Those familiar with The Raveyard know the following facts:

• The Raveyard is the remains of a large graveyard which is filled with a myriad of undead and hellish beasts who move under the command of their dark master.
• The Mists create a low-lying fog across the entire domain, sporadically expanding into large clouds in areas throughout the night. 
• The weather is always clear and mildly humid, but the sun never fully rises. The only measurements of time within The Raveyard are from the phases of the moon and the clocktower mausoleum, which marks the hours of the night with the midnight hour marked by a deep, blackened burn .
• Groups which are used to traveling within the Mists (such as the Vistani) are usually not affected by the domain. Rumors say that these groups have established hidden alcoves where they can rest without being disturbed by the dancing hoards. 
• The tents scattered around the graveyard are fun and inviting, but be wary of spending too much time within. 

The Raveyard is around half a mile in diameter, with the entire area filled with tombstones, memorials, and mausoleums belonging to various people now long dead. At the southernmost portion is a small, abandoned church which was used for funeral services.

At the center of the domain sits the clockwork mausoleum, which stretches upwards the stories from the ground. From within this mausoleum and some others, tunnels lead underground to a set of ancient catacombs which form a labyrinth beneath the graveyard. 

Scattered throughout the graveyard (most densely towards the center) are several tents which house party activities, such as food and drink that mysteriously appears on the table or games and competitions designed to keep visitors engaged and distracted. 

Also scattered sparingly throughout the graveyard and catacombs are several hidden holes which travelers of the mist will use to rest without interruption. Finding these can be a challenge if the party does not already know where to look, as some involve intricate puzzles or magic to conceal its location. 

Jackomis was a half-elf born to a noble human family following an affair between his father Heinrick Lance and a young woman from a reputable elven household during her time staying with the family while living away from her home country. Soon after Jackomis was born, his mother returned in secret to her home country, with Heinrick left to raise Jackomis in human society. Being born out of wedlock, Jackomis was hidden away within the Lance estate, never being allowed to attend parties or other social gatherings. After his father had his first child with the woman he married, Jackomis, a young man now, chose to leave his home behind as there would be no world in which his life could bloom within those walls. He set out as a traveling bard, jumping from town to town performing music of a classical variety. 

Looking to stretch away from his roots, he began to experiment with more ludicrous and fantastical musical choices, many times resulting in his instruments breaking within his hands. Although his sound was unique, it was not one which was popular among the standard tavern crowd. Jackomis spent many of his days playing on the street with an empty belly and only a few copper pieces to show for it. When no inns would give him a room, he slept in the mausoleums in local graveyards, as it was the only place he knew he would not be robbed in the night as many communities were highly superstitious. In the nights he spent there, what kept him warm against the cold stone was his burning desire to one-day become “the life of the party”. A musician of such great fame and notoriety that any gathering he visited would instantly be energized and transformed into parties far greater than had been seen before his time. 

Years later, after traveling to the city of (illegible) Jackomis spotted a flyer. He came to realize that his younger half-sister, Jean, had been raised to be a musical prodigy and would be performing at the theater in town. He felt a sense of shame and loss rush over him before it quickly transformed into anger towards his father and the rest of the Lance family household. Had they merely accepted him as a real member of the family, would he have shared this fate of fame and fortune? He went to his campsite for the night, once again a mausoleum in the local graveyard but one which was quite peculiar in architecture. The corpse it housed was that of the town’s clockmaker who, before his death, had worked to construct a sizable clock tower atop the site to ensure that even beyond life he would help the people keep time. Within this unsettled grave, Jack pounded against the walls in his anger, with every ounce of emotion he had once suppressed fueling each and every strike to the point that his hands became bloodied and mangled beyond recognition. Realizing he could no longer hope to play even a simple melody in this state, he began to weep but was quickly cut off as the stone of the bloody wall crumbled in front of him. 

A tunnel led from the mausoleum downward deep underground into the forgotten catacombs, holding the city’s previous denizens which had been long dead. Within these catacombs he discovered the vestige of a dark power sealed within an amber sarcophagus which offered not only to heal his hands, but to imbue them with power such that his musical prowess would be unrivaled by any man or woman alive. To seal his pact with this power, Jackomis kidnapped Jean from the theater and dragged her to the catacombs in front of the place the vestige was housed. There he forced her to play her instrument against his in a duel of musical might, offering to set her free if she won. Each time she would play a string of notes, he would quickly return by playing the same tune, but with a ragged and strange form. He was able to match and twist every set she sent his way, no matter how complex. The competition led deep into the night, to the point that Jean’s fingers were bloodied and exhausted from playing. Jackomis was relentless and pushed her further and further until at the strike of midnight her heart gave out from both exhaustion and terror at the fiendish playing of the man in front of her. A lightning bolt struck the clocktower as the Mists began to envelop the graveyard and seal Jack within his domain. 

Within the Raveyard, Jackomis H. Lance is the master of music. Along with his skillful hands, the dark powers also cursed him with eternal youth and vigor, that he might never die from old age or exhaustion like others who enter his realm. Jackomis will open the Mists to travelers in the hopes of drawing in those who could admire his musical talents and add some much-needed life to the party. Sadly, though, any who find themselves trapped within his domain are eventually exhausted by the non-stop music and partying. Jack will also take a particular interest in anyone who has a skill for music and performance, quickly challenging them to competition for his own entertainment. If they appear to have more skill than him, Jack will quickly fall back on his bardic magic or undead minions to disrupt their performance. 

For creating Jackomis H. Lance, use the model of a spellcaster NPC such as a bard, mage, or archmage with added proficiency in Performance, Deception, and Persuasion and with their spell list reworked to include spells from the bard spell list, especially those which charm or control other creatures. 

The denizens of this domain are bound to participate in a party of perpetual torment, with loud music assaulting their ears and the mists forcing them to dance. Those whose lives have been lost within this domain find their bodies as perpetual dancing puppets as their souls are forced to look onward from above, becoming a powerless, fluttering light in the sky. Sometimes, bodies and souls lost to the Mists of Ravenloft will find themselves guided to The Raveyard, with the souls joining the myriad of others in the sky and the bodies rising from the cold earth below as a dancing, undead thrall.

For those who find themselves within this domain, rest does not come easily. Even if they should contrive a way to hide from the sound and resist the rhythm, the other party-goers will act to pull them away from their slumber and back into the dance. If a group tries to rest in one place without concealing themselves for longer than an hour, a group of zombies or skeletons will likely set upon the group, shrieking in their faces to disturb their rest and try to scare them back towards the center of the graveyard. 

The Mists gather heavily around certain parts of the graveyard, most notably as a low-lying fog in the central yard surrounding the clocktower. The first time a creature enters an area of mist like this (and once every minute they spend within the area), a creature is treated as if targeted by Otto’s Irresistible Dance with an unlimited duration. When making a Wisdom saving throw to end the effect, the DC should be set to a value appropriate for the party’s level when they enter the domain. 

Once every hour, if a creature spent at least one minute during that hour dancing or otherwise engaging in party activities, they must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 10). On a failed save, the creature gains one level of exhaustion as the life force is sucked from their bodies. On a successful save, the creature is unaffected but the DC for this saving throw increases by 1. The DC resets to 10 every time the creature gains a level of exhaustion or successfully completes a short or long rest. 

The lightning bolt which struck the clocktower centuries ago destroyed its inner mechanisms, with the dark powers of the mist continuing the motion of the clock’s face. The mists then animated the broken gears and other components into clockwork servants to guard the mausoleum and the entrance to the catacombs below. Some of the clockwork materials were used to reanimate Jean Lance’s body as a sort of musical puppet which plays from the top of the clocktower whenever Jack is indisposed with other matters and cannot play the music himself. Several of the empty floors of the clocktower have been redesigned by Jack over the years to create a comfortable living space for himself.

By a combination of the graveyard’s original denizens and the bodies of those captured by the Mists, the majority of the monsters within the graveyard are dancing hoards of skeletons and zombies. The spirits of those bodies trapped within the domain will usually take the form of will o’ wisps which will flutter harmlessly in the sky unless disturbed. In the cases of those driven to exhaustion within the domain, some souls will manifest as banshees. Fallen wizards and their apprentices will occasionally manifest as flameskulls as well. Beyond a myriad of undead, fiendish creatures will sometimes be summoned to domain by the Mists to impose a certain order, such as the hell hounds summoned at midnight twice each day. Within the clocktower, several constructs can be found regularly patrolling the area, including several clockwork servants. 

It is also possible for a party of adventurers to encounter any other type of monsters in small amounts, as even giants and trolls might find themselves captured by the Mists and forced to dance to the darklord’s tune. 

Time within this domain only covers an 8 hour period between dusk and dawn, with midnight marking the middle of the period. One can briefly see the sun begin to rise before it quickly descends once again and the hands of the clock begin to move backwards towards the hour marking dusk. A full “day” within this domain is 16 hours long with midnight being struck twice throughout it. The only mark that a day has passed is in the changing phase of the moon, which occurs after each 16 hour period. 

Each time the hands of the clock strike the midnight hour, the mists release hell hounds to seek to destroy any living creatures (besides the darklord) who are not dancing or partying. These beasts return to the Mists after scouring the entire graveyard.