Queenie
Queen of Everything
Heh I am also angling for a pseudodragon, you're right on, it absolutely fits our heritage!
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Sent from my iPad using EN World mobile app
Pathfinder 1E [INTEREST/RECRUIT] - Crowns of Ice
Queenie
Queen of Everything
Sheet is made from WolfLab's Hero Forge: like all the great masters, I just let them invent what I needed and then changed the paints
Considering Eben has traveled far and wide, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for our characters to have met! I'm totally down with that, though in what capacity they know each other, I'm not sure. Friends? A tryst? Merely introduced?
A tryst? How dare you! I am the daughter of a powerful, influential Jarl, and Daddy would kill you for insulting my honor! I am a good girl!
....I'll PM you
https://youtu.be/YDPR5EoYqOs
Sent from my iPad using EN World mobile app
Archon Basileus
First Post
Hey, guys!
Since you got the characters going, I decided to take the time to do some reading and work on the background. I’ll post some info on the world for you soon enough, as well as some drafts for the distinct blood heritages and sample NPCs. We’ll have a somewhat lengthy prologue, since we are going to need some time to get acquainted in-game with the characters, so we might use this time as well to get some work done. If you guys have any suggestions, please, write them in here and I’ll be glad to incorporate them!
Also, I’d recommend we use the age rule, but it can be thrown to the side if you guys want. My recommendation comes on account of the relevance of such signs in this particular political arena.
There are other issues I’d like to place to you in order to get your opinions.
1) Written language: do we adapt it to accommodate traditional grimoires, or do we embrace a more faithful recreation of runic tradition by eliminating parchment and paper? I’m in favor of tradition, here, but that’s up to you! Note that this might have certain impact in some classes (mages, mostly), as far as I understand.
2) How is magic and sorcery viewed in your territories, and in general? What I originally imagined is that in some places sorcery would be a mysterious, yet respected, art, viewed as uncertain and eventually distrusted (I’m thinking mostly on the role of the pagan slave in “The Virgin Spring”. It’s something everyone fears, but it can be used when need arises. Also, I guess it could be simply linked with runes and the gift of Odin (I gotta return to the Edda to remember how it goes, but Odin is the brother that grants magic to mankind, IIRC, while the others give them the blood and the spirit; again, please correct me if I’m not remembering it with precision; either way, we might just say it’s a natural part of language). Demiurgians would be a hole different matter. They probably would hunt and kill sorcerers and mages, considering that they find all sorts of rituals outside their own cultural paradigm to be evil by neture.
3) As for demiurgians (I’ll include the promised details as follows), I was thinking to add two other blood heritages well-known to everyone (but in weakened versions, of course), maybe just one (nephilim, angel-blooded, demon-blooded). I don’t know if this would add to the game right now, though, or if it would be good even on the long run, since it’s not our focus and it pulls us away from the main motif, so to speak. Also,
As for the demiurgians, a quick description.
The demiurgian god (Demiurge) is considered very distinct from all the others. First, the mere assumption that other gods might grant favors to anyone is enough to make one lose his protection. Second, it accumulates more aspects than other gods, allowing for priests dedicated to Good, Order, Honesty, Community and Healing (most traditional gods are limited to four areas of influence). As the story goes, this is the god of love and comprehension. Ancient myth simply speaks of days when he appeared to tribes in distant lands, promising salvation from the tortures of the afterlife as long as humanity bent its knee to him. After many holy wars and acts of purification, the Demiurge sent forth prophets to declare his rule over humankind. One in particular, named the Unifier, established the bases for the Church of the Demiurge. It is said that the Unifier ruled for generations before departing and leaving men to make their own decisions. That is, of course, lost to the past, as much as the tales of the northern gods are a mystery to your people.
Part of demiurgian conduct demands that its followers convert those who do not follow the faith. It is not uncommon to see men and women under service of the Demiurge dedicated to spread the faith, even if it might put them in grave danger. Many of these were actually considered to be especially blessed. Their images are preserved in demiurgian temples on several countries, and many adepts raise prayer to these figures, becoming their followers. It is said that entire orders were founded around these saints, and that the members of such orders receive diverse blessings from their god. This reinforces the idea of the Demiurge as creator and ruler of all existence, according to their beliefs.
One famous example, whispered among the Marcomanni, is that of Juttus the thundering, a pious man that leaded his companions in a furious battle against the tribe, two centuries ago. Before the battle he prayed for his god’s intervention. During combat, demiurgian soldiers fought with great ferocity, as a thunderous rain tore the Marcomanni apart. In that day, the Ariona tribe surrendered to the power of the Demiurge and converted itself entirely, giving birth to what would become the Order of Ariona, the black knights of the Unifier. On the other side, the Juttusian Order, organized nearly a century later, has some of the fiercest warrior-priests in the north, unnaturally resilient capable of calling thunder into the battlefield.
(Of course, all of this might just be speculation… But the orders are there.)
Since you got the characters going, I decided to take the time to do some reading and work on the background. I’ll post some info on the world for you soon enough, as well as some drafts for the distinct blood heritages and sample NPCs. We’ll have a somewhat lengthy prologue, since we are going to need some time to get acquainted in-game with the characters, so we might use this time as well to get some work done. If you guys have any suggestions, please, write them in here and I’ll be glad to incorporate them!
Also, I’d recommend we use the age rule, but it can be thrown to the side if you guys want. My recommendation comes on account of the relevance of such signs in this particular political arena.
There are other issues I’d like to place to you in order to get your opinions.
1) Written language: do we adapt it to accommodate traditional grimoires, or do we embrace a more faithful recreation of runic tradition by eliminating parchment and paper? I’m in favor of tradition, here, but that’s up to you! Note that this might have certain impact in some classes (mages, mostly), as far as I understand.
2) How is magic and sorcery viewed in your territories, and in general? What I originally imagined is that in some places sorcery would be a mysterious, yet respected, art, viewed as uncertain and eventually distrusted (I’m thinking mostly on the role of the pagan slave in “The Virgin Spring”. It’s something everyone fears, but it can be used when need arises. Also, I guess it could be simply linked with runes and the gift of Odin (I gotta return to the Edda to remember how it goes, but Odin is the brother that grants magic to mankind, IIRC, while the others give them the blood and the spirit; again, please correct me if I’m not remembering it with precision; either way, we might just say it’s a natural part of language). Demiurgians would be a hole different matter. They probably would hunt and kill sorcerers and mages, considering that they find all sorts of rituals outside their own cultural paradigm to be evil by neture.
3) As for demiurgians (I’ll include the promised details as follows), I was thinking to add two other blood heritages well-known to everyone (but in weakened versions, of course), maybe just one (nephilim, angel-blooded, demon-blooded). I don’t know if this would add to the game right now, though, or if it would be good even on the long run, since it’s not our focus and it pulls us away from the main motif, so to speak. Also,
As for the demiurgians, a quick description.
The demiurgian god (Demiurge) is considered very distinct from all the others. First, the mere assumption that other gods might grant favors to anyone is enough to make one lose his protection. Second, it accumulates more aspects than other gods, allowing for priests dedicated to Good, Order, Honesty, Community and Healing (most traditional gods are limited to four areas of influence). As the story goes, this is the god of love and comprehension. Ancient myth simply speaks of days when he appeared to tribes in distant lands, promising salvation from the tortures of the afterlife as long as humanity bent its knee to him. After many holy wars and acts of purification, the Demiurge sent forth prophets to declare his rule over humankind. One in particular, named the Unifier, established the bases for the Church of the Demiurge. It is said that the Unifier ruled for generations before departing and leaving men to make their own decisions. That is, of course, lost to the past, as much as the tales of the northern gods are a mystery to your people.
Part of demiurgian conduct demands that its followers convert those who do not follow the faith. It is not uncommon to see men and women under service of the Demiurge dedicated to spread the faith, even if it might put them in grave danger. Many of these were actually considered to be especially blessed. Their images are preserved in demiurgian temples on several countries, and many adepts raise prayer to these figures, becoming their followers. It is said that entire orders were founded around these saints, and that the members of such orders receive diverse blessings from their god. This reinforces the idea of the Demiurge as creator and ruler of all existence, according to their beliefs.
One famous example, whispered among the Marcomanni, is that of Juttus the thundering, a pious man that leaded his companions in a furious battle against the tribe, two centuries ago. Before the battle he prayed for his god’s intervention. During combat, demiurgian soldiers fought with great ferocity, as a thunderous rain tore the Marcomanni apart. In that day, the Ariona tribe surrendered to the power of the Demiurge and converted itself entirely, giving birth to what would become the Order of Ariona, the black knights of the Unifier. On the other side, the Juttusian Order, organized nearly a century later, has some of the fiercest warrior-priests in the north, unnaturally resilient capable of calling thunder into the battlefield.
(Of course, all of this might just be speculation… But the orders are there.)
For the Spontaneous Caster feel with high Charisma, you can always go Oracle instead? Someone touched by The Demiurge to work his miracles.
Archon Basileus
First Post
No, please, keep your original idea! I urge you to maintain your position!
The point is that... it doesn't really have to be so. This is actually one of the reasons I placed question 2 up in the former post. If sorcery really works, why would a church-like structure refuse to employ it? Wouldn't it be acceptable?
Also, since you are naturally gifted, who's to say you didn't receive your powers from a special blessing? Who's to say you don't have the gift of a prophet?
Lastly, even if we define the Church to fight against sorcery, many internal orders might be willing to accept a sorcerer for the advantages such power would bring. Even if only in secrecy.
But if you want to be a sorcerer and a follower of the Demiurge, I'd simply establish the Church does not refuse sorcery, it only opposes pagan inclinations. It goes perfeclty with the scenario, since at this point in history faith was a dubious, syncretic and decentralized tradition. In other words, go for it, and fear no repression!
Take this for example: you employ sorcery for a natural gift, but you have been taught the demiurgic faith. Local priests, bishops, etc. know you for who you are: a faithful follower, and a valuable asset to the Church. They also instigate the idea that the Church has to work with local culture to teach the faith to the heathen. Sorcery is peculiar to this area, and it should be accepted. A possible hook is the arrival of a southern priest that does not agree with this thesis and wishes to ban you and your colleagues from the Church altogether as heretics. You, on the other hand, would like to do the same to him.
One of the most important things, I believe, is that medieval politics was always bendable. Institutions changed under the pressure of power and need, even though tradition determined some resistance. At least, this is how I see things. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Archon Basileus
First Post
Think about the Merlin Cycle, for example. He wasn't shunned away. On the contrary, he served God.
Also, I’m sorry if I’ve been overly imposing. Everything I present is a possibility. But you guys will define what goes. The world is built for your characters, so you can play exactly what you want!
Also, I’m sorry if I’ve been overly imposing. Everything I present is a possibility. But you guys will define what goes. The world is built for your characters, so you can play exactly what you want!
I would be okay with this, though as the youngest of Brothers, doesn't really affect me, lol
*Puts on History specs and settles into his leather chair by the fireplace*
If we're drawing from the Viking Age (roughly 800 to 1100 AD), it is not out of the question for Parchment and Vellum to exist and be used: Christian Monks were totally writing at this point to try and collect as much knowledge as possible (as well as writing this little thing called The Christian Bible, I hear it's an Amazon Best Seller). With that said, it would be rarer: not many people are going to have books, and paper is not going to be used for messages. The Norse cultures passed along most of their history and such through the poetic Sagas, it was nearly entirely oral, so perhaps Pantheonists do not place as much importance on writing.
This means that Wizards are already a cut above others because they can read and write, which ... not many may actually be able to do, if we're going, like, 100% historic, which I don't recommend: being able to read makes a lot of things easier, BUT, it would be very cool and I'd be totally down for playing an illiterate character. Mechanically, it would probably be easy to say that in place of learning a language, you learn the written word of a language you know (so if you have a Bonus Language, you can either Read and Write Common, or you can learn to speak a different language but cannot read or write either).
It would be rather ... interesting, I think, for Demiurgists to more encourage the written language (and have a greater propensity to be literate as a result), while Pantheonists are far more about their Oral Tradition, and so little need for writing beyond record keeping and perhaps certain rituals (such as runic inscriptions). Again, these are all suppositions, nothing set in stone (Eh? Ehhhhh?).
I would imagine that the Demiurgists (as discussed above) would not be so constrained by doctrine as to shy away from the absolute advantage Magic gives to their people. I mean, if the Pantheonists have no problems beating drums to summon thunderstorms or shaping into the form of a mighty bear that breathes fire, the Demiurgists have a long, uphill battle if they ever want to control this land. If anything, they may very well have a similar outlook to the story of Odin, that magic comes from their god, is a part of their god, and is their very right to use. After all, they're the ones with the long and elaborate rituals (like Clerics or Wizards when they cast spells), they're the ones with the pure force of Faith (like Sorcerers), they're the ones most in touch with life around them (like Druids), etc. Especially if you factor in Saints, hells, there may very well be a Patron Saint of Wizards (or at least "Of Knowledge", where the realm of magic falls under).
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