Scarred Lands: Ask the Sage [Version 3.65729 with Upgrades!]

[Trickstergod]

Is Madriel a virgin? I know that she has a daughter, but I can t figure out if that was a result of the "normal" method or some kind of immaculate conception.

Since I just took an oath on it I m seriously hoping for the latter...

No, she's not.

Syhana is the result of Madriel coupling with a fey-lord.

This also dawns on me with sudden amusement that the chaste Swan Knights (only one, indeed...) would more appropriately fit with Corean.

He's the god whose followers get all into a tizzy over when it's brought up that he might have had children; Divine and the Defeated infers that many of his followers believe him to be chaste.

Whereas Madriel almost definitely is not.

Also keep in mind that Madriel has associations with the harvest; i.e., fertility. Post-Idra, Madriel is probably the good deity who is most "sexually active," as far as the major three go.

A somewhat logical explanation for why followers of Madriel might pledge oaths of chastity to a deity who almost certainly is not would be that, in abstaining from sexual activity, they are, in effect, offering their fertility up to their goddess so that she can make the fields grow a bit more strongly, to have that extra bit of light to offer up to the world. A bit peculiar, as my knowledge of deities related to fertility generally have their followers leading a more sexual life, but, so it goes.

 

[Nightfall]

Par, I'd pretty much take Trick's advice in regards to Madriel's chasity.

Trick,

Not sure they'd be in a tizzy if Corean isn't chaste. But they just expect him to be. He might not. There is that rumor about Goran after all.

Tel,

Thanks for the assist.

 

[Trickstergod]

Par, I'd pretty much take Trick's advice in regards to Madriel's chasity.

Trick,

Not sure they'd be in a tizzy if Corean isn't chaste. But they just expect him to be. He might not. There is that rumor about Goran after all.

No, they'd definitely be in a tizzy. From Divine and the Defeated, page 104...

"Of course, Corean's worshippers are nearly as touchy when discussing his possible offspring as are the dwarves regarding Goran's parentage, so the real story of the dwarf god's origin remains a mystery"

And just a further support, 145, under Tamul, the Old Man of the Desert...

"Said to be a son of Corean (an assertation that is bitterly opposed by Corean's clerics and paladins)"

They certainly do seem to care about their deities chastity, which makes it odd that it's been associated with Madriel, who represents anything but chastity (or for that matter, female empowerment, which is more an aspect of Tanil, thus making the Swan Knights even more incongruous and adding in the Sisters of the Sun as being inappropriate organizations for the deity they follow...).

Ahh well.

 

[eryndel]

How you could unveil it: well, there are probably war stories that some old warrior / paladin / mercenary can tell the party. Clerics of Chardun have the lovely quality that they don't exactly avoid combat .

My favorite trick to use for this kind of stuff is to target an important NPC that perhaps might work with the group. I usually keep a couple of NPCs handy at any one time to serve as warnings to the PCs, so I can inflict all sorts of nastiness upon the NPCs to show the party what they are up against without really targeting one of the characters.

 

[Nightfall]

No, they'd definitely be in a tizzy. From Divine and the Defeated, page 104...

"Of course, Corean's worshippers are nearly as touchy when discussing his possible offspring as are the dwarves regarding Goran's parentage, so the real story of the dwarf god's origin remains a mystery"

And just a further support, 145, under Tamul, the Old Man of the Desert...

"Said to be a son of Corean (an assertation that is bitterly opposed by Corean's clerics and paladins)"

They certainly do seem to care about their deities chastity, which makes it odd that it's been associated with Madriel, who represents anything but chastity (or for that matter, female empowerment, which is more an aspect of Tanil, thus making the Swan Knights even more incongruous and adding in the Sisters of the Sun as being inappropriate organizations for the deity they follow...).

Ahh well.

Right but that's only in regards to parentage. Doesn't say they don't want Sons or Daughters of the Champion. Just that they don't believe it to be true. Now if Corean came out and said "Hey look this is my son!" I'm sure most of the Coreanic Orders would be mildly shocked but not vehemantly against it.

 

[Trickstergod]

Right but that's only in regards to parentage. Doesn't say they don't want Sons or Daughters of the Champion. Just that they don't believe it to be true. Now if Corean came out and said "Hey look this is my son!" I'm sure most of the Coreanic Orders would be mildly shocked but not vehemantly against it.

No, but it can easily be inferred that they don't believe their god has sons or daughter, and are quite adamantly against the idea. It's not like Goran or Tamul are exactly opposed to the ideals of Corean or in anyway tainted to the point that his followers would want no such association with those deities and Corean. As the comments are "bitterly opposed" and "touchy when discussing his possible offspring," it is not mildly, but strongly implied that they do not believe Corean has any children, and for that matter, don't want him to have any - otherwise they'd be willing to at least discuss it. As it is, they already deny the possibility of it.

As for what would happen if Corean outright said that he had kiddies, I'd guarantee that based off that bitter opposition and conversational touchiness already mentioned that he'd lose a few priests and other devotees. It takes a fanatical mindset to vehemently deny that a deity has not done such and such an activity, and to have that mindset outright contradicted by the source would be a strong blow to anyones faith.

 

[dagger]

Ok Mr. Sage, answer me this question!


I am planning on starting a new campaign and would like your view on the area best suited to starting it. I have never run a game in Scarred Lands before.

We will be using the rules from Fields of Blood integrated with normal adventures. The PC's will be given a task that can basically summed up with " Go here and set up a keep/fort and protect the area".

So what ya think? Thanks!

 

[Nightfall]

Okay before I kick off some answers, I want to say to you PDF fans, pick up a copy of Legacy of Dragons. Why? Cause if you're an SL fan, you get a FREE Ebook! Not just any e-book mind you but a copy of Player's Guide to Fighters and Barbarians! Now is that a deal or what? So for a measly 11 dollars, you get two great books for free. (And hey it's a monster book as well. So you know you can use in the Scarred Lands with only minor modifications, even if it's AU.)

Right,

Trick,

Yes well there is THAT inference. There is also the inference that while they might have the same alignment base, it doesn't necessarily make it so that they are related. I mean if that were true, Erias would have more in common with Madriel than some other gods. Okay maybe not exactly the same deal, but still I don't see how having the same alignment means Corean fathered them. Now I do agree that it might SEEM that way but I don't agree that a good number of priests and clerics would turn away from their god IF Corean came out and said "This is my child." They might like to believe he can't but I don't necessarily see it that way.

Dagger,

There are PLENTY of places that need defending. Hollowfaust, the Bridged City, Mithril, Lokil, the various establishments of Calastian occupation, especially along the Blood Steppes. So if you want to large scale conflicts, they can occur, especially near places like the Bleak Savannah, the Ukrudan Desert, the Swamps of Than Ket, the Blistering Fields, the Mounds of Man, Shelzar, etc. All you need are some riled up titanspawn and a few good men to try and defend the place. Mostly I'd suggest trying to set up an outpost in the Plains of Lede. Between the Horsemen of Vangal, the various Orc Tribes, the Proud, and the occasional Vengaurak raids, you'd be hard press NOT to be fighting SOMETHING at least once a week.

 

[Trickstergod]

Trick,

Yes well there is THAT inference. There is also the inference that while they might have the same alignment base, it doesn't necessarily make it so that they are related. I mean if that were true, Erias would have more in common with Madriel than some other gods. Okay maybe not exactly the same deal, but still I don't see how having the same alignment means Corean fathered them. Now I do agree that it might SEEM that way but I don't agree that a good number of priests and clerics would turn away from their god IF Corean came out and said "This is my child." They might like to believe he can't but I don't necessarily see it that way.

Eh? At no point did I say that Corean and Goran are related. This has been all about how Corean is the deity most associated with being chaste, and that this belief is strongly believed by his followers to the point that they don't even want to discuss anything to the contrary. Not even if the deity may philosophically be similar to their own, implying that they simply refuse to believe that Corean has any children. Period. Known or unknown. It's not that they don't think Corean has any children so much as it's strongly ingrained into their beliefs that he does not. That they know. No question.

If they were open to the idea that Corean might have kids, then they'd be willing to discuss it. They aren't.

And if you don't think that being told something you fervently and avidly believed is wrong by the one person who would know and be trusted on it won't have an affect on that faith, that one won't feel betrayed or lied to...

Whether Corean actually has fathered any children is another conversation all together and not this one at all. The point on alignment was simply to show how, no matter how philosophically similar to their deity a demigod may be, Coreanic followers make it a point of denying it. That it's a strongly held belief that their god is chaste.

 

[CRGreathouse]

OK, this is really open-ended... but it's serious. I'm not impressed with the 8 (9?) SL gods. In my mind they're just extreme archetypes of each alignment... LG as "knight", CE as "thoughless slaughterer", N as "unaligned nature-lover", LN as "judge", etc.

Do you think this is the case, or am I painting with too broad of a brush? Are there places that they deviate noticably from the archetypes?

Alternatively, is this a good thing and why? I can see this somewhat as, "Focus on the cool titans, not the boring gods"... is that what you see?