D&D General Reading Ravenloft the setting
- Thread starter humble minion
- Start date
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Its probably important to note that Karatakass is a twisted version of Cormyr, FR which is where Harkon Lukas came from. So you could look there for more inspiration
Also besides Feast of Goblyns, two novels were set in Karatakass featuring Harkon Lukas
Paul Farquhar
Legend
You can fight it, but it won't last a round, so what is the point?
Faolyn
(she/her)
IIRC, you're on a mountain trail at the time and there's the chance it could knock you off the ledge and cause you to fall to a crunchy death. But you can also play up being stalked for horror.
My headcanon is that you can't die of thirst or starvation in Ravenloft. That allows the population to be considerably larger than the local farmers can support, but makes people miserable, cranky, and sometimes desperate about food when it's available. It also means the monsters don't need to eat everyone, but they can eventually be driven crazy by hunger.
humble minion
Legend
And Darkon.
Gazetteer II starts as did I, with a brief explanatory note from our narrrator (who signed off as 'S' at the end of Gaz I, so with considerable relief I can stop typing 'our narrrator' all the damn time) about the the content and format of the Gazetteers, and that they are being compiled by Azalin's order, along with bunch of indignation and crankiness that Azalin makes portentious and occasionally arch comments on in sidenotes.
S talks about being directed to survey Darkon immediately after Kartakass, which is a bit of an inconvenience as they're at the opposite edges of the Core, and instead of waiting for a loooong haul journey in a carriage driven by Azalin's (probably undead) minions, hires some Vistani guides and makes the trip through the mists to Darkon in a day or so. This does raise a few questions, though. How reliable and routine is travel via the 'Vistani Railway'? There's quite a lot of Core domains that abut the Misty Border but share no land boundary - is there routine trade through the Mists (probably low-volume and high-value)? Do they keep in diplomatic contact this way? Presumably Vistani caravans aren't in the business of guiding invasion forces through the Mists, but what about small elite parties? It's not a question these books address even though they do discuss interdomain relations quite a bit - it's as if communication via Misty Border simply doesn't occur there (though it's been many years since I've read the VR Guide to the Mists, so it might be discussed there)
Darkon is very big, not far off comprising a full third of the land mass of the Core, so this section covers considerably more page count than any previous domains. It's also is more of a travelogue than we've seen in previous sections, as Darkon is not only big but actually one of the more diverse domains in the core, as a contrast to the monoculture theme-park feel of some of the smaller domains like Kartakass or the Island or Cluster domains.
In fact, Darkon reminds me almost as a mini-setting inside the setting, a domain with all the 'standard' D&D tropes, mostly Ravenloft-ised. It's fairly medieval, you've got a wide variety of different fantasy races here unlike many other domains, you've got magic in fairly routine use, also unlike many other domains. There's a lot more options for PCs here. It's almost like this is where the writers intend your PC to be from, before you head off into the wider world adventuring in more one-note domains like EgyptWorld or JackTheRipperWorld or DraculaWorld or whatever. I don't think it's coincidence that the two main viewpoint characters of the setting - Van Richten and S - are both native Darkonians. Though of course the nature of the domain does push things in the direction. After a couple of months in Darkon, any foreigner will wake up one morning with their memories wiped with no saving throw, and replaced by an entire lifetime of false memories in which they're Darkon natives. That imposes obvious hindrances to having foreign PCs adventuring here, especially since the only way of recovering your memories (other than leaving Darkon) is with artifact-level magic or the use of a book that's in Azalin's possession. And of course by that time the PC doesn't even want to regain their memories because it'd mean the loss of all their false ones. It's not really clear why this happens - I don't think Azalin's responsible (why would he bother?) and from the Dark Powers point of view the phenomenon doesn't seem to be torturing Azalin particularly, so I'm not sure it's them either. Anyone know? Anyway I do like the wrinkle where Darkonian natives dread stepping across the border, because if they do, they know they MIGHT lose all their Darkonian memories and discover they're really someone else and everything they believed was a lie. Quiet little bit of existential horror just there, eeeeegh.
Brief geographical survey. It's basically ticking the PC-origin boxes. In the north-east up against the Misty Border you have a community of elves centred around a magic tree that sucks up seawater from the east coast and filters it into a torrent of freshwater that becomes a river spanning the Core all the way to the west. In the mountains of the south-east you have dwarf-run mines, the hint of underground spider-worshipping dark elves, and one (possibly two) of Ravenloft's very, very few actual dragons. Why are there no dragon darklords? Anyway, as we go west we have dark forests, then a series of knightly keeps in a somewhat medieval central region, and then more modern renaissance/enlightenment type towns in once you reach the west coast, in keeping with the other domains in that area. Like i said, touching all the tropes.
In the middle is the weeping necromantic sore that is Necropolis, which was the capital until Azalin's latest plan to escape Ravenloft had a bit of an oopsie (described in the Grim Harvest series and the Requiem boxed set) and is now inhabitable only by the undead. More on Necropolis next, it's the next domain in the book.
Which basically sets the scene for the political situation. Azalin was gone for a few years after necromatically exploding himself along with his whole capital city, but he's back now. Unfortunately, his largely-undead secret police unravelled a bit in his absence and broke into factions, struck out on their own running crime syndicates or maneuvering for position or pursuing personal feuds or setting up imginary gods, etc etc. It's a bit of a mess, and while Azalin could probably sort it out personally in an afternoon, he claims it's necessary for his minions to do it as a learning exercise (also, he's probably already busy planning his latest catastropically magical attempt to escape, despite his protestations to the contrary). Add to this the mess that happens when your biggest city dies and becomes a permanent no-go zone severing your major travel arteries in the process, and several invasions from Falkovnia - there's a lot going on here right now and a lot that needs fixing. More about the Darkon/Falkovnia relationship when i get to Falkovnia, but suffice to say there's a very necromantic Tsarist Russia feeling to Darkon here. The single overlord in charge, the power of the state, the tame religion bound to the State, the greatcoats and furry hats and food, the secret police and the midnight knock on the door, even the geography, the massive country that spans the continent and contains many different terrains and peoples within it.
Azalin himself, well, the history is familiar. Obsessive wizard, comes to rule his country cos everyone else in power sucks at it, imposes harsh iron rule of law, ends up executing his son for breaking it, turns into lich, gets banished to Ravenloft, is now haunted by son's ghost and cursed not to be able to learn any more magic. Has run several epically magic schemes to get out, all of which have failed of course. He's in a weird spot here, thematically. In Barovia, for instance, all roads lead to Strahd. It's like the entire domain sucks you slowly and inexorably towards Castle Ravenloft and a confrontation with Strahd over Tatyana's latest incarnation. Not so here. Azalin is portrayed as more likely to be an ally of convenience than an enemy, against worse or more urgent problems like Necropolis or renegade Kargat or Drakov. Now this is partly, but not entirely, explainable by the fact S is a profoundly unreliable narrator. In fact, this seems to be a niche Azalin has filled for a long time. I can't think of a Ravenloft product (other than possibly a module in the really really old Grand Conjunction series?) where Azalin was unambiguously an enemy or a target. Of course, he's a very high-level lich wizard Darklord with an ancient dragon ally and an army of vampiric secret police and who can see/speak through every one of the teeming undead in his domain and who has and more magic items than you can easily count, so he wouldn't be an EASY target, but Azalin is treated more here as ... furniture. Or perhaps structural support beams would be a better metaphor. Same with Darkon itself. A structurally necessary part of the Ravenloft setting that holds the Core together. Azalin isn't plotting evil, particularly - instead he's busy planning ... drumroll ... new roads. And mandating education, and so on. He's got an odd conflict between his prorities - he wants to escape Ravenloft (Why? He's been here hundreds of years, what is there for him back home anyway?) but he's also devoted to law and organisation and strengthening his nation (which he is ... also desperately trying to abandon in favour of another world?), but his curse is supposedly targeting his weakest psychological point of ... stopping him learning magic? I guess his sin is his unbending need to not be defied, whether by his son or by the Dark Powers. But in that case why curse him with the inability to learn magic? It's a little muddled here.
What does that mean for Darkon in 5e? I'm not sure really. Of course it'll be there, but i can't begin to guess what it'll look like. Darkon is only vaguely a reflection of Azalin. Sure, the undead secret police and the armies of mindless undead that arise to face invasion and the custom-built religion that is built around the appeasement of the dead and undead - that's all very Azalin. But those are things that he crafted himself, deliberately, rather than something that was built around him by the Dark Powers. If, as it sounds, the 5e Raveloft breaks up the core and reinvents domains to closely reflect and focus on their Darklord, I'm not sure what that means for Darkon. I mean, I'm sure he'd be a perfect patron for the new undead-pact warlock subclass, but what trope of theme does he exemplify? What is the quintessential classic Azalin story analogous to what the Tatyana thing is for Strahd? He's basically the big scary lich wizard in Ravenloft because in the very early days of the setting it was decided that liches are big and scary and ravenloft was going to be the setting for big and scary so Ravenloft should have one of those. Without the Core, and without Strahd and Drakov and the rest to bounce off, does Azalin somewhat lack purpose, from a meta point of view? Azalin and Darkon have never really been weekend-in-hell fodder, they just don't really fit. The way this book is written, Darkon is a place to have small, lower-level adventures hunting lycanthropes or pseudonatural nymphs or whatever in Azalin's domain (there's LOTS of side-adventure hooks here, many many more than were listed for somewhere like Kartakass or Forlorn). There is some potential for coming up against Azalin and the power of the state when the vampire you're chasing, for instance, turns out to be a member of the Kargat secret police, and I guess since Falkovnia will be unrecognisable after the 5e book, then Azalin might take some of that domain's old 'nightmarish police state' vibes? But it would lack the 'the worst monster is a human' aspect that made the distinctly over-the-top Falkovnia just about work for me.
Why isn't the worship of the Lawgiver a thing in Darkon? Surely that's a god whose tenets Azalin could, if not exactly get behind, thoroughly agree with when it comes to other people obeying them. And Nova Vaasa is right next door, surely it's crossed the border from time to time?
Oh, and I'm going to whine about population again. I know i promised to stop complaining about population numbers being too low to sustain the portrayed economy and society, what bugs me here is that they simply don't add up. The population of Darkon is listed as 117000 with 1% dwarves. So about 1170 dwarves in total, right? Then we look at the major settlement listings. Sidnar, 1400 pop, 9% dwarves (approx 126). Karg, population 8500, 11% dwarf (935); Tempe Falls, population 2500, 70% dwarf (1750); Mayvin, pop 1500, 32% dwarf (around 480), Corvia, population 4400, 75% dwarf (3300 more), etc etc etc. The numbers just don't add up, and that's just bad and careless editing. On the other hand, the maps in this book are much, much higher-quality than the worthless greyscale smears in Gaz I, so that's a big plus.
Yet more emphasis on firearms. Darkon is listed as having a tech level from 'Dark Age' to 'Chivalric', but in the 'Darkonian Heroes' sidebar which talks about designing Darkonian PCs, one of the recommended feats is firearm proficiency. And there's a few mentions of Azalin's (living) military adopting and importing gunpowder weapons from Lamordia etc.
To finish off, S is invited to a soiree at Azalin's fortress, wisely avoids the wine, then realises that Azalin has portraits of most of the Darklords of the Core in his gallery already, and storms off in a huff believing the Gazetteer project is a big sick joke as Azalin obviously already knows everything. Later on however, S is confronted on a quiet road with massed skeletons who speak with Azalin's voice, and say that the Gazetteer project's true purpose is too secret to be discussed in public, and must continue. S is given an enchanted bracer to wear, as a safety measure.
I'm not sure you really can do an iconic Darkonian character image, the place is just too big and varied. But the random generator chose bard, and I'm going with a dwarf because heaven knows I'll have little enough chance to do non-human characters in the course of this re-read. I figure this guy is an Eloquence Bard, who travels widely across Darkon using his skills of persuasion as a trade factor for his hometown's foundries, and doing a bit of light monster hunting when he gets the chance - which is going to get him in trouble one day, because in Darkon a few too many of the monsters carry badges and report to the King...
Next up is Necropolis.
Gazetteer II starts as did I, with a brief explanatory note from our narrrator (who signed off as 'S' at the end of Gaz I, so with considerable relief I can stop typing 'our narrrator' all the damn time) about the the content and format of the Gazetteers, and that they are being compiled by Azalin's order, along with bunch of indignation and crankiness that Azalin makes portentious and occasionally arch comments on in sidenotes.
S talks about being directed to survey Darkon immediately after Kartakass, which is a bit of an inconvenience as they're at the opposite edges of the Core, and instead of waiting for a loooong haul journey in a carriage driven by Azalin's (probably undead) minions, hires some Vistani guides and makes the trip through the mists to Darkon in a day or so. This does raise a few questions, though. How reliable and routine is travel via the 'Vistani Railway'? There's quite a lot of Core domains that abut the Misty Border but share no land boundary - is there routine trade through the Mists (probably low-volume and high-value)? Do they keep in diplomatic contact this way? Presumably Vistani caravans aren't in the business of guiding invasion forces through the Mists, but what about small elite parties? It's not a question these books address even though they do discuss interdomain relations quite a bit - it's as if communication via Misty Border simply doesn't occur there (though it's been many years since I've read the VR Guide to the Mists, so it might be discussed there)
Darkon is very big, not far off comprising a full third of the land mass of the Core, so this section covers considerably more page count than any previous domains. It's also is more of a travelogue than we've seen in previous sections, as Darkon is not only big but actually one of the more diverse domains in the core, as a contrast to the monoculture theme-park feel of some of the smaller domains like Kartakass or the Island or Cluster domains.
In fact, Darkon reminds me almost as a mini-setting inside the setting, a domain with all the 'standard' D&D tropes, mostly Ravenloft-ised. It's fairly medieval, you've got a wide variety of different fantasy races here unlike many other domains, you've got magic in fairly routine use, also unlike many other domains. There's a lot more options for PCs here. It's almost like this is where the writers intend your PC to be from, before you head off into the wider world adventuring in more one-note domains like EgyptWorld or JackTheRipperWorld or DraculaWorld or whatever. I don't think it's coincidence that the two main viewpoint characters of the setting - Van Richten and S - are both native Darkonians. Though of course the nature of the domain does push things in the direction. After a couple of months in Darkon, any foreigner will wake up one morning with their memories wiped with no saving throw, and replaced by an entire lifetime of false memories in which they're Darkon natives. That imposes obvious hindrances to having foreign PCs adventuring here, especially since the only way of recovering your memories (other than leaving Darkon) is with artifact-level magic or the use of a book that's in Azalin's possession. And of course by that time the PC doesn't even want to regain their memories because it'd mean the loss of all their false ones. It's not really clear why this happens - I don't think Azalin's responsible (why would he bother?) and from the Dark Powers point of view the phenomenon doesn't seem to be torturing Azalin particularly, so I'm not sure it's them either. Anyone know? Anyway I do like the wrinkle where Darkonian natives dread stepping across the border, because if they do, they know they MIGHT lose all their Darkonian memories and discover they're really someone else and everything they believed was a lie. Quiet little bit of existential horror just there, eeeeegh.
Brief geographical survey. It's basically ticking the PC-origin boxes. In the north-east up against the Misty Border you have a community of elves centred around a magic tree that sucks up seawater from the east coast and filters it into a torrent of freshwater that becomes a river spanning the Core all the way to the west. In the mountains of the south-east you have dwarf-run mines, the hint of underground spider-worshipping dark elves, and one (possibly two) of Ravenloft's very, very few actual dragons. Why are there no dragon darklords? Anyway, as we go west we have dark forests, then a series of knightly keeps in a somewhat medieval central region, and then more modern renaissance/enlightenment type towns in once you reach the west coast, in keeping with the other domains in that area. Like i said, touching all the tropes.
In the middle is the weeping necromantic sore that is Necropolis, which was the capital until Azalin's latest plan to escape Ravenloft had a bit of an oopsie (described in the Grim Harvest series and the Requiem boxed set) and is now inhabitable only by the undead. More on Necropolis next, it's the next domain in the book.
Which basically sets the scene for the political situation. Azalin was gone for a few years after necromatically exploding himself along with his whole capital city, but he's back now. Unfortunately, his largely-undead secret police unravelled a bit in his absence and broke into factions, struck out on their own running crime syndicates or maneuvering for position or pursuing personal feuds or setting up imginary gods, etc etc. It's a bit of a mess, and while Azalin could probably sort it out personally in an afternoon, he claims it's necessary for his minions to do it as a learning exercise (also, he's probably already busy planning his latest catastropically magical attempt to escape, despite his protestations to the contrary). Add to this the mess that happens when your biggest city dies and becomes a permanent no-go zone severing your major travel arteries in the process, and several invasions from Falkovnia - there's a lot going on here right now and a lot that needs fixing. More about the Darkon/Falkovnia relationship when i get to Falkovnia, but suffice to say there's a very necromantic Tsarist Russia feeling to Darkon here. The single overlord in charge, the power of the state, the tame religion bound to the State, the greatcoats and furry hats and food, the secret police and the midnight knock on the door, even the geography, the massive country that spans the continent and contains many different terrains and peoples within it.
Azalin himself, well, the history is familiar. Obsessive wizard, comes to rule his country cos everyone else in power sucks at it, imposes harsh iron rule of law, ends up executing his son for breaking it, turns into lich, gets banished to Ravenloft, is now haunted by son's ghost and cursed not to be able to learn any more magic. Has run several epically magic schemes to get out, all of which have failed of course. He's in a weird spot here, thematically. In Barovia, for instance, all roads lead to Strahd. It's like the entire domain sucks you slowly and inexorably towards Castle Ravenloft and a confrontation with Strahd over Tatyana's latest incarnation. Not so here. Azalin is portrayed as more likely to be an ally of convenience than an enemy, against worse or more urgent problems like Necropolis or renegade Kargat or Drakov. Now this is partly, but not entirely, explainable by the fact S is a profoundly unreliable narrator. In fact, this seems to be a niche Azalin has filled for a long time. I can't think of a Ravenloft product (other than possibly a module in the really really old Grand Conjunction series?) where Azalin was unambiguously an enemy or a target. Of course, he's a very high-level lich wizard Darklord with an ancient dragon ally and an army of vampiric secret police and who can see/speak through every one of the teeming undead in his domain and who has and more magic items than you can easily count, so he wouldn't be an EASY target, but Azalin is treated more here as ... furniture. Or perhaps structural support beams would be a better metaphor. Same with Darkon itself. A structurally necessary part of the Ravenloft setting that holds the Core together. Azalin isn't plotting evil, particularly - instead he's busy planning ... drumroll ... new roads. And mandating education, and so on. He's got an odd conflict between his prorities - he wants to escape Ravenloft (Why? He's been here hundreds of years, what is there for him back home anyway?) but he's also devoted to law and organisation and strengthening his nation (which he is ... also desperately trying to abandon in favour of another world?), but his curse is supposedly targeting his weakest psychological point of ... stopping him learning magic? I guess his sin is his unbending need to not be defied, whether by his son or by the Dark Powers. But in that case why curse him with the inability to learn magic? It's a little muddled here.
What does that mean for Darkon in 5e? I'm not sure really. Of course it'll be there, but i can't begin to guess what it'll look like. Darkon is only vaguely a reflection of Azalin. Sure, the undead secret police and the armies of mindless undead that arise to face invasion and the custom-built religion that is built around the appeasement of the dead and undead - that's all very Azalin. But those are things that he crafted himself, deliberately, rather than something that was built around him by the Dark Powers. If, as it sounds, the 5e Raveloft breaks up the core and reinvents domains to closely reflect and focus on their Darklord, I'm not sure what that means for Darkon. I mean, I'm sure he'd be a perfect patron for the new undead-pact warlock subclass, but what trope of theme does he exemplify? What is the quintessential classic Azalin story analogous to what the Tatyana thing is for Strahd? He's basically the big scary lich wizard in Ravenloft because in the very early days of the setting it was decided that liches are big and scary and ravenloft was going to be the setting for big and scary so Ravenloft should have one of those. Without the Core, and without Strahd and Drakov and the rest to bounce off, does Azalin somewhat lack purpose, from a meta point of view? Azalin and Darkon have never really been weekend-in-hell fodder, they just don't really fit. The way this book is written, Darkon is a place to have small, lower-level adventures hunting lycanthropes or pseudonatural nymphs or whatever in Azalin's domain (there's LOTS of side-adventure hooks here, many many more than were listed for somewhere like Kartakass or Forlorn). There is some potential for coming up against Azalin and the power of the state when the vampire you're chasing, for instance, turns out to be a member of the Kargat secret police, and I guess since Falkovnia will be unrecognisable after the 5e book, then Azalin might take some of that domain's old 'nightmarish police state' vibes? But it would lack the 'the worst monster is a human' aspect that made the distinctly over-the-top Falkovnia just about work for me.
Why isn't the worship of the Lawgiver a thing in Darkon? Surely that's a god whose tenets Azalin could, if not exactly get behind, thoroughly agree with when it comes to other people obeying them. And Nova Vaasa is right next door, surely it's crossed the border from time to time?
Oh, and I'm going to whine about population again. I know i promised to stop complaining about population numbers being too low to sustain the portrayed economy and society, what bugs me here is that they simply don't add up. The population of Darkon is listed as 117000 with 1% dwarves. So about 1170 dwarves in total, right? Then we look at the major settlement listings. Sidnar, 1400 pop, 9% dwarves (approx 126). Karg, population 8500, 11% dwarf (935); Tempe Falls, population 2500, 70% dwarf (1750); Mayvin, pop 1500, 32% dwarf (around 480), Corvia, population 4400, 75% dwarf (3300 more), etc etc etc. The numbers just don't add up, and that's just bad and careless editing. On the other hand, the maps in this book are much, much higher-quality than the worthless greyscale smears in Gaz I, so that's a big plus.
Yet more emphasis on firearms. Darkon is listed as having a tech level from 'Dark Age' to 'Chivalric', but in the 'Darkonian Heroes' sidebar which talks about designing Darkonian PCs, one of the recommended feats is firearm proficiency. And there's a few mentions of Azalin's (living) military adopting and importing gunpowder weapons from Lamordia etc.
To finish off, S is invited to a soiree at Azalin's fortress, wisely avoids the wine, then realises that Azalin has portraits of most of the Darklords of the Core in his gallery already, and storms off in a huff believing the Gazetteer project is a big sick joke as Azalin obviously already knows everything. Later on however, S is confronted on a quiet road with massed skeletons who speak with Azalin's voice, and say that the Gazetteer project's true purpose is too secret to be discussed in public, and must continue. S is given an enchanted bracer to wear, as a safety measure.
I'm not sure you really can do an iconic Darkonian character image, the place is just too big and varied. But the random generator chose bard, and I'm going with a dwarf because heaven knows I'll have little enough chance to do non-human characters in the course of this re-read. I figure this guy is an Eloquence Bard, who travels widely across Darkon using his skills of persuasion as a trade factor for his hometown's foundries, and doing a bit of light monster hunting when he gets the chance - which is going to get him in trouble one day, because in Darkon a few too many of the monsters carry badges and report to the King...
Next up is Necropolis.
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humble minion
Legend
I honestly can't see any Cormyrian influence to Kartakass at all. Not even a dark mirror type vague similarity. The names are different (FR and Cormyrian naming conventions are very distinctive), the society, gods, culture are all different.
My feeling is that Harkon Lukas LIKED Cormyr, because it was a big powerful nation with a ruling king he could subvert or dominate or whatever, and so realise his dreams of power and glory. Ambition was always his thing. But the Dark Powers didn't want him to have any of that, so they deliberately stuck him somewhere as un-Cormyr-like as possible - a rural backwater with distinctly anarchist tendencies, where the highest office he can aspire to is the singing mayor of a small town.
Remathilis
Legend
The best description of Darkon I ever saw was here:
Darkon | Ravenloft: The Shadow Fallen | Obsidian Portal
Darkon is a huge and mighty nation, home to countless souls across a vast and varied land. To call Darkon an “island of terror” is to downplay its incredible siz
ravenloft-shadowfallen.obsidianportal.com
Darkon is the American Dream perverted. People of all races and cultures trading thier former identity for the security of the masses. They forget thier origins in an attempt to fit in. They know things are bad, but it's not as bad as "out there", and the Grim Harvest could be seen as a 9/11 type crisis in government; proof the system isn't infallible.
Azalin is basically bored at this point. He's playing games because there is no challenges left. He can't conquer other lands with swords, can't learn new magic, and can't ever leave. He plays with politics and religion because there is nothing left to do. His new tricks post Requiem is to see if he can conquer via economic and political means, but even then the curse of his domain thwarts that; Darkonians don't like to leave home due to the Curse.
As for the Lawgiver (Bane), Azalin was Oerth-born so he has no origin with the faith. He made his own civic faith to impose order, but it faltered while he was gone and the Church of Ezra ended up filling the void. Bane was never imposed on the masses and he's not something people chose willingly, esp with Ezra missionaries promising salvation though hunting the creatures of the night. Ezra's faith here is also at it's most zealous and evangelical, fitting for a domain that demands assimilation.
But yeah, at the end of the day, Darkon is D&D with the lights turned low. It's my favorite Domain for exactly that reason though, and it provides a good contrast the the Universal Monster movie sets that most Core domains end up looking like.
Voadam
Legend
Azalin has been a side bad guy who is not actually your target since he first showed up in I10, 1e's Ravenloft II The House on Gryphon Hill where he is the lich reluctantly working for Strahd. He is pretty much ready to call it a day and walk off the job for his own thing which can come out in interactions with the PCs.
I thought the magic/level curse was structurally unfortunate. It meant that while Strahd kept going up and down in power and magic with different presentations, Azalin was frozen with his spell list and cannot be a source of cool thematic Ravenloft spells. He can do big stuff with wish (and in 3e has more incentive than most to use big xp spells) but while Strahd is considered a top tier vampire in D&D lore, Azalin pales in comparison to a lot of other D&D liches in a number of ways the top Ravenloft lich darklord should be shining.
I thought the magic/level curse was structurally unfortunate. It meant that while Strahd kept going up and down in power and magic with different presentations, Azalin was frozen with his spell list and cannot be a source of cool thematic Ravenloft spells. He can do big stuff with wish (and in 3e has more incentive than most to use big xp spells) but while Strahd is considered a top tier vampire in D&D lore, Azalin pales in comparison to a lot of other D&D liches in a number of ways the top Ravenloft lich darklord should be shining.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Liches are far more of a regular D&D bad guy than a classic horror bad guy though. So maybe the Ravenloft spin is the lich is just the regular ruler and not the bad guy at all.
