Previously, I mentioned that one of my favorite NPCs was Lord Soth. Sticking to strictly bad guy NPCs, he’s definitely at the top of the list. Part of this is, of course, due to his role in the Dragonlance novels. I grew up reading those books. Dragons of Autumn Twilight was the first fantasy novel I can remember reading, even before the Hobbit or A Wrinkle in Time. Krynn remains today my favorite campaign setting from any RPG I’ve ever played.

  • Lord Soth
    Lord Soth by 6-fingers – source: DeviantArt

The other part of my love for Soth comes from my own experience as a player. When my first character, Storin, died in Ravenloft, I created my wizard Endeleban Losteast. An Aes Saidarr from Cormyr, Delban traveled with his companions to a location where they were sucked into Ravenloft. They found themselves in the realm of Sithicus, Soth’s domain.

Soth had become catatonic. He was so absorbed in the mirror worlds that portrayed the memories of his life that he cared not for Sithicus. The party fought to stop the collapse of Sithicus and the deaths of its residents by defeating the mirrored worlds. Delban cast a whisper spell and began taunting Soth from a dark corner of his throne room. I can still hear Delban’s final message to Soth, the one that finally drew him from his state into awareness to face us: “Sithicus dies…. Sithicus dies….”