Domain of the month - Gundarak!

[alhoon]

I vaguely remember something... indeed, it was in a book. Good idea for the portal as a hook to get the PCs from FotG to castle Hunadora.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

You mean the portal between Castle Hunadora and Vallaki?
The one with the guardian creature that tries to take your soul if you move through in either direction?

[Mephisto of the FoS]

You mean the portal between Castle Hunadora and Vallaki?
The one with the guardian creature that tries to take your soul if you move through in either direction?

I guess that's the one, although I always thought that the guardian creature (that I imagined resembling a gibbering mouther) wouldn't allow soon to be darklords to use that escape root.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

You mean the portal between Castle Hunadora and Vallaki?
The one with the guardian creature that tries to take your soul if you move through in either direction?

I guess that's the one, although I always thought that the guardian creature (that I imagined resembling a gibbering mouther) wouldn't allow soon to be darklords to use that escape root.

In Knight of the Black Rose, iirc, the Guardian looked like a giant woman with antlers, made of shadow. She had a companion mastiff made of shadow, to which she fed the souls.
They were both bitterly disappointed by Azrael.

[tomokaicho]

.In Knight of the Black Rose, iirc, the Guardian looked like a giant woman with antlers, made of shadow. She had a companion mastiff made of shadow, to which she fed the souls.
They were both bitterly disappointed by Azrael.

Lord Soth offered up his own soul, but warned the guardian that it would have to go to the realm of Chemosh, the god of the dead of Krynn, in order to claim it. As for Azrael, we don't know why he doesn't have a soul. Presumably Azrael is immune to spells like magic jar .

[Rock of the Fraternity]

.In Knight of the Black Rose, iirc, the Guardian looked like a giant woman with antlers, made of shadow. She had a companion mastiff made of shadow, to which she fed the souls.
They were both bitterly disappointed by Azrael.

Lord Soth offered up his own soul, but warned the guardian that it would have to go to the realm of Chemosh, the god of the dead of Krynn, in order to claim it. As for Azrael, we don't know why he doesn't have a soul. Presumably Azrael is immune to spells like magic jar .

Not quite. :p Soth told the Guardian that if she wanted his soul, she'd have to take it up with Chemosh. In other words: "You want it, you'll have to get it from the god of undeath. Good luck with that." The Guardian wisely decided to just let him pass.

In his writeup in the Gazetteers, Azrael has the "Hollow" feat, which means he was just born without a soul somehow. And yes, he's immune to magic jar and other effects that target the soul. On the upside, once he dies, there's no way for him to come back. There won't be anything left. For some reason, he seems to find this comforting.

[alhoon]

The Hollow Feat actually ties in with 5e Curse of Strahd / Ravenloft re-imagining, where not everyone has a soul, just the 10%. Thus, we could assume Azael is one of those that for reasons of the Dark Powers plans, is not a cliche but a mover and shaker.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

The Hollow Feat actually ties in with 5e Curse of Strahd / Ravenloft re-imagining, where not everyone has a soul, just the 10%.

Well I am not a fan of this "theory" although I understand where it originates from. false histories and domains forming from thin air. Also the Hollow feat is not available to good aligned characters and anyone who has it has an Outcast Rating +1 to wise people. Also having the 90% not having a soul takes out motivation, drama and emotion out of the equation. More importantly someone without a soul should be something really special, as in Knight of the Black Rose the Shadow Guardian is perplexed about it.

Thus, we could assume Azael is one of those that for reasons of the Dark Powers plans, is not a cliche but a mover and shaker.

I think Azrael not having a soul has something to do with his escape from the politishkara and his transformation into a werecreature.

Also the Gibbering Mouther Guardian was guaring the Luna River portal which is not working anymore for some reason and it is basically a trap now.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Good idea for the portal as a hook to get the PCs from FotG to castle Hunadora.

In the Red Box it says under Dr. Dominiani's description that:

Gundar was furious with a group of heroes who defeated his bid to conquer Kartakass and annex its lands, so he rendered himself vulnerable to their attacks in order to lure them into a deadly trap. Dominiani's part was to hypnotize their warrior before the confrontation and convince her to pull a cord that would draw a heavy tapestry across the window, blocking off the sunlight that would render Gundar helpless at the crucial moment. The doctor reported complete success, but actually did nothing whatsoever to the fighter. As a result, the sunlight held Gundar helpless while the heroes did their work.

I based that adventure to this (although we never played it with my group). So after the events in Hommlock in Feast of Goblyns the PC's got sucked by the misty vortex and were transported in Gundarak. Gundar had closed the domain borders and their only escape was to confront him and kill him in his thrown room, to open the portal.

The problem with the above description which is canon contradicts the netbook-canon Duke Nharov Gundar who is an Eminent Nosferatu Vampire 13th level Fighter as nosferatu vampires are immune to damage from sunlight. I like his people's hero gone bad background from Book of Secrets though, so I am keeping that and making him a Neutral Evil male human Eminent vampire Ari6/Ftr10 as was the potential canon in 3e.

[alhoon]

Wait, Gundar trusted Dominiani to NOT betray him at a crucial moment?
That doesn't fit what I would expect from a 500 years old vampire. As for Nosferatu being immune to sunlight, I never did that, for any vampire. While I had them less vulnerable to it, I treated it as "turned" or "paralyzed" or "weakened" etc. Even for Strahd, I don't have him 100% immune for those 10 rounds.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Wait, Gundar trusted Dominiani to NOT betray him at a crucial moment?
That doesn't fit what I would expect from a 500 years old vampire. As for Nosferatu being immune to sunlight, I never did that, for any vampire. While I had them less vulnerable to it, I treated it as "turned" or "paralyzed" or "weakened" etc. Even for Strahd, I don't have him 100% immune for those 10 rounds.

Well Nosferatus lose their special powers when exposed to sunlight, so they are kind of weakened. As for Gundar and Dr. Dominiani, Gundar was very confident that he controlled the "good" doctor, he might at the beginning though, it just happened that Dominiani became a Mature vampire and as he wasn't created directly from Gundr's bite he was immune to Gundar's thrall effect.

[doctornecrotic]

Oooh, it's taken me until now to notice needed love for Gundarak. Quite a bit of my own fanon has involved it.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

From Van Richten's Guide to Vampires

Progenitor and Offspring
Conventional wisdom is categorical on one point: newly-formed vampires are slaves of the creatures that created them, with no free will of their own. Even one of the most reputable tomes on the subject repeats this: "Once they become undead, the new vampire is under the complete control of its killer."

But how true is this? And what constraints are there on the control that does exist? For the first days or weeks of a Fledgling vampire's existence, it is highly susceptible to the orders of its creator—so I have discovered from my research. If there is no telepathic bond between creator and created, then the master vampire must be in the vicinity, and must be willing to communicate with its offspring.

How, then, do vampires keep their slaves under their control beyond this period? They do so in much the same way that mortals dominate others: through intimidation. The fledgling is new to the vampiric world, and at least partially ignorant of its own abilities. Its creator can if it is careful, create the perception in its offspring that the master is immensely more powerful and knowledgeable than the newly-created vampire, which it may in fact be. Through simple intimidation and by playing on the offspring's natural doubts and fears, the master can create a situation enabling it to "rule" for decades.

The reader may realise that this situation is totally different and much more unstable than the "traditional" picture of the master and its unquestioning slaves. Offspring vampires may have considerable free will from the moment of their creation, although they do have an "inborn’' propensity to bow to the will of their creator. After several years have passed, however, this propensity wears off.

The Journal entry that opened this chapter indicates the risks that accompany creating an offspring vampire. The "master" must keep the intimidation level high and discipline tight. If the offspring senses weakness in its master, it may consider challenging for dominance or simply fleeing. As time passes the offspring vampire will learn more about its own strengths, and probably more about its master's weaknesses. As soon as the offspring believes that it may be able to defeat its master, the two creatures will almost certainly come into conflict. Of course, the majority of vampires will destroy their offspring before this point is reached. Some, however, will send them away, officially granting them their freedom. (This is merely another psychological trick, If an offspring vampire is "freed" before it realises it can depose its "master" it may feel some gratitude toward its creator.)

The vast majority of vampires view their offspring simply as disposable tools, to be used and then discarded, Yet there are some, it seems, that feel some kind of empathy for their ‘'children” These rare creatures will "raise" their offspring, teaching them all they need to know to survive in the world, and then send them forth to "live their own lives". Gratitude is an uncommon thing among vampires, however, and offspring of such sentimental creatures generally view this “care” as weakness. Vampires who care for their offspring are most often destroyed by these very offspring. Vampires differ in their motivations when creating offspring. Some fledglings do it accidentally, not yet understanding the consequences of killing a foe. Others do it to create slaves for themselves. Some few seem to need contact with members of their own kind, and create companions. This latter group are more likely to become the sentimental "parents" described above, and are hence most likely to meet destruction at the hands of their offspring.

When a vampire is destroyed, all semblance of control over its offspring immediately vanishes. Most offspring will immediately go about their own business, I have heard of some rare creatures who have sought the destroyers of their creator and wreaked vengeance on them. I find this somewhat hard to believe because it implies a sense of loyalty, even love of a kind, between vampires. Still, stranger things have proved to be true.

Note: Dr. Dominiani was created when he ingested the brain fluids of a soon to be bride of Duke Gundar so he may have shared a telepathic bond of 1 mile with Gundar and so Gundar may have thought that he has him under his control.

[tomokaicho]

In his writeup in the Gazetteers, Azrael has the "Hollow" feat, which means he was just born without a soul somehow. And yes, he's immune to magic jar and other effects that target the soul. On the upside, once he dies, there's no way for him to come back. There won't be anything left. For some reason, he seems to find this comforting.

It sounds like the hollow feat was designed around the lore about Azrael, which is good game design.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I found the best castle (IMHO) for Castle Hunadora, I am thinking of making the floorplans and description for the rooms in the next QtR (or maybe the one after that...). It will be based on the following 3-D printed castle. The model includes also the floors, I haven't printed it yet though so I can't say anything about the model itself but you can see reviews in the link below.

The model includes a large circular stained glass window, in what appears to be the throne room and is similar of how I imagined the window that was supposed to be covered in the final confrontation between Duke Gundar and the PC's after playing Feast of Goblyns (as discussed above). It is also really close in its architecture to Dr. Dominiani's Dark Keep from Feast of Goblyns.

My plan is to give descriptions of the castle both while Duke Gundar was Gundarak's darklord as well as it's state in the hands of Gabrielle Aderre's and the Gundarakite rebels.

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d ... cul-143445