Café de Nuit

I can't actually find a section listing all the darklords and domains in the salon, but I'm afriad I wasn't clear.

I know that the Darklord of the non-Vecna Domain was Kas the Destroyer, but who was he? What tie did he have to Vecna? What made Tovag and Cavitus seperate if they were so tied, but still attached them as a cluster?

Bloody Morgan

I think the file is actually in the Wine Cellar.

Kas was Vecna's right hand (no pun intended). He was Vecna's vampire lieutenant that served him without question until Kas turned on Vecna and took his hand and eye. When they came to Ravenloft, their domains were attached to put them in constant conflict but without allowing them to personally do battle.

Bloody Morgan wrote:I can't actually find a section listing all the darklords and domains in the salon, but I'm afriad I wasn't clear.

I know that the Darklord of the non-Vecna Domain was Kas the Destroyer, but who was he? What tie did he have to Vecna? What made Tovag and Cavitus seperate if they were so tied, but still attached them as a cluster?

Bloody Morgan

To expand on what Stygian Inquirer said...

Kas and Vecna were both of Oerth, the GREYHAWK campaign setting. After Vecna rose to power, he enlisted the aid of a powerful warrior named Kas to enforce his judgments and commands as his servant. If you were an Oeridian and you went against what Vecna commanded, Kas would show up with his enchanted sword and there'd be almost nothing left of you to bury (hence the nickname, "The Destroyer").

Unfortunately for Vecna, the Sword of Kas was heavily enchanted, evilly intelligent, and apparently upset at Vecna for not giving it a better name. It whispered to Kas, tempting him to turn against Vecna--which eventually he did.

Unfortunately for Kas, the Sword couldn't actually HARM Vecna--I think it lost all its powers when in proximity to its creator. Nonetheless, Kas was a majorly-powerful bad guy, so they battled and apparently destroyed each other, and Oerth breathed a great big sigh of relief.

Except that Vecna achieved demi-divinity, unleashed a bunch of mad plans to ascend to full godhood, and was ensnared by the Mists in the process. As part of Vecna's torment (other than his imprisonment), the Dark Powers brought Kas--now a powerful vampire--into the Mists with him and gave them both neighboring domains: Cavitius for Vecna and Tovag for Kas.

IIRC, they were a cluster because Kas and Vecna still hated each other and it was part of both their curses to be in such close proximity to each other and still be unable to actually kill the other (and be unable to close the part of the border their lands shared). What differentiated them were their environments--Cavitius was more-or-less a big chunk of the Quasiplane of Ash where everyone outside the citadel pretty much died quickly, and Tovag was a more-or-less inhabitable place where everyone aged at double the normal rate so Kas would have a ready supply of cannon-fodder to shove at Vecna.

Nifty. Thanks very much all - I turned up the Domain list in the Wine Cellar, as you mentioned Stygian. I can see why these two were dropped, but it's nice to know that little tidbit anyway.

Bloody Morgan

AdamGarou wrote:Unfortunately for Kas, the Sword couldn't actually HARM Vecna--I think it lost all its powers when in proximity to its creator.

Actually, that part of the story is confusing, perhaps even on purpose. There are rumors than the sword could harm Vecna (which would go a long way toward explaining how Kas managed to destroy the archlich) but, since then, numerous copies have been made, all of them delusional to the point of believing themselves to be THE sword of Kas. Alas for their wielders, the copies do not have the power to harm the Maimed Lord. Hence, throughout history, some individuals who obtained 'a' sword of Kas and fought Vecna with it reported they were utterly unable to wound him.

There are hints about this in various accessories but I guess only Vecna knows the truth...

Yes, sorry for pointing the wrong room

Stygian Inquirer wrote:

David of the Frat wrote:

Stygian Inquirer wrote: As I understand it, the House appeared in Borca 11 years ago but that does not mean it wasn't elsewhere before that. I think it can still move but it chooses not to... for now. For now it is in the same boat as Castle Island.

Yes and no. When I was writing the FAQ I read alot of old posts from the writers that lead me to take the stance the House is a floating pocket domain that does not move (as you said) but Castle Island is not. It's like the islands in the Sea, small domains entirely surrounded by others but stationary.
Really, it's cosmetic at best as you can have Castle Island shift about rivers and seas as you see fit.

By comparing it to Castle Island, I just meant that Castle Island was a pocket domain that doesn't move. Right now, the House of Lament is on hiatus and isn't moving so effectively for now it can be compared to Castle Island or even Necropolis. When the House begins to move again it would be like a Winding Road- or Carnival-style pocket domain.

I like the idea of having Castle Island moving around rivers and seas though...

It is worth noting that Scaenna is much in the same vein in that it travels about the domains. However, it has been hinted at as a domain able to leave the demiplane on occasion, depositing those within it on strange worlds. However, I do not know if this would remain the same in the current of the edition.

I have had the House of Lament travel in my games, whenever a person or persons escape the house it changes location. I just liked that idea for my games and it lives up to the haunted house with a twist vision I have of it.

Mortepierre wrote:

AdamGarou wrote:Unfortunately for Kas, the Sword couldn't actually HARM Vecna--I think it lost all its powers when in proximity to its creator.

Actually, that part of the story is confusing, perhaps even on purpose. There are rumors than the sword could harm Vecna (which would go a long way toward explaining how Kas managed to destroy the archlich) but, since then, numerous copies have been made, all of them delusional to the point of believing themselves to be THE sword of Kas. Alas for their wielders, the copies do not have the power to harm the Maimed Lord. Hence, throughout history, some individuals who obtained 'a' sword of Kas and fought Vecna with it reported they were utterly unable to wound him.

There are hints about this in various accessories but I guess only Vecna knows the truth...

Interesting tidbit... I'll have to go dig up my old copy of "Vecna Lives" and see what it says about the sword. Supposedly PCs can actually find the real Sword of Kas in that adventure, if I'm not mistaken. I thought that was where I got the info from about the sword not being able to harm Vecna, though...

Curiouser and Curiouser...