A Haunted Mish-Mash...

The Ravenloft Campaign Setting, as published, seems to have a large amount of gaping holes and more than a few terribly boring domains and domain lords (Hazlik, anyone?). So, as I prepared to run my currently on-going First Edition AD&D Ravenloft campaign, I sat down and reviewed the published work (and several fan sites), before tearing it apart and re-building it.

Several domains were axed completely (such as Forlorn, Arak, and Bluetspur, amongst others...), mainly because I found them dull (others were axed as I found them lacking in the spirit of the setting, such as Sithicus... Lord Soth doesn't work in Ravenloft, he's too passive...). Oddly, Hazlik made the cut, but not as written. Because, as written, he's completely boring and utterly unfit to being the kind of grand villain that the lord of a Ravenloft domain should be. I mean, he's a Red Wizard of Thay, yeah, they're evil, but there's nothing there that singles him out, there's no grand passion that drives him, oh, sure, he wants revenge on his enemies... so does Szass Tam, and he's far more interesting and driven... So, one of the first things I did was re-work Hazlik and his domain (no longer called Hazlan... for reasons of avoiding yawns).

And so, I present...

The Ossian Waste

The Lord and the Law: The cannibal wizard Hazlik the Tattooed rules this land from the grim fortress of Yenathar, sending out his gnoll slaves to pillage the surrounding lands and bring back victims for his larder. Hazlik has the dubious distinction of being the only lord of Ravenloft to not be drawn in to the demi-plane by the Mists, or to be a native of the place to begin with. He was exiled to this place by his fellow Red Wizards who grew tired of him abducting and devouring their favoured slaves... An obese mountain of a man, Hazlik's brutal exterior disguises his brilliant mind and his mastery of arcane lore is impressive, even though bent towards the satisfaction of his repulsive hungers.

The Land: A stark and windswept wasteland, the Ossian Waste lies south of the Duchy of Ruithenia, east of Kartakass and Morchessa, and north of the mighty Principality of Nova Vaasa. The Waste has no permanent settlements apart from Yenathar and various gnoll encampments, though there are a few nomadic camps of escaped slaves.

Closing the Borders: Like most of the lords of Ravenloft, Hazlik has no way to seal his domain, apart from his magic and vicious gnoll minions...

The Folk: The inhabitants of the Ossian Waste are gnolls, who gleefully serve the gluttonous lord, escaped slaves, who are mostly mad and either unable or unwilling to return home, and slaves awaiting their ultimate fate, that of becoming part of a grand meal...

Encounters: Apart from the gnolls and escaped slaves, the only creatures dwelling in the Waste are those fit for desert living (scorpions, scarabs, serpents, and the occasional result of some twisted magical experiment).