Has anyone used the Illumians??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Has anyone used the Illumians??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Bubba333
02-04-05, 04:02 PM That's it, just wondered if anyone has and how. I was brainstorming and felt that their sigils might tie into the Draconic Prophecy somehow, but I'm not sure. I really like them and just wanted some ideas.
sus323
02-04-05, 05:13 PM I'm playing one in our Eberron game. The way my DM and I figured it, the Illumians were "hidden in plain sight" in that they do not let non-illumians see their sigils. So their Cabals are disguised as monasteries, colleges...etc. In know that my DM has some plans for how the Illumians fit into the history of Eberron, but he hasn't shown his hand yet. :)
Bubba333
02-04-05, 06:17 PM Cool! As I just got the book and haven't had the chance to read much, how do they hide their sigils?
Tealgorthian
02-05-05, 02:25 AM I havent used them, still in the process of rewriting them. Changing that stupid floating sigil thing into a kind of tattoo body art, and making them a bit more psionic on nature, then I am going to tie them to the Kalashtar and the Dreaming Dark :)
Darkest90
02-05-05, 05:53 AM According to me... how Illumians fit into Eberron. If you don’t want to read it all, summary afterwards.

Illumians in Eberron (Warning: Long!)
Early in the civilization of Sarlona, when humans ruled the first kingdoms and lived without fear of the Inspired and the conflict of the quori, there were those that studied the arcane magic given to them by dragons. Young blue drakes that lived in the Sarlonan mountains found a passing hobby in teaching mortals how to wield arcane trickeries, often in attempt to prove their intelligence to other dragonkind.

As these pet-projects dwindled and the young dragons grew into maturity, the humans were left to their own devices and arcane magic spread. By some way, it came to Argonnessen. A southern kingdom with developing arcane nobility became ripe with too-regular human curiosity for the outside world, and made attempts to make incursions into the mysterious southern continent, the dragon lands of Argonnessen.

Many of these expeditions were foiled one way or another, some dragons redirected primitive human ships back to whence they came, and others were burnt to a crisp. Some explorers made contact and explored for a little while, before they were discovered by a passing dragon and either eradicated or sent back immediately to their homeland.

The Tarmuid Expedition, however, was the only known Sarlonan voyage that achieved success. A humble crew of sorcerer-explorers worshipping a deity that seems reminiscent of the Path of Light and the god Aureon (and might have spurred both of these beliefs), sought Argonnessen as a place to achieve solitude. They desired peace to pursue knowledge of the arcane away from a world where many kingdom believed magic was an evil practice of witchcraft (a long-lost record in Adar reveals that the Tarmuid Expedition occurred directly after an inquisition against the arcane nobility of the southern human kingdom). A small contingent of blue dragons took pity on them and decided that their presence wouldn't affect them that much, and that they could study the potential of mortals with the Prophecy and other magic.

A colony soon arose by the efforts of the explorers. Led by a benevolent personage known as Tarmuid in ancient texts, a small village arose and prospered. A port was constructed for travel between the dragon lands and Sarlona, and a large lighthouse was built as well to create a modern feel for the colony. Tarmuid soon discovered that the colony was to receive little help from Sarlona. The inquisition put the mages in bad repute, and now even their religion was suffering a little. The colonist quickly became known as the Illumians, which while in Old Common normally meant ‘Lighters’ it had become a derogatory term in Sarlona.

Tarmuid was a little set back that his colony didn’t prosper, but he was content. The colony evolved into a monastery, and the populace explored Argonnessen and created a library. They delved into arcane lore and conducted experiments, while others sought enlightenment as monks. All the while, the dragons kept mostly hidden, though they were seen on occasion, and their doings and draconic symbols left on rock walls were recorded. The dragons did little but lazily observe from time to time, following their own experiments that might have been planned for the next thousands of years.

Sometime during the middle of the Daelkyr War on Khorvaire, a new generation of blue dragons arose. These youths found interest in the northern mortals of Illumians, and decided to focus their attention on them instead of the oppressive war that raged in the west. There was a magnificent explosion of arcane knowledge in the monastery of the Illumians, as blue dragonlings came nearly once a month to share common knowledge. Shreds of the Prophecy were recorded, though the Sarlonans couldn’t interpret or understand them at all.

What is known after this renaissance is that Tarmuid, becoming increasingly old, was taken into a short assistantship of a blue dragon-cub to record magic symbols. Tarmuid was also subjected to certain spells (experimental), some which changed his mentality slightly, and others which lengthened his lifespan and thought capacity. Somehow, he was able to take a piece of a magic equation related both to the Prophecy and the dragon’s perception of mortals. When Tarmuid grew tiresome to the blue dragon, and was returned to the Illumian monastery, Tarmuid conducted a draconic ritual that filled the structure with a lucid light, mimicking symbols and runes of strange script.

All of the residents of the monastery, and most of the colony’s residents, were transformed during the ritual. They found residual energy from the draconic spellcraft, glowing sigils of power floating above their heads. They were different. So the creation of the Illumians is told.

Afterwords, some dragons were angry at this perverse use of magic reserved to dragon kind. But many more were apathetic and didn’t have any interest in it. There were a few though that enabled the Illumians to spread, those dragons (mostly blue) that discovered the aptitude that mortals have with conducting the Prophecy. Many were taken for observation, to serve as assistants, into the central areas of Argonessen.

The ritual unneeded, Illumians reproduced by themselves and after a few centuries of rapid growth, they had expanded into nearly thirteen different families. Indeed, they were most often separated. Only four of the Illumian families could be found at what was now the Lamasery of Words made Flesh. The rest had been shared and transplanted among the dragons to use as subjects, bartering objects of power.

However, while the Illumians did exemplify how mortals conduct the Prophecy, they also showed a tendency to somehow resist, ignore, or bend certain fragments of it. This allowed them to strive to break away from their ominous dragon masters. They became known as Illumian cabals, each family operating in secret ways to thwart their dictators and escape their rule. As the family grew and the exponential amount of sigils increased, dragons lost their hold on the Illumians. They didn’t escape entirely, they just sometimes proved to be ineffective servants and were able to disobey somewhat the magical commands of the dragons. The draconic beings were once again lenient, and most cabals were given command so less restrictive that they might as well be free. They still check up on them once or twice every few years, and each cabal has a dragon watching over them in some way or another.

The Illumian cabals spread across Argonnessen, and while they had a considerably low population, they numbered maybe four-hundred or so in people. Each carried at least one magical sigil above his or her brow. They created small, tight-knit communities and operated in structures very identical to that which is in the book Races of Destiny. They grew into modern-sized cabals. However, there are differences between Eberron Illumians and that from other worlds. Argonessen was a harsh land, and as such cabals are much more paranoid and protective of their own, and often moved very frequently to try and skirt the eyes of their dragon lords.

Eventually, Illumians found ways to get to the Seren Islands and discovered that there lied freedom across the ocean. Large ships with Illumians immigrants landed in Khorvaire in the first years of the Galifarian Kingdom. Ten of the thirteen Illumian cabals have their members in Khorvaire, and nine of them have settlements equally as large as those made in Argonnessen. They live secretly all over the civilized lands of Khorvaire, their small villages are hidden in forests or in the mountains, or maybe they disguise it as a monastery. But, the Illumians grew very fond of the national ideal of freedom that developed in Breland, and many cabals are drawn there.

Illumians in Eberron have a few differences. They can take a feat (unwritten) to explain their aversion to the Prophecy, a sort of resistance against the spells cast by dragonkind, especially enchantment spells. An entire faction of members drawn from all the cabals remembers the tyranny they lived through in Argonnessen. The Remembrance, as they are called, develop their aversion to the Prophecy and dragon-magicks, seeking out dragon creatures to do them harm. However this attitude of some of the Illumians against them, the dragonlords of the Illumian cabals keep an eye on their once-servants, as they still view them as their property. They have some idea that they contribute to the Prophecy in one way or another. Some of the more loyal cabals in Khorvaire are watched by a draconic steward, a guardian that might interfere with an Illumian PC, either in a good or bad way.

Summary
Sarlonan explorers came to Argonnessen to create a colony, after fleeing from persecution in Sarlona. They were watched by blue dragons and eventually the dragonkind sought to manipulate them, teaching them extensive magic. One Sarlonan, a human named Tarmuid, was taken as an assistant to a young blue dragon to record information. The dragon grew bored with him and sent him back to the colony, but during his stay Tarmuid had attained a fragment of a complex magical equation relating to the Prophecy in some way, shape or form. He performed the ritual and all those within the colony became Illumians. The Illumians were then seen as subjects to the dragons, as they claim to have caused them to be created, and also the Illumians were interesting enough to be put into service.

The Illumian families were passed around and experimented on, and eventually they formed tight Illumian cabals. They developed an aversion to draconic magicks and a certain resistance to parts of the Prophecy, and they were able to use this trait to discourage the dragons from using them as servants. The cabals then traveled freely around Argonessen, creating tight-knit communities that lived in fear and awe of the dragons that roamed about. These cabals eventually found the Seren islands and were able to travel, with some trouble, to Khorvaire. They adapted to life there, but remain in defensive cabals, hidden amongst the continent in forests, mountains, or disguised as monasteries. The Illumians have one faction of note separate from each individual cabal, the Remembrance, that looks back on its days of servitude as that of slavery and seek to uproot the power of the dragons from the world and generally be a hindrance to dragon kind. This involves using the Prophecy to their own ends, whether for good (probably not) or for worse (probably).

Any ideas? I should develop this into an article. There could be an Illumian PrC devoted to causing disturbances against dragons, a 12+1 connection, a lot of feats connected to Illumian heritage, and so forth.

Thanks,
Darkest90

were devoid of the mystery of the quori
Dragon555
02-05-05, 08:28 AM Cool! As I just got the book and haven't had the chance to read much, how do they hide their sigils?
Illumians can take a feat called "Subtle Sigil" and that allows them to hide their sigils while still gaining the benefit.
Bubba333
02-05-05, 08:54 PM Thanks all! I'm reading them now and I'm already getting a "Keeper vibe" (from the Thief video games). I REALLY like these guys!
RunningWilder
02-05-05, 10:00 PM They're also able to hide their sigils at will as a move action (I think).
Gez
02-05-05, 11:38 PM In the AKBT, Hellcow suggested they could be used for the Keepers of the Word in Adar.
Bubba333
02-06-05, 02:44 PM AKBT???

Also, I've been reading quite a bit about them and I'm going to probably have them be an unknown. As I've stated many times I'm a huge Thief fan and these guys have a LOT of Keeper potential!
Gez
02-06-05, 03:26 PM AKBT???

Ask Keith Baker Thread. Look in MarkB's archive of Keith's answers.
Bubba333
02-06-05, 10:45 PM Ah! And I learn yet another nifty acronym. Thank you very much!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bubba333 02-04-05, 04:02 PM	That's it, just wondered if anyone has and how. I was brainstorming and felt that their sigils might tie into the Draconic Prophecy somehow, but I'm not sure. I really like them and just wanted some ideas.
sus323 02-04-05, 05:13 PM	I'm playing one in our Eberron game. The way my DM and I figured it, the Illumians were "hidden in plain sight" in that they do not let non-illumians see their sigils. So their Cabals are disguised as monasteries, colleges...etc. In know that my DM has some plans for how the Illumians fit into the history of Eberron, but he hasn't shown his hand yet. :)
Bubba333 02-04-05, 06:17 PM	Cool! As I just got the book and haven't had the chance to read much, how do they hide their sigils?
Tealgorthian 02-05-05, 02:25 AM	I havent used them, still in the process of rewriting them. Changing that stupid floating sigil thing into a kind of tattoo body art, and making them a bit more psionic on nature, then I am going to tie them to the Kalashtar and the Dreaming Dark :)
Darkest90 02-05-05, 05:53 AM	According to me... how Illumians fit into Eberron. If you don’t want to read it all, summary afterwards. Illumians in Eberron (Warning: Long!) Early in the civilization of Sarlona, when humans ruled the first kingdoms and lived without fear of the Inspired and the conflict of the quori, there were those that studied the arcane magic given to them by dragons. Young blue drakes that lived in the Sarlonan mountains found a passing hobby in teaching mortals how to wield arcane trickeries, often in attempt to prove their intelligence to other dragonkind. As these pet-projects dwindled and the young dragons grew into maturity, the humans were left to their own devices and arcane magic spread. By some way, it came to Argonnessen. A southern kingdom with developing arcane nobility became ripe with too-regular human curiosity for the outside world, and made attempts to make incursions into the mysterious southern continent, the dragon lands of Argonnessen. Many of these expeditions were foiled one way or another, some dragons redirected primitive human ships back to whence they came, and others were burnt to a crisp. Some explorers made contact and explored for a little while, before they were discovered by a passing dragon and either eradicated or sent back immediately to their homeland. The Tarmuid Expedition, however, was the only known Sarlonan voyage that achieved success. A humble crew of sorcerer-explorers worshipping a deity that seems reminiscent of the Path of Light and the god Aureon (and might have spurred both of these beliefs), sought Argonnessen as a place to achieve solitude. They desired peace to pursue knowledge of the arcane away from a world where many kingdom believed magic was an evil practice of witchcraft (a long-lost record in Adar reveals that the Tarmuid Expedition occurred directly after an inquisition against the arcane nobility of the southern human kingdom). A small contingent of blue dragons took pity on them and decided that their presence wouldn't affect them that much, and that they could study the potential of mortals with the Prophecy and other magic. A colony soon arose by the efforts of the explorers. Led by a benevolent personage known as Tarmuid in ancient texts, a small village arose and prospered. A port was constructed for travel between the dragon lands and Sarlona, and a large lighthouse was built as well to create a modern feel for the colony. Tarmuid soon discovered that the colony was to receive little help from Sarlona. The inquisition put the mages in bad repute, and now even their religion was suffering a little. The colonist quickly became known as the Illumians, which while in Old Common normally meant ‘Lighters’ it had become a derogatory term in Sarlona. Tarmuid was a little set back that his colony didn’t prosper, but he was content. The colony evolved into a monastery, and the populace explored Argonnessen and created a library. They delved into arcane lore and conducted experiments, while others sought enlightenment as monks. All the while, the dragons kept mostly hidden, though they were seen on occasion, and their doings and draconic symbols left on rock walls were recorded. The dragons did little but lazily observe from time to time, following their own experiments that might have been planned for the next thousands of years. Sometime during the middle of the Daelkyr War on Khorvaire, a new generation of blue dragons arose. These youths found interest in the northern mortals of Illumians, and decided to focus their attention on them instead of the oppressive war that raged in the west. There was a magnificent explosion of arcane knowledge in the monastery of the Illumians, as blue dragonlings came nearly once a month to share common knowledge. Shreds of the Prophecy were recorded, though the Sarlonans couldn’t interpret or understand them at all. What is known after this renaissance is that Tarmuid, becoming increasingly old, was taken into a short assistantship of a blue dragon-cub to record magic symbols. Tarmuid was also subjected to certain spells (experimental), some which changed his mentality slightly, and others which lengthened his lifespan and thought capacity. Somehow, he was able to take a piece of a magic equation related both to the Prophecy and the dragon’s perception of mortals. When Tarmuid grew tiresome to the blue dragon, and was returned to the Illumian monastery, Tarmuid conducted a draconic ritual that filled the structure with a lucid light, mimicking symbols and runes of strange script. All of the residents of the monastery, and most of the colony’s residents, were transformed during the ritual. They found residual energy from the draconic spellcraft, glowing sigils of power floating above their heads. They were different. So the creation of the Illumians is told. Afterwords, some dragons were angry at this perverse use of magic reserved to dragon kind. But many more were apathetic and didn’t have any interest in it. There were a few though that enabled the Illumians to spread, those dragons (mostly blue) that discovered the aptitude that mortals have with conducting the Prophecy. Many were taken for observation, to serve as assistants, into the central areas of Argonessen. The ritual unneeded, Illumians reproduced by themselves and after a few centuries of rapid growth, they had expanded into nearly thirteen different families. Indeed, they were most often separated. Only four of the Illumian families could be found at what was now the Lamasery of Words made Flesh. The rest had been shared and transplanted among the dragons to use as subjects, bartering objects of power. However, while the Illumians did exemplify how mortals conduct the Prophecy, they also showed a tendency to somehow resist, ignore, or bend certain fragments of it. This allowed them to strive to break away from their ominous dragon masters. They became known as Illumian cabals, each family operating in secret ways to thwart their dictators and escape their rule. As the family grew and the exponential amount of sigils increased, dragons lost their hold on the Illumians. They didn’t escape entirely, they just sometimes proved to be ineffective servants and were able to disobey somewhat the magical commands of the dragons. The draconic beings were once again lenient, and most cabals were given command so less restrictive that they might as well be free. They still check up on them once or twice every few years, and each cabal has a dragon watching over them in some way or another. The Illumian cabals spread across Argonnessen, and while they had a considerably low population, they numbered maybe four-hundred or so in people. Each carried at least one magical sigil above his or her brow. They created small, tight-knit communities and operated in structures very identical to that which is in the book Races of Destiny. They grew into modern-sized cabals. However, there are differences between Eberron Illumians and that from other worlds. Argonessen was a harsh land, and as such cabals are much more paranoid and protective of their own, and often moved very frequently to try and skirt the eyes of their dragon lords. Eventually, Illumians found ways to get to the Seren Islands and discovered that there lied freedom across the ocean. Large ships with Illumians immigrants landed in Khorvaire in the first years of the Galifarian Kingdom. Ten of the thirteen Illumian cabals have their members in Khorvaire, and nine of them have settlements equally as large as those made in Argonnessen. They live secretly all over the civilized lands of Khorvaire, their small villages are hidden in forests or in the mountains, or maybe they disguise it as a monastery. But, the Illumians grew very fond of the national ideal of freedom that developed in Breland, and many cabals are drawn there. Illumians in Eberron have a few differences. They can take a feat (unwritten) to explain their aversion to the Prophecy, a sort of resistance against the spells cast by dragonkind, especially enchantment spells. An entire faction of members drawn from all the cabals remembers the tyranny they lived through in Argonnessen. The Remembrance, as they are called, develop their aversion to the Prophecy and dragon-magicks, seeking out dragon creatures to do them harm. However this attitude of some of the Illumians against them, the dragonlords of the Illumian cabals keep an eye on their once-servants, as they still view them as their property. They have some idea that they contribute to the Prophecy in one way or another. Some of the more loyal cabals in Khorvaire are watched by a draconic steward, a guardian that might interfere with an Illumian PC, either in a good or bad way. Summary Sarlonan explorers came to Argonnessen to create a colony, after fleeing from persecution in Sarlona. They were watched by blue dragons and eventually the dragonkind sought to manipulate them, teaching them extensive magic. One Sarlonan, a human named Tarmuid, was taken as an assistant to a young blue dragon to record information. The dragon grew bored with him and sent him back to the colony, but during his stay Tarmuid had attained a fragment of a complex magical equation relating to the Prophecy in some way, shape or form. He performed the ritual and all those within the colony became Illumians. The Illumians were then seen as subjects to the dragons, as they claim to have caused them to be created, and also the Illumians were interesting enough to be put into service. The Illumian families were passed around and experimented on, and eventually they formed tight Illumian cabals. They developed an aversion to draconic magicks and a certain resistance to parts of the Prophecy, and they were able to use this trait to discourage the dragons from using them as servants. The cabals then traveled freely around Argonessen, creating tight-knit communities that lived in fear and awe of the dragons that roamed about. These cabals eventually found the Seren islands and were able to travel, with some trouble, to Khorvaire. They adapted to life there, but remain in defensive cabals, hidden amongst the continent in forests, mountains, or disguised as monasteries. The Illumians have one faction of note separate from each individual cabal, the Remembrance, that looks back on its days of servitude as that of slavery and seek to uproot the power of the dragons from the world and generally be a hindrance to dragon kind. This involves using the Prophecy to their own ends, whether for good (probably not) or for worse (probably). Any ideas? I should develop this into an article. There could be an Illumian PrC devoted to causing disturbances against dragons, a 12+1 connection, a lot of feats connected to Illumian heritage, and so forth. Thanks, Darkest90 were devoid of the mystery of the quori
Dragon555 02-05-05, 08:28 AM	Cool! As I just got the book and haven't had the chance to read much, how do they hide their sigils? Illumians can take a feat called "Subtle Sigil" and that allows them to hide their sigils while still gaining the benefit.
Bubba333 02-05-05, 08:54 PM	Thanks all! I'm reading them now and I'm already getting a "Keeper vibe" (from the Thief video games). I REALLY like these guys!
RunningWilder 02-05-05, 10:00 PM	They're also able to hide their sigils at will as a move action (I think).
Gez 02-05-05, 11:38 PM	In the AKBT, Hellcow suggested they could be used for the Keepers of the Word in Adar.
Bubba333 02-06-05, 02:44 PM	AKBT??? Also, I've been reading quite a bit about them and I'm going to probably have them be an unknown. As I've stated many times I'm a huge Thief fan and these guys have a LOT of Keeper potential!
Gez 02-06-05, 03:26 PM	AKBT??? Ask Keith Baker Thread. Look in MarkB's archive of Keith's answers.
Bubba333 02-06-05, 10:45 PM	Ah! And I learn yet another nifty acronym. Thank you very much!