Darkon
| Darkon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Culture Level | Dark Age to Chivalric |
| Ecology | Full |
| Climate & Terrain | Temperate forest, hill, plain, swamp |
| Year Formed | 579 BC |
| Population | ~120,000 |
| Races (%) | Humans 75%, Halflings 14%, Gnomes 5%, Elves 3%, Half-Elves 1%, Dwarves 1%, Other 1% |
| Languages | Darkonese, Halfling, Gnome, Elven, Dwarven, Falkovnian, Lamordian, Mordentish, Tepestani, Vaasi |
| Religions | The Eternal Order, Ezra, the Overseer |
| Government | Feudal monarchy |
| Ruler(s) | Azalin Rex |
| Darklord(s) | Azalin Rex |
| Nationality | {{{nationality}}} |
| Analog | European High Fantasy |
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| Inhabitants of Darkon | |
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| Flora of Darkon | |
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| Native Monsters of Darkon | |
A feudal fantasy nation ruled over by the lich-king Azalin Rex, Darkon is the largest domain in Ravenloft. Physically, it takes up the northern third of the main continent, the Core, and its population easily exceeds that of any other single domain. Politically, Darkon is stable but not very influential, with its various nobles kept in check by Azalin's machinations.
In a real sense, Darkon's history is Azalin's history. After being driven out of his original homeland and finding himself in Ravenloft, Azal'Lan (originally a title meaning simply "Wizard King") was briefly befriended by Strahd von Zarovich, the darklord of Barovia. They were experimenting with a few magic spells to help each other escape until eventually Azalin gave up, and wandered into Darkon. After leaving, Azalin found himself the master of a sprawling domain that reflected his cruelty, his obsession with order, his cunning, and his greatest frustration: the inability to learn new magic.
Due to Azalin's desire for unswerving loyalty, Darkon has the most obvious and unique curse in Ravenloft. After spending from one to three months within its borders, anyone not native to Darkon loses all memory of their original homeland, instead believing themselves to have always lived in Darkon. Additionally, they lose all personal desire to leave the country, though some do so anyway out of necessity or circumstance. The lost memories return upon leaving the domain.
Azalin's desire to escape Ravenloft led to the disastrous Grand Conjunction in 740 Barovian Calendar, nearly destroying the Demiplane of Dread. His next escape attempt resulted in the equally catastrophic Requiem, destroying his physical form and turning the capital city of Darkon, Il Aluk, into a city of the undead, now called Necropolis. For the five years of Azalin's disappearance, Darkon itself was known as Necropolis due to the influence of that city's darklord, Death. Azalin was restored to his body and his throne in time, and now plots a third escape attempt, the details of which are unknown.
Darkon is one of the few domains of Ravenloft to accept demihumans such as elves and dwarves as equal citizens, and one of the few to embrace arcane magic openly. Darkon is often considered decadent by its neighbors, appropriate enough as Azalin encourages his citizens to debase themselves as a means of salving his own ego.
WIKISEED FROM CATALOGUE : Headquarters for the Kargat, Kargatane, and the Eternal Order(Please edit freely, then remove this note and WIKISEED label)
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Ravenloft Third Edition |
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Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II - pp8-53 | |
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Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7,17,19-21,24,55 | |
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Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp8-9 |
