A Dungeons & Dragons Dark Domain: Alba Targovia

You might be here because you're a DM looking for some inspiration to create your own Dungeons & Dragons Domain of Dread. You might be here because you want to homebrew something and need a foundation to build from. You might even be here because you're interested in D&D and want to see what it's all about. Either way, welcome! Please note that this is only a foundational piece for a Dark Domain, with it's intended use as inspiration for you to create your own world.

Domain Overview

• Adventure is a Folk Horror.
• The land looks rather pleasant at first glance – all rolling hills, snow-capped shimmering mountains, sunshine and colour – but there’s a darkness bubbling beneath the surface. Farmland, a few vineyards, villas, estates, a beautiful palace, luscious forests, all contribute to the fantasy fairy tale aesthetic of the land.
• The city centre is clean and prestigious looking but in the central square a statue of the Royal family is missing one of the statues heads, Prince Dimitri, which was removed after a mysterious event occurred at the Palace. If asked about it, the locals try to change the topic, brushing off the question by suggesting the statue just needs repairing.
• Palace and its grounds are well tended and look welcoming, but it has been many moons since a ball was held there. The ballroom still echoes with long lost laughter, glasses clinking and dancing feet.
• A farm ranch on the outskirts of the land, near the unfinished Unquite Town, has been abandoned for years. The land owner, a retired sailor who brought the land to settle down in has been desperately trying to sell the property for years to no avail. No matter how many times he tries to clean it, or break down its walls, the house remains in the bloodied state it was left in by the previous owners, Ilvir and Iselda.

Rationalise and Normalise the Darkness

Cultural Specifics

The entire Domain's culture is a parody of Rapunzel and a fantasy 'perfect' land.

The culture, specifically Radacina, inflicts verbal/psychological harm on those who are exceedingly beautiful or promiscuous, as those are the people who go missing whilst their loved ones are found dead or abandoned. The culture treats outsiders with open arms, but good luck finding any place who would invite them in to stay the night. Outsiders must sleep outside, seek out shelter, or pay to sleep in the strange tents belonging to the group known as the Ulmist Inquisition.

The culture values imperfections, mental or physical, as that means you are less likely to go missing. Some people take it to extremes and purposefully make themselves less attractive, whilst others want themselves to appear beautiful and untouchable, continuing to preen themselves despite it resulting in them being shunned.

The culture prevents change by enforcing the folklore of the She-Beng, having values in imperfections, and mistrusting each other. However, this always results in someone going against the norm and the cycle of beautiful people going missing and killing their loved ones continue. The general attitude towards the Dark Lord Deianira is non-existent - she doesn't have a place in society, and the only real presence she has is the folklore of the Princess in the Tower. No one has paired the Princess in the Tower with the She-Beng. Deianira herself does not know that she is the Dark Lord of this Domain.

People

Everyone is rich or are happy family farmers. Wine and good food is shared amongst everyone. People worship Ezra (depicted as a vague vaporous figure, with a sprig of belladonna on his shield), a hero of old who was said to save the city from a hoard of werewolves. Traditional royal or noble marriage pairings are decided by parents, whilst others are free to do as they please, as long as it is accepted by Ezra and no ill omens come of it. Everyone helps each other and wears near constant smiles on their faces, until it gets to night and no one opens their doors, even if someone is desperate, in fear the She-Beng would come to their door. Because of this, there are no inns in the main city of Alba Targovia, meaning outsiders must rely on camping, the Temple of Ezra, the Ulmist Inquisition, or the King.

Most people turn to the Order of the Guardians to put an end to supposed cursed people or items, when in reality it is people’s paranoia that push them to believe in the curse. The Order cannot put a finger on who or what the She-Beng is, or where they go after they disappear from the Festival of She.

Trust amongst the people is scarce; on the surface people seem kind and neighbourly and contribute to their neighbourhoods actively but behind closed doors they scheme and throw suspect on many who are undeserving.

Alba Targovia: The City

The city named after the land. With a population of over 300, the city is a testament that many different walks of life can live peacefully. Trade, employment, and good policing ensure the city runs smoothly. The Palace is the only stain on the city, but no one would dare speak badly of the place, merely stating that no one has been there in a while.

The city is known for its Golden Carriage tavern, Glass Slipper tailors and human stone mason Ozzy Momo, who is rumoured to have been the original architect of the Palace, even though that was hundreds of years ago. You could have rumours circulating the Golden Carriage tavern, one of which could be about Ozzy Momo looking for someone to deliver a stone statue to some other part of the world. This could lead up to Ozzy Momo informing a group about the secret dungeons beneath the Palace, although this should be something discovered before the group heads to confront, or try to confront, Deianira.

Lostwoods

This expanse of woodland occasionally has extreme plant growth that looks more like that out of a jungle. There are some exotic birds and animals here, although seeing them is a rarity. The entire place is damp, vibrant, and deadly. A flower the size of a house might be beautiful, but it also might be carnivorous. The people of the land only come here if they want to hunt rare game, or want a quick, and violent, way to an early grave. Lurking in these woods are Pixies, who love to play tricks on travellers without being seen. Some of these Pixies have access to up to 4^th level wizard spells. The entire band of Pixies are led by Penny Pan, a cheeky but hearty female spell caster Pixie wielding an Oathbow.

Radacina

Sorina

The Forbidden Forest

Zaharia

An idyllic farming village who once celebrated the moon cycle. It is the closest village to the city and has good relations and trade with them. Houses the lands Order of Guardians, who act as wandering knights, safeguarding the people. They also have a Headquarters in Zaharia that is often visited by paranoid citizens looking to rid themselves of some sort of curse they believe is afflicting them or some part of their life. A road passes through the village to Unquite Town, which the citizens seem to ignore, or perhaps do not even know about, as if something is keeping them away. The only one who speaks about it is a retired sailor named Rahdi Hook, who is desperately trying to sell a piece of land he brought in Unquite Town. He can be encountered as a homeless vagabond in or around Zaharia. The land he brought has a single house on it, which belonged to Ilvir and his family until they all disappeared, leaving behind an extremely brutal and grisly scene. Since that day, no amount of cleaning removes the blood from the house. Rahdi has even tried to knock the house down, only to find it had rebuilt itself, still covered in blood, when he returned the next day.

The village is well known for, and occasional ridiculed about, its detective company The Golden Chain, run by the duo Goldenlock Tomes, a genius female moon elf mage, and her trusty sidekick Three-Bears Pawson, a plucky Bugbear berserker handy with a Warhammer.

A 'Rapunzel' Story

Deianira is the daughter of Alba Targovia's King Andrei and Queen Daniela de la Drăguţ. The Queen got sick during the pregnancy, and, desperate to save her and the baby, the King sought any and every cure. A mysterious woman living on the outskirts of the main city offered her help in the form of a restorative magical herb, but it came with a price; on the babes 1st birthday, the woman would come to claim her payment. The King agreed, and so the Queen was cured. She gave birth to Deianira, the most beautiful child ever seen in these lands. On her first birthday, a grand festival was thrown, and all celebrated. The King, not forgetting his promise to the mysterious woman, gathered heaps of gold and fine items ready for her arrival. When she did come, she turned a blind eye to the gold and finery, and said she wanted the child. Realising his wife and child were only alive due to this woman, he gave in, worried that the woman might harm his loved ones, and the child was swept away. Deianira was taken to and concealed in a tower hidden deep in the Forbidden Forest. She grew to be beautiful in almost every way, and, as time went on, discovered she was imbued with magic. Her hair grew long and golden, and no matter how many times it was cut, it grew back to the same length each day. The woman who brought her to the tower, who wanted to be called Auntie, only wanted Deianira for her hair, as the herb she gave the Queen was imbued with restorative powers that enabled Auntie to stay forever young. 

Betrayal

Perhaps now with Auntie out of the way, Deianira could have a new life with Ilvir. As for Ilvir though, Deianira, through the eyes of her doves, learnt what it meant to be betrayed. Ilvir was married, with children too. She grew furious at the betrayal, and thought back to how she had trapped Auntie. Eternal imprisonment seemed unsubstantial, so she plotted and thought and schemed. Deianira waited for Ilvir to return. She treated him with a fine meal, new clothes she made for him, and sung sweetly to him all night. And when he was fully entranced by her, Deianira charmed him, commanded him to go and kill his wife, and bring back a bloody lock of her hair as proof, and not tell a soul about what he was going to do or who told him to do it. Ilvir did as she asked. When he returned, blood still staining his hands, Deianira embraced him, and before he knew what he had truly done, he was sucked into a snow globe, and placed onto a shelf, so Deianira could watch and laugh as he pounded on the glass wall. 

Endless Torment: Unpleasant Hope

To torment Deianira and her desire to find the perfect lover, the Dark Powers deemed it necessary to have Ilvir's soul reincarnated as many different people, but making it so they never found out about or pursued the story of the Princess in the Tower. One way or another, Deianira always finds out about their existence, but fails to encourage them to visit her tower, which reinforces that her perfect lover will never come, despite her believing that one day someone will come for her. Shortly after Deianira's learns that Ilvir is alive and existing outside her snow globes, Ilvir meets a usually very grisly and untimely death.

The Dark Lord's Legacy

Despite Deianira's wishes, no one who came to the tower was ever good enough. They were untrustworthy or simply unworthy, and so she repeats the whole process of befriending or courting someone, finding a flaw in their person, charming them, forcing them to kill their closest friend, family member or even lover, get them to bring back a lock of bloody hair, and then trap them in a snow globe. Her museum is quite vast now, as is her wig of hair from murdered loved ones. Unbeknownst to Deianira, she was not alone in her tower. In fact, with Auntie gone, the tower, imbued with magic, took on a sentience that allowed it to think and feel. Although it did not contribute to Deianira’s evil scheming, the tower protected her at all costs, not for Auntie’s sake, but for its own, for it had fallen in love with its occupant.

When Deianira began to venture out to tell the story of the Princess in the Tower, she learnt about a festival that would be held every year on the day of her birthday to celebrate the Kings daughter’s birthday who 'died' a long time ago. She found the festival pleasing and decided, every year it was held, to dress up in a beautiful gown and wear her bloodied wig to demonstrate how she could be the perfect lover for someone, given she wore the hair of many other people who were loved. Her presence at the festival gave her the name 'She-Beng', but no one knew who she was, nor the fact she was the Princess in the Tower. The townspeople now only held the festival in fear of angering the 'She-Beng'. 

One of Deianira's 'lovers' was someone she should not have crossed off her list, or perhaps even put them on the list. Deianira's parents had another child in their life, a son, Dimitri de la Drăguţ. Prince Dimitri, following the story of the Princess in the tower, found Deianira, and desired to love and protect her. He informed his parents he had found his true love, not knowing who she was or where she came from. But Deianira found his personality lacking, too soft, too much of a spoiled boy, so she made him murder the person closest to him, which in this case, was Queen Daniela, their mother they unknowingly shared. Dimitri never made it back to the tower after the terrible matricide, however, as he was promptly arrested, questioned and emitted to a mental institution hidden beneath the Palace. After believing his son’s true love, a beautiful princess in a tower, may be the cause of such a change in his son, the King set off with an army to seek out and destroy the tower, to put an end to someone evil enough to bewitch his son into killing his beloved wife. But, the mists had other ideas, which accumulated into the King and anyone who worked in the palace forgetting about the Princess in the tower and Dimitri.

TLDR: Run Down of Deianira

Deianira de la Drăguţ is a beautiful fey woman with a dark heart. Although her intentions could be perceived as sympathetic, given her lonely upbringing, her actions are nothing but sinister. Her character is based on Rapunzel, with the twist that she has never found, nor will ever find, her prince who will save her from her tower, because she condemns them to murdering their loved ones and eternal imprisonment. Ironically, Deianira has the ability to leave the tower indefinitely, but she is convinced that she can only leave her tower for no more than 48 hours. She once found her true love in a simple farmer named Ilvir, but she was betrayed by him already being married with children. Ilvir was the catalyst to her sinister preying’s on lovers who have failed her, and is also the catalyst for her endless torment.