Dollhouse (5e Environment)

Work In Progress

Dollhouse

“	Welcome, dear travelers. I am certain your journey thus far has been an unkind one. A word of caution... it can only get worse if you get on my bad side.	”
—"The Lady", demilord

Welcome To My Dollhouse

The Dollhouse is a Pocket domain within the greater whole of Ravenloft. Similar to the Nightmare Lands and Scaena, this Pocket is a Floating Domain. It does not anchor itself within a greater domain and can move about like a ship in the greater sea of domains, parking itself as it goes along before floating off again. Interestingly, the Dollhouse is also one of the oldest Pockets in existence. Most Pocket domains within Ravenloft are ephemeral, breaking up and changing, or disintegrating when their demilord is slain.

A primary reason for this is the crafty demilord of Dollhouse. Simply known by other demilords and darklords as "The Lady," she is an enigmatic figure well known for being as hungry as the Raven Queen for secrets. Over her time as demilord, she has accrued a wealth of secrets about other domains within Ravenloft, as well as their masters. Keeping these in mind, she has been known to play on their good graces while avoiding their wrath and sometimes redirecting it at some poor scapegoat, thus preserving her own reign on the Pocket.

The Dollhouse is her domain and play pen, hence its apt name. She is known to steer it almost like a ship and visit larger domains, like the renowned Barovia of Strahd von Zarovich. Due to its mobility, she is difficult to find, even for other darklords. Its size is also quite small, being no more than enough land for her grand mansion and some of the surrounding lands tended to by her serfs and maybe a tiny village or two.

Plane Traits

Dollhouse is by no means a very large domain compared to something like Darkon or Barovia.

• The Land: Dollhouse is a Pocket Domain that is known to be extremely mobile through all of Ravenloft, not unlike The Carnival. It appears as lands in a barony, with several knight fees and the main baron manor grounds and fortress. This land encompasses about 700 people spread across several acres of land where small villages and serfdoms are situated. These are all connected by a network of well-kept roads, dotted with woods and small ponds. Each of these small towns and villages are agrarian in function and produce the foods for the barony. They grow scrappy varieties of various root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, and also raise animals like sheep and cattle. Overall, the land is quite flat with some small hills and forests scattered about. The manor is central authority of all of Dollhouse, with each of the knight's abodes being like control antennae.

• Cultural Level: Renaissance (1550-1700AD). This level is considered the most advanced of cultures within Ravenloft. Armor is uncommon in this culture level and firearms dominate warfare. Gunsmithing techniques can make as far as matchlocks. Daintier battles like fencing replace brutish contests. Caravels and other large naval vessels carry iron cannons. Clockwork devices like pocket watches and curious trinkets may exist.

The Land

The lands which constitute Dollhouse span about 50 square kilometers (~19 square miles). The demilord's manor and surrounding grounds are about 6 square kilometers in size. There are numerous knight fees (land to sustain the knights under a baron) dotting the baron's property. These fees include entire towns or villages, most of who live and work off the land as serfs and pay their dues to the baron and knights.

Not drawn to scale

Example Dollhouse Site: Serf Village

Scattered across the domain are numerous sites were serfs forever trapped on the land of their baroness master live. They dwell in simple homes, usually nothing too luxurious, but sturdy enough to live under. If enough of these homes are built in one area, then it is considered one of the villages in Dollhouse. Most villages have a single well for all to use, and most villages don't have more than 10 families of serfs living there. These villages are usually agrarian, with land allocated for them to work. They produce the basic ingredients necessary that sustain the cuisine of the domain in exchange for living on this land. A portion of this food will usually go to the local knight that serves the demilord of the domain. This knight is also usually the authority over a handful of serf families, as many as ten.

Example Dollhouse Site: Hunting Wood

As customary for large estates, there are small woodlands that dot the land for the lord's use. The men and knights would usually go on hunting trips with dogs and horses, and then eat a large brunch made of the fruits of their game within the woods itself. Since the change of ownership, these woods are fostering grounds for beasts that warp into monsters. Primarily, there are deer and bears, as well as certain types of fowl. These beasts have become monstrous due to the energy that seeped in and warped the land around them. The forests have also changed as well, becoming gnarled with black foliage. The fauna are extremely hostile to any who venture near and so no one of the villages ever really ventures there unless they need firewood from the peripheral trees. To enter deeply is to openly invite danger.

Law

"The Lady's" word is law of this land. Directly beneath her are the knights which patrol her little dominion. These knights are shadows of the former people they used to be, having been corrupted by the plague and changed into gruesome servants at "The Lady's" beck and call. There were originally 10 knights that served, but one was permanently dismissed. Each knight has their share of serfs and villages to sustain their household. The nine knights serve as the primary law enforcers of "The Lady's" will.

• Sir Uldgar is a knight formerly known for being a wise, older gentleman. He has since been changed into a decrepit form of his old self, appearing as a black knight with a telltale silvery beard that reaches down to his knees. In his service to The Lady, he is notably without voice, never speaking. He often strides like a specter through his plot of land, striking those who show themselves discontent.
  • Uldgar is often regarded as one of the weaker knights and peacekeepers in The Lady's employ. What he lacks in challenge, he makes up for in resilience. The plague's effect on Uldgar not only erased his former wise self, it also made him unable to properly die. When Uldgar's hit points are reduced to 0, his body, armor, and equipment all collapse into black dust. Within 4 hours, he reappears in the spot where he was felled, with all his equipment and hit points restored. He is then free to roam and hunt down those who had crossed him. As a result of his wandering, he is actually very rarely within his own abode, which has become infested with monster pests like skeletons, spiders, and shadows.
  • Uldgar's estate is a two-story manor house with a cellar. The place is very dusty and dirty. Any servants formerly in this place have become haunting spirits lamenting their being trapped here. The estate's main hall is on the first level, while all bedrooms and studies are on the second floor. Exploring this place will show players the former nobility that Uldgar served. Notably, Uldgar's study also has a library contains some of the last traces of the domain as it was before The Lady and the plague's coming. During the plague, Uldgar's adopted daughter, young Resita, had been hiding in the cellar. Her ghost haunts the deepest part of the cellar and protects her corpse bearing a memento brooch from Uldgar. This brooch has the sentimental power to possibly awaken Uldgar to his senses, if only briefly.
• Lady Rabena is a lady knight that was charged with protecting the former baron's daughters, specifically. She was a woman with fiery red hair and considered one of the stronger knights due to her important duty. She has since been consumed by her failure to protect her charges and the guilt, mixed with the plague, smoldered within, burning her from inside out and turning her into a incendiary knight.
• Sir Iglotts is considered the weakest of the knights. He is a dark, shadowy figure better known for his skills in observation and scouting. Iglotts was a tall and silent person, who supported the baron from the shadows. Following the effects of the plague, he appears as a shadow guardian
• Sir Jasperis was a knight that The Lady had tried to once seduce. Following her ascent to mad power, she sought to cruelly punish him for rebuffing her advances. As such, she had his entire family changed into deformed, mindless creatures before his very eyes. They now run about his former estate as dracogoblins, little more than nuisances that will plague any who tread into his manor. They are beholden to Jasperis, who was transformed into a brutish warrior by the lady so that he no longer resembled his old, dashing self. The influence of The Lady renders him and his household to be rabid like beasts protecting their den. Jasperis rarely leaves the borders of his land, but he roves around with his deformed family to tear any trespassers in The Lady's domain to shreds.
• Lady Firnoth
• Sir Sasprasa
• Sir Tybulot
• Sir Edinton
• Lady Vironsworth

History

Dominic D'Honaire

Inhabitants

Personalities of Note

Demilord: "The Lady"

Current Saidra, by Yanied

"The Lady," sometimes known also as "Veiled Lady," is a beautiful woman with fair, porcelain skin and ebon hair. Her appearance is entirely human and her eyes are known to be described as empty. She is always dressed in rich silks, replete with ornate headdresses and jewelry. An enigmatic smile usually graces her lips, obscuring her thoughts. Her real name is known to few, hence the use of her title. "The Lady" is a secretive and manipulative figure, interested in finding out the weaknesses of others while keeping her own well-hidden. Those who look into her past will find many obstacles she has created to better hide or even destroy her own history. It is a deadly endeavor.

She takes on the airs of someone who would abstain from violence and prefers to let others quarrel and do her bidding of their own misguidance. However, this belies a viciousness at her core, and her rage is prone to destroy any who cross her too deeply. Her command of several wraith soldiers keep her domain under control. They are her eyes as well as her sword, and her inhabitants know it. She is not a person above the use of violence. Having come from a lower-class background, she is eager to hide any part of her that she thinks to be stereotypically inelegant. However, one cannot separate a lily from its muddy roots so easily.

Background

Known younger portrait, unverified, by Yanied

This account of "The Lady" is compiled from numerous sources of hearsay so names and locations may be wholly or partially incorrect.

"The Lady" was born Draisa Ne Pong to a family of impoverished serfs living off the local lord's land. Her father, Marchese Du Pong, was a pig farmer, and her mother, Liené Le Pong, was a weaver. Draisa worked alongside her mother as the seamstress for the local lord's house within the outskirts of the Cormyr region. She was considered, by all accounts, attractive for a peasant girl.

Draisa despised her life, which was doomed to drudgery due to her status tied to her family. Serfs would rarely be able to live elsewhere but off their master's land. She taught herself how to read, albeit poorly, and came upon wondrous fairy tales in her lord's house about princesses that came from hardscrabble houses like her, only for a prince to take them away and make all their problems disappear. Such stories of wealth and turns of fortunes gave her a dangerous hope.

It is unclear if her mother told her, or if Draisa simply began to delude herself with fanciful daydreams, but she believed herself a lost princess (kind of like Anastasia). Mimicking the ladies of the lord's house, she fancied herself of nobility. Eventually, her parents tried to dissuade her from such thoughts. Distraught, she ran away from home and fled to the Hermit's Wood near the Dragonmere, where she stumbled upon a strange figure under the dark night without moon or stars. Some sources say the figure was a disgraced archmage from Cormyr's own high council. Others say it was a powerful witch.

Fairy tales are often unclear on how maidens should interact with strange magical people. Draisa chose the route of Cendrillon, and so begged them to give her a path to nobility. The caster granted her wish, giving her a beautiful dress, carriage, and all the niceties needed of a lady to appear wealthy. They pointed her towards a different lord's house, one of higher rank (a baron), where the son was searching for a bride. If she could seduce and marry him, she would be in line to be baroness. The spells of wealth on her would last for only 3 days.

Guided by this burning desire, Draisa changed her name to Saidra and made for the house of D'Honaire (distantly related perhaps to the house of Dominic D'Honaire, darklord of Dementlieu, though sources may be fantastical here). The spells of glamor that enrobed her made her absolutely irresistible to the baron's son, and he wished to marry her immediately. A great party was hastily organized at Saidra's behest, as she could not risk the magic fading. On the third night, at the party, Saidra saw even her old master, who did not recognize her.

It was nearing midnight when Saidra overheard some of the servants talking about her betrothed being a bastard son of the baron, thus being ineligible to receive his title and lands in earnest. Panicking, she questioned her fiancé, and he admitted to this reality. He tried to assure her that they would still have a very comfortable life together, but she wouldn't hear of it.

To have this fanciful dream come so close only for it to come crashing down was more than she could bear after her years of growing up in servitude only to reach mediocrity! Darkness came over her eyes and bloomed from her mind. As midnight fell so did her fiancé to the floor, dead as a doornail with a knife to his heart.

Exactly what occurred next is generally described as chaos. Supposedly, it was at that moment that Ravenloft was drawn by this dark desire and incorporated this baron's land within its domains, subsuming it into a Pocket Dimension. Some describe an incredible darkness-like "plague" that spread like wildfire through the manor that dragged it and its guests into the dread domains. The cause is generally agreed to be Saidra, who now took on the name Saidra D'Honaire, becoming the demilord of this new place. Her intense desire had led her to commit a depraved act of murder, drawing forth the darkness of the plane beyond and dooming all those around her as well. Her alias of "The Lady" was constructed following her rise to demilord as an additional measure to obscure her past. All the records of the now-Dollhouse have been accordingly altered to omit any information she deems unseemly or sensitive. Her wraith minions watch and listen for the other inhabitants of Dollhouse, making sure they keep their mouths shut.

Current Sketch

Saidra meeting subjects, by Yanied

"The Lady" is a ruler, first and foremost. Her desire to be one of the ruling class of nobility has pushed for the construction of a high-brow, elegant persona that she upholds as a sort of nigh-permanent mask (or "veil," if you will). She must be addressed by title, unless she so graciously permits someone to call her by her name of Saidra. She is known to constantly survey her domain, whether through magic or personal visits in secret, flanked by her trusted wraiths. Her presence is considered a fearful boon, as the inhabitants of the domain depend heavily on her protection from her own wraiths. Under her good graces, they are allowed to pass their days in peace.

The act of having dragged an entire party of people, as well as a stolen house and the name with her, into Ravenloft is not an act that goes down so simply without consequence. Like all darklords, "The Lady" has been cursed with the receipt of her domain. "The Lady" received a curse with the plague that brought the manor and its lands into Ravenloft: the loss of her true beauty and the constant reminder of it. "The Lady" only wears a face that appears human and resembles her original countenance. However, it is nothing more than a mask for the hateful wraith that she is within, having dark skin that emanates only more darkness and withered dark claws. She devotes a fair portion of her mornings and evenings to upkeeping the illusory body of hers to appear as young and beautiful as before she became a demilord. Through a mix of magic and tinctures, she passes flawlessly, most of the time. When her anger flares or insecurity arises, that mask begins to slip and show that horrific being underneath.

Because of her curse and obsession with power, "The Lady" ensures that there are none but her who rule this domain. None can stand beside her, for they will surely unmask and usurp her. "The Lady" is somewhat paranoid about possible threats and so keeps everyone at an arms length, speaking in half-truths and never revealing more than necessary. This is also a part of the reason why she keeps such a close eye and ear to the ground within her own domain. She remains unmarried and likes to pretend to entertain the idea of finding someone with whom to call baron D'Honaire. However, this is merely amusement.

Combat

Saidra unmasking, by Yanied

"The Lady" has the stat block of a sword wraith commander. Her armor is nothing so unglamorous like breastplates and conventional mail. Rather, her body is shrouded in darkness in her true form, lending to her evasiveness. Her weapons are also not wielded directly by her, but a series of shadowy creatures that manifest as her guardians around her. These are cosmetic changes. Mechanical changes are listed below.

Modifications

Due to the power of Dollhouse being her domain, "The Lady" gains additional abilities not typical of a sword wraith commander. This increases her CR rating to 9.

• Her multiattack allows her to make three weapon attacks instead of two.
• Because her wraiths are readily available, she can use Call to Honor once per encounter. This means that if she disengages players and escapes, she can summon sword wraith warriors again if they face her the same day.
• If she is being fought within her main castle grounds, it is considered her lair. Her CR is considered 10 and she gains the following lair actions:

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), "The Lady" can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; "The Lady" can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• "The Lady" summons two wraiths.
• "The Lady" ends any and all ongoing effects on herself and any of her warriors and wraiths. If there are no ongoing effects, she and her allies instead regain 4d8 hit points.
• "The Lady" casts compulsion (DC 15).

Tactics

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