Vecna preferred not to fight at all. He would destroy his enemies by using their secrets against them. Much better to offer temptations and let them tear themselves apart, or to fight by blackmail and fear, than to risk his power in direct battle.
When he had to fight, or when he felt the need to make an example, he used whoever he could get, usually in massive numbers to make a show of force, and often more coerced or blackmailed than willing.
Undead were useful as a terror force, as well as a means of taking advantage of people, and disrupting his druidic enemies.
That sounds like a fair assesment when Vecna chose to lead. However, as time progressed and Kas took the helm, I get the distinct impression from the Vecna modules and other works (Mona's various notes) that it became much more of a traditional tyranny. This would, I assume necessitate more armies.
Undead are certainly useful, but more for a demonstration of power than as a true army. They are hard to come buy in true army size groups. 100 wraiths, ghouls, skeletons and zombies seem possible, but 1,000 or 5,000?
A swarm of skeletons or zombies is quite possible, it just requires a goodly pack of clerics.
Hundreds of more powerful undead is more difficult, especially if they need to be controlled.
As for being a more traditional tyranny, that isn't the impression I keep getting from Gary Holian.
I would also note that the presentation of Vecna's city in Ravenloft likely reflects a rather aberrant version of his empire. Based on the organization of his cult in Vecna Lives!, there doesn't seem to be that much room for undead. So I'd say the RL version reflected a twisting of Vecna's preference for living worshipers who could properly empower him.
His real realm would be full of the living, not the dead. And while he is known for necromancy, he is not a deity of the dead or undead, and thus shouldn't be overly reliant on them. They are tools, nothing more.
It was always there, I like your interpretation sam.
If Vecna held his "empire" through the "appearrence" of strength, perhaps that explains Kas's rebellion since he came to see Vecna as a paper tiger unwilling to build a true empire, that he desired.
Once the illusion was shattered so was his empire, once people stop believing you rule a crown is only a hat that let's in the rain.
When I think of Vecna and his empire, I think of TEDs from Traveller - Technologically Elevated Dictators. These are guys who have access to, say laser pistols or automatic weapons on a world that has a medieval tech level. They're basically the God with the Big Gun.
In Vecna's case, he was a Thaumaturgically Elevated Dictator - enforcing his will over the masses through fear and superior magical might. Given the way his empire disintegrated so rapidly and the way that Kas was sure that by killing Vecna he'd gain control of the empire, it was clearly focussed very centrally on Vecna himself. There might have been the beginnings of his cult as a cult of personality. Perhaps his adherents acted as spies to inform upon sedition and unrest. Hence we get the emphasis on secrets and from the idea of a web of spies, the term the Spidered Throne - with the great spider himself sitting on it, listening to the pull on the strands leading to it.
Well, it could have been focused on Vecna. But Kas was also destroyed, or ported off plane. Maybe it was a traditional dictatorship, and Kas was carrying the mantle of Vecna.
Maybe it was the abscence of both that destoryed the empire. We can speculate that if one or the other had survived, the empire could have continued. But who knows?
Arguably, orcs and goblins didn't exist in the Flanaess until the Great Migrations.
I myself think orcs and goblins always have and always will exist in every corner of the Oerth. Same with all four races of demihumans. But that's another story.
I think Vecna could have converted humanoids to his worship, just as would other gods like Incabulos or Hextor. Indeed, many of the evil gods of the Flanaess might be worshipped by non-human races as "goblinized" or "giantized" versions of themselves; Nerull resembles a giant skeletal goblin when revered by goblins, a horrific undead zombie clad in rotting flesh when revered by ogres, etc.
Certainly other human gods have non-humans worshipping them; Iuz, for example, has legions of orcs revering him as lord and master. It might be interesting to see how humanoids and giants revere demons, devils or human gods in addition to their own deities... _________________ <div align="left">Going to war without Keoland is like going to war without a pipe organ. They both make a lot of noise and they're both a lot of dead weight, so what's the point in taking them along? </div>
Hardly surprising the humanoids revere other evil powers, given samwise article on demographics, most humanoids live in marginal areas at best with constant shortages of food, weapons and resources.
Which leads to the raiding of the wealthier human and demi-human societies. For the humanoids it must be like being able to look at the candy but don't touch.
No wonder the humanoids are so suseptiable to other races tempting them to take by force what they desire especially if the instigator offers help and power to achieve the conquests.
Well, I dont think that huminoids necessarily have the worst lands, or even non-arrable lands. They just dont seem to be much for farming. I will publish shortly the populatoin breakout of Gran March that I have prepared, and it would indicate that there is plenty of good land for everyone.
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