Who's your favourite Awnsheghlien?

[Retillin]

I know some people enjoy the Gorgon or the Raven. But who is your favourite and and why?

[adg]

Rhoubhe

Why?

He´s special in that he is more of a sad character then a true villain. Sure, he is an absolute terror to the neighboring peasants and quite evil, yet in a way he is like the spurned ex boy/girlfriend who begins to do everything to destroy for the one who left them.

He welcomed the humans to Cerilia, made several human friends, and when they started to cut down the forest, invade sidhe lands, he went to his friends, asked them to stop. They ignored him, alternatively to make him even more"human;)" laughed at him, or beat him up, likely killing sidhe he loved.

So he went over into hatred. A hate that as Rhoubhe is immortal, have raged since, yet its not born from lust for power as with most awhnsheglien, but from sadness and a feeling of beeing betrayed.

[Sorontar]

Oh, I like Teodor Profiev, because he is borderline. He is not awnshegh yet, but at the same time he is not ehrshegh. The blood of Azrai runs through him, willing him to use it, but he must avoid giving in. He is a great opportunity for DMs to tease and perplex the players (ours did!).

The Spider is another good one because of the twisted personality. It knows what it is now, but what it came from is another question. Quite what sort of person it should be perplexes him.

Sorontar

[Marco Fossati]

The Serpent.

I love the idea he's able to grant spells to his clerics, as if he has reached at least a demigod status.

[Magian]

That's a tough one, I'll have to get back to you on that.

[Jaleela]

Right now, I would say my favorite as a Player and a GM is "the Magian" and it has a lot to do with how he's played.

He is intelligent, methodical, and ruthless when necessary. He has a way of appearing to be a savior to some and the devil incarnate to others. He's a mage of great power, but also has some lieutenants that are quite capable; a force to be reckoned with on any level.

My second would be the Spider; the insanity makes him interesting and unpredictable; it's his moments of lucidity that can make him down right terrifying.

[severian]

Rhoubhe

Why?

He´s special in that he is more of a sad character then a true villain. Sure, he is an absolute terror to the neighboring peasants and quite evil, yet in a way he is like the spurned ex boy/girlfriend who begins to do everything to destroy for the one who left them.

He welcomed the humans to Cerilia, made several human friends, and when they started to cut down the forest, invade sidhe lands, he went to his friends, asked them to stop. They ignored him, alternatively to make him even more"human;)" laughed at him, or beat him up, likely killing sidhe he loved.

So he went over into hatred. A hate that as Rhoubhe is immortal, have raged since, yet its not born from lust for power as with most awhnsheglien, but from sadness and a feeling of beeing betrayed.


'sad but true!' :P

[Birthright-L]

I`m not going to be able to pick just one.

I do have to chime in with a few words about Rhoubhe. He is in many
ways the most tragic and troubled of BR`s villains, as is best
exemplified by speculating about what exactly his totemic
transformation is. The awnsheghlien all have some sort of monstrous
form into which they are changing. Most often that monstrous form is
comparable to an existing D&D monster, or a creature similar enough
to a mythical one that it`s easy enough to see how that might effect
character, but in Rhoubhe`s case we have a very strange and ambiguous
shift. His awnshegh form appears to be some sort of undead. That`s
a particularly unpleasant thing for a being that`s standard form is a
Cerilian elf. The Sidhe are (or, at least, consider themselves to
be) creatures of nature. Undead are pretty unnatural
creatures. Necromancy is verboten. Worse, Rhoubhe`s transformation
might not just be into a kind of crypto-undead, but an undead
HUMAN. His alignment shift is away from the freedom loving, chaotic
aspect of the Sidhe and into "neutral evil." I`d speculate that he
is even heading towards being lawful. That`s very different from the
race which he claims to defend, and even embody as The Elf. So, his
nature is... unnatural. And being a tortured soul in that way always
makes for a good villain. Nothing makes for quite as villainous a
villain as ambiguity and self-loathing.

All that said, I`d argue that BR is in many ways the most
Tolkienesque of the D&D settings. To me, that is one of the major
appeals of the setting. Granted D&D is itself very Tolkienesque, but
in my view BR does the best job of embodying that without actually
turning into Middle Earth while maintaining its own identity. In
that context, the Magian is an example of how a Tolkienesque idea
appears in the setting without being a sort of pale copy of the
original. Is the character derivative? At first glance, he could be
seen as simply betwixt Saruman and Sauron and then discounted. He`s
a wizard with godly powers of undeath. He`s got "riders" and a
tower.... However, his background ties him in with all kinds of
BR-specific details, and makes him different in a way that I find
very appealing. He differs in ways that are setting specific. If
you were to compare characters from other settings to Tolkien
(Elminster to Gandalf, for example, or Tasselhof to one of the
hobbits--Pippin or Merry) then the contrast is much less flattering
to the D&D version than trying to hold the Magian up as a character
who differs from his most likely Tolkien equivalent.

I also have to note that probably the least appreciated and most
underemployed, but highest potential awnsheghlien in the BR setting
has got to be... The White Witch. She has all the possibilities as a
mastermind and manipulator that any other BR character has right up
to and including the Gorgon, plus a heady dose of tragedy mixed
in. The beauty/lost beauty, good/evil, old/young, thing is all right
there in the character, plus a whole bunch of stuff connecting her
with two of the aspects of the Norns (and arguably the third just by
inference as she embodies the two extremes) along with the spite that
comes with self-loathing. Just like Rhoubhe. The Hag gets points in
that regard, but doesn`t quite compare as she only has the lost
beauty aspect. (Granted, she has more of that than the WW does....)

Along those lines, I think the awnshegh who probably gets the least
respect is The Chimaera. If you think about it, that character
really does embody a mindset that makes an awful lot of sense to most
gamers. She is the "power gamer" of the awnsheghlien, working the
rules of the game itself to become a sort of god. Maybe being gamers
that character just seems a little redundant to actually play, but
from the gamer POV she makes the most sense....

But... I have to say. My favorite awnshegh would have to be one of
the ones I wrote up myself. I know, I know: self-serving. Still,
it`s true. I have a special place in my heart for the Black Beast of
Boeruine, as that was one of the first write ups I did, and the
character that made me realize the depth of the awnsheghlien concept
itself and led to a lot of development of other characters. The
Lindwrym was probably the most interesting to write up because it
combined what I like about the BR/Tolkien/mythology aspect of
awnsheghlien into one character in a way that I think fits with the
Magian. The Phantom was probably the most fun to write up, followed
closely by the Nightowl (who is really an ehrshie, not an
awnnie.) The Vulture was also fun to write up and strangely
satisfying because that one just seems like it already SHOULD have
been in the setting materials, so even if he`s not canon, he FEELS
like he should been there in the first place.

Gary

[Green Knight]

Difficult one...there are so many to love!

Rhuobhe...never cared too much for him until recently. He never got to shine properly. Not until he was finally killed by Braedonnal Tuare and that poor elf inherited Rhuobhe's curse. So it was acutally Rhuobhe's death that finally made him a star, allowing me to highlight how the Manslayer had tired of 'life' and willing gave it up to find some peace. How his killer knew, even before the fatal blow, that his fate would be no different from Rhuobhe's. Knowing that he would fight the curse tooth and nail, and try to do right, but that he must eventually succumb - or do as Rhuobhe and pass it on. No fairy tales with happy endings for these fey.

[Green Knight]

The Sphinx made an interesting appearance in one of my games; the regent of the PETG, wanting to expand his holdings East got involved with him. Was finally able to cure his poison-induced madness. The result was an intelligent awnie who felt indebted to the PETG regent. So he allowed the PETG into his lands. There were some Anuirean regents who found this rather odd...diplomatic relations with an awnshegh and all - for even though the Sphinx was no longer a raging beast he was still accursed and not an entirely good person. None of the Sphinx subordinates liked the treaty. Interesting mix of magic, madness, divine blood, gold and diplomacy. Very nice side-story.

[Thorsten]

The Spider. It spits, it jumps, it scuttles from side to side while spinning its little web. There's no reasoning with the creature, and even should you kill it, you need to work harder than Van Helsing in a transylvanian brothel to keep it that way.

Its also *always* there. Smack dab in the middle of everything, ready to send out innumerable hosts of creepy-crawly shit to scare the children and regents of the South Coast into the next week. And of course, like every good half-creature, its bat shit insane. It's like all of the best Lovecraftian tales gathered into one bundle of Anuirean joy! Gooo spidey!

[Green Knight]

Then there was the tragic story of the Chimaera and the Binman. A story of love, hate, betrayal, madness and . Ending tragically in their death...and the deaths of lots of other folk...with the living feeling tricked and abused. Am I seeing a pattern here???

Short version of the end of the story can be found here: http://ruinsofempire.twilightpeaks.net/forums/index.php?topic=394.0

[archelian]

If I like the birthright setting is mainly because of the interesting ennemies and stories it contains. Many are more than "just monsters to kill', they rule domains are politician, magic users, great fighters etc ...

Often they never asked to become the monsters they are and must accept it.
It is very different from the standard ad&d "use" of a monster (an ugly beast just here to be killed and give xp, gold and magical stuff to the hero).

I like them all, with a preference for The Lamia and the Sea Drake. They are not the more powerful nor the most known of the Awnsheglien but they have interesting story.

In some ways the two were greedy, the Lamia being more hateful because of the death of her parents, wanting more and more gift from her suitors using and manipulating them to her guise, she obtained what she wanted becomming a lamia, everyone around her is only a puppet ... with no really self will.

the Sea drake a merchant sailor wanted to make profit not only for him but too to please his wife and daughter, he did the "too much tractation" and lost his former life familly becomming a dragon like monster asking for treasure to people to not attack them.

The two in some way were blessed with a "form" and powers linked to their true nature to fullfill their goals; is it a blessing or a malediction .. the two I think. (but this is true for many Awnsheglien).

The bansheg too is interesting with her twisted (and double) personality and story. Half light Half darkness ...

Even the Gorgon, I like him for that, he is a "dark guy" with a story, he has good (at least for him) reasons to be "evil".

I don't know why with such interesting plots and monsters Birthright is not still " officially published" ... it is so sad.

[Jaleela]

Sometimes "home grown" are the best. I have three in my campaign:

Azwrath of Drachenward (the Dragon)
Rolanz, ruler of Mandragora (Aduria)
Ocalotl, the undying Jaguar (Aduria) - proto-awnie

[Magian]

Since it is obvious who my favorite is I'll tell you what I like about him.

The Magian is very lich-like. The lich is my favorite monster from the standard MC. Not only that but he has liches and death knights as his minions. The only other write-up I know of like that is Larlock from FGR.

Origins of the Magian: there seems to be a consensus that he is one of the Lost of Azrai, but I beg to differ. While reading his entry in Blood Enemies I get the impression he never had a bloodline until he came to Cerilia. With it also being vague where he comes from, a land across the sea of dragons in the east, it gives some possible expansion to Aebrynis that touches Cerilia. A land where true mages exist without bloodlines? A mage that through his magic and sheer will has been able to sustain his undead form till he got the Azrai taint and doesn't even need long life? Not to mention a land where an accomplished mage in necromancy decides to come to Cerilia for some unknown reason, is he a weaker version of what remains in his homeland?

Strengths of the Magian: Being the most accomplished mage in Cerilia he can do just about anything through his magic. There isn't a limit to what spells he can research that are allowed in play and he has the resources to accomplish this. With him able to control undead minions, likely making them from former scions and powerful characters it opens his power up to some wicked delegations and or vassals under his control. The ability to create or corrupt scions and turn them into awnies allows him to cause discord in a realm he wants to take over and look like the hero for it. His ability to be loved by his subjects and his capitalist-like outlook to benefit their well being is likely to cause him great success especially where the Gorgon fails. The Magian is politically savvy enough to use a puppet figure to address his subjects where other Awnies use brute force. He is very capable of gaining a large following if not an empire among humans. All this doesn't even consider the possibilities of his Monster template of lich that could include demi-lich and or the Van Richten's Guide to liches ideas if a person would want to incorporate those. With his form having invulnerability and tie in the lich-like form you could double up the process of having to destroy him twice if you like. That is to say the invulnerability form and his phylactery if you'd use one. His intelligence and will are super human tie that in with his Divine aura and I am sure the likes of el-Sirad et. al. would be under his thrall in no time. His vision can succeed, but all tyrants have a weakness...right?

Weaknesses: The temple of Rilni and the Oath Bound would likely give him a challenge if he unleashed his full power to take someone over. No one likes him outside of his domain and they consider him an awnie, which I may say should actually only be OOC knowledge. I don't think IC it is known what he is since he is the puppet master behind the throne. The Raven and the Gorgon seem to know about him so he has gotten some attention that he probably doesn't want, but may not really care. Not sure about the whole shadow world and it opening up as a result of using dark magic, so that could be a risk. Then again would he just subjugate all the undead that cross over? He is possibly boxed in by two major Awnies (Raven and Serpent).


One I find very interesting is Malvaar the Minotaur. If you read his and the Gorgon's descriptions from RoE and BE, you could conclude that Malvaar was Raesene's general during all his successful campaigns and that they are a mix of one another's bloodforms that of the Minotaur with a gorgon bottom and the Gorgon with a minotaur bottom. There is mention of black armor and I think both of them had their own black suit of armor from just fighting side by side. Also it could be concluded that since Malvaar left the Gorgon's side Raesene's military campaigns haven't been as successful. So could there be a potential general in the waiting for the Magian?

[Green Knight]

I merged in Garys BR-L reply; for some reason it created a new tread rather than put his reply into this one.

[AndrewTall]

While Rhoubhe is always my favourite, I have a soft spot for the SwordHawk.

He's a king who is scorned by sages as a lesser awnie, he's beset on all sides and badly outmatched - but he's still fighting - hell he chose to make his realm there. This is the awnie who came from nowhere - he wasn't one of Azrai's champions, he wasn't a great king, etc - but he's forged a realm that spits in the Gorgon's eye and has 2 other awnies and an ehrshegh as neighbours - the man has 'bring it on, I love it, I want more of it' written all over him.

To me he's willing to take any risk, any chance to become one of the 'real powers', he'll probably flame out like a shooting star, but it certainly won't be quiet around him. And where other great awnies may spend years - even decades watching a target before making a careful move with a deniable expendable pawn; the Swordhawk will take one look and then charge in, trusting to his strength and skill to get him out if there's trouble.

I can't see players having a chance against someone like the Gorgon, Raven or Magian - the players would need a miracle to even know whose plans they were meddling in - but the Swordhawk is supremely playable, and given his inherent checks (Gorgon, Vampire, Boar) can be called off without trouble if need be.

That said, I am fond of my own creations of course - the dragon, a young half-sidhe sorceress slowly becoming a dragon - full of the invincible vitality of youth and new-found power and totally unaware of the plans that the true dragons had for her or the vital importance of restraint, secrecy or diplomacy; the paladin, an ehrshegh who I used as an excuse for the church welcoming female warriors and hero's through her links to Roele as much as a bolster for Mhoried's defense; the succumbus, who hopefully says less about me than I fear but made an excellent excuse for former allies to turn against the PCs and whose political influence gave her power far beyond her meager combat abilities is the other one that I remember well.

[Green Knight]

How could I forget the Swordhawk! When the Anuirean armies (from my PbeM) retreated from the Gorgon's Crown...was not he the awnie who fell them in the back? Indeed he was. Since he's claimed all of Kiergard as his domain - and manage the become the target of a crusade which like haven't been seen in Cerilia...for quite some time. He won't go quietly - if at all!

[Green Knight]

While on the topic of homebrew awnsheghlien; I got two that I'm particularly fond of: the Eyeless One and the Red Wind.

The former is a variant of the Eyeless One - wizard of the Five Peaks. Only in my PbeM the Eyeless One is also the Eyeless King of Oeried. And one of the Lost. Agenda: Resurrect Azrai. Probability of success: Very high. It's the only time I've deliberately crafted a villain that could not, in any way, be defeated. I think the players have MORE fun being BEATEN by the Eyeless One than they ever had winning. Of course, his ultimate demise was even better. Part of it can be found here:

http://ruinsofempire.twilightpeaks.net/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=if54h73fhphqq5smd5goabfeb2&board=25.0

His fellow Lost - and chief contender for the 'I'll resurrect Azrai first' competition was the Red Wind. Also a very powerful character he wasn't quite up there with the Eyeless One in terms of raw power. He did, however, have the capacity for diplomacy, which gave him an extra dimension. His 'I'll do what's required, but nothing more' contrasted greatly with the senseless vileness of the Eyeless One - and it made him difficult to hate, or even fear, with the same passion directed towards the Eyeless One.

Oh, and what's even better - for Ruins of Empire II he's back, and he has a plan...

Note to self: This was my 1000th post!

[Michael Romes]

The Spider. It spits, it jumps, it scuttles from side to side while spinning its little web. There's no reasoning with the creature, and even should you kill it, you need to work harder than Van Helsing in a transylvanian brothel to keep it that way.

Its also *always* there. Smack dab in the middle of everything, ready to send out innumerable hosts of creepy-crawly shit to scare the children and regents of the South Coast into the next week. And of course, like every good half-creature, its bat shit insane. It's like all of the best Lovecraftian tales gathered into one bundle of Anuirean joy! Gooo spidey!

I´m a bit late to answer to your post, but I just read that the Spider can´t be reasoned with and I disagree here. The Spider once was a brilliant goblin warlord named Tal-Quazar and part of that is still in him (just like part of Raesene is still within the Gorgon) despite the Spider and Azrais blood taking more and more of his original mind from him.

The novel "The Spider´s Test" in which the founder of Endier, Richard Endier "negotiates" with the Spider in person to be allowed to settle Endier (a province former part of the Spiderfell, which is claimed by Diemed too) showed that.

[FhieleLlyrandor]

Most of the awnsheghlien I got attached to are tragedies, first and foremost.

The Spider and Rhuobhe basically became corrupted while fighting against those weird otter-eared people from across the sea who understood sharing the forests of Anuire as "gimme"

The Banshegh is an accident of birth and strictly speaking is barely even aware of what she is, or at least deeply in denial. She exemplifies the cursedness of it a lot deeper than most.

It's an interesting contrast to the top shelf human awnsheghlien being people who had everything and still needed to grasp more.

[Fizz]

I´m a bit late to answer to your post, but I just read that the Spider can´t be reasoned with and I disagree here. The Spider once was a brilliant goblin warlord named Tal-Quazar and part of that is still in him (just like part of Raesene is still within the Gorgon) despite the Spider and Azrais blood taking more and more of his original mind from him.

The novel "The Spider´s Test" in which the founder of Endier, Richard Endier "negotiates" with the Spider in person to be allowed to settle Endier (a province former part of the Spiderfell, which is claimed by Diemed too) showed that.

It depends on when. In Blood Enemies he is described as the least sane creature in Anuire (or was it Cerilia?). Further the interview was given 200 years ago, "before its mind was lost". In current time, it sounds as though there is simply no talking to him at all- he just acts on whims.

In The Spider's Test which occurs hundreds of years ago, the beast is portrayed as quite fickle. He could be reasoned with only on short timescales. (And of course Richard uses his madness against the Spider in the end.)


-Fizz

[Fizz]

My favourite awnshegh varies, but lately i've quite liked The Magian. He's so mysterious, both in origin and intent, and his genius and nature just make him exceptionally dangerous.

On the opposite end, the Boar is just fun. You might able to stop it for a time, but you can never kill it. Heh.

-Fizz

[Fizz]

Most of the awnsheghlien I got attached to are tragedies, first and foremost.

Indeed, they are some of the most interesting. Among that lot, i particularly like The Manticore. A noble person brought down by the evil bloodline, an yet he continues to fight against and reclaim his nation.

-Fizz

[AndrewTall]

Most of the awnsheghlien I got attached to are tragedies, first and foremost.

The Spider and Rhuobhe basically became corrupted while fighting against those weird otter-eared people from across the sea who understood sharing the forests of Anuire as "gimme"

The Banshegh is an accident of birth and strictly speaking is barely even aware of what she is, or at least deeply in denial. She exemplifies the cursedness of it a lot deeper than most.

It's an interesting contrast to the top shelf human awnsheghlien being people who had everything and still needed to grasp more.

The spider is much more interesting/usable if he can be reasoned with at least some of the time, and much less dangerous/more more vulnerable to misdirection if he has major periods of the wrath of the awnsheghlien. The Siren, Harpy and Manticore also make for good tragedies as well I note.

[FhieleLlyrandor]

The spider is much more interesting/usable if he can be reasoned with at least some of the time, and much less dangerous/more more vulnerable to misdirection if he has major periods of the wrath of the awnsheghlien. The Siren, Harpy and Manticore also make for good tragedies as well I note.

The Siren is my fave for Rjurik, by far, so yeah she definitely counts, she tries so hard too (I don't remember the backstory for the Manticore and I forget of the more beastly ones were actually people before being cursed)

Also Tal'quazar becoming lucid again is something that should rightly terrify most princes of the heartlands.