The dagger hides itself; the way it augments the destructive and malignant impulses of the bearer ensures it never lacks for wielders, and a bloody-handed murderer just becomes one more death the dagger is responsible for, in a roundabout way. Go to Comment
Just a random streak of subs is all; I rarely do the self-challenge things because the universe dearly loves to cause havoc with any plans I make.
And I agree; these blades aren't a unique stand-out wow-that's-cool item; they just came wandering out of my mind at one point while playing Oblivion and trying to figure out who I can off to get access to the Dark Brotherhood quests. It's a minor flavor item more than anything else. Go to Comment
And find a very good reason to be wearing them at all times when someplace they might be seen. Nothing to raise questions like having freshly gore-streaked hands... Go to Comment
I'll take the variety suggestion into consideration when I update this next; I do like the idea of some caverns belching foul steam or the like; perhaps one of the bogs was too warm to freeze, and now the fetid vapors belch from a cavern, or a field of vaporous geysers belching noxious fumes skyward.
I am intending to write up the Freithors, which, as you surmise, are the native demons of the Gloom; cold-aspected, but far more demon than elemental, which makes it harder for them to understand their Lord's wishes. I'll include a line depicting them, perhaps with some other native fauna.
And there is a definite similarity, yes. It's harder to describe, but I pretty much see this particular cosmology as a kind of boiling kettle, and each realm is a lump in the pot - small or large as it may be. I didn't describe the Nether aspect well, I think; it isn't so much that Celestial = Good and Nether = Evil the way the Great Wheel cosmology works, but that the Nether realms are concerned with direct, concrete, and selfish goals, while the Celestial Realms tend to be more concerned with nebulous concepts. Soreen wants to crush the world under ice, simply because he feels that this is the way the world should be. If he wanted to share the beauty of winter with the myriad worlds, the Gloom would be more likely to 'rise' toward the Celestial level. It already tends to 'float' higher, so to speak, due to Soreen's artistic tendencies, but the Realm reflects the Master, and in the end Soreen wants to leave everything gripped in the deadly grip of eternal winter. Go to Comment
Updated: Fiddled with it a bit after reading the suggestions and comments; specifically clarified the nature of the Nether Realm, added a fauna section, and a few more spots that are less pure ice. Go to Comment
I considered that, actually. I decided it works as-is, simply because Soreen - and his two rivals - have a tendency to bite off more than they can chew. Soreen makes the pipes, and they invariably have the wielder killed after a few towns; after a few cycles of this, some local elemental is going to start asking questions about the disruption, or some celestial is going to be annoyed about whatever cause it follows being overturned, and the pipes will go missing forever, probably smashed to bits.
Also, the magical part of the storm need not be that big; just large enough to encompass a village a few miles across. That the storms tend to get much larger is a natural effect; as long as the conditions are right the the heart of it, the surrounding area will tend to develop similar weather. It'd be somewhat milder, as it doesn't have the magical energy of a demon-elemental lashing it to a fury. The exception to this is when the minstrel gets killed; in essence, the pipes serve as a direct conduit for the minstrel's soul, peeling away the bits that don't get used in making a Freithor and burning them off into magical power. It'd likely have a magical 'signature' of some mortal doing something really stupid involving a demon, rather than a minor demon lord jumping around making a mess. Go to Comment
Indeed it does. For a couple years, anyhow, and by then you'd better have a replacement or some more conventional ice on hand to keep things cold. Go to Comment
I expect it'd take a short time to work; kind of like an A/C unit. It'd work best in an enclosed space when warm air can't mingle with the air in the zone of effect. Go to Comment
It also works reasonably well with the Iceman's Lantern for those who have to make stops at wayhouses; the lantern's effect could keep an area cool enough for the ring-wearer to survive, although likely feeling overheated, or a series of them could serve as something akin to decompression for diver, with the transition being moderated across the heat zones. Go to Comment
The description of these things was somewhat what I had in mind when I was referring to the Patient One in the Glacier's Fist. Thank you, Cap'n, for providing a fitting way to describe the nightmare-thing slithering in my mind beyond a serpent of ice. Go to Comment
Unless the fire elemental had some kind of near-divine power or was something like the 'father of flame', it wouldn't stand much of a chance, I expect - Soreen is essentially a near-divine entity as the ruler and master of his own plane.
Although... I should note that the 'Lady of Ash' is a kind of outcast fire elemental/spirit of relentless Summer, so a battle between those two could be very nasty. Go to Comment
Lifeforms (Flora) (Swamp)