My players have just started Blood for Blood, but I'm looking ahead to War of the River Kings. Like most GMs, I've already introduced my version of Castruccio Irovetti (King of Pitax, Lord of All He Surveys). My players, being genre savvy, already think that Irovetti is a future foe.
As I said in another thread, I want to change things up on them. I have two goals in mind:
First, I want to subvert my players' expectations and use Irovetti as an uneasy ally, rather than a moustache-twirling threat.
Second, I want to build to the coming fey invasion from Thousandbreaths. While I have not yet fully fleshed out these ideas, I will post them later in this thread.
But first, our antagonist:
Lord D'Kara, Marquis of the Fallen Leaves, Grand Duke of Thousand Voices, Regent of the Stolen Lands, and Custodian of the Castle of Knives:
What is he? Lord D'Kara is an Erlking. I recommend flavoring him to taste, perhaps with the Advanced template, or with a signature weapon that is not a longsword. (I kind of like a War Scythe).
Who is he?Lord D'Kara is one of Nyrissa's strongest servants, and the sentinel who guards the gateway between Thousandbreaths and the forest of the Thousand Hands. Eons ago, he and his consort, Rialta the hamadryad, ruled over the much of the Stolen Lands as its regents. As humans and others intruded into the Stolen Lands, D'Kara and Rialta withdrew from them, rather than fight the humans overmuch. Eventually, Thousand Hands, with its portal to the First World, was all the land they had left.
Why does D'Kara serve Nyrissa? When Nyrissa sought to link Thousandbreaths to the First World, she thought to use Thousand Voices, and to link the House at the Edge of Time with the Castle of Knives. But D'Kara and Rialta opposed her machinations. Nyrissa and her allies fought D'Kara and Rialta and their subjects across the Stolen Lands. In one of the greatest battles, the fey wyrm Ilthuliak brought down the silver dragon Amvarean. Rialta and D'Kara resisted, and the final battle came to a conflict between Rialta and D'Kara, on the one hand, and Nyrissa and her greatest allies on the other. With Ilthuliak at her side, Nyrissa informed Rialta and D'Kara she was willing to destroy the entire forest if they would not yield to her.
D'Kara and Rialta yielded. The two of them swore fealty to Nyrissa. D'Kara sword to be Nyrissa's guardian and arm in this world, and to guard the Castle of Knives from mortals. To secure his obedience, Nyrissa took Rialta hostage. Today, Rialta is a mere servant in the House a the Edge of Time, stripped of her titles and of her memory. D'Kara, bound by his oath and by his love for Rialta, continues to serve Nyrissa.
Why is D'Kara taking action now? In the ensuing time between Nyrissa's triumph and the present, D'Kara has more or less slept. With Rialta gone, he had no interest in ruling over his realm. And if Nyrissa had no requests to serve him, then he had no reason to be awake.
But of late, Nyrissa knows that events are moving in the Stolen Lands. She senses that the players have built a mighty kingdom. Places of power -- the ruined temple, the Dancing Lady's Keep, Candlemere Island, and Vordakai's Tomb -- have been conquered and laid low, just as Nyrissa was planning to use their power to bring the Stolen Lands under her heel. She has awakened D'Kara and commanded him to reassert dominion over the lands he once claimed as his own, and to bring them under Nyrissa's rule.
How do players defeat D'Kara? D'Kara is a powerful foe. If players are overleveled, he ought to be given the Advanced template, and possibly be made mythic. He can be defeated by main force, although it is difficult to do so. He may also surrender to the players if they can best his armies on the field of battle, or if the players threaten to harm Thousand Voices.
What is D'Kara's personality? D'Kara is royalty. He conducts himself with the utmost propriety, even when he condescends to deal with mortals. He is not above underhanded tactics in war, but he considers himself a creature of honor. However, D'Kara is also weary. The woman he loves is a prisoner of Nyrissa. Over time, he has lost hope this woman will be returned to him. If the players can parlay with him, he will not simply yield on the field of battle, as he would consider that dishonorable. But D'Kara could, however, be turned against Nyrissa, to the extent that his oath allows him to do so. He serves Nyrissa, but he serves her unwillingly.
Anything else I should know about D'Kara? Glad you asked. At the same time he serves Nyrissa, D'Kara senses an opportunity. He is aware of Briar. He knows that it is Nyrissa's capacity to love, and that it will potentially be used to kill her. A master of the sword himself, D'Kara seeks Briar. He has heard rumors that Irovetti has Briar in his possession ... and, even as D'Kara serves Nyrissa, he seeks to bring her doom.
But he's just one guy! Fortunately, D'Kara has minions. In a technical sense, he is still regent of all the fey of the Stolen Lands. If he calls, those fey who remain, both wicked and kind, will invetiably be drawn to his banner. In my next post, I'll detail some possible followers for him and armies that might follow him. Again, I will eschew stat blocks in favor of general narrative descriptions.
The first thing to remember about D'Kara's minions is that they encompass good, neutral, and evil creatures. Under the laws of the fey, D'Kara is the rightful ruler of the Stolen Lands in general and Thousand Voices in particular. Thus, he has influence, or outright authority, over virtually fey that calls the Stolen Lands home. Beyond that, even faeries not directly under oath to D'Kara may become active. After all, if he stirs, then perhaps they consider it time for mischief.
The second thing is that D'Kara is the Marquis of Fallen Leaves. Beyond being fey, this means that his chief minions should have either a plant motif or a death motif about them. Undead would be generally inappropriate, but minions that represent the last breaths of life would fit with D'Kara's theme. Some ideas:
Jack O'Lanterns. A CR1 fey is not a threat to PCs by the time they get to KM5. But nothing ups the creepy factor quite like an enemy with a pumpkin for a head.
Chaneques. D'Kara would consider these things distasteful. However, they could steal souls in Pitax, making them the hidden generals of Pitax's armies after D'Kara makes his first moves.
Cold Riders. These creatures have a winter motif, rather than a summer motif. But they could make an interesting wild card. Perhaps they are generals, put under D'Kara's command, but truly loyal to Nyrissa?
Dryads, Fauns, and Satyrs. Rather obvious, but they could be part of D'Kara's intelligence-gathering network.
A Grimm. D'Kara should have only one of these, and it should be a unique terror, turned loose against the players if D'Kara gets desperate.
Living Topiaries, perhaps used as beasts of burden.
Redcaps
My personal KM5 may or may not use all of these. But they strike me as potential minions for D'Kara, particularly to give mass combat that "I'm facing whaaaaa?" feeling.
Since book 6 is so get heavy I'd be hesitant to lean on that for book 5. Something I was tinkering with is the idea of Irovetti as a puppet for the guilds, who have turned their minds towards taking over the player's Kingdom. Means you could have a team of 4 bosses or 4 mini boss battles.
Since book 6 is so get heavy I'd be hesitant to lean on that for book 5. Something I was tinkering with is the idea of Irovetti as a puppet for the guilds, who have turned their minds towards taking over the player's Kingdom. Means you could have a team of 4 bosses or 4 mini boss battles.
I've actually gone through a lot of ideas, ranging from your clockwork kingdom to an Irovetti who's made a deal with devils so he can stop Nyrissa.
I'm jumping back and forth between D'Kara and Irovetti the diabolist. I'm subbing in Courts of the Shadow Fey for much of Blood for Blood, so I'm thinking of running with Irovetti the diabolist for KM5. On the other hand, I think my group is looking forward to doing Skull & Shackles, so there might be merit to collapsing 5 & 6 into one giant Fey Invasion module. In either case, I think I'll keep D'Kara. I like the idea of the players invading the Castle of Knives with their combined armies before they face down Nyrissa in Thousandbreaths.
