2) Which deity did he serve during his mortal life?
I believe it was Rao.
Quote:
3) Where can I find information about him (in official modules, I mean)
I9: Day of al'Akbar
There's probably not as much as you would like in there and it's from the "I" series, so it's Aquaria based, but like I have said elsewhere... the "I" is great and easily adaptable.
well Rao is a flan god, so his sponsering of a Baklunish Demigod seems questionable to me...
I would guess that Istus sponsered him, for what ever reasons she may have had...
as for sources about him... try the 1e DMG, and the 2e Book of Artifacts... they might say something about Al'Akbar the man before he was a god... as a matter fact as far as I know the Players Guide to Greyhawk is the 1st source that puts Al'Akbar as a god at all, and coming in 1998, it was one of last greyhawk products to come out before the LGG. (and it was one that I didn't have at the time so when I saw that Al'Akbar was a god in the LGG I was somewhat surprised, and even more so when it turned out that he was the "Main" baklunish god as far as worshipers goes).
I would guess that Istus sponsered him, for what ever reasons she may have had...
Isn't it a bit strange for a Neutral goddess to sponsor a Lawful Good Demigod...
Quote:
I believe it was Rao.
As it was already said, Rao is Flan: why sponsor a baklunish demigod?
Quote:
try the 1e DMG, and the 2e Book of Artifacts... they might say something about Al'Akbar the man before he was a god... as a matter fact as far as I know the Players Guide to Greyhawk is the 1st source that puts Al'Akbar as a god at all
Greyhawk has never been translated in Italian, and retreiving past information is quite difficult from here.
I was trying to gather infos on Al'Akbar for an article ("OJ" style) I was writing for an Italian website (named www.greyhawk.it, of course, but still under construction), and I was hoping you people could lend me a hand.
Oh, more question coming: on which plane does he reside?
I was thinking about Arcadia: it seems the best place to place his Holy Gardens...
unfortunatly the Baklunish pantheon of deities as preseted to us is quite obviously incomplete... and neutral though she is Istus is the only Baklunish god that we know about which would have both the possible motives (being the lady of fate, and possibly unconcerned about the alignment aspect of Al'Akbar) and the power to have sponsered him.
As to why the Baklunish pantheon is incomplete there are many theories out there... perhaps their diets perished, or abandoned them after the twin cataclysms of theinvoked devistation and the rain of colorless fire, or perhaps, since only a portion of the baklunish lands apear on the map, and they are not truly part of the "Flanaess" Gary Gygax didn;t feel that it was important to detail more then a few baklunish gods that were well known to easterners as well as the baklunish... what ever the case we have to work with what we are left with... in this case 3 baklunish gods, a couple of demigods, and a handful of hero-dieties.
unfortunatly the Baklunish pantheon of deities as preseted to us is quite obviously incomplete...
Yes, I guessed so too... It is lacking evil gods, nature gods (except Geshtai, of course)...
Quote:
and neutral though she is Istus is the only Baklunish god that we know about which would have both the possible motives (being the lady of fate, and possibly unconcerned about the alignment aspect of Al'Akbar)
Of course, this seems really right. ;)
To justify his alignement, let's say Al'Akbar, in life, was serving the "ideals" of Guardianship and Faithfulness... :)
Quote:
As to why the Baklunish pantheon is incomplete there are many theories out there... perhaps their diets perished, or abandoned them after the twin cataclysms of theinvoked devistation and the rain of colorless fire, or perhaps, since only a portion of the baklunish lands apear on the map, and they are not truly part of the "Flanaess" Gary Gygax didn;t feel that it was important to detail more then a few baklunish gods that were well known to easterners as well as the baklunish... what ever the case we have to work with what we are left with... in this case 3 baklunish gods, a couple of demigods, and a handful of hero-dieties.
Well, it seems a shame to me, since I always found Baklunish culture one of the more intriguing of all those in the Flanaess...
Oh, one more request: is there an image of the cup and talisman in any product or on the web?
As to why the Baklunish pantheon is incomplete there are many theories out there... perhaps their diets perished, or abandoned them after the twin cataclysms of theinvoked devistation and the rain of colorless fire,..........
Or, maybe, the Baklunish deities were somewhat "absorbed" by their eastern counterparts due to the weakness of Baklunish deities caused by the Twin Cataclysms....so it could make some sense even if the sponsor for Al'Akbar was Rao......
Hope this idea could help u my dear friend Jakob _________________ The best orc is the dead one.....and beheaded for security
LGJ 3 provided information on Azor'alq, a hero-deity who seems to have been sponsored by Al'Akbar. The hero-god was introduced by way of his eponymous Pinnacles in Greyhawk Adventures (pages 89-90), which were linked by rumor to Al'Akbar's relics.
More information on both gods exists in a "Paladins of Greyhawk" article, authored by Gary Holian at Dungeon 104:106-08. Therein, Al'Akbar is named as a prophet, who was gifted with the legendary cup and talisman by "a being bathed in sunlight, known to the Paynims as Al'Asran[.]" According to that article, this event occurred after the Invoked Devastation.
Like some other GHers, I once regarded Al'Akbar as the Baklunish name for Heironeous. While I've campaigned that way in the past, now I've become convinced that these religions shouldn't venerate the same divine entity (although I bear a lingering fondness for D&D Immortals' many names).
One might equate Al'Asran with Pelor. Alternatively, they might be separate beings. Al'Asran probably isn't also known as Pholtus although it's a nice heresy. On another hand (third or fourth), Al'Asran and Pholtus probably both have relationships with the Blinding Light, which certain sects of the Old Oeridians may have called Sol.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises
