I’Cath is a realm with two sides, one of which is trapped in the throes of an eternal dream. Its duality makes it perhaps the most unpredictable of the many Domains of Dread featured in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. For explorers undaunted by an ever-changing city defined by insomniacs, jiangshi, and a ruler obsessed with perfection, read on, and be wary of spoilers!

• Tsien Chiang: The Dream-Weaving Darklord
• The Real I’Cath vs. the I’Cath in Dreams
• The Darklord’s Daughters
• Defying the Dream I’Cath

Tsien Chiang: The Dream-Weaving Darklord

The Darklord of I’Cath is Tsien Chiang, who was introduced in the 1992 Ravenloft sourcebook Islands of Terror as a misandrist sorceress who ruled a small island and had the unusual ability to transform into a treant. Her depiction in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is much deeper, nuanced, and plentiful with storytelling possibilities. In it, she uses the statistics of a mage, except she has access to various magic items. 

When Tsien Chiang was a child, her home was ravaged by colonizers. This event left an indelible impression upon her. Upon retreating to the mountains for safety, Tsien Chiang allied herself with a gold dragon, who taught her the ways of wizardry and urged her to let go of the bitter hatred that festered in her heart.

Tsien Chiang’s thirst for revenge never abated, and eventually she learned of the Nightingale Bell, an instrument that could make its ringer’s dreams come true. The main component needed to construct this bell was a gold dragon scale. Knowing that her draconic mentor would never provide her with what she needed, Chiang drugged him with an herbal concoction, which she unfortunately mixed too hastily.

Chiang inadvertently killed her dragon mentor with the flawed concoction, losing her home and family for the second time in her life. With no other recourse, Chiang finished constructing the Nightingale Bell, took it to the city of her childhood, and wished for the annihilation of the invaders.

In her newly created utopia, Tsien Chiang ruled as queen. She had four daughters, numerous subjects, and a mighty empire at her fingertips. Yet, the stern laws and many executions that Chiang enacted — perhaps to ensure that her kingdom would not fall to another colonizing force — led to rebellion. Eventually, a group of assassins entered her palace and murdered her daughters, leaving Chiang utterly distraught.

Chiang rang the Nightingale Bell, wishing for a perfect city completely under her control. The Dark Powers of Ravenloft heard her wish, and engulfed her kingdom with mist, rebirthing it as a world with a lingering dream.

Tsien Chiang now rules over dual realms — the physical version of I’Cath, and the surreal I’Cath dreamworld. The physical I’Cath is a muted place filled with a drowsy populace that can no longer discern what is real and what is a dream. Once these people go to sleep, they’re transported to a shining city. There, subjects toil to create a metropolis that matches Chiang’s ever-changing view of perfection.

Tsien Chiang is a Darklord who desires control. By day, Tsien Chiang studies I’Cath’s imperfections and devises plans to improve her city, and by night, she basks in the splendors of an illusion where these plans come to fruition. Then she wakes, realizes that none of her progress has truly manifested, and the process begins anew by ringing the Nightingale Bell.

The Real I’Cath vs. the I’Cath in Dreams

Last night, I dreamed the dream of I’Cath once again. The cobblestones shone bright in the sun, and the ministers told me my job was to keep them pristine. I set to work, my only hope that Lady Tsien Chiang herself — or perhaps one of her daughters — might cross my path and acknowledge my small role in keeping our city beautiful.

Alas, no such meeting occurred. And as the sun set in the dream, I found my mind passing through the veil, returning to the dreariness of the real I’Cath. Here, the streets are dull, their only color coming from the footprints of the hopping jiangshi or the shimmer of a passing ghost.

Lately, I struggle at differentiating what is real and what is not. Am I a vagrant of ruined I’Cath, dreaming of an existence as a street sweeper in a golden era? Or am I a street sweeper dreaming of an existence as a vagrant?

— From the diary of Wong Git-Yan, resident of I’Cath

The Real I’Cath

The real I’Cath is a dreary and decrepit city. Most of its people have chosen to surrender to the throes of the dreamworld, only occasionally waking to a feeling of great hunger. Food is a scarcity, and more highly valued than gold.

I’Cath is under constant change. Every evening, Tsien Chiang orders her head assistant, Minister Suen, to lead a team of jiangshi in renovating aspects of the city that she deems inferior. These jiangshi are quick to attack any awake bystanders as they tear down and rebuild alleyways, gardens, and major thoroughfares. The result is a dangerous metropolis that changes on a nightly basis, with streets morphing like an M.C. Escher painting.

There are only a few landmarks that remain untouched by the jiangshi architects, including:

• Palace of Bones: The palace is Tsien Chiang's living quarters, and it was constructed with the bones of those executed under her reign.
• Ping’On Tower: This tower is inhabited by hundreds of hungry spirits, with the Nightingale Bell resting on the topmost floor.

The I’Cath in Dreams

The dream I’Cath might be more vibrant and less labyrinthine than its counterpart, but the dreamers within it are not necessarily happier.

Tsien Chiang’s utopia is one where she rules with an iron fist, and her ministers force citizens to carry out menial tasks in Chiang’s pursuit of a perfect city. Protestors are tossed into prison or executed immediately, causing them to rudely awaken back in the real I’Cath.

Thus, life in this nightmarish land forces one to choose between enduring a painful existence in a city where food is scarce and jiangshi rearrange the streets, or submitting to a fancier but ultimately draconian illusion.

The Darklord’s Daughters

Tsien Chiang’s daughters are the most compelling figures in I’Cath aside from the Darklord herself. Originally depicted in old Ravenloft lore as henchwomen who largely shared their mother’s hatred of men, Chiang’s daughters are now twisted manifestations of their former selves.

Chiang used the Nightingale Bell to bring her children back to life. These four girls exist as their mother remembers them in the dream I’Cath. But in the real I’Cath, each has taken on a disturbing form that shatters their mother’s view of perfection and brings a twisted body horror flair to this Domain of Dread:

• Tsien Lei-An is composed entirely of eyes, and wanders the corridors of I’Cath’s row homes, searching through the belongings of sleeping residents. She has the statistics of a scarecrow.
• Tsien Man-Yi is made of wood and resides by a willow tree near the Palace of Bones, hoping for a friend to rest under its boughs alongside her. She has the statistics of a dryad.
• Tsien Seu-Mei has a body made entirely of teeth, and meanders the stalls of I’Cath’s market district, looking for food. She has the statistics of a ghoul.
• Tsien Wai-Ching has a spectral form made of fog, and hopes to reunite one of the hungry spirits from Ping’On Tower with its family. She has the statistics of a specter.

Despite their frightening appearances, the daughters are benevolent insomniacs who only desire to win kindness from their mother, who ignores them in favor of their dream counterparts. If befriended by a party of adventurers and convinced to fall asleep, these “imperfect” daughters will replace their “perfect” counterparts in the dream world — a gripping development that just might shatter Tsien Chiang’s hold on I'Cath itself.

Defying the Dream I’Cath

I’Cath offers a multitude of opportunities for gripping D&D adventures, ranging from tales of revolution to dark psychological dives. Dungeon Masters seeking to guide their players into this phantasmagorical domain should consider the following:

• Don’t immediately reveal the dual nature of I’Cath. Adventurers pulled into I’Cath by the Mists of the Domains of Dread should be fed bread crumbs until they can uncover its duality for themselves. Perhaps they might first encounter jiangshi and assume that they’re in a domain haunted by ghosts from Chinese legend. After fighting off these undead, have them retreat to a safe spot for some rest only to awaken, completely baffled, in the dreamworld. Following their dream adventures, have them reawaken in a completely different section of the city, as if they’re in a procedurally generated video game like Darkest Dungeon or Hades. Once players discern I’Cath’s duality, you can bet that they’ll want to explore every nook and cranny of both the waking world and its sleeping counterpart.
• Create a party composed of local insomniacs. Tsien Chiang has always crushed revolutionaries, and the majority of her subjects have given up hope and sworn themselves to the dream. But a team of hard-headed insomniacs who are tired of injustice might be just the group needed to topple Tsien Chiang and wrest the Nightingale Bell from her hands. Party members might be forced to endure exhaustion from lack of sleep, battle hallucinations a la the Friday the 13th franchise and the film The Machinist, or even gain fear and stress at the very thought of putting their heads to a pillow.
• Redeem Tsien Chiang by convincing her that perfection is unattainable. Empathic adventurers could earn Tsien Chiang’s attention by convincing her that in her desperate bid to protect I’Cath from invaders, she has become little more than a dictator chasing after an impossible goal. The easiest way to do so might be by reminding her of the genuine love she once had for her children, though this will require the Darklord to accept their unnatural forms in the waking world. Perhaps the ghostly spirit of Chiang’s dragon mentor could also be summoned from the Nightingale Bell. How might the I’Cath Darklord react when seeing a figure from her past?
• Consider adding a dream within a dream. If the real world and the dreamworld aren’t enough for you, devise what might happen when residents already in the dream version of I’Cath go to sleep! Maybe the most devoted followers of Tsien Chiang who succeed in their jiangshi-assigned tasks are allowed to gather in a communal space where they doze off and travel to an exclusive dream sanctum that the Darklord herself frequents. Navigating the dream layers and confronting Chiang in this sanctum is essentially the plot of Inception translated to D&D, and what a campaign that would be!

Dare to Dream

Whether you hope to vindicate Tsien Chiang or defy her, be sure to check out Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft for more details on the surreal realm of I’Cath and other Domains of Dread. Master-tier subscribers can share content they have unlocked with people in their campaigns!

Jeremy Blum (@PixelGrotto) is a journalist, gaming blogger, comic book aficionado, and fan of all forms of storytelling who rolled his first polyhedral dice while living in Hong Kong in 2017. Since then, he's never looked back and loves roleplaying games for the chance to tell the tales that have been swirling in his head since childhood.