The Black Duke

The Black Duke was the leader of a militant cult, the Brothers of the Whip, which terrorized Ehrendton in northeastern Nova Vaasa between 684 BC and 685 BC, in particular razing the village of Drataan. He is also popularly known as "The Beast of Ehrendton", thanks to the The Beast of Ehrendton penned by Sir Armand Ironhand in 695 BC. In 685 Armand Ironhand and five other young, valorous knights were dispatched by Prince Rivtoff to stop the Black Duke. They failed. Ironhand was one of two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's dark deeds.

The monstrous man's goal was the conquest of Nova Vaasa. Yet he chose voluntarily to walk away from this project and hasn't been seen since. His followers were rounded up and executed. It is speculated that his base of operations was actually in Arak, which is to say Darkon post Great Upheaval.

Dr. Rudolph van Richten identified the Black Duke as a fiend in Van Richten's Guide to Demons. A Brother Micah, of the Order of Tramalaine, called the creature into the Land of the Mists. The Black Duke escaped Micah's control, destroying him and his laboratory.

Would-be cultists spouting heresy to the effect that the Black Duke is an avatar of the Lawgiver are arrested, tortured and executed from time to time. The Black Duke is further detailed in Children of the Night: Demons (p.15-21), including the adventure Children of the Night: Demons: Rule of Law.

Statistics

2nd Edition

Cornugon

3rd Edition

Cornugon, Expert2/fighter 2

Phylactery

The Black Duke´s phylactery is (at least reportedly) his whip, which he keeps forever by his side.

Reality Wrinkle

7,500 ft. radius

References

[VRGtD, Author's Notes to VRGttM, Mangrum's Timeline]

Chronology

684 BC The misguided Brother Micah, of the Order of Tramalaine, summons the fiendish Black Duke into Ravenloft. Micah fails to control the fiend; he and his laboratory are destroyed, and the fiend disappears, unseen by living eyes. [VRGtF pg. 25]

684 BC The Black Duke starts organizing a militant cult, the Brothers of the Whip, in the extreme north-eastern corner of the new domain of Nova Vaasa, a region known as Ehrendton. The Black Duke’s actual headquarters may have been located in Arak. The Black Duke’s goal is nothing less than the conquest of Nova Vaasa! [VRGtF: 62 indicates a date of roughly 541. Sadly, this places the event some 140 years before the creation of the domain it takes place in, and I don’t like using false history when it comes to fiends. Thus, this date is simply a compromise, placed near the creation of Nova Vaasa.]

685 BC After the Nova Vaasan village of Drataan is razed, Prince Rivtoff sends six young, valorous knights to stop the Black Duke. Their leader is Sir Armand Ironhand. The knights reach the Black Duke’s lair and confront him; the Duke reveals himself to be an inhuman fiend, which immediately sets about destroying the naïve do-gooders. Only Sir Armand and a companion, Jess d’Lurien (a name which does not sound Nova Vaasan to my ear) survive; the Duke spares them so that they can spread the tale of his terrible deeds. Interestingly, the Duke abandons his campaign to invade Nova Vaasa, and the Brothers of the Whip are all eventually rounded up and executed. To date, the Black Duke has not been encountered again; it was last seen walking away in the darkness, laughing to itself. [VRGtF: See “684: The Black Duke.”]

695 BC Sir Armand Ironhand authors The Beast of Ehrendton, a tragic saga. Although the account is based on his encounter with the Black Duke, the outlandish (and nightmarish) story is taken by most as fiction—and becomes fairly popular! [Speculation based on VRGtF pg. 36: The book was written “years after the fact,” and Sir Armand’s grandson is an adult contemporary of Van Richten in 741.]