WARNING: this post may contain some extreme exaggeration and understatements.
So, I know this is a bit silly, but...
What is Savith's weapon?
Okay, okay, I'm aware that it's kind of spelled out for us, what with the whole sentient greatsword "Eroeme" and all, except the greatsword that Avashnei is wielding looks NOTHING like the weapon(s) Savith is depicted as wielding/equipped with. Even presuming the weapon "sizes" for the user... Savith ain't wielding a greatsword. At all. Realistically, she might be wielding a falchion. Or perhaps an exotically shaped bastard sword. Except the problem with both of those is that it's very clearly one handed. I mean, it's not even hand-and-a-half. She couldn't fit her other hand on that handle if she was a gnome.
A bastard sword is supposed to be wielded one-handed... but it's got the capability to be a two-handed weapon. This clearly doesn't. It could be a longsword, or an especially heavy scimitar.
But anyway. My question is thus: is Eroeme supposed to be a copy in the sense that it's powers/personality/traits were a lesser copy, or it was an exact physical replica with unique (or similar, but lesser) powers/personality/traits?
I'd appreciate anyone's feedback (that's you, forumers), but especially adventure writer Niel Spicer (or James Jacobs, Kevin Kulp, Rob McCreary, Tim Hitchock, Greg A. Vaughn, or Graeme Davis - I think that was everyone that worked on Serpent's Skull? -) or anyone else official who "knows"!
EDIT: also, from here, anyone know the names of Savith's companions other than Avashnei?
*BUMP*
Also, as was discussed here, does anyone have any more advice for Savith's Crypt? I kinda need to set all this up within the next few days (after which we'll actually be playing it). Sorry we don't have more advanced notice - I wasn't sure we'd be playing it until recently, as one player was finally able to confirm time to do so.
Short version: A PC character has two souls, her own and that of Savith reborn. She feels her current character is "done" and wants to switch out. I've got a way to do that (by allowing her to actually become a truly reincarnated Savith, separating the two souls) but I need some info on Savith herself to make the pay-off worth it... sooooooooo...
One other thing, as found on this thread, I've a few questions that I'm still looking for some advice on*. Spoiler tags are for your convenience - ignore the boring, look into the interesting. I've cleaned it up slightly (fixing a broken spoiler here or there, removing a few points, adding in Acavadra's name, etc). These are long, though, so, you know, fair warning.
First: I've added a subtly running sub-plot/theme of rats v. snakes v. undead based off the stuff that was presented in Smuggler's Shiv. In addition to the were-rat that was against the undead/snake-influenced cannibals Savinth-Yhi, the Zura-cult/Ydersius temple, and other similar things, I've dropped a special kind of rat (I've tentatively dubbed "Lu-psied Rats" from "luna" for moon and "psi" for psychic - it's a work in progress, and feel free to suggest a better name) that functions similar to a fusion of cranium rats and moon rats - their intellect is stimulated by the full moon (and only the full moon) granting them various mystical abilities at that time. Basically, it's three rather distasteful elements of the world conflicting with each other at the same time, purposefully or not. I was also planning on tying the morlocks below to rats to some extent, thus making morlocks (rats), uderhans (I don't remember the spelling, but undead), and serpentfolk (snakes) the three races below, none of which like each other, and still fitting the theme. Serpents do, of course, have the greatest influence and presence.
One of my players not only has undead affinity, and a serpent bloodline, but was afflicted with lycanthrope from the rat on the island (later more-or-less cured, but with "lingering effects"). Basically, it's been kind of like having a GM's dream - a player that literally falls into every facet of a sub-plot that's been laid out substantially in advance.
Now the rats only have three nights a month that they're sentient, and, despite their power and super-genius, they can't really do much in that time. Further, it's based off of direct moonlight, not just "the moon is out and full". They're long-term plan is to create a kind of permanent night - and full moon - over the city, as they've seen testament to in ancient inscriptions (references to the Age of Darkness by the few survivors of that time). They plan on recreating it (somehow) but "doing it right" this time, to escape the "moon's tyranny".
To enable them to escape predators, but keep their wits, they've built a rather elaborate series of mirrors and prisms to capture moonlight and scatter it through microscopic tunnels, enabling them to find and create secret, large meeting places to congregate, plan, and work. Effectively for an hour every night of the full moon there is something akin to a religious ceremony
Part of what I'd written out ahead of time was that they have some vague prophecies is that someday the Golden Rat will come and lead them to a new era of prosperity and power. But they must watch out for the Fool's Gold Rat who will come to lead them astray. Which comes first and which comes second is a matter of debate. The rats worship a vague form of Shimye-Magalla (Desna)/Pharasma/Acavadra hybrid base, but have twisted the ideals to a near-unrecognizable state, including such elements as rat superiority, and also more slight fear and bitterness (the the "tyranny of the moon" concept). Although I hadn't thought of him before, possibly involving Hanspur somehow is one facet of this idea that might bear exploring. One of their great "evils", (or rather hated "deities", as they need direct moonlight) is the deity of storm clouds, the moonless night, and snakes (and thus... Shimye-Magalla (Gozreh), Zon-Kuthon, and Ydersius, who they similarly all equate together).
Since the player with the three elements has gained the ability to shift into a rat (based off some creative uses of magic and haggling they can be golden or mundane, their choice each transformation, again before they ran into or knew of this) they were able to come across a peculiar thing I didn't think I'd actually be running: a rat-moot on a full moon. Basically it's a bunch of rats communing mentally (one "head-speaker" hits everything in a 100-foot radius with its telepathy, while "assistant speakers" at the edge of the radius repeat verbatim to every Lu-psied rat within range until the whole moot-ground is covered.
My player basically happened across the moot, got into range, and heard the prophecies repeated and the plan as a "sacred charge". Now that player wants to usurp control of the rats to gain their help in exploring Savinth-Yhi (and in general) and while said player supports the general prosperity of the rats and the idea of bringing them to permanent enlightenment, they don't necessarily support the "eternal night" goal.
Please note that this is totally fine with me in theory, as I'm all for PCs immersing themselves into the story. They're even thinking of taking the leadership feat to apply to the rats, which isn't a bad idea, role-play wise, if they want to gain control of the local mystic rodent population.
I've also begun incorporating the apes v. snakes into the campaign as well, though I've not built that one as solidly, as I didn't know it would be so important in the first adventure. One thought I had was working on bringing the apes around and binding them with the rats - kind of a "mammal v. reptile" thing, as the apes and rats have no particular opposition towards one another.
So: ideas, suggestions, concepts?
Fair warning, this starts out fine, but will descend into the distinctly possible-uncomfortable subject-matter in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th paragraphs, which are numbered for your convenience. Please skip if you're not interested in the PCs romantic life. I don't go into graphic detail or anything, just possibly uncomfortable to discuss on a forum. Or not, your choice.
1) Basically, I'm asking for advice. One of my players has deep, mystical ties to Savith, though she doesn't know it. She's a powerful warrior, but unbeknownst to her actually IS Savith reborn (she has two souls - her own and Savith's). The story, as I've got it written, is that Ydersius' poison went far, far deeper than the body, but pierced the soul, condemning Savith to the abyss and to become a demon undeservedly. Savith's soul was actually saved by three goddesses who opposed Ydersius working together - Desna, Gozreh, and Acavadra (a forgotten Azlanti moon goddess). The soul was taken and placed in stasis to help bleed the poison out so that it could head to its rightful place in the cosmos. When it was finally purified, she was reborn to an infertile couple who'd been praying for a strong young daughter. Their prayers were answered in the form of a newborn Savith.
2) One thing about Acavadra (the moon goddess), is that not only does she not exist (that I can find) outside of this AP, but also it seems that (according to the name Mother Moon, given by the centaur tribe in the King Maker AP) worship of the moon has transferred to Desna as well. This raises a large number of fascinating questions about the nature of Desna - a deity to whom no less than three different deities are associated with, are presumed to be, or have (apparently or definitively) transferred their portfolios [Curchanus, Gozreh, and Acavadra]. I'd love it if a James or another Dev could weigh in on this. Even so, I'd also love to hear others' thoughts. If Desna has claimed the moon, or always was the moon, this means that only one goddess ever saved Savith: Shimye-Magalla, which dovetails nicely into...
3) Since I really didn't have any place to insert Personification of Fury, I wrote that an aspect of him was bound into the Tide Stone. The PCs used clever magic and skill (as well as the soul-gems from the dolls) to partially free it from the Tide Stone - it is still bound (and thus can't leave the island's immediate vicinity), and can still use the power of the stone (which is it's own power focused through the stone) but is otherwise free to roam and act as it pleases. It was partially affected by the soul within it, but mostly it's just as it always was.
4) This particular character became very... um... close, shall we say with Personification of Fury. Very close. Ahem. Worked (impressively) very hard at it, too. No, I shan't be giving details. As a devout worshiper of Desna before this campaign started, and becoming a powerful devotee of Shimye-Magalla shortly thereafter (religion and local checks are fun), this worked quite well (as Gozreh is part of Shimye-Magalla and Personification of Fury views itself as the perfect way to blend disparate elements...)
5) ANYWAY: all this works to very interesting results when looking at it. Basically Savith (reborn) is worshiping (through no manipulation of mine) the goddesses who saved her soul (literally and figuratively) and allowed her - through complicated circumstances - to be reborn. She is now actively courted by one of that <composite> deities' heralds, one who actually personifies the concept of blending disparate elements into a single creature.
6) This has also worked to her advantage as she's also er... courted... Ezio Egorius, the Praetor of Sargava. In my campaign (due to a complete lack of knowledge, otherwise) I had it written that he's the mixed blood grandson of Lady Daugustana (the result of a very, very long-ago youthful indiscretion that she's loathed and loved her whole life, ergo he's kept both distant, yet found great favor in the city somehow). He looks white enough to pass, yet he feels great kinship with the native peoples and pride in his native heritage (not knowing his connection to Daugustana who publicly loathes him) and goes out of his way to make sure relations stay good with them, but he's also wise enough not to openly tick off the nobility. That whole thing is going to come to a head later, but for now it's simmering in the background.
7) Ezio and Personification of Fury are aware of each other, but the player has actually been skilled enough to balance the two of them well. Basically Fury is akin to a worship experience while Ezio provides a more human intimacy. The latter two are going to be united in marriage, although Fury is... um... invited. Sort of.
8) All this has blended itself well as these are the strings she's eventually going to pull on to gather forces to invade the city below. Unbeknownst to her again. I'd love to hear what you guys think about any of this so far. Either for suggestions and development or just for reactions.
9) Further, she, of all people, has been fascinated by the tomb of Savith (seriously, my players are awesome - they latch onto things so well without my compulsion). She doesn't know why, but she feels 'compelled' to go there, as she's said. I'm thinking she might find the actual, original sword of Savith. I am curious about the fate of her original sword (whether or not it was destroyed by the battle against Ydersius, buried with Savith, etc), as well as its stats. I understand they cyclops general whose name I can't currently recall was wielding a facsimile. Is his of the same power of the original? Lesser?
10) One other thing I've done is taken the "prized Azlanti weapon" shatterspike, and turned it into a sort of hilt-less attachment to other weapons. I did this because, for one, it makes sense for Savith to have such an item, and for two it doesn't seem like its such an important or powerful weapon for the Azlanti to prize, considering they were going after a deity - a +1 isn't that big, at that point. Basically, a non-magic weapon it's attached to becomes a +1 shatterspike. Any magic weapon either becomes a +1 shatterspike or better, depending on the enhancement value of the weapon. Whatever the base enhancement value, it increases by +3 for purposes of sundering (maximum of +10). For now, it's being used on the underwater blade, although I suspect it will be used on the mantis blade, eventually.
11) The mantis blade is very fascinating and might make the perfect final weapon to assassinate a deity "once and for all". If she finds her own original sword, it would be also interesting to compare it to the mantis blade's power, and see which one she chooses, if she even has the option of her original blade.
So, in addition to any or all of your thoughts on the above, what do you think of the tomb of Savith? Any advice? Anyone create a decent write-up they could send my way or send me to?
One other idea that I had is for Nethys' herald the arcanotheign. Since she's just kind of thrust into the manual with no obvious way to insert her, one thing I thought of is "what if she was captured by the serpentfolk?" Evan more "what if they were cloneing her?" So they are attempting this, with nefarious designs for the clones. I'm not sure what, exactly, I can do with clone, but I've got several ideas and would love to hear yours. I'm thinking she might be in an iron bottle, but I'm not completely sure. What about you guys? Also the way they cloned: sever a part in a telekinetic sphere, place that in a stasis clone chamber, and let it grow, and leave it there, gently reposed. Regeneration on the original should work to restore her to full power. I'm thinking possibly allowing the Savith-character to somehow gain access to the clone's power, possibly even absorbing it in order to foil and defeat the divine power of Ydersius later.
Even with her other... exploits... Jask has become quite taken with her (huge charisma + focused on social interaction + exceedingly friendly = popular; also had him falling before I knew where she was headed/what she wanted because she was a staunch supporter of setting him free and had made sure to visit him and give him good food while he was in the brig below, talking to and befriending him then, and I just kept it up because it's interesting tension, especially as it's the one she doesn't know about). I would guess that he'd be very interested in bringing her closer to his god and that would be one way of doing so - helping her absorb the clone-body of the herald. Again, what do you think?
I'm wondering if using the udherfans (I know, spellings, off, but I'm tired and don't have my book with me) as Zura-stand-ins would be suitable against the serpent folk. Possibly even tie them more closely with Zura herself, despite the normally daemonic nature of their society.
So, that's what I've got so far. I'll take any advice you can give, but especially about the weapon and rival groups stuff (undead v. rat-or-ape v. snakes).
*Totally my fault, in all likelihood - I think the topic was so vague as to discourage help.
Savith's weapon in game terms may well be a falcata (APG). Interesting stuff you've come up with.
Savith's weapon in game terms may well be a falcata (APG). Interesting stuff you've come up with.
Thank you, Turin! As it turns out, you came up with the best idea. I'm adopting it as a matter of course: with that high (x3) crit, it makes sense that decapitations happen!
Fortuitously (and slightly not) I actually gained more time before starting into Savith's tomb - the player's free time moved on 'em, so I have a couple more days than previously expected. Hopefully no more, though!
I'm toying more and more with the idea of the rats and monkeys uniting into a singular faction. One solid concept to bind them together is the worship of the moon. The lycanthrope-touched player is pondering taking the Charuka of the city and "adopting" them into the fold by creating a kind of non-evil were-rat thing (similar to werebears). This would dovetail nicely with the "lupsied" rats only sentient on the full moon - the rat-based empathy would enable the charuka to work well with this new population. The player wants to use bestow curse, contagion, atonement, and their last limited wish spell to create the therianthrope (our term for lycanthrope, as it's more than just "lycans" or "wolves"), which more or less makes sense, but is powerful. I'm not sure what, if any, other restrictions to place on it or costs associated with it. This would also work well later with the morlocks below the city. Said PC is also working on creating powerful devices with with to control all the undead they're coming across. Also, if anyone can come up with a better non-pun name than "lupsied", I'm all ears!
One other thing - the Zura-cult thing is a definite, now: the uderfhauns are going to be corrupted, as they've been cut off from other sources for too long. Zura's been attempting to gain power in Savinth-Yhi (and evirons) for too long, so she'd be actively attempting to recruit from vampire-like creatures too.