Editing Ravenloft Campaign (section)

==Barovia==
<div style="float:right;margin:15px">http://www.tabcreations.com/rpwiki/barovia_village.jpg</div>'''Barovia (Village):''' Nonstandard NG 300gp limit; Assets 3430gp; Population 782; Human 100%.

Barovia is a remote village surrounded by the mists located in a valley overlooked by the fearsome Castle Ravenloft.  It has remained isolated for generations, the last townsfolk having left the village and traveled elsewhere some three generations ago.  Most people in the town make their living working on small farms in the surrounding land, but the village also possesses a number of bakers, butchers, cobblers and other folk.

===The Surrounding Lands===
Barovia is surrounded by a variety of fields mostly growing rye, cabbage, turnips, barley and cucumbers.  Surrounding the fields are the Svalich Woods--a dark and forbidding forest visited only by a few woodsmen, trappers and, of course, the Vistani.  Finally, making a complete ring around the lands of Barovia are the ever-present mists, cutting the region off from the outside world and disorienting would-be travelers.

===The Vistani===
The Vistani are people like gypsies are in stereotypes.  They are not part of the Barovia community and maintain their own camp somewhere out there in the Svalich Woods.  They're also the only people to have gone through the mists and entered or left the lands of Barovia within the last three generations--the means of which is a secret they guard greedily.  Otherwise, the Vistani are known for occasional trade and their ability to tell fortunates.  They are also feared for their ability to curse people who cross them.

===Castle Ravenloft===
Standing on a fortified peak overlooking Barovia is Castle Ravenloft, home to Barovia's current ruler Count Strahd von Zarovich.  The castle is solid stone, tall and foreboding.  No one who enters exists its grounds alive, safe for Strahn himself and his trusted allies.  All manner of rumors persist about what goes on there.  The von Zarovich lineage has ruled Barovia for generations upon generations, going back perhaps half a millennium.  Once the whole von Zarovich family resided in the castle, but one by one they died out.  Today it is just Strahd, called "the Devil Strahd" by the fearful inhabitants of Barovia.

===Culture===
The local culture in Barovia in many ways resembles traditional Eastern European culture.  People live clustered away in villages, each of which has a burgomaster.  People dress in drab colors, eat boiled foods and tend small gardens of cabbage and herbs.

===Religion===
The people of Barovia follow the cult of the Morninglord--a luminous sylvan entity whose face is smeared with blood.  The cult of the Morninglord was founded some 200 years ago in Barovia; the founder claimed that the Morninglord appeared to him as a boy and protected him from the dark menaces of the Barovian night.  Since that time the religion has become the sole one in the village.  It teaches that better times will come as long as people have hope.  It also teaches that the enemies of the Morninglord have the ability to offer mortals pacts for magic power, which results in the spread of sickness and corruption among humanity.  Any magic not of origin with the Morninglord is suspect.

===Views on Magic===
The people of Barovia are superstitious and distrustful regarding magic.  Not only does their religion speak poorly of most magics, but pretty much every instance of magic any of them have ever experienced in their lives--with the exception of a few church-related charms and blessings--has ultimately been harmful.  This has resulted in a strong distrust of magic-users, particularly of those whose magics are recognizably non-divine.  Known arcane casters and psionicists (which in the eyes of the people of Barovia is just another type of devil-magic) are looked at fearfully and not welcomed into many establishments.  Those who would flaunt their power or threaten with it, risk a good old-fashioned mob of villages with torches and pitchforks, looking to burn the warlock into ashes.  Divine casters aren't quite as suspect as their other magic-using counterparts, but may still be snubbed if their faith appears significantly different from that of the Morninglord.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, despite most magic being taboo, there is a significant trade in the village of magic items.  Most of these are of the good-luck charm or fertility charm variety.  And most aren't really magical.  Nevertheless, superstition runs strong and these are sought-after items.  There is even a small potion shop in town that does a decent business selling potions--some of which work as intended.  This is the one and only shop in town that deals in magic (not counting the village church, which offer a few low-level blessings and so on to members).

===Non-Human Races===
Non-human races are extremely rare around Barovia.  In fact, it's been several generations since anyone in Barovia has ever seen a member of a non-human race and some might mistake them for being a fairy tale.  Either way, the sudden presence of a non-human may make certain townsfolk uneasy, as no one knows what to expect from them.