Azalin Reviews: Darklord Jack Karn
Darklord: Jack Karn Domain: Farelle Domain Formation: Unknown Power Level: 💀 ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ (1/5 skulls) Source: Realm of Terror (2e)
The scholars that study the realms of the mists have very little to say about Jack Karn, the jackalwere Darklord of the heavily forested Domain of Farelle. The measly scrapes of information published on Karn is that the people of Farelle are entirely unaware of Jack’s true nature and know him as a traveling tinker.
Jackalweres are jackals that can take the form of a humanoid or hybrid jackal-humanoid similar to a lycanthrope’s werebeast form. They’re often characterized as lying cowards. So…how would one particular beguiling coward gain the attention of our tormentors and be locked away in a prison of their own making?
Given that Jack is seen as a tinker, that most likely relates to his curse. A potential scenario is that Jack was a ‘Deceiver’. Deceivers are part of a mated pair that lead a group of their fellows and their ‘pet’ jackals. Perhaps this theoretical pair developed a love for thievery.
The two jackalweres were ruthless, using all of their cunning and deceit to amass a fortune of stolen wares, but it was never about the wealth for them, it was about the thrill of the hunt. Preying upon the weak and taking what was theirs for the taking. This is how the two Deceivers lived.
In time, Jack developed a greed for the stolen wealth. A greed that drove him and his mate apart. A greed that ultimately led to him killing his mate over some meager gemstone or another. For this, he was cast out of his clan of jackalweres and forced to roam the lands alone, but he never let go of his greed. He continued to hunt and steal until he came across a wondering tinker. Though the tinker did not have much, Jack’s green was insatiable and he killed the tinker all the same. Unknown to Jack, the tinker was cursed to wander the lands peddling his goods and to be forever apart from his own people and upon killing him, that curse was passed to Jack.
The mists took him in this moment, transferring him into the domains of dread where he must, forever, wander his small domain on his own peddling his stolen goods.