New D&D Adventure Reveal On 17th May at 'The Descent'

Paul Farquhar · Apr 8, 2019

I think you might have an extra zero there!

Hussar · Apr 8, 2019

Who or what is a Zariel?

pukunui · Apr 8, 2019

Hussar said:
Who or what is a Zariel?

A fallen angel who is currently one of the lords of the Nine Hells. I personally am not convinced the artwork is of Zariel in her angelic form. It looks too much like an angelic elf to me and nothing at all like the image of Zariel in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (although it would make sense that her appearance would have changed when she went from angel to devil but still ...).

SkidAce · Apr 8, 2019

Yeah, no Zariel in my pantheon, but a book on the 9 hells could still be interesting.

Parmandur · Apr 8, 2019

pukunui said:
A fallen angel who is currently one of the lords of the Nine Hells. I personally am not convinced the artwork is of Zariel in her angelic form. It looks too much like an angelic elf to me and nothing at all like the image of Zariel in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (although it would make sense that her appearance would have changed when she went from angel to devil but still ...).

The Angel is descending to eight outstretched arms, which is numerically suggestive of the fallen Angel Zariel becoming the Ninth Archdevil after her crusade into the Nine Hells.

Last week, mere days before this was announced, Perkins gave a rundown of the Nine Hells on Dragon Talk and for no discernable reason gave an extensive profile of Zariel, her personal history, her motivation, and her goals.

When [MENTION=6811472]GarrettKP[/MENTION] asked Greg Tito if this was Zariel, Tito got dodgy.

Pretty sure this is Zariel.

Parmandur · Apr 8, 2019

Hussar said:
Who or what is a Zariel?

She is detailed in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, but if you don't have the book, this old preview provides good detail:

"Zariel represents the upper tier of the beings you’ll find involved with it. She’s the ruler of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. She is charged with protecting the planes where the river Styx runs through it and is in command of the armies of the Blood War. Zariel is also a fallen angel who became corrupted by the hellish influences of the lower planes."

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2018/05/dd-check-out-zariel-from-mordenkainens-tome-of-foes.html

View attachment 105778

Parmandur · Apr 8, 2019

Perkins and Tito discussion on the Nine Hells, for some context:

[video=youtube_share;TGNVAManqDs]https://youtu.be/TGNVAManqDs[/video]

DMZ2112 · Apr 8, 2019

Parmandur said:
The Angel is descending to eight outstretched arms, which is numerically suggestive of the fallen Angel Zariel becoming the Ninth Archdevil after her crusade into the Nine Hells.

Last week, mere days before this was announced, Perkins gave a rundown of the Nine Hells on Dragon Talk and for no discernable reason gave an extensive profile of Zariel, her personal history, her motivation, and her goals.

When @GarrettKP asked Greg Tito if this was Zariel, Tito got dodgy.

Pretty sure this is Zariel.

There are only seven arms in the smaller image, which seems like an odd change to make if the picture was numerologically significant. Note that the smaller image is not just a crop, it's a digital recomp.

And Tito didn't get 'dodgy' in response to Garrett's tweet, he got rude.

I'm as big a fan of speculation as the next geek when it is warranted, but this recent tendency to just create evidence wholesale where there is none makes me uncomfortable. We might be getting a planar setting book. There are certainly fiends and a celestial in this picture. Nathan Stewart says we're getting a setting book in 2019. But he also said WotC had no plans for new settings last year, less than a month before Ravnica was announced.

For my part, I'm not holding my breath for a Planescape logo. I was flabbergasted when we "got" Eberron after MToF, and WotC greenlighting Holly Conrad's Trapped in the Birdcage; and Ravnica after the number of times they said there'd be no new settings until the old ones were updated.

These folks are paid to say and do what generates hype, and murmurs of popular settings returning generate hype. Expecting honesty, even veiled honesty, is a fool's errand.

Parmandur · Apr 8, 2019

DMZ2112 said:
There are only seven arms in the smaller image, which seems like an odd change to make if the picture was numerologically significant. Note that the smaller image is not just a crop, it's a digital recomp.

And Tito didn't get 'dodgy' in response to Garrett's tweet, he got rude.

I'm as big a fan of speculation as the next geek when it is warranted, but this recent tendency to just create evidence wholesale where there is none makes me uncomfortable. We might be getting a planar setting book. There are certainly fiends and a celestial in this picture. Nathan Stewart says we're getting a setting book in 2019. But he also said WotC had no plans for new settings last year, less than a month before Ravnica was announced.

For my part, I'm not holding my breath for a Planescape logo. I was flabbergasted when we "got" Eberron after MToF, and WotC greenlighting Holly Conrad's Trapped in the Birdcage; and Ravnica after the number of times they said there'd be no new settings until the old ones were updated.

These folks are paid to say and do what generates hype, and murmurs of popular settings returning generate hype. Expecting honesty, even veiled honesty, is a fool's errand.

Maybe the missing arm is significant: time will tell.

Tito's answer was suggestively avoiding the question: a little peeved someone figured it out within hours of the announcement is a likely explanation.

Ravnica us not a "new setting" in the way Stewart was talking about, a wholecloth from the ground up fresh start. It's an adaptation of an existing property.

I'm pretty sure Stewart keeps up the Spelljammer teases because he wants Spelljammer to be a thing, and getting people talking about it is playing the long game.

DMZ2112 · Apr 8, 2019

Parmandur said:
Maybe the missing arm is significant: time will tell.

You are just making s**t up, now.

Ravnica us not a "new setting" in the way Stewart was talking about, a wholecloth from the ground up fresh start. It's an adaptation of an existing property.

This is not the first time I have heard this chestnut, and it is actually more disheartening to me that anyone finds it acceptable. If Stewart was using weasel words to this degree, it says something much darker about the marketing machine at WotC than even I want to believe. Ravnica is a new D&D setting. Full stop. Stewart either lied outright to maintain spin, or he is comfortable treating the fans like they are idiots. I pray it is the former.

I'm pretty sure Stewart keeps up the Spelljammer teases because he wants Spelljammer to be a thing, and getting people talking about it is playing the long game.

Yeah, well, I know he's a marketing guy doing marketing.

New D&D Adventure Reveal On 17th May at 'The Descent'

Paul Farquhar

Legend

Hussar

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pukunui

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SkidAce

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Parmandur

Book-Friend

Parmandur

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Parmandur

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DMZ2112

Chaotic Looseleaf

Parmandur

Book-Friend

DMZ2112

Chaotic Looseleaf

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