Lord Soth

Lord Soth

Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose
First appearance Dragons of Spring Dawning
Created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Game information
Homeland Solamnia
Gender Male
Race Civilized Human
Class Knight of Solamnia / Death Knight
Title Lord Soth of Dargaard Keep
Alias Knight of the Black Rose

Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose (full name: Lord Loren Soth of Dargaard Keep), is a fictional character in the fantasy realms of Dragonlance and later Ravenloft. He is a death knight and fallen Knight of Solamnia from the world of Krynn.

According to Tracy Hickman, he needed a powerful character for the Heroes of the Lance to fight at the High Clerist's Tower, and Lord Soth suddenly came into his mind with a complete history and personality. The popularity of Lord Soth as a character has defined what a Death Knight means to the writers of the Dungeons & Dragons game over the years.[1] Soth was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history in the final print issue of Dragon.[2]

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Appearance

Soth stands 6'5" or taller, wearing a full suit of Solamnic plate mail that is of ancient design. Damage from many battles mars the delicate ornamentation on his armor, obscuring its intricate carvings of kingfishers and roses, leaving only a charred black rose on the breastplate, which had become Soth's symbol. A long purple cloak hangs heavily on his shoulder, draped behind him almost to his knees. A tassel of long black hair tops his helm, as worn and ancient as the rest of his armor. A sword black with the blood of countless victims hangs sheathed on his hip. Of the death knight himself, only two flaming dots red as blood shine from the eye slits on the helm. His voice seems an echo from the depth of a bottomless cavern. Like all death knights, there is always an aura of freezing unearthly cold around Soth, the demeanor so terrifying that even kender have been known to be frightened.[3]

When traveling, Soth is usually mounted on a nightmare, a demonic steed with ebony skin and flaming feet.

Combat

Although evil and filled with an intense hatred for all living creatures, most of the time Soth retains a semblance of the pride he held as a Solamnic knight, and fights honorably. He will never ambush an opponent from behind, nor does he strike before his enemy can ready his weapon. Aside from these facts, however, Soth is a terrible enemy. An undead abomination, Soth has inhuman strength, which is further enhanced by his skill with the sword; something that he learned as a former Knight of the Rose. Soth also can cast various type of spells, including huge fireballs, magical words which stun or kill enemies, ice walls, cone of cold, etc. With a single word, Soth can snuff the life out of a red dragon (thus Power Word: Kill), or shatter the great city gate of Palanthas, which was formerly known as the "Unconquered City."

History

Life as a Knight

Soth was a Knight of the Rose, the most esteemed rank of knight in the Knights of Solamnia, and married. He and his wife, Lady Korrine of Gladria, tried over and over to have a son to be Soth's heir but had no positive results. While on a trip with his loyal retainers they encountered a band of ogres attacking elven priestesses. They slew the ogres but Soth fell in love with the fairest priestess, the Silvanesti Elf Isolde Denissa, and eventually managed to seduce her, bringing her back to Dargaard Keep as a friend in the eyes of the public and his wife. Soth's wife and her Lady in Waiting then visited a witch to help her with this problem who then agreed, but warned that the child would be a representation of Soth's soul. Thinking Sir Loren Soth pure of heart, the wife had no fear of this warning aside from knowledge of Soth's intimacy with the elf.On the day Soth's wife gave birth the labor was very painful as it was throughout the pregnancy. After hours of childbirth the "child" came to be. It had the face similar to that of dragon-kin with two arms on one side and a leg on the other. The last leg was placed at the bottom of the buttocks as if a tail. Soth raged thinking his wife had been disloyal to him with some kind of demon and then slaughtered her and the abomination. Soth then asked Caradoc, his lieutenant to get rid of the evidence and reveal the news of the deaths as difficult childbirth. Soth's indiscretion was discovered when the elf-maid's mistress and former Lady of the Keep's Lady in Waiting, Mirrel Martlin, revealed to his superiors that Isolde was pregnant with Soth's bastard son. Soth was brought to Palanthas, where he was brought before the Court of High Justice. Soth told his story of his Wife and child passing in childbirth and that the remains were burned for fear of disease. the Court then called upon Istvan the healer of Dargaard Keep who had birthed the child. Istvan mirrored Soth's story. The court had said to let his word be the deciding factor and Soth agreed. The High justice then asked Istvan to partake in an experiment. Istvan agreed to let the court test his story. The court then had a mage cast a spell over Istvan the Healer. The spell forced Istvan to speak only the truth. He revealed that both the "son" and mother were alive and well after the birth, and was asked to leave by Soth. The only person to enter in to the room was Soth. Soth was found guilty of murder and stripped of his rank, condemned to be beheaded and was banished from the Knighthood. He would have been executed had not his retainers spirited him away from his execution to his home, Dargaard Keep.

Undead curse

Besieged by the other knights, Soth's mood turned black, even striking his new wife, Isolde on one occasion. When he realized the monster he had become, he prayed to the deity Paladine for help. His wife prayed to the deity Mishakal. Mishakal showed her the future and the destruction that the arrogant Kingpriest of Istar was about to call upon Krynn. She was told that Soth could stop the Cataclysm by finding the Rod of Omniscient Wisdom and forcing it into the Kingpriests' hands (it would take many tries, each time he was killed he'd rise with greater power). As a reward, he would be redeemed. However, because of the great power of the Kingpriest, he would die in the attempt. Isolde told Soth about her vision. He then set out on this quest. Soth and 13 knights found the rod in an adamantite coffer in volcanic caverns in the Dargaard Mountains. The coffer was cursed and by taking the rod Soth left his soul. He was now a type of lich. While his original body was still alive his soul's new body was the coffer (his phylactery) He was astrally projected back into his original living body (but the astral cord still attaches to the phylactery). Soth was unaware of his new state. On the way to Istar he encountered a group of three elf-maids. They poisoned Soth's mind with lies about his wife's infidelity. They told him that he was sent out on the quest because his wife knew he would die, which was her purpose all along. Enraged, Soth turned from his quest and confronted his wife just as the Cataclysm began. A chandelier fell upon his wife and new-born son, setting her aflame. His wife begged for him to save their child, but Soth stopped himself from doing so, as to prevent his own son growing up as Loren had. As her life ended she cursed him, "you shall live the lifetime of every soul that you have caused death today", and upon pronunciation of the curse the fire engulfed the entire keep, seemingly slaying Soth, his retainers, and the rest of the inhabitants of the Keep. But Soth did not die. He became a Death Knight, and his followers became skeleton warriors. The three elf-maids became banshees, cursed to remind him of his folly every night.

War of the Lance

Several centuries later, the evil goddess Takhisis launched the War of the Lance to conquer Krynn and wanted Lord Soth to assist her armies. Soth informed Takhisis he would only be willing to serve the Dragon Highlord (Takhisis's top generals) with enough courage and strength to survive one night in Dargaard Keep. Only the Dragon Highlord known as the Blue Lady, Kitiara Uth Matar, accepted this challenge. Kitiara survived the night, winning Soth's service.

Lord Soth would soon prove an invaluable ally to Kitiara. It was Soth that prevented Emperor Ariakas from executing Kitiara for the defeats she suffered in the Vingaard Campaign, and it was Soth that affected the successful kidnapping of Laurana, the Golden General of the Good Armies (who also happened to be Kitiara's romantic rival for the heart of Tanis Half-Elven.)

Soth became obsessed with Laurana, whose radiant elven beauty reminded him so much of Isolde, so he entered into a conspiracy with Kitiara where he would help her obtain the Crown of Power from Ariakas in exchange for her having Takhisis grant him the soul of Laurana, who would then suffer in undeath with him for all eternity. Thus at the Council of Highlords in Neraka, Soth personally carried the captive Laurana, who had been tightly wrapped into a cocoon of winding cloth, to Kitiara. The Dragon Highlord then cut Laurana out of the cocooon, offered her up as a gift to Takhisis and received Takhisis's blessing for the elfmaid's soul to be granted to Lord Soth.

However, Soth's desire would be frustrated when Tanis Half-Elven assassinated Emperor Ariakas and then Laurana escaped as the Dragonarmies began fighting amongst themselves. Soth eliminated the Green and Black Dragon Highlords, Kitiara's potential rivals for the Crown of Power, during this fighting but failed to obtain Laurana's soul, as Kitiara allowed Tanis and Laurana to escape. Soth mocked Kitiara for this apparent act of mercy, but Kitiara then told the death knight she did it only so she would always live in Tanis's heart, which would forever taint his relationship with Laurana. Soth accepted this answer and then presented Kitiara with the Crown of Power while vowing his undying service to her.

Blue Lady's War

Several years after the end of the War of the Lance, Lord Soth would again assist Kitiara during the Blue Lady's War. Under his command, a great number of undead creatures (including his skeletal warriors and banshees with wyvern-carried chariots) breached Palanthas the Unconquered City. However, Soth had his own motivations. He had become completely obsessed with Kitiara (whose self-serving nature and survival-instinct had somehow rekindled his undead heart), and decided to make her become his eternal consort. Thus Soth waited until the dark elf wizard, Dalamar, struck Kitiara down during the fighting and then claimed Kitiara's body. Once Soth had Kitiara's body, he had his forces withdraw from Palanthas. Without their undead allies, the rest of Kitiara's forces were soon defeated by the Palanthians. However, due to the treachery of one of Soth's servants, Caradoc, his plan to obtain Kitiara's soul failed. The role-playing video game Death Knights of Krynn which Soth was featured in also happened during this era.[4] .

Rule in Ravenloft

The Mists of Ravenloft plucked Soth and Caradoc from Krynn while the two battled. His soul was brought to the domain of Barovia; wanting to return to Krynn, Soth sought out Strahd von Zarovich, the ruler of the domain, in the hope Strahd would help him. Strahd tried to use Soth to his advantage but this only cost him a red dragon which was one of his castle guardians. After a series of adventures with the Vistani girl, Magda, and the were-badger Azrael Dak, Soth had found out that Strahd was hiding Caradoc from him. Soth attacked Strahd unceasingly and the vampire had no choice but to release Caradoc in order to keep his domain in one piece. Soth then pursued Caradoc until he finally caught him at the edge of the mists.

Soth was then given the domain Sithicus ("land of spectres" in the elven tongue) in Ravenloft by the Mists who stole his vengeance on Caradoc. His new castle, Nedragaard Keep (Solamnic, meaning: "not Dargaard"), was made as mockery of Dargaard in Krynn with a continually changing form so Soth could not maintain the military order he was accustomed to. During the Grand Conjunction he briefly returned to his Krynn body.

Soth's experiences in Sithicus had changed him only slightly. Throughout his time in the Dread Realm, Soth found himself entering mirror worlds, each which contained a portion of his past. Through these he lived in worlds of fantasy, ignoring the world beyond his keep. It is believed that his refusal to face his past sins and his willingness to suffer his curse led to his release from the Mists; Soth simply withdrew and ignored Sithicus until he was released.

The story of his ascension is told in Knight of the Black Rose,[5] the story of his temporary release is told in World of Krynn, and the story of his final release is told in Spectre of the Black Rose.[6]

War of Souls

In the 2002 book Dragon of a Vanished Moon,[7] upon his return to Krynn, Mina, Chosen of Takhisis, attempted to recruit Soth to lead the Dark Queen's armies. Soth had spent too long alone, however, time enough to come to peace with himself and to think about the wife and child he wronged. He refused the goddess' invitation and, in retaliation to this insult, Takhisis, in her ignorance, granted Lord Soth one final blessing: She restored his mortality. Lord Soth then destroyed his keep, crushing him to death under the rubble. The fallen knight perished with his honor restored, vowing that he would forever search for the elf maid and his son in the afterlife, and in that search, he would be redeemed.

Debate

Soth’s tenure in Ravenloft is a topic of debate. The creators of Soth argue that they did not give their permission for Soth to be used in the Ravenloft Campaign setting. However, they had no legal ownership of the character and, at the time Soth was moved, were not associated with TSR or Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast has been vague on the subject but the last official word on the subject was that Soth did indeed enter Ravenloft but that the Mists returned him to Krynn at the very instant he was removed.[8]

It is also mentioned in one of the Dragon Magazine articles before the publication's ceasing that the new dark lord of Sithicus is plagued by a mockery of Lord Soth. This "White Knight" version of Soth shows how anyone can be redeemed and is an anathema to that Dark Lord's corrupting influence on the land.

References

  1. ^ Semett, Matthew (2007-10-03). "The Ecology of the Death Knight" (Preview). Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dreo/20071003a. Retrieved 2008-01-10. 
  2. ^ Bulmahn, Jason; James Jacobs, Mike McArtor, Erik Mona, F. Wesley Schneider, Todd Stewart, Jeremy Walker (September, 2007). "1d20 Villains: D&D's Most Wanted; Preferably Dead". Dragon (Paizo) 32(4) (359): 54–69. 
  3. ^ Hickman, Tracy; Weis, Margaret (2006). Dragonlance: Legend of the Twins (1st ed.). Sovereign Press/Margaret Weis Productions. ISBN 193156731X. SVP-4003 
  4. ^ Dragonlance: War of the Lance (video game) (1st ed.). Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). 1989 
  5. ^ Lowder, James (1991). Ravenloft: Knight of the Black Rose (1st ed.). TSR. ISBN 1560761563 
  6. ^ Lowder, James (1999). Ravenloft: Spectre of the Black Rose (1st ed.). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 078613339 
  7. ^ Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (2003). Dragons of a Vanished Moon: The War of Souls vol. III.. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2950-2. 
  8. ^ Faternity of Shadows. "Ravenloft FAQ: Lord Soth" (Interview with James Lowder). Faternity of Shadows. http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/FAQ/FAQ_Answers.html#somepeoplesaysoth. Retrieved 2008-02-05.