#she’s an undine storm druid

[advancedscurvy]

last night we had the last session for my four year long pathfinder campaign, i'd like to memorialize this incredible campaign with some really wonderful moments i had with my friends. we're already playing two "sequel" sort of campaigns set distantly in the same world, both in time and space, but i'm going to miss my character so much. ianthe, a single mother who was a storm druid "swamp trash" undine in her mid 30s, who started our campaign trying to save her son's life after the swamp she had tended to almost all of her life began to grow corrupted and claimed her child, eventually became the avatar and inheritor of the power of our universe's sun goddess, the most powerful druid on the earth, the hero of three separate countries, and is now one of the creator gods of a world we had to rewrite after an apocalypse we could not stop. in a way, we ended the story right as it truly begins with their new divine aspects. however, she was also an icon, and i will miss her every time i play. there is no character like the first character whose story you truly get to close. so here's some incredible things ianthe did:

killed the prince of atlantis in literally our second or third session because he was a clam on a beach talking about killing all humans, she was annoyed, and for literally four years our party was almost fully unable to do anything in the ocean. because ianthe mistakenly thought it was no big deal that she just smushed a clam with her staff, she never communicated this mistake to everyone else, so they never really knew why the ocean wanted to kill us until we were captured literally in the last arc and they put her on trial for murder. she was not even good at pretending to be sorry.

"oh my god, they might cut off my hair? that's my third best asset!" "what's your first and second?" (points to breasts)

the boob jokes got a lot of mileage with her, i will not deceive you. she had a dragonscale armor leotard sort of thing and had stitched a bag of holding into the bra cups, and kept her spellcasting components in there. still thinking about how before she said goodbye to one of her flings for the last time before the final fight, she said "remember me as a woman who had the best and most holy rack the world has ever seen." we love that for her.

"the guy who's attacking us is a paladin of serrenrae and his armor is covered in her sigils, right?" "yes-- where are you going with that?" "i'm her avatar, and i have all her remaining power in me, right?" "yeah, but he didn't know that." "the same dude who was insulting my dignity at the bar before the tournament?" "i don't like where this is going--" "i cast reprobation. all of his equipment is now useless to him, he loses all of his paladin levels and divine authority, and if he touches my holy symbol it burns him. he is now exiled from the faith of serrenrae."

this dude proceeded to come back as a recurring villain who really fuckin hated me, for understandable reasons, and ended up making deals with some demons and decimating our ship eventually. i still do not regret what i did.

when we finally returned to my home country ready to try to purge the swamp and face some of my backstory stuff, we found that it had been consumed by a huge mushroom superorganism that put us into deep dreams upon our arrival and picked us off in the dreams one by one. i realized this when using lifesense, i could still feel my dead friends' energies around me and couldn't figure out why. this was being manipulated by another druid who had spent his whole career serving the leshy king doing all of this, and when i finally confronted him (he was trying to offer the whole country's life force to the leshy king and use my son's body as his avatar), i was like oh you want me to choose between you resurrecting my son and the lives of countless people? i know what to do-- and stabbed myself so that i could wake up from the dream and fight the other druid personally. the leshy king orchestrating this ended up understanding what selflessness was because of my sacrifice and agreed to revive my son and give his own powers to him, in the hopes that when we rebuilt this world, my son would be able to do it right (and in the sequels, we know he does <3)

the time i stopped a volcano from exploding a whole island by expending two mythic spell slots to cast polar midnight, then creating colossal earthen walls to end the eruption, was wicked. i love flexing high level druid spells.

the time i created a tsunami to protect an entire nation from armies and armies of hybridized magical mechs

all of my many flings with random npcs that i decided were suitably fun for me. the moon god. the lady blacksmith. the pre-historic alien tarzan on dinosaur island. the lord of chaos who only showed up for a good time. the orc chieftain who asked me to do recon.

the time one of our closest allies was dying when we returned and i straight up revived him

the time i literally dried out a huge two mile radius bubble of the ocean to stop a witch from summoning one of the nameless creatures of the darkest depths of the plane of water to destroy the surface, because the witch could not breathe air and could only breathe water. we do not talk about how many other things that could only breathe water were also caught in the bubble. the spell was dispelled eventually after we stopped her, it's fine, it's fine, shhhh, we don't have to talk about it.

disguised myself as a human factory worker trying to sneak into a robot factory, ended up accidentally unionizing said factory

the time i died. the other time i died. the OTHER other time i died. i died like three times at least depending on your definition.

"don't touch the shiny rock" every time there was a shiny rock, since my vice is touching the shiny rocks. the first shiny rock i touched is how serrenrae got me in the first place

the time i filled my own bag of holding with water because i (amphibious) needed to be snuck into a palace, but was very poor at sneaking and could not hold wildshape that long, so i just stuffed myself in there like a fish in a plastic baggy, then accidentally when they took me out of there, all the water came out too so they flooded a nobleman's dining room. great work everyone

every single monologue i gave about freedom and people's right to choose their life and livelihood and authority was so fun. personally my favorite is still that every time another mythic/god hierarchy being said something about what was going to happen next she would immediately go-- "who gave you the right!" i love that i can take a character who i really didn't know for sure what her motivations would be once she got her goal, and ended up coaxing out of it a deeply interesting narrative about having nothing, gaining divine power, abusing that divine power for a minute, and then becoming a better and more realized, self aware person who respects people's autonomy and understands that a god-meddled world is a mess and the most she can do is give people a hand up, rather than exercise her own will over them. i cannot wait to see what her future followers look like.

i'll miss ianthe sm honestly. she was incredible.

#pathfinder #mine #personal #ianthe i will miss you and i love you! have fun being a goddess in our next campaign dear

[dailycharacteroption]

Tempest Tamer (Druid Archetype)

 It seems like there are countless ones, but we’ve finally found the true final storm and sea-themed druid archetypes.

This archetype, however, is specialized not on the spellcasting side of the druid like its counterparts, but rather, has a more balanced take with perhaps a change to the druid as a melee combatant.

Regardless, these nature mystics do indeed seek mastery over the weather, and while they may do this with their various spells, they also seek mastery by understanding the storm, becoming the storm.

While this may limit their melee options, few can deny the control they have in both the air and in the water.

 Just as other druids are resistant to the otherworldly powers of more terrestrial or arboreal forces, these druids are resistant to the magics of wind and wave and the creatures of those realms, not to mention resisting turbulent waters.

The real strength of this archetype, however, is their ability to turn into water or air elementals early in their career, though their progression through those forms primarily follows the norm for elemental forms with wild shape. However, they do not gain the ability to take on other forms.

This archetype is simple, and some would say it loses a lot of versatility, which is a fair assessment. However, you will generally not be playing with this archetype outside of the aquatic or nautical campaigns, so if you are planning on going druid in such a campaign, having resistance to most magic you encounter and early elemental wild shape with both flight and swim-ready combat forms is not a bad idea. The balance between spellcasting and melee is pretty even, I’d say you can build with either in mind. An important thing to remember is that both water and air elementals have the ability to turn themselves into swirling masses to disrupt foes, so keep that in mind especially at high levels when your elemental forms become big enough for that to be relevant.

 This archetype comes from Blood of the Sea, and while that does generally associate it with the various aquatic races, I can see it being used by any druid that lives alongside or on the sea.

  A rare undine capable of breathing water, Miraku has set herself up as a go-between for the coastal villages and undersea villages of the Jenraku Coast. Those waters can be quite dangerous, however, so she took up the calling of a druid in order to defend herself, turning the ocean against attackers, or when overwhelmed, disappearing into the water or air as an elemental.

 Bloodstar Lagoon was named such for the crimson light of the fey banelights that made it their home, alighting on the mangrove branches hanging over the water. However, when a battle between a tempest tamer and a colony of sea drakes stirred up a terrible storm, the lagoon was heavily disrupted, and the fey have been displaced, already malevolent and now stressed out by being without a home (at least until the weather calms down and they can return), the fey pose a risk to all on the island.

 Carried by a teleportation ritual gone wrong, Koseph the tempest tamer has found himself in an entirely different form of ocean, one of sand and sun! In order to get back to the sea, he will have to adjust his arsenal of magic to match this arid environment and survive.

#pathfinder #archetype #druid #tempest tamer #undine #banelight #sea drake #Blood of the Sea

[belerencodex]

Drakoverianism

Hallows

Below the rank of god in the Drakoverian system there are the Hallows, not properly divine beings, the hallows are dragons who have inspired a philosophy or ideology that persists throughout the world to this day. Hallows are most commonly followed by circles of devotees or homogeneous enclaves. Each hallow only offers one domain or two closely tied domains so clerics will often synthesize the ideas of one hallow with that of another hallow or one of the greater deities of the Drakoverian faith. The ideologies of the hallows it is worth noting are not inherently tied to any alignment, some may by their nature skew one direction or the other but an Uscan monk is not doomed to evil simply because of the evil of the white dragon who birthed the ideology that inspires their practice. Below are listed the most prevalent of the Hallows, over history there have been  many more but these are in this age the most commonly found.

Enkan

The secrets of arcane magic have been sought and studied by many races across history, but since the last cataclysm the most pervasive core texts in the study of the arcane have been the Twenty-Nine Codices of Enkan. During the Orctide this powerful silver dragon traveled the world seeking to preserve the knowledge and magic of the lost races. She searched through ruined libraries and the decayed forums and monasteries of the ancient dwarves and elves and compiled her research into a series of manuals and histories. Now long passed on, Enkan is remembered among her silver dragon brethren as one of their greatest, in deep vaults carved out of the permanent glacial ice of the South Pole her great library is continuously curated and added to by her descendants.

The Silver Star of Enkan: In addition to her histories and manuals of wizardry Enkan also wrote several books defining her personal philosophy and beliefs in what makes a life fulfilled. These books have become the root of a philosophy popular among wizards and scholars. In her writings Enkan advocates the pursuit and preservation of knowledge as one of the highest callings possible. The practitioners of this brand of Drakoverian philosophy identify themselves as Enkannites and frequently use iconography of silver five or nine pointed stars. A schism exists between Arbanixian and Ruvoxian-Enkannites as to whether the pursuit of knowledge should be undertaken for the sake of society’s betterment or as a quest for personal discovery and power. Domains: Magic, knowledge

Rachnan

One of the only currently living hallows, the brass dragon Rachnan is an unwilling recipient of the worship and adulation of many within the desert metropolis of Ranak Oasis over which she rules. She uses her prodigious wealth to hire and finance adventurers across the Valley of Ib, creating a bulwark of safety and protection for the merchant caravans that cross her desert realm. Behind the scenes though her influence is far greater, she believes, and has inspired many by her belief, that by making the world better and easier to live in for the mortal races she can influence them to be kinder, holding that want is the root of most suffering. The ideology of Rachnan is based primarily on the foundational belief that the choice to be good must be made on an individual level without the force. Rachnani adherents are staunchly anti-slavery, anti-serfdom, and anti-authoritarian. They most value individual expression and self-determinism and hold tyranny and greed as some of the greatest causes of societal ill. While sometimes merchants and practitioners will craft elaborate and opulent works of art and idols in Rachnan’s image she does not support this practice, stories of her stripping out all the gold from the temples the people of Ranak Oasis build in her honor and using it to feed the poor and the hungry across the city are well known, her followers in the Crucible States for the most part as a result try to avoid such extravagance, instead carrying books of legends of her deeds or pocket sized brass figurines in her likeness if they carry any physical symbols of worship at all.

Rachnan’s Rescuers: As mentioned above, Rachnan is deeply anti-slavery, at her command no merchants of Kulvin or Yeth are allowed within her oasis city. She even at one point wrote a treatise on the evils of the practice. This text as well as tales of heroism and subterfuge undertaken by her agents have inspired the forming of a society of privateers, con-people, and anti-slavery activists with the goal of helping those born or sold into slavery in Kulvin to escape north. The actions of Rachnan’s Rescuers have helped hundreds of people over the years to escape servitude. Other devotees of Rachnan seek to support individual rights of people in their communities and combat the influence of greed and authoritarianism.

Domain: Liberation

Kybennox

Many stories from many perspectives are told of the life and deeds of the green dragon Kybennox. While undoubtedly they were a cruel and power-hungry creature who revelled in subjugating lesser races they also hold a very important place in history and the net effect of their actions may actually have come out to be a positive thing for the lesser creatures of Beleren. In the earliest days of what would come to be known as Rijan in later centuries, Kybennox came to  hold great sway over the land and all of it’s beasts. Ever outward over the jungles and fertile grasslands, Kybennox sought to increase their domain as King of the Beasts and Trees. When the first humans arrived in Rijan they were tribal hunter-gatherers banging rocks together to make fire and brandishing bone and stone weapons, Kybennox saw them as yet another native beast of Beleren and took dominion over them. Under the command and tutelage of Kybennox humans learned how to tame and domesticate animals, to the most devoted the wyrm even offered secret knowledge on the ambient magics that make plants. The earliest Rijani humans continued to toil as involuntary but not necessarily unwilling subjects of Kybennox for centuries, but as they grew in complexity and power Kybennox began to grow crueler and more jealous until finally their paranoia overcame them and they laid waste to the first cities of Rijan, sparking revolt culminating in the slaying of Kybennox by the efreeti warrior Babur, who would come to rule over Rijan for another five hundred years. The legacy of Kybennox still is felt throughout the human realms, tales tell of the Crown of Kybennox, an artifact said to give the bearer dominion over animals.

Farmer-Priests: In the age of Kybennox’s rulership over humanity they commanded the building of several large stone tablets on which their teachings and philosophies were inscribed. In these tablets are directions on performing sacred rites to ensure good harvests, grow plants, and pacify wild animals. These instructions are interspersed with the musings of the dragon on the subject of rulership and draconic supremacy. Remarkably the ideology of Kybennox actually directly disagrees with the traditional notions of Ruvoxian global subjugation, in one passage the green wyrm reasons that to rule a pile of ash is to rule nothing. It is not enough for a ruler to hold the land in stasis, growth is the ultimate proof of supremacy. If a person would lay claim to a forest and the forest should wither then they’re a poor ruler. Beyond simply being the tools of druids and detached priests, the beauty of the rites of Kybennox is that they are in many ways simply the ritual performance of daily tasks of farming and wider agriculture. Kybennoxist farmers in reciting old incantations and singing old work songs in the passage of their day, perform the rites of Kybennox, such devotees can actually become clerics in this manner.

Domains: Plants, animals

Harmenzoon

The oldest living dragon in the world is also one of the most well known hallows. When tropical storms bring the rains to the coasts around Artan Bay, when sailors pass from Tuar to Kingsport without threat of kraken or aboleth, the power of Harmenzoon is felt. He has established dominion over a huge swath of the Pahka Ocean, the sea west of the Crucible States and Rijan. While Harmenzoon has not left his atoll home in centuries but many dragons from wyrmlings to adults prowl this territory, hunting fiendish sharks, sea serpents, and giant squids. In earlier days when the first human and undine sailors began following the currents and tradewinds from Rijan they learned of Harmenzoon’s protection and began writing songs of praise and getting dragon tattoos in his honor.

Secrets of the Pahkan Mariners: Harmenzoon’s rulership of the Pahka Ocean is undisputable, the very forces of nature bend to his will and at the call of his name. The sailors who cross the western tradewinds are not superstitious by simple paranoia. In the ancient draconic shanties, in the rhythmic daily chores of life at sea, there are interwoven rites of divine magic honoring Harmenzoon. Drakoverian mariners often will over time develop true magic, becoming clerics of Harmenzoon.

Domain: Oceans

Ourid

Dragons and dwarves seldom find friendship, which is a shame as both of them posess a particular appreciation for the artistry of metallurgy and craftsmanship. Over the first 2,000 years of Ourid’s life she witnessed two cataclysms that nearly destroyed the dwarvenkind. In secret she worked below the mountains of what is now called the Crucible States, creating vast subterranean cave structures and networks of caverns so large that they had their own winds and weather. These tunnels would become the refuge of the huddled survivors who would go on to become the dwarves now known throughout the Crucible States. Ourid was shy and didn’t wish to be lauded for her works. She didn’t reveal herself to the dwarves, instead they only discovered the source of the caverns with the legendary explorer Weihern the Caver finally tracked down her lair. Over time Weihern earned her confidence and friendship until she revealed to him the greatest gift she had to offer, in her exploration she had learned the lost arts of the ancient dwarves that allowed them to create adamantine. This secret method she taught to Weihern who brought it back to his people. Now armed with the un-matched power of adamantine the dwarves turned the tides against the Orcs. For two hundred more years Ourid taught dwarven smiths the art. As she did she also taught them secrets of the forge and the soul of metal. These teachings were collected into several texts arranged as epic poems weaving between Draconic and Ancient Dwarven.

The Ourid Codex: Ourid was a master of alchemy, without her much of the ancient knowledge of the process would have been lost. In one of the books she wrote in her twilight years she outlined dozens of alchemical recipes and processes as well as theories and stories about alchemicals she had only ever heard of or never learned how to make them. This codex is considered the foundation of alchemy throughout the Crucible States and have inspired many of the greatest alchemists since. Arkebus & Kannen, the co-inventors of black powder originally called the compound dragon dust but competitors trying to re-create it kept dying trying to procure dragon scales to grind to make dust out of and they felt compelled to dissuade this behavior as the compound contains no draconic bodyparts.

Domains: Artifice

Rothanna

At the core of everything Rothanna ever said is a simple rule, Survive. Survive to spite your enemies, slip your chains and defy death and danger. In the waning days of the Orctide, she was a disciple of Zahak, it was in fact she who would betray and fell the blue dragon. After slaying Zahak and stealing her treasure Rothanna was hunted, blue dragons sought revenge for their fallen comrade, at her former master’s direction she had committed many atrocities against the elves and dwarves and now without allies or friends they hunted her. Into secret hideaways in the lakelands of the Orumic Coast she fled, in these secluded climes she discovered the huddled tribes of the Garzghulan hiding away for fear, hunted just as she was. She taught them the philosophy of survivalism that had so long sustained her. She also taught them arts of warfare, dirty tactics using poisons and booby traps to level the playing field against greater foes. There is no record of her death, no one ever claimed to have bested her, it’s as if she simply vanished. If Rothanna is still alive though, she’s over 3,000 years old, a thousand years older than the oldest living dragon, Harmenzoon.

The Rothannan Avengers: This cabal of monks, rogues, fighters, and rangers have for centuries acted from the shadows. Wherever individuals bring suffering and strife to Garzghulan communities, the Avengers aren’t far behind. Their methods are as stealthy as they are deadly, many an enemy of the Garzghulan has been felled by unseen archers, strangled in their bed, poisoned at a feast, or crushed by a stone falling off a parapet.

Domain: Trickery

Usc

All dragons value power, but none have ever been quite so long-winded in their exultations of the virtues of strength and discipline. In life he pursued power and proof of his power unendingly. Forever and onwards he sought larger foes, in this endeavor he was at different points hero and foe to many of the lesser races, aligning himself forever with the group with whom he thought he could tip the scales. Usc warred and fought creatures of every realm and plane and bested almost all comers. He lost one arm to Zahak in a battle he fled from, a dwarven warrior three centuries later cleaved off one of his wings but he survived and travelled to the heavenly demiplane of High Hall and made the dwarven god of craftsfolk forge him a new one. Warriors of every background began to come to learn from the awesome power of Usc and it so stroked his vanity that he began to impart his own brand of simple, primal wisdom. The pursuit of greater strength, or perfection of being is an endless adventure, and the only one worth doing. Monks and clerics of usc continually seek to prove their mettle, often becoming anti-heroes of nearby communities they free from the fear of powerful enemies.

Motivation and Discipline: Among the sophists who follow the path of Usc there are those who seek to inspire others. With the demeanor of motivational speakers they try to enthuse people into trying to be more than they are now. More orthodox Uscan folk, and those inspired as well by Kybennox or Ruvoxin often take on a rigidly authoritarian ideology, truly holding that might makes right.

Domain: Strength

Zahak

Orcs have always been rare in the East, in modern times Grotari and Brigdeshi orcs sail as far as Yeth but their presence there is very light. The rebuke of the Orcs beyond the Bluedrake Mountains can be credited almost entirely to one figure. In the long forgotten age of the Orctide, when the vast and endless ranks of the demon bull Hunok’s horde washed over the world, destroying everything they met, breaking the idols of the dwarves and elves, enslaving halflings and gnomes and ending many of the cultures that had clung barely to life after the Astral War. But in the wide desert passes through which the Orcs tried to push their way east, they were rebuked by Zahak. The pure, un-matched genius of her military stratagems made her the ultimate foil to the powerful, numerous, and critically dim-witted orcs. Her armies were made up primarily of lesser dragons and the Sand Elves, they had been worshippers of the feywild and the animist gods of Elun. After being subjugated by Rothanna under Zahak’s command they became a well trained military machine. It was at this point that their scribes first began to write down the strategies utilized against the orcs. When she learned of this it so pleased Zahak’s ego that she summoned a trio of scribes called Ptah, Onuk, and Tepotana and had them record her lectures. This guide to warfare is known as the Art of War, it and it’s companion texts are considered the root of all military strategy utilized from Rijan to Cymrin.

The Blue Artisans: Zahak developed several martial arts styles designed around mastering martial arts, many of the traditional monk weapons are based on schematics and prototypes developed for use against the Orcs. These martial styles continued to develop after her death and for 1,400 years the Blue Artisans as a united organization acted as a mercenary war college, training the highest bidders in their techniques and building a small army of monks and fighters who would be integral to the later Human migration into modern Rakkonia, when they drove the hobgoblins underground and into the hills. Today though the Blue Artisans are scattered, enclaves still carry on the traditions of old but these schools often feud against each other over lengthy histories of betrayals, feuds, and bloody revenges.

Domain: War

#pathfinder #d&d #beleren #worldbuilding #drakoverianism #dragons

[advancedscurvy]

druids and chosen ones and prophecies

#mine #my art #she’s my pathfinder character her name is ianthe #she’s an undine storm druid #pathfinder oc