#arak

[dardasht]

Persian Carpet/ Lilian pattern/ Iran

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

Arak, Son of Thunder #27

[parsabad]

Hamame charfasl/ Arak/ Iran

(A traditional public bathroom)

Photography: amir hossein mirmoini

[browsethestacks]

Comic - New History Of The DC Universe #01 Cover

Art by Ryan Sook

DC Comics (2025)

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Gwydion

Domain: Arak/the Shadow Rift Domain Formation: 575 BC; became the Shadow Rift in 740 BC Power Level:💀💀💀💀💀 Sources: The Shadow Rift (2e) , Gazetteer V (3e)

Though the Shadow Fey twins Loht and Maeve are the rulers of the Shadow Rift, it is the unseen Gwydion (aka The Sorcerer Fiend aka The Twilight) that earns the title of Darklord of this Domain. Gwydion’s true form is unfathomable, cloaked in shadows, squirming tentacles, cloven hooves, eyestalks and pretty much anything you can throw into one eldritch monster.

Gwydion’s past is as obscured in shadows as Gwydion himself. Legends say he was the spawn of the Plane of Shadow, forming out of it like pus from an overgrown boil. Others say he was once a lord of the Abyss, but so great was his power that the other Abyssal lords united in order to banish him into the Plane of Shadow. It is always wise to remember that legends are told and maintained by those that hold power and though there may be some truth in these tales, the whole truth has yet to be uncovered. There is no denying the immense, near god-like power Gwydion holds. A pity he cannot lift a single tentacle to use it these days. Gwyidion drew the ellefolk into the Plane of Shadows for he required subjects to obey, adore, and respect him. For what is it to rule without adoration? To subjugate them to him, Gwydion infused the ellefolk with darkness from his realm and transformed them into the Shadow Fey. The first born of the Shadow Fey were the Erlking’s children, Loht and Maeve.

Gwydion named the Erlking, Arak, as his seneschal and commanded the Shadow Fey to create a massive Obsidian Gate so he could travel to other worlds and conquer new people and lands. Gwydion’s reasoning for doing so amount to a massive ego and extreme boredom. Fear drove the Shadow Fey to abide by their Master’s commands. Secretly, however, with Arak leading them, they plotted against Gwydion. After centuries of work, the Obsidian Gate was complete and Gwydion directed his armies to pass through it to begin his subjugation of whatever world lay beyond. Foolish, really, to plan to lay siege against the unknown, but for a near god, Gwydion does not possess much in the way of foresight.

As they passed through the gate, Gwydion began to realize it was not his armies, but the Shadow Fey under the illusionary magic of their mages and they were escaping him in mass. Descending upon his wayward people, Gwydion found his path blocked by Arak who had donned his Regalia. This Regalia is made up of nine different magical items and granted Arak enough power to stand against Gwydion until the last of his people fled through the gate, but not nearly enough to defeat him. It also grants the one wearing the Regalia the power to open the Obsidian Gate. For a brief moment, Arak found an opening and pushing Gwydion backwards, Arak ran to the gate. But just as Arak was inches away from his own freedom, Gwydion disintegrated the Erlking with a blast of energy. Though Arak did not survive to make it through the gate, his Regalia did.

The Regalia landed at the feet of Maeve and Loht. Loht was overcome with fear at his father’s demise, but Maeve held her ground and sealed the Gate before Gwydion could escape.

Despite all his power, Gwydion is mostly impotent; stuck in a vast nothingness between worlds. Though he has shown himself capable of influencing the Shadow Fey from his prison within a prison.

He influenced the events that led to Tristessa’s death and the Scourging of the Arak. He influenced Prince Loht of the Unseelie Court to believe his father was still trapped within the Obsidian Gate. When Loht opened the gate, Gwydion nearly escaped before Arak’s Crown was thrown within sealing Gwydion away once more. He almost escaped again during the Grand Conjunction, which resulted in his Domain pushing G'henna and Markovia out of The Core and the Arak becoming the Shadow Rift

If Gwydion was ever to escape it may make the ramblings of Bastion Teodorus Raines of the Church of Ezra in Nevuchar Springs, whom I’ve mostly ignored, make some sort of sense. Could Gwydion’s coming be the start of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness? Perhaps but I am far more interested in this Gate of his that sits on the footsteps of my Domain.

[arak-the-other-kara]

*a bullet wizzes past clover*

I thought I already killed that last sick bastard, but your even worse than the clover from the other timeline

*clutches his gun*

Get ready to go to hell, physco

(Player) "You didn't ask me to kill that other... oh who cares anymore. Kill whoever is threatening you unless I tell you otherwise."

(Clover) "Finally. Now YOU seem like you're a worthy foe who won't just run away. I do have to warn you... *Shoots in his direction and dodges* I am the best dodger ever. *Shoots you* If you can get a hit on me, I'll be surprised. *Blew a kiss*"

[nightmareb1tch]

Arak: *Taking a sunbath and ending up getting baked by the sun*

Muse: Cookie? Do we really have to.. watch your lizzard with piercings getting burned?

Kucatail: You'll get used to it baby, You'll get used to it

Muse: "is he asleep?"

Cukatail: "Please be quiet, I haven't gotten this much peace since I had to knock him out a while back..."

[infinityinc4ever]

Carcharo takes a bite out of Mr. Bones!

[dailyjsa]

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #10

[gray-morality]

Finished the custom modifications of chibi Seda yesterday, who can now join chibi Fakhri and very tiny Arak on my display shelf. (With smol piano and very smol bottle/glass of whisky hehehe)

[sebeth]

Oh, Walking Corpses, Kill Me Now

[aswiya]

Arak is a clear, anise-flavored spirit that is predominately distilled from fermented grapes and is mainly enjoyed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, primarily Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt.

Regional varieties may slightly differ in the amount of aniseed or the distillation process, which may affect the alcohol level and the final flavor of arak, but it is considered that the best styles are aged in the clay amphoras. Arak is traditionally enjoyed with a variety of appetizers and is best served diluted with ice-cold water, which makes it turn milky white, though it can also be mixed with fruit juice or tea.

It is typically served in tall glasses that are replaced with each serving. The drink should not be mistaken with arrak, occasionally also known as arak, which is distilled from rice, molasses, or palm syrup and is typically associated with Southeast Asia

[the-first-man-is-a-cat]

Arak, Iran, 1967-1967. Photos by Daniel Briskin.

[dc-tournaments]

Why do they deserve to win?

Blue Beetle

Telos

[darklordazalin]

Raveloft Lore Tuesdays

Domain of May: Barovia – The First Domain of not quite the First Vampire Domain Formation: 351 BC

Lore: Historical Event – The Arrival of the Necromancer

According to a tarokka card reading done by the famed Seer Vistana Madam Eva and later repeated by her predecessor, Madam Ilka, a Necromancer would arrive in Barovia and would be one of Strahd’s greatest foes and would bring war to the land of Barovia. That Necromancer was me 💀 

The war itself amounted to a few skirmished before we both called it a day, but the events that occurred while conducting experimentations to escape back to my home world of Oerth changed the lands in the Mists forever. Though each failure brought me new data and new irritation to von Zarovich, they also, perhaps more importantly led to the creation of Forlorn, Arak, and Mordent. I myself explored Forlorn, but found nothing more than a sad creature locked away in their castle and far too many goblyns. Arak…would not permit me within and any surveyors I sent on my behalf went missing. Mordent…well, I have nothing more than vague recollections of the place but I know, for a brief moment, I had succeeded in allowing both Strahd and I to escape Barovia for far too short a time.

After the Mordent event, I knew I had been fooling myself and foolishly stepped into the Mists, following the sounds of the Vistani within in hopes of escaping back to Oerth. My efforts awarded me with my very own prison designed to torment me for eternity…

How to use Azalin’s Time in Barovia in Your Games

If you wish to use the formation of the Domains resulting from Azalin and Strahd’s experiments, then I suggest speeding up the timeline if you wish to use all three or just focus on one of them.

Forlorn’s appearance could easily result in a surge of goblyns pouring into Barovia. This is easily something for a group of adventurers to learn of and deal with. Goblyns, not to be confused with goblins, are humanoids twisted by magic into bug-eyes, sharp jaws, sickly looking creatures with long claws and no will but that of the one who created them and no pleasure but to eat anything they can get their hands on. Such creatures could quickly devastate a small town in Barovia.

Arak is a desolate land with Shadow Fey living far beneath its surface. Perhaps Barovia opens a mining expedition in the new land and…’dig too deep’, as is the classic fantasy tale, and uncover some ancient evil the dwelled below. The Shadow Fey are very much like the Unseelie Court and if a mine ended up unburying a few of them…well, that could result in odd Fey bargains such an individual who suddenly becomes incredibly wealthy and/or the Burgomaster of a town in Barovia, but…they must always walk backwards or only talk in riddles. An unknown horror could recreate a mind-controlled populace or possessed miners. There is a lot you could do with this.

As for Mordent, well the events of Azalin and Strahd’s time in Mordent are depicted in Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill. It is a…strange adventure at best where Strahd using the Apparatus and slips himself into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ halves…players are pitted against his evil half throughout…Azalin just kind of watches? There’s a lot of oddities within, but if you want to do something similar and want to have Azalin in your game, well the events in Mordent could have split Azalin in two, but they aren’t put back together. His lich half could easily replace the lich in the Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd and his human half could be the ‘mad mage’ the resides on Mount Baratok.

[arak-the-other-kara]

[They all started off in this story with the LOVE they had at death, but with the hunting, I got some approximations for where there at now. (Did a lot of adjusting for Hell's sake not to mention I made some changes to their individual stories)]

[Jacklyn - LV 16, Lyric - LV 16, Liliana - LV 14, Amari - LV 12, Brooklyn - LV 11 - Clover (Called Clo for differentiating purposes) - LV 7]

"Torture? Oh, how interesting."

*Lyric bows to a Dunebud before kicking the absolute shit out of it like a secretary bird. If Lyric was a bird, it's the secretary bird.*

"I'd rather make quick work on these things."

"But th're great target practice! Lookie here!"

"Watch, Clo's gonna get alla dem."

*Jacklyn tosses five Dunebuds into the air, then Clo stylishly shot all of them. Lil shit wanted to show off for some reason. Amari whistled.*

"Alright Clo, I see you. Gettin more skilled by the day, huh?"

*Clo gets a bit bashful.*

"Uh, yeah! Ah'm gettin real good at trick shots, right?"

"Mhm."

*toric.*

*The explosion again.*

"Alright, I'm getting tired of that blasting noise going off."

*Liliana goes in the direction of the explosion. Several moments (and an audible beat down in the distance) later, she brought back an unorthodox (and monsters are already a very diverse species) looking monster wearing an unfamiliar uniform ensnared in her ropes.*

"I found the culprit."

*The monster grumbled.*

"Aye, what's th' big idea, ya dirtrag?! Couldn't ya see I was doin something?!"*

(Clover) "That is bizarre. A new enemy? Hey player do you recognize this guy?"

(Player) "Not one bit. I've researched this game a lot over the year it's been released. Must've put in an AU instead. I'll still play this though. I would like to see how different it gets."

(Clover) "Nice. *Grabs the monster* Look at me you little peepsqueek. I am Clover. Everything in the underground is mine to destroy. What's your name? *She then cringed at her own voice* God, what am I even saying? Everything must be destroyed? No no no. I am simply granting you justice for what you did to the five kids."

(Player) "Why do you believe you are delivering justice when you killed more than them."

(Clover) "Well, that's simple. These monsters are like mosquitos. Biting at any human makes them itch like crazy. *Pulled the monster closer to them* They feed on you to survive because they know they are weak. Whenever something weak is alive they are always a threat. Weak things are more inclined to side with anyone no matter how good or bad they could be. *Shoots them point blank*"

(Player) "Are you autistic?"

(Clover) "That is not a weakness."

(Player) "Not my question."

(Clover) "Listen I am what I say I am. Right now I'm a threat. That's what matters."