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Hi I 've been making an article for next QtR and I am searching the Languages of Taladas to see from which part Vlad Drakov comes from. His backround sais he was employed by the fanatics of Hith in Thenol but that doesn't mean he is a Thenolite. I checked a bit about the languages of Krynn and came up to this one Teusten.

All of the following info is from this article https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Teusten
If you read the article it sounds really close to Falkovnia, they are warlike, racists have slaves and the names could be Falkovnian as well as the word Teusten sounds Germanic as most Falkovnian words. The only problem is that Teusten people are from the continent of Adlatum and not Taladas, on the other hand Teusten people are oceanic people (something like vikings I guess). I am pinpointing some parts.

"The ocean waters are the lifeblood of Teusten. Even those who live inland build their towns neighboring rivers and lakes to be sure they are still connected to the greater sea."

"Foreigners see the Teusten as fighters, drunkards, and brawlers who despise anyone in the world who is not their own kind."

"Conflict and combat are some of life’s greater pleasures. There are other races that the Teusten do hate and often attack on sight, dwarves especially, but often their malice towards others is a combination of their love to raid, fight, and beat up on those who are not their own kind."

"The women of Teusten are often as combative as the men, although less of them tend to travel abroad. "

"Only in the government itself do women have difficulty attaining position."

"Slavery is an acceptable part of life in Teusten. Although most dwarves are killed on sight, there are still several kept for labor. The same is true for minotaurs, humans, or elves. Elves are often seen as a weak race, and the Corinesti are believed to not deserve the sea, above or below. Those elves who prove themselves in physical labor are bragged about by their owners as “the best of their race.” Minotaurs are highly prized and respected by the Teusten"

"The laws of Teusten are those of any typical nation, regulating theft, rape, or murder (against their own people or property). One exception is that there is no trial by jury or magistrate, as in civilized lands, but rather a trial by blood. Depending on the severity of the crime, the accused has the chance to proclaim innocence by battling either the accuser or a monster in the Arena of Truths in Jut-Cythyl."

"Magic of any sort is not often practiced in Teusten, but the people love to get their hands on magical items and use them to create their own tales of glory."

"As such, most Teustens will not learn magic simply because a wizard defeating a powerful wizard is not as glorious as a fighter defeating a powerful wizard. Still, if that fighter ended up getting his hands on a magic weapon prior to defeating the powerful wizard, the story still is considered epic, and thus the use of magic items is “accepted.”"

" divine magic in Teusten is a great rarity even though most of their clerics are capable of casting."

What do you think about Drakov being of Teusten roots, maybe from a ship that ended up in Taladas, similar to Leif Erikson or maybe from refugees and his upbringing was so harsh that he became worse than the people who bullied him when he was a child.

Anything is possible. I mean, its unlikely but why not? Drakov's past before he was a mercenary leader is a blank slate.

That said, there is a lot of narrative advantages to being a native of Taladas. For one, most of the good land of Taladas is under the dominance of the Imperial League, a minotaur led empire that treats non-minotaurs as second-class citizens at best. Having Vlad Drakov as a second-class citizen of the imperial league goes a long way to explain his need for acceptance by the powerful. The history of Taladas is not very detailed, so you can add whatever insults that Vlad Drakov suffered during his life in Taladas without contradicting canon.

Wherever his origin and background, I'd very deliberately avoid "justifying" his bigotry by not allowing too much sympathy to come through in his backstory. A person like Vlad Drakov doesn't deserve it. Flesh out possibilities as to why he's the way he is towards demihumans, but always have him on the evil side of the blur between cultural/racial pride and cultural/racial supremacy. It's very clear that he's an extremist through and through.

Five wrote:, I'd very deliberately avoid "justifying" his bigotry by not allowing too much sympathy to come through in his backstory. A person like Vlad Drakov doesn't deserve it.

Why are you treating me this way? I am human... not deminuman...
-(Vlad Drakov feeling victimized by Five's comment)

But yes I agree with what you said, better having him being raised as an a**hole and taking it to extremes.

But my question is more into how do you think of the Teusten heritage. I mean since Teusten are something similar to the Vikings it may be connected with Falkovnia's history and present, something similar with the Nazi obsession about their "germanic" heritage and of white supremacists weaponizing an imaginary Viking past.

Mephisto wrote:

Five wrote:, I'd very deliberately avoid "justifying" his bigotry by not allowing too much sympathy to come through in his backstory. A person like Vlad Drakov doesn't deserve it.

Why are you treating me this way? I am human... not deminuman...
-(Vlad Drakov feeling victimized by Five's comment)

-two fingers Vlad-

Haha

But my question is more into how do you think of the Teusten heritage. I mean since Teusten are something similar to the Vikings it may be connected with Falkovnia's history and present, something similar with the Nazi obsession about their "germanic" heritage and of white supremacists weaponizing an imaginary Viking past.

I like it. I mean, Vlad has certain ideals when it comes to warfare and ruling or lording over others, so to insert aspects of a free will sacrifice (that's a shout-out to Amon Amarth!) kinda culture like the Norse is an easy fit.

Falkovnia anthem: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7A07nayXc6s

Well, maybe for the Talons...heh

Only, just like our nordic countries are known more for their warrior ways than that of bold exploration, as one example (they balls-out found North America centuries before the Europeans), so too does Vlad only "remember" aspects of his ancestors that he can zero in on and weaponise for personal gain (or maybe he truly is besmitten by that one aspect. He knows only what he wants to remember of his ancestor's ways). If you put enough of a gap between Vlad and his ancestors, similar to Hitler/Nazi Germany to theirs, then it too better fits his cultural/racial pride and prejudice. He cherry picks from his ancestry and absolutely will not tolerate anything outside of this ideal. If you beak outside this nest then you get invited to dinner for a very pointed sitdown to discuss your alternative history...

A few thoughts:

1. Not really related but kinda/sorta: Beef up Vlad as a Ravenloft dark lord. If Azalin is the setting's pseudo-god king of wizards, then make Drakov the pseudo-god king of warriors. They are two heads of the same coin, or, make them be. Azalin and Strahd have a whole other thing going on. Chess-playing Hellfire Club boys. Whatever. And Azalin of all people should remember what "mere mercenaries" are capable of when they are headed by and moulded into beasts of war: they tore him off his old throne and made him flee into the Mists and into his current captivity. Vlad and his ancestry-charged warriors are more than capable of doing so again. Especially if the Dark Powers want to rattle the lich king's chains or put him face-down for a bit, as a proving point for all of his escape attempts. Punk *****.

2. Vlad has delusions of grandeur about his ancestry. And although I've yet to check the timeline, I'm pretty sure none of his original crew are alive to tell anybody the difference. Simply put, Vlad has complete control of the narrative. That can be your in for giving him a background in Teusten. Or anybody else an equal sandbox to play in.

Edit: Just checked. By the time 755 BC rolls around 66 years will have passed since Vlad and his original entourage entered Ravenloft. Assuming the youngest was 20 years old and that they survived the various campaigns and Vlad's outbursts, then that would make them 86 years old. Any lip from them could be attributed to senility really, if he didn't want to outright make one of his original warmates disappear.

3. In the Adlatum Sourcebook it says Teusten has only one trading partner, the Noble Ogres. That they highly prize its agreements with them and try to keep their secrets to themselves. This is almost identical to Falkovnia's arms deal with Lamordia. If Vlad was from Teusten and he had the most basic of understanding of trade (his area of expertise is war) then it would make perfect sense for him to replicate its practise. No need to re-invent the wheel when you got exactly what you need. If it ain't broke...

And taking it one step further in an attempt to iron out a few wrinkles found in the setting (it's more blatant CL discrepancies): could this Falkovnian-Lamordian deal be behind the sandbagging of technology, or, be preventing the proliferation of firearms in the Core?

4. For people who are...adherents to canon, then Vlad can still be from Thenol/Taladas, but have ancestral connections to Teusten/Adlatum. He is invoking his ancestry and projecting his exaggerated/supreme interpretation of it on his current kingdom and subjects. This separation of time and space helps him, again, to control the narrative and mould his military into what he wants them to be.

My Drakov was of course born in Falkovnia back to the last days of the Lamordian Empire. He matured his racial prejudice after fighting the Even/Fey population of the Shadow Forest and the Were-rats of Richemulot; He was also a follower of the Iron Chuch, before deciding to nationalize it creating the Church of the Iron Falcon.