Circle of Darkness 
This is a 64-page Ravenloft module written by Drew Bittner. The back cover indicates that it is for levels 5-7, but the first page indicates levels 6-8. So, I guess we’ll never know for certain. Let’s split the difference and say it’s for levels 5-8. The module takes place in G’Henna and is an island of terror after the Grand Conjunction.
The module focuses on the land itself, and its darklord, Yagno Petrova. Yagno is basically insane, and worships a “god” by the name of Zhakata. Ravenloft gifted Yagno the land of G’Henna complete with grotesque statues of Zhakata. The land itself is described as a cross between the fertility of the dust bowl of the American southwest combined with the abundance of the hordes of barbaric Goths outside the gates of Rome. Yea, it’s a terrible place full of misery, death, starvation, and suffering.
Food scarcity is a major theme here, and I would suggest that you if you have any player that has triggers around food, this module is going to be super problematic, and probably should just be avoided.
It starts with the PCs interacting with a woman who dies but before so, pleads for them to help her sons. Apparently, no amount of healing will save her, and she dies a plot-important death like Padme’s. Next, the PCs meet a Vistani. The editing here is quite questionable, since the driver of a wagon being chased by wolves is described as a “he” (she’s a she) and the dying woman told the PCs to find “Mard”, but the woman’s name is Marda. Marda gives them a scripted (by the DM) Tarokka reading that foreshadows the coming events. You could just skip the encounter with the first woman, and just have the PCs meet Marda. Also, there’s this whole heavy-handed thing about righting her wagon and avoiding being crushed by it. It’s stupid and unnecessary.
At the gate to the city of Zhukar, the PCs meet some overly friendly town guards who are more than happy to spill the tea on the town in exchange for information from other places. The city of Zhukar isn’t nearly as scripted out as the events leading up to have been. In fact, it’s meant to be quite free form, with the PCs exploring the depravities of the town, and bearing witness to all the terrible things that happen here. There are encounters given as examples, and most of them have to do with food or the lack thereof.
The next section is complicated. Rega, Yagno’s right-hand man is a double-agent of a group called the Circle. Rega’s cultists believe that Zhakata has a duality that both provides and takes away. Rega tries to force the PCs into a situation that requires them to help him to avoid jail time by breaking one of the city’s many crimes. This is dangerously close to one of those moments that’s going to frustrate players as they deal with seemingly insurmountable odds that might see them just lash out violently to avoid getting thrown in jail. The text indicates that “… Rega secretly plans to have the heroes abandoned or killed once their part of the mission is over.” It stands to reason then, that the most reasonable course of action would be to just have Rega hire the PCs in a diplomatic, rather than heavy-handed way, offering them a princely sum to do what he asks, if he has no intention of paying it anyway. Like other railroad adventures of this era, refusal basically means death.
Rega’s goal is to use the PCs to retrieve a talisman with a Zhakata temple so that he can use it to take over a demon that Yagno summoned with the aid of a (now dead) wizard. The temple raid is meant to be free form, like the city exploration, though at least they have a specific goal. There are some interesting encounters here. This scene culminates in a fight with an animated statue where they find the talisman, and then likely flee with hundreds of Zhakata faithful on their tail. If played right, it could be quite a suspenseful and exciting scene.
As this review is already quite lengthy, I’ll summarize by saying that there are many paths the PCs can take, depending on who they trust (there are reasons they could ally with either Yagno or Rega, or neither) and what they do with the talisman. All these decisions have monumental consequences for the land itself, and ultimately can even be used as a vehicle for getting the PCs back to the prime material. The battles and difficulties are likely going to push this more into the ~8th level range, and not the ~5th level range. Some of the fights in here could be very tough, though could be scaled relatively easily.
I like this module, but on a scale of 1-10 in terms of how difficult it will be for a GM to run, I’m going to give this an 11. There is SO much going on here, that it would be a monumental feat to keep track of it all. There are some truly great moments that could happen here, including the possible victory at the end, some of the great role-playing moments in the town, or seeing all the cultists bow at the feet of a living statue they see as the actual embodiment of their god. The scope and the feel of this module is epic in scope and grandeur. I’ve been DM’ing for over 30 years, and I’m not sure I could sufficiently pull it off. It would require copious notes, and at least a good half-dozen reads through this module to truly grasp an outline of everything that needs to be done. Make no mistake – this isn’t a module, but rather a campaign in and of itself that could easily take upwards of 48 hours of gametime to finish. There are parts of this that could be scrapped as unnecessary, and some of it can be streamlined, and fleshing out the city and the outlying areas will only add to the experience. But a GM that truly has the time to devote to this task could be in for some really awe-inspiring events.
Addendum: One other quick note here. Some reviews I've read online of this suggest that the "feel" of the module isn't very Ravenloft. One even suggested that Dark Sun would be perfect for this, and I have to agree. But as I've no interest in creating "The Thread where I review a ton of Dark Sun modules" I'll leave that task for someone else. But, be sure to put this one on your list for possible inclusion there.
