Lord Soth

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Lord Loren Soth was a Death Knight from Krynn who became the first darklord of Sithicus, a domain in the southern part of The Core of Ravenloft. Soth always wore the armor of the Solamnic knightly Order of the Rose, including a great helm which hid all of his facial features save for his glowing orange eyes. His armor was charred by the divine fire that slew him leaving only the blackened image of the rose upon its surface, from which Soth gained the moniker "Knight of the Black Rose".[1] Beneath his armor Soth's body was pale and translucent, with patches of burned and blistered skin and the scant remains of his blond hair and mustache. He also radiated a supernatural aura of cold that could cause frostbite on contact.

Lord Soth was a formidable warrior; a skilled melee combatant who, thanks to his curse, also commanded a powerful array of lethal magic spells. In addition, he could raise and control lesser undead at will.[2] Though he came to view the ideals of the Knights of Solamnia as hypocrisy, Soth always maintained the forms and appearance of honorable combat. He viewed any opponent who would flee from battle or fight dishonorably with utter contempt.

Background[3]

Mortal Life

On Krynn, Lord Soth was a member of the Order of the Rose, the highest of the chivalric orders of the Knights of Solamnia. Soth did many brave deeds across the continent of Ansalon, and his goodness and valor were well renowned and celebrated by his fellow knights. Soth built a castle for himself in the shape of a budding rose which he named Dargaard Keep. He moved into this keep with his wife Lady Gladria of Kalaman and thirteen loyal knights. That Soth's marriage was a loveless one of political convenience was generally known to his household and the other knights of Solamnia, and it was this fact that led to his eventual downfall.[4]


One day, Lord Soth and his knights came across a group of bandits attacking a party of elven women who on their way to the city of Palanthas. Soth's knights engaged the bandits while Soth himself chased down the bandit captain, a great ogre who was attempting to flee with one of the captive women. Soth slew the ogre in single combat and rescued the elf maid Isolde. The knights agreed to escort the elven women to Palanthas, where Isolde was planning to become a priestess of Paladine. During the trip, however, Soth became infatuated with the beautiful Isolde and seduced her. The two became secret lovers and Isolde became pregnant with Soth's child.[5]


Soth then truly began his slide into darkness. He arranged for his Seneschal Caradoc to murder Lady Gladria in her bed so that Soth would be free to wed Isolde. This Caradoc duly did[6], but Soth's indiscretions with the elf maid had been discovered by the other Knights of Solamnia. Soth was accused of adultery and of failing to live up to the chivalrous oaths he had sworn. Also, because of his apparent indifference to Gladria's death, he was suspected of complicity in his wife's murder. Soth was convicted of these crimes, stripped of his knightly orders, and imprisoned. Shortly thereafter, Soth escaped from prison with the aid of his thirteen loyal knights and returned to Dargaard Keep. The Knights of Solamnia followed and laid siege to the castle. Soth married Isolde, but their life inside Dargaard was not a happy one. Soth became sullen and abusive to those around him, even to his new wife and child.[5]

In a moment of clarity, Soth prayed to the god Paladine for a quest to redeem his honor. The god responded, instructing the disgraced knight to travel to the city of Istar and prevent the Kingpriest there from demanding excessive power from the gods. Paladine threatened to crush Istar with a giant meteor if Soth failed. Soth slipped out of the besieged castle and set out on his quest. However, on the way Istar, his wife's companions goaded Soth with lies about Isolde's fidelity and the paternity of their son. Consumed with rage and jealousy, Soth abandoned his quest and turned back. Paladine made good his threat in a massively destructive event (later known as "The Cataclysm") just as Soth returned to Dargaard to confront his wife. Divine fire burned throughout the Keep. As she was dying Lady Isolde held out their son for her husband to save, but Soth refused and instead let them die. The fire burned Soth to death; however, he rose from the dead as a Death Knight.[7]


Undeath

The curse that turned Lord Soth into a Death Knight also affected others in his household. His thirteen knights were transformed into mindless skeletons under Soth's command.[8] The thirteen elven women of Lady Isolde's party became banshees who constantly tormented Soth by reminding him of his failings. Caradoc remained the Seneschal of Dargaard Keep, only now as an incorporeal ghost.[6] For three hundred years Soth sat on his throne in Dargaard until, once again, he became obsessed with a woman. This time he had become infatuated with Kitiara Uth Matar. Kitiara was a blue dragon highlord and a general in the service of the evil goddess Takhisis on Krynn. Soth devised a plan to trap her soul and turn her into his undead consort.[9] But before his plans could be completed Soth was betrayed by Caradoc, and the two were drawn into Ravenloft.[10]

Soth in Ravenloft

Emerging from the Mists into Barovia, Soth and Caradoc met the minions of Strahd. While Soth was distracted, Caradoc made good his escape. After slaying a number of Strahd zombies, Soth was led to the Vistani camp of the Kulchevich Family.[11]

In the camp of the Kulchevich Family, Soth sought wise counsel on the nature of the Land of Mists, Barovia, and their masters. Madame Girani, raunie of the clan, received him, and there was a brief exchange of information. However, hostilities and then violence emerged between Soth and Girani. Soth set loose Girani's "pet" upon her and then set her vardo ablaze. Girani's curse fell upon Soth as she died. On his way out of the Kulchevich camp, Lord Soth slew a number of vengeful Vistani whom attacked him. He also kidnapped Magda Kulchevich. To Soth, the young granddaughter of Madame Girani had a defiant spirit that marked her as different from her kindred [12]

With Magda (unwillingly) serving as a guide, Lord Soth traveled through Barovia, eventually ending up in Castle Ravenloft to meet Count Strahd.[13] There, a tense situation was seemingly absolved through Strahd's declaration that all of the Kulchevich's lives would be forfeit for their transgressions against Soth. However, this peace was but momentary, as animosity flared into Soth's rampage across the castle. Strahd's minions beset Soth and Magda as they forced their way out of Castle Ravenloft.[14]

Back in Barovia Village, Soth encountered Terlarm, a fellow outlander from Krynn. Under interrogation, Terlarm revealed the location of the Luna River Portal. With the help of the new met Azrael Dak and his keen sens of smell, Soth was able to locate and enter the portal. There a a horrible gibbering guardian assaulted Soth, Azrael, and Magda. Though they slew it, the portal turned out to be a dead end. Strahd reappeared and sought to reconcile with Soth. Soth accepted Strahd's appeasement and, manipulated by Strahd into seeking the Hunadora Portal, left for Gundarak. There, Soth was told the spilled blood of Medraut Gundar, Duke Gundar's son, would open s portal to escape the Land of Mists[15]

A pair of giants, Fej and Bilgaar, waylaid and attacked Soth and company during the trip through Gundarak. Azrael and Soth slew the giants, but Magda escaped during the commotion. After pursuit became unfeasible, Soth and Azrael left her to whatever fate had in store for her in Gundarak.[16]

At Castle Gundarak, Lord Soth fought both Medraut Gundar and his father. Duke Gundar was put to flight, and Medraut was cut down, his blood leaked on the floor of the boy's own laboratory. Soth and Azrael went through the Hunadora Portal, only to wind up back in Barovia.[17]

Subsequent to their unexpected return, Soth and Azrael rampaged through Barovia, taking on a mixed company of several hundred zombies, skeletons, and mercenaries, before coming back to Castle Ravenloft, where th. ey witnessed Caradoc's retreat from. Soth and Azrael caught up to Caradoc along the border between Barovia and Sithicus. Soth gripped Caradoc's neck, enjoying the latter's torturous death so much he did not see the Mists surround them.[18]

Within the Mists, Soth appeared in a seeming recreation of Solamnia. There, he was given a final last chance at redemption. He rejected it and thereby became the darklord of the newly-formed Sithicus. Although Caradoc had met his doom, he had achieved victory in preventing Soth from finding Kitiara.[19]

As Lord of Sithicus

As lord of Sithicus, Soth found the Dark Powers had created grim mockery of his Dargaard Keep, Nedragaard Keep. Furthermore, he ruled over a kingdom of elves, a people he despised. One again, he heard the condemning voices of the 13 banshees that had plagued him on Krynn. Moreover, the shade of Kitiara (though not her true spirit) periodically appeared in Sithicus, reminding Soth of that which he could never have. Throughout his time as master of Sithicus, Soth desired nothing more than to return to Krynn with Kitiara at his side.[20][2]

Despite the above tormenting conditions, Lord Soth remained a highly active darklord for twenty years. With the aid of his newly returned 13 skeletal knights he fought a horrible, protracted civil war against the wild elves of the domain. Azrael Dak, at that point a great admirer of Soth, replaced Caraoc as Lord Soth's steward.

During the twenty years of Sithican Civil War, Lord Soth entertained a few schemes that showed an almost playfully creative malevolence. Over the course of the campaign, many generals came and went. Lord Soth found gamblers to have the longest staying power. He tricked suitable applicants through holding gambling tournaments for the deed to the Iron Warden Inn. (The job of general came with the deed.)[21] And in 725 BC, Lord Soth pulled the village of Kendralind into his domain, for he sought to create a race of Kender Vampires to serve him and terrorize the elves.[22]

Despite his initial period of activity, Soth's interest in Sithicus began to wane in 737 BC. He began entering a life of seclusion in Nedragaard Keep, quietly imagining what was once was and what could have been.[23] The 737 BC arrival of the illusionist Tindafalus briefly caused Soth to stir long enough to secure the newcomer's capture. The illusionist thus secured, Soth put him to work on the Memory Mirrors.[24]

In 738 BC, Madga Kulchevich and her newly assembled patchwork Vistani tribe, the Wanderers left Gundarak and unwittingly entered Soth's domain.[25], where Soth subsequently trapped them. During their travels through the domain, the Wanderers told stories, including tales of Lord Soth's past, to the elves of Sithicus in order to make a living.[26]

By the time of the Grand Conjunction in 740 BC, Soth had disappeared from the public eye, thought by some to be deceased. In truth, he has immersed himself in the fantasies of the Memory Mirrors.[25]

During these years of Soth's negligent rule, Azrael's admiration gradually turned to animosity. In Azrael's eyes, Soth had not caused millions to die in the Cataclysm because of intentional defiance of the gods, but rather merely allowed them to because of weakness.[27] In addition, Azrael's pride brought him to covet Sithicus, a domain that should by right be his alone. (To concide with this shift in attitude, Azrael's alignment changed from a Lawful one to a Chaotic one.[28] Over the next few years, Azrael built his own base of power. By 743 BC, he had much of Sithicus under his thumb.[25]

Soth's dreaming and Azrael's rise to power were disrupted in 744 BC. Soth's enthrallment by the Memory Mirrors caused Sithicus to start coming apart at the seams. With assistance from Madga through her telling of the Dark Knight's Tale, adventurers destroyed the Memory Mirrors and forced Soth back into the waking world.[29] Soth remained active for some time thereafter, long enough to make an oath to the Wanderers to protect them from Malocchio Aderre's mercenaries in return for an oath not to ever tell his story again.[30]

Despite the destruction of the Memory Mirrors, Soth eventually fell back into his reveries. In the years leading up to 752 BC, Soth's enemies entered collusion with each other. Guided by a whispering darkness from the Lake of Sounds, Azrael Dak hatched a scheme with Malocchio Aderre and Inza Kulchevich, Magda's traitorous daughter. Their targets would be no less than the deaths of Magda and Soth and the usurpation of Sithicus.[31]

Things came to a head in 752 BC, when the capture of the Invidian spy Gesmas Malaturno broke Soth's slumber for good. The spy revealed that someone was leaking his story again. His own memories shattered and fragmented, Soth confronted Magda. Magda relieved to to Soth that beyond their tribe, the bandit leader known as the White Rose also knew.[32] During a later diplomatic meeting turned violent confrontation with the forces of Malocchio Aderre along the border, Soth learned that the White Rose was an elf maid. Thereby, Soth came to believe she was Kitiara.[33]

As Soth's men searched for the White Rose and her gang, Inza engineered a series of ambushes against the Wanderers. The first attack came from salt shadows, resulting in the death of Magda. Before she died, Magda traded a removal of Madame Girani's curse in return for oath of protection for Inza.[34] The second attack came from Malocchio's ogres, resulting the decimation of nearly all in the clan. However, Inza achieved what she wanted. Soth delivering Inza to Nedragaard Castle. This was her plan all along[35], for she would be safely ensconced to assume power during the Hour of Screaming Shadows.

The Hour of Screaming Shadows

The culmination of the conspiracy against Soth came on a night in 752 BC. A series of supernatural events coincided to reshape Sithicus. Azrael Dak unleashed an unholy ritual in the Black Chapel of the Veidrava Salt Mines to gain control of every shadow in Sithicus.[36] Meanwhile, the White Rose and her subordinates arranged a series of metaphysical events that would would bring about Soth's time of judgement.[37]

As for Soth and his minions, they were distracted first by an Invidian invasion force. Inza directed Soth's attention against the traitor Azrael. In his absence, she erected a ward to hedge out Soth's undead minions. However, three of Soth's banshees pointed him back at Inza's treachery. Once again, Soth broke away from his chance to foil another disaster like the Cataclysm in order to pursue personal vengeance. His unbridled fury allowed him to break through Inza's wards and confronted her.[38]

The disaster mentioned above came in the form of the Hour of Screaming Shadows. After Ganelon poisoned Azrael Dak and disrupted his ritual, all of the captured shadows ripped free from his control and coalesced into a giant ball. The ball rose into the sky and plummeted down like a fiery ball upon Nedragaard Keep.[39]

Like Dragaard Keep centuries before, Nedragaard Keep was set ablaze. Yet Inza and Soth were unharmed in the main hall of the keep, where Soth was about to deliver the death blow. However, the White Rose intervened, revealing herself not as Kitiara but as Isolde Denissa. She had come to remind Soth of the curse she gave him and to deliver him the judgement he had thought he could escape. As she conjured a spectral Peradur (formed from the misty dissolutions of the Bloody Cobbler and the Whispering Beast), Soth repeated history, turning away from his child again in the midst of tragedy. Thus, the last of his memory returned, and he gazed upon the fullness of his acts, whether for Good or Evil.[40] He was taken from Ravenloft[41], and Inza became darklord in his place.[42]

Ultimate Fate

Though the people of Sithicus think him destroyed, Soth returned to Nightlund in Krynn, nightmarish dreams marking his return.

After the evil goddess Takhisis stole the world, she trapped Soth inside Dargaard Keep. The death knight spent much time in quiet contemplation of his past, especially as his banshees had served out the sentence for their own sins, and had been released into the afterlife by Paladine. When servants of Takhisis called upon Soth to serve her once more as general for her undead armies, he balked. Having found again some part of the champion of Good he once was during his time in Ravenloft, and having attained some amount of peace during his years of solitude, Soth could admit that his past actions had been wrong. Having no desire to commit further acts of Evil, Soth defied and refused Takhisis. Offended in the direst way, the dark goddess caused the collapse of Dargaard Keep and turned Soth into a mortal human in an attempt to intimidate him into yielding. Soth stood his ground, and was crushed to true death under the rubble of his home.

At last achieving some measure of redemption, Soth went on peacefully to the hereafter, stating his intention of finding and somehow, someday reconciling with Isolde and Peradur.[43]

Coincidentally, in 753 BC, rumors of a "Blessed Knight" resembling an idealized Soth began emerging in Sithicus. He is said to be a benevolent but unspeaking wanderer who first emerged from the ruins of Nedragaard Keep. As a Dread Possibility, it may be some idealized reflection of Lord Soth from the Memory Mirrors. How a reflection gained its own existence beyond the veil of shadowstuff remains a mystery.[44]


References

  1. Knight of the Black Rose (Novel) p. 5
  2. 2.0 2.1 Domains of Dread p. 51
  3. The following is paraphrased from the James Lowder novel "Knight of the Black Rose" and from AD&D 2nd edition Raveloft module 9476: "When Black Roses Bloom".
  4. KotBR p. 1-2
  5. 5.0 5.1 KotBR p. 2-3
  6. 6.0 6.1 KotBR p. 37
  7. KotBR p. 4-5
  8. KotBR p. 33-34
  9. KotBR p. 5-7
  10. KotBR p. 39-45
  11. KotBR p. 50-60, Domains of Dread p. 17 dates the events of KotBR to this year.
  12. KotBR p.67-84
  13. KotBR p.85-108
  14. KotBR p.85-153
  15. KotBR p.154-232
  16. KotBR p.249-252
  17. KotBR p.259-280
  18. KotBR p.281-285, 290-303
  19. KotBR p.304-310
  20. Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Denizens and Domains p. 84 (Red Box)
  21. The Rigor of the Game in Tales of Ravenloft (p.175-188). This tale presents Oliver Arkwright as one possible candidate. Soth shows his ability to roll death's heads doubly or singly on death's-head dice at will. He cursed Oliver to roll singly every time he rolled.
  22. Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix I, When Black Roses Bloom p. 53, Gazetteer IV p. 116
  23. Spectre of the Black Rose p. 23
  24. Carnival p. 16, 26
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Gazetteer IV p.113
  26. KotBR p. 312-313
  27. SotBR p. 70-71
  28. Land of Spectres, Dragon #258 (April 1999), p. 66
  29. Gazetteer IV p. 113, as told in When Black Roses Bloom
  30. SotBR p.59-60
  31. Gazetteer IV p.153 157
  32. SotBR p. 30-38, 57-64
  33. SotBR p. 99-100
  34. SotBR p. 123-130
  35. SotBR p. 220-230
  36. SotBR p. 291
  37. SotBR p. 214-216, p. 284-285
  38. SotBR p. 262-282, 296-297
  39. SotBR p. 286-296
  40. SotBR p. 297-299, 301-302, 304-307
  41. Spectre of the Black Rose p. 308-309
  42. Ravenloft Gazetteer IV p. 157
  43. 1d20 Villains: D&D's Most Wanted; Preferably Dead, Dragon Magazine #359, p. 64
  44. Gazetteer IV p.122

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

Domains of Dread

Domains of Dread - p51
When Black Roses Bloom - throughout

Domains of Dread - p51
Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - p84
When Black Roses Bloom - pp58-59

Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp50-51
Ravenloft Third Edition - pp15-16,18,139-141
Domains of Dread - p51
Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp30-31,84
The Evil Eye - pp57, 58
When Black Roses Bloom - p58
Tales of Ravenloft:The Rigor of the Game - pp183-188
Realm of Terror - pp78-79
Heroes of Light - pp92-93

Loren Soth
Knight of the Black Rose
The Cursed Knight