Quick question on the Faceless One. It may be that I've just glossed over this in reading, but... what happened to make the Faceless One look the way that he does? I doubt that the players would actually be able to find out, but I'm intrigued by this. Is this just his "normal" look, is he an aberration, or has he been up to some kind of weird magical experimentation, medieval rhinoplasy, or ?
The Faceless One is actually Michael Jackson.
Ever since I wrote TFoE, I've pestered Erik a few times to let me write an article detailing the cult of Vecna. As I see the cult, it places a tremendous emphasis on secrecy and power.
The Faceless One, as an initiate into the second layer of Vecna's secrets, has cast aside his identity. None can say who or what he once was, and none can say what he will become. Some believe that, in time, an initiate of Vecna becomes a living enigma, a mystery so deep that the human mind cannot comprehend its presence. Casting aside all trace of physical identity is but the first step in this process.
There are those who say that the deepest loremasters of Vecna slip into the firmament of the secrets within the world. They walk amongst men, but none see them. They whisper counsel into the ears of kings and archmages, advice that the subconscious hears and heeds even while the waking mind is blissfully ignorant. Who can say if a flood was a natural disaster, or the result of a sinister, unseen hand?
Such is the way of Vecna, and such is the way of those who would follow him through the Gate of All Secrets.
Ever since I wrote TFoE, I've pestered Erik a few times to let me write an article detailing the cult of Vecna. As I see the cult, it places a tremendous emphasis on secrecy and power. (...) Casting aside all trace of physical identity is but the first step in this process.
Excellent, thanks! I love that the authors are on this board. Could you maybe give me another hint? You have the Faceless One "fighting to the death," but I suspect that he might make a truly superb recurring villain. What if the players might "defeat" him, but they turn their backs for a moment and then he's simply gone. Then returns at inopportune times to harry their progress and such. Or would that perhaps muck with the overall plot too much in later modules?
And FWIW, I'll definitely second a nomination for an article on Vecna's secrets... because He whispers from beyond the Gate...
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You have the Faceless One "fighting to the death," but I suspect that he might make a truly superb recurring villain. What if the players might "defeat" him, but they turn their backs for a moment and then he's simply gone. Then returns at inopportune times to harry their progress and such. Or would that perhaps muck with the overall plot too much in later modules?
In the module, it mentions that the Ebon Aspect arises upon the death of all three cult leaders. If for some reason the PCs decide to let them live, they die as the Ebon Aspect feeds upon their life force to create itself. They also seem to indicate that of the cultists, the Faceless One at least seems aware of this fact.
Though I, too, like the idea of bringing back the Faceless One as a recurring villain, as written it's out of the question. Though the DM does have final say... maybe the death of the other two cultists is sufficient, and the PCs come into the main chamber just as the Faceless One finishes the ritual binding their departed souls to the Ebon Aspect's now-living body and departs via magic?
Just my two circular copper-coated zinc monetary units.
Theldrick, Grallak Kur and the High Priestess of the Boneyard Cult were killed to raise the Ebon Aspect.
Since the players failed to rescue her, the Ebon Aspect rises and the Faceless One escaped through a dimension door...
To make their lives miserable at a later date.
Had they rescued her the EA would have risen as well, killing the FO.
Choices, choices...