Kartakass
| Kartakass | |
|---|---|
| |
| Culture Level | Medieval |
| Ecology | Full |
| Climate & Terrain | Temperate forest, hills |
| Year Formed | 613 BC |
| Population | 5,000 |
| Races (%) | Humans 94%, wolfweres 4%, half-elves 1%, other 1% |
| Languages | Vaasi, Old Kartakan, Balok, Sithican |
| Religions | The Ancestral Choir, Church of Ezra, Church of Hala |
| Government | "Meritocratic independent settlements"[1] |
| Ruler(s) | autonomous meistersingers |
| Darklord(s) | Harkon Lukas |
| Nationality | Kartakan |
| Analog | Scotland, Scandinavia, The Black Forest |
| Related Categories | |
| Locations in Kartakass | |
| Transportation in Kartakass | |
| Inhabitants of Kartakass | |
| Former Inhabitants of Kartakass | |
| Flora of Kartakass | |
| Fauna of Kartakass | |
| Native Monsters of Kartakass | |
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Kartakass is the most musical domain in Ravenloft, and most natives originate from or have been trained there. It lies in the south of the Core.
A domain with lush forests, it contains only two major settlements: Skald and Harmonia. It is crisscrossed with the rivers that originate from the Musarde River, which flows in from Sithicus and disappears into Hazlan. The domain is bordered by Barovia in the north, Hazlan in the east, and Sithicus in the west. South of this domain lay the Mists. Wedged between Barovia and Kartakass lies Forlorn, a mostly empty domain.
Kartakass is infested with wolfweres (wolves that transform into humans and humanoid-wolf hybrids). The darklord is the Meistersinger (German for "master singer"), Harkon Lukas. This fact is unknown to outsiders, who regard the country as simply being the homeplace for bards and a particular potent alcoholic drink called Meekulbrau. The natives suspect that the very numerous wolves of the land are more than they appear to be but the literal truth about them is rarely whispered. The figurative truth is, however, lent voice in song by the wolfwere bards themselves, who never tire of recounting the tales of the cunning of Grandfather Wolf over and against the stupidity of Grandfather Boar and the feebleness of mankind.
Chronology
- 610 BC: Harkon Lukas is brought to the Land of Mists.[2]
- 613 BC Kartakass is revealed.Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; invalid names, e.g. too many - 613 BC False History: The Invidian Occupation of Kartakass ends with the fall of Dargacht KeepCite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; invalid names, e.g. too many 
669 BC Orinda is born in Skald.[3]- 677 BC Orinda begins singing for the patrons at the Tipping Minstrelref name="Book of Secrets p. 123">Lights in the Fog, Book of Secrets p.123</ref>
- 685 BC The Adventuring Band of Loran Elbrian visits the tavern. Perryn and Orinda fall in love[3], and they are wed in a private ceremony with only the other adventurers present. Orinda begins receiving training to become an adventurer.[4]
- 711 BC Duke Gundar's men kidnap Orinda and Perryn from Invidia and bring them to Castle Hunadora.[4] Perryn sacrifices his own life to save Orinda, but Orinda is still maimed. After retrieving and cremating Perryn's corpse, Orinda rides to Kartakass, where she becomes Meistersinger of Chord and retires from adventuring.[5]
- 717 BC Zhone Clieous assumes the title of Meistersinger of Harmonia.Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; invalid names, e.g. too many - 733 BC Summer Luther Bedarik becomes Meistersinger of Skald.[6]
- 737 BC Summer Sundered Heart challenges Zhone Clieous for title of Meistersinger of Harmonia, but is defeated at the last minute due to an unlikely loss of voice.[6]
- 737 BC Sundered Heart reveals himself as Casimir and ousts Zhone Clieous from power by exposing him as a werewolf. Casimir confronts Zhone at the Crystal Club and kills him.[6]
- 737 BC (Near year's end) Casimir is also ousted as a werewolf and driven from town. He is said to have perished soon after.[6]
- 742 BC (Autumn) Luther Bedarik, the then Meistersinger of Skald, writes the Soulless Crown, a ballad that was a thinly disguised allegory for Casimir Lukas and Akriel Lukas's betrayals of Harkon Lukas, intimating they are all narrulves and that Harkon Lukas is Grandfather Wolf.[6]
- 743 BC Summer: Harkon Lukas shames Luther Bedarik by winning the title of Meistersinger of Skald from him.[6]
References
- ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I
- ↑ Domains of Dread p.16, 64
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lights in the Fog, Book of Secrets p.123
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lights in the Fog, Book of Secrets p.124
- ↑ Lights in the Fog, Book of Secrets p.125
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Gazetteer I p.95
| This page incorporates content from the inactive Mordent Cartographic Society. Used with their express permission. | 
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Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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|
Ravenloft Third Edition |
|
Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7,28,30-33 | |
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Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp8-9 |
