Visions and Prophecies
I've been looking for a good opportunity to give a bit of insight into our crazy theories about the various visions we got during the adventures up till adventure 5. First and foremost, I'm a sucker for cryptic messages, subtexts and hidden meaning and I love interpreting and puzzling and crafting strange theories.
One little thing that always bugs me though when it comes to visions and prophecies in adventures is the fact that they are seldom about the PCs, which is both understandable - you usually don't know every PC's connection to the setting and background when you're writing published adventures unless they have a very specific setting and are a bit on the railroady side – and unfortunate, as omitting your main characters from all cool cryptic stuff doesn't make too much sense from an in-universe standpoint.
Also, and only as a sidenote, this led to some awkward meta-situations when some visions suit your PCs perfectly, but the players know that this cannot be about them because... reasons. Which is why I tried so hard to write additional visions myself in WotBS that do include the PCs. But I know this isn't every DM's schtick (you also have to craft very carefully or your players will notice and be easily able to tell what's your addition and what's from the original) and I don't know how to solve this from an AP writer's perspective, so... yeah
A second sidenote, before finally getting into the main discussion, I guess that ZEITGEIST upped the ante on cryptic imagery compared to WotBS as Tiz himself wasn't 100% sure on how to interpret Nevard's visions when he read them while Darius' prophecy was crystal clear, at least from a DM's perspective. And having all of these visions transplanted into Auryn's brain when Nevard died didn't make his job easier.
So now, on to some crazy stuff (and I guess those of you who know more might laugh a lot over the coming paragraphs. And FYI, we are currently in the middle of adventure 6)
Nevard's first vision:
"I saw a dark figure, standing atop Cauldron Hill, towering over our city. The sun set, and he cast a shadow over Parity Lake, stretching northwest, into the sea, beyond the horizon. He is born in our city, but his ultimate goal is elsewhere. And also things moved in his shadow - indeed, his shadow moved before he did, for while he was mighty, he was controlled by others."
"I saw smoke hiding his face, for he was made mighty by industry. In my vision, a king chased him out to the sea and defeated him by slicing him free from his shadow. But the cauldron had already shattered, and many thousands were drowned and devoured in its roil."
"I saw three birds alight on the peak, the first of black silk, the second of black steel, both weeping blood. But the third was made of stars and it sang many songs."
As we got this vision in adventure 2, we were pretty sure that this had to be connected with “Porter” and the whole Macbannin affair. We knew that Porter/Creed was a Yerasol veteran, so “northwest sea beyond the horizon” could be related to Yerasol and whatever happened there.
We had the impression that the second part could be related to a wholly different person as King Aodhan didn't chase Creed and neither did he chase Macbannin or anyone else to that point. So we guessed that this person could be related to Macbannin (maybe an industrialist who's been “made mighty by industry” like our all-time scapegoats Goodson or Fordren). But maybe “a king” was metaphorical as well...
What's even more confusing is/was the third part (and till this point we still don't know what or who the third bird might be). After consulting some skyseers, we were pretty sure the first bird was indeed Creed. The second one we thought to be our mysterious industrialist who'd be killed on Cauldron Hill as well (“Weeping blood”). For the third bird we thought about a possible connection to Ethelyn's vision of stars falling from the sky, maybe forming a Constellar-like being (Constellars being planar messengers of the Titans from the Warcraft universe who seem to be made of stars). And maybe, after the fall of Srasama, the Stars could belong to a deity that's being killed somewhen in the future, but that'd be unlikely as there is no such named deity anywhere.
"I tell you this: Cauldron Hill is not safe. Twice will danger arise, and twice will we be decieved into thinking it is safe to return, but we must avoid the playe and avoid being tricked. I have arranged shelter in the Cloudwood, where people can be safe until the darkness passes."
Nevard obviously concluded that the first two birds mean danger, so Cauldron Hill should be abandoned until the darkness has passed. This one was pretty straightforward
After the end of adventure 5, we finally realized that we were wrong all along and most of Nevard's vision was, in fact, about Borne. Suddenly it all made sense. Still we don't know what or where his “ultimate goal” is, and can only imagine that it might be somewhere in the northwest in/over the sea.
"A woman sat on a leather couch in a waiting room, surrounded by red curtains. She held a gold coin and rolled it across the back of her fingers. A pick lay against the side of her couch. He asked her what she was waiting for, and she answered in a language he didn't know, saying 'The place I'm going to isn't here yet'"
This one we didn't get at all. The red curtain reminded us so much of Nilasa's appearance atop Cauldron Hill (and Nevard was present during this event, so it made sense) that we thought this was a woman suffering a similar fate: Being dead, waiting for the Bleak Gate train to arrive. We saw the gold coin as an obvious symbol for money and the talking pick made no sense at all. Well, after seeing Xambria Meredith's picture with an excavation pick, I thought this could mean something but wrote it off as being too far-fetched.
After adventure 3 and the revelation of Sijhen and the golden seal it made much more sense. Still... red curtains!
"A trumpeter carried a lantern onto the stage of a darkened theater, and the people gathered for his performance applauded, then lit lanterns of their own. The theater never got bright enough for him to see their faces"
To us, trumpeter could have a figurative or literal meaning, which we discussed a lot during adventure 4 (where there was an actual trumpeter aboard the train). We went with it being a metaphor for a herald speaking to an unknown crowd (never see their faces). The guy could be someone who brings “the light” (of truth? Or rather magical illumination?) to a world of darkness.
After the Ob-Convention in adventure 4, we are/were kind of sure that the trumpeter is Luc Jierre, meaning that the lantern is his Wayfarer Lantern and the darkness would be a stand-in for the transitory plane between Material and Bleak Gate. Still, the crowd didn't have lanterns of their own and their faces were clearly visible, so not sure whether we can call this one solved yet.
“One man tore himself in two, and his twin selves fought over a woman, tearing her into three, who ran away. Mice skittered around them, collecting cheese fallen amid the rails of a trainyard. Then a train roared down the track past him, but it had no one driving it. In the distance it derailed, and crushed two of the women, but which of the three survived?"
This one was totally confusing as well and we thought that most of it must be meant metaphorically. A woman tearing into three is clearly related to Srasama, be that the goddess herself, a follower or a Vekeshi Excoriant with that cool Threefold Presence PrC/PP power. We researched a bit whether there was a male deity with two aspects, but found none. Mice could have been the deities' followers (or henchmen of either the woman or man) while the train... didn't fit in at all. Could've been a symbol for uncontrolled technological progress, but that'd not fit with the Srasama theme.
After the vision of the doe-eyed Kasvarina and during adventure 4, we thought it could be related to her (she's said to be an assassin, so maybe a Vekeshi) who did something that went horribly wrong so she got split into three different personae. The Kas we saw could have been “the innocent maiden” version of herself, which is why she didn't have any clue or powers. The two men would have then been Leone and Grappa who we thought could have been polar opposites of each other.
We also thought that we'd find Kasvarina aboard the Avery Railroad train (the train would have finally made sense!) which would be bound to derail somewhere – possibly in Vendricce. But we had to dismiss this theory when we saw Isobel. Well, not the Kasvarina and Leone/Grappa part, but we still don't know about the mice (maybe Kasvarina's followers?) and the train (maybe Borne?)
Oh and this was one of the visions that could have fit Auryn and Carlyle perfectly with her being a Vekeshi who's torn between her tradition, her life in Risur and her need for revenge and also dedicated to Srasama and him being torn between his old life as shadow guardian and his new identity of protocol-abiding RHC agent.
"A man carrying a bronze staff with three keyholes is assailed by swords and arrows and fire, but nothing kills him. He began to take off his robes, revealing tiger fur beneath them, while stars fell from the sky all around him. He began to take off his robes, revealing tiger fur beneath them, while stars fell from the sky all around him. The sky was dark, and when the sun should have risen, instead a pale glowing cloud floated in the dark."
Another very cryptic vision that didn't happen yet. We instantly guessed that this is somehow related to Ethelyn's vision and the bird of Stars (falling stars). This means an event taking place at a time when the world falls into darkness (which could, again, be meant literally or figuratively). We think that tiger fur could either mean an eladrin warrior's garb or a rakhshasa.
The latter could be meant as a link to the fallen god from the “Arsenal of Dhebisu” legend. Especially as Dhebisu used a “fallen star” to fight the rakhshasa so it could not reincarnate. And reincarnation and “died a thousand times” from Ethelyn's vision would suit up nicely. Also, the “assailed by sword and arrow” could be simply the rakhshasa's DR.
It took a while and I developed a second, albeit very far-fetched theory: If a god could be transformed into a rakhshasa and “Deva” meant nothing short but “god” (as they are infused by Srasama's essence), then maybe a deva who became really corrupted could be transformed (by other deva?) into one of these tiger-demons as well?
The bronze staff and keyholes however? Absolutely no clue.
"Finally, tyrant and murderer languished in prison, hanging from twelve chains and hooks that pierced her feet, her legs, her thighs, her shoulders, her arms, and her hands. But the thirteenth hook that sealed her mouth swung loose, and it fluttered in the breeze as she whispered a map that led everywhere"
This we didn't understand at all before the Crypta Hereticarum. We thought the hook could be related to the Humble Hook of Triegenes and also that the guy could have imprisoned a powerful plane-traveling demoness. Turned out that this wasn't too far off, even if we don't know whether it was Triegenes who imprisoned Ashima-Shimtu.
Ethelyn's vision:
"A globe spins on its axis, and a steel ship sails off to war on a sail of shadows. The world passes into night, and blackness grips all of Risur as the stars fall from the sky. The king's eyes turn a soulless white, and he moves as a puppet, his strings pulled by a man who has already died a thousand times."
We saw a clear connection to Nevard's vision with the falling stars there, meaning they are both warning about the same event. We doubt that the steel ship is connected to the Coaltongue though as this ship didn't sail to war yet. After what we've learned about the Nicodemus-possession yet, the King could either be directly controlled by the master-Ob (who could have easily died a thousand times by inhabiting different bodies) or indirectly by a deva (who can also figuratively “die a thousand times” and be reborn). We suspected this might be Stanfield (who has a habit of dying), but aren't quite as sure about our initial suspicion of him being an Ob anymore (he didn't have an Ob ring when we got the chance to examine his fingers).
Regarding the pale glowing cloud, this could mean a shift in planar dominance with Vona being replaced by something else (Av?)
As for Ekossigan's poem... this will be subject of the next session's recap