Godefroy

[Rogold Gildenman]

Let us be honest good fellows of the Fraternity; the only proper way to pronounce 'Godefroy' is in the most haughty, high-strung and self-important manner possible (to be precise I hear it as though pronounced "Lord God-de-froy of Gryphon Hill" with the occasional scowl, smirk or sneer for emphasis and if necessary a blow by way of punctuation - thankfully unless you're HIGHBORN or are unusually amusing, Lord Godefroy will only deign to look at you out of the corner of his eye while he pretends to look at something more interesting, so that has to be worth a +1 to any dice-roll in self defence).

What rules system do you use/are you familiar with ?

None in depth as I'm usually too distracted by background, characterisation and world-building to roll dice, but I have some knowledge of 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons (not to mention 3.5 for which I credit Order of the Stick!).

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

the daughter whose name her father seldom deigned to remember

I see what you did there.

[Rogold Gildenman]

It's a sly reference that allowed me to show that I'm not ENTIRELY ignorant of Ravenloft (merely self-taught) AND it's a beat that fits the character - how could I resist the opportunity?

[Joël of the FoS]

Cool background story.

I think you are all wrong for pronouncing this darklord's name In French, as I think Godefroy's name is solely found in French (Godefroy de Bouillon is a French medieval war hero), we say it as God-froa, the end rhymes with "froid" as in this lovely example: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/froid.wav (cut and paste the link)

So In High Mordentish it would be : Lord Godefroy de Gryphon Hill

Joël

[Rogold Gildenman]

Monsieur Joel, merci! In all honesty the idea of M'Lord Godefroy having an Old French surname and a distinctly Anglo-Saxon surname rather ties into my mental image of him being born into and dying at the close of an era much closer to the Medieval Cultural level than to the Renaissance ("but what about his clothing, as described?" you may ask: "the description doesn't say anything about Cultural Levels!" I cry in desperation); partly this idea formed because I wanted to make it quite clear that Lord Godefroy is hopelessly severed from the ebb and flow of the living culture of Mordent, even if his intelligence concerning the comings and goings of the living in his Domain can be quite frankly terrifyingly accurate.

Mostly it's so the point that technology actually progresses on the Demiplane of Dread and fashion along with it can be driven home in a marginally-subtle fashion (for the record I would suggest that Lord Godefroy's eternal outfit be drawn from the 14th/15th centuries, while the prevailing Mordentish aesthetic is more 17th/18th century - albeit rural and probably closer to a slightly earlier age).

Something like this, perhaps, but in black:

http://happeninghist.files.wordpress.co ... 1/lord.pdf


For the sake of further gossip, it recently occurred to me that my mental image of Lord Godefroy reminds me a good deal of Mr Jared Harris …

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_u3TRyLqJ-w/U ... les_04.jpg

[Mischief]

I keep necroing random threads, so apologies there (Although please help me on my ask Azalin thread. Something entertaining might be released sooner rather than later if you do!)

This curse got tacked onto my Wilfred:
The ghosts of Estelle and Lilia make an appearance before fading away. Wilfred Godefroy, a monster, has the monstrous family he now deserves - the forms of his daughter and wife without the slightest light of their warm humanity. They will repay his abuse tenfold as long as he clings to Gryphon Manor and its powers. The true spirits of the two are free to go on into the mists unfettered, and their reincarnations will haunt Wilfred for the rest of his tenure as Darklord. The pair will experience the ups and downs inherent to life in Ravenloft, but when Wilfred or any of his allies or plots reaches out to ruin them or seize their spirits, karma always works in Estelle and Lilia's favor and they will forever slip his wrath, in life and death.
It's only an inanimate object, but the shrewd might suppose the House on Gryphon Hill has too been cursed - no living family for it to toy with and destroy will occupy its stones ever again, and the Darklord inhabiting it will draw adventurers seeking the manor’s destruction.

Cool background story.

I think you are all wrong for pronouncing this darklord's name In French, as I think Godefroy's name is solely found in French (Godefroy de Bouillon is a French medieval war hero), we say it as God-froa, the end rhymes with "froid" as in this lovely example: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/froid.wav (cut and paste the link)

So In High Mordentish it would be : Lord Godefroy de Gryphon Hill

Joël

Ah, hell while I'm necroing threads, I might as well respond to ancient convos. It's definitely fro-AH like sangfroid. froid is cold in french, and I assume that's the root of the name.

[The Lesser Evil]

I keep necroing random threads, so apologies there (Although please help me on my ask Azalin thread. Something entertaining might be released sooner rather than later if you do!)

This curse got tacked onto my Wilfred:
The ghosts of Estelle and Lilia make an appearance before fading away. Wilfred Godefroy, a monster, has the monstrous family he now deserves - the forms of his daughter and wife without the slightest light of their warm humanity. They will repay his abuse tenfold as long as he clings to Gryphon Manor and its powers. The true spirits of the two are free to go on into the mists unfettered, and their reincarnations will haunt Wilfred for the rest of his tenure as Darklord. The pair will experience the ups and downs inherent to life in Ravenloft, but when Wilfred or any of his allies or plots reaches out to ruin them or seize their spirits, karma always works in Estelle and Lilia's favor and they will forever slip his wrath, in life and death.
It's only an inanimate object, but the shrewd might suppose the House on Gryphon Hill has too been cursed - no living family for it to toy with and destroy will occupy its stones ever again, and the Darklord inhabiting it will draw adventurers seeking the manor’s destruction.

Having the true spirits of Godefroy's reincarnated wife and child wandering the Mists is an interesting idea; certainly the reincarnating spirits of Tatyana and the other people with genuine souls in Barovia (post Curse of Strahd) sets one up with a precedence. Having them been reincarnated at various points also allows one to use the material from Legacy of the Blood more directly- Estelle and Lillia's reincarnations might imply they could have direct descendants out there for use in creating PCs/NPCs.

If Godefroy discovers the existence of Estelle and Lilia's reincarnations, he might come to believe that they hold the key to his salvation if he can capture them and assert power over them once more. Of course, the abdication of power would be his only true escape clause, but not one he would ever willingly give up. Somehow forcing an abdication as a way to permanently put Godefroy down could present ample adventure opportunities. I recall somebody describing in their campaign how they finished off Godefroy by proving his evil deeds in a Mordentish court of law, all the while under siege by Godefroy's ghostly pawns.

I also find the idea of the House actually suffering from its cursed nature an interesting one,, opening up some interesting questions and situations. Why does the House love inflicting suffering on families in specific, for example? Does having a family reside in it simply provide for a convenient group of repeat victims, or does it have a deeper, more psychological attachment to manipulating families? Could the House suffer from a sense of desired nostalgia that reflects the themes of much of the rest of the Mordent domain?

[ewancummins]

Cool background story.

I think you are all wrong for pronouncing this darklord's name In French, as I think Godefroy's name is solely found in French (Godefroy de Bouillon is a French medieval war hero), we say it as God-froa, the end rhymes with "froid" as in this lovely example: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/froid.wav (cut and paste the link)

So In High Mordentish it would be : Lord Godefroy de Gryphon Hill

Joël

Godfrey is a perfectly good English name, thanks to the Normans.


Godefroy is simply a variation in spelling.