Integrating 5E Darklords

[HyperionSol]

I know several people have put forth their ideas of how to apply the new Darklords from VRGtR. I just wanted to do the same and offer my thoughts and ideas on how to incorporate the Darklords in that guide into the Ravenloft lore created in 2E. A did like them, but I certainly did not like how it took Ravenloft back to its Weekend in Hell roots.

Viktra Mordenheim

Viktra Mordenheim does not have her name by coincidence. She is Victor's latest experiment, but also his heir.

Despite being effectively immortal so long as Adam is alive, Victor knows that one day his years will catch up to him. Whatever force keeps him from aging will no longer favor him at some point, so Victor found his thoughts going back to making a family after the loss of the one he had before. Although he did not look at it through the lens of love and affection so many others do, he did consider the importance of having an heir and trying to make a new family so Elise may have something new to live for.

How would he though? Victor only loved Elise and her own body was in no shape to bear him a child. Even though he transferred her brain to a new body (Adam's Wrath module), her body began to degrade and fail much like how her body was damaged when Adam attacked her, forcing Victor to put her back on the machines to allow her to keep living. Still, in this defeat, Victor did gain an idea. The process he used in order to make Elise her new body in the first place.

Harvesting appropriate material from himself and Elise, Victor used the process to grow a new individual; a daughter he named Viktra. Victor did not consider this creating life such as he did with Adam, but a more efficient process to having children. Viktra was to be his heir, the one who would inherit all his scientific knowledge, abilities, and genius. She would also be an experiment, to see if by changing something in the harvested material and blending it with healthy material would allow for a strong and healthy body.

Viktra grew up a genius in science (and Victor may have helped her grow up quickly with treatments), learning medicine and science at a rate that would hail her as a prodigy. Viktor was very pleased with her progress, seeing she would be a fine heir. Although one thing Viktra had different from Viktra was something akin to faith. Not in religion, but Viktra came to see her mother as an almost saintly figure. She adored her mother and hated seeing her in such torment on the machines. This lit a spark of creativity in Viktra, a drive and perhaps a willingness to take leaps of logic that were not entirely grounded in science.

Behind Victor's back, Viktra experimented, raided graveyards, and even used the rare patients as tests for her various theories. It resulted in many gruesome creations beyond the constructs Victor would create grounded firmly in his view of practical science. Viktra created monsters al based on her theoretical science. Over a thousand people or constructs were tormented by her theories. Victor of course knew and while he did not find much purchase in her theories, he did recall many scoffed at his own theories to create life and allowed her to continue.

Finally, through her leaps of logic and creativity, Viktra created the Unbreakable Heart, an artificial organ that could defeat death. Once again, A Mordenheim created a blasphemy against the gods. Behind Victor's back, Viktra took Elise to surgery and worked at implanting the Unbreakable Heart and repairing every bit of damaged flesh to make her mother as beautiful as Victor told her to be. In the process, Adam, who learned of what was going on, stormed Schloss Mordenheim to prevent Victor from getting her back. (Why Adam did not prevent Viktra's growth is because he considered her a sister and believed one day she would be betrayed much like he was by Victor, allowing him to take her in and mentor her.)

During the chaos, Viktra struggled to finish the surgery. Surprisingly, after the heart was implanted, Elise's body and wounds seemed to almost close themselves up under Viktra's work. As she was finished, Elise sat up as the power of the heart activated. At the same time, once the complete blaspheme against the natural order began to work, the mists of Ravenloft swallowed Schloss Mordenheim, taking Viktra with them.

Darklord

Viktra is made the Darklord of her own domain. Either a new island off the coast of Lamordia, or taking a parcel of land inside of Lamordia for herself. (Personally, I'd make a small island for Viktra to rule) The people consider the island to be Lamordia's more energetic and naive younger sibling. The people there are as practical and pragmatic as Lamordians, but they aren't afraid to embrace strange ideas and adapt them if there is a solid base to them, even if they turn out to be wrong. Lamordians would begrudgingly admit the people sometimes create some surprising ideas when their theories do turn out to work. It embodies the ideas of applied science vs. theoretical science.

As a Darklord, Viktra is as famed as Victor, although not as widespread in reputation. She is always considered Mordenheim's Daughter and her achievements are often considered not as grand since her father already achieved so much. Her curse as a Darklord is while she can do any scientific or medical procedure, she can only do it once. If she tries again, she will fail spectacularly. She is forced to come up with new ways to do the same procedures or be forced to rely on apprentices who rarely meet her expectations. She is obsessed with her mother, wanting to find her and bring her home both to finally feel her affection, but also be able to study the Unbreakable Heart and begin copying it.

Victor and Adam are more tormented than before because of this development. Victor has lost his bride and his daughter, being alone like never before. He desperately seeks Elise to try and bring her home (and perhaps study the Unbreakable Heart himself). Adam feels his torment more keenly now as Elise is someone who truly can understand him and be a possible companion, but she is also a woman he despises and cannot stand. If his loneliness or hate wins out has yet to be determined. Elise herself has no memories of her years before her 'rebirth'. Being little more than primal instinct and might, but as she wanders she may relearn how to be civilized, although if this will bring back her memories is anyone's guess.

[alhoon]

Love it.
I would give the island a decent population that is politically part of Lamordia but not supernaturally; i.e. Viktra's domain is her own but the people there listen to their local leaders and the Duke of Lamordia. We can hardly call Lamordia a barony anymore.

[HyperionSol]

Love it.
I would give the island a decent population that is politically part of Lamordia but not supernaturally; i.e. Viktra's domain is her own but the people there listen to their local leaders and the Duke of Lamordia. We can hardly call Lamordia a barony anymore.

That works very well with Viktra's curse. Not even as a Darklord of her own domain can she escape from Victor's shadow. Even her subjects are not her own as they are part of Lamordia, the land her father and 'brother' both hold dominion over.

[alhoon]

That was what I was thinking, when I suggested it. A weird trio where neither of them really is master of his (or her) own fate or land.

[HyperionSol]

I had two different ideas for Saidra. One was she was an illegitimate daughter sired by Dominic d'Honaire II, making her Dominic the first's granddaughter. The other was this one, which I felt was a bit more on target for the kind of treachery a Darklord is known for.

Saidra d'Honaire

Although Dominic's curse makes him repulsive to any woman he is attracted to, there are many who when faced with rewards, political gains, leverage, or wealth can stomach how revolting they find the man and carry on an affair with him. It is rare, but those tantalizing times make Dominic's curse that much worse for him. Of course, one of these rare few times resulted in the birth of a daughter and the death of her mother in childbirth. Faced with the scandal and tarnishing the reputation he made for the masses, Dominic took steps and ordered an Obedient pair to take the girl and raise her someplace away from Port-a-Lucine so her presence would not make a mess for him.

The couple did so, moving to the countryside where common folk could disappear and raised the girl as their own. The mother died in her early years, but the father remained devoted to his duty. As an Obedient, he was made to revere Dominic and raising the man's daughter, he treated her much like duchess. He spun her tales of her noble family and their struggles with many enemies, which was why she was in hiding. This made Saidra believe she was indeed special and she lorded that over her peers, making no friends but many minions as she bullied them into entertaining her.

The father remarried a woman of standing with two older daughters. None of the trio took kindly to Saidra and often bullied her, forcing her to do menial labor fit for a servant instead of treating her like the nobility she knew herself to be. In Saidra's spoiled mind, they were just jealous of her and her noble heritage. In truth, the stepsisters were sick of Saidra's attitude and her stepmother was hoping to humble Saidra and make her a better person, but to little avail. Finally, she made her husband admit the truth, that she was an abandoned child who her father took in out of the kindness of his heart. She was no duchess in the making and no palace was waiting for her return.

Saidra refused to accept this truth and fled her home. She approached her mother's grave and begged her to help, to make people see the truth, to prove that Saidra was the noble that she was always told she was. Someone answered, but it was not her mother's spirit. A kindly old lady appeared and offered to grant Saidra's wish. She offered her a beautiful masquerade dress and jewelry fit for a ball, and even gave her transportation to Sable Bay where a grand ball was being held.

Saidra rode in the bejewelled carriage, planning her night. Her goal was to show herself to be the duchess she was constantly told she was. From her father's stories, she was convinced there was a pretender to her place in nobility. She would attend the ball and reveal herself as the confident and elegant heiress she was and be welcomed back. If she was not, she would murder the so-called heir of the d'Honaire family and take the place as heiress like she should have been given when she was born.

Saidra drew all eyes from the moment she arrived at the party. She especially caught the eye of Germain d'Honaire and his father, Dominic. Germain was smitten with Saidra immediately and they danced many times during the night. Saidra herself found herself enchanted by Germain and decided she could just marry him and take her proper title of nobility without bloodshed.

Dominic also decided to make a move on Saidra, finding her ravishing and wished to have a summertime romance with her. He spoiled her with attention, but she found him entirely repulsive and rebuffed him soundly. Petty as he was, Dominic would not give up and tried to use his mind control to make her more agreeable. To his shock, Saidra was completely immune to the effect. Even women who were repulsed by him were affected for a moment before their revulsion overruled it. This made Dominic realize that Saidra was related to him, making him utterly repulsed by her. He demanded to know who she was, in which Saidra proudly told him her entire name just as the clock struck twelve.

At the stroke of midnight, Saidra's dress and jewels began to unleash a deadly plague which struck many guests, including Dominic and Germain. Believing it was an assassination attempt, Dominic attempted to strangle Saidra even as she was dying from the plague. As he tried to end her life, he announced exactly who she was: A child born of wedlock from an affair with a common woman, making a her a half-blood bastard. In her last moments, Saidra screamed and stabbed at him with a knife, all the while, the mists of Ravenloft rose.

Darklord

Saidra became the Darklord of Sable Bay and the nearby small city which imports luxury goods and caters to the nobility who like to spend their time there when it is not 'the Season' for socializing in Port-a-Lucine. Saidra, although a wraith which she hides with her rich clothing and jewels, is known as the duchess of the area and her parties are the most anticipated social events in Dementlieu. Everyone hopes for an invitation, but it is noted that only the d'Honaire family never receives one. Gossip says it is over bad blood between the two branches of the d'Honaire family.

Saidra's curse is that she cannot enjoy any of the trappings of nobility because she is now an undead wraith. Food and wine are tasteless, no one is comfortable around her, and she cannot feel the pleasures of the body. She has everything a noble can dream of, but it is all dust in her mouth. All she has now is to keep her fairy tale going forever, which she does as the Red Death, slaying the poor and repulsive of her domain so everything is beautiful and perfect.

Dominic survived the plague, for the Dark Powers would not allow him to die so easily since Saidra was not on his level of evil. Germain did die though, leaving his father without a properly trained heir and a son he loved. His marriage, cold as it was, became broken and he cannot even enjoy his wife's company now. He hates Saidra on a level no one can fathom, but he can do nothing about her. In the social scene, she is untouchable and he cannot attend her parties to embarrass her. He cannot send agents after heir either, since Obedient are freed from his control when they leave his domain and assassins he sent vanished.

It is possible that when Dominic dies of old age, Dementlieu and Sable Bay will reunite and Saidra will become the Darklord of it all.

[alhoon]

To be honest, I love Drinnik's (I think) idea of Saidra's domain being a "mirror" of Dementlieu, with pantries and such sometimes connecting and people in Mirage (Saidra's domain) unwittingly (or knowingly) stealing food and things from Dementlieu's cellars.

[HyperionSol]

It is a good idea since it plays to the fairy tale angle of Saidra's descent into becoming a Darklord. My idea here plays more to the politics of it. Dominic is already being plagued in the shadow politics by the Living Brain, curbing his spoils of lordship from the shadows. Now Saidra curtails his social status and the spoils since she is the center of social attention and Dominic's heir is gone thanks to the poison she unleashed.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

These are very interesting adaptations. The new characters are well-integrated with the original material.

A child born of wedlock from an affair with a common woman, making a her a half-blood bastard.

There appears to be one small word missing here: "A child born out of wedlock..."

[Hell_Born]

For the purpose of this thread, I must confess, that there are two domains where I think the 5e version is better, or at least a solider base to build from.

I'Cath and Bluetspur were both very "Forlorn-like" domains in traditional Ravenloft, in that they were largely glorified dungeon-crawls/wilderness bashes(? whatever the term is) rather than fleshed out domains in their own right. I'Cath was literally just a gauntlet of extremely challenging Chinese Ghost Story-themed monsters and a puzzle boss to overcome, with a very shallow and one dimensional backstory. And Bluetspur was largely the same, to the extent that Domains of Dread even says outright that nobody knows what the God-Brain did to end up being banished to the Demiplane of Dread. They, frankly, fly in the face of what Ravenloft sells itself as.

They definitely need work, but honestly, I would probably start with making the 5e version mesh better into the Misty Realms than with trying to make them more like their AD&D equivalents.

Honestly, I think my kneejerk reaction would probably be to make I'Cath into a cluster with Rokushima Taiyoo. Japan and China have always been interlinked, and it makes the Misty Realms feel a little less disparate, even if one domain is more Japanese horror and the other is Chinese Ghost Story flavored.

Bluetspur, on the other hand, kind of works as an Island of Terror...

[HyperionSol]

Honestly, I think my kneejerk reaction would probably be to make I'Cath into a cluster with Rokushima Taiyoo. Japan and China have always been interlinked, and it makes the Misty Realms feel a little less disparate, even if one domain is more Japanese horror and the other is Chinese Ghost Story flavored.

Didn't someone in the Fraternity do that? Made three domains with Rokushima Taiyoo, I'Cath, and the Poison Sea to make the Scattered Lotus Cluster, or was it another Domain?

[Jester of the FoS]

To be honest, I love Drinnik's (I think) idea of Saidra's domain being a "mirror" of Dementlieu, with pantries and such sometimes connecting and people in Mirage (Saidra's domain) unwittingly (or knowingly) stealing food and things from Dementlieu's cellars.

That was me.
The idea was that she was a distant cousin of Dominic who developed this Cinderella story in her head and the dark powers made it real.
From my book on the DMsGuilld:

Saidra d'Honaire is a native of the Mists and a distant
cousin of Dominic d'Honaire, darklord of Dementlieu.
When she killed her brother, she proved she attracted
the attention of the Dark Powers, who gave her a
domain of her own. This land was a copy of the first
Dementlieu, albeit limited to Port-a-Lucine: the only
part of the land Saidra cared about.
Duchess Saidra is now ruler of a land that isn't
what it appears. A domain that is pretending to be
another domain.
At midnight—the time of Saidra's death—it is
possible to travel between the domains, accidentally
moving to the other while running up or down a
staircase. The two also seem to share pantries and
larders; Dominic's land is unknowingly feeding Saidra
parties.

For neo-Lamordia, I proposed it just being there in addition to classic Lamordia. In the same way there's multiple gods named Nerull and Vecna. Where there's a Tiamat and a Takhisis. And the like there's just to Doctor Mordenheims in the multiverse that fell in love with an Eva and were corrupted by darkness.

The multiverse is full of wonders and unique worlds, as
well as worlds and individuals that seem similar to those
in other realms, such as the multiple worlds with a Kas
and Vecna. Gods, heroes, and evil mad scientists might
have counterparts in other worlds.
Viktra Mordenheim is the Victor Mordenheim from
another world, with both driven to similar ends. While
Victor strove to restore the dead and created a monster,
Viktra became the monster herself through the vivisection
and reanimation of her specimines.
The two Lamordians sit in the Mists, fun-house
reflections of each other, with similar but different
inhabitants. A Lamordian crossing from one version of the
domain to another might find dead loved ones alive but
unrecognizable or discover loyal friend to be treacherous
scoundrels.

[HyperionSol]

Reminds me of the Echoes idea that came with Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Didn't someone in the Fraternity do that? Made three domains with Rokushima Taiyoo, I'Cath, and the Poison Sea to make the Scattered Lotus Cluster, or was it another Domain?

That was in Ryan Naylor (of the Kargatane)'s pathfinder update, which is hosted in our Library:
http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/Libr ... _Night.pdf