Why Baron Urik Von Kharkov is my favorite Darklord
Posted: Sun May 19, 2024 8:47 am
Admittedly, some might say he has an unfair advantage, in that Dungeon magazine published no less than three different adventures set in Valachan (the last of which is a true masterpiece; I'd love to run it someday!). Even though two of the adventures didn't feature Von Kharkov personally, they still ended up telling us much about him.
That he's a Nosferatu-werepanther is certainly interesting and I'm glad he's not a normal vampire, with that blasted energy drain attack. He's someone whom mid-level characters could conceivably face and defeat, or at least survive, unlike Strahd and Azalin. He doesn't boast the unchecked might of those two, yet neither does he possess their unbounded arrogance, at least not anymore.
In a way I can't help seeing a similarity between the Baron and Peter Parker. Absurd, you say? Hear me out! Both individuals were granted great power and let it go to their heads. Peter subsequently learned the price of callousness, while Von Kharkov learned the price of arrogance when he was badly mauled by the Cat of Felkovic. I honestly think that was a pivotal moment for him, when he was painfully taught his limits. And he learned from it, obtaining a magic sword to protect himself.
He also demonstrated commendable caution when he instructed one of his Nosferatu minions NOT to mess with the Vistanti ever again, and by placing another Nosferatu to watch that one. Urik is not a megalomaniac; he recognizes his limits and knows the value of not biting off more than one can chew.
Another trait which distinguishes him from most villains is his use of the carrot as well as the stick. Yes, countless minions throughout the Demiplane realize how horribly they'll be punished if they fail their master; but how many can realistically expect rewards for performing well? Mordal the assassin was gifted with the Fang of the Nosferatu by the Baron, which is one hell of a bonus for services rendered! Granted, when Mordal betrayed him, Von Kharkov made sure it took the assassin years to die, but that's the kind of punishment faced by any who turn against an evil master.
The same good treatment applies to his current second-in-command, Lady Adeline; when she defeated a particularly powerful band of adventurers assaulting Castle Pantara, Von Kharkov literally rewarded her with a vacation in a neighboring domain, asking only that she not kill anyone while she was there (that caution again!).
That the Baron made an alliance with Lady Adeline in the first place shows that just as he is no longer arrogant, he isn't set in his ways either. He's a flexible thinker, open to new alliances and even to trying outside of the box ideas, which is why he is allowing an experiment on a new way of governing to proceed in his town of Ungrad.
I like his self-control in not draining anyone to death, but rather taking a little from each victim to sustain himself. His lie about the existence of the White Fever is as ingenious and clever as his rumors that he has a spying network in the land called the "Cat's Eye". In reality no such network exists, information being brought to him by those he's charmed through biting, but maintaining the fiction of its existence both explains how he knows so much and, more importantly, makes his people reluctant to form any kind of resistance movement for fear that there are spies among them.
Another very intelligent move of Von Kharkov's was outlawing wizards in his domain and subjecting any caught to summary execution. I agree with that 100%; wizards are simply too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely in the land of an evil overlord. In a more urban, learned realm this harsh law might be resisted, but the rural Valachani don't hold much with these book-reading milksops anyway and so his forbidding of mages is a matter of little concern among the population.
Von Kharkov's taking of brides is a move guaranteed to stir up enmity, but hey, he has to have SOME evil impulses which he refuses to control, or why would he be a Darklord in the first place (also, it should be noted that he's a piker compared to Arijani, who eats one of his subjects every day)?
That he's a Nosferatu-werepanther is certainly interesting and I'm glad he's not a normal vampire, with that blasted energy drain attack. He's someone whom mid-level characters could conceivably face and defeat, or at least survive, unlike Strahd and Azalin. He doesn't boast the unchecked might of those two, yet neither does he possess their unbounded arrogance, at least not anymore.
In a way I can't help seeing a similarity between the Baron and Peter Parker. Absurd, you say? Hear me out! Both individuals were granted great power and let it go to their heads. Peter subsequently learned the price of callousness, while Von Kharkov learned the price of arrogance when he was badly mauled by the Cat of Felkovic. I honestly think that was a pivotal moment for him, when he was painfully taught his limits. And he learned from it, obtaining a magic sword to protect himself.
He also demonstrated commendable caution when he instructed one of his Nosferatu minions NOT to mess with the Vistanti ever again, and by placing another Nosferatu to watch that one. Urik is not a megalomaniac; he recognizes his limits and knows the value of not biting off more than one can chew.
Another trait which distinguishes him from most villains is his use of the carrot as well as the stick. Yes, countless minions throughout the Demiplane realize how horribly they'll be punished if they fail their master; but how many can realistically expect rewards for performing well? Mordal the assassin was gifted with the Fang of the Nosferatu by the Baron, which is one hell of a bonus for services rendered! Granted, when Mordal betrayed him, Von Kharkov made sure it took the assassin years to die, but that's the kind of punishment faced by any who turn against an evil master.
The same good treatment applies to his current second-in-command, Lady Adeline; when she defeated a particularly powerful band of adventurers assaulting Castle Pantara, Von Kharkov literally rewarded her with a vacation in a neighboring domain, asking only that she not kill anyone while she was there (that caution again!).
That the Baron made an alliance with Lady Adeline in the first place shows that just as he is no longer arrogant, he isn't set in his ways either. He's a flexible thinker, open to new alliances and even to trying outside of the box ideas, which is why he is allowing an experiment on a new way of governing to proceed in his town of Ungrad.
I like his self-control in not draining anyone to death, but rather taking a little from each victim to sustain himself. His lie about the existence of the White Fever is as ingenious and clever as his rumors that he has a spying network in the land called the "Cat's Eye". In reality no such network exists, information being brought to him by those he's charmed through biting, but maintaining the fiction of its existence both explains how he knows so much and, more importantly, makes his people reluctant to form any kind of resistance movement for fear that there are spies among them.
Another very intelligent move of Von Kharkov's was outlawing wizards in his domain and subjecting any caught to summary execution. I agree with that 100%; wizards are simply too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely in the land of an evil overlord. In a more urban, learned realm this harsh law might be resisted, but the rural Valachani don't hold much with these book-reading milksops anyway and so his forbidding of mages is a matter of little concern among the population.
Von Kharkov's taking of brides is a move guaranteed to stir up enmity, but hey, he has to have SOME evil impulses which he refuses to control, or why would he be a Darklord in the first place (also, it should be noted that he's a piker compared to Arijani, who eats one of his subjects every day)?