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Perhaps mighty archwizard Aroden went off to create a demiplane to which many of his countrymen fled, perhaps, and they locked the door behind them so that whatever was destroying Golarion (since they were convinced that Earthfall was just the opening salvo of an impending earth-shattering kaboom) couldn't find them.Now, off in their own demiplane, the thousands of survivors of Lost Azlant are growing ever more baroque and self-referential, like standing water, breeding reptiles of the mind. If they ever open the doors to their self-imposed prison, which they have twisted into a fantastical gilded cage, opulent and decadent in a way that only a Melnibonean would appreciate, they may not only not recognize Golarion, they may find themselves needing to violently correct all that they see has gone so terribly wrong in their absence...
Wait a second...
Aroden = Kal-El/Superman - The Last Survivor of a doomed race
Set's Demiplane = The Bottled City of Kandor
Runelords = Zod
Arodens Shield = Superman's "Shield"
Starstone Cathedral = Fortress of Solitude
Whispering Tyrant = Lex
Deskari = Doomsday
Iomedae = Supergirl
With this reasoning I can safely say two things. First, as supposed mythic level rouge, I think I can identify Lord Gyr of House Gix as Batman. Who better to guard the Fortress of Solitude. Two, the Aboleth destroyed Krypton.
Dotting this for future use!
Coming Soon...Crisis on Infinite Golarion AP
When the Osirion clocks reach the inevitable end, the Dominion of the Black brings about the Darkest Night. Around the world heroes fight a world changing fight against impossible odds. PCs play a group of adventurers fighting an unending battle as the world collapses around them. In a race against time they must fight their way to hidden sanctuary of the Runelord of Envy and keep their memories so they can discover the true heir of Aroden.
With Aroden's scion they must battle their way around the world collecting the 6 treasures of Asmodeus to obtain the key to Rovagug's prison. Release the destroyer upon the forces of the Dominion and then close the summoning portal at the heart of the Eye of Abendego to banish them all to the depths of the outer blackness.
Publisher, Chief Creative Officer
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As something of the 'god of the Azlanti,' perhaps, just as the death of a god can have effects on the spheres he controls (as with Aroden and prophecy), perhaps a massive disruption in the spheres of influence that in some ways define a god can have detrimental effects on the god themselves, so that the sudden and traumatic death of 99% of his race gave Aroden a spiritual / psychic shock so intense that he spent the next century or so near comatose?
Aroden was not a god at the time of the fall of Azlant.
Hmm. Was he Mythic around then? Or did he just fall somewhere in the 1-20 level range?
As something of the 'god of the Azlanti,' perhaps, just as the death of a god can have effects on the spheres he controls (as with Aroden and prophecy), perhaps a massive disruption in the spheres of influence that in some ways define a god can have detrimental effects on the god themselves, so that the sudden and traumatic death of 99% of his race gave Aroden a spiritual / psychic shock so intense that he spent the next century or so near comatose?Aroden was not a god at the time of the fall of Azlant.
In my brain, which is beyond unofficial, he was in the 1-5 range. Just starting out,
Of course, him and his mother, were doing all the could to take refugees through the darklands, avoiding the Earthfall and insuring the future of the varisian people.
At least in my mind.
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And the Last Azanti thing in the Thornkeep level is an indirect reference to a major Aroden thread in my personal Kings of Absalom campaign, which I hope to publish some day. Lots of stuff in there about Aroden, his role in the final days of the Empire, his magic sword, and other interesting bits, including magical "flashback" scenes that take place during the era of Old Azlant itself.
I would enthusiastically keep my AP subscription for this.
Aroden died, because Pathfinder got published and released to the players. You can't have a God of Prophecy when you have multiple GMs with the freedom to pick and choose and change and create what they want about the world.Aroden was the god of human culture, innovation and history.
Pharasma is the goddess of prophecy, and she's still very much alive.
Except prophecy is broken which is directly/indirectly (depending who you talk to and the mood at the time) a result of Aroden's death.
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I get the impression that the failure of prophecy is something specifically tied to Golarion itself, a side effect of the death of a god so intimately tied to that world and it's subsequent cosmic shift toward the Abyss. It's conceivable that the defining feature of the Age of Lost Omens is being caused by some kind of cosmic dissonance radiating from places like the Worldwound, Tianjing, the Tanglebriar, and parts of the Mwangi Expanse, where primordial manifestations of evil and chaos spill over into the material plane. Kind of a "the dark side clouds everything" sort of deal.
Chronicles of the Righteous made clear that Aroden's death causes prophecy to break down everywhere - the Empyreal Lords held a concordance to try to figure out how the heck the death of a fairly localized god managed to break part of the cosmos.
I get the impression that the failure of prophecy is something specifically tied to Golarion itself
It happened on Triaxus as well at the same time, and they don't have any specific event to tie to it.
Great Thread! I am following this.
Dot for reference.
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Love this thread! My wife and i enjoy theorizing the how/why of Aroden's death. My personal favorite theory is that as a god of prophecy, he intentionally removed himself from the picture so that the prophecy of the end of the world no longer being a certain thing anymore. Also makes me wonder about the relationship between the 4 (and 5th) horsemen and Grotus.
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Love this thread! My wife and i enjoy theorizing the how/why of Aroden's death. My personal favorite theory is that as a god of prophecy, he intentionally removed himself from the picture so that the prophecy of the end of the world no longer being a certain thing anymore. Also makes me wonder about the relationship between the 4 (and 5th) horsemen and Grotus.
Wow, that is so close to what my character Temperance (an inquisitor of Iomedae) said about a statement in the Book of the Damned regarding Asmodious's ascendance over the other gods. Long story, but the statement bought her some time before the rest of the party showed up to save her and created a theological firestorm. This is paraphrased from memory:
HK Torturer: "You and your goddess are nothing to the might and ascendance of Asmodeus!"
Temperance: (Laughs at him) "You still do not understand, Aroden won."
HK Torturer: (Uncertainty creeping into his strident voice) "Aroden is DEAD and can do nothing!"
Temperance: "Aroden sacrificed himself to break all such prophecies - the Ascendance of Asmodeus is as broken as all other such prophecies..."
(Dead silence, then a murmur rippled though the crowd)
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Aroden wasn't the god of Prophecy, that was, and still is, Pharasma. Prophecy is her domain, even if it is broken.
Kazred has the best theory in my opinion, and I've adopted it as my own.
Basically, he decided that to stop Rovagug from escaping his prison. To do so, he needed to strip away the 'absolute truth of prophecy' and to do that, he needed to break it.
Expanding on Kazred's theory, is that Aroden worked with the older gods (Pharasma, Asmodeus, Saranrae etc.) to succeed. From Pharasma, he needed her permission to destroy one aspect of her portfolio. From Asmodeus, he need his help in breaking the very rules and laws that Asmodeus helped create aeons ago. From Saranrae, I think he needed her raw power to succeed.
When you collect a lot of little tidbits here and there, Kazred's theory just fits more and more.
For example, James Jacobs stated in his thread that the collective strength of the Gods as they exist now, is weaker than when they imprisoned Rovagug in the first place. He said if Rovagug were to escape, there would be no re-chaining him.
The Star Towers are ancient structures that help power the prison and contain Rovagug in the center of Golarion. Yet, despite being nearly unbreakable, several of the towers have been destroyed, or lost. As time passes, the towers may eventually fail, and with each fallen tower, Rovagug becomes that much more influential in the world above him.
After Aroden's death, a being that looks just like him appeared at Pharasma's side, serving her in the afterlife. A God that sacrificed everything that he was, to prevent Rovagug, a being Pharasma helped chain in the first place, from escaping, deserves some sort of reward.
All of the Gods have come together before in the past to defeat Rovagug, so it's entirely reasonable that they would do so again. This time, to stop him before he rose to power. However, instead of Pharasma leading the charge, Aroden is the one who organized it all.
Granted, it's also possible that Aroden didn't commit suicide, but that another God has come to the same conclusion and murdered him, or maybe that the Gods as a whole sacrificed him to achieve the same results. I personally like the idea of Aroden sacrificing himself to save the world, because I think his willing sacrifice would make the effect more powerful, than if he were murdered or sacrificed against his will.
Aroden wasn't the god of Prophecy, that was, and still is, Pharasma. Prophecy is her domain, even if it is broken.
Kazred has the best theory in my opinion, and I've adopted it as my own.
Basically, he decided that to stop Rovagug from escaping his prison. To do so, he needed to strip away the 'absolute truth of prophecy' and to do that, he needed to break it.
Expanding on Kazred's theory, is that Aroden worked with the older gods (Pharasma, Asmodeus, Saranrae etc.) to succeed. From Pharasma, he needed her permission to destroy one aspect of her portfolio. From Asmodeus, he need his help in breaking the very rules and laws that Asmodeus helped create aeons ago. From Saranrae, I think he needed her raw power to succeed.
When you collect a lot of little tidbits here and there, Kazred's theory just fits more and more.
For example, James Jacobs stated in his thread that the collective strength of the Gods as they exist now, is weaker than when they imprisoned Rovagug in the first place. He said if Rovagug were to escape, there would be no re-chaining him.
The Star Towers are ancient structures that help power the prison and contain Rovagug in the center of Golarion. Yet, despite being nearly unbreakable, several of the towers have been destroyed, or lost. As time passes, the towers may eventually fail, and with each fallen tower, Rovagug becomes that much more influential in the world above him.
After Aroden's death, a being that looks just like him appeared at Pharasma's side, serving her in the afterlife. A God that sacrificed everything that he was, to prevent Rovagug, a being Pharasma helped chain in the first place, from escaping, deserves some sort of reward.
All of the Gods have come together before in the past to defeat Rovagug, so it's entirely reasonable that they would do so again. This time, to stop him before he rose to power. However, instead of Pharasma leading the charge, Aroden is the one who...
It really doesn't matter who's portfolio prophecy is a part of... if Aroden never showed up to start the golden age, then prophecy is still broken. I forgot that it was a part of Pharasma's, not sure why I thought it was Aroden's...
Overall, I like the "why" of Aroden dissapearing, its the "how" that is left open.
Amazingly useful post. 500 Discovery Points to you, and thanks!
Dotted and dotted again!
This is an awesome read!
In light of the impending Starfinder, there could be a causality link between the actions surrounding the death of Aroden and the 'Gap'...
Alas, it is a mystery that no one will ever uncover.
Ye, this could use updates from Moonscar and Shattered Star and other stuff. Though I guess doing that before Ruins of Azlant would be premature now that its going to be released
There was some new stuff in PFS # 07-00, which I've not seen mentioned anywhere else as well...
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When researching stuff in order to write the outline for the Ruins of Azlant Adventure Path, I did a search of all of our PDFs for the words Azlant and Azlanti. You'd be amazed how many of those references were variations on the phrases, "When ancient Azlant sank into the sea," or "When Earthfall destroyed the continent of Azlant," or "Aroden, the Last Azlanti." Maybe you wouldn't be amazed, but it's a big chunk of them. :)
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Stumbled across this thread last night while looking for help for Alzanti names.
Tis much a shame that there's been no updates over the last couple of years :(