Thoughts? This is pretty much just an idea. But his corruption has to happen sooner or later.
nick
Anyways, Though I very much like that idea, I don't think the Dragon King Atzetuk should ever get to grant spells to templars. Or at least, not in the traditionnal sense, since it seems unlikely Atzetuk could have gotten his hands on what was needed to get the vortex (though not impossible). In any case, I think it's not necessary.
Draj is a heavy warrior culture, with sacrifices and all. His major strenght would be his army. Templars, or Moon Priests, would simply be warrior-priests, who cull those for sacrifice and ensure the SK's doctrine is maintained.
Hmm... or I have an idea... tell me what you think...
What If Atzetuk devised a special arcane magic for his templars. Indeed, deprived of divine templars, it seems credible Atzetuk could school loyal templars in his magic. Also, its not any sort of magic. Dragon kings can tap for their magic power in living beings instead of plants. Low level templars could not do the same directly, but Atzetuk refined a way to have them tap into their lifeforce: Blood. With special rituals, the templars can empower themselves during sacrifices. Just as dragon kings must use obsidian as a means to channel life energy, Draj's templars use special obsidian daggers as a channeling device, acting much like the lens of a cerulean wizard.
Heh. That could be cool, methinks.
I was going with the idea that the spirit of Tec survived the destruction of his body, and then went and possessed his "son"
Similar to the direction I went. When Rajaat "killed" Tec, as opposed to imprisoning him, it triggered Tec's contingency spells - Tec was brought back. What does he do? Possesses the kid. That's how I was running it, Dragon doesn't really disprove that, so I have no harps on it.
I've toyed with the idea of Andropinus returning from his exile too, before the Dragon write-up. Only he has quite literally become something like a Blacktouched creature (the Black did to him as it did to the Halfling servants of Rajaat - made him more like a shadowy creature - and also annoys Nibenay, who was the self-proclaimed Shadow King before Andropinus returned)... but I'm rambling.
Atzetuk refined a way to have them tap into their lifeforce: Blood. With special rituals, the templars can empower themselves during sacrifices.
I really do like this idea. Let the 'templars' build kind of a power point reserve during sacrifices that they can store up and unleash later on as spells. The only way to recharge though is through ritualistic sacrifice or their own life force (convert own hp to spell power). No precedent perhaps, but it stills sounds Athasian to me.
As for Tek possessing the boy king, it just sounds a bit cliche. I think my players would be on to me right quick with that one. They already suspect that eventually the boy is going to be a dragon king anyhow, so I would hope for something that throws their assumptions for a loop. I would still like to see the kid remain in power, perhaps cutting the strings of the puppeteers, but I just want to do something really creative and unique with him since he has so much more potential for good story telling that I don't want to see go to waste.
I think the spell point could work too, but I'm not sure its necessary.
Like Black Mages and Necromancers, Moon Priests could simply learn to tap into the lifeforce via flowing blood. Sacrifice would be a ritualistic way of doing it, and could perhaps provide some extra energy, like necromancers casting on a large burial ground, or empower their obsidian sacrificial dagger, much like the cerulean lenses. However, using blood magic wouldn't be that hard even without sacrifice. The moment blood is shed, the templars would be able to tap it to cast their spells, much like a black wizard can tap into any shadow. So no need to go for big mechanics, just a cool Feat with bonuses and restricitions akin to the Shadow Adept feat.
I'd really see the gathering of energies from the blood as something really cool and bonechilling, especially if the blood is defiled! Think about the blood drying up, then crakeling, then being turned into powder and being spread and vanishoing in the air, but leaving an unerasable scar on the material it was spread on!
Anyways, just a few thoughts. I don't think I'll ever play in that Age anyways.
P.S.: I move for having Dragon's conversion of Dark Sun called: The Age of D&D!
I think I'll just stop there.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik