OK, kind of an odd question here, but if you were going to associate
one of the BR awnsheghlien and/or ersheghlien with one of the
standard, Western signs of the zodiac, which would go where?
Of course, a few of them are screechingly obvious. The Scorpion is
Scorpio, the Sphynx is Leo. Maalvar is probably Sagittarius, but
could also be considered Taurus… Which of the water-based
awnsheghlien is most appropriate for Aquarius? How about
Gemini? What is the Gorgon?
OK, along similar lines, how would you break down the awnsheghlien in
terms of the four elements? The Gorgon is, of course, earth (stone)
but what other beasties might qualify for Earth “signs” if you
will? What about air, water and fire signs?
The Zodiac itself divides into the four elements so that a fire sign refers to any of the three signs Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius. Air -Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Water -Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces. And Earth -Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
So one could certainly begin by organizing the earlier list according to the elemental signs as well.
>So one could certainly begin by organizing the earlier list
>according to the elemental signs as well.
Lets keep the concepts separate for the purposes of this categorization, as my goal in asking is to see how the concepts might mesh and where they might contrast with the "real world" concepts of the zodiac and the elements. I have a big picture reason for asking, but I want to see how folks see these themes before discussing it just to see if the basic concept makes any sort of sense at all.... I have a few other categorizations Id like to get opinions
on too, but I want to give folks a shot at them one at a time since
it`d be too much to give them five all at once.
So if categorized according to their themes and transformations how
would the various awnsheghlien fit into the earth, air, water and
fire? Some would probably need to be described as two the way the
old D&D stuff had para-elemental planes and such, but let`s not worry
about the details of the Plane of Lava or whatever… Fire/Earth
would be good enough to describe Gorgon, for instance.
>Any meaningful purpose for doing this? What`s the prize?
I do have a more direct relationship to game mechanics and the
setting in mind, but I`d prefer not to get too much into detail about
it for now as the ideas as still forming.
Even if nothing else comes of it, though, it is a way of thinking
about these characters that might be useful in playing them as a
DM… Things like the signs of the Zodiac and the four elements
have long been used to portray personality and character (not to
mention little things like fate and health…) so they can be used as
shorthand for a system of describing NPCs in the way that 4e outlines
the “Personality” and “Mannerisms.”
The twelve Zodiac animal signs: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (ram or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and boar .
Plus you have Yin and Yang forms of the elements.
These can be applied to hours, seasons, years and combine in 60 ways for people. So a person (namely me) can be regarded as being a Yin Water Ox (I’m not telling you my “secret animal” :^) .
OK, weve got some ideas for the Zodiac and the elements.... Heres
where things are going to get a little weirder… What if you were
going to categorize the awnsheghlien according to which of the seven
deadly sins they most embody? Theres a little variation in how the sins are sometimes described, but to keep it simple, lets assume they are:
Lust
Gluttony
Greed
Sloth
Wrath
Envy
Pride
Like the elemental idea, one could put a particular character in more
than one group. The Gorgon is mostly Wrath, but he`s also got a lot
of Envy going on. The Basilisk is likely Sloth. The Lamia is
Lust. Etc. What others might you folks see?
>Rhuobhe typifies Pride and Wrath, whereas the Spider is also Sloth.
Thats interesting. I hadnt really thought of it, but youre right: sloth does describe the Spider pretty well.... Its sometimes hard
to get past the more obvious, insane aspect of his personality.
Let me tweak this question a little, as it`s a bit much to categorize
ALL of the awnsheghlien according to the seven deadly sins. Rather,
which ones are the best fit for them? That is, which awnshegh best
describes Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride?
I certainly think its worth while to look at this with fresh eyes. But it can also be fruitful to look back and see what the forum has said on this subject before. In Feb 2003, under the thread “Azrai`s 2000 parts” there as a discussion of the seven deadly sins and how they illuminated both the awnies and the gods.
The Raven might fall into a couple of categories, but he remains a
bit too secretive to really define well. The Gorgon could exemplify
three or four of the deadly sins… Roubhe strikes me as being
mostly about wrath, but he`s also got a lot of pride.
I don’t think the Lamia is either the subject or the object of lust. As far as the Seven Deadlies go, lust us bad because it causes ruin. The Lamia’s domain is not endangered by her lust. As for the men she controls, one could interpret her charm ability as a magically induced lust, or simply as a charm with sex specificity. As the later it has no more moral implication than any other charm spell. As the former, while it does prey on a human weakness, to the extent that it is a charm and not the weakness that ruins them, its not a sin.
While the corruption of the Gorgon’s pride is critical to his overall corruption, and likewise with many other awnies, the Lamia is not brought low by Lust. However, she beggers her realm (greed) to express her vanity (pride). Since the demands for money serve the purpose of pride and not acquisition for acquisition’s sake, I’d say its all Pride.
Blood enemies calls her proud, and describes her beauty as a weapon to defraud. Her lust was for power and wealth (both greed) not sex. “She now uses her domain to fund her vainglorious monuments and trappings of her rule.” Nothing about her says she pursues sex, or has a weakness for sex. One could make an argument for greed, but I think pride is the real weakness of the Lamia. She cannot abide a the sight of a pretty woman, not as a rival, or jealously, but because it reminds her of her lost human beauty, the things for which she was most proud.
