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This may not be what anyone would have had in mind, but it might make sense.
I also don't know if this is better-suited to the RotRL or ShSt board, which is why I put it in General Discussion.
Xanderghul being mythical, if he took the mythical ability where people can pray to you and get divine spells out of it, and if the Peacock Spirit was merely a title, then Xanderghul could have set up a literal cult of personality.
As the one and only Runelord of Pride, it sounds like a thing he'd want to do. Not only did the faith vanish along with him, but the connection was also lost over time (unless he never made the connection explicit).
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That's an interesting theory that I hadn't considered before and something in-character for a mythic pride-focused guy.
I had assumed the Peacock Spirit was Melek Taus (the Peacock Angel, an Empyreal Lord and missing ruler of one of the layers of Heaven) in a fallen state that was no longer LG alignment-wise that Xanderghul had managed to pull an alliance with.
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None of that means it wasn't Xanderghul himself. He's still alive (if in stasis of some sort) and can still grant power to his followers, and is listed as LE. And Irori was mortal once, so him being the 'Irori of his era' works on that level, too (though unlike Irori he never attained full godhood).
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If he's in stasis or whatever it is that allowed him to survive Earthfall (Krune didn't even count as alive, IIRC), then he may not currently have the ability to grant spells as the Peacock Spirit. Regardless, the Revelation Quills still function, and they are alleged to get their knowledge from the Peacock Spirit.
Maybe he's conscious. We really don't know, but I'll bet you he's still out there. Heck, Krune made it through and he was the runt of the litter, Xanderghul is the most powerful of them.
It doesn't seem very prideful to me for Xanderghul to credit the power of the Peacock Spirit to something else when it was actually him. If he was the Peacock Spirit and granting the power, I don't see why he wouldn't just say so.
Remember what School Pride is. It's Illusion. The man's a 20th level Mythic Illusionist, some misdirection should be expected, y'know?
As a big fan of the Peacock Spirit since my Monk of Irori got the Revelation Quill in the first AP a few years ago, I'm very interested in this theory, specially since I will be GMing Shattered Star shortly. :)
The stasis stuff had to do with "wake me up when the apocalypse is over."
Remember, Earthfall wasn't actually what they were planning for - each Runelord was planned for an end-of-the-world scenario being caused by the other Runelords.
And so they developed methods to put themselves out of reach for anyone who'd be trying to hunt them during the aftermath.
I will also note that Karzoug expected to be back up and out millennia ago. His return got significantly delayed by a petty act of sabotage that prevented his top apprentice, who was supposed to start the process of bringing Karzoug back from the Runewell, from waking up from his own stasis.
And so Varisia's doom got delayed by thousands of years by a random act of dickery, which actually feels really appropriate for the Runelords.
As to the original topic - Xanderghul being a genuine demigod (i.e., beyond what's provided by Divine Source) makes sense to me. My understanding is that Xanderghul and Sorshen are both supposed to have some extra "oomph" beyond mythic tier 10; Xanderghul having mostly ascended to godhood would certainly do it.
Someone offered that speculation up to James Jacobs in his thread a while back, not sure if that was the OP as well. He gave a very that-may-not-be-it-but-it-is-definitely-an-interesting-idea-isnt-it? kinda of answer.
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Oh. I thought to myself, "if he worships himself all the time, what could be better than getting people to do it, other than getting people to do it without realizing the truth of it?"
But even with all the time and money, it'd be too much trouble to retrain from Illusionist 20 to Illusionist 7/Mystic Theurge 10/Cleric of Himself 3.
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The only thing that says to me that this isn't true is that, well, if you're the Runelord of Pride, don't you want people to know who you are? Calling yourself the Peacock Spirit is fine and all, but you're not the Runelord of Humility. Misdirection is fine and fits in with the theme of the school, but pride is the overriding motivator. The name Xanderghul is barely remembered today - the Peacock Spirit roughly the same, if not a bit more obscure. If he did become a demigod, why not proclaim himself to be Xanderghul, Patron God of Illusion Magic, Pride and Deviousness? Why the charade?
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Possibly to prevent the other Runelords from realizing that the second most popular religion in their region was their rival?
I can't imagine Karzoug or any of the other Runelords actually allowing worship of the Peacock Spirit in their respective realms if they knew it was Xanderghul and not just some random eldritch abomination.
I like this idea more than the others.
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He could want people to know it was him. He may or may not have left obscure hints that got lost over time, depending on how you GM it: he had declared himself its chief priest without any of his spell slots being devoted to the divine, and after all, what else would the seminal practitioner of Pride worship but himself?
I had previously accused the faith of Lisalla of being a constructed religion, because it struck me as a way for the Runelords to think of sin as a self-serving philosophy while enforcing it as doctrine. The way I GM it, Lisalla was a mythical lillend that Xin contacted for help in working out his virtues, then to be the focus of a faith for them. That way, you didn't have to be a philosopher to accept them.
Then his apprentices managed to trick or coerce her until she was the way they wanted her to be. After that, it was only a matter of time before Xanderghul thought, "I can do it all myself!"
As for those graveknights who claim to have been paladins of the Peacock Spirit, they don't or never had to avoid lying. Or they could have been duped in life.
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Thassilon was not a nation that would have fostered Paladins as we understand paladins. Paladins are generally more Good than Lawful. Thassilon was likely more Lawful than Evil but it was an inherently evil place.
Xanderghul could have pulled this off mechanically. I think he might have pulled this off thematically. Pride does not require publicity. He got plenty of publicity.
Imagine the Pride at becoming the Diety of your enemies armies. A pride you keep to yourself until you have fully transformed/ascended.
I don't think the Sin of Pride would have prevented this.
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I dunno, I can see Pride in one's own cleverness resulting in having exactly such a secret, so you can monologue to people about how thoroughly they were duped right before you kill them.
And, being an utterly ridiculous badass, Xanderghul probably actually killed those he did that with, which would keep the secret.
Pride isn't always about trumpeting your superiority from the rooftops, sometimes it's just a quiet feeling of satisfaction that you're so much smarter than the other guy he never even knew you were there.
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The only thing that says to me that this isn't true is that, well, if you're the Runelord of Pride, don't you want people to know who you are?
That would be boasting and reputation, not necessarily pride.
Pride can be internal.
Extreme humility and secrecy about achievements could even be full of pride as well, "Humility is a holy virtue but almost impossible to achieve, I've had to work hard to attain it. Just look at those so called saints, ostentatiously making a showing to everyone about their "humility"! It is extrememly tough but I've avoided falling as they have. Nobody notices me. I have true humility."
Calling yourself the Peacock Spirit is fine and all, but you're not the Runelord of Humility. Misdirection is fine and fits in with the theme of the school, but pride is the overriding motivator. The name Xanderghul is barely remembered today - the Peacock Spirit roughly the same, if not a bit more obscure. If he did become a demigod, why not proclaim himself to be Xanderghul, Patron God of Illusion Magic, Pride and Deviousness? Why the charade?
The God of Deviousness hiding in plain sight? Being more powerful than he lets on and keeping his enemies, rivals, and servants off guard as to his true capabilities?
Wait! If I'm reading this thread correctly:
The Peacock Spirit = Xanderghul ISN'T canon in Pathfinder?!?
...
Oh, well.
Carry on!
--C.
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It may or may not be, officially, but that could be so that GMs don't feel stuck to one interpretation.
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The only thing that says to me that this isn't true is that, well, if you're the Runelord of Pride, don't you want people to know who you are?
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This is the other thing that just kinda rubs me the wrong way about Xanderghul creating The Peacock Spirit so people will worship him, now that we know the truth. Seems like he would have done a Razmir thing instead of a Vigilante thing.
But it's still a great OP from four years ago!
Kudos