Is the Magian an Awnshegh?

[Solmyr]

I'm preparing a Khinasi PBEM, and I am pretty much convinced that the Magian
is *not* an awnshegh. Why would he be? He does not have the Bloodform
ability, which makes awnsheghlien. IMO the Magian is just a "normal"
Khinasi/Basarji human wizard who became a lich. There is also probably no
reason to assume that other people/regents consider him an awnshegh. He only
came six years ago from Djapar, and presumably never fought at Deismaar.
Most people don't even know what he looks like (or, rather, they do know how
"the Magian" looks like, as in an appointed flunky who poses as his master,
and presumably looks quite normal).

******************
Aleksei Andrievski
aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star
aka Azure Star Dragon
solmyr@kolumbus.fi
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html

[Pieter Sleijpen]

Solmyr of the Azure Star wrote:
>
> I'm preparing a Khinasi PBEM, and I am pretty much convinced that the
> Magian is *not* an awnshegh. Why would he be? He does not have the
> Bloodform ability, which makes awnsheghlien. IMO the Magian is just a
> "normal" Khinasi/Basarji human wizard who became a lich. There is also
> probably no reason to assume that other people/regents consider him an
> awnshegh. He only came six years ago from Djapar, and presumably never
> fought at Deismaar. Most people don't even know what he looks like
> (or, rather, they do know how "the Magian" looks like, as in an
> appointed flunky who poses as his master, and presumably looks quite
> normal).

The fact that he came from Djapar is just as a much a story as that he
might be an awnshegh and I sincerely doubt he came from that continent.
There is one other wizard in Khinasi lands that predates Deismaar and
was a true wizard before Deismaar: el-Sheighul. Who is to say that the
Magian does not belong to the group of the first true mages?

Anyway, he is a known necromancer and that should make people feel very
uneasy. Especially Khinasi who have something fundamental against this
form of magic.

Pieter Sleijpen

[Jim Cooper]

Solmyr of the Azure Star wrote:
> I'm preparing a Khinasi PBEM, and I am pretty much convinced that the Magian is *not* an awnshegh. Why would he be? He does not have the Bloodform ability, which makes awnsheghlien.<

Actually, if you look closely, and I'm not mistaken, a lot of those
awnsheghlien in the BE supp don't have bloodform listed under their
abilities ... I've always just assumed that it was taken for granted,
and that the listed ones were the bloodabilities of note.

Cheers,
Darren

[Solmyr]

>The fact that he came from Djapar is just as a much a story as that he
>might be an awnshegh and I sincerely doubt he came from that continent.
>There is one other wizard in Khinasi lands that predates Deismaar and
>was a true wizard before Deismaar: el-Sheighul. Who is to say that the
>Magian does not belong to the group of the first true mages?
>
Possibly, but el-Sheighul is not an awnshegh either...

>Anyway, he is a known necromancer and that should make people feel very

Is he? Does he openly use necromancy? If he did, I would think most wizards
in the area would have rallied against him long ago. But they haven't so we
must assume that he is not a known necromancer.

******************
Aleksei Andrievski
aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star
aka Azure Star Dragon
solmyr@kolumbus.fi
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999, Solmyr of the Azure Star wrote:

> I'm preparing a Khinasi PBEM, and I am pretty much convinced that the Magian
> is *not* an awnshegh. Why would he be? He does not have the Bloodform
> ability, which makes awnsheghlien. IMO the Magian is just a "normal"
> Khinasi/Basarji human wizard who became a lich. There is also probably no
> reason to assume that other people/regents consider him an awnshegh. He only
> came six years ago from Djapar, and presumably never fought at Deismaar.
> Most people don't even know what he looks like (or, rather, they do know how
> "the Magian" looks like, as in an appointed flunky who poses as his master,
> and presumably looks quite normal).

Perhaps he was the first human to actually become a lich in Cerilia, and
so everyone just ASSUMES that he's an awnsheigh. Of course, the difference
between awnsheghlein and lich with blood powers of Azrai's derivation
starts to become fairly thin. But I take it that is not really your point.
Your point is whether anyone really knows WHAT the Magian is, other than a
very powerful spellcaster. I supose that's really a DM's call. On the one
hand, he could simply be the victim of sustained and very bad press, so
that everyone just simply "knows" that he's an evil big baddie
awnsheghlein, because don't ya' know there's all those stories of all the
babies that he eats for deserts and all. And on the other hand, it could
be that there is simply not all that very much information coming out of
old Pipriet, and the stories are few and far between and no one really
knows what to make of them: are they truth? Lies propounded by the
magian's enemies in the area? Exageration told by sailors who appreciate a
good ghost story?

It's an interesting quandary.

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[Olesens]

Mark A Vandermeulen wrote:

> Perhaps he was the first human to actually become a lich in Cerilia, and
> so everyone just ASSUMES that he's an awnsheigh.

Also remember that the common people are not well versed in these sorts of
things. The diffrence between Awnsheghlien, Ersheghlien, liches, etc are not
clear to them. If they learn of any being that is wierd looking but used to be
human, the will most likely brand it an awnsheglien. That is also a primary
reason why so few people use Bloodtrait. For the light of thier crusade against
evil to be seen, they must first shine through the common people's image of them
as an awnsheghlien.

[Robert Trifts]

>I'm preparing a Khinasi PBEM, and I am pretty much convinced that the
Magian
>is *not* an awnshegh. Why would he be? He does not have the Bloodform
>ability, which makes awnsheghlien.
>IMO the Magian is just a "normal" Khinasi/Basarji human wizard who became a
lich.

No. IMO, this assumption is incorrect. As depicted in Blood Enemies, The
Magian IS an Awnshegh, and probably the most frightening of any of them -
the Gorgon included.

There is no doubt that the broad mass of The Magian's powers come from his
Mage status and his former status as a Lich. BUT the Magian is an utterly
unique creature for he WAS undead and is no longer.

The Magian invaded Pipyret, he slew the Domain's rulers and so, if alive,
this would have made it possible for him to absorb some part of their
bloodlines as they were of Azrai. But The Magian was Undead, A Lich, unable
to absorb their powers and connection to the living land.

For you see, an Undead cannot become blooded - not even of the Blood of
Azrai. The Blood of the Gods courses through the land and those of the
living - not through the veins of those who are dead.

Yet the Magian did absorb the Blood. He did so through the silmultaneous
exercise of a unique spell to assist in the impossible absorbing of a blood
line by an undead. At the same time, The Magian drained his victim of his
life's essence; all of which was performed in concert with the natural
infective tendency of the taint of Azrai and its predisposition to pass on
after the death of its host.

And it worked.

In so doing, The Magian became a creature who was utterly unique. He is now
neither wholly living, dead nor undead. He is The Magian. He is an immortal
Awnsheigh removed of his frailties as an Undead, yet with all of the
Undead's strengths. He cannot die. He need not eat. He cannot be turned by
the power of a cleric or Paldin - no matter how holy. He is Awnsheghlen -
and more.

The Magian is a creature perhaps three hundred years old at most - and was
undead for 200 of those years. He came across the Sea of Dragons after 2
centuries of spell research - working on perfecting his master spell to
permit him to absorb a Bloodline and become truly immortal.

Believing he had succeeded in the perfection of his master spell, The Magian
gathered his forces carefully, forged his leadership and control of his
Generals - the Riders - and invaded Pipyret with the cunning of one who has
Godlike Intelligence coupled with the rarest quality for those who seek to
be of Azrai: for The Magian has wisdom and patience in abundance.

He chose his target carefully. He chose a Domain with a Regent who was of
the blood of Azrai, but not so powerful that the Regent might prove
troublesome to defeat. Moreover, The Magian struck at a rich land with few
powerful Awnsheigh nearby to thwart him before he could consolidate. The
Raven is the closest Awnsheigh of consequence, but the Raven was unable to
perceive the threat in time.

Instead of offering a challenge, the Magian offered The Raven and The Gorgon
an alliance. Uncerain as to what to make of this new Awnshegh who had done
the impossible, the Raven and the Gorgon accepted - for now.

The Magian is more than a mere Awnshegh of a minor line, far more powerful
than any Lich such as Kevel, and certainly more powerfule than any mortal
wizard.

Some have speculated that The Magian is in fact, the Usurper of the Shadow
World come to Cerilia.

Whatever the case, The Magian is now of the blood of Azrai, truly immortal.
And unlike the other great Awnshegh, the Magian is new to the taint and has
all his mental faculties still intact- mental powers and discipline greater
than those of any other being on Cerilia.

Be afraid - be very afraid.

[the Falcon]

> Possibly, but el-Sheighul is not an awnshegh either...

No, worse: he's a Shadow World creature as well as one of the Lost. Of
course, him being from the Shadow World has the advantage that he won't be
coming after you, but I sure wouldn't want to face him when he has the
home court advantage.

[Solmyr]

>Actually, if you look closely, and I'm not mistaken, a lot of those
>awnsheghlien in the BE supp don't have bloodform listed under their
>abilities ... I've always just assumed that it was taken for granted,
>and that the listed ones were the bloodabilities of note.
>
Well, I wasn't impressed by BE's consistency. There are errors throughout
the book. E.g. minor bloodlines for the Magian and the Lamia, while in
reality they are major (CotS), the Lamia is listes as LE when she's actually
CE, the Gorgon's wizard abilities forgotten, and on several maps and in the
text Merasaf is called "Mbasa" and Khourane "Karusha".

******************
Aleksei Andrievski
aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star
aka Azure Star Dragon
solmyr@kolumbus.fi
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html

[DKEvermore@aol.co]

In a message dated 2/18/99 3:58:38 PM Central Standard Time,
Jim_Cooper@bc.sympatico.ca writes:

> Actually, if you look closely, and I'm not mistaken, a lot of those
> awnsheghlien in the BE supp don't have bloodform listed under their
> abilities ... I've always just assumed that it was taken for granted,
> and that the listed ones were the bloodabilities of note.
>
The authors once stated that Blood Enemies was supposed to be an imperfect
guide. You'll note that much of it is written "in character". Look at the
entry on the Gorgon. It conveniently leaves out that he's also a 16th level
wizard.

I think they were trying to give guidelines, yet leave it to us to twist the
awnshegh in still further ways. Imagine the character's surprise when they
put down an awnshegh only to suddenly learn this critter as regenerates, in
spite of what the "sages" say. After all, none of the investigors who "wrote"
the entries actually engaged any of the awnshegh in combat.

Just a few thoughts.
- -DKE

[Manta]

I must say, your post is very good. There is only one paragraph I do not
agrre with.

> He chose his target carefully. He chose a Domain with a Regent who was of
> the blood of Azrai, but not so powerful that the Regent might prove
> troublesome to defeat. Moreover, The Magian struck at a rich land with
few
> powerful Awnsheigh nearby to thwart him before he could consolidate. The
> Raven is the closest Awnsheigh of consequence, but the Raven was unable
to
> perceive the threat in time.

How about the Serpent? Is He (note the capital!) not an Awnshiegh of
consequence? Who is then? The man has priests and all!

César Manta
(Great Serpent worshiper)

ip209007@ip.pt
ICQ: 17080887

[Solmyr]

>How about the Serpent? Is He (note the capital!) not an Awnshiegh of
>consequence? Who is then? The man has priests and all!
>
Well, some say he is a demigod (and those "some" happen to include me, which
means bad news for certain regents in my new PBEM :)

******************
Aleksei Andrievski
aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star
aka Azure Star Dragon
solmyr@kolumbus.fi
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html

[Jeff Dunnett]

Good thing I don't plan on going up against him in your campaign eh?




- ---Solmyr of the Azure Star wrote:
>
> >How about the Serpent? Is He (note the capital!) not an Awnshiegh of
> >consequence? Who is then? The man has priests and all!
> >
> Well, some say he is a demigod (and those "some" happen to include
me, which
> means bad news for certain regents in my new PBEM :)
>
> ******************
> Aleksei Andrievski
> aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star
> aka Azure Star Dragon
> solmyr@kolumbus.fi
> http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html
>
>
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