| Apupunchau |
One of the things I love most about Golarion is that there is a ton of stuff left unwritten. It allows me to expand on things in my games and invent new things to further enrich the game world. A part of the setting that always interests me are the divine being they have and how the interact with their followers and each other. On one of the Pathfinder FB pages I play a little game of creativity where I ask about what kind of character you would make to follow a god. This week I'm looking at Aesdurath, the Daemon Harbinger of immortality, liches, and magical catastrophes.
Sitting at our theoretical gaming table, our GM turns to us and says, "All of the characters must be followers of Aesudrath, although they do not need to be divine casters." What character do you make? Who is he? Why has he chosen The Pale Dowager as his patron? In what ways does he further Daemon Harbinger‘s goals? Why would he be attracted to this beings doctrine?
| Reduxist |
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For me, the words "magical catastrophes" really catch my eye, and one of the best examples of a magical catastrophe in Golarion would be the Mana Wastes, just north of the necropolitan country of Geb. While being in proximity to such an epicenter of necromantic magic, the fact that the Mana Wastes is such a great source of primal magic, where even more magical catastrophes can potentially spring from itself, has to be an excellent place for the worshipers of Aesdurath.
Even if the worshipper isn't based in the Mana Wastes or Geb, Nex is also an excellent source of magic, and possibly research on other forms of immortality outside of necromancy. To that end, the worshipers of Aesdurath and Charon would work together to thwart the research in question or, in a best case scenario, subvert it into a magical disaster area.
Even if the worshippers of Aesdurath didn't focus on subverting and perverting the notion of immortality, undeath and lichdom would be worthwhile practices for them, especially in the cases of others. Controlling the undead would provide worshippers with a potentially limitless amount of bodies to throw at their foes without having to create a soul in the process.
| Todd Stewart Contributor |
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Worth noting that Aesdurath is likely to push followers towards undeath as not just a favored route to immortality but the only route (because his/her/its boss Charon really -really- doesn't like non undeath immortality, because at least in the long-run, the undead are liable to cause more death to mortals even if they're being granted a respite of sorts from the daemon's core goal).
Aesdurath is one of my favorite harbingers fwiw.
| Apupunchau |
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All interesting takes. I was unaware that in specific Charon was her master, I could have probably run with that a bit. I added the non-undead immortals because I think it would amuse Aesdurath. In the end the Daemons are Nihilists. They want to bring about the end of the world. So immortality doesn't matter much to them because undead or not you're only going to live as long as the world exists. So I see the search for immortality for her has kind of her own personal in joke.
| Todd Stewart Contributor |
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All interesting takes. I was unaware that in specific Charon was her master, I could have probably run with that a bit. I added the non-undead immortals because I think it would amuse Aesdurath. In the end the Daemons are Nihilists. They want to bring about the end of the world. So immortality doesn't matter much to them because undead or not you're only going to live as long as the world exists. So I see the search for immortality for her has kind of her own personal in joke.
In published material at present no, there's no given allegiance for Aesdurath. There was a write up for Aesdurath that ultimately was cut from BotD3 for space, which is I suppose informed head canon of sorts for me, but of course unless it's in print, it's not actually canonical.
I actually posted the write up on the forums with permission back in 2012. Of course this content isn't canon since it wasn't actually in BotD3, but if you wanted to run with it, feel free.
Aesdurath the Pale Dowager (the Puppet King)
Commander: Charon
Realm: The 9 Towers
Unholy Symbol: A silhouette of two overlapping skulls
Areas of concern: Death by Magical Backlash
Domains: Evil, Undeath, Magic
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Aesdurath was born from the bizarre conjunction of a lich whose soul fused with its erodaemon consort upon his corporeal destruction. Now appearing as a gaunt, genderless erodaemon spontaneously manifesting bleeding bite marks upon its body, its conjoined souls feed upon one another. Aesdurath isn’t a true daemon, at least as far as most of the daemonic nobility is concerned. Yet Charon accepts Aesdurath’s loyalty and the Four take no official stance, leaving many to suspect they use them as a goading tool to throw against their other vassals.