The Why of Sasserine

[Wyrin]

I'm about to kick off a Savage Tide campaign, and one thing that's been bugging me is a bit of history that might never come up (unless I work it in as a subplot) - why was Sasserine the cleric sent to that spot?

I'm running the STAP in Mystara, so Nyx is replacing WeeJas. So why would Nyx/WeeJas send one of her faithful to this location? What are the goals here?

Some ideas for now
- Nyx/WeeJas is acutally sponsoring Zelkarune (the dragon that kills Sasserine) on the path to immortality/godhood, and this is actually a challenege for the dragon, and Sasserine is a pawn
- There are ancient secrets to be found in the untamed land where the city is founded - perhaps relating to an undead race that Nyx/WeeJas wants discovered, or general necromancy
- It's just a remote location where they can do their necromantic research undisturbed

what are other people's thoughts?

[TheWhiteknife]

Hmmm Im not too familiar with Nyx, but I'll try to answer what Id roll with in my campaign. Wee Jas sent Sasserine there as a way to keep an eye on/a show of force against Kyuss and his followers who inhabited the relatively close by Spire of Long Shadows. How that would translate to Mystara, I got no idea.

[Wyrin]

TheWhiteknife wrote:

Hmmm Im not too familiar with Nyx, but I'll try to answer what Id roll with in my campaign. Wee Jas sent Sasserine there as a way to keep an eye on/a show of force against Kyuss and his followers who inhabited the relatively close by Spire of Long Shadows. How that would translate to Mystara, I got no idea.

I guess the question then becomes what was Zelkarune the dragon's role in it all? Wee Jas sends her cleric directly into the lair of a powerful black dragon - so assuming Wee Jas wants the dragon dead (more than the founding of a city), what was the dragon doing...?

[Kajehase]

Wee Jas: "Pelor, can I borrow that map you have of the World of Greyhawk? And a darts arrow too, perhaps?"

Pelor: "Sure Wee one, but why?"

Wee Jas: "I've got this cleric I need to send on a quest, and mama needs a brand new temple!"

[Carl Cramér]

This is my reading: We Jas might not be good, but she is lawful. And it is in her role as a lawful protector of the people that she led Sasserine to, well, Sasserine. She has a vested interest in her supporters. In the original Greyhawk her followers were most likely Suel fleeing their Oerdian enemies (these are both human peoples). Sasserine proved to be a far-enough-away place of refuge.

I don't know Nyx very much, but she seems somewhat sociapathic from your description. If saving her followers from persecution is not enough of a goal to her, maybe she's not such a good match and she should be replaced by some more lawful diety?

[TheWhiteknife]

Yeah I was going to go for the Great Migration route too, but was unsure if it would help in Mystara. Dont forget that many Suel had already migrated to the area already, as evidenced by the nearby Scarlet Brotherhood strongholds.

As for Zelkarune, she could have been yet another cowed dragon thrall of Dragotha, lieutenant of Kyuss. Its really cool to run Age of Worms before ST, there is alot of tie-in and the possibility of alot more tie-in with a little work.

PS- to Carl Cramer, I like your avatar. I converted Wingclipper's Revenge into a ST sidequest sandwhiched between Bullwug gambit and Sea Wyvern's Wake.

[NPC Dave]

Wyrin wrote:

I'm about to kick off a Savage Tide campaign, and one thing that's been bugging me is a bit of history that might never come up (unless I work it in as a subplot) - why was Sasserine the cleric sent to that spot?

I'm running the STAP in Mystara, so Nyx is replacing WeeJas. So why would Nyx/WeeJas send one of her faithful to this location? What are the goals here?

Some ideas for now
- Nyx/WeeJas is acutally sponsoring Zelkarune (the dragon that kills Sasserine) on the path to immortality/godhood, and this is actually a challenege for the dragon, and Sasserine is a pawn
- There are ancient secrets to be found in the untamed land where the city is founded - perhaps relating to an undead race that Nyx/WeeJas wants discovered, or general necromancy
- It's just a remote location where they can do their necromantic research undisturbed

That is a very good question...why?

I also am running Savage Tide in Mystara, although in my case Sasserine has more of a Northern Reaches/Norse feel as Wee Jas is replaced by Hel and Kord is replaced by Thor. For me, Sasserine is located on the southern continent with the closest city-state the Hulean colony of Garganin which still has temples to Bozdogan/Loki.

For Nyx her goals tie into undead, so my thoughts-

Take your first idea and turn it around...Zelkarune is Nyx's candidate, but she wants Zelkarune to continue on the path as an undead candidate. Thus Sasserine becomes the instrument of Zelkarune's transformation...I believe his skeletal frame is still around Sasserine so that would mean his dragon spirit continued.

Running further with this idea...Sasserine and Zelkarune are both potential candidates and Nyx wants both of them to reach their dead state so they can continue on as undead. The result is perfect and Sasserine's tomb is empty or holds someone else's body.

Second idea, if you are also setting Sasserine on Davania, take a page from the Hollow World box set included adventure. Nyx wanted to introduce an undead type into Davania that did not exist there before. Thus Sasserine's migration fufills that goal of unknowingly carrying the undead type(vampire/ghoul/what have you) across.

[TheWhiteknife]

Hmm if Nyx is undead themed, You could replace Kyuss with Nyx. In which case Sasserine was led to convert Zelkarune into a dracolich before Dragotha assumed that role.