D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide to Baron Rudolph Von Aubrecker, The Living Brain of Ravenloft
In all of Lamordia, no figure is quite as mysterious as Rudolph von Aubrecker, known to few as the Living Brain.
They saved his brain! These chilling words describe the fate of Rudolph von Aubrecker, the only surviving son of the now-deceased Baron Vilhelm von Aubrecker. Though it is up for debate whether or not Rudolph actually survived the grisly accident that claimed the lives of his family.
For though his body was recovered, the only thing salvageable was the young man’s brain.
Rudolph von Aubrecker – Misspent Youth
In his early days, Rudolph von Aubrecker was the privileged son of the Lamordian nobility. Baron Vilhelm von Aubrecker was a stern, harsh man. And Rudolph was everything his father was not. Even in his earliest days, he was insistent on idle pursuits which his father had not the time for. And so the tension between the two grew.
Rudolph von Aubrecker had a reputation for being a wastrel. A drunken, debauched, spoiled brat. And so he might have remained, had he not made the fateful decision to celebrate his 18th birthday upon his family’s caravel: the Haifisch.
It was a particularly stormy night, and the Haifisch crewed by revelers celebrating the young baronet. In drunken excess and ribald debauchery, few saw the storm roll in. As the waves hit the boat, the young Rudolph was struck by the raw power of the storm. Bolts of lightning, tempestuous winds, enormous waves.
These came crashing down all around the crew of the Haifisch. And then the storm had cleared, and the vessel was sunk. Wrecked. And the only survivor was the young von Aubrecker. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your view, this was around the time that Dr. Viktra Mordenheim arrived in Lamordia for the first time.
Through the mysterious powers of Ravenloft’s Mists, fate itself was altered. And Dr. Mordenheim saved what she could of the young man — his brain.
A Jarring Life
For Dr. Mordenheim knew much of the secrets of life and death. She had an unnatural understanding of the humanoid body. And she was able to preserve life. Or at least his brain. Kept alive in a jar filled with alchemical fluids, managed by clockwork contraptions that moved the mechanisms of life itself for the brain, the young von Aubrecker was kept alive.
Later, that same week, he learned of his father’s passing. Now Rudolph von Aubrecker was to become baron in his father’s place. To assume his rightful role.
But he dared not. Not in his present form. Blaming the doctor for his accursed state, Rudolph von Aubrecker plotted in secret. Working with the Dr.’s knowledge, and using her sciences to craft a semblance of a body he escaped.
Some say it was the help of his family butler, a woman by the name of Gerta. Others say his own brain, twisted into a kind of genius by the Dr.’s work, was able to command the machinations that kept him alive.
Whatever the case, von Aubrecker escaped to his castle, Schloss Aubrecker. A wind-whipped castle on a remote island. There he became a recluse. None have seen him since his self-imposed exile.
And though he issues the occasional edict, his every art and artifice is turned towards two aims. The first: constructing a body that he might once again move about his lands.
The second: revenge on the doctor whose experiments he blames for his present torment.
And to his credit, von Aubrecker learned much under Dr. Mordenheim’s care. He understood the secrets of creating flesh golems, and more. His resources and his knowledge are a thorn in Dr. Mordenheim’s side.
One day, the two shall meet. One shall stand, and one shall fall.
