Azghaad Glyphstele of the Ghostgrove Clan is an important man.
Like many Nethian priests Azghaad favors comfort and convenience in his clothing. Unlike most Nethian priests he also wants to look important. Once again magic came to his aid and he now wears comfortable, many-pocketed, practical garb while looking like wearing elaborate royal robes - or whatever else he likes.
He has an ornamental quarterstaff and a decorative dagger, but otherwise travels without weapons.
Though he does not take them into danger, Azghaad has a staff of five halfling servants to assist him in ‘survival’ cooking, cleaning etc. These are a family, the youngest of whom is acting as scullion. These are bound to the temple and on loan only.
Background:
Azghaad - named for the first Pharaoh, chosen by Nethys himself - is that rarest of Nethian priests; a hereditary one. His mother and father were both priests, as was his paternal grandfather. Given the obsession most priests have with the study of magic it is rare for any marriages to occur, let alone last long enough for children to be born and raised. Azghaad’s parents were colleagues before they were lovers, desperately searching for a way to expand extraplanar divination incursion countermeasures.
Azghaad’s temple was a well hidden complex deep in the Osirian desert, the only surviving remnant of a dead town. The town was formed by the Ghostgrove Clan nearly a thousand years ago around an Oasis with a unique species of ghostly white magical trees that somehow had a connection to the Ethereal plane. A Temple of Nethys was built to study the trees and turned into a centre of study of Ethereal magics, those coming joining the Ghostgrove Clan. When the Oasis dried out all the inhabitants save those in the temple left. Now only the trees inside the temple’s greenhouse survive.
Azghaad was named for the first Pharaoh, advised by Nethys himself.
Azghaad’s education was eclectic. Within the temple status was based on knowledge and magical power, and those with no magic were at the very bottom status. As a magic-less child Azghaad ranked with the slaves and children - though his parents did treat him fondly. As with all there Azghaad was taught to read and write as soon as he could, and given one day off in three to study as he wished. He cast his first, exceedingly minor, magic when he was ten and from that moment on was treated as an adult.
Azghaad studied magic (of course) but also history and genealogies. He was convinced that Nethys had chosen his namesake for a reason, and finally managed to trace his lineage back thousands of years to the original lines of the Pharaohs. The fact he had to make certain “educated guesses” that mean his claims are questionable bothers him to this day.
He achieved his magical successes quickly, but at the age of eighteen he hit a plateau. Desperate for something to kickstart his previous success, when the Ruby Pharaoh opened up the knowledge of Ancient Osirian he jumped at the chance. Mere items might fund his research, but the knowledge contained therein could help him improve his Magic! He did not share with the temple the thought that the knowledge might also help him prove his claim to the blood of Azghaad I.
While his Clan is the Ghostgrove, as a lower ranking member of the temple his name is simply that of one of the border stelae that were put up to mark the boundaries of the town and protect from ethereal predators: a Glyphstele.
Personality:
Azghaad is a specialist from a highly valuable field. He knows his field is often misunderstood and distrusted by ‘prosaics’, dislikes them and feels they are inferior. Though he comes across mostly as a snobbish self-impressed monomaniacally-magically-obsessed conspiracy theorist, Azghaad actually isn’t a bad guy.
I’ve put the lenses through which he sees the world below.
Power is status: Magic is the most important thing in the world. People who have more magic are more important. People who don’t have any magic are (by definition) the least important.
Descendent of Pharaohs: Nethys chose Azghaad I and his descendents have shown a significant (statistically) tendency towards more magical power. If I am a descendent of Azghaad I might be able to use that to get more magic.
The Undead: Dangerous to deal with as they have a tendency to go uncontrolled. Useful tools if controlled well, better destroyed otherwise. EXCEPTION: liches are powerful magicians who defied death to keep studying magic. Good for them.
Conspiracy theory: There a thousand theories about events in history. I do believe in some of the less conventional ones.
Good and Evil: There’s not really any such thing as ‘good’ and ‘evil’. These are just a set of moralities that have been imposed on gullible worshippers by extraplanar outsiders. That said, logic dictates that one should treat others as you think they will treat you, and their behaviour in the past is a good predictor of their behaviour in the future. Put simply, be awful to Evil and nice to Good.
Law and Chaos: Again these are part of moralities put forward, but in this case they actually correspond to fundamental parts of society. It is important not to fall to extremes in this case. Referred to as Stasis and Chaos.
The Law: One should try to follow it, but if one has to break it for a good enough reason then do it, but don’t get caught.
Magic: The most important thing. Magic can do anything. Any answer that isn’t magic is inelegant: either a kludge or a jury-rig.
Knowledge: Next to Magic, the most important thing. Knowledge is what let Nethys ascend, and I want to work out how he did it, then do it myself.
His servants: Yes, they can’t leave. Yes, technically they’re slaves, but I can’t sell them, mistreat them or experiment on them. They’re guaranteed to be looked after, get one day off in three to study, and the moment they show an inkling of magic instantly graduate from servant to apprentice. They have the same status I had before I learned magic. If they’d stop wasting their days off they could probably be apprentices by now!
Creation and Destruction: Important to be able to do both. I excel at Destruction, so I need to work at Creation, lest I become unbalanced.
Picture:
I prefer to have an avatar that matches the portrait. As a picture for him at higher levels I think it is great, but some of the features have yet to be developed.
Full picture: Here
Crunch:
I believe you were less interested in this for the recruitment, and honestly there’s a number of valid ways to go, but in order I think I’d be looking at:
A Wizard with Creative Destruction Arcane Talent, probably drifting into Arclord of Nex at high levels.
An evocation focussed Arcanist - I like the idea of someone finding new ways to use magic worshipping Nethys.
A full-on Cleric of Nethys
A shaman of Lore.
I have considered Mystic Theurge, but I have heard it is very hard to get in to, doesn’t work very well, and ends up with something that fills neither the arcane or divine rolls properly, but messes with the party balance.
What I do know is that I want the Blood of Pharaohs campaign trait.
I’d really like to start with Eldritch Researcher, but I know some GMs prefer not to have anyone doing spell research. I’m okay with him “discovering” published but otherwise unknown spells if that is the case. More that someone obsessed with discovering new magic seems a good fit for Nethys.
Equipment:
Garment of Many Sleeves (UE) 200
Halfling Lackeys (UC) 120
