Signup
Welcome to... Canonfire! World of GreyhawK
Features
Postcards from the Flanaess
Adventures
in Greyhawk
Cities of
Oerth
Deadly
Denizens
Jason Zavoda Presents
The Gord Novels
Greyhawk Wiki
#greytalk
JOIN THE CHAT
ON DISCORD
    Canonfire :: View topic - Surnames
    Canonfire Forum Index -> World of Greyhawk Discussion
    Surnames
    Author Message
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Jan 17, 2004
    Posts: 40


    Send private message
    Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:10 pm  
    Surnames

    I have a question and I'm looking to pick the brains of members with vast amounts of knowledge.

    Was there any mention of Vecna or Kas's surnames, other then the titles we all know them by?

    The reason I am asking in the last 3 campaigns Ive set about building certain family surnames and such. That way my players go "Oh yea I remember him" or "Your related to Him!!!". And the other day in my twisted way I was thinking you know vecna or even kas were mortals and living at one time so what of the family name they were tied to.
    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
    Posts: 3310
    From: Michigan

    Send private message
    Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:02 am  

    I'm pretty sure neither Vecna nor Kas have ever been given surnames.
    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
    Posts: 2788
    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

    Send private message
    Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:22 pm  

    JHSII wrote:
    In game terms, however, I wouldn't worry too much about descendants of either Vecna or Kas having surnames - most people would want to avoid being associated with those names (and might even change their names to keep from that association) . . .


    I concur. The History Channel has aired programs showing that relatives of Adolf Hitler are alive and well, but they don't boast about it and most of them do not use the name "Hitler" any longer. Shocked

    I can see the same situation existing in the case of living relatives of Vecna and Kas. Wink
    _________________
    Mystic's web page: http://melkot.com/mysticscholar/index.html
    Mystic's blog page: http://mysticscholar.blogspot.com/
    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
    Posts: 3310
    From: Michigan

    Send private message
    Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:52 pm  

    On the other hand, s JHS said, I bet there are lots of people who would claim a connection to Vecna (or Kas) that doesn't really exist - especially since there are several artifacts floating around that force their bearers to believe they are Vecna. Both the bearers of the Hand and Eye and their relatives would have reason to claim a connection, not to mention countless wannabe mages, warriors, and necromancers who evoke the name purely for the notoriety.

    I wouldn't be surprised if there are lots of upstart warlords and their sycophantic kin who call themselves "Axor, blood of Kas" or "Malachai Vecnason." I think such a surname would more likely be derived from Vecna or Kas's name, since they're the famous ones, than any suname they might have bore, since neither historical figure belonged to a royal house or the like that survives in the historical record. Unless, for example, Kas secretly married into the house of Neheli as the newly arrived Suel house gave him one of their noble daughters as tribute as part of some pact.

    Vecna: Hand of the Revenant has Vecna's mother claim he's the last descendant of a line of ancient sorcerer-kings (and the Serpent backs her up on this later), but at the time of Vecna's birth their family is part of an oppressed underclass. So they might be Hans Vecnite or Yr Kasite, or Sven Tycheronite... something that evokes their supposed legendary forebears so that those few who have heard of these obscure historical figures will hopefully think more of them than they otherwise would.
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Oct 07, 2008
    Posts: 409


    Send private message
    Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:36 am  
    Hitler Name

    The Hitler name with one t that Adolf Hitler had is interesting because it was a recent name and the relatives that had it aren't going to have children to carry on the name.

    http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Hitler

    Adolf Hitler's grandfather wasn't literate and somehow got his name written as Hitler when he got married to Adolf's grandmother. Adolf's relatives that moved to New York adopted a different name and that name stops. The rest of the lines that had the name didn't have any kids.
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jan 05, 2002
    Posts: 1049
    From: Sky Island, So Cal

    Send private message
    Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:24 pm  

    rasgon wrote:
    On the other hand, s JHS said, I bet there are lots of people who would claim a connection to Vecna (or Kas) that doesn't really exist - especially since there are several artifacts floating around that force their bearers to believe they are Vecna.


    On the other other hand, if you go along with the lore created by the Living Greyhawk Keoland group (and allied states), very few people actually know of the existence, and fewer still the actual names, of Vecna and Kas. Under this interpretation, the word "Vecna" simply doesn't mean anything to the vast majority of people.

    Those few who do know what they mean are mostly members of secret organizations dedicated to destroying any record of the existence of the names and their bearers.
    _________________
    My campaigns are multilayered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matter which, quite frankly, would simply be too strong for your hobbyist gamer.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Jan 17, 2004
    Posts: 40


    Send private message
    Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:42 pm  

    Thank you for your input on the subject.
    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
    Posts: 3310
    From: Michigan

    Send private message
    Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:28 am  

    Kirt wrote:

    On the other other hand, if you go along with the lore created by the Living Greyhawk Keoland group (and allied states), very few people actually know of the existence, and fewer still the actual names, of Vecna and Kas. Under this interpretation, the word "Vecna" simply doesn't mean anything to the vast majority of people.

    Those few who do know what they mean are mostly members of secret organizations dedicated to destroying any record of the existence of the names and their bearers.


    That's my interpretation too, actually. Vecna Lives! indicates that these are very obscure figures that the PCs have to do a lot of research on to learn anything about. Part of being the god of secrets means being a fairly well-kept secret. Still, books alluding to Vecna do exist in the Great Library of Greyhawk, a few of which name his name.
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Aug 13, 2001
    Posts: 460


    Send private message
    Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:45 pm  

    It's unlikely Vecna or Kas had anything like a surname, though Vecna Lives! does imply that at one point Kas was known as "Kas of Tycheron."

    As for descendants, I find it unlikely that Vecna would desire (or suffer) any progeny. Die Vecna Die! does mention that early in his rulership (before becoming a lich) Vecna had a noblewoman executed for refusing to wed him. The work goes on to say that he never sought another wife after that. It is possible that Vecna had bastards, of course, but chances are he wouldn't allow any of them to live for long, seeing them as potential rivals.

    Unlike Vecna, we know that Kas did have children, several in fact, as he kept a "harem of concubines" (Vecna Reborn). However, we also know that he view them as rivals once they became adults, and either slew or "imprisoned them forever."
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Sep 21, 2003
    Posts: 538
    From: Germany

    Send private message
    Sun Mar 07, 2010 5:37 am  

    There was once an interesting thread about detailing the different vampire bloodlines. So Kas at least might have descendents of completely different kind.
    Display posts from previous:   
       Canonfire Forum Index -> World of Greyhawk Discussion All times are GMT - 8 Hours
    Page 1 of 1

    Jump to:  

    You cannot post new topics in this forum
    You cannot reply to topics in this forum
    You cannot edit your posts in this forum
    You cannot delete your posts in this forum
    You cannot vote in polls in this forum




    Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises

    Contact the Webmaster.  Long Live Spidasa!


    Greyhawk Gothic Font by Darlene Pekul is used under the Creative Commons License.

    PHP-Nuke Copyright © 2005 by Francisco Burzi. This is free software, and you may redistribute it under the GPL. PHP-Nuke comes with absolutely no warranty, for details, see the license.
    Page Generation: 0.33 Seconds