Becoming The Beast

Throwbacks of Ealdeez

There is a beast that resides in all of us. Most of us can keep that snarling creature at bay, but some give in to the savagery. The Daemon Harbinger known as Ealdeez feeds off the rage in these people’s hearts. Those who give themselves over to the Harbinger of reversion, regression, and savage revenge give up any semblance of a civilized life. Today we look at three possible sects of the being known as The Beast Behind the Dream.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Ealdeez. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Beast Behind the Dream. What character do you make?

For more information on Ealdeez

Ealdeez’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Ealdeez’s Archives of Nethys Page

Moonless Children

In one of the many secluded villages, off the beaten path in the River Kingdoms, reside some of the most inhospitable people you may ever meet. Outsiders are reviled and actively threatened. Most of the inhabitants of the region know to steer well away from the village, and rumors of missing travelers are common but unproved.

In truth this town’s entire populace are skinwalkers. They are descendants of mostly bat, rat, and wolf lycanthropes. They are also a cult of the Daemon Harbinger Eadleez who look to find a way to become full lyncanthropes so that they may truly feel the pull of their bestial blood.

The Lashing Tail

Among the lizardfolk of the Sodden Lands the aggressive Terwa Lords rile up their people to take back the land they believe was once theirs. They have convinced their people that their aggressive acts are from a place of vengeance for what has been stolen. They preach that the savagery they use is their birthright. They war and kill because it is how it should be.

Within the ranks of the Terwa Kings including some of the leading shamans, and kings themselves are members of a clutch of Eladeez devotees. These followers of the Beast Behind the Dream truly don’t care if they take back their land or not, all they want to see is the brutality of the event. Shaman, oracles, barbarians, hunters, and bloodragers make up the ranks of this sect within the great Terwa Lords.

Those Who Walk On Fours

Although most to the Hyena-folk who travel the deserts of Casmaron fall in line with their peers as worshipers of Lamashtu, some follow other beings of power. Those Who Walk On Fours are a small tribe of Gnolls who seek to become more like the Hyenas that they believe they came from. They refuse to walk on two legs, and they speak only in guttural growls and body language.

The tribe began and is still led by Fangscar, a grizzled battlerager who began to have disturbing visions. He saw himself constantly transforming back into a giant hyena over and over again. Through these dreams he began to believe that his people weren’t the creations of The Mother of Monsters but the evolution of the Hyenas that still roamed the deserts. He sought a way to become what he saw in his dreams and turned to Ealdeez to aid him in his regression, bringing over a number of other supplicants with him.

Like their patron the Deamon Harbinger’s followers are the epitome of savagery. Who is your disciple of Ealdeez? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Beast Behind the Dream? Where does their devotion come from? Let me know in the comments.

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Character Exploration 67 - Aten

Gnolls are usually thought of as brutish and uncivilized. But what happens when one of the hyena-folk gives up the chaos and barbarism of his people for order? What happens when he seeks to be a ruler of not just a tribe but a kingdom? This week our random rolls have brought us a Gnoll who instead of the usual strong and chaotic, is lite, charismatic, and orderly. Meet Aten the dervish dancer bard.

Aten

Generations ago Aten’s people inhabited the land now known as the Mana Wastes. After the great war between the wizards cursed the land with magical disturbances his people fled. They fled north across the badlands of their home. Some found solace in the sands of Katapesh but Aten’s people moved on through to the land of Osirion.

An age had passed between the time of journey and the time of exodus and the time of plenty. Aten’s people had grown and grown again expanding into more than one tribe. Because the land was good to his people many of his people adapted to the land by adopting their gods. Sekhmet, and Set became two of the most often worshiped among the hyena-folk.

Aten’s family was well respected among his tribe. His father was a master weaponsmith and his mother was a storyteller. Aten was the middle of six children, so as his family flourished so too did the tribe. His older brother and one of his older sisters took to the sands in raiding parties and this is all Aten ever wanted to do as a child. He believed he could feel the cold steel of one of his father’s scimitars in his hand as he charged across the sand to battle.

When his older brother turned on his father his dream was ended. He always looked to his sibling as a bastion of strength, but such is the nature of the gnoll tribe, kill or be killed. His brother wanted the family sword to aid him in battle; his father wasn’t done using it so his brother solved that problem. From then on he knew he could only rely on himself.

The thing about relying on yourself is that with no one else to lean on you are often susceptible to other manipulations. The hole in Aten’s soul was the perfect space for a being of pure evil to inhabit. It helped build him up speaking of his destiny, saying he should lead his family, lead his tribe. It trained him to move his body as one with the blade as if in a dance and told him that everything would one day be his.

When the time was right he set upon his brother just as his brother set upon his father. His older sibling came at him with fury and rage but Aten’s body moved with the song of the desert in precise timed movements. In the end skill and precision beat out brute strength and anger. It didn’t hurt that the fiend within lent him some of its own power. But his brother was slain, and Aten now held his family sword.

When he achieved his inheritance the fiend inside him fled. But that empty space still needed to be filled. The stories of the homeland of his people came to mind. The mana wastes were still a badlands but they were his ancestral home. Right then and there he made his choice, he would take back a portion of their lands and become the chief of his own tribe.

His travels took him through Osirian as he sought to make a name for himself to bring others of his people to his cause. He would tell any who would listen of his goal to become a chief. The humans never understood, and their nobility looked down at him. One such noble laughed at him in front of a group at a tavern. Aten may not have been the smartest gnoll but he was cunning an charismatic. He set up the other noble and caused him to lose face in front of his peers, this soothed Aten’s pride.

Building his empire wouldn’t come easy and his tribe patron god was not known for creating but destroying. Aten’s time among the humans allowed him the benefit of seeing the usefulness of other deities. When he first showed up at the temple of Horus he was turned away but his desire for leadership made him persistent. Eventually the priesthood allowed him entry and he soon converted.

Finding followers wasn’t a simple task. Aten has switched goals. He looks to head south through Osirian, then Katapesh, and into the Mana Wastes. He believes if he can make a name their, and carve out a kingdom others will come. He will lead them with his father’s scimitar and the dance of the dervish.

How did your gnoll choose to worship Horus? Did he focus on the leadership aspect or one of the other pieces of his portfolio? What class did you choose for our dexterous, and Charismatic Gnoll? How did his father die? What influence did the possessing fiend have on him?

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Random Roll 67 - The Randomness

Gnolls generally tend to be chaotic and their society breeds pure evil, but this week’s random rolls is a Lawful Neutral Gnoll who follows the god of rulership. A nice spread of stats except for a low intelligence gives us quite an array of classes to choose from so we’ll need to really look at his background to choose which class and why. So let’s see what we can do with these rolls.

Gender:Male

Race:Gnoll

Nationality: Mana Wastes

Age:  15
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 262 lbs

Alignment:Lawful Neutral

Str: 12

Dex: 15

Con:  14

Int: 9

Wis: 12

Cha: 16

Homeland:Gnoll Settlement

Parents: Only your mother is alive.

Siblings: You have 5 siblings.

- younger brother

- older brother

- older sister

- older sister

- younger brother

Circumstance of Birth: [Middle-Class Birth] You were born to the middle class, which includes merchants, artisans, and tradespeople. You likely grew up in a good-sized settlement, and one of your parents is likely associated with a guild or other trade organization. As a free person, you don't experience the bondage of serfdom or peasantry, but you also lack the privilege of the nobility.

Parent's Profession: Artisans

Major Childhood Event: [Betrayal] A friend or family member whom you trusted more than anyone else betrayed you. You have never fully trusted anyone since and prefer to rely on your own abilities rather than place your trust in others.

Influential Associate:[The Fiend] In your adolescent years, you dealt with or were possessed by a fiend who lent you raw power at a time of great need. This experience tainted your body and mind and changed your life. Some part of the demon remains inside you like an old friend, influencing you toward destructive ends.

Conflict: [Humiliation] You publicly humiliated or scandalized someone with either true or slanderous information.

Conflict Subject: Noble.

Conflict Motivation: Pleasure.

Conflict Resolution: [No Guilt] Either guilt is for the weak, or you know you made the right decision. You might not openly brag about your part in the conflict, but you don’t deny it when confronted either.

Deity/Religious Philosophy: Horus

Romantic Relationship(s): [Several Inconsequential Relationships] You have had many lovers but no long-lasting, meaningful relationships.

Drawback: [Pride] You present an image to the world that can’t be tarnished. When someone questions your motives, criticizes your actions, or insults your honor or pride, you question his friendship or count him among your enemies until he makes amends.

(Trait) Artisan

(Trait) Kin Guardian

(Trait) Merchant

(Trait) Possessed

(Trait) Scrapper

(Trait) Suspicious

(Story Feat) Damned

(Drawback) Pride

In the comments please tell us what character you would make with these disparate pieces information? What class would this Gnoll naturally gravitate towards? What Did his father diel? What kind of fiend possessed him? Why has he chosen Horus to worship? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

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Character 21 - Perresh the Black

A gnoll with no strength and only average dexterity, not what most people think of when talking about the hyena men who are usually incredibly durable with both a presence and will to match. So what do you do with these stats? With all the other information from the background generator I decided to go with Oracle. I used the generator again to roll on the Oracle chart and I got this:

Oracle Training: [Heavens] The night sky's mysteries have always enthralled you. But one night, while you gazed upon the stars, the perfect order of the universe revealed itself and you nearly went mad from the revelation. Since that night, you've possessed strange powers over the heavens.

(Trait) Starchild

Oracle has a lot of early level choices that will influence how their character will interact with the world. I went with the Stargazer archetype as it seemed to go well with the roll on the Oracle chart. The Oracle’s mystery is also important and I don’t think this gnoll’s path is on the side of the angels, so we went with Dark Tapestry. Lastly, since he’ll be looking to the sky for the horrors that come from the void, I gave him the Tongues curse. During times of stress he’ll begin to speak in the language of the Eldritch horrors, Aklo.

Sadly, the gnoll race entry from Paizo is pretty sparse, with very little customization. What I didn’t notice is that there is a decent 3pp gnoll race from Super Genius Games. I’m not going to go back and change now, but there were some applicable alt race traits that would have made this an even better character both mechanically and story wise.

Perresh the Black

In the deserts of Casamaron, the Gnoll tribes live a harsh life. Marauders and scavengers are constantly in conflict with each other and with the people of the Kelesh Empire. To the humans of Casmaron the Gnolls are feared as savage beasts for their constant raids for both goods and slaves. The Gnolls themselves are a deeply religious and superstitious people, giving themselves to monsters in every aspect of their lives.

Among the Hyenamen their prophecy is still a very important thing. The death of Aroden and the loss of true prophecy is an event they see as a distinctly human affair. The Mother of Monsters still gives their seers, shaman, and oracles the ability to see their future. When a child is born the parents will often go to a diviner to see if their cub is destined for greatness. When Perresh’s mother was born her parents were told that their daughter would not reach greatness herself but that one of her cubs would bring the void with him when he entered the world.

A prophecy a generation past and all but forgotten when Perresh’s older brother was born. Although the seers said he would be a strong member of the Gnoll community there was nothing they could see beyond that. When Perresh came into the world—all black without the usual spots of his people and hairless —the same seer that predicted this for his mother pointed to the child as a conduit for things from beyond. She moved to slay the cub but Perresh’s father instead slew her and the couple and their two sons fled their tribe.

It was easy enough for the small family to find a home in a new tribe. War between the Gnolls and Humans had been on the rise as the Kelesh Satrapies felt the Gnolls were growing too wild. The rule of the Carrion King had grown and many smaller tribes had been wiped out. Perresh and his family claimed to be from one of these now dead tribes and found themselves among one of the lesser tribes to serve the Carrion King.

Perresh grew quickly, and although he stood out with his lack of fur and black flesh, no one among their new group knew his fate. When he spoke his first words they came out as gibberish and he would later find that he instinctively knew the language of the great eldritch beings, Aklo. His strange speech caused his family to hide him away until he learned to speak the language of his people.

His mother bore another child, a third son -- auspicious to the Gnolls, and the seers claimed he would grow to be a great warrior. This allowed scrutiny to fall away from Perresh and the boy began to spend much of his time out under the night sky, staring not just out at the stars but at the darkness between them. But not everyone lost interest in the young doombringer. Karrek the Oathbreak, outcast of the The Circle -- one of the four greater tribes that serve the Carrion King -- took interest.

Karrek saw the potential in the young gnoll, set aside from the tribe by his appearance and search for his place. Karrek saw ways he could use the boy to his own ends and on the nights when Perresh would wander away from the tribe to get a better view of the endless black of night Karrek would meet with him. The outcast’s words spoke to the lost cub and he began to be swayed by them. He began to believe that he was special and beyond the simplistic ways of his people, that he deserved more and better.

However, the voice of Karrek wasn’t the only voice Perresh was hearing. Deep in his soul something darker spoke to him, in a language he had long since tried to put out of his mind. Between Karrek’s need for vengeance, the voice’ need for chaos, and Perresh’s own desires to be greater than everyone, the boy finally snapped. During a night of revelry he snuck into the tent of the leader of the tribe, an aging gnoll long since past his best battles. He took everything of value and then destroyed everything else. A deep sense of glee ran through the heart of the boy as he watched the tent burn before he ran off into the night, leaving behind his family, his tribe, and his mentor.

Perresh now lives in the wastes alone waiting for a sign from the things the writhe in the void. Until then his only goal is to amass as much wealth as he can, while destroying anything that others hold dear. When the end of the world comes, and it will because he will usher it in, his riches will prove that he has won.

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Random Roll 21 - The Randomness

Last week’s first poster Robert H Nichols gave us Gnoll as the challenge race for this week. To tell the truth I’ve always liked gnolls and I’m especially fond of them on Golarion.  The RNG went a little under this time a 14pt buy, but I enjoy the challenge. Gnolls tend to be from line fighters but the low Str and Dex our Gnoll may not be. But he is Durable, Charismatic and Wise so where can we go with that.

Male
Gnoll

Age: 17
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 256 lbs.

Str 9

Dex 11

Con 16

Int 12

Wis 14

Cha 14

Homeland: Gnoll Settlement
Parents: Both of your parents are alive.
Siblings: You have 2 biological siblings.
- biological younger brother
- biological older brother
Circumstance of Birth: [Prophesied] Your birth was foretold, as recently as during the last generation to as far back as thousands of years ago.
Parent's Profession: Serfs/Peasants
Major Childhood Event: [The War] You grew up against the backdrop of a major military conflict that affected much of your childhood world. You became accustomed to a short food supply, living in occupied territory, and moving from place to place. Several of the people you knew in your childhood were lost in the war, including members of your family.

Influential Associate: [The Pariah] You met a disgraced exile, and found in his words and attitudes something that spoke to you. What once seemed true in your religion, society, or family began to appear false the more time you spent with this person, and you quickly learned not to trust everyone you meet—especially among those who would claim to be most deserving of it.

Conflict: [Destruction] You destroyed someone else’s property. CP: 6
Conflict Subject: Noble. CP: 0
Conflict Motivation: Pleasure. CP: 5

Romantic Relationship(s): [A Few Significant Relationships] You’ve tried to make deep connections with individuals on several occasions, but it’s never worked out.
Drawback: [Material Wealth] You have a weakness for material things—money, fine jewelry, exquisite foods, expensive or rare items, and so on. When such riches are within your reach, you’re driven to possess them, and you claim them either as an honest collector or a cunning thief.

Possible Traits/Story Feat

(Trait) Civilized
(Trait) Kin Guardian
(Trait) Poverty-Stricken
(Trait) Prophesied
(Trait) Suspicious
(Trait) Vagabond Child
(Trait) Well-Informed
(Story Feat) Deny the Reaper
(Drawback) Avarice

Now the best part of this is that you have a five days to tell me what you would do with all this information? I’ll take something as simple as a race/class combo. If you want to put in a small background you can go for it as too. Show me how creative you can be within the confines of these rolls.

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Not Just Another Pretty Skeleton - Ruzel the laughing skull

It’s Saturday and thus time to talk about a god. For those of you who haven’t been a part of my explorations into the religions of Golarion, here’s how it works:

Imagine, if you will, you're making a character for a group. Your only instruction is that you must be a worshiper of a specific god. You do not need to be a divine casting class, although you can be, but the party’s purpose is working toward the goals of this specific divine being. I'd like not just a race/class combo, but a little bit about why the character would choose to dedicate themselves to this particular deity. Feel free to make up secret or not-so-secret orders within the church, or even sects outside of the church that you think might be interesting. With only this one piece of information that must be true, let your imagination go wild with the rest.

Today's god

Ruzel, Lawful Evil Infernal Duke of blasphemy, humor and undeath

Ruzel’s Pathfinder Wiki page

Ruzel’s Archives of Nethys Entry 

Comedy and undeath, not two things you often see together. But is becoming undead the ultimate trick on life itself. It does fly in the face of the natural order; a cosmic joke of sorts. So are Ruzel’s chosen, the cults of the Sabletongue.

The Cackling Assassins

When the people of Golarion speak of the hyena-men known as gnolls, they most often tell tales of the savage beast-men that roam the wastes of Casmaron. Tribal and violent, these gnolls are known for attacking caravans and dragging merchants into the desert to consume their flesh. What few know is that perched on a mountain top somewhere in the deepest heart of the Zho Mountains of Qadira lies the sanctuary of The Cackling Assassins.

The Cackling Assassins are a pack of gnoll assassins renowned as some of the most deadly killers in Casmaron. No contract they have ever undertaken has remained unsatisfied. Their weapon of choice is a deadly poison that causes the victim's muscles to jerk and contract violently, cracking bones and pushing forth spastic grunts of pain that sound remarkably like maniacal laughter.  And, perhaps most disturbingly, every corpse is left with a  grin on their face. Part of the price they require for their perfect murders is another living being to be offered up as a sacrifice to their devil patron. The person given as payment must mean as much to you as the person being killed, love for hate.

The sacrifice is delivered to a labyrinth beneath the fortress, where they are harried into a wild hunt. The hyena-men’s mirth echoes off the blind corridors and long hallways as they pursue their prey to a horrific end. Those who hire them are often plagued with dreams of their sacrifice's fate, experiencing night after night in every detail, the horrible death they suffered. The gnolls get what they want, and both the client and the victim end up with nothing. The Cackling Assassins are the only ones that get the joke, and in this dark humor the goals of Ruzel are served.

The Immortal Brotherhood

Many people seek immortality but very few can find it. The sun orchid elixir is one path but with only one dose a year, those who seek to fight off the ravages of age grasp at any straw available. The organization known as the Immortal Brotherhood have cultivated a reputation of being able to grant men the ability to stave off aging. Little do people know that they are a front for a cult of Ruzel worshipers.

These ascetics reside in a monastery in Thuvia, perfect for scooping up those who fail in their quest for the sun orchid elixir. The monks are tended to by odd, almost human-like automatons. Supplicants spend months and even years following the whims of the masters in an attempt to cleanse their body for an immortal life.

What the supplicants don’t know is that this is a great trick by Ruzel’s chosen. Each monk takes their own supplicant and determines what they value most in life, then forces them to give it up as part of the path to “eternal life”. They also force them to subsist on a diet of various foul herbs and extracts telling them that it will “purify the body”. In reality, these treatments are intended to slowly twist and dement the supplicants in body and mind until they finally die and rise again as an undead servant, totally loyal to their mentor monk. The monks use these undead servitors to play out a complicated game of murder, espionage, and even outright warfare in the Undercroft; a massive cavern complex that spreads for miles through the earth beneath the monastery.  At the heart of this game is one simple fact: the quicker a brother can convert a supplicant the more pieces they can have in play, but the more thoroughly they corrupt him the more powerful the piece will be in the end.

The grand purpose behind these secret battles is the brother’s own shot at a sort of immortality. The automatons that move about the monastery are the true masters of the Immortal Brotherhood. Each of these clockwork bodies takes one hundred years to craft including dozens of complicated rituals designed to fortify them against damage both arcane and physical, as well as any sort of magical scrying. At the end of this time, the monk that has earned the highest rank in the games is ritually killed and, through the power of Ruzel, anchored to this world as a ghost. Incredibly cunning and wicked, these ghosts inhabit the golem bodies, thus granting the incorporeal brother a means to affect the corporeal world. This also allows them to progress the work of Ruzel both within the brotherhood, and via proxy servants, among the unsuspecting people of the world outside the walls.

The Cuckoos

Like their namesake, the Ruzel cult called the Cuckoos live and work among other groups. More explicitly, they worm their way into the churches of other gods in an attempt to corrupt their faithful. Although lay people are the easiest to lead from the path of their patron gods, the true prize is those granted divine power. The ultimate coup is to cause a paladin or cleric of one of the goodly gods to fall by their own free will. Such dangerous games can be difficult to pursue so more often the Cuckoos make up for quality with quantity, corrupting large groups of lay people and causing them to work towards goals at odds with the god they think they are serving.

The tools of their trade are twisted schemes and confusing propaganda. A Cuckoo might set up an orphanage in the name of Sarenrae only to subject the children to brutal discipline and near slave labor conditions. Some might even be sold into slavery, something that Sarenrae would truly abhor. Iomedae’s hospitallers might be used to sterilize entire groups of people because “the children would only be born into poverty and pain anyway.” Cuckoos might also convince money movers in the church of Abadar to embezzle funds while building a new holy site. Any time they can twist the followers of another god from the inside the Cuckoos smile at their grand joke.

So if you had to make a follower of Ruzel, who would they be? What would their goals be? What is his grand joke?