Ok, so it's a terrible pun. I watched the movie 'Brave' last night (for the first time ever) with my kids. Has anyone here ever considered a domain based on this film? I think it has serious possibilities.
An ancient kingdom, set to be divided between four princes is destroyed by the greed and violent nature of the eldest brother. In order to claim the kingdom For himself alone, he starts a war with is brothers and makes a deal with a witch to grant him the strength of ten men. He defeats his brothers but brings down the kingdom in his rage and failing to grasp what he has agreed to, he gradually metamorphs into a huge bear, forgetting whatever humanity he ever had and becomes primordial fury given flesh.
He is cursed to wander the wilderness that was once his land and seems to have longevity, if not eternal life.
I think I may have accidentally found a background for The land of Albanach in my Blackfell campaign.
To be honest were one to place a Werebear in Tepest or Forlorn (or amidst the far-flung Forfarian diaspora) one might be able to come up with something not too dissimilar to the experience of watching Brave.
Indeed you could Rogold, but I'm not advocating a repoduction of the experience of watching 'Brave' . Do you not think that the story of Mor Dubh(the big nasty bear) has the necessary gravitas to merit him being a Darklord in his own right?
To a degree, yes, but I think that as the ursine equivalent of Jaws he lacks something of the potential for social interaction that makes The Darklords what they are; if you were to use the Great Black Bear as the model for a Darklord I think you would be wise to give him some capacity for speech, all the better to convey his personal curse and the personality that shackles him to it.
A good Darklord should always have more of Dracula or Frankenstein to them, some power to twist others to see things from their own perspective no matter how horrible they actually are (Dracula is a supernatural serial date-rapist, witness his 'seduction' of Lucy Westenra under deep hypnosis and Frankenstein's Adam a child-murderer, not to mention someone who murdered those whom his hated creator loved simply to inflict greater pain on his creator, no matter how pitiful he may be); I'm not sure Mor Dhu as we see him in Brave has all the qualities he will need, but I agree that there is the seed of something in him.
Rogold Gildenman wrote:To a degree, yes, but I think that as the ursine equivalent of Jaws he lacks something of the potential for social interaction that makes The Darklords what they are; if you were to use the Great Black Bear as the model for a Darklord I think you would be wise to give him some capacity for speech, all the better to convey his personal curse and the personality that shackles him to it.
In the movie it seems that part of Mordu is acting through the whisps to convey is history and lead to his own defeat/ release. He could have a split spirit with one half working for his own destruction while the bear terrorizes the land.
That being said he does not have to be a darklord. I would prefer him as just a werebear set in Tepest. When I have watched the movie what it most reminds me of in Ravenloft is how I image the landscape of Tepest to look. To me it is the visuals of the movie that make me think of the countryside and forests of Tepest.
Only two things scare me and one is former back-up dancers for Christina Aguilera.
I once saw a movie called 'Grizzly' about a rampaging giant grizzly bear. It looked very much like a land based version of 'Jaws' If we were to use this principle in reverse, we might have this werebear concept be a sort of land based version of Saragoss. Perhaps a forested land full of ruins that travelers find themselves trapped in and stalked by the bear.
Do us a favor Luv, Stick yer 'ead in a bucket a kick it!
So, gentlemen, that's how it is. Until Grissome.... resurfaces, I'm the acting president, and I say starting with this... anniversary festival, we run this city into the ground! :D
