tsr09497 - AD&D - Ra.. - Property Is Theft!

Beltis was once a thriving logging community that supplied wood to Karina by floating logs down river twice a year.
However, one night, the 35 people who lived here (loggers and their families) vanished without a trace. Attempts to
reestablish the community and resume the business have all ended in tragedy, with the loggers seemingly killing each other.
The initial community was destroyed by rival loggers from Valetta. The bodies of all community members were sunk to the
bottom of the river. The deserted village is now infested with a variety of vengeful spirits, including corpse candles, geists,
and odems. (All detailed in the RAVENLOFT Monstrous Compendium Appendix III.} Meanwhile, Valetta is a thriving,
rough-and-tumble frontier community with a guilty secret. A character possessed by a corpse candle or vengeful odem
might well serve to turn the community on itself, the way it turned on Beltis.
Further upriver, Tancos was a community established by Barvoian loggers, but this effort was long-since abandoned. There
is still a thriving community here, on the surface just another, if a bit pricey, waystation where riverboats can receive repairs
and buy supplies. However, the citizens here are even less friendly than most Karinans, and river-lore states that those who
attempt to overnight in Tancos, vanish without a trace. The residents of Tancos are, in fact, of pakas, who bear an intense
hatred for all other humanoids. (These feline shapeshifters are detailed in the RAVENLOFT Monstrous Compendium
Appendix III.)
The final Invidian community of note is Curriculo, located in the northern part of the domain but on the Musarde and two
separate paths that lead to major towns and cities. At the time of Bakholis' death, this village was little more than a roadside
inn and a single dock, but once the werewolfs iron grip on the domain and its residents was loosed, merchants from
Zeidenburg and Richemulot began to use this as their base for Invidian trade rather than the crowded, expensive, and
decaying Karina. New warehouses are being built in Curriculo every day, as are residencies and docks. Merchants here are
always looking for adventurers to fend off gangs and arsonists hired by unscrupulous warehouse owners in Karina. A rumor
has been circulating that a Karinan noble has hired a necromancer from Darkon to "shut down Curriculo once and for all."
Also of note, while not a town or village, is Castle Loupet. It has been at the heart of tragedy and terror for decades, first as
the seat of power of the tyrant Bakholis, then as the home of the dreaded Witch, Gabrielle Aderre, and after the events
chronicled in "The Evil Eye," a new terror will dwell in those wicked halls, the Dukkar. Vulpwood and the roads near it will
soon become unsafe for any travelers at all, as the Dukkar vents his rage at being trapped within Invidia, whether he is the
domain's lord or not.
Politics and the Lord of the Domain
Since the death of Bakholis, Invidia has had not central leader. Each community maintains its own small militia to defend
itself against monsters and raiders. Some Karinan nobles have been watching Lord Soth's renewed campaigns against the
elves of Mal-Erek and the Iron Hills, fearing that once the elves are defeated, the Sithican armies of undead and mercenaries
will head for Invidian territory. There is a growing feeling that another overlord is needed to keep the nation safe. Of course,
each Karinan noble is of the opinion that he is the only one suited for the job. Duels among the nobles have been on the rise,
and in many houses, thirdborn sons and daughters, and even distant cousins stand to inherit the family vineyards. Naturally,
the rising voices of those growing rich on trade in Curriculo wish to remain independent, claiming that the Karinan alarmists
are just trying to take away their personal liberty for their own gain; the citizens of Curriculo think Lord Soth is only
concerned with "the pointy-eared freaks" and has no designs for lnvidia.
Of course, if Gabrielle Aderre is dead, Invidia will eventually have its overlord again. The Dukkar will get tired of harassing
travelers in the vicinity of Castle Loupet, and will start looking for more effective ways to keep the hated Vistani from his
land. Armies will be raised, villages and cities will be brought under the control of Castle Loupet, and laws to slay Vistani
on sight will be passed. Eventually, the Dukkar will hear of the Vistani Wanderers trapped in Sithicus and the Barovian tribe
of the Zarovan. Even larger armies will be raised...