Ravenloft: History and Timeline
Quote
"History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors,"
"And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,"
"Guides us by vanities."
—- T. S. Eliot, "Gerontion"
Introduction
The study of Ravenloft's past can prove a maddening exercise. When a new domain forms in the Mists, its denizens appear with complete memories of full lives, and their culture may record a history that stretches back centuries before the domain's actual creation. Whether these "false histories" are real and drawn from other worlds or entirely fabricated by the Dark Powers is a matter best left to the philosophers.
Through long tradition, most lands of the Realm of Dread have adopted the Barovian calendar (BC) to mark the passing of the years. This book does the same. Isolated domains, such as those found in clusters or Islands of Terror, may still track time through their own reckoning.