Mother Lorinda gets a creepy new look in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

Mother Lorinda, Darklord of Tepest, has a creepy and disturbing new look in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within. The ancient green hag was previewed in a recent social media post, showing her presiding over what appears to be a ritualistic sacrifice, likely tied to the Tithe. Lorinda looks far more grotesque than her previous depiction in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Based on the flower crown and folksy other trappings of the ritual, it appears that Tepest will be keeping with the "Folk Horror" theming from Van Richten's Guide, with Midsommar being an obvious inspiration.

You can check out Lorinda's new depiction below, followed by what she looked like in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

Lorinda was originally depicted as part of a trio of sisters who became cannibalistic serial murders and were eventually transformed into hags and imprisoned by the Mists. Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft kepts Lorinda's origins, but expanded upon it so that Lorinda captured her sisters after they refused her request to help her create a child of her own. Lorinda continuously creates strange homunculi that she calls her children, but only live for a few weeks except for during the Tithe, a regular festival in which one of Lorinda's followers is sacrificed.

Ravenloft: The Horrors Within will be released on June 16th.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

 

[Toriel]

I really like the face of the giant hung up on the trees in the background.

 

[Knaves Quill]

I really like the face of the giant hung up on the trees in the background.

I somehow missed that. Sick detail.

 

[TravDoc42]

Tepest is such a fun domain! Glad to see it back!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really like the face of the giant hung up on the trees in the background.

The Face of Bo.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Her shirt is also made of faces! Gein would be proud.

 

[Sulicius]

Hell yes! Get that Midsommar vibe in there!

 

[Remathilis]

Tepest is such a fun domain! Glad to see it back!

The only thing I didn't like is there is exactly one village in it, meaning if you want to have a PC from there, they already know the the whole Mother thing. Be nice if there was a few extra villages that PCs could be from. Cie la vie

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The only thing I didn't like is there is exactly one village in it, meaning if you want to have a PC from there, they already know the the whole Mother thing. Be nice if there was a few extra villages that PCs could be from. Cie la vie

It mentions isolated homesteads, but you could always add another village. Canon is a tool, not a straightjacket. But having a “local” PC is always going to put a different perspective on a Ravenloft domain. The villagers don’t know the truth in any case.

And it has the usual issue that the story is likely to be too familiar to the players to have the capacity to shock - unless you spin it differently.