Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lonewolf 06-06-07, 08:09 PM	Im running a campaign based on the Dreaming Dark and Iīve got a few topics I would like to have some input from you guys(and/or gals). The group grew up on a small secluded island and had to flew because Inspired took it over for their own purposes(long story, not important atm). They just arrived in Flamekeep and are now starting to look for allies in their fight against the Dreaming Dark. The first thing they want to do is to get more information about their enemy and they just found out that there is a race called kalashtar that somehow opposes the Inspired. Now to my questions: - How much information about the quori do you think can be found in the libary of the Silver Flame in Flamekeep? Do the higher officials in the church know more about them? - Do you think there is a kalashtar community in Flamekeep and if yes how big? In Faiths of Eberron it is stated that the Path of Light and the Silver Flame acknowledge that there are some similarities between those 2 religions and so I wouldnt be suprised if there are quite a few kalashtar in Flamekeep. - How do you think would such a kalashtar community react to a group of strangers walking towards them and say something along: "Weīve heard you dont like the Inspired. We also dont like them. Can you give us more information who and what they are?" (of course they will put it better and also alert the kalashtar to a plot of the Inspired that is a real threat to the world, even if the group doesnt understand it yet.) - One member of the group is an Elan and the character doesnt know he is not human(and the player doesnt know what beeing a Elan means in Eberron). Do you think that the kalashtar would notice? Could they maybe mistake him for an Inspired? How would they react to an Elan that seems to fight against the Inspired? Thanks for anyones input on this.
Syltorian 06-06-07, 08:36 PM	- How much information about the quori do you think can be found in the libary of the Silver Flame in Flamekeep? Do the higher officials in the church know more about them? I'd say they know about the existence of the Quori, and probably also about some of the specifics. There will be planar lore about Dal Quor. However, much of what the Purified have will be speculation, ideas gathered from Xen'drik expeditions (and the previous incarnation of Dal Quor), and the odd footnote of a kalashtar who did share his knowledge after all. What you won't find is a book explaining to you how the rulers of Riedra are all possessed. Overall, most of the books and material will be mostly amateurish. The Flame has no experience with the Quori, and nobody who has shared their knowledge has had any experience with them since the Age of Giants. Dal Quor is out of Orbit, so the books are most likely: "here is what little we know; thank the Flame they cannot get to us, because they are cut off!" Do you think there is a kalashtar community in Flamekeep and if yes how big? In Faiths of Eberron it is stated that the Path of Light and the Silver Flame acknowledge that there are some similarities between those 2 religions and so I wouldnt be suprised if there are quite a few kalashtar in Flamekeep. I would say they are big. First, because the kalashtar are fascinated with the Silver Flame. Besides, they have their own methods of exorcism, and could join the Silver Flame (while still trying to hide their own battle from the Silver Flame purified, to protect them against the dream-attacks). Second, because Flamekeep has the highest concentration of exorcists on the continent, and that makes the kalashtar fairly secure in Flamekeep. Fiends, even Quori, will have to step pretty carefully if they do not want to avoid the Cathedral to take interest in what is going on... and reach the conclusion that the kalashtar paladin's antics are not simply the effects of an overzealous mind imagining things. How do you think would such a kalashtar community react to a group of strangers walking towards them and say something along: "Weīve heard you dont like the Inspired. We also dont like them. Can you give us more information who and what they are?" (of course they will put it better and also alert the kalashtar to a plot of the Inspired that is a real threat to the world, even if the group doesnt understand it yet.) They'd be suspicious, and probably would assume you might be an agent of the inspired trying to lure them into a trap. Of course, they'll assume that always when meeting someone new. But they will be polite and friendly, and try to find out more from you... while telling you only what you could find out easily anyway. The kalashtar believe, in general, they have to fight alone: other mortals are too weak, can be attacked in their dreams (and made to reveal secrets or given false information or being mindseeded), so they'll keep such liabilities away from themselves if they can. After the first few shared victories over the Inspired, the kalashtar might warm up, though. One member of the group is an Elan and the character doesnt know he is not human(and the player doesnt know what beeing a Elan means in Eberron). Do you think that the kalashtar would notice? Could they maybe mistake him for an Inspired? How would they react to an Elan that seems to fight against the Inspired? It would definetly raise their suspicions even hire. But then again, Elans are rogue Inspired, so they might try to help him (perhaps let him accept his body and become a kalashtar, as those of old?), or at least, use him for their purposes. Kalashtar know that even fiends can be good (they all were fiends to begin with, or at least part of them was), so they would be able to accept it. Without lowering their guards.
Toloran 06-06-07, 09:18 PM	It would definetly raise their suspicions even hire. But then again, Elans are rogue Inspired, so they might try to help him (perhaps let him accept his body and become a kalashtar, as those of old?), or at least, use him for their purposes. Kalashtar know that even fiends can be good (they all were fiends to begin with, or at least part of them was), so they would be able to accept it. Without lowering their guards. How I understood it, Elan weren't Rogue Inspired per se but more like convicts. They are Quori who (as a punishment) were forced to reside in a human body they have no control over. So while the crime they commited was heinous (in their eyes anyway), it really doesn't make them rogue per se. In either case, I agree that the Kalashtar would be highly suspicious of an Elan since they are Quori-bred and have the usual physiological traits of an inspired.
Syltorian 06-07-07, 04:16 AM	How I understood it, Elan weren't Rogue Inspired per se but more like convicts. They are Quori who (as a punishment) were forced to reside in a human body they have no control over. So while the crime they commited was heinous (in their eyes anyway), it really doesn't make them rogue per se. Not per se, true. But I was myself under the impression that in many cases what such Quori are convicted for is treason against Dal Quor. Such treason might be inspired by selfishness rather than wanting to bring about a better age, though. Power struggle, even if it's out of base motives, can still be manipulated. But then, the kalashtar do not need to manipulate the Quori spirit anyway; it's powerless. Actually, come to think of it, why do the Quori bother with imprisoning such spirits into bodies? Do they intend to release them in a few thousand years? Can they do that... and if so, wouldn't that mean that the Elan character is simply too vulnerable? But why would the Quori otherwise imprison them... simply destroying them and having them respawned with a more docile personality would be a far greater advantage than having a liability like an Elan running around. But anyway (sorry for the off-topic part there), the kalashtar are going to be suspicious. Paranoia is more or less inbred into that race to begin with; it's an essential survival trait. Still, the kalashtar might know that the Quori spirit imprisoned in an Elan has no power whatsoever over the body's (and associated soul's) actions. The trouble will be to make 100% sure that you're really dealing with an Elan, not with an Inspired mole.
Arcane Guyver 06-07-07, 03:26 PM	Actually, come to think of it, why do the Quori bother with imprisoning such spirits into bodies? It's a rather malicious form of punishment, being imprisoned (theoretically forever) as nothing more than an aware but silent 'psychic battery' for a lesser being. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a much worse form of execution than death, and would definitely make me more interested in conforming to quori law.
Syltorian 06-07-07, 04:22 PM	It's a rather malicious form of punishment, being imprisoned (theoretically forever) as nothing more than an aware but silent 'psychic battery' for a lesser being. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a much worse form of execution than death, and would definitely make me more interested in conforming to quori law. I agree that it's worse than execution and that it's a horrifying prospect, but that assumes the Quori are sadistic. I don't think they are, at least not when it gets in the way of cold, calculating efficiency. They are creatures of nightmare, yes, but they are also incredibly cold. They are stripped of emotion, while being masters of manipulating them. There is a limited number of Quori, which means they cannot really die (they die as individuals, perhaps, but will re-emerge as a new Quori). But it also means there can never be a new Quori without another one dying. If you imprison a Quori rather than destroy them, you are weakening your own side to get some vain gratification; if you kill them, you are getting a new and better Quori (better as in more devoted to the Quori law) out of it. As devoted as the Quori are to their own group, they will try to avoid harming themselves as much as they can.
Darakhoranon 06-07-07, 04:44 PM	That may be true, but then we canīt say for sure that killing the "Elan-battery to be" instead of imprisoning it forever WILL result in a "more docile personality" as you said, Syltorian. Maybe the new quori "born" after the death of the old one would have (or develop) certain character traits again... In this case, shunting the "criminal" away might be preferable.
Syltorian 06-07-07, 05:16 PM	That may be true, but then we canīt say for sure that killing the "Elan-battery to be" instead of imprisoning it forever WILL result in a "more docile personality" as you said, Syltorian. Maybe the new quori "born" after the death of the old one would have (or develop) certain character traits again... In this case, shunting the "criminal" away might be preferable. Well, if I understood correctly, the Quori tried to kill the rebels who eventually became the Kalashtar. Not imprison them in Elans, but destroy and re-assimilate them. If you get the same personality traits developping again, why do that? And these kalashtar quori were about as bad as they come, from the Quori point of view. If the next, reborn Quori is also a delinquent, just kill it again. There is nothing to lose, apart from one 'personality', which doesn't really matter to the Quori at large as much as its essence. Of course, it supports your point that (I believe) slain and reborn rakshasas keep memories and grudges of their previous lives, and do not have to re-learn everything. But in that case, how did the Quori expect the kalashtar-spirits to be re-assimilated? Or do you only imprison Quori in Elans after their twentieth reincarnation still keeps lapsing back into old habits?
Darakhoranon 06-07-07, 05:30 PM	Good point. And maybe youīve just hit on the reason for imprisoning "failures"... If you canīt change them (even if you try to for a couple of centuries), you can as well shunt them off to where they donīt annoy you anymore - and if this shunting off serves as an additional punishment/entertainment, so much the better.
lonewolf 06-08-07, 05:05 PM	Thanks everyone for your input!! Although there is one question that you guys didnt answer: How easy/hard do you think it is to determine that someone is an Elan? Is visual sight sufficient? or some kind of Telepathy?
Syltorian 06-08-07, 06:32 PM	Although there is one question that you guys didnt answer: How easy/hard do you think it is to determine that someone is an Elan? Is visual sight sufficient? or some kind of Telepathy? Visual sight will, most likely, not be sufficient. It will tell you that someone is a Riedran; that's as far as it goes, and will not make the Kalashtar be very open towards the character. Telepathy might be tricky too. It might detect the Quori, and even if the Elan himself assures the telepath that he is in full control, well, you'd expect an Inspired spy (fully familiar with telepathy) to do exactly that. Probably there are some tests that can be done, but the Inspired will know how to get past some of them to gain the kalashtar's trust. It's probably a long and arduous way to prove yourself to the kalashtar... but while they won't trust the Elan, they are often nice enough to give everyone a chance (within the limits of the safety of the community). Btw, what do you think the Templars will do if it were to be revealed that there is someone running around the city with a fiend in their head (especially if that someone was omitting to mention that the fiend cannot do anything)?
Neutronium_Dragon 06-10-07, 12:05 AM	> Well, if I understood correctly, the Quori tried to kill the rebels who eventually > became the Kalashtar. Not imprison them in Elans, but destroy and > re-assimilate them. If you get the same personality traits developping again, > why do that? Perhaps they only discovered this problem of the same traits developing when they did kill some of the rebels, and thus started searching for a different solution, finally settling on the Elan one.