Spotlight on Valachan

[Five]

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.

I meant to jump in on the cat-dog conversation from earlier, between strahdsbuddy, brilliantlight and yourself, but my brain was preoccupied.

Dogwine. I like it. Ninja-like stealth kidnapping missions would definitely be a solution to maintaining a foodsource, and an argument against population expansion. Not to mention an exercise for the Black Leopards, in more ways than one. What a wild hunt that would be! Pun intended.

However, that would benefit only the Black Leopards' animal urgings. Why would the Baron want the sloppy seconds of his inferiors? Sure, he gets a few casks of wine out of such excursions, but what will he hunt? What will his roar sound like if he fed so...eloquently? Adventurers aside, I'm talking about daily sustenance. Even if they kidnap a 'dog and let him run wild, that would still be a tainted hunt. Twice hunted. Would he hunt the inevitable challenger under such mocking circumstances?

Or would he allow, say, a secret society to operate under his, and only his, nose. One that would produce a worthy hunt. Say a werejaguar. Besting a bite like that from time to time (baddest bite of the big cats) would be a nice release. Not to mention the mental games that come with creating and manipulating a fake religion, its priests, and its paragon.

I was thinking sort of like Ravenlofting Marvel comics' Black Panther. But a) I'm not entirely sold on the idea, and b) I still would rather focus on the Baron, his pride, and his realm first. Unless of course somebody here would rather a split topic..

Or, does the Baron do something that I'm not aware of? Is the taking and killing (I use that word lightly) of a bride once a year enough to feed his animal urges? Just how much of his primary self does he accept?

Also, I like Rotipher's Dark Power perspective. I mean, why not? Makes sense from that point of view. Beats the swirling mass I had in my head.

[ewancummins]

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

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

*mind blown*

Naw, they certainly do exist. I had a miniature Taiwanese rust monster as a boy.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Why would the Baron want the sloppy seconds of his inferiors? Sure, he gets a few casks of wine out of such excursions, but what will he hunt? What will his roar sound like if he fed so...eloquently? Adventurers aside, I'm talking about daily sustenance. Even if they kidnap a 'dog and let him run wild, that would still be a tainted hunt. Twice hunted. Would he hunt the inevitable challenger under such mocking circumstances?

His Black Leopards would probably be dispatched to capture werewolves while acting as a team. If Von Kharkov's pride demands he be a better hunter than any of his underlings, he could always turn a werewolf loose in the woods and track it down alone: one-on-one, he's still the deadliest thing in his domain.

The cat, itself, probably couldn't care less if a quarry is weakened by being previously hunted: leopards kill a huge variety of prey, including many species that are a lot smaller than they are, without feeling ashamed of themselves. If another predator's past attacks have already injured or exhausted its lunch, that's a lucky break for the cat: it gets the pleasure of a kill without having to work so hard.

Or, does the Baron do something that I'm not aware of? Is the taking and killing (I use that word lightly) of a bride once a year enough to feed his animal urges? Just how much of his primary self does he accept?

Judging by the short story from ''Tales of Ravenloft'', his human self doesn't accept that the cat is a part of him, any more than the cat in my post accepts his human facade. (Note that I have the cat think of Kharkov's human side as "the alien", not "the man": its intuition tells it that this faux-human mind is something else -- something contrived and unnatural, and ultimately just a lie -- no matter how hard his not-cat side might wish to believe he can be human.) Wandering in the Mists, just before receiving his domain, Kharkov in the short story presumes it's the panther that was imposed upon his human self, not vice versa. That's before his memories, lost during his sojourn in Darkon, start coming back. Once he remembers his real origin, he's horrified and repulsed, yet still willing to exploit the cat's instinct to kill if his survival, or his human side's yearning for revenge, demand it.

If you ask me, there's a lot of hypocrisy in Urik's human side: he doesn't want to be "just" an animal, yet he became a nosferatu specifically so he could hunt and pounce and sink his fangs in things again. He wants to be respected as the ruling apex of human society, yet he exempts himself from human morality with the excuse that it's in his nature to be a predator. He loathes that the cat is part of him, yet he uses its abilities without hesitation in a pinch, because it's a better survivor than he is. Deep down, IMO, he realizes he can't cope without the cat, and that's even more unbearable to him than knowing he was born that way.

[Manofevil]

Also if we wanted to spin him as a 'Most Dangerous Game' type hunter, he could just as easily target captured PCs for hunts. Be a good way for parties to come into conflict with him.

[Five]

The cat, itself, probably couldn't care less if a quarry is weakened by being previously hunted: leopards kill a huge variety of prey, including many species that are a lot smaller than they are, without feeling ashamed of themselves. If another predator's past attacks have already injured or exhausted its lunch, that's a lucky break for the cat: it gets the pleasure of a kill without having to work so hard.

True..

I do love that idea of yours, Rotipher. The dogleeching. Is that something that you already developed, or was it on-the-fly?

[Five]

Also if we wanted to spin him as a 'Most Dangerous Game' type hunter, he could just as easily target captured PCs for hunts. Be a good way for parties to come into conflict with him.

Yeah. Makes sense. Especially in a purification of evil sort of way. By that I mean, less werecreatures in the realm, the more horrific the few become. Too many will be a little more high fantasy. That's my flopped opinion anyway. Good point.

I personally like viewing the Baron as a legendary hunter. And I think that's the one thing I'd like to see get focused on. Exotic trophies in his castle, exotic trophies in his dungeons (his personal reliving room), collections of antique hunting weapons (perhaps an authoritative collection)...

[Five]

I think it's safe to say, and fairly obvious, that Valachan is more developed than I thought. Damn me and my limited resources, yeah?

We know of Lady Adeline (or, all I can find of her):

"Baron von Kharkov's chief enforcer of law and order is a mysterious elf woman who always wears a veil. Despite being the leader of the baron's tax collectors, she has been known to relieve an entire village of tax burden if a young man of her choosing will join her in the woods. The man is always of exceptional good looks, but he always returns home that evening with hideous scars across his face and body. He never recalls what was done to him."

Source: Domains of Dread.

Elf vampiress who loves to play with handsome younger men. 'EVILF'. She's the overseer/taskmaster of the Black Leopards.

Is that it??

Her name I had to find in another search. Which, as it so happens, even spelled it wrong. Not that I'm flawless. Just sayin'.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Also if we wanted to spin him as a 'Most Dangerous Game' type hunter, he could just as easily target captured PCs for hunts. Be a good way for parties to come into conflict with him.

Of course. OTOH, his fondness for hunting werewolves could also make for a handy "rescue", in that PCs fleeing west with some of Timothy's pack on their heels might run into a bunch of Urik's Black Leopards, out to snare some dogburgers for their boss. The desperate characters run across the border, the baying werewolves follow, then nets drop from the treetops and snag their pursuers just in the nick of time. The heroes don't need to know why Valachan's border-patrol is really bothering to take the trespassing wolves alive.

Come to think of it, Urik's means of border-closure is perfect for this. Any of Alfred's border-guard werewolves who puts so much as a toe over the line when the Baron is in a mood to stalk isn't going to find its way back home, ever.

[Five]

So, foodsource is pretty much covered without having to neccessarily develop both a population boom and a cultural 'clash'.

The Black Leopards hunt, kidnap, and nibble on neighbouring werewolves through classic stalk and pounce tactics amplified by martial prowess. What a sight that'd be to see, if you even could. Dogwine and dogburger celebrations at the castle keep the beasts wanting and boasting in between hunts. Villagers are toothpicks. Or, a result of failed bestial containment. Bah. It's going to happen.

The Baron, on the other hand, feeds his inner beast on select prisoners brought in from the hunt. And on PCs, the 'elite' of humanity. Humanoidity. Whatever. His personal challenge to himself, or, the inner vampire's challenge (tease?) to his inner leopard, if one were to play the split personality theme. Regardless, it's a good hunt for him. Blood for the 'alien', meat for the animal. Whole pride fed. Bring in the wife, and let's top the year off!

Just imagine stumbling upon even a fragment of these happenings. Blow your mind, mess your drawers. I like it.

Speaking of wives, what does he do with them? Aside from "The people assume that she either kills herself or dies from his abuse. The truth is far worse."

Does he impregnate to replace the weak and or dead Black Leopards? Does he play with her until he gets bored, or loses control? Is he really trying to be a husband/mate but cannot escape the cyclic slaughter of his first love 9again, that loss of control to his true self)?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

he Baron, on the other hand, feeds his inner beast on select prisoners brought in from the hunt. And on PCs, the 'elite' of humanity. Humanoidity. Whatever. His personal challenge to himself, or, the inner vampire's challenge (tease?) to his inner leopard, if one were to play the split personality theme. Regardless, it's a good hunt for him. Blood for the 'alien', meat for the animal. Whole pride fed. Bring in the wife, and let's top the year off!

Pretty much, yep. The short story makes it clear that his panther-form can still eat meat, not just blood. His vampire aspect can slake its appetite on the locals, more as a means of control than of sustenance; the cat isn't satisfied with nibbles, so he also kills outsiders, both werewolf and human. Either way, he's gotta feel his prey's neck between his teeth, or go progressively feral with the longing for the hunt: no making due with bottled blood for Kharkov, ever.

Speaking of wives, what does he do with them? Aside from "The people assume that she either kills herself or dies from his abuse. The truth is far worse."

Cats' mating can be pretty rough on the female. Even if he gluts himself on other victims before consummating his marriages, so he won't be inclined to eat them, they're bound to suffer some nasty cuts from his claws ripping through his gloves.

Does he impregnate to replace the weak and or dead Black Leopards? Does he play with her until he gets bored, or loses control? Is he really trying to be a husband/mate but cannot escape the cyclic slaughter of his first love 9again, that loss of control to his true self)?

I doubt if he'd be fertile with humans, as Morphayus never intended him to breed with his assassination-targets and probably wouldn't have bothered to re-write his chromosomes to allow it. It's already pure chance that he retained the ability to mate as a vampire; unless you've got plans for a panther-themed dhampir IYC, I think it's best to assume he's sterile.

Gaz V suggests that Kharkov tries to be the perfect gentleman with his wives, but inevitably comes to suspect that they've seen through his facade and know he's really an animal. This paranoia about being seen for what he really is, together with the cat's solitary resentment at being forced into a long-term pair bond, would roil beneath the surface until he finally snaps. He loses his temper, strikes her in a fit of pique with his cat's claws, then realizes he's given his nature away. I wouldn't be surprised if he allows the cat to kill her at that point, rather than face her horror and contempt.

Does he actually love them? I doubt he even understands what that means, in any of his aspects. Certainly his vampire side wants to possess his wives, like a prized piece of property, although the cat in him forestalls him from trying to turn them and keep them by his side forever. His faux-human side probably did feel love for Selena, but none of his subsequent wives can really take her place, IMO.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

We know of Lady Adeline (or, all I can find of her):

"Baron von Kharkov's chief enforcer of law and order is a mysterious elf woman who always wears a veil. Despite being the leader of the baron's tax collectors, she has been known to relieve an entire village of tax burden if a young man of her choosing will join her in the woods. The man is always of exceptional good looks, but he always returns home that evening with hideous scars across his face and body. He never recalls what was done to him."

Lady Adeline first appears in "Children of the Night: Vampires". Valachan gets most of its fleshing out in two sources, the "trilogy" of Dungeon magazine adventures (Felkovic's Cat, Laughing Man, and The Price of Revenge) and Gazetteer, vol IV.

There's been some mention of sailors in this thread. I would point out that whether Valachan has a coastline or not is debatable. The Red Box map shows one, but the RL3E map shows only the mists bordering Valachan, with the Sea of Sorrows stopping in Mordent. The Domains of Dread map shows the Sea ending right at the border of Mordent and Valachan. (Is the Sea of Sorrows shrinking?) In any case, even on the Red Box map, there are no coastal settlements, so it's unlikely that Valachan has any sea trade at all.

I don't recall if Gaz IV addresses this at all.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The Baron, on the other hand, feeds his inner beast on select prisoners brought in from the hunt. And on PCs, the 'elite' of humanity. Humanoidity. Whatever. His personal challenge to himself, or, the inner vampire's challenge (tease?) to his inner leopard, if one were to play the split personality theme. Regardless, it's a good hunt for him.

It's also a great way for him to redirect his self-loathing at an external target. Afflicted werewolves, he kills because their existence reminds him that his own control over the cat is far from perfect; natural ones, he kills because their contentment about being monsters, and about being a blend of beast and human, seems like a mockery of his own plight.

The fact that a bunch of jumped-up, mangy jackals are so presumptuous as to think they're the Core's apex predators probably sticks in his craw, too. The nerve of them!

[Five]

Lady Adeline first appears in "Children of the Night: Vampires". Valachan gets most of its fleshing out in two sources, the "trilogy" of Dungeon magazine adventures (Felkovic's Cat, Laughing Man, and The Price of Revenge) and Gazetteer, vol IV.

Well. It seems I'm wasting my words here. And a few years behind. Hm. Funny.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Well. It seems I'm wasting my words here. And a few years behind. Hm. Funny.

Not a waste at all, as those adventures didn't have much to say about Kharkov himself. At most, they might've dealt with a few of his minions, IIRC. As for Gaz IV, it didn't go into as much depth on any of its domains as the other Gaz books did, on account of it having to squeeze in five realms instead of four.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Lady Adeline first appears in "Children of the Night: Vampires". Valachan gets most of its fleshing out in two sources, the "trilogy" of Dungeon magazine adventures (Felkovic's Cat, Laughing Man, and The Price of Revenge) and Gazetteer, vol IV.

Well. It seems I'm wasting my words here. And a few years behind. Hm. Funny.

Not at all... There's always more flesh to be added. That's kind of what we do here. I didn't list those sources to dissuade you, but rather to add to your inspiration.

Heck we come up with new ideas for Azalin and Strahd all the time, and they (and their domains) have gotten way more official ink than Urik and Valachan have.