Ravenloft

 Ravenloft is a demi-plane, an area within the Deep Ethereal where a group of dark power abduct various people to toy with. It was first created to punish the wicked who did something horrible or committed an act of hubris. Its most well known "Darklord" is Strahd Von Zarovich, a man who bargain with the Dark Powers for eternal youth in order to win over his brother's bride. The powers turned him into a vampire and transported the surrounding lands to the demi-plane.


The lands are either pulled in from other worlds, or duplicated from the ethereal plane. Each domain, host its own Darklord who is imprisoned there. Other creatures and inhabitants seem to be the backdrop in order to keep the Darklords entrained or tortured. Over the centuries, the various domains formed clusters and eventually a core surrounded by mists. It is speculated that the collective belief of the inhabitants are causing the creation of the core as so many individuals realize the concept of a world. There are still many islands of terror hidden and isolated in the mists, as well as smaller clusters that are amassing together.

The demi-plane is also aptly nicknamed the Demi-plane of Imprisonment, as it is very difficult to leave. The plane itself is dark and twisted, the aspect of good and evil are hard to distinguish. It seems that good suffers here, while order and chaos attempt to keep things in balance. Many of the Darklords from here come from familiar campaign settings of the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Athas, Gothic Earth, etc. The Dark Powers have also reached out to "Gothic Earth", another parallel earth that attracted its attention. However, instead of pulling in individual it has been slowly corrupting the world. Whatever plans the Dark Powers have this planet are entirely unknown.

(Strangely enough, there is an other campaign setting known as "Oathbound". It has seven "Darklords", but its own planetary system. Instead of the Mists, it draws in individual in the form of raven swarms. It is beleived this world was made to imprison a god and his servants).