Black Box Falkovnia

[ewancummins]

FALKOVNIA:
From the Black Box descriptions of Falkovnia and Vlad Drakov:

• Drakov and his men “settled” in a new territory after retreating from Darkon via the Border Mists.
  
  FALKOVNIA REDUX
  
  From the Black Box descriptions of Falkovnia and Vlad Drakov:
• Drakov and his men “settled” in a new territory after retreating from Darkon via the Border Mists.
• Locals call a certain kind of tree “vigila dimorta”, meaning sentinels of death. (This isn’t very Germanic. It is obviously Romance. )
• Place names include some Slavic and German type names.
• Refugees flooded in from neighboring countries when Vlad established his rule, hoping for a better life in the newly opened territory. Some his men enslaved, but others they allowed to settle or recruited into the armies.
• Most of the land is covered in forest.
• There are monsters in this country, notably kobolds and lycanthropes.
  
  From these facts, I have developed the following alternate features for the domain:
  
  Falkovnia is multiethnic and mixed. As a Thenolite, Vlad likely doesn’t care two pence about the differences between Lamordians, Darkonese, and Barovians. He's an Outlander. His regime is not ethnocentric at all: any human who bears the hawk-brand is a Falkovnian.
  
  
  The predominant/common language is possibly a pseudo-Romance language, with loan words from other languages. Or perhaps ''vigila dimorta'' derives from a Darkonese term, since Darkonese people may have been among the refugees entering the new territory. Possibly men from Darkon were also among the slaves used to clear timber.
  
  
  
  Thenolites don’t really form a separate group. Vlad’s mercs were most likely male or nearly so, with perhaps some female camp followers. The men would have married demiplanar native women. In one more generation, there will be no more Thenolian ethnicity. And it’s possible that the mercs were themselves a somewhat mixed group, not all from Thenol.
  
  In the early years of the new realm, Vlad probably enjoyed a reputation as a brutal but effective bandit-killer and monster-slayer.
  
  The cities grew quickly from palisaded villages to large settlements, which may account for overcrowding and squalor.

[ewancummins]

''Falkovnia'' before Vlad

(False history? Depends on how you see the emergence of domains..)


This is less educated guesses based on hints in the Black Box and more just making stuff up.

I think it was even more heavily forested, with bandits and monsters aplenty. Kobolds!
There was no big, organized kingdom, just villages, trading posts, and some hilltop timber forts for petty "lords."

The conquest/settlement:

Vlad basically did a hex-crawl on the place. Those were good times for him, even if there isn't true glory in smoking a lot of squamous little dog-men out of their burrows or butchering poorly-armed brigands.
It all went sour quickly.

GAZ related question:

I sadly no longer have my GAZ pdfs.

What elements from the GAZ version (or any later versions) of Falkovnia would still work with this version?

[thekristhomas]

I've always viewed Vlad Drakov as the third RL Dracula, Strahd is the movie Dracula, Gundar closer to the book, with Drakov being closest to the historical Vlad Tepes III, aka the Impaler. He too ruled a country of many nationalities, He was a Vlach (Hungarian), ruling over Szelekers (Romanian) with a Saxon (German) middle class. While national unity matter far more to him, ethnic politics played a huge part in his regime. On a practical level for the long lived Drakov, can he really trust those not descended from himself or his men? Obviously not TRUST trust, this is Vlad Drakov, but trust enough to arm. I would suggest that at the least initially an armed elite of Drakovs men and their descendants ruling over a mostly Darkonian (hence the Romance sounding names) peasantry with possibly Lamordian educated middle class (adding the Germanic) mostly in the form of traders

[thekristhomas]

With regards the Gaz , the "good times" you're describing could be an interpretation of "the Bloody Ride" which culminated in Drakov facing off against Falcon the Great, previous ruler of Falkovnia (according to the false history), I tend towards thinking that the false histories or at least the parts that concern the darklord DO happen, in an oubliette specifically designed to test the darklords will and willingness, I think that's what several of the novels and other products suggest IMHO and IMC

[ewancummins]

I've always viewed Vlad Drakov as the third RL Dracula, Strahd is the movie Dracula, Gundar closer to the book, with Drakov being closest to the historical Vlad Tepes III, aka the Impaler. He too ruled a country of many nationalities, He was a Vlach (Hungarian), ruling over Szelekers (Romanian) with a Saxon (German) middle class. While national unity matter far more to him, ethnic politics played a huge part in his regime. On a practical level for the long lived Drakov, can he really trust those not descended from himself or his men? Obviously not TRUST trust, this is Vlad Drakov, but trust enough to arm. I would suggest that at the least initially an armed elite of Drakovs men and their descendants ruling over a mostly Darkonian (hence the Romance sounding names) peasantry with possibly Lamordian educated middle class (adding the Germanic) mostly in the form of traders

Yes to basically all of that.

I see the Band of the Hawk and the sons of men in it as as a building block for Vlad's regime, as you suggest. But without women of their own nation, my argument is that Thenolians as an ethnic group cannot survive.

It's not like the Spaniards in Mexico, because the Spanish conquerors (Cortez and his fighting men) weren't the only wave. Sure, not as many women as men came from Spain, but women did come. But Vlad and his men don't have any way to get women from home, or any other settlers from home, period. So I figure the all took Ravenloft Native women as wives, mistresses, and concubines. I doubt they cared much about cultural diffrences, anyway. A bunch of mercs from Taladas probably don't have any ethnic prejudices against any Ravenloft human natives. Why should they? And women are women, the worlds over. Soldiers don't let a little language barrier or some different customs stop them from getting ...er...comfort. Or companionship. Or children, if they want heirs.

I also think it's possible that some of the soldiers weren't from Thenol, but were Men of Hoor or other Southern Hosk natives. Most were probably Thenolites, sure, but a mixed origin band of mercs seems quite plausible and fun to me. Nothing in the Black Box suggests this wasn't the case, as far as I can tell.

Here's some Thenol info:

http://dragonlancenexus.com/lexicon/ind ... tle=Thenol

[ewancummins]

With regards the Gaz , the "good times" you're describing could be an interpretation of "the Bloody Ride" which culminated in Drakov facing off against Falcon the Great, previous ruler of Falkovnia (according to the false history), I tend towards thinking that the false histories or at least the parts that concern the darklord DO happen, in an oubliette specifically designed to test the darklords will and willingness, I think that's what several of the novels and other products suggest IMHO and IMC

That all sounds cool, although I might change 'Falcon the Great' to a bandit-chief to fit my altered background.

[thekristhomas]

I agree there's very little reason for the Talons to be prejudiced in their choice of mates, but maybe it matters to the other groups, I'd compare it to Norman Wales, it was perfectly normal for the Norman men to marry Welsh women, but far rarer for it to occur the other way. Even if you're removing the Nazi-esque aspects of the later Drakov, the first night tradition at least partially contributes to an ethnic cleansing of a sort, "breeding out the taint", and is entirely appropriate for a Medieval style warlord, but it depends on what you're going for

[ewancummins]

I agree there's very little reason for the Talons to be prejudiced in their choice of mates, but maybe it matters to the other groups, I'd compare it to Norman Wales, it was perfectly normal for the Norman men to marry Welsh women, but far rarer for it to occur the other way. Even if you're removing the Nazi-esque aspects of the later Drakov, the first night tradition at least partially contributes to an ethnic cleansing of a sort, "breeding out the taint", and is entirely appropriate for a Medieval style warlord, but it depends on what you're going for

That could be cool.

'First Night' could work, sure. It's a little bit like what Duke Gundar does to girls whose families can't pay the 'girl tax.'
(Boring historical note:

VIEW CONTENT:

I am sure that some real-world Medieval Period lords raped peasant women, but my strong impression from reading scholarly history is that 'First Night' is a post-Medieval distortion and misinterpretation of what was actually a marriage-tax imposed by lords on serfs in certain parts of Western Christendom. They didn't actually demand and get sex by calling on a law. They just expected their workers to pay a fee. I read that in the context of all the other fees and duties and work obligations that could be imposed within a manorial economic/legal/social structure.

YMMV, natch. )

Where "breeding out the taint" really works best, I think, is with nonhumans.
Drakov's regime enslaves demi humans. But the BB is explicit in saying that Drakov also encouragers intermarriage (I read that as interbreeding) between humans and demihumans. Popular custom forbids or resists that mixing.

Now, I don't think Drakov would have any problem just impaling any demihumans he found, if he really wanted to exterminate them all.

I like the idea that he's trying to create a pool of slaves from which to train half-elf night fighters. Maybe half -dwarf ''mules'' as mine slaves or sappers?
That kind of thing.
He's from a world (Krynn) with a lot more demihumans. Maybe he does despise non-humans, but nothing in his write-up suggests he lacks appreciation for their special abilities.

It could be he has nothing personal against demihumans. He saw that most humans in this new world often hate and fear nonhumans. So he took advantage of those attitudes and declared demi-humans to be slave races.
But he still wants those sappers and night-fighters, so he has established his ''breed' em out'' plan.

[ewancummins]

TECHNOLOGY:


There are no guns in the Black Box. None of the soldiers for any of the domains listed on the 'Militia and Monsters' cardstock sheet are equipped with boomsticks
But there is no mention that gunpowder weapons don't exist, either.
Arquebuses are in the PHB for AD&d2E, although marked as an optional item.
Cannon appear in the Castles guide, another early release.


Guns and gunpowder do start showing up in Ravenloft pretty quickly after the Black Box, though.

I think there's an (exotic, unusual item) blunderbuss in Feat of Goblyns.

In Darklords, Rudolph Van Richten describes a certain monster's attack as being as deadly as musket-fire.


Still, I don't get the impression that guns became a regular feature of the setting until Domains of Dread came out.

(I started playing in the early 90s with the Black Box, later played Red Box with a foumite here, and bought Domains of Dread after it came out-- but I currently only own the Black Box).

So, what's Falkovnia's technology like? In the Black Box, I see nothing to suggest it's notably more or less advanced than its neighbors. Again, there's less detail on this sort of thing in early Ravenloft products.

If I retain CLs in my possible 'Black Box alternate' campaign, I think I'll switch Falkovnia to CL 8:Chivalric.

It borders on CM P, 8, and 7 realms.I'll buy that Darkon remains 'medieval' for various reasons: the memory curse, a culture that values magic over mundane technology, demi human populations that stick to the old ways, and so on.
But Falkovnia seems to have significant natural resources (timber, at least), a good flow of trade, and a sizeable population.


What about stuff besides gunpowder?

Drakov strikes me as man who would immediately grasp the usefulness of spyglasses.

If one does go with the soldiers-checking-your-papers aspect of the domain, then printing technology of some sort seems pretty likely.

More advanced water power for sawmills?

[thekristhomas]

I like the idea of him trying to breed a better slave, this might be completely non-RL in tone, but if you bred multiple demi-human breeds over generations, choosing those most suited to labour to breed, and brutalizing and torturing them within a militaristic society, might you not get orcs? or something quite like them?

[ewancummins]

I like the idea of him trying to breed a better slave, this might be completely non-RL in tone, but if you bred multiple demi-human breeds over generations, choosing those most suited to labour to breed, and brutalizing and torturing them within a militaristic society, might you not get orcs? or something quite like them?

You might indeed.

Now we should make a 'track' for an elf who fails powers checks.
Path of the Orc.

Actually, Burning Wheel RPG has something like that, IIRC.