the Falkovnian slave trade

[ewancummins]

Unless he considers gunpowder a kind of magic, and he is deeply supiscious of Magic. But that suggests ditching the Minstry of the Arcane stuff.

That seems fishy to me, more than guns. I can understand his revulsion for guns. They're anti-romantic. They're coward's weapon to kill better trained and armored guy. They cut the requirement for physical strength. Etc etc etc.

But "deeply suspicious of magic" doesn't mess well with Material. We have Talons going through magical rituals, and possessing tons of magic items. Thousands of them. In death unchained there are literally 3000-4000 +1 weapons in the hands of the Talons of Lekar. There are 800-1000 swords of wounding and other weapons. In 3E talons are fewer but they have those magic bracers and have undergone rituals that give them SR.
That's not suspicion about magic. That's an extremely high magic army.

I have never even seen Death Unchained.

But I can tell you I tend to ignore a lot of late 90s and onward material for Ravenloft, and that includes pretty much all the modules.
I did like many things about Domains of Dread, and I do think the S&S crew did a fine job adapting the setting to 3E.

I prefer a less high magic version of Ravenloft. Thousands of magical swords just in Lekar? Whoa! Hundreds of swords of wounding? Never IMC.

[ewancummins]

A crossbow ban would bolster the antigun version of Darkov, IMO.

If he truly despises " cowardly" gunners, then I'd think the same would apply to crossbowmen.

But this seems to conflict with Drakov as the skilled tactician who is not bound by a particular idea of warfare of code of honor. IIRC l he's described that way in the Black Box.

It seems to me the character changed from a clever, ruthless mercenary warlord in a basically "Medieval " Ravenloft into a hidebound, backward bully in a higher magic, higher tech setting.
His curse might have changed too...

[alhoon]

I prefer a less high magic version of Ravenloft. Thousands of magical swords just in Lekar? Whoa! Hundreds of swords of wounding? Never IMC.

I don't think there are many DMs that actually used those to be sincere. It was just too freaking many and for no reason at all! A handful of Talons spot the PCs; the Talons are supposed to lose but impress the PCs with their prowess. Statwise they're exceptionally tough soldiers, so mission accomplished. No need for magic weapons. Then, A platoon of 50 Talons training in the night spots the 5th lvl PCs. Nope, no reason for magic weapons either; they can win anyway.

[Five]

When Darkov is getting on in years even with his decreased aging and enhanced physique, I can very much see him trying to seriously upend the table before he goes down beneath the reaper's scythe so that at least he can die like a soldier in battle rather than a coward in bed.

He probably won't do it through elf genocide though, he'll probably do it via finally realizing (or paying attention when someone tries to tell him) what an important resource Falkovnian grain is, and accepting the payment from the nations of the Four Towers, then not delivering any grain to them and daring them to come and take it.

At that point it becomes an issue of just how much does Darkon/Azalin hate Vlad. Because if Darkon decides to join up with the treaty of the Four Towers, they will crush Falkovnia in a vice, and if the War Against Azalin is accurate then Azalin can control the dead of Darkon even in other nations (IE can raise undead and walk them across the border into Falkovnia to fight, they don't have to be a purely defensive force) which combined with fearless troops from Dominic, superhuman troops from Jacqueline and some of the worlds best assassins from Ivana, could set the stage for taking apart Drakov's armies in any open field battle.

Put that way, it looks like it could be a cool end for Drakov. Especially if I was feeling somewhat sympathetic (don't know if that's the right word) with him and wanted to give him an action sequence for the finale.

Thematically I'd probably go with something along the lines of what I mentioned in an earlier post, lacking anything else at the moment.

Seeing his realm in ruins, with military order turned to complete chaos and peasants revolting in a final explosion of pent-up anger, the warlord is left standing alone, seething at the sight before him: piles and piles of grain. Even at that moment he fails to recognize the value in it, that it could have been the means to the expansion of his realm. It could have been the throne in which he sat. And even as the 10th, 20th, and 30th dagger blades pierce his flesh with a very familiar (and oddly comforting) sound; it doesn't dawn on him. He falls into a pool of him own blood, and the peasants swarm past him and continue demolishing building after building.

The old man, his glaring eyes still locked on the grain, expires. Another piece of trash in the city streets.

And depending on my level of fantasy at the time:

Cut scene.

Peasants are cheering each other and enjoying the festivities of Freedom. Nobody is concerned with tomorrow, and there's not a soldier in sight. Laughter and song fills the night.

Cut scene.

Rough hands grab the former king of Falkovnia and very steadily begins to drag it from the filthy street and into a lightless alley.

Black.

Bright lights. The humming and crackle of electricity. A snap of gloves and some murmuring.

Black.

Peering eyes, one milky-white and without a pupil, framed by bushy eyebrows and topped with a hairless scalp. More murmuring.

Black.

A monstrous shriek, a mixture of pain and pure rage, drowns out the world.

The odd-looking man smiles.

"Willkommen zu hause, ihre Durchlaucht."

Black.

Cue music for credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro5WFnQGvcU

Sorry, I couldn't resist. haha

[Five]

A crossbow ban would bolster the antigun version of Darkov, IMO.

If he truly despises " cowardly" gunners, then I'd think the same would apply to crossbowmen.

But this seems to conflict with Drakov as the skilled tactician who is not bound by a particular idea of warfare of code of honor. IIRC l he's described that way in the Black Box.

It seems to me the character changed from a clever, ruthless mercenary warlord in a basically "Medieval " Ravenloft into a hidebound, backward bully in a higher magic, higher tech setting.
His curse might have changed too...

A crossbow ban would make it a non-issue with me too.

And I agree, somewhere along the way Drakov turned into a running gag, and from Vlad Tepes (western europe POV) to Hitler (maybe with some tongue-in-cheek references to Napoleon's invasion of Russia).

Personally I think I'm more comfortable with a little smoother blend of the two. 2E with the burgeoning ministries of 3E. A nation that, if left unchecked, will roll through the Core until stopped. And by stopped I mean killed by Death.

It would be the DP's great tease for Vlad, to give him a window and then turn it into a wall. 'You could've, but you can't".

[ewancummins]

Yeah.

Strahd is Movie Dracula.

Drakov is Saxon Propaganda Vlad Dracula.

Gundar might actually be closer to Book Dracula, but I am not prepared to argue very hard for this.

[jamesfirecat]

Yeah.

Strahd is Movie Dracula.

Drakov is Saxon Propaganda Vlad Dracula.

Gundar might actually be closer to Book Dracula, but I am not prepared to argue very hard for this.

I'd argue against that last one, Book Dracula is still much more charming and cultured person than Gundar who I'm given to understand is pretty much obviously mental unsound and can't even summon up a proper facade of civility even should he want to, which I think just about all the time he doesn't.

At least from what little I know of him off the top of my head.

[ewancummins]

Yeah.

Strahd is Movie Dracula.

Drakov is Saxon Propaganda Vlad Dracula.

Gundar might actually be closer to Book Dracula, but I am not prepared to argue very hard for this.

I'd argue against that last one, Book Dracula is still much more charming and cultured person than Gundar who I'm given to understand is pretty much obviously mental unsound and can't even summon up a proper facade of civility even should he want to, which I think just about all the time he doesn't.

At least from what little I know of him off the top of my head.

Maybe.
On the other hand, in the novel, Count Dracula is described as repulsive. He also has a savage temper.

http://www.hsu.edu/academicforum/2002-2 ... mantic.pdf



I think Gundar is a take on the vampire as unromantic, horrid monster.

[ewancummins]

I'm contributing to thread drift.
Oops.
But I will leave the post with linked material up, in case anyone wants to start a new thread about literary and film inspirations for darklords.

[Five]

Yeah, given what little is out there Gundar reads to me like the incarnation of the monster that is Dracula. Or, a potential continuation of literary Dracula, perhaps along the vein of (groaner!) Hammer Film's "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966), or "Taste the Blood of Dracula' (1970), or some such variation..

I'm contributing to thread drift.
Oops.

I've been unintentionally doing that since I got here. But I got you covered.

Gondegal's Shadow Insurrection and its on again/off again alliances with both the Spawn of the Lizard and the Freemen of Falkovnia...what do they do with the slaves they help liberate? Where would their safehouses be located? How do they by-pass such tight border patrols, if they actually help former slaves leave the realm?

Gondegal is said to travel throughout the Core, so I would imagine he gets people out from time to time. But where? If I remember right Darkon doesn't sit well with him. Mordent is said to be predominantly human. The road to Sithicus is quite the jaunt. Verbrek is...inhospitable. Would Richemulot, Dementlieu, Borca, or Lamordia, with it's "agreement" with Falkovnia, be open to obvious (branded) refugees given the political delicacy of the Treaty of the Four Towers?

[jamesfirecat]

Gondegal is said to travel throughout the Core, so I would imagine he gets people out from time to time. But where? If I remember right Darkon doesn't sit well with him. Mordent is said to be predominantly human. The road to Sithicus is quite the jaunt. Verbrek is...inhospitable. Would Richemulot, Dementlieu, Borca, or Lamordia, with it's "agreement" with Falkovnia, be open to obvious (branded) refugees given the political delicacy of the Treaty of the Four Towers?

Richemulot, easily Richemulot.

It's the obvious destination for any slaves who manage to escape Falkovnia.

If you look at Gaz 3, Richemulot has an noticeable (I think about 7%) chunk of the population made up of people who were born in Falkovnia.

Richemulot has cities with lots of huge houses lying empty so plenty of room for new people to move in and make themselves at home without needing to worry about paying rent.

The temperature /climate is much more hospitable than Lamordia.

The "quality of life" in Richemulot is described as being much higher/better for the average citizen is much than in either Dementlieu or Borca.

There have been arguments that Richemulot got in on the Treaty of the Four Towers less for the protection it provides, and more because Jacqueline wants to make her nation one of the main movers and shakers of the Core and the mutual defense treaty helps pave the way for more progress along those lines.

Richemulot also has a "carte blanche" policy when it comes to new immigrants (even ones of a demi-human nature) so long as they take the time to swear an oath of fealty to Jacqueline/the Renier family and promise to study with at least one weapon to be ready to defend the nation if someone does actually invade.

If you go with my theory that Jacqueline played a major part in Richemulot's victory over Falkovnia during the two previous invasions, she's already established that she can kick the butt of any invading force Drakov sends into her domain, and did it once while she wasn't even the actual political leader (or darklord) of the place.

Also I imagine that Jacqueline is on some level still smarting from the fact that one of Vlad's few actual military victories in Ravenloft were the Years of the Impaled Rats when he managed to defeat her grandfather and force him and the Renier family in general to flee from Silbervas into the mists, giving her a pretty big reason to want to spit in Drakov's eye by providing a safe haven for his former slaves.

All signs point to Richemulot as the most obvious destination for escaped slaves if you ask me.

[ewancummins]

My current take on it is that slavery in Falkovnia is a state affair. (I might do it differently in a new campaign. It never really came up in older games).
The slaves belong to the crown, not to private individuals.

I think the slaves should generally be half-humans or demihumans.

Drakov's human concubines are not slaves by law, just women who are his companions (willingly or not) not accorded the status of wife.

Both native subjects and foreign prisoners might be forced into temporary hard labor, but any serious offenses will land them on impalement stakes rather than in work gangs.
Drakov seems to impale a lot of people.

[Five]

Richemulot, easily Richemulot.

It's the obvious destination for any slaves who manage to escape Falkovnia.

If you look at Gaz 3, Richemulot has an noticeable (I think about 7%) chunk of the population made up of people who were born in Falkovnia.

Richemulot has cities with lots of huge houses lying empty so plenty of room for new people to move in and make themselves at home without needing to worry about paying rent.

The temperature /climate is much more hospitable than Lamordia.

The "quality of life" in Richemulot is described as being much higher/better for the average citizen is much than in either Dementlieu or Borca.

There have been arguments that Richemulot got in on the Treaty of the Four Towers less for the protection it provides, and more because Jacqueline wants to make her nation one of the main movers and shakers of the Core and the mutual defense treaty helps pave the way for more progress along those lines.

Richemulot also has a "carte blanche" policy when it comes to new immigrants (even ones of a demi-human nature) so long as they take the time to swear an oath of fealty to Jacqueline/the Renier family and promise to study with at least one weapon to be ready to defend the nation if someone does actually invade.

If you go with my theory that Jacqueline played a major part in Richemulot's victory over Falkovnia during the two previous invasions, she's already established that she can kick the butt of any invading force Drakov sends into her domain, and did it once while she wasn't even the actual political leader (or darklord) of the place.

Also I imagine that Jacqueline is on some level still smarting from the fact that one of Vlad's few actual military victories in Ravenloft were the Years of the Impaled Rats when he managed to defeat her grandfather and force him and the Renier family in general to flee from Silbervas into the mists, giving her a pretty big reason to want to spit in Drakov's eye by providing a safe haven for his former slaves.

All signs point to Richemulot as the most obvious destination for escaped slaves if you ask me.

Sold!

[alhoon]

There have been arguments that Richemulot got in on the Treaty of the Four Towers less for the protection it provides, and more because Jacqueline wants to make her nation one of the main movers and shakers of the Core and the mutual defense treaty helps pave the way for more progress along those lines.

Richemulot is described in several sources IIRC as the place where Falkovnian refugees go and would be a good place for escaped slaves. Class distinctions are lesser there; you are what you know. A Falkovnian escaped prisoner that knows which of the slaves that escaped with him are actually bastards of Falkovnian high-ranks and demi-human slaves would be considered valuable.

As for Jaqueline wanting to make her domain one of the movers and shakers, that's one take of it.
Another, considering the dread possibility in Gaz Richemulot, is that Jaqueline doesn't want to make her domain one of the movers and shakers but wipe out humanity, or a good branch of it with the special plague rats that would turn people en masse to wererats. And she wants to do it to neighboring domains too.

[Five]

As for Jaqueline wanting to make her domain one of the movers and shakers, that's one take of it.
Another, considering the dread possibility in Gaz Richemulot, is that Jaqueline doesn't want to make her domain one of the movers and shakers but wipe out humanity, or a good branch of it with the special plague rats that would turn people en masse to wererats. And she wants to do it to neighboring domains too.

So...it would be a very, very evil thing for her to infect some former slaves of Falkovnia with this super plague and diplomatically, "demurely" (through a Vlad's eyes only letter with a slightly-off letter seal/signature to prevent political blowback), return them to Drakov in exchange for something that she actually values?