#Lords of Darkness

[vintagerpg]

REF5: Lords of Darkness (1988) continues the format of the Books of Lairs, though under the Forgotten Realms setting banner (this is one of the first wave FR books, in fact!). Instead of any monsters, though, Lords focuses exclusively on the undead. Like, all of them — skeletons, ghouls and ghasts, shadows, wights, a mummies, spectres, vampires, ghosts and a lich. Because the list of critters is shorter, the encounters are all longer, really more like short adventures, really. Most of the undead are fully realized NPCs rather than generic foes, which broadens their tactics, their potential weaknesses and still feels like a noteworthy detail even five years after Ravenloft laid out the appeal of richly rendered foes. There’s also a section on methods of dealing with the undead, which is quite fun and detailed, and new spells for necromancers, because of course there are.

The adventures themselves are…fine? I feel like they are more interesting as artifacts of the early days of the Realms, as the published record was rapidly establishing a world that echoes Greenwood’s private realm. Most are just passing references. Some fade into history, others (like the references to Ravens Bluff) feel emblematic of the time. Some would have long legacies, like the Nether Scrolls, which are introduced here. Jennell Jaquays’ is probably the most interesting, as it riffs a bit on I2: Tomb of the Lizard King, with a lizard man mummy instead of a lizard man vampire. The vampires, the brothers Jonathan and Jeremiah Morningmist, have excellent, Ravenloft-y names, too.

Karl Waller is the interior artist, though he doesn��t get nearly enough space (he’d go on to gorgeously define Al-Qadim). Cover by Jeff Easley. That man is aces at painting skeletons, I tell ya. Its delightfully autumnal, too.

[coochiequeens]

Found on Facebook

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

AD&D - Lords of Darkness Cover Art by Jeff Easley

[kindest-little-fella-in-town]

[whimsifae]

the most fun a girl can have is finding parallels, noticing patterns, making connections, contemplating

[kirain]

My favourite bit of BG3 lore is that Withers is legitimately responsible for the Dead Three, but he's probably too embarrassed to tell you, so every time you ask him to elaborate he just gives you a very stern, "Noooo."

I also love that the reason he's responsible for their uprising is because he got bored. He literally got bored of his position as Lord of the Dead and wanted to retire, so when these three morally questionable humans came looking for godhood he was like, "Hmmm. Yes, okay. Here. Take my portfolios. Fight over them. I don't care. I quit."

So after bowling with skulls in a friendly competition to decide who would get what portfolio, they took up his powers and wreaked havoc on the world. Only at that moment did Jergal, AKA Withers, AKA our precious Bone Daddy think, "I'm just now, internally, asking myself, in quite a worried way, whether I might've made an error."

So he joins your merry band and watches your escapades, calmly twiddling his fingers while you clean up his mess. He's happy to lend his aid, even to the point that he'll bring Durge back to life if they reject Bhaal, even though he technically shouldn't. But he's Withers. The rules don't apply to him. If Ao doesn't like it, he can descend from the Heavens and say it to his rotting face.

And the reason he saves Durge isn't necessarily because he likes them or because he's a morally good entity (though one certainly could make that argument), but because he wants to add insult to injury. He steals Bhaal's child with a big smile on his face, dubs them his Chosen, and praises them for rejecting all the power they were promised. But of course, he still doesn't tell them who he is—or rather who he was.

Then, when all is said and done, he throws Tav and their companions a cute little party. No one knows it's probably half a thank you party and half a "Withers is bored again" party. And if anyone misbehaves, he'll get irritated and whisk them away. Because how dare they? He put a lot of work into that.

And at the end of it all, he walks up to a mural of the Dead Three and basically goes, "Lmao. Thou didst fuck around, and thou didst find out." Just savagely roasting them.

And then poof!

He waves them into non-existence.

[burningvelvet]

a twitter thread that actually killed me

[rienafoutre]

[j0celynh0rr0r]

Ritual

[charbroiledchicken]

reblog if you're a writer but would rather drink straight cyanide than show any of your family members your work

[covvboytears]

A Burst of Light, Audre Lorde

[arochkin]

I've been thinking for a long time about what would happen if the Ring started corrupting Legolas. He is a killing machine and the son of a king easily manipulated by a thirst for power. I think it would be fatal for the whole fellowship.

[frizzdotbizz]

some of the stuff i know i never shared here

[newwavesylviaplath]

[feyspeaker]

ruling as equals, hmm? interesting. join my print club to get this exclusive for october!