ezra or even the Lawgiver, are the most prized targets of both the Manor and of the cult. They desire nothing less than to convert these souls and turn them into beings devoted to Elisime and her twisted ideals. In time they hope to infiltrate and destroy these religions from the inside out by exploiting the weakness of humanoids for temptation. To date their numbers remain under ten. Though the Cult of Elisime is organized, they have no real goals beyond merely corrupting others and the whole of society. Those in the cult with an agenda are tolerated--so long as their plans don't threaten the cult itself. Several of the more senior members have begun to formulate and execute their own plans. These schemes are as varied as those who make them and sometimes they collide with each other. Open bloodshed between high ranking priests is frowned upon, though duels are often used to settle especially vicious disputes. The survivor is declared the winner and all that the other had is now theirs to do with as they please. This has weeded out all but the strongest and most vicious of schemers. Still none dare go against Sonia or Riff and Raff--at least, not openly. Notable members include Hershel (LE Male Caliban Ftr12), captain of the guards of both the estate and the temple. To show his devotion he willingly became a eunuch and now focuses all of his energies into defending his new mistress. He's also begun to train a cadre called the Wraiths, a group of lvl 6-10 fighters with masterwork and magical gear that are based on the Talons, and often match them in skill and cruelty. The Wraiths are all men and all have been gelded as their leader has. They are loyal to the cult and Herschel and wear bracers just like Talon Bracers, including the enchantments. Sonia got the idea on a trip to Falkovnia, where she seduced, murdered, and reanimated a Talon as a zombie. The Talon's armor and the original bracers are on display in the main ballroom; the Talon was destroyed, useless for much after its hands were cut off to remove the bracers. Another notable is the brewmistress, Telia Greenvine (NE female elf Wiz10). After a trip to Souragne she returned with the knowledge of how to brew more potent potions and two spells that fit quite well with the cult's goals. Riff and Raff often help her brew high level spells into potions, including one heart and soul potion at Sonia's request. Telia is most often involved with the legitimate side of business of brewing potions for sale and maintains a reputation as an eccentric if harmless recluse. Orders for potions of spells above 3rd level can be made by anyone, even PCs. These potions cost an additional 50%, as per the greater brew potion feat. She isn't the only one who has this feat, though she is the only one who will publicly admit to knowing the techniques.