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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 19:46:02
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Well met!
My campaign is based around the idea that Sammaster is the offspring of Tiamat; conceived to be both her prophet and lover. I'm having some problems with the details though, and was hoping for some help
Now, this is what I got so far ...
The Church of Tiamat used a elder spell to impreganate a slave-girl from the west with the essence of the Chaos Queen. The destiny of the embryo was then magically pronouced in order to ensure his nature would be geared to serving his mother as her lover and prophet .... of Tiamat's rulership in a new Time of Dragons.
The destiny of Sammaster was thus set from the start. However, he was meant to be raised with the intellectual and cultural upbringing of an Untherite, and for some reason this is not how it turned out. For some reason he was raised by westerners, completely ignorant of his origins and destiny outside of certain unexplainable urges and predispositions. The conflict between his inherent nature and destiny, and his culturo-intellect upbringing eventual brought about Sammaster's insanities. Of course, even without guidence, and despite the interference of Mystra, Elminster, Algashon and the rest of those meddling westerners, one might shudder at how close Sammaster actually came to the truth of it!!!
So, the questions are ... how did the puppling Sammaster end up in the west? And how did the Church of Tiamat and everyone lose track of him? Any ideers?
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"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 20:34:39
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Well, first of all, I see one slight problem with your idea: Mystra imbued Sammy with her silver fire when she made him a Chosen. I can't see her not being able to tell that Sammy was the offspring of another deity...
Anyway, for ways the kid could have been lost...
The slave-girl was sold to another, who took her beyond the Cult's reaches. Or she was captured in a raid or as part of some political maneuverings, with the same results...
Or mayhaps the girl escaped, and fled elsewhere. Taking a new name, she settled in a place beyond the Cult's reach...
Or when the infant Sammy was born, he was given up for some reason. Perhaps the mother abandoned him, and he was adopted by someone who took him elsewhere. Or the girl's master, not wanting to deal with the infant, sold or gave away the child, to the same ends... |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 20:45:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Well, first of all, I see one slight problem with your idea: Mystra imbued Sammy with her silver fire when she made him a Chosen. I can't see her not being able to tell that Sammy was the offspring of another deity...
Perhaps she did know? Perhaps this was one of the reasons why she "chose" him?
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. The slave-girl some how escaping sounds promising! |
"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 21:24:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Beowulf
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Well, first of all, I see one slight problem with your idea: Mystra imbued Sammy with her silver fire when she made him a Chosen. I can't see her not being able to tell that Sammy was the offspring of another deity...
Perhaps she did know? Perhaps this was one of the reasons why she "chose" him?
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. The slave-girl some how escaping sounds promising!
Glad to help.
But as for Mystra choosing Sammy because he was the offspring of another deity... I think that exceedingly unlikely. Look at it this way: would you hand your life's savings to a stock broker you knew was indebted to the mob? |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 22:28:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
But as for Mystra choosing Sammy because he was the offspring of another deity... I think that exceedingly unlikely. Look at it this way: would you hand your life's savings to a stock broker you knew was indebted to the mob?
[/quote]
Indeed. It would be far easier to simply destroy Sam than to try "convert" him to a less destructive path.
I suppose then that, indeed, the plan was simply well laid enough that baby Sam was shielded from such meddlesome inquiries that might reveal his true ancestry. I would imagine that even the goddess of magic can be fooled. |
"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2004 : 22:30:04
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Okay, I've pondered this one a bit. And here's an idea:
Sammy's dad was a priest of Tiamat. He had a vision, one he naturally assumed came from his goddess. If he had a child, and used the child as part of a special ritual, then a shard of Tiamat's essence would be invested in the child, and this child would grow to lead Tiamat's church to greatness.
Inspired by this vision, Papa grabbed his fave slave-girl, and proceeded to do the deed.
Said slave-girl had a vision, herself, sent by the good or neutral deity she worshipped. She realized Papa's evil plans for her unborn child, and that the best way to thwart these plans was to get the heck out of there.
Perhaps her escape was aided by some outside force -- some sympathetic person, possibly, or an attack upon Papa by a rival. Either way, Mama got out of there, and fled to some convenient locale (likely Sembia, going by the Cult of the Dragon sourcebook). There she married another, and, until their untimely demise, they raised young Sammy to think the new guy was his real dad.
Now, if you want to make it really interesting... You could say that the original vision was sent by Algashon or another priest of Bane. The intent could have been to just cause strife in Tiamat's church or in Unther, or it could have been to grab some of Tiamat's power. Either way, subsequent events interfered.
Going with this route, your intent is left pretty much intact, but it takes away the problem of Sammy being Tiamat's offspring. He was destined to greatness in her church, but fate had other ideas.
And I'll grant that my idea needs some work -- this is just the product of several minutes of pondering. But perhaps you could find it useful...
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2004 : 01:58:22
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Well met!
In the year 797 DR it came to pass that Kingu, an intermediate priest in the service of Tiamat, received a vision in which his goddess charged him with the retrieval of the Creation Scrolls from the ruins of Uruk, and the fathering of a child as part of the rituals described in the scrolls. These rituals would allow Tiamat’s essence to be filtered through Kingu such that a mortal offspring might be conceived. And so it was that Kingu ventured to Uruk and retrieved the Creation Scrolls, taking his favourite slave-girl, a lass from the west named Assammathra, to his bed upon return. In time she began to grow ripe with child.
Unbeknownst to all concerned however, Assamathra was the descendent of one of Mystra’s faithful, a powerful and lusty wizard from the northlands, whose life had greatly pleased the Keeper of the Weave. And whose seed she remained ever mindful of. Thus did the goddess send a vision to the slave-girl, commanding her to escape from Kingu, and promising to aid her in her westward flight.
And so it went, with Assammathra and the new born Sammaster escaping during a raid by the forces of the God-King Gilgeam; who were themselves intent on slaughtering the babe. She was aided in her escape by a kindly group of adventurers that Mystra had guided to Unther, who protected Assammathra and the young Sammaster from both kidnappers sent by Kingu and assassins sent by Gilgeam. However, one by one the members of the brave band fell to forces that opposed them, until at length even Assammathra herself had been slain and only the Albrek the Kind of Ilmater survived to carry the babe to the shores of Sembia.
Once there, Albrek secretly passed the child onto an old friend, who promised to find it a good home, whilst he himself continued his flight leading both assassin and kidnappers ever westward. Unfortunately, the agents of Gilgeam at last caught up with Albrek in the streets of Urmlaspyr, and there the Disciple of Ilmater was murdered. Of the baby Sammaster however, there was no trace.
And so it was that Sammaster was raised by simple farm folk in one of the many small hamlets that grew up hard by Rauthauvyr’s Road. And so it remained until the year 817 DR, when Mystra at last arranged the fateful meeting between the young Sammaster and the merchant-mage Mnethos. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sages privy to this knowledge of the Life of Sammaster believe that the rituals found in the Creation Scrolls so bound Sammaster to Tiamat and the destiny she had planned for him that not even the might of Mystra was able to alter it. Some of these sages believe that, ultimately, it was these attempts to alter Sammaster's nature and destiny that drove him to the brink of madness. Others postulate that Sammaster's madness was the result of Sammaster’s destiny, as fixed by the Crteation Scroll rituals, and an inadequate intellectual and cultural upbringing, which should properly have be Untheric and according to the teaching of the Cult of Tiamat. |
"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2004 : 03:11:40
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Pretty good. And I'm happy to see that my ideas were something you could build upon.  |
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Crust
Learned Scribe
USA
273 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2004 : 03:56:25
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| I find it ironic that the goddess of chromatic dragons would feel good about dead dragons ruling the world. |
"That's right, hurl back views that force ye to think by name-calling - 'tis the grand old tradition, let it not down! Anything to keep from having to think, or - Mystra forfend - change thy own views!"
Narnra glowered at her father. "Just how am I to learn how to think? By being taught by you?"
"Some folk in the Realms would give their lives for the chance to learn at my feet," Elminster said mildly. "Several already have."
~from Elminster's Daughter, Ed Greenwood |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2004 : 04:19:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Crust
I find it ironic that the goddess of chromatic dragons would feel good about dead dragons ruling the world.
Well, maybe Tiamat wouldn't much care when it gets right down to it, but I have presumed that the Cult of Tiamat see's this misinterpretation of Maglas' prophecy as one of Sammaster's mis-steps. This is attributed by the CoT to the baleful influence of Algashon. In my campaign world the Cult of Tiamat is muchly at odds with the entire secular strain of the CotD that Algashon more or less spawned.
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"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Sammaster's origins
