Vistani

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The Vistani are a fictional race of mystical Gypsies native to the Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting of Ravenloft. Little is known about the Vistani, as they are essentially plot devices for the Dungeon Master, but some of what is known is summarized below:

• Vistani are capable of controlling the Mists of Ravenloft, which allows them to transport themselves anywhere they desire without the risk of the Mistway drifting. They are the only beings who can enter the Mists and be guaranteed of exiting where they want, though the Dark Powers can always affect this.

• Vistani possess a powerful wanderlust, and cannot stay within a mile of a given point for more than a week before suffering a condition called "Static Burn," where the Vistani is afflicted with an illness resembling the flu or a fever. When this occurs, the Vistani has between 2 and 7 days to cross the necessary ground or permanently lose all of their mystical powers, becoming an outcast known as a mortu, which translates roughly as "Living Dead."

• Vistani possess powerful, innate magical abilities, most of which bear great resemblance of sorcery as well as three unique abilities: Curse Potency, the Evil Eye and the Sight. Curse Potency is self-explanatory: curses in Ravenloft have great power, and the curses of Vistani are more likely to come true. The Evil Eye is the ability to mystically blight another person's luck, whilst the Sight is powerful divination magic, allowing them to predict the future. The Sight is only allowed to exist amongst Vistani women; it does occur in Vistani men, but any male babe detected to have the Sight is slain.

• There are several unique ranks in the Vistani: Raunie is the title of the female Vistani in the camp with the most power in the Sight. A Darkling is a Vistani criminal who has been cast out from the tribe, they hate and are hated by Vistani. A Dukkar is a male Vistani born with the Sight who has grown to adulthood. Such a being will inevitably bring great suffering to the Vistani. The only Dukkar alive is a half-fiend who rules the domain of Invidia (but is not the darklord for that domain). The Vistani who wrote the prophecy foretelling the Grand Conjunction was inferred to be a dukkar.

Vistani also appear in the Victorian Age campaign setting Masque of the Red Death.

The fictional character Rudolph Van Richten, a famous Monster Hunter in Ravenloft notorious for penning a series of guides to hunting and slaying various monsters, has/had a great enmity for the Vistani, for it was they who made him into a monster hunter. Originally a doctor with a loving wife and son, his tranquil life was shattered when a band of Vistani kidnapped his son to become the Consort of a vampire; Baron Metus. Van Richten tracked down the Vistani responsible with the aid of a small army of Walking Dead, bestowed upon him by Azalin, the Lich Darklord of Darkon, and turned them upon the Vistani upon hearing of his son's fate. He arrived too late to save his son from being changed, and was forced to slay him. In return, Baron Metus slew his wife. Van Richten swore to destroy all monsters. Baron Metus was the first of many monsters who perished thanks to Van Richten's efforts. He eventually vanished in the haunted Van Richten family estate, known as Bleak House. His legacy has been carried on by the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, who regarded him as an uncle.

Van Richten's Guides are 'Monster Sourcebooks' published in reflection of the fictitious guides published by Van Richten. Each Guide contains an intensely detailed examination into a specific category of monster. Only 5 of the Guides were actually published by Van Richten; Vampires, Ghosts, Liches, Ancient Dead and Werebeasts. The Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins published three of his unfinished works; the Guides to Witches, Fiends and the Vistani, completing the 2nd Edition's line of Van Richten's Guides. With the evolution into 3rd Edition, the Twins have published two more Guides of their own, though they are still called Van Richten's Guides; these are the Guides to the Walking Dead and the Shadow Fey, as well as the unofficial Guide to the Mists, a free download housed at the Fraternity of Shadows website.