3.5 The name of the devil

[hymer]

Here's an idea I'm trying to develop to the point where it can be used at some point in my D&D campaign:

Knowing the true name of a fiend will give you power over it - the specifics may need to be worked out. In this case, the fiend is a fallen archon, and the reason the true name is known, is that a non-fallen archon realizes s/he knows who that fiend was. I'm thinking they were intimate, and shared their true names.
So the non-fallen archon is loath to use the name, as it would be consorting with a fiend. I imagine it would also be extremely painful to have anything to do with someone they love, who has fallen so low.

At some point, it'll become relevant. Maybe only a fiend can do a certain something that needs to be done. Or the archon is just out of allies and only another capable fighter will do.

Please fabulate with me here, and help me spark some interesting ideas (and feel free to use these ideas yourselves, of course). The game technical element is probably less important, but should it become so, the world is perhaps best described as an E9 campaign, with the PCs among the very top people in the world (not yet at level 9, but very, very few people are - level 6 is where the mightiest human NPCs tend to end). A trumpet archon has already been introduced in the campaign (unusual, as there is so far little interplanar activity), and I'm thinking he/it will be the non-fallen archon.

Some thoughts and questions, which you can disagree with or take as ideas:
The fiend should be a devil, so as to be better at twisting orders and/or knowing when to obey and when to rebel. What kind?
The archon would like nothing better than to redeem the fallen one. Why did it fall? Were they both around to see it happen?
Could the fallen one have some nefarious plan prepared, knowing that the non-fallen one could call upon the power of its true name at any time? Is there perhaps still a spark of goodness inside the fiend, wanting to go back?
Since the sharing of names went both ways, is there anything you can do knowing an archon's true name? Or is it just fiends?

Thanks in advance!

[BowStreetRunner]

One of the first things you should do is take a look at the Truename magic section of the Tome of Magic. I think this will give you some options, even if you are only using Truespeak feats and not introducing the Truenamer class.

While you are at it, take a look at the Pact Magic section as well. I say this because your fallen archon story reminds me of some of the story lines in the TV series 'Charmed', including particularly the story of Cole Turner (a..k.a. Belthazor). There was a storyline in one of their later seasons involving some beings very much like the Vestiges in the Pact Magic section who posed a threat to both the powers of good as well as the incumbent powers of evil. Having a threat from beyond that the current powers of evil fear and which also threatens to destroy the powers of good might be cause for archons and fallen archons to unite for a time. So you might work out a storyline where Vestiges are planning a comeback - including Tenebrous, the vestige of Orcus when he was a deity.

(fwiw, your post also reminded me of a book I read years ago in which the truename of the Demogorgon was Sestihaculas. I don't know why I remember this, but it stuck with me even though I am no longer sure of the book - Master of Five Magics perhaps...)

[AWiz_Abroad]

Also consider going into Dragon Mag, there's a feat. . . I want to say called ears of the mage where when you speak the name of some beasty it knows within I want to say miles per CL, and can teleport or scry based on that information. It might give your proposed fallen archon (particularly if you modified it to work cross planes) some sort of defense, as it obviously wouldn't want the knowledge of it's name getting out into the world.

In fact, that might be an interesting campaign. Your mad band of adventurers have found (and then destroyed) a secret grimoire with the truename of Asmodeus. Everyone from LG deities all the way through CE demons wants the information for a variety of different reasons, and Big A himself doesn't want the information proliferating to his enemies.


Another thought would be since truenames have power, by their very definition, they would have to be kept secret. Big A could want the name broadcast to everyone because then his truename would alter, and he would have a period of time where whatever Archmage found his true name wouldn't be able to control him.

[Bronk]

...I say this because your fallen archon story reminds me of some of the story lines in the TV series 'Charmed'...

I had forgotten about that... and how similar it was to that whole Dahak storyline from Xena.



(fwiw, your post also reminded me of a book I read years ago in which the truename of the Demogorgon was Sestihaculas. I don't know why I remember this, but it stuck with me even though I am no longer sure of the book - Master of Five Magics perhaps...)

Cool, I'll have to look into that! That's the kind of lore you don't run into every day!

Edit: After a google search... Could you be thinking about the non-DnD book called 'The Burning Realms' by Michael Reaves?

Hymer, have you looked into the story behind the similarly fallen Malkizid? He's probably too powerful for an E9 campaign (as he's statted out in Champions of Ruin, anyway), but his evil, immortal machinations formed the backdrop to the "Last Mythal" forgotten realms trilogy, so there's a lot to draw from there.

[illyahr]

For a particularly poignant encounter, have it that the reason the former archon fell had something to do with the non-fallen one. Maybe it was ordered to perform an action that would jeapordize the non-fallen one and fought to protect his/her love instead.

[Socratov]

As a tip I'd like to point you at the moment the party will first meet the fallen archon. For that moment I'd like to direct your attention to Sympathy for the devil. Other great sources for a great alternative way of looking at the devil so to speak are "Season of Mists" form the Sandman comics and after that the Lucifer Series. That should give you a good character to base your BBEG on it's those works. On the one hand you get a sympathy for the devil in question, on the other hand he kinda, understandably but he kinda had it coming. Great works on what you are trying to convey here.

[Crake]

I feel like it's worth noting that in many incarnations of true names in fiction, the true names are used to describe someone in some primordial language of the universe. Since, as time moves forward, the description of a being could change dramatically, say from some incredibly impactful event, then it's quite possible that the truename the angel has no longer applies to her fallen bretheren, further cementing the idea that he has forever become a different person. Even if he were to redeem himself, he would still not be the same person she once knew, and even as a redeemed angel, his truename would reflect that.

In the tome of magic version of truenaming, it seems to instead use a "here is an abritrary name the universe granted this individual" application of personal true names, which I think is a little lame, and clearly something put in there as game balance, so learning someone's true name doesn't waste thousands of GP only to become useless a month later when the person goes through a personal crisis and changes dramatically, as is want to happen in a dramatic story based game.

[Bronk]

In the tome of magic version of truenaming, it seems to instead use a "here is an abritrary name the universe granted this individual" application of personal true names, which I think is a little lame, and clearly something put in there as game balance, so learning someone's true name doesn't waste thousands of GP only to become useless a month later when the person goes through a personal crisis and changes dramatically, as is want to happen in a dramatic story based game.

It does seem to be very like 'Earthsea' in that respect.

[hymer]

Whoops, this one slipped away from me. Sorry.
Thanks for all the suggestions and pointers! I'm trying to avoid Truenaming and the primordial language thing, as it makes the 'true name' thing rather too broad and commonplace for my purposes. I'm thinking the true name -> power thing is only for fiends. Still, it's a mechanic to look into for inspiration if nothing else.