Deathlord shards

[Malekith]

So I was just pondering past livers of the exalted, and how sometimes past memories can be contained within the shard, and the latest reincarnation of said shard may have some of the collective memory of his past lives.


Then it occured to me that the shards of deathlords had to be reincarnated into present day Solars/Abyssals/Akuma.


Modern solars [and even abyssals] might have some good insight to the DL's methods!


Any thoughts?

 

[Persell]

Entirely possible, but lytek has a tendency to prune the worse memories away to portect the minds of the newly exalted.

 

[Torak]

I thought deathlords were not reincarnations but ghosts of solars...


According to that, solars should'nt have any of their memories should DLs die... again... and permanently

 

[Persell]

I believe he means memories of when the Deathlords were Bat-shit Crazy Solars, not memories of them as Deathlords.

 

[Persell]

Right. The OP even clearly marked it when saying he was pondering about the PAST lifes of solars and deathlords.

 

[Arthur]

I believe the shards of the DLs didn't pass away, they were corrupted by the Neverborn.

 

[Forn Clakes]

Not necessarily.  A general, non-descript Solar is attacked and killed by a pack of Usurping DB scum just as dessert is served.  Said Solar's shard flies off back to Lytek but, hang on, there's a nice cage over there that is made from Jade that looks snug and cosy, I'll go there thank you very much.  However, the dead Solar's ghost is now hanging around in the Underworld, pissed at the outcome of dinner and is offered eternal power and glory by some dead Primordial-thing.  


So, the shard is trapped whereas the Solar is now but a ghost, albeit a powerful and mad ghost with major backing and lots of cool new toys.


That's how I see it anyway.


I could be wrong.


It wouldn't be the first time.


~FC.

 

[Persell]

Ghosts and Shards are two different terms, and are separate.  The Deathlords are ghosts of Solars, so their shards are still around.  However, it is quite likely that those shards were captured in the Jade Prison at the end of the Usurpation, while the shards of Masks of Winters and Walker in Darkness were never captured since they hid out in the Invisible Fortress for so long, so those two shards are still Solar, not Abyssal.  The shards of the other Deathlords, however, were likely to have been captured and placed in the Jade Prison.  When the Deathlords tried to break the prison and capture all the Solar shards, half of the Solar shards escaped.  Of the shards that the Deathlords managed to hold on to, they had to give some to the Yozis, who gave the Deathlords the means to corrupt them in exchange for some shards of their own.


So you have 3 classes of shards out there - those that have stayed Solar, those corrupted by the Deathlords, and those corrupted by the Yozis.  The shards of the Deathlords could be from any of these three types.

 

[Torak]

Right. The OP even clearly marked it when saying he was pondering about the PAST lifes of solars and deathlords.

My bad...

 

[tjcoonrod]

Talk about emo-drama at its finest, just *waiting* to happen.....


Now, I am curious - that puts a great query into my mind, but *how* would said deathlords react to meeting the shard of their past life. Granted, most deathlords remember with varying degrees their past life (some, like Walker in Darkness, remember next to nothing, whilst Mask of Winters remembers nearly everything, and though not specifically mentioned in canon anywhere that I have seen and/or can recall, but my guess is that the other deathlords run various lengths upon that scale).


So, take a deathlord that remembers a decent amount, say 1/2 up to Mask recollection: how would one react? I guess it would depend upon the deathlord, for starters, and obviously. So lets get more specific.


The lover clad - would she try to seduce her new former self (wrap your head around that one) to her side? Or, would she be jealous and spiteful (like a woman) and attempt to destroy the newly reincarnated solar that has her old spark?

 

[Persell]

Actually... did you read the comics in the white&black treatise. It looks a lot like Arianna has the lover's shard and the lover wants her on the dark side now. I also think that would be the default reaction for any deathlord as you want someone who possibly knows as much about you at your side. And even if you can't remember a lot of your last life, then you still want that solar to learn about it.


Of course some neverborn fanatic might also decide that the representation and link to his last life should die horribly at the business end of his very own soulsteel weapon. Or despise the sight of the servant of the unconquered sun so much that he sends legions of followers to deal with him.

 

[Persell]

Or pump the Solar/Abyssal in question for as much info on his past life as possible then have them die horribly at the business end of their own soulsteel weapon.

 

[Persell]

Perhaps said solar has to die horribly in a necromantic ritual that frees said deathlord of his neverborn enslavement...


There is a lot of horrible dying going on in this thread... me likes.

 

[Skeptic Tank]

I was running a game where one of the players had the shard of the First and Forsaken Lion. I didn't originally intend for it at the beginning, but he was playing such a self-righteous conquering bastard that the similarity was too perfect.  :twisted:


I decided that it would be most interesting to have the shard and soul resonate with each other. The Lion was beginning to have dreams/visions of conquering, like he vaguely recollects that he used to. The Solar would have very vivid dreams recounting mundane events from the previous day, only he would see himself encased in armour.


It's sad the campaign seems to have died, but I suppose that will let me focus more on my other four.

 

[Vanman]

It's sad the campaign seems to have died' date=' but I suppose that will let me focus more on my other four.[/quote']
You're running four campaigns?!?!?!?!?


:shock:  :shock:  :shock:

 

[Persell]

I am running three. Weekly. What is the problem?

 

[Vanman]

No problem. I just can't imagine trying to run three or four games a week. I applaud your tenacity and dedication. I just couldn't do it.

 

[Persell]

I'd have Walker in Darkness recognize the shard and want to capture it's bearer in hopes of extracting some memories.

 

[Persell]

No problem. I just can't imagine trying to run three or four games a week. I applaud your tenacity and dedication. I just couldn't do it.

Actually all it takes is being organized. I study law at the same time and around here about 70%+ fail the tests. So I had to get organized, learn a lot etc.


Roleplaying is for me the easiest way to leave law behind for a while and do something creative. It helps that my girlfriend, with whom I live, is also extremely interested in roleplaying games and studies an equally stressful subject - luckily her tests are easier.

 

[Vanman]

Well, I applaud you even more. If I thought I couldn't run three games in a week, running three games and studying law is almost beyond comprehension. I know that I'm not organized, so that's where I'm weak. More power to you, brother.

 

[Persell]

It is too much praise actually, but thank you anyway. I firmly believe that most people can do with any situation, when they only encounter it.


I had to get organized, too, and at the beginning of studying I had no clue how I could get all that done. Now that I took some time getting organized I still find time to learn french and next semester Japanese or chinese besides the studies. So when I can do that, I am pretty sure you could do that do, you are just not in the situation to have to.

 

[Persell]

You know, I just had a thought.  What if the Usurpation took a few centuries to complete?  What if, instead of a blitzkrieg on the Solars that happened all at once, it was a much more bitter struggle where, after the initial attack, the Solars were able to hold down parts of their territories and were able to keep back the Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals for a time?  If this happened, it would be entirely possible that the Solar shard of one Deathlord could have also been the Solar shard of another Deathlord.  A powerful Solar could have been in power before the Usurpation, were killed in the initial onslaught and was contacted by the Neverborn to become a Deathlord.  His shard wasn't captured by the Jade Prison and reincarnated into another mortal who was then Exalted as a Solar.  He then struggles to drive off the DBs and Sidereals for a few hundred years and then falls in battle.  That Solar ghost is then also contacted by the Neverborn to be a Deathlord.


Then, when the Solar shards are freed, it escapes and exalts another mortal.  How would the two Deathlords react to that?

 

[Flagg]

You know, I just had a thought.  What if the Usurpation took a few centuries to complete?  What if, instead of a blitzkrieg on the Solars that happened all at once, it was a much more bitter struggle where, after the initial attack, the Solars were able to hold down parts of their territories and were able to keep back the Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals for a time?

As I recall, it WAS this way.

 

[Vanman]

You know, I just had a thought.  What if the Usurpation took a few centuries to complete?  What if, instead of a blitzkrieg on the Solars that happened all at once, it was a much more bitter struggle where, after the initial attack, the Solars were able to hold down parts of their territories and were able to keep back the Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals for a time?  If this happened, it would be entirely possible that the Solar shard of one Deathlord could have also been the Solar shard of another Deathlord.  A powerful Solar could have been in power before the Usurpation, were killed in the initial onslaught and was contacted by the Neverborn to become a Deathlord.  His shard wasn't captured by the Jade Prison and reincarnated into another mortal who was then Exalted as a Solar.  He then struggles to drive off the DBs and Sidereals for a few hundred years and then falls in battle.  That Solar ghost is then also contacted by the Neverborn to be a Deathlord.
Then, when the Solar shards are freed, it escapes and exalts another mortal.  How would the two Deathlords react to that?

An interesting theory, and one that might inspire interesting debate, but I'm not sure it would hold up too well to scrutiny. The reason being, weren't the Deathlords powerful Solars? And, even after a few hundred years, how powerful would a Solar really be? Enough to allow the Neverborn to offer the ghost DL power? Especially with all the other Solar ghosts running around? And that's not even taking into account the Wyld Hunt, and what they would do to a newly Exalted Solar in this time and place. But then, if the Wyld Hunt did get to that Exalt, this conversation would be dead.


:-)


I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't do this in a game I'm running. Nothing wrong with the idea, though.


;-)

 

[Persell]

You know, I just had a thought.  What if the Usurpation took a few centuries to complete?  What if, instead of a blitzkrieg on the Solars that happened all at once, it was a much more bitter struggle where, after the initial attack, the Solars were able to hold down parts of their territories and were able to keep back the Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals for a time?

As I recall, it WAS this way.

Is it ever stated in canon how long the rogue Solars held out? I thought I remembered reading that it was only a few decades or so, apart from the Invisible Fortress. Not to say your idea is bad alohahaha, I'm just wondering if its ever been firmly established.