The Sar Aigu Ritual

[Havard]

The Sar Aigu Ritual is something that has become a central element in my current regular group campaign. I have found that it is a way to connect several elements of the Blackmoor Mythology. The Sar Aigu were introduced in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor. That book describes how the Sar Aigu were the first race to climb onto the rocks where Castle Blackmoor was built thousands of years later.

In my campaign, the Sar Aigu were directed to that place by their God, the Power behind the Temple of the Frog. On the Blackmoor peninsula, they performed some kind of dark ritual. However, instead of summoning their God, they istead summoned a much older power. An Old One.

This scared the Sar Aigu and forced them back into the dark waters of the Black Sea. The magic of the Old One was what was infused with the rocky foundation of the Blackmoor peninsula. It is that magic that later drew large numbers of mages to the region, resulting in the Mage Wars. During that time of magical conflict, so much energy was released that it awakend the Egg of Coot from its dark slumber.

And here we get to another dark secret from my campaign. The Egg of Coot is just one of several ancient evils who were put into a state of unnatural sleep by the Gods. The servants of the Egg have now uncovered the ritual originally used by the Sar Aigu. They believe that they can use this ritual to draw fully from the power of the Blackmoor Peninsula. Their purpose, to awaken the other Sleepers. This is why the Egg of Coot and its servants keep attacking Blackmoor. And in my campaign, the ritual is about to be performed....


Full version: http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.no/201 ... itual.html


-Havard

[Freedom92]

Very interesting and I love how you have portrayed the Sar Aigu Ritual and the idea they possess reality piercing magic is interesting and adds to the lovecraftian nature they have as a degenerate race of fishmen. I've yet to get Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor and I've heard nothing but great things about it, I love Mega-Dungeons so I hope to obtain it eventually. Also the Sar Aigu worship Stodos(?) and tried summon him to the prime material plane?

Also what kind of Ancient Evils have you hinted too? Demons or more Lovecraftian horrors?

[Havard]

Very interesting and I love how you have portrayed the Sar Aigu Ritual and the idea they possess reality piercing magic is interesting and adds to the lovecraftian nature they have as a degenerate race of fishmen.

Thanks! Parts of this were derived from Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (DoCBM), but as usual I like to fill in the blanks. The ritual itself was something I added because it helps explain what they were doing there in the first place.

When I say that they accidentally summoned an Old One, I mean that in the Mentzer sense of the word. DoCBM doesnt explain what drove the Sar Aigu away (possibly it referred to the demons), but on the lower levels you find a Sphere of Annhilation. In BECMI terms, such a sphere can easily be replaced by a Blackball. Again, these are associated with the Old Ones. Also, there is the suggestion that the Old Ones are analogous to Game Designers, in which case the Old One in question could be Dave... 8)

I've yet to get Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor and I've heard nothing but great things about it, I love Mega-Dungeons so I hope to obtain it eventually.

DoCBM is an interesting book, but it has some flaws. For instance, I wish they had decided to leave out the 3E stat blocks for existing monsters and simply included page references to the Monster Manuals. This would have freed up a lot of space that could have been used to include more information about the castle itself, what the various creatures are doing there in the first place etc.

Also the Sar Aigu worship Stodos(?) and tried summon him to the prime material plane?

The Sar Aigu originated in the area currently controlled by the Temple of the Frog. It seems likely that they are the creations of the deity behind that order (Stodos in the Mystara continuity). Probably this is also who they wanted to summon, though the relationship between the Temple of the Frog and the Egg of Coot has not been explored in detail. My understanding is that the Egg does not control the Temple.

Also what kind of Ancient Evils have you hinted too? Demons or more Lovecraftian horrors?

I will reveal more on these in a later blog entry, but Lovecraftian is definitely a good starting point. Also, consider the Burrowers from the Hollow World Boxed set in this context...

Thanks for the feedback!

-Havard

[Freedom92]

Very interesting and I love how you have portrayed the Sar Aigu Ritual and the idea they possess reality piercing magic is interesting and adds to the lovecraftian nature they have as a degenerate race of fishmen.

Thanks! Parts of this were derived from Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (DoCBM), but as usual I like to fill in the blanks. The ritual itself was something I added because it helps explain what they were doing there in the first place.

When I say that they accidentally summoned an Old One, I mean that in the Mentzer sense of the word. DoCBM doesnt explain what drove the Sar Aigu away (possibly it referred to the demons), but on the lower levels you find a Sphere of Annhilation. In BECMI terms, such a sphere can easily be replaced by a Blackball. Again, these are associated with the Old Ones. Also, there is the suggestion that the Old Ones are analogous to Game Designers, in which case the Old One in question could be Dave... 8)

Interesting and and sounds about right, I've always been interested about all of secrets of Blackmoor ranging from the Egg of Coot to the City of the Gods and beyond, I remember Blackmoor was placed originally or at some point in a sci-fi setting and was a quarantined zone because the native spellslingers could easily take out a group of technology using warriors. I've played up technomancy in my games hinting to that whole thing with a group of 'human' technomancers scrapping tech. The Old Ones have interested me and since I never got to play Blackmoor back in the day(DM was a Greyhawk/forgotten Realms fan)

I've yet to get Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor and I've heard nothing but great things about it, I love Mega-Dungeons so I hope to obtain it eventually.

DoCBM is an interesting book, but it has some flaws. For instance, I wish they had decided to leave out the 3E stat blocks for existing monsters and simply included page references to the Monster Manuals. This would have freed up a lot of space that could have been used to include more information about the castle itself, what the various creatures are doing there in the first place etc.

Thats a common trend among 3rd party material I've noticed during the early days of 3.X so I know what you mean. Stat blocks shouldnt have to be placed every encounter and if you do minimize it to only those who are different or have class levels, etc. What kind of creatures called it home though? Stuff left over from the age of Sar Aigu and there on?

Also the Sar Aigu worship Stodos(?) and tried summon him to the prime material plane?

The Sar Aigu originated in the area currently controlled by the Temple of the Frog. It seems likely that they are the creations of the deity behind that order (Stodos in the Mystara continuity). Probably this is also who they wanted to summon, though the relationship between the Temple of the Frog and the Egg of Coot has not been explored in detail. My understanding is that the Egg does not control the Temple.

I figured the Egg of Coot didnt control the Temple of the Frog but I could see infiltrators among those Faithful to the Frog God trying to uncover any arcane material from the age of the Sar Aigu. With this the Egg of Coot could harvest the energies of a Immortal and survive or awaken fully to its full power. This could have a lot done with it.

Also what kind of Ancient Evils have you hinted too? Demons or more Lovecraftian horrors?

I will reveal more on these in a later blog entry, but Lovecraftian is definitely a good starting point. Also, consider the Burrowers from the Hollow World Boxed set in this context...

Thanks for the feedback!

-Havard

Awesome! I cant wait then, I thought about using the Burrowers as well for my lovecraftian entropy generators but then a thought popped into mind of using the Makrab from wilderlands so atleast one of my Ancient Evils is a void dwelling demonic being imprisoned between the stars. Though I've thought of using the actual Elder Evilsl source book for inspiration, it has good ideas how to role-play the situation of something from before this universe or during its creation was banished long ago but now its forcing its way through awakening slowly from its slumber. I've even used Chaositech for ideas for the Chaos Cults I have had in game, its a good source book for demonic things that are not demonic and a bit lovecraftian as well. I tossed a few of the lesser Galchutt into the temple of the frog since Sscree are frog like and very alien.

I suggest looking at the Chaositech, Elver Evils, and When the Sky Falls for 3.X games.Chaositech has good 'gifts' for chaos cults in the form of technology and other implants, Elder Evils has a good run down how to play up the reality warping abilities of Elder Evils, When the Sky Falls just some goodies for space junk and arcanist who harness plasma and other thing.

[Havard]

Thats a common trend among 3rd party material I've noticed during the early days of 3.X so I know what you mean. Stat blocks shouldnt have to be placed every encounter and if you do minimize it to only those who are different or have class levels, etc.

Yep, this was pretty much the standard mode of operation for most companies back then.

What kind of creatures called it home though? Stuff left over from the age of Sar Aigu and there on?

The book goes into detail about which races dominated the region over the centuries that followed, each leaving its mark on the Dungeon.

I figured the Egg of Coot didnt control the Temple of the Frog but I could see infiltrators among those Faithful to the Frog God trying to uncover any arcane material from the age of the Sar Aigu. With this the Egg of Coot could harvest the energies of a Immortal and survive or awaken fully to its full power. This could have a lot done with it.

I agree 8)

Awesome! I cant wait then, I thought about using the Burrowers as well for my lovecraftian entropy generators but then a thought popped into mind of using the Makrab from wilderlands so atleast one of my Ancient Evils is a void dwelling demonic being imprisoned between the stars. Though I've thought of using the actual Elder Evilsl source book for inspiration, it has good ideas how to role-play the situation of something from before this universe or during its creation was banished long ago but now its forcing its way through awakening slowly from its slumber. I've even used Chaositech for ideas for the Chaos Cults I have had in game, its a good source book for demonic things that are not demonic and a bit lovecraftian as well. I tossed a few of the lesser Galchutt into the temple of the frog since Sscree are frog like and very alien.

The Markabs will be involved somehow in my version as well. They are probably much less powerful than the Egg of Coot. Possibly they could have arrived on the planet in order to worship the Egg?

I suggest looking at the Chaositech, Elver Evils, and When the Sky Falls for 3.X games.Chaositech has good 'gifts' for chaos cults in the form of technology and other implants, Elder Evils has a good run down how to play up the reality warping abilities of Elder Evils, When the Sky Falls just some goodies for space junk and arcanist who harness plasma and other thing.

Thanks, I have Elder Evils, but will keep my eyes up for the two other books you recommend!

-Havard

[Freedom92]

I could see them or just one being summoned by the Egg, the Makrab liked to tamper with life by adding demonic elements into the mix and the Egg of Coot likes to tamper with creatures and leech of arcane power sources to pass the time so maybe the Eggs followers discovered arcane text referring to the Demons of the Void locked in stasis so those devoted to the Egg of Coot summoned one named Makrab and tried binding it but failed to do it. The Makrab are this race of demonic entities who travel the void so why not?

LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN
^I found this the other day, its WtSF and is complete. The biggest thing I like in it is the mention of the Dark Plea, a godmind sort of thing that I reflavored in my Wilderlands game as a psionic Makrab without a body or some lovecraftian horror who had no physical presence except its cultist reaching out and corrupting the collective conscious. The engrams are all that remains of a dead race and they have benefits like a Ioun Stone but they're like tattoos. The Ruin-Priest prestige class is good for those doomsday cultist who worship spacejunk as part of a greater god, etc.

[Yaztromo]

In your campaign or in other fan production (as i assume that there is no clear canon around this issue) do you have a relation between that Old One and the Egg of Coot?
When the Old One came, was the Egg of Coot already there? is the Egg of Coot some kind of "souvenir" left by that Old One? What (else) did the Old One do, on his "visit"? Why/where did he go "away"?

[Havard]

In your campaign or in other fan production (as i assume that there is no clear canon around this issue) do you have a relation between that Old One and the Egg of Coot?
When the Old One came, was the Egg of Coot already there? is the Egg of Coot some kind of "souvenir" left by that Old One?

Yatz, you ask the greatest questions!

Here are some things that could help explain.

Outer Being Hierarchy:
1. Outer Beings
2. Greater Servitors
3. Lesser Servitors


The Outer Beings are on the same level of power as the Immortals, but banned from the Multiverse. Their only way to influence the Planes is through their servitors. Lesser Servitors are creatures like the Sar-Aigu, the Serpent-Men of Davania, Beholders, Malferas, Nuckalavee etc.

Greater Servitors are much more powerful than lesser ones. They were last known to be active during the Cthonian Age. Since then they have only been referred to as the Sleeping Ones.

The encounter between the Sar Aigu and the Old One occurred towards the end of the Cthonian Age. Giving away too much about the motives of the Old Ones would take away some of the mystery surrounding them, but it seems that the Old One did not want the Sar Aigu to succeed in summoning the Outer Beings. Perhaps the Multiverse is to the Old Ones a great experiment to test the Immortals, just like the Immortals like to test mortals? Perhaps the Outer Beings represented a flaw in that test?


I don't think the Egg of Coot was connected to the Old One. Probably it was something left behind from the Cthonian Age. Possibly, the Egg was simply a spawn from that Age, the spawn of a Greater Servitor, put into stasis before its birth?

What (else) did the Old One do, on his "visit"? Why/where did he go "away"?

It seems likely that the Old One is somehow linked to the FSS Beagle. We know that the Beagle's reactor was eventually tampered with by an Old One (probably the same one). Perhaps at this early point, he was setting up the stage for the Beagle to crash?


-Havard

[Yaztromo]

[ripvanwormer]

I'd associate the god of the Sar-Aigu with the Wilderlands god Armadad Bog, the "Water God of Death" who is supposed to have fathered the Viridian race. He could also be connected to the Temple of the Frog.

I was thinking of associating him with Crakkak Sharp Tooth, the Immortal patron of the shark-kin, but Crakkak may not be evil enough to fit.