Taliesin Jaffe’s Domain of Dread: Vendamir, a Land of Tomes and Ashes – Posts

Taliesin Jaffe joined D&D Beyond’s Amy Dallen on stream to celebrate the release of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft! Together, they created Vendamir, the Domain of Tomes and Ashes, using rules for creating a domain found in Chapter 2 of the book.

Within this land surrounded by the Mists lies a fortress containing a vast library with secrets long lost to other realms. Presiding over Vendamir is the ambitious and secretive Darklord Victoria Snart. Her skin is made from parchment and tells the story of how she was doomed to Ravenloft. Keep reading to learn more about this wicked domain! 

Vendamir

Domain of tomes and ashes
Darklord: Victoria Snart
Genre: Gothic horror 
Mist Talismans: a scrap of parchment torn from a magic scroll, a vial of toxic ink, a pair of broken glasses 

The domain of Vendamir is a gilded prison to its inhabitants. It is a small domain that is largely comprised of Victoria Snart’s fortress, which towers over a graveyard filled with the bodies of those she betrayed in life and an idyllic village whose people busy themselves by reading from the enormous collection of books that can found within the fortress’ library.

Those who dwell in Vendamir are never for wanting, even the Darklord herself — and that is part of the torment found here. Vast stores of food magically fill themselves in catacombs found beneath the fortress, so there is little need to work. The villagers are free to do as they please, except pass through the Mists that surround the domain and which are home to unspeakable horrors. These villagers spend their lives trapped in a small realm plagued by the knowledge of worlds and peoples they could never reach.

Victoria is starved for experience in her domain. She is trapped within the fortress and forbidden from reading the books found in her realm. But she is otherwise looked after by the servants and guards that dwell in her fortress. Victoria wishes to escape the confines of her prison, or at least get her hands on a book — without it erupting into flames.

Noteworthy features

• Victoria Snart and the villagers regularly hold plays that are dictated but never recorded.
• Victoria regularly calls on villagers to read books to her.
• Nothing from the library’s collection is permitted to leave the fortress.
• Any text brought in from the outside becomes the library’s property.

Settlements and sites

Victoria Snart’s fortress and its grounds make up much of Vendamir. The domain is stark, and the Mists at the edges of it are often in sight as a reminder that what little there is to see, is all that can ever be seen. Yet, the fortress is expansive and contains within its collection of books knowledge that attract wizards and other bibliophiles from faraway worlds.

• The Library: The fortress is adorned by a nearly endless number of bookcases that house written texts from across the ages. Librarians tend to this collection and carefully catalogue it. Guards patrol the innumerable rows of bookshelves and are quick to enact justice on Victoria Snart if she attempts to touch a book, or if a villager or outsider mistreats the works.
• The Vault: Tomes which contain forbidden texts and long-forgotten secrets are closely guarded in the Vault. This area is permanently affected by the Silence spell. Poisonous gas traps and poisonous inks also protect the Vault. 
• Whispering Hallways: Few secrets can be kept in the fortress. Throughout it are whispering hallways, where the quietest of sounds can be heard elsewhere in the fortress. No matter the time of day, visitors can hear someone reading a book aloud to Victoria Snart somewhere in the fortress. 
• Catacombs: Beneath the fortress are catacombs where villagers are buried and an endless supply of food magically replenishes itself. 
• Snart’s Workshops: To keep herself entertained, Victoria Snart has had her servants build her a series of workshops over the years, so that she might learn various crafts. However, as time wanes on, she will often smash her creations out of frustration and boredom. 
• Fortress cemetery: Just outside the fortress sits a stark reminder to Victoria Snark of the people who died in a horrific library fire she caused. She cannot visit the cemetery but can see the tombstones from windows throughout the fortress. 

Dangers found in Vendamir

Creatures that lurk throughout the domain include swarms of animated books and mimics that hide among the library’s collection. Giant mimics take the form of comfortable seats where readers might enjoy a good book.

The librarians are undead humanoids who were killed in a library fire that Victoria Snark started and that attracted the Dark Powers to her. They appear as normal humanoids and are frustratingly kind, even when scolding visitors for breaking one of the library’s numerous rules. If killed, they come back to life and return to post, unbothered.

Guards found throughout the library are similarly undead but are comprised of Victoria’s former companions and loved ones. They alone know the secrets behind this Domain of Dread. They watch and police Victoria Snart’s every move, as well as those of visitors.

Constructs made from paper assist the guards in watching over the library. These constructs use the statistics of a clay golem. The Vault is guarded by an animated chained library under the control of several guards.

Although they are not expected to do so, the kind villagers of Vendamir rotate shifts in the library and on the grounds. Books are their primary source of entertainment, so they fear that any damage or thievery done by outsiders could lead them to be denied access to the collection.

Victoria Snart

In life, Victoria Snart was a human from a large family. She discovered early on a love for books and the knowledge that lurked between their covers. Over time, Victoria’s love turned to obsession and lead her to hurt others in order to grow her collection of books and secrets.

Early in her career, Victoria oversaw accounts for rich individuals, and found that their vast wealths allowed them to accumulate all manner of treasures, including ancient texts that few people had ever read. Victoria was envious of their wealth and sought ways to grow her own so that she might add to her book collection. Blackmail was the easiest route for her. Where before she had kept secrets on shady dealings made by her employers, she now demanded payment for her silence. Her employers relented and, over time, Victoria drained them of their wealth.

Over the years, Victoria became a spymaster and rose into aristocracy, destroying others in her climb to prominence. Yet, the more her collection grew, the more paranoid Victoria became. She had ruined so many others by learning and sharing their secrets — someone might discover her own and ruin her in the same way. That was when Victoria decided to kill those who posed the biggest threat to her power: her family and friends.

The founding of Vendamir

Victoria’s end came when she discovered a library whose librarians denied her access to their store of ancient texts. In a display of power, she purchased the land around the library and built a town from the ground up. She called this place Vendamir. Even still, the librarians refused her entrance. Their texts would remain unread and unowned by outsiders.

Victoria was furious. She felt that no one should hold more knowledge than she. So, she sneaked into the library and consumed what knowledge she could. As she left, she barred all of the exits out of the library and set it ablaze. All of the librarians were trapped inside and burned with the ancient texts they had so fiercely guarded. 

This final act of evil drew the Dark Powers to Victoria after her death. They offered her a library that no other mortal could ever keep. And she accepted. Thus, the domain of Vendamir was created.

Victoria’s powers and dominion

The Dark Powers are cruel entities. When Victoria emerged as the Darklord in her domain, she found herself barred from reading any of the texts found in her fortress. When she reached for a book, she was struck down by the people who had served and loved her in life. If she managed to touch a book, it burst into flames. The librarians she had killed never spoke to her with contempt, either. She was doomed to look at their smiling faces for all eternity.

Victoria is tormented to have all of her secrets revealed, as well. Her skin is marred with script that reveals her life story — something that she tries to hide with thick makeup and heavy clothes. As the years waned on, her skin turned into parchment, and her sweat, tears, and saliva became toxic ink that poisons those around her.

Victoria has but one reprieve in her Domain: The villagers who dwell outside her fortress respect her and read books to her. Even still this torments her, as she does not know if the reader is omitting details, and she has no way of privatizing knowledge any longer.  

As a Darklord, Victoria has the following powers:

• Closing the borders. Victoria is limited in her ability to control the Mists. She can only close the borders to her domain when there are no strangers in the realm. However, she can bar specific people from entering her domain altogether. Those who are barred from entering Vendamir will come upon the original and abandoned town of Vendamir.
• Doomed people. Even if the borders to Vendamir are open, the villagers cannot leave without Victoria’s permission.

Victoria’s torment

Victoria Snart owns one of the largest receptacles of knowledge known to man. She is doomed to never enjoy her collection.

• Victoria cannot touch books. The library’s guards will attempt to stop her when she tries to. If she manages to touch a book, it immediately bursts into flames.
• Victoria cannot read. If an open book is shown to her, she will only see gibberish. 
• As someone who fiercely guarded her secrets, Victoria dislikes being seen. Her skin bears her story, from life to undeath.
• Victoria cannot leave her fortress. She is starved for experience after centuries trapped inside. 

Roleplaying Victoria Snart

Victoria Snart is paranoid and despises those who speak behind her back. She is secretive but willing to share information if someone reveals something new and interesting to her that sounds true. Above all things, Victoria hates being lied to. 

• Personality trait: “I refuse to share information unless I hear something of value first.”
• Ideal: “Only those worthy of knowledge have any right to it. I despise liars and those who gossip about me.”
• Bond: “There is always more to be learned.”
• Flaw: “I will do anything to own something outright. I do not like to share.”

Adventures in Vendamir

Victoria Snart’s domain offers adventurers an opportunity for research and discovery. A wizard might choose to visit Vendamir in order to research new spells, or they could chance upon it via a hidden door in a library. When exploring Vendamir, player characters will discover strict rules within the library, including:

• No book or other written text can leave the library.
• Any texts, such as a spellbook or scroll, that enter the library become its property.
• Written texts cannot be damaged in any way. Casting a spell from a scroll counts as damaging a written text.

Adventurers sent on a quest to retrieve a specific book will need to battle their way out of Victoria Snart’s fortress and past villagers who before would have treated them well. Because Victoria can block specific people from reentering her domain, it is important for anyone who wishes to return to not be discovered stealing from the library.

Alternatively, Victoria might approach the adventurers and ask them for help in escaping her domain. In return, she can offer a unique collection of poisons crafted from her own sweat, in addition to any one piece of knowledge she has memorized. She can also provide training in any artisan’s tools. 

Create your own Domain of Dread

Taliesin Jaffe’s Domain of Dread was created using rules found in Chapter 2 of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. When creating your own, consider the types of adventures your players will enjoy going on, and how you can shape a Darklord and their Domain of Dread around that. You might make the Darklord the antithesis of one of your player’s characters or look to other media for inspiration. Amy and Taliesin referred to Batman comics, Macbeth, and other works in order to create Vendamir.

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is available for purchase in the D&D Beyond Marketplace! If you have a Master-tier subscription, you can share content you have purchased with others in your campaigns! 

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.