paizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Alainpaizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Alain2015-11-06T20:54:40Z2015-11-06T20:54:40ZWho's the Master?https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5li7n?Whos-the-Master2015-11-06T20:00:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Who's the Master?</h1>
<p class="date">Friday, November 6, 2015</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/products/btpy9hdy"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/product/catalog/PZO/PZO9463_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>YOU are, once you pick up some of the options from <a href = "/products/btpy9hdy"><em>Player Companion: Weapon Master's Handbook</em></a>!</p>
<p>In all seriousness, my working title for this product when outline it was "nice things for martials," and a note with that phrase sat on my monitor as a guiding principle through the project's development. Weapon-focused characters don't generally need help hitting foes or dealing damage, but they can find themselves with fewer options to just be interesting in new and unexpected ways. Given the breadth of history in Golarion there are lots of opportunities for sword-swingers and axe-hurlers to learn surprising techniques not available to run-of-the-mill warriors, and this book highlights the ones we thought were the most exciting.</p>
<p itemprop="description">Of course all the things you've come to expect from a <a href = "/pathfinder/playerCompanion">Player Companion</a> are here—archetypes representing weapon masters from throughout the Inner Sea, traits tied to specific fighting groups in Golarion, and new magic items appropriate to the weapon master theme. But we've also presented lots of new options, including an expansion of the stamina and combat trick rules first presented in <a href = "/products/btpy9c25"><em>Pathfinder Unchained</em></a> (to cover the combat feats from <a href = "/products/btpy95b1"><em>Inner Sea Combat</em></a>, <a href = "/products/btpy94wj"><em>Inner Sea Gods</em></a>, and <a href = "/products/btpy8ief"><em>Inner Sea World Guide</em></a>), advanced weapon training (allowing fighters more options that just gaining a reduced bonus to new weapon groups), weapon-based style feats, weapon trick feats (broken into categories for one-handed weapons, polearms, ranged weapons, two-handed weapons, two-weapon tricks, and weapon and shield tricks), magic item mastery (ways to force magic items to do new things), and much more!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Imrijka.jpg"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Imrijka_120.jpeg"></a>
<a href = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Amiri.jpg"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Amiri_180.jpeg"></a>
<a href = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Alain.jpg"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Alain_180.jpeg"></a>
<br />
<i>Illustrations by Simul</i></div>
<p>Golarion is a big place, so we've only scratched the surface on the kinds of weapon mastery practiced in its many schools, temples, war colleges, and armies. But this book does open doors to whole new kinds of options for character who truly dedicate themselves to being masters of weaponry.</p>
<p>Owen K.C. Stephens<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Player Companion, Simul, Imrijka, Amiri, Alain —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/amiri">Amiri</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/imrijka">Imrijka</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderPlayerCompanion">Pathfinder Player Companion</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/simul">Simul</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Who's the Master?</h1>
<p class="date">Friday, November 6, 2015</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/products/btpy9hdy"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/product/catalog/PZO/PZO9463_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>YOU are, once you pick up some of the options from <a href = "/products/btpy9hdy"><em>Player Companion: Weapon Master's Handbook</em></a>!</p>
<p>In all seriousness, my working title for this product when outline it was "nice things for martials," and a note with that phrase sat on my monitor as a guiding principle through the project's development. Weapon-focused characters don't generally need help hitting foes or dealing damage, but they can find themselves with fewer options to just be interesting in new and unexpected ways. Given the breadth of history in Golarion there are lots of opportunities for sword-swingers and axe-hurlers to learn surprising techniques not available to run-of-the-mill warriors, and this book highlights the ones we thought were the most exciting.</p>
<p itemprop="description">Of course all the things you've come to expect from a <a href = "/pathfinder/playerCompanion">Player Companion</a> are here—archetypes representing weapon masters from throughout the Inner Sea, traits tied to specific fighting groups in Golarion, and new magic items appropriate to the weapon master theme. But we've also presented lots of new options, including an expansion of the stamina and combat trick rules first presented in <a href = "/products/btpy9c25"><em>Pathfinder Unchained</em></a> (to cover the combat feats from <a href = "/products/btpy95b1"><em>Inner Sea Combat</em></a>, <a href = "/products/btpy94wj"><em>Inner Sea Gods</em></a>, and <a href = "/products/btpy8ief"><em>Inner Sea World Guide</em></a>), advanced weapon training (allowing fighters more options that just gaining a reduced bonus to new weapon groups), weapon-based style feats, weapon trick feats (broken into categories for one-handed weapons, polearms, ranged weapons, two-handed weapons, two-weapon tricks, and weapon and shield tricks), magic item mastery (ways to force magic items to do new things), and much more!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Imrijka.jpg"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Imrijka_120.jpeg"></a>
<a href = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Amiri.jpg"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Amiri_180.jpeg"></a>
<a href = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Alain.jpg"><img src = "//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderPlayerCompanion/PZO9463-Alain_180.jpeg"></a>
<br />
<i>Illustrations by Simul</i></div>
<p>Golarion is a big place, so we've only scratched the surface on the kinds of weapon mastery practiced in its many schools, temples, war colleges, and armies. But this book does open doors to whole new kinds of options for character who truly dedicate themselves to being masters of weaponry.</p>
<p>Owen K.C. Stephens<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Player Companion, Simul, Imrijka, Amiri, Alain —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/amiri">Amiri</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/imrijka">Imrijka</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderPlayerCompanion">Pathfinder Player Companion</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/simul">Simul</a></p>2015-11-06T20:00:00ZFriday Publisher Preview: Iconic Heroes Set 3 (Part 1)https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lgn6?Friday-Publisher-Preview-Iconic-Heroes-Set-32014-10-25T01:00:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<div class="blurbCenter"><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderbattles"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Logos/PFBattles_360.jpeg"></a></div>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Friday Publisher Preview: Iconic Heroes Set 3 (Part 1)</h1>
<p class="date">Friday, October 24, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articlebody">
<p itemprop="description">Hard to believe it's Friday already, and time for another look at upcoming <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> miniatures!</p>
<p>This week we're taking a peek at three figures from March's <a href = "/products/btpy99z3"><i>Iconic Heroes Set #3</i></a>, a stand-alone release featuring six figures. Unlike many of our <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> releases, Iconic Heroes sets do not come randomly packed. The same six figures are in every box, with a visible window to let you see what you're buying.</p>
<p>WizKids has really outdone themselves with premium sculpting and paint masters for the Iconic Heroes sets. The new digital sculpting process allows us to nitpick all of the little details that make our iconic characters iconic, and WizKids is planning to make the Iconic Heroes as beautiful as any figure we've ever done for the <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> line so far.</p>
<p>Another difference is that each Iconic Heroes set will include six exclusive cards for the <a href = "/pathfinder/adventureCardGame">Pathfinder Adventure Card Game</a>, one for each character in the box. These cards can be used with any PACG campaign.</p>
<p>Let's take a look at some digital sculpts!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20140923-Alahazra.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20140923-Alahazra_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>Up first this week is a familiar face, as we previewed her a couple of weeks ago in another blog. But in case you missed her, here's Alhazra, Human Oracle, from the <a href = "/products/btpy8fo1"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>. The amount of detailing on Alhazra's stole will push the factory to the limit, but I'm confident the final figure will look absolutely amazing!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Damiel.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Damiel_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>Next up is the conniving Damiel, Elf Alchemist. We're excited about the level of detail that will go into Damiel's equipment, complete with clear potion bottles and a fully stocked alchemist kit/backpack. We see Damiel winding up to throw an alchemical bomb. Watch out!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Alain.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Alain_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>My favorite for this week is Alain, Human Cavalier. His banner ripples in the wind at the end of his lance as his cloak billows behind him in dramatic fashion. Check out that banner and his tabard to see some of the coolest and most detailed tampo stamps we've ever done for Pathfinder Battles. Alain comes fully geared up and ready to kick ass, and I couldn't be happier with how he turned out.</p>
<p>We're only a couple of weeks from the November 19 release of the full <a href = "/products/btpy96kb"><i>The Lost Coast</i></a> 45-figure blind-boxed set. Now is a good time to make sure that you've preordered or set up a <a href = "/products/btpy8o6b">Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription</a> to make sure you don't miss a single figure. The Lost Coast is one of my favorite sets in a while, and its loose theme means it's packed with a ton of figures usable in just about any campaign. We've also introduced new subscriber benefits with this release (30% off Pathfinder Battles purchases across the board, 75% off the limited-edition case incentive figure) that you'll definitely want to check out.</p>
<p>See you next week for three more iconics!</p>
<p>Erik Mona<br />
<i>Publisher</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Battles, Miniatures, Iconics, Alahazra, Alain, Damiel —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/damiel">Damiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/miniatures">Miniatures</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderBattles">Pathfinder Battles</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<div class="blurbCenter"><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderbattles"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Logos/PFBattles_360.jpeg"></a></div>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Friday Publisher Preview: Iconic Heroes Set 3 (Part 1)</h1>
<p class="date">Friday, October 24, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articlebody">
<p itemprop="description">Hard to believe it's Friday already, and time for another look at upcoming <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> miniatures!</p>
<p>This week we're taking a peek at three figures from March's <a href = "/products/btpy99z3"><i>Iconic Heroes Set #3</i></a>, a stand-alone release featuring six figures. Unlike many of our <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> releases, Iconic Heroes sets do not come randomly packed. The same six figures are in every box, with a visible window to let you see what you're buying.</p>
<p>WizKids has really outdone themselves with premium sculpting and paint masters for the Iconic Heroes sets. The new digital sculpting process allows us to nitpick all of the little details that make our iconic characters iconic, and WizKids is planning to make the Iconic Heroes as beautiful as any figure we've ever done for the <a href = "/pathfinderbattles">Pathfinder Battles</a> line so far.</p>
<p>Another difference is that each Iconic Heroes set will include six exclusive cards for the <a href = "/pathfinder/adventureCardGame">Pathfinder Adventure Card Game</a>, one for each character in the box. These cards can be used with any PACG campaign.</p>
<p>Let's take a look at some digital sculpts!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20140923-Alahazra.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20140923-Alahazra_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>Up first this week is a familiar face, as we previewed her a couple of weeks ago in another blog. But in case you missed her, here's Alhazra, Human Oracle, from the <a href = "/products/btpy8fo1"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>. The amount of detailing on Alhazra's stole will push the factory to the limit, but I'm confident the final figure will look absolutely amazing!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Damiel.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Damiel_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>Next up is the conniving Damiel, Elf Alchemist. We're excited about the level of detail that will go into Damiel's equipment, complete with clear potion bottles and a fully stocked alchemist kit/backpack. We see Damiel winding up to throw an alchemical bomb. Watch out!</p>
<div class="blurbCenter">
<a href="https://paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Alain.jpg">
<img src="https//paizo.com//static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderBattles/20141024-Alain_180.jpeg"></a></div>
<p>My favorite for this week is Alain, Human Cavalier. His banner ripples in the wind at the end of his lance as his cloak billows behind him in dramatic fashion. Check out that banner and his tabard to see some of the coolest and most detailed tampo stamps we've ever done for Pathfinder Battles. Alain comes fully geared up and ready to kick ass, and I couldn't be happier with how he turned out.</p>
<p>We're only a couple of weeks from the November 19 release of the full <a href = "/products/btpy96kb"><i>The Lost Coast</i></a> 45-figure blind-boxed set. Now is a good time to make sure that you've preordered or set up a <a href = "/products/btpy8o6b">Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription</a> to make sure you don't miss a single figure. The Lost Coast is one of my favorite sets in a while, and its loose theme means it's packed with a ton of figures usable in just about any campaign. We've also introduced new subscriber benefits with this release (30% off Pathfinder Battles purchases across the board, 75% off the limited-edition case incentive figure) that you'll definitely want to check out.</p>
<p>See you next week for three more iconics!</p>
<p>Erik Mona<br />
<i>Publisher</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Battles, Miniatures, Iconics, Alahazra, Alain, Damiel —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/damiel">Damiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/miniatures">Miniatures</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderBattles">Pathfinder Battles</a></p>2014-10-25T01:00:00ZDeep, Dark, and Deadly!https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lcdl?Deep-Dark-and-Deadly2011-07-15T17:00:00Z<div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-Wall.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-Wall_500.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto. <br>Widescreen version <a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-WallWide.jpg" target="_blank">here.</a></td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Deep, Dark, and Deadly!</h1>
<p class="date">July 15, 2011</p>
<p>It's been awhile since we've had a wallpaper, and this one's a doozie. Featuring some stunning artwork by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto, and themed around <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy8lv5"><i>Dungeons of Golarion</i></a>, it showcases Alain venturing into the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, a massive siege-fortress outside Absalom constructed by a combination of the machine-mage Karamoss's mechanical minions, powerful magic, and Numerian technology. </p>
<p>In the forefront is the leader of the kobolds living in the Candlestone Caverns, deep beneath rural Andoran. You definitely want to watch out for him!</p>
<p>Hyrum Savage
<br>Marketing and Organized Play Manager</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Absalom, Alain, Andoran, Damien Mammoliti, Maichol Quinto, Numeria, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Wallpapers —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/absalom">Absalom</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety/factions/andoran">Andoran</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/damienMammoliti">Damien Mammoliti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/maicholQuinto">Maichol Quinto</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/numeria">Numeria</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/wallpapers">Wallpapers</a></p><div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-Wall.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-Wall_500.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto. <br>Widescreen version <a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9234-WallWide.jpg" target="_blank">here.</a></td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Deep, Dark, and Deadly!</h1>
<p class="date">July 15, 2011</p>
<p>It's been awhile since we've had a wallpaper, and this one's a doozie. Featuring some stunning artwork by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto, and themed around <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy8lv5"><i>Dungeons of Golarion</i></a>, it showcases Alain venturing into the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, a massive siege-fortress outside Absalom constructed by a combination of the machine-mage Karamoss's mechanical minions, powerful magic, and Numerian technology. </p>
<p>In the forefront is the leader of the kobolds living in the Candlestone Caverns, deep beneath rural Andoran. You definitely want to watch out for him!</p>
<p>Hyrum Savage
<br>Marketing and Organized Play Manager</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Absalom, Alain, Andoran, Damien Mammoliti, Maichol Quinto, Numeria, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Wallpapers —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/absalom">Absalom</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety/factions/andoran">Andoran</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/damienMammoliti">Damien Mammoliti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/maicholQuinto">Maichol Quinto</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/numeria">Numeria</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/wallpapers">Wallpapers</a></p>2011-07-15T17:00:00ZStop flyting, you two!https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lc0w?Stop-flyting-you-two2011-03-18T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Stop flyting, you two!</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, March 18, 2011</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div align="right" ><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div align="left""><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=left></a></div>
<blockquote>
<p>As you may recall, last month Pathfinder fiction author Kevin Andrew Murphy temporarily lost his mind and wrote us a full heroic crown of sonnets featuring 15 of our iconic characters, then sent it to us as a Valentine's Day present. We <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lbw6">posted it on the blog</a>, and folks seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps <i>too</i> much.</p>
<p>Never one to back away from a challenge, Kevin has now written <i>another</i> poem dealing with the Pathfinder iconics and posted it on the messageboards, this time in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The poem—made up of linked limericks—is of a tradition known as "flyting," a very old practice in which two parties exchange over-the-top and often lewd insults in verse. (Think of it as a medieval rap battle.) In this case, the two competitors are Alain and Lem—apparently, nobody told the cavalier that it's unwise to take on a bard in an insult contest.</p>
<p>While things get a bit bawdier than we can post on the blog, those who don't mind a little crudity in their poetry may want to <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/fiction/pathfinderPoetryTheFlytingOfCaileansHallLimerickEpicForStPatrickSDay2011MarkMoreland">head over to the thread</a> and read it for themselves. Having such a thriving fan fiction community is always fun and flattering, but this... well, this is definitely a new sort of animal!</p>
<p>Kudos to Kevin, and let us all hope they continue to offer internet access in his padded cell....</p>
<p style="clear:both;">James Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Alain, Iconics, community, meet the iconics, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Lem, Pathfinder Tales, cavaliers, bards, halflings —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/bards">Bards</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/community">Community</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/halflings">Halflings</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/authors/kevinAndrewMurphy">Kevin Andrew Murphy</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lem">Lem</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales">Pathfinder Tales</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Stop flyting, you two!</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, March 18, 2011</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div align="right" ><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote>
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<div align="left""><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=left></a></div>
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<p>As you may recall, last month Pathfinder fiction author Kevin Andrew Murphy temporarily lost his mind and wrote us a full heroic crown of sonnets featuring 15 of our iconic characters, then sent it to us as a Valentine's Day present. We <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lbw6">posted it on the blog</a>, and folks seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps <i>too</i> much.</p>
<p>Never one to back away from a challenge, Kevin has now written <i>another</i> poem dealing with the Pathfinder iconics and posted it on the messageboards, this time in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The poem—made up of linked limericks—is of a tradition known as "flyting," a very old practice in which two parties exchange over-the-top and often lewd insults in verse. (Think of it as a medieval rap battle.) In this case, the two competitors are Alain and Lem—apparently, nobody told the cavalier that it's unwise to take on a bard in an insult contest.</p>
<p>While things get a bit bawdier than we can post on the blog, those who don't mind a little crudity in their poetry may want to <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/fiction/pathfinderPoetryTheFlytingOfCaileansHallLimerickEpicForStPatrickSDay2011MarkMoreland">head over to the thread</a> and read it for themselves. Having such a thriving fan fiction community is always fun and flattering, but this... well, this is definitely a new sort of animal!</p>
<p>Kudos to Kevin, and let us all hope they continue to offer internet access in his padded cell....</p>
<p style="clear:both;">James Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
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<!— tags: Alain, Iconics, community, meet the iconics, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Lem, Pathfinder Tales, cavaliers, bards, halflings —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/bards">Bards</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/community">Community</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/halflings">Halflings</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/authors/kevinAndrewMurphy">Kevin Andrew Murphy</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lem">Lem</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales">Pathfinder Tales</a></p>2011-03-18T07:00:00ZIconic Lovehttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lbw6?Iconic-Love2011-02-14T08:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Iconic Love</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, February 14, 2011</p>
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<p>For some of us, Valentine's Day is just another day. We go to work, come home, maybe hang out with our significant others a bit or send the kids off to the sitter for a rare night out. For other people, however, Valentine's Day carries more significance, and flat-out demands acknowledgement. They see it as an excuse to truly cut loose, to go all-out with the romance and treat it like a real holiday.</p>
<p>And then, apparently, there's a third type of person: the type for whom Valentine's Day means a chance to go <i>totally insane</i>. Such appears to be the case with Pathfinder Tales author Kevin Andrew Murphy. How else can you explain the fact that he chose the occasion to, without any prompting or warning, write us an entire <i>heroic crown</i> of sonnets immortalizing the iconic characters' backgrounds in prose. (For those of you who've forgotten your 400-level literature classes, a "heroic crown of sonnets" is a specialized form of poetry in which you have 14 sonnets, each linked by their first and last lines, plus a fifteenth which is made up exclusively of the previous sonnets' linking lines, in order. Needless to say, it's incredibly difficult to do well.)</p>
<p>I'd say more, but I'm still processing the whole thing, so I think it's better to just post the sonnets in their entirety. Happy Valentine's Day!</p>
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<p><h2>The Fifteen Loves of Golarion</h2>
<br>A Heroic Crown of Sonnets for Valentine's Day 2011
<br>by Kevin Andrew Murphy</p>
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<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>1. Alain, the Cavalier, "For Love of Glory"</b>
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
<br>The victor is the braggart of his fame,
<br>The first to know the glory of his name
<br>But not the last. The bards now all regale
<br>The common folk with ballads of my deeds,
<br>The battles won by force of my prowess,
<br>The ransomed kings who've bowed to my duress,
<br>And Donahan, the noblest of steeds.
<br>Sometimes I think he is my only friend.
<br>The men I ride with? Those I can replace.
<br>The maids I bed? Each just a pretty face.
<br>Yet Donahan is mine till journey's end.
<br>If he falls first, then part of me is dead.
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said.</p>
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<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alahazra.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alahazra_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>2. Alahazra, the Oracle, "For Love of Truth"</b>
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said,
<br>For Truth is blind, and I am blind in truth.
<br>My clouded eyes see little but forsooth
<br>My inner eye sees clearly. I have read
<br>The fates of men with but the barest glance.
<br>I know the future as I know the past,
<br>Which seeds will sprout and which of them will last,
<br>For Destiny leaves nothing up to Chance.
<br>It was not Chance that burned me with its fire.
<br>The simoom's breath is but the Wind of Fate
<br>That claimed me with its Flame. I now relate
<br>The Fate of Love, if that is your desire:
<br>All present loves become in days ahead
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead.</p>
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<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder7_Paladin.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder7_Paladin_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>3. Seelah, the Paladin, "For Love of Those Now Gone"</b>
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead,
<br>Reminders of what nothing can restore.
<br>The wingéd helm that dead Acemi wore
<br>Now hides my face and my unworthy head.
<br>I feel its weight: part guilt, part gift, part theft.
<br>Part love. She saw and yet forgave her thief,
<br>The child who stole her helm. Ergo, my grief.
<br>Acemi is still dead and I am left.
<br>I have no words to say in my defense.
<br>I know my deeds. I must have faith in grace
<br>So now I wear her helm and take her place.
<br>What Iomedae learned: Inheritance,
<br>A gift of trust from those you must not fail
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Harsk-DwarfIconic.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Harsk-DwarfIconic_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>4. Harsk, the Ranger, "For Love of Solitude"</b>
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale,
<br>My brother lies–and those who took his life.
<br>I ended theirs with crossbow quarrel and knife.
<br>The giants dead, now I alone prevail.
<br>My kin who dwell below with bended backs
<br>To toil at the forge or in the mines,
<br>Or worshiping our gods at dwarven shrines,
<br>Have my regard, and yet my brother's axe
<br>Is all I bear away from whence I hail.
<br>A hunter's life is love of solitude.
<br>A Spartan camp, a pot of tea fresh-brewed
<br>Will keep him more alert than mugs of ale.
<br>My quarry's tracks are runes left for the sage.
<br>I know the letters written on this page.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder5-Wizard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder5-Wizard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>5. Ezren, the Wizard, "For Love of Scholarship"</b>
<br>I know the letters written on this page,
<br>My father charged with some impiety
<br>Against our god, some awful blasphemy
<br>Too dire for words, and nothing can assuage
<br>The gossips' tongues, for rumor needs no proof.
<br>And Abadar? The merchant god cares not
<br>Who prospers or who fails nor what is bought.
<br>The Golden One stays in his Vault, aloof.
<br>I spent my youth to clear my father's name,
<br>In quest to save the business that he built,
<br>But in the end I only proved his guilt.
<br>Now scholarship's the only love I claim.
<br>Yet law for arcane law can be exchanged.
<br>Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9009-Monk.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9009-Monk_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>6. Sajan, the Monk, "For Love of a Sister"</b>
<br>"Old orders sometimes must be rearranged."
<br>So said the monks when taking twin from twin.
<br>My sister Sajni's gone. I should begin
<br>Describing how we came to be estranged.
<br>We were conceived. Our lives were intertwined
<br>Like threads of web and woof strung on a loom,
<br>So were our limbs locked in our mother's womb.
<br>Though born as two, we're more when we're combined.
<br>We trained with temple swords and so time passed
<br>Till at twelve years we each were sent away
<br>And battle woes lost her to Jalmeray.
<br>I left, deserting all I knew, my caste,
<br>To seek my sister. Far too far I've ranged.
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed.</p>
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<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Damiel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Damiel_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>7. Damiel, the Alchemist, "For Love of Change"</b>
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed
<br>And yet that is the goal of alchemy:
<br>Quicksilver shifting, mutability.
<br>The philosophic art just seems deranged
<br>To those too dull to grasp aetheric heights
<br>Or dream of fixing one's perfected form,
<br>Not living with the dull and banal norm.
<br>You reach out when the stars are in your sights,
<br>Yet what you grasp may be the fulgent dark
<br>For nightmares ride as well between the stars.
<br>Like Shelyn's smile can hide Zon-Kuthon's scars,
<br>The bright quicksilver sea conceals a shark,
<br>And from the left the villain steps onstage
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage.</p></blockquote></blockquote><div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9010-Barbarian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9010-Barbarian_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>8. Amiri, the Barbarian, "For Love of Oneself"</b>
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
<br>The Six Bears tribesmen donned the skins of bears
<br>They'd taken from our totems in their lairs.
<br>Each boy was sent to do it at an age.
<br>We girls were told to sit inside and spin,
<br>Awaiting a barbarian's return.
<br>This never was a name that women earn.
<br>I brought a she-bear's hide back to my kin.
<br>The time came that a warband of my clan
<br>All dared me to bring back a giant's blade.
<br>When I returned, they mocked me as a maid.
<br>The blood rage came. I slew them to a man.
<br>That bastard blade I bear with me. Beware
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote><div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1117-IconicMagusSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1117-IconicMagusSketch_180.jpeg" align="right" /></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>9. Seltyiel, the Magus, "For Lack of Love"</b>
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
<br>One needn't know the touch of love or hope–
<br>At very least, not of an equal scope–
<br>And pain is seldom more than one can bear,
<br>And when it is? Well, there is always death.
<br>My mother died the moment I was born.
<br>My sister's cries, those spared my life that morn.
<br>I often think she should have saved her breath.
<br>Sioria, oh how could you divine
<br>The babe you saved would still be here alive
<br>Or on a feast of wormwood one could thrive.
<br>I'll kill your father once I first kill mine.
<br>Foul Lairsaph was a fool to teach his spawn
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn....</p>
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<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder1_Fighter.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder1_Fighter_200.jpg" border=0 alt="Valeros!" align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>10. Valeros, the Fighter, "For Love of Adventure"</b>
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn
<br>Is how a sellsword passes most his days.
<br>That much at least is truthful in bards' lays.
<br>The rest? Well yes, there is a need for brawn–
<br>The same goes for an ox that pulls a plow–
<br>But when your sword-arm makes some villain yield,
<br>That's better than some plowshare in a field.
<br>At least it's more exciting anyhow.
<br>One day I may retire to a farm,
<br>Grow beans and beets or brew a bit of beer,
<br>But now I love my freedom and I hear
<br>A distant village sounding the alarm.
<br>If there's adventure calling, I'll be gone
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn.</p></blockquote>
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<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder4_Cleric02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder4_Cleric02_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>11. Kyra, the Cleric, "For Love of Hope"</b>
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
<br>The Crown of Our Beloved Sarenrae
<br>Who cast the Beast below to Asmodae,
<br>Is how a priestess prays for I'm Her pawn.
<br>Whate'er the Dawnflower wishes I will do.
<br>When bandits burned my village and Her shrine,
<br>That's when I saw the face of the divine.
<br>Through streaming tears the sun shone and I knew
<br>The Everlight had filled me with Her power
<br>To heal the sick and ailing with Her light
<br>And cleanse those past redemption of their blight
<br>By scimitar, like Dawn's Eternal Flower.
<br>One day I'll join my goddess in the air
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care.</p>
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<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder3_Rogue.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder3_Rogue_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right alt="WAR hottie!"></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>12. Merisiel, the Rogue, "For Love of Freedom"</b>
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care
<br>Is what I always felt the world should be.
<br>See something that you like? Then take it. Free!
<br>If you don't like your lot, then folk should share.
<br>They call it thievery, who gives a fig?
<br>My knives can teach their tongues to be polite,
<br>And while some think I could be more contrite
<br>It's not like they're not working the same gig.
<br>This knife I got from some Azlanti queen.
<br>This one? From Galt. Belonged to some coquette
<br>And these? From Geb. But most I just forget.
<br>I only care if I can keep them keen.
<br>You make life up like some bard's folderol.
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul.</p>
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<div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder2_Sorceress03.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder2_Sorceress03_200.jpg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
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<p><b>13. Seoni, the Sorcerer, "For Love of Magic"</b>
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
<br>And write the runes appearing in my dreams.
<br>The ones I walk with talk about my "schemes,"
<br>If schemes they are, or just an unknown goal.
<br>I'd like to say I like just who I am,
<br>Yet who can say just who they are? Not I.
<br>Or what I am, or how I am, or why.
<br>That statement just might be my epigram.
<br>I only know when spells wish to be wrought,
<br>The way they say that love pulls at the heart.
<br>Just so I feel the call of arcane art.
<br>It springs to mind like any other thought.
<br>I'd work alone, but I lack that control
<br>For love and friendship are what make one whole.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9011-Druid.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9011-Druid_180.jpeg" align=right border=0></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>14. Lini, the Druid, "For Love of a True Companion"</b>
<br>"For love and friendship are what make one whole."
<br>So spake the norn who whispered in the wood.
<br>She vanished but her fey advice is good
<br>And with it I can talk to mouse or mole.
<br>The purest love is love you get from beasts.
<br>My friend Droogami taught me this is true.
<br>It's something though that I already knew.
<br>I never bought the nonsense from the priests
<br>About the love of gods as the most pure.
<br>Who can believe a love you never see?
<br>My love is for the leopard next to me
<br>And she for me and that's what shall endure.
<br>She's great and strong where I am small and frail.
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>15. Lem, the Bard, "For Love of Happy Endings"</b>
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said,
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.
<br>I know the letters written on this page.
<br>Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn,
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care.
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
<br>For love and friendship are what make one whole.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="clear:both;">James Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: community, Iconics, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Pathfinder Tales, Web Fiction, meet the iconics, wayne reynolds, alain, cavaliers, alahazra, oracles, seelah, paladins, harsk, rangers, dwarves, ezren, wizards, sajan, monks, damiel, elves, alchemists, amiri, barbarians, seltyiel, magi, valeros, fighters, kyra, clerics, sarenrae, merisiel, rogues, seoni, sorcerers, lini, druids, gnomes, animals, lem, halflings, bards —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/alchemists">Alchemists</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/amiri">Amiri</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/animals">Animals</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/barbarians">Barbarians</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/bards">Bards</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/clerics">Clerics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/community">Community</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/damiel">Damiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/druids">Druids</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/dwarves">Dwarves</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/elves">Elves</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/ezren">Ezren</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/fighters">Fighters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/gnomes">Gnomes</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/halflings">Halflings</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/harsk">Harsk</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/authors/kevinAndrewMurphy">Kevin Andrew Murphy</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/kyra">Kyra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lem">Lem</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lini">Lini</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/magi">Magi</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/merisiel">Merisiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/monks">Monks</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/paladins">Paladins</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales">Pathfinder Tales</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/rangers">Rangers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/rogues">Rogues</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/sajan">Sajan</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/deities/sarenrae">Sarenrae</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seelah">Seelah</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seltyiel">Seltyiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seoni">Seoni</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/sorcerers">Sorcerers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/valeros">Valeros</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales/webFiction">Web Fiction</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/wizards">Wizards</a></p><blockquote>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Iconic Love</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, February 14, 2011</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<p>For some of us, Valentine's Day is just another day. We go to work, come home, maybe hang out with our significant others a bit or send the kids off to the sitter for a rare night out. For other people, however, Valentine's Day carries more significance, and flat-out demands acknowledgement. They see it as an excuse to truly cut loose, to go all-out with the romance and treat it like a real holiday.</p>
<p>And then, apparently, there's a third type of person: the type for whom Valentine's Day means a chance to go <i>totally insane</i>. Such appears to be the case with Pathfinder Tales author Kevin Andrew Murphy. How else can you explain the fact that he chose the occasion to, without any prompting or warning, write us an entire <i>heroic crown</i> of sonnets immortalizing the iconic characters' backgrounds in prose. (For those of you who've forgotten your 400-level literature classes, a "heroic crown of sonnets" is a specialized form of poetry in which you have 14 sonnets, each linked by their first and last lines, plus a fifteenth which is made up exclusively of the previous sonnets' linking lines, in order. Needless to say, it's incredibly difficult to do well.)</p>
<p>I'd say more, but I'm still processing the whole thing, so I think it's better to just post the sonnets in their entirety. Happy Valentine's Day!</p>
<blockquote>
<p><h2>The Fifteen Loves of Golarion</h2>
<br>A Heroic Crown of Sonnets for Valentine's Day 2011
<br>by Kevin Andrew Murphy</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>1. Alain, the Cavalier, "For Love of Glory"</b>
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
<br>The victor is the braggart of his fame,
<br>The first to know the glory of his name
<br>But not the last. The bards now all regale
<br>The common folk with ballads of my deeds,
<br>The battles won by force of my prowess,
<br>The ransomed kings who've bowed to my duress,
<br>And Donahan, the noblest of steeds.
<br>Sometimes I think he is my only friend.
<br>The men I ride with? Those I can replace.
<br>The maids I bed? Each just a pretty face.
<br>Yet Donahan is mine till journey's end.
<br>If he falls first, then part of me is dead.
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alahazra.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alahazra_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>2. Alahazra, the Oracle, "For Love of Truth"</b>
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said,
<br>For Truth is blind, and I am blind in truth.
<br>My clouded eyes see little but forsooth
<br>My inner eye sees clearly. I have read
<br>The fates of men with but the barest glance.
<br>I know the future as I know the past,
<br>Which seeds will sprout and which of them will last,
<br>For Destiny leaves nothing up to Chance.
<br>It was not Chance that burned me with its fire.
<br>The simoom's breath is but the Wind of Fate
<br>That claimed me with its Flame. I now relate
<br>The Fate of Love, if that is your desire:
<br>All present loves become in days ahead
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder7_Paladin.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder7_Paladin_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>3. Seelah, the Paladin, "For Love of Those Now Gone"</b>
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead,
<br>Reminders of what nothing can restore.
<br>The wingéd helm that dead Acemi wore
<br>Now hides my face and my unworthy head.
<br>I feel its weight: part guilt, part gift, part theft.
<br>Part love. She saw and yet forgave her thief,
<br>The child who stole her helm. Ergo, my grief.
<br>Acemi is still dead and I am left.
<br>I have no words to say in my defense.
<br>I know my deeds. I must have faith in grace
<br>So now I wear her helm and take her place.
<br>What Iomedae learned: Inheritance,
<br>A gift of trust from those you must not fail
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Harsk-DwarfIconic.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Harsk-DwarfIconic_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>4. Harsk, the Ranger, "For Love of Solitude"</b>
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale,
<br>My brother lies–and those who took his life.
<br>I ended theirs with crossbow quarrel and knife.
<br>The giants dead, now I alone prevail.
<br>My kin who dwell below with bended backs
<br>To toil at the forge or in the mines,
<br>Or worshiping our gods at dwarven shrines,
<br>Have my regard, and yet my brother's axe
<br>Is all I bear away from whence I hail.
<br>A hunter's life is love of solitude.
<br>A Spartan camp, a pot of tea fresh-brewed
<br>Will keep him more alert than mugs of ale.
<br>My quarry's tracks are runes left for the sage.
<br>I know the letters written on this page.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder5-Wizard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder5-Wizard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>5. Ezren, the Wizard, "For Love of Scholarship"</b>
<br>I know the letters written on this page,
<br>My father charged with some impiety
<br>Against our god, some awful blasphemy
<br>Too dire for words, and nothing can assuage
<br>The gossips' tongues, for rumor needs no proof.
<br>And Abadar? The merchant god cares not
<br>Who prospers or who fails nor what is bought.
<br>The Golden One stays in his Vault, aloof.
<br>I spent my youth to clear my father's name,
<br>In quest to save the business that he built,
<br>But in the end I only proved his guilt.
<br>Now scholarship's the only love I claim.
<br>Yet law for arcane law can be exchanged.
<br>Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9009-Monk.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9009-Monk_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>6. Sajan, the Monk, "For Love of a Sister"</b>
<br>"Old orders sometimes must be rearranged."
<br>So said the monks when taking twin from twin.
<br>My sister Sajni's gone. I should begin
<br>Describing how we came to be estranged.
<br>We were conceived. Our lives were intertwined
<br>Like threads of web and woof strung on a loom,
<br>So were our limbs locked in our mother's womb.
<br>Though born as two, we're more when we're combined.
<br>We trained with temple swords and so time passed
<br>Till at twelve years we each were sent away
<br>And battle woes lost her to Jalmeray.
<br>I left, deserting all I knew, my caste,
<br>To seek my sister. Far too far I've ranged.
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Damiel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Damiel_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>7. Damiel, the Alchemist, "For Love of Change"</b>
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed
<br>And yet that is the goal of alchemy:
<br>Quicksilver shifting, mutability.
<br>The philosophic art just seems deranged
<br>To those too dull to grasp aetheric heights
<br>Or dream of fixing one's perfected form,
<br>Not living with the dull and banal norm.
<br>You reach out when the stars are in your sights,
<br>Yet what you grasp may be the fulgent dark
<br>For nightmares ride as well between the stars.
<br>Like Shelyn's smile can hide Zon-Kuthon's scars,
<br>The bright quicksilver sea conceals a shark,
<br>And from the left the villain steps onstage
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage.</p></blockquote></blockquote><div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9010-Barbarian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9010-Barbarian_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>8. Amiri, the Barbarian, "For Love of Oneself"</b>
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
<br>The Six Bears tribesmen donned the skins of bears
<br>They'd taken from our totems in their lairs.
<br>Each boy was sent to do it at an age.
<br>We girls were told to sit inside and spin,
<br>Awaiting a barbarian's return.
<br>This never was a name that women earn.
<br>I brought a she-bear's hide back to my kin.
<br>The time came that a warband of my clan
<br>All dared me to bring back a giant's blade.
<br>When I returned, they mocked me as a maid.
<br>The blood rage came. I slew them to a man.
<br>That bastard blade I bear with me. Beware
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote><div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1117-IconicMagusSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1117-IconicMagusSketch_180.jpeg" align="right" /></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>9. Seltyiel, the Magus, "For Lack of Love"</b>
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
<br>One needn't know the touch of love or hope–
<br>At very least, not of an equal scope–
<br>And pain is seldom more than one can bear,
<br>And when it is? Well, there is always death.
<br>My mother died the moment I was born.
<br>My sister's cries, those spared my life that morn.
<br>I often think she should have saved her breath.
<br>Sioria, oh how could you divine
<br>The babe you saved would still be here alive
<br>Or on a feast of wormwood one could thrive.
<br>I'll kill your father once I first kill mine.
<br>Foul Lairsaph was a fool to teach his spawn
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn....</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder1_Fighter.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder1_Fighter_200.jpg" border=0 alt="Valeros!" align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>10. Valeros, the Fighter, "For Love of Adventure"</b>
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn
<br>Is how a sellsword passes most his days.
<br>That much at least is truthful in bards' lays.
<br>The rest? Well yes, there is a need for brawn–
<br>The same goes for an ox that pulls a plow–
<br>But when your sword-arm makes some villain yield,
<br>That's better than some plowshare in a field.
<br>At least it's more exciting anyhow.
<br>One day I may retire to a farm,
<br>Grow beans and beets or brew a bit of beer,
<br>But now I love my freedom and I hear
<br>A distant village sounding the alarm.
<br>If there's adventure calling, I'll be gone
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn.</p></blockquote>
</blockquote><div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder4_Cleric02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder4_Cleric02_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>11. Kyra, the Cleric, "For Love of Hope"</b>
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
<br>The Crown of Our Beloved Sarenrae
<br>Who cast the Beast below to Asmodae,
<br>Is how a priestess prays for I'm Her pawn.
<br>Whate'er the Dawnflower wishes I will do.
<br>When bandits burned my village and Her shrine,
<br>That's when I saw the face of the divine.
<br>Through streaming tears the sun shone and I knew
<br>The Everlight had filled me with Her power
<br>To heal the sick and ailing with Her light
<br>And cleanse those past redemption of their blight
<br>By scimitar, like Dawn's Eternal Flower.
<br>One day I'll join my goddess in the air
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder3_Rogue.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder3_Rogue_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right alt="WAR hottie!"></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>12. Merisiel, the Rogue, "For Love of Freedom"</b>
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care
<br>Is what I always felt the world should be.
<br>See something that you like? Then take it. Free!
<br>If you don't like your lot, then folk should share.
<br>They call it thievery, who gives a fig?
<br>My knives can teach their tongues to be polite,
<br>And while some think I could be more contrite
<br>It's not like they're not working the same gig.
<br>This knife I got from some Azlanti queen.
<br>This one? From Galt. Belonged to some coquette
<br>And these? From Geb. But most I just forget.
<br>I only care if I can keep them keen.
<br>You make life up like some bard's folderol.
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul.</p>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;">
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder2_Sorceress03.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder2_Sorceress03_200.jpg" border=0 align=right></a></div>
<blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>13. Seoni, the Sorcerer, "For Love of Magic"</b>
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
<br>And write the runes appearing in my dreams.
<br>The ones I walk with talk about my "schemes,"
<br>If schemes they are, or just an unknown goal.
<br>I'd like to say I like just who I am,
<br>Yet who can say just who they are? Not I.
<br>Or what I am, or how I am, or why.
<br>That statement just might be my epigram.
<br>I only know when spells wish to be wrought,
<br>The way they say that love pulls at the heart.
<br>Just so I feel the call of arcane art.
<br>It springs to mind like any other thought.
<br>I'd work alone, but I lack that control
<br>For love and friendship are what make one whole.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9011-Druid.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9011-Druid_180.jpeg" align=right border=0></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>14. Lini, the Druid, "For Love of a True Companion"</b>
<br>"For love and friendship are what make one whole."
<br>So spake the norn who whispered in the wood.
<br>She vanished but her fey advice is good
<br>And with it I can talk to mouse or mole.
<br>The purest love is love you get from beasts.
<br>My friend Droogami taught me this is true.
<br>It's something though that I already knew.
<br>I never bought the nonsense from the priests
<br>About the love of gods as the most pure.
<br>Who can believe a love you never see?
<br>My love is for the leopard next to me
<br>And she for me and that's what shall endure.
<br>She's great and strong where I am small and frail.
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.</p></blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="right" style="clear:both;"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/CrimsonThrone/PZO9007-Bard_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></div><blockquote><blockquote>
<p><b>15. Lem, the Bard, "For Love of Happy Endings"</b>
<br>I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
<br>I've said the words that needed to be said,
<br>Mementos kept in memory of the dead
<br>Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.
<br>I know the letters written on this page.
<br>Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.
<br>I've changed some facts which never should be changed
<br>To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
<br>To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
<br>To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn,
<br>To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
<br>To live a life of joy and forswear care.
<br>I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
<br>For love and friendship are what make one whole.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="clear:both;">James Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: community, Iconics, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Pathfinder Tales, Web Fiction, meet the iconics, wayne reynolds, alain, cavaliers, alahazra, oracles, seelah, paladins, harsk, rangers, dwarves, ezren, wizards, sajan, monks, damiel, elves, alchemists, amiri, barbarians, seltyiel, magi, valeros, fighters, kyra, clerics, sarenrae, merisiel, rogues, seoni, sorcerers, lini, druids, gnomes, animals, lem, halflings, bards —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/alchemists">Alchemists</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/amiri">Amiri</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/animals">Animals</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/barbarians">Barbarians</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/bards">Bards</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/clerics">Clerics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/community">Community</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/damiel">Damiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/druids">Druids</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/dwarves">Dwarves</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/elves">Elves</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/ezren">Ezren</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/fighters">Fighters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/gnomes">Gnomes</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/races/halflings">Halflings</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/harsk">Harsk</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/authors/kevinAndrewMurphy">Kevin Andrew Murphy</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/kyra">Kyra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lem">Lem</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/lini">Lini</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/magi">Magi</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/merisiel">Merisiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/monks">Monks</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/paladins">Paladins</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales">Pathfinder Tales</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/rangers">Rangers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/rogues">Rogues</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/sajan">Sajan</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/deities/sarenrae">Sarenrae</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seelah">Seelah</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seltyiel">Seltyiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seoni">Seoni</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/sorcerers">Sorcerers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/valeros">Valeros</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderTales/webFiction">Web Fiction</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/wizards">Wizards</a></p>2011-02-14T08:00:00ZGet Losthttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lbjm?Get-Lost2010-10-22T07:00:00Z<div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Kho.jpg" target="blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Kho_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny" >Illustration by Branko Bistrovic</td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Get Lost</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, October 22, 2010</p>
<div align="right"><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Storasta.jpg" target="blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Storasta_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny" >Illustration by Damien Mammoliti</td></tr></table></div>
<p>We're nearing the homestretch in development of <i><a href=" /pathfinder/campaignSetting/v5748btpy8dda">Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Cities of Golarion</a></i> and that means it's time to start leaking some of the brand-new art you can expect to find within the tome's dusty pages. Check out these relics we've unearthed while plumbing the ruins of Kho in the Mwangi Expanse and Storasta in the demon-choked Worldwound.</p>
<p style="clear:both;">Mark Moreland
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Branko Bistrovic, wallpapers, demons, iconics, magi, cavaliers, alain, selytiel, monsters, animals, The Worldwound, Mwangi Expanse, Damien Mammoliti, Lost Cities of Golarion, Pathfinder Campaign Setting—>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/animals">Animals</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/brankoBistrovic">Branko Bistrovic</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/damienMammoliti">Damien Mammoliti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters/demons">Demons</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/magi">Magi</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters">Monsters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/mwangiExpanse">Mwangi Expanse</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seltyiel">Seltyiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/wallpapers">Wallpapers</a></p><div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Kho.jpg" target="blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Kho_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny" >Illustration by Branko Bistrovic</td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Get Lost</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, October 22, 2010</p>
<div align="right"><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Storasta.jpg" target="blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9229-Storasta_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny" >Illustration by Damien Mammoliti</td></tr></table></div>
<p>We're nearing the homestretch in development of <i><a href=" /pathfinder/campaignSetting/v5748btpy8dda">Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Cities of Golarion</a></i> and that means it's time to start leaking some of the brand-new art you can expect to find within the tome's dusty pages. Check out these relics we've unearthed while plumbing the ruins of Kho in the Mwangi Expanse and Storasta in the demon-choked Worldwound.</p>
<p style="clear:both;">Mark Moreland
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Branko Bistrovic, wallpapers, demons, iconics, magi, cavaliers, alain, selytiel, monsters, animals, The Worldwound, Mwangi Expanse, Damien Mammoliti, Lost Cities of Golarion, Pathfinder Campaign Setting—>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/animals">Animals</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/brankoBistrovic">Branko Bistrovic</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/damienMammoliti">Damien Mammoliti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters/demons">Demons</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/magi">Magi</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters">Monsters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/mwangiExpanse">Mwangi Expanse</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/seltyiel">Seltyiel</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/wallpapers">Wallpapers</a></p>2010-10-22T07:00:00ZMeet the Iconics: Alainhttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lb9f?Meet-the-Iconics-Alain2010-07-23T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Meet the Iconics: Alain</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, July 23, 2010</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<p>Deference and respect are the privileges of noble birth. Few know this better than the man who calls himself Alain, yet equally well does he know that such things are not always freely given where they are due. And in those cases, it's the burden of the nobly born to correct the error, and to take by force that which is their right.</p>
<p>Alain was born in Taldor with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, son of a wealthy but relatively minor noble house. As a boy, he showed remarkable affinity for both physical activities—especially the martial pursuits—and the ins and outs of courtly etiquette and intrigue. Though both traits made him the quite popular with the peerage—especially the young ladies of the court, necessitating more than one woman being shuffled off to a nunnery on a nine-month "vacation"—Alain's wealth and natural abilities also gave him an excessively healthy sense of self-importance, sometimes getting him into trouble that would have crippled a man of lower station. By the time Alain's father realized that the cane-scarred whipping boy might not be the most effective means of corralling his youngest son, Alain was already near grown, and thoroughly convinced of his own competence in all things.</p>
<p>Though Alain regularly dismissed such noble studies as literature and linguistics—"If the elves want to speak, let them learn a man's language"—he could never get enough of bards' tales of battle and bloodshed, often keeping the minstrels at his favorite taverns playing late into the night. Excel as he might at the joust or the ritualized combat of the nobility, he longed for the primal exultation of war, where his mastery over his fellow men would not just be avowed or lauded, but proved undeniably by the blood on his sword, as clear as the red-dripping talons of an eagle. He had the nobility of society. Now he wanted the nobility of nature.</p>
</blockquote>
<div align="right">
<table align="right" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></td></tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately for Alain, any serious clash of arms lay far beyond the borders of his father's expansive holdings, and neither his father nor his two elder brothers showed the slightest desire to sustain a blood feud with another house. All three men attempted to turn Alain to knighthood, a socially safe and proper outlet for his bloodlust, yet the idea of serving as a squire for any length of time—of letting someone <i>else</i> give <i>him</i> orders!—was unthinkable to young Alain. At last, when he could stand it no longer, the young scion gathered what funds and personal affects he could carry and declared himself a sellsword, setting off for the "crimson poetry of the fray."</p>
<p>True warfare has little in common with heroic ballads, and few who see its raw and naked face come back unchanged. Certainly this was true for Alain. Yet where some men learn wisdom in the wrack, at last understanding the price of a life and the senseless ease with which it's taken, Alain learned something else. In the clash of spears and the screams of horses, the man who had been a trumped-up merchant's son became an elemental force of destruction, cutting down swaths of men who were never his enemies, but merely his opponents. Though he became rich in his own right off of the heavy purses his patrons heaped upon him, Alain cared only for what the rewards represented: that here was a man whose worth was proven, in fire and iron.</p>
<p>Today, Alain wanders as he wills, taking commissions when they suit his fancy and embarking on his own expeditions when they don't. Thanks to his prowess on the battlefield, warriors are often drawn to fight at his side, and to Alain's secret surprise he's developed quite a knack for leading them, issuing gruff and decisive commands. These companions are almost always cohorts rather than friends—though Alain does a fine job of managing his troops and urging them on to ever-greater feats, long experience has taught him that soldiers are a short-lived lot, and hence he sheds few tears when it's time to pay the butcher's bill.</p>
<p>As much as his life revolves around the battlefield, Alain still retains the social graces that made him so popular (for better or worse) in the courts of his upbringing. If greeting another warrior or potential client, he may introduce himself as simply Alain, comporting himself with a calculated aloofness designed to increase others' opinions of his abilities. Where an attractive lady is concerned, however, his rough edges immediately smooth, and many are the highborn women who've fallen prey to the "rogue knight" calling himself Alain Germande, Third Son of House Germande, Bearer of the Shielding Spear—and any other honorifics that strike his fancy.</p>
<p>In truth, whether leading soldiers in a suicidal charge or booting serving girls out of his bed in the morning, Alain cares little about the people around him. More than money, love, or lust, Alain cares about his reputation, and strives with every encounter to increase his own legend, whether as scoundrel or saint. Perhaps the only creature he truly values is his horse, Donahan. Exceedingly well trained, and having accompanied Alain for longer than any of his human compatriots, Donahan represents everything Alain looks for in a partner: absolute loyalty, absolute trust—and absolute obedience.</p>
<p>James L. Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!—tags: Alain, Cavaliers, iconics, wayne reynolds, taldor, Meet the Iconics —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety/factions/taldor">Taldor</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a></p><blockquote>
<h1 itemprop="headline">Meet the Iconics: Alain</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, July 23, 2010</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<p>Deference and respect are the privileges of noble birth. Few know this better than the man who calls himself Alain, yet equally well does he know that such things are not always freely given where they are due. And in those cases, it's the burden of the nobly born to correct the error, and to take by force that which is their right.</p>
<p>Alain was born in Taldor with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, son of a wealthy but relatively minor noble house. As a boy, he showed remarkable affinity for both physical activities—especially the martial pursuits—and the ins and outs of courtly etiquette and intrigue. Though both traits made him the quite popular with the peerage—especially the young ladies of the court, necessitating more than one woman being shuffled off to a nunnery on a nine-month "vacation"—Alain's wealth and natural abilities also gave him an excessively healthy sense of self-importance, sometimes getting him into trouble that would have crippled a man of lower station. By the time Alain's father realized that the cane-scarred whipping boy might not be the most effective means of corralling his youngest son, Alain was already near grown, and thoroughly convinced of his own competence in all things.</p>
<p>Though Alain regularly dismissed such noble studies as literature and linguistics—"If the elves want to speak, let them learn a man's language"—he could never get enough of bards' tales of battle and bloodshed, often keeping the minstrels at his favorite taverns playing late into the night. Excel as he might at the joust or the ritualized combat of the nobility, he longed for the primal exultation of war, where his mastery over his fellow men would not just be avowed or lauded, but proved undeniably by the blood on his sword, as clear as the red-dripping talons of an eagle. He had the nobility of society. Now he wanted the nobility of nature.</p>
</blockquote>
<div align="right">
<table align="right" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-Alain_180.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a></td></tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately for Alain, any serious clash of arms lay far beyond the borders of his father's expansive holdings, and neither his father nor his two elder brothers showed the slightest desire to sustain a blood feud with another house. All three men attempted to turn Alain to knighthood, a socially safe and proper outlet for his bloodlust, yet the idea of serving as a squire for any length of time—of letting someone <i>else</i> give <i>him</i> orders!—was unthinkable to young Alain. At last, when he could stand it no longer, the young scion gathered what funds and personal affects he could carry and declared himself a sellsword, setting off for the "crimson poetry of the fray."</p>
<p>True warfare has little in common with heroic ballads, and few who see its raw and naked face come back unchanged. Certainly this was true for Alain. Yet where some men learn wisdom in the wrack, at last understanding the price of a life and the senseless ease with which it's taken, Alain learned something else. In the clash of spears and the screams of horses, the man who had been a trumped-up merchant's son became an elemental force of destruction, cutting down swaths of men who were never his enemies, but merely his opponents. Though he became rich in his own right off of the heavy purses his patrons heaped upon him, Alain cared only for what the rewards represented: that here was a man whose worth was proven, in fire and iron.</p>
<p>Today, Alain wanders as he wills, taking commissions when they suit his fancy and embarking on his own expeditions when they don't. Thanks to his prowess on the battlefield, warriors are often drawn to fight at his side, and to Alain's secret surprise he's developed quite a knack for leading them, issuing gruff and decisive commands. These companions are almost always cohorts rather than friends—though Alain does a fine job of managing his troops and urging them on to ever-greater feats, long experience has taught him that soldiers are a short-lived lot, and hence he sheds few tears when it's time to pay the butcher's bill.</p>
<p>As much as his life revolves around the battlefield, Alain still retains the social graces that made him so popular (for better or worse) in the courts of his upbringing. If greeting another warrior or potential client, he may introduce himself as simply Alain, comporting himself with a calculated aloofness designed to increase others' opinions of his abilities. Where an attractive lady is concerned, however, his rough edges immediately smooth, and many are the highborn women who've fallen prey to the "rogue knight" calling himself Alain Germande, Third Son of House Germande, Bearer of the Shielding Spear—and any other honorifics that strike his fancy.</p>
<p>In truth, whether leading soldiers in a suicidal charge or booting serving girls out of his bed in the morning, Alain cares little about the people around him. More than money, love, or lust, Alain cares about his reputation, and strives with every encounter to increase his own legend, whether as scoundrel or saint. Perhaps the only creature he truly values is his horse, Donahan. Exceedingly well trained, and having accompanied Alain for longer than any of his human compatriots, Donahan represents everything Alain looks for in a partner: absolute loyalty, absolute trust—and absolute obedience.</p>
<p>James L. Sutter
<br>Fiction Editor</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!—tags: Alain, Cavaliers, iconics, wayne reynolds, taldor, Meet the Iconics —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/meetTheIconics">Meet the Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety/factions/taldor">Taldor</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a></p>2010-07-23T07:00:00ZStorm the Lost Tower!https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lb2b?Storm-the-Lost-Tower2010-06-16T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>Storm the Lost Tower!</h1>
<p class=date>Wednesday, June 16, 2010</p>
</blockquote>
<table align=right border=0>
<tr>
<td width=9 nowrap></td>
<td valign=top align=center><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/catalog/PZO/PZO9500-4_180.jpeg" border=0 alt="Master of the Fallen Fortress" hspace="9"></a><br>
<span class=tiny>Illustration by Tyler Walpole</span></td></tr></table>
<blockquote>
<p>Have you ever wondered just what is inside those siege castles outside Absalom? Have you ever smelled the heady stench of troglodytes in the morning? Have you always wanted to join the Pathfinder Society, but could never figure out just how to impress them? Or do you want to know just a little more about the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>?</p>
<p>Well, you're in luck! Free RPG Day is almost upon us! On Saturday, many of you can go to your Friendly Local Game Store and pick up all sorts of free RPG products, including Paizo's own offering, <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><i>Master of the Fallen Fortress</i></a>, by yours truly. Check the official <a href="http://freerpgday.com/stores.htm" target="_blank">Free RPG Day Retailer Locator</a> to see if stores in your area are participating.</p>
<p>(PaizoCon attendees will each get a free copy of the module at the show, and, starting Monday morning, everyone will be able to download a FREE PDF or buy a $5 print edition right here at paizo.com, so no need to despair if your store isn't on the Free RPG Day list!)</p>
<p>So what's all the hoopla about? <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><i>Master of the Fallen Fortress</i></a> takes a group of 1st-level PCs into one of the ruined siege castles that litter the Cairnlands outside Absalom. While it's a standalone Pathfinder Module, the adventure can also be used as an introduction to <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety">Pathfinder Society Organized Play</a>, Paizo's constantly evolving, worldwide mega-campaign. And even better, it gives a preview of the six new iconic characters from the upcoming <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>, statted up as pregenerated characters to get you right into the action!</p>
<p>Adventure is coming your way this weekend, just around the corner and down the road. Defeat the Master of the Fallen Fortress, rescue a captive Pathfinder, and on the way, say hi to Alahazra, Alain, Balazar, Damiel, Feiya, and Imrijka for me!<p> <p>(To allow GMs to prepare to run Master of the Fallen Fortress on Free RPG day, we're releasing the Chronicles Sheet and pregenerated character sheets as a free download <a href="https://paizo.com/download/pathfinder/PZO9500-4-GMTools.zip">here</a> (1.2 MB zip/PDF).)</p><br clear="all" />
<p>Rob McCreary
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Absalom, Tyler Walpole, Cavaliers, Oracles, iconics, Alahazra, Alain, Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Society, Free Stuff, Monsters, Troglodytes —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/absalom">Absalom</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/freeRPGDay">Free RPG Day</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/freeStuff">Free Stuff</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters">Monsters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety">Pathfinder Society</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters/troglodytes">Troglodytes</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/tylerWalpole">Tyler Walpole</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>Storm the Lost Tower!</h1>
<p class=date>Wednesday, June 16, 2010</p>
</blockquote>
<table align=right border=0>
<tr>
<td width=9 nowrap></td>
<td valign=top align=center><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/catalog/PZO/PZO9500-4_180.jpeg" border=0 alt="Master of the Fallen Fortress" hspace="9"></a><br>
<span class=tiny>Illustration by Tyler Walpole</span></td></tr></table>
<blockquote>
<p>Have you ever wondered just what is inside those siege castles outside Absalom? Have you ever smelled the heady stench of troglodytes in the morning? Have you always wanted to join the Pathfinder Society, but could never figure out just how to impress them? Or do you want to know just a little more about the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>?</p>
<p>Well, you're in luck! Free RPG Day is almost upon us! On Saturday, many of you can go to your Friendly Local Game Store and pick up all sorts of free RPG products, including Paizo's own offering, <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><i>Master of the Fallen Fortress</i></a>, by yours truly. Check the official <a href="http://freerpgday.com/stores.htm" target="_blank">Free RPG Day Retailer Locator</a> to see if stores in your area are participating.</p>
<p>(PaizoCon attendees will each get a free copy of the module at the show, and, starting Monday morning, everyone will be able to download a FREE PDF or buy a $5 print edition right here at paizo.com, so no need to despair if your store isn't on the Free RPG Day list!)</p>
<p>So what's all the hoopla about? <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8dh5"><i>Master of the Fallen Fortress</i></a> takes a group of 1st-level PCs into one of the ruined siege castles that litter the Cairnlands outside Absalom. While it's a standalone Pathfinder Module, the adventure can also be used as an introduction to <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety">Pathfinder Society Organized Play</a>, Paizo's constantly evolving, worldwide mega-campaign. And even better, it gives a preview of the six new iconic characters from the upcoming <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Advanced Player's Guide</i></a>, statted up as pregenerated characters to get you right into the action!</p>
<p>Adventure is coming your way this weekend, just around the corner and down the road. Defeat the Master of the Fallen Fortress, rescue a captive Pathfinder, and on the way, say hi to Alahazra, Alain, Balazar, Damiel, Feiya, and Imrijka for me!<p> <p>(To allow GMs to prepare to run Master of the Fallen Fortress on Free RPG day, we're releasing the Chronicles Sheet and pregenerated character sheets as a free download <a href="https://paizo.com/download/pathfinder/PZO9500-4-GMTools.zip">here</a> (1.2 MB zip/PDF).)</p><br clear="all" />
<p>Rob McCreary
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Absalom, Tyler Walpole, Cavaliers, Oracles, iconics, Alahazra, Alain, Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Society, Free Stuff, Monsters, Troglodytes —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/absalom">Absalom</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/freeRPGDay">Free RPG Day</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/freeStuff">Free Stuff</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters">Monsters</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderSociety">Pathfinder Society</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/monsters/troglodytes">Troglodytes</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/tylerWalpole">Tyler Walpole</a></p>2010-06-16T07:00:00ZWelcome to the Playtesthttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lama?Welcome-to-the-Playtest2009-11-13T17:15:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>Welcome to the Playtest</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, November 13, 2009</p></blockquote>
<table border="0" align="left"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-OracleSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-OracleSketch_180.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr></table><table border="0" align="right"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-CavalierSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-CavalierSketch_180.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr></table><blockquote>
<p>The playtest of the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide</i></a> begins today with the launch of two of the six new base classes set to appear in the book. The cavalier is a martial character. Like his name would suggest, he is at home fighting from horseback, but he is by no means crippled when his mount cannot be used. The cavalier gains a number of bonus abilities tied to his order, the oaths that he swears, and the challenges he makes. Next up in this playtest is the oracle. This spontaneous divine caster draws her power from the gods that support her focus, granting her special revelations as she goes up in level. This is your chance to take a look at these classes before they hit shelves in August. You can download the free PDF containing both of these classes <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">here.</a></p>
<p>In the coming weeks, we will be releasing the other four classes, two each week. During these periods, we will be focusing discussion on the most recent classes, but the playtest itself will remain open until the end of January 2010. The release dates are as follows.</p>
<p><b>Group 1 (11/13–11/29)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">Cavalier and Oracle</a><br>
<b>Group 2 (11/30–12/13)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder RPG/v5748btpy8daf">Summoner and Witch</a><br>
<b>Group 3 (12/14–12/27)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">Alchemist and Inquisitor</a></p>
<p>Just like the <i>Core Rulebook</i> playtest last year, there are a pair of <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/advancedPlayersGuidePlaytest">forums</a> waiting for your feedback and comments. The first is a general forum, for discussing larger issues and announcements. The second forum is specifically for cavalier and oracle feedback. We will add an additional forum every two weeks as the new classes are released.</p>
<p>I want to take a moment to discuss what we are looking for out of this playtest. Since these are new classes, actual playtesting is of great importance. While comments and observations are still valuable, we need playtesters to actually use these classes in play and provide reports of their experiences. This sort of feedback will really help us ensure that these classes become a balanced and fun part of the game.</p>
<p>See you on the boards.</p>
<br clear="all" />
<p>Jason Bulmahn<br>
Lead Designer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Playtest, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Alain, Cavaliers, Oracles, Iconics, Wayne Reynolds—>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderRoleplayingGame">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/playtest">Playtest</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>Welcome to the Playtest</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, November 13, 2009</p></blockquote>
<table border="0" align="left"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-OracleSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-OracleSketch_180.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr></table><table border="0" align="right"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-CavalierSketch.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hspace=9 src="/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1115-CavalierSketch_180.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Illustration by Wayne Reynolds</td></tr></table><blockquote>
<p>The playtest of the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8b6g"><i>Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide</i></a> begins today with the launch of two of the six new base classes set to appear in the book. The cavalier is a martial character. Like his name would suggest, he is at home fighting from horseback, but he is by no means crippled when his mount cannot be used. The cavalier gains a number of bonus abilities tied to his order, the oaths that he swears, and the challenges he makes. Next up in this playtest is the oracle. This spontaneous divine caster draws her power from the gods that support her focus, granting her special revelations as she goes up in level. This is your chance to take a look at these classes before they hit shelves in August. You can download the free PDF containing both of these classes <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">here.</a></p>
<p>In the coming weeks, we will be releasing the other four classes, two each week. During these periods, we will be focusing discussion on the most recent classes, but the playtest itself will remain open until the end of January 2010. The release dates are as follows.</p>
<p><b>Group 1 (11/13–11/29)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">Cavalier and Oracle</a><br>
<b>Group 2 (11/30–12/13)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder RPG/v5748btpy8daf">Summoner and Witch</a><br>
<b>Group 3 (12/14–12/27)</b>: <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8daf">Alchemist and Inquisitor</a></p>
<p>Just like the <i>Core Rulebook</i> playtest last year, there are a pair of <a href="https://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/advancedPlayersGuidePlaytest">forums</a> waiting for your feedback and comments. The first is a general forum, for discussing larger issues and announcements. The second forum is specifically for cavalier and oracle feedback. We will add an additional forum every two weeks as the new classes are released.</p>
<p>I want to take a moment to discuss what we are looking for out of this playtest. Since these are new classes, actual playtesting is of great importance. While comments and observations are still valuable, we need playtesters to actually use these classes in play and provide reports of their experiences. This sort of feedback will really help us ensure that these classes become a balanced and fun part of the game.</p>
<p>See you on the boards.</p>
<br clear="all" />
<p>Jason Bulmahn<br>
Lead Designer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Playtest, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Alain, Cavaliers, Oracles, Iconics, Wayne Reynolds—>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alahazra">Alahazra</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics/alain">Alain</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/cavaliers">Cavaliers</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/iconics">Iconics</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/classes/oracles">Oracles</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderRoleplayingGame">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/playtest">Playtest</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/wayneReynolds">Wayne Reynolds</a></p>2009-11-13T17:15:00Z