Dawn in Flaness

where Azal'Lan overlooks from his castle

Quick sketches of Azalin for an easily switchable token.  

DMs of Ravenloft! What are your favorite Dark Lords to run as NPCs and why?

Even if nobody answers, here’s mine:

Strahd ‘depression incarnate’ Von Zarobitch -> He is the prettiest, snarkiest, most delightfully complex bisexual disaster in DnD canon. And i’m also a fruity eldest sibling with a traumatic backstory. How can I not adore playing him?

Jacqueline ‘rat mommy’ Renier -> She’s almost tied with Azzy, but I love the girl boss energy she gives off while also being probably the most level headed and diplomatic dark lord. That, and once again- I sympathize as an eldest sibling.

Azalin ‘chaos goblin’ Rex -> I’ve only just begun running him in my campaign, but he’s such a special brand of feral bastard. A bastard that brings out the petty bitch in Strahd and gave us the glorious War Against Azalin book. He’s a king, he’s a legend. I hate him affectionately.

(2e) Ivan ‘have you seen Hamilton’ Dilisnya -> I run a 5e game in 2e lore, so he’s an obscure choice but- this monster is what would happen if you give a theatre kid unlimited power. And I love it.

Maligno ‘Evil Pinocchio’ van murder puppet -> Another 2e lad, I kicked off one of the parties’ part campaign with this fellow. There’s something so delightful about running this monster that is a hybrid of Pinocchio himself… and a reverse William Afton from FnaF

Seen here, covered in red after a particularly bloody political fight

After a third conjunction of petty squabbling, the Kargat have failed to solidify Alicio Metus as candidate they're kinda thinking about for candidate of Kargat Leadership. Ever since the ousting of Tavelia, the Kargat has been at metaphorical and at times physical war with itself over whom to nominate for Kargat Leadership. Stemming from a conflict of the normal establishment Kargat and the more hardline "Kill 'Em Caucus", whom object a vampire elf with a katana is not hardcore enough. Alicio Metus suffered the biggest blow against her in that she supported Azalin's certification as Darkon's king over the blindly murderous rampaging Lowellyn Dachine several continuities ago. Dachine's disapproval proved to be the effective Death of Metus' nomination. Still amid all the chaos, there is some whom remain optimistic for a valid candidate. "We won't settle for anything less hardcore than a ghost werewolf assassin frothing at the mouth, the complete package!" said one hopeful supporter of Venrith Chole as the next futile pick for unifying candidatish person.

I think Chuck could take Azalin Rex in a fight because Azalin might have a massive repertoire of magic, but Chuck has a fucking Ghost Train.

In honor of the spoooooky season I am releasing the link to my ongoing Dread Realm’s inspired playlist. Feel free to listen to get into that oh so delicious tabletop setting mood. Some songs are inspired by realms others just give me those vibes from the heart of the Core (Barovia) to Falkovnia, Darkon to Lamordia, Kalikeri and Diementlieu and more!!! Can you survive the Realms of Terror, Dread, and Decay? Probably not… but you will die gloriously with these tunes sourced from the bards of all shapes and sizes!

Featuring:

Neoni, Rob Zombie, Ghost, Saliva, Within Temptation, Avenged Sevenfold, Voltaire, Aviators, In This Moment, Monster Magnet, and it goes on and on much like the Domains themselves… so before you get lost in the mist hit the link above and get haunted!

How have you used Azalin in your campaigns?

I'm currently planning a Ravenloft game and would love to use him as the main villain for it.

So, it depends on the campaign. I often use him as the main villain for campaigns that span across multiple Domains as his scheming often impacts the entire Core.

For example, I am currently running a game in which the characters are searching for the five fragments of Ezra’s shattered shield. Each piece of the shield has its own power associated with a Cleric Domain of Ezra’s and many of the faithful of Ezra believe if her shield is reforged it would not only have the power to protect one against the Legions of the Night (Ezra’s fancy term for the many evil creatures found in the Ravenloft setting), but control the Mists themselves. Azalin, naturally, is very interested in such an item. To control the Mists may allow him to escape, but he also wishes to use the Shield to destroy the Shroud around Necropolis and deal with ‘Death’ once and for all.

In this campaign, Azalin is mostly manipulating things in the background to ensure the characters are able to locate the various pieces of the shield. I plan to have him eventually reveal himself through Kargat agents that may or may not beat the characters to one or more of the shield fragments. He plans to acquire at least one for himself and offer to assist the characters in reforging it – he does have the means, after all and is one, if not the only person with said means.

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I’m actually working on a campaign set entirely in Darkon at the moment, but I won’t get into how I’m using him for that one as a couple of the players for it follow me here. However, here are some ideas on how you can use Azalin in a mostly or solely Darkon campaign:

1.  Azalin isn’t really the type to deal with adventurers head on unless he has to, but he certainly is the type to manipulate them or even hire them into working towards his own goals. He easily can offer many things to a new group of adventurers in exchange for service. There’s the obvious gold, but he can also supply magical items, arcane tutelage, and a vast array of knowledge. Essentially, it would be a simple matter for him to determine what each character desires and offer it as payment. In doing so, the characters are indebted to him and perhaps some become loyal.

2.  Since Azalin’s curse is to not be able to learn new spells,  another way you can use him is to have him test potential Apprentices. He can set up tests of scholarly studies, complex puzzles, and deadly magical experiments and ensure they cross path with these potentials. Though, this obviously requires some sort of arcane caster in your group.

3.  If you want a more hands-on Azalin, I recommend taking advantage of his ability to use his almost impenetrable illusions to appear as anyone. It is true that he typically only does so to appear as he did in life, but that does not mean he is limited to doing so. Whatever illusionary form he takes on, he could use to work directly or indirectly with the party.

4.  You can assume that if a group gains Azalin’s attention, he knows their every move and is always one or more steps ahead of them. He can scry without being detected thanks to his special scrying orb that was made by the Three Hags of Tepest using a spell of Azalin’s own design and a shard of crystal taken from Bluetspur. He can see through the eyes of any of the undead in his Domain and there are a LOT of undead in Darkon. He also has Kargat spies everywhere – the Kargat are mostly made up of lycanthropes and vampires. And then there’s also the fact that he can freely delve into the minds of anyone in his Domain.

5.  If you wish to lean into Azalin’s motivations, his main one is to bring his son (Irik Zal’honan) back to life so he can have a second chance to raise him into the perfect heir. Read “perfect heir” as the tyrant Azalin became over the years. It is because of Irik that Azalin works to escape Ravenloft. He believes if he is able to break free of his prison, then his curse will be removed as well and he will finally be able to learn the spell to bring Irik back.

6. His second lesser motivation is his hatred of Strahd von Zarovich. He blames the vampire lord for causing the events that formed the prisons in the Mist and believes Strahd and Barovia are the linchpin that holds the Domains in place. If Strahd is somehow, permanently removed, Azalin theorizes that it may free them all.

7. Despite his curse, Azalin knows a ridiculous amount of magic and has become very creative with what he knows in order to work around the curse. The adventure “From the Shadows” has him collect adventurers’ heads, place them in magical jars, then send them back in time to collect a specific item for him from Strahd’s castle.  If they fail, he sends them back over and over until they succeed, which is also pretty hilarious. So, get as creative as you want. Azalin can set up a group to experience some rather wacky adventures.

I could go on, but I think I’ll leave it at this before I write an entire dissertation on how to use Azalin in your games :D

incantation

Azalin Rex doing battle with Strahd von Zarovich. Art by Stephen Fabian, from RM1 - Roots of Evil.

found at http://oldravenloft.dungeonsanddragons.ru/library_html/gc/as.gif

Ireena: girlboss

Ismark: soft girlfail

Godfrey: girlfail

Donavich: fail

Davian: generational trauma girlboss

Arrigal: girlboss

Arabelle: girlboss slay

Kasimir: the original girlfail and now girlfails as a living

Clovin: tentative girlboss

Ezmerelda: girlboss

Van Richten: girlfail

Nikolai Wachter, Sr.: controversial but girlboss

Parriwimple: girlboss

Pidlwick II: girlCEO

Sir Klutz: girlfail by name but girlboss in all else

Victor Vallakovich: girlfailure. he girlfails so hard that he gets the full word

Stella Wachter: girlboss by Fiona Wachter association

Vasilka: guys I’m so sorry but she’s a girlfail. Her life is girlfail

Zuleika: girlboss AWOOO

Death Ascendant

A massive brass door with Azalin's face on it, to intimidate adventurers with!

Basically just War Against Azalin in a nutshell. And a depiction of current tensions between the two in my campaign✨

Azalin Rex for my DM.

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?