Disclaimer: It's late and I'm sleep-deprived, so this may not make a lot of sense.
I'm currently working on adapting B3 Palace of the Silver Princess into B3.5 Palace of Queen Ehlissa. For my purposes, Scott Casper's background in OJ #16 is canon: Queen Ehlissa, weakened from her battles with Acererak, was gradually driven to madness and seclusion by her Marvelous Nightingale. She was visited by a knight riding a red dragon, and neither of them was ever seen again.
Several versions of Queen Ehlissa's Marvelous Nightingale allude to it being the prison of a malevolent entity. Now, it would be easy to go the "Arik of the Hundred Eyes" route here and plug in Tharizdun or Vilp'akf-cho Rentaq. However, the Nightingale was crafted by Joramy and "Xagy" (either an ancestor or an alias of Zagyg, depending on one's interpretation). Since those two could basically be described as Neutral with Chaotic and Good tendencies, I can't see them harnessing such Supreme Evil in their artifact.
What if, however, the Nightingale imprisons not an Evil entity, but a Chaotic one? Somehow in the creation process, the artifact was infused with Chaos, which eventually causes madness in its possessor. Can we maybe tie the Nightingale in with the Chaos Queen and the Rod of Seven Parts? Could Jean Wells' "Protectors" be vaati???
As I said, it's late. I'm going to bed. This is a half-formed idea, and I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable about Greyhawk pre-history can help me fill it out. (I'm looking at you, rasgon. )
Last edited by DMPrata on Sat Dec 31, 2011 6:02 am; edited 1 time in total
You might use a slaad, possibly even a slaad lord. I'd make it an original one with a sphere of influence related to the powers you choose to grant to the Nightingale.
I've long thought of the Protectors as being related to the wind-dukes. I thought of them as being descended from a group that decided to concentrate on protecting certain points their ruling council deemed crucial to upholding Law rather than - as the other vaati did - actively seeking to annihilate the forces of Chaos. Maybe there's some reason they specifically want to protect the site of the Palace of the Silver Princess from the chaotic taint of the Nightingale. On the other hand, maybe they're targeting it because the slaad lord in question knows ancient secrets that the protectors wish silenced. Maybe the secret is the location of one of the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, or maybe one of the pieces is somewhere in the castle itself. Maybe the slaad knows the dark secret behind the creation of the Eternal Storm of the Wind Dukes, how the wind dukes destroyed a city where Greyhawk now stands, where beings of Law and Chaos lived in peace (I made that up), and the battle was so cataclysmic it left a storm in the Abbor-Alz still visible to this day (this part is in From the Ashes).
Or maybe they just hate beings of chaos, and always seek them out when they contaminate the Prime Material Plane. They know one is imprisoned somewhere in the palace, but can't tell where, exactly.
Of course, Zagyg isn't above harnessing beings of supreme evil - he did that with Iuz and Fraz-Urb'luu, after all - but I do think a slaad might be a better choice. I also thought the imprisoned forces in the Nightingale might have more to do with Joramy's notorious temper than an external enemy. Or Joramy's notorious temper provoked by an external enemy.
Once again "Three of the powers of Canonfire" Arise!
You guys never cease to amaze... Was just looking at Queen Ehlissa and her Marvelous Nightingale as a side trek in my own campaign.
I have a PC that is an illegitimate daughter of a member of the royal house there and was looking for some idea ties. The PC is unaware (other than a signet ring ) of her heritage. So I will be watching this post with keen interest.... hehe
The big problem I see with the Xagy/Zagyg connection is that Xagy and the Nightingale predate Zagyg by several centuries. Assuming a starting date of 576 CY, the Nightingale was created "some 17 centuries ago" according to the 1e DMG (giving a rough date of 1100 BCY), whereas Zagig was born in 277 CY--long after Queen Ehlissa's demise.
I agree. I wouldn't make the Xagy/Xagyg connection at all. The time is just not right. And, somebody named "Leonard" or "Xagyg" need not really be, or even be related to, somebody named "Lenny" or "Xagy" who lived centuries earlier. It can be just a name, maybe a variant of what was once a very common form of a name even.
"Your name is Timothy...and you are an Enchanter?! Well, that either means you must be related to Tim the Enchanter who lived centuries ago, or that you are Tim the Enchanter who lived centuries ago!"
A name can be just a name(ref. "Lendore" and "Lendor").
Also, not everything has to refer to some great, iconic, epic thing that has come before(i.e. Law vs. Chaos). Create something of your own, make your own epic to rival other epics. For example, introduce something like the demonic horror summoned by the Ur-Flan to plague the Great Kingdom. That was its own "Wow!" thing. The whole Law vs. Chaos thing might generate a few oo!'s and ah!'s, but something new and epic will do that and then some, as it will be completely unforeseen and not known of by even somebody like rasgon. I am betting rasgon likes a new treat now and again too.
Just a thought. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
"Your name is Timothy...and you are an Enchanter?! Well, that either means you must be related to Tim the Enchanter who lived centuries ago, or that you are Tim the Enchanter who lived centuries ago!"
BUT LOOK AT THE BONES!!!!!! MAaawhaaahhaaaah......
Could always pull a "gygax" and go with "Nogsar the Arch-Sage" Scribe & Oratorical Mystic of Histories and Beasts
This whole thing is pretty freakin' brilliant idea, which I may have to steal. I also appreciate that rasgon doesn't point to the center bleachers at Wrigley Field just before he hits a home run. Humble, that guy is.
Thanks for the feedback. rasgon, I like the slaadi angle, and that might tie in with another idea I had: The red dragon-mounted knight was actually a githyanki—as is the tinker, Lamdomon. (I wonder who his fiery red-haired "daughter" Zappora could be.... )
What if the Nightingale holds the essence of one of the "Lost Gods" of Limbo? The githyanki could desire this item to have power over the githzerai. The vaati would wish to guard against the Nightingale falling into the wrong hands, simply to prevent the spread of Chaos. The Nightingale itself, of course, being tinged with pure Chaos, just wants to f*** s*** up. It radiates both non-detection and a powerful antipathy/sympathy effect that repels Lawfuls and attracts Chaotics.
You could have it be a faction of githyanki who oppose the lich queen wanting to get hold of the Nightingale to release their lost god and so gain autonomy. So far as PCs are concerned there could be a sort of uneasy alliance between an NPC agent of the githyanki and the PCs even.
And there could, of course, be lich queen servants seeking to foil these plans, and even shadowy others(githzerai perhaps) who are also seeking to help with the plans, as success will serve to fracture the unity of the githyanki and create infighting among them, which would be the githzerai's benefit. Or you could just make it githzerai trying to free the god, it being a lost patron power of theirs, with githyanki of the lich queen trying to stop them.
And then Slaadi are always fun too. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Last edited by Cebrion on Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:46 am; edited 1 time in total
In this recent article I suggested that the Nightingale was a stage in the evolution of a tradition of magic-crafting that began with the primitive Flan creating statues to house the wild nature spirits they worshiped as gods. This tradition resulted in the first stone and clay golems, and eventually with the influx of knowledge from Itar, it progressed to the clockwork Nightingale.
Anyway, in theory there could be anything inside of it. What if something of Joramy's own wrathful nature was in it? What if her infused it with the darker emotions of her consort Zodal, resulting in Zodal becoming the calm, purely benevolent deity he is today and setting the stage for Zodal and Joramy's estrangement? Joramy could desire for the Nightingale to be destroyed in order to release Zodal's old, more tempestuous nature so that their relationship could continue. The bird could even have a demigod child of Joramy and Zodal incubating in it (who could be among the "lost gods of Limbo," I suppose).
I've always wanted to draw some connection between Joramy and Bristia Pel, the Archomental Princess of Good Elemental Fire who was treacherously killed in the war of Chaos against Law. Maybe the trapped entity could be the ghost of Bristia Pel, which is filled with hatred and consumed with the need for revenge? That could help explain the Vaati/Protector angle.
I remember running that! I love Rasgon's slaad idea, especially since the slaad featured so heavily in my campaign as well.
I remember -- though I have no idea who wrote it -- some fanfiction about Ehlissa's nightingale being created by a time-traveling Zagyg. Does anyone else remember that?
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