I'm a massive fan of speculative fiction, from realistic alternate history to heavily imaginative fantasy! One thing I like to ponder is how things can turn different in a world's history... I guess you could say fan-fiction of sorts.
But, what I'm wondering is what could result in some terrifying and bleak futures in Golarion? What events from both past and future could turn into something downright chilling? Now, some are pretty obvious (and stated in various stuff like in APs) such as the potential Demonic Apocalypse that would result form failure in Wrath of the Righteous! But, I'm sure some are much more nuanced and subtle! As a fan of both dark fiction and Golarion, I'm interested in hearing ideas.
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Some ideas:
- The Worldwound getting free of Mendev.
- The return of Aroden as an undead god.
- The coming of the high-tech aliens who lost a starship full of robots in Numeria.
- Rovagug unleashed! People turning into monsters due to his breath.
- The Cthulhu's Endtimes!
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Wizards of the Coast buying out Pazio and deciding Golarion needs some quick timeline jumps...a lot more WSE...novels becoming cannon...etc. You know the stuff that worked so well for the Forgotten Realms.
Cheliax conquering most of Avistan and instating Asmodean hegemony.
There's already a dystopia in the settlement of Promise on the island of Hermea. Promise is probably my favorite weird location in Golarion. I can't wait for some more content for it.
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There's already a dystopia in the settlement of Promise on the island of Hermea. Promise is probably my favorite weird location in Golarion. I can't wait for some more content for it.
Who says Promise is a dystopia? Heck it might even be a utopia...though that seems a bit unlikely, I admit. But we have nowhere near enough information to definitively declare it a dystopia.
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Pit of Gorumz goes into overdrive, releasing multiple Spawns of Rovagug at once. Contact with Casmaron ceases.
+1 Cheliax supremacy. Big Brother would literally be the devil and I could see all kinds of infernal/magical/tech dominating a future Golarion. I'm thinking evil driven steam punk!
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+1 Cheliax supremacy. Big Brother would literally be the devil and I could see all kinds of infernal/magical/tech dominating a future Golarion. I'm thinking evil driven steam punk!
Put all that together, and you end up with New Crobuzon. Perdido Street Station would be a great resource.
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I gotta say, after reading the writeup of the Nidalese city Nisroch, my vote goes to whatever that place's endgame is. It's like a non-stop concentration camp without any heartwarming stories of courage or the irrepressible human spirit to brighten things up. Nidal is the place where hope goes to die a horrible, torturous death, then gets to spend eternity as a cenobite's personal pincushion.
Yeah, that's fair. If you want the closest that place comes to hope, try reading Nightglass...and even there, that's the darkest Pathfinder Tales novel to-date by quite a bit, and the hope involves getting the hell away from that place.
** spoiler omitted **
a country artificially engineered to be perfect, and that seems perfect on the outside, but is in fact an emotionless Hell of ironclad law and order.
Uh...I don't believe this is stated to be the case anywhere. So...I'm standing by the 'We have no idea what Hermea is really like.' theory. Since we, in fact, do not.
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It's technically neutral I think, so probably not that bad really. It seems totalitarian though with a dash of eugenics.
** spoiler omitted **
Eugenics are definitely a thing, but I never got a totalitarian vibe per se for people who actually live there. Of course, not everyone is allowed in...
And we actually don't know its Alignment. We know it's in a CN area...but it's clearly a somewhat different alignment than that. What Alignment? Who knows?
I just shudder whenever someone talks about building a "Utopia" in real life.
Oh, lord yes. Very bad idea.
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Treerazer decides he's had enough of kiddin' around and completely smashes Kyonin, creating a second Worldwound that begins spreading to meet up with Deskari's, and one that bleeds through the Sovyrian Stone to threaten two worlds!
One of the more powerful Runelords, like Sorshen or Xanderghul, awakens and breaks any attempts to stop them, crushing Varisia under heel and beginning a great rebirth of the Thassilonian Empire.
Alderpash?
The possibility of Zutha was mentioned at the end of Shattered Star.
And which PFS modules dealt with Krune? I might actually get them ...
Alderpash?
The possibility of Zutha was mentioned at the end of Shattered Star.
And which PFS modules dealt with Krune? I might actually get them ...
Well, this is the endgame scenario, but I believe several of the earlier parts of season four lead up to it.
Thanks! :)
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Within a few years, Queen Abrogail II dies, and with it all of Hell's binding agreements that shaped the nation are fulfilled. Every devil and entity that had been "bound" strikes against the nation, almost as if they had been waiting for it the whole time. Mortals, are given the choice, submit to the whims of Hell or die. The Hellknights whose loyalty is to the nation or the singular ideals of order (LN) as well as those with the power to summon or control Devils are systematically targeted first, usually being slain outright, but some are allowed to serve Hell's agenda if they are willing to serve Hell's armies.
The initial mass response is to flock to the banner of Asmodeus, but the overnight strike against Cheliax is simply the coup against Asmodeus played out on the mortal realm, and even he and his faithful are not prepared against the assault. Within a few days, Cheliax becomes an utterly evil tyranny bound to armies of Infernal masters, with aims of immediate world domination, Asmodeus deposed, (to the point that in most places worship or mention of his name is punishable by death).
The new leadership of Cheliax makes deals with Taldor, Andoran, and the various Kelish peoples, masquerading as peace treaties, but instead bring war. Andoran's navy is targeted first and crushed, leaving only few ships that where out at sea.
Taldor was (partially correctly) viewed as a minor threat, and Hell intended to pacify them with continued promise of peace whilst slowly attacking it's weak borders and corrupting the nation from within over months. Initially it brought in advisors that acted as powers behind the throne, manipulating the nation to feed into the illusion of their own power and importance while working to weaken Taldor's nobility's influences and keep the nation weak and out of the fight until Hell was ready to usurp, (or destroy) that nation, and for the most part Taldor has fallen even further into decline as a power.
For the first month, every nation that could be a threat to Hell's plans of conquest where either attacked and severely weakened, or made into unwilling allies, unable to fight back. Throughout the world, beings loyal to Hell had been laying in wait, slowly corrupting organizations (like in the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment), and uniformly brought their true powers to bear as Queen Abrogail II passed, and with it what had been Cheliax.
As had been the custom in Cheliax under Asmodeus, non-LE faiths are allowed, but "discouraged", (and ironically Asmodeus is banned). In areas where Hell holds power or influence, justice has become swift and brutal. The leaders of good faiths, those who openly resisted, and those who had been heroes where usually the first, defamed in public, generally through false evidence, lies, and the easy manipulation of a fearful mob, unable to realize that it was a tactical maneuver to further enslave the people by removing their hope as well as the most likely resistance.
Absolam and Kaer Mage where taken without a fight, much like Taldor, though in the case of those two, small war parties of Devils arrived in the homes of the heads of various factions and other powers that be and slew them as they slept. They waited a few days for those cities to fall into chaos and bloodshed in the streets, then stepped in with promises of peace and order. The Pathfinder Society's grand Lodge was likewise assaulted, and it's leadership mostly murdered. However, the goal was not to cause chaos, but rather to gain access to the Society's vaults, particularly it's many unholy artifacts and forbidden wisdom.
Further, it instilled powerful Devils that now masquerade as the Decemverate and all the highly placed Venture Captains, and send out Pathfinders to find further artifacts, those agents unknowingly aiding Hell. Ironically, Pathfinders with a history of tarnishing the Society's name are sent on suicide missions, or sometimes false missions leading them to walk right into an Infernal ambush, and the "troublemakers/murderhobos" have almost entirely been purged. Few have realized it, because most agents like the way it's been running lately. No more Mortaniusicus, Necromancer of "but I'm CN" raising those commoners grandparents in the middle of the street to fight common thugs, the Pathfinder Society has actually gained a bit of respect amongst the worlds working man as professionals with a knack for showing up and laying some local monster to rest and not causing trouble.
Hell's army has made sure that each nation has become paranoid that the others might attack. Has manipulated the increase of racial prejudices, all to keep each of it's feudal baronies weakened and focused on other targets. Has kept the armies of Mendev and Lastwall busy with increased threats in those lands and unable to divide their forces elsewhere. Hell brought a sort of peace and order, but not the sort that most wanted or now like. It's an illusion of peace that serves as control.
But, there is one thing that Hell had not counted on. It initially started not unlike a candle flickering in the wind, at risk of going out, but instead that flame lit another candle, and then another. . .
Taldor's true power has never been in it's history. In it's nobility, it's influence, it' lands, it's armies, or it' wealth. Taldor's true power lies in it's ability to inspire and lead others. It was Taldor that made it possible for the armies of Lastwall. Or the crusade against Ustalav and the Whispring Tyrrant. It was Taldor even more recently that brought warriors from across the word and across racial lines together to assault the encroaching Worldwound. When Andran nearly crumbled under it's own corruption, it was Taldor that was able to unify key individuals and keep it from turning into a new Galt. And now it is Taldor that has been slowly organizing resistance. But what can a few fallen Paladins and priests, unable to keep their holiness in these dark times, a handful of deposed nobles, and multiple groups of depowered warriors from nations, factions, faiths, and races with long histories of being at odds with each other, if not outright enemies do, when their safest place of meeting might as well be hidden in the belly of the beast?
Mmm, sounds like a potential method of spreading the Blood War across the planes. Think of the expansive enterprise! *ahem* It would be quite the sight to behold, one would wonder how such madness would be stopped?
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Wizards of the Coast buying out Pazio and deciding Golarion needs some quick timeline jumps...a lot more WSE...novels becoming cannon...etc. You know the stuff that worked so well for the Forgotten Realms.
honestly, i'm more scared of Wizards selling DnD to Paizo than I am of Wizards buying Paizo...