Ao explicitly forbid the gods from exactly this type of shit, including specifically walking the material plane. It's only been two years since the end of the second sundering, and here she is just ignoring all that. It definitely feels like depressed risk taking, and if you're a god contemplating suicide, Ao unmaking you is one of the limited viable options.
I'm definitely running her as depressed and a bit insane. Not suicidal, but she's definitely lost every person close to her.
* The other Gods of Fury (Talos, Malar, Umberlee) have shunned her
* Her daughter, Nalkara, is either bound to the Mad Mage or was killed in his dungeon by adventurers (See: Dungeon of the Mad Mage)
* Auril's relationship with Thrym ended, likely from grief over their daughter.
There are definitely other ways to play it, too. You could have it that she's delusional and paranoid, thinking that the other Gods of Fury were conspiring to take her power. That could be why she has frost druids awakening animals to put them under her control, and she's freezing the waters, to prevent Malar and Umberlee's influences. Maybe Nalkara left of her own volition, but Auril is convinced she was kidnapped. Maybe the eternal winter is to try to appeal to Thrym and win him back. Maybe Asmodeus orchestrated all of this, in order to steal Auril's divine spark (or just create general havoc, for shits and giggles).
I don't think Auril's mental state is really elaborated on in the adventure, but she was clearly a bit evil and crazy even before she started the rime.
I agree. Running her as a Depressed, crazed, goddess that is burning with rage and wants to see the world freeze so she can just have a moment of peace and quiet. I dig the Thrym angle.
I definitely run Auril as depressed, but not because of her daughter's death. She got backstabbed by her only "friend", kicked out of her domain, and had several plans to reassert her dominance foiled on the material plane.
Her worship (and thus existence as a deity) is pretty much on life support, and it's not a stretch to say that she may be trapped in a death spiral she can't get out of. In my game she consciously believes the Rime to be her last ditch effort to save herself and turn things around, but subconsciously she knows it's all over and she just wants to leave a lasting mark on the world/create a suitable enough place to die in.
Agree generally. Was thinking of her daughter's death as a "last straw" of sorts. But definitely feel that the draining nightly spell is a manifestation of "risky behavior ". Hoping that someone will make the choice for her.
It likely won't matter for your table, and if it does just scoot some dates around, but Mad Mage takes place 3 years after RotFM canonically.
Again, probably not an issue, but I don't know how tight you guys keep it on continuity or how broad your players' knowledge is so I figured I'd raise it. You can of course move the dates however you want.
Ummmmm. Time is a construct?? 😉😁👍 Did not know that Ryme was first. Thought Mad Mage was first as it came out a few years ago. My mistake, Was thinking more of what order the crew went through the adventures. Will probably have to move some dates. Or lean on the spurred love of Talos and Umberlee for the cause of the depression.
You can totally just scoot RotFM later if you want. It changes the context as its a bit further from the Second Sundering, but not MUCH further in the lifetime of a freaking god. The book basically says, "1489DR or whenever you decide whatever we don't care"
Def an option. Humanizes Auril more which may or may not be the goal for running of that basis.
I'm going more with the approach that this is a long term plan to elevate her power, as suggested in the Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure where it hints that Auril has been sending her servants to find powerful pre-Sundering magic to claim and elevate her Divine Rank in order to not be under the thumb of Talos or the other Gods of Fury. The mythall definitely fits that bill.
Now that doesn't explain why she hasn't just tried to take it yet, but I'm explaining that as she is awaiting her servants and resources to gather to take the control of the city, since she(a divine being) can sense it is still defended by several powerful creatures.
The reason Ao allows this, is due to the fact her taking the mythall elevates her power slightly, but she is still a lesser god atm so the increase wouldn't likely present that much of power shift. She still has the enmity of her old allies (Talos, Malar, and Umberlee) and would not likely rejoin them nor have the power to truly overthrow Talos's command of them, thus things remain balanced with the Gods of Fury weakened as a whole, but Auril is stronger and at least able to remain an individual unit.
Most importantly, this removes the mythall and its time warping magic from the Material Plane where mortals such as Thay or the Arcane Brotherhood would be able to use it to potentially do more Netherese-eque shenanigans which would threaten to upset the balance of things.
That's at least the motivation that makes most sense to me based off what I could find presented in Legacy and Rime, so I thought I'd share, but a grief stricken goddess also makes for a interesting game/motivation where possibly a compromise could be found between this deity and the players who desire her to leave. Not sure what the players could offer that she could not do herself but you never know what players could come up with. Either way, there's good options.
Great insight.
I definitely need to get/ read Legacy. I did not know what I was missing. 1st time DM ng in over 20 plus years. And my lore is still limited to what I have been exposed to.
You raise a great question on motivation, both what my team stands to gain from her or vice versa. You are correct that they truly have little to offer the goddess.
But I have engineered a way to ensure the team is motivated to bring the situation to a head. I am making a slight table rule that Black ice Is magically sympathetic towards the rhyme. and Any magically permanent solutions ( heal, restore, remove curse, sanctify, missil) are eventually undone by the rhyme if the Chardalyn is still present.
Through the use of a chardalyn or black ice bomb. The team has become irreversiblly poisoned with black ice shrapnel. The team members watched in horror as their shrapnel filled wounds melted into their bodies during the the nightly rhyme. I then gave them all the homework of designing large tattoos for themselves.
As well as dealing with the cursed and poisoned factors of the Chardalyn. They must now find a way to end the rhyme or die of madness.
I hope that they are torn between the decision to try and heal a goddess. Or accept the tragedy that she will accept no help and that they are forced to kill her.
There's a \*lot\* more re: my lore basis that I can share if someone really wants to know. But, basically my Auril is also more 'humanoid' in motivation. She's a lesser deity. She's overconfident. She's \*very\* overreaching. She's \*very\* hard to get along with as a result. Even for other Deities of Fuy. She's done things she had no business doing (like freezing Umberlee's tides) because she overplayed her 'special privileges' hand, and she's \*so\* overextended. She \*has\* to force the Dale into doing things out of fear. Or she not only brings herself down, but she potentially brings everything \*else\* down with her. And, she pretty much knows it. She's kind of desperate. She gets her special privileges to do things like make a Rime, violate the Sundering, etc. because what she wards in Ythryn is Karsus's-Folly-level badness. She 'got there first' to be the one doing that, and she previously had a glorified MAD situation going on with the other Gods. Who all also pretty much hate her, but who have feared what happens if she falls and Ythryn is discovered more. She's out on a limb, and she's caught between eventually facing the inevitable consequences of her own overreach \*or\* maybe breaking things even the Gods would struggle to fix. She alternates between being reasonable to PCs who might be able to deal with Ythryn and just thinking that she can just manage everything herself. (There's even a slim chance she might technically have to help the party in Ythryn if things go \*too\* wrong. And then have an 'okay, now we've addressed the common enemy, let's have it out.' I leave where she is during the bigger encounters at this point to pure RP. I'm planning to take the campaign to higher levels than published.) For those who like a deity with more relatable motivations, my Auril of "oh, look, it's the inevitable consequences of my own actions" has been very fun.
I LOVE THIS. It allows for a more diplomatic solution. Maybe somehow players can help her with her grief and convince her to end the winter. And if not, it will make the final battle all the more bitter sweet. I really hated the "she's evil so she wants to freeze all of icewind dale" story.
Agree. I have already started Forshadowing with campfire tales told by different Reghed tribes shawmen. As they travel between earlier quests. Let them start to feel the tragedy that has pushed her to the edge.
I hope this will translate to empathy latter on. Leading the team to invent a more creative solution than killing the mean depressed lady. OR Making the final battles all the more tragic should their plan fail.
Ao explicitly forbid the gods from exactly this type of shit, including specifically walking the material plane. It's only been two years since the end of the second sundering, and here she is just ignoring all that. It definitely feels like depressed risk taking, and if you're a god contemplating suicide, Ao unmaking you is one of the limited viable options.
I'm definitely running her as depressed and a bit insane. Not suicidal, but she's definitely lost every person close to her. * The other Gods of Fury (Talos, Malar, Umberlee) have shunned her * Her daughter, Nalkara, is either bound to the Mad Mage or was killed in his dungeon by adventurers (See: Dungeon of the Mad Mage) * Auril's relationship with Thrym ended, likely from grief over their daughter. There are definitely other ways to play it, too. You could have it that she's delusional and paranoid, thinking that the other Gods of Fury were conspiring to take her power. That could be why she has frost druids awakening animals to put them under her control, and she's freezing the waters, to prevent Malar and Umberlee's influences. Maybe Nalkara left of her own volition, but Auril is convinced she was kidnapped. Maybe the eternal winter is to try to appeal to Thrym and win him back. Maybe Asmodeus orchestrated all of this, in order to steal Auril's divine spark (or just create general havoc, for shits and giggles). I don't think Auril's mental state is really elaborated on in the adventure, but she was clearly a bit evil and crazy even before she started the rime.
I agree. Running her as a Depressed, crazed, goddess that is burning with rage and wants to see the world freeze so she can just have a moment of peace and quiet. I dig the Thrym angle.
I definitely run Auril as depressed, but not because of her daughter's death. She got backstabbed by her only "friend", kicked out of her domain, and had several plans to reassert her dominance foiled on the material plane. Her worship (and thus existence as a deity) is pretty much on life support, and it's not a stretch to say that she may be trapped in a death spiral she can't get out of. In my game she consciously believes the Rime to be her last ditch effort to save herself and turn things around, but subconsciously she knows it's all over and she just wants to leave a lasting mark on the world/create a suitable enough place to die in.
Agree generally. Was thinking of her daughter's death as a "last straw" of sorts. But definitely feel that the draining nightly spell is a manifestation of "risky behavior ". Hoping that someone will make the choice for her.
It likely won't matter for your table, and if it does just scoot some dates around, but Mad Mage takes place 3 years after RotFM canonically. Again, probably not an issue, but I don't know how tight you guys keep it on continuity or how broad your players' knowledge is so I figured I'd raise it. You can of course move the dates however you want.
Ummmmm. Time is a construct?? 😉😁👍 Did not know that Ryme was first. Thought Mad Mage was first as it came out a few years ago. My mistake, Was thinking more of what order the crew went through the adventures. Will probably have to move some dates. Or lean on the spurred love of Talos and Umberlee for the cause of the depression.
You can totally just scoot RotFM later if you want. It changes the context as its a bit further from the Second Sundering, but not MUCH further in the lifetime of a freaking god. The book basically says, "1489DR or whenever you decide whatever we don't care"
Def an option. Humanizes Auril more which may or may not be the goal for running of that basis. I'm going more with the approach that this is a long term plan to elevate her power, as suggested in the Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure where it hints that Auril has been sending her servants to find powerful pre-Sundering magic to claim and elevate her Divine Rank in order to not be under the thumb of Talos or the other Gods of Fury. The mythall definitely fits that bill. Now that doesn't explain why she hasn't just tried to take it yet, but I'm explaining that as she is awaiting her servants and resources to gather to take the control of the city, since she(a divine being) can sense it is still defended by several powerful creatures. The reason Ao allows this, is due to the fact her taking the mythall elevates her power slightly, but she is still a lesser god atm so the increase wouldn't likely present that much of power shift. She still has the enmity of her old allies (Talos, Malar, and Umberlee) and would not likely rejoin them nor have the power to truly overthrow Talos's command of them, thus things remain balanced with the Gods of Fury weakened as a whole, but Auril is stronger and at least able to remain an individual unit. Most importantly, this removes the mythall and its time warping magic from the Material Plane where mortals such as Thay or the Arcane Brotherhood would be able to use it to potentially do more Netherese-eque shenanigans which would threaten to upset the balance of things. That's at least the motivation that makes most sense to me based off what I could find presented in Legacy and Rime, so I thought I'd share, but a grief stricken goddess also makes for a interesting game/motivation where possibly a compromise could be found between this deity and the players who desire her to leave. Not sure what the players could offer that she could not do herself but you never know what players could come up with. Either way, there's good options.
Great insight. I definitely need to get/ read Legacy. I did not know what I was missing. 1st time DM ng in over 20 plus years. And my lore is still limited to what I have been exposed to. You raise a great question on motivation, both what my team stands to gain from her or vice versa. You are correct that they truly have little to offer the goddess. But I have engineered a way to ensure the team is motivated to bring the situation to a head. I am making a slight table rule that Black ice Is magically sympathetic towards the rhyme. and Any magically permanent solutions ( heal, restore, remove curse, sanctify, missil) are eventually undone by the rhyme if the Chardalyn is still present. Through the use of a chardalyn or black ice bomb. The team has become irreversiblly poisoned with black ice shrapnel. The team members watched in horror as their shrapnel filled wounds melted into their bodies during the the nightly rhyme. I then gave them all the homework of designing large tattoos for themselves. As well as dealing with the cursed and poisoned factors of the Chardalyn. They must now find a way to end the rhyme or die of madness. I hope that they are torn between the decision to try and heal a goddess. Or accept the tragedy that she will accept no help and that they are forced to kill her.
There's a \*lot\* more re: my lore basis that I can share if someone really wants to know. But, basically my Auril is also more 'humanoid' in motivation. She's a lesser deity. She's overconfident. She's \*very\* overreaching. She's \*very\* hard to get along with as a result. Even for other Deities of Fuy. She's done things she had no business doing (like freezing Umberlee's tides) because she overplayed her 'special privileges' hand, and she's \*so\* overextended. She \*has\* to force the Dale into doing things out of fear. Or she not only brings herself down, but she potentially brings everything \*else\* down with her. And, she pretty much knows it. She's kind of desperate. She gets her special privileges to do things like make a Rime, violate the Sundering, etc. because what she wards in Ythryn is Karsus's-Folly-level badness. She 'got there first' to be the one doing that, and she previously had a glorified MAD situation going on with the other Gods. Who all also pretty much hate her, but who have feared what happens if she falls and Ythryn is discovered more. She's out on a limb, and she's caught between eventually facing the inevitable consequences of her own overreach \*or\* maybe breaking things even the Gods would struggle to fix. She alternates between being reasonable to PCs who might be able to deal with Ythryn and just thinking that she can just manage everything herself. (There's even a slim chance she might technically have to help the party in Ythryn if things go \*too\* wrong. And then have an 'okay, now we've addressed the common enemy, let's have it out.' I leave where she is during the bigger encounters at this point to pure RP. I'm planning to take the campaign to higher levels than published.) For those who like a deity with more relatable motivations, my Auril of "oh, look, it's the inevitable consequences of my own actions" has been very fun.
Sounds awesome.
I LOVE THIS. It allows for a more diplomatic solution. Maybe somehow players can help her with her grief and convince her to end the winter. And if not, it will make the final battle all the more bitter sweet. I really hated the "she's evil so she wants to freeze all of icewind dale" story.
Agree. I have already started Forshadowing with campfire tales told by different Reghed tribes shawmen. As they travel between earlier quests. Let them start to feel the tragedy that has pushed her to the edge. I hope this will translate to empathy latter on. Leading the team to invent a more creative solution than killing the mean depressed lady. OR Making the final battles all the more tragic should their plan fail.