Harpinger question

modigliani · Post by **modigliani** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:49 pm

To the Team and anybody who cares to answer:

Do you folks think followers of the Harpinger would have a natural enemy? In other words, is there a group (religious or otherwise) who would earn special enmity? I can't think of any, aside, maybe, from healers and philistines.

Although the Harpinger's alignment is CE, I don't see him as an evil god in the same way as I see Valok, Aarilax, Maleki, and other "evil" gods. Rather, as Sindol once wrote, evil here is a reflection of the disregard for life, not the often malicious motivations of those mentioned above and others.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

MondoPotato · Post by **MondoPotato** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 11:11 pm

Alright, I'll try and see if I can't offer something to help you out.

The Harpinger's natural enemies... tough question, mainly because I don't think I've ever found anything in the world info stating anything of the sort, though you would imagine that perhaps the followers of any religion based around life and healing might be a little againts his/her views. Cha'Reth, Dagath-Life/rebirth, Berryn.. so on and so forth...

Also of course s/he is CE of alignment, but it is different than the Maleki flavour of CE, or this is what impression you can gather from the world info. It seems more attuned to a purpose, bringing souls to their right place. Also it says that his/her followers are often from a broad range, so you may be a CN bard, NE assassin, or some other such mix, though of course the cleric matching the diety alignment rule would apply.

I hope this at all helped with your questions.

MondoPotato · Post by **MondoPotato** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 3:18 am

I would have to agree with Jas,

I think the Harpinger would be totally againts anything that messed around with the whole transporting souls to the afterlife gig, so undead would be something s/he would hate.

Also rebirth.

Bringing people back from the dead would not be something that would bring the Harpinger a great deal of happiness I would imagine, after all that hard work escorting souls around, only to have them get up and leave...

Mistcaller · Post by **Mistcaller** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:03 pm

What should be clarified is that the demi-god Harpinger is not a "death" god, but rather an a agent of death, a messenger.
As such, I doubt s/he would care to judge whether the soul is to be raised or become an undead or stay in a death plane. Thats mostly Dagath's business.
Of course if a mortal interfers with the transportation of the soul to afterlife and during that time, then yes I agree the Harpinger might be displeased.

In more OOC terms, lets say that the Harpinger is responsible for a PC's soul, while it is in the death travel area and during the bleeding stage.

From World's information:

Orleron wrote:The Harpinger's clergy are also diverse in this respect. Many concern themselves with music, preferring to enrich the art itself. Some concern themselves with death, by either dealing it out swiftly to those they believe deserve it, or by insuring that proper internment rituals are performed on the deceased.

The last sentence is something you might want to take into account as part of the answer you seek.

Nob · Post by **Nob** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 3:11 pm

Since that segment of Harpinger was brought up, this is something of a question along those lines.

Does this mean that followers of Harpinger have an innate respect for death and treat it as an extremely important almost ritualistic rite? Wouldn't that put them at odds with say people who have absolutely no regard for death and use it as a simple tool and then toss away a body afterwards?(Quickest thing that came to mind, Malekian sacrifices and then simply discarding bodies in piles afterwards.)

PS- I wish things like these would be posted on Comments/Questions on World Info so we could comment on them more easily.

Mistcaller · Post by **Mistcaller** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 4:12 pm

There you go

Now, I dont know if Malekian (or any) sacrifices do perform or not a ritual and if it is a "proper" one, but I do know that any monster, human, elf, dwarf, even a tree, can be considered as a deceased being and ~could~ be equally treated by a follower of the Harpinger. But I believe its up to the player how to RP his character's concept, especially if he is a follower of this "vague" divine entity.

modigliani · Post by **modigliani** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:58 pm

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts. I think Mistcaller nailed it with "vague divine entity." I'm itching to find someone to turn my wrath on, but don't want to be stupid about it.

The Messenger of Death aspect suggests to me someone who feels compelled to be around death as it is inflicted, no matter who is doing the killing and who the dying. Perhaps it is in that moment that followers of the Harpinger hear the music that inspires them to greater creative capability and heightens their imagination. A bit twisted, sure, but I'll go with it...

Cheers!