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jordanz
Senior Scribe
553 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Jan 2015 : 20:14:17
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Kostchtchie happens to be my favorite demon lord. I'm always searching for lore pertaining to him and his origins.
Anyway per Wikipedia:
Kostchtchie started life as a hideous mortal human whose physical ugliness was matched only the ugliness of his soul. Rejection and derision from his own people only served to ferment his hatred.
Kostchtchie eventually met the legendary witch Baba Yaga, who gave him a strange container of nested skulls into which to store his soul. As long as the skulls remained hidden and unharmed, Kostchtchie was invulnerable to death.
With his newfound immortality, Kostchtchie wreaked horrible vengeance upon all those who wronged and ridiculed him. Even then, his anger was not satiated and he went on to amass a huge army to spread more misery and destruction. Finally, a celestial paragon intervened and struck him down, sending his soul into the Abyss.
There, it became lodged in the eternal ice of the Iron Wastes, a place as cold and pitiless as himself, and Kostchtchie began life anew, eventually becoming a demon lord.
then theres this from another wiki page:
Kostchtchie was once a king among the frost giants. With the help of the Maul of Brutal Endings, he challenged the elders of his frost giant tribe, quickly slaughtering his way to dominance. The Prince of Wrath was said to possess an unnatural talent for leading his tribe to ancient treasures, forgotten tombs, and other locations that harbored powerful magic weapons. He and his followers traveled aboard a flying machine called the Ark of Kwalish, with which he launched a devastating raid against the City of Brass. Kostchtchie's final act as a mortal was a daring raid against the Scalding Mountain, a volcano that rumbles in the Elemental Chaos. He and his followers defeated the devils that guarded that place. Kostchtchie alone entered the volcano's burning core in search of ancient artifacts, but he did not emerge from it. His followers scattered to the winds, and the creatures of the Elemental Chaos breathed a sigh of relief at the end of his reign. That relief was short-lived. Soon after, Kostchtchie appeared in the Abyss, larger and more powerful than ever. The newly made demon lord quickly conquered the Iron Wastes, where huge numbers of his frost giant allies have since joined him in his citadel of ice. From there, Kostchtchie has launched a crusade against the Abyss. Three minor demon lords have already fallen to the Maul of Brutal Endings, and the Prince of Wrath grows stronger each day.
Does anyone know...
What world did Kostchtchie reside on as a mortal? Was it in the Forgotten Realms or GreyHawk or somewhere else.
Was he a human or a frost giant?
What exactly did Baba Yaga turn him into before he was sent to the Abyss? Was he some type of Uber Lichor Demonic Golem Paragon?
Who was the celestial paragon that struck him down and exactly how did it manage to overcome his immortality? Just wondering if those skulls are still lying around somewhere.
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Edited by - jordanz on 31 Jan 2015 20:27:39
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Baltas
Senior Scribe
Poland
955 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2015 : 23:19:47
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The first story, is Kostchtchie's "classic" origin, from 1-3.5e, the second one, is from the Demonicon, a 4e book.
Pathfinder kind-off combines both, with Kostchtchie being originaly a human, but changed by Baba Yaga into a frost giant.
Kostchtchie might be from our reall Earth, or at least the maical version, refered in the Masque of the Red Death setting.
Kostchtchie is himself based on Koschei the Deathless, also the prototype for the lich in D&D. Oddly, the legendary Koschei was actualy a sorcerer. Although both Koschei, and Kostchtchie, got their powers from Baba Yaga. Koschei itself means bony, or skeletal, in slavic languages. |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2015 : 23:29:44
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Considering his first appearance was in Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, I'd assume he was originally native to Oerth, the world of Greyhawk.
He was originally a human then grew larger as time passed - he just identified more with frost giants than his fellow men. Both Baba Yaga's motives and methods have never been recorded - dude just grew bigger.
The celestial paragon was Gwynharwyf. I can't tell you for sure how she overcame Kostchtchie's immortality, but one would have to assume that she somehow managed to destroy the black diamond inside the quasit skull (that was the smallest of the nested skulls) which held his soul.
I recommend getting your hands on a copy of Dragon #345. It has by far the most information. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
Edited by - hashimashadoo on 31 Jan 2015 23:33:48 |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6643 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2015 : 00:03:59
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He's not native to the Realms, but he has visited on a couple of occasions.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Demzer
Senior Scribe
873 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2015 : 09:10:56
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
He's not native to the Realms, but he has visited on a couple of occasions.
-- George Krashos
Uhm ... the big Mr. K in the Realms? Could you please point me in which direction should i look? If it's something obvious i'm happy to be called names for my ignorance. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6643 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2015 : 10:49:35
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My GHotR piece for -150 DR and Ed's Ecology of the Leucrotta in Dragon Magazine #91.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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jordanz
Senior Scribe
553 Posts |
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Kostchtchie
