Café de Nuit

Hi all,

That contest thing has had me hooked.

So, without being able to explain the nearer details, I have some questions
I would appreciate your help, and, surely, more will come, as I proceed.

Well, here they are, in no particular order:

1. What happened to Ratik Übel? - Last time I remember him was in the BB.

2. Where's Gundar now? - Was he killed or did he simply loose his powers?

3. Can somebody please sum up what happened in The Galen Saga?

4. Apart from , "The Galen Saga", "An Evening with the Fraternity", "Awakenings", "Reckonings", and "Staunton Bluffs", what were the more popular Ravenloft online games in the last few years?

5. Is the Alchemist in the end a good version of Strahd? - I believe Gaz III hinted something alike.

6. What is known of Lyssa von Zarovich's current whereabouts?

7. Could someboy please sum up for me what happened in "A Halfling Tells A Tale"?

And this is only the beginning...

I have an idea - no idea if this will fit in the contest, but I have that idea...


Yours,

Rafael

Searching the Kargatane Catalogue might be a good start.

1. Ratik Übel is in VRGttWD iirc. Alanik Ray interviewed him on the Hungry Dead. Ratik wanted the Great Detective to figure out his mystery murderer, but Alanik declined. The story is a great read.

Rafael wrote: 4. Apart from , "The Galen Saga", "An Evening with the Fraternity", "Awakenings", "Reckonings", and "Staunton Bluffs", what were the more popular Ravenloft online games in the last few years?
Rafael

For sure the Halfling Walks! (It has been ended now since there was no DM and real life gets most of the players). We have playing this game for at least 7 years! Maybe even more I don't remember actually.

Rafael wrote:Where's Gundar now? - Was he killed or did he simply loose his powers?

Gundar was staked, but not permanently destroyed. His stake-pierced skeleton was sold to Arcanus's traveling curiosities show, later to be released (i.e. stake pulled out) under circumstances to be specified by the DM. Having left Gundarak while "dead" and had his domain divvied up in his absence, he's no longer a darklord, though he retains his powers as a vampire and fighter.

(FWIW, I've never been too happy with this outcome. If being staked is an escape from darklordship, wouldn't Strahd have tried it himself? )

5. Is the Alchemist in the end a good version of Strahd? - I believe Gaz III hinted something alike.

It's a Dread Possibility that he is/was such a thing, but the details are very vague. It's uncertain if the Alchemist is still around, but if he is, there's got to be time travel and/or some form of life-extension involved: he was human, after all, and was alive in 579 BC.

6. What is known of Lyssa von Zarovich's current whereabouts?

Still in Barovia, hiding out from her great-uncle's scrutiny while she tries to recover from the supernatural drug that she was tricked into taking in CotN:V. So far, she can only stay mobile for about an hour each night, IIRC.

giamarga's correct on Ratik.

Rafael wrote:2. Where's Gundar now? - Was he killed or did he simply loose his powers?

He was staked, but the stake was removed in CotN: werebeasts, and he's een alive and well, but not a darklord ever since. Gaz I (Barovia)or Gaz IV (Invidia) has some rumors aout his current whereabouts, I think.

5. Is the Alchemist in the end a good version of Strahd? - I believe Gaz III hinted something alike.

yes, sort of, maybe. he's either an alernate reality good strahd, or the leftover good mortal half of strahd, seperated from the rest of him by the Apparatus

6. What is known of Lyssa von Zarovich's current whereabouts?

she's in Gaz I (Barovia). Zeidenburg, I think.


Sorry I can't help more, my books are packed away at the moment.

So about The Alchemist. Anybody got I10 handy? Iirc there was time travel involved. So someone better summon HMB.

Also iirc The Alchemist bought/lived in The House on Gryphon Hill, before Mordentshire entered the Mists. (OR was it Heather House?) So when did Mordentshire enter the Domain of Dread? Could it be that The Alchemist stayed behind in the Prime? Or could it be that he died in Ravenloft and perhaps became a ghost and is now trapped in the House among all those others?

The Ring of Reversion and the Apparatus are both still around (described in the Mordent Gazetteer, VRA or LotB).

Eh? What? Who dares summon the depths, etc. etc.

I10? Let me check in about 12 hours' time. I'll be back home then and have the module spread in front of me like a willing lab rat.

Hmm... I thought this was tied somehow to the other time-travelling adventures so you'd know off the top of your head. Probably because you used The Creature as an appelation for Strahd in your fan fic so much. I think to make I10 make sense it would have to be somehow tied to the other two meddling/time travelling adventures.

Maybe the reviews of I10 in the Drawing Room might help clear that up. (Interesting tips by Charles Phips, I especially like the David Lynch comment.) Also here's WoTC free download page for I10 (with commentary even)

In this interesting post from the "messing with canon" thread Roti describes her take on the Alchemist, among other things.

The Giamarga wrote:So about The Alchemist. Anybody got I10 handy? Iirc there was time travel involved.

Not time travel, but alternate realities. The idea was that PCs who were playing both I6 and I10 would fall asleep in Barovia and wake up in Mordent, then fall asleep in Mordent and wake up in Barovia, etc.

Also iirc The Alchemist bought/lived in The House on Gryphon Hill, before Mordentshire entered the Mists. (OR was it Heather House?) So when did Mordentshire enter the Domain of Dread?

It's unclear whether Mordent was dragged into Ravenloft by Azalin's experiments, or if the two villains actually did manage to return to the Material Plane for a time. Basically, the setting's writers were reluctant to say one way or the other, as the precise course of I10 was determined by an essentially random process (the Mesmerism schtick), and declaring any one of its outcomes "canon" would alienate three-quarters of those who'd played out I10 in their campaigns.

Whichever the case might be, setting history establishes that by the end of the I10 scenario, Mordent had become a domain in its own right.

Could it be that The Alchemist stayed behind in the Prime? Or could it be that he died in Ravenloft and perhaps became a ghost and is now trapped in the House among all those others?

The conclusion to I10 strongly implies that the Alchemist-Strahd is killed by his vampire alter-ego. It's an ambiguous scene, however, so the Alchemist could well have been swept up by the Mists and deposited just about anywhere.

The Ring of Reversion and the Apparatus are both still around (described in the Mordent Gazetteer, VRA or LotB).

Actually, it's the Alchemist's research notes that survived. Several others have built or conspired to build their own Apparatus since then. In fact (if it's not giving away too much) there's considerable interest in that specific artifact in the Nocturnal Sea region, at the moment....

Gundar makes an important appearance in A Calling from Verbrek, where he is no longer a darklord, is still a vampire, and has become quite insane.

Thank you all for your help!!!

I had tinkering on a certain concept for quite a while, and with your help, I hope that I will be able to flesh it out until Halloween.

I guess those who know me a bit can already see the direction it is going to take.

Rotipher of the FoS wrote: The conclusion to I10 strongly implies that the Alchemist-Strahd is killed by his vampire alter-ego. It's an ambiguous scene, however, so the Alchemist could well have been swept up by the Mists and deposited just about anywhere.

Thank you! This is exactly the information I had hoped for...

VAN wrote: For sure the Halfling Walks! (It has been ended now since there was no DM and real life gets most of the players). We have playing this game for at least 7 years! Maybe even more I don't remember actually.

Oh, sure! - Did not mean to be disrespective! Could you please sum up in a few sentences what has happened there so far?

For, this is what I can disclose already, I for me would simply declare the happenings in the different online games here canon for me. - Only with that, you already have a wide variety of constellations that could lead to an realm-shaking event. Think only of Ezra's removal from the Mists at the end of Staunton Bluffs, or of the consequences the death of the DLs killed in Reckonings would have!

cure wrote:Gundar makes an important appearance in A Calling from Verbrek, where he is no longer a darklord, is still a vampire, and has become quite insane.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is this? - Never heard of it, I believe!

- I have some more questions, which may already hitn very clearly to where this is heading:

1. How much time would it take for Barovia to muster an army?

2. Is there any definitive 3e (Kargatane/S&S) info where the Sunsword and the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind are?

Gundar was also somewhat mentioned in the adventure released here a couple years back.

Rafael wrote:

cure wrote:Gundar makes an important appearance in A Calling from Verbrek, where he is no longer a darklord, is still a vampire, and has become quite insane.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is this? - Never heard of it, I believe!

It's an unofficial adventure (but with a very professional look!) that you can find in the Fraternity's Library.

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:

The Giamarga wrote:So about The Alchemist. Anybody got I10 handy? Iirc there was time travel involved.

Not time travel, but alternate realities. The idea was that PCs who were playing both I6 and I10 would fall asleep in Barovia and wake up in Mordent, then fall asleep in Mordent and wake up in Barovia, etc.

Well, time-travel actually may play a part: "For Barovia and Mordentshire, while miles and perhaps centuries apart, are mystically linked to each other, creating a bridge between the two worlds." (I10, p.41). Of course, I10 leaves up to the DM whether one or both setting is "real"--which may imply that, from a modern-Ravenloft perspective, that Strahd and Azalin escaped to the Prime Material Plane Mordent temporarily, but were linked back to Barovia...or to an alternate-reality, "false" Barovia born of the PCs delerium and the overlay Strahd's memories created...or that the Mordent of Strahd and Azalin was itself a false Mordent created entirely in Ravenloft.

Of course, using I6 in combination with I10 was entirely optional anyway.

(Incidentally, my own version is and always will be that the Alchemist, in the "real" Mordent, created the Creature Strahd, which was born in the "real" Barovia, that the Creature Strahd fell into Ravenloft as we all know and love, and that when he and Azalin tried to get out, it was the Creature's link to the Alchemist that brought them back to Mordent, where I10 ensued...Only when the Creature re-entered Mordent did his knowledge of the Alchemist and its own true nature return, resulting in the events of I10 and the *pause for Dark Powers snickering* return of S&A to Ravenloft).

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:

Also iirc The Alchemist bought/lived in The House on Gryphon Hill, before Mordentshire entered the Mists. (OR was it Heather House?) So when did Mordentshire enter the Domain of Dread?

It's unclear whether Mordent was dragged into Ravenloft by Azalin's experiments, or if the two villains actually did manage to return to the Material Plane for a time. Basically, the setting's writers were reluctant to say one way or the other, as the precise course of I10 was determined by an essentially random process (the Mesmerism schtick), and declaring any one of its outcomes "canon" would alienate three-quarters of those who'd played out I10 in their campaigns.

Whichever the case might be, setting history establishes that by the end of the I10 scenario, Mordent had become a domain in its own right.

It's also a question whether there's a "real" Mordent still out there in the Prime Material Plane in the way there's a "real" Barovia or whether there's been some renovations to the real estate several miles to the southwest of Osterton...

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:

Could it be that The Alchemist stayed behind in the Prime? Or could it be that he died in Ravenloft and perhaps became a ghost and is now trapped in the House among all those others?

The conclusion to I10 strongly implies that the Alchemist-Strahd is killed by his vampire alter-ego. It's an ambiguous scene, however, so the Alchemist could well have been swept up by the Mists and deposited just about anywhere.

Specifically, if the DM follows the script, all four plotlines end up with the Alchemist and the Creature, locked in each others arms, tumbling over the cliffs into Ardent Bay. Why this would be assumed to kill the vampire Strahd (who in one of the endings is actually a transpossessed Alchemist!) is an open question in and of itself. The instant they go over, the Apparatus detonates, curing all the transpossessed townspeople and insta-dusting all undead 6HD or less.

Quite frankly, where the Alchemist winds up and what condition he's in when he gets there is an utterly open question!

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:

The Ring of Reversion and the Apparatus are both still around (described in the Mordent Gazetteer, VRA or LotB).

Actually, it's the Alchemist's research notes that survived. Several others have built or conspired to build their own Apparatus since then. In fact (if it's not giving away too much) there's considerable interest in that specific artifact in the Nocturnal Sea region, at the moment....

Thoughts of Darkness states that there were several original Rods of Rastinon, speaking of places where people rebuilt the Apparatus...

And on a completely different note...

Rotipher of the FoS wrote: Rafael wrote:
Where's Gundar now? - Was he killed or did he simply loose his powers?


Gundar was staked, but not permanently destroyed. His stake-pierced skeleton was sold to Arcanus's traveling curiosities show, later to be released (i.e. stake pulled out) under circumstances to be specified by the DM. Having left Gundarak while "dead" and had his domain divvied up in his absence, he's no longer a darklord, though he retains his powers as a vampire and fighter.

I know Gundar was always the cheap, second-rate imitation of the Creature Strahd, but nothing really says that like having him live out the Dracula part from Universal's House of Frankenstein!