For those who don't know, she is named after and based on one of the consorts of Alexander The Great (who started out as a prostitute as well.) I've always wondered why they decided to make the herald this way. Like, what does Cailean Cayden have to do with Alexander The Great?
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That's news to me. I forget who named her in the first place... my gut tells me it was Sean K Reynolds. Whether or not he (or whoever) intended the name to be an easter egg to Alexander the Great... as the creative director who just learned about it, I can confirm that it doesn't mean anything at all in-world or canonically.
No more so than Kyra's name being inspired by my favorite character from the Dark Crystal means she's a gelfling. :-P
Well, the book uses the same word to describe her (hetaera, which was some kind of fancy prostitute in Ancient Greece,) So I highly doubt it was a coincidence.
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Thais is a feminine name in general (most common in Brazil now, if I recall right), but if it's a reference to anyone, I'm guessing it's slightly more likely St. Thais of Alexandria, a repentant courtesan saint, than Alexander the Great's consort, since Saint Thais is also a religious figure, or both of them at once. That said, that's all speculation.
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Well, the book uses the same word to describe her (hetaera, which was some kind of fancy prostitute in Ancient Greece,) So I highly doubt it was a coincidence.
Then it's certainly intentional, but doesn't change my decision that it's nothing more than an easter egg that isn't meant to imply connection to real-world historical figures.
Thais is a feminine name in general (most common in Brazil now, if I recall right), but if it's a reference to anyone, I'm guessing it's slightly more likely St. Thais of Alexandria, a repentant courtesan saint, than Alexander the Great's consort, since Saint Thais is also a religious figure, or both of them at once. That said, that's all speculation.
Her being a composite of the two actually makes a lot of sense (as she started as a human and then became an angel-like being.) She's also presumably a lot nicer than Alexander's Thais, being CG and all.
Speaking of heralds: will we get 2e stats for them? I'm actually kind of surprised they weren't in the Gods and Magic book.
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Speaking of heralds: will we get 2e stats for them? I'm actually kind of surprised they weren't in the Gods and Magic book.
Some day, maybe. It was a tough sell getting those stats into Inner Sea Gods since that's pages that couldn't go toward supporting PC options, and since it was 20 pages devoted to high-level (and thus, the perception being, not that usable) creatures. I managed to convince folks to include them in that book but only with the addition of another 20 low level brand-new variants. Since Gods & Magic was so much shorter than Inner Sea Gods... including monster stats was a no-go from the start due to space limitations.
We'll stat up the heralds in adventures when/if they're appropriate, but I don't see us statting them all up in one fell swoop anytime soon, if ever, for 2nd edition.
Unless there's a strong call from customers for them, of course!
Then it's certainly intentional, but doesn't change my decision that it's nothing more than an easter egg that isn't meant to imply connection to real-world historical figures.Thank you for the clarification.
It's difficult for us (players) to judge if references are supposed to have meaning or not.
Thais might not have special meaning, but I am sure Absalom does?
Sidenote: Paizo lore seems like a Christian religious class. I didn't know any of these names, and the 7 specific sins, and things like that until I started reading it. I'm not sure if I like the idea or not (all real world things should be kept separate; I would put zero real world names into a fantasy world), but I respect your right to print what you and your customers want.
You do realize something like 80-90 percent of the monsters in the game are from real-world mythology, right?
Speaking of heralds: will we get 2e stats for them? I'm actually kind of surprised they weren't in the Gods and Magic book.Some day, maybe. It was a tough sell getting those stats into Inner Sea Gods since that's pages that couldn't go toward supporting PC options, and since it was 20 pages devoted to high-level (and thus, the perception being, not that usable) creatures. I managed to convince folks to include them in that book but only with the addition of another 20 low level brand-new variants. Since Gods & Magic was so much shorter than Inner Sea Gods... including monster stats was a no-go from the start due to space limitations.
We'll stat up the heralds in adventures when/if they're appropriate, but I don't see us statting them all up in one fell swoop anytime soon, if ever, for 2nd edition.
Unless there's a strong call from customers for them, of course!
Aren't the Heralds mainly intended for players to call with Greater Planar Ally and the like? I think that still exists in 2e? I know there's a Planar Ally ritual that can summon creatures up to level 10 (but the Heralds could be made level 10 instead of 15 like in 1e.)
Aren't the Heralds mainly intended for players to call with Greater Planar Ally and the like? I think that still exists in 2e? I know there's a Planar Ally ritual that can summon creatures up to level 10 (but the Heralds could be made level 10 instead of 15 like in 1e.)
I believe Planar Ally can be heightened to 10th level (but only by a 20th-level caster) at which point it can call a 20th-level critter, so no need to cap the Heralds to 10th.
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Aren't the Heralds mainly intended for players to call with Greater Planar Ally and the like? I think that still exists in 2e? I know there's a Planar Ally ritual that can summon creatures up to level 10 (but the Heralds could be made level 10 instead of 15 like in 1e.)Speaking of heralds: will we get 2e stats for them? I'm actually kind of surprised they weren't in the Gods and Magic book.Some day, maybe. It was a tough sell getting those stats into Inner Sea Gods since that's pages that couldn't go toward supporting PC options, and since it was 20 pages devoted to high-level (and thus, the perception being, not that usable) creatures. I managed to convince folks to include them in that book but only with the addition of another 20 low level brand-new variants. Since Gods & Magic was so much shorter than Inner Sea Gods... including monster stats was a no-go from the start due to space limitations.
We'll stat up the heralds in adventures when/if they're appropriate, but I don't see us statting them all up in one fell swoop anytime soon, if ever, for 2nd edition.
Unless there's a strong call from customers for them, of course!
Correct, the primary goal for creating the Heralds was to give clerics something unique to conjure with Greater Planar Ally. But that's a high level spell and doesn't see a lot of play, which is why it was tough to convince the powers that be to spend 20 pages of a book on something that players would rarely ever get to use.
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Aren't the Heralds mainly intended for players to call with Greater Planar Ally and the like? I think that still exists in 2e? I know there's a Planar Ally ritual that can summon creatures up to level 10 (but the Heralds could be made level 10 instead of 15 like in 1e.)I believe Planar Ally can be heightened to 10th level (but only by a 20th-level caster) at which point it can call a 20th-level critter, so no need to cap the Heralds to 10th.
Not gonna change the level of the heralds just because the rules change.
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So you want to remove every name that's been in a modernly-popular religion? Goodbye to every John in Golarion, I guess.