Heroes and Villains

[Evtrax]

Inspired by number 37 of the alternate ravenlofts, i want to have the mirror alignment ravenloft realized.

i don't have many ideas on the subject admitedly, but i do have a good one for Strahd and Tatyana.

In this version of events Strahd is a bit more stable and mature, deciding to be happy that his brother and his lover have found happiness in there own love. Sure it stings, but he just wants Tatyana to be happy. Sadly, in this version Tatyana is an immoral shrew who seeks power, having made a deal with the power in the Amber Temple to gain power, and she kills Sergei on there wedding night.

Strahd, having gotten a bottle of wine to suprise the couple with, enters there room to see a horrifying sight. His brother a lifeless corpse and Tatyana a vampire, having drained her husband dry. He draws his blade and runs her through, but not before she manages to turn Strahd, and as the battle occurs the Mists engulf them.

Tatyana is the darklord of Barovia, cursed to forever reincarnate and never gain the power she seeks, invariably encountering Strahd and being killed by him. Strahd meanwhile seeks to aid the people in Ravenloft, pretending to be a desendent of himself to explain away his agelessness and having wrote many guides to the Demiplane of Dread, the most famous of which is Strahd's guide to vampires.

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ok, i got the ball rolling, lets make mote heroes as darklords and darklords as heroes!

[Manofevil]

Hmm...Have a look at this:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/forum/vi ... php?t=2400

[Evtrax]

while the topic you provided a link to is interesting, it is not what i meant by the heroes and villains thing. The prompt specifically states that the heroes rule the domains, so its not an anti-ravenloft but one with the positions switched.

I was specifically hoping to have original domains for these alternate heroes. Probobly did not explain that well enough with my original post, but i do feel that Barovia fits well for Tatyana.

So yeah, i want domains for the fallen heroes as well as heroic darklords.

[The Lesser Evil]

Here's a go for Irik and Azalin in Darkon:

In Darkon, we could have a reversal of Irik and Firan/Azalin. Actually, we could have both Iriks be more villainous. The brother Irik could've been the one to lead young Firan astray in the demon summoning. Firan went along with it for a while, but realizing the ultimate horror of what Irik intended, foiled the ritual, but unwittingly it resulted in the brother Irik's death. As he died, the brother Irik cursed Firan. Firan came away from the situation scarred, but dedicated himself to magic such that none of Irik's abuses or Firan's miscalculations would ever be repeated.

Many decades later, Firan had his son, Irik. On the surface, Irik the son of Firan was much like his benign counterpart in standard Ravenloft. However, perhaps as some reflection of his namesake, the son Irik found himself favorably disposed to aligning with evil, both of a supernatural and nonsupernatural bent. The traitors he collaborated with were genuinely evil rather than mere political prisoners or dissidents. Irik steadfastly refused all attempts at redemption or to condemn the actions of his dark allies. Irik's fiendish enablement eventually brought the death of his mother, a much beloved figure that had the public calling for his execution. Given one last chance for an attempt at repentance, Irik refused, effectively choosing death. As an act of taking personal responsibility, Azalin took up the axe himself, to his eternal regret following.

What nobody knew was that Irik had made through his various pacts a plan to come back after death as one of the undead. As an eternal spirit, he could be free from all mortal concerns and attachments, to dally and ally himself with whom he pleased. In time though, he would seek to reconcile with his aging father, whom he still shared a level of love for. Or at least what he thought was love, which to him was forever linked with control. Irik long sought to bring his father to embrace the dark forces Irik had allied himself with, but Firan long dismissed his manifestation as symptoms of his own guilt and waning sanity. To push Firan to the dark side, Irik aligned himself with rebels and traitors. Irik's machinations paid off in pushing Firan to seek undeath, but the rebels eventually overran Firan and forced him into the Mists. Not knowing what he was getting into, Irik chased after him.

In Ravenloft, Azalin allied himself with Strahd, whereas Irik found an alliance with Jander Sunstar, a manipulative elf vampire that sought to bring Strahd to the dark side much as Irik sought to bring Azalin to the dark side. Together, they orchestrated the alienation of Strahd and Azalin.

When Darkon formed, Irik became the darklord, though Azalin is still the open political rule. In this framework, Irik tries to take the role of a secret counselor to Azalin. Irik's father now admits the actual existence of Irik's ghost, but sees the stains of Irik's actions as his own responsibility to bear, and forever seeks a way to redeem Irik from the sins of his mortal life. Therefore, Azalin never listens to Irik's dark offers for long. At the same time, Azalin remains so fixed on the past that he never advances in levels, preventing him from achieving a full greatness that Irik wishes his father to have.

Essentially, in this version of Darkon, Irik becomes a would-be power behind the throne, an eternal tempter of Azalin to condone and ally with the darkness rather than condemn or try to redeem it. You might think of him in a role similar to a dread companion psi-crystal with the Friendly or Sympathetic personalities. He can also control the undead of Darkon to push his father one way or another, but the plots nonetheless always fail.

[Evtrax]

i am liking this very much.

[Manofevil]

Did you actually read all of the thread I posted because the Strahd/Tatyana you post here is almost identical to what was posted in that thread though with fewer details than in that thread. We never figured out Azalin though and you may have given us a good start. I just think you're going to wind up doing stuff that's already been done.

[Evtrax]

Did you actually read all of the thread I posted because the Strahd/Tatyana you post here is almost identical to what was posted in that thread though with fewer details than in that thread. We never figured out Azalin though and you may have given us a good start. I just think you're going to wind up doing stuff that's already been done.

are you talking to me? cause i will admit i did not read your whole thread.

[Manofevil]

I was, yes. Lemme show you what I'm taking about. Here's the Strahd i put together. I also collected all of this for last year's QTR.

Strahd Von Zarovich spent his entire adult life fighting in an unjust war. Partially thanks to his efforts, those who profited from the war were exposed and a decades long war between nations was ended. Strahd, and several other war veterans like him, were placed in charge of the border provinces between the two nations. Strahd's was set over the province of Barovia and was quartered in its most famous residence, Castle Ravenloft. He quickly developed a reputation for justice, righteousness, and an even hand. He sent to his relatives to inform them of his new life and they responded by asking him to take in his youngest brother, Sergei and teach him better ways. Sergei did prove to be a bit of a wastrel and rogue, but no villain. Strahd agreed to try to mentor his brother. He was having some success in this endeavor until the day Sergei brought home a girl he'd met in the village. Tatyana was a mischievous young woman who tended to encourage all of Sergei's worst qualities. Strahd soon realized he would have to straighten out both of these young people, which was why he was so pleasantly surprised when they announced their engagement. Strahd enjoyed preparing for the wedding and had several discussions with the bride and groom about the responsibilities of the married. Everything seemed to be going wonderfully until Strahd's old friend and subordinate, Alek Gwilym, was found murdered. Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana were devastated but it was too late to postpone the wedding. On the morning of the wedding, Strahd had withdrawn to compose himself,when Tatyana came to check on him. To his surprise, she tried to seduce him. She got as far as kissing him before he stopped her.
"This is wrong," he said, "You're going to marry my brother."
"Would you marry me if I asked you?" She asked.
Strahd couldn't force himself to answer.
"I knew it," she said huskily. "I saw the way you looked at me when you thought nobody would see. You desire me, don't you, Elder. Well, it's all there for you. All you need to do is say it."
Strahd finally got a hold of himself.
"No," he said, "I will not dishonor myself or my brother in such a way." And he turned to leave.
"Just like Alek," he heard her say and he turned back just in time to receive her knife in his chest. As he fell to the floor, he noticed it was blade of a Ba'al Verzi assassin.
"Too honorable to just say yes. It's all right. I'll just marry your brother to become ruler of Barovia. I may even keep him around for awhile. He amuses me. Farewell Old One." she said as she left the room. That was last thing Strahd saw.

When Strahd came to, he was on a bed with his chest bandaged. His rescuer had been one of his guests. Leo Dillisnia. Tatyana had barely missed Strahd's heart and Dillisnia had had to call upon various surgeons and magic healers to keep him from dieing. Strahd had been comatose for weeks and in that time, Tatyana and Sergei's iron handed reign had been consolidated. The country was in the midst of a reign of terror. Many had been executed on suspicion of involvement in Strahd's murder. Strahd immediately set out for Castle Ravenloft to set things to right against Leo Dillisnia's advice. As Strahd rode through the streets in his regalia, Barovians began to say his ghost had risen to take revenge on his murderers. When they learned the truth, They all followed him to Castle Ravenloft. When Strahd arrived at the Castle, he burst into the throne room to find Tatyana standing over Sergei's murdered body with the bloody Ba'al Verzi blade in her hand. She fled and Strahd pursued her, cornering him on the castle overlook. She tried again to seduce him.
"Strahd," she said, "I always wanted you, not him. When I heard you were alive, I killed him since I didn't need him anymore."
Enraged Strahd charged her and barely dodged her knife when she struck. He pushed her back and she lost her balance next to the overhang and flipped over the side, crying out just briefly. Strahd raced to the side and looked over, seeing that she had managed to grab the edge of the cliff on her way down.
"Strahd," she begged, "Please save me."
Strahd reached for her, fully intending to do so. What he didn't know was that she'd managed to gain a foothold as well and when his hands grabbed hers, she pulled with all her might, trying to pull him down with her. Her blood slicked hands slipped from his, however and she fell down the cliff, screaming Strahd's name all the way down. Strahd collapsed in grief on the overhang and remembered an old fable from his youth.
A scorpion asked a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitated, afraid of being stung by the scorpion, but the scorpion argued that if it did that, they would both drown. The frog considered this argument sensible and agreed to transport the scorpion. The scorpion climbed onto the frog's back and the frog began to swim, but midway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, dooming them both. The dying frog asked the scorpion why it stung, to which the scorpion replied "I couldn't help it. It's in my nature."

Current Sketch
It's been decades since that day. Strahd quickly learned that he wasn't aging anymore. He believes one of the spells used to heal him has made him age more slowly. Years later, Strahd met another young man who reminded him so much of Sergei, that Strahd took him in and tried to mentor him like before. This young man also met a wild tempestuous woman like Tatyana whom Strahd also tried to mentor and the cycle repeated itself almost exactly. Strahd realized then that the two young people and he were under a curse and that it would repeat itself until he could find some way to break Sergei and Tatyana free of their scorpion-like natures.

[Mistmaster]

@Manofevil The story is similar but a bit different. Your Strahd never became a vampire for example.

[Evtrax]

hmm, i do like this, but in my version Strahd is still technically in charge, sergei is long dead and part of tatyana's curse is that she will never gain the power she seeks.

and also, my plan for my own postings on this, if no one else had any ideas, was to make themetically inverted dark lords for the various dark lords, starting with the shades of dark.

for instance, in forgotten shades the first darklord is not the celeberty, but her director. the director encorages the other stars to indulge in there evil. Meanwhile the slug's thematic counterpart is best described as evil sportacus.

i will admit i am probobly not doing a good job explaining what i mean. but i do plan to post fleshed out versions of my ideas in the future.