Thronzeker

One common complaint about fantasy games is that they don't feature enough dragons, even if the game has "dragon" in its name. Well, here's one from Krevbrona.

The Karthax Mountain’s most powerful villain is Thronzeker, a regicidal undead dragon.

Thronzeker

Thronzeker is an undead dragon obsessed with regicide. Indeed, it was Thronzeker who whispered of treason in the dreams of the conspirators who overthrew and executed Krevborna’s royal family. Without a tsar on which to focus his bloody ire, Thronzeker has grown restless over the intervening years. As the Church of Holy Blood has grown in secular power, his thoughts have turned toward demolishing the faith as a bastion of nascent political power.

    • Appearance: Although the bleached bones of his skeleton comprise the majority of his form, gobs of nauseating rotten flesh still adhere to his frame. 

    • Personality: He still dreams of the death of kings.

    • Motive: He hopes to render the people of Krevborna weak, vulnerable, and afraid by removing their protectors.

    • Flaw: Without a downfall to plot, he finds himself growing erratic and unstable.

Sanctum Sabbathi and Valpurga

Today's post contains two more adventure locations in the Karthax Mountains. The first is the lair of Krevborna's foremost criminal syndicate based on the fabled mountain dwellings of the Order of Assassins. The second is an eldritch library presided over by the legendary nosferatu.

Sanctum Sabbathi

Sanctum Sabbathi is a concealed fortress used as the headquarters of the Skarabasca criminal organization.

    • Sanctum Sabbathi is veiled by powerful illusions—only those who hold one of the magical keys to the fortress can perceive it. It is otherwise invisible.

    • Within Sanctum Sabbathi are vast alchemical laboratories used to create the magical intoxicants that the Skarabasca’s agents peddle throughout Krevborna.  

    • The alchemists of the Skarabasca are not adverse to dipping into their own supply; the members of the Skarabasca at Sanctum Sabbathi exist in states of paranoia, mania, and heightened aggression.

    • Sanctum Sabbathi is also home to the many seers, oracles, and diviners that the Skarabasca use to spy upon rival criminal organizations.

    • The inner chambers of Sanctum Sabbathi contain the summoning circles the Skarabasca rely upon to conjure the demons they employ as supernatural assassins.  

Valpurga

Valpurga is a lonely clock tower constructed from a weathered material that appears to be stone, but is in fact the petrified flesh of a sleeping eldritch creature. No matter the state of the weather, the tower’s “stone” is uncannily warm to the touch. 

    • The interior of Valpurga is dominated by floor after floor of library shelves, all of which are tightly packed with rare and ancient tomes. 

    • Valpurga is a repository of knowledge that has been preserved for posterity via magical means. 

    • Valpurga is also decorated by a startling amount of grandfather clocks, each of which is actually a portal leading to a different location within Krevborna.

    • The surest way to find what you seek in Valpurga is to consult Count Ohrbach, the librarian residing within it; Ohrbach is a nosferatu who is only lucid for a few hours after he has fed on fresh blood.

    • Count Ohrbach’s arms and legs are laden with heavy iron chains as a sign of his devotion to the otherworldly entity known as Menoch.

The Mote of Sykothek and the Needle of Golgorath

Two adventure locations in the Karthax Mountains. In this installment of our tour of the mountains things are getting eldritch and strange. Of course, both the artificial sky-island and sinister obelisk described here are connected to the Vlaak.

The Mote of Sykothek

Hidden behind the perpetual cloud cover surrounding one of the Karthax Mountains’ highest peaks floats the Mote of Sykothek, an artificial island held aloft by eldritch machinery.

    • The Mote of Sykothek was created by the aberrations who once kept the inhuman vlaak as slaves.

    • Sykothek was created as a monitoring station meant to analyze the Vlaak Empire’s rise and eventual fall.

    • The Mote of Sykothek contains magical and technological marvels unseen in this age.

The Needle of Golgorath

The Needle of Golgorath is a magical obelisk erected by the vlaak.

    • The Needle of Golgorath is a narrow, towering pillar of unnatural black stone; embedded within its surface are a multitude of yellowed vlaakish skulls.

    • Cultists of the otherworldly abominations of the Outer Dark believe that the Needle allows direct communion with the eldritch monstrosities they serve. 

    • It is theorized that the use of certain obscure rituals performed at the base of the obelisk may enable travel from the mortal plane to the reaches of the Outer Dark.

The Malcovat and the Monastery of Saint Miklos

Two adventure locations in the Karthax Mountains. The Malcovat is a school of dark magic based on the folklore of the Scholamance. The Monastery of Saint Miklos was inspired by the Ravenloft novel Tapestry of Souls and my desire to add something to the setting that would allow for the sort of militant "monk" characters that some people like to play.

The Malcovat

The Malcovat, a school of black magic, is hidden within the Karthax Mountains. Though the Malcovat is largely thought to be mere legend, the rumors of its existence are all too true.

    • Students at the Malcovat are taught by warlocks and wizards who have extensively studied arcane magic.

    • Some classes at the Malcovat are presided over by devils summoned from Hell to provide instruction in the darkest arts of magic. 

    • Out of every cohort, the student who advances the least in their studies is forfeit to the school’s diabolic masters; their soul is taken as Hell’s due.

    • Graduates of the Malcovat can be found throughout Krevborna, though they keep their alma mater secret.

    • When encountered in Krevborna, former students of the Malcovat’s infernal curriculum are almost always pursuing unholy routes to power.

The Monastery of Saint Miklos

The Monastery of Saint Miklos is a mountainous spiritual refuge maintained by the warrior monks and nuns of the Requiem order. 

    • Though the Monastery of Saint Miklos is known for the tutelage in celestial mathematics and the rigorous physical and mental training it provides to acolytes, there is a secret hidden beneath the well-protected edifice.

    • Hidden below the monastery is a vault in which the Requiem safeguards evil and accursed magical artifacts. 

    • As part of their spiritual mission, the monks and nuns of the Requiem search out and obtain baleful magic items, which they then transport to the vaults of Saint Miklos to be secreted away and kept out of the hands of those who would be tempted by the corrupting power they offer.

Kairn Volkov and Kherebor

Two more adventure locations in the Karthax Mountains. The first is a fortress in which monster-hunting nuns train to their craft and pursue alchemical experiments to make the perfect soldiers. The second is my take on giving the setting's dwarves a tragic Gothic past.

Kairn Volkov

Kairn Volkov is a crumbling, ancient outpost originally built by the vlaak in the western reaches of the Karthax Mountains.

    • Kairn Volkov’s fortress is now occupied by the monster hunting guild known as the Sisters Carnifexa. 

    • All Sisters receive their training at Kairn Volkov; this training is a merciless gauntlet of painful lessons that sometimes proves fatal to those who fall before the many trials involved in their instruction.

    • The Sisters Carnifexa keep the location of Kairn Volkov a closely guarded secret

    • Deep within the bowels of Kairn Volkov, the earliest members of the Sisters Carnifexa found abandoned vlaak laboratories intended to breed alchemically enhanced imperial soldiers. 

    • Using the forbidden knowledge gleaned from these labs, the Sisters perform experiments on the most promising of their young charges, hoping to transform them into peerless monster hunters.

Kherebor

Krevborna’s dwarves sequester themselves within fortress-cities carved into the dangerous slopes of the Karthax Mountains. One of these cities, Kherebor, fell to an invading force of goblins. 

    • The goblin horde was aided and abetted by Prince Coram Forkbeard, the third son of Kherebor’s king. 

    • Prince Coram saw the goblins as allies for his act of supreme betrayal and usurpation; he led the goblins through the secret tunnels beneath Kherebor, allowing them to take the fortified city’s defenders by surprise and thereby conquer the fastness.

    • After the bloody battle, the only dwarves who remained alive inside the fortress were taken as slaves. 

    • Although Coram is now the crowned lord of Kherebor, this is merely a jest by the goblins; they keep him installed as Kherebor’s sovereign as a mockery of the dwarves and their hallowed traditions. 

    • Once a proud example of the beauty and endurance of dwarven craftsmanship, Kherebor now exists in a state of deplorable ruin. 

Castle Dranzig and Eisengraz

Two potential adventure locations in the Karthax Mountains. This entry details a fortress, and the darkness within,  inspired by Gilles de Rais and an enclave of vicious "might makes right" elves.

Castle Dranzig

Perched upon a perilous precipice of the Karthax Mountains, Castle Dranzig was the fortress of an ancient warlord. Although it is believed that Castle Dranzig is an abandoned ruin, the warlord was cursed for his crimes and remains the lord of the fortress.

    • The warlord’s name has been lost to history, but he is known in folklore and legend as the Black Knight of Dranzig due to both the ebony armor he is always encased within and his dark reputation.

    • The Black Knight was cursed with a life of eternal torment for his lust for murdering innocent children—he participated in supposedly holy crusades solely for the chance to butcher the progeny of his avowed foes.

    • The pain that courses through the Black Knight’s body is a constant reminder of his misdeeds and an encouragement to curb his horrid impulses.

    • However, the urge to slay children has again been building in the Black Knight’s breast. 

    • Soon he will ride forth from Castle Dranzig to abduct children and bring them back to the fortress so he might indulge his thirst for dismemberment.

Eisengraz

Eisengraz is a massive tower of white stone perched atop a high peak at the northern edge of the Karthax Mountains. 

    • Eisengraz is the domain of the snow elves, a branch of elves regarded as an especially cruel, bloodthirsty people. 

    • Snow elves are usually clad in furs and wear headdresses made of horns and antlers.

    • The snow elves revere Hekala, the fey Queen of the Winter Throne, who encourages them to master the arts of war, magic, and wilderness survival. 

    • Hekala teaches them that exposure to hardship and danger weeds out the weak and allows the strong to thrive. 

    • A loyal follower of Hekala, Lady Eriandel Av’Drauga, the queen of the snow elves of Eisengraz, seeks a magical diadem that would allow her to bring a ceaseless winter to all of Krevborna. 

    • Lady Eriandel believes that turning Krevborna into a frozen waste would allow her people to reign over the land amid a never-ending frost—ushering in a hibernal age that would cull the frail and allow the snow elves to flourish. 

The Karthax Mountains

In my opinion, mountains in a Gothic Fantasy setting are for putting isolated and hidden secrets in. Here's the overview of the Karthax Mountains before we zoom in on some specific locations.

The Karthax Mountains

Foreboding Mountains Hiding Terrible Secrets

The Karthax Mountains are an immense, fang-like range that divides Krevborna. The mountains possess a sublime and terrifying aspect; the unrelenting thunderstorms that rage amid the peaks fill their beholders with awe and fear. Their highest elevations, particularly in the frigid north, are capped with snow and frost. The mountain winds howl with an anguished voice. 

The Karthax Mountains have earned a sinister reputation. Legendary monsters, such as dragons and giants, are known to make their lairs in mountainous caves. Though they are desolate and perilous, the Karthax Mountains are also home to isolated groups who have adapted to life in the savage summits. Rugged tribes of human barbarians and cauldronborn eke out their existences by hunting for game and fishing the oft-frozen lakes found in the mountains; famed for their use of giant goats as steeds, these tribes are as inclined to kill those who trespass on their lands as they are to help those who become lost among the mountains. 

Hallmarks

The following elements and aesthetic notes define the Karthax Mountains:

    • Many explorers have remarked that the most fearsome of the mountain peaks resemble monstrous fangs.

    • Tribes of fearsome human and cauldronborn hunters live in isolation among the sublimely beautiful mountain peaks.

    • A school of black magic known as the Malcovat is hidden at the northern extremity of the mountain range.

    • The snow elves hold an ancient and foreboding tower and the hidden fortress-cities of the dwarves are located in the ranges of the Karthax Mountains.

    • Travelers report hearing the ominous sound of a tolling bell while journeying through the Karthax Mountains.