Valachan Redux

[Isabella]

*thread necromancy*

Well. Been a while. >.> I returned to my big pile of notes a few weeks ago, and after staring at the mess in horror thought I'd try to clean them up a bit. My first task was converting Valacán over to the Lawgiver, which seemed more appropriate than Yutow; not that anything was wrong with Yutow (though not much about him stood out to me either), but it seemed to contribute to the "play by myself" feeling that the domain really needed to get rid of. I kept Yutow along, though, along with a few other deities from the old pantheon, hope some of you enjoy the revision.

The Iron Faith

Valacán worships The Lawgiver, a faith introduced by Don Uriel Carrascón to replace the old gods of the land. The fall of the old empire and the bloody purge of its priests is seen as the Lawgiver's Judgment upon the land, as punishment for the brutal ways and human sacrifices formerly practiced. As a relatively new offshoot of the faith, the Church of the Lawgiver is still convening on the matter of Valacán, and the branch has not yet been given a Pave. Although its confirmation into the fold is almost guaranteed, as the Church is unwilling to lose such a large and rich domain in the battle for religious influence against Ezra, Valacán has proven a source of some consternation to Church. Although Don Carrascón is adamant about stamping out the native witchcraft and shamanistic ways, his own enforcers are known to have mystic powers that do not spring from the Lawgiver. The matter of appearances is a tricky one as well. The Don frowns upon piercings, tattoos, and ritual scars, putting him more in line with the Church than Hazlan is on bodily modification. On the other hand, Don Carrascón has little issue with the elves and gnomes of the domain, knowingly and willingly employing them despite the Church's doctrine on their degeneracy. The domain is also known to be rife with lycanthropes, and the Don's yellow eyes are nearly legendary.
In addition to the tenants of obedience to a higher authority, Valacán's church also stresses the importance of the Law Within: the responsibly of leaders to govern themselves, as well as others. While disobedience to authority deserves punishment, abusing the law to enable acts of cruelty, lust, or greed is inexcusable. While this might seem a strange sentiment from the unequivocal tyrant of the land, Don Carrascón takes this very seriously: more than one Valacáni nobleman has met a gruesome end for beating their workers without good enough reason.

While the Don has done his best to stamp out any remaining trace of the old gods, the past of the land has proven difficult to erase. The Valacáni still worship their old gods, often disguised in plain sight as other Core deities or servants of the Lawgiver. The biggest remainder is the Twilight Wind, known as the Lord of Night, Swirling Darkness, and The Black Mirror, the god of the night and its dark mysteries, including dreams, sorcery, witches, and demons. A powerful god who was known to take the form of a jaguar, the Twilight Wind was known to be able to grant great power, at a great price. He would uplift the downtrodden and punish sinners and tyrants, but could not be trusted himself - a promise made by the Black Mirror would never be kept. Before the fall of the old kingdom, it was believed the Twilight Wind would one day end the world and create it anew, ruling over it himself. Now, it is universally believed that the Twilight Wind is Don Uriel Carrascón himself. Under his leadership, Valacán is becoming a major Core power, at the price of the blood and culture of its people; more personally, those close to him are rumored to gain shadowy powers at the cost of their souls. The Don's affinity for jaguars is the source of many rumors, and even his habit of going through wives, a source of horror to the common people of Valacán, is linked to the many wives of the dark god. Simply mentioning this connection to the Don is to forfit one's life, however, as his association with the heathen god drives him into a bloody rage. Despite every effort he has made to destroy any mention of the Twilight Wind, he has only driven the practice under ground - his own enforcers and servants believe him to be the god as well, and in many cases this is the very reason they joined him.

And the connection runs even deeper than that. Every year, on the Day of Dead, every person the Don has killed returns to haunt him. Led by the priestess of the Twilight Wind who he betrayed and murdered, the undead throng hunts him until he can run no further, dragging him back to the Great Temple of the Black Mirror. Stripped of all his wealth and power, Don Uriel Carrascón is sacrificed at the top of the temple, in grisly parody of the yearly sacrifice that honored the god. He awakens the next day in the form of a wild jaguar, forced to trek through the massive rainforest to find his way back home.

Yutow, the former Valacáni sun god, is the only other deity to survive under its own name. Before the fall he was honored daily with bloody human sacrifices - a practice that led to Don Carrascón's overthrow of the empire. According to those who follow him, Yutow recognized the wickedness of mankind to be the fault of his own demands, sacrificing his own flesh to the ravenous jaguar to prevent the world from being destroyed and cast into the Hell of Slaves. Now a pale reflection of his former self, Yutow shines at night as the moon, continuing to do penance to spare mankind further wrath. Worshipers of Yutow officially call themselves worshipers of the Lawgiver, and are usually left alone by the Don's enforcers. They are considerably different from the actual church, however, focusing heavily on penance and self-sacrifice. Some of the faithful have come to believe that their own blood will spare Yutow's own, practicing rituals of self-flagellation or religious scaring in a strange parallel to the human sacrifice Yutow was once given. The Church of the Lawgiver finds this self-mutilation to be extreme at best and heretical at worse, creating even more strain between the clergy of the different domains.

A few other deities have survived or merged into other Churches, although in much smaller bodies of worship. The Don's enforcers heavily discourage other religions, leading most other worship to take hold in the rural villages beyond his immediate control.
The Rainbow Serpent is still known, but more feared than revered; once a god of water and life, he is said to have gone mad from being betrayed and cast down by his own followers when the Lord of Night vanquished the domain. Now wandering the jungle, seeking to betray as he was betrayed, he encourages others betray as well. It is whispered that those who wander two far into the jungle will find his garden, filled with luscious fruit that poisons the soul with the Serpent's madness.
Belanus has spread over from Nidalia and Sithicus, though only among those who, passively or actively, resist the Don's rule. As a god of the sun, fire, and war, Belanus had profound similarities to the war god of the old empire, and was adopted by those who still fought against the government; given the prevalence of shadow magic among the Don's enforcers, the idea of purifying sunlight quickly caught on. Valacáni depictions of Belanus often include a long cape of feathers.
Ezra has spread into Valacán through a few traveling anchorites, though the clergy remains very small and tends to be located in remote areas. Much to the Church's chagrin, she is mostly considered a rain god, referred to by the Dementlieuse title of Sainted Mother of Tears. Despite this minor doctrinal drift, both branches of the church have found a small but faithful following in the villages dotting the domain.
As a goddess associated with plants and nature, Hala is very popular in areas close by the jungle. The Don is hostile to the religion, wiping out witches and warlocks where he can find them - given the Twilight Winds' own association with sorcery, Hala is considered by some to be a rival of the dark god. Despite this, worshipers of Hala tend to be safe from the Baron's Men in the remote villages that they habit - those who live far from civilization think twice before turning in the only reliable healer in the village.

[NeoTiamat]

It would be interesting to figure out the connections between the Rainbow Serpent of Valachan and the Rainbow Serpent of Nightmare Court fame. Presumably it's the same entity, though how the two manifestations are connected...

Definitely an interesting story and adventure hook in that, I think. (And also ties Valachan to Nova Vaasa a bit more, what with the mistway at Illhousen's place to the Nightmare Lands)

[DocBeard]

There is a reason we used that name, yes.

[NeoTiamat]

Yes, I assumed it wasn't a coincidence.

[The Arcanist]

Funny I was thinking on how to use Valachan a few days ago and you had a great idea, well I'll throw in my 2 cents.

Perhaps he can remain a panther (= black jaguar) who was transformed into a man, but by a cult rather than an evil wizard? Maybe worshippers of Tezcatlipoca transformed him to serve as a living avatar of their jaguar-god

Two origins for Uriel (hehehe nice going, that's also the name of an angel) come to mind...

a) he was transformed by the high priest of the cult but later felt betrayed and as soon as more technologically (not to confuse with culturally) advanced conquerors reached their lands he betrayed his people and joined them in conquering it. It was then that the domain was formed and his fellow conquerors feel it is a curse from the natives that they are cut away from home and gives them all the more reason to hunt them.

b) he was transformed in ravenloft and fled his dark master, most likely killing him, in morally gray circumstances, leaving him not completely damned yet, only to wander to an island of terror sounding much like option a) where he fitted the profile of their savior, he would have been able to join and free the oppressed natives but chose to conque and destroy them instead as they reminded him of his bestial side and eventually overthrew the former darklord.

Both of these options play a bit with prehispanic cultures believing Cortez to be the returned Quetzalcoatl.

Now, I'm not sure just how far Von Kharkov's control extends. In the Gaz I got the impression the theme of the domain was "he can control everything except himself", and it seemed like he was doing too good a job

Convenience, maybe? Perhaps the Dark Powers gave him the ability to control werejaguars in their animal or hybrid forms, as an extension of Von Kharkov's control over mundane cats. It's not that he necessarily welcomes such reminders of his past; he's just working with the assets available to him, and knows he can rely on the werejaguars to obey him without question.

If his minions also remind the Don of the "bad old days", which gets on his nerves ... well, DP-granted powers always have their down side.

Yup, you could damn him to rely on his werepanther servants, the only ones completely loyal to him, and have them battle the mighty eagle knights and powerful priests of the natives, but I give you an idea to reconsider changing Uriel from a vampire to a werepanther...

He is a vampire and can only completely control those he turns, but, the unconquered natives in order to survive embraced their beliefs and abosrving natural spirits turning into lycanthropes, werepanthers or most likely werejaguars, so now you have the cunning vampire who could eventually turn all his army into vampires only to be powerless against the werejaguars during the day.

Uriel would need to chose carefully who he turns as it also means loosing that follower during the day when he can easily muster the rest of his living forces while the natives who are fewer are strong enough to defend their temples and communities day and night while maybe not enough to overthrow the invaders.

As for resources there's gold and lots of silver in México, Uriel can then hire all the engineers, builders, mercenaries, etc from nearby domains as he wants to further civilize his domain, the natives also have this wealth, being able to hire their own mercenaries and infiltrators (PC's) who can blend with the invaders paying them with silver and gold.

To add insult to the injury, Uriel and his bloodline are vulnerable to obsidian, the natives weapon material of choice giving them a further edge against him and enraging him as such primitive weapons are his bane.

Given that the domain would also have a particular fascination with the spirits of the dead, a slew of old gods who might still be lurking about, the legacy of human sacrifice from the old days (a legacy that certainly might make Don Carrascón's attempt to "civilize" his people a bit more sympathetic), remnants of the old culture deep within the jungle resisting Don Carrascón's rule, and ancient mysterious ruins, I would like to think that this makes the domian slightly more worth going to, although I would still like help with the culture. Dios des Muertos can only take you so far (although it's a great thing to base the "feel" of the domain on).

Yup, the natives should hold to their traditions, even those captured and working on "encomiendas" as the prehispanic natives were, Uriel tries to get them to abbandon them but he depends on their work and doesnt have another religion to displace the old beliefs like the spanish did.

Now, dia de muertos (November 2nd) is a joyous festivity, where families spend time and share a meal with the spirits of their deceased loved ones who come back to them once a year. How about this, during dia de muertos Uriel and his vampires are weakened or even haunted and harmed by the presence of all these ghosts, perhaps he suffers this tradition as for every ghost that goes back to his family is one less that harrasses him.

As for other traditions, in the beginnings of May they could sacrifice animals to ask for rains and good crops and perform spiritual cleanings, dont know the name of this tradition but, funny enough, it evolved into the Day of the Holy Cross on May 3rd.

And finally you have equinoxes and solstices, which you could assign to a father of light (the sun) giver of the rain of life and a dark mother related to the underworld and the earth ready to be fertilized by the rain, or whatever else you need, but dont forget to have a snake descend through the stairs of the native temples on one of those equinoxes.

Phew... this has turned to quite longer than two cents, so I'll just leave it to your consideration.

[DocBeard]

As far as Kharkov's monster nature, I honestly feel like a lycanthrope fits his themes and character better than a vampire, who would be too, well, controlled to really resound with Kharkov's theme of a beast trying desperately to be a man.

As far as Kharkov's sin goes, there's a bit of debate, but my favorite so far is that Kharkov's taken in by the original Darklord of the Domain, a twisted Aztec high priest type, whom he befriends and even sees as a father figure. The old man's daughter becomes another close friend, just being around her makes Uriel feel refreshed and free of his anxiety and fears of reverting to his beastly nature. And then, Uriel stumbles on the terrible truth of the old Darklord, the twisted, bloody sacrifices that keep the old priest young and strong. Brimming with righteous fury, Uriel turns on the ancient dead, battling the wicked sorcerer ferociously! There's a lull in the fight, as the old man suddenly slows down, and Kharkov takes brutal advantage of his enemy's hesitation...

...only realizing afterward, as the haze of battle fades, that the old man stopped fighting because his daughter had interposed herself between the two of them, and that he, in his carelessness and lust for battle, impaled the girl in order to cut out the old priest's heart.

This ties in with Kharkov's central flaw, a need to be civilized that is ultimately dangerous to himself and others, and connects him to the whole 'occasionally takes a bride, only for her to end up dead in a couple months every time.' deal. It also gives him a strong motivation: He must civilize these people who have become his, and be recognized as the revolutionary leader of a prosperous kingdom instead of another southern core warlord with delusions of grandeur. And most importantly, it is a conscious failing; I dig the idea of Kharkov's whole hangup with being civilized coming from the wizard who created him intending for his panther-man to be a living weapon, but Kharkov killing that woman really wasn't his fault. Darklord level evil should always involve a conscious decision to do something immoral; in Kharkov's case, his enemy showed weakness and he took advantage of it, betraying the ideals he claims to revere so much.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Darklord level evil should always involve a conscious decision to do something immoral; in Kharkov's case, his enemy showed weakness and he took advantage of it, betraying the ideals he claims to revere so much.

I agree with this premise--that a darklord's final act should always be a conscious decision to do evil--but this seems like a pretty unconvincing foundation for darklord status. I mean, the guy is an evil Aztec priest! I would be pretty keen to taken advantage of any perceived weakness I could see in him too. And if the daughter's death is accidental...

If I were using that story as the basis, I would say, Carrascon claims to be the representative of a new, higher way. No blood sacrifice for him! So he's crusading vs. evil Aztec man, and getting harder and harder as he goes (a la Kurtz--hard to get away from Heart of Darkness themes here, so why not acknowledge them?). Finally, he busts in and is about to kill the darklord when his daughter, who has been with Carrascon, pleads for her father's life, reminding him of his oft-stated commitment to mercy.

Carrascon can't believe she's "betraying" him and defending this evil old man. In a spasm of rage, he kills her. The priest takes his daughter's body in his arms, no longer bothering to defend himself, and calls Carrascon a monster. Carrascon kills him, too, and inherits the domain.

You could do all kinds of things with this last scene--why Carrascon kills the daughter, if he reverts to werepanther form at any point, what he's feeling when he decides to kill the darklord...but that's how I'd play it in its broad outlines.

This reminds me a bit of the backstory to Nueva Aragona, the South American domain I wrote up for the USS 2001; Don Carrascon and General Maconda have some similarities in temperment and backstory if you go this route. So...you might want to read that. Or not. Depending.

[DocBeard]

Hrm. Solid point, Nathan. Your version catches what I was trying to work up for him better than mine. Nice!~