To clip a falcon's wings

[Mistmaster]

In my campaign Vlad is negotiating a non-aggression treaty with Darkon throught Vaasan and Invidian dplomatas.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Hmmm... Given that the Spawn of the Lizard tends to recruit Goblins in their fight against Drakov... might it be possible to bring the Three Hags into the alliance to kill the old butcher? Their maleficia probably has enough "oomph" to overcome his resistances.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

And what local factions oppose the Eminent Council? A third of Falkovnia is No Man's Land. Do they run blatant interference against the Council?

I allow for a rotating roster of petty warlords to rise and fall in that remaining third, mostly ex-Talons, but a few have stuck around long enough to be worth mentioning:

The Cruel Panoply: the historical tyrant has supposedly returned, or at least someone wears her armor and is massing troops in her name.

The Wrathful: the Silbervas region is plagued by strange spirits rumored to have come to the material plane via the House of Doors. They possess people and make them suicidally angry.

The Vampyres: a few survivors of the Census Day Massacre have built a stronghold around an archeological dig that supposedly proves their kind once ruled here.

Are they outlaw bands that skulk and strike with classic military precision (a neat twist/moral opposite to Gondegal and all that he stood for, pre-"V-day")?

Some of them are. Many ex-Talons try that, and their alliances form a network that connects with the Freemen of Falkovnia, whether they know it or not. The Freemen are still in the revolution business. The Wrathful aren't good at that kind of strategy, and the Vampyres are focused on their excavations. The Cruel Panoply is capable of that, but her borders are such that she is not normally fighting Council forces.

What are the politics when it comes to these other warlords both amongst themselves and with outsiders?

I think I just covered that. Let me know if you want more.

Are they "old school" Falkovnians, working to restore a Drakov to power/to bring back the DMC era? What happened to the various Ministries?

The Ministries fell with Drakov, but you'll notice that several former ministers are on the council. The hereditary argument comes up from time to time, but it's not popular. Vlad II died in the Census Day Massacre as a traitor, came back as a ghoul lord and carved out a large feifdom early on with an assortment of ghoul lord Talon cronies, but they were all defeated in spectacular fashion when they tried to cause trouble with Addar and he tricked them into crossing over into Darkon...where they fell under Azalin's control. Somewhere in Darkon there's a half dozen mounds of earth where they will remain until Azzie decides what to do with high level ghoul lords.

So with the heir apparent apparently dead multiple times, and Vlad III MIA, it's down to all the bastards and by-blows and grandnephews, which makes for just as much a free for all as the rest of it, assuming people really want a hereditary Drakov on the throne...which many don't.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

How do you assassinate a 17 level fighter who has the HP, the Fortitude and the fighting skill to survive each one, thought? A very lucky critical hit?

Step 1: You separate him from his gear. Simplest way is to work through his mistresses, to attack him in his bedroom.

Step 2: total concealment. Even with his huge bonuses to hit, that's still a 50% chance of missing. Works best if it's not magical, because that way his magic resistance doesn't kick in.

Step 3: blood drain, energy drain, poison. He has over 100 hp, so go for stat drains instead, especially Con, because once he finally rolls a 1 it lowers his Fort saves for the others. Plus Con drain can kill, which is the point.

Step 4: get creative. Does he have a stock of healing potions? Swap them for more poison. Replace his bag of holding with a bag of devouring. Wherever he goes for help, he should find more trouble.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Hmmm... Given that the Spawn of the Lizard tends to recruit Goblins in their fight against Drakov... might it be possible to bring the Three Hags into the alliance to kill the old butcher? Their maleficia probably has enough "oomph" to overcome his resistances.

Based on my above analysis, I would use the Ba'al Verzi. Blood drain, Con drain, the power to compel help from servants. A mid-level assassin with the nosferatu template would be a decent match for him if they can catch him with his pants down. Plus they are a good fit for all those over-the-top tricks like smearing the entire body with contact poison and taking a few levels of Monk. That plus haste so that they start combat with 6 poisonous attacks per round, plus possible con drain depending upon how they roll.

Then again, I also have a house rule that more doses of the same poison in your system increases the save, so given that this approach is almost guaranteed to kill him within five rounds.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I LIKE it!

[Mistmaster]

Hmmm... Given that the Spawn of the Lizard tends to recruit Goblins in their fight against Drakov... might it be possible to bring the Three Hags into the alliance to kill the old butcher? Their maleficia probably has enough "oomph" to overcome his resistances.

Based on my above analysis, I would use the Ba'al Verzi. Blood drain, Con drain, the power to compel help from servants. A mid-level assassin with the nosferatu template would be a decent match for him if they can catch him with his pants down. Plus they are a good fit for all those over-the-top tricks like smearing the entire body with contact poison and taking a few levels of Monk. That plus haste so that they start combat with 6 poisonous attacks per round, plus possible con drain depending upon how they roll.

Then again, I also have a house rule that more doses of the same poison in your system increases the save, so given that this approach is almost guaranteed to kill him within five rounds.

Well, knowing Drakov, for a female Ba'al Verzi wouldn't be so difficult catching him with his pants dow, litterally.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Well, knowing Drakov, for a female Ba'al Verzi wouldn't be so difficult catching him with his pants dow, litterally.

Yeah, I did use that phrase on purpose.

Really, assassination of a high-level character just makes me think of the final years of castle warfare. After they figured out how to make layers of walls and barbicans and crenelations and gatehouses and on and on, besieging armies were all about the bribes to get someone to let them in the back way.

The fall of a character this powerful is always an inside job: he betrays himself. He forgoes his own security protocols for a roll in the hay, or a chance to redeem his injured pride, or whatever. Character flaws are magnified in high-level characters.