darklordazalin

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Madame Irena Radanavich

Domain: Richten Haus Domain Formation: Unknown (716 BC; VR confrontation 750 BC) Power Level:💀💀💀 ⚫ ⚫ Sources: Tales of Ravenloft: Crucible of Dr. Rudolph van Richten (short story); Bleak House (2e); Van Richten’s Guide to the Vistani (2e); Van Richten’s Monster Hunter’s Compendium III (2e)

Madame Irena Radanavich’s hatred of Doctor Rudolph van Richten led her to become the Darklord of Rudolph’s childhood home in Rivalis in Darkon known as Richten Haus. Her story is much the little hunter’s as it is her own. Irena was born into the Corvana tribe of the Vistani. A tarokka reading conducted on the day of her birth predicted that her life would shape many lives of the denizens of the Mists. You can never trust Divination magic at its surface level, for it relies heavily on the reader to decipher the meaning. The tarokka were likely referring to how Irena’s actions ultimately led van Richten into a life of monster hunting, concurrently saving and ruining lives wherever he went. Gifted with the Vistani Sight, Irena became the raunie of the Corvana. As raunie, Irena let her greed and sight guide her in all things. She never made a decision without consulting her tarokka first. Relying so heavily upon Divination is not only lazy, but dangerous. With each reading, one's biases become more prominent and mistakes are bound to occur. One such reading showed Irena how Baron Metus, a vampire who was living in Rivalis at the time, was lonely yet terrified of his own kind. If Irena’s people brought him a proper companion, the results would be legendary. Yes, you can blame van Richten’s entire legacy on a lonely, brooding vampire.

If Irena had bothered to further study the meaning behind her cards, she would have realized that her attempts at kidnapping the Baron of Rivalis’s daughter and selling her to Baron Metus would not only fail, but result in the fatal wounding of her son, Radovan.

Knowing of the famed herbalist and medical doctor of Rivalis, Irena called on the assistance of van Richten to heal her son. Despite all his training and knowledge of herbs and healing salves, the good doctor could not save Radovan.

Irena blamed van Richten for her son’s death and in fear and ignorance of the Vistani’s curse, van Richten begged her not to seek vengeance against him and told her she could have anything of his in payment as long as she spared him. She took his son, Erasmus and left the corpse of Radovan in his place as a reminder of van Richten's failure.

Words spoken and promises given in desperation are more often than not regretted later and van Richten’s regret was almost as potent at his indignant wraith when he realized what Madame Radanavich had taken from him. In a rage, van Richten saddled his horse, threw the Vistana corpse on, and then pursued the Corvana.

The Vistani are the only people of Ravenloft who can freely and safely navigate the Mists. They can move from one Domain to any other of their choosing with little effort. It is a magic that none but the Vistani understand, making van Richten’s attempt at following them futile, yet he did, charging through the night after his son.

The peasantry and nobility alike have a saying in my land: “those who brave the Darkon night will see wondrous things before they die”. Van Richten would have met his end that evening if I had not interfered. No, it was not out of the goodness of my cold, unbeating heart nor was it, as others have thought, for entertainment.

Van Richten was first assaulted by constructs made to resemble small, wooden toys though he was able to fend them off before my zombies descended upon him. His story interested me. He was seeking out the Corvana, a known associate of Count Strahd’s and I saw an opportunity. Not only to remove a potential threat, but to discover a useful fact about the Vistani.

I rose Radovan from the dead as a zombie and instructed the rest of the horde to follow the good doctor. Placing a protective ward upon the little man, I sent him off to see if Radovan, in his undead state, still possessed the Vistani’s ability to traverse the Mist.

Fascinatingly, he did and Radovan led them through the Mists directly to the Corvana’s camp in Barovia. Having no plan, van Richten approached the Vistani camp and demanded they return his son to him or he would unleash the horde of undead, which by then was at least a hundred strong, upon them.

Irena laughed at him, confident that her own wards would hold the zombies at bay and told van Richten they had sold his son the Baron Metus and demanded how the little doctor had managed to find them. He told her, truthfully, that Radovan had shown him the way and upon revealing his undead state, Irena was horrified. She cursed him saying, “live you always among monsters and see everyone you love fall beneath their claws, starting with your son!” then revealed that Baron Metus was a vampire and likely already changed his son into his undying spawn.

Van Richten cursed her in turn saying “I curse you all! Living dead take you as you have taken my son!” and with those words, van Richten unleased the zombies who easily broke through the Vistani’s wards and slaughtered the entire tribe. Save one, Arturi, who’s importance shall be revealed later in this tale. Irena rose as a ghost and her people rose as zombies and ghouls. She led them through the Mists, searching for van Richten and her revenge. Eventually she found her way to Richten Haus and settled there, taking pleasure in watching van Richten’s many follies over the years. Her hatred was so profound that our tormentors took notice and trapped her within Richten Haus. For his part, van Richten ended the unlife of his own son after Baron Metus changed him. In turn, the Baron killed van Richten’s wife, Ingrid. And eventually, van Richten gained enough training and resources to destroy Baron Metus.

Arturi sought van Richten out in hopes of undoing his own curse. For unknown to the doctor, the words he spoke to the Radanaviches before they were slaughtered were a true curse and Arturi was followed by the undead wherever he roamed. Together, the two came to understand and eventually forgive one another and in doing so both curses were lifted. Now, with no means to witness her revenge unfold upon him, Irena seethed in her prison.

Shortly after, Irena was visited at Richten Haus by the Gentlemen Caller in the guise of a Vistana. The fiend resurrected Baron Metus to aid Irena in her grudge and taught her how to conjure, imprison, and corrupt the spirits of van Ritchen’s former companions so they would obey only her.

Working with Baron Metus, the two devised a rather convoluted plan to break van Richten in body and mind before pulling him to Richten Haus and his ultimate destruction. The Baron, from the Black Tower of Martira Bay in Darkon, imprisoned a Vistana known as the Thinker and forced him to use his psionic abilities to send van Richten the same nightmare every night. In this dream his son and wife were trapped in Richten Haus and when he went to confront the monster that held him, he encountered a twisted, monstrous version of himself. Hardly original, but it shook van Richten enough to cause him to break and commit himself into the Asylum for the Mentally Disturbed on the island of Dominia. Unknown to the little hunter, Dominia is an Island of Terror ruled by the Darklord Doctor Daclaud Heinforth or Dr. Dominiani. Van Richten faced further assaults to his psyche at Dr. Heinforth’s asylum until, with the assistants of some unlikely ruffians, he escaped. I suspect it was not Irena’s plan to have him escape and kill Metus for a second time, but regardless, after the vampire’s defeat, van Ricthen was pulled into the Mists to Richten Haus.

The spirits of van Richten’s former allies, trapped and controlled by Irena, were forced to work against their former mentor. However, spirits of van Richten’s former servants that resided within his home were under no such compulsion and aided van Richten in his plight. With allies by his side and the knowledge that he held Arturi's forgiveness and had forgiven him and Madame Radonovich in turn, van Ricthen faced his greatest enemy with a light heart and knew whatever the outcome may be, he could finally forgive himself.

Irena is a powerful spirit, but for a Seer rather short-sighted. Had she realized that the spirits of Richten Haus would aid van Richten in their final confrontation and ultimately her own demise, she may have done things differently. Still, for a ghost she was quite powerful. And though she did not survive the ordeal, there’s something to be said about the one who broke the little hunter and, depending on if you believe the rumors or not, ended his life.

[darklordazalin]

https://redcircle.com/shows/d462cbc8-3fe9-41f5-97b1-f1cbc8306fb6/ep/deff9a99-fba6-4803-acd1-a497e2649318

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords: Marvel May! As soon as we announced this theme last May, you knew this one was coming. Thanos is such a compelling Big Bad for the entire MCU that they've been flailing to replace him ever since Infinity War, and he could make a fantastic Big Bad for your campaign as well . . . but can any villain, no matter how grandiose and self-deluded, be a darklord if they don't have a domain in the source material? Topics discussed include:

The D&D setting that fits perfectly with Thanos's backstory and motivation, and also gives us plenty of flavor for a domain we have to invent almost from whole cloth;

What even is an Infinity Stone in D&D terms, anyway?;

Alternate motivations for Thanos, since resource scarcity is hardly the most pressing problem in Ravenloft;

The dangers of introducing an epic-level villain with an epic-level scheme to any game that isn't all about him;

And more!

The full write-up for the Domain of the Mad Titan is available on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/521375/The-Mad-Titans-Domain-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread?affiliate_id=241770

PhD&D's video on Tovag is available here: https://youtu.be/jXoORohKKAQ?si=h62KXORCqijkTAUz

Our second Listener's Choice poll is available to all listeners on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/listeners-choice-127690065?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Timestamps

7:41 The Lord

46:27 The Land

58:54 Dread Possibilities

1:34:19 Aging Up (body horror, mind control, emotional abuse)

1:38:58 Aging up ends

1:48:29 Parting Thoughts

2:14:36 D’s Parting Thoughts

Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found here )

Torture (major), forced mind-reading (major), imprisonment (major), genocide (moderate), slavery (moderate), blood (moderate), body horror (minor), kidnapping (minor), child abuse (minor), forced experimentation (minor)

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff MorcGranados Twelve Spanish Dances, Op. 37, II. - Oriental (main theme), performed by Monica Alianello (public domain mark 1.0)eaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Granados Twelve Spanish Dances, Op. 37, II. - Oriental (post-credits scene), performed by Monica Alianello (public domain mark 1.0)

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself @darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find @halite-jones or on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

Contact us on:

Gmail: wonderfulworldofdarklords@gmail.com

Facebook: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Tumblr: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Patreon: www.patreon.com/WonderfulWorldofDarklords

YouTube: @wonderfulworldofdarklord

[darklordazalin]

Lowellyn got out again? Sigh.

JUST PASSED A GUY CUTTING HIS LAWN WITH A SCYTHE. DAY MADE.

[darklordazalin]

Two coins I designed for my mini-campaign. The first is Darkonian, the second is from Knurl.

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Friar Whelm

Darklord: Friar Whelm Domain: Estrangia Domain Formation: Unknown (760 BC according to fan created lore) Source: Undefiled by James Ward – short story from Tales of Ravenloft Power Level: 💀💀💀 ⚫⚫ (3/5 skulls)

Friar Whelm leads a congregation of worshipers in the city of Estrangia. Many of which flocked to his temple devoted to hope after losing loved-ones to a vampire with one of the most ridiculous names I’ve encountered in the overgrown ticks – Crave.

Each week the ‘good’ Friar hand-picks chosen members of his flock and allows them to sit in specially reserved seats at the front of the church just for them. These individuals are often those who, through various acts of kindness, aided the community and for their efforts they are given a front row seat…I would think being closer to a long-winded sermon would be a punishment not a reward, but sheep ardently follow those that lead them.

I find most that blindly worship without question dull-minded, but these particular sheep surpass them all. For none of them find it odd that during his sermons, a spark of light often emerges from the Friar’s eyes or hands, then floats to one of the chosen do-gooders until it merges with them. After which, they fall unconscious for a short period of time and, when they awaken, they appear ‘older and wiser’ than they were before. Those that experience Whelm’s miracle often report having a light-hearted and happy week.

If I had witnessed such an act, I’d see it for what it is – necromancy utilized to drain the life from one creature and transfer it into another. In this case, Whelm was transferring the energy into himself to feed. Friar Whelm is an undead creature known as a coraltan who feeds off the life force of others. Beneath his unnaturally pure white robes is a desiccated, worm-infested corpse. He established his church of hope to gather the desperate folk of Estrangia for the purposes of satisfying his own hunger.

He also has a bargain with Crave. Crave can feed as he wills as long as he informs Whelm of his victims so Whelm can then offer his wisdom as a Friar and thereby collect more sheep for him to prey upon. Crave provides the chaos and fear the Friar needs to maintain his church of false hope and thereby the hunger of both undead is satisfied.

There is little more to be said about Whelm. He is a creature that feeds off of youth and hope in a false chapel of hope within a city that has little hope left as its citizens, one by one, fall to Crave’s bloodlust.

[darklordazalin]

Stat blocks are more like building blocks IMHO.

Random musing...

The hours I spend researching Ravenloft lore to ultimately end up creating my own stories for my games is kind of hilarious.

[darklordazalin]

#I feel like I’ve just been introduced to a major character in a Wes Anderson movie

[darklordazalin]

Random musing...

The hours I spend researching Ravenloft lore to ultimately end up creating my own stories for my games is kind of hilarious.

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Malbus

Darklord: Malbus Domain: Al-Kathos Domain Formation: Unknown Power level: ? Source: Tales of Ravenloft short story  entitled "The Judgment of abd-al-Mamat' by Jeff Grub

There a so few accounts about the land Al-Kathos and its lord, Malbus, that I had to resort to scrapes of information from a tale told by a thief that was not about Malbus, but mentioned the ‘ram horned abomination’ as one may account the sighting of a bird flying overhead. This particular tale focused on the low-born abd-al-Mamat who’s wisdom and judgement granted a role as the Sheikhs’s vizier and eventually became the ruler of the Wounded City.  

I will not recount abd-al-Mamat’s tale here, though it does provide some insights on what type of land Al-Kathos is and what type of people make up its populace. One can learn much about a Darklord by studying their Domain. A Domain, after all, often reflects the Darklord and the curse of their tormentors. At times these semblances are rather insulting, at others they are quite accurate. Von Zarovich, for example, is nothing more than a boorish slump of mud and Barovia, in turn, is a boring mud slump. 

Al-Kathos is an arid desert with a harsh climate. Sheikhs rule over each settlement and Malbus rules them all from his Burning Citadel. Its people are overly dependent upon their rulers to settle all matters of dispute. The rulers must duel out judgement and punishments suitable to the crime committed (a murderer is tortured to death and a thief loses their hand and so on) and the people of Al-Kathos accept their decrees without question. As it should be.  

Most describe the law of Al-Kathos as ‘harsh yet fair’. The desert it said to be home of Sand Singers who lure travelers to their own deaths with their soft scents and honeyed tongues and Jackal-Headed priests that worship an unnamed rotting deity.  

Given these descriptions of the land and its laws, one can theorize that Malbus is a harsh, yet fair ruler. His description as a ram horned abomination that commands hellish minions, he is likely some form of devil. Of the species I am familiar with, the most likely would be a horned devil.  

This, unfortunately, is all my research has obtained. Malbus is a devil who rules over an arid hellscape populated by souls that accept their punishment without argue or complaint. Perhaps that is his curse? For what is the purpose of a devil if their punishments do not torment one’s soul?  

[darklordazalin]

My daily to do list

Attempt to learn a new spell just in case my tormentors aren’t paying attention.

Ten hours of scheming

Four hours of laboratory experimentation

Twenty minute screaming break in the Room of Silence

At least another eight hours of scheming

Light reading if time allows.

[darklordazalin]

I can't come up with a good caption for this but I hope you guys think this is as funny as I do

Under-the-cut bonus because I was going over the sketch with clean lineart to make two alternate versions, one with Irik and Az alive and one with them in their respective undead states, but I didn't really like how it looked, but I figure since I had already mostly-ish finished the Irik lineart I'd share it too

[darklordazalin]

How do you convert the perfect movie into a DnD game? It's not easy but Wonderful World of Darklords nailed it!

https://redcircle.com/shows/d462cbc8-3fe9-41f5-97b1-f1cbc8306fb6/episodes/8d188fe2-b396-498f-a51c-4bd1c501f056

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In this extremely long episode, Tom and an increasingly thirsty Rachel are talking about a villain who looms large in the imaginations of Xennials everywhere: Jareth, the Goblin King. He's a magnetic and malevolent presence whose domain is a perfect reflection of his disaster bi energy, but he has no canon backstory and may just be a figment of Sarah's imagination, so adapting him posed some challenges. But if Sarah can escape the oubliette, cross the Bog of Eternal Stench, and say no to Jareth looking at her like that in the masquerade ball, we can rise to this challenge. Topics discussed include:

Squaring the circle of making Jareth an independent being and a figment of Sarah's imagination at the same time, and how you can make him occupy that same role for your PCs;

Adapting the labyrinth so it reflects your PCs' inner worlds in the same way that the canon labyrinth reflects Sarah's, from "give the movie's labyrinth-dwellers the mannerisms of your NPCs" to high-concept lunacy that makes our Christmas Carol episode look straightforward;

How to bring your PCs into the labyrinth in the first place, since presumably none of them are going to wish for the goblins to steal their babies;

Why everything about the labyrinth, including the thirteen-hour time limit, is ultimately a distraction from Jareth's real game;

and more!

The full write-up for the Goblin King's Labyrinth is available for free on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/517199/The-Goblin-Kings-Labyrinth-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread?view_as_pub=1

Our Listener's Choice poll is available as a public post on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/listeners-choice-125322997

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

6:01 The Lord

53:05 The Land

1:21:50 Dread Possibilities

2:15:37 Parting Thoughts

2:41:52 D’s Parting Thoughts

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself @darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find @halite-jones or on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

Contact us on:

Gmail: wonderfulworldofdarklords@gmail.com

Facebook: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Tumblr: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Patreon: www.patreon.com/WonderfulWorldofDarklords

YouTube: @wonderfulworldofdarklord

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Lyron Evensong

Domain: Liffe Domain Formation: 750 BC Power Level: 💀 ⚫⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domain of Dread (2e), Book of Crypts (2e), Ravenloft 3.0

Baron Lyron Evensong is the Darklord of Liffe, a large island within the Nocturnal Sea. Liffe contains three decently sized settlements and enough farmlands so its people are self sufficient. That is, if they did not have a insatiable greed for the finery of other lands.

Lyron originated from Krynn where he performed as a bard on his beloved harpsichord. He often referred to himself as a ‘musical genius’ and his utter self-absorption could put even Narcissus to shame. His self-love accompanied by his disdain for all others developed into delusions of righteousness he felt compelled to force upon others.

Having no true means to enforce his will upon another and his songs and poems failing to inspire anything beyond polite applause, Lyron hired a wizard to enchant his harpsichord. Either he did not pay this wizard well or the wizard in question was inept and as such a spell that was meant to enthrall his listeners resulted in drawing Lyron’s essence into the instrument.

Still able to interact with the world as long as he was within reach of his instrument, Lyron attempted to sway audiences into what he believed was a morally decent life. When his poetry and music still did nothing, he turned to violence. Any act Evensong viewed as amoral, from divorcées to crying babies, resulted in Lyron’s swift correction with dagger and club.

After countless murders, Lyron and his harpsichord were pulled into the Mists and he was made the Baron of Claviera on the island of Liffe. Here he is contained to his mansion and for every day he spends in Claviera, he must spent a century in the dark confines of his study.

He now spends what time he can luring travelers to his study so he does not have to spend those 100 years alone. Of course, his guests age while he does not and most rarely last a few years before Lyron deems them unworthy and disposes of them. I recommend offending him as quickly as you can, otherwise you will be doomed for countless years of listening to his ‘art’.

[darklordazalin]

Nothing makes me happier than seeing one of my random tags made into art :D

I've had this sitting in the drafts for weeks but I kept staring at the one tag from @darklordazalin on my art of Az' and Irik and ended up doodling about it-

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Diederic de Wyndt

Domain: Malosia Power Level:💀💀 ⚫⚫⚫ (2/5 skulls) Domain Formation: Unknown Source: The Black Crusade – unpublished novel by Ari Marmell

Dierderic de Wyndt’s history is not easily obtained. One had to have acquired the tale decades ago when the self-named Wizards of the Coast published it as a free novel on a server that has been lost and forgotten. The Wizard King of Darkon, however, always plans for these contingencies and had a copy on hand to refresh his memories of this wayward Knight and how his twisted obsession with justice and vengeance against a signal individual doomed him to become the Darklord of Malosia.

De Wyndt is from what scholars in the Mists refer to as ‘Gothic Earth’. From my understanding, ‘Gothic Earth’ is similar to a planet known as ‘Earth’. Where Earth’s monsters are of the mundane persuasion, Gothic Earth’s monsters have literal claws and fangs. I personally prefer the latter; such obvious monsters are easier to deal with or manipulate to one’s own purposes...

De Wyndt was a land-holding Knight of France, which he likes to remind you of as often as possible, and was one of the many soldiers lured to Jerusalem to carry out Pope Urban the Second’s war to ‘reclaim the Holy Land’. The Knight’s story starts after Jerusalem was nearly taken. De Wyndt was battle worn and wary after partaking in the slaughtering of the citizens of Jerusalem once the walls were breached.  

While contemplating desertion, Diederic came across the corpse of a comrade in arms – Joris van den Felle. Upon inspecting his fallen ally, Diederic was convinced the man had been murdered. A rather…interesting…conclusion to make when one is on the field of battle, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. Joris had wounds akin to a dagger that were obvious administered from an assailant who attacked him from behind.

His reaction to this speaks to Diederic’s obsession and rather unique sense of justice. He was determined to find Joris’s killer so he could kill them himself. Following a trail of fallen soldiers, he soon discovered that the city was infected with some sort of plague that was causing everyone within to succumb to fits of gibbering, giggling, violent madness.

Dodging the infected while still searching for Joris’s killer, Diederic encountered Father Lambrecht Raes praying over some of the recently fallen soldiers. After escaping together from a mod of the infected, Father Lambrecht enlisted Diederic to help him root out the source of the plague in the city. However, once they reached the apparent location of its source, the Priest abandoned Diederic to succumb to the plague itself or be taken by those already inflicted.

The Knight resisted the lure of the maddening plague and confronted Lambrecht. Lambrecht confessed he used Diederic to safely arrive at the location where the Laginate Grimoire was hidden beneath Jerusalem. He claimed that the Grimoire was the source of the plague and they awoke the dark magics within with their violence. Despite this proclamation, the Priest wished to use the knowledge contained within the Grimoire to defend the church against pagan witches. He reasoned that in order to fight the dark magics they wielded, one had to understand them and even wield them. A rather logical argument for one of faith to make…Though believing one had to fight against and destroy those that have gained mastery over the arcane is foolishness.

Lambrecht attempted to use the power contained within the Laginate Grimoire to defeat Diederic. Though it was difficult for the holier-than-thou Knight to accomplish, his will eventually broke free from the Grimoire’s influence and subdued Lambrecht. Once subdued, he found a knife on Lambrecht that could have been the same weapon that was used to kill Joris. That would have been enough for the vengeful Knight, but the Priest also confessed to the crime.

For a long moment, Diederic considered ending the Priest’s life, but decided a worst punishment was to ensure the church excommunicated him then sentenced him to death, so the Knight captured Lambrecht. Here, again, we see how petty Diederic is when it comes to justice. He wanted the Priest to suffer, not for the crimes he committed against the church or his fellow soldiers, but because Lambrecht had abandoned Diederic to die.

The resulting trial was not what Diederic was expecting. In the end, despite the ‘evidence’ of the Laginate Grimoire, the trial came down to his word versus the word of the Priest and Lambrecht was a silvered tongued serpent, easily explaining away why he had the Grimoire. The Knight decided to take matters into his own hands and bribed a drunkard ex-soldier to give witness against Lambrecht at the trial. This was all the church needed and Lambrecht was excommunicated and sentenced to death by hanging.

On the fated day of the hanging, the church decided to burn the Laginate Grimoire in front of the priest as a final form of rather petty torment. However, the Grimoire did not burn and instead the smoke that rose from it turned to Mist and carried Lambrecht away just as he was hung. Enraged, Diederic pushed through throngs of people to get to Lambrecht and ensure his sentence was carried out. Instead, he was pulled into the mists as well.

The two were now pulled into the Domains of Dread into a land known as Malosia. At that time, the land was not complete, for it had not claimed a Darklord. According to the young Vistana Seer, Violca, who was tasked with witnessing the final formation of the land itself, the land was formed without a soul. Us Darklords are the soul’s of our Domains…that is true, in a sense. The land often mirrors our personalities…the parts we’d rather not face…

Shortly after arriving in Malosia, Diederic was detained and imprisoned for witchcraft as he appeared out of the mists and straight into a group of ‘Redbreasts’ or Inquisitors of the Empyrean Church. The church was similar to Diederic’s own, expect instead of one son, the god of this church had six. The Redbreasts were tasked with routing out witchcraft through Inquisitions. It was also thoroughly devoted to ending the practice of witchcraft in the land.

While imprisoned, de Wyndt befriended the Vistana Violca and the peasant woman Leonara (Leona) Talliers. The prison itself makes the Black Hole of Karg seem like a pleasant vacation spot. The prisoners were worked to their bones and tortured for the most minor inflictions.

The three eventually escaped after a plan which involved sabotaging a holding cell, setting fire to another, and fleeing through the sewage in the chaos. Beneath the prison were seemingly endless tunnels and they eventually discovered an old temple, the ceiling decorated with a realistic depiction of the night sky and…more disturbingly was an altar stained with blood as well as a blood stain beneath it that seemed to indicate that something crawled away after a sacrificed was performed.

The three, through some combination of exhaustion and stupidity, rested within the confines of the temple and were attacked by a ghost…The ghost appeared to have her belly torn open and a manacle on one of her writs. Clearly, this individual had been sacrificed on the aforementioned altar. In defending himself against the apparition, the ghost grasped Diederic’s wrist and infected the area. It never did heal properly.  

Soon after discovering the underground church, the three escaped into the wilderness. Violca left them to return to her people and Diederic and Leona made their way through the Cineris Forest. Leona informed the Knight that the forest was inhabited by the ‘fair folk’ and they must respect their laws – no shedding blood, no cutting branches, and leaving offerings of food and drink each evening.

The Redbreasts followed them into the forest and hunted them with hounds. When Diederic cut one of them down, he broke one the fair folks rules and awakened their hunt. Similar to the legend of the Wild Hunt, the fey hunted the mortals in their woods and only when Diederic proposed an alliance with the Redbreasts to fight against the Fair Folk, only to instantly betray the Redbreasts and slay them as an offering to the fey, did they let him and Leona go.

Once through the woods, they found themselves in Leona’s hometown of Birne. Diederic soon discovered the Birne’s founding families all practiced witchcraft, including Leona. They crafted, over countless years, a rune-engraved pentagram out of the root systems of the town’s apple orchard and within that orchard was a small shack, its basement riddled in corpses. The witches have been sacrificing people to appease the fey so their land and people would prosper. Recently, however, the land was suffering and more and more sacrifices were required, yet the fey were still not appeased, though none of the villagers knew why.

Though all of this knowledge enraged the Knight, nothing enraged him more than when he discovered that the oldest tradition of witches in Malosia were known as the Laginate Cabal. Instantly, Diederic believed that Lambrecht must have been pulled into Malosia as well. He knew the Priest would be seeking the Laginate Cabal for surly it was tied to the Laginate Grimoire the heretic had sought in their own world and betrayed Diederic for. Once Diederic learned that the Cabal likely resided near Caercaelum, he left Leona and Birne behind to seek his vengeance against Lambrecht.

Diederic was correctly, the Mists pulled Lambrecht into Malosia at the shortly before the Knight, though not in the same location. Lambrecht found himself in a snowdrift with nothing more than the prisoner garments he was entitled to on the day of his execution. The priest was saved by a young shepherd who also happened upon the Laginate Grimoire nearby. Once safely within a warm cave with the shepherd, Lambrecht killed the man, then took his warm clothing and the Grimoire for himself. The next day, Lambrecht traveled to the nearest town and wasted no time in establishing himself within the Empyrean Church as the chief advisor to the Pontiff Cornelis. Cornelis accepted Lambrecht’s wisdom in studying and practicing sorcery to defeat it.

While traveling, Diederic encountered Violca again and she insisted on accompanying him so she could witness the final formation of the land. Together they located the part of the Grimoire that was held by the Laginate Cabal. With it, Violca told Diederic it might be possible to send him home. Given such an opportunity, he would have been wise to at least make the attempt, but the vengeance obsessed fool refused to return without Lambrecht. He needed to see the Priest face justice. That, Violca said, could only be done if the two halves of the Grimoire were combined and even then, she was uncertain of the result.

As they approached the city of Caercaelum, Violca warned Diederic that bringing the two Grimoire halves close to one another would only cause the same plague of violence and madness he had witnessed in Jerusalem. This, however, had no effect on the single-minded Knight. Nothing mattered to him but his vengeance.

Predictably, madness and violence broke out wherever Diederic went and Lambrecht was not easily reached. The Priest, time and time again, used the power of the Grimoire to summon zombies to aid him and flee in the resulting chaos.

They chased the Priest through the city and the under tunnels of the city. This chase eventually lead Diederic and Violca to discover that the religion of the Empyrean Church was built on lies, for beneath the city of Caercaelum was another temple built on sacrifices and here Violca spoke in the voices of some great power, revealing the darkness and cruelty of the six scions worshiped by the church.

Eventually, Diederic and Violca encounter Lambrecht in a church gifted to him by the Pontiff. Here, they fought against Lambrecht and his undead minions with the Redbreasts by their side. The church began to burn as they battled and Lambrecht called upon all the power of the Grimoire. Diederic was able to break out of its influence once more by drinking holy water. Once freed, he attacked the Priest from behind then lifted him off the ground by his neck so his sentence would be carried out – death by hanging. Naturally, the priest came back as a zombie, but died a second time once Diederic burnt the Grimoire.

The city of Caercaelum saw Diederic as their hero, ending the plague of violence that infected the city by destroying the unholy priest and his grimoire, not knowing that it was the Knight who brought the plague upon them in the first place. In that moment, Violca saw that Diederic was finally claimed by the Mists and was now the Darklord of Malosia. He would never return home…but he found his vengeance.

There are no further accounts of this Knight’s Tale, but I suspect Lambrecht comes back every few years to harass him. Or someone similar to Lambrecht, which given the nature of Malosia’s citizens to practice witchcraft in secret at night while pretending to care about the Empyrean Church during the day, the land is full of potential Lambrechts to torment Diederic.

[darklordazalin]

Greetings, Lord Azalin. There is one question that torments me, I hope you can help me. What is the Ravenloft sky? And the underground layers? Is this some kind of qualitative illusion or is it really space? And how deep does the earth go? Every planet has a core of red-hot magma, but what is the structure of the earth's layers in Ravenloft? I will be glad to receive an answer.

The answer to your questions is complicated, for it depends which Domain one is in. In Bluetspur, for example, the sky is always dark and subjected to constant electric storms as if the entire domain was stuck in one of those plasma balls my son liked when he was little…In certain versions of Barovia, there is no true sunlight. The Shadow Rift’s sky is covered in a blanket of Mist, protecting the Shadow Fey from the sun’s harsh rays. Darkon, on the other hand, has a relatively normal sky…aside from the fact that the moon is always missing on the winter solstice.

As for how far the skies reach…I cannot say for none in the Domains of Dread have discovered space travel. It is a method of escape I have considered, yet is it an unlikely route. I suspect that, eventually, even one that flew to the moon would encounter the mists floating beyond the stars trapping them within.

How deep is the earth? That is not something I have explored myself and again, it does depend on which Domain one is in. Below the surface of Bluetspur are many tunnels and dwellings created by the Illithid…it is much like the ‘Underdark’ of other worlds. I suspect most of the other Domains have creatures dwelling beneath the earth…For example, there are odd creatures beneath the Keep in Nartok in my own Domain.

How deep the earth goes, I cannot say. These are magically created lands by god-like entities who’s goals and purpose none may truly understand. Much like the skies, however, I suspect at a certain depth, one would encounter the ever-present and insufferable Mists that bind us to these lands.  

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord 'The Lady of Ravens'

Domain: Isle of Ravens Domain Formation: 750 BC Power Level: 💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Domains of Dread (2e), van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (5e), Dark Vengeance by Fritz Leiber

How the Lady of Ravens became the Darklord of the small Domain simply known as the Isle of Ravens is wrapped in mystery. Even her true name is unknown.

The heavily forested Isle of Ravens can be found within the Nocturnal Sea, which lies to the east of Darkon and Nova Vaasa. The Lady of Ravens is said to be it’s only inhabitant, making her home in a tall tower at the very center of the island.

Rumors indicate she is a petite woman with pale skin and long, raven black hair. Sailors believe she is a powerful sorcerer. Whether or not this is true, well…she does have a tendency to permanently transform any humanoid foolish enough to step on the shores of her island into a raven.

These rumors come from one man she did not transform. A sailor who’s ship wrecked upon her shores. How he left her island unscratched when all of his shipmates were turned into ravens, to forever serve her, is unknown. More likely there is little truth to this tale and more a story for sailors to tell one another after long voyages at sea.

With very little information to go on and her only known ability is to turn people into birds, I do not believe this Darklord to be a very powerful or have much influence on the Demiplanes as a whole. But let us look at her potential for a moment.

The creation of the Lady of Ravens is based on the short story “Dark Vengeance” (later published as “Claws from the Night”) by Fritz Leiber. In this tale, a young woman trained ravens to steal jewels from the nobility who shunned her. She wore the guise of a bird goddess, Tyaa, and planned on reopening her temple and demanding blood sacrifices. Her disguise was discovered by the Grey Mouser and she was ultimately defeated by him and the barbarian, Fafhrd.

Taking this influence and expanding upon it, The Lady of Ravens would make an interesting Druid Darklord. Shunned by high society, she took refuge among the ravens that took residence in an abandoned temple. Here she used Awakening on the ravens and with their help sought vengeance against the nobility.

As a Darklord, her ravens obey her every command but no longer have the intelligent they once held, so she is forever isolated not only from the society she longed to be apart of, but from the companionship she once found in her ravens as well.