Loreg's page

tbug wrote:

Is there a source for that information, or are you just applying common sense?

I'm not aware of it being specifically written down anywhere that their runes look different.

I just went by the fact that Azlanti and Thassilonian were two different languages. Makes sense that their written language and runic systems would look quite different as well.

They are two different languages, but Thassilonian apparently descended from Azlanti.

See this post from James Jacobs.

The nation of Thassilon was founded by exiles from Azlant.

And, this one

Thassilonian as a language is a direct descendant of Azlanti, but with a strong Varisian/Shoanti/Giant influence.

You could probably assume, then, that the languages are distinct, but share similarities - like French and Spanish, or maybe more like French and Latin.

So, what does your story require? Do you want them to be the same? Then the development of "sin magic" by the Thassilons required the runes to be the same, otherwise, the power would leech out of them. Thus, the runes, unlike the language proper, stayed true to its original form. Do you want the runes to look different? Then the natural drift of language has made the runes look different.

I don't think there's anything canon that says the runes are the same or different, so it's GM's choice.

How did Akarundo wrest control of the degenerate serpentfolk away from Issilar? They have the same Charisma, and Akarundo isn't telepathic. Degenerate serpentfolk have "a bare, borderline-instinctual understanding that creatures without telepathy are food." (PF37 p. 67)

He can't use charm person on serpentfolk, and his illusion magic isn't any better than Issilar's (given that they can both use major image).

So how did he pull it off? And how is he keeping the degenerate serpentfolk believing that he is a god?

Good question. Here are my thoughts:

1. Akarundo doesn't have telepathy, but he can, perhaps, fake it using detect thoughts.

2. Opium

3. Simple combat. Akarundo doesn't have the spell variety that Issilar has, but can cast lightning bolt 5 times a day and acid arrow and magic missile 7/day, and he has higher SR and has a damage reduction. He'd clearly dominate in a magician's duel.

So, I think you can spin out a tale of intrigue where Akarundo enters the camp and uses his detect thoughts combined with his +20 bluff to pretend to have telepathy ("I speak out loud so that my words as a god are heard even by the food!") and insinuate himself into the good graces of Issilar, plying him with his opium and then casting him out in one-on-one combat.

His illusion magic is, arguably, slightly better than Issilar's since he has change shape as a special quality, so can assume the form of a pure-blood serpentfolk indefinitely and it's not a disguise so cannot be seen through. Issilar's disguise self can be used at will, but only works as a disguise. (Perhaps Akarundo challenges Issilar to a disguise-off, "I am the true shifter of shapes, look upon my forms and see if you can detect any flaw, and compare it to this pretender, Issilar and his mere disguises.") Issilar can cast major image while Akarundo can only cast minor image, but Akarundo can cast it 7 times a day.

Since Akarundo's bluff is so high, the degenerate serpentfolk, with their +0 sense motive would be hard-pressed to see through a well-crafted lie - they are predisposed to see pure-blood serpentfolk as their true leaders, and one that demonstrated clear mastery over their former leader (does Issilar use his dagger as a slashing weapon? If so, then Akarundo would take no damage from Issilar's dagger attacks and could shrug off his offensive spells) could credibly seem like a god.

I decided my group needed more foreshadowing, so I gave two of them dreams. First, I told them that some dreams are vivid and fresh and others are fleeting and remembered only vaguely, but that many dreams have impacts on the subconscious. They might, therefore, be able to talk of their dreams the next day, but they might not. The dreams might have effects and would probably have roleplaying effects, but as subconscious effects, those couldn't be spoken of. I handed out cards to two of the players tonight:

The first one ended up being a little too "on the nose" since I rolled a random encounter with an Army Ant Swarm the next morning, but it worked great. The wizard got the first dream and since it told him that he was more likely to be bold and rush into battle, that's just what he did. "I don't have any way of damaging a swarm, but, I KNOW! I'll light myself on fire and that will do more damage to the swarm than to me!"

Since the second dream wasn't shared with the group, I think I'll reuse it for each member of the party, in turn.

I'm going to have them dream about several of the major plot-points, plus a few of the things they experienced on Smuggler's Shiv (one character really hated the Shocker Lizards, so they'll make an appearance in his dreams). Nobody's asked yet, I guess they just take vivid, reality-affecting dreams at face value, but if they do, I'm blaming it on the hallucinogenic paste that Nkeshi gave them. Must have side effects, I guess.

Oh, and Nkeshi took care of the swarm for the party before the wizard could kill himself with his human-torch interpretation.