Canonfire!

Wed Jul 23, 2014 11:53 am Temple of Tiamat?

I am sending a group on a quest to uncover a powerful magic item that is being held in an ancient and forgotten Temple to Tiamat (The Herald of Hell). With that being said, would you expect a "normal" cliche ancient temple or would you expect it to be ornately adorned? I'll put in some round doorways and such to make it a little different, but otherwise, what are your thoughts? I'm pretty old school, so none of this Katy Perry type gaming! <--I don't know that guy Happy

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No one ever suspects the gnomes

Wed Jul 23, 2014 2:49 pm

I thought Hextor was the Herald of Hell? Of course, I am just three editions behind at this point. There is a lot of material on what a temple to Hextor would be like in the post Greyhawk wars material, especially Ivid the Undying.

As for a temple of Tiamat, I am really not sure what it would be like. Were the worshippers humans or dragons? I think in either case it should be built on something resembling a draconic scale.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 3:58 pm Re: Temple of Tiamat?

Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:26 pm

Someone drew up a Temple of Tiamat as a pretty old-school dungeon here, with a strong Mesopotamian flavor.

Here's a temple of Tiamat from the Ghostbusters comic book.

This page at Wizards.com contains a map of the Altar of Scales, a temple complex devoted to Tiamat and apparently hidden within a city.

And yes, Hextor is the Herald of Hell.

I don't know what the hell "Katy Perry type gaming" is, so if anything I've linked to above qualifies, I apologize.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:55 pm

Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:30 pm

If it was me I'd consider what type of culture built the temple, what their architecture might be like, and design accordingly. For me, beyond basic themes, it's the worshipers who determine what the temples look like, not the gods. Tiamat just wants your devotion; she doesn't care how many steps there are up to the altar.

Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:37 am

Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:01 am

Uptognomegood,

Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:45 am

Red Hand of Doom has a fully mapped and populated Fane of Tiamat complete with cultists although as I recall most were hobgoblins.

This location was then updated for 4E in the first 4E Draconomicon.

Living Greyhawk made Red Hand of Doom canon and placed the adventure in western Sterich so it's technically official GH material. Doesn't really fit the ancient and forgotten part of what you want but could be adapted.

Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:10 pm

Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:11 pm

Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:27 am

I'm pretty "old school" as well (2e fan to boot). Here are my ideas.

To give it a Greyhawk feel, with Greyhawk Power overtures, how about adding Beltar's influence to the temple, perhaps with some of her servants (and/or clerics). Beltar, a Suel goddess, is known to take the shape of a red dragon, and even seeks for her clergy to make pacts or alliances (such as they are with a powerful Chaotic Evil beast of such colossal power) with red dragons (among other extremely deadly creatures). Why not Tiamat? She is, after all, the most powerful of ALL the chromatics. Thusly, perhaps adding a 'Beltarian' flavor to your temple could ground it with Greyhawk roots. Finally, Beltar is known to 'reward' her higher level clerics with undeath, complete with their clerical powers. These undead clergy could serve as permanent guardians to your temple.

And if you don't want to toss in a dormant drake to your temple, there's always dracoliches (depending upon the power level of your PCs, of course).

-Lanthorn

Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:14 am

Well done, Lanthorn.

- D

Sun Jul 27, 2014 4:51 am

FWIW, Len Lakofka included Bahamut and Tiamat as "honorary" members of the Suel pantheon. They were to some degree worshiped in the Suel Imperium.

Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:50 am

Depending on how you interpret alignment in your campaign, there might be a conflict between the chaotic evil Beltar and the lawful evil Tiamat. Tiamat might be more closely allied with Wee Jas (the Suel pantheon is said to be polarized along the chaotic-lawful axis), considering Beltar to be a hated rival.

On the other hand, maybe Wee Jas's more neutral form of law is anathema to Tiamat's view of universal order and the wild, spiteful Beltar, safely distant in her cave in Tarterus, is viewed as the less aggravating adversary.

The Earth Dragon worshiped by the Slave Lords might be associated with (or even another name for) Tiamat as well. Slavers presented the Earth Dragon as more of an elemental being or nature spirit, but I think a Tiamat cult is more interesting.

Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:00 am

Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:26 am

BlueWitch said:

Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:43 am