Ss’ressen and Legionnaire

There was a similiar argument that came up years ago with the Ghost Scales and Royal Marines in Milandir (which again Ghost Scales can qualify for if they choose the Milandesian nationality). I don’t remember the exact outcome but I think the general consensus was that it was a questionable to inappropriate choice even though it seemed legal as written.

I personally am unclear what the relationship is between the Ghost Scales & the rest of the World. The last module to deal with them in the old campaign suggested they were merging with the fiends beyond the gods wall. That seems to have been hand waved away/removed from continuity. But it also leaves a big question about what the GS have been up to in the last 50 years and how they have made the leap from “Monsters” that ate people to mercenaries who are accepted(ish) in polite society.

I have hopes Ssethregore will address this in some detail.

Thanks Henry

I’m really enjoying Arcanis at the moment. It’s good to get clear perspective on things.

Taffy is doing a great job, and it’s taken a while but players are getting interested.

There was a similiar argument that came up years ago with the Ghost Scales and Royal Marines in Milandir (which again Ghost Scales can qualify for if they choose the Milandesian nationality). I don’t remember the exact outcome but I think the general consensus was that it was a questionable to inappropriate choice even though it seemed legal as written.

I personally am unclear what the relationship is between the Ghost Scales & the rest of the World. The last module to deal with them in the old campaign suggested they were merging with the fiends beyond the gods wall. That seems to have been hand waved away/removed from continuity. But it also leaves a big question about what the GS have been up to in the last 50 years and how they have made the leap from “Monsters” that ate people to mercenaries who are accepted(ish) in polite society.

I have hopes Ssethregore will address this in some detail.

I’m curious about how they went from the monsters that I remember stalking about in the mist during Carnival of Swords to a playable race that has a interesting backstory. I feel from a game mechanics perspective the staff maybe felt limiting pcs to only the black talons would be to much? I’m enjoying my Ghost Scale thus far.

If I had any criticism at all, it would be the lack of more concrete information as to their social structure within the egg clutch and then how their clutch relates to black talons and ashen hide, as each one considers the other two to be a heretic I think, of some kind? I’m also hoping the ssethregore book covers some of this information.

Also I realize this is somewhat off topic, but ah.. well Lets just say I’ve played a mod in the 3.5 days that made my black talon become a disciple of the Jeggal sag simply to try and escape his ultimate fate.

So.. the whole thing about the ashen hide splitting of because they didn’t believe in the fire dragon.. has this whole thing gone public or am I skimming on spoiler territory here? Cause the Ghost scale work up that I’ve read in the Heroes codex, doesn’t mention they don’t think the Fire Dragon is real. It simply states they lost faith in the migration effort, under its ( at that time) current leadership and left with their “local” brethren in search of a closer heat source to call home.

Also, if your a female ghost scale and want to take the divine caster path.. there is no notation for Herka at all that I can find, as to what she/he/it/they provide compared to other gods in the various pantheons. Is this some sort of.. discrimination against my ghost scales god, “Herka The Rock Johnson”? If so.. color me impressed! lol.

So.. the whole thing about the ashen hide splitting of because they didn’t believe in the fire dragon.. has this whole thing gone public or am I skimming on spoiler territory here? Cause the Ghost scale work up that I’ve read in the Heroes codex, doesn’t mention they don’t think the Fire Dragon is real. It simply states they lost faith in the migration effort, under its ( at that time) current leadership and left with their “local” brethren in search of a closer heat source to call home.

According to the story which has been told in present documents, a priestess of the Fire Dragon learned that the Fire Dragon was, in fact, Kassegore. As she had been raised to think that Kassegore is all things evil, to find out she is worshiping their equivalent of the devil was too much for her and she left. She later found solace in the “true fire dragon” as an aspect of Nier, and her followers became allies of the Cancerese val’Virdan family.

Also, if your a female ghost scale and want to take the divine caster path.. there is no notation for Herka at all that I can find, as to what she/he/it/they provide compared to other gods in the various pantheons. Is this some sort of.. discrimination against my ghost scales god, “Herka The Rock Johnson”? If so.. color me impressed! lol.

While Herka is worshiped, Herka is not a god. As such, you cannot become a divine caster of Herka.

For a bit of context on this, it would be like saying that you worship your copy of the Lord of the Rings. While you may have found great truth in that book, it is just that: a book. Probably more accurately, it would be like you worshiping your PC since the PC has a chance to be artificially intelligent.

The Ghost Scales absolutely think Herka is a God. What follows is what i understand & what questions I have:

Out of Character: Herka is described in the old campaign as a (weird) Sarishian Artifact. It is not a Diety and thus has no Cants to teach followers. You cannot become a Priest or Templar of Herka. Or a religious themed path that grants access to divine spell casting. Objectively Herka is not a god.

In Character: Herka is the God of the Stone. If you are Ghost scale this is the center of your tribes’ existence. (If you are are not a Ghost Scale your answer is probably some variation of either: “Who?” for mammals or “Hssssss!!!” for Black Talons.) …

… Again. Subjectively all Ghost Scales know that Herka is their GOD. It grants life giving warm to the Ghost Scales. Without Herka it is my understanding that the sewers are not viable. When the Ghost Scales marched out of slavery centuries ago, Herka saved your tribe on a long march through cold and hostile lands. How much more of a miracle do you need then that? Yes yes. Other gods have a “priestly cast” of spell casting servants. ::shrug:: You have arcane casters. Probably the rank and file Ghost Scales think spells are spells. Whatever powers their priests get, Herka has made ALL of YOU all into sneaky death ninjas. Your god is awesome!

Herka certainly communicates in some way. And has had plenty of chances to say it isn’t a god. All we really know about its agenda “in character” (if you have a character that would know about Ghost Scales) is that it insists all Ghost Scale eggs be incubated in its warmth. (Possibly Ghost Scale eggs reared somewhere else would not become Ghost Scales)

Big Questions we all have:
*What was Herka originally created to do? What does Herka think about its Sarishian creators? How did it end up in the sewers of Old Coryan?
*How does Herka communicate with the Ghost Scales? Does it sometimes talk? Speak through telepathy? Empathy? (Sign Language? Charades?) Does it talk to all Ghost Scales? A select few?
*Does Herka think its really a God? Or is Herka deliberately running a big con?
*What does Herka really think about the Ghost Scale Ssressen?
*What does Herka really want? Does it have an agenda? Or is it just happy having Ghost Scales to hang around with? What if anything does it tell the Ghost Scales it wants beyond the eggs to be hatched next to it?
*Did Herka cause the Ghost Scales to integrate into the wider world as mercenaries? Or is this an separate social transformation?

The events took place something like 250-300 years ago. So they are further away in time than the American or French Revolutions are to us today. Ss’ressen, like most PCs, don’t live that long. All the original Black Talons that hid in the sewers have long since passed. It’s been roughly 10 generations.

It is not clear to me if the Ghost Scales know they were once part of the Black Talon Egg clutch or not. While I think it’s clear that many read and write now, it’s not clear to me that they did when they were eating the poor and homeless of Old Coryan. Where exactly does a tribe of sewer monsters go to get ink and paper? How do they keep any (ancient) scrolls they have from rotting in the sewer?

Does Herka care about preserving the details of their origin story? Or is it more comfortable to present it as a general myth of rescue?

I am pretty sure the Black Talon leadership is aware of the Ghost Scales origin.

Perhaps some of these questions will be answered in forthcoming supplements. . .