Meistersinger Harkon Lukas

Harkon Lukas is the meistersinger of the Kartakan village of Skald. He is also a wolfwere and the darklord of Kartakass. He owns and resides at the Old Kartakan Inn and Taverna. Akriel Lukas and Casimir Lukas are two of his notable children. However, he has sired numerous offspring, which has spawned an entirely new type of wolfwere, the greater wolfwere.

Harkon Lukas plays a large role in the adventure module Feast of Goblyns, where he plays out his game of intrigues with Akriel. The novel Heart of Midnight features his equally rebellious son Casimir whereas Death of a Darklord features Harkon Lukas' efforts to escape the Land of Mists.

Background

Early years

Harkon Lukas hails from the country of Cormyr on the subcontinent of Faerun on the world of Toril. There he sought to unite his fellow wolfweres under his leadership, but they snubbed his advanced. His rage caused Lukas to run rampant throughout rural Cormyr, killing any humans he came across. After his rage subsided, he became fascinated with humanity and traveled among them, posing as a wandering minstrel. As Lukas conspired to take over Cormyr, the Mists rolled in and took him into Barovia, where he encountered (and was nearly destroyed by) Strahd Von Zarovich. Driven into the Mists, Lukas came out into the domain of Kartakass, a backwoods land that severally disappoints him in its remoteness. The year of Kartakass' formation was 613 BC.

As darklord

Since its formation over a century ago, Harkon Lukas has remained darklord, although the decentralized distribution of authority and the political independence of the realm's communities has made it such that there is no single political ruler of the domain. According to "S", the realm's emergence from the Mists seems to coincide with local stories of the burning of Dargacht Keep and the disruption of the Invidian Occupation, although "S" discounts the though of the Invidian's culpability as occupiers to be a matter of false history. Nonetheless, the remains of the Keep still exist today in Dargacht Plaza.

A bard named Harkon Lukas is said to have roused the Kartakans to destroy the Keep, Many decades later, Harkon Lukas would claim to Casimir that he only was only "mildly responsible" do with the burning of the Keep. The stories of Kartakan history speak of several incidents of Harkon Lukas showing up, though most Kartakans assume this to be a mythical persona (not too dissimilar from the Grandfather Wolf archtype) adopted by several people over the span of many years.

In the early 8th century of the Barovian Calendar, the Falkovnian Army attempted to seize control of the Crimson Road in Kartakass by setting up a fortress therein. Wolves snuck in the fortress and butchered the soldiers therein after one of the gates was left open. {{Spec|Harkon Lukas was the probably insitigator of this event, calling up wolves or wolfwere minions.}

Akriel's betrayal

In 736 BC, conspirators planned to take down Harkon Lukas along with his enemy Duke Gundar in the Gundarakite Conspiracy. [[Akriel], Harkon's own daughter, was one of the chief conspirators along with her lover Dr. Dominiani. They planned Crown of Souls to great an army of goblyns and instigate a war between realms of Kartakass and Gundarak and then take down both Gundar and Harkon Lukas under the fog of war. Akriel never intended on destroying her father, merely usurping the power he held over the realm, though Dr. Dominiani in truth held no reservations and planned for the destruction of both Arkiel and her father.

The conspiracy failed due to a series of events that ended with the destruction of the Crown, an end result that Harkon Lukas desired and helped to instigate. Akriel's fate after the conspiracy has not been revealed.

The rise and fall of Casimir

The following year would see the betrayal and fall of another of Harkon Lukas' progeny. Then thinking himself the child of Zhone Clieous, Casimir Lukas challenged Clieous for leadership of Harmonia in the Meistersinger Contest in the summer of 737 BC as part of a retaliation plan for the murder of his mother many years earlier. Although he initially seemd to be winning, Casimir faltered in the final round thanks to a sudden loss of singing voice. Still, Casimir revealed his identity to Clieous, and an allegorical story of Zhone's misdeeds left the Meistersinger severely rattled.

After the end of the contest, several thugs razed of the Red Porch orphange that Casimir lived at, killing most of the people inside. Looking at prior misdeeds with his mother, Casimir took this as the work of Zhone Clieous once again. With the help of Thoris and some of the surviving Red Porch orphans, Casimir ousted Zhone Clieous as a werewolf. The crowd dispersed in panic, leaving Zhone and Casimir in a violent confrontation in the Crystal Club. Casimir emerged victorious after vanquishing Zhone Clieous. As the runner up in the Meistersinger Contest and with the support of Harkon Lukas, Casimir thereafter became Meistersinger of Harmonia.

For a time, Harkon and Casimir enjoyed beneficial relationship as mentor and student in both intrigue and the hunt as monsters. However, Casimir became consumed with overcoming and disavowing his dark side. Harkon's encouragement to embrace his monstrous nature, and insistence that he could not shed it, led Harkon and Casimir to become estranged. Casimir banned Harkon from his home, the temple, and all government buildings in Harmonia. In order to regain control over Casimir, Harkon orchestrated the revelation of Casimir's beastly nature and subsequent alienation from the people of Harmonia. Subsequently, Casimir fled to Skald for refuge, where Harkon granted him asylum at the Old Kartakan Inn.

In Skald, Harkon revealed his connections to Casimir- even that it was Harkon himself that had arranged the destruction of the Red Porch, in an effort to push Casimir into going fully after Zhone Clieous. Harkon again told his son that they were creatures of darkness and evil, that in order to be whole Casimir had to abandon his human frailties rather than his bestial side. Harkon further attempted to manipulate Casimir into killing his old friend, Thoris and lover Julianna Estovina. Instead, Casimir planned Harkon's death. From Harkon's own ally, Eiren Von Daaknau, Casimir received a poison to weaken Harkon and prevent him from transforming into wolf form.

Statistics

male wolfwere Bard 8, Neutral Evil

TSR Collector Card

Harkon Lukas' TSR 1991 Collector Card number is 486.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Secrets of the Dread Realms Domains of Dread Feast of Goblyns Download Now! Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - p31 Domains of Dread - p64 Realm of Terror - p101 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - p146
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp30-33 Domains of Dread - p64 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp70-72 Realm of Terror - pp101-103 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - pp145-147
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7,30-33 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp18,126 Domains of Dread - pp64-65 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp18-20,35,70-72 Feast of Goblyns - pp10-11,26,81 Download Now! Realm of Terror - pp101-103 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - pp145-147