Gazetteer Metaplot

[Le Noir Faineant]

Thank you for the amazing info, Mr Mangrum!

* As an example of possible fallout, Azalin's success would likely spark a war across most of the western Core, which would in turn probably crush Borca. This war has nothing to do with Azalin's plans whatsoever -- it's just a logical side effect of his intended actions, one of no personal significance.

Like, say, removing the Shadow Elves' ability to shelter their realm from outsiders?


And concerning your info on the Beast of the Hills: Is there really no chance that we see the stuff that was edited out of the Gazs?

[Don Fernando]

Uff!! Really nice information! Thanks a lot Mr. Mangrum!

So I guess the big picture looks like this: the Gazs are not Azalin's plan to bring up the ToUD, it is one of many events that will make that happen.

Ok, I think I got that right, however, what's the role of the GC in all this? His children are involved, but is he as well? I mean, I'm guessing that his role is not only spawning deformed children everywhere. What I'm trying to say is, how can he start spawning children for a future time that will bring destruction and suffering to all RL, if he isn't even from the demiplane?

He is a fiend that escaped Isolde's relentless pursuing, by going into RL. He is an outsider, and a few years later he's bound in bringing this ToUD upon RL, apparently well aware of all the secrets of RL and the DPs.
How is it possible that he does this? And it seems that Azalin is beeing a pawn in a bigger plot, that eventually will bring the ToUD, without even beeing aware of that, or is it that he already knows about this, and decided to play along?

[artent]

I think the ToUD is not meant as a catacylismic event wher major ground breakering(literally in the GC) happen over night. More like an extended age of general misery. There would be no ToUD adventure per se, it would be more like releasing a new campaign setting called Ravenloft: ToUD wher you could play durring the series of unrelated events and the extended fallout....much like the series of world wars on earth.

[Undead Cabbage]

Which makes me wonder, what type of world will that campaign setting be?

It was previously stated that Borca's done for. How much of a 'WWI' scheme are we looking at?

Now, in a grand scale war, it's safe to say that Falkovnia would have quite in influence (note, however, that I did not say drakov. Imagine if Drakov had to 'watch' this grand war, but not fight it. Sort of like Chinese water torture).

Also, I think a good point was brought up that Azalin isn't the only variable in the equation. First off, we have a Red Wizard trying to build a device to destroy all of the Mulan people not only in RL, but Hazlik is bent on sniping the mulan in Faerun as well. Naturally, I don't see such a device working. I do, however, see it going 'BOOM'.

We also have 4 different sects of Ezra that are currently nipping at each other's heals. We have a skitzo negative enegry elemental who thinks that he is death itself, and also controls quite the army of undead. And we have Gwydion: The Realms of Dread's Self dectruction sequence.

[Lucius]

The idea I got from reading the various hints dropped in the Gazetteers, amplified by John's hints here, makes me think that Azalin's plan would be something along the lines of giving darklords the ability to cross over the boundaries of their domains or expand them somehow. This would tip the balance of power throughout the Core and give some darklords like, say, Vlad Drakov, the ability to wage war effectively.

I had the same thought.

The only think I´m still thinking about is the purpose of S´bracer.

[Undead Cabbage]

Like I said before. At first, one might think that Azalin wouldn't care about fixing the sins of others. However when one considers that Azalin could disrupt this giant 'experiment', he might be interested in setting the other rats loose.

Of course, when all of your lab rats run loose from an experiment, it's easy to over look what your 'smartest' lab rat might be doing in the mean time. Disruption of the experiment just might be the window of opportunity for what ever Azalin wishes to accomplish.

And think about it: if one of your lab rats was more powerful than the ones conducting the experiement (i.e. Gwydion), then the DPs would have higher priorties then making sure Azalin doesn't get too far in his plans.

[Joël of the FoS]

Thank you John for these insights.

The interesting question is indeed - what is Azalin's interest with S? The final fate of our hero was something surely very entertaining.

I remember one former Kargatane saying that back in the SotK board, a fan guessed what was the planned use of S by Azalin...

Joël

[Mangrum]

And concerning your info on the Beast of the Hills: Is there really no chance that we see the stuff that was edited out of the Gazs?

One of the great things about being a work-for-hire freelancer is that none of the material I've written for publication over the years is mine to give you. We asked; they said no; that's the end of the story.

[Jester of the FoS]

And concerning your info on the Beast of the Hills: Is there really no chance that we see the stuff that was edited out of the Gazs?

One of the great things about being a work-for-hire freelancer is that none of the material I've written for publication over the years is mine to give you. We asked; they said no; that's the end of the story.

What about personal notes from the early books updated to 3.5?

[The Dark One]

More and more i come to realize that my views of Ravenloft are tottally different from the most acceptable view...

The S metaplot in my eyes is a search from Azalin from two things:
1 - The "good" powers - since i remember lord of necropolis when he meet them and they said that the work in stoping the dark powers isn't theirs, but the ones who the dark powers "trust".

2 - If there is a true incarnation or spirit of his son Irik, again in Lord of Necropolis he discovers that the spirit that haunt's him wasn't the true spirit of his son... since he had left, and his trails go to the mist.


I don't believe that Azalin wanted the old 2nd edition goal: escape. He want's to punish and destroy the dark powers (again lord of necropolis).

Other thing is: Azalin already knows how to escape the demiplane, but also knows there are two ways to do it:

1 - Like Soth, rejoining old sins and seeing the truth that he was the wrong (Spectre of Black Rose : once magda lifted the curse and the white rose came to bring him back to where he truly should be, and War of Souls Trilogy book 3: "I saw in the deepest darkness her face" - in my view Margareth Weis made soth ravenloft adventure cannon with the his death passage - even if she don't wanted it).

2 - Like Vecna (i don't know how he made it - i never found to sell the adventure in a bookstore here in Brazil).

The result is obvious: one way only escape (with the dread possibilitie to return like Soth), the other is escaping and destroying the domain (Caviticus don't exists if Vecna escaped), and he wants the second way, which he don't know fully how to do.

So nothing to do with hykosas tribe, gentleman caller, isolde etc, since they aren't part of Azalins history.

Of Course, this vision is based in a "romantic style" where a darklord can only be truly defeated if he faces old sins and sees that he was wrong (sort of salvation), destroying with him his entire domain.

PS: I don't own all stuff about Ravenloft (mainly the Black and RED BOX, 4 novels, 5gazzetters, the netbooks , RPHB, RDMG, RDoDarkness, Dark Tales, Van Richtem Arsenal, legacies of blood and Guide to the Mist )

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

More and more i come to realize that my views of Ravenloft are tottally different from the most acceptable view...

The S metaplot in my eyes is a search from Azalin from two things:
1 - The "good" powers - since i remember lord of necropolis when he meet them and they said that the work in stoping the dark powers isn't theirs, but the ones who the dark powers "trust".

2 - If there is a true incarnation or spirit of his son Irik, again in Lord of Necropolis he discovers that the spirit that haunt's him wasn't the true spirit of his son... since he had left, and his trails go to the mist.


I don't believe that Azalin wanted the old 2nd edition goal: escape. He want's to punish and destroy the dark powers (again lord of necropolis).

All good theories, but Lord of the Necropolis has been ruled non-canon and the events in it bear no relevence to the Ravenloft continuity as far as its defining the Dark Powers goes.

[The Dark One]

Who said that Lord of Necropolis is "ruled non canon"... i didn't know it, its a very good book to finish the 2ed era:(

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Who said that Lord of Necropolis is "ruled non canon"... i didn't know it, its a very good book to finish the 2ed era:(

From the FAQ:

3) Which products are considered non-canonical?

The fact that Ravenloft products have been written by many authors over many years means that occasionally a product will contain irreconcilable conflicts with other material. TSR has ruled some products "non-canonical" - that is, they are not part of the official Ravenloft timeline. To date, the products that have been ruled non-canonical are:

a) The Enemy Within
b) Lord of the Necropolis
c) The Desmond LaRouche entry in the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix II

And yes, both Spectre of the Black Rose and Champions of Darkness are canon. However, many fans choose to ignore large sections of those books for example keeping Soth in Ravenloft.

There was actually two novels after Lord of the Necropolis; I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin and Spectre of the Black Rose.

Spectre was the last novel and one of the best.

[Matthew L. Martin]

I think John may have overstated when he said that Steve had thought about the ToUD for 'what became DVD'. IIRC, Steve proposed a 'final adventure' for Ravenloft that would have given a look at the Caller's plans and a hint at Ravenloft's future. The decision was instead made to go with Die Vecna Die!

And if you look at the published material and statements by the Kargatane closely, I believe that you have all you need to puzzle out the outline and goal of Azalin Rex's grand scheme.

Matthew L. Martin

[cure]

Why Borca? Simply because it is the neighbour of Falkovnia? Or is there a fundamental reason and does the blow fall from Barovia?

What does an Azalin who has accepted that he is going nowhere really want? Revenge on the Dark Powers? Kicking your captor is not the best of strategies . . . Surplanting them? There is little to suggest that this is possible. Revenge on Stradht? Yes. To let no one else escape if the lich-king cannot? Yes, as the thought of Stradht, let alone Drakov, being carried to freedom by a Dukar is intolerable. Greater power within the prison? Yes. Sure destroying the Vistini would weaken Stradt but it would hardly be possible. Destroying Death? Yes. But how would this touch off a war in the Western core? Breaking the curse on the acquisition of new magic? This would hardly be noticed by many, at least initially, but again how would it touch off a war? Possessing the children of the Gentlemen Caller and using them like puppets as Stradht once did with a mere mortal to 'travel' beyond the domain frontier? Again why the war? And why Borca?

We know that one child of the Gentleman Caller is in Borca and in a position of power. Is that why Borca must be destroyed by someone and someone other than Azalin? I believe there is also a child well situated in Falkovnia. Hmm. And a third just south in Invidia. And Falkovnia and Invidia have an alliance. So what does Azalin do that pushes onto the battlefield the the Falkovnian-Invidian alliance?