#gundarak

Darklord: Duke Nharov Gundar Domain: Gundarak Domain Formation: 593 BC Power Level: 💀⚫⚫⚫⚫ (1/5 skulls) Sources: Realms of Terror (2e), Feast of Goblyns (2e), Bleak House (2e), Ravenloft Gazetteer Vol. 1 (3e), Children of the Night: Werebeasts (2e), Knight of the Black Rose (novel) Duke Nharov Gundar was the Darklord of the Domain with the highly imaginative name of Gundarak. Emphasis on “was” as both Gundar and Gundarak are now no more than forgotten shells gathering dust in some unnamed scholar’s mind. I had to do some rather deep digging into the Hall of Records for scraps of information on the Demiplane’s saddest vampire. Historical records (false or otherwise) gathered by my little scholar indicates that Gundar’s family have been bloodthirsty tyrants for generations as they ruled from Castle Hunadora. Gundar continued this blood thirsty tradition as a Darklord once he so very wisely stepped through a portal that carried him into the Mists and made him the Darklord of Gundarak. Well, at least for a short while. Gundar was known for his excessive taxation of his people (from having a girl to gathering firewood, he taxed every aspect of their lives) and overly cruel punishments...as is traditional for the lot of us. Those that dared defy him or just happened to look at him in the wrong way were hung from the walls of Castle Hunadora. Sharing a border with Barovia, Gundar and von Zarovich shared a mutual hatred of one another. Though it never boiled over to full out war, the two sent countless spies into one another’s realms. All of these spies were killed by the opposing side. Inferior rule often leads to inferior followers, so it is unsurprising that these two overgrown ticks failed to cultivate a network of spies as formidable as my Kargat. von Zarovich hated Gundar enough to trick Lord Soth into going after Gundar while the little Death Knight was swinging his sword around Barovia. Strahd informed him that Gundar's blood could be used to open a portal which would allow Soth to return to Krynn. This was an obvious lie, but Soth, being the dumb jock that he is, believed the Count without question. Soth managed to kill Gundar’s son, a rather powerful wizard who was trapped forever in the body of a child. Gundar, petrified of his own son, feigned anger at his loss but was, in actuality, relieved to be rid of him. Even though Gundar is said to be older than von Zarovich, he is much weaker. Stop believing von Zarovich whenever he says he’s the “first vampire” both Jander Sunstar and Gundar are proof that he is not. Eventually, the powers that be decided having yet another warrior vampire Darklord was as boring as it sounds, so they replace Gundar with...a different type of vampire - Daclaud Heinfroth. Daclaud Heinfroth was a man obsessed with his family’s history of madness and studied it in hopes of finding a cure. Heinfroth performed direct transfusions of the spinal and cerebral fluid from who those he deemed as “sane” to those he deemed “insane” and eventually did this to himself. Foolishly, the victim he did this to was going through Gundar’s ‘make a vampire bribe process’ and caused some side effects… Heinfroth became a “cerebral” vampire, because we needed more kinds of vampires, apparently. I won’t discuss Heinfroth in detail now as I’ll be reviewing him in the future. After a plot by Gundar and Heinforth to overthrow Harkon Lukas of Kartakass to transfer control of Harkon's Domain to Heinfroth failed, Heinfroth took out his former master by staking him in the heart and declaring himself the ruler of Gundarak. During the Grand Conjunction, Gundarak was absorbed into the Domains of Barovia and Invidia. Gundar's bones, stake still in his chest, are now traveling through the Mists in Professor Arcanus’s wagon of wonders. The majority of Arcanus’s “wonders” are obvious fakes, but the bones of Gundar are likely real. If anyone were to remove the wooden stake from his heart, he could rise again, but who would want that? No one. No one would want that. How does one rate a “weaker than Strahd” vampire warrior that was taken out by his own lackey and doesn’t have an official drawing? Oh and fears his own child. Does this sad excuse for a vampire even deserve a single skull? Probably not.

Zeidenburg is the perfect town to add to any game set in Barovia that centers around overthrowing Strahd. There’s a lot of potential for players to bring various rebelling groups together, make alliances with those with common cause, and of course there’s the enormous potential with Lyssa. Awakening Lyssa and having her as an ally to the party? There’s a lot you could do with this. Not only does Lyssa know Strahd’s story, but she can travel to other Domains. She’s also a skilled biomancer who could aid the party with some rather unique creations. Of course, allying with her against Strahd is a bit of a double edged sword considering she is just a different type of evil.