Talos' eye [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Talos' eye [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ghost0
06-26-07, 05:01 PM Does anyone out there know how/when/where Talos lost his eye? Or rather, ANY details whatsoever?

Thanks
wtf_thats_my_head
06-27-07, 09:49 AM not sure he lost it but i think ao did some thing like that
Duagloth
06-28-07, 11:52 AM Ao took Tyrs eye.
wtf_thats_my_head
06-28-07, 12:51 PM thats wat i was think of
Ghost0
06-29-07, 04:46 PM so, there's no record of why Talos has one eye?
MerrikCale
06-30-07, 09:17 AM Beshaba was playing with rubber bands
captaincarot
06-30-07, 09:22 AM so, there's no record of why Talos has one eye?

he's jealous of grumsh!

well if you can be silly i don't see why i should behave.:D
Ghost0
06-30-07, 01:55 PM I like to at least TRY to keep my FR campaign in line with the actual historical events, and I have made stuff up before that actually had a real written history before I knew about it, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't rewriting the cosmos here.

So, cool, I'm in the clear to go ahead and make something up? Anyone got ideas? A big battle perhaps? He was born from Shar and Selune's fighting at the beginning of time, right? ew ew, i know, a giant crow plucked it out!
BadCatMan
06-30-07, 10:10 PM Talos reminds me of a darker and angrier version of Odin or Zeus.

Perhaps like Odin he plucked out his eye, not for knowledge, but for power.
The Ubbergeek
07-01-07, 12:09 PM I like this analogy.

Maybe he is a dark half of Odin, actualy?
GothicDan
07-01-07, 12:53 PM I don't like the Odin analogy at all. One of the primary, most interesting characteristics of Odin was the fact that he was completely unrelated to the typical Indo-European archetypes of a divine patriarch sky-father. He was a deity of ruthless information-hunting and powermongery - a combo of Oghma and Shar, really. And with a dash of Bhaal in there, too, since he was often seen as harbinger of Death.
sleyvas
07-02-07, 10:33 AM Actually, I've thought of him as an Odin / Thor mix (the fury and lightning hurling of Thor, the position of Odin). However, I'd recommend against making it follow a "real" world analogy. I mean we've already got Tyr losing his hand to a big dog just like in Norse mythology. I'd recommend something like, he casts destruction on all he surveys with that eye. This is why he keeps it covered, but when he's angered "the dark eye of Talos is set upon you".
Or, if you're wanting it to have been plucked out so that it can be an artifact or somesuch, there could be other options than him doing it himself. Malar serves him, maybe he lost it "taming" the beast god. Or maybe Mystra stole it so that he couldn't accurately turn his destruction upon the world (not having depth perception now), and later gave it to savras as a crystal ball through which can be sent powerful destruction.

Phillip aka Sleyvas
Aegis_Chiron
07-04-07, 06:40 PM Sleyvas, those are some great ideas. Especially losing the eye to 'tame the beast'

Just to put some cannon info here, I'll quote a little from F&A:

Some sages say the empty eye socket is filled with whirling stars...If Talos raises his eyepatch, chain lightning roars forth from the empty socket at targets of his choosing.
sleyvas
07-05-07, 12:22 PM An interesting aside is that Kozah (the Netherese god of destruction, who seems to have the same sticks that Talos has) had both eyes. It said something like "destruction occurred whereever he set his eyes". So, maybe something happened whenever he became Talos (if Talos was Kozah).
Yanagita Kunio
07-05-07, 01:59 PM I think Talos isn't so much a direct transplant--either as a "borrowed concept" or an interloper god--as he is a Faerunian god that possesses some traits of an archetypal sky god. He just has some fun twists in his persona.

The eye is something I've been speculating about--the appearance of a god is a kind of embodied set of attributes--a bunch of symbols and traits mapped onto a human(oid) form--so the maiming/change of that form could be suggestive of something larger about that deity's nature.

So far, I have this:

1. The eye represents what Talos has "lost" in being an entirely malevolent sky deity that focuses on destructive elements in nature, with no balancing aspect of benevolence. Weak sauce, given that Talos is most likely Kozah, who had the same attitude and two good eyes.

2. The eye is an attribute acquired in the interrim between "being Kozah" and absorbing/defeating other gods--that is, while most of his persona is still Kozah (in mind and body), the eye is an attribute of some other deity he has defeated. Like Bhaelros, maybe.... Also not fond of this idea.

3. The lost eye is both punitive and symbolic--it represents Ao's response to Talos's various deific hijinks--sponsoring and eating demigods, in particular--but is also a visual mark of the imperceptiveness and boorishness of the God of Destruction. [I]His plans are two-dimensional, heh....

4. Odin paid his eye in return for the wisdom/seid he received at Mimir's Well. What, comparably, would Talos trade his eye for? There's an element of (3) in this, in that the lack of an eye means a loss (of perspective), but represents a gain elsewhere (of raw power, perhaps? That seems Talos-like.)

5. The interior of the eye--the blackness and whirling stars--are symptomatic of something happening within Talos. A change of mind or portfolio, perhaps. Though I rather like the idea--parallel to the cases of Cronus and Zeus--that eating one's children isn't a good habit, and can have unforseen side effects.

6. (flippant) Clearly he tried scratching his nose, and forgot that he had a hurricane-force windstorm coming out of one of his wrists (see art in F&P to make sense of this).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ghost0 06-26-07, 05:01 PM	Does anyone out there know how/when/where Talos lost his eye? Or rather, ANY details whatsoever? Thanks
wtf_thats_my_head 06-27-07, 09:49 AM	not sure he lost it but i think ao did some thing like that
Duagloth 06-28-07, 11:52 AM	Ao took Tyrs eye.
wtf_thats_my_head 06-28-07, 12:51 PM	thats wat i was think of
Ghost0 06-29-07, 04:46 PM	so, there's no record of why Talos has one eye?
MerrikCale 06-30-07, 09:17 AM	Beshaba was playing with rubber bands
captaincarot 06-30-07, 09:22 AM	so, there's no record of why Talos has one eye? he's jealous of grumsh! well if you can be silly i don't see why i should behave.:D
Ghost0 06-30-07, 01:55 PM	I like to at least TRY to keep my FR campaign in line with the actual historical events, and I have made stuff up before that actually had a real written history before I knew about it, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't rewriting the cosmos here. So, cool, I'm in the clear to go ahead and make something up? Anyone got ideas? A big battle perhaps? He was born from Shar and Selune's fighting at the beginning of time, right? ew ew, i know, a giant crow plucked it out!
BadCatMan 06-30-07, 10:10 PM	Talos reminds me of a darker and angrier version of Odin or Zeus. Perhaps like Odin he plucked out his eye, not for knowledge, but for power.
The Ubbergeek 07-01-07, 12:09 PM	I like this analogy. Maybe he is a dark half of Odin, actualy?
GothicDan 07-01-07, 12:53 PM	I don't like the Odin analogy at all. One of the primary, most interesting characteristics of Odin was the fact that he was completely unrelated to the typical Indo-European archetypes of a divine patriarch sky-father. He was a deity of ruthless information-hunting and powermongery - a combo of Oghma and Shar, really. And with a dash of Bhaal in there, too, since he was often seen as harbinger of Death.
sleyvas 07-02-07, 10:33 AM	Actually, I've thought of him as an Odin / Thor mix (the fury and lightning hurling of Thor, the position of Odin). However, I'd recommend against making it follow a "real" world analogy. I mean we've already got Tyr losing his hand to a big dog just like in Norse mythology. I'd recommend something like, he casts destruction on all he surveys with that eye. This is why he keeps it covered, but when he's angered "the dark eye of Talos is set upon you". Or, if you're wanting it to have been plucked out so that it can be an artifact or somesuch, there could be other options than him doing it himself. Malar serves him, maybe he lost it "taming" the beast god. Or maybe Mystra stole it so that he couldn't accurately turn his destruction upon the world (not having depth perception now), and later gave it to savras as a crystal ball through which can be sent powerful destruction. Phillip aka Sleyvas
Aegis_Chiron 07-04-07, 06:40 PM	Sleyvas, those are some great ideas. Especially losing the eye to 'tame the beast' Just to put some cannon info here, I'll quote a little from F&A: Some sages say the empty eye socket is filled with whirling stars...If Talos raises his eyepatch, chain lightning roars forth from the empty socket at targets of his choosing.
sleyvas 07-05-07, 12:22 PM	An interesting aside is that Kozah (the Netherese god of destruction, who seems to have the same sticks that Talos has) had both eyes. It said something like "destruction occurred whereever he set his eyes". So, maybe something happened whenever he became Talos (if Talos was Kozah).
Yanagita Kunio 07-05-07, 01:59 PM	I think Talos isn't so much a direct transplant--either as a "borrowed concept" or an interloper god--as he is a Faerunian god that possesses some traits of an archetypal sky god. He just has some fun twists in his persona. The eye is something I've been speculating about--the appearance of a god is a kind of embodied set of attributes--a bunch of symbols and traits mapped onto a human(oid) form--so the maiming/change of that form could be suggestive of something larger about that deity's nature. So far, I have this: 1. The eye represents what Talos has "lost" in being an entirely malevolent sky deity that focuses on destructive elements in nature, with no balancing aspect of benevolence. Weak sauce, given that Talos is most likely Kozah, who had the same attitude and two good eyes. 2. The eye is an attribute acquired in the interrim between "being Kozah" and absorbing/defeating other gods--that is, while most of his persona is still Kozah (in mind and body), the eye is an attribute of some other deity he has defeated. Like Bhaelros, maybe.... Also not fond of this idea. 3. The lost eye is both punitive and symbolic--it represents Ao's response to Talos's various deific hijinks--sponsoring and eating demigods, in particular--but is also a visual mark of the imperceptiveness and boorishness of the God of Destruction. [I]His plans are two-dimensional, heh.... 4. Odin paid his eye in return for the wisdom/seid he received at Mimir's Well. What, comparably, would Talos trade his eye for? There's an element of (3) in this, in that the lack of an eye means a loss (of perspective), but represents a gain elsewhere (of raw power, perhaps? That seems Talos-like.) 5. The interior of the eye--the blackness and whirling stars--are symptomatic of something happening within Talos. A change of mind or portfolio, perhaps. Though I rather like the idea--parallel to the cases of Cronus and Zeus--that eating one's children isn't a good habit, and can have unforseen side effects. 6. (flippant) Clearly he tried scratching his nose, and forgot that he had a hurricane-force windstorm coming out of one of his wrists (see art in F&P to make sense of this).