Domain of the Month
Cavitius
Adventure Hooks
The former domain of Vecna, who escaped the plane of Dread during the Die Vecna Die adventure.
Catman Jim
There is a reference in the October Dragon Magazine #348 to Vecna's stay in Ravenloft in a side-bar of the 'Core Beliefs: Vecna' article by Sean Reynolds & Sam Weiss. Quoting 'The Secret History of Vecna';
The Demiplane of Dread: For a span of several years, Vecna the demigod vanished. While his cult holds that during this time he was either acting on the plot that elevated him to godhood or was undergoing a kind of divine metamorphosis, a few half-crazed planeswalkers say Vecna was trapped in a prison realm of the undead, waging a stalemated war with the neighboring domain of his infamous betrayer, Kas the Bloody-Handed. Although Vecna escaped, supposedly this bleak realm was claimed by a new ruler and still exists somewhere in the mists.
Who do you all belive now rules this domain? I would think it mostly pointless to still have Kas & his land without Vecna (or a 'Vecna substitute'...), could it be then one of the characters of the Temple/Church of Vecna presented in 'Die, Vecna, Die'? Other ideas?
Drinnik Shoehorn
I always thought Lord Harlon from Die, Vecna Die! and Vecna Reborn would assume the mantle of leadership.
Charney
In my homemade setting, Vecna is the god of a secret necromancer cult. Such a cult could definitively be used in Ravenloft. Also, I salvaged Cavitius and Tovag. With Tovag, I never figured who was the new darklord yet though. In Cavitius, I've put another Lich darklord there. His background was basically that he was a wizard made vassalich by Azalin (or Vecna or another unnamed lich) and he hated being in such servitude. Now, since I've lost the background in a compu crash, I don't remember how he became Darklord but here's his curse.
Having been the servant of another lich for so long, he develop a deep hatred for an other lich if not jealousy towards others who would have lichdom. He didn't want anyone else to have lichdom but him (this came from his mortal background). When he was choosen as lord of Cavitius, his curse was that there would always be another lich who'd arrive there to challenge his rule. So when he'll defeat his rival, another one will arrive then another.
Rotipher
Actually, the idea of Cavitius as a sort of Bermuda Triangle for liches -- a domain that might keep being handed off from lich to lich, as new ones are drawn there to unseat the prior lich-darklord, ad infinitum -- has a certain unorthodox appeal. It almost sounds like a parting insult to the Dark Powers, on the lich-god's part: "Not only did I kick a hole in your pet demiplane and bust out, but I'll spoil your fun with other liches to come, by leaving the domain you stuck ME with as a trap for them! Nyah nyah!"
Joël of the Fraternity
Also, Dragon also settles something that was left uncertain by DieVecnaDie: it is written Iuz was absorbed by Vecna for a time. As for who rules Cavitius now, there are many interesting NPCs that could fill that role. I'd see them still worshipping Vecna, in the hope he will take them out with him. So there would be the base of a Vecnan cultists in Ravenloft, speading their foulness elsewhere on the Core. IMHO, these could be interesting recurent villains.
Who's the new darklord? IMHO, Sir Loran of Trollpyre Keep (DVD p 158) has the best chances for me - an outsider from Oerth, he is haunted by the spirits of his family: Sir Loran was the final master of Trollpyre Keep, a minor estate bordering the Vast Swamp of Oerth. Unlike his noble ancestors in Sunndi, he was an evil and twisted man who his his true nature behind a veneer of stoicism and honnor. He took a beautiful fancer as his wife, but when she bore him daughter instead of a son, he slew them and their midwife moments after the birth with Trollpyre's Defender, his magic sword. The dancer's mother, a priestess, cursed Sir Loran to die painfully in battle, then rise as an undead, with the spirits of his slain family haunting him for eternity. Undeath denied him his deepest wish, to be known as the founder of a great house of warriors; now he has no descendants at all.
Sir Loran was drawn into the misty Demiplane of Dread after luring a wandering troupe of performers to Trollpyre Keep, then slowly torturing them to death. He eventually found his way to Cavitius, where he entered the service of Vecna. Unfortunately for Loran, the spirits of his wife and child are also present here in Vecna's palace, torturing him at every oportunity with the knowledge that his family line died out forever with him. (and of course he fills the death knight darklord spot) I see him well hoping Vecna will bring him with him, and fulfil a promises Vecna made, i.e. to finaly give him a line of descendants. (but knowing Vecna's slight bias for necromantic , this can be quite horrible!)
Lord Cyclohexane: Not to necessarily shoot down your idea, Joel, but... Cursed lord, runs his own manor house, killed his wife and infant when the wife gave birth to a daughter instead of son, is constantly tortured by the ghosts of the wife and daughter... Sounds too much like Godefrey for my tastes. My vote is to make Lord Haroln the temporal ruler of Cavitus, but have the *real* darklord be the Hand of Vecna (the super advanced golem constructed purely from hands).
Joël of the Fraternity: I agree there are parallels, but is motivations and goals are much different. And with family being a great emotional drive, the game possibilities with his craving of descendants are endless, IMHO.
brothersale
In my campaign, in the final days of Die, Venca, Die, Kas launched a massive attack on Cavitus, only to be thwarted by the Scion of Vecna (the now adult child of the previous adventure, ingrained with the teachings of Vecna and the taint of Vecna leftover within him from ritual Vecna performed). When Vecna left, the Scion became the darklord, causing vast upheavals in the undead dominated Cavitus, as a human now leads them. The ashen wastes outside the citadel are also beginning to change weak rooted scrubby vegetation is starting to appear near the citadel and mountains, and the leaching effects are also diminishing. Many of Vecna 's arcane constructions are decaying or breaking down as well.
Meanwhile the accelerated time in Torvag is also diminishing much to Kas' frustration, as his armies now take longer to raise, and losses are not easily replaced.
Rotipher
As to the original question, if the two domains are still divided, who rules Kas' domain right now? - Didn't he vanish as well? The default assumption is that Vecna paused to blast Kas into oblivion (or vestige-hood, if you've included binders IYC), on his way out of Ravenloft.TwiceBorn: If I'm not mistaken, the Tome of Magic (which I do not own) has Kas as a "vestige" in the pact magic section... which indicates that Kas has indeed been destroyed. It would be great if someone who actually has the Tome of Magic could confirm this...
Rotipher: Kas-the-vestige was presented in a Dragon magazine article soon after the Tome Of Magic's release. He does not actually appear in that book.
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