Wondering for a campaign, is it mentioned affter it's final use in the series, what happens to the Crescecnt Blade? (ie. where it is, or who has it)
Is it still with that follower of Eillistrae who uses it to kill Melarn?
Regards,
Sanjay
My own two cents - If I had to hazard a guess as to what may have *likely* happened, I would imagine Corellon, having seen all the trouble such a little butterknife caused, would have made sure to yank that toy from the hands of mortals and destroy/seal it. He had his servitors go fishing for souls; I could imagine he would make sure Eilistraee's remaining faithful no longer had that catastrophe-waiting-to-happen in their possession. Of course, that's also just my own approach to how I handled it within my own game. ;)
and that is assuming the blade is still intact after killing Q.
To me the question is how much power it actually ever had. AFAIK it was stated in the accompanying Dragon Magazine articles and wasn't impressive there.
I don't think it ever had the capacity to slay deities and that their demise was solely due to them having agreed to bind their divine fate to the magical sava game.
Selevetarm was still standing with the other playing deities after being supposedly killed by being beheaded with that blade and only died after his piece was taken from the board. That also better fits with what happened to Kia. Because even if such a spell would truly deprive her of all worshippers, it would only mean that she would "starve" during the next few centuries, not vanish from the Realms immediately.
do you know which issue it's in?
Regards,
Sanjay
don't have the wizards ones after they took over again
Sanjay
I'll just make it up then. No problems
Sanjay
"She heard a sharp crack. The Crescent Blade suddenly felt lighter in her hand. Its blade struck the floor with a clang that echoed like the tolling of a bell. A wisp of black seeped from the broken hilt, then whispered away.
Realization at last shoved its way into Halisstra's web-shrouded mind. It wasn't Lolth she'd just killed, but Eilistraee. And now that the Crescent Blade was broken-she stared at the hilt in her hand-she never would kill Lolth."
Leliana used her own singing sword to kill Hallistra, not the crescent blade:
"All this while, Leliana had been staring at the frozen Halisstra. Now she spat out the name of the fallen priestess like a curse. Slowly, as if it weighed as much as a boulder, she lifted her singing sword. It was utterly silent, its song forever stilled. She touched the point to Halisstra's chest. "Your magic holds her?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Yes."
"Dispel it."
Eyes locked. Sorrow met grief. Laeral nodded, gestured, and spoke a word.
Halisstra blinked.
Leliana thrust her sword into Halisstra's chest. Blood, stinking of the Abyss, flowed hot over her hand. A faint tremble coursed through the blade: Halisstra's heart, beating one last time. The fallen priestess's spider jaws twitched, and her mouth opened.
"Eilistraee," she gasped. "Forgive…"
"She can't forgive you," Laeral said. "She's dead."
Halisstra's eyes clouded over, and she died. "
I don't believe it was ever brought up following the conclusion of the Lady Penitent trilogy. Things got a little rushed towards the end, though it's been a while since I finished Ascendancy of the Last, so I may have forgotten some detail or two.
My own two cents - If I had to hazard a guess as to what may have *likely* happened, I would imagine Corellon, having seen all the trouble such a little butterknife caused, would have made sure to yank that toy from the hands of mortals and destroy/seal it. He had his servitors go fishing for souls; I could imagine he would make sure Eilistraee's remaining faithful no longer had that catastrophe-waiting-to-happen in their possession. Of course, that's also just my own approach to how I handled it within my own game. ;)
It wasn't destroying souls by that point. We know this, because Cavatina had her head lopped off by the crescent blade prior to Eilistraee and Qilue getting beheaded, and her soul was intact when Corellon started rounding up the dark elf souls for Arvandor. Therefore, we can extrapolate, that Qilue and Eilistraee's souls were not destroyed...because the Crescent Blade was no longer capable of such behavior.
Remember, the Crescent Blade had been broken, and was discovered "repaired" (inhabited by Wendonai) and this version of the sword is what killed the goddess and Cavatina both. Why would Corellon waste his time over the broken shards of a sword that didn't work anymore?
Masked lady indeed; Eilistraee pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. She had to have known that her holy sword wasn't functioning and set the whole thing up to trick Lolth. Frankly, Lolth should have seen it coming, the scheme was worthy of the Lady of Chaos.
From Acendancy of the Last:
""Alas!" Lashrael cried, his cheeks awash with tears. "Eilistraee is no more. She was slain-cut down, together with the high priestess, by the treacherous Lady Penitent."
Cavatina's soul trembled. "No!" she gasped.
"All part of the plan," Felarathael said calmly. "There is no further need for Eilistraee. The willing were saved, the unwilling cast down. It is time for the dark elves to return to Arvandor."
damnit. can't find anythng in the older paizo dragon magazines...
don't have the wizards ones after they took over againSanjay
It was during the pre-PDF-time.
I did a search on the dragon archive for Crescent Blade and came up with nothing.
It was part of the articles with the 3.5 stats of the main characters, it was simply listed as part of their equipment, it didn't get an article of it's own. IIRC it was just a normal magical sword, not even an artifact
erdana,Arial,Helvetica">erdana,Arial,Helvetica; font-size:x-small">Halisstra Melarn: Has an official write-up in Dragon 312 and 322.
so went WAY back and yup, i got those.
But what I found under her profile is:
a keen holy longsword +2 (it says it used to belong to Seyll)
the crescent blade i think was a scimitar...
so i'm doubting thats it.
Regards,
Sanjay
Ok found something but doesn't appear to be it.
erdana,Arial,Helvetica">erdana,Arial,Helvetica; font-size:x-small">Halisstra Melarn: Has an official write-up in Dragon 312 and 322.
so went WAY back and yup, i got those.
But what I found under her profile is:
a keen holy longsword +2 (it says it used to belong to Seyll)
the crescent blade i think was a scimitar...
so i'm doubting thats it.
Regards,
Sanjay
Yes, for a long time, Hallistra carried Seyll's song sword (not a singing sword which was special). I think Hallistra broke the blade on that one too, but I think it was still somewhat useable. IIRC, it had a hollow hilt that could be used as a flute, but I don't recall for sure.
As for what kind of sword the Cresent Blade was, I believe it was described as a curved longsword, but scimitar is probably a very apt translation for the sword, as it was supposed to be shaped like a crescent moon, which is more scimitar-y then a curved longsword, such as a katana or saber.
Cheers
Not that it's canonical, but I intend to have three pieces of the crescent blade, one of which (the blade) is in Menzoberranzan, the second (hilt) I haven't decided, and the third (a shard of Eilistraee's power, actually) in Corellon's Realm. It's a whole quest for one of my pcs. Cheers
I'd imagine something like the blade of the sword that killed Lolth's daughter would be stored in Arach-Tinilith. I'd hate to be the PCs that tried to rob that place! Even if Quenthel has it stored in House Baenre...wow...that shouldn't be easy!
For your hilt, perhaps Laerl picked it up and now it's in Blackstaff Tower?
I was considering Blackstaff Tower, actually. I think you're onto something!
Cheers
no dont use the blackstaff tower.
don't want to bother the lovely most esteemed Lady Blackstaff with that trouble.
she already has to watch over the eye of selune that supposedly will return the city of Selunarra to combat the city of shade.
my I instead suggest you use the sister tower in the the city of Hope instead.
miri.... that city that his greatness Lord Khelben ARunson the original and best Blackstaff brought back.
she already has to watch over the eye of selune that supposedly will return the city of Selunarra to combat the city of shade.
Where does this come from?
Gomez
you double posted
Oh yes, I noticed. Thanks!
my I instead suggest you use the sister tower in the the city of Hope instead.
miri.... that city that his greatness Lord Khelben ARunson the original and best Blackstaff brought back.
This is an interesting idea as well. Hmm . . .
Cheers
Of course, your group would be a third faction trying to gather the components for their own reasons...
There are a lot of possibilities there!
she already has to watch over the eye of selune that supposedly will return the city of Selunarra to combat the city of shade.
Where does this come from?
Gomez
might be mistaken its name.
but.
in the lost empires of faerun stated the artifact and that it was in the hands of some half drow( 3.5 stuff) now a half elf in 4e.
this half drow became BLackstaff after the arcane archer died that became blackstaff after Khelben the older.
when she moved into the tower I'm sure she would have taken the item with her and left it in the blackstaff tower.
I would also imagine the gem is still there even after her passing. likely kept within the extra deminsional library.
(Hmmm., we still don't really know what happened to Laeral, right?)
Gomez
pretty much BUT, there is a chance that she's alive still. after all, Storm is still kicking and so is Symbol.
she said something about the city of hope at the end of Blackstaff right??
that tower mentioned in Blackstaff tower might verywell be her home
It involves an assault on the City of Hope by a contingent of drow seeking to reclaim the Crescent Blade (a part of which--the blade--is indeed stored there). The PCs come across the hilt stored in Menzoberranzan, then hear about this rogue clan of drow who want to reassemble the artifact. For 3.x fans, they are Irae Tsarra's House, from the City of the Spider Queen adventure, a hundred years advanced--their goal is to resurrect Kiaranslee. Meanwhile, the PCs are on a mission to resurrect Eilistraee, and the blade can only raise ONE of those goddesses . . . only when they get there and reforge the sword, they find that it's missing the fullness of its power (that piece that Corellon keeps in his divine realm).
This is still several adventures out (I'm thinking the level 20 turn over to Epic tier), but it's definitely given me stuff to think about.
Cheers
Didn't the high magic ritual used to "erase" Kiaransalee erase all knowledge of her in the realms? How will Irae Tsarra's house know about Kiaransalee to try and resurrect her? IIRC, essentially, they (everyone) forgot about her and all records of her were "erased".
The short answer is: Tsch. Details.
The long answer is:
This is one of those instances where you look at a canon fact and determine that you're going to work around it or ignore it. In this case, I'm working around it: In my campaign, Irae Tsarra's house was destroyed in the City of the Spider Queen adventure (canonically), but Irae Tsarra herself was not actually permanently slain (dubious canonity). In fact, having a shard of Kiransalee's power woven into her own essence, she hibernated for a time, then resurrected (the way a lich does) with a unique situation: she remembered herself as a goddess, even if no one else did. So she set about reminding people--by force. So the PCs aren't just fighting Irae Tsarra, the last chosen of a dead goddess--they're fighting Kiaransalee directly (level 23 or so exarch).
This is all my own particular spin, but it does have precedent in previous canon, as the whole "mass forget" trick is exactly what Kiaransalee did to Orcus back before 2e, and look how that turned out.
Cheers
Given that Kiaransalee is a goddess of undead, the whole lich thing makes sense...or are you going more for the revanant approach? Both approaches work quite well. It sounds like a very interesting campaign.
That's a great idea. If Mystra can hand out shards of her essence to her Chosen, there's no reason Kiaransalee can't do the same, and if Manshoon can create clones/contingencies, no reason why a chosen of her goddess couldn't do the same.
My thoughts exactly. Death is never really final when we're dealing with fantasy.
Given that Kiaransalee is a goddess of undead, the whole lich thing makes sense...or are you going more for the revanant approach? Both approaches work quite well.
Kind of a combination, I think--Irae is a persistent revenant they can't put down because she hasn't yet fulfillled her purpose. The PCs might thrash her a few times, but she'll keep coming back until the Blade is reassembled--whether she does it or they do. At that point, it's a question of whether it'll be Kiaransalee or Eilistraee who comes back.
It sounds like a very interesting campaign.
Thanks. I'll check back in here for more thoughts/ideas. I like the discussion a great deal!
Cheers
For 3.x fans, they are Irae Tsarra's House, from the City of the Spider Queen adventure, a hundred years advanced--their goal is to resurrect Kiaranslee.
Have you ever looked at the LFR adventure: CORE2-12 The Sschindylryn Heresy?
You can find it at www.livingforgottenrealms.com.
Direct link:
www.livingforgottenrealms.com/adventures...
There are various adventures that precede it, I can post a list if you like, but this is the main thing.
Basic setup:
Show
It focuses on bringing back Kiaransalee, who is worshipped as a nameless entity of death in Sschindylryn (the heresy in the title).
The PCs try to stop this and find that they will need to ally with the Bregan d'Aeethe, sent out by House Faen-Tlabbar to destroy the Heresy in the name of Lolth.
It focuses on bringing back Kiaransalee, who is worshipped as a nameless entity of death in Sschindylryn (the heresy in the title).
The PCs try to stop this and find that they will need to ally with the Bregan d'Aeethe, sent out by House Faen-Tlabbar to destroy the Heresy in the name of Lolth.
Cheers
I just think the whole high magic spell was presented to overpowered in the novel, without explaining the result as having been determined by the divine sava game instead of the spell.
Just look at the herculean effort the high mages of Myth Drannor had to take to just bind Moander's avatar and there they basically just snip there fingers and shut a deity out of the realms.
Makes one wonder why all the anti-Seldarine (e.g. Malar for creating a frikking abomination with no purpose but eating elves and destroying their essences in the process and called it Elfeater) were not just banned from the realms long ago.
Also while small, Kia had a following of non-drow, so even if the drow forgetting her could be explained by them all being linked through the faerezz, there should still be unaffected followers.
And I think that I read somewhere that even fellow deities and likewise entities have forgotten her (or at least it was implied somewhere): When Kia cast her forgett spell versus Orcus, she was a frikking goddess casting such a spell and yet she could not erase his memory from the minds of fellow deities and likewise entities, but a bunch of mortals can with obvious ease?
Eilistraee moving her wizard piece merely represented Q'arlynd casting the spell, but make no mistake: It was the spell that did the work.
I think you're making way too much out of the divine sava game. I believe it's intended purpose was for the author to show how the various gods and goddesses use their mortals to accomplish their ends.Eilistraee moving her wizard piece merely represented Q'arlynd casting the spell, but make no mistake: It was the spell that did the work.
I think it's exctly the other way round. The act of her piece taken from the divine sava board was what empowered the spell to work like it did, otherwise the spell would be order of magnitude above was the most powerfull high magic used to be capable with a lot more preparation.
Usually the most powerfull high mages need herculean preparations to work high magic just to get an effect seriously annoying a deity, they can't just spotaneously "shoot from the hip" high magic that "kills" a deity
This also explains some of the deities being alive and kicking with the other players after receiving their "lethal" blows and then vanishing only after the removal of their pieces from the board