The Dragons of War

Disciples of Draghignazzo

We’ve been talking about monsters all month and how to position them against players; using them to spice up your stories. We’ve looked at who witches worship, Alazhra and Mestama, and in the past we’ve taken a look at the god of vampires, Zura, but who do monsters in general revere?

There are three deities that monsters call their creator. Lamashtu is the only major deity of the trio and she is outlined in detail in Inner Sea Gods.  The second is Shub-Niggurath of the elder gods, a creation of H.P. Lovercraft whose first mention was in The Dunwich Horror. And the last is Draghignazzo, the devil-dragon who is the one we will be concentrating on today.

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

For more information on Draghignazzo

Draghignazzo’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Draghignazzo’s Archives of Nethys Page 

The Tainted Scale

Although Draghignazzo is not truly a dragon but a cornugon devil, many dragons still follow his teaching. Fed up with the war between their creator gods Apsu and Dahak, these dragons have sought other means of divine inspiration. Promises of being officers in the ranks of the armies of Hell appeared better to some than the endless fighting that they seem to have been saddled with.

The Tainted Scale is one of the few groups of dragons that actually work together instead of always being at each other’s throats. The sect itself is small, numbering only six members: two blues, one green, one black, one umbral, and one gold. These dragons work to amass their own armies of followers and use them to make war on the material plane to Hell’s advantage. Currently many of the Tainted Scale’s forces are working to push back the demons in the Worldwound.

The Becoming

The becoming is a sect of humanoids that looks to become something more than what they are now. They seek the power that comes with a monstrous form. Made up of transmuters, alchemists, and shape-shifters, this sect worships Draghignazzo in hope he will remake their bodies—even if it means they must give up their souls.

The sect chooses members as they are very secretive. They keep an eye on wizards academies, alchemical universities, Bardic colleges, and even local druid circles. Members of these organizations who appear to be outsiders and who show aptitude for metamorphosis are put through a number of tests before being offered acceptance into the sect.

The Last Army

Some followers of Draghignazzo are monsters and some want to become monsters, but others use monsters to their own ends. The Last Army is a small sect of Hellknight worshipers of the devil-dragon that wrangle up unintelligent monsters and train and breed them for war. The job is insanely dangerous—some of the creatures can kill with a look or a scream—but these creature handlers do what must be done to aid the armies of Hell and its mortal representation of Cheliax.

Any competent warrior can join the Last Army. The one thing all members have in common is a vast knowledge of many of the creatures that inhabit their world. If you want to know lore about even the rarest of monsters, the Last Army would be the ones to ask, if you could get them to tell you. Because of the danger inherent in their mission, there is huge turnover among the sect. However, everyone knows to fear those who can grow old in a group of monster hunters.

The followers of this member of the Malebranche are poised to join the armies of hell, are you? Who is your follower of Draghignazzo? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to the devil-dragon? Where does their devotion come from? Let me know in the comments.

If the CRB has inspired your next character please consider showing support and become one of my patrons by donating to my Patreon. Looking for more out of the CRB? Then you’re in luck! Google +, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook all have a CRB presence. And if you’re as impatient as I am, have the CRB pushed directly to your Kindle with every new post by signing up for Kindle Subscriptions.

Character 28 - Grixxizt Wavecrest

A seaborn Kobold with a force of will and a personality to match his agility and hardiness. Left to die at birth, later to become a follower of the god Gozreh. This and other rolls hint at what our little Kobold might be. However, mine is not the only opinion that matters; read on and see what I came up with and then comment on what you might have done differently.

Although I mostly deal in story, I have mentioned before that rules are also an important aspect of the game.  With this character in particular, the rules are going to help us tell our story. There are a lot of things we’re gonna need to talk about but the first is class. With the Left For Dead circumstances of birth and the 14 charisma Oracle seemed the way to go. Oracle of Waves with the Elementalist archetype. Sadly none of the curses from Paizo fit my thematic idea so we’re going to go 3PP and use Tripod Machine’s Chilled curse.

Next, as you’ll see, dragons play a major role in the background so I’m going to switch out Darkvision, Light Sensitivity, Natural Armor, and Crafty for the Day Raider, Dragon-Scaled and Wyrm Crowned alternate racial traits. The traits Seafarer—which gives a bonus to Knowledge Nature and Geography when at sea and a bonus to swimming, and Blood of Dragons—which adds a +1 perception bonus, both fit the thematics.

At first level the Kobold only Dragon Aspect feat will be chosen because it fits our little dragon man, and later on he’ll have to take Skill Focus (Perception) so that he can eventually take the Eldritch Heritage line of feats to really bring out his essence of the wyrm. But what kind would he be? For that you’ll need to follow the story and I’d need to ask for some GM approval because it’s not a common dragon.

Grixxizt Wavecrest

The Clipped Albatross has always been considered an odd ship sailing as sometimes pirate, sometimes merchant and, occasionally as privateer for a country in need. But it’s not just that it takes on whatever job it can, it’s the fact that its crew is, in a word, diverse. The captain is Half-Orc whose land of origin has been lost to time and his own unwillingness to divulge his secrets. The first mate is a Catfolk from Jalmeray whose morning meditations atop the mainsail usually spooks new crew. A Gnoll from Katapesh, a Tian Tengu, and of course a small family of Kobolds make the Clipped Albatross’ crew a wonder at any port.

Grixxizt is the middle child born to the Kobold family, or not quite born. His mother is a rigger and his father the cook. The little dragon came into the world during one of the worst storms the ship ever had to weather. Between the constant swells flooding even the lower decks and the wind tossing the ship all over the choppy seas, Grixxizt’s birth was harsh and one he didn’t survive. The stillborn child couldn’t be saved and during the continuing storm was given a burial at sea.

Two days later when the seas calmed and the skies opened to the sun, a call from the crow’s nest sent the crew into a flurry of activity. The lookout claims to have seen some kind of bluish green scaled creature starboard side. When the crew came rushing to take a look what they found as a living breathing baby kobold; all blue and green-scaled with a neck-frill, crying on the deck of the ship. Grixxizt’s mother recognized her child immediately and cried tears of joy.

Being an oddity occasionally made the Clipped Albotross a target as well, especially to slavers. Odd creatures that were good at seafaring could fetch quite a bit of gold. The ship was attacked by slavers bearing the yellow sails of the Okeno, and the Gnoll bosun and Grixxizt were both taken in the ensuing melee. The crew tracked the slavers down in the port city of Okeno and eventually bought the safe return of their crew. Still Grixxizt had to suffer a few months under the thumb of the slavers and the bad taste has never left his mouth.

Grixxizt had always had problems with the chill weather. As he grew it seemed that it took more and more to keep him warm. He would spend much of his days on the deck of the ship basking in the sun, but even then he would complain of the cold. Luckily sailing mostly on the Garund side of the inner sea and down as far as Jalmeray in the Obari Ocean means he never had to suffer through the harsh winters of the oddly misnamed Steaming Sea.

The Clipped Albatross’ travels and occasional use as a passenger vessel meant that young Grixxizt met varied and interesting people. One of those who traveled with the ship twice a year from Sothis in Osirian to Niswan in Jalmeray was a scholar and an astronomer. Although the Clipped Albatross only ever saw him for these trips he was known to have traveled far and wide, and the seaborn Kobold was always enamored of his stories. The ship may have seen many ports of call but Grixxizt knew little of the lands that did not touch the sea and this spurred his imagination.

When Grixxizt hit his first molting cycle and shed his old skin, the new brighter sea-green color of his scales also brought some new talents. It started simply as the ability to see through the morning mists and fog as well as suddenly being able to cast a few minor spells. This came with the effect of a slowed metabolism as his body began to freeze faster, which made him react slower and feel sapped of strength. The crew took it as a sign that the child was touched by Gozreh, as Besmara has never been known for any kindness, and set aside a small shrine in the hold to keep the god of wind and waves appeased.

Travel also brought many chances for competition. Trading along the inner sea can be a treacherous proposition and not just because of the seas or pirates. Many the merchant is less scrupulous than even the most hardened buccaneer. When you’ve been burned so many times it’s hard to keep a good outlook of any trader. Grixxizt was always hyper defensive of his ship and crew, and one too many times they lost out on good cargo runs. 

The kobold, taking after his dragon-side, became jealous of one of these traders who bested his crew and publicly made claims about the man’s taste in companionship. It was in the heat of the moment and shamed the trader but Grixxizt couldn’t even stand himself for having said them. The seaborn dragonkin retracted his statements the next day and begged forgiveness from the Clipped Albatross’ rival. To this day Grixxizt makes sure he keeps his temper and follows the laws of the land, or sea.

As the young kobold matures he takes on more and more the color and adornment of a dragon. After much research on the neck frills and the spines he has since grown, he believes he has been touched somehow by one of the great primal brine dragons, to whom he owes his life. For now he continues to travel the seas with his family on the Clipped Albatross, but he hopes that one day he will learn why he was saved and what purpose he was chosen by Gozreh.

And there goes our little seafaring dragonkin, born without a chance but given great power and possible intense responsibility in return for an actual shot at life. Maybe Grixxizt will end up as an NPC in one of your games aboard a ship not unlike the Clipped Albatross. And don’t forget to let us know what you would have done with the stats that became Grixxizt Wavecrest.

The creative process is pretty much a second job, and you can support this endeavor by become a patron for as much or as little as you would like. And don’t forget to check out the CRB on both Twitter and Tumblr, where you can hear the story of what happened when my character (and the other players, of course) met an actual Brine Dragon.

Here There Be Dragons

Apsu's Draconic Defenders

Apsu, the creator and divine patron of all the goodly dragons, especially the metallic ones. Although most of his faithful are of the scalykind, very few of them actually wield his divine power. Apsu has some mortal followers who aid his children in their fight against his “son” Dahak and the chromatic dragons he rules over. Little is known about Apsu, except he is one of the first beings and may have created all the original gods. Even less is known about his followers and so here we will explore who they might be.

Of course the question I always ask is, as we’re sitting at our imaginary table, if you had to make a character who was a follower of Apsu, what would you make? It doesn’t need to be a divine caster, just someone who is out to further the Dragon God’s goals. Would your character fit within one of my sects, or would he go his own path?

For more information on Apsu

Apsu’s Archives of Nethys Page

Apsu’s Pathfinderwiki Page 

The Brass Tongues

Although many dragons can shapeshift they don’t all understand the mindset of the humanoids whose forms they take. To this end the Bronze dragon followers of Apsu have formed a sect whose only purpose is to interact with the outside world on the god’s behalf. There are few humanoid followers of Apsu but among The Brass Tongues, almost all the goodly races have at least one representative, humans by far make up the bulk of the sect with at least one representing each ethnicity.

The members of this sect are each well skilled diplomats in their own right, preferring words to physicality. Charismatic paladins, inspiring clerics, honey-tongued bards, and many others comprise the ranks of this group. Acceptance among The Brass Tongues requires that supplicants debate an actual brass dragon. What metric these enigmatic creatures use to determine success is unknown and no aspiring member has ever actually had the last word against one of the wyrms.

The Cackling Coppers

Copper dragons are known for their love of practical jokes but what this annoying habit hides is a keen and devious mind. To that end the copper dragons who revere Apsu lead a faction of spies. The Cackling Coppers are the eyes and ears of the church of Apsu, insinuating themselves in areas where there are sightings of evil dragons.

The Cackling Coppers hide their activities by pretending to be the fool. The drunk at the end of the bar, the beggar on the corner, and in some cases the actual court fool might be an agent of Apsu’s copper dragons. Bards, rogues, investigators, and diviners all find a home among the sect, doing their best to aid their fellows—when not playing jokes on them.

The Brass Bound Boots

The Cackling Coppers and The Bronze tongues may keep Apsu chosen in the know of things in human lands but someone has got to go out into the wilds and find the enemy. Brass dragons, well known for their adventurous spirit, imparts both their knowledge and their heart on members of The Brass Bound Boots. The just nature of their cause, and the possibility of treasure keeps the members of this organization on the road more often than not.

The ranks of the Triple Bs are filled with adventurers of all types including explorers, trackers, and dragon hunters. Power arcane, mundane, and divine all aid their specialties to the organization. The Boots don’t just seek out dragons but also means to destroy them and the draconic adventurers will sign onto expeditions seeking ancient artifacts and magical items they believe can help in their cause.

Resplendent Knights of Gold and Silver

The martial arm of the church of Apsu is led by the chivalrous silver and and the virtuous gold dragons. The silvers mostly come from the ranks of Paladins, cavaliers, and fighters of great moral fortitude. The golds have their own paladins, but their true strength lies with the Monks that are trained in a fighting style that mimics that of the gold paragons of dragon kind.

When the Cackling Coopers root out evil dragons the Resplendent Knights of Gold and Silver are called into the excise the dark wyrms from the area. Many of the knights are trained in dragon fighting techniques –oath against the wyrm- and will go to almost any length to defeat the children of Dahak.

The followers of Apsu have had life breathed into them by yours truly. If you’re enjoying what I bring to you on the CRB please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon, this is how us creators survive. Want a 140ish characters of CRB goodness, come check me out on Twitter @SimonSezCRB. You can watch me live tweet my weekend games as both a player and GM. The CRB has also made its way to Tumblr where I post a lot of inspiration art and other things that strike my fancy.