Café de Nuit

According to canon, Falkovnia has virtually no chance of succeeding against Azalin - he's simply too powerful.

However, if a GM wanted to make a Falkovnian invasion possible (though difficult), what would the GM have to change?

Discussions follow.

In my current campaign, I am planning a Falkovnian invasion of Darkon. The era is pre-GC, pre-Requiem, so Azalin does not have the mindreading ability. Il Aluk is still intact.

I want this invasion to be taken very seriously by Darkon's citizenry. The official Falkovnian rationale for the invasion is "liberating the Darkonians from their unnatural ruler". Thematically, I want to portray the Falkovnians as complex actors seeking an arguably-laudable end, rather than just bloodthirsty caricatures bent on sticking people on stakes. Simply put, I want to illustrate the saying "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" by Gerald Seymour.

Here are a few changes I've made to canon:

• Darkon's faith in the Eternal Order is very widespread and profound. Azalin exists as the protector-figure in this religion. His true nature makes his political position somewhat precarious if the truth was ever publicly known and recognized.
• Vlad Drakov has partially deduced Azalin's true nature - when Drakov first arrived in Darkon, Azalin met with him personally and read his mind thoroughly, seeking to know everything about his homeland and history. When the talks soured, Azalin raised undead to kill Drakov and his men. Drakov escaped and knows that Azalin can control undead. (The truth is somewhat more complicated: Drakov mistakes Azalin for Trandamere, a Dragonlance villain - and Azalin played on this, sending Drakov to kill Count Strahd under the guise that he was Count Malarchus, another Dragonlance villain.)
• Falkovnia's motivation for this invasion is to unseat Azalin and destroy him if possible. If not, then the Falkovnians will be content with disclosing his true nature to the Darkonian public and preventing him from ever returning to power.
• Azalin can control undead as written in canon, but he strongly prefers not to do so in daylight hours when they could be seen by Darkonians. Azalin is the leader of the Eternal Order Church, which has a strongly anti-undead stance, and any overt display of his power over undead will erode his public image. Darkonians fear undead even more than they fear Falkovnians, who are at least fully human.
• Accordingly, I have altered it so that the undead hordes have historically only ever repulsed the Falkovnians under cover of night. This has been termed the "Creeping Death". It also gives Azalin plausible deniability for the nature and degree of his control over the Creeping Death.
• The Falkovnians can be capable of rational planning and humane behavior, when they choose to display it. Although the die-hard Army Command (Heeresleitung) may scoff, the Falkovnian Intelligence Ministry (Nachrichtendienst) is perfectly happy to install collaborationist Darkonian leaders in conquered cities, and even to spare the majority of Darkonian civilians if it'll ensure greater cooperation. Despite inter-agency tensions, this invasion is under the purview of the Nachrichtendienst. (If things start to go seriously awry, the Heeresleitung may seize control and prosecute a more traditional war, with executions, stakings, and scorched-earth policies. In the long run, Azalin may actually want to discredit the Nachrichtendienst and put the Heeresleitung back in charge of the invasion force, as it would completely alienate the Darkonian public sympathies.)
• The Nachrichtendienst has been preparing the ground thoroughly for this invasion. The majority of the Falkovnian army itself ideally will not be used in grand-scale combat against Darkonian troops. Rather, the Nachrichtendienst has focused on securing fifth-column aid in the major cities to allow for relatively bloodless pacification. The Falkovnian Army will have to fight bloody battles against the Creeping Death every night, but the grand strategy of the Nachrichtendienst is to have the Army "leapfrog" from fortification to fortification each night, safe (or at least less vulnerable) to the Creeping Death and more able to fight off the hordes from the safety of battlements.

Well, the one way that springs to mind would require a huge change to Drakov's character as presented in canon........... ok, so we know you're on board with that, HMB.

Simply send troops that can't be turned against him. That can't become undead. Send constructs. Embrace the ministry of Science and of the Arcane. Have them work together, whatever it takes, to make an army of super-soldier golems. You can send a few living commanders to direct things, but protect them at all costs with a squad of construct bodyguards. The bodyguards have standing orders to keep their commander alive but hack their charge to pieces if they fail in protecting him and then join up with another squad that still has a living commander. The golem army can do what a standard human one can't: avoid bolstering the enemy ranks when they fall.

That's, of couse, assuming Drakov knows that the Creeping Death is why he's lost before.

I think that the citizens of Darkon would take the threat of a Falkovnian invasion very seriously. Their king, on the other hand, would not. Even without animating corpses Azalin alone is more than a match for the Falkovnian armies. He is an 18th level Wizard, a lich and a master strategist. While he can be arrogant about how powerful he is, in this case he really is able to wipe the floor with Drakov's army without breaking a metaphorical sweat.

How did Drakov learn that Azalin is not human? That would require a little thing called espionage, which Drakov has not historically indulged in. (If he had he might have been more reluctant to invade Lamordia, Dementlieu or Borca, let alone Darkon.) And what makes him think he could disclose Azalin's true nature? Does he have a 20th level Wizard on his payroll who can dispel Azalin's illusion spells? Also, why would Azalin be hesitant to animate the dead during the day? He's miles away from the battle, puttering around in his lab in Castle Avernus; so far as anyone knows the dead animated because the Hour of Ascension's arrival is hastened by the bloodshed of the battle. Azalin already has plausible deniability for the dead rising; it's called "The Kargat Arrest Anyone Who Slanders the King".

While individual Falkovnian soldiers are capable of rational planning and devising tactics more complicated than "Zerg Rush", the Kingsfuhrer graduated from the New Aurim College of Military Tactics with a degree in "Send Out Wave After Wave of Our Men" (he minored in "Hithite Theology" and "How to Disembowel Minotaurs"). In hand to hand combat Vlad Drakov is unparalleled. This is why Gondegal was initially drawn to serving Drakov. But while he's a great Captain, Drakov is a lousy General. In I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire, Strahd comments that if he'd had a General like Drakov who cost them as many unnecessary casualties as the Falkovnian king did, Strahd would have had him court-martialed.

The only way for the Falkovnians to actually seize control of an inch of Darkonian territory is to completely abandon the established rules of the setting. You need to remove Azalin's ability to close his borders, remove Azalin's ability to animate the dead anywhere in Darkon as an at-will power, remove Drakov's inability to leave Falkovnia in order to join his troops on the front line, and have Azalin choose to not cast any spells above 2nd level. That would make it a fight Drakov couldn't lose (which would make it fun to watch when he did!)

In fairness, Van Richten deduced Azalin was a lich, so all Drakov needs is someone to have read VRGttL. Given the problems Falkovnia has historically had with vampires (vampyres), wererats and Darkon's hordes of undead, it's not outside the realms of possibility that someone might read it.

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Simply send troops that can't be turned against him. That can't become undead. Send constructs. Embrace the ministry of Science and of the Arcane. Have them work together, whatever it takes, to make an army of super-soldier golems. You can send a few living commanders to direct things, but protect them at all costs with a squad of construct bodyguards. The bodyguards have standing orders to keep their commander alive but hack their charge to pieces if they fail in protecting him and then join up with another squad that still has a living commander. The golem army can do what a standard human one can't: avoid bolstering the enemy ranks when they fall.

But Azalin has other weapons at his disposal. He has constructs of his own (Flesh, Bone and Zombie Golems), Kargat Officers (including lycanthropes, vampires and ghosts. And ghost lycanthropes.), plus if push came to shove Azalin could make a personal appearance. While Golems tend to be immune to most spells, they need live humans controlling them. Acid Fog, Incendiary Cloud, Wall of Ice; these are all in Azalin's spell book and are great for large battle fields. Once the human officers are dead, the constructs become mindless brutes that might attack each other, while the dead officers rise as zombies and attack the constructs.

Still, it would be cool to see Drakov's version of Warforged fighting Kargat Werebeasts.

That's, of couse, assuming Drakov knows that the Creeping Death is why he's lost before.

I don't think he does. According to Gaz II, he executed his general staff after each failure in the Dead Man's Campaign. Drakov blames everyone but himself for his failures.

Ryan Naylor wrote:In fairness, Van Richten deduced Azalin was a lich, so all Drakov needs is someone to have read VRGttL. Given the problems Falkovnia has historically had with vampires (vampyres), wererats and Darkon's hordes of undead, it's not outside the realms of possibility that someone might read it.

It's possible that a member of the Falkovnian general staff read VRGttL and didn't dismiss it as lurid fiction; it's a little less likely for said officer to then convince Mr. Impaler to listen to him.

The Pickled Punk wrote:But Azalin has other weapons at his disposal.

Yes, he does. But spread all over Darkon. And he's never needed anything beyond his undead-control powers to repel Falkovnia before. A surprise attack from a construct army could make a lot of headway before he could bring enough of his considerable other resources to bear on it. They could certainly seize at least a few towns (Nartok, and/or a pre-Whistling Fiend Creeana.) Then Azalin would have his hands full ousting them. He could do it, but it would not be as easy as repelling them with a thought like he usually does. And he'd probably weigh carefully if it was worth doing at all. It might serve his needs to appease Drakov with a "victory" for some time. It would also be a case of "be careful what you wish for" for Drakov. What will he do with a chunk of Darkon if he gets it?

Actually, Azalin might just shrug his shoulders and wait 3 months. When the leaders of the occupying force "go native," any gains made by Drakov will simply disappear, and Azalin will have a golem army of his own, under the control of his now-Darkonian defectors.

(Of course, if Drakov knows about the memory drain effect, he'd do well to rotate the occupying leaders every few weeks, but that means they have to cross the borders... and if Azalin catches wind of the rotation schedule... out comes the zombie border patrol.)

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Simply send troops that can't be turned against him. That can't become undead. Send constructs.

I'll have to think about this one. Magical constructs would encounter the thematic problem that "anything that Drakov can commission, Azalin can simply make - and better". I suppose I could go with more mechanistic golems - that might fit the "sinister Nazi superweapons" trope for the Germanic Falkovnians. On the minus side, I do intend to focus on the neighboring Enlightenment-style domains in future, and I'd like to reserve that sort of technological edge for them. Food for thought, though, definitely.

Perhaps the Falkovnians could bring along a small scrimmage line of golems. That way, they'd have an animated picket line to mash up incoming undead. Depending on the numbers involved, they'd probably still have to use extensive static fortifications in order for their human soldiers to eliminate the rest. (I'm assuming that Azalin needs to be within 2 miles of his undead drones for them to exhibit "sapient" tactics, as per Roots of Evil stats - if he's distracted in his labs and just activating them as an automated defense system, they'd function on a pretty mindless level of seek-and-destroy.)

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Azalin might just shrug his shoulders and wait 3 months. When the leaders of the occupying force "go native," any gains made by Drakov will simply disappear, and Azalin will have a golem army of his own, under the control of his now-Darkonian defectors.

Excellent point - I had actually thought of that but forgot to post that in my initial discussion list. The operation would have to be very speedy - Falkovnia would want to bunny-hop its forces from city to city during the day, to get to Il Aluk and Avernus ultimately and overturn the Darkonian seat of power. Their goal is very similar to the Coalition's goal in Iraq in 2003: finding the enemy leader himself is only one priority among many - they're equally happy with finding evidence that destroys the public's trust in him and prevents the public from ever returning him to power again (undead control, hideous experiments, quintessential falsehood of the Eternal Order, a quasi-divine aborted fetus in his vaults, even the mundane truth of political prisoners rotting away in horrendous conditions in royal prisons and torture chambers).

I hadn't thought of the possibility of "rotating out" their troops to prevent memory fatigue - but I'm liking the idea. It would be similar to a medieval Berlin Airlift: a staggering logistical feat, but if they can pull it off, it would be a huge morale boost and a demonstration of command-and-control sophistication over brute force. The logistical problems would be tricky, though, even assuming the Creeping Death only comes at night...

My initial thought of dealing with this was that the Falkovnian invasion would literally be done within a month or so. If you're counting on guile to take cities, a "lightning war" is probably a better bet than a war of attrition (and it suits the concept of Germanic military innovation and efficient action fairly well, too). Falkovnian troops would not disenfranchise or press-gang Darkonians, beyond taking grains and foodstuffs, because they don't intend to stick around too long. Moreover, the Falkovnian strategy would be to install sympathetic anti-Azalin Darkonian leaders in each place they fortify. That alone might assuage initial Darkonian fears of mass executions, torture, rape, and slavery.

The main message would be "We're here to help you overthrow your despot and maybe help with nation-building, then we're pulling up and going back home". Clearly, this would be a first for the army, but it's another sign of the important role played by the Nachrichtendienst.

Ryan Naylor wrote:In fairness, Van Richten deduced Azalin was a lich, so all Drakov needs is someone to have read VRGttL. Given the problems Falkovnia has historically had with vampires (vampyres), wererats and Darkon's hordes of undead, it's not outside the realms of possibility that someone might read it.

I'd forgotten about that! If we accept that the book itself is very rare, it may explain why Azalin decided on the "no response is the best response" method. (Much as celebrities often choose to ignore libel or slander rather than respond and give dubious credence to their veracity.) Such a book could definitely have been brought to Drakov by the Nachrichtendienst after years of searching. Given his own personal experiences in Darkon, Drakov might even be able to make the mental breakthrough (of Azalin's true nature) on his own initiative.

I might have to do some fiddling with dates. I'm holding that Drakov aims above all else to overthrow Azalin because he knows his true nature - and his military actions in other realms was an attempt to install friendly allied governments that would assist him on his "War on Horror" (or whatever you might call a war against something completely inhuman). However, if it was the VRGttL which finally tipped him off, then the book's publication date might have come too late to adequately explain his police actions in Borca and the other nations.



Finally, I appreciate The Pickled Punk's contributions, which focus almost exclusively on canonical reasons why the invasion would fail. However, given that the thread's clear intended purpose is to discuss non-canonical ways that an invasion could succeed, it appears perhaps this thread isn't for you.

Yes, I agree Drakov should go for a BlitzKrieg or however it's spelt. xD

Curiously how far is it from the border of Darkon to Castle Avernus? While Azalin may be a lich, even Liches can be overwhelmed with pure numbers. Maybe Drakov could take control of Lycanthropes? I've never seen a undead lycanthrope though technically I guess it wouldn't be impossible... <.< (Perhaps a new wrench to throw in my PC's plan.... 'Prepare the silver! It's a lycanthrope' 'Oh shit that didn't work and it looks dead.... run!')

Perhaps he could make a deal with a devil.... (no literally!) Using a reality wrinkle to fight Azalin, I mean if he knows he suddenly feels weird about a certain section of his land why wouldn't Azalin? (This is assuming he knows a bit of the workings of his curse) Further maybe have it be old Inajira... he has a thing for war and battles to be won no? (grins from the thought of this) If he had a few demon's in his ranks he wouldn't have to "rotate" the forces as long as they generally spaced throughout his army.

Again time would be off the essence. I think it should be fast and hard if he's going into Darkon. If he can't win conventionally through combat if he could slander or destroy enough of Darkon's cities it might also cripple Azalin's rule.... maybe like a scorched earth policy?

I'm just throwing things out there take what you like! xD

If Drakov where to take Avernus and learn about those rewriting memory books he might be able to stop it as well. Though he'd never see the effects for himself other's could tell him through the grape vine.

I got a question.... what if you "protection from Evil" on an Undead? It stops mental influence right? Would that stop Azalin from controlling them? Or does that trap undead.... i forget. xD

What Drakov really needs, imo, is a fifth column--a group of powerful Darkonians who (in this scenario) already believe that Azalin is an undead abomination, an evil tyrant, or that they stand to profit by Azalin's being toppled, or some combination of those. (He also needs the mindset that Darkonian assistance is necessary. which is at odds with his canon portrayal but perfectly possible under your idea of his character, HMB.) They also need to believe that being ruled by Drakov will be better for their purposes than being ruled by Azalin, which is a bit of a stretch for most.

One group that could conceivably check all those boxes is the Fraternity of Shadows. They have certainly come across VRGttL, they might very plausibly have learned Azalin is a lich on their own, they are anti-necromancy, and Azalin is far too active a player in managing the affairs of the Core for their tastes--if he won't eliminate or remove himself somehow (always possible) he has to be eliminated.

In the USS/QtR writeup of the Fraternity of Shadows, one of the reasons the first Dead Man's Campaign was the most successful is that the Fraternity of Shadows backed it. (Amusingly, there's actually a reference in the Stezen d'Polarno story in Tales of Ravenloft to "the purges" at the Brautslava Institute, which I didn't know about when I wrote the article but which fits perfectly with that idea.) You could simply postdate that intervention to this invasion instead and have the FoS members of the Radiant Tower working with their Darkonian counterparts to help the invasion of Darkon succeed.

You could also have a group of disgruntled Darkonian nobles whom Azalin has displaced or done down in this role, or (perhaps) some kind of Ezran heretic or other religious fanatic who is on board with Falkovnia's ideas of human superiority and who wants to kill/enslave Darkon's numerous demihumans. Whoever you pick should be able to bring a lot to the table, though, because as they're written in canon Darkon is just plain bigger and richer than Falkovnia, which means that even without Azalin's mind-boggling advantage of "unlimited undead at my service!!!" any prolonged conflict will end in Darkon's favor.

So! Super soldiers! Fifth column! Blitzkrieg! Whispering campaign! Get crackin', Drakov and minions!

Zilfer wrote:I've never seen a undead lycanthrope though technically I guess it wouldn't be impossible... <.< (

I have. Venrith Chole, Werewolf Ghost Kargat leader (Requiem, GazII), and Alexander Von Lupinoff, Werewolf Ghost aristocrat. (CoTN:Ghosts)

Nathan's right. I had a similar thought last night. If Azalin's control over his minions is less absolute than canon, there are plenty of targets to curry as defectors. Even canonically, we had Tavelia try to take over for herself while Az was "gone". No doubt if she had some friends whispering in her ear and some foreign support, she could try for a coup beforehand. It depends on how much you want to focus on cold war style espionage vs. shock and awe, but a wily intelligent Drakov like yours could make a large gain in Darkon without ever sending a single warrior in.

If his aim is to topple Azalin, he could go right for the throat. liches have one weakness: their phylactery. A small strike force infiltrating Avernus with inside help, perhaps from Andres Duvall or a disgruntled vassalich could attempt to snatch the phylactery and smuggle it home. (I had a rebel vassalich in my campaign once called Azalin's Hand who took the name Severed Hand upon rebelling. Or you could go with one of the existing canon ones.) Imagine Azalin's fuming when his phylactery is out of reach, in a Falkovnian lab with the Ministries of Science and the Arcane probing it for weaknesses. (Last time his phylactery left Darkon, he was in it and triggered the GC, but the signs aren't right now, and he knows it. The demiplane isn't weak enough to allow his spirit into Falkovnia if he dies.)

I'll have to think about this one. Magical constructs would encounter the thematic problem that "anything that Drakov can commission, Azalin can simply make - and better". I suppose I could go with more mechanistic golems - that might fit the "sinister Nazi superweapons" trope for the Germanic Falkovnians.

Yes, but Azalin seems to focus on small numbers of powerful golems (bone, zombie, and the like). What Drakov needs is large numbers of weak golems (half-golem (cyborgs a la Kroenen from Hellboy), or warforged). Azalin can make them better, but Drakov can probably make them faster. No idea what the GURPS rules that you're using say about making golems. But in 3.5, the Craft Construct feat takes 1 day/1000gp in the golem's price. Azalin has himself and a few Vassaliches and whatever few spellcasters he can muster from the Kargat. Drakov has the Radiant Tower, a training ground for wizards. It's a matter of man-power. All you need is a 5th-level wizard with 3 feats. And Azalin doesn't craft any faster than Klaus Falkmagier, newly minted Wiz5.

"War on Horror"

LOL.

ETA: another couple of ideas:
1) One thing Drakov has that Az doesn't (as far as I recall)... Broken Ones. As aberrations, they might be immune to reanimation. (Assuming Vjorn could get them under control, of course)
2) Another idea would be to simply use his normal troops, but make them immune to zombification through SCIENCE. A simple clockwork device could do it, if Drakov is willing to embrace his other bogeyman: gunpowder. Taking a page from every sci-fi movie with slaves or prisoners, a small explosive charge around the neck. In this case, connected to a heart monitor. If your heartbeat stops, your head blows up. No head, no zombie. Depending on the tech level of your Science Ministry, this could be a worn device, or bolted on permanently like the Talon bracers, or an implant. (Yes, a fireball would ruin your day, but lets face it, if you're getting hit by a fireball, your day is not going well already.)

Funny this entire topic of an invasion of Darkon came up, because my current Ravenloft campaign (among two that's currently running with me as GM) is about one.

And it takes places in the year 753 KC (three years after the Grim Harvest).

Before the campaign, I asked myself: why should Falkovnia always have to be the invader? Wouldn't some other domain entirely be interested in filling up the power vacuum left by Azalin's apparent demise?

So I decided to go for another darklord that could actually DESTROY domain borders: Twilight.

Of course, he couldn't get released from the Obsidian Gate all by his lonesome. To help me out, I have to borrow a campaign from another story altogether; heck I had to borrow a campaign from another different GAME SYSTEM altogether:

"Time of the Void," from the Legend of the Five Rings RPG (2nd edition).

In my campaign, Darkon post-Azalin is in the grip of a civil war: Jagged Coast vs. Mistlands vs. Mountains of Misery, etc. In a mistaken attempt to end this mess (and perhaps rule Darkon on the side), a certain Fraternity has decided to break a series of twelve ancient seals to release Gwydion and allow it to fill in the hollow left by Azalin. The characters of the campaign have to make sure that this doesn't happen.