How do you see Drakov

[brilliantlight]

Exactly, particularly since he is doomed NOT to be in charge of it unlike Hitler/Stalin. Even before he entered Ravenloft there was no real possiblity of his gaining control of the empire (at least the way I would see the story arc) he was just a pawn being used in the squabbles between petty nobles. The emperor himself may be unaware of his existance and certainly doesn't care if Drakov lives or dies if he does know of him.

[Manofevil]

If you want a really good idea for Drakov or perhaps a building block to add to your own version, I'm currently watching Patrick Stewart doing an absolutely BRILLIANT performance of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' on PBS's 'Great Performances'. Stewart even has that hawkish nose.

[HuManBing]

If you want a really good idea for Drakov or perhaps a building block to add to your own version, I'm currently watching Patrick Stewart doing an absolutely BRILLIANT performance of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' on PBS's 'Great Performances'. Stewart even has that hawkish nose.

That's a great example, and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier. Macbeth is a complex ruler - it's not fair just to label him a cruel unthinking tyrant. On the one hand, he starts off putting a fair amount of thought into his actions and trying to attend to affairs of state. But as time goes by, events progress too quickly for him to control. Near the end, he has become an instinctive tyrant, acting on his first response to any given situation because if he stops to think about it, he'll lose the initiative.

[Manofevil]

HMB, Stewart's version is especially good for your Drakov because I don't think they changed or excluded a line from the original text, so we get to see a little bit and hear even more of the Macbeth that's a pretty honorable man before temptation gets the best of him. Here's a link:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/ ... view/1015/

[Strahdsbuddy]

I like everything posted, particularly HMB's retcon of everyone's favorite impaler. The MacBeth aspect is something I don't think has been explored before, in any Darklord (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm rusty on my Shakespeare, but I believe MacBeth was first prophesized to be a great leader, and believed himself invincible because the foretelling of his demise would be at the hands of something that did not seem to exist (no man born of woman).

Drakov could be that once great leader with the world crashing around him (thanks to the Dark Powers) and he is becoming more reactionary and paranoid. It's probably because of the MacBeth reference, but I even imagined him attempting to receive an augury from the Three Hags, or maybe some Fey on his border in order to help him decide what to do next.

Or maybe this works better for one of Drakov's sons, an ambitious little brat that will make Svlaich Wood walk if it gets him Falkovnia's crown!

[HuManBing]

Even more heartbreaking, make it a son of Drakov who wants to make things better and can persuade people to support him because he'll do that...

...but revolutions are easy to start. They're harder to win. And hardest of all is the tricky business of ruling once it's all over.

What if Drakov the Next turns out to be a let-down? What if he's an even worse ruler than his father? Drakov the First was a despot, but he kept things in working order. With the kobolds, Gondegal, and Ludzig running amok, it's possible that people will shake their heads at the Next, and at the broken promises of freedom. Who needs freedom when your country has ceased functioning and descended into civil war?

[HuManBing]

This is less about how I see Drakov himself, and more about how I see the soldiers of Falkovnia.

GazII gives the Talons a very fanciful birdlike set of armor, with clanking metal "quills" and helmets that resemble screeching hawks. The exact picture is on Gaz2 p.96. It looks functionally impractical - which I could forgive if it was at least stylistically cool. Unfortunately, it's not. The soldiers look like a bad Halloween costume experiment with a Looney Tunes body suit of Daffy Duck or something similar.

Instead, I think of Falkovnia's soldiers as being relentlessly utilitarian in their garb. I envision Drakov himself as shunning any ostentatious show of gold braid or showy helmet plumes, instead going for much more practical armor and uniforms for his soldiers. A perfect example of the Falkovnian soldiers is to be found on RLDMG p. 149, where a cohort of soldiers stands saluting before a bellowing commander.

This would be in keeping with his background, as a mercenary who never really made it into the nobility while he was back on Krynn. Now that he's running the show, he may have done away with the "effeminate court dress" of nobles and lords - wearing no crown and sporting no plumes. Instead, he would encourage his "more perfect society" of warriors to dress in practical clothing, the sort that doesn't get in the way when you need to bloody a few noses, and which fits snugly under your suit of regulation armor when the time comes to march for your lord.

[Garudos Celestar]

This would be in keeping with his background, as a mercenary who never really made it into the nobility while he was back on Krynn. Now that he's running the show, he may have done away with the "effeminate court dress" of nobles and lords - wearing no crown and sporting no plumes. Instead, he would encourage his "more perfect society" of warriors to dress in practical clothing, the sort that doesn't get in the way when you need to bloody a few noses, and which fits snugly under your suit of regulation armor when the time comes to march for your lord.

Actually, as the "mercenary who never really made it into the nobility," he might be more likely to be ostentatious: it's kind of a nouveau riche phenomenon, where those with their first taste of large amounts of cash would spend, spend, spend but without any sense of taste. In Drakov's "new" taste of power, he can finally afford "real" uniforms and the most elaborate armor, and he the authority to pass out all sorts of "worthwhile" ranks and medals. Now, this model would have fit best when he first gained his domain, as he's smart enough to tone it down if that "impressive" suit of armor didn't quite turn out to be as effective as advertised, but given his utter incapacity to actually win a war thanks to DPs, a bad habit of ego-stroking probably still rears its head now and again.

[HuManBing]

Actually, as the "mercenary who never really made it into the nobility," he might be more likely to be ostentatious: it's kind of a nouveau riche phenomenon, where those with their first taste of large amounts of cash would spend, spend, spend but without any sense of taste.

That's perfectly true if Drakov desperately wanted to become part of the nobility because of the privilege and exclusivity. There's a fair amount of canon to suggest that this is actually the case. In which case, your interpretation would work better than mine.


My own canon for Drakov is that he very early on lost all sense of respect for the nobility and dismissed them as a bunch of impotent, incompetent social parasites. As has often happened in our own history, many competent Krynn army commanders fell prey to political maneuvering by indifferent court officials, to protect their own positions. Additionally, Drakov's first wife remarried an ageing nobleman for essentially political reasons, and Drakov's second child was raised by the nobleman as a political heir, instead of as a frontline war commander as Drakov himself would have preferred. This ongoing tension between the military and the civilian mindsets further repulsed Drakov from joining their ranks even when he was running the show in Falkovnia.

By this interpretation, Drakov would never have really aspired to become like the nobility on Krynn. In founding a new ruling class, he might outright discourage or even punish signs of foppish conduct - especially given that his ruling class are supposedly respected because they're the society's greatest badasses.

[brilliantlight]

Actually, as the "mercenary who never really made it into the nobility," he might be more likely to be ostentatious: it's kind of a nouveau riche phenomenon, where those with their first taste of large amounts of cash would spend, spend, spend but without any sense of taste.

That's perfectly true if Drakov desperately wanted to become part of the nobility because of the privilege and exclusivity. There's a fair amount of canon to suggest that this is actually the case. In which case, your interpretation would work better than mine.


My own canon for Drakov is that he very early on lost all sense of respect for the nobility and dismissed them as a bunch of impotent, incompetent social parasites. As has often happened in our own history, many competent Krynn army commanders fell prey to political maneuvering by indifferent court officials, to protect their own positions. Additionally, Drakov's first wife remarried an ageing nobleman for essentially political reasons, and Drakov's second child was raised by the nobleman as a political heir, instead of as a frontline war commander as Drakov himself would have preferred. This ongoing tension between the military and the civilian mindsets further repulsed Drakov from joining their ranks even when he was running the show in Falkovnia.

By this interpretation, Drakov would never have really aspired to become like the nobility on Krynn. In founding a new ruling class, he might outright discourage or even punish signs of foppish conduct - especially given that his ruling class are supposedly respected because they're the society's greatest badasses.

Another reason to do that is Drakov, as I see it suffers from a major inferiority complex. Deep down he sees himself a not being very worthy. By rejecteing the courtly manners he has trouble faking he saves face.

[Zettaijin]

How do I see Drakov? I'm having problems with that, I must need glasses.

[HuManBing]

In my first post I mentioned that my version of Drakov has a permissive policy towards gays in the military:

Drakov, perhaps surprisingly, does not have any particular animosity against homosexuals. [...] His opinion of male homosexuality is more subtle - rather like the Spartans, he holds it mildly virtuous to avoid the company of women when in warlike situations. Years of fighting have shown him that the desire to protect a loved one is a powerful motivator - and if his men have lovers in the same army, that motivates them all the moreso.

Further to the above point, I found the Classical Greek motif this was based on: the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Quoted in relevant part:

And if there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their beloved, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than endure this. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger?

[herkles]

One idea I had for a redesigned falkovina is to base it something similar to the holy roman empire at least in the history. By this I mean by creating different kingdoms that might have once ruled small territories in falkovinia, but for the most part when Drakov came through, he conquered all of that land, more to the point he did it fast.

What this allows is to have slightly different cultural variations from one part of falkovinia to another. For example one part could toe the line much stronger with Drakov's view towards religion. Other regions might have much closer ties to say the church of Ezra than canonically.

This would allow for the resistance to drakov to be split up slightly between a divided group that wants to go back to their kingdoms or a national group that wants a united falkovinia. Not to mention that it gives a reason why drakov is so scary to other people. He was able to take over a bunch of other little kingdoms in a short amount of time, where will he go next?

Also one thought i had about the artwork was, what if they were like the Winged Hussars of Poland? They wore a very distinct armor with wings on their backs if I am not mistaken. Perhaps the talons do the same?

[Sareau]

I have some issues with Drakov, most revolving around what a truly lackluster villain he is. He is at the core, the Enlightenment's Man as Reasoning Beast, and every dictator since Enlightenment Thought struck. He has no redeeming values-the only thing remotely noble about him is his title, and I think this knowledge is the basis for his hatred of titles and nobility, except I hate to credit him with introspection beyond his abilities.
Honor, for him, is something to hamstring an opponent with, not an innate quality. His courage is more a bully's bluster hoping to forestall a fight rather than any bravery on his part. All seven of the deadly sins find themselves lampooned to caricature in him.
Drakov is the Nazis without the fashion sense, Communism without the production, Idi Amin without the Tom and Jerry collection that at least humanized him.
While most darklords have a set of actions that would find them redemption, in Drakov, there is no hope of redemption, only remorse.

[HuManBing]

Also I think it's important to remember Drakov probably still has a sense of humor.

It may be somewhat peculiar though.

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