In the word that I am building there are four Paragons. Each represents an aspect of the world.
Good
Evil
Chaotic
Neutral.
Each Paragon is the ruler of one of the four ancient kingdoms of the world and embodies all the aspects of their particular alignment. For this reason, the Paragon of the neutral kingdom - preferring a balance between the other three, has largely faded into obscurity. Though her kingdom is actually the largest, it has been forgotten by the peoples of the world.
However, I am more focussed on the Paragon of the Chaotic kingdom - The Fisher King. He weilds a legondary weapon. The demon slaying sword. Where usually you can't really kill a demon, this sword can actually kill them. It does that by slaying the body and absorbing the essence/soul, so there is nothing left to return to the abyss and be reborn.
The sword then uses the soul of the demon, to makes itself stronger.
It should be noted that this sword is also able to kill gods and primordials in the same way. It is just known as the demon slaying sword, because the fisher king used it to defend his kingdom against an abyssal incersion, many, many centuries ago. His kingdom was almost destroyed, but with this sword, he was able use the demons own power against them. Killing them and sealing the breach through which the demons had come.
The only two things that I am stuck on, is
1: Why would otherwise Immortal beings, create a weapon capable of killing them, and who would have realistically created the sword, and for what
2: How would such a weapon end up in the hands of a mortal, and how could that mortal possibly resist the corrupting influences of such a weapon
It's been absorbing demonic souls for aeons. So how could a mortal - even a Paragon of the world, possibly resist the sheer amount of chaotic energy, gathered by the sword.
Do you guys have any thoughts ?
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Interesting read. Off the top of my head, this is what I thought of:
Why would otherwise Immortal beings, create a weapon capable of killing them, and who would have realistically created the sword, and for what?
Intent. You said the sword was used against an abyssal incursion centuries before - what if an angel desperate to end the war against the demons bestowed it to mortals in a strategic way to end it. That's the EASY answer, though. You know who else hates demons? Devils. A mortal prays to the gods for an answer to save their city, but a devil makes a deal with them and creates the sword with their own malicious intent in mind, but we'll get to that in a moment.
How would such a weapon end up in the hands of a mortal, and how could that mortal possibly resist the corrupting influences of such a weapon? It's been absorbing demonic souls for aeons. So how could a mortal - even a Paragon of the world, possibly resist the sheer amount of chaotic energy, gathered by the sword?
I've technically already answered the first part of this in the previous answer, but the second part is the FUN part: They don't. Remember the devil from the previous section that I mentioned? What if he fully intended for the blade to corrupt the user? There was a show I watched previously that had this little bit of lore that only ever really comes up three times - "If you bathe in the blood of a thousand demons, you become a demon yourself,". Maybe the sword is slowly turning the wielder into a demon themselves? Maybe it starts to crave souls and it pushes that blood lust onto it's wielder? Sounds like some fine print detail a devil might forget to mention. Maybe even after it's killed X number of demons, it turns and starts to crave other immortals - angels, even gods perhaps. A drastic change in the user may cause those around them to notice, question, and possibly even forcibly remove the item in question and lock it in a vault until it's dark powers are needed once more...
But that's just me. ^^ Hope my rambling helped at least a little bit.
I did have another question, though - you said there are four paragons that follow 4 alignments, but you listed Neutral instead of Lawful. Is there a Lawful Paragon? If there isn't, why not? If the Neutral one is concerned about upholding balance, wouldn't she try to "find" or even "create" a Lawful Paragon?
Well, there is a Paragon of 'Good' so that includes lawful. Neutral is true neutral, chaotic is all the alignments associated with chaotic and evil, the alignments associated with evil.
Between good, chaotic and evil, there is a certain amount of overlap and that is where the neutral paragon comes in.
Her kingdom is the largest because most people aren't one extreme or another. Most people exist in shades of grey and embody some of the aspects from all other alignments.
The neutral Paragon keeps the balance, she acts against and for all other alignments as and when the need arises. She is more like a diplomat or a negotiator. She basically keeps the peace and prevents the others from raging an outright war against each other.
If one was killed or somehow dies, then she would also be the one to seek out a replacement, if she had to she might even go as far as.to actually create a Paragon, because above all else the balance must be maintained.
Well what if the sword in question doesn't work outside of the mortal realm. that could create issues with attempts to turn parts o the mortal realm to other.. but?
if the greater powers beyond the paragons consider attempts to directly deal with the mortal realms offensive.. it may be a way of enforcing "good" manners on the greater powers.
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Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
Hi I'm quite new to the d&d forums, but I'm excited to swap great ideas with people who love creating these kinds of situations!
I'm not sure how much of your story you have mapped out so far, but based on your description of the Nuetral Paragon, it might be interesting to put them up as some kind of puppet master. Perhaps this Paragon, fearing the destruction of the Chaotic kingdom, made a pact with some devil lord, as ZarJaMar suggested, knowing fully well the impact it would have. In this scenario the Nuetral leader, always striving for balance, would be the one nudging the party towards stopping this Chaotic Paragon, now corrupted through the evil of this sword. I'm always a big fan of the right choice being hard, so the players could watch this defender of his people slowly twist and corrupt, becoming what he fought against to save his people. This also leaves your players feeling torn about the Nuetral Paragon, unsure if the ends justify the means, leaving moral quandaries about whether they are truly doing the right thing.
I'd love to see more about what direction you take your story in and how your players react to everything. Best of luck to you my friend, may your rolls be high!
Possibly a god or powerful creature on another plane to facilitate defense against Demons should the need arise. Possibly mortals, but an organized large society, that wished to defend against Demons or even possibly with the arrogance of taking the "war' to them. In this case, imagine the finest blade smithed over a long period, and then adorned by the finest metal smiths and jewlers with engravings of powerful runes. The finished blade is then taken to a host of clerics that are able to purify it and appeal to the gods to have the blade granted this special power.
How did it come into the hands of the owner?
The second story provides its own answer. If it was made on another plane, then it could simply be loot some crazy thief brought back from a daring adventure. It could be that after a bargain was struck with the owner it was delivered to the material plane. Or it could have been found like the discovery of the One Ring and never meant to be under the control of a mortal. Or it may have been obtained by a Wish spell. Or, a magical minion able to plane shift brought it back to their master, and the method the minion used to obtain it is not known to the material plane, AND THE OWNER WANTS IT BACK.
Good luck.
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Hi everyone,
In the word that I am building there are four Paragons. Each represents an aspect of the world.
Good
Evil
Chaotic
Neutral.
Each Paragon is the ruler of one of the four ancient kingdoms of the world and embodies all the aspects of their particular alignment. For this reason, the Paragon of the neutral kingdom - preferring a balance between the other three, has largely faded into obscurity. Though her kingdom is actually the largest, it has been forgotten by the peoples of the world.
However, I am more focussed on the Paragon of the Chaotic kingdom - The Fisher King. He weilds a legondary weapon. The demon slaying sword. Where usually you can't really kill a demon, this sword can actually kill them. It does that by slaying the body and absorbing the essence/soul, so there is nothing left to return to the abyss and be reborn.
The sword then uses the soul of the demon, to makes itself stronger.
It should be noted that this sword is also able to kill gods and primordials in the same way. It is just known as the demon slaying sword, because the fisher king used it to defend his kingdom against an abyssal incersion, many, many centuries ago. His kingdom was almost destroyed, but with this sword, he was able use the demons own power against them. Killing them and sealing the breach through which the demons had come.
The only two things that I am stuck on, is
1: Why would otherwise Immortal beings, create a weapon capable of killing them, and who would have realistically created the sword, and for what
2: How would such a weapon end up in the hands of a mortal, and how could that mortal possibly resist the corrupting influences of such a weapon
It's been absorbing demonic souls for aeons. So how could a mortal - even a Paragon of the world, possibly resist the sheer amount of chaotic energy, gathered by the sword.
Do you guys have any thoughts ?
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Interesting read. Off the top of my head, this is what I thought of:
Intent. You said the sword was used against an abyssal incursion centuries before - what if an angel desperate to end the war against the demons bestowed it to mortals in a strategic way to end it. That's the EASY answer, though. You know who else hates demons? Devils. A mortal prays to the gods for an answer to save their city, but a devil makes a deal with them and creates the sword with their own malicious intent in mind, but we'll get to that in a moment.
I've technically already answered the first part of this in the previous answer, but the second part is the FUN part: They don't. Remember the devil from the previous section that I mentioned? What if he fully intended for the blade to corrupt the user? There was a show I watched previously that had this little bit of lore that only ever really comes up three times - "If you bathe in the blood of a thousand demons, you become a demon yourself,". Maybe the sword is slowly turning the wielder into a demon themselves? Maybe it starts to crave souls and it pushes that blood lust onto it's wielder? Sounds like some fine print detail a devil might forget to mention. Maybe even after it's killed X number of demons, it turns and starts to crave other immortals - angels, even gods perhaps. A drastic change in the user may cause those around them to notice, question, and possibly even forcibly remove the item in question and lock it in a vault until it's dark powers are needed once more...
But that's just me. ^^ Hope my rambling helped at least a little bit.
I did have another question, though - you said there are four paragons that follow 4 alignments, but you listed Neutral instead of Lawful. Is there a Lawful Paragon? If there isn't, why not? If the Neutral one is concerned about upholding balance, wouldn't she try to "find" or even "create" a Lawful Paragon?
Feel free to check out my home brew, the Laika - a race of humanoid canines. (Current Version: 3)
Well, there is a Paragon of 'Good' so that includes lawful. Neutral is true neutral, chaotic is all the alignments associated with chaotic and evil, the alignments associated with evil.
Between good, chaotic and evil, there is a certain amount of overlap and that is where the neutral paragon comes in.
Her kingdom is the largest because most people aren't one extreme or another. Most people exist in shades of grey and embody some of the aspects from all other alignments.
The neutral Paragon keeps the balance, she acts against and for all other alignments as and when the need arises. She is more like a diplomat or a negotiator. She basically keeps the peace and prevents the others from raging an outright war against each other.
If one was killed or somehow dies, then she would also be the one to seek out a replacement, if she had to she might even go as far as.to actually create a Paragon, because above all else the balance must be maintained.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Well what if the sword in question doesn't work outside of the mortal realm. that could create issues with attempts to turn parts o the mortal realm to other.. but?
if the greater powers beyond the paragons consider attempts to directly deal with the mortal realms offensive.. it may be a way of enforcing "good" manners on the greater powers.
Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
Hi I'm quite new to the d&d forums, but I'm excited to swap great ideas with people who love creating these kinds of situations!
I'm not sure how much of your story you have mapped out so far, but based on your description of the Nuetral Paragon, it might be interesting to put them up as some kind of puppet master. Perhaps this Paragon, fearing the destruction of the Chaotic kingdom, made a pact with some devil lord, as ZarJaMar suggested, knowing fully well the impact it would have. In this scenario the Nuetral leader, always striving for balance, would be the one nudging the party towards stopping this Chaotic Paragon, now corrupted through the evil of this sword. I'm always a big fan of the right choice being hard, so the players could watch this defender of his people slowly twist and corrupt, becoming what he fought against to save his people. This also leaves your players feeling torn about the Nuetral Paragon, unsure if the ends justify the means, leaving moral quandaries about whether they are truly doing the right thing.
I'd love to see more about what direction you take your story in and how your players react to everything. Best of luck to you my friend, may your rolls be high!
My small comtribution ...
Who created the sword?
Possibly a god or powerful creature on another plane to facilitate defense against Demons should the need arise. Possibly mortals, but an organized large society, that wished to defend against Demons or even possibly with the arrogance of taking the "war' to them. In this case, imagine the finest blade smithed over a long period, and then adorned by the finest metal smiths and jewlers with engravings of powerful runes. The finished blade is then taken to a host of clerics that are able to purify it and appeal to the gods to have the blade granted this special power.
How did it come into the hands of the owner?
The second story provides its own answer. If it was made on another plane, then it could simply be loot some crazy thief brought back from a daring adventure. It could be that after a bargain was struck with the owner it was delivered to the material plane. Or it could have been found like the discovery of the One Ring and never meant to be under the control of a mortal. Or it may have been obtained by a Wish spell. Or, a magical minion able to plane shift brought it back to their master, and the method the minion used to obtain it is not known to the material plane, AND THE OWNER WANTS IT BACK.
Good luck.