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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 08:01:00
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Hi!
I'm wondering if anybody knows (or can estimate) how many Chosen are spawned per god during the Sundering.
How powerful are they? How can they be recognised by others?
This question arises because quite a number of prominent characters (the drow, the High Prince of Shade and Zzass Tam) planned to sacrifice those chosen and siphon their power ...
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 08:51:00
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It's impossible to estimate the total number because so little has been written about The Sundering so far. What we have seen seems to suggest to me that there was one new Chosen per god, however, as we saw in The Companions, at least one of those Chosen may be involved with more than one god. We also have the Chosen from before gods knew about The Sundering. Since Chosen are immortal, unless they're explicitly stated as having died, we can easily assume that they're all alive.
I should note that 4th edition allowed religious Player Characters to actively pursue becoming Chosen but as of the beginning of 1479 DR there is a passage that says there are no Chosen active in the Realms who aren't exarchs (demigod servants) of their gods. I don't know exactly what to make of this passage as there were certainly Chosen from before the Spellplague who were alive during The Sundering. I'm personally assuming that they just weren't active e.g. Malik was trapped in The Supreme Throne until Cyric was freed in 1485 DR; The Chosen of Mystra lost all but their immortality until Mystra was rediscovered, etc. |
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Edited by - hashimashadoo on 21 Jan 2015 09:01:01 |
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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 09:53:49
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That's what puzzles me. I'm assuming too that a Chosen is of demigod status, so how was it possible that Netheril imprisoned a bunch of them ? Ok, they then free themselves, but still... or ok, shade princes are powerful indeed so it may (MAY) be plausible but... What about the thayans? Ok if Zzass Tam personally goes to catch them but it seems that other red wizards where involved in the kidnappings.
Probably there was some sort of "interference" between editions. After all some 5th edition adventures were on the shelves before the Next ed. release. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 12:56:22
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| The Chosen in the Sundering books seemed like just mortals with a nifty ability or two. |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 15:17:13
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Very few Chosen actually became demigods. Obould I and Fzoul Chembryl are the only ones that come to mind.
Most Chosen are immortal in that they stop aging at a certain point (either when they first become chosen or when they hit the prime of their lives if they were born Chosen like the Seven Sisters) and have drastically increased abilities, but they are still way off from demigod status. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 18:21:03
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I read the 4th Ed. FR Player's Guide again: the Chosen exists there as an Epic Destiny ... so, I can suppose that:
- following what Wooly Rupert said, in the Sundering books the authors take a poetic license in describing them
or / and,
- the gods followed a more "bhaalic" approach (Not necessarily coupling with mortals) to the spreading of their divine essence. This does not have to contradict the fact that they may still grant one exceptional character the status of THE Chosen.
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 19:20:39
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As far as the lore goes, Mystra had the first Chosen. It is hotly debated by sages as to her reason for creating them, but I believe the prevailing theory is that Ao commanded her to before her powers became too much for her to handle. So Mystra invested some of her divine power into some of her favourite mortals.
The other gods saw the effectiveness of Mystra's chosen servants and did the same with their own favoured minions, creating mortals with a direct link to their god who could effectively carry out the deity's most challenging demands without a significant investment of the resources and manpower from their churches.
Just before The Sundering, the gods became really paranoid about what Ao's reconstruction of the Tablets of Fate would do to their power and influence over Toril. Each came up with a theory and each picked a mortal servant to invest with the abilities of a Chosen to fulfil objectives that those gods believed would secure their positions in the divine order.
There was no reason based in lore as to how mortals began pursuing the mantle of Chosen in 4th edition except that maybe WotC couldn't think of anything else for Realms-specific epic destinies. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 20:17:00
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quote:
Originally posted by hashimashadoo
There was no reason based in lore as to how mortals began pursuing the mantle of Chosen in 4th edition except that maybe WotC couldn't think of anything else for Realms-specific epic destinies.
I think the reason that was in 4E was because when some players see something nifty in a book, they want it for themselves. It's similar in philosophy to the reasoning behind statting gods, and I think it caters to the same crowd. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2015 : 20:29:10
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quote:
Originally posted by hashimashadoo
As far as the lore goes, Mystra had the first Chosen. It is hotly debated by sages as to her reason for creating them, but I believe the prevailing theory is that Ao commanded her to before her powers became too much for her to handle. So Mystra invested some of her divine power into some of her favourite mortals.
In one of Ed's answers he did indicate that at least one of the Chosen was of Mystryl, IIRC there might have been others possible. It though does appear to be correct that Mystra did invest much power into the Seven Sisters in case she got killed again. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2015 : 10:25:50
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Thanks for sharing your opinions. One last question:
how can the various characters that set up plans to absorb Chosen's power been able to recognize them? With ad-hoc "detect Chosen" divination? Educated guesses or something else? |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2015 : 15:07:39
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| The netherese used their spy network to locate individuals with unusual powers. People who were immune to the cold living in frozen wastelands; people who could cast spells without any training, that kind of thing. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2015 : 17:59:06
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quote:
Originally posted by hashimashadoo
The netherese used their spy network to locate individuals with unusual powers. People who were immune to the cold living in frozen wastelands; people who could cast spells without any training, that kind of thing.
Yeah, one of the books indicated the Shades were rounding up potential Chosen, but didn't have a reliable way to actually pick them out of the crowd.
I can't say I cared for that element of those stories. |
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Victor_ograygor
Master of Realmslore
Denmark
1072 Posts |
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How many choosen there are?
