Spotlight on Valachan

[Five]

Hey. I'm a nobody. Hi.

Recently, I've been contemplating the various domains and I've found my imagination drawn to the darker, or, what I'd call, the 'lesser developed' domains of the Core. Y'know, the ones with (developmental) cobwebs still on 'em. And lo and behold, my mind got pleasantly mired in Valachan.

At first I was a bit peeved that there wasn't an awful lot of information to be found about this domain, but then I realized that this was the perfect sandbox to kick around in. Maybe my search just isn't as complete as it should be? But, all the same, I came to really dig this place.

Here we have a small population residing off the beaten track. Sea to the west (sailor's delight; DM's 'open world' contingency), Mordent to the north (Legend Trippers unite), and Invidia to the east (what happens in Invidia, stays in Invidia wink wink). A perfect place for our weekend warriors to come home, kick their feet up, slam back a few pints, and get completely mauled on their way to bed. Throw in some downtime of having to roll up their sleeves just to earn their keep (and to pay for their next weekend out), a little bit of dodge the Black Leopards (or declaw on the downlow, if that's their thing), and you got a nice down-to-earth domain that, due to location, can easily keep the pace of a non-epic group of characters.

Now, here comes the purpose of my topic/post: Does anybody have any specific ideas about Valachan? Plots. Encounters. Cultural quirks. Places to go. High and low profile NPCs. What about Baron Urik von Kharkov? What does his smile look like? You know what I mean. Lady Adelaide, female Darth Vader? The Black Leopards' tactics? Key figures?

I'm just trying to flesh this domain out to something more than what it has been, in my opinion. And if anybody has spent any time in Valachan and wants to share their exploits, then please do so. I'm not looking to rip ideas, just to bounce, pass. Share. Whatever.

By the way, I've already read the FoS entry on 'Domain of the Month', so the ideas there have been categorically brainlogged and are there in the link if there are any likeminded people out there interested.

Hopefully, the purpose of this topic/thread is to bang out a 3D model of Valachan. A place to go that's not 'mainstreamed'.

Anybody? Anything?

Thanks.

[brilliantlight]

I think the first step is to flesh out the DL a bit more making him more unique. Some here have mentioned simularities between his background and a short story called "The Lottery". This could well be beefed up. Maybe a lottery is held for his next bride every year, probably on the aniversery of Salenia's death. The fact that he winds up paranoid and killing his new bride every time suggests that beneath his sophisticated exterior he has a hair trigger temper and suffers from severe paranoia. You might also have the murder be a reinactment of Salenia's.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Politically, Valachan may be considered a colony of Darkon. Baron Urik von Kharkov was a Kargat vampire before he was a darklord. His "founding" of a new domain could have been spun as the expanding sphere of Azalin. Without a port of its own, Valachan would depend on Mordentshire for river and sea trade.

There is more than enough racism to go around in Ravenloft, but the dark-skinned Valachani are used to the chilly reception they get from Mordentmen. This has made Valachan very self-sufficient despite what could be a lively river trade.

I had never heard Lady Adelaide refered to as a female Darth Vader, but I'd love to see justification for it. As written, she seems to fall into the cookie cutter of every villainess: woman who preys on men (Zzzzzz).

Thematically, Valachan is a cat domain surrounded by dogs (Verbrek, Invidia and in some campaigns Farelle) who would have a rivalry with them, as well as humans (Mordent) who would try to tame them. Such is the life of the cat: convincing the human to feed you and care for you and protect you from your enemies, while you complete plans of you own (looks suspiciously at my wife's cat.....)

[brilliantlight]

Politically, Valachan may be considered a colony of Darkon. Baron Urik von Kharkov was a Kargat vampire before he was a darklord. His "founding" of a new domain could have been spun as the expanding sphere of Azalin. Without a port of its own, Valachan would depend on Mordentshire for river and sea trade.

There is more than enough racism to go around in Ravenloft, but the dark-skinned Valachani are used to the chilly reception they get from Mordentmen. This has made Valachan very self-sufficient despite what could be a lively river trade.

I had never heard Lady Adelaide refered to as a female Darth Vader, but I'd love to see justification for it. As written, she seems to fall into the cookie cutter of every villainess: woman who preys on men (Zzzzzz).

Thematically, Valachan is a cat domain surrounded by dogs (Verbrek, Invidia and in some campaigns Farelle) who would have a rivalry with them, as well as humans (Mordent) who would try to tame them. Such is the life of the cat: convincing the human to feed you and care for you and protect you from your enemies, while you complete plans of you own (looks suspiciously at my wife's cat.....)

Azalin has no real way of enforcing anything in Valachan so I can't see how it could be a colony of any sort. If Kharkov tells Azalin to get lost Azalin can't do much. He could get into a sort of assassin war with Kharkov but he tried that with Strahd and that didn't end well.

The racism angle is overdone these days and is fast becoming cliche. It makes it too predictible these days IMO.

I agree the female Darth Vader is a good idea if fleshed out. OTOH her preying on men is quite different than normal as she isn't seducing them which is the norm in fiction.

The cat angle might work well I admit and would increase its uniqueness. If you can figure out a way to use the cat vs dogs angle it could be interesting.

[Manofevil]

Azalin can be said , however, to have a certain amount of influence with Kharkov, for as long as Azalin doesn't do WRONG by him, Kharkov isn't likely to turn on possibly the one man who ever did RIGHT by him. That's one of Azalin's unique characteristics. He's not really a complete anathema to good people. If anything, good people are more useful to him than bad, largely because they're less like to lie to him or try to deceive him the way every single aristocrat who serves under him does as part of his curse. I suppose that could be translated into Kharkov's character. He had a certain example set for set for him by Azalin. That could be something he tries, and fails, to live up to. :/

[brilliantlight]

Azalin can be said , however, to have a certain amount of influence with Kharkov, for as long as Azalin doesn't do WRONG by him, Kharkov isn't likely to turn on possibly the one man who ever did RIGHT by him. That's one of Azalin's unique characteristics. He's not really a complete anathema to good people. If anything, good people are more useful to him than bad, largely because they're less like to lie to him or try to deceive him the way every single aristocrat who serves under him does as part of his curse. I suppose that could be translated into Kharkov's character. He had a certain example set for set for him by Azalin. That could be something he tries, and fails, to live up to. :/

Good point. He did seek out the vampire to join the Kargat which did happen. He can't really blame Azalin for what happened only himself.

[Deewun]

I love Valachan. I've spent a long time planning a campaign going straight through it, hitting every adventure that is written there along the way. Kharov is pretty awesome in my book, and has some very unique goals and details. I'm just gonna list all the ideas I had running through my head for this campaign:

- The Dogs v. Cats thing, while there, wasn't particularly useful as a way to delve into the domain as a whole, though an entire campaign could be built around it. I just don't think it actually exists there as subtext. A good place to delve into this is with the Family Feud adventure in the Chilling Tales book.

- The topography of Valachan is crazy, a mishmash of places and biomes that couldn't exist in the real world, much how Kharkov is a mishmash of fantasy backgrounds. This is a hot and humid jungle, yet with temperate wild life, and devastatingly cold winters and high mountains, as well as a land that is known for the most delicious fungus in the Core. It is dense with trees and undergrowth, yet completely open and airy. Valachan is a place that is away from most of the dangers of the world, and for the most part, a relatively safe place to live, in Ravenloft. You have to worry about the White Fever (which isn't real anyway, but shhh) and the occasional wild cat attack, but as long as you deal with the strict laws of the place, you'll be handled well.

- The White Fever brings up interesting ideas. An unsolvable disease would bring experts for samples and study. How many scholars sent grad students in Valachan to gather information on the disease, to never hear from them again. A "Livingston, I presume" style hook could easily take people into Valachan for a short excursion.

- On that note, Kharkov's lawfulness is a huge part of the domain. Especially within the character himself, as it is a self-imposed lawfulness. IMC, Kharkov was a prim and proper man, constantly fighting against his natural animal instincts, not because it tormented him, but because he "knew better" and was raised better. All he ever really wanted was to be a cat again. To stop having to worry about life as a human, and etiquette. But the time he as spent as a man has forever tainted him, and being a cat is no longer satisfying either.

- The lottery aspects are interesting, and certainly something that can be played up. But I find the actual aspects of Kharkov's charisma more interesting. He kills his wives immediately, because he cannot help it. His animal nature. Yet, wouldn't a man of class and etiquette (and a whopping 17 Charisma in 2nd edition) want the companionship of a woman? What if it isn't even a physical companionship? He surrounds himself with Adeline, who is a woman, as his chief counsel. This is a man who is very progressive for his time. Even worse, what if he cozied up to your party, and wooed, the old fashioned way, someone in it, an NPC or even a PC? His lawful nature can easily hide his evil urges at first glance.

- I love knowing that Valachan is a country that requires the change of currency. It hints to the were-creature natures of the land, as well as shows the lawfulness of nature. Valachan isn't a military state like Falkovnia, yet it has a strong miltary, and very introspective governmental nature.

- I had as a large section of my campaign through Valachan the nature of Kharkov trying to leave the land to roam free, once he heard of the Wildlands, where he could naturally fit in and shed his human skin and be a cat again, yet the animals speak and have thought. That is an intriguing proposition. What if he got his hands on the Apparatus? What if he was able to escape his dark hold on the land by having Adeline do her worst, and the dark powers shifted control to her, much like what happened with Verbek?

I highly recommend all the Dungeon articles on Valachan, with their adventures. They are immense, and Felkovic's Cat is hands down one of my favorite adventures I've read in Ravenloft.

Like I said, I love this domain. It gets the short end of the stick all too often. If I can dig up any more of my notes and ideas from that (failed) campaign, I'll bring them up.

Speaking of, can a brother get a Von Kharkov profile picture?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

- The Dogs v. Cats thing, while there, wasn't particularly useful as a way to delve into the domain as a whole, though an entire campaign could be built around it. I just don't think it actually exists there as subtext.

I agree that the "cat" imagery hasn't really been played up as much as it could be, and would further point out that Von Kharkov is a leopard, not a housecat. (That's more Malken's style.) Rather than the purring mooch that stares and/or pesters you into feeding it, he ought to be the silent, unnerving menace that lurks just outside the campfire's light: never detected, save when he chooses to intimidate his quarry with a low growl; his presence, proven only when the light of day reveals that your dog, or your goat, or your five-year-old has been seized by the throat and dragged away without a cry. Same for his leopard-man thugs, who ought to be making dissidents vanish without a trace rather than beating them up in public.

Yes, leopards eat dogs. Some even seem to prefer dogs as prey, which puts a new spin on the "cat-land encircled by dog territory" premise.

[Manofevil]

It might be a presumption that he is a melanistic leopard rather than jaguar as both are considered panthers and he did not originate on Earth. He could even be considered a different species of cat entirely, maybe a melanistic lion, but since leopards are african and jaguars are south american and Kharkov is designed to appeal to ...a certain demographic, I guess he really is a leopard. Also since Kharkov and Hazlik come from the same place, has there ever been a connection?

So when are we gonna see a Von Kharkov smiley?

[Ryan Naylor]

By the way, it's Lady Adeline not Lady Adelaide.

[ewancummins]

The demiplane isn't a planet, much less one with realistic geography and climate, so I don't think it matters if the Valachan seems odd to us. The seasons, sun, moon, horizon, etc- none of it makes sense in Ravenloft, if we try to impose our understanding of such things as derived from the real world. The real question is :do the natives think Valachan's weather, landforms, etc are strange?

I do make use of some Eath-based models, of course. That helps keep the world comprehensible, even as it remains weird.

I have never seen the forests of Valachan as tropical jungle. It's not described as such in any of the books I own. It's temperate evergreen woods, according to the Ravenloft PHB. Of course, it may be something else in other DM's games. There is no one true way to handle the setting.

As far as panthers go, what's the issue? We have mountain lions in the Pacific Northwest, and evergreen temperate forests. Mountain lions are also known as cougars, pumas, catamounts, and ...Panthers.

Ravenloft isn't Earth. Why not have black leopards, jaguars, or whatever large cat you like live in temperate Valachan?

Where do elves live on Earth? How about vampires? Dwarves?


YMMV

[ewancummins]

IMC, many of the slaves in Arkandale are descended from Valachani folk sold by Urik Von Kharkov and his predecessors on the throne of Valachan.

[Five]

First, I'm gonna take a shot at dissecting The Baron.

Thematically, I see Baron Urik Von Kharkov as a mash-up of practically every mainstreamed literary monster. Shades of 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' (only reverse-engineered; magically as opposed to scientific), the Universal triumvirate: 'The Wolfman' (therianthrope), 'Dracula' (vampire), and 'Frankenstein' (again, external creation, only moreso the 'Am I human' emotional aspect/philosophy of Frankenstein's Monster), and 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' (conflicting egos/entities).

Originally, I thought this Dark Lord was a half-assed attempt at fleshing out the Core. But when I sat back and started to let my mind go, I realized that this multi (x5) pseudonym of a character was really appealing. There is just so much to work with.

I'll start with some of my shortnote observations on his description as written in Domains of Dread.

1) "Von Kharkov began life as a panther, but he was polymorphed into a full-grown human by a Red Wizard of Thay. He was promptly named and titled by the wizard, then schooled and trained for combat. Because of his feline heritage, he displayed a strong tendency toward violence and treachery."

Here we see that he is a creation. NEVER will he be truly human. And it is that knowledge that one could have plague him to this day. It is during this time that The Baron would feel the first effects of his conflicting nature. Trying to tame the beast, which is, in essence, his true self. It's a battle doomed for failure.

2) "Eventually the Red Wizard brought Von Kharkov together with a female enemy and allowed them to become lovers."

His first dose of extreme human emotion. Later, it will act as his 'drug of choice'. His need to be human and to exist in a foreign (adopted) society, while fully feeling the gamut of human emotions, love being THE pinnacle, probably is what made him susceptible to such a ruse. Sadly, this naivety leads to...

3) "He then dispelled his polymorphing magic, allowing the panther to tear the woman to shreds. Having forgotten his true roots, Von Kharkov was horrified by the transformation. He suspected that the wizard meant to use him for subsequent assassinations, so the man-panther fled Thay and stumbled into a bank of Mists, which transported him to Darkon."

The horror! The emotional crash/overload. The foundation for a future fear of magic which, ironically, is what led him to his human self and or ego. This fear that will then be reflected later through his subjects of Valachan. Self-loathing perhaps?

Also, here is where I feel there is clear room for arguments for a Jekyll/Hyde type personality disorder. In essence, he is denying his true inner self. Doubting. Loathing. All due to his first betrayal by a 'fellow' human. And it is here that the Baron is, probably unbeknownst to himself, a 'pushover'. Subject, if you will. Not near to being top cat.

4) "There, he learned of Azalin's secret undead police, the Kargat, so he sought out a vampire to induct him into the ranks. When his master was killed twenty years later, he fled into the Mists once more. This time, the dark powers embraced him and created the domain of Valachan."

Rejection. Solitude. Another betrayal. A re-evaluation of Self. Transformation. Prey to Predator, fed by the Dark Powers. Revelation?

5) "Von Kharkov quickly adjusted to his new prison. He learned that it was stocked with black leopards and domestic cats to do his bidding."

He is embracing his animalistic self by adopting its (the leopard's) social structuring and habits.

6) "Years later he found a small statuette of a cat in the lower reaches of his keep, which proved to be the Cat of Felkouic. The magical item eventually hunted him, but such was his confidence in his lordly might that he did not fear it, so the cat mauled him badly. To this day, that magical item is the only thing he truly fears."

Another clue to him truly embracing his animalistic roots. Weakness. Fear. Bigger, badder cat. Dominance.

Also, from a plot point of view, here we can start to develop a Secret Society if we really wanted. Based around an underground jaguar-worshipping-type cult, which leads to the creation of the Black Leopards...?

Anyway, these are a few quickened thoughts that I had. I have more, which I'll sum the parts of at a later time, but I'm not sold on any of 'em. But right now I'm more interested in what others have made of the Baron's personality and or backstory...


P.S.: Yes, I am aware of the fact that the majority of my 'observations' are not much more than the obvious. Like I said, I'm just trying to flesh out what I feel is, a 2D Dark Lord.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

It might be a presumption that he is a melanistic leopard rather than jaguar as both are considered panthers and he did not originate on Earth. He could even be considered a different species of cat entirely, maybe a melanistic lion, but since leopards are african and jaguars are south american and Kharkov is designed to appeal to ...a certain demographic, I guess he really is a leopard. Also since Kharkov and Hazlik come from the same place, has there ever been a connection?

Leopards are found in much of Asia as well as Africa. Go back to the Stone Age, and you'd even find some hanging around in southern Europe. They're the most widespread and most successful of all the big cats.

I'm assuming he's a leopard rather than a jaguar because he's originally from the continent of Faerun, and was transformed generations before anyone there had even heard of Maztica.

[Strahdsbuddy]

I did not mean to imply that Valachan WAS a colony of Darkon, only that it could be perceived as such. A far flung barony under the control of someone that openly served Azalin may have been spun as expansion by ambitious Darkonians. Those of us who know the mechanics of the setting realize that colonization is not a practical option, but that doesn't mean that the man on the ground sees it that way. It was merely a suggestion to add a wrinkle to what has already been described as an under-developed domain.

I believe the coastline of Valachan has been described as high and unsuitable for shipping. This would make sense, since that part of the domain has only faced water since the Grand Conjunction. The Valachani people have no experience as mariners and probably view the ocean with trepidation...like any cat.

Von Kharkov may want to exploit the sea, however. He may encourage nationalism among his people, and seek a "Place in the Sun" alongside the other great nations. Among darklords, von Kharkov is uniquely suited for an inferiority complex due to his dual nature, and I think this should be played up. In fact, in Jekyll/Hyde fashion, his human side may want acceptance, while his feline side is quite comfortable at the top of the food chain and could care less for petty human social structure. He is still his own worst enemy.