Thursday, September 19, 2013

13th Age Icons for D&D Next - The Priestess

The next Icon in this series is the Priestess.  I like some of the basic ideas about this Icon - earthly emissary of the good/lawful deities, ever-growing mystical temple complex, but I wanted to add a bit more depth to the icon, so I built her into a set up prophecies that link her explicitly to the Crusader.  I stole a bit from Glenn Cook here.  He can give me grief about that if he wants.

The Priestess


Atheras, the Blue Rose.  Mistress of the Holy City of Paham.

Usual Location: The Ziggurat in Paham.

Common Knowledge: The Blue Rose is the Priestess of the Gods and Goddesses of Good, and maintains their greatest temple at the Ziggurat of a Thousand Steps in Paham.  Devotees of all the Good Gods are welcomed, and the Ziggurat rises into the sky to accommodate the many temples built upon its shaded steps.

Adventurers: The Priestess and her representatives, the Builders often hire or recruit adventurers to battle against cults, unholy magic or undead infestations.  They also seek to retrieve holy artifacts and Angelic magic items, and destroy Abyssal, Diabolic or Necromantic items.

Allies: The Emperor, the Great Gold Wyrm.  The Elf Queen and the Dwarf King both respect the Priestess.  Relations with the Archmage are very strained since the Desolation.

Enemies: The Crusader, The Diabolist, the Lich King, the Three.

History: There have been a number of Priests and Priestesses over the Ages, all of whom have been linked to some sort of prophecy or omen.  Atheras arose as the result of a Prophecy of the Blue Rose at the close of the 10th Age, and has maintained the Ziggurat of a Thousand Steps since that time.  Her magic keeps the edifice rising into the sky, each white marble step larger than the last.

One True Danger:  It is whispered that the Prophecy of the Blue Rose once spoke of an event called the Withering, when the Priestess turned to evil, and the Thousand Steps became an Endless Pit.  No current copies of the Prophecy contain this material, but it is rumored that unedited copies exist.

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