Baron Caidin

Baron Caidin is the major antagonist of the Ravenloft product line novel Tower of Doom. In universe, he was the brother of Wort and ruler of Nartok in Darkon. He lived in Nartok Keep and was the owner of the Soulstone.

Biography

Early Life

Wort's real name is Worren. He was born to the Old Baron and the Old Baroness of Nartok on the same night as his half-brother Caidin, whom the Old Baron sired with a mistress named Kylene. The Old Baron despised his legitimate son's deformed nature and switched notes of their mothers to make Caidin his proper heir. Furthermore, he poisoned the Old Baroness and Kylene to cover up this secret. On his death bed years later, the Old Baron told Caidin, but Wort never never grow up to know he was the legitimate son.

Caidin's antagonism, even abuse, towards Wort was apparent early on, but Wort seemed to return only love and good will to Caidin. Outright hatred did not manifest in Caidin's heart until later later in childhood. At Morrged's Leap, Caidin hoped to lure Wort into falling on the jagged rocks below,but instead Caidin went off balance and needed Wort's help. The public echoed Caidin's disdain and contempt, for they treated him just as much a monster, a freak, or other menace. Thus Wort became all but confined in the old bell tower of Nartok Keep upon Caidin's instructions. Beyond acting as the bell ringer for executions, the fact that Caidin even had a brother fell out of public memory, to the point that even Caidin's most trusted men didn't know about Wort's existence.

Events prior to the start of Tower of Doom

As an adult, Caidin stumbled upon a reference to the dread artifact known as the Soulstone in an ancient book he found within the depths of Nartok Keep. The power to drain life energy from the Living greatly appealed to Caidin both on an abstract level and as a source for power. He searched long and hard for more on the Soulstone, but his search was stymied prior to his encounter with the darkling known as Brynn. Following Brynn's capture, Caidin eventually learned from the interrogated darkling the location of the Soulstone: a cave beneath the Vuchar River. From there, Caidin began a plot to overthrow his liege, Azalin Rex.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Tower of Doom
		Tower of Doom - pp 12-16,Throughout