Радага
| Мировоззрение | Lawful Evil |
|---|
Радага (Radaha) — бывшая тёмная владычица домена Даглан в сеттинге Ravenloft, жрица, повелевающая нежитью.
История
Radaga does not know her own heritage as she was found as a babe by several priests on a mist enshrouded night in her homeland. She has no idea that she is the only remaining descendent of the evil warlock Daglan, who created the foul Crown of Souls some 500 years ago. Further, she does not suspect that this crown, which she now holds, also contains the twisted soul of her ancestor.
Radaga was once a neutral priest of a minor goddess. She was always caught up with her appearance and often wished to improve upon her physical beauty (she then had a charisma of 17). She was also infatuated with men, and wanted all of them to adore her as the gem of the land. Her vanity drove her to constantly walking in the woods and wishing for a miracle to make her beautiful.
One day, when she was on such a walk, she didn't notice that the mists of Ravenloft had surrounded her. As she strolled on, the Dark Powers began to listen to her idle wishing and she found all of her wishes, especially that for beauty, granted...
Of course, her wishes were perverted by the Dark Powers and she found that she had to kill beautiful women in order to steal their splendor for herself. In addition, her desire to have men obey her every command and seek always to please her was granted when an army of undead become her faithful servants.
The mists also delivered into her hands the Crown of Souls. Among other powers, it can transform normal humans into the dreaded goblyns of Ravenloft. She has used this power numerous times to create a legion of goblyn guards and servants.
In addition to the powers of the Crown of Souls, the mists granted her immortality. If she is ever killed, she will rise up in 2d10 days as a wight complete with her existing priest powers. At that point, her pact with the mists will be complete, and she will be granted a small domain south of Kartakass, bordering Bluetspur and Sithicus. There she will go on to form a terrible domain of undeath. She is personally dreading this change as she will then be permanently ugly. Of course, there is a strong possibility that the Player Characters may directly affect the life of this woman if they should encounter her and do battle with her (possibly killing her in the end).
Даэрон Даглан
Daglan Daegon
13th Level Necromancer, Chaotic Evil
The Crown of Souls is a very powerful magical item. In fact, it is so potent that many sages consider it to be an artifact or relic. Among themselves, such scholars whisper stories of its great evil and the many awful powers associated with it.
The Crown of Souls is made of the purest gold, laced with platinum highlights, and set with three bloodstones which ride high on its crest. In addition, many other gems (of far lesser value) adorn its surface.
The crown was originally forged in a far away land for a powerful warlord by the evil necromancer Daglan. In order to safeguard the secrets of the crown and make certain that none but he would ever wield it, the evil war lord used his new prize to kill the magician (or so he thought, see below). With the death of Daglan, there was no one left who knew how to destroy the crown. The warlord then used the evil power of the crown to extend his evil empire far into the neighboring lands.
On the eve of his greatest battle, in which he was certain to crush the last bastion of goodness left in those dark and distant lands, his plans went astray. The evil warrior was ridding along a dark back country trail with his entourage. As the night wore on, a heavy mist seemed to seep up from the very ground itself. About an hour later, his band was attacked by a small party of elves. The warlord himself was thrown from his horse, and the crown upon his head rolled aside and was lost in the mists.
The short battle which followed ended with only minor wounds for the warlord and his troops. As his men cleared the corpses of the elves from the road and began to loot their fallen bodies, he set about finding his prized crown. After searching all night in the mists, he fell to his knees and cried out in frustration, "It seems to have vanished into the mists themselves." He did not realize the truthfulness of his words, for the Mists of Ravenloft had seized the evil item and sucked it into the demiplane where it remained encased in fog for many years.
Only recently has it once again reentered the domain of human kind. Given to the evil priestess named Radaga, the crown served to complete her corruption and lured her into the dark shadows of Ravenloft. For additional information on Radaga, see her entry in the "Non-Player Characters" section of this book.
Calling upon the powers of evil in his dark Tower of Magic, Daglan was able to foresee the warlord's treachery. Thus it was that he infused the crown with a variant of the magic jar spell. Because of the limitations of this new spell, however, he could only transfer his life force into the one wearing the crown. When he tried this upon the Warlord, he failed due to that individual's near indomitable will. Since the warlord never let anyone else wear the crown, Daglan was imprisoned upon the head of the mortal he hated most. When the crown was lost in battle with the elves, one of them actually found it during the skirmish and placed it upon his head.
Just as he did so, Daglan saw his chance and sent his own essence surging forth to seize control of the elf. However, the dark powers of Ravenloft were not going to allow their prize to escape so easily. They caused the elf's spirit to be sucked into the crown, trapping both individuals within the artifact before Daglan could escape.
The wills of the two constantly battle within the crown, each trying to overcome the other and dominate their little prison. Although Daglan always has the upper hand, the battle weakens him so much that he has not, as yet, been able to escape.
However, as each of Daglan's descendants dies, their spirit is summoned to the crown and adds to his force of will. The shorter the distance between the scene of death and the Crown of Souls, the greater the power he gains. In time, his power will reach the point where he must triumph over the valiant elf whose name is no longer remembered.
Now, however, there is only one descendant of Daglan's left, and she can have no children. Still, all is not lost for the dark necromancer, for the addition of her strength to his will give him just enough energy to reactivate the magic jar spell. Thus, he eagerly awaits her death.
Daglan was even able to strike a bargain with the dark powers of Ravenloft to bring her here when she was a babe. The land complied, but balanced the act by giving her immortality. When she dies, her mortal form will be transformed into an immortal one (that of a wight), preventing her life force from escaping to the crown. When this happens. the crown will become powerless for 2d10 days. At the end of this time, Radaga will rise again as a wight. If her new form is slain, Daglan will assume her will and be able to escape from the Crown of Souls.
The only way to destroy Radaga without releasing Daglan is for her immortal form (that of the wight) to be destroyed by someone who is wearing the Crown of Souls at the time. If Radaga is destroyed as an undead by one wearing the crown, the blow to Daglan will be so great that he will cease to exist and the spirit of the valiant elf within will be released.
If Radaga is otherwise destroyed as an undead, then the trapped soul of the warlock will reach out from within the crown and attempt to take over her fallen body. It is important to note that this is the only case where Daglan can use the crown's magic jar ability as a ranged attack. If he is unable to take control of her body, or if it has been destroyed, he must wait until someone puts on the crown before he can attack them.
Источники
- TSR9298 Feast of Goblyns
- WW15006 Denizens of Dread (Радага упоминается как создатель пироскелетов)
- WW15020 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I
