Editing Darklord (section)

=5e Darklords=
As part of its general overhaul of the [[Demiplane of Dread]], 5th edition added a significant number of new darklords - some to replace former darklords, others ruling over brand new domains. Darklords who simply got retconned backstories, genderbent, and other traits have those details added to their entries above. Quite a few of these characters don't have much info on them due to being only mentioned in the "Other Domains of Dread" section of the book, most of which only have a single paragraph dedicated to their domain and darklord.

One trait common to most 5e darklords is that the personalized domain border closures of the past are largely gone; there might be cosmetic tweaks or some extra mechanical effects, but in general most 5e Domains of Dread all function the same when a person tries to escape through a closed border.

==Chakuna==
The replacement Darklord of Valachan, and one of the few 5e darklords to explicitly continue on in some fashion from the setting as it existed before. A female [[werepanther]], Chakuna belongs to a tribe of [[werecat]]s (specifically panthers and ocelots) called the Oselo, whom were hunted to the brink of extinction by Baron Urik von Kharkov, as he had come to fixate upon them as the most intriguing and challenging quarry. (Nevermind that Urik was originally "Blacula Strahd" with no real interest in "hunting the most dangerous game".) To save her people, she went to the literal heart of the domain and performed an unholy rite, cutting out her own heart and offering it to the land as sacrifice in exchange for the power to defeat Urik. Long story short, it worked; she ripped out his heart, tore him to pieces, and buried his still-living and curse-spewing head in the ruins of his castle before building her own treetop hunting lodge atop the ruins. Which is actually kind of badass. But now the jungle has become hungrier than ever, and she must regularly sacrifice human hearts to the land to keep the plants and animals from slaughtering all the Valachani (shades of the Wildlands, there), which she obtains through the "Trials of the Heart" - ceremonially hunting down designated victims with the aid of trained [[Displacer Beast]]s. She won't touch a fellow Oselo, but everybody else is fair game.

Chakuna can only be killed if her heart is found in the secret grove where she performed her dark rite and destroyed, but unless somebody assumes her mantle in the process, then the jungle will be free to kill everyone.
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==Flimira Vhage==
Currently very little is known about Flimira Vhage other than that their domain is the office of a detective agency which is actually an extension of their own broken mind.

==The Inheritors of Darkon==
Similar to what happened during [[Grim Harvest]], Darkon currently has multiple Darklords while Azalin is missing. Specifically, there's only three of them this time.

'''"Baron" Alcio Metus''' is a female vampire, and the sister of Baron Metus - the vampire who got [[Van Richten]] started on his monster-killing path. Having risen to rule the criminal underworld of the Jagged Coast region, driving out her former Kargat masters in the process, Alcio burns with the desire for revenge against Van Richten for killing her brother. Not helping is that she's occupied Van Richten's ancestral home of Richten House and found that Van Richten's wife Ingrid still lingers as a [[ghost]] - but one who refuses to help Alcio in her quest for vengeance.

'''Cardinna Artazas''', the thrice-reincarnated leader of an elfin mystery cult in Nevuchar Springs, has damned her soul in the name of good: desperate to preserve Darkon, she has striven to revive the spirit of Darcalus Rex, the king who reigned over Darkon prior to the coming of Azalin. Unfortunately, all she has called forth is a necrichor, and she must constantly weigh her belief that what she is doing serves "the greater good" against the very real demands that the undead tyrant makes for ever-greater magical reagents and sacrifices.

Finally, '''Madame Talisveri Eris''' is an elderly but vibrant and intelligent aristocrat who accidentally made herself permanently invisible whilst seeking to make herself look younger. She uses her invisibility to her advantage, having created an array of different identities that she assumes through costumes and cosmetics. She's currently built up a cult amongst the younger members of Il Aluk's nobility, offering them an elixir on the night of the new moon that makes them invisible until dawn and then sending them out to commit crimes and mayhem that advance her cause.

Because none of them are true darklords yet, none of them have specific curses.

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03-011.alcid.png|Alcio Metus, looking like a [[Shadowrun]] PC.
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==Isolde & Nepenthe==
Like the original Isolde, the 5e Isolde is an [[eladrin]] [[paladin]], though this one was an [[adventurer]] who battled [[dragon]]s and [[demon]]s that threatened the [[Feywild]]. This unknowingly led her into the machinations of [[Zybilna]], an evil [[archfey]] who had lost a number of [[fiend]]ish allies to Isolde and her companions. Zybilna called upon her remaining pacts to arrange for a powerful [[incubus]] called "The Caller" (5e's retconned version of the Gentleman Caller) to corrupt and slaughter Isolde's companions; once that was done, the archfey stepped in and exploited Isolde's vulnerable state to become her "new best friend". She arranged for Isolde to become the guardian of a traveling fey carnival that also concealed a portal to Zybilna's realm... then, when Isolde began to tire of this role and their relationship grew strained, she secretly warped Isolde's mind with magic to ensure that Isolde would always prioritize the needs of the Carnival over her own wants. Even so, this wasn't enough to keep Isolde bound to Zybilna's reins. When Isolde encountered a traveling carnival from the [[Shadowfell]] managed by [[shadar-kai]], she made a pact with its twin managers to trade ownership of their carnivals, but only until next the two carnivals met. The shadar-kai agreed, and gave her the magical sword Nepenthe as symbol of her new status as owner and champion - but that wasn't enough for Zybilna. She used her magic to erase Isolde's memories of all things relating to Zybilna, and also sent fey creatures to forever follow and harass Isolde's new carnival.

To make things worse, Nepenthe was a cursed blade; an intelligent Holy Avenger used to execute thousands of criminals, not all of whom were actually guilty, the blade had developed a deep craving for bloodshed in the name of justice. In Isolde, it found an easily manipulated host; it awoke her memories of the Caller, and stoked her desire for retribution. In many ways, it could be considered the "true" darklord of the Carnival, especially given how Isolde constantly struggles to resist its naked, insatiable need to kill.

Isolde's curse, then, is to wrestle with both the imperatives of Zybilna and those of Nepenthe; she craves vengeance, but finds herself forever stymied by her need to tend to the ever-growing Carnival's need, as well as fearing that she may one day encounter the Carnival's true owners and be forced to relinquish it back to them. Explicitly, she could be saved if Nepenthe was taken from her, but its grip on her mind means she would refuse to abandon it.
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==Klorr==
Darklord of Klorr. We know nothing about this darklord, but the name is taken from a character who appeared in the original Red Box; a clockwork-obsessed [[planeswalker]] [[mage]] who was infuriated that he couldn't synchronize and control his heart the way he could his clockwork creations. He made assorted dark bargains and ultimately came to rest in the [[Demiplane of Dread]], where he produced four cursed timepieces: the Water Clock of Klorr, the Moondial of Klorr, the Hourglass of Klorr, and his final work: the Timepiece of Klorr. This cursed pocketwatch gave Klorr extended life and increased arcane power, but required him to regularly charge it with murder, an impulse he succumbed to. It ultimately killed him when he failed to sacrifice a life to it on time.

The Timepiece of Klorr is given mechanical stats in the "Forbidden Lore" boxed set. Klorr's other works are statted in "Forged of Darknes":
* The Water Clock lets the user transform into a water [[elemental]], but might kill them in the process and also might leave them permanently trapped in elemental form.
* The Moondial grants powers based on the phase of the moon, but slowly transforms the user into a light-averse monster.
* The Hourglass can grant the user Improved Haste for 1 hour, but will age them 1d10 years and might also leave them under the effects of Slow for 24 hours after being used.

==The Last Passenger==
Darklord of The Mourning Rail.  Nothing is known about this Darklord other than they were a VIP that delayed a train escaping from The Mourning, and threw out a bunch of passengers to make room for their self and their retinue, dooming the train, and they are now an undead being of some kind trapped on the train with the rest of the undead passengers.

==Ramya Vasavadan==
Darklord of Kalakeri. Ramya was hand-picked by her father, the last ruler of Kalkeri, to succeed him, but when he died, her brother Arijani contested her claim, leading to a brief civil war. Ramya would have killed Arijani then and there, but their sister Reeva counseled mercy, and Ramya conceded, not really wanting to kill her brother anyway. She enjoyed a brief period of unchallenged leadership, bringing a golden age to Kalakeri, but all the while Reeva was working behind her back to build up support for Arijani, culminating in her freeing Arijani and launching a second civil war. Enraged, Ramya suppressed the rebellion with brutal methods, executing captured rebel ranas and executing them in horrifically inventive methods that only made the people distrust her more and furthered the fighting. At the second war's climax, Arijani and Reeva sued for peace and Ramya agreed... only to be captured by her treacherous siblings and murdered. Before the court strangler garotted her in the central courtyard of her own palace, Ramya cursed her siblings as bloodthirsty beasts.

Once it was done, Arijani and Reeva further disrespected their sister by throwing her body into the ocean... an act that resulted in a terrible monsoon lashing Kalakeri for weeks. And then, when it was done, Ramya rose from her watery grave and marched on her former siblings, followed by an ever-swelling army of undead soldiers made up of all her loyal warriors who had fought and died for her. This time, Ramya showed no mercy, capturing her siblings and having them crushed to death by undead elephants.

...And then they came back as fiends - Arijani as a [[rakshasa]] and Reeva as an [[arcanaloth]] - and the civil war has raged ever since.

This civil war is the primary curse that Ramya experiences, with three secondary elements. Firstly, despite knowing better, Ramya is the sentimental sort, and so ''always'' remains vulnerable to the lies and deceptions of her siblings, which prevents her from truly ending the war. Secondly, Ramya's direct control over the domain is tied to her being seated in the Sapphire Throne, the symbol of Kalakeri's ruler; if the rebels oust her from the Cerulean Citadel, then her dominion diminishes until she can reclaim it. The final curse she labors under is the fact that, despite being shrouded in an illusion of life, Ramya ''knows'' that she's actually [[undead]], and this is apparent in her reflection, so she bans mirrors from her presence. That said, she ''is'' willing to confide this secret to adventurers who show nothing but absolute loyalty to her, unlike her siblings who will never willingly reveal their true nature to anybody.
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03-020.maharani-ramya-vasavadan.png|Ramya Vasavadan
03-021.arijani-and-reeva.png|Arijani (left) and Reeva (right)
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==Sarthak==
Darklord of the Ashram of Niranjan, Sarthak is an evil bronze dragon who poses as a mystic named Niranjan. He send agents into the Mists bearing his philosophical writings, which promise escape, peace, and enlightenment to any who adopt their teachings. Anyone who comes to his monastery is told that they must divest themselves of worldly goods, which are added to Sarthak’s hidden hoard. Sarthak then helps his victim enter a blissful trance that causes their soul to slip away from their body over the course of days. Sarthak consumes this soul and replaces it with a shadow, leaving the victim’s body under his control.

There's no indication of what his curse might be, since he's in the "Other Domains of Dread" section of the book and as such only gets a single paragraph to himself. That said, it wouldn't be ''entirely'' out of the blue to imagine that he might be a [[Shadow Dragon]] or [[Dracolich]], considering his ability to eat people's souls or replace them with shadows. The writers of the book have stated that his curse is apparently an unending and all-consuming hunger for souls.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Ravenloft]]