Captain Pieter van Riese

"Captain Pieter van Riese," by Talon Dunning, used with permission

Pieter van Riese was, and remains, a ship's captain. Captain van Riese had an obsession with discovering a path from his homeland to through the treacherously icy waters of the north to the exotic far east. Driving his ship, the Relentless, through storm and sea, he would not relent to his crew's calls to turn back. But as the storm reached its peak, the Relentless was at last undone. At his lowest moment, Captain van Riese cried out with the offer of his life plus all of his crew, to any being able to push them forward. His wishes were granted, though not as he'd hoped. Captain van Riese survived his death as a ghost, becoming also the darklord of the Sea of Sorrows.

Captain van Riese still captains the Relentless, though the Dark Powers torment him with shifting positions of the islands in the Sea of Sorrows. He can will the Relentless to assume a corporeal manifestation indistinguishable from a normal watercraft. For example, he does this if he wants to recruit new crewmen. However, just the sight of a ghostly Relentless sends chills down even the most seasoned of sailors for the inauspicious portents it might bring.

Captain Pieter van Riese is an outlander and originally hails from the Netherlands on Gothic Earth. A proud atheist in the same manner as Dr. Mordenheim, van Riese believed that man would no less than come to completely dominate Nature through civilization and knowledge. It was to this end he became obsessed with discovering the Northwest Passage to the Orient. Two failed attempts at chartering it started to wear at van Riese's mind. On the third voyage, Captain van Riese drove his ship, the Relentless, though many a hazard, but eventually even his skill and luck gave in to the ice floes of the north. When the Relentless became stuck in an ice, all of the crew called for abandoning the ship and taking her boats back t open water. It was at that moment Captain van Riese could take no more. He poisoned the crew's drink and killed them all as they were incapacitated. Captain van Riese then prayed to some dark power to to overcome Death so he could continue his mission. He died, but the Dark Powers answered his wish and made him a ghost.

Captain van Riese now sails the Sea of Sorrows undaunted by the concerns of the flesh. However, he only knows where he will meet land if he has been specifically hired to go there. He absolutely chafes at the need to serve another. Regarding those who serve him, he is an employer and a slavemaster. He can gain crewmen for the Relentless from those who kill and then are killed in the Sea of Sorrows as eternally undying slaves. Secondly, crewmen among the living can sign up for crew, supposedly even give away their souls for some great gift.

Although both Captain van Riese and Professor Erik van Rijn both hail from the Netherlands, the captain maintains that he has only spoken to the professor once or twice. He claims no knowledge of where Professor Van Rijn is or what he is up to.

During his time on the Sea of Sorrows, Captain van Riese has encountered and soundly defeated the pirate Urdogen the Red, teaching the latter a sound lesson in humility.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Domains of Dread
		Domains of Dread - p75
		Domains of Dread - pp74-75 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - p93
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - p7 Domains of Dread - pp74-75 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp29,93-94