User summary:
The Book of Sorrows was the fifth Ravenloft Netbook published by the Kargatane, a group of Ravenloft fans who went on to run the official fan site for many years. The Book of Sorrows is a collection of articles about the people, places and monsters of the Ravenloft and Masque of the Red Death settings. It also contains some new rules, and articles on running games in those two settings.
From the preface of the book:
"Sorrow is the future tense of love." — Leonard Levinson
Sorrow, a most piquant emotion. Not the ebullience of grief, nor the pleasing tang of regret, sorrow is resignation to what must be in the midst of longing for what might have been.
We of the Kargatane dine on the sorrows of the night. A man kills his lover in a jealous rage, then collapses under the weight of what he has done. A mother puts her children to bed and walks out of town, never to return, never looking back. A boy raises his blade, takes one last look at his beloved yet rabid pet, and strikes down.
Ravenloft is about sorrow made manifest: From the sorrow of Strahd, as he stands on the battlements and contemplates his lost love, to the sorrow of Rudolph van Richten as he slays the unliving body of his son, the Demiplane of Dread thrives on sorrow. Feeds on sorrow. Lives on sorrow.
Here you have shared your sorrows with us, and we now return them to you, for each man’s sorrow is truly only his own to bear. Turn the pages carefully, friend, for they are wet with the tears of those who have read them before you, and those tears will burn your soul.