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slyfox99
2010-02-26, 01:21 PM
I could use some help here, folks. As stated in the 4e "creation myth," the gods defeated the primordials to take control of the material plane. In my cosmology, I have ten primordials, imprisoned in various spots throughout the planes. Each primordial has a corresponding "Soul Gem" attuned to it. These are powerful, yet cursed objects, drawing the possessor into the service of the primordial it is attuned to. My players have found the first one, The Ruby of Set, which is attuned actually to Maul-Tir, the chained serpent. It functions as something of an orb, granting +6 to hit and damage whlle held, and the holder is invisible as long as he or she is holding the jewel.

I wanted to make it initially attractive, you see....

The downside is that over the course of several months, the holder becomes enslaved. He or she begins to hear the voice of the primordial in her head, urging he or she to venture to a hidden temple far to the south, in the uncharted jungles. The holder will experience something of a skin rash, which eventualy reveals itself to become scales, as the holder takes on an increasingly serpentine appearance. Eventually the ruby will implant itself in the bearer's head, bonding them forever.

So here is where I could use some help...

1) How would one "cure" the holder? Would it be possible?

2) Who would create such a gem? The primordial itself or perhaps its followers?

3) Should the gem be the key which frees the primordial from its prison? (I am leaning to this, myself, but the question is why would the gods let such a key be created?)

4) Any ideas for other primordials and other gems?

Ahp77
2010-02-26, 08:06 PM
1) I'm thinking an exorcism of sorts, getting a reasonably high-ranked priest (or maybe a god if the party cleric is high leveled enough). If you can't get the money for that, then you aren't probably attached to your character enough to care if he dies.

2) The could probably still make magic items while imprisoned, if he/she/it could create matter or get followers to be servants and collect matter to infuse its soul into.

3) Yes, even though a key isn't of much use if stuck in one's head.

4) THE SNARL! Instead of a gem for its key, it could be a pink or purple whip, or maybe one of its eyes. I don't know if its legal, but it'd be cool.

Now then, back to lurking in the arts & crafts section...

slyfox99
2010-02-26, 08:28 PM
3) Yes, even though a key isn't of much use if stuck in one's head.

I'm thinking human sacrifice involving the character with the rmbedded gem, of course. In this case, the Chained Serpent would have a cabal of fanatical Yuan-Ti priests just waiting for her to show up.

Yakk
2010-02-27, 12:53 PM
The Soul Gems are not the key, they are the prison. And they corrupt and control wherever they are stored.

The gods keep them in the middle kingdom (the prime material plane) in order to keep the ridiculously dangerous things away from them, and away from things that could break them. After all, while the middle kingdom is a work of art, it isn't the domain of real movers and shakers.

Naturally, these soul gems get loose - any guard put on them becomes corrupt, after all. So the gods send people after them and try to drop them in yet another out of the way place with little in the way of power.

In essence, the middle kingdom is a giant "anti-primordeal lead shield".

Naturally, gems get out -- and the gods hunt down those who possess them, kill them, and otherwise get the gem into the absolutely weakest being they can and shove that being back into the middle kingdom.

A bad thing that can happen is the gem gets damaged. This is hard, bad for the people who are near it (as raw primordeal magic seeps out), and a bother for the gods -- because they then have to track it down and repair it.

Rarely, a primordeal has managed to shatter their soul gem. The result is the possession of the being(s) that did it, and the gods showing up and bottling the primordeal up again (after all, this is one primordeal). The lack of primordeal power in the middle kingdom is another reason why they store them here -- any such freed primordeal will have few allies, and the gods are at the height of their power. So long as at most a handful are free at any one time....

A really bad thing that could happen is if all of the soul gems are shattered at the same time. The result would be a replay of the dawn war. The gods don't know who would win. . .

slyfox99
2010-02-27, 08:54 PM
Thank you, Yakk! That makes total sense!

So the purpose of moving the soul gem south to the hidden temple in the jungle is not because Maul-tir is there, but because his cultists who know the ritual to free him are there...

In the mean time, first my party shall be plagued by avengers sent to "rescue" the gem, and then, as they grow more powerful, perhaps actual angels?

puppyavenger
2010-02-27, 09:14 PM
Well, another idea would be to have the Primordial's defeat have lead to their "death" that is, there bodies and souls separating. Unfortunately, this isn't how Primordials work, so to keep them down was to bind the Soul of the Primordials into the Gems.

So the Gem wants to be at the Temple so that the Primordial can come back in its full glory, as apposed to simply possessing a mortal and being smacked down by angels.

Just an idea, since the PC's are fighting the angels and helping the Primordial against the Gods, maybe the Gem would give its holder some knowledge to help them get to the Temple? rituals to bind elementals, boni to determining angels weaknesses and suchlike.

slyfox99
2010-02-27, 10:45 PM
Well they just found the gem (took it away from a zombie frost giant that they killed) so no avengers or angels have shown yet, and the players havent quite figured out what they have yet. Right now, they are still in the, "Wow! What a cool powerful magic item we found!" phase. I am planning on dragging the bad side-effects out slowly, over the course of the gaming arc concerning their present problem, which has nothing to do with the gem. I want them to get used to relying on it, you see.

Also, they are still 6th-level and not ready for angels or archons yet, but they ought to hit the epic tier by the time the current arc plays out.

But yes, the gem will be speaking to the holder every so often, guiding her to that lost temple in the jungle where the yuan-ti cult waits patiently for them...

"Crawling Evil never sleeps!"

slyfox99
2010-03-03, 11:01 PM
Ok I think I have this story arc fiugured out and how it works out with the main arc they are now invoilved with. Opinions and notes are welcome...

First of all, this is what is going on in my campaign. Kasadya, my BBEG/necromancer has led his armies against those of the somewhat Good-aligned Norther Kingdom, and crushed them at the Battle of Goblin Pass, which is on the border of the two kingdoms. Edgar, King of the Northern Kingdom, was killed, and Kasadya raised him back up as a Death Knight. This is where my story began. The PCs meet as fleeing survivors of this battle. A smal village asks their help against some goblins who have stolen their children and taken them to an abandoned mine outside of town. The players do this, and in the course of delving deeper into the mine (after rescuing and returning the children), they find a Skull Lord and a band of zombies and skeletons, whom they slay. The three notable magic items they take are the ruby and the skull lord's staff and ritual book.

Once out of the mine, they encounter two tieflings, Molok Called Sorrow and his sister Carrion. They are accompanied by their bodyguard/slave, a barbarian named Quinn, and a zombied dragonborn wo had been a member of the party until he was slain and not buried. The party chooses (wisely) not to fight the tieflings and instead accepts their bargain, which is the services of Quinn and the body of their companion, whom they quickly burn to allow him to rest in peace, in return for the staff, which is a key component in the Create Minor Undead ritual. Luckily for them, at this point, neither the tieflings nor the BBEG know about the ruby yet.

Here is where it gets tricky. Kasadya is working on a ritual to achieve godhood, although at present he pays lip service to the worship of Orcus. The sould of the Primordial that is trapped in the ruby would allow Kasadya to achieve this. Moloch Called Sorrow also has ambitions in this area, although his are far away from fruition.

Meanwhile, the ruby urges its holder, the party's cleric (who serves Avendra) to the mysterious jungles to the south....

As for the party's current agenda, they are making their way to the city of the arch-duke, not suspecting his treachery... Moloch and his sister also head there, for they are members of one of the city's two crime guilds, one tiefling and one kenku. As they head there, they use the staff to turn a fishing village en route into a "Resident Evil/ Night of the Living Dead" style zombiefest. My players will pass through it on their way to town.

Geiger Counter
2010-03-03, 11:12 PM
Snake=invisible eh?

"4) Any ideas for other primordials and other gems?"

Ever watch jackie chan adventures?

slyfox99
2010-03-04, 09:31 AM
I used to watch it with my daughter when she was little but I barely remember it.

Reynard
2010-03-04, 09:52 AM
IIRC, there were these twelve things based on the Chinese calender that gave magic powers to those who used them. Snake made them invisible, Dragon gave fire breath, another gave, effectively, unlimited polymorph at will, pig gave laser-eyes.

slyfox99
2010-03-04, 04:10 PM
What did Monkey do?

Ashtagon
2010-03-04, 04:46 PM
What did Monkey do?

monkey see; monkey do

Reynard
2010-03-04, 05:52 PM
Actually I think monkey was the Polymorph one.