Leptar, The Slave Lord
Intermediate Deity (Celestial of Entropy)
Portfolio/Interests: Slavers, Cruelty.
Symbol: A pair of black manacles.
Home Plane: Pyts
Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Worshippers: Slavers, Iron Ring Members, Evil Karameikans.
Cleric Alignment: Any Evil.
Domains: Chaos, Strength, Evil
Favored Weapon: Whip.
Illustration: Leptar appears not unlike the Deity portrayed in this illustration.
Background:
Leptar was a Warlord in Traladara several hundred years ago. At that time, Thyatian merchants were settling in Marilenev (Today’s Specularum). He made a huge profit from selling kidnapped Traladarans as slaves to his Hattian allies. Eventually, his schemes were toppled by the healer Chardastes. He went on with his quest for Immortality, with Orcus as his sponsor. Leptar and Chardastes remain enemies to this day. Leptar also opposes the Traladaran Three, who are allies of Chardastes. Leptar is allied with the Unholy Trinity (Arik, Orcus and Demogorgon), who seek to return Traladaran lands to Beastman rule. The Unholy Trinity views Leptar mostly as a servant, but Leptar hopes eventually to become accepted as an equal.
Appearance:
Leptar appears as a powerful humanoid figure with glowing yellow eyes and most of his body covered in short dark fur.
Dogma
Leptar promotes slavery and cruel treatment of slaves. The strong have a right to control the weak according to this twisted immortal’s philosophy.
Church and Temples
Leptar has a following in Karameikos, Thyatis and other Known World countries, but is considered illegal in all of them. His temples are often secret underground lairs where slavers gather to worship their dark patron in secret. Cultists often tattoo Leptar’s symbol onto their chests or arms. Clerics wear black ceremonial robes with eye-holed hoods. However, these are just worn for ceremonies. Since the cult is illegal, Clerics usually hide their allegiance and dress like commoners for non-religious occasions.
Further Ideas:
The concept of slavery as a problem for Karameikan relations with neighbouring nations might be developed further. The fact that slavery was explicitly illegal in Karameikos originally seemed to me as a naïve way to portray Karameikans as the good guys. However, perhaps due to the large operations of the Iron Ring, Slavery is and has been a large problem in the country, with large numbers of people being kidnapped and sold off into slavery to Thyatis or as Indentured Servants to Darokin. The Iron ring has been supported by the Black Eagle, and will receive continued support from the Baron’s allies in Hattias even after Halag is liberated. Darokin Diplomats are aware of kidnapped Karameikans being sold into Indentured Servitude and are trying to solve this problem in order to ensure good relations with Karameikos, but legal issues and powerful lobbies has so far made this difficult. Halflings from the Five Shires have also been kidnapped in raids from the Black Eagle Barony and sold through the Iron Ring as slaves. This has increased problems between Karameikos and the Five Shires.
Comments?
Havard
I like it! I can use him IMC. Was this name mentioned in a module or something; sounds familiar but not sure.
Ah, I was going to include the source:
Leptar was introduced in B1-9 (page 49 IIRC). Also referred to in WotI, although the details are very sparce in both sourcebooks. The slave connection was suggested by someone on this board.
Havard
Here's what is listed for Chardastes in WotI:
Chardastes
Celestial, Sphere of Time
AL: N
A native Traladaran Immortal with a small following in Karameikos. A patron of healing and medicine.
Symbol: The Bell
Pretty cool writeup. Any thoughts as to Chardastes, the other Immortal mentioned in the same adventure? (B1-9, page 30 - The objective of that part of the module was to recover the Bell of Chardastes from the fortress of Elwyn the Ardent - a cleric of the Order of Chardastes who converted to the worship of Leptar)
Well..how about this:
Chardastes, the Healer
Intermediate Deity (Celestial, Time)
Portfolio/Interests: Healing, Mercy, End of Tyranny.
Symbol: A Bell
Home Plane: Elysia
Alignment: Neutral Good.
Worshippers: Healers, Traladarans, Slaves.
Cleric Alignment: Any Good.
Domains: Healing, Good, Luck.
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff.
Illustration: Chardastes appears not unlike the Deity depicted [URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/boed_gallery/75070.jpg
<]here.[/url]
Background:
Chardastes was a healer and Cleric of Petranida (Petra) in Traladara. She allowed herself to be taken captive by slavers. Curing the horrible wounds the slaves had suffered, she was able to start a slave rebellion, freeing hundreds of slaves from misery. The slave owner was in fact Leptar who also later became an Immortal, and the two remain enemies until this day. Chardastes was a Cleric of Petranida and she and the other Traladaran Three remain allies of Chardastes, who is often seen as “the Fourth of the Three”. Chardastes hates slavery and cruelty and opposes these whenever they occur.
Appearance:
Chardastes appears as a young Traladaran woman holding a bell, or as an old gentle Darine Lady.
Dogma
Chardastes promotes the ideas of freedom and mercy, and teaches that one should oppose cruelty and tyranny.
Church and Temples
Chardastes shares temples with the Traladaran Three (Halav, Zirchev and Petranida).
Note: Chardastes was originally described as part of the Church of Karameikos. However, this was changed to the Church of Traladara in WotI: Book I.
Note2: It has also been unclear whether Chardastes is male or female, but she is in fact female.
Source: B1-9 p 30 and WotI.
Comments? Ideas?
Try the link below instead:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/boed_gallery/75070.jpg
Havard
Originally posted by Patrick Sullivan
does B1-9 state that Chardastes is female? I know Book 1 of WotI uses male pronouns for Chardastes.
I always assumed Chardastes was male. The intro to the adventure, however, tries to get the players to assume Elwyn is male. So I could go either way.
Originally posted by Patrick Sullivan
Does anyone know whether Chardastes and/or Leptar made an appearance in the original publication of this adventure (I'm pretty sure it's from Castle Caldwell & Beyond, one of the B-series modules)? Or was this something added exclusively in B1-9?
The adventure as it appears in B1-9 is directly taken from B9 with no changes. I liked to think that the pictures on the walls at the end (demon-thingy flying off with people or something like that - have to go back and look [do I have the right adventure?]) was a portrayal of Leptar.
Originally posted by havard
Note: Chardastes was originally described as part of the Church of Karameikos. However, this was changed to the Church of Traladara in WotI: Book I.
[/b]
Ah...I missed that little detail. While reading the description, I kept thinking to myself, "Native Traladaran? No. No. No. Wasn't Chardastes part of the Karameikan Church?" Now it is all clear to me. I have seen the folly of my ways and will return to the fold.
As for Leptar, I love the write-up you did! Makes me want to fit him in as many places I can IMC. Between that and the eye-opener that Orcus was a Traladaran devilswine and the previously unthought of link (by me anyway) of the Eyes of Arik and the Eyes of Traldar - I'm in Immortal heaven! (Pandius?) It never occured to me to think about the evil clerics in Karameikos before -
I liked to think that the pictures on the walls at the end (demon-thingy flying off with people or something like that - have to go back and look [do I have the right adventure?]) was a portrayal of Leptar.
That would make sense, particularly given that WotI describes him as an immortal fiend. I never really fleshed out Leptar much IMC, mostly because I for some reason have a definite pre-conceived notion of Leptar that seems rooted in my psyche. I see him basically as an enormous charicature of a kobold with bright red hair. Maybe Jim Henson's version of an immortal fiend. I think my mental image might be based on a simple illustration in a cheap Beowulf paperback (it definitely lacks the subtelty of anything in John Gardner's Grendel--a great read, btw) He moves slowly and likes to beat things to death with a club. It's like in those nightmares where you're trying to run from something, but your limbs just aren't cooperating so you're really just kind of crawling very slowly. And if you just stood up and walked at a normal pace, you could easily get away from Leptar, but instead you just can't find the energy to move, and he keeps beating you with this giant club. While I find this pretty frightening, I never thought my players would, except, perhaps, making them scared that they're in a room with me. I like the winged fiend or Havard's description much better :-)
Patrick
(scared of muppets--but just the bad ones)
Whoops...I was wrong (again). In B9, Chardastes is in fact named Namyats and is refered to as a "he". Leptar remains as is, but the pictures in the alcoves at the end only show one scene with Leptar - him leading Elwyn into a chasm. Guess I should refresh my memory before I go and post something about it.
Hmmm...maybe I should check b9 again. The gender issue comes from WotI in which IIRC Chardastes is described as a female. Given the comments, it looks like he is a guy afterall. Hmmm...now I need to find a new picture of him
Havard
Yaga, The Hag Countess (New!)
Name: Yaga, The Hag Countess. Baba Yaga
Lesser Deity (Empyreal of Entropy)
Portfolio/Interests: Evil Fairies, Hags.
Symbol: A Black Cauldron
Home Plane: Fairie/Spirit World
Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Worshippers: Evil Fairies, Hags, Goblins, Hobgoblins
Cleric Alignment: CE, NE.
Domains: Chaos, Trickery, Evil, Luck
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Illustration: An illustration of Yaga appears here.
Yaga is an ancient Crone. When the world was still young, some fairies decided they did not like Oberon’s rules. These were still fairies at heart, but their trickeries almost always had fatal results, leading to death and misery for their mortal victims. Oberon decided he wanted no more of this and banished these fairies. The Banished Fairies formed their own Fairy Court, known as the Unseelie Court. Its leader was known as Yaga. Eventually, Yaga became an immortal under the sponsorship of Nyx. Nyx remains Yaga’s ally today. Yaga sees Oberon (Faunus) as a rival, yet the two are treat each other with civil resentment rather than open war. The two simply have different attitudes to what fairies should be like. Yaga avoids contact with other Immortals as much as possible and rarely gets into Immortal politics.
The Dymrak forest contains many gates to Yaga’s part of the Spirit World and the Witches of Dymrak are her servants. After WotI, Yaga may spread her influence into the dead forest that once was Alfheim. On the other hand, Alfheim Elf presence in Dymrak may drive the Hags from that region entirely.
Appearance:
Yaga appears as an ancient twisted human female. She lives in a hut standing on large chicken legs, which allows the hut to move around at Yaga’s command. She sometimes appears riding a flying broom.
Dogma
Yaga teaching is that of solitude. However, should anyone venture into your place of power, they are at your mercy, and cruelty is only appropriate.
Church and Temples
There are no Temples to Yaga. Her clerics are Hags and their huts are the closest to a temple of Yaga there is.
Note:
The Hag Countess appears in the Book of Vile Darkness, and shares many of characteristics with Yaga, although the two are not entirely identical.
Further Ideas:
Yaga’s Unseelie Court may be developed further. There are as many evil fairy races as there are good ones. Wood Imps often follow Yaga, as do Hags (who are also considered Dark Fairies).
Originally posted by havard
Its leader was known as Yaga. Eventually, Yaga became an immortal under the sponsorship of Nyx. Nyx remains Yaga’s ally today. Yaga sees Oberon (Faunus) as a rival, yet the two are treat each other with civil resentment rather than open war.
Havard,
As might been expected - I like this very much...
Two questions:
1. Aren't fairies supposed to be opposed to immortals? How come there is immortal worship among them?
2. I didn't know Oberon is Faunus? Where did this come from? (and again - how can Oberon be an immortal? Aren't fairies supposed etc. etc.)
Originally posted by Lost Woodrake
Havard,
As might been expected - I like this very much...
Thanks
Two questions:
1. Aren't fairies supposed to be opposed to immortals? How come there is immortal worship among them?
There are a couple of ways to get around this one:
a) Yaga and Oberon are lying to the Fairies. Ofcourse they are, since Fairies are all about deciet anyways.
b) They aren't really immortals, just Fairies who have become powerful enough to equal Immortals in power (ie Godlike).
c)Fairies are a silly bunch. This whole talk about being opposed to the immortals is just something Robing Goodfellow came up with after having too much Elven Wine. Fairies don't like Immortals ofcourse, those guys just tend to get in the way of Fairy pranks, but having some sort of strong conviciton against the immortals would just be too serious for any fairy to consider. At least for more than a few minutes.
d) All of the above. (My favorite).
2. I didn't know Oberon is Faunus? Where did this come from? (and again - how can Oberon be an immortal? Aren't fairies supposed etc. etc.)
That Oberon is Faunus is just my idea. It makes alot of sense though, since they are both said to be patrons of sylvan races and failries. (Assuming tha Oberon is an immortal ofcourse.)
Also, Faunus' origins are a complete mystery and he is said to be very old. What if he in fact started out as a Sidhe?
Also, IMC I had Oberons three wives Titania (Ordana), Hellene (Terra) and Fauna (Djaea)...
Havard
Originally posted by havard
Also, IMC I had Oberons three wives Titania (Ordana), Hellene (Terra) and Fauna (Djaea)...
Havard
Well, that corresponds well with my Wood Imp Queen Lyzza and her three husbands... (Yeah, still thinking of them...
)I have given some thought to Leptar, the Slave Lord, recently. I would like to see his priests wield a really nasty unholy whip with nine tails.
I read a fantasy novel written on the net some years back and a bunch of drow priestesses had these really cool magical whips with nine magical tails. Each tail had its own colour and its own magical effect. Everything from Hold Person to Energy Drain. Needless to say, with their immunities and superiour armour these priestesses kicked some serious ass!
I'd like to see a weapon like that in the hands of Leptar's priests but maybe it is too powerful in a campaign. A spell given only to them, which summons a sacred weapon perhaps?
And a question for Havard:
In your description of Leptar you write that followers get his symbol, the manacles, tatooed on their bodies. You wrote the same the members of the Iron Ring in another post about organisations. Is this on purpose that one cannot distinguish between a Leptar follower and an Iron Ring member? Or are all members also followers?
If we want to distinguish them, what would be a different motif for a tatoo for ones without manacles?
:-) Jesper
I'd like to see a weapon like that in the hands of Leptar's priests but maybe it is too powerful in a campaign.
One thing you could do to make it a little less over-powering is to give each whip-end's effect a saving throw that isn't too difficult. The idea is to have, on average (against whatever level character you see fit), only 2 or 3 effects successfully affect the target.
Originally posted by Spellweaver
Whatever happened to the continuation of this great thread?
Heh, I guess coming up with a new immortal writeup each week was a bit too ambitious
I'd like to see a weapon like that in the hands of Leptar's priests but maybe it is too powerful in a campaign. A spell given only to them, which summons a sacred weapon perhaps?
Cool idea. Given its power, it sounds more like something only the High Priest of Leptar would posess than every member.
And a question for Havard:
In your description of Leptar you write that followers get his symbol, the manacles, tatooed on their bodies. You wrote the same the members of the Iron Ring in another post about organisations. Is this on purpose that one cannot distinguish between a Leptar follower and an Iron Ring member? Or are all members also followers?
If we want to distinguish them, what would be a different motif for a tatoo for ones without manacles?
Good catch!
I cant remember what exactly I was thinking at the time. I think the Iron Ring members having the manacle tatoo is from canon. I definately wanted a link between the Cult of Leptar and the Iron Ring. Perhaps the Leptar Cult's tatoos are manacles surronded by flames? That way Iron Ring members will only have to modify their existing tatoos to join the cult...
Just a thought...
Havard
Originally posted by havard
Good catch!
I cant remember what exactly I was thinking at the time. I think the Iron Ring members having the manacle tatoo is from canon. I definately wanted a link between the Cult of Leptar and the Iron Ring. Perhaps the Leptar Cult's tatoos are manacles surronded by flames? That way Iron Ring members will only have to modify their existing tatoos to join the cult...
Isn't Leptars holy symbol a whip? It would make sense then that the tatoo was also a whip... ??
I tried introducing a nine-tailed whip with nine magical powers in the hands of an 8th level high priestess of Leptar in a game session the other day. She kicked some serious b...
I'll do her write-up one of these days - and the whip's!
:-) Jesper
Originally posted by Spellweaver
Isn't Leptars holy symbol a whip? It would make sense then that the tatoo was also a whip... ??
I tried introducing a nine-tailed whip with nine magical powers in the hands of an 8th level high priestess of Leptar in a game session the other day. She kicked some serious b...
I'll do her write-up one of these days - and the whip's!
I agree. Having a whip tatoo probably makes more sense. Then, Iron Ring Leptar cultists will have the tatoo of the whip just above their manacles tatoo.
Looking forward to seeing the magical whip writeup
Håvard
Originally posted by havard
Looking forward to seeing the magical whip writeup
The following is a write-up of a high priestess of Leptar and her magical whip. It was done in half an hour, rushing to get things ready before a game session, so I haven't bothered figuring out the skill levels and feats and I haven't been very exact with the spells available ( think I gave her spells from all three domains ). In my games fun comes before following the rules to the letter (when you're the DM :D ) Therefore, the following write-up may not adhere to the rules completely, but it certainly was an interesting fight!
Background:
My group is playing Oasis of the White Palm, the second of the three-part Deserts of Desolation 1st Edition modules. In it, a merchant-guild turned slavers, called the Sandvoyagers' Guild, have allied with drow slavers and an assasin to seize power in an oasis.
I replaced the 7th level drow priestess with an 8th level priestess of Leptar names Yelisa (with connections to the Iron Ring in Karameikos), her 5th level male drow bodyguard complete with magical armour, weapons, cloak and boots of elvenkind with an Invisible Stalker and her pet spiders with 2nd level Ylari NPC warriors.
(The NPC assasin I turned into a sword-for-hire from the Shadowhand in Thyatis - the players freaked when they found out! *LOL*)
Anyway, in the scenario a Magic Mouth alarms the drow when the PCs are approaching, so I gave Yelissa and her warriors time to prepare while the Invisible Stalker fought a delaying action in the adjacent room against the PCs.
Yelisa cast the following spells in preparation:
Magical Vestment (+2 armour bonus)
Endure Elements (Fire) (ignore 5 damage / round)
Spell Immunity (Magic Missile and Lightning Bolt)
Protection from Good (+2 AC, saves etc.)
Bull Strenght (+4 str for 3 turns)
This gave her the following stats:
AC 22/24 (Unholy half-plate +3 (profane bonus), Magic Vestment +2, Protection from good +2); Initiative +0; 48 hp; Attacks: Melee +12/+7 (level, strength, Bull Strenght bonus, flail +2) with her magical flail +2 in her right hand and a ranged touch attack +7 with her magical whip in her left hand; Damage 1d8+6 (x2)(flail+2) and 1d3+1 magical effects (whip); Fortitude +10 (magic); Reflex +6 (magic); Will +12 (Iron Will + magic).
Equipment: Half-plate +3 (profane bonus), Light flail +2, Unholy Whip of Leptar.
Once the PCs entered her lair, the group's cleric summoned 3 Celestial White Gorillas. One of them materialised directly on top of a Glyph of Warding while another was trapped beneath a net trap hung directly above the entrance. As Yelisa's men attacked from their hiding places and the PCs joined the fray, Yelissa cast an Unholy Blight spell causing 4d8 damage to the PCs and gorillas. She then entered melee as well.
In her first melee round she invoked the power of her Strenght Domain and increased her strenght to 26 for a round, attacking with +16/+11 to hit with her flail and doing 1d8+10 (x2) to the group's poor rogue Petja
She then continued to use her whip on the party (it has a reach of 10 feet) while defending herself with her flail every time someone stepped up to melee her. Auch!
The Unholy Whip of Leptar
The whip has nine tails. Each with a different colour and a different magical power. Each time a character is hit by the ranged touch attack of the whip, roll 1d3+1 to see how many tails hit the character and then 1d10 to see which colours. Ignore if you get the same roll more than once. A successful save negates the effect except in the case of the red and white tail, where damage is reduced to half.
Tail: Colour: Power: Save:
1 Red Fire damage 2d4 Fort DC 15
2 Orange Bestow curse, -4 on all saves etc. Will DC 15
3 Yellow Poison spell Fort DC 13
4 Green Slow Person spell Will DC 15
5 Blue Blindness spell Fort DC 15
6 Purple Confusion spell Will DC 13
7 Black 1d6 temporary constitution drain Fort DC 13
8 Brown Contagion spell Fort DC 15
9 White Cold damage 2d4 Fort DC 15
10 Roll again
Looking back, the brown power should have been a Hold Person rather than contagion spell.
Still, Yelisa and her 8 warriors did manage to put a scare into a party of 3 9th level, 1 8th and 1 7th level PC characters, who had already used some of their spells and powers that day.
Because of Yelisas immunity to Magic Missiles and Lightning bolt and her tough saves and resistance to fire the party did more than 100 points of damage to her before she finally died.
Before that she had used her whip with the following results:
Eveil, 4th Sor/5th Druid - blinded
Alex, 9th Priest - blinded
Petja, 8th Rogue - diseased, burned and confused
Wulfgar, 9th Barbarian - confused and slowed
Celestial Gorilla - diseased, frosted and constitution drained
And that is just counting the saves they missed!
As an afternote, the party almost had more difficulty handling the 100 hp confused barbarian AFTER the fight than defeating the evil priestess *LOL*
I hope Yelisa and her whip will serve as an inspiration for your own campaigns and adventures!
:-) Jesper
Llothadnaros (Homebrew)
Minor Deity (Temporal of Energy)
Portfolio/Interests: Shadow Elves, Revenge for the Jaded, disgraced and sorrowful.
Symbol: A smoky aparition of a Shadowelven bust.
Home Plane: Shattenlund (Shadow Land, Demiplane)
Alignment: Lawful Neutral.
Worshippers: Shadow Elves, "Followers" who have been disenchanted in their "Leaders"; Winged Morphers (See below).
Cleric Alignment: Any.
Domains: Protection, Law, Liberation
Favored Weapon: Dagger.
Illustration: Llothandaros appears to be a tall stately Shadowelf sporting magnificent black dragon wings.
Background:
Llothandaros was a shadowelf follower of Rafiel. Although he was not a very successful adventurer, Rafiel was so impressed with Llothadaros's peity, dedication and intelligence that the physicist sponsored the mortal. As a gift, Rafiel gave Llothandaros his own home plane--Shattenlund.
Shortly after ascending, Llothandaros discovered that Rafiel, his own shepherd, was using the Shadowelves as a toy, a tool, to create (or re-create) the very thing which caused the Shadowelves to be outcast and abandoned into the earth--all the while his faithful followers are fighting their god's battle to regain their "rightful place" on the surface.
Making this discovery, he cast himself upon his sponsor. Instead of destroying his student, Rafiel understood his delema, and took pity on him--banishing him to his home plane.
Appearance:
Llothandaros appears to be a tall stately Shadowelf sporting magnificent black dragon wings.
Dogma
The disenchanted Llothadaros is very much a lessais faire (sp?) Immortal. His dogma consists of "The gods help those who help themselves" and "Everyone is out for themselves, so to survive, you must be too."
Church and Temples
Llothandaros has only a minimal following in the Shadow Elves, which he earned before his banishment. His primary influence is his own demiplance where he sits as king in the only nation in the plane.
Further Ideas:
Knowing full well that without worshippers, he would cease to exist as an Immortal, and that in his banishment, he could not earn any new followers from the other plances, so he created a new race to populate his plane. One physically similar to himself. Winged Morphers. They appreared to be tall Shadowelves with stately wings sprouting from their shoulderblades and a natural polymorphing ability.
(The wings are derived from a "cursed" ring of flying which the mortal Llothandaros wore--causing extreme pain henever the flying ability was used; the polymorph was the mortal elf's favorite spell--one which he himself never mastered until he ascended.)
Special note: This Immortal, his home plane and the Winged Morphers are derived from one of my older players--Buddha--who had invented the setting before I met him. I had took his mini-campaign world and put stats to it, then incorporated it as background into my Mystara. It was never used in-play, but one of Buddha's characters was a follower of Llothandaros.
Does anyone know where the name "Baba Yaga" comes from? She is an old witch, right? (Edit: Apparently she's from Slavic mythology, according to Wikipedia. That would explain why I have the impression that I've heard the name outside of D&D.)
Coming across the name again recently, for the first time since I started studying Japanese, I noticed something strange. You see, "baba" in Japanese means "old woman", and it includes implications similar to the English word "hag".
Coincidence? Probably. But it gave me a bit of a surprise, finding the connection.
Another edit: The Wikipedia article also says, "The word baba in most Slavic languages means an older or married woman of lower social class or simply grandmother."
It's quite rare to find this sort of correlation between Japanese and other languages. I wonder if it is just coincidence, or if there is a connection somewhere in the history of the words.Another edit: The Wikipedia article also says, "The word baba in most Slavic languages means an older or married woman of lower social class or simply grandmother."
Given the form of the word (repetition of a simple syllable), it is possible that the word originated as a child word (like papa and mama). These forms are very common, but there is only a limited number of them, so they sometimes match.