Discussion thread for [The Lioness](http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/index.php/The Lioness). If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.
This NPC is purely fan fiction but I feel like I have to explain the motivation behind it. It started after I had watched the Jet Li/Jackie Chan movie “The Forbidden Kingdom”. One of the characters in this movie can do amazing things with her hair and I was thinking that it would be nice to make an NPC for Birthright that could do something similar. I felt that there weren’t enough ehrsheghlein so she would have to be one of them and not enough had been done yet related to Laerme, so she should be a worshipper of Laerme. The result was the Lioness.
I wanted the Lioness to have:
[ul]
[li]the hair tricks
[/li][li]good charisma
[/li][li]survive more on charisma and less on strength
[/li][/ul]
The skills, feats and blood abilities listed were based on those points.
The bits I need help from the rest of you are:
[ul]
[li]deciding how many levels of each class she should have
[/li][li]deciding her bloodline strength
[/li][li]picking her final selection of feats, skills and blood abilities, given her levels and bloodline strength
[/li][/ul]
I am not a D&D3.5 player so I’m not good at doing these things and making her a sensible NPC.
Sorontar
Well, that is interesting. I assume that she’ll be Anduiras-blooded and perhaps a foil for the Lamia? Which region will she be in and race/subrace do you want her to be?
I presume you haven’t seen the wiki page because most of these questions are answered there.
I was always picturing her as an up-and-coming regent, which is why I have made her fighting force, Ilia’s Pride, just be a level 0 law holding and “her” temple, the Shrine of the Hand and Heart, be a level 0 temple holding. I was searching for a good Khinasi place to place here but the only one that seemed sensible was Sendoure because:
[ul]
[li]The climate would support the idea of her father having a horse stud[/li][li]The Emir really didn’t look outside his cities, so a level 0 law holding could work[/li][li]The only existing religion was already Leira but this was being managed from outside Sendoure and had an aggressive approach to the teachings of the Goddess, which would be opposite to much of what the Lioness would believe in[/li][li]Sendoure makes it easy to work halflings, like her lieutenant, into the “story”.[/li][/ul]
Yes, I gave her the Anduiras bloodline to make the association with lions easier, but the only way she will be lion-like will be her “mane/long hair” and the golden tinge to her black skin and brown hair. She is a female Khinasi human but Sendoure is on the border of Brechtur (amongst other places) so I would not expect her to have strictly Khinasi traditions. Hence her name is Sharani K’gora, not Sharani bint Hirani. And she is CG (or NG).
I realise that there are various Awnies that seem similar in the Charisma stakes and have lion-like appearances, but the Lioness isn’t intended as a foil to them. That is one of the reasons that I didn’t want to make her too much a “lion”. I mean, Binsada has a military force called the Lions (I think) and the Sphinx has taken over to the south of Sendoure. The Lamia is further to the east. I called her the Lioness mainly because I couldn’t think of any other animal that is known for its hair (which is her main unique asset), and was an animal that would be known to the Khinasi. And her “caring for good of the community” apporach seemed motherly and appropriate for a lioness.
I am quite surprised that there isn’t at least one Ehrshegh that controls a province in Cerilia. After all, an Ehrshegh doesn’t have to be a goody-two shoes. It just has to have a bloodline other than Azrai and Bloodtrait. It can theoretically still be NE and be an Ehrshegh.
Sorontar.
I think I need to explain my idea of how the Lioness would use her Charisma.
She is a bard. That is her primary training. She has only received a little warrior/tactical training beyond what a bard would normally know. She is also physically gorgeous. That has been her problem all her life. Now she has a church that listens to her and a force of warriors that follow her command, so she can dictate within her circle/court/community what is right and what is wrong. Hence, she is regent of a level 0 law holding.
The Lioness uses her charm and character reading abilities to read the “truth” out of people. This is good for her diplomacy and trade and helps her get fair deals. While the law holding acts as a militia, it also occassionally acts as a mercenary force to help “those in need”. This need is sometimes revenge on matters of the heart. However, the Lioness likes to be able to confirm first that it is the heart and not greed or envy that is the cause of the need. For this she uses her bardic skills and charisma to get the truth from the client as well as from the target of the client. Only then will she plan what her military force should do to help the client. So she does “go on adventures” to find this truth.
Unlike the Lamia, she does not use her Charisma to blindly charm people to become followers. She is presently “good” alignment, not “evil”.
Sorontar
Hmmmm lets come up with some good animals.
- Troll Doll. Would be better if she was a halfling with crazy hair though.
- Fluffy Kitten.
The good thing with Birthright is that the name doesn’t have to match the ability. The Minataur is the good example.
On the other side you don’t have to keep with Anduiras bloodline at all if she really has nothing to do with a Lion other than the name, which it sounds like.
Because of the hair I can see many folks giving her the name Lioness. But there must be some other animal or even plant that she seems to take the characteristics of. She is heading down a path as an Ehrshegh. If she keeps using her powers and growing in power what will she become? Will she never change?
I do like it though. Keep up the good work.
-BB
A golden monkey (see the golden compass) has long hair, is attractive, sociable, etc…
Yeti’s, highland cattle, etc have long hair but are really at the wrong end of the animal spectrum…
Trouble is long hair tends to equal unkempt mess if you aren’t careful. You need something beautiful - and suitable for a hot area ruling out cold creatures and leaving mostly jungle animals.
Medusa? Noted for her hair, and something of a stunner (before and after annoying aphrodite)…
At 07:54 AM 10/3/2008, bbeau22 wrote:
>The good thing with Birthright is that the name doesn`t have to match the ability. The Minataur is the good example.
This is very true… Naming awnshegh is sometimes a problem because it`s not easy to come up with a good descriptor in one word. I’ve put a lot of incidental time and thought into the whole issue of awnshegh/ershegh names, though, so let me ruminate for a bit before I get to what I think is the most appropriate name for this character.
In this case, “Lioness” seems a little more than the usual differences in terms of actual powers, and even the name “Lioness” seems a little off because (at least in my mind) the association with hair and lions is for the male of the species… The colour commentary definitely has a nice, lion-y flavour to it, which is important, but since the only connection to lions is her name, if she were named something that had more to do with her “hair-powers” then that stuff might not be appropriate either, and some of the background material might go another direction that goes more in line with her actual abilities.
So I think a name that had to do with her hair might make sense. However, there arent a lot of good monstrous names that are based on "hair." One couldn't call her the Pompadour and expect readers to take the idea seriously. Id first suggest a kind of nickname concoction. “Rhuobhe Manslayer” is the most obvious example of this being done with awnsheghlien names in the BR materials. A few minor awnsheghlien also use this kind of convention.
With that in mind, consider some combination of her given name with something that describes her powers. Either her first name or family
name along with an aptinym/nickname. Or she could have a name that is a compound word based on her hair power along with some sort of adjective if that combo is strong enough. Some combo of an adjective with mane, lock, fleece, coat, hair, etc. would work. So:
Kgora Cilice (a kind of hair cloth.) Kgora Palagia (pelage is coat of hair or something felt to resemble
the coat of a mammal.)
Sharani Forelock or Foretop
Blackmane
Darkfleece
Dreadmane (I like this one because it puns on dreadlocks…)
Longmane
Longlock
Whorlcoat (this one kind of hints at her powers.)
However, all that aside, probably the best suggestion for a name change is to call the character Sable. That will stick with a kind of animal/monster theme and naming convention, goes with her black hair (as sables are sometimes that color) and is a little more subtle in its femininity. Though it still doesnt really get the "long hair" thing going on, sables are known and valued for their fur. Plus, one wouldnt expect a character named Sable to have claws or fangs (though sables do have both) where a character named The Lioness seems like she should be something of a brutal killer that bites and rends her foes. That`s not really the vibe on this NPC.
Gary
I have always seen awnshegh as being like the creatures described in a bestiary. The animal’s physical attributes, habitat and habits were described and interpreted symbolically in order to teach a moral lesson to the reader. Bees and ants are industrious, foxes are cunning, and so forth. Nature was not something examined to figure out how nature worked (as a scientist might do) but as a metaphor for parts of man’s nature, because the animals were created to serve man in many ways, and they are not important in their own right but only according to divine purpose, such as illustrating virtues and vices.
Another approach is to consider the totemic meaning of animals as spirit guides. Consider for a moment the baboon, who defends his family and is a guardian or the community, so that even Thoth appeared in the form of a baboon to judge the dead. Although as Gary has suggested, modern meanings of words will influence players and baboon might sound like a kind of fool.
In this regard the elephant is a decent choice: Long lived, doesn’t listen to insults, learns by watching, strong but peaceful, acute awareness, ability to recognize others, resolve to overcome obstacles.
The things I see are learns by watching, specifically who tells the truth, strong but peaceful, which is good for a defender of community, like a mother, ability to recognize others true nature seems to be a signature, and resolve and overcome obstacles is what this character does.
Gary said:
However, all that aside, probably the best suggestion for a name
change is to call the character Sable. That will stick with a kind
of animal/monster theme and naming convention, goes with her black
hair (as sables are sometimes that color) and is a little more subtle
in its femininity.
Her hair is “golden brown”, as in the song, and really really long and straight. Normally it reaches somewhere around her knees. Before she became an ehrshegh, she really looked after it. That is why Bloodtrait worked on it. It is always in her mind and is one of major identifying features (as well as being attractive).
Her skin is black, dark black. None of this sort-of-black or brown. But it now has a golden tinge. I made a composite portrait that I put on the wiki page. Yes, it doesn’t look natural for an African, but we are dealing 1) with a fantasy world 2) an ehrshegh.
As to the name, I realise that the mane is a male lion’s thing, but (other than monkeys and equines) who has manes? Only really a lion. So that was one of the reasons I saw the hair/lioness link. I gave her the Anduiras bloodline to help push it in that direction (hence the golden touch to the hair and skin). I have no idea what form she will end up in. She is a starting ehrshegh. She might get furry skin. She might get a tail. Her hair might become razor-sharp. Who knows.
A horse link is another possibility due to her living at a horse stud, but 1) we already have the Lamia, who as has been pointed out, is already similar in other ways 2) I want her to retain the beauty aspect so her face should stay “human-like”.
The nickname approach is a possibility.
If she was to change names, then I might need to change the names of Ilia’s Pride (her law holding) and Ilia’s Claw (her weapon) and aspects of her biography.
Sorontar
One more thing… I was not indending her hair to eventually become golden/blonde. I always wanted it to be golden brown. So “Goldilocks” is not quite what I was after.
Sorontar
I have been thinking about a possible shift that would be very true to Laerme, the goddess of fire, but would give Sharani more problems about disguising herself when going “undercover”… red hair. Her hair would still be long and straight and be a thrid arm, but now it would be shiny reddy brown. And yes it would still look out of place on a black Khinasi.
She could be called “the Redmane”, “the Flame”, etc etc and further hair developments could relate to fire. Is there any Awnie that works with fire yet?
Just an idea. I still like the Lioness version.
Sorontar.
I am pretty sure there aren’t any that relate to fire. I do think that the relationship with Laerme makes more sense and you should run with it.
Couple of brainstorming ideas.
-
She could becoming closer to true fire. Her hair is flaming red and could ultimately turn into a living fire she can control.
-
Heat up her body natural body temp. Would be an interesting side if she is hot to the touch (but not burning … just real warm.)
Commenting on Bbeau’s suggestions:
If her hair become “fire” then I would want that to be an “on demand” thing, not a permanent one. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to grasp things with the hair. But I like the idea of an attack that grabs an opponent then a line of flame runs down the hair and onto the opponent.
If she were to become warmer, then no normal horse would be able to stand her. She would either need a special one-off horse or have to ride a giant lizard or something.
I think that if she were to be geared more to being creature of hair and flame, I might have to rethink her history and location. A warmer climate might be better and I might have to drop the horse stud. And the way she got her Bloodtrait might have to change a little and she may become more a priestess, and less a law regent. And more agressive.
This is one of the reasons I like the Lioness more. I am lazy. :^)
Sorontar
At 04:08 PM 10/5/2008, you wrote:
>Her hair is “golden brown”, as in the song, and really really long
>and straight. Normally it reaches somewhere around her knees. Before
>she became an ehrshegh, she really looked after it. That is why
>Bloodtrait worked on it. It is always in her mind and is one of
>major identifying features (as well as being attractive).
>
>Her skin is black, dark black. None of this sort-of-black or brown.
>But it now has a golden tinge. I made a composite portrait that I
>put on the wiki page. Yes, it doesn`t look natural for an African,
but we are dealing 1) with a fantasy world 2) an ehrshegh.
Its not a problem for an ehrshegh to have blonde hair despite being Khinasi. We have the whole bloodmark/transformation thing to consider, and anything can happen with that. But aside from naming the character the Lioness, why is it important that her hair be blonde? Black hair could act as a fifth limb and swirl around her head just as well as blonde hair.... Its just the association with
a (male) lion that makes her blonde, right?
So, its not the color of her hair that is the issue, its that the
whole hair power thing doesnt seem very Lioness-like, so shed
probably not acquire that particular moniker in the first
place. People wouldnt see a person who had those kinds of powers and associate them with a lioness and thus give her that name, or that shed take it on herself. It doesnt really seem to suit her personality, powers or transformation very directly. "Sable" works a little more closely with the whole hair thing--though there isnt
really an animal totem that is particularly apt… Hence the naming
problem to begin with.
The Manslayer naming scheme thing makes the most sense the more I
think on it. I did something very similar with the awnshegh write up
I penned a few years back for the giant crab with a bloodline. You
cant really call an awnshegh The Crab or The Lobster and expect folks to take him seriously, so he wound up being called Redclaw. Id had the idea for a giant crustacean awnshegh bouncing
around for a long time before I finally came up with a decent name for him.
Ive written up and posted a couple dozen awn-/ehrsheghlien over the years, so I wrote up a "Guide to Creating Awnsheghlien and Ehrsheghlien" a while back as part of a larger compilation and just as a way of exploring my own methods. I posted part of it, but I dont think I got as far as the section on coming up with
names… What`s there is in the archives:
http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0407A&L=BIRTHRIGHT-L&P=R2946&I=-3
The rest is currently a chapter in my perennial BR project… Its apt for this particular issue, though, so Ill post that part in
another thread/post.
Gary
Being lazy is great. I fully support it.
-
For the mount problem you can either have a horse that has gone through special training to be comfortable with her. She is warm to the touch not so hot that she will burn him. Special riding gear might also help with this.
-
The other type of mount she could have is one of those statues that turns into the animal with a command word. There is a horse verison.
Trying not to be too much of a geek … I have seen a character in a video game that had an ability very similer to having hair that can attack and grapple. It was from Diablo 2 and is the arch-angel Tyrial. Go to www.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/lore/journal.xml and flip the pages of the journal to page 23. There is a short video that shows what I mean.
-BB
Sorontar wrote:
> One more thing… I was not indending her hair to eventually become golden/blonde. I always wanted it to be golden brown. So “Goldilocks” is not quite what I was after.
Not Goldilocks? 
How about Lady Godiva? 
Sorontar wrote:
> Commenting on Bbeau`s suggestions:
If her hair become “fire” then I would want that to be an “on demand” thing, not a permanent one. Otherwise she wouldn`t be able to grasp things with the hair. But I like the idea of an attack that grabs an opponent then a line of flame runs down the hair and onto the opponent.
>
> If she were to become warmer, then no normal horse would be able to stand her. She would either need a special one-off horse or have to ride a giant lizard or something.
Isn?t there a saddle between her and the horse? Or does she ride nude without any riding equipment direcly on the horse that her temperature would bother the horse?
At 07:07 AM 10/6/2008, you wrote:
>Not Goldilocks? How about Lady Godiva?
Or Rapunzel. Or the chicks in these pix (though I don`t think they
can use their hair as a limb…)
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/646689/the_longest_hair_in_the_world/
Gary
I haven’t ridden a horse for a while but don’t your legs touch their sides? But yes, if she was “very warm to the touch” then a saddle/riding gear might fix the problem.
The portrait I did on the wiki was made up of an African model, the torso of a Indian model and hair from a long hair site. It was hard to find hair of the right colour and shape for the portrait but I hope you all get the idea from my composite.
The Diablo character does loosely resemble the hair capabilities of the Lioness but the best reference is the character from the Forbidden Kingdom.
Re the name, note that she actually got the nickname “the Lioness” before she got Bloodtrait (and thus before she started becoming an erhshegh), and she accepted it and had it in mind when she named Ilia’s Pride (she had already named her weapon Ilia’s Claw because of how it saved her life). I was also thinking that her father’s heraldry should have something lion orientated on it to help give further reason to the nickname.
Sorontar.
What do you have in mind?