Questions & Thoughts on Avonleigh

[Speedwagon]

I am a French contributor AND I've heard of Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne stories. I've been planning on reading them for a while, but now it's at the top of my list! Especially since there's a city named "Touraine" in Averoigne, so I think that someone at TSR might've been interested in Clark Ashton Smith's work (especially with the striaght-up adaptation of Averoigne style stories with X2: Castle Amber).

Medieval France has a wealth of folklore and history to take inspiration from, so you're right that Dementlieu and Richemulot (both characterized as post-medieval lands) only scratch the surface of what can be taken from France's history and legends. The tarasque (no not that one), "les dames blanches", Jean l'Ours, the Lupeux, l'Ankou, and many more. These can give Nidala's "native horrors" a much different feel than the rest of the Dread Realms, but once again with the caveat that the 'human evil' remains in place. In Islands of Terror it's established that Nidala is a mostly peaceful land, at least east of the Theospine Mountains, thanks to Elena's vigilance leading to there being no natural threats (not even large natural predators like bears or wolves).

Ah? Bonjour!

The Beast of Gevaudan also screams Ravenloft.

Bonjour, Monsieur Joël! I'd write in French but I left my AZERTY keyboard at home when I moved out, and QWERTY with accents isn't the best. But I'm happy to see more Francophones online

And yes, it does! I was just trying to avoid going straight to that famous folk monster and highlight a few others that aren't really known in pop-culture. In the case of the Beast of Gevaudan, I can certainly see Elena Faith-hold serving a similar role as Louis XV in putting the resources of the Nidalan state in hunting the beast. Bonus points if the Beast is some abomination of Ebonbane...

[IanFordam]

Some of the thoughts I had as part of this thread have been making my brain itch, so I thought I'd share them.

The founding of the Knights of the Shadow is a surprisingly difficult knot to untie. It is described as the second incarnation of the Order of the Circle. However, its founding occurs in 631bc, fifteen years before the original Circle is destroyed.

However, this oddity becomes more sensible if you recall that the original Order of the Circle existed in the Great Kingdom on the Prime Material Plane, while the Knights of the Shadows exist only within the Domains of Dread. The two organizations aren't aware of each others' existence, so there is no contradiction in the successor organization having been founded while the original yet exists.

However, another issue remains: Alexi Shadowborn founds the Knights of the Shadows but only after he has activated his powers as a Lodestone Paladin and imprisoned Lussimar within himself. The framing fiction from the Book of Shadows indicates that Alexi is himself held within a crystal coffin created by Morgoroth the Black; by binding Alexi, Ebonbane is also bound. How, then, did Alexi manage to found the Knights?

I propose the following: The need for Morgoroth's crystal coffin only arose as Alexi weakened over the years against Ebonbane's ceaseless struggle to escape. In the early years after Ebonbane was imprisoned, Alexi remained strong and vital on his own. As the vessel of a darklord, he was trapped within Shadowborn Manor, but that doesn't mean he was in suspended animation. Whenever people stumbled across the Manor—as the Mists are wont to encourage—they might have met not a darklord but an amiable host. Perhaps the original Knights of the Shadows were a party of adventurers who listened to Alexi's tale and vowed to aid him in ridding the land of oppression.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

However, another issue remains: Alexi Shadowborn founds the Knights of the Shadows but only after he has activated his powers as a Lodestone Paladin and imprisoned Lussimar within himself. The framing fiction from the Book of Shadows indicates that Alexi is himself held within a crystal coffin created by Morgoroth the Black; by binding Alexi, Ebonbane is also bound. How, then, did Alexi manage to found the Knights?

I propose the following: The need for Morgoroth's crystal coffin only arose as Alexi weakened over the years against Ebonbane's ceaseless struggle to escape. In the early years after Ebonbane was imprisoned, Alexi remained strong and vital on his own. As the vessel of a darklord, he was trapped within Shadowborn Manor, but that doesn't mean he was in suspended animation. Whenever people stumbled across the Manor—as the Mists are wont to encourage—they might have met not a darklord but an amiable host. Perhaps the original Knights of the Shadows were a party of adventurers who listened to Alexi's tale and vowed to aid him in ridding the land of oppression.

That is actually the solution that would have been put in material about Ebonbane that was ultimately cut from Secrets of the Dread Realms:

Alexi sought out Ebonbane and battled it just as it had battled his mother. Alexi shattered the sword, freeing the fiend’s spirit — but then Alexi immediately drew the incorporeal fiend into his own body. Ebonbane had traded a prison of metal for a prison of flesh.

Alexi Shadowborn remained in Shadowborn Manor for the rest of his life, founding a society of knights modeled after the Circle of his homeland. The Knights of the Shadows exist to this day, defending the weak and ensuring that Ebonbane is never freed.

After five decades of leadership, Alexi’s strength was waning. He knew that on the moment of his death, Ebonbane would escape its prison. Alexi sent his knights to bargain with Morgoroth, the darklord of Avonleigh. Morgoroth’s downfall had stemmed from his love for Aurora Shadowborn, Alexi’s cousin, and the knights convinced the mage that were Ebonbane freed, Aurora would become its first victim. To protect her, Morgoroth created a crystal sarcophagus that would keep Alexi in ageless sleep forever. The crystal prison is powered by four magic keys (see below) that must be renewed each year. The Knights of the Shadows return each year to keep Ebonbane contained. Casualties are common, but the knights have not yet failed in their mission.

[IanFordam]

That is actually the solution that would have been put in material about Ebonbane that was ultimately cut from Secrets of the Dread Realms:

Thanks, Wolfglide. There is reassurance in learning that my thoughts took me down a trail already blazed by one of the masters. I really just needed to wrap my head around two notions:

• The Order of the Circle and the Knights of the Shadows know nothing about each other beyond the latter being inspired by the existence of the former. There is no contradiction in Alexi founding the Knights before the destruction of the Circle.
• The first Knights were people who came to Shadowborn Manor. Alexi did not go out recruiting.

Both are sort of obvious once you get there, but it took me a bunch of months to get there.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I didn't read this whole thread, but just wanted to point out in case no one had that a lot of this Alexi backstory is ex post facto trying to make sense of somewhat contradictory stuff from the original "Bane of the Shadowborn" adventure from Dungeon Magazine #31 and the Shadowborn novel, both excellent sources for any Shadowlands fan. Also useful is the framing fiction from the Kargatane's Book of Shadows which offers a glimpse at how the Kargatane (and Mangrum in particular) saw the Shadowlands. Mangrum's thoughts re: the whole "pearl in the oil" thing can be found here:
https://fraternityofshadows.com/TheVaul ... lands.html