С.

С. (S.) — известный лишь по инициалу таинственный автор Атласов Судного дня в сеттинге Ravenloft.

О личности С. известно немного: это женщина, учёный-исследователь с большим опытом как кабинетной, так и полевой работы. С. хорошо владеет оружием и обладает определёнными магическими способностями. Родилась в Дарконе, в знатном семействе, училась в Даймонлю, затем работала в университете города Ил Алук (до его превращения в Некрополь). У неё была дочь, которая затем была превращена в нежить.

S is the unnamed and mysterious writer of the Doomsday Gazetteers, published as the Ravenloft Gazetteers. Little is known about her save that she is a female and presumably a wizard of some skill. Her patron, whose identity is only hinted at - albeit strongly - in Gazetteer 1 is revealed in Gazetteer II to be Azalin, the wizard-king of Darkon.

Fan consensus seems to be that S is one of the clones Azalin made of himself during the Grim Harvest. Since many of the clones went awry due to being magically warped, it's not impossible that one simply became female. The authors have not confirmed this directly, but they haven't denied it either, even when the theory has been stated as fact in the middle of threads where they've refuted other fan misconceptions. The closest to confirmations that we've gotten are the following two quotes: From John Mangrum, in this forum thread, "Her character was designed as a reflection of Azalin, both literally and symbolically." And Ryan Naylor adds (in this thread), "She's cold and arrogant, with no time for stupidity or social niceties. She seems to have turned into a borderline alcoholic, which was I think unintentional and moderately amusing. Despite all this, she is quite good at getting people to talk to her. She's driven by curiosity/lust for knowledge. Does this sound like anyone we know yet?

"She is the illegitimate daughter of a Darkonese nobleman (erm, that is, the people who raised her are Darkonese nobles--so who is her real father? Go on, it's not that hard). She tried to get in to the Fraternity of Shadows but, being a woman, they wouldn't let her in. For some reason, Azalin is interested in her and holds high hopes for her progress around the Core."

What did S's bracer do to her?

In Gazetteer IV, S finds herself in a house in Valachan, having seemingly been slain by werewolves in Verbrek two weeks earlier. She surmises that her mysterious rescue is somehow related to the bracer that Azalin gave her in Darkon in Gazetteer II. As confirmed by authors Ryan Naylor and John Mangrum here, the bracer transferred her soul at the moment of death to a receptacle in Avernus, where it was placed into a clone body, which was brought to Valachan by Kargat minions of Azalin.
# What was the plan for S's future in the Gazetteers? What was Azalin's plan?

The authors have never completely laid out their plans, though they have dropped tantalizing hints, especially in this forum thread. It is dangerous to make assumptions based on taking these revelations out of context, of course, and the plans could potentially have changed as the series went on, but here's what we think we know for certain:

• S's full name was never created, and if it were to be given, it would likely have been an afterthought, used as her final sign off for the final Gazetteer. The Gazetteers only covered the first third or so of S's story. The end of Gazetteer V was one of "her darkest moments. A dawn, of sorts, was yet to come."
• The latter half of the series would see S visiting the island and cluster domains, along with a supporting cast, a ship's crew provided by Azalin. They would be introduced in Gazetteer VI and leave halfway through Gazetteer VIII, with the series likely ending at Gazetteer XIII. S was scheduled to very briefly travel the Mists with Carnival.
  
• Should Azalin's plan succeed, it would be but one element of the Time of Ultimate Darkness, which would likely be "the culmination of a long series of terrible events," rather than a single cataclysm. But, "Ultimately, the Gazetteers aren't about the catastrophic end game -- they're about S herself."
  
• A war in the western core, which would crush Borca, would be an unintentional side effect of Azalin's intended actions. The reason for this can be found "explicitly" in Gazetteer II and IV.
  
• Escape from Ravenloft is not part of Azalin's plan, but the plan does involve the children of the Gentleman Caller, and Azalin is searching them out. The reader would have learned in Gazetteer VI that there were thirteen such children (one per planned Gazetteer, though the child from III was pushed to IV along with Borca) and S would have learned the same in Gazetteer VII, where she also would have learned the purpose of her bracer.
  
• The "nature, powers, and personality, [of] each individual "demonspawn" was an amplified reflection of its Vistani mother's worst fears and failings. Malocchio Aderre is the only one who actively seeks the destruction of the Vistani, because he's a dark reflection of the worst aspects of his mother, Gabrielle, and he's the most powerful, because he reflects the power of his mother." The Beast of the Hills, on the other hand, "is physically fiendish, but inwardly lacks her father's malice. In hindsight, I'd assume her mother had serious self-esteem issues. "
  
• On Blauste'in, S was "going to commit suicide as an act of defiance upon realizing that Azalin had shackled her to a seemingly impossible and unending quest." And later, as another clone, would return and find her own bloated corpse.