#curse of azalin?

[tea-with-eleni]

This week in Barovia Darkon....

Compiled from like four maps, including the VRGTR one. I had a proper think, read three of the Ravenloft books that detail information on Darkon/Azalin, read the VRGTR chapter on the topic and discarded most of it, and read part of an AD&D adventure set in Darkon/Barovia and discarded a lot of that, too.

Anyway. A few towns have flipped which side of the river they're on and I'm not 100% sure I have ALL small settlements, but if you want a high resolution map of Darkon for your adventures, hit me up?

But I digress.

This week, my players headed to Tempe Falls and were shocked to find a relatively normal town. Like. Okay, it's boring, but that seemed to be the worst of it. There was way more racial diversity than they're used to (Barovia being almost entirely humans with the odd dusk elf for variety). The innkeeper cheerily sold them four rooms and they settled in to enjoy some decent dwarven alcohol.

(Their was a funny moment when everyone collectively realized that a: they have a TON of gold and jewels from the amber temple and b: they probably can't use the gold because it all has Strahd's face on it and all they know about Darkon is that it went to war with Barovia at some point in the past.)

There were some people in the inn: assorted traders, a clerk who appeared to be staying in town while doing some audits or paperwork or something, and a couple of guard/soldier types with some kind of chain denoting rank as part of their uniform. They also had a chat with a somewhat disoriented sorcerer, one Firan Zal'honen. He claims to have only emerged from the mists himself a few weeks ago. I'm sure he's nothing to worry about. It's fine.

Anyway.

The party traded gold for a carriage and two draft horses, on the grounds that they now have

the cleric

the rogue

the fighter

the artificer

the wizard

the bard

Ireena Kolyana

Ludmilla Vilisevic

Volenta Popofsky

and of those, the wizard, the artificer, and the two vampires have issues with sunlight. Oh, and Darkon has an excess of suns. It's fine.

They then decided that they ought to try and find a larger town. The innkeeper gave them the skinny and said that Corvia is a decently big place, but Il Aluk is an actual city. She also warned them to please, fucking PLEASE follow the laws or else they're likely to end up in a world of trouble. The party did briefly lose their minds when they noticed a piebald raven flying around town that headed back to the inn where they're staying. Again, it's fine.

Then they headed out of the Balinok mountains and into the foothills and the town of Mayvin. It's a gnomish town with a massive clocktower and patent hall; the artificer is delighted.

The local scuttlebut is that something really fucking bad happened in Il Aluk and the golden star in the sky overhead appeared shortly thereafter. So naturally my players are like, "WELL WE GOTTA GO THERE!" They also heard the name "Castle Avernus" and the fighter (originally and quite recently from the Forgotten Realms) started freaking out about Elturel. The players also noticed something really off about the (as yet unnamed) Kargat stationed in Mayvin. I ruled that they have no good way of knowing exactly what the Kargat are, though, since the concept of ghouled mortals is basically nonexistent in DnD. (I saw a sidebar in the Ravenloft Gazetteer and thought it was interesting enough to include it...)

My reading list for this week is the first half of The Neverending Story, because I feel like The Nothing is a decent analogue for what's happening, slowly, to Avernus while Firan is swanning about near the borders.

[old-world-bird]

Lady Strahd, everyone! With the ominous shadow, some flower symbolism, and pretentious candelabra!

This piece was commissioned for another person's CoS game More about commissions

[mimudraeg]

High effort memes

[emmfairy]

I started reading I, Strahd The War Against Azalin and so far it's giving:

[terrified-spider]

An Azalin Rex sketch (:

[mincemeat-the-warforged]

@yarrow-leaf has been telling me abt strahds war with azalin recently. this is how it went right

[vanhelsingapologist]

Ireena: girlboss

Ismark: soft girlfail

Godfrey: girlfail

Donavich: fail

Davian: generational trauma girlboss

Arrigal: girlboss

Arabelle: girlboss slay

Kasimir: the original girlfail and now girlfails as a living

Clovin: tentative girlboss

Ezmerelda: girlboss

Van Richten: girlfail

Nikolai Wachter, Sr.: controversial but girlboss

Parriwimple: girlboss

Pidlwick II: girlCEO

Sir Klutz: girlfail by name but girlboss in all else

Victor Vallakovich: girlfailure. he girlfails so hard that he gets the full word

Stella Wachter: girlboss by Fiona Wachter association

Vasilka: guys I’m so sorry but she’s a girlfail. Her life is girlfail

Zuleika: girlboss AWOOO

[mx-lamour]

Really appalled that I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin never actually reveals what happened in Mordent. The information/memory is never recovered. Baffling. Is it in another book? Which one?

[knightofthewood]

So, in VRGTR

Darkon has a brief mention of something called the "Hour of Ascension," and Firan is listed under the mist walkers. What if it was the event that split apart not only himself but The Core and is why the domains just drift in the Shadowfell.

So instead of Mordenkainen as the Mad Mage in your Curse of Strahd game, you use Firan. Have a plot of him having only little memories before fighting Strahd with Doru. Only to meet "Death" later, and merge back into Azalin like V in DMC 5

[barovianchickenandwaffles]

The Lost Manuscript: another Barovian Tale

(Dedicated to @darklordazalin )

So, there I was one night hauling trash to the heap out back behind BCnW, when a looming shadow rose from behind it. Now, as any Barovian knows, looming shadows arising from behind are bad.

But instead of some nameless horror, it was a young man in a black, uniform, stained with much blood. His own.

He collapsed in a heap, on the heap, and reached out to me. “Please,” he said weakly.

“Sorry, pal, no refunds.”

“No, my name is Domran, and I am a junior officer with the Kargat.”

Aww, crap, it was the fuzz. What did I do this time? I paid Rahadin’s last kickback on time.

Wait, the Kargat serve Lord Azalin, or as we Barovians are commanded to call him, “Stupid Face Jerk Nerd”.

“What does Stupid Face—, er, Lord Azalin want here?”

Domran the Kargat agent explained, “We Kargat agents were dispatched to Barovia to retrieve a copy of a manuscript called The Lord of the Necropolis.”

“That’s everywhere. Where do you think I get such a steady supply of toilet p-, er, reading material at BCnW?”

“No!” gasped Domran, “this one is different. It is said that this is a lost manuscript with an alternate ending, one that contains some hidden secret. Lord Azalin dispatched us to find it.”

I nodded, “cool story, bruh, but nothing like that here.”

“Please,” he said with his last breath, “help me complete my mission. Lord Azalin would no doubt be grateful.”

Well, I had always wanted to expand into Darkon. My ventures in Sithicus and Falkovnia were both spectacular failures. But this time, I could not fail.

“You got it, Donnie.”

“Domr—“ he gasped as he died.

After disposing the body in the heap, I returned to the shop.

“Gary, you’re in charge for a while.”

Gary, the High-master Illithid / barista waved his facial tentacles for a moment. “Looking for that lost manuscript, boss?” came a smooth, unnerving voice in my head.

Great. That’s what happens when you hire a powerful psychic monster as your hardworking, but traitorous employee.

“I pulled from his mind clues to help in your search,” he continued in my head, “it seems there is a ruined monastery hidden on the cliff side beneath Krezk. It is perilous to retrieve it.”

“The only thing in peril is your salary,” I said audibly, “if you don’t mind the shop while I am gone.”

Gary’s was silent. I then threw him a bone. “The body’s out back. It’s still warm. Go nuts.”

Gary’s tentacles wriggled. “I prefer fresher quarry, but it’s been a long shift and I am famished.”

As I assembled some supplies in the pantry, Viktor the Pantry Ghost / ex-intern appeared from the shadows.

Moaning, he said, “going on a quest again? It sure would be a shame if you died, and I wouldn’t be bound to this pantry any more.”

I rolled my eyes, shoving the last of the supplies in my rucksack. “Don’t celebrate my death yet, Viktor.”

And thus I set out from Barovia village to Krezk. It was a miserable journey even by Barovian standards. I made the mistake of picking up an adventuring party on my mule-drawn cart. The elderly wizard of the group, whom everyone obviously disliked but had to tolerate, wouldn’t stop droning on and on and on about his old adventures decades past. Then, he would launch into another tirade about how wizards nowadays sucked and didn’t respect magic anymore. Finally he’d complain about his knees for the 100th time. It was so bad, the usual spooks that infest the woods avoided us.

When he stopped to use the restroom in the woods, in true Barovian fashion, we took off without him. The party thanked me later.

“If he ever tracks you down, just blame it on werewolves. Works every time,” I left them some parting advice. They left me a few silver to compensate. Not bad.

Krezk, Krezk, Krezk. What can I say about it? It’s a crappy town, but then everything’s crappy in Barovia, just in different ways. The Devil Strahd holds less sway here, but the Krezk nightlife is kind of … meh. These people don’t get out much, and don’t welcome outsiders. I had to bring a shipment of syrup for trade to get in the door. This will set me back a bit.

And once I got past the village gate, that was when I ran into my rival, Vlad, owner of Barovian Weiners and Pancakes.

“Hello, Vlad” I said icily as we passed one another.

With a smirk he said, “oh hello, Oleksii. You’re looking well. Profits good?”

Of course he already knew the answer so I ignored the slight. “How’s the new barista working out?”

Word gets around, Vlad had copied my idea, and hired a barista hailing from a distant plane.

“Oh, John the Thri-Kreen? He’s great! Doesn’t say much, but with so many arms he’s twice as fast as Gary.”

“Twice as hungry too,” I thought to myself. Vlad won’t last long with that monstrosity under his employ. I wouldnt shed any tears though.

Getting to Krezk is one thing, finding the Lost Manuscript is another.

Or not.

Turns out BWnP already found it. On Vlad’s tacky storefront was a signboard: “See the lost manuscript of Lord Azalin, and its alternate ending! For a limited time with a purchase of a Vlady Big Weiner Meal!”

I swallowed my pride and went in. I purchased a meal using copper slugs, and there it was in a glass case, enshrined in a gaudy altar, surrounded by candles: Lord of the Necropolis, alternate ending!

As I filed into the queue to get a closer look, I wracked my brains for how to open the altar without being caught, smuggled the manuscript out of town, and avoid the authorities.

Then I remembered the classic Barovian gambit: the Smash N Grab.

With my trusty crowbar in my pack (never leave home without one), I yelled, “hey is that Strahd over there, wearing beach sandals?” pointing in some random direction.

As soon as everyone’s eyes were turned, I drew out the crowbar, smashed the glass, and snatched the manuscript from the altar.

What happened next was a good ol Barovian Cart Chase. Using some tricks I learned from a pair of Dukes reputedly from the domain of Hazárd, I eluded the Krezk constabulary, busted out of the town and managed to lose them halfway to Vallaki. Last I saw Vlad, he was shaking his fist at me, just as his Thri-Kreen employee appeared right behind him with a hungry look on its face.

Back in Barovia village, I finally could rest easy. I parked back behind BCnW and prepared for Vlad’s inevitable counterattack. Content with my defenses, I finally cracked open the book and flipped toward the end. Gary slinked behind me and read over my shoulder.

Turns out, someone had simply crossed out the last chapter or so from a regular copy, and instead added the following:

“When Azalin came to, he was lying on a bed of flowers, seared by the powerful magic he had contended with. He looked at his hands in horror, realizing that he had been thrust back into his original lich form.

“With a cry of anguish, he cursed his tormentors one more. Then he froze. This was no ordinary garden. He knew it well. It was the garden in Castle Ravenloft. What had his tormentors planned this time?

“Then he knew he wasn’t alone. Behind him, the presence of Strahd Von Zarovich oozed from below the floor like black ink. ‘So, we meet again,’ said the silky baritone voice.

“‘Once again, our tormentors have seen fit to throw us into the ring once more,’ Azalin replied in irritation, his mind racing to line up the spells he’d need to fend off Strahd.

“But Strahd didn’t attack. He held out his hand to help Azalin up. ‘I know that pain well.’

“Azalin stared into Strahd’s feral, red eyes for a long time. ‘This is what it sounds like when doves cry.’

“The two Darklords embraced for a moment, and Strahd said, ‘I know a good bratwurst and pancake place in Krezk, let’s go.’

The End.”

Dammit, Vlad.

[tea-with-eleni]

Meanwhile in Darkon...

So this week, PARTY AT CASTLE AVERNUS!

Dinner with Lord Darcalus!

Awkward conversations with Baron Alcio Metus! Who, this playthrough only? Is more overtly embracing the they/them. They also aren't gunning for the darklord position, because Darcalus was obviously the darklord, right?

A ghost of Irik Zal'honen appears to the rogue and Ireena! Ireena, because she's also the lynchpin of a darklord's curse, the rogue because he resonated most with Irik himself. The ghost begged them to prevent his father from seeking revenge against Lord Darcalus, his killer. They followed as Firan Zal'honen slipped away to look for Darcalus's phylactery... and were promptly followed by the cleric and artificer on a merry journey up and up and up and up and up and up and UP Castle Avernus.

(Castle Avernus is VERY tall.)

(I tried to turn the shitty scan of the poster map from the AD&D "From the Shadows" module into something usable but it's going to take a while to untangle. Whoever gave it giant round central keeps and sundry towers with no good illustration of the castle as a whole should be thrown off the topmost tower.)

The rogue tried to reason with Firan, but Firan was very determined to have his vengeance (or justice?)

But upon reaching the phylactery room, Firan realized that he was, in fact, the lich he sought all along.....

(Am I 100% ripping off King of the Dead? Yes. Yes I am. In our timeline, War Against Azalin happened. THEN Lord of the Necropolis happened. THEN King of the Dead happened. It kinda works and also lets me destroy Il Aluk which sorta works with the Ravenloft Gazetteer copy I found.........At this point I've basically thrown out most of the fifth edition stuff on Darkon. It's cool if you want to do the Neverending Story, but I want to do Darkon so...)

The artificer tried to grab Firan’s phylactery and book it. Fortunately, he failed a save against “hold person”.

Anyway, we ended the session with the party regrouping and revealing that, shit, we found another Darklord, do we have to kill this one too, while Firan enters the room and everyone recognizes the Azal'lan... Azalin Rex has arrived.

[enzomancer]

indulgent Procreate edit of a mechanical pencil sketch of my Curse of Strahd pc, Lorenzo (dhampir necromancer, 29, bisexual disaster, cursed)

I’ve never played a character so addicted to Situations. He is constantly courting Situations. Last session, Azalin Rex himself told Lorenzo that he isn’t cut out to be a Dark Lord, which was a rare piece of good news about his Current Situation, but also… rude. But he ended the session seven skeletons richer than he started, so maybe things are looking up.

[mimudraeg]

Cheap commissions are a-go!

Any and all characters from any fandom are welcome. I specialize in a semi-realistic artstyle, but I'm able to go chibi or stylized as well!

If you want a design sheet for your new DnD character, a digital painting of your beloved pet, a meme comic template, or anything else you can think of, I can draw it!

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[ID: $25 for fully shaded, $15 for flat color, $10 for lineart. In progress sketches will be sent for approval before completion! Edits and feedback always encouraged. Head-shots, half-bodies, and full-bodies are all the same price! Simple backgrounds are free. Complex backgrounds are an extra $5 Will do: Anthro, mechs, armor, animals, architecture, multiple characters, comics, N.S.F.W.(18+) ]

[emmfairy]

I'm so sorry I post so many excerpts from the I, Strahd books, but please, somebody else, PLEASE chortle at Azalin absolutely dragging Strahd to FILTH over his castle like a judgmental PTA mom gossiping with the other moms.

[theoscout]

Connecting the books to the games

I've noticed that the Strahd as written in PN Elrod's novels is pretty different to the Strahd written in the other novels, to the point where I feel like it would change the whole damn storyline. But I've come up with an explanation with this change in personality which only uses published events.

Strahd and Azalin end up in Mordentshire after their portal thing goes wrong, and they decide to build the apparatus in order to try and turn themselves back into humans again. Strahd ends up splitting himself in two and the events of Gryphon Hill happen. Azalin is possibly the first to use the machine, but ends up teleporting somewhere else as a side effect and Strahd fixes the thing that made him teleport without using it on himself. The events of King of The Dead happen before the events of Gryphon Hill, while Strahd is making modifications to the machine.

Alchemist is every good quality about Strahd, and also his ideal form that he created for himself.

At the end they both fall off the cliff, but since they're already separated, Creature is unaffected by Alchemist's death and survives, but barely. Alternatively he dies but since he's far more darklord than Alchemist is, the mists resurrect him back in Barovia without Alchemist.

So Alchemist represented everything good and lawful about Creature, even if it wasn't much, was all gone. That's why the Strahd which went from calling wolves his 4 legged children and adoring them, looking after small children, shapeshifting into mist to avoid hurting bats and just not being evil for the sake of evil ended up turning into the thing from curse of strahd, and the Strahd from VOTM that summoned wolves and had them cannabalise each other for no reason aside from showing off his power.

[ravenloftbythelamplight]

Dialogue is already something when you're a professional over-thinker, but dialogue for characters who already exist and have personalities and ways of speaking? Also something