Loht

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Loht, the Prince of Shadows, is the son of Arak the Erlking and sister of Maeve, with whom he is co-Ruler of the Arak, previously in Arak (Domain) from the hidden depths of Niurin Scaa and now in the Shadow Rift, sheltered from the light of day by roiling black Mists of Shadow. Loht is also the Prince of the Sith[1] and leader of the Unseelie Court faction of the Arak[2]. Loht lives in a state of considerable physical impairment brought on by the mangling he received from Gwydion[3], the former master of the Arak. Despite this impairment, Loht always keeps the Sword of Arak on his person[4].

Though Loht and Maeve formerly ruled the Arak together, even after the Shadow Rift's formation. However, later events have led to their estrangement, to where they now rule in alternating periods of six months at a time. When Loht takes charge of the Shadow Rift, the Malachite Palace is his seat of authority. When Loht takes charge, he presides over his court from his palace in Beliviue[5]. Loht animated and formerly commanded the saugh, a legion of undead servants[6]. However, they were later revealed to be agents of Gwydion[7].

Through his murder of Tristessa and her baby, Loht represents the only time the Law of Arak has been broken. Ths heinous act also indirectly and unwittingly brough about the Scourge of Arak as Tristessa leveled a powerful curse upon the land.

History

Life Under Gwydion's rule

Loht and Maeve were born as twins and the first of the ellefolk born as shadow fey after Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend transformed the ellefolk race. Though Loht and Maeve's mother, Finngalla, perished shortly after their birth, Arak the Erlking taught his two children much about the ways of rulership. Arak himself was Seneschal to Gwydion[8] and king of the shadow fey under Gwydion's command. Though Arak and other shadow fey served Gwydion's bidding, they were by no means loyal, having searched and made preparations for their time to escape for hundreds of years[8]. Among these steps taken was Arak's imbuing his Sword with magic to specifically fight Gwydion[9].

Five decades after the birth of Loht and Maeve, Gwydion commanded the creation of the Obsidian Gate, a powerful portal that would allow the Sorcerer-Fiend's travel into other worlds[8][10]. However, Arak made plans for the shadow fey to escape through the Gate instead[8][10]. Though knowledge that of an escape plan spread among the shadow fey[8][10], only Loht and Maeve knew all the details[8][3].

The Escape

424 years after the birth of Loht and Maeve (a time when they were still adolescents), the Obsidian Gate was complete[3]. As Arak confronted Gwydion using the full Regalia of Arak[11], Loht and Maeve led the shadow fey through the Obsidian Gate[3], which would lead into the Demiplane of Dread. Though Arak was ultimately slain by a magical blast, said blast tosseed the Regalia to a spot near Loht and Maeve[10]. Overwhelmed by the horror of seeing his father slain, Loht faltered and froze up[11]. Thus, it was Maeve who closed the Obsidian Gate by bringing the Regalia through it[12].

Gwydion became trapped in the nebulous world between worlds of the Obsidian Gate, and the domain of Arak formed[10] around it.

Early Rule

Following Arak's noble sacrifice, the shadow fey called themselves the Arak after their fallen leader[13]. Loht and Maeve became co-rulers of their people. Though Maeve adopted the title of queen, Loht only took on the title of prince due to his faltering in the above moment where it mattered the most[14]. Loht would never forgive himself for failing to close the gate, even to the point of self-loathing.

Loht and Maeve ruled the underground realms side by side, though the Arak devoted to Maeve became known as the Seelie Court whereas the Arak devoted to Loht became known as the Unseelie Court[15]. Though the Arak as a whole flourished, Gwydion's subtle but powerful influence and the dark nature of the Demiplane of Dread saw the Unseelie Court waxing in power just as the Seelie Court waned over the ensuing centuries[15]

Loht and Maeve's underground realm existed in a strange state of temporal distortion, specifically a temporal fugue that made time pass much more quickly for the realm than the rest of the Core. A fortnight in areas outside the temporal fugue equaled a year inside the fugue.

Wars Against the Cult of the Spider Queen

Some time later, a trio of drow outlanders brought the Cult of the Spider Queen, a faith that spread among the more vile Arak as an indulgent past-time[13]. Though the drow outlanders met their doom in internal power struggles, the Cult gathered nonetheless enough power and showed enough disregard for the Law of Arak that it earned Loht's enmity[13].

Loht and the Cult, eventually led by a sith named Tristessa, waged bloody wars against each other through their changelings for five centuries[16] before Loht eventually won. At the end, Loht orchestrated the murder of Tristessa and her deformed baby by staking them to Mount Lament shortly before the sun arose[16]. Tristessa and her child were left to excruciating deaths from the sunlight. Loht's gruesome action grossly violated the Law of Arak, the only such transgression in the history of the Arak[16]. Jozell, Loht's right hand minion and assistant in the act, took the full blame[16] and thus the full punishment of the Shunning. Despite his manipulations that ultimately brought about her fall, Loht came away from the affair with an increased sense of guilt and self-loathing[16].

The Grand Conjunction

Millennia passed in Arak with the Seelie Court's continuing waning in power and the Unseelie Court's continuing waxing in power[17]. However, al-out calamity was averted until the Grand Conjunction of 740 BC[17]. That event saw Gwydion's attempt to break free of his confinements and the pull of the shadow fey from the domain of Arak to the Shadow Rift. Although Gwydion ultimately failed in his escape, he discovered the ability to send out his thoughts into the Shadow Rift[12].

Gwydion used his mind projection to speak to Loht in dreams under the guise of Arak the Erlking[12]. Gwydion convinced Loht that his father had not died but remained imprisoned inside the Obsidian Gate[12]. Rescue was possible through the use of a ritual using the Sword of Arak and other Regalia. Loht left the Rift in the hunt for the recently lost Sword of Arak.

Search for the Sword

Loht spent years searching the Core[18], including Tepest and Nova Vaasa, for the lost Sword[18] and other Regalia[16]. Assisted by a gentleman of enigmatic nature, Loht eventually discovered the Sword was in possession of Tristessa[16], now a banshee and the darklord of Keening. To take it from her control, Loht devised a plan to exploit her obsession with her lost baby[19].

To accomplish his scheme, Loht figured he needed the Eye of Vhaeraun, a powerful but accursed magic item that could appear to be Tristessa's baby[19]. Unfortunately, the Eye had fallen into possession of Wyan of Tepest[19], the leader of the Tepestani Inquisition. To orchestrate the Eye's removal, Loht sent a boowray to corrupt Wyan's daughter Lorelei and manipulate her into retrieving the Eye[20]. The scheme worked, and Loht subsequently traded the Eye of Vhaeraun to Tristessa for the Sword[21].

Return and Opening of the Obsidian Gate

After regaining the Sword, Loht returned to his Court and reinvigorated his followers[18]. The rest of the Regalia were collected, save for the Crown of Arak, which lay in Queen Maeve's possession[18]. Observing his seemingly mad behavior, Queen Maeve hid the Crown in the Pillar of Fire of the Malachite Palace and then went into hiding in Tepest to avoid becoming Loht's prisoner[17] in 750 BC. A year later, mortal agents retrieved the Crown at Maeve's behest and confronted Loht at the Obsidian Gate.

The confrontation unwittingly allowed Loht to finish his ritual, opening the Obisidian Gate for a brief time. Gwydion's first act was to deal Loht a crippling blow[12]. Moreover, Gwydion assumed command of the saugh and turned them against his foes[7]. However, Gwydion's immense size and even more immense overconfidence made prevented his full escape before the mortals threw the Crown through the Obsidian Gate[12]. Thereby, Gwydion became trapped once again.

Loht returned to his throne a broken person mentally and physically. The Seelie Court fell into decline for a time, though Loht would eventually regain his bearings.

References

  1. ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 149
  2. ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 161
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 161
  4. ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 140
  5. ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 113
  6. ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 155
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Shadow Rift p. 113
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 The Shadow Rift p. 125
  9. ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 134
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 106
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 159
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 152
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 107
  14. ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 160-161
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Shadow Rift p. 126
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 160
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 The Shadow Rift p. 132
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 The Shadow Rift p. 129
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Servants of Darkness p. 59
  20. ↑ Servants of Darkness p. 60
  21. ↑ Servants of Darkness p. 51-53

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

The Shadow Rift
Servants of Darkness

The Shadow Rift - p128, 130
Servants of Darkness - pp56,60

The Shadow Rift - pp128-129
Servants of Darkness - pp59-60

Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp33-34
Ravenloft Third Edition - p18
The Shadow Rift - pp128-129
Servants of Darkness - pp8,31,43-44,46,51-53,56-60

Prince of Shadows


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