Hi all,
I’m currently running a Sithicus arc in my campaign. The characters are all from Barovia, but are in Sithicus presently as one of the characters, a half-elven rogue/cleric of the Morninglord received a message from her mother, who left her as a young child and now leaves near Har-Thelen. I already have the first adventure going on, involving the dragon disciple from one of the cut sections of Gaz 4.
However, as we progress in the trilogy of adventures I have planned, Azrael will get wind of the characters & decide to use them in his machinations.
So, here are some questions:
How do you think Azrael should be portrayed post Spectre since the departure of the Soth? I know the ritual he did to try to take over the shadows of everyone drove him bonkers, but practically speaking, how would you RP Azrael at this point?
Also, any suggestions of what Azrael might want to use the characters for? Keep in mind, I want to keep Inza out of the adventure arc. I do have an adventure planned around using the Wanderers, as the party has an orphaned Vistani girl in tow who wants to join the Wanderers to find a new family. Would Azrael care about the Wanderers at all?
Anyway, any help or suggestions you have would be appreciated. I’ve actually never run Azrael in a game even though I’ve been running Ravenloft games for over 20 yrs.
Thanks!
RP’ing Azrael
-
azalinslegacy
- Conspirator
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:50 am
- Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
-
Rock of the Fraternity
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 6836
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:16 pm
Re: RP’ing Azrael
In a word: volatile.
He wants to be King of Sithicus, but knows full well that he is not the true master of the realm - and he always was a soulless psychopath.
Let him give himself airs, let him still have what cunning he had pre-Spectre. But the instant someone threatens to pierce his glamour, the beast within comes bursting out. Setbacks cause him to fly into insane rants and rages.
And beneath the anger, there's well-hidden fear. Fear that he always has been and still is a pawn. But the current nature of Sithicus will not let him hide that fear, especially not from himself. So he keeps flying into rages, and may even be incoherent at times - but never vulnerable.
I think Azrael might use adventurers as agents abroad. He now has beef with Malocchio, but the Dukkar is backed by Vlad Drakov. If Azrael wants Malocchio dead (or anyone else in a more powerful nation), he needs agents who can't be reliably traced back to him. So no Politskarae or other government workers. But crazy mercenaries (i.e., adventurers)...? Those might work.
He wants to be King of Sithicus, but knows full well that he is not the true master of the realm - and he always was a soulless psychopath.
Let him give himself airs, let him still have what cunning he had pre-Spectre. But the instant someone threatens to pierce his glamour, the beast within comes bursting out. Setbacks cause him to fly into insane rants and rages.
And beneath the anger, there's well-hidden fear. Fear that he always has been and still is a pawn. But the current nature of Sithicus will not let him hide that fear, especially not from himself. So he keeps flying into rages, and may even be incoherent at times - but never vulnerable.
I think Azrael might use adventurers as agents abroad. He now has beef with Malocchio, but the Dukkar is backed by Vlad Drakov. If Azrael wants Malocchio dead (or anyone else in a more powerful nation), he needs agents who can't be reliably traced back to him. So no Politskarae or other government workers. But crazy mercenaries (i.e., adventurers)...? Those might work.