Spotlight on Valachan

[brilliantlight]

I did not mean to imply that Valachan WAS a colony of Darkon, only that it could be perceived as such. A far flung barony under the control of someone that openly served Azalin may have been spun as expansion by ambitious Darkonians. Those of us who know the mechanics of the setting realize that colonization is not a practical option, but that doesn't mean that the man on the ground sees it that way. It was merely a suggestion to add a wrinkle to what has already been described as an under-developed domain.

OK, that I can see. I must have misunderstood you then.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Okay, Five, that's a good start analyzing Von Kharkov.

As resident biology-geek, how about I take a stab at how his leopard side might've been responding to all this, in contrast to his faux-human side? (Pardon me if this gets a little abstract, xenofiction's like that...)

1) "Von Kharkov began life as a panther, but he was polymorphed into a full-grown human by a Red Wizard of Thay. He was promptly named and titled by the wizard, then schooled and trained for combat. Because of his feline heritage, he displayed a strong tendency toward violence and treachery."

Here we see that he is a creation. NEVER will he be truly human. And it is that knowledge that one could have plague him to this day. It is during this time that The Baron would feel the first effects of his conflicting nature. Trying to tame the beast, which is, in essence, his true self. It's a battle doomed for failure.

The cat was a proud hunter: fluid, elegant, bringing down its prey in fear and grace. A fit young male, grown far beyond its mother's coddling, content to live its life in stealth and solitude. But now the cat is captured, frightened, angry. It is trapped, leashed; it lashes out in vain. Then a new thing -- an alien will -- is imposed upon it, and brings with it an alien shape and its inexplicable, insanely-complex, stifling ways. The cat slinks in hiding, wounded, confused. It is beaten, lost and frustrated, pacing back and forth in its cage.

2) "Eventually the Red Wizard brought Von Kharkov together with a female enemy and allowed them to become lovers."

His first dose of extreme human emotion. Later, it will act as his 'drug of choice'. His need to be human and to exist in a foreign (adopted) society, while fully feeling the gamut of human emotions, love being THE pinnacle, probably is what made him susceptible to such a ruse. Sadly, this naivety leads to...

The cat is solitary. It wants no friends, no lovers. Were it free, it would take its proper mate as it takes its prey, in the heat of its blood, then depart and forget. The intimacy of the alien is smothering, repellent, emasculating. Repulsive and risky, to linger.

3) "He then dispelled his polymorphing magic, allowing the panther to tear the woman to shreds. Having forgotten his true roots, Von Kharkov was horrified by the transformation. He suspected that the wizard meant to use him for subsequent assassinations, so the man-panther fled Thay and stumbled into a bank of Mists, which transported him to Darkon."

The horror! The emotional crash/overload. The foundation for a future fear of magic which, ironically, is what led him to his human self and or ego. This fear that will then be reflected later through his subjects of Valachan. Self-loathing perhaps?

Also, here is where I feel there is clear room for arguments for a Jekyll/Hyde type personality disorder. In essence, he is denying his true inner self. Doubting. Loathing. All due to his first betrayal by a 'fellow' human. And it is here that the Baron is, probably unbeknownst to himself, a 'pushover'. Subject, if you will. Not near to being top cat.

Freedom! A moment, an instant, unbound! Strike, strike and flee! Strike at what repels, at the intrusive, clinging closeness! Strike at that which the alien embraces, because the cat cannot strike the alien!

No! Again, the leash, again the cage. Fury, clawing at the cage walls. New bitterness, a rage that permeates the alien's mind, shares its resentment. Make it hate itself, as the cat hates it. Not a deliberate revenge -- that is the alien's way, not the cat's -- but it sinks through, even so: payback for the not-cat mind that cripples it. Cripple it back. Make it bleed with doubt and disgust, not knowing its self-hate is not its own.

4) "There, he learned of Azalin's secret undead police, the Kargat, so he sought out a vampire to induct him into the ranks. When his master was killed twenty years later, he fled into the Mists once more. This time, the dark powers embraced him and created the domain of Valachan."

Rejection. Solitude. Another betrayal. A re-evaluation of Self. Transformation. Prey to Predator, fed by the Dark Powers. Revelation?

The cat has tasted blood. The drive to hunt, to stalk, to feel the power in muscles tensed to spring and scent the rich rankness of prey, is rekindled. A higher grade of lust, a desire that permeates and infects the alien mind. A temptation heeded, a moment's pain and cold and unnatural fear; then, a new manner of hunting, satisfaction. Dominated, for a time -- submission to a greater hunter -- but such is nothing new to the cat: it has yielded up its prey to lions before. The lion slain, the cat survives, to claim a territory for itself.

5) "Von Kharkov quickly adjusted to his new prison. He learned that it was stocked with black leopards and domestic cats to do his bidding."

He is embracing his animalistic self by adopting its (the leopard's) social structuring and habits.

A territory, a home, a hunting ground. Herds scouted, watched, weighed by night, singling out the weak. Lesser hunters -- cheetahs, servals, caracals, others -- give ground before the cat, know it rules here. It marks out its territory with paw-prints and musk and spoor, patrols and guards its range with diligence. It takes mates in season, but grudges the alien its coddling way with them; it disdains their company, and it lashes out when they annoy. Pride, to defy the alien and kill them: pride that it is the greater, the stronger.

6) "Years later he found a small statuette of a cat in the lower reaches of his keep, which proved to be the Cat of Felkouic. The magical item eventually hunted him, but such was his confidence in his lordly might that he did not fear it, so the cat mauled him badly. To this day, that magical item is the only thing he truly fears."

Another clue to him truly embracing his animalistic roots. Weakness. Fear. Bigger, badder cat. Dominance.

Challenge! A rival, stinking of unnatural magic. The territory must be defended. The cat is fierce, determined... but the rival does not bleed, its flesh does not yield, its breath is not stilled by an elegant killer's bite. The cat torn, rent, wounded nigh to death. Confusion in terror, shame in defeat. Flee, flee and survive. Cower and lick wounds, hide and heal. The cat is proud no more, and afraid. Will always be afraid, of this rival. Of this lion that does not die, and is not satisfied with the theft of kills. This cat-killer, that shames and unmans it with the realization that it is prey.

[ewancummins]

It might be a presumption that he is a melanistic leopard rather than jaguar as both are considered panthers and he did not originate on Earth. He could even be considered a different species of cat entirely, maybe a melanistic lion, but since leopards are african and jaguars are south american and Kharkov is designed to appeal to ...a certain demographic, I guess he really is a leopard. Also since Kharkov and Hazlik come from the same place, has there ever been a connection?

Leopards are found in much of Asia as well as Africa. Go back to the Stone Age, and you'd even find some hanging around in southern Europe. They're the most widespread and most successful of all the big cats.

I'm assuming he's a leopard rather than a jaguar because he's originally from the continent of Faerun, and was transformed generations before anyone there had even heard of Maztica.

So, your version of Realms has a particular geographic distribution of big cats? Cool. I'd be interested to know what it is, and how you worked it out.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

So, your version of Realms has a particular geographic distribution of big cats? Cool. I'd be interested to know what it is, and how you worked it out.

Not really, I just don't like seeing ecosystems from entirely separate real-world continents tossed together arbitrarily just because "it's fantasy".

[Manofevil]

I still want a Von Kharkov smiley.

[ewancummins]

So, your version of Realms has a particular geographic distribution of big cats? Cool. I'd be interested to know what it is, and how you worked it out.

Not really, I just don't like seeing ecosystems from entirely separate real-world continents tossed together arbitrarily just because "it's fantasy".

But you aren't bothered by owlbears, dragons, rust monsters, etc?

[Zettaijin]

But you aren't bothered by owlbears, dragons, rust monsters, etc?

Wait... you're saying rust monsters don't exist????

*mind blown*

[Five]

Rotipher, that's an interesting take. Good idea. I guess to understand the early life of the Baron you'd almost have to take that point of view, yeah? Blended with an almost childlike understanding of his 'human' aspect, examples such as Frankenstein's Monster and Star Trek TNG's Data, and it's a pretty decent start. If I don't mind saying so. Love the alien persona vs. leopard persona POV inner conflict. Solid.

The only I don't really get with the Baron is his becoming a Dark Lord. I mean, what is it that he's done to draw their/its attention? Is becoming a vampire (an overused and too populous a villian if there ever was one, in my opinion) enough? What acts of depravity did he commit in Darkon to raise the smirk, so to speak. What is his curse and the mechanics of?

"He suspected that the wizard meant to use him for subsequent assassinations, so the man-panther fled Thay and stumbled into a bank of Mists, which transported him to Darkon. There, he learned of Azalin's secret undead police, the Kargat, so he sought out a vampire to induct him into the ranks. When his master was killed twenty years later, he fled into the Mists once more. This time, the dark powers embraced him and created the domain of Valachan."

Aside from power lust, what's his uniqueness? Why would the DP take notice of one particular soldier in an army of monsters?

I've never figured that one out. Anybody?

[Five]

And as to an exploitation of oceanic trade, I like it. If the Baron is given to satiating his human side, which I feel he would, then such progression is natural. I think in his drive, need, to be human (better than human, seeing how he went vampiric) he would cater to such economic growth. If not for the people, then for the charade, subconscious as it may be.

Also, he has a family to feed in the Black Leopards, and with limited food sources, he would need to address that problem as well. Not to mention the need to 'let' the beast out and have a little sport in the form of something a little...exotic.

But, here becomes a problem. He needs to increase the foodsource, but can he and his pride simply feed off sailors and occassional merchants? Depending on the number of Black Leopards he has, then a few hundred pounds won't go far. Overfeeding will lead to exposure. So much exposure might be fun (a challenge, in the form of 'hunters'), but too much is a threat. Calculated risks. What would the Baron's contingencies be?

Maybe a feeding frenzy for a few years is a sort of chess move that the Baron plays, if only to allow the wildlife to reproduce, grow. And, if a few hunters manage to cull the weakest of his pride, then so be it. The weak weren't worthy in the first place..

?

[Manofevil]

He could set up one of those fleshpot gammorra places and get prostitutes moved in from all over and then feed on them.

[Five]

A whorehouse? Fun, on multiple levels, but wouldn't the same old become boring after a time? Like progressive hunting (rabbits to deer to moose to elephants, to sasquatch whatever), I think the thrill of the hunt is a need that has to be ever-challenging. Especially for werecreatures.

As a step in keeping his pride's fangs and claws sharp, a whorehouse is a good and logical start. After all, who cares for whores but the repeat John? But where does that staircase lead? Where is the cutoff point, before it becomes self-destructive? Or, in a DL mind, a 'peasant miscalculation'? How much does the Baron even care? Like I mentioned, a few of the pride, the weak ones, will be given up to extraordinary hunters, or his own beastial administrations. But to expose his sham human(ish) guise? That is NOT a possibility. Well, not while the 'alien aspect' is dominant..

[Five]

Speaking of dominant personalities, would it be feasible to have some sort of advisor to the Baron that actually plays one or more aspects of his personality? Maybe one, Lady Adeline (thanks for the correction), plays to his bestial urges, while another plays to his human and/or vampire. Maybe she plays all three? Maybe the Baron knows her game and indulges himself, his intellect, through his indulgence of her?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Maybe he lures in werewolves from Verbrek, and feeds on them. Leopards eat dogs, so...

Does an afflicted lycanthrope's boosted Constitution only apply when it transforms, and vanish when it changes back? If so, could Von Kharkov keep some of them chained up permanently as a monthly blood-binge, draining just their lycanthropy-boosted Con points? Strahd didn't care for the taste of lycanthropes' blood in one of the novels, but Von Kharkov is a hungry animal in human form and probably wouldn't be as picky of an eater.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The only I don't really get with the Baron is his becoming a Dark Lord. I mean, what is it that he's done to draw their/its attention? Is becoming a vampire (an overused and too populous a villian if there ever was one, in my opinion) enough? What acts of depravity did he commit in Darkon to raise the smirk, so to speak. What is his curse and the mechanics of?

Personally, I've always assumed that Von Kharkov wasn't chosen because he was especially evil, so much as him being an interesting case-study on the nature of Evil. The Dark Powers clearly aren't just grabbing people up, based on how many KiloNazis they rate on the Evilmeter -- if they were, there are plenty of villains in other game-settings they should have nabbed years ago -- but rather, on criteria that value uniqueness and drama over sheer volume of wrongdoing. It's possible that they're experimenting in some way, perhaps trying to isolate or demonstrate something about the underlying qualities that create evil thoughts and deeds.

Whatever their aim, Von Kharkov could be their attempt to explore how much of Evil might stem from a person's primal, animalistic aspects, in conflict with their more civilized impulses. As his veneer of civilization is wholly artificial, layered onto a creature that, by rights, should be living free of moral scruples or obligations, his case provides an interesting model of this issue: when he does wrong, how much of it is the cat acting on instinct, and how much is his human side acting out of premeditated cruelty? Like Tristan apBlanc, he's a unique freak of nature that straddles the line between inborn instinct and calculated intent, so can reveal things about where that line is drawn.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Speaking of dominant personalities, would it be feasible to have some sort of advisor to the Baron that actually plays one or more aspects of his personality? Maybe one, Lady Adeline (thanks for the correction), plays to his bestial urges, while another plays to his human and/or vampire. Maybe she plays all three? Maybe the Baron knows her game and indulges himself, his intellect, through his indulgence of her?

Not only possible, I'd think it's likely, given that Von Kharkov's own instincts as cat and as vampire would argue against having a large hierarchy of minions: the cat is a loner, and the nosferatu doesn't want competitors for food or bungling underlings who might slip up and expose him for what he is. He could well have established his Black Leopards, basing them on the Kargat, simply because Azalin's secret police were the only society he's ever been integrated into, deeply enough to even begin to understand it.

In which case, he probably won't be comfortable running things too closely; better to have an underling who can act as intermediary, keeping the actual intra-group politics at arm's length. Lady Adeline would be ideal for that role, as their mutual vampirism gives them some common ground, yet they're not directly competing for victims' resources (Con vs Cha). Plus, she's female, and not sexually involved with the Baron so far as we know, so the cat in him wouldn't consider her a territorial rival like another male, or a fawning annoyance like his brides.