seasong's Light Against the Dark III (Sep 29th)

[Greppa of Tartwater]

It was the year of...change.

"Hello Athan," I said with an inner peace that surprised me. "You're looking well."

He smiled sadly, "It's good to see you too Merideth, Greppa."

"Now that you're here," I said sounding business-like, "we can sit down and talk." He didn't seem real, but he was here, so strong, so touchable, an adolescent crush brought back to life, gloriously accentuated with the power of a god.

He slumped slightly, telegraphing his mood, "I do not want to hurt you."

"What do you mean?" I said, "We can talk about this. We only want what's best for..."

He cut me off. "I DON'T want to hurt you Greppa!"

The beautiful body riddled with orc spears

I roared,"You don't HAVE to!"

Tears in his eyes said, "But I do."

Damn me! I'm so stupid! I didn't see this coming. "You don't have to hurt anybody."

He shook his head and drew a spear from the quiver at his back.

Color seemed to drain from the scene and suddenly we were moving painfully slow.
Merideth and I moved together, heading for the nearest exit. I formed the spell in my mind, Teleport, but our escape was interrupted by the spear protruding from my chest. Merideth screamed abruptly. Her hand went limp. I spared a glance and saw Merideth, unconscious, two spears sticking from her back. Athan was riddled with crossbow bolts. However, his focus was still on us.

Maintaining my grip on Merideth, who was dead weight at this point, I leapt from the room, rebounded from the wall and into the hall. The strength of an orc hero (coupled with Earth's Strength) was more than sufficient to carry me away. I re-initiated the Teleport spell. Athan teleported into the hall before us. The spell was taking an agonizing amount of time to complete. The servant of Allas slowly drew another spear. This shaft was shining, a sliver of light. He flung it directly towards my face, however, the spell completed and we were gone.

I wanted to teleport into one of the Kithian storehouses we found under the highway, but Athan's glowing spear screwed up the magic pattern. We arrived underground...somewhere. Darkness engulfed us. I willed myself to glow, not knowing what will happen. Light illuminated the darkness, a pinkish red light.

Under the illumination, Merideth looked shockingly pale. She was bleeding profusely, but she just needed time for her to heal her self. I was bleeding myself, so I conjured a small finger of flame to cauterize my wounds, well tried to conjure. The spell took far more effort than a cantrip should. I shook my head, somehow, we teleported into another plane. I didn't know which plane, but any plane that wasn't my home plane was bad.

I got the finger going and seared my wounds shut. I turned to Merideth and tapped her face, "Okay Merideth, wake up you're safe, we're okay." She didn't move. I put my face to her nose and felt no air. I put my ear to her chest and felt no pulse. It didn't help that the spear was slicked with cardiac tissue.

No

"Get up Merideth!" I said feebly rocking her body back and forth.

She didn't move.

"Just make yourself better." I was rocking her gently, like I was a little boy trying to get his mother to wake up. "Don't leave me by myself."

I don't want to be by myself!

 

[Serpenteye]

Re: It was the year of...change.

"Just make yourself better." I was rocking her gently, like I was a little boy trying to get his mother to wake up. "Don't leave me by myself."

---

And then they were rescued by the Eye Tyrants? Right?

 

[seasong]

Note: Athan actually offered away out- he started the conversation with "Greppa, don't do this. I don't want to hurt you." and "Come back to Allas."

Those who defy Allas receive no quarter, as the high priest of Dianas indicated earlier, but Her servants sometimes waver in the face of duty.

-

Eye tyrants: Afraid not, although that pseudo-alliance will come in handy later.

Note on Athan: The only thing that saved Greppa was that Athan decided that Merideth was more likely to survive a single spear shot, and that Greppa would probably bite it after one. Greppa proved to be surprisingly tough, however, and used his orc-granted strength to good effect when fleeing .

For those keeping score, Merideth took over 100 points of damage from the two spears.

 

[Greybar]

So I guess there really wasn't much chance of bluffing their way through that, hmm.

I'm not following one bit though. The general left, but there were soldiers left who shot all of those crossbow bolts into Athan? I guess the heroes should be glad that the common folk held up in the face of a celestial, instead of just fleeing or standing in awe.

(Okay, granted none of the bolts probably penetrated DR, but still it was a noble effort)

For those keeping score, Merideth took over 100 points of damage from the two spears.

Yipe. Was that your version of "smite"?

john

 

[seasong]

I'm not following one bit though. The general left, but there were soldiers left who shot all of those crossbow bolts into Athan?

There were hidden soldiers around the area. Balthas is never without her guards, and this was at least partially a test of whether Allas would be willing to discuss the matter, or if she would simply attack.

That she sacrificed Greppa and Merideth to find this out was unfortunate, but war is hell.

Yipe. Was that your version of "smite"?

1d8 spear, +15 bonus from STR, +2 weapon focus, +1 close shot, +1d6 divine for the second hit. For the first hit, drop the divine, multiply by three for a critical hit, and add a divine 3d8 burst. Then roll good.

Athan was a fricking combat monster before he got the Scion of Allas package deal .

 

[seasong]

This one's a little different - written with GM Voice instead of Setting Voice. So it's not really about anything specific, but rather just the general approach I've tried to take with things up to this point.

Monsters: Divine Servants

When I was originally working on the idea for Theralis, I knew that I wanted the gods to be accessible. I wanted divine events to be part and parcel to the adventurer's life, and for the gods and their servants to feel like a natural part of the setting.

Thelanna, high priestess of Allas in the city, speaks to the higher celestial servants of the Sun Goddess on a daily basis. She has friends in the celestial hierarchy, and more than a few rivals. In the same way that Greppa has certain lantern archons that he has become familiar with, so too has she spent time developing relationships with particular Devas and other such beings, and even the occasional direct Audience with Allas Herself.

Hydras are the manifest result of deific lust, giant spiders are the literal drops of blood from an ancient dwarf-god now bound in the infernal pit, the grape-mashing ceremony at the Olympiad pleased Dianas enough that wine-related trade has been strong the past several years. The PCs can look out their window and see the fruits of the gods' presence in the world. They can look at their war and know that the gods have a powerful hand in it.

So I needed to think about the divine servants.

I wanted to represent the gods as being BIG, these immense forces, a kind of cultural tide that shoved mortals hither and thither. You can't do that with a Deities & Demigods style stat block for the god's avatar. You need a whole support network of shock troops, diplomats, advisors-to-mortals, social engineers, prayer-answerers, and so on.

For 4+ months of weekly games, Greppa was summoning lantern archons, little puffballs of light, to help him in innumerable ways. They teleported vast distances to pass messages, or to bring wine or equipment from home, they translated ancient languages, and spoke with an earth elemental on his behalf. They connected Greppa with Allas.

It wasn't until he summoned one to translate texts lost to Theralis, searching for information about things Allas had hidden, and the cute little puffball asked "What are you doing?" that Greppa saw, for the first time, the leash that Allas had slipped upon him. And he began to wonder if he could even trust his loyal friend Uripedas... because Uripedas was a creature of Allas, a celestial sunhawk that occasioned to serve in Her armies when She called. And I did similar things everywhere. The priests of Allas in each city they went to were in touch with the others, and had a servant or two on hand who aided them in each thing.

For another example, Xeras' presence was felt in the lightning birds at the mining colony, and one of Her most powerful servants sits with the orc ancestors. Lesser servants of Xeras fight alongside the Broken Knuckle warbands, and ball lightning-like lantern archons maintain communication over vast distances for the Broken Knuckle army... and keep warband leaders in line over those same distances. If Xeras were to remove Her influence, the Bukkenahk would likely collapse, and so, bit by bit, they move in the direction She wants.

There is a reason that Theralis does not allow priests to be on the Council, or advance beyond Captain in the military!

Okay, I'm getting carried away with specifics . The point is that I decided the best way to represent a god was through the presence and activity of His/Her servants, both mortal and celestial. When one thinks about Microsoft, for example, one doesn't think of what Bill Gates is doing with his day, but the cumulative effect of the actions of all of the employees. So I went for a similar feel in Theralis.

For purposes of figuring out how I wanted to structure it, however, I went for a somewhat anarchic approach. The gods of primitive cultures are often portrayed as (essentially) highly admired bullies. So as I thought about celestials, I treated them as members of a gang. A very large gang .

Lantern archons, in some form or another, were part of every gang. They were the brats and kid brothers, who ran messages, checked mail, and did a hundred other minor little jobs. The ability to teleport without error and speak/read any language, combined with the low intelligence, made them the perfect day-to-day operatives.

Xeras' lantern archons look like ball lightning; Allas' lanterns look like puffballs of light; Luccas' lanterns look like reddish puffballs; Corvidae's lanterns look like shadowy, intangible ravens; Dianas' lanterns look like tiny pixies in grape leaves. But they all have the same stats and purpose.

Above that level, however, I wanted the gods to be unique. So I stopped worrying about whether the creature was in the Celestial section of the MM I or not.

Example: Xeras has a servant that looks like a 9-ft tall, handsome human dressed in flowing robes. His hands and eyes crackle with lightning, and he can transform into lightning instantly and streak away through the sky to some other place. The stat block? A troll who does electrical damage with its claws instead of normal damage, and has some celestial-like abilities (such as teleport) and a prettier face.

Example: Luccas has servants who are associated with Her wolf aspects. They are humanoid, but with the massive heads of black-furred wolves. They are awesome hunters and pack-fighters, and savage Her foes for Her. Hound archons, redescribed and modified slightly for the Infernal Pit.

Example: Allas has a servant of light that looks like a six-armed, chalk-skinned woman with glowing blue eyes and the lower body of a glowing serpent. If you're thinking a re-described marilith (with holy abilities instead of unholy), you've got the idea .

In general, I've tried to make sure that there are servants who can:
0) Come down to Mortal Land (at great cost) and kick SERIOUS butt.
1) Work with leaders of state, persuade people, etc.
2) Lead armies of #4.
3) Heroes who lead the charge / shock troops.
4) Grunt troops.
5) Aides to priests / advisors on religious authority.
6) Espionage and fostering discontent.
7) Lantern archons.

-seasong

 

[Indigo Veil]

Two quick bits, because I'm bored, and because I'll forget if I don't do it now:

1) . . . this woman was thought rending. Her face was a perfect piece of art, everything sizable enough to make an impression, but not so much to take away from the tableau of the entire picture. Her eyes were a blood black, caught on chalk sclera, her lips were full, supple and inflamed and her black hair was caught up, away from her bare shoulders.

<whimpers a little as she melts into a puddle of goo> Man, you ought to be so glad, Hank, that I'm not participating in this campaign. ^_^ I'd have given everything to this woman, whether or not it was for Theralis' good. ^^;;;;

2) Allas has a servant of light that looks like a six-armed, chalk-skinned woman with glowing blue eyes and the lower body of a glowing serpent. If you're thinking a re-described marilith (with holy abilities instead of unholy), you've got the idea.

I hope I'm not spoiling anything by revealing this, but I happened to sit in on the session during which Greppa & Co. met with this creature of light.

Predictably, much fighting ensued.

During the encounter, Hank (Greppa's player) breathed softly, "My god, that thing's just...a monster."

To which I replied, of course, "Well, duh. It's not in the 'Monster Manual' for nothing, you know."

Anyway. Hank told me to post my comment, and so I am. ^_^

There, Hank, I posted. Now it's your turn to follow orders. Update! ^,^;;

 

[seasong]

<whimpers a little as she melts into a puddle of goo> Man, you ought to be so glad, Hank, that I'm not participating in this campaign. ^_^ I'd have given everything to this woman, whether or not it was for Theralis' good. ^^;;;;

She's not a woman. She's a God.

I hope I'm not spoiling anything by revealing this, but I happened to sit in on the session during which Greppa & Co. met with this creature of light.

Spoilsport .

Predictably, much fighting ensued.

During the encounter, Hank (Greppa's player) breathed softly, "My god, that thing's just...a monster."

To which I replied, of course, "Well, duh. It's not in the 'Monster Manual' for nothing, you know."

Bah. That was an easy fight - the Servant of Allas had practically no prep-time at all. Wait until the next time, when she does.

 

[F5]

Again, I'm impressed with how throughly thought-out Theralis is. I've always thought it made sense to plot out exaclty what kinds of creatures serve a particular god, and how they do it. Never got around to it in any campaign I was running, but it makes sense. It's the sort of thing I would expect to see fleshed out in detail in a sourcebook like Dieties & Demigods.

Any chance we can see a more comprehensive list of the specific roles monsters play in the gods' armies? I'd be curious to see it if you've got something written up already you can share; if not, don't worry about it.

 

[Greppa of Tartwater]

<whimpers a little as she melts into a puddle of goo> Man, you ought to be so glad, Hank, that I'm not participating in this campaign. ^_^ I'd have given everything to this woman, whether or not it was for Theralis' good. ^^;;;;

LOL!! Now I'm worried about how Friday's one shot is going to turn out. You left us behind last time...obstensibly to get help ;P

There, Hank, I posted. Now it's your turn to follow orders. Update! ^,^;;

I'm werkin' on it.

;P