Things you know, have learned, or I am giving you for free regarding the background of this beautiful country (/demi-plane).

Map of Mordavia

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About Mordavia

• A demi-plane, impossible to escape from (the same mists that affected you on the first day surround it)
• Sunlight doesn't work normally here, giving daytime freedom to creatures who have a weakness to it
• You're not the first adventurers to be magicked in here
• The Vistani are the indigenous people of this region and they have a creation myth (see Notes & Clues for more)
• Vallaki is the biggest city in Mordavia by far and has several rich and complete douchebag merchants

About Mordavia Village

• Death House (and a mill) used to be owned by the Durst family but is now owned by Bjørn Sofiasson
• Granny sells Dream Pies there for 1 GP each, but there's a rumor that she bakes them up at the old windmill

About The Dark Master

• Conquered Mordavia about 200 years ago
• Is a hot MILF vampire named Katrina Borgov
• Claims to be related to the old line of boyars, called the Borgovs
• Became obsessed with Ireena a few months ago and has not stopped pursuing her
• Her servants will not harm Ireena if they know who she is
• Has kidnapped and turned Tanya and Locrian
• Kept a diary for most of the past 200 years

About The Vistani

• Can curse people with their Evil Eye, especially if they have been slighted or wronged
• Some of them are in cahoots with the Dark Master or at least employed by her
• Multiple clans in Mordavia

Written notes, clues or other documents you've acquired that you may want to return back to.

How the Vistani came to Mordavia

Once upon a time when the world was new, the Lady walked down from Mt. Borgov and took this land back from the darkness.

From nothing but chaos and void she shaped possibility, creation and even sorrow to make a living and breathing place and organic life could flourish. Trees grew tall, as they do now, but in bright sunshine.

The Lady was gracious and kind and full of the love of all creation. She worried that she would not always be able to provide for all the needs of her kingdom, so she called three sisters to her and made them masters of her domains: one for the possibilities of life, one for the creation of new life, and one for the sorrows and endings of life. To each she gave a stone, a talisman, a powerful symbol of this pact.

Under the blessings of the Lady and her Three Sisters, the fruits of the forest were so full of life that merely to taste them was to grow stronger. The waters of Lake Rusalka were so pure they were said to be healing. And once she was finished, she opened the borders of her kingdom and she said to all, great and small: Come.

First the small creatures came; insects and pollinators. They thrived in her gardens and the forests. Then came birds and bats to hunt them, spreading seeds across the valley. Then rodents and foxes and finally wolves, to eat the small creatures getting fat on nuts and berries. This rich land could support so much life that even the blessed elephants came to live here, and wyverns and moose to hunt the elephants. And the Vistani, we came too, over the mountains and came to call this valley our home. And that is how Vistani came to be in Mordavia, although we once called it by another name: Woešbígon.

Tarokka Reading

Performed by Madam Eva at the Moon Pool Encampment

The position of the first card tells of history; knowledge of the Dark Master will help you better understand your enemy. This is a weapon to understand and learn from what has been:
     Temperance. this card I believe is addressed to you, master Tonas, as it warns above all to favor balance, rather than succumbing to vice (or to virtue). The book can be found in a place that peddles vice with virtuous intentions. This place has more than one hidden secret.

The second card is a card of power and strength. Suited for one with secret dreams of violent ends. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a weapon of sunlight, to bring the sun back to Mordavia.
     The Star. The weapon you seek will call you to a higher purpose, in a place of religious significance. I see a garden dusted with snow, watched over by a scarecrow with a sackcloth grin. Look not to the garden but to that guardian; a friend may show the way.

The third card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope for a future unclouded by mist.
     Judgment foretells a welcome reprieve after a period of destruction and turmoil, something to renew. The Vellaki Vistani have what you seek. Despite your best efforts, Madam Duchesnes, you will find yourself in a maternal role again: a missing child holds the key to the treasure’s release. The Star also speaks to auspicious timing, so perhaps this is a sign of where to begin. Perhaps you will encounter hints along your road.

The fourth card will shed light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness. Ireena, you fear darkness in yourself, though you do not understand it. I see it in you.
     The Wheel of Fortune... a card of destiny, a turning point. You, who are pursued by darkness in waking and in sleeping, can turn the tables on the Dark Master by shining a light in the dark places.

Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. The final card will tell you where to find her when you enter her domain for the last time.
     Death. A card of reversal, transformation; ironically, she who has been spared death is still obsessed with one who died. She haunts their tomb as their memory haunts her.

I caution you that The Dark Master has ways of seeing, and hearing; even now you may be watched. Do not antagonize The Dark Master, and do not speak of your quest to the unworthy.

Letter from the Dark Master to Ireena Petrova

Sent to the Burgomeister's mansion at the end of Session 1

My dearest love,

I’m so sorry things have become like this between us. But I told you to stay safe and away from that house, and you disobeyed me, and your father aided you, and that is unforgivable.

Your father, though a traitor, was a brave man, and without him I would not have been able to have you. Therefore, if you wish to bury him without interference, I will permit it. You have until noon tomorrow.

Then I will begin pursuing my suit in earnest.

Letter from the Dark Master to Mr. Durst

Found in Death House during Session 0

My dear Sir,

I am no messiah sent to you by the "dark powers" of this land. I have not come to "lead you on a path to immortality," nor to "save" any souls trapped in the vile web of eternity. However many you have bled to death on your hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured in your dungeon, know that nothing you has done has brought me or any powerful presence to Mordavia. You are but worms crawling in my earth, and you do so in total blindness. Desist from this tiresome groveling.

You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. Sir, you abandoned reason for madness, spent your fortunes indulging wild conjectures, were unfaithful to your wife and sired a bastard son. Your "sacrifices" offered to the Dark Ones can hardly even be called such, as these murders are not the currency for the power you seek.

"Cursed by darkness"? Cursed by your pathetic actions, more like. "Save you from your wretchedness"? I think not. I much prefer you as you are. The powers I can command would be wasted on a madman with no vision. But I will bring them to bear upon you if you do not stop breaking my toys.

This is all I will say on the matter, and you will not receive a second warning.

-The Dark Master