Non-Blooded Regents?

[Speaker636@aol.co]

I was kinda' wondering: Are King Arthur (esp. from Excalibur), and
Strad von Zarovitch of Ravenloft blooded? If so, could they rule a Cerilian
domain?
In Excalibur, Merlin explains Kingship to Arthur by saying, "You will be
the land and the land will be you. If you fail it shall perish. If you
succeed it shall blossom." And after the betrayal of Lancelot the kingdom
became visibily worse as Arthur's health deteriorated. After he recovered
the Grail, however, new life came to his kingdom.
As for Count Strad, in the book I, Strad, P.N. Elrod explains how Strad
gained power over Barovia. He took a ritual dagger and held it to his wrist.
After recieving the blessing by a priest he held dagger and wrist above his
head and said, "I, Strad, am the land." He then cut his wrist and let three
drops fall to the ground. Over the next year of Strad's life, he was nearly
assassinated by his best friend, saw loved ones die, and began the
transformation into the vampire he is today. The land also saw change. The
sun dimmed, the sky was always bleaker, and The Mist began to form.........

Merely asking equally enlightened minds,
Speaker for the Dead

[Adam Theo]

- --
hello, Adam Theo here,
ah, "I, Straad". i've always wanted to read this book, but have not
found it on the shelvse. is it any good?
*sorry for the off-BR post, i'll fix that:*

and how could Straad be blooded? one of two ways IMO:
*Straad (or that priest, or an artifact) ripped away a bit of a god's
blood and gave it to him, like the champions at Diesmaar.
*Straad was blessed by a god and given regency powers (bloodline)

Speaker636@aol.com wrote:
>
> I was kinda' wondering: Are King Arthur (esp. from Excalibur), and
> Strad von Zarovitch of Ravenloft blooded? If so, could they rule a Cerilian
> domain?
> In Excalibur, Merlin explains Kingship to Arthur by saying, "You will be
> the land and the land will be you. If you fail it shall perish. If you
> succeed it shall blossom." And after the betrayal of Lancelot the kingdom
> became visibily worse as Arthur's health deteriorated. After he recovered
> the Grail, however, new life came to his kingdom.
> As for Count Strad, in the book I, Strad, P.N. Elrod explains how Strad
> gained power over Barovia. He took a ritual dagger and held it to his wrist.
> After recieving the blessing by a priest he held dagger and wrist above his
> head and said, "I, Strad, am the land." He then cut his wrist and let three
> drops fall to the ground. Over the next year of Strad's life, he was nearly
> assassinated by his best friend, saw loved ones die, and began the
> transformation into the vampire he is today. The land also saw change. The
> sun dimmed, the sky was always bleaker, and The Mist began to form.........
>
> Merely asking equally enlightened minds,
> Speaker for the Dead
> ************************************************** *************************
> > adamtheo@usa.net Florida, USA
adamtheo@hotmail.com *Webmaster* want a website?
ICQ: 3617306 * page me at http://wwp.mirabilis.com/3617306
ichat: adamtheo
* a free-market libertarian confucionist social-darwinist

Destiny of Regents Birthright PBeM
* http://www.Geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2315

[Taragin@sprintmail.co]

And just how do you all know that Strahd von Zarovich did not originate
on Cerilia, hmm? That name sure sounds Brechtish or Vossic to me. And I
don't ever recall reading in any of the products (Ravenloft, Ravenloft
II: the House on Gryphon Hill, House of Strahd, or I, Strahd) it saying
which world he did originate on. Perhaps his being blooded and the first
regent of the Demiplane of Dread is what gave Ravenloft's dark powers
the idea of Dark Lords in the first place.
On this smae subject, I've been wondering recently if maybe the dark
powers of Ravenloft and the power behind the shadow world might be
enemies of planar proportions -- who can be the greatest non-Outer
Planar evil? What do you think, eh?

- --
Alexander

“There is no dilemma that cannot be solved by a disciplined Cardassian
mind.” - Gul Dukat

[Eric Tighe]

I would say that Arthur from Excaliber is a perfect example of a Blooded
person and his conntection with the land. As for Strad Im not familar with
him but sounds similar.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Speaker636@aol.com
To: Birthright@MPGN.COM
Date: Friday, November 07, 1997 5:31 PM
Subject: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Non-Blooded Regents?


> I was kinda' wondering: Are King Arthur (esp. from Excalibur), and
>Strad von Zarovitch of Ravenloft blooded? If so, could they rule a
Cerilian
>domain?
> In Excalibur, Merlin explains Kingship to Arthur by saying, "You will
be
>the land and the land will be you. If you fail it shall perish. If you
>succeed it shall blossom." And after the betrayal of Lancelot the kingdom
>became visibily worse as Arthur's health deteriorated. After he recovered
>the Grail, however, new life came to his kingdom.
> As for Count Strad, in the book I, Strad, P.N. Elrod explains how
Strad
>gained power over Barovia. He took a ritual dagger and held it to his
wrist.
> After recieving the blessing by a priest he held dagger and wrist above
his
>head and said, "I, Strad, am the land." He then cut his wrist and let
three
>drops fall to the ground. Over the next year of Strad's life, he was
nearly
>assassinated by his best friend, saw loved ones die, and began the
>transformation into the vampire he is today. The land also saw change.
The
>sun dimmed, the sky was always bleaker, and The Mist began to form.........
>
>Merely asking equally enlightened minds,
>Speaker for the Dead
>************************************************** *************************
>>'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
>

[Ed Stark]

At 05:39 PM 11/7/97 -0500, you wrote:
> I was kinda' wondering: Are King Arthur (esp. from Excalibur), and
>Strad von Zarovitch of Ravenloft blooded? If so, could they rule a Cerilian
>domain?

Well, of course not--they aren't Cerilian, now are they?

> In Excalibur, Merlin explains Kingship to Arthur by saying, "You will be
>the land and the land will be you. If you fail it shall perish. If you
>succeed it shall blossom." And after the betrayal of Lancelot the kingdom
>became visibily worse as Arthur's health deteriorated. After he recovered
>the Grail, however, new life came to his kingdom.

Of course that's one of the MAJOR sources we used for BR bloodlines--along
with many of the Arthurian stories, Beowulf, and other kings-as-heroes,
kings-as-the-land legends. I highly recommend it as a source.

> As for Count Strad, in the book I, Strad, P.N. Elrod explains how Strad
>gained power over Barovia. He took a ritual dagger and held it to his wrist.
> After recieving the blessing by a priest he held dagger and wrist above his
>head and said, "I, Strad, am the land." He then cut his wrist and let three
>drops fall to the ground. Over the next year of Strad's life, he was nearly
>assassinated by his best friend, saw loved ones die, and began the
>transformation into the vampire he is today. The land also saw change. The
>sun dimmed, the sky was always bleaker, and The Mist began to form.........

An interesting point, but I believe (and I'd have to ask an RL person)
Strahd was performing some sort of ritual that, at best, mimicked Cerilian
bloodedness.


-- ->-- ->-- ->--@
Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager, BIRTHRIGHT/GREYHAWK/MARVEL Group
TSR Website: http://www.tsrinc.com
(soon to be http://www.tsr.com)

[Speaker636@aol.co]

About Strad's "Investiture." Would that be a (albiet primitive) Rite of
Investiture?

[Neil Barnes]

On Sat, 8 Nov 1997 Taragin@sprintmail.com wrote:
> On this smae subject, I've been wondering recently if maybe the dark
> powers of Ravenloft and the power behind the shadow world might be
> enemies of planar proportions -- who can be the greatest non-Outer
> Planar evil? What do you think, eh?

I've always figured Ravenloft to be the Demi-plane of Imprisonment (MoP)
& possibly where Tharizdun is held.

As for the Shadow world, let's just say that I consider reports of
Azrai's death to be greatly exaggerated.

neil

[Speaker636@aol.co]

In a message dated 97-11-08 23:35:05 EST, you write:

> > I was kinda' wondering: Are King Arthur (esp. from Excalibur), and
> >Strad von Zarovitch of Ravenloft blooded? If so, could they rule a
> Cerilian domain?
>
> Well, of course not--they aren't Cerilian, now are they?
>
I meant if they arrived in Cerilia by planar means, could they be a
regent provided they beat the current regent.
> > In Excalibur, Merlin explains Kingship to Arthur by saying, "You
will
> be the land and the land will be you. If you fail it shall perish. If you
> >succeed it shall blossom." And after the betrayal of Lancelot the
kingdom
> >became visibily worse as Arthur's health deteriorated. After he
recovered
> >the Grail, however, new life came to his kingdom.
>
> Of course that's one of the MAJOR sources we used for BR bloodlines--along
> with many of the Arthurian stories, Beowulf, and other kings-as-heroes,
> kings-as-the-land legends. I highly recommend it as a source.
>
> > As for Count Strad, in the book I, Strad, P.N. Elrod explains how
> Strad gained power over Barovia. He took a ritual dagger and held it to
his
> wrist. After recieving the blessing by a priest he held dagger and wrist
above
> his head and said, "I, Strad, am the land." He then cut his wrist and let
> three drops fall to the ground. Over the next year of Strad's life, he was

> nearly assassinated by his best friend, saw loved ones die, and began the
> >transformation into the vampire he is today. The land also saw change.
> The sun dimmed, the sky was always bleaker, and The Mist began to
form.........
>
> An interesting point, but I believe (and I'd have to ask an RL person)
> Strahd was performing some sort of ritual that, at best, mimicked Cerilian
> bloodedness.
>
My reason was if Arthur or Strad could do it, why couldn't Hercules. In
the Legendary Journeys, Herc has been offered kingdoms. Is that also another
manifestation of being blooded? I ask only because my blooded party is
adventurers, not regents, and time has come that they aren't unnoticed
anymore. I was wondering how that would work.

Thanks,
Speaker.