Μια παράλληλη Araushnee!
Ψάχνοντας στο internet για την πολυαγαπημένη μας Araushnee, βρήκα την ιδέα ενός άλλου DM εκεί έξω (τελικά δεν είμαστε οι μόνοι που μας αρέσει να αλλάζουμε τις ιστορίες και να τους δίνουμε άλλη προοπτική!), η οποία οφείλω να ομολογήσω είναι αρκετά πρωτότυπη και μου άρεσε πολύ! Σας την παραθέτω για να πάρετε μια γεύση από κάτι διαφορετικό και συνάμα τόσο κοντινό σε εμάς και ενδιαφέρον!
It wasn't Araushnee that betrayed Corellon. Oh, it certainly seemed like it, if you weren't paying close enough attention, and the tragedy of it is that nobody was.
Once in the early days, a long-forgotten female demon lord specializing in spiders and choas had tried to attack Corellon. Araushnee, then only recently having become Corellon's wife and a goddess, and eager to prove her worth to the man she loved, intervened and took care of the demon herself, striking her down with a sword Corellon had made for her. But Araushnee was young and still weak for a goddess and naive, and unable to protect herself properly, and the demon was able, before she died, to move its essence into Araushnee's body, where it slowly took over her body.
Even then it might not have been too late for Araushnee, if only any of the other members of the Seldarine had noticed. But Corellon was too blind with love, Labelas too concerned with history, Hanali too busy encouraging mortal love, Solonor and Fenmarel too isolated, Erevan too scattered, Aerdrie too lost in the joys of flight, Sashelas too busy with the sea elves, and Sehanine too wrapped up in dreams and jealousy to see the changes slowly taking place within the once pure Araushnee's heart as the demon took over. Perhaps if Sehanine had noticed earlier and drawn different conclusions, or if Corellon had seen the time the demon, now mostly in control of Araushnee's body, had tried to draw the sword he had made for Araushnee and been burned by it, the sword rejecting someone who it knew was not its master... But Elven history would be quite different in that case, now wouldn't it?
Finally it was done, and the demon, now fully in control, made her moves, corrupting Araushnee's son Vhaeraun, framing her daughter and betraying and very nearly killing Corellon. All Araushnee could do was watch in horror, the remains of her spirit trapped in a corner of the demon's mind. The demon, cast out of Arvandor and stripped of power, took the name Lolth and plotted her revenge against Corellon, becoming the hateful Demon Queen of Spiders we all know and loathe today. She corrupted the Dark Elves, and for her own amusement arranged for Araushnee's grandson Selvetarm to become corrupted in exactly the same manner that she herself had corrupted Araushnee.
And Araushnee still lived all this time, barely, but diminishing each passing year as Lolth's power grew and her own sorrow at the loss of all that she loved slowly ate away at her consciousness. Indeed, Lolth thought that Araushnee had finally died.
But she was wrong.
Sometimes the gods, in order to learn more of their mortal charges, or simply to gain a different perspective on things or for fun, create avatars that are different from the normal ones they use. Avatars that bear no power, and are born and live as mortals, connected to the god that created them but unaware of the connection, living their lives simply.
Lolth created one of these, a strange one, using the part of herself least like herself she could find in order to make the deception more believable, causing it to be born as a half-human, half-elf. Her plan was simple and petty; the child would be raised by the family it was born to and grow up as a nice, normal, loving, Corellon-worshiping person of the sort that she knew Corellon was always fond of... And when she eventually reclaimed it and revealed what it had been all along, Corellon would be hurt. Petty and vindictive and a bit foolish, but wouldn't it be fun?
But she should have paid more attention to what part of 'herself' she had taken. For the child that was born of her interference bears nothing of her at all. For Araushnee had not disappeared completely, and what Lolth placed in the child was the last remnants of Araushnee's spirit. The child, now grown, wanders the world, being exactly what Lolth had hoped: A kind, merciful person, a devout follower of Corellon, who brings much joy and light to the world and is favored by Corellon. None of them knows yet the truth: Lolth doesn't realize that it's Araushnee who lives as the child, Corellon does not realize the child's origin or the true nature of it, and Araushnee herself has not awakened to the awareness of her past and of the possible freedom her current position might offer, if only someone realized it... Perhaps she'll remember, or come across the sword she once bore that was lost when Lolth was banished and be able to claim it, thus showing Corellon and Lolth both her true nature.
And perhaps then, if all goes well, the eons of pain caused by Lolth might finally begin to be eased. Corellon only suffers Lolth to live because he still aches with his love for Araushnee and can't bring himself to bring an end to his lost love. If he were to realise that Araushnee still lived, and separately of Lolth, there would be no reason to allow Lolth to live... And from there, who knows?
(Which opens the PCs to perhaps managing to discover this, possibly having one of them be Araushnee if they agree to that and assuming that there's a half-elf or elf in the party, and leading up to Epic End Battle in which Lolth gets her ass handed to her. By the PCs of course because making them watch gods fight each other is bloody awful DMing. Corellon's contribution would be keeping them from getting corrupted by her evil when she dies horribly. Probably not anyone else's cup of tea, but I like potential happy endings, saving the innocent girl and getting rid of a Big Evil permenently. And of course if you like darker stuff there's always the possibilty for things to go horribly wrong. :D )
It wasn't Araushnee that betrayed Corellon. Oh, it certainly seemed like it, if you weren't paying close enough attention, and the tragedy of it is that nobody was.
Once in the early days, a long-forgotten female demon lord specializing in spiders and choas had tried to attack Corellon. Araushnee, then only recently having become Corellon's wife and a goddess, and eager to prove her worth to the man she loved, intervened and took care of the demon herself, striking her down with a sword Corellon had made for her. But Araushnee was young and still weak for a goddess and naive, and unable to protect herself properly, and the demon was able, before she died, to move its essence into Araushnee's body, where it slowly took over her body.
Even then it might not have been too late for Araushnee, if only any of the other members of the Seldarine had noticed. But Corellon was too blind with love, Labelas too concerned with history, Hanali too busy encouraging mortal love, Solonor and Fenmarel too isolated, Erevan too scattered, Aerdrie too lost in the joys of flight, Sashelas too busy with the sea elves, and Sehanine too wrapped up in dreams and jealousy to see the changes slowly taking place within the once pure Araushnee's heart as the demon took over. Perhaps if Sehanine had noticed earlier and drawn different conclusions, or if Corellon had seen the time the demon, now mostly in control of Araushnee's body, had tried to draw the sword he had made for Araushnee and been burned by it, the sword rejecting someone who it knew was not its master... But Elven history would be quite different in that case, now wouldn't it?
Finally it was done, and the demon, now fully in control, made her moves, corrupting Araushnee's son Vhaeraun, framing her daughter and betraying and very nearly killing Corellon. All Araushnee could do was watch in horror, the remains of her spirit trapped in a corner of the demon's mind. The demon, cast out of Arvandor and stripped of power, took the name Lolth and plotted her revenge against Corellon, becoming the hateful Demon Queen of Spiders we all know and loathe today. She corrupted the Dark Elves, and for her own amusement arranged for Araushnee's grandson Selvetarm to become corrupted in exactly the same manner that she herself had corrupted Araushnee.
And Araushnee still lived all this time, barely, but diminishing each passing year as Lolth's power grew and her own sorrow at the loss of all that she loved slowly ate away at her consciousness. Indeed, Lolth thought that Araushnee had finally died.
But she was wrong.
Sometimes the gods, in order to learn more of their mortal charges, or simply to gain a different perspective on things or for fun, create avatars that are different from the normal ones they use. Avatars that bear no power, and are born and live as mortals, connected to the god that created them but unaware of the connection, living their lives simply.
Lolth created one of these, a strange one, using the part of herself least like herself she could find in order to make the deception more believable, causing it to be born as a half-human, half-elf. Her plan was simple and petty; the child would be raised by the family it was born to and grow up as a nice, normal, loving, Corellon-worshiping person of the sort that she knew Corellon was always fond of... And when she eventually reclaimed it and revealed what it had been all along, Corellon would be hurt. Petty and vindictive and a bit foolish, but wouldn't it be fun?
But she should have paid more attention to what part of 'herself' she had taken. For the child that was born of her interference bears nothing of her at all. For Araushnee had not disappeared completely, and what Lolth placed in the child was the last remnants of Araushnee's spirit. The child, now grown, wanders the world, being exactly what Lolth had hoped: A kind, merciful person, a devout follower of Corellon, who brings much joy and light to the world and is favored by Corellon. None of them knows yet the truth: Lolth doesn't realize that it's Araushnee who lives as the child, Corellon does not realize the child's origin or the true nature of it, and Araushnee herself has not awakened to the awareness of her past and of the possible freedom her current position might offer, if only someone realized it... Perhaps she'll remember, or come across the sword she once bore that was lost when Lolth was banished and be able to claim it, thus showing Corellon and Lolth both her true nature.
And perhaps then, if all goes well, the eons of pain caused by Lolth might finally begin to be eased. Corellon only suffers Lolth to live because he still aches with his love for Araushnee and can't bring himself to bring an end to his lost love. If he were to realise that Araushnee still lived, and separately of Lolth, there would be no reason to allow Lolth to live... And from there, who knows?
(Which opens the PCs to perhaps managing to discover this, possibly having one of them be Araushnee if they agree to that and assuming that there's a half-elf or elf in the party, and leading up to Epic End Battle in which Lolth gets her ass handed to her. By the PCs of course because making them watch gods fight each other is bloody awful DMing. Corellon's contribution would be keeping them from getting corrupted by her evil when she dies horribly. Probably not anyone else's cup of tea, but I like potential happy endings, saving the innocent girl and getting rid of a Big Evil permenently. And of course if you like darker stuff there's always the possibilty for things to go horribly wrong. :D )
Comments