Philo's Lich Lord

[aldarron]

Was just reading this and realized the tangent we went off on ignored an interesting part of the quote - the curse. What was Philo's curse, I wonder and was it cured?

[Havard]

Was just reading this and realized the tangent we went off on ignored an interesting part of the quote - the curse. What was Philo's curse, I wonder and was it cured?

Thanks for bringing the thread back to its original topic!

Philo was placed under a geas spell. This means he has to carry out a specific command or suffer the consequences. The orders he was given through the spell was to betray King Uther and the regency council. Since Philo was one of Uther's allies during the rebellion, he is desperately fighting this magic. As long as Philo resists the magic is physically weakened. It seems like this effect comes and goes however. Fortunately his mind is intact, but he has not shared his terrible secret with anyone and is suffering through it alone.

Recently* he awoke with a medallion around his neck called the Eye of the Egg which allows the Egg of Coot to communicate with him. He has been avoiding the company of his old friends in case the item also allows the Egg of Coot to spy on Philo.

*=DA1 is set 5 years before the D20 line, although things have been tweaked quite a bit with that timeline.

-Havard

[aldarron]

Here is a thought. In the Third Coot invasion, the shiremaster of Booh sided with Coot. We know that's not Mello Feathertoes - who was acting as Constable of Blackmoor town at the time.

DA1 calls Philo the sherrif of Ramshead, but honestly Ramshead doesn't seem to have been invented yet in the early '70s. Perhaps at that time Philo was the Shiremaster of Booh and his curse has somethng to do with the alignment with Coot. One could say he went to Ramshead afterward.

[Havard]

Here is a thought. In the Third Coot invasion, the shiremaster of Booh sided with Coot. We know that's not Mello Feathertoes - who was acting as Constable of Blackmoor town at the time.

Interesting. How much is known about the Third Coot invasion? We might need a separate thread for that...

DA1 calls Philo the sherrif of Ramshead, but honestly Ramshead doesn't seem to have been invented yet in the early '70s. Perhaps at that time Philo was the Shiremaster of Booh and his curse has somethng to do with the alignment with Coot. One could say he went to Ramshead afterward.

That is a good idea. I would not be surprised if the Lich served the Egg of Coot. It would also help explain why Booh would go against Blackmoor. hock:

I always assumed that Ramshead was a nod to Mornard's Ramsgate Castle btw.

-Havard

[aldarron]

You might be right about Ramshead being a nod to Mornard. I'm not sure I think so, but who knows. I suspect TSR may have invented the place in an effort to pad out the map a bit. I think that is true about alot of the "new" places. It is worth noting that Ramshead doesn't appear on the the contemporary GPoD map but interestingly, Kenville

How much is known about the Third Coot invasion? We might need a separate thread for that...
-Havard

Oh lots. The third coot invasion is the one detailed in the FFC with troop costs and the campaign breakdown.

[Rafael]

Not that it would fit with any of your theories, but if the name of "The Black Moors" would turn out to be a nod to the actual geographical environment in Minnesota, then it would be worth mentioning that some of the "filler" place names also seem to check out with the local geography. For example, there's a Lake Ramshead in Minnesota, as well.