Karsi theories [Archive] - Wizards Community

Karsi theories [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JaiaDrottsingr
05-28-06, 09:40 AM I was just wondering, I've heard many different ways the Karsi have been cursed, and I would like to know where they are, what they are and what they look like.

Post Script
I would like to know the above without having to read a book.

Post Post Script
I'm back from the Rec Room!

Post Post Post Script
Read my new siggie!
MaskedOne
05-28-06, 11:01 AM I don't provide too many details but:

Karsi Fragments:

1) SuperRock: Petrified remains of the body of Karsus, located in the general area that his body and enclave fell in

2) The great Astral Corpse: Fragment of his divine essence, floating in the astral plane like a handful of other dead gods

3) The Eternal Exiled Ghost: Haven't a clue how this one came up but it's a fragment beyond the reach of standard magic and divine power that operates as a vestige.

If I'm missing a fragment I'm certain one of the Karsi can fill you in. The sundered fragments of the Momentary One probably know their fate better than I do.
Karsus the Mad
06-01-06, 02:26 AM 1. Big red butte in the Dire Wood.
2. A stone golem (in the likeness of us, prefall) in the temple on top of the red butte. Respawns 24 hours after being destroyed.
3. Unresponsive apparition anchored to a specific spot in the Astral.
4. The Karsestone (our heavy magic producing heart).

Four fragments, which is weird, because we only have a tripartate soul. I'm taking a gander and saying that while the big red butte is my body, it itself doesn't have any fragment. It was only while the Karsestone was inside it that it could be said that part of our tripartate soul resided within our body.
We're cursed by having been "frozen in time", reliving the Fall over and over and over. Because our soul is tripartated, we can't "truly die" and pass on to an afterlife, nor can we be brought back (save for perhaps an epic ritual, etc).
Now Tome of Magic has us as a vestige...ehhhhhhhhh...won't go into my opinions on that. I suppose it's better than being a 41st level rock, tho' I'm the 41st level apparition that sits in the kitchen cooking, while the vestige watches telly all day :rolleyes:
Here's a tidbit:)
Karsus (Dead)
(The Momentary God, The Archwizard)
Demipower of the Prime Material Plane, N
Portfolio: Folly of overweening arrogance and ambition, unending hubris
Aliases: None
Domain Name: Formerly: Toril/Faérun; currently mired in the Dire Wood and tenuously adrift in the Astral
Superior: None
Allies: None
Foes: Mystra
Symbol: None

Karsus (KAHR-sus), the Momentary God, was a mortal who achieved divinity for but a brief instant before being destroyed by the folly of his own overweening arrogance and ambition. However, unlike most dead powers who are transported to the Astral Plane, the Archwizard exists as only a sort of divine, unmoving, unresponsive phantom on the Astral Plane and persists in a form of unlife within the heart of the Dire Wood. In a sense, he is bound to the moment of time at which he was destroyed by the twisted magic of the Dire Wood.

As a mortal, Karsus was a mentalist (one of three wizard classes found in Netheril) who created Karsus's avatar, a 12th-level spell that forever changed the way magic functions. This fantastic spell, the only 12th-level spell ever created, was designed to temporarily steal the powers of a deity, allowing the spellcaster to briefly become divine. When Karsus cast his incantation, he foolishly chose Mystryl, the goddess of magic, as his target. Knowledge has always outweighed wisdom in the minds of the ambitious, and Karsus was no exception.

After casting his spell, the body of the Archwizard swelled with the sudden influx of godly power, and his mind filled with unimaginable knowledge. Karsus instantly realized the horrible mistake he had made, but he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable. The Archwizard had stolen the mantle of divinity from the one power whose portfolio required her to constantly rework the Weave of magic - the Weave that Netheril and its glut of magic constantly threatened to unraveal. When Mystryl lost her ability to maintain the Weave's integrity, Karsus was ill-equipped to serve in her stead. The Weave began to fluctuate wildly, and the lands of Netheril and beyond were inundated with a flood of raw magic which surged and ebbed with far greater power and destructive force than had ever been seen before.

Mystryl sacrificed herself to save the Weave before the damage became irreparable. This self-sacrifice temporarily held interaction with the Weave in abeyance, causing all magic to cease functioning for a few minutes. Without a steady infusion of magic, the floating cities of Netheril plummeted to the ground. Karsus was slain instantly when Mystryl sacrificed herself, as her action broke his link to her magic. Upon his death, Karsus's power-engorged body immediately turned to red-hued stone, and the Momentary God plummeted from the heights of his floating city to the ground. As his body fell, Karsus replayed over and over in his mind the image of Netheril's cities plunging to the ground and shattering, a vision granted to him by his brief tenure as a divine being. Karsus's heart broke as he realized that his greed for the power of the deities themselves had caused the destruction of his home, his family, his friends, and his people. Even in his death, his heart still bleeds. through the magic of the Dire Wood, Karsus is bound in eternal torment to relive repeatedly the moment he became aware of his folly.

Karsus's Avatar and Other Manifestations

Karsus, having only existed as a god for an instant, never created an avatar. If he had, it would have likely exhibited some of the powers he held as a mortal at the time of his destruction. He was a 41st-level mentalist wizard with the following ability scores: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 22, Wis 19, Cha 23. (See the Netheril: Empire of Magic campaign expansion for information on mentalists, who are one of the precursor classes to modern mages and specialist wizards.)

Even in death, Karsus's undying spirit persists amidst the chaotic magic of the Dire Wood. The Archwizard's essence is ensnared in a single point of time by the magic of the lich Wulgreth, and it manifests in three separate pieces. Each manifestation contains one portion of Karsus's tripartite spirit. It is believed that Karsus cannot depart from the Realms until his sundered spirit is reforged into one.

Karsus's mortal body survives as a tall butte of red stone embedded in the ground in the eastern reaches of the High Forest and eroded by the elements. This manifestation of his spirit radiates the sphere of heavy magic responsible for the creation of the Dire Wood and represents the ever-expanding magical chaos resulting from Karsus's folly. During the Time of Troubles, a powerful spellcaster, possibly Azuth, encircled the black, petrified trees that marked the boundaries of the Enchanted Wood with an outer ring of albino oak trees. As a result, the Dire Wood no longer expands, but it does persist.

Karsus's gigantic, ever-bleeding heart beats ponderously within the butte itself. This manifestation is essentially powerless, but it cannot be destroyed, even if its red stone prison were somehow sundered. Karsus's heart continuously radiates an enchantment similiar to the sadness effect produced by the 4th-level wizard spell emotion. No saving throw to avoid its effects is permitted and magic resistance provides no dense against this effect. The radius of the emotion's aura of effect seems to fluctuate wildly from the immediate environs of the red stone butte to the entire Dire Wood.

Finally, an animate stone statue depicting Karsus in his original form resides in the temple built atop the red stone butte. This manifestation bleeds an ever-flowing stream of otherworldly bloodlike liquid from the gaping hole in its chest above its heart. This flow eventually mingles with the Heartblood River, giving it the color for which it is named within the confines of the Dire Wood. The statue itself is a stone golem created by Wulgreth to hold one part of Karsus's essence. If destroyed, it always reforms within 24 hours, emerging intact from the floor of the temple.
JaiaDrottsingr
06-01-06, 08:11 PM Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God?
BrianCritchley
06-01-06, 08:47 PM Jaria can you please type in a bigger font, you're giving my eyestrain :)
MaskedOne
06-01-06, 10:48 PM Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God?

Killing a reformed god within the bounds of Toril will require divine aid and does not guarantee ascencion. Personally, I think you're better off seeking out each part and leaching the power from the fragments. Otherwise, a really high level psionicist and epic powers. I'd say wizard but you might have to do this on Toril. In which case you deal with either Mystra who may object (with Divine Blasts) or Shar and her shoddily crafted wannabe Weave. If you can get off Toril with all the pieces then a wizard may work out well enough.
Karsus the Mad
06-02-06, 12:33 AM Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God?
Well, two of the fragments should be possible to obtain. The one that Wulgreth bound within the statue/golem, and the astral apparition. You'd need to defeat whatever enchantment Wulgreth placed on it (Wulgreth of Netheril, the demi-lich, now destroyed). Then you need to actually find the astral fragment. An epic spell, prolly utilizing reveal, two applications of transport, and possibly transform to bring them to you and bind them together. The Karsestone, however, is going to be iffy. Shar has it, and I don't think she's going to let go of her new coffee table anytime soon. But then, even if you do manage to collect all three fragments and form them back into one, you still have the demi-god of Karsus himself to deal with, and I doubt he's lost any of his potency or skill. He's prolly simply gotten more mad. Think Halaster on steroids with DvR :eek:
GothicDan
06-02-06, 01:02 AM And of course if he comes back, Mystra just might be like, "Oh no you're NOT" and divine smite him within a second.

Or she'll divinely smite YOU before you even go about putting the pieces together.

Really, portfolio sensing makes the game more boring.
Karsus the Mad
06-02-06, 01:16 AM I dunno. He wouldn't be a threat of any kind to Mystra. He'd at most be DvR 5 (tho' I'd place him at DvR 1), and their portfolio's don't conflict in any way. Magic, Spells, the Weave vs. Folly of overweening arrogance and ambition, unending hubris. It's not even worth Mystra's effort to notice him. If anything, some deity would devour and absorb him soon enough I'd think.
JaiaDrottsingr
06-03-06, 10:59 AM No, actually I think I'll kill Mykrul on pay from Mystra.

Post Script
Is that better Brian?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JaiaDrottsingr 05-28-06, 09:40 AM	I was just wondering, I've heard many different ways the Karsi have been cursed, and I would like to know where they are, what they are and what they look like. Post Script I would like to know the above without having to read a book. Post Post Script I'm back from the Rec Room! Post Post Post Script Read my new siggie!
MaskedOne 05-28-06, 11:01 AM	I don't provide too many details but: Karsi Fragments: 1) SuperRock: Petrified remains of the body of Karsus, located in the general area that his body and enclave fell in 2) The great Astral Corpse: Fragment of his divine essence, floating in the astral plane like a handful of other dead gods 3) The Eternal Exiled Ghost: Haven't a clue how this one came up but it's a fragment beyond the reach of standard magic and divine power that operates as a vestige. If I'm missing a fragment I'm certain one of the Karsi can fill you in. The sundered fragments of the Momentary One probably know their fate better than I do.
Karsus the Mad 06-01-06, 02:26 AM	1. Big red butte in the Dire Wood. 2. A stone golem (in the likeness of us, prefall) in the temple on top of the red butte. Respawns 24 hours after being destroyed. 3. Unresponsive apparition anchored to a specific spot in the Astral. 4. The Karsestone (our heavy magic producing heart). Four fragments, which is weird, because we only have a tripartate soul. I'm taking a gander and saying that while the big red butte is my body, it itself doesn't have any fragment. It was only while the Karsestone was inside it that it could be said that part of our tripartate soul resided within our body. We're cursed by having been "frozen in time", reliving the Fall over and over and over. Because our soul is tripartated, we can't "truly die" and pass on to an afterlife, nor can we be brought back (save for perhaps an epic ritual, etc). Now Tome of Magic has us as a vestige...ehhhhhhhhh...won't go into my opinions on that. I suppose it's better than being a 41st level rock, tho' I'm the 41st level apparition that sits in the kitchen cooking, while the vestige watches telly all day :rolleyes: Here's a tidbit:) Karsus (Dead) (The Momentary God, The Archwizard) Demipower of the Prime Material Plane, N Portfolio: Folly of overweening arrogance and ambition, unending hubris Aliases: None Domain Name: Formerly: Toril/Faérun; currently mired in the Dire Wood and tenuously adrift in the Astral Superior: None Allies: None Foes: Mystra Symbol: None Karsus (KAHR-sus), the Momentary God, was a mortal who achieved divinity for but a brief instant before being destroyed by the folly of his own overweening arrogance and ambition. However, unlike most dead powers who are transported to the Astral Plane, the Archwizard exists as only a sort of divine, unmoving, unresponsive phantom on the Astral Plane and persists in a form of unlife within the heart of the Dire Wood. In a sense, he is bound to the moment of time at which he was destroyed by the twisted magic of the Dire Wood. As a mortal, Karsus was a mentalist (one of three wizard classes found in Netheril) who created Karsus's avatar, a 12th-level spell that forever changed the way magic functions. This fantastic spell, the only 12th-level spell ever created, was designed to temporarily steal the powers of a deity, allowing the spellcaster to briefly become divine. When Karsus cast his incantation, he foolishly chose Mystryl, the goddess of magic, as his target. Knowledge has always outweighed wisdom in the minds of the ambitious, and Karsus was no exception. After casting his spell, the body of the Archwizard swelled with the sudden influx of godly power, and his mind filled with unimaginable knowledge. Karsus instantly realized the horrible mistake he had made, but he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable. The Archwizard had stolen the mantle of divinity from the one power whose portfolio required her to constantly rework the Weave of magic - the Weave that Netheril and its glut of magic constantly threatened to unraveal. When Mystryl lost her ability to maintain the Weave's integrity, Karsus was ill-equipped to serve in her stead. The Weave began to fluctuate wildly, and the lands of Netheril and beyond were inundated with a flood of raw magic which surged and ebbed with far greater power and destructive force than had ever been seen before. Mystryl sacrificed herself to save the Weave before the damage became irreparable. This self-sacrifice temporarily held interaction with the Weave in abeyance, causing all magic to cease functioning for a few minutes. Without a steady infusion of magic, the floating cities of Netheril plummeted to the ground. Karsus was slain instantly when Mystryl sacrificed herself, as her action broke his link to her magic. Upon his death, Karsus's power-engorged body immediately turned to red-hued stone, and the Momentary God plummeted from the heights of his floating city to the ground. As his body fell, Karsus replayed over and over in his mind the image of Netheril's cities plunging to the ground and shattering, a vision granted to him by his brief tenure as a divine being. Karsus's heart broke as he realized that his greed for the power of the deities themselves had caused the destruction of his home, his family, his friends, and his people. Even in his death, his heart still bleeds. through the magic of the Dire Wood, Karsus is bound in eternal torment to relive repeatedly the moment he became aware of his folly. Karsus's Avatar and Other Manifestations Karsus, having only existed as a god for an instant, never created an avatar. If he had, it would have likely exhibited some of the powers he held as a mortal at the time of his destruction. He was a 41st-level mentalist wizard with the following ability scores: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 22, Wis 19, Cha 23. (See the Netheril: Empire of Magic campaign expansion for information on mentalists, who are one of the precursor classes to modern mages and specialist wizards.) Even in death, Karsus's undying spirit persists amidst the chaotic magic of the Dire Wood. The Archwizard's essence is ensnared in a single point of time by the magic of the lich Wulgreth, and it manifests in three separate pieces. Each manifestation contains one portion of Karsus's tripartite spirit. It is believed that Karsus cannot depart from the Realms until his sundered spirit is reforged into one. Karsus's mortal body survives as a tall butte of red stone embedded in the ground in the eastern reaches of the High Forest and eroded by the elements. This manifestation of his spirit radiates the sphere of heavy magic responsible for the creation of the Dire Wood and represents the ever-expanding magical chaos resulting from Karsus's folly. During the Time of Troubles, a powerful spellcaster, possibly Azuth, encircled the black, petrified trees that marked the boundaries of the Enchanted Wood with an outer ring of albino oak trees. As a result, the Dire Wood no longer expands, but it does persist. Karsus's gigantic, ever-bleeding heart beats ponderously within the butte itself. This manifestation is essentially powerless, but it cannot be destroyed, even if its red stone prison were somehow sundered. Karsus's heart continuously radiates an enchantment similiar to the sadness effect produced by the 4th-level wizard spell emotion. No saving throw to avoid its effects is permitted and magic resistance provides no dense against this effect. The radius of the emotion's aura of effect seems to fluctuate wildly from the immediate environs of the red stone butte to the entire Dire Wood. Finally, an animate stone statue depicting Karsus in his original form resides in the temple built atop the red stone butte. This manifestation bleeds an ever-flowing stream of otherworldly bloodlike liquid from the gaping hole in its chest above its heart. This flow eventually mingles with the Heartblood River, giving it the color for which it is named within the confines of the Dire Wood. The statue itself is a stone golem created by Wulgreth to hold one part of Karsus's essence. If destroyed, it always reforms within 24 hours, emerging intact from the floor of the temple.
JaiaDrottsingr 06-01-06, 08:11 PM	Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God?
BrianCritchley 06-01-06, 08:47 PM	Jaria can you please type in a bigger font, you're giving my eyestrain :)
MaskedOne 06-01-06, 10:48 PM	Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God? Killing a reformed god within the bounds of Toril will require divine aid and does not guarantee ascencion. Personally, I think you're better off seeking out each part and leaching the power from the fragments. Otherwise, a really high level psionicist and epic powers. I'd say wizard but you might have to do this on Toril. In which case you deal with either Mystra who may object (with Divine Blasts) or Shar and her shoddily crafted wannabe Weave. If you can get off Toril with all the pieces then a wizard may work out well enough.
Karsus the Mad 06-02-06, 12:33 AM	Is there any way I could combine you three in my campaign and destroy you, becoming a God? Well, two of the fragments should be possible to obtain. The one that Wulgreth bound within the statue/golem, and the astral apparition. You'd need to defeat whatever enchantment Wulgreth placed on it (Wulgreth of Netheril, the demi-lich, now destroyed). Then you need to actually find the astral fragment. An epic spell, prolly utilizing reveal, two applications of transport, and possibly transform to bring them to you and bind them together. The Karsestone, however, is going to be iffy. Shar has it, and I don't think she's going to let go of her new coffee table anytime soon. But then, even if you do manage to collect all three fragments and form them back into one, you still have the demi-god of Karsus himself to deal with, and I doubt he's lost any of his potency or skill. He's prolly simply gotten more mad. Think Halaster on steroids with DvR :eek:
GothicDan 06-02-06, 01:02 AM	And of course if he comes back, Mystra just might be like, "Oh no you're NOT" and divine smite him within a second. Or she'll divinely smite YOU before you even go about putting the pieces together. Really, portfolio sensing makes the game more boring.
Karsus the Mad 06-02-06, 01:16 AM	I dunno. He wouldn't be a threat of any kind to Mystra. He'd at most be DvR 5 (tho' I'd place him at DvR 1), and their portfolio's don't conflict in any way. Magic, Spells, the Weave vs. Folly of overweening arrogance and ambition, unending hubris. It's not even worth Mystra's effort to notice him. If anything, some deity would devour and absorb him soon enough I'd think.
JaiaDrottsingr 06-03-06, 10:59 AM	No, actually I think I'll kill Mykrul on pay from Mystra. Post Script Is that better Brian?