Feedback wanted: Order of the Scarab - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Feedback wanted: Order of the Scarab

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
ferratus
Apr 26, 2005 12:17:00 This idea started as a fairly "Neutral" Knighthood, but has evolved into a vaguely sinister organization with antipathy towards the Wizards of High Sorcery.

- The Organization is based in Khur
- Rogues, tombraiders, merchants, mercenaries and mystics
- Have developed a sufficient power base to loan money and peddle influence in the various cities of Khur.
- Based on favours between “men of power”.
- Long been involved in the trade of illegal magical artifacts
- Claim to have been a surviving remnant of the Order of the Divine Hammer, stretching back to the days of Istar, but in reality were the imaginings of a renegade citadel mystic named Lakira Asheem. Shamelessly exploiting the dead to give them more grandeur.
- Lakiria Asheem is a handsome woman of elder years with a shameless lust for power. Having no magical talent herself, she ruthlessly ensures that it does not creep into her own organization, and seeks to hoard magical items.
- Loyalty inspired by rituals, alcoholic drinking, initiation. Ideals that bind them together are the idea of secret truths privy only to members of this group, and the freedom from the corrupt secrets of the wizards.
- Keepers of the mysteries are mystics that gain the magic domain. While mystics with the magic domain are frowned upon in the DLCS, they have the spells necessary to create Scarabs of Protection and Golembane Scarabs from the DMG. Plus, Scarabs seemed to fit with the Khurish society.
- They are eager to aid and recruit adventurers and to offer loans in exchange for a favour. It is also a good place to buy and sell magical items.

Goals:
- The immediate goal is to seize control of Zhakar Keep. They hope to claim the dwarven citadel as a stronghold, and are amassing arms and troops to do so. There is also a strong desire to seize access to the wizard artifacts of the Zhakar dwarves.

The Organization
Headquarters: Various chapterhouses, Abbey of Secrets. Old fortress abbey belonging to the Order of the Divine Hammer held by petty warlords after the cataclysm and eventually abandoned. Now in the process of being restored as a prelude to the invasion of Zakhar Keep.
Members: close to a thousand
Hierarchy: Webbed, threaded together by the Keepers of Mysteries
Leader: Lakira Asheem
Religion: None. Worship of Hiddukel and Shinare is common among members.
Alignment: LE, N, NE
Secrecy: Medium
Symbol: A bronze scarab (1st echelon), a bronze scarab with a quartz carapace (2nd echelon), a gold scarab (3rd echelon), a gold scarab with a lapis lazuli carapace (4th echelon) and gold scarab beetle overlaying a silver hammer (5th echelon).

The Order of the Scarab possesses a 6th Echelon, known as the Keepers of Mysteries. These are the mystics with the magic domain which serve as the "spiritual advisors" to each of the various chapter houses and serve Lakira Asheem directly. There is a secret 7th echelon which is deliberately kept secret from the rest of the membership.

So what do you think? Does it fit with Dragonlance? Too "knights of the shield"?

More importantly, should organizations play a strong role in Krynn (as in the Forgotten Realms), or should we be concentrating more on nations and their armies?
#2
frostdawn
Apr 26, 2005 14:06:16 I think it fits. Besides, we are in the Age of Mortals, so seeing an increasing rise in organizations makes sense to me. Is there a catalyst as to why they are coming to power now, and not in the past 40 odd years or more, or are you proposing they have always been around? (aside from hailing from the order of the hammer)

Sounds good to me, kinda has a thieves guild flavor to it, but a little more sinister.
#3
ferratus
Apr 28, 2005 11:11:17 Well, they don't actually hail from the "Knights of the Divine Hammer", they just pretend to. Essentially it is to give the organization an inflated sense of themselves. Rather than simply being a bunch of fat businessmen sitting around peddling deals (manipulated by their superiors in the organization), they are the last remnants of a knightly order of fabled Istar. We see it in our era all the time for people who are afraid to face their future as suburbanites and as such make all sorts of absurd claims, and linking themselves to a glorious past that they don't really deserve, or even resemble.

It essentially has little to do with theives so much as semi-legitimate criminality, influence peddling, and political corruption. Certainly they are involved (though do not control completely) many illicit trades in Khur and are building an army. Several prominent powerful figures are members or owe favours, and this is the muscle they use to exert their will. To be sure though, there are many more who hate the Order of the Scarab in Khur as support it.

I do dislike "Thieves Guilds" in every city in Dragonlance. So essentially I'm trying to give the criminal organizations that I create different structures, modis operandi, goals, and hiearchy.
#4
ferratus
Apr 28, 2005 11:14:03 Well, they don't actually hail from the "Knights of the Divine Hammer", they just pretend to. Essentially it is to give the organization an inflated sense of themselves. Rather than simply being a bunch of fat businessmen sitting around peddling deals (manipulated by their superiors in the organization), they are the last remnants of a knightly order of fabled Istar. We see it in our era all the time. People who are afraid to face their future as suburbanites and as such make all sorts of absurd claims, linking themselves to a glorious past that they don't really deserve or even resemble.

As for the organization itself, it essentially has little to do with thieves so much as semi-legitimate criminality, influence peddling, and political corruption. Certainly they are involved (though do not control completely) many illicit trades in Khur and are building an army. Several prominent powerful figures are members or owe favours, and this is the muscle they use to exert their will. To be sure though, there are many more who hate the Order of the Scarab in Khur as support it.

I do dislike "Thieves Guilds" in every city in Dragonlance. So essentially I'm trying to give the criminal organizations that I create different structures, modis operandi, goals, and hiearchy.
#5
frostdawn
Apr 28, 2005 11:23:12 Sorry Ferratus, I think you took me a little too literally. :P. It has the flavor of a thieves guild, but I realize it isn't. Similar to a thieves guild in that it's an organization of people committed to organized crime, but a bit more sinister than a mere thieves guild. It sounds like your creating the Krynn equivalent of the mob, with protection rackets, debts, "influence", favors, etc. In that regard, it's a neat idea in that it introduces a different criminal element to a game, and would make people a little more wary of how they interact with NPCs if they knew they were dealing with a potential mob member.
#6
ferratus
Apr 28, 2005 11:49:28 Less the mob than the freemasons (who are linked to the Knights Templar in bogus histories), and all the things that attributed to Freemasons in conspiracy theories. Breaking my own taboo against using real life examples, so I'm going to see how far away from this original idea I can get yet still keep elements of it.

However, I am looking to create a "family" based criminal organization as well, involving the descendants of Sivak draconians in Sanction. Essentially, since draconians have a man-like shape, I'm guessing that the essence of men had a role in their creation somewhere. As such I'm allowing sivak draconians to spawn sorcerer children with humans, and create a bloodline of silver-haired sorcerers. Basically, I can't resist the urge to corrupt the fond image DL fans have of beautiful silver haired women like Gwynneth and Silvara with EVIL!

I also particularly like my backstory. Since these silver-haired children were born in the last days of the dragonarmy's occupation, and thus were taken by a cleric of Paladine (after the liberation) as being a sign of Paladine's favour. ;) Then they grew up, recognized their shared lineage, and banded together.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ferratus Apr 26, 2005 12:17:00	This idea started as a fairly "Neutral" Knighthood, but has evolved into a vaguely sinister organization with antipathy towards the Wizards of High Sorcery. - The Organization is based in Khur - Rogues, tombraiders, merchants, mercenaries and mystics - Have developed a sufficient power base to loan money and peddle influence in the various cities of Khur. - Based on favours between “men of power”. - Long been involved in the trade of illegal magical artifacts - Claim to have been a surviving remnant of the Order of the Divine Hammer, stretching back to the days of Istar, but in reality were the imaginings of a renegade citadel mystic named Lakira Asheem. Shamelessly exploiting the dead to give them more grandeur. - Lakiria Asheem is a handsome woman of elder years with a shameless lust for power. Having no magical talent herself, she ruthlessly ensures that it does not creep into her own organization, and seeks to hoard magical items. - Loyalty inspired by rituals, alcoholic drinking, initiation. Ideals that bind them together are the idea of secret truths privy only to members of this group, and the freedom from the corrupt secrets of the wizards. - Keepers of the mysteries are mystics that gain the magic domain. While mystics with the magic domain are frowned upon in the DLCS, they have the spells necessary to create Scarabs of Protection and Golembane Scarabs from the DMG. Plus, Scarabs seemed to fit with the Khurish society. - They are eager to aid and recruit adventurers and to offer loans in exchange for a favour. It is also a good place to buy and sell magical items. Goals: - The immediate goal is to seize control of Zhakar Keep. They hope to claim the dwarven citadel as a stronghold, and are amassing arms and troops to do so. There is also a strong desire to seize access to the wizard artifacts of the Zhakar dwarves. The Organization Headquarters: Various chapterhouses, Abbey of Secrets. Old fortress abbey belonging to the Order of the Divine Hammer held by petty warlords after the cataclysm and eventually abandoned. Now in the process of being restored as a prelude to the invasion of Zakhar Keep. Members: close to a thousand Hierarchy: Webbed, threaded together by the Keepers of Mysteries Leader: Lakira Asheem Religion: None. Worship of Hiddukel and Shinare is common among members. Alignment: LE, N, NE Secrecy: Medium Symbol: A bronze scarab (1st echelon), a bronze scarab with a quartz carapace (2nd echelon), a gold scarab (3rd echelon), a gold scarab with a lapis lazuli carapace (4th echelon) and gold scarab beetle overlaying a silver hammer (5th echelon). The Order of the Scarab possesses a 6th Echelon, known as the Keepers of Mysteries. These are the mystics with the magic domain which serve as the "spiritual advisors" to each of the various chapter houses and serve Lakira Asheem directly. There is a secret 7th echelon which is deliberately kept secret from the rest of the membership. So what do you think? Does it fit with Dragonlance? Too "knights of the shield"? More importantly, should organizations play a strong role in Krynn (as in the Forgotten Realms), or should we be concentrating more on nations and their armies?
#2 frostdawn Apr 26, 2005 14:06:16	I think it fits. Besides, we are in the Age of Mortals, so seeing an increasing rise in organizations makes sense to me. Is there a catalyst as to why they are coming to power now, and not in the past 40 odd years or more, or are you proposing they have always been around? (aside from hailing from the order of the hammer) Sounds good to me, kinda has a thieves guild flavor to it, but a little more sinister.
#3 ferratus Apr 28, 2005 11:11:17	Well, they don't actually hail from the "Knights of the Divine Hammer", they just pretend to. Essentially it is to give the organization an inflated sense of themselves. Rather than simply being a bunch of fat businessmen sitting around peddling deals (manipulated by their superiors in the organization), they are the last remnants of a knightly order of fabled Istar. We see it in our era all the time for people who are afraid to face their future as suburbanites and as such make all sorts of absurd claims, and linking themselves to a glorious past that they don't really deserve, or even resemble. It essentially has little to do with theives so much as semi-legitimate criminality, influence peddling, and political corruption. Certainly they are involved (though do not control completely) many illicit trades in Khur and are building an army. Several prominent powerful figures are members or owe favours, and this is the muscle they use to exert their will. To be sure though, there are many more who hate the Order of the Scarab in Khur as support it. I do dislike "Thieves Guilds" in every city in Dragonlance. So essentially I'm trying to give the criminal organizations that I create different structures, modis operandi, goals, and hiearchy.
#4 ferratus Apr 28, 2005 11:14:03	Well, they don't actually hail from the "Knights of the Divine Hammer", they just pretend to. Essentially it is to give the organization an inflated sense of themselves. Rather than simply being a bunch of fat businessmen sitting around peddling deals (manipulated by their superiors in the organization), they are the last remnants of a knightly order of fabled Istar. We see it in our era all the time. People who are afraid to face their future as suburbanites and as such make all sorts of absurd claims, linking themselves to a glorious past that they don't really deserve or even resemble. As for the organization itself, it essentially has little to do with thieves so much as semi-legitimate criminality, influence peddling, and political corruption. Certainly they are involved (though do not control completely) many illicit trades in Khur and are building an army. Several prominent powerful figures are members or owe favours, and this is the muscle they use to exert their will. To be sure though, there are many more who hate the Order of the Scarab in Khur as support it. I do dislike "Thieves Guilds" in every city in Dragonlance. So essentially I'm trying to give the criminal organizations that I create different structures, modis operandi, goals, and hiearchy.
#5 frostdawn Apr 28, 2005 11:23:12	Sorry Ferratus, I think you took me a little too literally. :P. It has the flavor of a thieves guild, but I realize it isn't. Similar to a thieves guild in that it's an organization of people committed to organized crime, but a bit more sinister than a mere thieves guild. It sounds like your creating the Krynn equivalent of the mob, with protection rackets, debts, "influence", favors, etc. In that regard, it's a neat idea in that it introduces a different criminal element to a game, and would make people a little more wary of how they interact with NPCs if they knew they were dealing with a potential mob member.
#6 ferratus Apr 28, 2005 11:49:28	Less the mob than the freemasons (who are linked to the Knights Templar in bogus histories), and all the things that attributed to Freemasons in conspiracy theories. Breaking my own taboo against using real life examples, so I'm going to see how far away from this original idea I can get yet still keep elements of it. However, I am looking to create a "family" based criminal organization as well, involving the descendants of Sivak draconians in Sanction. Essentially, since draconians have a man-like shape, I'm guessing that the essence of men had a role in their creation somewhere. As such I'm allowing sivak draconians to spawn sorcerer children with humans, and create a bloodline of silver-haired sorcerers. Basically, I can't resist the urge to corrupt the fond image DL fans have of beautiful silver haired women like Gwynneth and Silvara with EVIL! I also particularly like my backstory. Since these silver-haired children were born in the last days of the dragonarmy's occupation, and thus were taken by a cleric of Paladine (after the liberation) as being a sign of Paladine's favour. ;) Then they grew up, recognized their shared lineage, and banded together.