The Cold Rider

[Athos69]

I was looking through the Miniatures Handbook this morning, and hit upon the monster section. After reading the section on Aspects, it dawned on me that the Cold Rider could be quantified as an Aspect of the dead god Azrai as he slowly coalesces.

Any thoughts?

[tcharazazel]

Aspect? More like he is Azrai.

[Athos69]

I agree that he *is* Azrai, but he hasn't re-absorbed much of his power yet. I don't think that he's quite at the stage of being called a demigod, so I was thiking that as this is one reflection of him, he may as well be an Aspect for game terms...

[Osprey]

I'm pretty certain he is considered a demigod at this point, as he has domains and can grant spells, if the BRCS is to be believed.

[RaspK_FOG]

For those of you who have not noticed, there is a compilation of "Secret Files" ( :P ) that Rich Baker sent over which you can find at the FAQ; in these files it says that the Cold Rider has no real deific powers, as it is more of a manifestation of evil that clings to the Shadow World:

The Cold Rider
We changed this fellow's name from the Shadow Lord to mask his identity; it would have been too obvious that he was the reincarnation of Azrai, the Shadow, if we had let the name stand. Although he is the spirit of Azrai, it's important to note that he is not yet a god again, and doesn't have divine power or worshippers. Instead, consider the Cold Rider to be the spirit, essence, or consciousness of the Shadow World. He is the voice of darkness, the harbinger of doom, and the living incarnation of the perverse ironies and corruption of the Shadow World.
Think of the Cold Rider as a Randall Flagg or Hitch-hiker figure, a dark horseman who watches travellers from a windswept hilltop before turning away. He doesn't directly attack intruders, but those who encounter him end up meeting the most dramatic and ironic manifestations of the Shadow World's evil. No traveller has ever reported a conversation with the Cold Rider, but it might be that he only speaks to those that are doomed to never return to the sunlit world again.