Yeah, that's one of the reasons why we as PCs were so adamantly against fiddling with the planar barrier. Sijhen and his crazy powers scared the sh*t out of us and we didn't want the Gidim to return with more like him. The formation of the hivemind in Cherage turned into one giant "told you so!" to Nic.
ZEITGEIST The affirmative action racial recruitment team of the RHC
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
One of my players looked up some of the entymology of Ashima shimtu and had some questions
Interesting aside: Ashima means “limitless” in Hindi (Elven?), it seems like it is an honorific addition to the word Shimtu (Mesopotamian for fate, tied to the concept of mana, i.e. what powers personal fate)
Ashima name also appears to be a Semitic goddess of fate as well (Probably as aSHIMa and SHIMtu have the same root Indo word…)
I am assuming this is not coincidence
Interesting aside: Ashima means “limitless” in Hindi (Elven?), it seems like it is an honorific addition to the word Shimtu (Mesopotamian for fate, tied to the concept of mana, i.e. what powers personal fate)
Ashima name also appears to be a Semitic goddess of fate as well (Probably as aSHIMa and SHIMtu have the same root Indo word…)
I am assuming this is not coincidence
RangerWickett
Legend
Honestly, I don't put as much stock in names as many writers. I just wanted a Sumerian vibe for the demonocracy, and I probably bounced around Wikipedia links until the right set of phonemes appealed to me.
So yeah, it is kind of a coincidence.
So yeah, it is kind of a coincidence.
RangerWickett
Legend
My overarching thoughts on language are definitely inspired by one of my years in college where I studied semiotics (a field that considers how symbols are used and interpreted) in one class while studying speech acts (the idea that certain speech alter how people perceive the world, and thus alter behavior) in another class. And this was all in the wake of 9/11, so my head was swimming with concerns about how America was framing the response to the attack as a 'war on terror' rather than, say, 'a military-assisted police action in Afghanistan in concert with other nations to apprehend the leader of a well-armed but non-governmental organization that coordinated a mass casualty crime, followed by a military invasion of Iraq - a nation with high geopolitical leverage - under the pretext that the nation is semiotically associated with concepts of terrorism, and thus is a valid target in response to 9/11.'
The meaning of names are usually opaque, and generally bereft of influence in actuality. I mean, I'm Ryan, which I know means 'little king' or something, but that did not ever cause me to think I should become a monarch or influence people to treat me like royalty. And I'm dating a Katherine, and I have no idea what her name means. I could look it up, but it doesn't matter to me.
Labels, though (and occasionally names with very obvious meanings or allusions), do affect how people act.
The meaning of names are usually opaque, and generally bereft of influence in actuality. I mean, I'm Ryan, which I know means 'little king' or something, but that did not ever cause me to think I should become a monarch or influence people to treat me like royalty. And I'm dating a Katherine, and I have no idea what her name means. I could look it up, but it doesn't matter to me.
Labels, though (and occasionally names with very obvious meanings or allusions), do affect how people act.
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
My players look for clues in all sorts of things, they are good at finding them even when they are not there. Thanks
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
The Great Demon Lord Heist
With the Coaltongue on route to Drakr the Queen and associates departed dor Sid Minos using an Air Walk spell. They planned on investigating the vault recovering Ashima-Shimtu and also the other prisoners. When greeted on arrival with warnings of doom in Crisslyr they thought it likely that Ashima-Shimtu had given the ritual of Apothesis to Vitus the Godhand as she had intended to test the church and see if it could purify itself. They thought this may have not gone so well as though they had worked well with Vitus they realised he was just a little bit Zealous and may have done something dangerous. Then they put together the death of the devout follower of the God of Night in Risur and realised that the ritual must have been used, they were not sure how and spent quite a while trying to work out what was going on, when they were half an hours flight from the city and could have just gone and found out.
Ashima-Shimtu also told them that they could find a biography of Triegenes in the vault and they were very interested in finding that.
Eventually though they stopped their debate and the Trumpet archon turned up and brough along his celestial host including the Planatar Hexopherial probably the most lawful and hide bound planatar around. They learned he was going to cleanse the vault they tried testing him to see if there was any leeway and realised that he would purge everything, they did not ask about Ashima-Shimtu but did find out he intended to execute the angel Linia so that her heavenly essence could return to heaven and be reborn pure and unsullied by her prolonged confinement of the material plane. This was not their favourite idea but they by this time had come to the conclusion they only concession they would get was they would be allowed to recover the biography, and unless they killed the Reaper and his minions that was all they would get.
So Manuel had a cunning plan, he would stuff Nevla in the Abusrdist web then being so sneaky it's untrue (stealth +63) he would creep into the vault once the door was open and reach the prison of Ashima-Shimtu before the angels did , blow the door down with a magically silent cannon and then he and Nevla would get Ashima-Shimtu into the Absurdist web and sneak back out so they did not have to discuss her with the angels. This was the plan they went with.
William , Ulvaar and Padme went in with the angels to get the biography, and stood by as Linia, the Lilend and the poor architect were executed , they did recover the biography but I was surprised I had expected them to save Linia even if it meant fighting the Hezophiel but they did not. So all those boosted combat stats I prepared were not needed.
Meanwhile Manual and Nevla easily reached the vault, it was speculated that by this point Manuel not so much becomes the night but becomes the secret hour after midnight. And Dammit I just realised I could have really messed with Manuel when the god of night was killed, thats an opportunity missed.
They reached the vault door undetected and put a silent cannon shell into it just as the Archons sounded their trumpets to muffle the noise of the door collapsing. Then rushed in Nevla explained the plan to Ashima-Shimtu who accepted putting her trust into the pc's , with a large tower shield under her in case of mistakes Manuel in Mecha unhooked her, Nevla cast Heal and then they put her in the Web and sneaked out again while the angels were on the other side of the central vault. William and the others joined them and they used the Wind Walk to fly off elswhere to speak with Ashima-Shimtu and read the biography. They learned he had never used the ritual and they discussed it themselves and decided that the only thing they could justify using it for was the ritual on Axis Island and maybe not even then, pariticularly as the Ob will know their names and they risk getting their supporters killed , however they decided they could make the decision later. Speaking with Ashima-Shimtu they confirmed she was the one who gave Trigenes the ritual and that his example seemed to be combined with her imprisonment what had started her possible path to redemption, and she had given the ritual to Vitus to see if he could redeem the clergy , they all agreed the omens were bad. She asked to accompany them to see more of the world and try to understand mortals and their decisions, Nevla agreed the others went along but pointed out her appearence would cause problems , so she started to look like an attractive female Eladrin with strange eyes.
They then discuss the situation in Alais Primos at length. At some point the God point out that it will take them half an hour in game and 30 seconds in real life to get some facts.
They fly to Alais primos with Wind Walk and rendezvous at a nice little resteraunt with Morgan and the Family leaders, they also note the volcanic eruption , desecration of churches and burnign buildings as well as Paladins and Mobsters working together. The situation is explained, and fits with about half their speculation. They decide that helping out will probably let them get someone in charge who will call back much of the army from the invasion plan, they decide that the other option of letting Crissilyr wipe itself out is too evil. They learn the ritual they want is in the great library and it has good defenses plus they need the secular and religous leaders to get what they need, conveniently removing the Godhand should allow them to get people in place who will let them get the ritual particularly as the clergy probably don't care about it. Although they realise the Arch-Secualar is Ob and think she may need replacing.
Their preliminary plan is to put Tiegenese on trial and get him found innocent, they have good social skills and William can learn to be an excellent lawyer. However they think their chances will be better if they stick Legate Tullius in the Absurdist web. If they assassinate her someone will just ressurect her.
They learn that the goddess of Oases is on trial in an hour or so, and decide to go watch the trial but decide they won't be able to intervene after discussing mad plans involving having someone hiding in the Volcano and catching her without being detected
I expect them to try and abduct the Legate at the start of next session and will work out where she is and what her security is like. They also tried to work out how to get the Arch-prelate to come back and cooperate with them but realised that was pretty much impossible
With the Coaltongue on route to Drakr the Queen and associates departed dor Sid Minos using an Air Walk spell. They planned on investigating the vault recovering Ashima-Shimtu and also the other prisoners. When greeted on arrival with warnings of doom in Crisslyr they thought it likely that Ashima-Shimtu had given the ritual of Apothesis to Vitus the Godhand as she had intended to test the church and see if it could purify itself. They thought this may have not gone so well as though they had worked well with Vitus they realised he was just a little bit Zealous and may have done something dangerous. Then they put together the death of the devout follower of the God of Night in Risur and realised that the ritual must have been used, they were not sure how and spent quite a while trying to work out what was going on, when they were half an hours flight from the city and could have just gone and found out.
Ashima-Shimtu also told them that they could find a biography of Triegenes in the vault and they were very interested in finding that.
Eventually though they stopped their debate and the Trumpet archon turned up and brough along his celestial host including the Planatar Hexopherial probably the most lawful and hide bound planatar around. They learned he was going to cleanse the vault they tried testing him to see if there was any leeway and realised that he would purge everything, they did not ask about Ashima-Shimtu but did find out he intended to execute the angel Linia so that her heavenly essence could return to heaven and be reborn pure and unsullied by her prolonged confinement of the material plane. This was not their favourite idea but they by this time had come to the conclusion they only concession they would get was they would be allowed to recover the biography, and unless they killed the Reaper and his minions that was all they would get.
So Manuel had a cunning plan, he would stuff Nevla in the Abusrdist web then being so sneaky it's untrue (stealth +63) he would creep into the vault once the door was open and reach the prison of Ashima-Shimtu before the angels did , blow the door down with a magically silent cannon and then he and Nevla would get Ashima-Shimtu into the Absurdist web and sneak back out so they did not have to discuss her with the angels. This was the plan they went with.
William , Ulvaar and Padme went in with the angels to get the biography, and stood by as Linia, the Lilend and the poor architect were executed , they did recover the biography but I was surprised I had expected them to save Linia even if it meant fighting the Hezophiel but they did not. So all those boosted combat stats I prepared were not needed.
Meanwhile Manual and Nevla easily reached the vault, it was speculated that by this point Manuel not so much becomes the night but becomes the secret hour after midnight. And Dammit I just realised I could have really messed with Manuel when the god of night was killed, thats an opportunity missed.
They reached the vault door undetected and put a silent cannon shell into it just as the Archons sounded their trumpets to muffle the noise of the door collapsing. Then rushed in Nevla explained the plan to Ashima-Shimtu who accepted putting her trust into the pc's , with a large tower shield under her in case of mistakes Manuel in Mecha unhooked her, Nevla cast Heal and then they put her in the Web and sneaked out again while the angels were on the other side of the central vault. William and the others joined them and they used the Wind Walk to fly off elswhere to speak with Ashima-Shimtu and read the biography. They learned he had never used the ritual and they discussed it themselves and decided that the only thing they could justify using it for was the ritual on Axis Island and maybe not even then, pariticularly as the Ob will know their names and they risk getting their supporters killed , however they decided they could make the decision later. Speaking with Ashima-Shimtu they confirmed she was the one who gave Trigenes the ritual and that his example seemed to be combined with her imprisonment what had started her possible path to redemption, and she had given the ritual to Vitus to see if he could redeem the clergy , they all agreed the omens were bad. She asked to accompany them to see more of the world and try to understand mortals and their decisions, Nevla agreed the others went along but pointed out her appearence would cause problems , so she started to look like an attractive female Eladrin with strange eyes.
They then discuss the situation in Alais Primos at length. At some point the God point out that it will take them half an hour in game and 30 seconds in real life to get some facts.
They fly to Alais primos with Wind Walk and rendezvous at a nice little resteraunt with Morgan and the Family leaders, they also note the volcanic eruption , desecration of churches and burnign buildings as well as Paladins and Mobsters working together. The situation is explained, and fits with about half their speculation. They decide that helping out will probably let them get someone in charge who will call back much of the army from the invasion plan, they decide that the other option of letting Crissilyr wipe itself out is too evil. They learn the ritual they want is in the great library and it has good defenses plus they need the secular and religous leaders to get what they need, conveniently removing the Godhand should allow them to get people in place who will let them get the ritual particularly as the clergy probably don't care about it. Although they realise the Arch-Secualar is Ob and think she may need replacing.
Their preliminary plan is to put Tiegenese on trial and get him found innocent, they have good social skills and William can learn to be an excellent lawyer. However they think their chances will be better if they stick Legate Tullius in the Absurdist web. If they assassinate her someone will just ressurect her.
They learn that the goddess of Oases is on trial in an hour or so, and decide to go watch the trial but decide they won't be able to intervene after discussing mad plans involving having someone hiding in the Volcano and catching her without being detected
I expect them to try and abduct the Legate at the start of next session and will work out where she is and what her security is like. They also tried to work out how to get the Arch-prelate to come back and cooperate with them but realised that was pretty much impossible
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
I forgot that Manuel had a present for Ashima-Shimtu a primer on the use of the first person in speech as grammatical education, after all he too suffers from the urge to narrate when posing in the night as Bat-Manuel. She is amused
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
Sadly no Lava Dragon, but we may possible soon see Komanov's alchemical bomb used to blow up her own army
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
As we started the family found and rescued a dwarven priestess Florence of the god of forges who hailed from Risur. She had been visitng before the great eclipse and while she recognised the characters as the famous RHC agents from Flint she was not aware she was talking to her Queen, she had also heard that Granny Allswell was dead and a dwarf was replacing her gradually becoming the King Under the Mountain and was not aware Ulvaar was there. She told the tale about her younger sister (Ulvaar's perfect match) who was out to discover the lost tomb of the great dwarven king Ron the Good , one of the kings of the Drakr dwarves before the Demonocracy and told how the key had been lost when everyone got drunk at the funeral wake. They laughed at this and the dwarven names being so normal. I look forward to their expressions when they find the Lost Tomb of Ron the Good with its Beer fountains.
They did consider that at some pointed the needed a clergy cleric who could be head of faith for at least ten minutes so they decided to keep her around as she was a cleric on their side. In the Web she goes until it is safe.
They headed out for the trial of the Goddess of Oases , and were impressed by Legate Tullius's skill but not by the fairness of the trial, they considered intervening but decided that would just tip their hand and they were not prepared. As they moved into the temple they decided they had to act before all the god was embodied and all its followers were killed so William contacted the priestess with a sending warning when she died her goddess and followers would die unless she died before the goddess could be embodied. She agreed death was ineveitable and dying for her goddess and followers was a better death and would make her a martyr. With permission William and Manuel moved into a sniping position so Manuel could shoot her and then they could teleport out before the search found them. With one shot Manuel killed the priestess , thwaring the ritual and preventing the disaster. He just avoided being spotted because of the distraction and distance to the observers and his silly stealth score. For the next trial minor angels would be posted at all the sniping positions so things could not be repeated.
Abandoning the idea of talking to Vitus as he seemed too mad and talking to him revealed their presence in the city Nevla instead went to see the Arch-Secular in the library sneaking in with the help of the family and then, she spoke briefly with the woman and came to the conclusion that she was more interested in saving her own life and all the others which could be saved by stopping the God Trials than in loyalty to the Ob. Nevla agreed that she and her fellows would save the day if they would then get access to the Axis Island ritual, the Arch-Secular agreed.
So they decided on putting Triegenes on trial, but rather than apporaching Vitus to arrange it they decided to crash the party. When Appollonius the priest of Apollo was put on trial the next day they had Triegenese (Morgan Cippriano protected by Mind Blanck so his name could be kept secret) accomapnied by them enter the plaza and demand that as the titular chief god of the clergy that if anyone face trial it be him. Suprised Legate Tullius rallied and to the approval of the crowd agreed. Triegenese himself stayed largely above the fray leaving the arguement to Nevla , ably supported by William on crowd management, local lore from the well read goblin Manuel. Linguistic advice from Padme, the religous scholarship of the lightning weasel a respected scholar in almost all fields by now. Finally legal and historical advice from Ashima-Shimtu Seneschal of the Demonocracy, it would have been nice if she would handle the public speaking but she was not willing to take that much responsibility for actions. It was a closely matched contest , by the time all of the modifiers from assistance and spells had been included the abilities of both parts were exactly even.
The party made the core of their arguement in all phases of the debate 'Improve Yourself' Triegenes had not promised to save everyone and do things for them he had promised to help people help themselves. For every example of the unworthy achieving they found examples of those who had emulated Tiegenes and achieved great things with Humility. The Disaster after the second victory was entirely the fault of the clergy if they had truly followed his path they would not have started the wars with the Eladrin or would have made peace when Kasavarina and William Millar came to them with an offer of peace. Instead their violence and treachery killed the Eladrin civilisation and the price of that death was the fall of their own. The great eclipse came because of the achievements of mortals the Ob, the failure of other mortals including Vitus to stop them and mortal weakness, salvation from those consequences would if it come be the result of mortal endeavors fixing the mistakes of the Ob and Triegenes would seek to aid those mortals but all must come from the efforts of mortals. Nevla triumphed in the debates by the narrowest or margins (and a suspicous RNG on Roll 20 which gave 3 consecutive 18's). The subdued and thoughtful crowd and legate proceded to the Cathedral where they made their final arguements in front of Vitus and his angelic guards. The party decided that the revelation that Triegenes was not a god would not help their cause instead they pushed their message of self reliance and that killing the avatar of Triegenes would kill all of his followers, the message they pushed was logical and rational rather than the legates emotional speech taking advantage of the nature of the new world, which made up for Nevla not being as good at Oratory as her opponent , again they were too closely matched to be easily seperated and after the two rolls on roll20 Nevla made her case by a single point on a dice roll.
The crowd and the legate went quiet realising their pirsuit of the gods had been vainglorious folly killing only their own and failing Triegenes test. Vitus however condemened them all for their weakness only he had the strength to see this to it's conclusion tearing of his robe he revealed his own preperations for the ritual of apothesis and ordered his followers to attack, only the angels bound to his service obeyed hitting Padme and William with destruction spells they shrugged off while Advoriel attacked Ulvaar inflicting light wounds on him. Nevla cast overwhelming presence temporarily incapcitating the angels, Manuel donned his steam suit while passing the web to Ulvaar who promtly stuffed the incapacitated Advoriel into it, Padme and William lightly stabbed Vitus, who then nearly dropped Nevla with a flurry of blood crow strike blows and did drop William with actual punches , William being saved only by the autoamtic stabilisation of the new planar configutation. Then Nevla managed to hit him with a disintigrate spell for which he rolled a 1 on his save and was obliterated before he could assume the mantle of Triegenes. Leaving the Avatar of Triegenes, the Family and surviving authority figures in the mob to sort things out the team rushed to the library where their dwarven cleric and the arch secular secured them the Axis island Ritual and they hurriedly departed heading to Drakr.
Behind them the mess of Crissily started to sort itself out , a new secular and clerical council called for the current arch-prelate to stand down and recalled the army for internal duties. The Arch prelate refused and with a portion of the Army continues to support the Ob
They did consider that at some pointed the needed a clergy cleric who could be head of faith for at least ten minutes so they decided to keep her around as she was a cleric on their side. In the Web she goes until it is safe.
They headed out for the trial of the Goddess of Oases , and were impressed by Legate Tullius's skill but not by the fairness of the trial, they considered intervening but decided that would just tip their hand and they were not prepared. As they moved into the temple they decided they had to act before all the god was embodied and all its followers were killed so William contacted the priestess with a sending warning when she died her goddess and followers would die unless she died before the goddess could be embodied. She agreed death was ineveitable and dying for her goddess and followers was a better death and would make her a martyr. With permission William and Manuel moved into a sniping position so Manuel could shoot her and then they could teleport out before the search found them. With one shot Manuel killed the priestess , thwaring the ritual and preventing the disaster. He just avoided being spotted because of the distraction and distance to the observers and his silly stealth score. For the next trial minor angels would be posted at all the sniping positions so things could not be repeated.
Abandoning the idea of talking to Vitus as he seemed too mad and talking to him revealed their presence in the city Nevla instead went to see the Arch-Secular in the library sneaking in with the help of the family and then, she spoke briefly with the woman and came to the conclusion that she was more interested in saving her own life and all the others which could be saved by stopping the God Trials than in loyalty to the Ob. Nevla agreed that she and her fellows would save the day if they would then get access to the Axis Island ritual, the Arch-Secular agreed.
So they decided on putting Triegenes on trial, but rather than apporaching Vitus to arrange it they decided to crash the party. When Appollonius the priest of Apollo was put on trial the next day they had Triegenese (Morgan Cippriano protected by Mind Blanck so his name could be kept secret) accomapnied by them enter the plaza and demand that as the titular chief god of the clergy that if anyone face trial it be him. Suprised Legate Tullius rallied and to the approval of the crowd agreed. Triegenese himself stayed largely above the fray leaving the arguement to Nevla , ably supported by William on crowd management, local lore from the well read goblin Manuel. Linguistic advice from Padme, the religous scholarship of the lightning weasel a respected scholar in almost all fields by now. Finally legal and historical advice from Ashima-Shimtu Seneschal of the Demonocracy, it would have been nice if she would handle the public speaking but she was not willing to take that much responsibility for actions. It was a closely matched contest , by the time all of the modifiers from assistance and spells had been included the abilities of both parts were exactly even.
The party made the core of their arguement in all phases of the debate 'Improve Yourself' Triegenes had not promised to save everyone and do things for them he had promised to help people help themselves. For every example of the unworthy achieving they found examples of those who had emulated Tiegenes and achieved great things with Humility. The Disaster after the second victory was entirely the fault of the clergy if they had truly followed his path they would not have started the wars with the Eladrin or would have made peace when Kasavarina and William Millar came to them with an offer of peace. Instead their violence and treachery killed the Eladrin civilisation and the price of that death was the fall of their own. The great eclipse came because of the achievements of mortals the Ob, the failure of other mortals including Vitus to stop them and mortal weakness, salvation from those consequences would if it come be the result of mortal endeavors fixing the mistakes of the Ob and Triegenes would seek to aid those mortals but all must come from the efforts of mortals. Nevla triumphed in the debates by the narrowest or margins (and a suspicous RNG on Roll 20 which gave 3 consecutive 18's). The subdued and thoughtful crowd and legate proceded to the Cathedral where they made their final arguements in front of Vitus and his angelic guards. The party decided that the revelation that Triegenes was not a god would not help their cause instead they pushed their message of self reliance and that killing the avatar of Triegenes would kill all of his followers, the message they pushed was logical and rational rather than the legates emotional speech taking advantage of the nature of the new world, which made up for Nevla not being as good at Oratory as her opponent , again they were too closely matched to be easily seperated and after the two rolls on roll20 Nevla made her case by a single point on a dice roll.
The crowd and the legate went quiet realising their pirsuit of the gods had been vainglorious folly killing only their own and failing Triegenes test. Vitus however condemened them all for their weakness only he had the strength to see this to it's conclusion tearing of his robe he revealed his own preperations for the ritual of apothesis and ordered his followers to attack, only the angels bound to his service obeyed hitting Padme and William with destruction spells they shrugged off while Advoriel attacked Ulvaar inflicting light wounds on him. Nevla cast overwhelming presence temporarily incapcitating the angels, Manuel donned his steam suit while passing the web to Ulvaar who promtly stuffed the incapacitated Advoriel into it, Padme and William lightly stabbed Vitus, who then nearly dropped Nevla with a flurry of blood crow strike blows and did drop William with actual punches , William being saved only by the autoamtic stabilisation of the new planar configutation. Then Nevla managed to hit him with a disintigrate spell for which he rolled a 1 on his save and was obliterated before he could assume the mantle of Triegenes. Leaving the Avatar of Triegenes, the Family and surviving authority figures in the mob to sort things out the team rushed to the library where their dwarven cleric and the arch secular secured them the Axis island Ritual and they hurriedly departed heading to Drakr.
Behind them the mess of Crissily started to sort itself out , a new secular and clerical council called for the current arch-prelate to stand down and recalled the army for internal duties. The Arch prelate refused and with a portion of the Army continues to support the Ob
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
And today the Stay puft Marshmellow man fought aganst the party before again being defeated and sent back to Hades in shame
