Lord Soth ?

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Aug 22, 2003 18:19:55
I read the book where Lord Soth landed in RavenLoft. I am curious as to how/why he got back to Krynn ? And who took over ruling his domain ?
#2

john_w._mangrum

Aug 23, 2003 14:58:33
Soth escaped Ravenloft in the novel Spectre of the Black Rose. Those events are revisited in the upcoming Ravenloft Gazetteer IV.

Inza Kulchevich is the new darklord. She's a main character in SotBR, is referenced in Secrets of the Dread Realms and Heroes of Light, described briefly in the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide, and is detailed in RL Gaz IV.
#3

zombiegleemax

Aug 23, 2003 16:09:37
Hehe I guess DragonLance wanted him back hehe. Such a shame that he is dead now =(
#4

zombiegleemax

Aug 25, 2003 11:24:33
What do you mean he's dead?!
#5

zombiegleemax

Aug 25, 2003 11:59:58
He died in the War of the Souls. So a new death knight took over in DragonLance =)

If I remember correctly he refused to help the Dark Queen(he finally repented for his sins) so she made him mortal than collapsed his castle on him. Don't quote me on that though.
#6

zombiegleemax

Aug 27, 2003 15:28:01
The other dead knight was already there when soth returned, he is the ruler of storm keep now.

As I see it, soth didn't repent his sins, he just refused to be the leader of the Dark Queens new army, and she destroyed him in anger.
The way I see it, this downfall really continues the great book, spectre of the black rose

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E

spoiler space for Spectre of the black.

Excatly as in SoTBR, Soth refuses to compromise his "ideals". He will never change or repent, his services always comes for a price, and the backstabbing Dark Queen he will never trust, and he never has, since she was the one who secretly guided the good elven clerics who seduced him. (I think?, confirmation anybody?) anyway, even I remember incorrectly about the clerics, I still think that his downfall in war of souls is a sequel to his behavoir in SoTBR, and it is great.
#7

zombiegleemax

Aug 31, 2003 14:25:20
Originally posted by Voiceman
The other dead knight was already there when soth returned, he is the ruler of storm keep now.

As I see it, soth didn't repent his sins, he just refused to be the leader of the Dark Queens new army, and she destroyed him in anger.
The way I see it, this downfall really continues the great book, spectre of the black rose

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E

spoiler space for Spectre of the black.

Excatly as in SoTBR, Soth refuses to compromise his "ideals". He will never change or repent, his services always comes for a price, and the backstabbing Dark Queen he will never trust, and he never has, since she was the one who secretly guided the good elven clerics who seduced him. (I think?, confirmation anybody?) anyway, even I remember incorrectly about the clerics, I still think that his downfall in war of souls is a sequel to his behavoir in SoTBR, and it is great.

I definitely look at it as redemption for Soth. I mean come on....He finally escaped his curse through a good act of his own volition.
#8

zombiegleemax

Sep 01, 2003 12:42:22
Totally. Soth seemed 100% repentant... Shame he died, but what a way to go... I still say he got off easy though... I mean wasn't he supposed to live in undeath for a lifetime of each person who died in the cataclysm? That is a lot of years! he only served what? 400 or so years out of his like 100 million...
#9

kalanth

Sep 04, 2003 15:51:55
Ok, I have not finished the War of Souls books, but just hearing that Soth is gone. . . .My world is shattered. He was a major part of an old campaign I ran, and the new Death Knight (from the DLCS) is no where near as interesting.
#10

Ryltar_Swordsong

Sep 07, 2003 23:44:15
That's one of the cool things about DL: Heroes and Villains die. And stay dead.
#11

kalanth

Sep 10, 2003 14:49:53
I agree hole heartedly, Ryltar, but you also forget the ones that die, and are reborn, such as Raistlin and Tasselhoff.
#12

Ryltar_Swordsong

Sep 10, 2003 14:54:13
They weren't really reborn. They were more like petitioners.
#13

kalanth

Sep 11, 2003 11:40:09
Petitioners? I guess you could say that. Just always bothered me that they kept comming back.
#14

zombiegleemax

Sep 16, 2003 21:06:11
well, technically tass never really died until the end of the WoS trilogy, and Raist... well... he was to evil to stay dead...
#15

carteeg

Sep 17, 2003 7:23:26
*War of Souls Spoiler*







Tas used time travel in the past to get to the future, but he went back to his normal time in order to die.

Raistlin is much more confusing. He died in Legends, came back in Dragons of Summer Flame without spellcasting abilities (I guess the term petitioner worked for him), and then made one last appearance in War of Souls. At the end of WoS, Raistlin and all of the other dead original heroes went off to the next world, passed on, pushing up the daisies, went into that bright shining light at the end of the tunnel, etc. So, they are gone for good... finally.

Soth got off easy for his crime, but it came to a point where the punishment wasn't doing anything anymore. But Takhisis didn't care about his punishment. He defined her, so he's eliminated when no one else could do anything about it.
#16

zombiegleemax

Oct 26, 2003 23:10:27
Soth redeemed himself in the War of Souls. He defied the Dark Queen and made up for the mistake of Istar. She tried to keep him ound in his guilt but it didnt work. Perhaps POaladine heard his praer and took him to the eternal realsm.
#17

zombiegleemax

Nov 03, 2003 6:40:19
Face it, Soth died because Hickman spat his dummy out and wanted to make sure no one could use Soth again. It was a pointless chapter in the book and added nothing to the story, it was just written to kill Soth.
#18

scipio

Nov 03, 2003 7:24:44
Originally posted by Drinnik Shoehorn
Face it, Soth died because Hickman spat his dummy out and wanted to make sure no one could use Soth again. It was a pointless chapter in the book and added nothing to the story, it was just written to kill Soth.

Amen to that.
#19

platinumwarlock

Nov 03, 2003 8:07:53
Originally posted by Scipio
Amen to that.

*shrug* I thought it was an all right chapter. Nothing spectacular, but it was nice to see Ol' Buckethead get redeemed in the end.

That said, I'm still having him make a cameo in my upcoming campaign. Dead or not, I'm not finished with him! :D
#20

kalanth

Nov 03, 2003 10:44:44
I felt the chapter where Soth died was the best in the book. He had suffered long enough and was able to make amends with his feelings, and stand up to Takhisis. Initially, the loss of Soth was actually part of the begining of her fall from the top.
#21

zombiegleemax

Nov 03, 2003 13:13:18
Originally posted by John W. Mangrum
Soth escaped Ravenloft in the novel Spectre of the Black Rose. Those events are revisited in the upcoming Ravenloft Gazetteer IV.

Inza Kulchevich is the new darklord. She's a main character in SotBR, is referenced in Secrets of the Dread Realms and Heroes of Light, described briefly in the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide, and is detailed in RL Gaz IV.

Do you know if he is actually mentioned by name in Gaz IV? That's a part of the whole S&S' agreement with WotC I'm not sure of. I understand that they don't have the right to use FR and DL characters and such, but can they still mention their names? Does this fall under the Fair Use clausule or something?

Just curious. And anxious to see gaz IV...
#22

john_w._mangrum

Nov 03, 2003 13:28:19
Originally posted by malken
Do you know if he is actually mentioned by name in Gaz IV? That's a part of the whole S&S' agreement with WotC I'm not sure of. I understand that they don't have the right to use FR and DL characters and such, but can they still mention their names? Does this fall under the Fair Use clausule or something?

When Gaz IV left my hands, he was referred to as the Black Rose, the alias we established in Van Richten's Arsenal.

I really have no idea what the license allows.
#23

zombiegleemax

Nov 03, 2003 16:57:26
Originally posted by John W. Mangrum
When Gaz IV left my hands, he was referred to as the Black Rose, the alias we established in Van Richten's Arsenal.

I really have no idea what the license allows.

Which Gazette is Barovia in?
#24

zombiegleemax

Nov 03, 2003 17:39:35
Originally posted by Pangaea
Which Gazette is Barovia in?

the first one.

as for the lord soth cameo in war of souls. It was totally pointless. The chapter could have been left out without changing the story one bit.
#25

trebor_minntt

Nov 03, 2003 20:27:39
Originally posted by Kalanth
I felt the chapter where Soth died was the best in the book. He had suffered long enough and was able to make amends with his feelings, and stand up to Takhisis. Initially, the loss of Soth was actually part of the begining of her fall from the top.

I'm a Dragonlance fanatic, i love the setting with all my heart and have speny over half my life reading the novels and I could not disagree with you more.

Hichman whined that he needed Soth on Krynn because he was vital to his new trilogy (WoS), and then nowhwere is Soth mention excpt in a tiny chapter that explains his death. This suggests one thing to me, Hichman was being petty because noeone bothered to ask him if Soth could be sent to Ravenloft. Soths death was meaningless and trivial to the story and was compleatly uncalled for and the whole thing about finally repenting his sins? Whatever happened to "i forged my own doom I am the tool of my own damnation"? Personally I think Soths death let down the book, the trilogy, the setting and the fans.
#26

The_Jester

Nov 04, 2003 0:40:37
Both Hickman and Weis were asked about Soth and his addition to Ravenloft. Both said they didn't care. At the time. Later on they changed their mind and said they were never asked. Are they being dicks? Or did they honestly forget? Or was it a miscommunication?
Personally I'm leaning to a combo of B and C. But really it's also a tad D, all of the above.

They complained and got their way because they created the character . So in that respect I applaud them and Wizards for complying. Great to see some semi-freelance exercise some creative control over their own creations.
Yeah Soth worked great in Ravenloft, but DragonLance was his home so it's fitting he was returned.

But to insist he was never in Ravenloft and ignoring four or five published products and the fans is really an insult to them. Would it really be so bad to admit he spent a few years out of his unlife in Ravenloft? Especially since a whole generation was skipped over between Legends and Dragons of Summer Flame, his entire time in Ravenloft could be squeezed into that. Insisting he never left Krynn is just being obstinant.
#27

b4real

Nov 04, 2003 15:13:38
Originally posted by Platinumwarlock
*shrug* I thought it was an all right chapter. Nothing spectacular, but it was nice to see Ol' Buckethead get redeemed in the end.

That said, I'm still having him make a cameo in my upcoming campaign. Dead or not, I'm not finished with him! :D

That is what is strong about it being your campaign. Noone can tell you who you can or cannot use. ;)

~B4Real
#28

platinumwarlock

Nov 04, 2003 15:53:49
Originally posted by B4Real
That is what is strong about it being your campaign. Noone can tell you who you can or cannot use. ;)

~B4Real

Bingo, sparky.
#29

b4real

Nov 04, 2003 15:58:44
Originally posted by Platinumwarlock
Bingo, sparky.

Ya darn skippy George.

~B4Real
#30

james_lowder

Nov 15, 2003 15:15:21
Originally posted by malken
Do you know if he is actually mentioned by name in Gaz IV? That's a part of the whole S&S' agreement with WotC I'm not sure of. I understand that they don't have the right to use FR and DL characters and such, but can they still mention their names? Does this fall under the Fair Use clausule or something?

Just curious. And anxious to see gaz IV...

As I wrote it, Soth is referenced as "the Cursed Knight" in the new Gaz. It's actually worked into the philosophy of the domain. No one wants to mention him by name because they're afraid he might come back.

The material in the Gaz moves the Sithicus plot forward post-Spectre of the Black Rose and sets up what I have in mind for the third Sithicus book, Wake of the Black Rose--if new books are ever released and I'm asked to do one.

Cheers,
James Lowder
#31

james_lowder

Nov 15, 2003 15:23:46
Originally posted by The_Jester
Both Hickman and Weis were asked about Soth and his addition to Ravenloft. Both said they didn't care. At the time. Later on they changed their mind and said they were never asked.

They were both asked at the time the move was made to participate in reviewing the novel to be certain it stayed true to Soth's character and so on. They both declined the offer. They never said they didn't care--they would not have moved the character to RL and said so.

But they also refused to make the best of the situation or meet the company half way, even after it was explained to them that the intent from the start was to make Soth a "tourist" of sorts, that he would not be changed in any way that would mean his return to Krynn at a later date. At the time, they were at odds with TSR and not writing Dragonlance (or anything else) for the company, so it wasn't like the move would matter to them in the short term.

Cheers,
James Lowder
#32

zombiegleemax

Nov 16, 2003 6:06:04
Originally posted by James Lowder
As I wrote it, Soth is referenced as "the Cursed Knight" in the new Gaz. It's actually worked into the philosophy of the domain. No one wants to mention him by name because they're afraid he might come back.

The material in the Gaz moves the Sithicus plot forward post-Spectre of the Black Rose and sets up what I have in mind for the third Sithicus book, Wake of the Black Rose--if new books are ever released and I'm asked to do one.

Cheers,
James Lowder

That's sounds great! I'm definitely ready for the fourth Gazeteer now! And I'm more ready than ever for new RL books!

I really miss the Kargatane's review site, it was always such a convenient way to find info on writers and such. I can't seem to find much info on that in S&S' catalog...
#33

zombiegleemax

Nov 16, 2003 8:03:40
Originally posted by James Lowder
...and sets up what I have in mind for the third Sithicus book, Wake of the Black Rose--if new books are ever released and I'm asked to do one.

Cheers,
James Lowder

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! Now you're just teasing us, the novel-starved fans! By all the Dark Powers that be, if anyone at Arthaus visits these boards, take this man up on his offer!

It's a disappointment to me that you were never able to print your Ebonacht series. I have the two articles that I'm aware of that you were able to publish, the "Heresies & Superstitions" that was in Leading Edge magazine #39, and "The Unquiet Dreams of Cingris the Stout" in Gaming Frontiers magzine #2. Is there any chance that this will be developed further for the Ravenloft setting, or will there possibly be more articles in other publications?
#34

james_lowder

Dec 01, 2003 20:05:28
Originally posted by Catman Jim
AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! Now you're just teasing us, the novel-starved fans! By all the Dark Powers that be, if anyone at Arthaus visits these boards, take this man up on his offer!

Actually, White Wolf has made it clear that, should a license for fiction be secured, I'll be one of the first to know.


It's a disappointment to me that you were never able to print your Ebonacht series. I have the two articles that I'm aware of that you were able to publish, the "Heresies & Superstitions" that was in Leading Edge magazine #39, and "The Unquiet Dreams of Cingris the Stout" in Gaming Frontiers magzine #2. Is there any chance that this will be developed further for the Ravenloft setting, or will there possibly be more articles in other publications?

Glad you enjoyed the Janus stories, but don't count the books out yet. An editor in New York, at one of the big houses, is reviewing the material for The Screaming Tower, the Ebonacht Trilogy book one, right now.

As for other material--the main character Janus is central to the two short stories you mentioned. He's also appeared in the short stories:

"The Price of Freedom" in Troll magazine #2

"The Night Chicago Died" in the Eden Studios All Flesh product Pulp Zombies.

Those are both alternate history tales (one steampunk, the other set in Prohibition-era Chicago), not dark fantasy like the other two.

Janus is mentioned in, but doesn't show up in a comic book serial I started in Mythography. (I lost my artist before he made his appearance.) He's also slated to show up in a short story I'm writing for an anthology due out next year from Malhavoc. And another company has expressed an interest in a three-issue comic book miniseries about the character, titled Reaver of the Dead, which you will recognize as one of Janus' incarnations we see in "Heresies and Superstitions."

I've got a lot I would like to do with Janus and the Ebonacht material

Cheers,
James Lowder
#35

awakenings

Dec 01, 2003 21:10:16
Originally posted by James Lowder
Actually, White Wolf has made it clear that, should a license for fiction be secured, I'll be one of the first to know.

And where do we show our support for such a venture? RL Novels! Yay!!!
#36

james_lowder

Dec 01, 2003 21:31:17
Originally posted by Awakenings
And where do we show our support for such a venture? RL Novels! Yay!!!

It's entirely up to WotC. I've spoken to them about the subject as recently as a month or so ago, and they have no immediate plans to either release new novels--or to allow others to release new novels. That could change, but nothing is planned right now.

Cheers,
James Lowder
#37

zombiegleemax

Dec 02, 2003 8:32:13
Ebonacht Trilogy book one?

That's "Coming Soon in September 1993", right?

:D

(I was just re-reading Heart Of Midnight recently and saw the ad)
#38

b4real

Dec 02, 2003 8:44:32
Originally posted by The MadStepDad
Ebonacht Trilogy book one?

That's "Coming Soon in September 1993", right?

:D

(I was just re-reading Heart Of Midnight recently and saw the ad)

Man where have you been? I was looking for you to hit up my board! Check the link MSD!

~B4Real
#39

zombiegleemax

Dec 02, 2003 8:57:15
Where I been? Oh, on a lil vacation…

But it’s back to business now.

Word up, B4Real! That site is fire! Sign me up ASAP!

(Can I post some adventure stuff?)

Your site is Johnny Blazin ‘em, I hope more people check it out.

Peace, B4Real!

MSD
#40

b4real

Dec 02, 2003 9:11:41
Originally posted by The MadStepDad
Where I been? Oh, on a lil vacation…

But it’s back to business now.

Word up, B4Real! That site is fire! Sign me up ASAP!

(Can I post some adventure stuff?)

Your site is Johnny Blazin ‘em, I hope more people check it out.

Peace, B4Real!

MSD

Glad to see you back. I just got back from a vacation too but I took the laptop with me...LoL! You have to sign up yourself....click the register link at the top of the site....after you sign up it will e-mail you your password. You can post your adventure stuff on the Blood 'O' the Vine Tavern board. That is a section for anything RL. See you soon duke!

~B4Real
#41

james_lowder

Dec 02, 2003 14:47:57
Originally posted by The MadStepDad
Ebonacht Trilogy book one?

That's "Coming Soon in September 1993", right?

:D

(I was just re-reading Heart Of Midnight recently and saw the ad)

Yup. If you've seen a catalog for TSR 1993, you might have been the cover mock up.

I withdrew the books from TSR after the first book had been written and underwent review, so they were somewhat far along. It took me several years to get the legal mess cleared up--I owe Peter Adkison thanks for that; he cut through all the nonsense when WotC bought TSR. And after tinkering with the material, removing the Ravenloft references, I started shopping it around.

Cheers,
James Lowder
#42

zombiegleemax

Dec 02, 2003 14:52:34
Well, if your other works are any indication, I'm sure the story will be straight fire. But...
Originally posted by James Lowder
removing the Ravenloft references

... that's too bad. Keep up the good work, though!

peace,

MSD
#43

james_lowder

Dec 02, 2003 15:29:39
Originally posted by The MadStepDad
that's too bad. Keep up the good work, though!
MSD

I created the island of Thran, the domain in which the Ebonacht books are set, as well as the darklord and all the other characters. So, really, the only things that needed to be changed were the keywords like "darklord." The books, in terms of plot and setting and characters, changed very little in the revision.

Cheers,
James Lowder
#44

Matthew_L._Martin

Dec 02, 2003 23:42:27
Originally posted by James Lowder
Yup. If you've seen a catalog for TSR 1993, you might have been the cover mock up.

Cheers,
James Lowder

Actually, the cover mockup shows up for when the book was scheduled the _second_ time, in the TSR Catalog for 1994. :-) Though advertised for 1993 in the back of _Heart of Midnight_, by the time the 1993 catalog saw print, it had been bumped in favor of _I, Strahd_.
_Tower of Doom_ replaced it in November of 1994, FWIW--and nothing was said about it until they advertised said book in October or November's DRAGON, and even then all that we knew was that ToD was coming out soon.

Matthew L. Martin
#45

zombiegleemax

Dec 04, 2003 18:06:22
Erm... please make another Sithicus book... it was one of the things that's got me back into Ravenloft. Plus the fact that Ravenloft was cool. Vampire of the Mists and the Soth books were so great way back when I got them, and have never been able to do enough RL. Make another one! Who's in charge, and how much do we have to pay? Petition, anyone?
#46

james_lowder

Dec 04, 2003 18:53:27
Originally posted by pddisc
Erm... please make another Sithicus book... it was one of the things that's got me back into Ravenloft. Plus the fact that Ravenloft was cool. Vampire of the Mists and the Soth books were so great way back when I got them, and have never been able to do enough RL. Make another one! Who's in charge, and how much do we have to pay? Petition, anyone?

The book department at Wizards of the Coast has control over the license. They can either do new books or allow others to do them through a license.

You're best tack would be a polite letter (hard copy, not e-mail) telling the WotC Book Department about something you want to see either come out or stopping coming out. Address them to "Attn: Managing Editor, Books" at the WotC address in Renton, WA. It can be found on any of their new products.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder



Cheers,
James Lowder
#47

mortavius

Dec 04, 2003 20:52:26
James, I get the distinct feeling that you did Soth too well.

Why?

Because I also get the feeling that shall be plagued until the end of your days by people asking you to do more writing with him and for the Ravenloft setting in general!

;)

Not that any of the praise is undeserved; I'm sure you're well aware that you have always done a phenomenal job.
#48

james_lowder

Dec 04, 2003 21:36:01
Originally posted by Mortavius
James, I get the distinct feeling that you did Soth too well.

Why?

Because I also get the feeling that shall be plagued until the end of your days by people asking you to do more writing with him and for the Ravenloft setting in general!

;)

Not that any of the praise is undeserved; I'm sure you're well aware that you have always done a phenomenal job.

Thanks for the kind words. Being asked about doing more fiction set in Ravenloft, or more with the characters from Knight or Spectre, is never a problem for me. I'm very happy that people like the books well enough that they want to see more.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder
#49

zombiegleemax

Dec 07, 2003 22:44:24
Soth is one of my most favorite villians of all time.I hated when they killed him off in WoS.Mr.Lowder!!!I would love to see him in a third Sithicus book..
#50

james_lowder

Dec 07, 2003 22:55:19
Originally posted by VedVedsica
Soth is one of my most favorite villians of all time.I hated when they killed him off in WoS.Mr.Lowder!!!I would love to see him in a third Sithicus book..

I don't know if WotC would ever allow Soth to be used again. That said, I have a mechanism already built in to the Sithicus material by which that would be possible--though not as darklord and not in the way anyone would expect (I hope ;) ).

Cheers,
Jim Lowder