Zhone Clieous

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Zhone Clieous was a Werewolf, and the former Meistersinger of Harmonia (in office 717 BC to 737 BC. In the account told by "S", he was revealed to be a lycanthrope by a bitter Casimir Lukas. Casimir accused Zhone of killing his mother and then burning down the Orphanage of Harmonia to kill Casimir and cover up the murder. Zhone fled to the Crystal Club but was caught by Casimir and killed.[1]

Zhone Clieous appeared in the module Feast of Goblyns, where he is introduced as simply the Meistersinger of Harmonia, albeit an ambitious one with the goal to become Meistersingr of all Kartakass.[2] During the time when FoG takes place (736 BC[3]), Harkon Lukas and his associates were making efforts to turn Zhone Clieous away from these ambitions.[2] However, it was not revealed that he was cursed with lycanthropy until the novel Heart of Midnight was released. That book contains many other details of Zhone Clieous' life, including his conflict with Casimir Lukas and subsequent fall from power. The description in Gazetteer I contains a highly condensed version of his fall from power and the aftermath.[1]

Background

Zhone Clieous ruled as Meistersinger of Harmonia for two decades, spanning from 717 BC to 737 BC.[1] During his life, Zhone made many enemies, one of whom cursed him with lycanthropy. Zhone Clieous's wife was the mother of Casimir. A number of years after Casimir's birth, Zhone Clieous ordered his servants to murder Casimir and his mother by burning down the nursery. Young Casmir escaped the blaze, but was thought dead by Zhone Clieous[4] and Harkon Lukas.[5]

Casimir grew up at the Red Porch nursing a toxic grudge for the murder of his mother and leaving him penniless. Casimir also (mistakenly) thought Zhone Clieous was his father.[6] Because Zhone Clieous was a werewolf, Casimir also attributed his cursed nature on the inheritance of the dread disease (also inaccurate).

Because of the above transgressions (real and imagined), Casimir, with his friend Thoris, plotted schemes of revenge. Casimir entered the Meistersinger Contest of Harmonia in 737 BC[1] to upset Zhone's rule. However, Casimir lost in the final round thanks to a sudden loss of singing voice. Still, Casimir revealed his identity and an allegorical story of Zhone's misdeeds left the Meistersinger severely rattled.[7]

After the end of the contest, several thugs razed of the Red Porch, killing most of the people inside.[8] Looking at prior precedence, 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.[9] The crowd dispersed in panic, leaving Zhone and Casimir in a violent confrontation in the Crystal Club. Casimir emerged victorious, carrying Zhone's head.[10]

Although Zhone did decree the death of his wife and her son by fire, a number of Casimir's other conclusions about Zhone were wrong. Casimir was not the product of Zhone's seed. Casimir was not even a werewolf. Rather, Harkon Lukas, a wolfwere, had sired the boy in an adulterous relationship with Casimir's mother. Moreover, Zhone murdered his wife not because she had given birth to a werewolf. It was his discovery that the boy was not of his blood that drove the murders. Moreover, Harkon, not Zhone, engineered the destruction of the Red Porch as part of a manipulation to undo Zhone.[11]

Statistics

male human maledictive werewolf[12] bard 5[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gazetteer I p.95
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Feast of Goblyns p. 19
  3. ↑ Domains of Dread p. 17
  4. ↑ HoM p. 81
  5. ↑ HoM p. 250
  6. ↑ HoM p. 84
  7. ↑ HoM p. 65-83
  8. ↑ HoM p. 94-99
  9. ↑ 99-100, 104-113
  10. ↑ HoM p. 113-117
  11. ↑ HoM p. 248-252
  12. ↑ Heart of Midnight

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

Feast of Goblyns Download Now!

Feast of Goblyns - p19 Download Now!


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