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Message: <blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7494272" data-attributes="member: 6796566">Hmm.The "dark powers" are just vestiges, trapped in amber over a thousand years ago by the cabal of magisters that built the Amber Temple. There they were trapped long after they had driven the arcanists mad, though the silver dragon Arynvost thought it was important to keep the Temple secure and prevent them from being released. That raises the question, "what is Strahd doing that keeps them trapped, or what is it about his release that would end their imprisonment?"To me, it doesn't make sense for them to even seek to escape, at least not until they gain more power. Individually, they are simply vestiges of ancient entities. They have only enough power to grant a single gift. Collectively, however, they are The Dark Powers, and they can extend their influence much farther. How many souls an individual vestige would need to consume before it would seek to go off and do its own thing, I can't say... but it seems there would need to be many.Strahd and Barovia are one, linked by ancient ritual when he became its lord. When he became a vampire, that bond made all of Barovia vampiric, as well. Strahd feeds on the blood of adventurers and their souls become part of Barovia, woven into its fabric through reincarnation without end. That's the only way the barovians can raise their turnips and beets in a land that never sees direct sunlight - when Strahd feeds, the land of Barovia is nourished. When the curse of the dark gift took hold of Strahd, the bond between the land and the prince was corrupted to make Barovia his prison, but I don't see how that leads to the release of the dark powers if he ever finds release. Instead, it seems that as long as there is life in Barovia that Strahd will never truly die... unless the bond between them is broken.For Strahd to no longer be one with the land of Barovia requires the ancient ritual to be performed to bind the land to a new prince, and that requires following ancient laws. Those laws can acknowledge a new prince by right of heirship or by right of conquest. The heir of Strahd can be the heir of his body, which would be Eva/Katarina or one of her descendants. The right of heirship may also come to the heir of his blood, a full and free vampire. Either path of heirship requires Strahd to name the heir (by choice or by force) and then abdicate, die, or be removed from Barovia. Conquest is more straightforward, but would require the conqueror to hold dominion over the land of Barovia, meaning the Burgomasters of Barovia, Vallaki, Krezk, and Berez must bend the knee and acknowledge the conqueror as lord. I would also require the chieftain of the hill barbarians to do the same, which should be easy enough with the blood spear. How to become Burgomaster of Berez could be an interesting question to answer, possibly requiring the recovery of some regalia of office, but since Berez had a noble at the time the curse fell upon the land, that remains a knee that must be bent to acknowledge conquest. That leaves only the Order of the Silver Dragon at Argynvotholt. If the order is disbanded altogether when the dragon's skull is returned, it is a non-issue, but otherwise it might require Vladimir to be forced to bend the knee (perhaps threatening the soul of someone he cares about) or removing him from his position of leadership. I would suggest that any death from which "only a wish spell" can bring the subject back would be sufficient to lay a revenant to rest, but a more entertaining option would be to join the Order of the Silver Dragon, then challenge Vladimir for leadership and best him in a 1-on-1 honorable combat.So, what would happen to the "dark powers" if someone, either an heir or a conqueror, becomes prince of Barovia? I think nothing would happen at all. They would remain sealed in their amber vessels, waiting for the next opportunity to extend their corruptive influence. That might involve forging a soulmonger in the jungle of some far-off land, or granting a mad drow mage the ability to tear open a rift into the abyss.EDIT[HR][/HR]This also gives you an opportunity to make the Tome of Strahd worthwhile. Studying the Tome for a number of hours equal to 12 - the character's total Investigation bonus (minimum 1 hour, time cut in half for a character with the Sage background) will reveal the details of the ancient laws and Strahd's account of the ritual. A character able to cast the ceremony spell can study the account for 1 hour and make a DC 12 wisdom (Religion) check, and on a success that character knows how to use that spell to perform the Rite of Investiture, which requires a subject eligible under the ancient laws and has the Tome of Strahd as an additional material component, but is otherwise similar to the Rite of Dedication.</blockquote>

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