#mordent

[ardsdraws]

Lucretia, dearly beloved NPC for my games. Runs medical research with some help from local univercity. And a hospital for extreme injuries and infections. (of the Sisters of Mercy, of course) Jolly lady

[themistboundtable]

D&D Character Journal: Crumpets

Prianna’s Favorite Recipes from Other Domains: 14 / 25

I spent nearly a year in Mordent, and I will admit it tested my patience in ways I had not expected. The streets were perpetually damp, the sky a stubborn light gray, and the cuisine… restrained, to put it kindly. I have no desire to sound like a food snob, but there were days I wanted to seize someone by the shoulders and demand an explanation for their fear of seasoning. Porridges, custards, puddings, jellied constructions of questionable texture, one after another, as though the entire domain had collectively agreed that subtlety must always triumph over pleasure. I endured it politely. I did not enjoy it. What saved my days were crumpets and tea. Simple, unassuming little rounds with their honeycombed tops, toasted just enough to crisp the edges while remaining tender within. I slathered them with butter and jam in quantities that earned me more than a few raised brows, but after a day of culinary restraint, I felt justified. Paired with a hot cup of tea against the chill of an overcast morning, it was a small, steady comfort. Even in a land where flavor seemed rationed, that little ritual was something I could look forward to.

[mx-lamour]

Really appalled that I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin never actually reveals what happened in Mordent. The information/memory is never recovered. Baffling. Is it in another book? Which one?

[darklordazalin]

Raveloft Lore Tuesdays

Domain of May: Barovia – The First Domain of not quite the First Vampire Domain Formation: 351 BC

Lore: Historical Event – The Arrival of the Necromancer

According to a tarokka card reading done by the famed Seer Vistana Madam Eva and later repeated by her predecessor, Madam Ilka, a Necromancer would arrive in Barovia and would be one of Strahd’s greatest foes and would bring war to the land of Barovia. That Necromancer was me 💀 

The war itself amounted to a few skirmished before we both called it a day, but the events that occurred while conducting experimentations to escape back to my home world of Oerth changed the lands in the Mists forever. Though each failure brought me new data and new irritation to von Zarovich, they also, perhaps more importantly led to the creation of Forlorn, Arak, and Mordent. I myself explored Forlorn, but found nothing more than a sad creature locked away in their castle and far too many goblyns. Arak…would not permit me within and any surveyors I sent on my behalf went missing. Mordent…well, I have nothing more than vague recollections of the place but I know, for a brief moment, I had succeeded in allowing both Strahd and I to escape Barovia for far too short a time.

After the Mordent event, I knew I had been fooling myself and foolishly stepped into the Mists, following the sounds of the Vistani within in hopes of escaping back to Oerth. My efforts awarded me with my very own prison designed to torment me for eternity…

How to use Azalin’s Time in Barovia in Your Games

If you wish to use the formation of the Domains resulting from Azalin and Strahd’s experiments, then I suggest speeding up the timeline if you wish to use all three or just focus on one of them.

Forlorn’s appearance could easily result in a surge of goblyns pouring into Barovia. This is easily something for a group of adventurers to learn of and deal with. Goblyns, not to be confused with goblins, are humanoids twisted by magic into bug-eyes, sharp jaws, sickly looking creatures with long claws and no will but that of the one who created them and no pleasure but to eat anything they can get their hands on. Such creatures could quickly devastate a small town in Barovia.

Arak is a desolate land with Shadow Fey living far beneath its surface. Perhaps Barovia opens a mining expedition in the new land and…’dig too deep’, as is the classic fantasy tale, and uncover some ancient evil the dwelled below. The Shadow Fey are very much like the Unseelie Court and if a mine ended up unburying a few of them…well, that could result in odd Fey bargains such an individual who suddenly becomes incredibly wealthy and/or the Burgomaster of a town in Barovia, but…they must always walk backwards or only talk in riddles. An unknown horror could recreate a mind-controlled populace or possessed miners. There is a lot you could do with this.

As for Mordent, well the events of Azalin and Strahd’s time in Mordent are depicted in Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill. It is a…strange adventure at best where Strahd using the Apparatus and slips himself into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ halves…players are pitted against his evil half throughout…Azalin just kind of watches? There’s a lot of oddities within, but if you want to do something similar and want to have Azalin in your game, well the events in Mordent could have split Azalin in two, but they aren’t put back together. His lich half could easily replace the lich in the Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd and his human half could be the ‘mad mage’ the resides on Mount Baratok.

[saribrum]

The third Tarokka card is for our rogue, Solomon C. Kulle as The Broken One. Solomon belongs to @systememotions and is a fellow mist traveler, but he is from the domain of Mordent. We recently found out that he is undead, which was as big of a surprise for him as it was the rest of us. So far we have gleaned that he was killed by the headless horseman, but not in a way that was satisfactory for the beast. It wanted his head, but Solomon was swallowed up by the mists before it could get it. Now it’s chasing our party trying to finish the job. Many mysteries still surround Mr. Kulle such as how he reanimated after his death, why the beast was after him in the first place, and why he doesn’t remember much of the event at all. Regardless, it is easy to see why The Broken One fits him so well.

[musicainextenso]

What do you think about our new logo?

[little-scholar]

Strazalin: Our Last Summer, The Ravenloft/ABBA Jukebox Musical

This started as a joke, but now I think it’s pretty great…So I curated a playlist of all ABBA songs which I felt really embodied the story told in I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin by P.J. Elrod. This turned into a pretty great jukebox musical for Ravenloft, and so I’ve written out this analysis. I think this is better than Mamma Mia, so take that as you will. There’s a way that ABBA speaks to Ravenloft like no other musical group will do. Most of this playlist are songs from Strahd’s perspective which is most of the novel too. So here are my ramblings, and there’s a link at the bottom to go follow the playlist on Spotify if interested. 

Act 1

1. Our Last Summer - Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with Azalin over the past few summers (many years of summers in fact). There’s a montage of scenes as a preview to the rest of our story. Alternate: Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with his lover, Alek Gwylim, and his obsession, Tatyana and her reincarnations. He is ultimately oblivious to the impending War about to be.

2. Watch Out  - Strahd meets the Zarovan tribe. In a meeting with Madam Eva, Strahd is warned to watch out for the Necromancer who he is destined to go to war with. (The Necromancer turns out to be Azal’lan.) 

3. Arrival - Firan Zal’honan arrives in Barovia from the Mists. Bagpipes are in the background - Strahd mentions bagpipes like once in this book, so it fits.

4. The Day Before You Came - Strahd reflects on his normal routine the day before Azalin came into his life stirring up all kinds of chaos.

5. I’ve Been Waiting for You - Strahd has been waiting for The Necromancer for a long time. Suddenly, he finds him. 

6. I Have a Dream - Both Strahd and Azalin join forces with the common goal, or dream, of breaking free of the Dark Powers control and out of the Mists back to the material plane.

7. I Let the Music Speak - More like, I let the magic speak. This song starts the tale of Azalin tutoring Strahd in magic. Side note but also Strahd keeps mentioning Azalin not being one for music. Strahd is a music man and plays the organ. This song slaps so gotta do it. 

8. When I Kissed the Teacher - So…Strahd is engaged with his tutor. 

9. Andante, Andante - See the above. Also, “please don’t let me down” is his way of saying don’t betray me even though it is inevitable. Just think about it.

10. Knowing Me, Knowing You - Inevitably, Strahd and Azalin split. Azalin moves to the tower renovated by Van Richten in 5e. They know each other well to know they can never really live without being in fear that one would destroy the other. 

11. Me and I - While trying to break free, Strahd’s personality splits apart in Mordent. His two personalities sing this one. 

12. Two For the Price of One - Again a play on Strahd’s two personalities. Azalin handles Strahd putting him back together again. 

13. When All is Said and Done - Strahd wakes up in Barovia a while later unaware of what happened and that his personalities split. In the crystal ball he finds Azalin in a domain of his own, Darkon. They have biting words. This tension marks the end of Act 1. 

[End of Act 1]

Act 2

14. The Name of the Game - Strahd wonders what the game with Azalin is all for. What is the name of the game? This opens Act 2. This tension is the key aspect of Act 2. 

15. I’m a Marionette - This song can be used in reference to many different apprentices of Azalin including my PC in CoS.  Since he cannot master new magic, he is forced to use others to master what he cannot. These apprentices are usually subject to Azalin’s mental games and manipulation making them a marionette. Strahd was also one as Azalin curse Strahd in order not to put the big picture/dots together. This is the name of the game. 

16. Rock Me - Azalin and Strahd chat escalating to Azalin challenging Strahd to a war between their domains.

17. Soldiers - It’s war. Soldiers sing the song that neither dark lord will knowing that neither can see battle due to being stuck in their own domains. 

18. The Winner Take It All - Strahd singing The Winner Takes it All is all I’ve ever wanted, but ultimately, Azalin is the better ruler and has a victory over Strahd in the sense that Strahd will always view Azalin with fear. 

19. One of Us - This song is sung by both Azalin and Strahd missing each other in their domains. The loneliness of being a Dark Lord I suppose. 

20. Move On - Eventually, Strahd and Azalin just move on from war. It’s just not worth it. Not until Strahd is more creative in his approach to battle with Azalin. 

21. So Long - I final fuck you to Strahd from Azalin.

22. As Good As New - Azalin and Strahd’s relationship has never been better than being out of war and being separated.

23. The Way Old Friends Do - Azalin and Strahd are old friends. “And after fights and words of violence, we make up with each other - the way old friends do.”

[End of Act 2]

And that’s the show! The War Against Azalin really slaps, so I would recommend also picking up the book for spicy content (and also listening to it with your Strahd cardboard cutout if you’re like me and @sapphogothicc. Here’s a link to the playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6TI91Un4sxz3ehEhguwKuc?si=j3DWuLMITteC01fnjEdG9A

[daemons-and-deathrays]

Wretches of Ravenloft - Mordent

Wretches of Ravenloft – Mordent

Mordent, considerably more progressive than other domains by a distance.  Curiously, its presence in the Mists is the fault of Strahd and Azalin.  They devised a scheme to exploit an apparatus within the realm to free themselves from their imprisoned domains.  This failed, sealing Mordent’s fate as well.

A fair share of oddities drift in and around the domain.  The Darklord himself, Lord Wilfred…

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