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Journeyman Greytalker
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Thu Jun 06, 2013 12:01 pm
The Soul Husks
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This thread renewed my interest in rebuilding an Iuz campaign I started back in the 2nd ed. days, but now I'd like to try it for 5th edition. It starts with the Temple of Elemental Evil, segues to Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and culminates with a high level adventure to the Soul Husks Caverns (with adventures in between, I'd like the Soul Husks to be for about 14th - 16th level).
So what I'm looking for are ideas I could use as material for the SH caverns. I have what little info is given in WGR5 Iuz the Evil. I have downloaded the Soul Husks adventure available here at CF! but have not read the whole thing. Still. I'd like to pick everyone's brains for any other ideas, especially thoughts on who or what were the extra planar creatures and spellcasters used for the Soul Husks, as well as Iggwilv's involvement (if any|). None of this campaign is set in stone yet so I'm all ears.
Thanks
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Grandmaster Greytalker
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:00 pm
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Thanks for the links, jamesdglick, some great discussions on those threads. I'm not sure what side of the fence I'm on regarding Iuz's deity status before his imprisonment, but I think it can be agreed he underwent some sort of transformation during his captivity.
Getting back on topic, I recall an article from OJ#22 called "The Origins of the Twin Cataclysms" which proposes that the six soul husks are the remnants of six Bakluni mage-priests who brought down the Rain of Colorless Fire upon the Suel empire. By doing so, they themselves were consumed with pure divine energy and were sealed in stasis by Istus. Iuz discovers these husks much later and puts them to use for his own evil designs. It may not be official canon, but I think this makes for a great premise. Very well thought out.
To give you an idea where I'm going with all this, page 78 of Atlas of the Flanaess (FtA box set) contains an adventure seed called The Prisoner in the Iron Castle, where Iuz has a captive planetar servant of St. Cuthbert. My idea was for Iuz to perform a ritual sacrifice (with Iggwilv) similar to that used to drain the soul husks to further increase his power. Not sure how to connect it yet, but rather than try to stop Iuz and the ritual (which would be suicide) the party must infiltrate the Soul Husks caverns and destroy a husk and / or possibly disrupt the ritual.
That's it in a nutshell. The campaign would be loosely connected with Iuz themes (ToEE, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth), with the finale leading the PCs to the Soul Husks.
Thoughts?
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Grandmaster Greytalker
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Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:25 pm
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| Luz wrote: |
...That's it in a nutshell. The campaign would be loosely connected with Iuz themes (ToEE, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth), with the finale leading the PCs to the Soul Husks.
Thoughts? |
-My memory is fuzzy, and I don't have them handy, but in either the Greyhawk city boxed set of FtA, there were a set of cards with mini adventures ("Vote for the Goat", etc). I thought one of them dealt with a cavern in the Howling Hills that dealt with the origin of Iuz's power. I'm sure someone else knows what I'm talking about... 
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Fri Jun 07, 2013 3:49 pm
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There's one in the City of GH box set called "The Dead of the Howling Hills." Alas, its for 3rd-level characters and explores the tomb of a Wolf Nomad chieftain. No soul husks here, I'll keep searching (and brainstorming).
Another curiosity about Iuz's ascension are some of the other powers mentioned that apparently played some part in it. Zuggtmoy, Grazz't, Iggwilv, and Lolth all have suggested involvement in Iuz the Evil. The first three I can see, but Lolth? Where does she fit in?
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GreySage
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Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:18 pm
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What if the Soul Husks are Iuz's older brothers and sisters? Maybe Graz'zt (and/or other demon lords?) has been making cambions in the region for countless centuries, letting them rule for a while, then draining them of their lives to feed his endless hunger. Iuz is the first one to discover the mass grave where his predecessors were all buried and figure out how to harness the remaining energy left in them to gain in power as his father had.
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Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:36 pm
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| rasgon wrote: |
| What if the Soul Husks are Iuz's older brothers and sisters? Maybe Graz'zt (and/or other demon lords?) has been making cambions in the region for countless centuries, letting them rule for a while, then draining them of their lives to feed his endless hunger. Iuz is the first one to discover the mass grave where his predecessors were all buried and figure out how to harness the remaining energy left in them to gain in power as his father had. |
That's not bad, Rasgon. That or perhaps they were other powerful demons or beings that Graz'zt drained and discarded in the caverns. Either way, it could also be a tie-in with Graz'zt's schemes to absorb a Material plane into the Nerebdian Vast.
This also gives me an idea that maybe the husks were Iggwilv's test subjects, before she managed to imprison Graz'zt but after she stole the Tome of Zyx from Zagig. She bound these powerful creatures but had not yet mastered the art of summoning, instead placing them in stasis. Only much later would Iuz use them (under Iggwilv's guidance?) to propel himself to demigod.
Just throwing ideas out there.
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Grandmaster Greytalker
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 9:24 am
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| Luz wrote: |
| ...Getting back on topic, I recall an article from OJ#22 called "The Origins of the Twin Cataclysms" which proposes that the six soul husks are the remnants of six Bakluni mage-priests who brought down the Rain of Colorless Fire upon the Suel empire. By doing so, they themselves were consumed with pure divine energy and were sealed in stasis by Istus. Iuz discovers these husks much later and puts them to use for his own evil designs... |
-What would they be doing in the Howling Hills? That wouldn't be anywhere near Bakluni turf for hundreds of years...
So maybe Rasgon's idea:
| rasgon wrote: |
| What if the Soul Husks are Iuz's older brothers and sisters? Maybe Graz'zt (and/or other demon lords?)... |
...makes more sense.
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Grandmaster Greytalker
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 9:53 am
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This is a nice thread with lots of nice spit-balling going on. Keep it up! 
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Grandmaster Greytalker
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:42 am
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| smillan_31 wrote: |
| This is a nice thread with lots of nice spit-balling going on. Keep it up! |
-Is that a good thing? 
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GreySage
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:56 am
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Maybe they're a pantheon of dead gods who were buried there after their worshipers became extinct.
Maybe they're fallen angels, cast from the heavens for the crime of seducing the daughters of men. Maybe their half-angelic children were buried with them, or maybe some of their nephilim descendants survive.
Maybe they're the player characters, brought from a future where they were all incredibly high level (and thus a tempting source of power). So the present-day player characters know that if they destroy them, they're destroying their own future selves.
Maybe they're all Iuz, brought from parallel Oerths.
Maybe they're the original inhabitants of the Nerull's Bane culture.
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 11:59 am
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| jamesdglick wrote: |
| -What would they be doing in the Howling Hills? That wouldn't be anywhere near Bakluni turf for hundreds of years... |
From OJ #22:
"Though severely drained by their efforts the wizards, unbeknownst to history, did not die. Complex interactions and resonances between the ashen staff, Tovag Baragu, energy from the positive and negative energy planes, as well as divine energy from Dorgha Torgu himself, transformed them into the cursed soulless husks called hunefers. Further, since these now-undead demipowers could not be allowed to roam free as a threat to all life, the grieving Istus was forced to place these soul husks into stasis for all time. Rumors purport that these spellcasters were imprisoned somewhere in the lands north of what would much later become Iuz’s holdings, somewhere in or near the Howling Hills. Only Iuz knows for sure and he’s not telling, as he later discovered them and found a unique use for the husks."
So I guess it was the author's contention that Istus chose to place the husks in the Howling Hills for her own divine reasons, since he doesn't elaborate on it any further. Whatever the case, I don't think geography had anything to do with it.
Another theory could be Iuz may have dicovered the husks elsewhere and brought them to the Howling Hills to keep them safe.
| jamesdglick wrote: |
So maybe Rasgon's idea:
| rasgon wrote: |
| What if the Soul Husks are Iuz's older brothers and sisters? Maybe Graz'zt (and/or other demon lords?)... |
...makes more sense. |
Yeah, I like Rasgon's idea as well. This one is also very good:
| rasgon wrote: |
| Maybe they're the original inhabitants of the Nerull's Bane culture. |
Lots of room for a DM to expand more history with Nerull's Bane. I had completely forgotten about it.
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Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:00 pm
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| jamesdglick wrote: |
| -What would they be doing in the Howling Hills? That wouldn't be anywhere near Bakluni turf for hundreds of years... |
From OJ #22:
"Though severely drained by their efforts the wizards, unbeknownst to history, did not die. Complex interactions and resonances between the ashen staff, Tovag Baragu, energy from the positive and negative energy planes, as well as divine energy from Dorgha Torgu himself, transformed them into the cursed soulless husks called hunefers. Further, since these now-undead demipowers could not be allowed to roam free as a threat to all life, the grieving Istus was forced to place these soul husks into stasis for all time. Rumors purport that these spellcasters were imprisoned somewhere in the lands north of what would much later become Iuz’s holdings, somewhere in or near the Howling Hills. Only Iuz knows for sure and he’s not telling, as he later discovered them and found a unique use for the husks."
So I guess it was the author's contention that Istus chose to place the husks in the Howling Hills for her own divine reasons, since he doesn't elaborate on it any further. Whatever the case, I don't think geography had anything to do with it.
Another theory could be Iuz may have dicovered the husks elsewhere and brought them to the Howling Hills to keep them safe.
| jamesdglick wrote: |
So maybe Rasgon's idea:
| rasgon wrote: |
| What if the Soul Husks are Iuz's older brothers and sisters? Maybe Graz'zt (and/or other demon lords?)... |
...makes more sense. |
Yeah, I like Rasgon's idea as well. This one is also very good:
| rasgon wrote: |
| Maybe they're the original inhabitants of the Nerull's Bane culture. |
Lots of room for a DM to expand more history with Nerull's Bane. I had completely forgotten about it.
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Sun Jun 09, 2013 6:17 am
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And now I cannot get the image of the "husk globes" from Libris Mortis out of my head:
Granted, I have been working on a device created by Drawmij and inspired by the Tempest Prognosticator that would provide power energy to his undersea fortress.
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Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:44 pm
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| rasgon wrote: |
| Maybe they're the original inhabitants of the Nerull's Bane culture. |
One idea I had was that the original inhabitants of Nerull's Bane were survivors from the kingdom of Itar, who perhaps migrated north and settled in what would later become the Fellreev. This makes a certain amount of sense because of their strong opposition to Nerull via the Sulm empire. Still haven't come up with anything to connect this to the Soul Husks yet...
Maybe one possible theory would be to borrow a page from the Mud Sorcerer's Tomb (and later the Runelords): that the elder mage-priests of Nerull's Bane foretold of a coming apocalypse and entombed themselves to preserve their race and prevent extinction.
Going in a different direction, maybe the soul husks were the mortal remains of some forgotten race of law (or chaos) that was involved in the Battle of Pesh.
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GreySage
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Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:30 am
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| rasgon wrote: |
| Maybe they're a pantheon of dead gods who were buried there after their worshipers became extinct. |
Shades of Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia novels!  
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:42 am
Re: Soul Husks
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The Canonfire download adventure does not include stats for Iggwilf when it mentions the possibility of her appearance.
From what I recall, are there stats for her in "Isle of the Ape"?
oteta[/i]
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:51 am
Re: Soul Husks
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| oteta wrote: |
The Canonfire download adventure does not include stats for Iggwilf when it mentions the possibility of her appearance.
From what I recall, are there stats for her in "Isle of the Ape"?
oteta[/i] |
I believe her full stats have only appeared once, for 3.5 rules in Dungeon Magazine #149. IIRC, she is CR30.
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:01 am
Re: Soul Husks
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| oteta wrote: |
| From what I recall, are there stats for her in "Isle of the Ape"? |
No, they are not. The PCs don't actually encounter Iggwilv, but only her mercenary daemons in Isle of the Ape.
However, her full stats are given in The Savage Tide Adventure Path, Enemies of My Enemy (11th chapter in the series). She is a CR 30 individual. 
SirXaris
Oops! Looks like Luz beat me too it.  
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:23 am
Re: Soul Husks
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Dear Luz, SirXaris: Thanks for the replies. What do you think of that Savage Tide series? Do you recommend it?
oteta
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:05 am
Re: Soul Husks
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| oteta wrote: |
Dear Luz, SirXaris: Thanks for the replies. What do you think of that Savage Tide series? Do you recommend it?
oteta |
If you like pirates and demons, then yes I recommend it. Its Paizo, so the quality is good. I've only read ST and never played it, but for me it gets a little carried away with the sheer number of power players involved. YMMV.
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GreySage
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Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:19 am
Re: Soul Husks
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| oteta wrote: |
| Dear Luz, SirXaris: Thanks for the replies. What do you think of that Savage Tide series? Do you recommend it? |
It's always my pleasure to be able to help a fellow Greyhawk fan, oteta. 
I have read The Savage Tide and loved it. I just began running it with my group last night, in fact. Since some of them have gone home for the summer, the ones remaining didn't want to leave any of the others' PCs behind in our regular campaign, so they made up new PCs and they started out.
The main reason they wanted to play through The Savage Tide campaign is that they will have many opportunities to go up against pirates. I intend to throw in a few extra pirate encounters, but there are several in the adventure as written. I highly recommend it.
SirXaris
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Sat Jun 15, 2013 4:07 am
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Thanks for the replies, folks. I will check out ST and have more material to use for the Soul Husks probably later inour campaign.
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