Creative Director
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Two entirely unrelated questions:
1) Is Deskari concerned, I hesitate to say worried, about one of his minions gaining enough Mythic Power to usurp him?
2) What're your opinions on statue of Baphomet intend for the Oklahoma state senate, as seen here http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/06/satanic-temple-unveils-7-foot-goat-he aded-baphomet-statue-for-oklahoma-capitol/? It's a good likeness I'd say.
1) He's concerned about all his minions becoming powerful enough to usurp him, be it via mythic power or otherwise. That's something that all demon lords have to worry about and watch and observe.
2) Link doesn't work. EDIT: Although it's all over the news so I found links that do work. My take: Good for them! I doubt it'll be approved, but the idea that there are other religions in the world other than Christianity is one that I think a lot of the US needs to come to grips with.
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Creative Director
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My computer might be fried. I've always wanted an iMac, but they're pretty darn expensive. Do you think it is better to get a computer that is more affordable, but might break sooner or should I splurge for the iMac even though it will take me a while to pay it off?For a long time, I used PCs, and they were always breaking in one way or another after a year or two.
Then I bought a Macbook, and not only was it a solid computer... it still works over half a decade later. The battery is dead, but that's an easy fix; the computer itself still works quite well.
The advantage here (and there are many others when you buy Mac) is that you're buying a computer that' built by experts on EVERY part of that computer, not one built by what is essentially a committee, or even worse, by the customer.
The result IS a more expensive computer, but not having to repair or replace it every year or two pays off within that year.
My current take on buying a computer is to buy the best one you can, since even the "affordable ones" are still not inexpensive, and when they break you're going to have to spend lots of money to replace or fix it.
If you'd rather not go Mac... I would suggest buying a Lenovo PC; I just got one of these last November and I'm quite pleased with it. Of course, 2 months isn't long enough to determine if it's good for long term.
My current desktop is an iMac, and I love it. It works great.
If you CAN afford it... it's a great purchase. The only disadvantage is that there's not as many game options for Mac... but that's changing now with more and more publishers doing Mac versions of games.
I took the advice and got an iMac. I only really play WoW and Minecraft anymore and they are both supported.
Getting a machine that can endure is far more important to me. I was working on a product for Raging Swan Press when my PC died, and even though the data is salvageable (thank goodness!) I don't want to have that...
Congrats! And yeah... having a time capsule is super handy.
Are there any good Mana Wastes mutants? The alignment requirement only says that they have to be non-lawful.
Can you use the Handle Animal skill to command someone else's mount, animal companion, a wild animal, or purchased attack animal?
Are we ever going to have a look at the Test of the Starstone? If so, would it require or be better suited for higher level rules?Hopefully, and yes.
The Test of the Starstone is not a typical adventure. It's a GIANT EVENT adventure. It's the culmination of an entire campaign type adventure. It's not an adventure we're eager to detail on a whim, in other words.
And since the plot of the adventure would have to be "someone, NPC or PC, is trying to become a deity" (if it wasn't, why waste the adventure there in the first place?), we need to know the rules for how becoming a deity works. And I can't think of much more high-level or mythic than that.
I anticipate the Runelord of Pride being the big bad of this adventure you're trying to prevent from becoming a diety...
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Creative Director
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Can you use the Handle Animal skill to command someone else's mount, animal companion, a wild animal, or purchased attack animal?
Yes. That's kind of the whole point of the skill; to let you influence animals. With an animal companion, though, I'd treat the skill more like diplomacy or bluff or intimidate.
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Creative Director
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What did you do when you hit that point?Have there ever been times in your life where you've felt truly, frighteningly alone?Yes.
Seek out the company of friends or family, or if that can't happen immediately, sleep or lose myself in a movie, book, or video game for a while until I felt better or could go find some friends to be with.
Can you use the Handle Animal skill to command someone else's mount, animal companion, a wild animal, or purchased attack animal?Yes. That's kind of the whole point of the skill; to let you influence animals. With an animal companion, though, I'd treat the skill more like diplomacy or bluff or intimidate.
Sorry, I tried to make the question neutral and kind of took out the point of asking.
Could you use the handle animal skill to tell a mount or animal companion to attack their owner? Or a wild animal attacking you to attack something else ?
Heya James!
1) Socothbenoth is said to have long brown hair, and along with his piercings and tattoos, the description made him come off as a bit punk rock to me. So, I was wondering, how does he normally style his hair in his true form? Something a bit exotic like this, or maybe more relaxed like this? Maybe a silly question considering he can change form, but I get curious about things like that, as sometimes I sketch! :)
2) Does Socothbenoth's realm have any other cities aside from his personal abode?
3) Did Nocticula and Vyriavaxus have any offspring together? If so, what would you say they are (succubi, shadow demons, etc)?
4) The incubus Ziforian is mentioned as being Shamira's predecessor - was he a nascent demon lord like her? If so, do you happen to know what his portfolio consisted of, or if he is still worshiped?
5) I really love the artwork of Nocticula in her bestiary writeup! Out of all the art of her in various books, which is your favorite?
Also, just wanted to say that the new Hobbit is a lot of fun! Hope you are able to see it soon, and I wish you a speedy recovery!
I notice that Arazni was given domains in her Mythic Realms write-up via Divine Source.
What's her favored weapon, if I wanted to make a Cleric of Arazni?
Hello Mr. Jacobs!
I hope 2014 finds you doing fantastic. I have a question in regards to the dreaded seven runelords. Who are the most similar villains, in either fiction or real life, to each of the runelords? I ask so I can get a sense of their personality.
Thank you for your answer!
2014 so far finds me recovering from having my gallbladder removed... but that means every day is better than the last as I recover into a land where there are no lurking and crippling gut pains for me! Which is good!
As for the personalities of the seven runelords and what evil villains they most closely resemble... that's a tough question, since not all of them map all that well, but I'll try...
Xanderghul: Classic evil wizard with a touch of Dorian Grey
Sorshen: Elizabeth Bathory as a full-on wizard
Karzoug: See Rise of the Runelords! :-)
Alaznist: Classic evil demon worshiper with a dash of James Bond villain
Zutha: Fat and slovenly Hannibal Lecter
Belimarius: Old and frumpy version of the evil queen from Snow White
Krune: Any classic villain who relies too much on his minions (none come immediately to mind)
I am glad that you are feeling better! Your answers were really helpful. My personal favorite was your description for Zutha, that was priceless.
Are there tieflings descended directly from the most powerful member of fiendish race? (olethrodaemon, balor, pit fiend, void yai, asurenda, eremite, akvan, maharaja, and iathavos)
If so, what would these tieflings be like? I don't mean mechanically, obviously they'd be no different from others of their heritages.
Continuing on this note, are there tiefling descendants of demon lords?
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Creative Director
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Can you use the Handle Animal skill to command someone else's mount, animal companion, a wild animal, or purchased attack animal?Yes. That's kind of the whole point of the skill; to let you influence animals. With an animal companion, though, I'd treat the skill more like diplomacy or bluff or intimidate.Sorry, I tried to make the question neutral and kind of took out the point of asking.
Could you use the handle animal skill to tell a mount or animal companion to attack their owner? Or a wild animal attacking you to attack something else ?
Unlikely. That'd be like using Bluff or Diplomacy to convince someone to attack a friend. You could do it, but it would take a long time and several checks... and would require you to be able to speak with animals as well. If it's just a wild animal, also unlikely. The point of the skill is to give direction to trained animals... the ability you're looking for is mostly covered by wild empathy and by spells like dominate animal.
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Creative Director
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Heya James!
1) Socothbenoth is said to have long brown hair, and along with his piercings and tattoos, the description made him come off as a bit punk rock to me. So, I was wondering, how does he normally style his hair in his true form? Something a bit exotic like this, or maybe more relaxed like this? Maybe a silly question considering he can change form, but I get curious about things like that, as sometimes I sketch! :)
2) Does Socothbenoth's realm have any other cities aside from his personal abode?
3) Did Nocticula and Vyriavaxus have any offspring together? If so, what would you say they are (succubi, shadow demons, etc)?
4) The incubus Ziforian is mentioned as being Shamira's predecessor - was he a nascent demon lord like her? If so, do you happen to know what his portfolio consisted of, or if he is still worshiped?
5) I really love the artwork of Nocticula in her bestiary writeup! Out of all the art of her in various books, which is your favorite?
Also, just wanted to say that the new Hobbit is a lot of fun! Hope you are able to see it soon, and I wish you a speedy recovery!
1) We haven't illustrated Socothbenoth yet, so I can't say for sure, but the 2nd picture is probably closer.
2) Yes, there are multiple cities in his realm.
3) No.
4) He was a nascent demon lord, but not as powerful, nor do I know much more about him. He is no longer worshiped.
5) Probably the cover Eva did for Lords of Chaos.
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Creative Director
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Are there tieflings descended directly from the most powerful member of fiendish race? (olethrodaemon, balor, pit fiend, void yai, asurenda, eremite, akvan, maharaja, and iathavos)
If so, what would these tieflings be like? I don't mean mechanically, obviously they'd be no different from others of their heritages.
Continuing on this note, are there tiefling descendants of demon lords?
Nope; tieflings are descended from any and all fiends. You could pick and choose abilities and appearances from Blood of Fiends to customize, but what you're looking for is not really the niche of the tiefling, but more the niche of the half-fiend or half-demon.
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Creative Director
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4b) It's pretty much restricted to day and night.
1) It could be anywhere, yes. That's intentional.
2) No; his personality does not increase in power; it's stuck at the base level.
3) Item control via Ego is essentially a possession effect, and thus the right-aligned protection from alignment spell will prevent it. Immunity to mind control will prevent being controlled by the weapon, but won't prevent it from doing whatever else it can to mess with its carrier.
Thanks again. Interesting that a protection-from-alignment spell could block the effect. I hadn't considered that Ego dominance might be so easily resisted/deflected, though it does of course mean that the item could come up with other more inventive ways of "messing with" the wielder.
1) Can the item's listed save DCs for its spell trigger abilities use the wielder's save DCs instead, as other magic staves work? Or are they stuck with those DCs? The INT score of the artifact isn't high enough to use the spells normally (only 12, while it would need at least a 13 for lightning bolt, or a 16 for veil), so should the item use the wielder's save DCs if they happen to be higher?
2) Same question on save DCs, but for the Staff of the Magi.
In case you were wondering why all the staff questions, I have a player who's voiced to me that he'd like his sorcerer character to come into possession of an "artifact staff" later in the campaign, and I think a relic of Kazavon could make such an artifact staff a good plot hook as well as giving the player what he wants.
Do well with your recovery!
1) Nope.
2) Nope.
Have you ever considered making an adventure where the BBEG was an intelligent item of some sort?
I'm thinking something like the Soul Calibur series.
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Creative Director
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Have you ever considered making an adventure where the BBEG was an intelligent item of some sort?
I'm thinking something like the Soul Calibur series.
We've done a few of those before in Dungeon magazine back in the day. "War of the Wielded" was one that sticks out in my mind.
There's sort of an encounter like this in Runelords as well... we do a few others now and then too, but as the main bad guy at the end of the adventure... that's tricky.
Contributor
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I have been barely around the boards because of writing work... and just found out you were recovering from surgery. Hope that is going well.
Also, my cat (who now lives with my daughter) is named Nuit, rhyming with Newt. Was yours named for the Aliens character?
Hastur is my my favourite GOO, if only because I read the The King in Yellow and More Light at an impressionable age. Though I am fond of Tsathoggua as well. Does the play exist in Golarion?
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Creative Director
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I have been barely around the boards because of writing work... and just found out you were recovering from surgery. Hope that is going well.
Also, my cat (who now lives with my daughter) is named Nuit, rhyming with Newt. Was yours named for the Aliens character?
Hastur is my my favourite GOO, if only because I read the The King in Yellow and More Light at an impressionable age. Though I am fond of Tsathoggua as well. Does the play exist in Golarion?
Yup; named mine after the character in Aliens.
The play does indeed exist on Golarion.
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I have been barely around the boards because of writing work... and just found out you were recovering from surgery. Hope that is going well.
Also, my cat (who now lives with my daughter) is named Nuit, rhyming with Newt. Was yours named for the Aliens character?
Hastur is my my favourite GOO, if only because I read the The King in Yellow and More Light at an impressionable age. Though I am fond of Tsathoggua as well. Does the play exist in Golarion?
Yup; named mine after the character in Aliens.
The play does indeed exist on Golarion.
It may please you that in my Runelords campaign, Cyrdak Drokkus will be finding a copy in an estate sale in Magnimar. I'm sure nothing bad will come of that...
Okay, so this is sort of a rules question, but I am asking for your opinion on this (and this paragraph is also a disclaimer to anyone who might try to use your answer to justify it to a GM that says no that I am not asking you for any official ruling)
Metamagic Adept (Ex): At 3rd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast without increasing the casting time. You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.Emphasis mine, if you are doing Eldritch Heritage do you ignore that last line, or is this actually a situation where due to wording, when you hit 20th level (and have Greater Eldritch Heritage of course) you actually get Arcane Apotheosis?
By RAW, you couldn't get Arcane Apotheosis, the feats mention your effective Sorcerer level is your level -2.
Are you familiar with Kthanid, the brother of Cthulhu?
If you were to stat him out as a deity, how would you do it? Would he be Chaotic Good?
5) Probably the cover Eva did for Lords of Chaos.5) I really love the artwork of Nocticula in her bestiary writeup! Out of all the art of her in various books, which is your favorite?
I absolutely loved reading The Midnight Isles! Nocticula is probably my favorite of the Golarion demon lords, and it was nice to see her in a major role. It's also nice to have an adventure where the PCs actually meet a demon lord on sort-of-friendly terms!
This brings a question to how Nocticula is portrayed in artwork.
In her write-up in Lords of Chaos, it says, "Lady Nocticula is fond of wearing her dark hair in complex styles."
In every depiction I've seen published (specifically, the front cover and interior art on p.27 of Lords of Chaos, and the three pieces of art that show her on pages 4, 31, and 87 of The Midnight Isles), her hair appears to be wound up in seven stiff horn-like projections radiating upward from the back of her head.
I was curious if that is merely subsequent artists following the lead of the initial artist's take of a "complex" hair style, or if there is something else going on there-- like she has seven horns on her head that she covers with her tresses? In-world, do images of Nocticula always show her with this haristyle?
Just wanting to know for if and when I run Wrath of the Righteous, or otherwise have my PCs encounter Our Lady in Shadow.
Thanks!
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Creative Director
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By RAW, you couldn't get Arcane Apotheosis, the feats mention your effective Sorcerer level is your level -2.The Robe of Arcane Heritage might be able to fix that, though.
It shouldn't, in my opinion. That item, along with the monk's belt, are super cheesy. I don't like items that let you pay to play, in other words... pay to get things you should play to get.
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Creative Director
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Are you familiar with Kthanid, the brother of Cthulhu?
If you were to stat him out as a deity, how would you do it? Would he be Chaotic Good?
I'm familiar with him, and think Kthanid is probably my LEAST favorite addition to the Mythos. I wouldn't stat him, since I wouldn't include him in any project I had power to influence.
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Creative Director
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I'm not sure if this has been asked before - how familiar are you with H Rider Haggard? Was his work an influence at all on Serpent's Skull?
I've always found him interesting - he has surprisingly modern views for a Victorian writer (he's less racist than you would expect, though somewhat classist and occasionally very misogynistic), and I came across an article a few years ago alleging that he ought to be considered the father of modern fantasy literature, rather than Tolkien or Lewis.
I'm not, alas, although he was certainly influential on writers I do read a lot of. So I'm sure there's some trickle-down influence going on.
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Creative Director
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5) Probably the cover Eva did for Lords of Chaos.5) I really love the artwork of Nocticula in her bestiary writeup! Out of all the art of her in various books, which is your favorite?
I absolutely loved reading The Midnight Isles! Nocticula is probably my favorite of the Golarion demon lords, and it was nice to see her in a major role. It's also nice to have an adventure where the PCs actually meet a demon lord on sort-of-friendly terms!
This brings a question to how Nocticula is portrayed in artwork.
In her write-up in Lords of Chaos, it says, "Lady Nocticula is fond of wearing her dark hair in complex styles."
In every depiction I've seen published (specifically, the front cover and interior art on p.27 of Lords of Chaos, and the three pieces of art that show her on pages 4, 31, and 87 of The Midnight Isles), her hair appears to be wound up in seven stiff horn-like projections radiating upward from the back of her head.
I was curious if that is merely subsequent artists following the lead of the initial artist's take of a "complex" hair style, or if there is something else going on there-- like she has seven horns on her head that she covers with her tresses? In-world, do images of Nocticula always show her with this haristyle?
Just wanting to know for if and when I run Wrath of the Righteous, or otherwise have my PCs encounter Our Lady in Shadow.
Thanks!
There are several ways you can identify made-up characters. The classic way is via outfit; that's why superheroes wear costumes that are easily identifiable. When you have multiple artists depicting the same character, they look different... but when you illustrate them wearing the same easily identifiable outfit, you can still recognize them.
That's also why we always depict our iconics dressed in the same way. Their outfits are what help them to be recognizable, regardless of who is illustrating them.
In that way, Nocticula's hair is part of her "iconography." She does wear multiple different complex hair styles, of which the one we've used to illustrate her is one such style. We haven't illustrated her enough yet to earn the luxury of giving her different hair styles, and we're unlikely to ever reach that point. She doesn't have horns under her hair, and in world her hairstyle in her artwork DOES change often.
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Do Mordant Spire elves ever go adventuring?Yes.
The Spire Defender magus archetype, which Inner Sea Magic says originated with the Mordant Spire elves (so much so that non-elves need GM permission to use it), says that each one gains proficiency with one light or one-handed exotic weapon with the disarm or trip features.
Are there any particular weapons of this kind that they prefer? Aklys? Kama? Nunchaku? Sai? Swordbreaker dagger? Tekko-kagi? Flickmace (not likely, since that's a gnome invention)? Hooked axe? Khopesh? Nine section whip? Temple sword (unsure of this one, it's primarily Vudrani, isn't it?)? Wahaika? Whip?
Also, what deities to the Mordant Spire elves worship?
What's the closest depiction of Aroden (as he might have been used in religious items) that has been illustrated? Same goes for Arazni and Iomedae.
How would you stat out Cthugha as a deity?
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Creative Director
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Do Mordant Spire elves ever go adventuring?Yes.The Spire Defender magus archetype, which Inner Sea Magic says originated with the Mordant Spire elves (so much so that non-elves need GM permission to use it), says that each one gains proficiency with one light or one-handed exotic weapon with the disarm or trip features.
Are there any particular weapons of this kind that they prefer? Aklys? Kama? Nunchaku? Sai? Swordbreaker dagger? Tekko-kagi? Flickmace (not likely, since that's a gnome invention)? Hooked axe? Khopesh? Nine section whip? Temple sword (unsure of this one, it's primarily Vudrani, isn't it?)? Wahaika? Whip?
Also, what deities to the Mordant Spire elves worship?
They'd prefer elegant weapons. I'd say that whip is probably the most common, followed perhaps equally by kama, nunchaku, temple sword, and sai.
I don't recall off the top of my head who they mostly worship... that's kind of a tricky question. Calistria and the other elven gods are a safe bet, as are Desna and Nethys.
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Creative Director
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What's the closest depiction of Aroden (as he might have been used in religious items) that has been illustrated? Same goes for Arazni and Iomedae.
We've illustrated Aroden on the back cover of Inner Sea Magic, and Arazni and Iomedae numerous times. Arazni's easiest to find one is in Inner Sea World Guide in the section on Geb, while Iomedae's is in Gods and Magic.
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Do Mordant Spire elves ever go adventuring?Yes.The Spire Defender magus archetype, which Inner Sea Magic says originated with the Mordant Spire elves (so much so that non-elves need GM permission to use it), says that each one gains proficiency with one light or one-handed exotic weapon with the disarm or trip features.
Are there any particular weapons of this kind that they prefer? Aklys? Kama? Nunchaku? Sai? Swordbreaker dagger? Tekko-kagi? Flickmace (not likely, since that's a gnome invention)? Hooked axe? Khopesh? Nine section whip? Temple sword (unsure of this one, it's primarily Vudrani, isn't it?)? Wahaika? Whip?
Also, what deities to the Mordant Spire elves worship?
They'd prefer elegant weapons. I'd say that whip is probably the most common, followed perhaps equally by kama, nunchaku, temple sword, and sai.
I don't recall off the top of my head who they mostly worship... that's kind of a tricky question. Calistria and the other elven gods are a safe bet, as are Desna and Nethys.
Did they import the temple swords? I thought those were an exclusively Vudrani weapon.
And Calistria and Desna seem interesting, since the Mordant Elves described in Mythic Realms are all LN.
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1) Can a preparation ritual be copied from one spellbook into another (i.e., learning and scribing a spell)?
2) Can the preparation ritual be placed into a spellbook using an item creation feat (e.g., Craft Wondrous Item or Scribe Scroll)?
3) If a preparation ritual can not be copied nor created how do they get into a spellbook originally?
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Creative Director
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Did they import the temple swords? I thought those were an exclusively Vudrani weapon.
And Calistria and Desna seem interesting, since the Mordant Elves described in Mythic Realms are all LN.
They started in Vudra, but over several thousand years, they're all over now.
As for religion... scratch all that. If we haven't said much more about it, apart from them being lawful neutral, then we haven't decided more yet. Being LN they don't worship Desna or the typical deities of the elves.
I'm not sure who they really worship yet. They're still kinda mysterious, it turns out. Even to me. WHo should probably not try to second-guess world content when he's recovering from surgery, apparently! :P