Can anyone out there tell me if the patron of the sahuagin, Sekolah, is a god or an archdevil? I have heard both but there seems to be some conflicting reports. I have ordered the old 2nd edition book on the sea devils but it will not be here for at least a week. Also, how is the name really pronounced? This has been driving me nuts for years. ("Sah - hu- way- gen?") Thanks in advance.
Can anyone out there tell me if the patron of the sahuagin, Sekolah, is a god or an archdevil? I have heard both but there seems to be some conflicting reports. I have ordered the old 2nd edition book on the sea devils but it will not be here for at least a week. Also, how is the name really pronounced? This has been driving me nuts for years. ("Sah - hu- way- gen?") Thanks in advance.
I think Sekolah was considered a lesser god in AD&D, both 1E and 2E. He swam in the oceans in the 9 hells but I don't know if he actually claimed any as his domain. Kinda like Gruumsh, a greater god in the hells and I'm sure he didn't answer to Asmodeus. Ah, the inconsistencies...
As for pronounciations...got me. I've been playing D&D for over 20 years, including the ol' Saltmarsh series, and I've never been sure how to say sahuagin. The way you wrote is the way I've always said it, I gave up on that one a long time ago.
Let's see... Sekolah is described as a diety, not an Archdevil in any of the books I've read. I'm not sure of the home plane, though.
Saw Hoo Ahh Geen
And Gruumsh makes his home on Acheron, not in the Hells.
Sah-hwa-jin here.
I've only ever seen Sekolah described as a lesser deity, whose domain is on Stygia, the 5th level of the Nine Hells, though I don't believe his domain extends beyond one cave.
There is a fantastic supplemnt for 2e called "The Sea Devils" part of the awesome Monstrous Arcana series. It gives great background on this race. Not too much stats, so it is still useful.
They specifically state the Saw Hoo Uh Gin(hard g) pronunciation as right, and Sekolah is a god.
What a great race.
Let's see... Sekolah is described as a diety, not an Archdevil in any of the books I've read. I'm not sure of the home plane, though.
Saw Hoo Ahh Geen
And Gruumsh makes his home on Acheron, not in the Hells.
Sorry, I was looking at the 1E Deities & Demigods at the time (Sekolah and Gruumsh are on the same page) and in that book Gruumsh dwelt in the 9 Hells, Sekolah swam in "the deepest depths of the 9 Hells"...whatever that is.
In the 1st edition, there was this silly idea to make the Outer Planes all alignment-specific, which led to the deities of the one pantheon having all different home planes, for example (Lakshmi, Indian goddess of fortune, seems to be hanging out with a bunch of Norse gods in Glasheim, for no reason at all other than her CG alignment). A correlary was silliness like having Gruumsh (orcs), Set (Egyptian), and a slew of other multicultural, United Colors of Demigods all together in Hell, and the archdevils didn't seem to notice or mind a bit. Don't get me wrong; I'm all in favor of celestial cooperation and cultural equality, but it always seemed logical to me that all the deities of one pantheon, with the same origins, would have the same plane of origin.
Nobody that I know played using those rules. I was trying other game systems during 2E, so I'm out of the loop on Planescape, etc. I wonder if things are better now? (Never did pick up the 3e Deities & Demigods).
Thank you to everyone who replied; it was a big help. I thought he was a god, but there are several references to him being a "great devil shark," so I was a little dubious. Devils don't equal gods so therein was my question.
Again, according to the 1st edition DDG, all the archdevils and demon princes were lesser gods. Things have sure changed since then.
Saw who again? ;)
A very quick wiki check led me to a post by Steve Marsh (creator of this fine aquatic monster) himself on Dragonsfoot. He says there are two official pronunciations:
1. Pronounce it according to Spanish phonetics. (As I read it, this comes out Sah-wah-heen.)
2. Sah-hah-gwin.
Interestingly, Mr. Marsh seems to have picked the name at random off the back of an LDS pamphlet entitled "Christ in the Americas" which mentioned a colonial Spanish historian named Bernardo de Sahagun. Monster names are inspired by the strangest things! (I'd wondered about the seeming similarity between Sahuagin and Sahagun since encountering the latter's work in a college history class).
I just called them Sea Devils in the adventure I had in my Saltmarsh game in CT. I kind of imagined Sahuagin to be used more by those that actually trade with them, speak their language or study them as scholars.
Sekolah is a deity, and his domain (off the top of my head) is on the layer of Stygia in Baator.
It's also worth noting that Sekolah is not on good terms with Prince Levistus the Lord of Stygia, one of the Lords of the 9. The two of them, or at least their followers, have been engaged in an on-again-off-again war over petitioners, etc [Roughly the same reason that Levistus and Set have been feuding, though in that case it's very clear that Levistus is winning, asserting his domination of Stygia over Set, causing that particular god's deific domain to actually shrink over the course of their conflict].
The situation is detailed in one of the Planescape books [either Planes of Law, or Faces of Evil]. Sekolah himself might appear in Monster Mythology, but I don't have the book to check in offhand at the moment.
A very quick wiki check led me to a post by Steve Marsh (creator of this fine aquatic monster) himself on Dragonsfoot. He says there are two official pronunciations
I hate to get into this argument, but I will anyways. Bear in mind that everyone is free to pronounce as they please and Dms all have their own, and I am not stepping on rights to do what you want, but I must say:
The creator has zero say over the official pronunciation. The monster is owned by WotC/TSR, and they say what the pronunciation is- as they did in the Sea Devils accessory, calling it the Saw Who Again pronunciation.
I only bring this up not only to nitpick, but because this often becomes a point of contention in RPG discussions and should be discussed. When WotC/TSR gets the rights for something, they say what goes. A good proof is Keith Baker- he can say whatever he pleases about Eberron, but unless WotC publishes it, it means nothing "official."
Now, this situation does suck for the creator, but that is the nature of IP.
See how legalistic I can get to have my way?