I smell a rat
Jacqueline Renier is the Darklord of Richemulot, a Domain of Dread filled with pestilence, disease and swarms of rats. Jacqueline was always frustrated that among the aristocracy, she was not listened to, fearing an increasingly large and influential middle-class on the freedoms and luxurious the nation’s elite enjoyed. Frustrated that she had been ignored for so long, she searched for allies in her quest, eventually discovering the True-Blood Council. These people lived in the sewers of Richemulot as its original inhabitants. They had been shunned for the wererats they were, but Jacqueline saw that she could use these people to further her own ends.
Jacqueline accepted the gift of lycanthropy, becoming a wererat and working with the True-Blood Council to further her own aims. Rather than simply targeting commoners, she sought to elevate the status of herself and her new kin; The True-Blood Council. They set rats loose among the cities of Richemulot, killing thousands with their plagues allowing Jacqueline to establish herself as the leader of the nation.
Information About Jacqueline Renier
| Characteristic | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Jacqueline Renier |
| Domain | Richemulot |
| Race | Wererat (human) |
| Alignment | Lawful Evil |
| Home | Chateau Delanuit (Pont-A-Museau) |
Jacqueline Renier’s Stat Block
Jacqueline is a novlewoman, but when she accepted the gift of lycanthropy, she became a wererat. As such, her stats closely follow those of a wererat, as outlined in The Monster Manual, but with some alterations. The following stat block is not an official release but my own creation as Darklord stat blocks haven’t been officially released by Wizards of the Coast for 5th edition.
- Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), Lawful Evil
- Armour Class: 13 (Ring of Protection)
- Hit Points: 44 (8d8 + 9)
- Speed: 30ft
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
| 10 (+0) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 15 (+2) |
Skills: Perception +2, Stealth +4
Damage Immunities: Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing From Nonmagical Attacks Not Made With Silvered Weapons; Poison
Condition Immunities: Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60ft (rat form only), Passive Perception 12
Languages: Common (can’t speak in rat form)
Challenge: 3 (700 XP)
Shapechanger: Jacqueline can use her action to polymorph into a rat-humanoid hybrid or into a giant rat, or back into her true form, which is a human. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
Evasion: If Jacqueline is subjected to an effect that allows her to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, she instead takes no damage if she succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if she fails.
Keen Smell: Jacqueline has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Plague: Jacqueline throws a vial containing a dosage of her plague. It can be thrown up to 60ft and smashes on impact causing all creatures within a 10ft radius to take 2d6 damage and make a constitution saving throw DC14+ or become poisoned.
Sneak Attack: Once per turn, Jacqueline doubles her die rolls for damage when she hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of one of her allies that isn’t incapacitated and as long as Jacqueline doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
Summon Rats (1/Day): Jacqueline magically calls 1d4 swarms of rats. The rats appear in any unoccupied space within 30ft of Jacqueline and take their turn immediately after her.
Legendary Resistance (1/day): When Jacqueline fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
ACTIONS
Multiattack (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only): Jacqueline makes two attacks.
Bite (Rat or Hybrid Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wererat lycanthropy.
Shortsword (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Hand Crossbow (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only): Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
Jacqueline can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. She can take only one legendary action at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Jacqueline regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Attack: Jacqueline makes 1 attack
Evasive Movement: Jacqueline moves up to 30ft without provoking attacks of opportunity
Jacqueline Renier’s Personality
Renier is convinced that she is the rightful ruler of Richemulot and that no one else could do so better. In reality, she simply desires to enjoy the finer things of life and ruling the domain, in theory at least, allows her to do so. The reality is that Renier’s own rash edicts have actually purged the domain of many of the things she might have enjoyed in her nobility. She constantly releases new strains of the plague to ensure that the people continue to need her to combat the disease and cannot mount an opposition in government.
Ironically, Jacqueline actually dislikes the responsibilities of rulership but she endures the inconvenience to maintain her power and to keep up appearances. Voices of discontent within government al so drive her to continue in her role, but this is the torture she suffers, that she has attained to her goals of leadership but remains consistently dissatisfied with her circumstances and must continually fight to maintain her position.
History of Jacqueline Renier
Once, long ago, Richemulot was a thriving nation. The wealthy lived in luxury and spent their coin lavishly. This spending lined the pockets of the middle class; the merchants, craftsmen and other skilled labourers, creating a wealthy middle-class. It was Jacqueline Renier alone among the aristocracy, and even among her own noble family, that recognised the dangers of a burgeoning middle-class to the luxurious lifestyles of the nobility, recognising the power that the middle-class were beginning to wield.
Jacqueline began a search for like minded souls that could help her fend off this problem as her family would not support her in this endeavour, preferring to let the nobility sway with the times. After years of searching, Renier came across the highly secretive True-blood Council. She spent a fortune chasing after this secret society and seeking entry into their membership until she was eventually invited to attend a meeting.
Jacqueline was confused at first when asked to meet with the society in the sewers of Pont-Au-Museau. She went anyway, desperate to find like-minded souls but instead she found a throng of filthy commoners rather than the underground masterminds she’d hoped to discover. It wasn’t until they revealed their true selves as wererats that she recognised the use for which these people could be and agreed to join their ranks as a wererat herself.
Now as a member of Richemulot’s original inhabitants, Renier turned her spite away from the lower-classes and instead directed it towards those of non-wererat status. She converted her family first of all to wererats though her twin sister, Louise, was the only one to refuse, for which, Jacqueline disfigured her and cast her out. Now with her family behind her, Renier turned her attention to the rest of Richemulot. She and her wererat allies concocted a plague from the filth of Richemulot that would kill most people that are not wererats. This was distributed first among the nobility but soon spread to the rest of the people of Richemulot as well.
The plague achieved Jacqueline Renier’s desires, the nobility were decimated leaving a huge power vacuum in Richemulot’s society, one that Jacquline quickly assumed as her own. She was now the highest born aristocrat and the de-facto leader of Richemulot. The lower classes begged their new leader for aid but she was disgusted by such lowly beings, unworthy of her help due to the nature of their birth and the lack of coin in their pockets. She refused aid and oversaw the death of all the non-wererat population of Richemulot. As the last soul died from the plagues, the mists of Ravenloft encircled Richemulot, taking the entire nation into the new Domain of Dread.
All Darklords of Ravenloft
| Ankhtepot | Hazlik | Nepenthe |
| Chakuna | House of Lament | Queen Tsien Chiang |
| Count Strahd Von Zarovich | Ivana Boritsi | Ramya Vasavadan |
| Dr Viktra Mordenheim | Ivan Dilisnya | Vecna |
| Duchess Saidra d’Honaire | Jacqueline Renier | Vladeska Drakov |
| God-Brain of Bluetspur | Mother Lorinda | Wilfred Godefroy |
| Harkon Lucas |