I’m perfectly normal. No therapy for me. *goes to Barovia with a tiger at the ripe old age of Old*

Van Richten did well so I drew him again…… behave.

I know Dr. Van Helsing is based on the Lutheran pastor Georg Andreas Helwing but I like to hc he’s a rabbi or at least studied in rabbinical school, the doctor being a trundling little old Jewish man ready to help slaughter an ancient evil really works for me

recognition flickered in the girl’s eyes. she knew me as a doctor, a healer, and asked if i could heal her. looking into the eyes of one so young, much younger than my erasmus, i knew i could not harm her. i recalled my old vows and promised the little girl i would do everything i could to save her. — on ezmerelda d'avenir & dr. rudolph van richten

curse of strahd npcs: batch #2 dr. rudolph van richten & ezmerelda d'Avenir

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Azalin

Domain: Darkon Domain Formation: 579 BC Power Level: 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 (10/5 Skulls) Sources: My infallible mind. Actual Sources: 1e module: House on Gryphon Hill; 2e modules: From the Shadows, Roots of Evil, Death Unchained, Death Ascendant, Death Triumphant 2e source material: Realms of Terror, Domains and Denizens, 3e source material: Secrets of the Dread Realms, Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II, Ravenloft Novels: King of the Dead, Lord of Necropolis, I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin, Tower of Doom, Tales of Ravenloft (featured in The Crucidble of Dr. Rudolph van Richten) At first I had qualms about conducting this self review as it requires me to divulge certain information I would rather leave buried, then I realized I could simply modify the memory of anyone who reads this. This way, I can tell the truth and no one is the wiser. I’ve heard rumors of Domains in the Mist that are larger than Darkon, but none are as vastly populated or diverse. Darkon was born from magic and darkness, which has seeped into the very land itself. Magical phenomena are quite common throughout my land and magic, naturally, is a day to day occurrence for my people. On the surface, Darkon is peaceful. At least, for those that know their place. Though I may rarely make a public appearance, my rule is seen everywhere through the direction of my Kargat. As long as my rule holds, the land is steady. I am known to be fair with my judgments if not harsh. Many describe me as ruling as “an iron fist with a velvet glove”. I do love velvet… Enough about this velvet cage of mine, let us move on to my history. How exactly did one as perfect as I end up in this miserable land? I wasn’t always “Azalin” and was born Firan Darcalus Zal’honan in 231 CY in the land of Oerth in the earldom of Knurl to Earl Turalitan Zal’honan. I was the Earl’s middle child and largely overshadowed by both my elder brother (Ranald) and younger brother (Irik). Worst of all, my father hated everything to do with the arcane, something I excelled at at a very young age. So, ignored and belittled for excelling at the very thing my father hated was my life until I disowned my family at the age of 15. What led to this decision…well, I’m ashamed to say I never had a proper teacher in the arcane and grew a bit over confident in my abilities. I really did love my little brother, Irik. He was naive, but always a light of happiness. So naturally I wanted to show him my passion for magic and what better way to do so than bring him along for a demon summoning? Perhaps if my “teacher” Corsalus had any skill or had given me access to the books he said I wasn’t ready for (even though I had already surpassed him), we wouldn’t have botched the summoning and Irik wouldn’t have become possessed. I know that I did the right thing. I went directly to the wizard Quantarius and begged him for his help to save my dear brother. Of course, my father stopped Quantarius before he had the chance. If he had just put aside his biases for one moment and listened to me, Irik would have lived that night. Quantarius was banished and I was given the option of a “pardon” if I renounced magic and accepted the Divine. Ridiculous. At least I know where my power comes from, those that pray for theirs just accept that it comes from whatever God they kneel before, but that source could be anything. It’s not as though their gods ever lower themselves to speaking to a mere mortal. I chose exile and became an Apprentice to Quantarius. I studied under Quantarius for almost three decades before we parted ways. Having a aptitude for magic from a very young age, I learned quickly and even surpassed my Master in many ways. For one, I discovered  a way to harvest the lifeforce of the recently departed to heal as well as restore youth. Yes, you can thank me for such spells as “Life Transference” even if I was not as egocentrically as Mordenkainen to name it after myself. In 283 CY, I was asked to return home and take on the rulership of Knurl. Not surprisingly, my brother Randal’s rule had left the land in chaos since he preferred throwing lavish parties and ignoring his actual duties. With his death, the people of Knurl hoped that the famous wizard of Knurl (I’m speaking of myself, naturally) would save them. I did just that and with my vast knowledge of magic and strict rule I led Knurl into a time of prosperity. I ensured magic was brought back into the earldom and was given the proper respect it deserved. My people called me “Azal’Lan” or “Wizard King” and truly adored me. Eventually, realizing I would not be able to indefinitely extend my own life through magic, I married Olessa in hopes of producing an heir. We had a son and Olessa died in childbirth. A pity really…but it couldn’t be helped. I named the child Irik after my lost brother. I loved Irik very much, but his soft nature was not promising for the strict rule that Knurl needed. Try as I might, he resisted my teachings and eventually betrayed me. I was left with no choice but to execute him myself so my people would know that no one, not even my own son, was above the law. I regretted it though. If only I had done things differently. If only there was a way to start again. And that’s when the voices came to me. What I call my tormentors and now know to be the Dark Powers. They promised me immortality but that was not as appealing to me as their promise of granting me the ability to bring my son back to life. I followed their instructions and gathering the resources necessary, created a potion. Once drunk, I became what I am today, a lich. Not the immortality I imagined but that mattered little as long as I could bring Irik back. They had tricked me and though I could bring Irik back, it was not what I wanted. I could only bring him back as one of the undead, not the true life I had envisioned. Thankfully I was able to undo that transformation and bind his spirit to his corpse so I could cast the proper spell once I learned it. I ruled Knurl for 6 decades as a lich, always careful to disguise my true nature. I was betrayed by one I thought was loyal to me and was lured out of the protection of my home based on a rumor of the spell I sought to restore my son. While seeking out this spell, myself and my guardsmen were surrounded by an army a thousand strong. I could have easily taken hundreds of them out without a second thought, but a thousand required a bit more strategy than mere destructive spellwork. I fled into a thickening fog in the hopes of playing a bit of cat and mouse with my betrayers. Instead I found myself in Barovia. I spent almost 40 years in Barovia working with Strahd von Zarovich on discovering a way to escape the Mists we were now both trapped in. We spent more time bickering than working together, but I did make some headway…inadvertently created a few new Domains and we did escape to Mordent for some time…though as I said before, I did not find it a very memorable experience. I have vague recollection of there being two Strahds there and, let me assure you, one is far too many. After another botched experiment to escape the Mists, Strahd and I were investigating the ruins of an abandoned monastery on the banks of the Luna River. Or more I was investigating while the overgrown flea was sitting in his carriage after assuring me how pointless the effort was. I discovered a single spell scroll within and upon seeing it, Strahd left in a huff of bat wings as he often did. A moment later I heard sounds coming from within the Mists. The sounds of wagons and horse hooves. I rushed within, hoping that whoever was traveling them could escort me away from Barovia…That…wasn’t entirely what happened. Instead I was transferred to my own prison - Darkon. I was split into my mortal and lich half when I first entered Darkon with no memory of who or what I was. Darcalus was King of Darkon when I first arrive and I, Firan, believed he had killed my son and wanted revenge. I wasn’t exactly wrong. I will not get into the details of how, but eventually my two halves combined once more and left me as the King of Darkon. I am clearly the most powerful of the Darklords. Not only am I cursed to never restore my son to life, but I cannot learn new spells. Why? Why this difference? I am convinced they are afraid that I could find a way to destroy them if I was allowed this freedom. But because of this, I feel their presence far more than any of my fellow Darklords and have learned much about them. And I will have my revenge! Even without the ability to learn new magic, I am still an incredibly powerful spellcaster. And…well, I may have a single room in Castle Avernus in which I can learn and cast new magic from. Many consider my rule of Darkon as “strict yet fair” and only meddling fools such as van Richten have learned of my true nature. Most of my subjects believe me to be a powerful wizard who extends his life through magic, which is, technically, correct. Besides being a powerful lich, I can delve into the mind of any Darkonian and rewrite their memories as I see fit. I have infinite control over the undead in my Domain and can raise corpses no matter how far away I am from them. I caused the Requiem that forced many Domains out of the Mists and created Necropolis. I am a force that is not to be reckoned with. I am Darkon.

[Image ID: a lineup of 4 non-player characters from my D&D campaign. from left to right. first is a tiefling with orange-red skin, short brown hair, and grey eyes. their left horn is broken. they wear a black cloak, brown leather armour, striped pants and are holding a hunting knife. next is a half-elf man with dark brown skin. his dark brown hair has a grey streak and he is holding a cane. He has two designs. the first wears a black coat, grey pants, white gloves, and little round glasses. the second is a ringmaster-style costume: green tailcoat with silver embroidery, white pants, and he's also wearing some pale blue eyeshadow. In both his shoes are splattered with blood. Next is a white human man with white hair and red eyes. He wears a black suit with red lapels and a grey waistcoat. He is holding a wooden stake. Lastly, a human woman with brown skin and hair. Her eyes are red and she wears a white collared shirt with poofy sleeves and a long grey skirt. She has a chatelaine. They are all standing in a row against a grey background. End ID]

lineup for a dnd campaign heavily based off of curse of strahd. left to right: ezra d'avenir, dr. rudolph van richten, rictavio, lon godfrey, moira godfrey

More Ravenloft headcanons:

Rudolph van Richten is a scholar, a man of science and also a man of deep faith (which are not conflicting traits despite some belief, especially in a fantasy setting) but he isn’t terribly devout. Instead, his magic is bestowed upon him because of the good he does through his work both as a doctor and as a monster hunter. He briefly lost access to his magic when he went on his homicidal rampage.

Alcio Metus loves to constantly attempt to admire her reflection before having the frustrating recollection that she doesn’t have one and proceeding to vent said frustration by punching the nearest bystander.

Erasmus’ middle name is either Dorian (which I prefer) or Ratin (which is an Ancient Greek name meaning Love or Happiness and also Jewel or “a treasured person”, according to the website I’m currently looking at).

Rudolph has a limp. It’s hardly noticeable most of the time but it does become worse when the weather is bad. He also has quite a few scars. Such injuries are common in the monster hunting business even if you’re careful.

Erasmus has always been more affectionate with his mother but emotionally closer to his father. Only those who knew the family well would’ve been aware of this, however, as it generally appears as though he’s rather detached from his father. (Ingrid is always “m’ma” or “mum” or “mummy” if he really wanted to get away with something. Meanwhile Rudolph is just “father.”)

Azalin’s dragon advisor (who’s name I can never remember how to spell) is always curtain to conduct herself like a proper noblewoman. Even when angered she is controlled and composed. If the situation becomes desperate she is likely to flee before losing said composure and will only lose it if she’s on the edge of death with no way out.

Dr. Ingrid van Richten is and always has been absolutely full of sass.

This was fun and I think I’ll do a list like this for how our campaign has gone so far and what is canon there to the best of my knowledge.

(Part 1)

These were drawn about six months apart

DnD is incredible...

do you have a post explaining what happened to rudolph van richten in your campaign? if not, do you mind me asking what happened to him? your van richten design lives rent free in my head, as do all your designs hehe.

Not fully! I have a post describing the changes I made to him (along with Ireena and Rahadin) here, but I haven't gone in-depth as to what happened to him over the campaign.

The tl;dr is: he died once, but lived through the overall campaign. He was the party's fated ally and one of the players wound up romancing and marrying him. Currently he is semi-retired, writing books and taking care of their kid.

Longer ramble under the cut:

Van Richten was an interesting character, because I played him as a very flawed man with a number of biases, but with still a sense of doing good. He both served as a mentor to the party and someone they actively influenced to be a good person.

When he first ran into the party in Vallaki, it was because Kelogul (the green half-orc I frequently draw) got piss drunk and started screaming about trying to "find bones" (dominoes). Van Richten -- Rictavio, at this point -- not wanting to distress the people of Vallaki *and* assuming this green asshole is going to get his ass killed by something, gently found a way to lead him to Blinsky's place where they all sat and played dominoes while he sobered up. It was also a ploy to get this guy to spend lots of money at his friend's failing, terrifying toy business, but y'know!

The party was exceptionally suspicious of the guy, trying at one point (and failing) to break into his wagon. Realizing this man was shady as all hell, they actually confronted him as Rictavio and it was the party's first instance of "hey just because you succeed every sense motive doesn't mean the NPC will tell you the truth," because they passed every one with flying colors and he absolutely WOULD NOT tell them the truth. At one point I believe they suspected him of being Strahd.

The party kicked off the Feast in Vallaki relatively early. During the feast, Rictavio/Van Richten used the chaos as an opportunity to kidnap Vasili (who I've talked about here) and invited the party to his tower, figuring "oh my god these people are gonna die if I don't help them."

He exposed Vasili as a vampire to them, at first accusing him of being Strahd. It was up to the party to prove to him that Vasili was a different person than Strahd (they did so because he gave a party member his address, and they used that to prove his handwriting was different). This was also when the party met him as Van Richten.

He spent the next bit of the campaign acting as a mentor and support for the party, warning them of traps in Ravenloft's castle and providing them resources to fend against the dangers there while also avoiding Ezmerelda. The party would use his tower as a safe base -- up until Rahadin, sent by Strahd, purposely destroyed the tower (he kept sending vampire spawn to the door and having them deliberately fail the puzzle while the party was still inside).

The party realized he was their fated ally not long after, though Van Richten refused to join them at first (declaring it 'superstitious Vistani nonsense'). He finally joined them as they set off to head towards Amber Temple, where he went to free Vaund and try to free himself of his influence. Vaund told him to eat shit and called him out on being an asshole.

He was present with them the entire time through their trek into Ravenloft. He actually died at one point, killed by Strahd in the exact same way he died the first time. He wound up taking another deal from Vaund -- that in exchange for his life he'd destroy everything he had ever written about the dark power and would never write about him again. He has so far stayed true to his promise.

He was one of the NPCs present as the party killed Strahd (the other being Ireena). It was the first time in the campaign he actually went as Van Richten instead of Rictavio, because he "wanted Strahd to see his real face as he died."

He and the party member that would eventually marry him (Arialoth -- the pink tiefling) were instrumental in researching who Sergei was, which lead to the party abducting Rahadin to interrogate him rather than outright murdering him. They grew close during this period and wound up entering a relationship, eventually marrying when they left Barovia.

Before leaving Barovia, he made peace with the vistani of Vallaki -- confessing to them that he murdered that vistana years ago and what he had planned to do. He made a decision at this point that his next book would be written about the Vistani.

He traveled with the party briefly post-Barovia, but after he and Arialoth had a child he didn't want to leave them alone. During the 5-year timeskip he became a writer, and that's his current occupation, re-releasing all of his books (and writing some new ones -- like the one about the Vistani). He still grapples with Vaund's influence over him, but Vaund is not as prevalent in his life as prior (Dark Powers tend to really only try to lure evil people into being worse, and now that he's become a significantly better person, Vaund sees no point in fucking with him).

Anyway I have probably forgotten a LOT with him lol, and this was long as fuck, but that's the general gist of his course over the campaign. He was an important character and it was a lot of fun to RP him. I have plans for the party eventually returning to the dread realms (either them or their kids) and he will likely once again serve as an important NPC in teaching the party how to travel through the mists.

I've already set up the Carnival (one of the few mobile dread realms) visiting their little town. If the party isn't back by October (when the Carnival shows up) and they aren't present, the Carnival will use the opportunity to fulfill what they were sent to do by Strahd -- kidnap Ireena and steal Tatyana's soul, then take it into the dread domains. Van Richten will go after her, leaving hints and clues for the party while they bumble through the mists yet again. it'll be fun!

anyway thank you for reading my mess, and thank you for asking me about my campaign i'm horribly too invested in.

Hey how about we completely disregard the fact I fell off the face of the Earth for about 6 months - in fact how about we pretend the last 6 months never happened, and we all just distract ourselves by watching me post long rambles about my recent DnD character and look at art drawn by the lovely lilithblack_comics? Okay? Okay, sounds great.

Anyway, as mentioned in this post, this is my character from our recently finished Curse of Strahd campaign, Ramiel the As-Of-Yet-Untitled (seeing as how she got taken by the Mists just before ever officially taking her oaths and becoming a knight, which is of course a thing that troubles her in various ways and on various levels, especially when it ends up seemingly offering more freedom and choices, hmmm). She is a Protector Aasimar, hence the general glowing and healing and the once-a-day radiant wing manifestation and whatnot. Originally from fabulous Aundair in Eberron, with her planetouched origins tying her to the Irian plane, and the Refuge layer specifically. Having ties to what I only half-jokingly call the Spa Plane means she will take a bath in any given body of water if given the opportunity.

She is an Oath of Devotion Paladin, formally trained by the Silver Flame. Very much focused on oathkeeping, honour, and protection (and healing, if that fails, but Sanctuary spell is best spell), and only then meting out justice - though she can be provoked into blazing self-righteous anger. Especially by, for instance, Count Strahd von Zarovich. In fact, increasingly losing or misjudging her, ahem, "protec vs attac" balance has been a running theme for her during the entire misadventure, and might be turning into an ongoing struggle. We sadly lost our important prophesised ally, the famed vampire hunter and scholar Dr. Rudolph van Richten, near the very end of the final boss fight against Strahd, because someone blew her last spell slots on smiting the evil vampire instead of keeping some on hand for healing and/or a quick rez if all else failed. The guilt is immense. It is also certainly not lessened by the fact that a little while before that someone had to go and make a very solemn knightly promise, in a shared quiet, personal, vulnerable moment with a certain Ezmerelda d’Avenir, that both her and her old mentor she came to find and essentially save were going to make it out of the cursed land alive. Well.

Ramiel is an extreme frontliner who somehow gets wrecked in 99% of fights she gets in, even ones she wins, but keeps getting up and is very used to patching herself up. Almost entirely fuelled by Determination. Stubborn and rather painfully earnest and obvious most of the time, pretty awkward sometimes (her noble knightly oath she strives to uphold includes not lying, but honestly I think she couldn't even if she tried). Aggressively Here To Help (to an annoying degree, possibly) with a slight tendency towards holier-than-thou. Absolutely incapable of doing things in half-measures.

She is a dexterous, elegant rapier duelist, when I manage to roll above a single digit number on a d20 (I was the party's designated Cursed Low Roller the whole Strahd campaign, alas). She takes pride and joy in it, and in hard-earned skill in general. Originally in her youth she trained to be a blacksmith - but making strength my dump stat means she is very good at things like fine detailing and filigree, not so much at any bigger work. It's fine, though, silversmithing is a great thing to be capable of in Barovia. It also comes in handy when you want to make a nice gift real quick and impress a cool dashing swashbucklery monster hunter girl who shoots magical lightning bolts. Ilu Ez, someone over at Wizards plucked you out of my own brain while I was sleeping or something.

When paladins hit that sweet, sweet level 5 and get the Find Steed spell they all inevitably become horse girls. It is the law. In any case, that’s Honour up there in the upper left corner, who is the best horse. I am so so so sorry for repeatedly summoning you into a hell prison demiplane buddy ilu.

Near the end of the campaign we got our hands on the Sunsword, which very quickly became another one of my absolute favourite things. Ilu sentient lightsaber, you’re a true pal.

I feel like pondering duty vs choice and being marked by birth to be a tool/weapon in some grand scale struggle of good vs evil, potentially at great personal expense and even to an extent of losing out on actual personhood, is a fairly traditional aasimar character theme, and it kind of ended up gradually materialising for me here even though I didn’t really plan for it initially or necessarily introduce it purposefully. But it’s interesting when you are really uniquely well-suited to fighting against, say, the undead, and you end up trapped as a sort of plaything/brief diversion of an evil vampire overlord in his prison realm, who happens to embody everything you stand against and perhaps even hate. And then you die and get brought back to life several times, among other horrifying things, and you grow into your (increasingly considerable) power outside of any formal structure or organisation and you have to determine the meaning of your oaths all by yourself and figure out what it even means to be a knight and cling to that as best as you can in this crucible, and along the way you make fast friends and develop meaningful interpersonal relationships under very trying circumstances, and you also fall in love, and it ends up being reciprocated.

And then you don’t go back home after the tyrant is defeated and the misty prison walls lifted, but go off to be monster hunting girlfriends roaming the Domains of Dread with Ezmerelda d’Avenir. Because you are so very well suited to the task and there is just so, so much evil to be fought back against here - an important, worthwhile, good fight, no matter the seemingly overwhelming scale and odds - you were clearly Meant To Come Here and were perhaps quite literally Born For This. And besides, you feel you owe it to both her and her fallen mentor (whose death you feel responsible for, natch) to help finish some of his unfinished business and lay him to rest. But really, how much of that is just excuses and justifications drummed up to deal with the guilt of, at least for now, not going back to duties at home, another sort of abandonment, and letting your original companions go deal with whatever chaos is going on there by themselves? Who knows? Certainly not me, and I play this disaster.

My party may have made the legendary vampire hunter, Dr. Rudolph van Richten, unconscious in the last session. They don’t know who he is. They know Rictavio. They thought it was Rictavio that was disguising himself as a Vistani while attacking a Vistani camp, but they removed his hat and saw this old man they didn’t know. They stripped, bound and gagged him and tried to take him to Vallaki, but it was night the guards were suspicious and took him away to father Lucien and made the party go away.

Now, they realize they have a bunch of vampire hunter stuff and are just confused. Meanwhile, RvR is now missing his hat of disguise and his ring of mind shielding and none of his gear. Strahd likely has been scrying on the party and may have seen this.

To kill or not to kill?

Hey so tell me about Rudolph van Richten. Do you excuse his war crimes?

The Van Richten Conundrum

5e Van Richten is a mess. Let me monologue.

SPOILERS?? FOR VAN RICHTEN??

I think everyone kind of knows that, but I'm gonna say it anyway. He's unbearably racist, he's unhelpful, and he's overall difficult to work with if you play him as written. That's why we have older Ravenloft Van Richten, a character you can inject a little more nuance into.

I know a common interpretation is to nix his prejudice entirely, and honestly? Yeah. I think that's fine. In fact, I think it could make it a more comfortable experience for everyone involved.

However, for familial and heritage reasons, my DM went to me and asked me how I wanted to handle it. They laid out the whole thing (tiger, Ez's family, backstory) and let me decide what I wanted to do.

I decided to read the guides. They detailed a man who was turned to vicious hate because of the loss of his family. It wasn't righteous. It was ugly, even though he believed otherwise. You could see the path, and it didn't make it better. It made it tragic and awful. And then Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani came, and he started to change and learn. He started to feel shame and realized the cycle would continue. He disinherits his previous beliefs and tries to make restitution. I couldn't figure out why 5e, in an effort to clean things up, somehow made him worse when in the original material, he was, for lack of a better word, "recovering" by the time Curse of Strahd would be rolling around.

(Do I recommend Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani personally? NO. Definitely not. I think a lot of stuff in there is awful in ways that are completely, hilariously unintentional. Read it, by all means, and enjoy the story but I wouldn't touch some of that wording with a 5-foot pole.)

I told my DM it was important to me that he had once held those prejudices but that he was at the same place he was at the end of his guide. Tiger was changed to hunt vampires. No weird head in the trunk. Healing and learning were things I preferred to see, and honestly, in our group, I was glad my DM checked my comfort level and willingness to make that call. It made our story a lot richer. I love escapist fantasy, but I'm glad we elected for that approach with Van Richten, because...

I think Strahd (as a module) asks about redeemability a lot.

Mods like the Interactive Tome, I can imagine, likely expand on this. We asked the question "do your past actions make who you are now? Have you done enough to deserve absolution?" a LOT. That was the game we wanted to play. "Who do you become despite who you were?" We asked this again and again. This won't be the same answer for every party. Some people don't want to engage with that, and that's completely valid and fine.

Rudolph van Richten, against all odds, became one of my favorite characters in DnD.

I'll try and give an even longer answer sometime to profile the character my DM played. But this was about the crimes.

Anyway, so, I don't forgive his crimes. You deserve, Van Richten! But I do think they were important in our game. Long, long answer.

Rudolph Van Richten: Boring, ugly, old, decrepit, effective but hateful, uses way more interesting, capable and viviacious brown assistant to absolve him of deeply racist mindset. Bad in the sack and tortured by the past

Dr. Abraham Van Helsing: Trundling little globetrotter, explored the whole globe, can get from Amsterdam to London in 12 hours, highly educated and maintains a deep respect of religious, mythological and traditional information. Shows kindness to sick women and showers them in garlic flowers, takes his work seriously because he cares deeply about other people, takes the scientific approach and does not let his knowledge bias color his prognosis. Great hair, smells nice, class act all the way

Tobias and Cecily existed in tandem for some time, then. When I began to transition, Tobias/I did not bear the vertical scar, shown so darkly scabbed in the first entry. In fact, the picture on the left here is a rare image- a few months into my transition but still free of any curses- the image on the right mere two months later when it had finally healed... But we will get to the cause and results of that wound another day. Dr. Van Richten and I met regularly over the next several moons to adjust dosages of the delicate medicines, and discuss how to proceed with the Order and their bigoted rules. We settled on telling the outright truth, and while he offered to stand by my side as I came out to the commander and my brothers, I told him that this beast was something I had to face alone. He refused to let me leave his tower that day, though- "Not yet." he kept saying. "It's almost done. Stay the evening, there's a spare room next to mine. It will be ready for you in the morning. Besides-" his nasal growl failing to hide the compassion in his voice. "- you need your rest for the journey home, and should sleep on what you've decided before carrying through." I obliged, never one to argue with the sweet old man's direction- he hadn't led me astray yet. Little to my knowledge, as I slept, Rudolph was working tirelessly in secret with a wizard friend of his- someone he'd "saved from madness in the Svalich Woods," whatever that meant- on a gift for me. With heavier bags than normal beneath his blue eyes, he met me in the lawn of the clinic the next morning as I was saddling my horse, carrying a small wooden box. "A gift for you, bard- I worked with a friend to craft this for you." He opened the flat box in his hand to reveal a leather, pewter, and glass-jeweled circlet, finely wrought into shapes of twisting branches and blooming violets, with a large bloom in the center of lavender glass petals. "This circlet will cast "alter self" on you so long as you wear it, but with a very specific appearance- whatever you picture as your ideal self. It taps into your soul and listens... a stopgap until the medicine has made enough changes for you to go without. Then maybe you can find another trans individual to pass it on to." I cradled the box and its contents in my hands and was struck speechless, and as tears welled in my eyes, Rudolph wrapped me in a warm hug, the leather of his coat smelling smokey and coppery and musty against my cheek. I sniffled loudly as I fought breaking (so much harder for me now with these changing hormones), but he kept speaking- "Cecily... you are an incredible woman. You've lived through tragedy and heartbreak and bigotry and somehow manage to keep bouncing back- you keep a song in your heart and that heart on your sleeve and it's what makes you beautiful, but it's also what makes you fierce. I know, that with training and time, you'll be a stellar knight- a real hero that people can look to in times of darkness. As you know, like you, I lost my family to senseless violence. People like Ez, the Fatefinders, the twins, the other twins, Alanik, Arthur, and you? You're all I have left of family. I've... well my girl, I've come to love you like my own as well. I very much consider you a Van Richten now, what with all the beasts you've already slain and light you've carried. My name is yours to use as you please- I pray it brings you more joy than it's brought me." While I didn't and don't blame my chosen surname for the troubles I would find in the coming week (and consequent years), Rudolph and I would (eventually) laugh about it- the "third" curse. The one that was willingly given and willingly accepted, before claws or blood or betrayal- I was forevermore a Van Richten.

Alanik Ray, the Great Detective of Ravenloft: 

What he’s from: Ravenloft. 

What he might be in: Some sort of Jade-Realm thing, maybe (Jade-Realm is a world of Dungeons and Dragons)? 

Background: 

Known as the Great Detective, Alanik Ray possesses an unrivaled deductive mind. The century-old elf has a knack for seeing through falsehoods, a talent aided by decades of experience and science-driven deductive methods. 

As a young detective in the nation of Darkon, Alanik revealed his father’s criminal empire and oversaw its destruction. His success launched his career as a private detective, embroiling him in the intrigues of Martira Bay’s nobility. During this time, he met the young physician Arthur Sedgwick, who became his partner and saved Alanik’s life countless times. The pair’s adventures – including several deadly encounters with the sinister group known as the Kargat – eventually led them to relocate to Port-a-Lucine in the nation of Dementlieu. A mystery involving a shapeshifting serial killer resulted in a fall from a roof that paralyzed Alanik’s legs. Within the following month, the pair created a custom wheelchair for Alanik, and they married. 

Today, Alanik Ray and Arthur Sedgwick investigate mysteries wherever need and novelty take them. Arthur lends his practicality and martial skill to Alanik’s dazzling intellect during the pair’s exploits. Sedgwick also chronicles their adventures and has published two volumes to date: “The Life of Alanik Ray” and “The Casebook of Alanik Ray”. 

He and Arthur are also allies of the famed monster hunter Dr. Rudolph Van Richten, and Van Richten’s other allies. 

One mystery he’s working on seems to involve two rival murderers, who are in some sort of duel with each other. AND, one of the murderers is also a necromancer! 

Alanik Ray’s Traits: 

Ideal: “Logic is a guide but also an illusion. Order and reason don’t supercede what is right.” 

Bond: “I have the perspective to see depravities others can’t. I use my insight to reveal wickedness and make the world a better place.” 

Flaw: “Most people are dangerous, manipulative liars and not to be trusted.” 

How he is like me: 

We both see the world in a unique way (for example, I feel like flying on planes are both a quick way to get from place to place, but also hellish, at times, due to being trapped on there with wailing infants). He also is very intelligent, and has a disability (in his case, his paraplegia, and in my case, my high-functioning autism). He can sometimes be difficult and hard to get along with (they no longer play “Clue”, as Alanik keeps stubbornly insisting that Mr. Boddy murdered himself, claiming it’s “the only explanation for the evidence” and that “the rules are wrong”). So can I. Also, we both have trouble realizing that people don’t like being yelled at and the like. And then there’s the fact that we both have different definitions of “important” than others (i.e., he thinks the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun is “unimportant”). 

How he is different from me: 

He is paralyzed from the waist down, is gay, and is in a relationship. Also, while he is mostly guided by logic, I am usually guided by my fan fictions. Also, he’s quite dispassionate about his affairs (mostly), whereas I am VERY passionate, to the point where I sometimes blame others when things go wrong. He can sometimes be difficult and hard to get along with. So can I. In his case, he doesn’t exactly care that people are sometimes uncomfortable around him. 

Rudolph: I am Dr Rudolph Van Richten

Paultin: he's a dick. Carry on

Rudolph: I was a vampire hunter

Paultin: that's not as cool as it sounds

Rudolph: I am also a Cleric of Lathander

Paultin: that actually is as lame as it sounds