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There are many paths, you have not yet finished along yours. Go now, and continue your journey..
-Brother Marcus, Priest of the Goddess Alira, speaking the words that along with the coin would give this man another chance.
River's Coin
A golden coin, struck on both sides with a depiction of Alira, the goddess of mercy and truth.
At first glance this coin appears to be just like any other. The weight, size and colour being the same. Closer inspection will show her face and an inscription running around the coin.
Where do they come from?
These coins are minted when Alira petitions Polleus, Keeper of the Eternal Garden (more commonly known as the god of death), to return those that she deems worthy to life.
If Polleus refuses to return the requested soul to the land of the living even though it is his divine obligation to do so, he may give Alira two coins. That the departed soul used to pay entry into the Eternal Garden.
These coins are empowered as a form of consolation prize for Alira, as Polleus knows he is in the wrong for keeping a soul that he should have returned.
These coins then appear on the alters of Priests of Alira and are extremely rare. Due to their scarcity their existence is known to only a few.
Usage
People die, all the time. Some happy, some sad and others indifferent. Then there are those that die before their time, without the chance to achieve their destiny.
It is then that the Priests of Alira are summoned if the situation allows for it.
Each coin can be used once, and only if the deceased passed away less than nine hours ago. Otherwise it is too late and their soul will already have passed on into the next realm.
The coin sends the beneficiary back in time; nine minutes before they died. Only they, and no one else will have memories of their death. They will find a coin in their pocket, this time with Polleus' face on it.
Should the bearer survive, he or she will have a nice souvenir. The coin is then no longer magical and is just a coin.
June 9, 2012, 11:46
I am having difficulty assigning a plausible history to this item. I don't want to tap into the same old clichés.
Penny for your thoughts?
Edit: Made a thread in the forums. http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,5929.msg72868.html#new
June 9, 2012, 12:14
June 10, 2012, 6:26
June 10, 2012, 6:34
June 10, 2012, 6:40
June 10, 2012, 15:13
June 10, 2012, 15:45
First, the idea that the gods basically pay each other money in exchange for refusals and perhaps insults or whatever, a sort of divine recompense, I guess, is really neat. I love the idea that the god of death has a responsibility, and if he doesn't want to do it, he has to pay a price to another god, and also that the money used for such payments can end up in the hands of mortals. That's a cool idea.
Then you say that he pays the two coins which were used to get into the afterlife. The idea that the coins paid to get into the afterlife become magical is also a neat idea. But I feel that it lacks a certain degree of symbolism with the previous bit. If there's a connection between the money and why the death god is supposed to release the soul, then it makes sense why he's returning that specific money. But as is, it comes across as just being the money that he happens to have at hand, coincidentally the same amount, and that sort of robs the item of this interesting bit of background.
Finally, the actual thing that the item does. Sending people back in time to avoid their own death is an interesting idea, if a problematic one in an actual game scenario, I suspect. But again, I think it kind of lacks resonance with the rest of the bits. I don't think that dying and time share an inherent connection, so I think that this comes across as kind of a forced way to bring someone back to life.
In the end, I think that you have three good ideas here that are all kind of dangling off of each other, rather than firmly connected.
June 11, 2012, 6:45
The time freetext with this submission is maybe pushing it a bit, it made sense to me at the time.
How would you suggest I 'connect' these ideas? What would you see changed/done differently?
June 11, 2012, 22:55
So it does seem a bit awkward, I guess.
I just imagine that the rudest thing that a goddess of mercy can do to the god of death is resurrect someone that is already dead. This is Polleus' way of letting Alira resurrect people without letting her rob him.
Can we add something about how many of Alira's greatest champions have these coins set onto their armor/staff/necklace? It might be interesting for a PC to learn why a high cleric of Alira is wearing a coin with Polleus on it.
June 12, 2012, 20:50
June 11, 2012, 22:32
The older i get, the more connected i see time and death. A metephore for me is the never-stopping conveyer belt to oblivion.
June 11, 2012, 22:36
June 11, 2012, 22:57
"Let's to go fight the dragon! I've still got an extra life!"
June 14, 2012, 9:11
October 3, 2012, 12:50