Darklords Give Up!

[Ail]

- was it a predetermined decision by the designers taht this and that lord had to go and now they just had to come up with a reasonable explanation for it?

From what I've heard, Soth only gave up because Weis and Hickman don't know how to share.

Pretty much...

That case falls in my second class: designer choice.
Kas and Vecna fall there too, I guess, as from what I recall, it was understood by fans and designers that Cavitius was very little Gothic to be in RL in the first place.
As for Arak, I don't know if it was completely transformed into the Shadow Rift nor if it had a lord in the first place, but we should count in this the several domains that have disappeared (and the lord with them).

Ail

[Spiteful Crow]

If I recall correctly, Arak was part of the area directly above the shadow rift, so the darklord would've been Gwydion. At some point, Tristessa got murdered, parts of Arak were obliterated and turned into Keening. And at some other points, Gwydion tore the shadow rift free of the ground above it and Arak was absorbed into Darkon.

[Bluebomber4evr]

That case falls in my second class: designer choice. Kas and Vecna fall there too, I guess, as from what I recall, it was understood by fans and designers that Cavitius was very little Gothic to be in RL in the first place.
As for Arak, I don't know if it was completely transformed into the Shadow Rift nor if it had a lord in the first place, but we should count in this the several domains that have disappeared (and the lord with them).

Ail

That's not why Vecna was removed. He stayed in Ravenloft until the end of the 2nd edition line. The last 2e product featured his escape. They did this because WotC didn't plan on producing Ravenloft for the 3rd edition and had planned on using Vecna in 3rd edition products.

And Spiteful Crow is right. Old Arak=Current Shadow Rift. Gwydion was able to move his domain during the Grand Conjunction--this is also what caused the Fractures.

[mistshadow2k4]

I seem to remember that Nathan Timothy, after giving up Arkandale, started to travel around some of the Core's rivers (though he's still stuck on his boat due to a pre-darklord curse).

ETA: and note now that the Gazetteers seem to each have an NPC or two who would be very likely to inherit the domain...

In my campaign, the river Musarde became his domain. That was kind of a campaign secret for a long time. My players figured it out when they go to watch as a squad of soldiers were heading for the Virago to demand a tax (which Timothy had already paid) and the river under the soldiers' boat suddenly opened up into a yawning chasm of water, drowning them - i.e., he closed the borders.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

In my campaign, the river Musarde became his domain. That was kind of a campaign secret for a long time. My players figured it out when they go to watch as a squad of soldiers were heading for the Virago to demand a tax (which Timothy had already paid) and the river under the soldiers' boat suddenly opened up into a yawning chasm of water, drowning them - i.e., he closed the borders.

Interesting idea.... did you allow him to ever come onto land? And what about the darkords whose domains are crossed by the river? could they cross it?

[mistshadow2k4]

In my campaign, the river Musarde became his domain. That was kind of a campaign secret for a long time. My players figured it out when they go to watch as a squad of soldiers were heading for the Virago to demand a tax (which Timothy had already paid) and the river under the soldiers' boat suddenly opened up into a yawning chasm of water, drowning them - i.e., he closed the borders.

Interesting idea.... did you allow him to ever come onto land? And what about the darkords whose domains are crossed by the river? could they cross it?

No, he's tied to the boat still. He can never leave it. The Musarde is kind of a floating domain; it goes right through other domains just as the river always did. The darklord of a domain that the Musarde runs through is still the darklord of everywhere else, up to the river's banks. The river itself though is his, so it very nealry overlaps.

I never liked Arkandale and Verbrek being joined either, so Arkandale is still a separate domain. But that's a longer story, based on what I did with Arkan culture and society back before the Grand Cpnjunction was to have happened. 'Course most Corelands folk don't even know were Arkandale or Verbrek are and probably think they're both like a wild region.