Innistrad

Lore and Trivia

Innistrad Lore and Trivia

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Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2: Ascending Darkness ............................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 3: History ................................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 4: The Daily Life ....................................................................................................................... 13
The Moon of Silver and Innistrad's Seasons...................................................................................... 14
Chapter 5: Religion and the church ....................................................................................................... 16
Religion .............................................................................................................................................. 16
Church Hierarchy ............................................................................................................................... 17
The Churchs Secret ........................................................................................................................... 17
Clerical Ranks..................................................................................................................................... 19
Cathars............................................................................................................................................... 20
The Skirsdag....................................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 6: Vampires .............................................................................................................................. 23
Vampiric powers and magic .............................................................................................................. 23
Vampiric Vulnerabilities .................................................................................................................... 24
The Unquenchable Thirst .................................................................................................................. 25
Bloodlines .......................................................................................................................................... 27
Chapter 7: Devils ................................................................................................................................... 29
The Nature and Role of Devils ........................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 8: Zombies ............................................................................................................................... 31
The Unhallowed ................................................................................................................................ 31
Ghoulcallers ....................................................................................................................................... 31
The Skaab .......................................................................................................................................... 32
Chapter 9: Spirits ................................................................................................................................... 34
The origin of Spirits ........................................................................................................................... 34
Material and Immaterial ................................................................................................................... 34
Faith's Power ..................................................................................................................................... 35
Kinds of Spirits ................................................................................................................................... 35
Chapter 10: Werewolves ....................................................................................................................... 37
Killer or Victim ................................................................................................................................... 37
The Transformation ........................................................................................................................... 38
Warding Against the Change ............................................................................................................. 39
The Cause and Nature of Lycanthropy .............................................................................................. 41

Howlpacks ......................................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 11: Provinces ........................................................................................................................... 44
Innistrad's Four Provinces ................................................................................................................. 44
Chapter 12: Stensia ............................................................................................................................... 46
Overview............................................................................................................................................ 46
Human Life and Culture..................................................................................................................... 48
Vampire Life and Culture................................................................................................................... 49
Mountain passes ............................................................................................................................... 50
Stensia's valleys ................................................................................................................................. 51
Vampire Locations and Manors......................................................................................................... 52
Chapter 13: Nephalia............................................................................................................................. 54
Overview............................................................................................................................................ 54
Port Towns of Nephalia ..................................................................................................................... 56
Chapter 14: Gavony ............................................................................................................................... 61
Overview............................................................................................................................................ 61
Human life and Culture ..................................................................................................................... 61
Thraben ............................................................................................................................................. 64
Gavony's Geography.......................................................................................................................... 66
Gavony Parishes ................................................................................................................................ 67
Chapter 15: Kessig ................................................................................................................................. 69
Overview............................................................................................................................................ 69
Human Life and Culture..................................................................................................................... 70
Supernatural Creatures of Kessig ...................................................................................................... 72
Locations in Kessig ............................................................................................................................. 74
Chapter 16: The tale of Saint Traft ........................................................................................................ 76

Chapter 1: Introduction

The people of Innistrad were accustomed to living in a world plagued by evil. The protective wards
held monsters at bay, keeping the villages relatively safe. Prayers and holy oaths banished geists and
skewered vampires where they stood, allowing humans to control nests of horrors when the danger
got too great. Thanks to the presence of the archangel Avacyn, hope and belief held real power to
smite the darkness, and so hope and belief flourished.
Even after Avacyn disappeared and the fiendish creatures of the night advanced, the people of the
four provinces survived. The power of the wards waned, but the Church recruited new holy warriors
to take up arms and fight back. Prayers to the angels went unanswered, but villages closed their
borders and shut down the roads into the fog-cloaked wilderness. The ghouls and geists had gained
an advantage on humans, and things looked bleaker than they had for generations. But together the
people of Innistrad presented a united front, able to keep humanity safe almost as if Avacyn had
never forsaken them.
But safety on Innistrad was a comforting fiction. Among the sinister forces of the world, word has
spread.

Chapter 2: Ascending Darkness

The horrors of Innistrad have learned the weakness of their prey. The werewolf howlpacks have
tested the defenses of the country villages and found them pathetically thin. Now, werewolves
terrorize hamlets across the countryside without fear of wolfhunters or weapons of blessed silver.
Vampires pick and choose their human prey as they see fit, letting the vampire families gain in
ascendancy across every province. Geists appear undaunted in the bedrooms of children and saints.
The walking dead pierce the defenses of even Church-dominated towns. Monstrous fleshconstructions lurch unimpeded into protected sanctuaries, slaughtering innocents who relied on
Avacyn's promises. As humanity's defenses crumble, Innistrad's tale of horror has become ever more
dire.

The Undying Threat

The humans now face a
dark new twist in the fight
against the fiends. It's not
just that the wards and
prayers no longer bind
these creatures. Now even
the bonds of death no
longer hold. Apparently
slain werewolves have
begun to stagger back to
their feet, their hunger only
renewed by their seeming
destruction. Geists return
after being exorcised by the
clerics' most powerful
banishment spells.
Vampires laugh off stakes
and fire, rising in spite of every trick and country secret known to kill them. Reassurances from the
Avacynian Church fall on impatient ears as, more and more, the old lore no longer applies.

Wavering Devotion
Even more distressing, there are signs that the people of Innistrad might be losing hope. The Elgaud
Grounds report fewer and fewer recruits to become undead-slaying cathars. Statues of the beloved
archangel are found toppled, not by the random attacks of rampaging werewolves, but by
despondent humans. Demonic cults have gained in membership as people seek some power, any
power, on which they can rely. Entire ships full of evacuees sail into the mists in search of some far
harbor, never to be heard from again. Some villages have taken to making offerings of their own
weakest members, hoping that innocent lives chained to posts will mollify the hungering beasts in
the night.

Infernal Risings
But the darkest news of all may be the emergence of infernal forces. Cults such as the Skirsdag
beckon forth demonic beings from the deep abysses of the world. Cracks in the earth, such as the
Ashmouth, spew forth demons and devils who spread mayhem and death wherever they go.
Emboldened by Avacyn's long absence and the waning potency of holy magic, the demons have
begun to use humans to further their whims, sacrificing innocents to fuel dark magics. Humans have
become the playthings of the fabled monsters they once spoke of only in scare-tales and campfire
yarns.

The Eleventh Hour

If anything good has come of this dark time, it's that humanity knows the stakes of its plight.
Humankind's collective back is to the wall, so the few parish priests, pitchfork-wielders, and fiendslayers who remain have learned to dispense with the traditional pleasantries. Avacyn might no
longer support their feats of faith, but their magic has become enhanced by desperation, as the
threat of death encroaches. Those practitioners of magic have learned to hurl the despair of their
spiraling losses into their spells, giving them the strength to slice through the ranks of the dead
rather than join them. The humans have even learned from their enemies, discovering new ways to
tap into the tempting power of the grave and to cast deathly spells with amplified strength.

Chapter 3: History
The vampire Sorin Markov, the self-serving aristocrat who was once drenched in privilege in his role
as the favored lord of Markov Manor, created Avacyn, the angelic champion of the meek and divine
source of the protective power on Innistrad.
How did this come to be? To understand that, we have to learn about another member of the
Markov familyEdgar Markov, Sorin's grandfather.

The rise of the vampires

Thousands of years ago, before there were vampires on Innistrad, Edgar Markov was an alchemist in
the land that would become Stensia. Famine was sweeping the land, and the old alchemist Edgar
searched for a solution that could help the
starving families feed themselves. The
answer was a brutal one: to undergo a
blood ritual that would cause some of the
people to feed on blood. It would provide
sustenance to those few, reducing
demand for the failing crops, but it would
also cull the overall population, reducing
the number of hungry mouths to feed.
Thus were vampires born on Innistrad.
But Edgar Markov's chilling tale has an
even darker truth behind it. The famine
was an expedient excuse for Edgar's
blood magic, but in truth the aging
alchemist was experimenting with ways
to achieve agelessness for himself and his
only grandson, Sorin. A demon called
Shilgengar preyed on Edgar's ambition
and whispered secrets that would point
the way toward Edgar's blood-feeding
experiment. Shilgengar also helped the
old man overcome his squeamishness at what must be done. Still, Edgar needed prodding for him to
go through with the ritual to create the blood-feeders. Shilgengar was one of few demons to exist on
the surface of Innistrad at the time, and as it turned out, he became a kind of harbinger for his own
kind. Edgar inflicted his curse of vampirism on his grandson, Sorin, awakening Sorin's latent
planeswalker spark. And later, Edgar's actions indirectly led to a resurgence of demons in the world.
And that's when the famine put him over the edge. The famine might or might not have been
Shilgengar's doing. Either way, it was the genesis of this world's vampires. With his blood magic
experiment, Edgar succeeded at finding a way to extend his own life. He anointed Sorin with the
same vampiric stateand shockingly, his grandson disappeared.

The trauma of the transformation had caused Sorin's devine spark to ignite.

Sorin's Creation
Sorin was a demigod now, but he was also the grandson of the honored progenitor of the entire
vampiric race back on his home plane. As the Markov bloodline spawned other bloodlines, Edgar
remained the prestigious forefather of all vampires, and Sorin's "life" became like that of a royal.
Over the centuries, as vampires spread further into human lands, Sorin spent more and more time
away from his homeworld, sometimes disappearing for years at a time. Vampires became disdainful
of the race from which they had spawned, hunting mortal humans more and more boldly, and Sorin
became distant from his own vampire-kind.
But Sorin always kept watch on Innistrad. From his world-hopping perspective, he could see the
changes on the world of his birth. He saw that as vampires gained in power, the human villages were
dwindling. Although he was no longer human himself, he saw the curse his grandfather had brought
to the humanity of their world, and he saw that in time, they would be wiped out by the bloodfeeders.
Sorin borrowed from long-held beliefs about the moon and the afterlife, forging a warrior who could
hold back vampires and other monstrous forces that would extinguish life on Innistrad. He created an
angel he named Avacyn and tasked her with protecting the plane. Through her, the magic of faith
would create true power to fend off the darkness. The Church of Avacyn grew up around the power
Sorin invested in her.

Some of the vampires understood Sorin's act, but most reviled him as a traitor. Edgar still lives in
Markov Manor to this day, and to this day Sorin is not welcome there. Avacyn was Sorin's gift to his
home, but she was also his betrayal of his own people.
But now Avacyn has disappeared from Innistrad. How could this have happened? Sorin has always
had a dark edge to him, and he has never hesitated to destroy anyone who got in the way of his
ambitions. But at the same time, he never meant these shadows to rise over the world of his birth.
Sorin might be his grandfather's creation, but Sorin's own creation was meant to preserve a way for
humans to survive Edgar's crime.
And now, after Sorin's long absence, it is the disappearance of that creation that has called him home
again.

Tales of
Demonkind
Even before the time
of Sorin Markov and his
grandfather Edgar,
before Innistrad's race of
vampires existed, the
people of Innistrad
feared demons. Few of
these demonic creatures
ever made themselves
manifest, to the point
that some believed
demons were mythical
or long dead. But others
knew the legends of
wicked demon-spawn were true and they feared the day when the demons would return.

Avacyn's Campaign
The archangel Avacyn and her host of angels took up the sword against those who would harm
humanity. They slew vampires with holy fervor, prompting Sorin's kin to brand him a traitor to their
kind. The angels thrashed the werewolf howlpacks that threatened to overwhelm those towns
bordering the wilds. They banished malevolent geists that haunted the shipwrecks and ancient
manors of the plane. They incinerated unholy ghouls with piercing light. They were never able to
cleanse the plane of evil, but Sorin's creation had done her job.
Humanity was able to flourish again. The Church of Avacyn grew up around the archangel, and faith
in her helped fend off the flesh-hungry monsters. The power balance on the plane tipped in
humanity's favor. None could have foreseen what evils this would bring.

Demons and Devilry

The retreat of the supernatural fiends of the plane opened a spacean opportunity for Innistrad's
infernal forces to manifest. Like Shilgengar long before, the demons and their hosts of impish devils
began to make their presence
known in far greater numbers.
Avacyn engaged each demon in
single combat, defeating them
one by one. She found that new
demons would appear a short
time later and decreed: "What
cannot be destroyed must be
bound." She then forged a collar
of silver to bind demonkind, so
they could be hauled away and
imprisoned. The Silver
Collar became Avacyn's symbol
and the holy symbol carried by
Avacynian priests and cathars.

The Helvault
One by one, Avacyn and her host of angels captured the demons, imprisoning them in a huge mass of
silver that came to be called the Helvault. Said to be a piece of Innistrad's silver moon, the Helvault
sits in the cathedral yard in the High City of Thraben overlooking a cliff's edge and the sea beyond.
Stories say it and Avacyn first appeared on the same night, and it remains the most holy object on
Innistrad after Avacyn herself.
With the proper incantations and rituals, Avacyn and her angelic host could cause wicked creatures
to be drawn into the
Helvault. She trapped
so many demons
within the Helvault
that only a handful
remained. To the relief
of all but the demonworshipping Skirsdag
cult, demons and
devils were largely out
of human life.
It was only a short
time ago that the
demon Griselbrand,
the most powerful of

his kind and one who had never become imprisoned, committed an act of unprecedented boldness
and heresy: he landed on the Helvault itself, under a full moon, and challenged Avacyn to combat.

Chapter 4: The Daily Life

Humans
The everyday life of a human varies dramatically according to one's class. The wealthy families and
clergy live in comfort and safety. Thraben clergy, in particular, have every need met by the church.
The middle classesartisans and merchantsare also quite comfortable. But the working class and
farmers have a much shorter lifespan; they are more at risk from the dark things of the world, and
they suffer from more sickness and famine as well. A farmer lives an average of fifty years, while a
bishop lives closer to seventy.
Safety is the main commodity in Innistrad. The wealthier you are, the safer you can make yourself.
The high walls of Thraben protect the well-to-do who live inside. Titled families in Gavony have
fortified manor houses, while the farmers must make do with the wooden walls of their farmhouses.
Because of the lack of physical safety, the poor spend a larger portion of their income of
enchantments and non-physical means of protection. Tithing is required for everyone, and the
church charges a small fee for every blessing and spell. Even at unstaffed little altars, payment is
expected, and many of the faithful diligently pay even when there is no one to enforce it. Not
unexpectedly, there is resentment among some for the amount of money required of the poor to
uphold their faith. This resentment increases dramatically as the effectiveness of the Avacynian
blessings diminish.
For the humans of Innistrad,
the purpose of life is not to
live forever, but to have a
restful "sleep" after death
tranquil oblivion, or perhaps
oneness with everything,
rather than becoming a
tormented spirit, mutilated
corpse, or undead
abomination, as so often
happens on Innistrad. The
Sleep is considered a reward
for a virtuous and vigilant
life. "May you spend an
eternity in the ground" is a
common blessing among the
people of this plane.

The Moon of Silver and Innistrad's Seasons

Innistrad's moon is both a source of hope and a harbinger of woe. Many Innistrad astronomers
believe that the moon is a vast desert made of grains of pure silver, and that any extant silver on
Innistrad originated from the moon.

Cathars and priests know the power of specially blessed silver to harm werewolves and ward off
other horrors, so the moon has become associated with the divine strength of the archangel Avacyn.
Some even perceive the shape of a heron in the areas of dark and light on Innistrad's moon, and so
the heron has come to be a symbol of Avacyn. But the rise of the moon can also dampen protective
magic and cause werewolves to transform from human to wolf. The fickle silver moon seems both to
serve humanity and to bring out the worst evils within.
Innistrad humans also name the world's seasons by different aspects of the moon, as it seems hold a
strange influence on the world as the seasons
change.

Harvest Moon
This is Innistrad's autumn. A huge orange-toblood-red moon hangs in the night sky. The days
grow shorter. The weather cools with each
passing day and the forests turn vibrant colors.
This is considered to be the time when vampires
are the strongest. Bonfires are common during
harvest time, when farmers toil late in the fields
until after twilight. The bonfires are thought to
keep the vampires away.

Hunter's Moon
This is Innistrad's winter. The chill never leaves the air and the sun's apex is close to the horizon. This
is the longest season, and the time when food becomes most scarce. More hunters have to venture
out into the wilds in search of food, which results in increased attacks on humans. This is considered
to be the time when werewolves are the strongest. Since there are more humans hunting and
traveling in the woods during these months, werewolf attacks are more prevalent. The humans
believe the attacks have something to do with the season itself, although there are no more
werewolves at this time than any other time of year.

New Moon
This is as close as Innistrad gets to a spring and is the shortest season. The days are longest and the
sun is the brightest, though still pale compared to some worlds, and there is new growth in the
forests. Humans consider this their season, associating it with new life and birth. Babies born under
the New Moon are considered to be holier, with a better chance of attaining the Blessed Sleep.

Chapter 5: Religion and the church

Religion
Faith in the church of Avacyn actually works, but there are no formulas that are consistently
successful. Saying the mystical words in the right combination will result in protective magic, but
some days it works better than others. And sometimes the evil it's warding against is more powerful
than other times. The unreliability of the wards and blessings has led to disagreements over dogma.
Although there is still only one church, sects have emerged over disagreements about the right way
to do things. The goal of the church is safety, not perfection. Humans want to live in reasonable
safety until they die, and then they want to remain peacefully in their graves. Cremation is forbidden
because it is believed to result
in a restless, angry spirit.
In the Church of Avacyn,
there is no conception of
heaven and hell. The humans
of Innistrad do not believe in
a heavenly afterlife to reward
their past deeds. And their
equivalent of hell is a very
literal thing: there are actual
cracks in the ground where
demons dwell. Avacyn is not
expected to eliminate evil in
the world or to create a
perfect life for everyone.
Instead, she is the font of safety and protection. She is the authority to whom the faithful must
go before something bad happens, to help ward off those evils that have always been a part of the
world.
In Innistrad, church and state are deeply interdependent; there is virtually no separation of the two.
Local governments rely on the power of the Church to keep order and maintain public safety. Often
the rule of law is adjudicated by the
prelature, lawyers and judges ordained
by the Church. All education is handled
by the Church, although different sects
sometimes establish their own schools
and training grounds. Except for
merchants and artisans, all professions
are part of the Church. Even merchants
and artisans are governed by
fellowships, which must be sanctioned
by the Church.

Church Hierarchy
Avacyn
The archangel Avacyn is the focal point of the human's worship. She is believed to be the source of all
protective magic. It is thought that she controls the seasons and is the force that brings an end to the
long and bleak Hunter's Moon. Adherents to Avacyn are called Avacynians, and their church is the
Church of Avacyn, or the Avacynian Church.

Avacyn's Host
The archangel Avacyn has a host of angels who serve her. These angels appear frequently to humans
and fight all supernatural monsters who are a threat to human society. These angels try to keep the
world in balance.

The Flight of Goldnight

These angels are associated with the sun, in contrast with Avacyn herself. Once a year during the
Harvest Moon season, the sun will not dip below the horizon for two full days, and during this time
the moon isn't visible. Known as the Feast of Goldnight, this is the holiest day for the humans. It is
the time when the Avacynian enchantments are strongest throughout Innistrad.

The Flight of Alabaster

These angels personify the Blessed
Sleep and are associated with the
Hunter's Moon season. They provide
magic that wards against the
desecration of dead humans.

The Flight of Herons

These are the angels of birth and purity
and are associated with the New Moon
season. Their magic is said to ward
humans against harm in life (as opposed
to the Alabaster host, which wards
against harm in death).

The Churchs Secret

After that moment when Avacyn disappeared, those Avacynian clergy who witnessed her fate were
left terrified. What would happen to those citizens of Innistrad who the archangel was supposed to
protect? What would happen to the institution of the Church and to their own role as slayers of
vampires and hunters of lycanthropes?
And as a more immediate problem, what could they possibly tell the common folk across the four
provinces? They couldn't very well tell them the truth. Just imagining the proclamation to inform
everyone made them shudder. For example:
"It is with regret that we announce that Avacyn, the bringer of light and figurehead of our entire
belief system, has been bested by a demon lord and plunged forever into a doorless prison. We

anticipate that all those prayers, wards,

rituals, and blessed weapons on which
we had heretofore relied shall slowly
wane in effectiveness, until a tide of
monstrous darkness overwhelms us all.
Signed, the Institution Formerly Known
as the Church of Avacyn."
No. Mass panic would have been the
instant result. And if villagers and
believers across Innistrad were to
suddenly lose faith due to such news, it
might drain whatever power the priests
and cathars of Avacyn's religion still
wielded, hastening the rise of evil. So
although whispers and rumors flew about Avacyn's absence, the Church kept the truth of what
happened under wraps.
The highest-ranking priest of the Church, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, made those few priests who had
witnessed the tragedy swear to secrecy. From then on, the message was tightly controlled. When the
villagers and parish priests asked questions of the high clergy, the answers they got back were
somewhat reassuring, but also evasive and even slightly threatening in tone:
"Put your hearts at rest. Every prayer to Avacyn is still heard and still answered, albeit in subtler ways
than some might demand."
The messages from the lunarch's priests were designed to curb rumors and play down Avacyn's lack
of recent appearances, yet they only invited more speculation and stirred more distrust. Inside the
walls of the High City of Thraben, the influence of ghouls, vampires, and werewolves was not yet felt
except for a few scattered incidents. Out in the provinces, though, any message other than
"immediate aid is on the way" was a difficult one to hear.
Why there is evil in the world
really isn't a question on
Innistrad. There always has been,
and no one expects it to change.
Vampires, werewolves, zombies,
spirits, devils: these are part of
the natural order of the world.
Humans have always battled the
forces of darkness and had their
back to the wall in the fight of
good versus evil. At times the
prospects for the continued
existence of the human race
have seemed grim indeed.

Clerical Ranks
Lunarch
The Lunarch is the head of the church. This is a position elected by the council of bishops. Currently,
it is held by a man named Mikaeus, who is searching desperately for the reason behind the decline of
the church's power. The Lunarch is chosen among the bishops and will only be replaced when dead.
Being a Lunarch means having immense power over the church and state. The Thraben Council
gathers as much as they can to discuss political and religious matters.

Bishop
The bishop is the highest order of clergy. They reside in the cathedral at Thraben as members of the
Thraben Council, the governing body of the church. Bishops also are like governors of the provinces.
They gather with the mayors of villages and cities and are the point of mutual interests for every
priest and mayor. Bishops are honored by the common people and are often strong leaders or even
cathar leaders.

Mayor
Sometimes called the elder, this is the political leader of a parish. He or she has a mix of
administrative and religious duties, but the day-to-day administration is left to the priests. Mayors
are men of the people, they are chosen from the common people and dont have to be a man of the
church per se.

Priest
Priests oversee the church and attend to parishioners' needs. They all use magic to weave spells, but
with varying degrees of skill. Priests mostly stay in villages to protect the common people and be
there in times of need.

Monk
These wandering priests are the lowest order of clergy. Some have been sanctioned by the church to
seek out people living alone in the wilderness. But many are fanatics who are no longer formally part
of the hierarchy. Most monks put their quiet life behind and joined the forces of the cathars. Many
monks have beside their clerical rank also a place in the cathar ranks.

Cathars
Cathars are soldiers of the
church. All Cathars get trained
to track and kill supernatural
beings. A Cathar can either be
a master of the martial arts or
a holy priest who can banish
ghosts back to the ther

Lunar-smiths
Blessed weapons are an
important part of Avacynian
magic, and these clergy are
trained in the art of weaponmaking. Certain blessings must
be said at certain times during the forging process to make a weapon magically effective against a
particular foe. Silversmiths are particularly revered because of the difficulty in imbuing the silver with
strong magic, especially anti-lycanthropic magic. These smiths are not in particular soldiers, but more
like craftsman which provide weapons and armor for their fellow cathars.

Inquisitors
Inquisitors are cathars who can be hired out to come help a parish if they have a particular problem
with vampires or devils. These cathars are fierce warriors and are specialized in tracking down
demons or vampires who disguised themselves. Becoming a Inquisitor takes many years of training
and experience.

Parish-blades
Cathars stationed in parishes serve as escorts along roads or protect the cathedral in Thraben. This is
an ordained military force that
assembles whenever the clergy
demands. These cathars are mere
soldiers who operate in small
armies if possible. They are used
to fight back zombie hordes. Some
parish-blades become inquisitors
after long years of training and
fighting.

Runechanters
Runechanters are a specialized branch of the clergy that specializes in engraving blessings on
material objects, including weapons. Everything from swords to axes to children's toys has words
written on it in an effort to protect its owner. The best runechanters can write so small that
hundreds of these blessings can be squeezed into a small space.

The Skirsdag
A Demonic Cult
The Skirsdag is a demonic cult of
worshippers of Griselbrant, the
demon who was bound by Avacyn
in the great silver mass of the
Helvault. Demons existed long
before Sorins divine spark and his
creation of Avacyn to keep the
world of Innistrad in balance.
Nowdays cults still exists and wait
for the return for their master who
will reward their loyalty and will
spare them from the other
monstrosities who will make an
end to this world.

The Goal of the Skirsdag

Skirsdag cultists have many ranks and followers throughout the world. Now people dont longer can
rely on their former savior the turn to other powerful beings in the hope for salvation.
Skirsdag priests try to open as many gates to the underworld as possible resulting in more and more
demons and devils swarming into this world and leaving a trace of death and decay. Skirsdag
followers know their summons
bring destruction to Innistrad,
but are willing to pay the price
for of their own lives.
Though cathars and the
powers of the church actively
fight vampires, werewolves
and cultists alike, the Skirsdag
try to remain underground,
though society can feel the
influence in their daily lives.
Many Skirsdag rituals require
human sacrifices or a tribute
of blood for their demon

masters and it is not uncommon for people to find bloody altars in cellars of houses or in the wild
days after a demonic ritual.

Cultists and priests

The skirsdag hierarchy is a lot like that of the church of Avacyn. The high priests is the first in
command. Since Griselbrant is no longer in this world he still obeys other demons but can order
devils to do his bidding. Priests perform rituals and are in command in larger regions while cultists
are more the experienced members of the Skirsdag. Skirsdag followers are considered to be new
members or people without any magical powers. The Skirsdag welcome new members which have to
perform an oath to pledge their loyalty to the cult. This makes it very hard to infiltrate the cult not to
mention the contact with powerful demons which can easely pick out the undercover members. This
also creates a very save aspect to the cult and its members.

Chapter 6: Vampires
Vampirism on Innistrad is neither a virus nor a curse, but what the vampires themselves somewhat
euphemistically call a "condition of the blood." It is an anointing that persists and is perpetuated by
magic alone, and few if any of its bearers consider it a curse. When reflecting on the nature of "the
condition," vampires sometimes poetically call it an ablution, a washing of the self in blood that
results in a new state of being. Vampires are not truly undead, although they have some undead
traits (such as agelessness and skin that's cold to the touch).

The most distinctive thing about vampires' appearance is their eyes. The sclera is black and the irises
gold, silver, or other colors. The skin is pale and cool to the touch. The hair is often black but is
sometimes deep purple, dark magenta, burgundy, or even dark blue-green. Some vampires wear
wigs, however, for variety, novelty, or to disguise themselves more easily among humans. A
vampire's canines are very slightly pronounced at all times, and when they bite someone, the canines
extend about a quarter inch. Vampires also tend to have long and slightly curved fingernails.

Vampiric powers and magic

Humans have a multitude of tall tales about the evils and wonder of which vampires are capable. In
reality, though, the vampires' universal suite of powers is limited to just three things: agelessness,
slightly enhanced strength (approximately double that of a human), and a two-foot-wide aura of
silence that emanates from them at will.
Many vampires learn a uniquely vampiric form of glamer (quasi-illusion magic) that enables them to
move among humans undetected. These are mind-affecting spells that alter what nearby humans
think they're perceiving, rather than true illusion magic that changes the subject's appearance. As
such, particularly strong-willed humans can sometimes shake off the effects of the glamer and see

the vampire truly. Also, given time,

power, elder vampires learn all
manner of powerful magic, including
flight, hypnotic gaze, transformation
into other forms (such as that of a bat
or a mist), and so on.

Vampiric
Vulnerabilities
All vampires inherit a set of
weaknesses linked to the ritual that
created their race. First, although they
can be harmed or killed by any
weapon, weapons of living wood have
special efficacythis is the so-called Dryad's Legacy (dead wood is inert, no more effective than
stone or steel). Second, a vampire can't cross running water in which the moon is reflected, because
of the link between water as the source of human food and the moon as the source of angelic power.
Third, Avacyn herself can enchant water with the power to burn vampires like acid by touching it. But
this water is scarce and becoming scarcer with each passing day.

Silver, the soothsayer

Because of the connection between Innistrad's silver moon and its angels, and because the ritual that
created vampires required the drinking of angel blood, silver has special properties vis--vis
vampires: it causes them to see how they would have been in normal, mortal life, ignoring vampire
glamer and reality alike. Because of this, vampires go to great lengths to avoid mirrors (glass backed
with a coating of silver), because mirrors reflect their mortal images rather than their actual ones.
This is also the reason why vampires can't cross running water in which the moon is reflected.
Although silver weapons aren't
particularly deadly to
vampires, the presence of
silver unsettles them, putting
them at a disadvantage.

Avacyn's power
The archangel Avacyn is (or
was) the living covenant of
the balance between humans
and vampires. Avacynian holy
symbols can induce in
vampires a paralyzing fear
and the desire to flee,
although their ability to do so
has significantly diminished in
the last year (because of
Avacyn's disappearance).

Despite Avacyn's absence, however, the strength of faith alone imbues a degree of continued power
in the symbols of Avacyn: the silver collar and the heron crest.

The Unquenchable Thirst

A vampire will starve to death
in one full cycle of the moon
unless it drinks as much
human blood as an average
human contains (about five
liters). Almost any vampire
will drink more than this if
given the chance, however.
Without enough blood, a
vampire starves quicklyin a
matter of several daysfirst
desiccating before eventually
crumbling to dust. Because of
the source magic that created
all vampires, only blood from
a living human will suffice.
Vampire alchemists have attempted transmutations of animal blood to human blood, but all have
failed. Blood from a dead human is also insufficient; if blood from a living human is like wine, blood
from a dead human is like vinegar.

Blood trade
To vampires, blood is indeed like wine. Vampires enjoy a lively commerce in blood, although the
commodity is only good for a few days before it provides no nourishmentabout the same length of
time as wood stays alive once cut from its
plant. Small castles and manor houses in
relative proximity to each other trade
blood via carriage and experiment with
various blends. Particularly interesting or
delicious samples are occasionally
preserved by well paid time-mages who
can use sorcery to prevent the blood from
"dying" for a short time (freezing doesn't
work). When a time-mage can't be secured,
however (which is often), some vampires
resort to slavery of the victim, shipping him
or her from place to place to be supped on.
Specialty carriages exist for this purpose.

Feeding and siring

A vampire will
drink the blood of
his or her human
victim, usually
until the victim
dies of blood loss.
Sometimes the
vampire is
interrupted and
the human will
survive and
recover. Although
other humans
might suspect the
survivor of a
vampire's bite of becoming a vampire, this isn't a possibility, because siring requires an exchange of
blood. The survivor will be plagued by disturbing and sometimes erotic dreams for years but will not
turn. When a vampire wishes to turn a human into a vampire, to sire the victim, the vampire must
introduce his or her own blood into the victim. The simplest way to accomplish this is for the vampire
to cut his or her own cheek or tongue before or during the bite. This act will "anoint" the victim,
endowing him or her with the same "condition of the blood" that all vampires have. But this is only
the first step. The victim, once anointed, will begin to feel the bloodthirst, and food will become
unsatisfying within one to three days. But this first bloodthirst is special; only the blood of the sire
can quench it. A newly anointed victim who doesn't drink the sire's blood before the next new moon
will die. But if he or she does, the siring will be complete and the anointed will become a full-fledged
vampire.
Who do vampires choose to sire? Because vampires believe they are humanity's saviors, and because
of their own decadence and hedonism, only the cream of the human crop is fit for siring. A vampire
might decide to sire a human
because of the human's
beauty, charisma,
intelligence, or talent, for
example. In short, only the
most remarkable humans
become vampires.
When vampires feed, they
will sink their teeth into any
exposed flesh. Usually the
neck is most convenient, but
an arm or even a cheek will
do. But the siring bite is
special. Vampires want to

avoid marring the appearance of their future peers, so often a siring bite is made in some out-of-view
location, such as on the upper thigh, the torso under the arm, or the bottom of a foot (although in
this last case the victim must be special indeed to be worth the vampire's self-humiliation).

Bloodlines
Not all vampires are created equal. Among the existing vampiric bloodlines, some are more common
but prestigious whereas some are rare but less respected. There were originally twelve bloodlines,
which originated long ago in a ritual that had something to do with the Markov progenitor, Edgar
Markov. Three of these bloodlines have died out completely. Five others are relatively minor, having
sired fewer vampires. The four major bloodlines that remain are:

Markov
This is the bloodline of Edgar Markov and is the most prestigious of the bloodlines. The Markov line
has been fairly ambitious in its siring over the many centuries, and as a result the Markov vampires
exist in all four of Innistrad's provinces. This isn't to say that all vampires of the Markov line are all
high-minded or noble; a bloodline doesn't determine temperament, self-discipline, or restraint.
Markov elders seem to have a talent for psychic magic.

Falkenrath
The Falkenrath line, concentrated more in Stensia than the Markov line, had a famous falconer (now
dead) as its progenitor and remains associated with far-reaching activity and predation. Falkenrath
vampires are the boldest in walking among humans, taking pleasure in choosing their victims from
deep within human communities that consider themselves safe. Falkenrath elders are more likely to
master powers of flight than those of other lines.

Voldaren
The progenitor of the Voldaren
line, Olivia Voldaren, was in life a
beautiful but strange, hermetic,
antisocial woman who preferred to
live far away from human
civilization, in manor homes built for
her from her seemingly boundless
wealth. Like their progenitor,
Voldaren vampires tend to live in the
distant places, in the borderlands
and edges of Innistrad's provinces.
Voldaren elders can more easily
master magic that enables them to
transform into animal forms,
especially those of the bat, cat, and
rat.

Stromkirk
Unwilling to take part in the
political and social
machinations of Stensian
vampires, those of the
Stromkirk line chose to
concentrate their power in
Nephalia instead. As a result
their disguising glamers are
more powerful and more
sophisticated. Stromkirk's
progenitor, Runo Stromkirk,
was a high priest in life who
worshipped a preAvacynian god of the sea
and storms, and Stromkirk
vampires still feel a slight affinity with the coast. Some Stromkirk elders have achieved the ability to
transform themselves into mist.

Chapter 7: Devils
The Nature and Role of Devils
Devils are infernal perpetrators of
malicious mischief. They stand
about three or four feet tall, have
a face full of needlelike teeth, and
often have ruddy or deep red
skin. They usually have one or
two back-sweeping horns and
most of them have long, whiplike
tails, but their morphology can
vary from individual to individual.
They are agile and can be
passable fighters, but they do
their best destructive work by
sabotaging things of value and by
inciting violence in others.

The work of Devils

Devils often work in the employ of
demons, stirring up chaos and
woe. Devils aren't very
dependable minions when it comes to servant tasksthey don't do well retrieving fragile objects or
remembering to guard choke points. But devils are experts when it comes to generating and fueling
bitter emotions. Demons are most interested in ways to demonstrate and expand their own power,
seeking to tempt mortals to give up what's most precious to them. Devils, on the other hand, just
want to repeatedly check who's at the top of the Things Are Going Okay in My Life Leaderboard and
go wreck some self-respect. That works out well for their demon masters, because once a poor
human's will has been broken and livelihood destroyed by devils, that human is much more
desperate and apt to agree to
a demonic deal with
shudderingly harsh terms.

Devilish Humor
A devil's laugh is a brainneedle forged from pure
spite. You might laugh when
someone trips and falls
whatever. It's okay. It's kind of
a human reflex. But a devil's
sense of humor isn't satisfied
until someone trips, falls,
breaks an ankle, loses the

ability to work, loses the farm, dies penniless, and dooms his or her starving heirs. Hilarious.
Devils don't have that little boundary of decorum that divides the harmless, schadenfreude-induced
chuckle into your hand from the full-blown sadistic cackle at the dispensation of harm. The farther a
prank goes, the more wrong it gets, and the more pain it causes, the harder a devil laughs. They will
insult the memory of your dear, departed auntwhile waving at you with her own severed hands
just to bray at the look of anguish on your face. They have an uncanny knack for sniffing out exactly
what you care for most just so they can break that thing and watch you cry. They can't be reasoned
with; they are not creatures of reason. They can't be bargained with; they want nothing but your
admission of defeat.

They can, however, be killed.

Devils swarm out of the
crevices of the plane, their
shrill laughter heard in every
village and along every route
through the wilds. Priests and
cathars have taken to killing
them on sight whenever
possible, even given their
diminished holy powers,
knowing that devils only
herald ruin.

Chapter 8: Zombies
Two distinct kinds of corporeal undead creatures plague Innistrad. The first are ghouls, sometimes
called "the unhallowed," which are necromantically animated corpses. The second are the skaab,
beings alchemically constructed from the dead.

The Unhallowed
Necromantically animated
zombies are more commonly
called ghouls or "unhallowed"
on Innistrad, because they're
drawn forth from unhallowed
graves. One of the duties of
Avacynian clergy is blessing the
final resting places of the dead
to try to ensure "the Blessed
Sleep." Now that Avacyn is no
longer present, the dead can be
more easily stirred.

Ghoulcallers
Necromancers on Innistrad are usually referred to as ghoulcallers, the black magic mages that call
forth the dead from graveyards, or "grafs." There are several varieties of graf, each of which draws
forth a unique mix of the walking dead.

Fengraf
A fengraf is one of the many flooded lowland graveyards. These sites were once hallowed ground,
but have remained untended for many years. Fengraf ghouls are usually smiths, cobblers, brothel
workers and other common and poor folk.

Seagraf
A seagraf is a "fisherman's
graveyard." Much like minor
nobles, fishermen are often
buried with their most prized
possessions, such as nets, long
harpoons, and large hooks for
getting hold of a slippery catch.
Seagraf unhallowed have not
completely forgotten their trade
even in death, and they will
pursue victims using the tools
and deftness they had in life.

Diregraf
A diregraf is the site of a particularly gruesome battle. Unhallowed awakened from a diregraf carry
the armor, weapons, and fatal wounds from their last bloody battle. Diregraf ghouls carry this lust for
an unfinished battle within their fogged minds, and they often attempt to fall into military formations
as they were trained to do in life.
Once the dead have risen, the ghoulcaller then supplants all other addled thoughts of the dead with
one single driving purpose in their minds. The near-mindless ghouls will call on what skills they have
left to carry out the task, and the results are a grotesque parody of their lives. Blacksmiths attempt to
"reforge" their opponents, fallen warriors emit rasping pseudo-cries, and undead murderers
reawaken their taste for killing. Occasionally, fallen mages even show a limited ability to weave
spells, but this often results in some aberration of the spell's original purpose.

The Skaab
Necro-alchemy is much more of an
art than ghoulcalling. One who
practices the art of creating skaabs
is called a skaberen. The true goal of
the skaberen is to create life, an
undertaking which usually produces
malformed "offspring" rather than
true life.

Corpus Creare
Also known as "corpse cobbling," is
the collecting of various anatomical parts from corpses from which the skaab will be constructed.
This is usually performed by paid grave robbers or homunculi under the skaberen's charge. In some
cases, even the limbs of beasts are used for the construct; if a human arm is not available, a horse's
leg can suffice.

Patin Ligitus
Or rune-bonds, are the "binding plates"
used to join various anatomical features
together. These are plates of copper
and/or brass, with silver-inlaid runes
scribed on them. They provide an arcane
bridge of sorts between disparate parts
gathered by corpse-cobbling.

Viscus Vitae
Or vital fluid, is the key to the skaberen's
art. Viscus vitae is created by mixing a large
quantity of lamp oil with the slightest pinch

of the dried blood of an angel. Once a perfect

mixture of viscus vitae is created, any blood
remaining in the corpse is replaced with vital oil,
via transfusion. As a result, skaab are often highly
flammable.

Vox Quietus
Translated as "the silent word," is the final step in
creating a skaab. The skaberen whispers a fairly
lengthy incantation over the corpse which
awakens the creature, but in a much calmer
manner that that which is used by ghoulcallers. Once awakened, the skaab is in a calm, "tabula rasa"
state, which allows the alchemist to begin the long task of re-educating the creature. In the eyes of a
skaberen, the technique used by ghoulcallers is crude, heretical, and provides unacceptable results.
Skaberen usually ply their trade in remote and inhospitable places, since they are viewed as
blasphemers by commoners and clergy. Skaberen often become obsessed hermits who surround
themselves with ancient scrolls and books, phials of rare noxious liquids, glass jars full of pickled
organs, anatomical
charts for both human
and beast, runeengraved skeletal
remains, and small
anvils and hammers
for inscribing runes on
brass and copper
plates.

Chapter 9: Spirits
The origin of Spirits
Innistrad is a world filled with the ghosts of the human dead. These spirits, called geists, take many
forms. Some are protective spirits of ancestors. Others are vengeful creatures bent on resolving
conflicts they couldn't resolve in life.
Geists have always been a presence on Innistrad, but before Avacyn, all such spirits were malevolent,
manifesting on the plane
only because of a grudge
or regret powerful enough
to disturb the Blessed
Sleep of the body to which
they were connected. In
Avacyn's absence, the
malevolent spirits were
counterbalanced by the
appearance of many
benevolent and neutral
geists, from nurturing
apparitions of family
members who have
passed on to inscrutable
ghosts who seem to want
to continue whatever duty
they had in life.
This new balance in the spirit realm resulted from Avacyn's function as psychopomp for the dead; her
existence shepherded the souls of the departed back into the plane's thereal space. This
metaphysical guidance from Avacyn enabled geists to elect to turn away from reunion with the
plane's essencea phenomenon that previously occurred only when a geist's anguish or regret
overcame the pull toward the ther.

Material and Immaterial

Geists exist in the space between the material and thereal realms, so to varying degrees they
possess qualities of both worlds. Thus some are able to walk through walls and then slash open
throats. Others use the beliefs of the living against them; victims believe in the spirit so completely
that they harm themselves with the power of their own mind. Some use fear to literally scare the
victim to death. Some spirits use cold to freeze opponents or reduce their temperatures down to
hypothermic levels when humans become lost on the moors or wander too far into the bogs. Other,
more powerful ghosts use their force of will or emotion to condense matter (called ectoplasm)
around their hands or weapons for a split second when they attack. Some use psychokinetic power
to wrap objects around them (e.g., brambles, chains, spikes, glass, etc.), and then wield them against
their foes.

Faith's Power
Even in Avacyn's absence, divine
magic is not impotent. With a
combination of powerful faith and
magic, clergy can banish geists in
various ways, from dispersal of
the geist's essence to functioning
as a surrogate psychopomp to
guide the geist toward its rest in
the ther.

Kinds of Spirits
Holy Geists
Many white-aligned geists are harmless or even protective spirits of dead family and friends who
haunt the living out of a sense of duty, fealty, responsibility, or love. Malevolent holy geists do exist,
however, and are usually twisted by guilt, feelings of failure, or unrighted wrongs. Some are ghosts of
fallen soldiers that still patrol the moors, looking for their vanquishers.

Magic Geists
Some geists are projections of the animating principles of the mind. Vicious or obsessive thinking as
well as collective human memories come to life by attracting enough latent aether around them to
become autonomous entities. They carry on as obsessive ghostsrepeated knocking, patterning,
arranging, stacking, marking, etc. They can also possess one's mind and cause repetitive movements,
speech, epilepsy, obsessive behavior, schizophrenia, and other such maladies of the mind. These are
also the geists most drawn to the water, storms, frost, and misteven the mist of the breath.

Dark Geists
These geists eternally
hunger for life, power,
or the settling of a
wicked grudge. These
are spirits that must be
appeased by offerings of
food, goods, and even
blood. If not appeased,
these geists can be
responsible for disease,
accidents and death.
Dlack geists are almost
always dangerous and
malevolent.

Fury Geists
These spirits have attached themselves to rampant emotions, unfulfilled desires, and thirsts for
revenge that were frustrated during life. They can manifest as blood dripping from statues, whirls of
dust on roads, minor rockslides on hillocks, cliffs, and mountainsides, and, in the case of possession,
as sudden mania or murderous rage. The ghosts of the unavenged are some of the most dangerous
geists on Innistrad, sometimes appearing as living fire or as "blood mist" entities that engulf a hapless
victim and inflict cuts and welts that are slow to heal.

Nature Geists
Some geists long to be reconnected with the nature they revered in life. Energies within the woods
that have been called into being by druids or other nature-mages take on form by entwining roots
and brambles around their thereal bodies. Some of these spirits attach themselves to animals,
plants and landforms, imbuing them with special power or mutating them into strange, otherworldly
entities. If the spirits that inhabit landforms are not appeased, it can often result in blight, crop
failure, and famine.

Chapter 10: Werewolves

The werewolf is a creature of duality, forever dragged between two worlds: it is both monster and
man, nature and civilization, rational thought and raw savagery.

Killer or Victim
Some werewolves see themselves as victims cursed with the souls of untamable killers. Others see
themselves as glorious scions of nature trapped inside a cage of civilized lies. Though most of
Innistrad society focuses on the mass-murdering horrors of the werewolf's beast form, the
lycanthrope can be seen as a tragic figure with an identity chained to the treacherous moon or an
avatar of nature's inherent wildness.
A person afflicted with lycanthropy is forever in doubt of his or her own urges and instincts. In
human form, a werewolf feels the pull of the wolf's essence within even while trying to integrate into
polite society. A lycanthrope can feel the war of emotions in his or her heart, and as the moon grows
full, the influences of conscience, religion, and personal restraint do less and less. The full moon
makes the change inevitable, but in fact, any strong emotion or traumatic experience can trigger a
lycanthropic crisis and allow the transformation to occur.

Werewolves in canid form are beings of unparalleled savagery and strength. Their bodies are
perfectly engineered for slaughter, with jaws capable of snapping bone and claws sharp enough to
rip the entrails from a beast many times their size. Their minds are explosions of instinct and
adrenaline, fed supernatural awareness from their heightened senses yet cognitively blind to almost
everything but the kill. They can walk upright for manual dexterity or can lope on four limbs for
speed. Their howl is said to release the wolf's spirit within, a harrowing sound that fogs the air and
chills the night. Werewolves in beast form cannot speak human languages, but seem to be able to
communicate with each other on matters of hunting, dominance, and social hierarchy, as canines do
in the wild.

The Transformation
The transformation process is harrowing for the lycanthrope and incredibly disturbing to any
witnesses. The eyes change first, the whites darkening and the iris filling with color. The claws go
next; the hands elongate, knifelike claws extend from the fingertips, and the thumb forms a claw
back near the wrist. The
muzzle thrusts forward
out of the human's skull,
and the teeth jut through
the gums in sharp points.
Bones crack as they
rearrange. Marrow spills
into the bloodstream as
ribs and skull fracture and
telescope. Thick, wiry fur
pushes through the skin,
often pushing out normal
human hair. The tailbone
elongates and becomes a shaggy wolf's tail. Metabolism speeds up, increasing blood flow, oxygen
flow, and glandular production, creating cravings for protein and fat. Any clothing that was worn at
the time of the change is generally torn to shreds and falls away. If a werewolf dies in beast form, it
changes back to human form, a process called death reversion.

A werewolf that has just

changed back to human form is
usually naked, disoriented, and
covered in the debris, wounds,
and bloodstains of the previous
night's hunt. He or she has
flashes of memories left over
from canid form, often
experienced with involuntary
heart spasms and jolts of
adrenaline, not unlike the
experience of panic attacks. The
days following a transformation
are often filled with shame, guilt,
and depressionand repression, as the lycanthrope struggles to feign normality, construct alibis, and
hide evidence of his or her savage crimes.
After reverting to humanoid form, most werewolves have partial memories of their time in canid
form, and they clearly see the aftereffects of the destruction they've caused. This can send
lycanthropes into the throes of depression, shame, or even hostility against others. A minority of
lycanthropes actually embrace their werewolf nature, however, and actively seek to return to their
canid state. Werewolves that revile their lycanthropy are called repentants; the few who embrace
the wild are called wantons. While in canid form, however, all werewolves are savage beasts, all
traces of their humanity gone.

Warding Against the Change

Humans destroy
known werewolves
when they can; all
lycanthropes are seen
as abominations and
mass murderers. But
werewolves are
dangerous creatures
to face head-on, so
wide-scale magical
prevention is often
employed to curb
lycanthropy passively.
Regular and repeated
application of
Avacynian magic can
help prevent the

change to canid form. Roadside shrines, prayer, angelic rites, the blessing of accomplished clerics,
and the presence of holy symbols all help reinforce the werewolf's humanity, helping her hold on to
her human form. Repentant werewolves often stay within the city limits, around their fellow man
and the influence of religion, whereas wantons often venture into the wilderness, far from the wards
and priests that keep their wolf essence in check. The full moon, however can overcome even
powerful religious precautions. In addition, the power of angelic magic has waned in recent times,
and werewolf transformations have become more common and harder to predict.

Lycanthropes and the Moon

There's no doubt that the moon holds sway over werewolves. As the moon's phases change, so
changes the power of lycanthropy over the werewolf. As the full moon approaches, the effectiveness
of divine magic becomes dampened, and werewolves change more readily.
Werewolves in canid form are supernaturally strong and tough, and since the weakening of
Avacynian magic, few protection spells have been able to harm them or keep them at bay. But
werewolves have a weakness: pure silver that has been ritually blessed by a powerful cleric of Avacyn
can cause them great agony. According to alchemists, silver's purity of material readily absorbs the
divine magic. Arrowheads, spearpoints, and other weapons made from blessed silver can be
powerful instruments for fighting werewolves.

Silver and the Moon

Mages have presumed a relationship between the moon and the metal silver for centuries, but the
nature of that relationship remains a mystery. The respected astronomancer Jenrik once posited that
Innistrad's moon is actually a vast desert composed of tiny grains of silver. He believed that any silver
found on Innistrad actually originated from the moon's silver desert, and that terrestrial silver
maintains a relationship with the moon's power. Why the moon seems to empower werewolves
while silver harms them is not well understood.

The Cause and Nature of Lycanthropy

There are many theories of how lycanthropy is caused or spread. Most sects of the Church of Avacyn
hold that lycanthropy is a kind of demonic possession, but ritual exorcisms have not successfully
purged the affliction. Most afflicted humans appear to become werewolves at some point in their
lives rather than being born so, although there are sporadic (and chilling) tales of child werewolves in
remote areas. Many alchemists and wolfhunters believe that werewolves are sterile, and only
reproduce by cursing humans with lycanthropy; however, many commoners fear that they might be
able to interbreed with humans or give birth to their own kind.

The True Cause

Lycanthropy is a supernatural curse that causes the victim's spiritual essence to become mingled with
the wild essence of nature, symbolized by the wolf. The lycanthrope in effect has two souls, or one
split soul. These two essences constantly battle for control within the victim. When the wild wolfessence triumphs, the werewolf change occurs. This may explain why werewolves hunt humans so
often; the wolf-essence desires to destroy the human side and triumph over humanity, and does so
symbolically by brutally slaying humans.

Transmitting the Curse: The Call and the First Hunt

The curse of lycanthropy overtakes a person over a period of one night. One or more werewolves
howl in the night, calling out to the victim. Soon after, the victim finds himself in the wilderness,
under the silvery moon, surrounded by eyes glowing in the night. The victim's will is compromised
already, the wild essence entering him and doing battle with his human conscience. The victim and
the werewolves crash through the woods together, and over the course of the night, they hunt and
kill their preyusually woodland game, but other humans or even another lycanthrope is not
unheard of.
The called victim begins to express wolf characteristics throughout the night, and as he sinks his
teeth into bloody flesh, the curse perceptibly takes hold, and he transforms fully into canid form for
the first time. There is a bone-chilling chorus of howls, and the First Hunt is complete. Later, the new
lycanthrope usually staggers back into civilization, half-naked, barely recognizable through the blood
and offal and wilderness debris, and nearly mad from fear and shameful memories. Thereafter, the
werewolf must remain vigilant with prayer and caution, lest the wolf essence manifest again.

Detection
Werewolves in either form seem to be able to tell a human-form lycanthrope by smell. Indeed,
humans who are mysteriously spared during werewolf rampages are often suspected of being
werewolves themselves.

No Known Cure
No known remedy, blessing, or ritual has
effectively purged the curse of lycanthropy.
The closest anyone ever came was alchemist
Theodora Glick, who was brought in to inspect
Guthril, a werewolf captured by the local
constabulary. Through a complex ceremony
involving mystic circles inlaid with the
wolfsbane plant, a blanket woven with blessed
silver thread, and a lightning storm, Glick
managed to force Guthril to revert to human
form and stay that way through three lunar
cycles. Unfortunately, the ritual was only
temporary, and Guthril re-emerged stronger
than ever. He utterly destroyed Glick's laboratory in Gavony and fled into the night.

Howlpacks
Werewolves are often lone hunters, stalking and killing humans as singular monsters in urban
settings. But some werewolves form loose, evolving social groups out in the wild called howlpacks.
The populations of howlpacks wax and wane like the moon, gaining and losing members as individual
lycanthropes enter or leave their canid state. Some werewolves seem to be continually drawn back
to their howlpack, returning to it time after time as soon as they drop their human guise and reenter
the wild. Howlpacks can be tiny hunting parties of just a few werewolves, or can be massive hordes
of over a hundred. A howlpack is often led by a single alpha (male or female) that dominates the
pack. Alphas must often defend their power by defeating challengers in combat. Three of the larger,
more stable howlpacks are the Krallenhorde, the Mondronen, and the Leeraug.

The Krallenhorde: Innistrad's Largest Howlpack

When an average Innistrad human thinks of a werewolf pack, he or she thinks of the Krallenhorde.
The Krallenhorde has existed in some form for decades, composed of anywhere from fifty to over
two hundred werewolves depending on the availability of prey and the phase of the moon. The most
heterogeneous of howlpacks, Krallenhorde includes a mix of repentant and wanton werewolves, and

has drawn members from all provinces of Innistrad. The alpha of Krallenhorde is currently the
werewolf Ulrich, a cunning and perceptive wanton who remains in the wild and runs with the
howlpack even when he reverts to human form.

Mondronen: Carnal Ritualists

The Mondronen howlpack is
composed of around sixty
werewolves who are said to
control a dark, bloody magic of
nature. Their alpha Tovolar is a
mute, silver-furred werewolf who
leads his pack on revels of
carnage and howling songs, and
who never seems to revert to
human form. The Mondronen
wolves historically stayed far from
centers of civilization, only
preying on farmlands, rural
communities, and remote
monasteries. But as Avacyn's
protective wards have diminished
in strength, it's said that the Mondronen territory has grown closer to cities, and that their dark
magics may soon spill over into genteel life.

Leeraug: Killers of the Absent Moon

Few know of the Leeraug, a relatively small and tight-knit pack of Innistrad's most vicious werewolf
predators, but almost all have heard tales of their destruction. The Leeraug are unique in that they
hunt under the black night of the new moon, rather than transforming when the moon is full. They
favor the flesh and entrails of children, and often steal into homes and orphanages through chimneys
or windows left ajar. The Leeraug alpha is Skaharra, a black-furred she-wolf noted for her tendency
to kill along bloodlines, murdering entire families in a single night while sparing unrelated farmhands
and servants.

Chapter 11: Provinces

Innistrad's Four Provinces

The known landmass of Innistrad is divided into four regions called provinces.

Gavony
The province of Gavony is where humanity remains safest and strongest. It is home to Thraben,
largest city in the known world, which houses the mighty Cathedral of Avacyn, seat of religion in the
world and the place where a great archangel once presided. Smaller towns radiate outward from
Thraben across Gavony's rocky moors. Small copses of trees dot the landscape of rolling hills and
heaths. Because more human dead are buried here than anywhere else, Gavony is more plagued by
the undead than other provinces, and geists are more common as well.

Kessig
Innistrad's vast, wooded
hinterland is called Kessig, a
province in a state of
perpetual autumn. The deep
woods are king here,
although small human
communities have carved out
farming villages, and groups
of hunters and trappers
venture into the forest to
make a living. Even new
arrivals to Kessig know not to

venture out at night. Even if the wilderness weren't haunted, it wouldn't be safewerewolves prowl
the province, sometimes alone and sometimes in packs.

Stensia
Vampires control the province of Stensia, which covers the darkest and most mountainous parts of
the plane. The evergreen forests here seem to always be half-dead and the roads always misty and
deserted. Jagged hills hide isolated, wary human villages and vampire manors from each other. At
the province's edges, the forlorn pines give way to high cliffs above which no human dares venture.
In Stensia, the sun seems never to break through the strangely colored clouds.

Nephalia
This coastal province is home to a number of small-to-medium port towns, most situated at the
mouth of a river that leads further inland. Nephalia's sloughs, sea mists, and mysteries cloak its
commerce and crimes; it is populated mainly by humans, geists, and vampires, all of whom seek
business, secrets, or solitude. The province's silver sand beaches, punctuated with rocky
promontories and sea caves, afford easiest access to its fog-shrouded ocean.

Chapter 12: Stensia

Overview
The province of Stensia is the darkest both literally and
figuratively on Innistrad, but also the most dramatic, the
most storied, and the most unexplored. Its valleys range
from pastoral (albeit dusky) range-lands to black bogs into
which dead conifers slowly sink. Its black-pine-forested
midlands, riddled with wisps of thick fog, show colors from
deep green to purple to orange-grey. Its far-flung indigo
and black mountains disappear into the clouds, and
humans can only imagine what dwells among the
shrouded peaks.
The mountain range that dominates Stensia, the Geier Reach, defines it utterly. This chain grows
steadily higher in elevation
as it moves from the
borders with Gavony and
Kessig toward the
province's outer edge.
Inland, the mountain peaks
are forested, whereas in
the chain's middle the tree
line gives way to bare rock,
and at its verge, the peaks
disappear into the clouds.
The highlands are dotted
with caves and crevasses
where vultures, bats, and
other, larger creatures
reign.The sun never quite
seems to break through the
oddly colored clouds in
Stensia. The ruling power of
Stensia, the vampire
bloodlines, prefer it that
way. Innistrad's moon is
more seldom fully seen
here, and the Z-shaped
mountain range that
dominates the province,
the Geier Reach, separates
the valleys from each other,
making them easier to

monitor and control. The long-suffering humans of Stensia, for their part, hold an illogical loyalty to
their homeland. Truth be told, most have little choice; they are trapped between the province's
narrow mountain passes and bound to their time-honored lives of herding and gathering.

Human Life and Culture

Sheep and shepherding
Because not many crops will grow
in Stensia's rocky soul and dim light,
humans are reliant on sheep for
wool, leather, milk, and meat.
Shepherding traditions are ancient
here, and Stensian wool is
considered the finest in the world.
Vampire dominance has prevented
werewolves from gaining a foothold
in the province, so the flocks are
safer from predators than they
would be elsewhere. In Stensia,
humans depend on sheep and
vampires depend on humansan
irony not lost on the vampires.

Stoicism
Stensia's humans are not an expressive or demonstrative bunch. Countless generations of hardship
and proximity to the vampire strongholdslost children, lost neighborshave taught Stensians to
guard their hearts. They are proud and fervent in their beliefs but seem brusque or even cold to
humans from other provinces.

Village moats, cottage trees, and welcome mirrors

Humans have adapted as best they can to life surrounded by vampires. Almost every Stensian village
is surrounded by a shallow moat from which the sheep drink, because although clouds often obscure
the moon here, while the moon is out, the moat will keep vampires from trespassing. In small
villages, the cottages are usually arranged around a small grove of hawthorn trees for centralized
access to living wood. In larger villages, the cottages themselves are often built around a hawthorn,
with the tree's trunk in the
center of the common room
and its leaves above the roof.
Caring for the cottage tree is
the oldest child's
responsibility. Lastly, almost
every Stensian cottage
features a mirror on the
outside of the front door to
dissuade vampires from
approaching.

Faith in Stensia
In Stensia, the vampire families are experiencing a dark renaissance, a show of power similar to the
earliest era of their existence on Innistrad. Vampires have always enjoyed a kind of macabre celebrity
status on this plane; when a curtained, well-appointed carriage snaked its way down from the batplagued mountain ranges of Stensia and past a human village, it left in its wake the ghoulish
fascination and excited whispers
of the human villagers. But
now, more and more, the major
vampire families have taken up
residence right among the
humans, carousing, hunting,
and holding week-long revelries
where the glasses of blood
never go dry. Vampires make
examples of the cathars who
stalk them: the blood nobles
impale the humans with their
own living-wood weapons and
toss their drained bodies into
the streets. Although messages
of hope and reassurance do reach the parish priests of Stensia, the authority of the Avacynian Church
is failing here, and fast. The population ratio in Stensia has already shifted radically, tipping in favor
of vampires, and Sorin's fear of a world absent of humans looks ever more possible.

Vampire Life and Culture

Innistrad's vampires comprise its only nonhuman civilization and the biggest threat to humans on the
plane. Their existence represents a sort of externalization of self-indulgent desire; if werewolves are
a symbol of repressed rage, vampires are a symbol of repressed desire. On Innistrad, vampire manor
houses, courts, and even the occasional castle exist across the plane, and vampires themselves vary
considerably in aggressiveness toward their human prey.

Noble benefactors
Vampires' attitude toward
their own role and the role of
humans is predictably selfcentered and skewed.
Vampires believe themselves
to be the saviors and keepers
of humanity. The "sacrifices"
they madesurrendering their
mortality and their
relationships with human kin
are to them proof of their

beneficence, and their demeanor toward humans is similar to that of a rich philanthropist toward a
pauper (except they occasionally drain the pauper of blood).
The social lives of vampires are every bit as treacherous and debauched as those of royal courts.
Vampires visit each other to conduct parties, feasts, romances, entertainments, and so on. Grudges
and betrayals are as much a source of amusement to them as they are a serious matter, and keeping
track of vampiric trysts and enmities would be a full-time job.

Demand for finery

Vampires want only the finest clothing, the finest weapons and armor, the finest furnishings and
transport. Sometimes these desires can be met by a vampire artisan, but once in a while a human
achieves a level of artistry that surpasses anything among vampires. In these cases, the vampire finds
a way to acquire the thing in question, whether by arranging a deal through intermediaries or paying
a visit to artisan(s) directly. Usually the humans in question can tell easily enough that their clients
are vampires, because vampiric tastes differ so sharply from humans'. But whether because of profit,
blackmail, or simply fear for their lives, most artisans comply.

Mountain passes
The passes through Geier Reach are few and precious; all travel into or out of the province must use
them.

Ziel Pass
Only one pass crosses the
final zig-zag of the Geier.
Ziel Pass is the only way
to reach the sea from
Stensia's inland valleys.
The cliffs at the end of
Ziel Pass descend for
1,600 feet, and the only
way to get to the
churning waters is to
jump... or to trek by foot
or mule down a
treacherous path of
endless switchbacks
plagued by the geists of
those who have died
trying to do the same.

Hofsaddel and Needle's Eye

These two passes connect the inland valleys to the outland ones. Hofsaddel is a wide and welltrodden pass, and one that the vampires leave alone. The reason: human interaction is good for the
long term, as long as it's among Stensians. Needle's Eye, however, is a narrow, treacherous, and

deadly path because of the presence of vengeful geists on the route as well as its proximity to
Ashmouth and its devils. Humans will take the Needle's Eye path only in the event of emergencies in
the neighboring valleys.

Getander Pass and Kruin Pass

Two passes lead from the adjacent provinces into Stensia. The pass from Kessig is Getander, a long,
zig-zagging route watched by the rapacious Falkenrath vampires. Gavony must use the Kruin Pass,
which is just as long, but in vertical elevation rather than horizontal turns, and is lackadaisically
watched by the well-fed Markov vampires.

Stensia's valleys
The shape of the Geier Reach creates two long valleys in the provinces, and foothills separate those
valleys into numerous, isolated segments.
The outer valley is divided into eight pieces by terrain, three of which are noteworthy: the human
village of Shadowgrange, the abandoned Maurer Estate, and the human rancher community of
Lammas. Shadowgrange and Lammas are strange places populated by humans that are fiercely
passionate about their lifestyles but also paranoid and fearful. Few other humans of Innistrad ever
see these distant places.
The inland stretch houses two significant human communities with a prominent vampire holding:
Silbern, a tiny stone watchtower manned by fatalistic cathars and surrounded by several family
farms, Wollebank, a large village of shepherds and their families, and Markov Manor, a hilltop estate
that towers over both. Markov Manor is the home of Edgar Markov, grandfather of Sorin Markov.

The Farbogs
Twin bogs, one in the inland valley and one in the outland, blanket the center of Stensia like two
puddles of ink. Both were once groves of pines, but those trees now sink into the peat muck at odd
angles, creating a tangle of dead trunks. The peripheries of both bogs are home to ancient grafs, and
as the graves dissolve into the slime, geists proliferate. A few ghouls wander here as well, most of
them products of the young, self-taught ghoulcaller Rinelda Smit, an irresponsible teenager trying to
make her mark on Stensia by creating her own force of beings to defend against vampire attacks.

Ashmouth
In the middle of the Geier, in between the Hofsaddel and Needle's Eye passes and cloaked by forest,
lies Ashmouth, a huge chasm deep enough to glow with magma from below. Ash-ridden smog rises
from it, mixing with the dark clouds above. Ashmouth is an infernal gateway, and perhaps the most
important one. The demon Shilgengar emerged from this pit, which also spews out bands of devils
according to some eldritch pattern only the demons understand.

Somberwald
Despite its darkness, Stensia still holds places of beauty. Between its contested valleys and savage
peaks, the Geier is forested with a winding, melancholy, drooping pine wilderness. These woods are
home to some of
Innistrad's most noble
and pristine creatures:
bears, stags, and other
things that have fled here
over the centuries for
safety and seclusion.
Many of these creatures
were once found in
Kessig, but the spread of
hunters, trappers, and
werewolves there have
driven them here, where
they're safe in the
shadow of the vampires.

Vampire Locations and Manors

Some of the major vampire bloodlines have their most important strongholds in Stensia. All are on
high ground, away from the prying eyes of the humans below.

Castle Falkenrath
In the middle strip of the Geier Reach, between the Hofsaddel and Getander Passes, lies Castle
Falkenrath, a towering, menacing Gothic masterpiece that houses scores of vampires of the

Falkenrath line. Although the bloodline's progenitor is long dead, the castle is meticulously
maintained. Smaller manor homes exist around the castle and along the border with Kessig, but
Castle Falkenrath is the home base from which Stensia's most dominant vampires conduct their
ambitious predations.

The Voldaren Estate

Four miles from the end of Ziel Pass, cloaked in mist and surrounded by jagged peaks, is the huge
estate of Olivia Voldaren, famous eccentric, bon vivant, and progenitor of the Voldaren bloodline.
Olivia travels often, visiting the far-flung Voldaren manors and fortresses that are scattered across
the four provinces of Innistrad. The elite among vampires know that Olivia throws the best parties,
and the nobility will happily make the trek out to the estate for her seasonal ball.

Markov Manor
In the corner of Stensia closest
to Gavony, Edgar Markov's
manor home overlooks Kruin
Pass, and the High City of
Thraben is visible in the far
distance from its balconies.
Although the Markov bloodline
is the most prestigious and
perhaps the most widespread,
Edgar lives in comparative
simplicity relative to the other
vampire elders.

Chapter 13: Nephalia

Overview
Innistrad denizens interested in commerce are attracted to Nephalia, which
makes for an interesting mix of occupations and races in the province.
Nephalia has numerous towns in which order is maintained by Avacynian
clergy and their representatives. It has a "stock" of humans to be fed upon,
thus the Stromkirk line is well represented here. It has busy trade routes
with caravans of merchants and townsfolk milling between the cities for
the Krallenhorde to prey on. And it has the ever-present Nebelgast, the socalled "Breath of the Sleepless," that rolls in and out with the tide, bringing
with it a host of geists.
In Nephalia, skaberen (creators of skaabs, the alchemically vivified
constructions of flesh) and ghoulcallers (practitioners of necromancy) alike can find out-of-the-way
places in which to practice and further their art with little or no interference from suspicious
townsfolk or Avacynian authority. Both must remain highly secretive, as their trade is still feared
within the general
human populace, but
the Stromkirk vampires
and Nephalia's
merchants see money
to be made, so their
arcane trinkets and
dark services are
tolerated as long as
they remain only
rumors at the local
taverns.
The merchants, known
as the metzalar, are
the glue that binds
Nephalia together.
They keep every
separate party joined
together by the
exchange of goods and
services and, of course,
coin.

Nearly Treeless
Nephalia has always been lightly forested, but in the last century its few trees have been cut down or
destroyed due to
the vampires' fear of them
being turned on them as
stakes and other weapons.
Runo, progenitor of the
Stromkirk line, was crafty in
his removal of the
woodlands. Early on, using
his glamers and sizeable
fortune, he turned the
human populace into
artisans, supporting their
efforts in building fine cities,
proud ships, and a vigorous,
provincial commerceall
based around wood.
Prosperous and plentiful humans are good business for the Stromkirk, so Runo became a kind of
secret Nephalian patron, supporting master craftsmen and commissioning buildings, towers, and
ships, while funding any vampire-friendly efforts by alchemists and magisters. Out of
this, Nephalia has become widely known for its masterful crafting and artistry with wood. Nephalian
buildings, ships, chapels, and houses all bear a distinct and inspired art that sets it apart from the
other provinces.

Faith in Nephalia
In Nephalia, the Church's role has been to keep humans safe from the actions of necromantic
ghoulcallers and corpse-stitching skaberen. Now that holy magic is losing its strength, undead attacks
on already-terrorized merchant outposts and port towns have gotten even worse. The underground
corpse trade is in full swing, delivering precious bodies to those who wish to harvest them for their
dark magics. Geists blow in
with the sea's mist,
restless spirits fresh from
shipwrecks or roused
from the Blessed Sleep as
the Avacynian blessings
over cemeteries fail.
Nephalians regularly see
the facesor other body
partsof their loved
ones at the ends of their
silver weapons.
Sometimes those faces
are mercifully

decomposed and unrecognizable, but it's not uncommon for them to be attacked by deathless
versions of the same beloved priests who were supposed to be guarding the town gates.

Port Towns of Nephalia

This province is defined by waterby its access to the ocean (the easiest of any province), by its
many rivers that lead deep inland, and by its deltas, marshes, and lakes. Water enables commerce
here but also gives Nephalia a silvery, mystical character; the clouds and the moon seem to be both
above and below in most places.

Silver Beach
Nephalia's coastline consists of the Silver Beach, which stretches countless miles, interrupted by
rocks, sea caves, and occasional large promontories. The sands of the beach are rich in granular
silver, giving them an unearthly shimmer that dazzles visitors from other provinces. This is no
vacation spot, however. Threats are far too numerous, and the ocean too dangerous, to invite
beachcombers. Only experienced Nephalian sailors know the spells and the land well enough to
venture out into the sea and return with fish, trade goods, or treasure.
Nephalia has three main port towns along the coast: Havengul, Drunau, and Selhoff.

Havengul
The largest of the three cities, Havengul, stands at the mouth of the Silburlind River. The population
consists of human craftworkers, shipbuilders, smiths, and traders. The Avacynian church has a strong
presence here to take part in the burgeoning trade and marketplace, but many Nephalians are wary
of the priesthood and watch them like hawks. As long as the church brings trade to and from
Thraben, they are given a pass from the key players in Nephalia.

Elgaud Grounds
A contingent of the Avacyn Church long ago established a small fort here known as the Elgaud
Grounds where new cathars are trained to spread the word of Avacyn and protect the people. Once
trained, these graduates are sent out
in small groups (of two or three) to
neighboring towns to establish an
outpost. These are known as Arms of
Avacyn, and they attempt to
strengthen trust in the Church under
the offer of protection and security.
Many townsfolk are wary or outright
untrusting of these "Arms" and
would rather protect themselves
with their own blood, sweat,
traditional folklore, and
superstitions.

Corpse Trade
Even with the presence of the Cathars, there is money to be made in corpses. Havengul, having the
largest human population, is rife with bodysnatchers who disinter corpses and then shuttle them off
using the network of underground passageways, known as the Erdwal, for high-paying ghoulcallers or
skaberen.
The most influential of
Nephalia's merchants
is Ludevic of Ulm, a
wheezing and
reclusive alchemist.
Some say that
Ludevic's consumption
of potions and
inhalation of toxic
vapors has left him no
choice but to abandon
his experiments,
leaving him to devote
his sizeable intellect to
the problem of
making himself and
his partners filthy rich. Others gossip that Ludevic still dabbles in the alchemical arts.

Drunau
Drunau is where the Stromkirk vampires under their progenitor, Runo, have established their
ancestral manor and their center of commerce outside of Stensia. If it is blood you want, Drunau is
the place to get it.
Humans who
possess
especially
delicious blood
are treated like
the most
precious
livestock,
knowing a life of
pampered
bondage but
being protected
from all the other
dangers of
Innistrad. All this
takes place

within the elegant ballrooms and mahogany studies of Stromkirk manors.

In Nephalia, when vampires must walk among humans, they use glamers to disguise themselves so as
not to drive away their human neighbors. Occasionally, a newly sired vampire leaves the family fold
of civilized decorum and goes on a blood-soaked frenzy of feeding. Often the Stromkirk deal with this
as swiftly and as quietly as possible, especially if the vampire is a rogue from outside of the bloodline.

The Fauchard
These warriors are not cathars, but
are a distinct order of human
vampire hunters. Some have come
to Drunau especially to destroy the
undead and possibly Runo himself.
They are a secretive group that
recognizes one another through an
elaborate, symbolic code, either
worn, written, or gestured. Runo
knows of them and tolerates them
to some degree, as the Fauchard
destroy the vampires whom the
Stromkirk consider to be most crass
and distasteful. That said, the
Stromkirk vampires will relentlessly pursue and destroy any Fauchard who becomes known to them.
The metzalar here deal in the usual fare of ships, handcrafted goods, wares from other provinces
(such as holy items from Thraben), and weapons.

Selhoff
The foggy, quiet port of
Selhoff is where the
Nebelgast, the spirit-mist,
is most active. The mist
almost perpetually covers
the town and the nearby
Morkrut Swamp. Because
of the spirit activity here, it
has repelled some humans,
but it has attracted
othersnamely the
skaberen and alchemists
who experiment with geist
energy. The elite of Selhoff
dwell within towers and
spires that set this town

apart from others of Nephalia, which is why the phrase "the spires of Selhoff" is often used when
Nephalians talk of their southernmost town.

The Tide and the Nebelgast

Here in Selhoff and all along the Nephalian coastline, spirits come and go with the tide, but that isn't
to say that when the tide is out, spirits are absentthere are just far fewer. Because the tide is
connected to the moon, the pull of the moon brings the spirits into the world of the living to haunt.
The Nebelgast consists mainly of the marei (drowned sailors and shipwreck victims) and the niblis
(frost phantoms), but there are a host of other ghosts and spirits that are pulled by the moon.
The River Ospid and the Morkrut. Selhoff lies on a small river delta where the river Ospid empties out
into the Bay of Vustrow. This
creates a sizeable marsh known
as the Morkrut. Few set foot
within the Morkrut other than
ghoulcallers, and even they can
become lost in its mists. The
Morkrut has been a dumping
place for murder victims and
unclaimed bodies for which no
one will pay for proper burial.
Because of this, the Morkrut is
filled with banshees and other
malevolent geists.

The Erdwal
Colloquially known as "The Ditch," the network of underground passageways and crevasses called
the Erdwal originated as trenches created by Nephalians in each of the major cities of Havengul,
Drunau, and Selhoff for resisting zombie and werewolf attacks. Over the years, the trenches between
the three cities were connected into a network of defensible walkways for transporting goods and
continuing trade even while wandering zombie hordes, demonic fiends, hungry geists, or the
Krallenhorde wander about looking for victims. Major merchants of Nephalia have paid special
attention to the uses of the Erdwal and have put serious resources into making it a legitimate artery
of trade, thus it has developed a bustling underground economy of its own dealing in all manner of
grey- and black-market goods: human blood, assassinations, counterfeit silver, necromancy, curses,
and bloodsport.

Near the larger towns, the Erdwal becomes a trench marketplace of colorful rogues, seedy
merchants, filthy sailors and gaunt strangers, all doing business in dark alleyways and roughly hewn
tunnels branching off the main trench. Along the clandestine nooks, the skaberen and ghoulcallers
ply their trade and human blood is bought and sold by the flagon. Flesh golems are created and
experiments in transmuting base metals into pure silver are carried out. Skaberen stitch together
hideous monstrosities, some of which get loose and cause havoc throughout the Ditch. As long as
these dark dealings do not make it above ground level, the Church of Avacyn and its cathars do not
intervene. Nephalia is a province of "understandings," and this is one of those uneasy truces that, if
maintained, benefits all parties concerned.

Jenrik's Tower
Along a particularly bare stretch of the Silver Beach looms a tall tower. The mortar has been mixed
with sand from the Silver Beach, making it glitter in the moonlight. Within the tower, Jenrik, the
astronomer, mysteriously conducts his work studying the stars, eschewing all contact with the
outside world. He is making observations of the moon, charting its path across the heavens with
excruciating detail. Wards keep away werewolves, and the Stromkirk actually fear his knowledge, for
anyone with such a vast understanding of the moon is holding great power indeed. Some say he is
predicting the future of Innistrad, or that he is a spirit trying to get home. Others say he is an angel
attempting to restore Avacyn, or that he is a demon plotting to destroy the world.

Chapter 14: Gavony

Overview
The province of Gavony is where humanity remains safest and
strongest. It is home to Thraben, the plane's largest city.
Thraben houses the Cathedral of Avacyn, where the archangel
herself resided before vanishing. Smaller towns radiate
outward from Thraben across Gavony's rocky moors. Small
copses of trees dot the landscape of rolling hills and heaths.
Because more human dead are buried here than anywhere
else, Gavony is more plagued by the undead than other
provinces, and geists are more common as well.

Human life and Culture

The sense of community is very strong among humans in
Gavony and in other
provinces as well. Little
altars and crossway chapels
aren't as common in
Gavony as in the other
provinces because of the
strength of the parish
churches. The parish church
is the focal point of any
community in Gavony.
Most people worship
several times a week, and
many pass by the church on
a daily basis for a blessing
of safety.
The roads in Gavony are
best in the four northern
parishes, although there are
adequate roads in the
Moorlands as well. It is easy
to hire a soldier to guide
you along the roads
between Thraben and the
Nearheath, and if you can
make your trip during the
daytime, such guides are
usually not needed.

Chapel: An enclosed space of varying size devoted to worship. There are many chapels built along
the crossways of Innistrad. Most have resident clergy who attend them. These sometimes serve has
hostels for travelers.
Parish: The equivalent of a county. Each parish has its own chapel.
Crossway: The name for roads in Innistrad. Most are just dirt tracks for horses and carts.
Crossway Altar: An open-air altar along a crossway somewhere in the wilds.
The everyday life of a human varies dramatically according to one's class. The wealthy families and
clergy live in comfort and safety. Thraben clergy, in particular, have every need met by the church.
The middle classesartisans and merchantsare also quite comfortable. But the working class and
farmers have a much shorter lifespan; they are more at risk from the dark things of the world, and
they suffer from more sickness and famine as well. A farmer lives an average of forty years, while a
bishop lives closer to seventy
Safety is the main commodity in Innistrad. The wealthier you are, the safer you can make yourself.
The high walls of Thraben protect the well-to-do who live inside. Titled families in Gavony have
fortified manor houses, while the farmers must make do with the wooden walls of their farmhouses.
Because of the lack of physical safety, the poor spend a larger portion of their income of
enchantments and non-physical means of protection. Tithing is required for everyone, and the
church charges a small fee for every blessing and spell. Even at unstaffed little altars, payment is
expected, and many of the faithful diligently pay even when there is no one to enforce it. Not
unexpectedly, there is resentment among some for the amount of money required of the poor to
uphold their faith. This resentment increases dramatically as the effectiveness of the Avacynian
blessings diminish.
Martial prowess is highly valued among humans. Cathars, particularly inquisitors, are highly revered.
Poorer families have a
harder time getting
their children accepted
to train at the Elgaud
Grounds. When
children show aptitude
for spellcasting,
however, they are
accepted at the Fal
Seminary no matter
what their parents'
status.

Faith in Gavony
The province of Gavony, home of
Thraben and site of the Helvault,
might be where the strangest
changes have arisen. Faith was so
central to so many lives in
Gavony that the loss of Avacyn
has rocked this land most of all.
Since so many humans are buried
here, the undeadboth
corporeal and incorporealhave
always been a problem in
Gavony, but many incidents went
overlooked. Now, with the sense
of safety drained, each rising of
hungry ghouls or midnight haunting by child-voiced geists grips whole villages with terror. Small
churches go abandoned even during holy days. Communities founded around the cherished
traditions of Avacyn are splintering. Perhaps most disturbing, the ranks of the demon-worshipping
Skirsdag Cult have been growing in these dark times. Bishop Volpaig, a crude-minded minor bishop of
the Church, has secretly been working for the Skirsdag and has overheard that his master Griselbrand
has fallen into the Helvault.

Volpaig has been more open with his involvement with the Skirsdag of late, and his pro-demon
message is gathering listeners as the citizens of Gavony long for any institution they can count on.
Some humans have actually stepped forward to voluntarily sacrifice themselves at the hands of the
Skirsdag, just to feel that they were making a difference, just to feel that they could affect the surge
of darkness that threatens to envelop Innistrad.

Thraben
The city of Thraben sits on a massive mesa in the middle of the Lake of Herons, a long body of water
that flows around the rock and over an enormous waterfall. The eastern tip of the rock juts out over
the waterfall itself, and it is on this dramatic pinnacle that the Cathedral of Avacyn stands.

Thraben is the largest city in the known lands of Innistrad. It's the seat of the Avacynian Church, built
as a city of walls and various bulwarks designed to keep supernatural threats at bay. While smaller
settlements are constantly under siege by monsters, the inner parts of Thraben and the Cathedral
are the safest areas in Innistrad, which sometimes gives the bishops of the church a skewed
perspective on how dangerous the world outside really is.
The Walls of Thraben are a complex system of bulwarks and defense lines. There are remnants of
older walls, which have crumbled and lost their effectiveness. But even the old walls demarcate the
ity into sections, some which have a penal or ceremonial function.

Outer Wall. The main defense of Thraben. A thick, high wall that rings the perimeter of the city. The
church has approved the expansion of the wall several times to keep the city from getting too
crowded.
Merchant's Wall. A complex of fellowship halls that forms a substantial market square. This is the
center of commerce in Thraben.
Child's Wall. The inner wall that surrounds the grounds of the Old Cathedral. Nearly as strong and tall
as the outer wall, the Child's Wall has not been altered in ages. It is inscribed with the names of every
child born in Innistrad. Many parents make a pilgrimage to the wall in the year after their child's
birth, believing that having their child's name written on the wall will add protection to its life.
Fang Wall. When werewolves are caught, they are executed in front of this wall. Then their fangs are
removed and shoved between the crevices of the stones.
Bloodless Wall. When vampires are caught, they are chained to this wall and left to starve to death.

Cathedral of Avacyn
A massive cathedral
with three wings and
a network of
cloisters, courtyards,
outlying schools, and
forges. There are
well-kept gardens
and substantial
training grounds for
cathars (holy
warriors). Outside of
Thraben, churches
are quite rustic,
constructed from
rough planks and
often containing only
a single room. The
Cathedral is opulent by comparison.
The grounds between the wings form a triangular courtyard that is locked from public view by high
walls. Most people don't know the courtyard exists. Only the most powerful bishops are permitted to
set foot in it. The Cathedral's structure symbolically divides the wealthy and poor of the world. Each
class has its own designated place to worship

Common Cloisters
The covered corridors along the edges Midvast Hall where commoners stand during worship. There
are only certain holy days when the commoners are permitted to enter the Old Cathedral. At first
glance, the courtyard resembles an ornate garden with stands of fruit trees and gold-and-white

flowers that are cultivated with painstaking care. At the heart of the garden, the trees fall away,
leaving a view of a curious object: the Helvault.

The Helvault
The Helvault is the huge silver mass that stands at the precipice inside the courtyard of the Cathedral
of Avacyn. Its surface is rough and unrefined, and thin veins of dark mortar branch across its surface.

Blessed Grafs
Thraben has city blocks
devoted to burial sites known
as Blessed Grafs. These are a
grid of tombs and
mausoleums under heavy
guard from Elgaud soldiers
and tended by horticulturists
to keep trees and flowers
blooming around the tombs.
In Thraben, these are the
equivalent of parks, and
people visit them
recreationally. It is
considered relaxing to spend
time in a place where kin are
enjoying their Blessed Sleep.

Gavony's Geography
Thraben lies in on the northern edge of the province of Gavony. It's the largest walled city in
Innistrad, although parts of Nephalia's seaports are more densely populated. Thraben's population is
mainly clergy, merchants, and artisans. With the church's influence, the city maintains a high
standard of cleanliness and order. There is a standing militia and the church pays a host of workers to
keep the streets swept, the public gardens and grafs tended, and the riff-raff off the street. Begging is
strictly prohibited, and there is a street curfew enforced by the militia. Several alms houses exist just
outside the main walls of Thraben, and the church regularly sponsors "caravans" to take the needy to
the sea ports, where they will ostensibly be able to find employment or trade work more easily.

The River Kirch

This wide, fast-flowing river originates in the mountains of Stensia. It empties into the Lake of
Herons, with murky water, high ridges bordering the bank, and depths of hundreds of feet. Great sea
serpents and other creatures are said to hide in the depths of the Lake of Herons, which stretches
almost 20 miles before flowing over the 2,000-foot waterfall known as Kirch Falls.
The mist from the waterfall is collected in long banners of heavy, white cloth. The water wrung out is
considered holy, but once it is gone, the shrouds still have magical properties. Skaberen will kill for
these shrouds, as they give extra stamina to their undead skaab creations.

The Voice of the Moon

On Innistrad, as elsewhere, the moon controls the tides (as well as the path of rivers and other
bodies of water). The River Kirch flows into the Lake of Herons, over Kirch Falls, and into the sea. The
continuous roar of the water over the falls has a different rhythm depending on the season and
volume of water coming down from the high lands. The Cathedral grounds are lush and fertile from
the continual spray of mist.
A sect of clergy sing prayers according to this changing rhythm, believing it puts them in better
connection with the moon. Others in the church believe that you should commune with Avacyn
herself, not the symbolic power of the moon.

Gavony Parishes
Parishes are an administrative designation used by the church. Gavony has five parishes, including
Thraben. There are three in the area called Nearheath: Videns, Wittal, and Effalen. The region known
as the Moorland is a single parish of the same name, although it is larger in size than the other four
combined. Each parish may have multiple priests, chapels, and small altars.
Two of the main
villages in the
Nearheath are
Estwald and
Hanweir. Estwald
is the center of
woodworking in
Gavony and part
of the Wittal
Parish. Hanweir is
the agricultural
jewel of Gavony.
Hanweir is the site
of the largest
open-air market,
the place where
livestock are
traded and trappers from Kessig bring their wares. Hanweir is in Videns Parish, and the River Kirch
runs through the village, making it a bustling port where goods are brought in from the other
provinces before being transported up to Thraben by horse and cart.

Nearheath
Within a few miles south of Thraben's walls, there are several medium-sized towns. This area is
called the Nearheath and is inhabited mainly by artisans and farmers. Being so close to Thraben
affords a good deal of protection to these towns. Most have fortifications or walls in case of a ghoul
attack or some other threat, but there are many outlying farms as well. Nearheath is composed of
several parishes:

Videns
The region of vineyards and rolling hills with small castles with walled estates. The River Kirch runs
through this region.

Wittal
This is the most thickly forested area of Gavony. Although small in size, the forest is dense and dark,
with ancient pines trees that dwarf the deciduous forests in the neighboring parishes. The forest has
become particularly dangerous now that the infamous werewolf Skaharra and her Leeraug cohorts
have moved to the area.

Effalen
This is the rockiest area of Gavony. A vicious coterie of vampires have taken to preying on the
periphery of the parish for sport.

The Moorland
Beyond the Nearheath is the Moorland. This has always been a more desolate region, filled with
stories of spectral wolves and wandering spirits. There are few trees in the Moorland and the ground
is covered with coarse grass, bracken, and violet heather. There are boulders and standing rocks, and
the countryside seems to be covered in perpetual mist. The area is rife with geists, many of them
dangerous, and travelers are constantly at risk from them as well as other things that wander the
countryside.

Trostad
This was formerly a village of trappers on the border with Kessig, which has been entirely overrun by
undead creatures. Many cathars are sent to the place to save the remaining villagers. A constant
battle rages in this area between hordes of zombies and the armies of the church.

Chapter 15: Kessig

Overview
The province of Kessig consists of rolling farmlands surrounded by
grasping fingers of dense, dark woods. The woods hide
werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural menaces, while the
farmlands support a hardscrabble rural livelihood for Kessig's
humans.

Ulvenwald, the Misty Wood

Howl-haunted woods of aspen, birch, and maple border the edges
of Kessig province. The woods are almost supernaturally dense,
filled with dark, sinuous trunks and a constant, hanging mist. The
trees have broad leaves in muted reds, golds, and greens, and the forest floor is papered in damp
leaves. The Ulvenwald tends to isolate Kessig from the other provinces, as travelers through the
woods are subject to attacks by werewolves, hauntings by all manner of primordial spirits, and
mysterious disappearances in the mist. At night, the autumnal colors of Ulvenwald turn stark and
steely under the silver glow of the moon. The only spots of color that appear are the luminous eyes
of animals and the geistfires of shimmering apparitions.

Human Life and Culture

Kessigers are hardheaded and unpretentious people, and the face-to-face realism of the Avacyn
religion fits right into their worldview. Kessigers believe in "the worked earth below us, the handhewn stone walls around us, and the angel above us." However, they don't trust the shiny boots of
big-city cathars, the pristine fingernails of Gavony ghost-hunters, or the out-of-touch decrees handed
down from the aristocrats of the High City of Thraben.

For the Kessiger, life is work. Kessigers are farmers, millers, weavers, stonemasons: they are close to
the land and must work hard for every meal. This makes them self reliant, pragmatic, and
plainspoken. A Kessiger doesn't purchase tools from the general store; he forges them himself. She
doesn't learn arithmetic or memorize the names of royal families; she learns harvest dates and the
shapes of edible weeds. He doesn't quote great works of literature; he calls it like he sees it, in his
own simple words.

The Curfew of Silver

Ever since Avacyn went missing last year, the church at Thraben has kept the truth of her
disappearance from Innistrad's
denizens. Kessigers, for their
part, know that Avacyn hasn't
been making appearances as
often these days, and there are
doubters and gossips who
believe something has happened
to her. In the meantime,
werewolf attacks have gotten
worse and spirit hauntings more
frequent. There is a rising sense
of panic throughout the
countryside.
Recently, a new decree came
down through the local priests
and cathars. As a measure meant to protect citizens against werewolves and other hunters of the
night, the law states that commoners of Kessig out after dark must wear an amulet of blessed silver.
The amulets were crafted and blessed in the High City of Thraben, and have a potent effect against
lycanthropes. But they are in limited supply, and some priests have quietly begun giving them out
preferentially, in exchange for favors or promises of protection. Since the Curfew of Silver, relations
between Kessig and Gavony have worsened. Some Kessigers have begun to refuse shipments of
goods from Gavony and deny service to travelers from that province.

Etiquette in a World of Supernaturals

Superstition and fear of supernatural creatures has woven its way into etiquette in Kessig. When you
meet someone for the first time, it's polite to show that you are wearing an item made from silver
(even though silver can easily be counterfeited, and only blessed silver has real protective power).
Wreaths of living wood are commonly given as gifts, and are often placed on the door of a home
where a child has just been born, a gesture meant to protect the child's life from vampires (even
though the wood and its effectiveness die after a few days). It's customary to eat sour root soup
before traveling, or to fast for up to a day before a long trip, habits that are thought to make one less
appealing to werewolves and other hungry beasts.

The Sleep Revel

It's traditional in Kessig to celebrate a person's life on the anniversary of his or her death, a joyous
ceremony called the Sleep Revelas long as the deceased has successfully stayed in the ground that
long (instead of reemerging as a ghoul, geist, or other supernatural fiend). The continued
undisturbed sleep of one's ancestors is seen as almost a greater blessing than the continuing
birthdays of one's living relatives.

Faith in Kessig
Kessig is a province where all the commoners' Avacyn-based rituals have come to an awkward end.
All pretense at agriculture has been dropped: sheep herds and shepherds alike have been decimated
by werewolves; geists emerge from the wilds to torment farmers carrying wagons full of crops along
lonely country roads; fields lie fallow as old ghosts roam the rows. The folk songs and rustic sayings
of field laborers, once imbued with notes of Avacynian power, are now just so much chilly breath.
Kessigers already felt great mistrust toward the shiny-booted and curfew-imposing priests of the
High City, but now the commoners of Kessig won't even open their doors to travelers in need.

Supernatural Creatures of Kessig

Werewolves in Kessig
Several howlpacks hunt in Kessig, as do many lone werewolves. The Mondronen howlpack is
dominant here during most seasons, but during the New Moon season, the Leeraug howlpack
terrorizes Kessiger villages. Smaller, nameless howlpacks also claim dominion of some fingers of the
Ulvenwald, waning and waxing with the moon.

The elder of Gatstaf once famously

declared, "In Kessig, the werewolves
outnumber the priests." Many lone
werewolves live in secret among the
Kessigers, too afraid of retribution to
reveal themselves but too attached to
their families and Kessig roots to leave.
Suspicion and speculation run rampant
among Kessig's commoners, fueled by
frightened exaggeration and
misremembered anecdotes. Kessigers
hold conflicting views about how to
detect, hunt, or cure werewolves, how
many exist, what keeps them at bay, and
what it all means for humanity.

Geists in Kessig
Ghostly apparitions are second only to werewolves in terms of danger to the Kessigers, and geists
may cause even greater psychological damage. The geists in Kessig are wild spirits of nature, prone to
taunt or terrorize civilized life. They can be cold-burning geistflames made of surreal fire,
mischievous poltergeists that shove at the physical world through the power of their outrage, or
blood mists that envelop and devour the living. They can be beautiful nature spirits tressed in vine
and thorn, beast-possessing geists that shimmer through the mouths and eyes of feral animals, or
vindictive crop-spoilers that vex farmers and druids alike.

Other Supernaturals in Kessig

Kessig is so ravaged by werewolves that many other supernaturals have been squeezed out, although
rare individuals occasionally appear. Kessig has experienced few devils or demons, but a smoking
fissure called Devils' Breach lies in the tall stone hills at the edge of the province, and threatens to
boil over with demonic activity soon. Alchemically created zombies (skaabs) have become a kind of
symbol of the evils of the big city; Kessigers often equate necromantic alchemy with black market
trade, prostitution, religious heresy, and murderous conspiracy.
The average Kessiger has a doubleedged opinion of vampires. In public
the vampire families are spoken of as
the height of urbane evil, but in
private, Kessigers' salacious whispers
betray fascination with vampires'
refinement and celebrity. Few actual
encounters with vampires have
occurred in Kessig to date, so word
spreads quickly whenever someone
comes along the Hairpin Road in an
elegant, shaded coach.

Locations in Kessig
The Breakneck Ride
There are a few main paths that lead into Kessig from the other provinces. Each crossway is fraught
with peril, leading travelers through the Ulvenwald and over treacherous slopes, so those who make
the journey do so at as brisk a pace as possible. Kessigers sometimes collectively refer to these paths
as the "Breakneck Ride."

Lambholt, the Threatened Pasture

Lambholt is a farming village at the center of miles of sheep, goat, and cattle pasture. The pastures
near the town were once mingled with woodsdense arms of forest that once joined the
Ulvenwaldbut the Kessigers here chopped down all but a few trees to clear room for their farms.
It's thought that wild essences resent the destruction of their forests, for werewolves continually
terrorize the livestock and humans of Lambholt.

The villagers of Lambholt celebrate a harvest festival at the rise of the red moon, working late into
the night by the light of bonfires, and cooking great feasts of fresh meat and vegetables. Lately, as
the power of Lambholt's protective shrines has waned and werewolf attacks have become more
frequent, the tenor of the harvest festival has changed. Now the highlight of the festival is a great
hunter's contest, in which warriors and priestly champions go on hunts through the surrounding
Ulvenwald, trying to slay the most powerful supernatural creature. Many never return.

Hollowhenge, the Lost Capital

A ruin of wood and brick now stands where Kessig's county seat stood. Only a year ago it was a
thriving small town of manor houses called Avabruck, and you can still find wooden signs among the
splintered wood and broken gates that say "Avabruck" in cheery paint. But a new name has caught
ona vulgar name, a commoners' name: Hollowhenge. One year ago, after the protective power of
Avacynian magic began to wane, the wards around Avabruck's central cathedral, the Temple of Saint
Raban, failed. It took only two nights for the werewolves to discover this breach in protection. The
howlpack known as Mondronen ripped through the town, slaughtering any in their path, charging
straight for the Temple. There they took up siege, tearing down the cathedral and feasting on those
who attempted to attack them. City magistrates gave the order to evacuate, but communications
became chaotic, and many residents opted to ensconce themselves in their homes.
Seven days into the Mondronen occupation, the werewolf savages enacted some unknown type of
blood ritual. A mystical, concussive force leveled the city from the center out, flattening most of the
structures in town and killing hundreds. Only the outermost ring of Avabruck's buildings remained,
forming a circular "henge" around the devastation within. Rescue attempts met with further
werewolf attacks.
As time went on, the city was abandoned, even by the howlpack. Now only wild, terrified ghosts and
the occasional werewolf scavenger scuffle among the ruins. It's said that all who were killed in the
cathedral-shattering blast still linger inside the walls of Hollowhenge, trying in vain to reconstruct
their homes or recover their lost loved ones. Some spirits are deeply angry and ferocious wights,
dangerous to all who seek within. Despite the danger, travelers often pass near to Hollowhenge, as
the former county seat lies at the crossroads of two major Kessig thoroughfares.

Devils' Breach
Far from the towns, off the wagon-beaten paths, through vaults of primeval forest, a fissure known
as Devils' Breach has opened in the earth. Smoke and heat waft from the chasm, obscuring its
depths, and eerie voices mutter and cackle. Trappers claim to have seen literal devils near there, but
so far, the influence of demonic forces has not been strongly felt in Kessig.

Chapter 16: The tale of Saint Traft

In the benighted, vampire-afflicted province of Stensia, there was a man called Traft, and the
creatures of the night feared him.
Traft was a young priest in the Church of Avacyn. Strong and valiant, he vanquished all manner of evil
creatures, specializing in fighting demons along the Ashmouth (a sulfurous pit that leads down into
the bowels of the world). Traft's prowess with the sword and his skill with evil-destroying magic was
renownedso renowned, in fact, that the angels themselves honored him. Avacyn's own ranks of
warrior-seraphs trusted Traft's skill in battle and fought soul-hungry demons alongside him.
Together, Traft and Avacyn's angels hunted evil along the Ashmouth, slaying demon after demon.
Traft's exploits became famous, and he became recognized as a saint before his fortieth year. But as
Saint Traft came to learn, demons on Innistrad do not stay away for long. Kill a demon, and it returns
to the world in another form in short orderusually with a grudge. When Saint Traft would slay a
demon, its essence bound within it would be released, and safety would be restored to the nearby
villages for a time. But that dark essence would coalesce again in some sunless corner of the world,
and another demon would be born. Alchemists and theologians of Innistrad wonder whether
demonic energy might be an eternal, unchanging quantity, able to change forms but never waxing or
waning.
So where is Saint Traft now? Since Avacyn went missing, and since much of her angelic host vanished
along with her, the world of Innistrad could use the talents of a vampire hunter and demon slayer,
sadly, Saint Traft died generations ago.

Traft, the celebrated slayer of fiends, had become a thorn in the side of demonkind. While the act of
being destroyed was not a permanent obstacle for the demons, Traft's repeated slayings had
frustrated their plans to corrupt human minions, gather eternal souls, and feed their lust for power.
So, as demons do, they laid a trap and plotted their revenge.
One night, Saint Traft returned home to the human village of Shadowgrange in Stensia. The first thing
he noticed was that an angel of Avacyn was perched on the roof of his tiny cottage, her sword drawn
as if ready to leap into the air and fight. Angels often accompanied him to battle infernal forces, but
none had ever visited his home. The wards above his door had been scratched out and neutralized,
and the door hung ajar. The lock had been ripped free of the latch.
The angel didn't speak, but her concern was clear. She was ready to hunt down whatever had
breached his cottage. Traft touched the Silver Collar symbol that hung around his neck and greeted
the angel with a nod. Then he went inside, and made a horrible discovery.

Spread across his small kitchen table was a map of Stensia. A jagged, demonic dagger had been
jammed into the table right through the map, stabbing into the infamous mountain pass known as
Needle's Eye. Letters of blood ringed around the dagger, spelling out a message:
COME WITHOUT ANGELS OR WE SEND THE REST OF HER
Resting near the words was the finger of a young girl.
Traft never removed his scabbard from his belt. He turned and left, closing the door behind him
carefully, readying his horse to leave for Needle's Eye immediately. But there was the matter of the
angel.
A saint rarely lies. But Saint Traft knew he must choose the lesser evillying to an angelin order to
prevent a greater onethe death of a child. The dark choice also meant he knew it must be demon's
work, tempting him to do wrong.
He looked up to the warrior angel on his roof. "It's nothing," he told her. "I'll handle it."
He got on his horse and rode away, not knowing whether his message was clear.
The angel had sensed the lie, but she also sensed the urgency in Traft's voice and trusted the saint's
skill in battle. She did as he wished, and did not follow.
Needle's Eye was a path humans only used in emergencies. It was beset by vengeful geists and bloodlusting vampires, and Traft was alone, without his angelic attendant. Saint Traft used Avacynian
magic to protect himself from a cloud of skeletal bats, and had to sacrifice his horse to escape a
vampire that had gone mad from blood rage. But he made his way to the highest point of the pass:
the crest of Needle's Eye.
He saw a gathering of cultists in robes, their hoods pulled up over their faces. They danced in a jerky,
crazed circle around a young girl. The girl was missing her left index finger, and her eyes had rolled
into the back of her head. With a flourish, the lead cultist enshrouded her in the same kind of robe
that the rest of the cultists wore, and cast a withering grin at Traft. Before Saint Traft could act, the
cultist-priest drew from his sleeve an intricately carved dagger made from bone.
"You call your angels, and she dies," said the cultist.
Then the cult-leader uttered a string of syllables and cast a spell. A black, ash-flecked fog gushed
from the earth, covering the mountain pass in malevolent darkness. The shuddering, reeling cultists
and their victim disappeared into the gloom, leaving Traft blind. From within the cloud came an
unearthly voice, a booming laugh that sounded like the echoing rumble of an infinite pit.
This is when Traft would have summoned the host of Avacyn. flights of angels, trusting his call, would
have appeared from the clouds and swept the mountain with holy light, purging the monsters.
But Saint Traft was not willing to endanger the child. He didn't even utter a warding spell, fearing
that to call upon Avacyn's protection would risk bringing the attention of an angelic flight. He merely
drew his sword and stepped forward, wracking his brain to remember where the entranced child
stood and where the dancing cultists had been spinning.

Within the dark fog, Traft's blade found cultist after cultist. Each one shrieked with an eerie cackle,
their bodies falling to the ground one by one. Finally he slew what he believed to be the lead cultist,
putting his sword through the man's heart and letting him drop to the ground, and the fog cleared
away.
To his great relief, the girl remained. The cultists had put a spell on her to make her dance, making
her indistinguishable from the cult members in the gloom, but he had not touched her. The bodies of
the dead cultists bled out onto the ground.
But to Traft's horror, his hand did not hold his sword, but the bone dagger of the cult-priestand
now it was covered in the blood of many sacrifices. He began to hear that echoing laughter again,
booming up from below him like infernal thunder.
Betrayed. Tricked into doing a demon's bidding yet again.
Traft dropped the dagger on the ground, and the ground began to crack at that spot, splitting like
shoddy fabric. The cultist's bone dagger disappeared into the crack, swallowed by earth.
Saint Traft rushed to unbind the child. He called on Avacyn's aid to dispel the possession spell they
had cast on her, and she groggily came to as if awaking from a dream.
"What's happening?" she said.
"Go," he told her. "Run, child. Run home."
As the girl ran down the path toward the village, Traft found his sword hidden in the lead cultist's
robe. He turned to face the shattering crack in the earth. As the horns and spreading wings of a great
demon rose from the rent in the ground, Saint Traft finally said his withheld prayer, calling on the aid
of the angels of Avacyn.
An angel arrived, the same one who had perched upon his cottage. But she was too late. The demon
Withengar had destroyed the living saint, the famed slayer of demonkind. With the help of more
angelic attendants, the angel pushed back the demon-lord Withengar, unleashing her fury upon him
and destroying him for a time. But Saint Traft was no more, and Withengar, no longer bound by
ancient magics, began to torment the world once more.
The angel was consumed with sorrow and regret, and Traft's spirit burned with restlessness at having
played into a demon's scheme. After Traft was buried, he never passed into the Blessed Sleep, and
instead became a geist to haunt the world.
The Geist of Saint Traft still appears around Innistrad, particularly around Stensia and near the
Ashmouth, the infernal gateway not far from Needle's Eye. One can visit a Shrine of Traft in Thraben,
and occasionally receive aid in the form of prophecy and omens.
Saint Traft's geist still strikes at demonkind and other creatures of the night, looking brave and
zealous just as he did in life. Although as a geist he does not possess the same holy skill he had in life,
it's said that wherever his apparition appears, a certain angel is never far behind, always watching
over him and always matching his every movement with her own.