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Prince Ladislav Mircea, Darklord of Sanguinia
Prince Ladislav Mircea, Darklord of Sanguinia
Originally a handsome, vain, and selfish prince, who abandoned his subjects when a plague hit his lands, retreating to his castle with his friends. When the plague hit his castle, he had his infected friends thrown over the walls. When the plague got to him, he turned to alchemy in a desperate attempt to cure it, but eventually succumbed, rising as a vrykolaka. He now desperately seeks to cure his undeath through alchemy.- Beauty to Beast: Went from handsome prince to walking-corpse vampire.
- Mad Scientist: Alchemist variant. He studied alchemy to cure the plague he caught, and after turning into a vrykolaka, to become human again, and his experiments have become increasingly wild as he becomes more desperate.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vrykolaka are plague-carrier vampires with shattered minds which look like walking corpses (being based on early Eastern European versions of vampires, where they were closer to zombies). Mircea is exceptional among his kind, in that he still retains his mind (and thus is aware of what he's become), and according to his 3e statblock
, feeds on the bodily humors of others, each humor affecting him in a different way. - Poisonous Person: His body carries three diseases, which he spreads through his attacks.
Gregor Zolnik, Darklord of Vorostokov
Gregor Zolnik, Darklord of Vorostokov
A mighty werewolf and hunter, and de facto ruler of the domain of Vorostokov.- Addictive Magic: The feeling of becoming a wolf and hunting is powerfully addictive. In Darklords, he manages to transform his son Mikhail against the latter's will and it's stated that Mikhail will be forced to resist the temptation to transform for the rest of his life, even if his father is defeated.
- Archnemesis Dad: Has become this to his youngest (and good-aligned) son Mikhail, who opposes his power.
- Blood Knight: Addicted to the thrill of hunting in his wolf form.
- Cain and Abel: His sisters, powerful witches who hate him for killing their mother, are plotting against him.
- Chaotic Evil: In-Universe — it's the official Character Alignment given in his profile writeups.
- Cool Sword: Ilyana, a +3 bastard sword that can heal its wielder once a day.
- Divine Parentage: Descended from Azrai, a deceased god of evil and shadow, which gives him high Charisma (15), and allows him to commune with snakes (and later, wolves).
- Endless Winter: Vorostokov has been stuck in one of these since it was taken into the mists, making prey extremely sparse. Recently there are vague signs that it might be lifting a bit, though knowing Ravenloft, that probably means something worse is about to happen.
- Fallen Hero: Years ago, before Vorostokov was taken into Ravenloft, his hunting prowess saved the village from starvation and he became a beloved hero. Now he'd give anything to have those days back, to the point of killing anyone else (outside his boyarsky) who tries to hunt or who attempts to escape.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Whatever pangs of conscience and self-justificatory lies he tells himself, this is the real reason for his killing his fellow humans.
- Ignored Epiphany: Struggled briefly with the realization that he was a murderer and that he was condemning his people to a life of unwitting cannibalism, but he got over it fairly quickly.
- Curious Qualms of Conscience: Now that winter is finally lifting and prey is slowly returning, though, he's starting to feel guilty again. So he's bullying local villages to stave it off.
- In the Blood: Both his sons were born nascent Loup du Noir. The elder, Alexei, has already been "brought into the boyarsky", and Gregor plans to bring Mikhail in as well, whether he wants it or not.
- Matricide: Killed his mother after she encouraged his second wife to spy on him (indirectly leading to her death).
- Mook Maker: His bite can infect people with lycanthropy.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: As a Loup du Noir, he requires his wolf pelt to shapeshift. He can also force werewolves he's infected to change forms, and control them when they're in wolf form.
- Resurrective Immortality: If killed in either form, his body will disappear and reappear in his secret cave with his sword and wolf skin intact. The only way to kill him off for good is to sprinkle his pelt with wolfsbane and salt, which will strip him of all his protections and leave him as vulnerable as any human.
- Retcon: His descent from Azrai is unmentioned until Domains of Dread.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: His heritage allows him to talk to snakes (if he can find one in a domain where the temperature rarely rises above -20 degrees Fahrenheit). After becoming a werewolf, this extended to wolves.
- Supernatural Elite: Has formed a boyarsky of loyal warriors and hunters who rule the village alongside him. All of them are werewolves that he's infected.
- To Serve Man: After Vorostokov was taken into Ravenloft, he was forced to hunt humans to feed his people, though he never told them the truth.
- Transplant: From Cerilia, the Birthright setting. (This, however, is a retcon introduced in the writeup of the domain in Domains of Dread; it is not mentioned in his first appearance, the book Darklords.)
- 0% Approval Rating: The people of Vorostokov have come to resent their dependence upon him (and are all but certain of the true nature of the meat he gives them), but fear him too much to rebel.
