It's long been established that the Starstone is a gateway to demigodhood, but how did it get to be that way? Even in Starfinder, the Starstone holds a special place.
Did it get infused with divine power when the meteor that housed it went through and killed a deity on its way into Golarion? If so, is there a limit to its power to grant living godhood when it expends all that is left of the divine power it is infused with.
Did it already have that power?
Separately, can deities gain power by slaying each other? Lamashtu took some of Curchhanas's power to bootstrap herself into full ascension. If a full deity slew another, could it assume all of the defeated deity's power?
In order to destroy the Aztlanti empire, the Alghollthu decided to destroy Golarion using by dropping the poisonous core of a dead planet invested with all the ancient magic they could muster on it. In order to prevent the world itself from ending, two Aztlanti deities sacrificed themselves, and the meteorite still did significant damage to both Golarion and its moon.
So it's a combination of "ancient alghollthu magic", "a thing in space that was chosen specifically for it's destructive magical power, "the lifeblood of Acavna and Amaznen" and some sort of metaphysical absorption from Golarion (which, you may recall is the prison of a God) and its moon. It's unclear if this is limited in any way, since only 4 individuals have ascended via the Starstone, which is still 2 more than died in creating it so there's no conservation of divinity here.
But a slight correction, the Starstone grants full godhood if you pass its test, you can achieve demigod status much more easily (like the Party in Wrath of the Righteous can all do it.)
As for what happens when a deity slays another one, it's unclear. This hasn't happened often enough to have any sort of sense of how it's supposed to work. Like Lamashtu killed Curchanus and became a full god in the process, but Aroden is for sure dead and nobody has noticed anybody else absorbing her port (Iomedae is the inheritor, but she inherited his position, she came by her power by herself). But since deities specifically do not have rules, it can just work however it needs to work for any given story.
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Whether it has a limit on how much power it can grant is likely only ever going to be a question for a home game. The Starstone is too interesting a plot device for that question to ever arise in an official product, and really its going dead wouldn't do anything to make the setting more interesting, so I doubt that is something you'll ever get an official answer on.
Whether it had divine power before ... I don't believe so. We know it was the leftovers of some ancient superweapon--I want to say created by the Alghollthu but I'm not 100% positive--fused with the essence of a dead deity. If it was a weapon created by, or used by, the Alghollthu though, that suggests to me that it didn't possess any divine power in and of itself. The Alghollthu are staunchly atheistic, or maybe antitheistic, since acknowledging a deity is to admit there is something more powerful and perfect than their evolved collective, which they won't or can't do.
I think Lamashtu's case answers your own question. She wasn't a deity, killed a deity, and became a deity, so that does prove it's at least somewhat possible. I don't know of anyone in-setting who has killed a deity and taken all of their power for their own but it is theoretically doable.
How gods work is left purposefully vague so that people can make whatever plots up that they want involving them. A deity is pretty close to a pure plot device, so keeping them open-ended means people can tell more stories at table.
Personally though, my thinking is that yes, divine power can be taken, but it also probably depends on what that power is, and the kind of deity someone is aiming to become. I can't see someone slaying a god to become a deity of healing and friendship, for example, but it totally makes sense for someone looking to become a god of battle, strength, or murder.
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Another thing worth considering is that Irori and Nethys were mortals who became full gods, not via the Starstone, nor via killing a deity and assuming their mantle, but just by relentless pursuit of self-perfection and "grew powerful enough to simultaneously perceive all of existence". So there's potentially lots of ways to become divine.
Awesome answers, thanks for replying. I'll note that Paizo confirmed a few times over the years that the Starstone so far only gets you to demigodhood (which they call a living god).I saw this most recently on the lore video they did on the Starstone from 2e.
If it was infused with power from a slain full deity, it may have a limit in the amount of demigods it can make.
In Wrath, the divine source mythic ability makes characters quasi gods, below demigods. If you're taking about Owlcat's game, only the main character can ascend to demigodhood, and the party get bumped up to something like heralds.
I wouldn't count on the WotR game for solid rules on how Golarion's setting works.
Also, if you're interested in ways of becoming a deity or demigod I'd suggest checking out the 1E books Mythic Adventures and Mythic Realms. They're both pretty good sources on those kinds of things. Do keep in mind that some of the lore, and definitely the abilities, will be different between editions, though.
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PossibleCabbage wrote: Another thing worth considering is that Irori and Nethys were mortals who became full gods, not via the Starstone, nor via killing a deity and assuming their mantle, but just by relentless pursuit of self-perfection and "grew powerful enough to simultaneously perceive all of existence". So there's potentially lots of ways to become divine. Gruhastha, who is Irori’s nephew if my memory serves, wasa mortal who ascended by writing a perfect book.
Perpdepog wrote: I wouldn't count on the WotR game for solid rules on how Golarion's setting works. I brought up WotR not to reference the video game (which I have not played) and more to reference the AP (which I have) covering all 10 Mythic Tiers.
In Pathfinder "Demigod" is basicall "is able to grant spells and has 4 domains" which you'd get in 1e at your 9th mythic tier if you just keep taking the "Divine Source" Universal Path ability whenever you can.
Obviously the Mythic Rules won't come to 2e in exactly the same form, but I take that to mean "whatever it is you do to climb the mythic tiers is also potentially enough to make you divine." So you could get there through an accumulation of great deeds, rather than a single event like the test of the starstone or "however Nethys did it."
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There’s a Mythic lion in Iblydos who grants spells despite just being a lion. Like, it doesn’t talk or know anything special,
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Demon Lords grant spells too.
Come to think of it, I guess all the methods by which an outsider becomes one of its kind's leaders could open the road to divinity for a mortal.
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I've always been suspicious that the Starstone has its own nefarious agenda. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that it caused the death of Aroden by taking its power back at a crucial moment. Perhaps it needed prophecy to fail in order to break free of its own destiny.
Gisher wrote: I've always been suspicious that the Starstone has its own nefarious agenda. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that it caused the death of Aroden by taking its power back at a crucial moment. Perhaps it needed prophecy to fail in order to break free of its own destiny. How nefarious could it be? 2/3 gods it helped ascend are Good.
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keftiu wrote: Gisher wrote: I've always been suspicious that the Starstone has its own nefarious agenda. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that it caused the death of Aroden by taking its power back at a crucial moment. Perhaps it needed prophecy to fail in order to break free of its own destiny. How nefarious could it be? 2/3 gods it helped ascend are Good.
I don't see any inherent reason why creating good deities couldn't serve an evil, long-term plan if one was clever enough.
For example, creating such deities might lead people to believe that you don't have any nefarious plans. ;)
I must say, looking at the origin and history of the Starstone, it is extremely easy to imagine it being both sapient and malevolent.
That we never had the slightest hint at this possibility in the printed material makes me more worried rather than less.
And I now wonder how many of Aroden's actions, even before he became a god, might have been caused by the influence of the Starstone.
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I also now wonder whether the Starstone replenishes its energies from all the powerful, even Mythic, candidates who die trying to reach it.
Do we know if anyone has ever contacted the souls of those who failed the Test ?
keftiu wrote: Gisher wrote: I've always been suspicious that the Starstone has its own nefarious agenda. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that it caused the death of Aroden by taking its power back at a crucial moment. Perhaps it needed prophecy to fail in order to break free of its own destiny. How nefarious could it be? 2/3 gods it helped ascend are Good.
And the evil deity it created has an aspect which is neutral rather than evil.
Then again, Father Skinsaw is evil enough for two so maybe that's a wash.
The Raven Black wrote: I also now wonder whether the Starstone replenishes its energies from all the powerful, even Mythic, candidates who die trying to reach it.
Do we know if anyone has ever contacted the souls of those who failed the Test ?
Vessel of the Failed, a 1e Medium archetype, centered on them.
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The Raven Black wrote: I must say, looking at the origin and history of the Starstone, it is extremely easy to imagine it being both sapient and malevolent.
That we never had the slightest hint at this possibility in the printed material makes me more worried rather than less.
And I now wonder how many of Aroden's actions, even before he became a god, might have been caused by the influence of the Starstone.
We shouldn't use 'influence of an evil rock' to excuse Aroden's poor behavior. Lets not help him abdicate responsibility any more than he already did.
I think the Starstone is just a metaphor for the d20.
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keftiu wrote: Gisher wrote: I've always been suspicious that the Starstone has its own nefarious agenda. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that it caused the death of Aroden by taking its power back at a crucial moment. Perhaps it needed prophecy to fail in order to break free of its own destiny. How nefarious could it be? 2/3 gods it helped ascend are Good.
This was the basis for the endgame of a mythic campaign years ago. The Starstone was a keyhole for other malign intelligences outside of the universe and those who "succeeded" in the test after Aroden were destroyed by the Stone as it fashioned a servitor deity out of the base template. Aroden died because he figured it out and returned to destroy the Starstone, only to be struck powerless by it as it was the fuel for his divinity, and he was bushwacked by the servitor Norgorber, Cayden, and Iomedae.
The unwitting party made it to the Starstone at the end of their test, only to be confronted by their own duplicates.
The fallout from the PC's battle launched them five centuries in the future but we rushed to wrap with the party again assaulting the Starstone and with a final battle against the Starstone trio. The conceit was that a Starstone divinity in the stone's presence dropped down to high mythic/demigod tier as in close proximity to the Starstone, disrupts their power.
In sum, the party won, destroyed the Starstone, which closed the peephole into the universe. The now untethered divine power caused the survivors to ascend and the sun set on my last Golarion campaign.
I read on online sources that the whole island of Kortos is in fact part of the Starstone. Wonder if the gemstone itself changed the shape of its body from Kortos island to Absalom Station during the Starfinder's Gap.
The Raven Black wrote: I read on online sources that the whole island of Kortos is in fact part of the Starstone. Wonder if the gemstone itself changed the shape of its body from Kortos island to Absalom Station during the Starfinder's Gap. I'm dubious of that.
Guide to Absalom wrote: The Isle of Kortos owes its existence to Aroden, who raised the Starstone and the surrounding sea floor. Aroden took the Test of the Starstone and became a god. A primordial version of Absalom emerged from the ground as the Starstone Isle coagulated into its permanent shape, designed to match Aroden’s vision of a perfect city. Now, there's enough vagueness that you might interpret it in such a way. The Starstone's energies could have infected the surrounding sea floor so when Aroden brought up the stone, he brought up the rest of the island with it, but its more likely that Aroden did as the legends say he did: Brought up the ground to act as the world's largest plate for his Everlasting Gobstopper of Godhood.
Kasoh wrote: The Raven Black wrote: I read on online sources that the whole island of Kortos is in fact part of the Starstone. Wonder if the gemstone itself changed the shape of its body from Kortos island to Absalom Station during the Starfinder's Gap. I'm dubious of that.
Guide to Absalom wrote: The Isle of Kortos owes its existence to Aroden, who raised the Starstone and the surrounding sea floor. Aroden took the Test of the Starstone and became a god. A primordial version of Absalom emerged from the ground as the Starstone Isle coagulated into its permanent shape, designed to match Aroden’s vision of a perfect city. Now, there's enough vagueness that you might interpret it in such a way. The Starstone's energies could have infected the surrounding sea floor so when Aroden brought up the stone, he brought up the rest of the island with it, but its more likely that Aroden did as the legends say he did: Brought up the ground to act as the world's largest plate for his Everlasting Gobstopper of Godhood. Not quite 'everlasting' as it turned out.
Gisher wrote: Not quite 'everlasting' as it turned out. Last time we checked, Starstone was still there.
It's gone from divine source to power source in Starfinder, but yup; it's still there. It even appears to have weathered the recent Drift Crisis intact.
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Perpdepog wrote: It's gone from divine source to power source in Starfinder, but yup; it's still there. It even appears to have weathered the recent Drift Crisis intact. Heck, it might still work as a divine source in Starfinder, there's just the slight problem that all the passcodes necessary to get anywhere near it were lost to the Gap.
That shouldn't be any more difficult for an up-and-coming deity than crossing a massive chasm unaided. Should it?
Funny how circumstances seem to always manage to ensure only exceptional individuals can reach the Starstone. Without making it entirely unreachable though.
Why was Aroden the first to find and raise it ?
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The Raven Black wrote: Funny how circumstances seem to always manage to ensure only exceptional individuals can reach the Starstone. Without making it entirely unreachable though.
Why was Aroden the first to find and raise it ?
Because the story is about Aroden finding it and raising it? Same reason Arthur gets Excalibur, and Anakin Skywalker was created by the force or whatever. Stories are usually about interesting or exceptional people after all.
From the Watsonianperspective, I assume its because he went to look for it. For any other faults he had, Aroden was a brilliant wizard and some kind of civic planning guru. He'd been adventuring as an immortal for a very long time at this point.
Being an Azlanti expat, he probably understood what Starfall did, or was able to discern after a time. According to his Pathfinderwiki article he was a worshipper of Acavna and Amaznen, so he might have had more interest in finding the thing that killed them.
Or, since he was a man who enjoyed the benefits of being a chosen one with a destiny, maybe he knew a prophecy about it.
Maybe he was the only person both powerful enough and interested in it enough to make the attempt.
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Kasoh wrote: The Raven Black wrote: Funny how circumstances seem to always manage to ensure only exceptional individuals can reach the Starstone. Without making it entirely unreachable though.
Why was Aroden the first to find and raise it ?
Maybe he was the only person both powerful enough and interested in it enough to make the attempt. Quite possibly. Your average dude in the Age of Darkness would probably not consider single-handedly lifting a massive rock from a crater at the bottom of the sea worth attempting.
Arutema wrote: Kasoh wrote: The Raven Black wrote: Funny how circumstances seem to always manage to ensure only exceptional individuals can reach the Starstone. Without making it entirely unreachable though.
Why was Aroden the first to find and raise it ?
Maybe he was the only person both powerful enough and interested in it enough to make the attempt. Quite possibly. Your average dude in the Age of Darkness would probably not consider single-handedly lifting a massive rock from a crater at the bottom of the sea worth attempting. Yeah. Considering that the sea is also where the beings that just caused the Age of Darkness call home that seems more than likely.
From Mythic Realms :
"Centuries later, Aroden, last of the Azlanti, was called to a young sea, where the heart of the lost aboleth weapon lay forgotten."
He did not choose to find it and, in fact, he did not know about it beforehand. Why was specifically Aroden called ?
"He meant only to raise it from the water, but it burst from the depths as an entire land - a pillar crowned by a singular gem composed of starstuff, aboleth magic, god blood and the scar tissue of Golarion itself."
So, the whole island of Kortos itself is indeed the heart of the aboleth weapon and the Starstone is akin to its pearl.
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Perpdepog wrote: Arutema wrote: Kasoh wrote: The Raven Black wrote: Funny how circumstances seem to always manage to ensure only exceptional individuals can reach the Starstone. Without making it entirely unreachable though.
Why was Aroden the first to find and raise it ?
Maybe he was the only person both powerful enough and interested in it enough to make the attempt. Quite possibly. Your average dude in the Age of Darkness would probably not consider single-handedly lifting a massive rock from a crater at the bottom of the sea worth attempting. Yeah. Considering that the sea is also where the beings that just caused the Age of Darkness call home that seems more than likely. I'd be curious to know if Aroden was aware of the Aboleth conspiracy. We know from Ruins of Azlant that Azlanti society knew something about the 'Veiled Masters' but it was popularly regarded as a folk tale or conspiracy theory.
In Azlant, Aroden was purported to simply be a master smith. Maybe he was always a wizard, but he was focused on crafting. His history of self importance and dubious life choices was present even in mortality when the ailing emperor of Azlant couldn't decide on a successor so (for some reason) asked Aroden to decide who should wield his mastercraft, The Azlanti Diamond, and *Surprised Pikachu Face* He claimed the sword (and ostensibly the office of emperor) for himself. This choice is believed to have provoked the veiled masters into calling down Starfall. (I think that's a dubious claim, but the text is what the text is.)
Anyway, he was a Smith, Wizard, Hero, Would-be Emperor of the Azlanti people.
Oh, here's a direct quote on Aroden's experience with the Starstone and perhaps a clue into its workings.
Erik Mona, Song of Silver pg 69 wrote: Twelve centuries after helping to create the nation of Taldor as a symbol of human ambition, Aroden achieved realization as the prophesied Last Azlanti by raising the Starstone from the depths of the Inner Sea. A single touch pulled Aroden into the alien artifact, wherein he experienced a series of phantasmagoric scenes that presented lethal martial trials and exhausting moral quandaries that challenged Aroden’s physical, mental, and spiritual limits more than any of the arduous experiences he had survived thus far. Aroden emerged from this experience a living god, and upon the enormous island he had dredged up with the Starstone he founded the city of Absalom This text suggests he rose the isle with the Starstone, not that it was part of it. The texts are not clear. Also, he was fulfilling the Prophecy of Starfall Doctrine by being the Last Azlanti, so Destiny was calling him there. Now, was that prophecy a trap by the veiled masters? Its prophecy man, ask Pharasma. I dunno.
Anyway, we don't know if he was ever aware of the aboleth conspiracy. Aroden being Aroden, I have to imagine that if he knew, he'd have tried to destroy the Veiled Masters in a way that left unintended consequences for us down the line. To be fair to the man though, he was largely concerned with leading the remnants of his people and preserving what was left of Azlanti culture.
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Also, speaking of Mythic realms, I was really interested in the Mordant Spire as the resting place of Acavna and the art there really made me hope that she'd come back to life one day.
Ah, hopes and dreams.
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If the Isle of Kortos itself was the aboleth weapon, when Aroden "raised it from the sea" did he also move it thousands of miles west? Since I'm pretty sure the part of the planet where the weapon hit was "Azlant, where all those islands are now."
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PossibleCabbage wrote: If the Isle of Kortos itself was the aboleth weapon, when Aroden "raised it from the sea" did he also move it thousands of miles west? Since I'm pretty sure the part of the planet where the weapon hit was "Azlant, where all those islands are now." To the best of my knowledge without looking anything back up, the original Starfall meteor that the Aboleth's called down was a single object that Acavna and Amaznen sapped the magic from and knocked into smaller pieces with the sacrifice of the moon. (Did Golarion have 2 moons at one point? Not sure.) So the majority of the pieces still hit Azlant, but the Starstone could have drifted off to land where it did.
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Azlant fell beneath the waves, but the chunk of asteroid that contained the Starstine to my knowledge created the Inner Sea from its landing. Whether that was the biggest chunk and of was redirected by the impact with the moon is unknown to me yet.
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Kasoh wrote: Also, speaking of Mythic realms, I was really interested in the Mordant Spire as the resting place of Acavna and the art there really made me hope that she'd come back to life one day.
Ah, hopes and dreams.
I hope the Mordant Spire gets the spotlight someday.
I think Kortos is the "heart of the aboleth weapon" and the Starstone is its pearl, for lack of a better word.
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The Raven Black wrote: I think Kortos is the "heart of the aboleth weapon" and the Starstone is its pearl, for lack of a better word. I think the Starstone is simply the starstone and the the Isle of Kortos is just the surrounding rock that absorbed its lingering radiation, if we have to think that its connected to the Starstone at all. I don't think there's enough textual evidence either way, and largely irrelevant.
Attributing a will to the Starstone that is malicious and part of an Aboleth plot is the kind of plotting that ceases to be clever and bounds straight into farce.
If we can believe the text on what prompted Starfall, that Aroden picked himself for leader of the Azlanti empire, then the Aboleth's plan was:
1) Get a magic rock and crash it into the planet.
2) The magic rock will fail at its one job.
3) 1200 years later, The guy who pissed us off in the first place is going to find the rock and use it to ascend to divine status.
4) Then he'll create a temple around the rock so other people can try to become gods.
5) The rock will make these people gods too.
6) Profit?
The only way this even comes close to working is if the Aboleths are so advanced in human psychology, divination, and predictive engines that there's no point in trying to oppose them because they'd have forseen that possibility. To have the kind of power that puts a plan like this in motion means they already have all the power one could ever need.
I don't think the Starstone is part of an aboleth plan. However I like the idea that it can be sapient and with nefarious long-term plans.
Makes it much much more interesting than a simple "For divinity, press Go" mcguffin.
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Do we think the Aboleths knew what they were dropping on Golarion, or did they just think "this dead magical thing in space looks like it would do enough damage". It's not unlike the Alghollthu to overlook certain things. They're smart and they're always scheming, but they have some truly enormous blind spots (like the entire concept of divinity.)
Maybe it’s juiced up with the souls of everyone Earthfall killed.
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The Starstone was originally "an ancient, poisonous remnant of an unborn planet" and the alghollthu used their magic to crash it into Golarion. I have no idea what that even means. A large chunk of space rock, I guess. And they enchanted it to hit Golarion.
Amaznen sacrificed his life to "render the remaining deadly alghollthu magic clinging to the meteor fragments inert"
When Aroden finds it a thousand years later it is "a unique gem made of celestial materials, alghollthu magic, the blood of the goddess Acavna, and the scar tissue of the planet itself: the Starstone. Aroden used his magic to keep it from ever being misused again."
Okay. Figured it out.
The Starstone is actually enchanted Kryptonite.
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Kasoh wrote: Also, speaking of Mythic realms, I was really interested in the Mordant Spire as the resting place of Acavna and the art there really made me hope that she'd come back to life one day.
Ah, hopes and dreams.
My understanding was the Spire is actually growing because Acavna's soul is "stuck" and it's trying to reach the Boneyard so it can finally recieve judgment from Pharasma, so restoration may be out of reach for poor Acavna...
Kasoh wrote: The Starstone was originally "an ancient, poisonous remnant of an unborn planet" and the alghollthu used their magic to crash it into Golarion. I have no idea what that even means. A large chunk of space rock, I guess. And they enchanted it to hit Golarion. Is it me, or does that description sound a little bit familiar?
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Perpdepog wrote: Kasoh wrote: The Starstone was originally "an ancient, poisonous remnant of an unborn planet" and the alghollthu used their magic to crash it into Golarion. I have no idea what that even means. A large chunk of space rock, I guess. And they enchanted it to hit Golarion. Is it me, or does that description sound a little bit familiar? It would not surprise me if Paizo shoehorned more lovecraftian nonsense into something.
Archpaladin Zousha wrote: Kasoh wrote: Also, speaking of Mythic realms, I was really interested in the Mordant Spire as the resting place of Acavna and the art there really made me hope that she'd come back to life one day.
Ah, hopes and dreams.
My understanding was the Spire is actually growing because Acavna's soul is "stuck" and it's trying to reach the Boneyard so it can finally recieve judgment from Pharasma, so restoration may be out of reach for poor Acavna... Well, if they haven't been judged yet, then still a valid target for Resurrection, I guess. Well, not in 2e, due to level caps, but ah well. Mm. Might be something to work with there. Content for a Mythic game that'll never happen I guess...
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I mean, Acavna died before the omens were lost so Pharasma had a good idea about how that story is supposed to end, and potentially the answer was "not yet" as they have a destiny that they have not yet fulfilled.
It's just that with the omens misplaced, there's no idea when that's going to happen.
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Trying to make the Starstone out to be secretly evil undercuts Amaznen and Acavna’s sacrifices pretty significantly, IMO. It’s already plenty sinister with how many hopefuls die in the attempt; it doesn’t need some grand reveal or dread secret.
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It feels like the non-diegetic role of the Starstone is very clear- it's the ultimate brass ring for the characters to reach for when they have accomplished everything else they want to accomplish. It's the ultimate challenge for the most powerful folks in the world.
Making it secretly evil or a problem works against this.
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The Raven Black wrote: I must say, looking at the origin and history of the Starstone, it is extremely easy to imagine it being both sapient and malevolent.
That we never had the slightest hint at this possibility in the printed material makes me more worried rather than less.
And I now wonder how many of Aroden's actions, even before he became a god, might have been caused by the influence of the Starstone.
A potentially interesting twist to this... The Starstone might be sapient and benevolent, if not necessarily nice about it. Perhaps due to the noble sacrifices of Acavna and Amaznen, it might be prepared to do anything to protect Golarion, up to and including revoking the deific power of its first beneficiary at a crucial moment.
Maybe Aroden's glorious return and the resultant imperial resurgence would have heralded a far darker age for Golarion than the prophetic interpretations had implied... It certainly wouldn't be out of character for The Last Azlanti to make a grave enough mistake that even a good Starstone would have been willing to risk the odd Eye of Abendego to prevent another. Aroden himself might have decided to arrogantly defy the destiny that had made him what he was, breaking prophecy and forcing the Starstone's hand...
This would also explain why, of the three other Ascended, two are uncomplicatedly heroic. Iomedae was truly a Paladin's Paladin and worked her whole life to embody unrelenting Goodness, while Cayden's heart of true gold would have shone through to the Starstone no matter his circumstances (including intoxicating ones).
As for the invisible elephant in the room... Norgorber is, as always, an enigma. A necessary evil to keep more complex dark forces in check, perhaps? I don't quite buy it... But, then, if he wanted to keep his true purpose a secret, I'm sure we wouldn't believe the truth if we found it.
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