The Kargatane in Book of Vile Darkness 4th ed

[Jack the Reaper]

I don't know if it's old news already (that's what happened when I found about the Vistani in Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond); but maybe you'd be interested to know that Strahd, Azalin, Darkon and the Kargatane make an appearance in the freshly-released Book of Vile Darkness 4th ed. !

Here's the relevant quot (pgs. 70-71):

[EDITED by GonzoRon to summarize instead of quote the whole thing]

Kargatane

"What have we to fear from death when immortality is
at hand?"

... originally the secret police for a now lost
domain of dread....Led by Lady Kazandra, Kargatane agents
foment discord, murder, steal, and sabotage...

...Darkon, was once a powerful fief in the Shadowfell...a place of inflexible
order and crushing despair. The Kargatane,
Azalin's network of spies and assassins...

...when he vanished, Darkon went with him. In its place rose the
terrifying Necropolis and its new master, Death.

...preferring to not be absorbed into
the new regime, Kazandra summoned all of the Kargatane's
agents to her, and together they withdrew into
another land.

....Eternal life is promised to any creature invited to join
the Kargatane. Few members understand the immortality
offered is to become a vampire....

The Kargatane engages in...Grave robbing, espionage, theft, and murder ...

...Kazandra's larger goal of proving herself worthy to receive a
domain of dread of her own.

...She could transform her servants into vampires, but
she withholds that gift to prevent rivals from rising up
against her...it drafts potential candidates and
does not accept refusals.

Members are living humanoids. [they wear a necklace of blood-like fluid around their neck, a powerful poison]

* * *
In addition, there are couple of quots from Strahd and Azalin.

What do you say?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Yeah, you're a little late to the party again. We were discussing it here:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/forum/vi ... f=1&t=7900
first, but then it became front page news on our site, and on our @FratOfShadows twitter. Still, probably worthy of its own thread, so thanks! Only thing is, that was a bit too complete and long of a quote to post here, especially from a book that's brand new. I've chopped it down to the essentials in your post.


Of note, some of us were dismayed to hear that Azalin was still dead in WotC's eyes. While that's probably still true, the wording of the quote leaves a little wiggle room. It says that when Azalin died, Necropolis rose up and Kazandra left. It doesn't say Death still rules, just that Death's ascendancy caused Kazandra to take her toys and leave. Of course, it still doesn't jibe with the Kazandra presented in Gaz II, and her loyalty to Azalin that helped bring him back. But well, it's something.

[HuManBing]

Hmmmmmm, seems like you could rescue some of this by substituting Tavelia instead of Kazandra.

We know Tavelia had some rebel Kargat under her command, and her association with the end of Necropolis did lead to her being very unwelcome in Darkon...

[Jack the Reaper]

And what would you say about the reference to Lord Soth as one of the Darklords in the Shadowfell (BoVD pg. 49)? Does it mean there's a chance we'll get to see him again as the lord of Sithicus? Now THAT will be great news! I have no idea what is Soth's status in the 4ed D&D - has he already got mentioned in other products?

BTW, Victor Mordenheim is also mentioned there. Slowly, all the old friends start coming back...

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

The Soth and Mordenheim mentions are news, congrats!

I will definitely have to pick this one up...

If Soth is still darklord of Sithicus, they've gone from ignoring Arthaus's stuff to ignoring their own stuff. Spectre of the Black Rose wasn't even TSR, it's got a WotC logo on it, IIRC.

[Jester of the FoS]

They'd probably spin Sithicus and Soth to be in the Shadowfell of Krynn, with Dragaard Keep being in Krynn proper and Nerdragaard Keep being the reflection in the Shadowfell, still ruled over by Soth.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

They'd probably spin Sithicus and Soth to be in the Shadowfell of Krynn, with Dragaard Keep being in Krynn proper and Nerdragaard Keep being the reflection in the Shadowfell, still ruled over by Soth.

Yup, considering the way they went with Kalidnay, that's probably the most logical...

[Rudolf Weathermay]

About kalidnay did anyone noticed that thakok-ann from domains of dread is female while the one in forbidden lore is a male? anyone an idea which one is canon?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

That's what we call a "known issue"

http://fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/Kalidnay
(needs updating, but that's the gist)

Male Kalid-Ma, Female Thakok-An matches up with Dark Sun canon, and is correct. The latest 4e Kalidnay writeup agrees.

[Rudolf Weathermay]

BTW, Victor Mordenheim is also mentioned there. Slowly, all the old friends start coming back...

I just hope they don't chance to much canon stuff. If azalin is stil vanished, soth still lord in sithicus, how believable will it be for old school ravenloft fans. It is just like making a starwars movie where darth vader never went to the dark side. it is just not done ...

[Goose Bone]

It is just like making a starwars movie where darth vader never went to the dark side. it is just not done ...

Ummm... have u ever play the "Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition"..?
(I know Vader is still darksider there, but the rest of characters... well... obla-di obla-da lifes go on... )

And look what happend with Dark Sun 4.0E - the timeline was simply changed...

[Rudolf Weathermay]

And look what happend with Dark Sun 4.0E - the timeline was simply changed...

good for the credibility *sight*

[Dion of the Fraternity]

Here's the thing (now I'm neither ripping off nor defending anything, so please do bear with me): the most probable reason why 4th Edition is doing this to Ravenloft is because at the moment there IS no Ravenloft. It just so happened that with the current edition continuity has been disregarded. This is neither good nor bad; it's just a choice made for an edition.

An edition doesn't necessarily need continuity. As an example, the current edition of Legend of the Five Rings RPG doesn't want to meddle with the current Iweko/Second City era, even if it does mention it. The current edition states that players can envision whatever they want with Rokugan.

Besides, if new players wanted Ravenloft at this current time, there's always the previous editions to go research into to do as they will. Isn't that what RPG'ing, was all about anyway?

[Rudolf Weathermay]

Personally I am not a fan about the fact that current edition continuity has been regarded. It sounds like the decision White Wolf made when abandoning Vampire The Masquerade and started The Requiem. I heard stories that Americans loved Requiem but most Europeans went back to the masquerade very soon. You say there is no Ravenloft anymore but I don’t think the same way. Ravenloft lives and people like you, and everyone on this site, proves this. If there would be a new edition Ravenloft I hope they respect the view of the setting they give earlier, and which we are customized with. Changing timelines because THEY think it is cooler (and the easiest way , my apologies) is not a real solution in my humble opinion. Keep timelines and earlier decisions and if they think things have to be changed, do it in a believable fashion. (if they want azalin out, let him die, escape or what the hell, but don’t say he never came back after the cataclysm in Ill Alluk).

However I’m too much a Ravenloft fan, so I’m sure I will buy the new books too. But I would be a bit disappointed. And no I am not a whiner

[Zilfer]

I think it would be a disappoint to leave all the created ideas of this addition behind. It's quite flexible for the most part, things like time travel is something I would never dream of touching in my other campaigns, it feels right in Ravenloft somehow.

I hope they continue this line eventually as well, saddens me that I showed up after most of it seems to have died down.