Son of an Incubus!

[Dorrick Longblade]

Likely Suspects:

From Gazetteer #4 and The Evil Eye

1) Malachio Aderre – full background detailed in The Evil Eye adventure
module. The son of Gabrielle Aderre (a half-Vistani) and a
“mysterious gentleman caller.” He has six fingers on each hand that
he hides underneath black gloves.
a. This is the first reported (and irrefutable) offspring of the
Gentleman Caller.
b. Malachio also is believed to be a Dukkar, a Vistani bogeyman
fated to destroy the world if left unchecked. So far, he has
lived up to this reputation by instigating a vicious anti-Vistani
campaign in his home domain of Invidia.
c. He is also waging a war against his mother for control of the
domain.
d. He has aligned himself with Vlad Drakov, even allowing
Drakov’s forces into Invidia to bolster his growing army.

From Gazetteer #2

2) Viggo Drakov – “supposedly one of Vlad Drakov’s bastard offspring.
Born in 705 to a half-Vistani concubine-slave… In truth, a
nameless faceless nobleman forced himself upon the terrified
half-Vistani in her cell… Vigo… is aware of his parentage, though
he has hidden his true nature from his supposed father and
disguises his fiendish deformities under a cloak of illusion.”
a. Viggo runs the Central Prison, the place where prisoners are
held to be either staked or fight in gladiator battles for Vlad’s
amusement. This is a prime position to spread misery
throughout the realm and to bring death to any who oppose
him and his plans.

From Gazetteer #4

3) The Jongleur – “Ivana’s prime guardian is a lithe mute called the
“Jongleur” for his colorful, concealing garb… the Jongleur
has served Boritsi for nearly a decade… The puckered
scars that mar what little of his skin is visible lend credence to
the theory that the Jongleur is too hideously burned ever to catch
Ivana’s eyes. Rumor holds that the Jongleur is of Vistani
blood; supposed, his gypsy parents cast him into their campfire
when he was born, but the infant crawled to safety.
a. Bodyguard of Ivana Boritsi, the darklord of Borca. This also is
a prime position to gather information and subtly steer the
leadership of the domain.
b. Rumored to be of Vistani blood. Similar to the first two
candidates, but no mention of half-Vistani heritage.
c. Unclear whether scars where caused by being thrown in the
fire as an infant, or because of his fiendish heritage?
d. Azalin makes this cryptic remark… “Intriguing. Is power drawn
to power?”

So here's the similarities... Vistani or half-Vistani blood, a "gentleman" or unknown sire, fiendish deformities that are hidden or concealed, and each have risen to positions of power in their domains with some connection to the darklords that rule there.

Any other likely candidates based upon these clues?

[Hashmalum]

Actually, there's no reason that the Jongleur's deformities can't be from both fiendish heritage _and_ being thrown into the fire as an infant, which would make him a truly hideous individual. It's certainly plausible that the Vistani would recognize the child on sight as the spawn of evil and throw him into a fire to get rid of him for that reason. (Not that such behavior would necessarily be limited to the Vistani, mind you...)

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Actually, there's no reason that the Jongleur's deformities can't be from both fiendish heritage _and_ being thrown into the fire as an infant, which would make him a truly hideous individual. It's certainly plausible that the Vistani would recognize the child on sight as the spawn of evil and throw him into a fire to get rid of him for that reason. (Not that such behavior would necessarily be limited to the Vistani, mind you...)

Hmmm...why would the Vistani throw their child into a fire? Perhaps because they thought he was a Dukkar?

Also, what normal infant survives being thrown into a fire and then crawls to safety? Sounds like he made use of his natural fiendish powers to me. For that matter, the innate fire resistance of a half-fiend might have muted the effects of the fire, causing him to have scars all over, but no more serious damage, as there normally is with such severe burns.

P.S. in your summary above, you might want to note that the mother of Vigo Drakov is almost assuredly Isabella Aderre, the mother of Gabrielle. Not only would this make Gabby and Vigo half-sibs, it would suggest the GC knew that the Dukkar would eventually be born of an Aderre.

[Tobias Blackburn]

P.S. in your summary above, you might want to note that the mother of Vigo Drakov is almost assuredly Isabella Aderre, the mother of Gabrielle. Not only would this make Gabby and Vigo half-sibs, it would suggest the GC knew that the Dukkar would eventually be born of an Aderre.

Gabby is a half-vistani. Her mother was a full vistani. Vigo was the child of a half-vistani.

Ergo, Gabby and Vigo cannot share the same mother. :misori:

[Gemathustra]

P.S. in your summary above, you might want to note that the mother of Vigo Drakov is almost assuredly Isabella Aderre, the mother of Gabrielle. Not only would this make Gabby and Vigo half-sibs, it would suggest the GC knew that the Dukkar would eventually be born of an Aderre.

Gabby is a half-vistani. Her mother was a full vistani. Vigo was the child of a half-vistani.

Ergo, Gabby and Vigo cannot share the same mother. :misori:

No, Isabella Aderre was a half-Vistani, also.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Yes, technically Gabby is 1/4th Vistana, but apparently the Vistani heritage is strong enough to remain undiluted for several generations. After all, Mallochio is a full-fledged Dukkar despite being only 1/8th Vistana.

[Tobias Blackburn]

Oh, so you're right.

Still, in a place the size of Falknovia, I find it hard to believe that there was only one half-vistani female there at the time.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Oh, so you're right.

Still, in a place the size of Falknovia, I find it hard to believe that there was only one half-vistani female there at the time.

Then let's narrow it down. Drakov believe Vigo is his, so we can narrow it down to women he was maintaining a relationship with. This woman was a prisoner in an actual cell, as opposed to a free concubine--this also fits the description of Isabella Aderre. Finally, Isabella Aderre's time of inprisonment coincides with the year that the Gentleman Caller impregnated this woman, which is IMO too remarkable a coincidence.

[Tobias Blackburn]

Oh, so you're right.

Still, in a place the size of Falknovia, I find it hard to believe that there was only one half-vistani female there at the time.

Then let's narrow it down. Drakov believe Vigo is his, so we can narrow it down to women he was maintaining a relationship with. This woman was a prisoner in an actual cell, as opposed to a free concubine--this also fits the description of Isabella Aderre. Finally, Isabella Aderre's time of inprisonment coincides with the year that the Gentleman Caller impregnated this woman, which is IMO too remarkable a coincidence.

Ah, but its still just conjecture. Now, looking at the Falknovia "justice" system, it can easily be assumed that there are a large number of women in prison, and at least a few of them were half-vistani. On the same wave length, where is the length and dates of Isabella's imprisonment. For all we know, she was picked up a week before she gave birth to Gabby.

A few links like the one between Alfred and Gabby, or even the possibility that Drakov is her father is interesting. But when everyone that is evil has some relation with Isabella, its going a little too far.

[Dominique]

A few links like the one between Alfred and Gabby, or even the possibility that Drakov is her father is interesting. But when everyone that is evil has some relation with Isabella, its going a little too far.

I'd agree if we weren't talking about the Gentleman Caller here. There are no coincidences when it comes to the Gentleman Caller. It is still just conjecture, but I think that it's fairly likely. Each DM's individual call, though.

[Jester of the FoS]

It's probably been mentioned several times already, but the revelation that there is five kids occurs in GazV. The fifth one. Couldn't the kids have easily been spaced out into once Gazetteer each?
I mean, we've been trying to pin down names for months now and still only have two. Since the other three are so obscure why settle for just five? Why not four or six for all it matters?

We have Gaz II and IV covered, why not look at the other three? Who in GazI fits the bill?

[alhoon]

Strahd Von Zarovich - Caller of course!
He is much more fiendish than the rest of his family.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

For anyone who wants to know my sources, here are the relevant passages from JWM's timeline. Some of the annotations may say "speculation," but I'd be willing to bet that the Kargatane would use their own timeline when writing for Gaz 2.

690 Isabella Aderre born, half Vistani. [RoT pg. 89; DoD pg. 17; TEE pg. 4]
695 Isabella Aderre cast out from her tribe. [Speculation based on RoT pg. 89]
703 Isabella Aderre, only 12 years old, is enslaved in Falkovnia by Vlad Drakov himself. [Speculation based on DoD pg. 17; TEE pg. 4]
710 Isabella Aderre escapes Falkovnia carrying Vlad’s illegitimate child; Gabrielle Aderre is born in Richemulot. [DoD pg. 17; TEE pg. 4]

Vigo was born in 705, according to Gaz 2. Isabella would have been fourteen when Vigo was born; nine months prior, she would have been practically a child, well befitting the label of "girl" given to Vigo's mother at the time of conception.

This all might be coincidence, but all of our cases for the GC's kids are built by piling up coincidence after coincidence, and we've got about as much evidence for Vigo's mother as we do his father. After all, there might actually be some other nameless, faceless nobleman who prefers half-vistani women and whose children turn out to have fiendish deformities. Making Vigo's mother Isabella Aderre would suggest the Aderre bloodline's destiny to sire the Dukkar, not to mention a powerful foreshadowing for Isabella's warnings to her daughter. Making them separate characters offers nothing to enhance the storyline, as far as I can see.

As for the rest of the five children, I'm thoroughly convinced that the Jongleur is one of them, based upon the observations above. That means one in Gaz 2 and two in Gaz 4...but...IIRC Borca (and thus the Jongleur) was supposed to have been covered in Gaz 3, which would have made them more evenly spaced.

As for finding the rest, well why not focus on the people that Azalin commented on? He made some intriguing comments regarding the Jongleur and Mallochio, though not for Vigo; perhaps one of the other two has evoked some comment from Azalin, since they do appear to be one of the foci of his master plan.

[Tobias Blackburn]

This all might be coincidence, but all of our cases for the GC's kids are built by piling up coincidence after coincidence, and we've got about as much evidence for Vigo's mother as we do his father. After all, there might actually be some other nameless, faceless nobleman who prefers half-vistani women and whose children turn out to have fiendish deformities.

While I have no doubts that Vigo is the Gentleman Caller's spawn, the might should be placed on it being possible that Isabella had two uber-evil kids.

Other than the timeline (an unoffical timeline, with best guesses for the dates of imprisonment), all you have was that she was enslaved in Drakov's harem for about 10 years. Vigo's mother was mention as being in prison. Falknovia is too brutal to assume that only one girl in prison is ever raped.

Considering Drakov's vigorous insistence on the right of First Night, you can hardly claim that Isabella was the only half-vistani he ever raped. It would hardly be out of character for him to be doing some inspection, glance into a cell and order the girl brought to an interrogation room. While later, she gives birth and the warden alerts Drakov, just incase. Also, considering how Falknovian peasents are treated, I can also see prisoners being used by guards and Talon officers, possibly even nobles, without anyone taking note.

Is it possible that Isabella gave birth to Vigo? Yes, but the chance of it are so small that its almost impossible. Its too thin a thread to justify it.

Making Vigo's mother Isabella Aderre would suggest the Aderre bloodline's destiny to sire the Dukkar, not to mention a powerful foreshadowing for Isabella's warnings to her daughter. Making them separate characters offers nothing to enhance the storyline, as far as I can see.

Making Isabella Vigo's mother only suggests that the poor girl had a REALLY bad life. She was warned never to have children, and was trying to raise Gabby in order to prove that curse wrong. If she had already had a child before her daughter, there wouldn't be a point to it. She lived with a vistani tribe and would have a fair idea about how loose ends always come back to bite you (as she later found out was unavoidable). If you connect the two, you still don't add anything other than a sadder fate for Isabella. It doesn't make any of the Adarre's more imposing and just makes things needlessly complex.

Gabby supposedly descends from Eva's bloodline, which is where the power comes from. I have a fair amount of difficulty believing that the Caller would sire Vigo, take a look and think, better wait a generation for the blood to dilute. Sure, Drakov MIGHT be Gabby's father (we aren't even sure of that) but if the children of Darklords gained power from their sires, shouldn't the D'Honiare kids, Drakov's spawn and Azalin's clones be titans upon the landscape? I find it more frightening that the Dukkar came from blood as potent as Eva's mixed with a fiend. When you twist it with a fiend, it makes it more frightening. If you had to dilute it further, it doesn't really do anything.

[Faust]

Some suspect:

Rangvold alriik: Othmar distant cousin and advisor.Also the master of the slangetunge.

Niko Hetch: Leader of the straffer. Rumors of lycanthropy and demon whorship. Little is known but much is whispered... I think he make a likely candidate...