Kartakass Redux

[Isabella]

I was working on this for a while and kind of ran out of steam, so I thought I could toss it on the boards and see what you guys make of it.

Basically I'm trying to merge the domains of Verbrek and Kartakass, mostly because Verkbrek's human society didn't impress me and Kartakass' wolfwere society didn't impress me. No, I don't know if this is a good idea. The merged domain is roughly where Kartakass was, with Invidia to the West (meaning the false history invasion actually makes sense now), Hazlan to the East, Valachan to the South (which is now a Spanish Mexico flavored domain, and a project for another time), and Forlorn/Borca to the North (but which is very difficult to get to).

-The Southern part of the domain has lightly forested hills, cave complexes, and the Musarde River. The Northern Part is Verbrek Woods, a dark, dense forest filled with giant animals and werewolves.
The major cultural split is between the frontier folk of the north and the farmers and traders of the south. Skald is a bustling river town, with steamboat trading ships common, while Harmonia sits nestled among the hills. To the north are the frontier towns, high walled fortified towns that house trappers and loggers (kind of like Iron Town from Princess Mononoke.... only smaller). The musical nature of the domain remains, although the Meistersinger competitions are a luxury the Northern frontier towns can't afford (The frontier folk also prefer rustic folk songs to the solo ballads of the south). All towns are considered to be autonomous from each other.

-Since most of Kartakass' religion was about how angel wolves would eat your soul, the religion of New Kartakass is definitively the Wolf God. Everyone takes precautions to stave of wolves for the living and the dead. Beyond that, Ezra and Hala do decently well in the frontier towns; the frontier folk think that actions speak louder than words, and respect any priests which are willing and able to help them survive in the dangerous conditions they live in.

-Threats of the area are the grandfather beasts and the werewolves, of course.
Grandfather beasts are huge animals that rarely venture outside of the woods, but are very nasty to humans who venture into their woods; they also seem a lot smarter than they really ought to be, although they aren't prone to deception or guile (again, kind of like Princess Mononoke).
Werewolves and wolfweres are one and the same creature. The trickster wolves (originally wolfweres) are less prone to random violence and often have fey powers, but the difference between the two monsters is entirely artificial. Despite this, they still hate each other's guts. The monsters are mostly split between the town werewolves and the forest werewolves (sounds like a children's book, doesn't it), although clans of werewolves still infight among each other; for example, Mother Fury and her children are still here, and still at odds with Alfred Timothy.

-And now, the big three:
Nathan Timothy is still about, happily running his steamboat down the Musarde. The frontier folk view him with a sort of awe, kind of like the old western legends like Pecos Bill or Paul Bunion. He's widely credited with making the domain hospitable at all, fighting back the forest and the wolves until the towns managed to get enough of a foothold to survive without him. As the one Darklord who walked away from his domain but can still be found in Ravenloft, he attracts a lot of attention from other Darklords. He still runs his river boat down the Musarde; while he's one of the more dangerous individuals a person might meet, he's generally content just to run his riverboat legitimately; he's a great boon to adventurers who need someone to talk them somewhere dangerous and wait for them (though he charges an arm and a leg ).

Harkon Lukas is man's fear of wolves made flesh; put simply, he is a boogeyman, a barghest, the greatest of all Grandfather creatures, and believed by many werewolves to be the Wolf God incarnate. He recalls existing in the dark forests of Verbrek for untold generations until Nathan Timothy and his settlers encroached on his domain. What followed was a series of bloody battles between wolves and man, and Lukas was shocked to discover that while the frontier folk feared him, they also strongly believed in Nathan Timothy, and he could not drive the intruders out of his domain. Eventually, Harkon grew impressed with the way humans organized themselves to accomplish things, and also with the power of myth and song, which could inspire mankind to great things. It's said he made a powerful bargain with Nathan Timothy and other like-minded followers and created the first werewolves, but no one knows if this is true or not.
Harkon Lukas is torn; he wants to forge Kartakass into a great civilization, with his followers in command, but he cannot exist without humanity's fear of wolves, and he knows the more technology is imported, the less man will fear nature. For the most part, however, he has gotten sick of the mindless and brutal savagery of many of the werewolves, and generally stays in Skald among humans.

Alfred Timothy remains as much the same as he was before: he is the true darklord of the domain, not Harkon. He despises both his father and Lukas. Alfred claims he took the domain from Nathan, but in truth Nathan just dumped the domain and left of his own free will, and Alfred knows his father is stronger than he is. He also hates Harkon Lukas - while he originally considered Harkon to be the avatar of his god, Harkon mostly ignores Alfred as beneath his notice. Alfred now denounces Harkon as a traitor to the werewolves who has sided with humanity, but secretly fears that Harkon truly is the wolf god and that he has proved himself unworthy. Likewise, while Alfred's packmates may scoff at Harkon Lukas when he is not present, they are very unlikely to ever do so to his face.

Obviously, there are a lot of kinks to be ironed out, not the least of which being my mind is pretty jumbled right now and my notes are nowhere near as organized as they ought to be. The culture of Skald will probably be very different as a trade town, and the whole domain will probably have a higher tech level, although still be considered a backwater by Core standards. Questions/suggestions/comments/complaints welcome.

[cure]

There is much appealing in this and there is certainly something to the weaknesses you point to in the existing presentation of human life in Verbrek and wolfwere life in Kartakass.

The one thought that leaps off the page for me, however, is that Harkon becomes rather muddled. The wolf avatar bit and the relation with Timothy are fine, but his rejection of the brutality of his kin seems somewhat dubious. To my eye, Harkon is just as prone to eat someone alive, with the difference that he is more choosy as to victim, time, place, and after dinner drink. Put differently, he is indeed a trickster wolf and as such is perfectly at home among humans and indeed is even fond of some of their ways and their company generally, but the better in the end to turn the tables on mankind. Now of course this is all too civilised for the likes of Madame Fury and her ilk, and to that extent, at least, Lukas can be seen to be a traitor by those less inclined to intellectually, as opposed to merely physically, playing with their food.

[Isabella]

Well, this is where the poor organization of my notes comes in.

Harkon is less rejecting his bestial nature than embracing the monstrous side of humanity. He's more like a serial killer, and he delights in the cruelty and devastation that man can cause, which is why he (supposedly, possibly not, it's uncertain) created werewolves and took human form himself. The only problem is that devastation is usually directed towards nature and thus the source of his power. He also thinks the brutal violence of most of the werewolves is excessive and kind of silly - kinda like they're overcompensating for something. He's more like an actual wolf than a werewolf, despite his interest in humanity; he'll kill you if he wants to just because he can, but doesn't really feel the need prove his superiority through murder... he knows he's superior.

If you think he's a contradiction, he's kind of meant to be - he's too human to be a wolf and too monstrous to be a man, and he's not pointlessly savage enough to fit in amongst werewolves either. Hope that's a slightly better explanation.

[cure]

That rings true. Nice, very nice indeed.

[ewancummins]

This is an interesting notion! Fusing the domains....lot of possibilities there.


If you did this, would there possibly by gun-carrying colonists/settlers moving into Verbrek from the north [Dementlieu and Richemulot, mostly]? That would be nice.

[Isabella]

The domains next to Verbrek woods on my map are Invidia, Borca, Forlorn, and Hazlan.
I guess moving into werewolf infested woods would be one way to avoid taxes.

I'm not sure what to do with Forlorn in my revisions but there might be remnants of the original culture in Verbrek woods, just like there are in Barovia. And Invidian refugees would be pretty common. Same with Rashemi from Hazlan. As for Richemulot and Demenltieu, I include the train on my map, so it'd be easy enough to go there.

[ewancummins]

The domains next to Verbrek woods on my map are Invidia, Borca, Forlorn, and Hazlan.
I guess moving into werewolf infested woods would be one way to avoid taxes.

I'm not sure what to do with Forlorn in my revisions but there might be remnants of the original culture in Verbrek woods, just like there are in Barovia. And Invidian refugees would be pretty common. Same with Rashemi from Hazlan. As for Richemulot and Demenltieu, I include the train on my map, so it'd be easy enough to go there.

Sweet!

IMC, I use an Old South/Woodland Frontier version of Arkandale [including Verbrek]. This is definitely inspired by Andrew Wyatt's Lonesome Road website. You should check that one out, if you get a chance. He's done some cool stuff.

I use [not necessarily false] history of my own creation to flesh out domains. My Dementlieu actually had a Revolution, by the end of which an absolute monarch had been replaced by the Council of Brilliance. My Richemulot actually has a history, and the locals did not just ''appear'' with no memeories of the past. No, they actually moved in and settledthe region, reclaiming the ruined cities left behind by an older, now vanished people [the Old Builders].


IMC, it would be a bad idea to assume that history prior to the appearance of a particular DL automatically = false history. Just as Barovia had a history long before Strahd, most domains IMC have deeper roots. They may have been altered in various ways to suit their new masters/prisoners, of course.

[Ail]

Isabella, I like your ideas very much, in particular your depiction of Harkon Lukas and how you seem to give a strong pshychological background to each of the big three.

Good work.

[Isabella]

IMC, I use an Old South/Woodland Frontier version of Arkandale [including Verbrek]. This is definitely inspired by Andrew Wyatt's Lonesome Road website. You should check that one out, if you get a chance. He's done some cool stuff.

I have indeed checked it out (although the links seem to be broken for me these days) and parts of the domain are inspired by that. Even so, I didn't envision the domain quite as much like the old South, mostly since Kartakass got tossed in the mix. In the case of the Grandfather creatures, the heaviest influence is probably Princess Mononoke (possibly even including the demon tainted boar at the beginning, though I'm not sure where that would come from; Hazlan, maybe? There were mistways in the southern caves to Bluetspur, but they aren't near the forests and I'm not sure if I'll keep them).

Here's what I wrote before the project stalled out (long):

Kartakass
The Land
No matter where one travels in the beautiful domain of Kartakass, there is an ever present sense of music. In the hills of southern Kartakass, there is the rustling of oak, walnut, and maple trees, and the echoes of the deep cave complexes that riddle the hill sides. By the Musarde River there is the sound of water and wind through the cattails and river grass. The fields around Skald and Harmonia are filled with songbirds, whippoorwills, and bumblebees. And in the towering northern pine forests, there is the chirping of cicadas and the disconcerting chorus of wolves howling on moonlit nights.

The Musarde River is the center of trade into and out of Kartakass. A multitude of tributaries and smaller rivers that have split off from the Musarde flow throughout the domain. The wide, deep Musarde allows for boat traffic mostly unmolested by animals and lycanthropes, and Kartakan lumberjacks often float their logs downriver into Invidia. The river is rich with fish, turtles, and oysters, which river merchants often trawl to add to their normal cargo profits. The wildflower-covered land around the river is rich and arable for farming, and Kartakan crops often grow to massive sizes. Wild plants offer up huge cherries, blueberries, juniper berries, acorns, and mushrooms; a local berry known as Meekulbern is highly prized. Sheep herding is common on the Northern side of the Musarde. Kartakan winters are generally mild, with moderate snowfall in the North.

Despite its rustic beauty, Kartakass only hosts two towns of major note: Skald and Harmonia. Skald lies on the south side of the Musarde River, and is the trade capital of Kartakass. Roads from it run east into Invidia, west into Hazlan, and Southeast to Harmonia; the road north is overgrown and no longer used. Skald hosts a variety of inns and other establishments suitable for traveling merchants or other passers-through. A day's travel from Skald, Harmonia rests among the lightly forested hills of Southern Kartakass. Harmonia supports the pride of Kartakass, Harmonic Hall, as well as the popular Crystal Club, which is built into a naturally crystalline cave. Logging towns and farming towns lie further to the north, scattered about the country-side. All of these towns, Skald and Harmonia included, are surrounded by thick wooden walls, reminders of dangers old and current.

The forests of Kartakass host a variety of game creatures like deer, elk, and boars, and also has a large variety of small rodents and songbirds. Most notable of all the animals are the wolves, which have a reputation as maneaters and terrify the human populous. A handful of other predators lurk in the woods, but most are driven out by competition from the wolves. Much like the plant life of Kartakass, the wildlife often grows to massive size. In the thick, foreboding forests of Verbrek, boars the size of a cart or owls the size of a man are not uncommon. These "Grandfather" creatures are treated with a kind of awe by the general populous, especially Grandfather Wolves. Held in less estimable reputation are the werewolves, who are known to walk among men and use cities as their hunting grounds.

The Folk
The native folk of Kartakass are usually fair-skinned and handsome, though scars often mar the features of the frontier-folk. Hair color ranges from blond to dark brown, and the most common eye color is a shade of lavender-blue, with other eye colors including blue and green. Kartakans share a seemingly contradictory nature, both fiercely desiring independence and yet being utterly dependent on their communities to survive. On the surface, they appear as pleasant as could be asked for, willing to offer hospitality and to anyone who requires it. Underneath this friendly exterior, however, can often lie a suspicious nature, and strangers to a community are rarely trusted. This dichotomy is much more apparent in the outlying villages than in Harmonia and Skald; indeed, the split between the town-folk and the frontier-folk is the biggest cultural divide in Kartakass, even more than that between the rich and the poor.

In and around the cities of Harmonia and Skald, the countryside is idyllic and trade frequent, allowing for a certain amount of leisure and festiveness. Villagers wear loose and comfortable fashions, often embroidered or dyed in bright colors, and houses are often painted with designs of green or red. Farmers raise herds of goats and sheep, from which they spin wool and make cheese. Tradesmen and merchants provide a wide variety of goods from native produce and foreign trade. Stories and singing are loved and told by all, with attendance at Harmonic Hall a high prestige. Even causal singers prefer the stirring solo ballads that are taught in Harmonic Hall; almost all historical records are taught via ballads or folk-tales.

Further north, towards the woods of Verbrek, the people are more subdued and far more suspicious. Their clothing is plain and loose, with fastenings designed to be easily untied, and is always dyed to blend in to the wilderness rather than stand out. The frontier-folk live almost entirely from the bounty of the forest, with sporadic trade from the towns to supplement their efforts. All frontier-folk place an immense value on practical survival skills. Despite this, they also share a love of music; although they have no formal training centers such as Harmonic Hall, they will often sing rustic folk songs when they have returned home at night.

The woods also contain Fofarian woodsmen, surviving pockets of culture from Forlorn, who were not wiped out with their homeland. Immigrants are a common sight in Kartakass as well, especially in the frontier towns of Verbrek Forest, who are more likely to take in another worker to help them survive. Refugees fleeing from Invidia make up most of these people, but Rashemi slaves from Hazlan, ill-treated workers from Valachan, or even indentured Borcans in too much debt will sometimes make their way into the domain. The Kartakans are fiercely independent and resist any attempt by foreign authority to return a wayward slave or debtor, on principle more than actual affection, so even the dark and dangerous woods can be appealing to the desperate.

Every wolf in Kartakass is rightly feared and respected as a dangerous beast, but no creature in Kartakass is as feared as the werewolves. While even the Grandfather wolves are usually kept back by the massive gates of the Kartakan towns, the trickster wolves can live amongst humans and hunt them with no one the wiser. Trust is a rare commodity in Kartakass, with every citizen watching their neighbor like a hawk. More than one careless werewolf has found itself on the wrong end of an angry mob. More than one innocent has suffered the same brutal fate; some frontier towns have completely destroyed themselves in a flurry of paranoid murder. Tales such as these usually keep the local hysteria in check.

The religion of Kartakass is definitively that of the Wolf God. Every citizen of Kartakass offer up prayers to this malevolent deity, pleading its mercy and begging it to spare humanity, to ensure further prey for its children. Goats and sheep are often tied to pegs outside of the town and left as sacrifices to the god. Even after death the spirit is believed to be hunted by the wolves of the forest, and a sacrificial goat is often led into the wilderness to lure the wolves off the departed's trail until they can reach their final destination. Beyond the Wolf God, Ezra and Hala have a decent following in the forests of Verbrek. The frontier-folk prefer actions to words, and any priest that impresses them or helps them survive will often pick up a handful of followers.


(As you can see, I didn't even get to the interesting bits.)

[Isabella]

(And this should be the end of it. Once again, suggestions are appreciated.)

The Wolves
Even the normal wolves of Kartakass are more aggressive than those in other domains, but rarely do they travel alone. Most packs of wolves have at least one werewolf or Grandfather wolf as the head of the pack. While the Grandfather wolves are not as actively malevolent as the werewolves, they are very territorial, and often attack human trespassers in Verbrek Forest. Nonetheless, neither the Grandfather beasts nor the normal wolves tend to leave Verbrek Forest. It is the werewolves that spill forth into the countryside in their desire to destroy mankind.

Werewolves organize themselves in packs, much as normal wolves do. Most have little in common beyond their reverence of the Wolf God, but the wolves of the forest share a firm belief in their own superiority and their acknowledgment of the high priest of the Wolf God, Alfred Timothy. These werewolves have their own brutal and savage culture, free of mercy and the scruples of humanity. During every full moon the forest tribes gather at a holy ground known as the Circle, to preform rituals in the Wolf God's honor and to hear the Wolf God's will. Their favorite rituals often involve a ceremonial hunt of a human, who rarely manage to escape from their pursuers. Other, mysterious rituals can transform a human judged worthy into a werewolf, although it takes a great deal to impress Alfred Timothy.

The werewolves are not united under Timothy, however. While Alfred Timothy holds the most influence of any one werewolf, other factions of werewolves are common. Many, such as Mother Fury's children in the lower forest, consider humanity to be fascinating and worthy creatures, and often allow normal humans to join their ranks without transformation; Alfred is infuriated by this blasphemy to the Wolf God. Others choose to live closer to the true wolves of the forest, rarely if ever changing into human form. Finally, there are the trickster wolves of Southern Kartakass, who are known by the townsfolk to have mysterious powers. These wolves prefer human civilization and are more adverse to the needless carnage of their forest fellows, preferring to stalk a single target for a long period of time rather than to kill as many humans as possible. Trickster wolves view the forest werewolves as dull-witted savages who are needlessly violent to overcompensate, while the forest werewolves see the tricksters as traitors to the werewolf race. Despite the fact that they are all werewolves, the factions are often more brutal to each other than they are to humanity.

The Lords and the Law
Every town in Kartakass is considered an independent city-state, with no one to fall back on and beholden to no one. In practice, Harmonia and Skald are far more connected than this system would seem to suggest, but in principle the Kartakans will not tolerate any attempt to strip them of their autonomy. The mayor of each Southern Town is decided every year in an elaborate contest. This contest varies from town to town, but usually involves the use of music, wordplay, or storytelling to win over the audience; the most popular contender wins the title of meistersinger. The meistersinger is a largely symbolic office, however, and most of the decisions are made by councilors and influential members of society. The frontier-towns have little time for such frivolities, and have done away with the office of meistersinger entirely.

The mythical founder of Kartakass, Nathan Timothy, is known to still traverse the Musarde on his riverboat. Nathan Timothy is held in awe by the humans of Kartakass. An earthy, rugged frontiersman, he is widely regarded as the one who single-handedly beat back the the forests, driving the wolves back until they only dared set foot in Skald wearing human disguise. Although these myths are obviously exaggerated, Nathan is largely responsible for organizing the humans in the early days of the cities, allowing the people of Kartakass to stave off wolf attack until they had became large enough to survive on their own. Despite the years that have passed since he left the domain, he appears young and healthy whenever he arrives in port. The people of Kartakass don't seem to notice this incongruity, as they consider him too legendary to age or die.

The natives would be horrified to know that Nathan Timothy, having made a bargain with a great wolf spirit long ago, is a werewolf and the former Darklord of Kartakass. However, Nathan was a particularly placid Darklord, and eventually willingly turned his domain over to his son. He is currently content to pilot his riverboat down the Musarde, and while he is a very dangerous man, he is also a very useful one; he is willing to sail to dangerous places, and does not eat his paying customers. He saves his savage impulses for people he doesn't like. As the only Darklord still in Ravenloft to have willingly given up his domain, he often attracts unwanted attention from those more knowledgeable in the demiplane's workings, giving him plenty of acceptable targets.

Harkon Lukas is the influential meistersinger of Harmonia, and one of the most beloved folk-heroes of Kartakass aside from Nathan Timothy. Tales of Lukas' wit, charm, and cunning abound, although Lukas himself never confirms or denies the veracity of these tales. Lukas is also well known to be a personal friend of Nathan Timothy, and is credited with turning back the Indivian invasion of Kartakass. Although Timothy is considered the founder of the domain, Lukas has had more influence over the culture and the people.
Harkon Lukas is also a powerful shapechanger, and thought by many werewolves to be the Wolf God himself. Just as with humans, Lukas never confirms or denies these stories, and rarely interacts with the werewolves in anything more than a casual capacity.

Lukas has been around as long as the land itself. He was originally a gigantic wolf spirit, a barghest that haunted the woods and terrified the people of Kartakass; his power stemmed from their fear of wolves and the sacrifices they left to ward him off. When Nathan Timothy ventured into his realm, Lukas brought forth the fury of the forest to deal with the disrespectful interloper. To his amazement and alarm, he found himself unable to drive Timothy away. Although the people believed in the power of the wolf spirit, they also believed in Timothy's power to drive the wolves back. As the frontiersmen used increasingly brutal methods against the forest creatures, Lukas found himself intrigued by the clever creatures, both for their intelligence and the depths of their savagery.

It is rumored by some werewolves that Harkon Lukas made a bargain with Nathan Timothy, to transform him and his closest followers into the first werewolves. No one knows if that story is true or not, and Lukas employs his usual silence, but it is known that Lukas came to Skald with Nathan Timothy. Ever since that day, the heavy wolf attacks on the Southern towns stopped, and the humans there were never again threatened with total annihilation. As a creature made from myth and stories, Lukas had a great desire to study how they worked. When the Harmonic Hall was built, Lukas was there overseeing it. When the Invidian armies attacked Kartakass, Lukas overthrew them, although there are many contradictory stories of exactly how.

Unfortunately, the humans and wolves of Kartakass show little ability to coexist, and while Lukas has found respect for humans, it is their fear which allows him to exist. Every time the humans defeat the wolves and grow bolder, Harkon grows a little weaker, and every time the werewolves devastate a town, they come a little closer to driving the humans out and reducing the domain into a savage wilderness. For this reason, Harkon does not interfere in the affairs of Verbrek Forest. Even without a personal stake in the matter, Harkon feels the constant struggle brings out the strength in both man and wolf. Instead, Harkon has busied himself in the study of music, myth, and story; he dislikes depending on anything for his own existence, and hopes that the myriad of stories about him will allow him to subsist even in domains where wolves are unknown.

Currently, Lukas resides in Harmonia, although he is known to travel from town to town as a traveling bard. He tends to shun the werewolves of Verbrek, almost as if disappointed in them. He finds their mindless bloodshed to be excessive for his tastes; Harkon enjoys the hunt for the challenge of opposed wits, and considers simple murder to be a waste of his time. This leads some of Alfred Timothy's followers to deride him as a "domesticated" and toothless wolf, who betrayed his own kind by siding with humans. However, only a foolish werewolf would dare say these things in his presence, and foolish wolves do not last long in Verbrek. Most werewolves are unwilling to speak ill of the one whom they secretly believe to be their god.

The Darklord of the domain is Nathan's son, Alfred Timothy. A weak, sickly child, Alfred despised his human half and nursed a deep resentment of his father for keeping him amongst humans, unable to transform. When he was eighteen, Alfred was caught stalking about as a wolf, an act that nearly cost him his life; only a passing Vistani woman spared him from the fate of being burnt alive. Alfred fled from Skald to seek out rumors of the Wolf God, whom he felt had granted him the blessings of his stronger wolf form. His continued devotion to the Wolf God was rewarded with divine power, and the werewolves of the forest revered him as the voice of their god, which had fallen silent years before. Under Alfred's command, the wolves grew bolder, devastating many of the frontier towns. When Alfred felt confident enough, he returned to Skald to challenge his father, only to find that Nathan Timothy was far stronger than the younger werewolf could ever hope to be. To his surprise, however, Nathan conceded to his son and left the domain, sailing down the Musarde in his beloved riverboat.

For a time, Alfred enjoyed his new-found power and influence, leading the forest werewolves in worship and continuing to search for the Wolf God. It came as a shock to him when he finally found the great wolf spirit of Verbrek... in the form of Harkon Lukas, a friend of his father who had rarely payed Alfred any mind. To his humiliation, Lukas ignored him much as he had before, preferring to spend his time among humans at the Harmonic Hall. His pride grievously wounded, Alfred angrily denounced Lukas to the Verbrek werewolves, proclaiming the Wolf God to be a separate entity. While most werewolves claim to accept Alfred's judgment, Alfred has no illusions that if Lukas commanded, the werewolves would abandon Alfred in a heartbeat. Lukas seems to take delight of reminding Alfred of this every time the pair interact, as well as constantly comparing Alfred to his father.

Everything Alfred once took pleasure in has soured in his eyes. The domain is his only due to his father's will; he wishes to defeat Nathan Timothy and prove his rightful rulership, and yet the thought of such a confrontation fills him with fear. His position as high priest depends entirely on the whim of Harkon Lukas, and Alfred secretly fears that Lukas truly is the Wolf God, and that the young werewolf has proved himself to be unworthy. Even his wolf form, which granted him the only feelings of self-worth and control he had in his youth, now flees from him whenever he feels strong passions stir within him. It is his deepest secret, and he lives in terror of it being discovered.

Diplomacy
The major export of Kartakass is its timber, a resource much desired by Hazlan and Invidia. Kartakan cheese and wine can also find a good market in the neighboring domains. Kartakass enjoys lukewarm trade relations with Hazlan - while the Kartakans abhor slavery and the Lawgiver, they depend on Hazlan for all of their metal needs. Kartakass shares a similarly cool relationship with Invidia, due to an attempted invasion under the command of its former ruler, Bakholis. Although the invaders were driven off, the Kartakans have never forgotten.
Surprisingly, Valachan is also a large source of income for Kartakass. Although Kartakass has no resources that Valachan doesn't posses itself, the Musarde River imports large amounts of manufactured goods, which are then carried overland into Valachan. The constant stream of Valachani silver keeps the river trade in Skald strong, although the heavy presence of the Baron's enforcers has lead to conflicts on more than one occasion.
Kartakass is seen as a cultural backwater by many, but Harmonic Hall is recognized as one of the premier schools for vocal training. Aspiring singers, especially those with aspirations to Dementlieu's Opera House, make every effort to be accepted into the college.

[The Giamarga]

What about Alfred's curse? Did you leave it out on purpose?

[Brandi]

What about Alfred's curse? Did you leave it out on purpose?

No, it's there.

Even his wolf form, which granted him the only feelings of self-worth and control he had in his youth, now flees from him whenever he feels strong passions stir within him. It is his deepest secret, and he lives in terror of it being discovered.

[Isabella]

Yeah, it's there. I think I'm going to add into my master document that his curse first struck him when he confronted Nathan Timothy. He got ready to rip his father to shreds and instead found himself forced into his sickly teenage body, and his father just walked off laughing and told him he could have the place.

[WolfKook]

Yeah, it's there. I think I'm going to add into my master document that his curse first struck him when he confronted Nathan Timothy. He got ready to rip his father to shreds and instead found himself forced into his sickly teenage body, and his father just walked off laughing and told him he could have the place.

Wow! That would be a great way to get rid of your DL curse... Find someone close to you with Darklord potential, cultivate his... er... "talent", and leave the burden with him.

I'm starting to like Nathan Timothy even more...

[ewancummins]

Yeah, it's there. I think I'm going to add into my master document that his curse first struck him when he confronted Nathan Timothy. He got ready to rip his father to shreds and instead found himself forced into his sickly teenage body, and his father just walked off laughing and told him he could have the place.

Making Nathan Timothy the P I M P!