I'm curious as to whether/how any of you have used Thora Tavin, Matriarch of House Tarkanan, in a game? If so, how did you portray her? I don't have my books handy but, as I recall, she's a former member of a "special forces" team assembled at the behest of King Boranel of Breland near the end of the Last War. The group she was a part of was apparently composed of people bearing aberrant dragonmarks and ended up being a total disaster with Thora and a few others being the only survivors of a failed op. IIRC, she's a capable assassin in her own right, and has been gathering aberrants in anticipation of what she sees as the inevitable rekindling of the War of the Mark. She sees her fellow aberrants as kindred of a sort and is "evil" in that she is bloody ruthless when it comes to defending her own kind and carving out a niche for them in the underworld.
Any further ideas or concepts that people have added? I suspect she'll be appearing in my campaign soon and thought I'd see what other people have done.
Thanks!
Some more questions/thoughts:
As I recall, Thora Tavin spends very little time in Sharn proper, as she's usually faffing about in some other country using the powers of her Mark to suss out recruits. I've always reckoned she maintains some sort of "front" to shed nosey neighbors in Sharn. Maybe she plays herself off as a very busy merchant heiress who's constantly and deeply involved in her business and has little time to hang around. Or maybe, with her extensive education, she could use the cover of an extremely well-funded academic who's always off to some exotic locale to unearth some recently discovered Dhakaani ruins- sort of a Lara Croft for the Sharn set...
The Tarkanans have set themselves up as a mockery of the Dragonmarked House structure. I seem to remember them even having a "base" of sorts in Dragon Towers in Sharn (though that may be my memory misfiring from lack of coffee). I realize Aberrants aren't "hunted" like they used to be, but isn't that a bit bold? Raising a flag in Sharn with the name of the Houses favorite bogeyman splayed across it seems to be begging for trouble, but maybe provocation's the point...
I've assumed they'd have some sort of "respectable front" if the House is, literally, also a massive mansion in a tone-y neighborhood and not a bored front desk clerk letting you know, "Petty thievery will be basement level; manslaughter is on mezzanine; and our premium assassination services are at third floor, last window on left". Maybe, in the end, it's just the mansion of that mysterious and well-to-do lass, Lady Tavin? The one who's always off traveling to some exotic locale or receiving shady company all hours of the night...
Personally, I preferred to think of them more in terms of "The Revolutionary League" in old 2e Planescape; i.e. lots of scattered safehouses and cells acting on sometimes different agendas, though not a direct analog as they seem to be a bit more organized. I could see them as using the funds garnered from the thievery/assassination racket to set up some sort of infrastructure for fighting this "inevitable war" and harboring those friendly to their cause. They may not be bold enough to try and disrupt the trade of a Dragonmarked House yet- but they would be angling in that direction.
Further, this is all DM info- how much d'you reckon John Q. Sharn knows? Or John Q. Underworld for that matter? I can't really imagine the hot dog vendor in Precarious or Rattlestone telling a customer, "Y'need someone put in the dead-book? Hie you to Dragon Towers, mate, and visit House Tarkanan. Tell 'em Orold sent ya!". I realize they have a business to run and filthy lucre to acquire, but is this a situation where, like Ketch, Hare, Burke & Ketch, nice Mr. Kemble will meet Peter Pinter at the Dirty Donkey round midnight to discuss the particulars (ten points if you caught that), or is it a case where someone in need of their services drops hints in the right places and is "contacted" later?
Just spitballing here. Fire away!
Tavin?
That was the image my mind immediately cinjured when I read about her, but maybe that's just me
Am I the only one who visualize her this way:
Tavin?
That was the image my mind immediately cinjured when I read about her, but maybe that's just me
The photo's url is broken:
That is really fitting for her. Although, I just watched Pitch Black again recently and so that image made me think of her in the role of the air elemental instead...
*The Chronicles of Riddick
Having my PCs fight a group of aberrant dragonmark spooks while the crippled fortress drop 30feet to the ground (on the Droaam side of the border) got a nice ring to it.
Thanks anaryth, I think House Tarkanan is just the group I was looking for to infiltrate and sabotage Argonth. Thora's background will be useful here.
Having my PCs fight a group of aberrant dragonmark spooks while the crippled fortress drop 30feet to the ground (on the Droaam side of the border) got a nice ring to it.
Always happy to help!
I've just been re-watching the X-Men series and it does provide some inspiring plotlines. For instance, if Tavin can use her Mark to find other Aberrants, what might happen if she was captured and this ability was harnessed by, say, the "benevolent" forces of Cannith?
As to the respondents; you read my mind. Dame Judy Dench was definitely at the forefront of my thoughts Re: Lady Tavin. I'll be interested to see how my DM handles her as much of my character history is based upon her "reprogramming" him, psychologically speaking, while he was in the grip of his newly manifested Mark.
Speaking of which, here's a quick rundown of the character I'm running (Tairnadal Elf Ranger, Level 3) in the "10-minute character sheet" format. Any insights you all might have are welcome:
History
1) Loglorandos, or “Logos”, is believed to have been born on the island of Aerenal, in the city of Var-Shalas, around 150 years ago. His parentage is unknown, as he was found by the Keepers of the Past; the priests of The Tairnadal Ancestor Cult
2) After he was found, The Keepers conducted their rituals to determine his patron ancestor. Logos was chosen by the spirit of Vae’aht, a Tarinadal hero who fought the Giants of Xen’drik for the freedom of the elves (notes on Vae’aht to follow). Logos spent his youth, like all Tairnadal orphans, at the Cenotaph in the fosterage of the Keepers until he came of age. He was then sent to Taer Senadal, to train with the warriors of the Valaes Tairn.
3) Demonstrating valor and courage in battle at an early age, Logos petitioned and was accepted as a member of the Warclan of Elsaral Quilath. A group that would later be dubbed “The Dusk Riders” by the armies of the Five Nations for their black garb and night-time attacks, They were among the first of the Tairnadal clans to answer the call to war of Mishann of Cyre.
4) Nearly 100 years ago, Logos sailed to Khorvaire with Elsarel and his “Dusk Riders”. For over 50 years they fought for Cyre, spreading terror across Thrane, Breland, and Karnath until 956 Y.K. when Shaeras Vadallia proclaimed the sovereignty of Valenar.
5) When Vadallia founded the new realm of Valenar and donned the Darkwood Crown of the High King, he did not enjoy unanimous support from the Tarinadal. The Dusk Riders refused to swear fealty and continued to honor the bargain struck with Mishaan of Cyre.
6) When The Mourning Struck, Logos and the Dusk Riders were engaged in battle with Karrnathi forces laying siege to Metrol. As the mist spread, The Dusk Riders were consumed and are believed to have been lost en masse. Logos does not know how he survived. All he can remember is waking in the mist, a black aberrant dragonmark spreading across his face like fire. Mad from pain and fear he fled and wandered eventually into Darguun.
7) He spent a year in The Khraal Rainforest, in the throes of madness and terror as the Mark assaulted his mind. He has very little memory of this time as he had yet to gain mastery over his newly manifested Mark. What he does remember from this time seems to be little more than an extended nightmare, though some of what occurred could come back to haunt him.
8) This lasted until Thora Tavin appeared. Having only recently formed House Tarkanan in the wake of the Last War, Tavin was searching Khorvaire for signs of other bearers of Aberrant Marks. Her own Mark, as well as rumors among the goblins of Darguun, led her to Logos. She found an elf that was nearly dead from starvation and sickness, lairing in abandoned Dhakaani ruins in the jungle. While the Mark was crippling in it’s unbound power, keeping Logos firmly in the grip of madness, it was also serving to keep the elf alive by both magically sustaining his body and projecting waves of terror that kept would-be predators at bay. In time she was able to help Logos gain a modicum of control over his Mark which allowed him to resurface from the madness.
9) Some theorize that it was during this time that Tavin, consciously or unwittingly “reprogrammed” Logos. While Logos is, technically speaking, a “broken vessel” among his kin, his entire psyche/personality is based upon principles ingrained in him by over a century of life and warfare. Tavin’s explanation of House Tarkanan’s small, close-knit core of Aberrants fighting against the overwhelming forces of the Dragonmarked Houses, the imminent (in her mind) return of the War of the Mark, etc. were all concepts that his shattered mind assimilated as points of stability. Tavin is now his Raethalast in every sense of the word as House Tarkanan is now his “Warclan”.
10) Logos returned to Sharn with Tavin. During the next five years he has been a student, aid, and sometime assassin for the Matriarch of House Tarkanan.
Since we're on the subject of Dench and, tangentially, Bond, it's fair to mention that I kind of see Logos as the Oddjob to her Goldfinger atm. Personally, I've always been more intrigued by the villain's hired gun (see: Boba Fett) than the actual villain- hence my creation of the character. What motivates someone like that and what do they get up to when they're not fighting the "Bond" type at the behest of the "master villain"?