Dorl Tavyani's Journal
Oct. 28th, 2002 10:07 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ralphmelton.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ralph_dndIt would be cool to write a full journal for Dorl Tavyani. On the other hand, it would be extremely tedious for you to wade through all the self-aggrandizing to the good parts, and it would be extremely tedious for me to write it all. So instead, you're getting the "good parts" version, on an assumption that you know what to read for. The biggest down side in doing so is that it's harder for me to slip in red herrings and emotional content, but I'll do my best.
It is quickly apparent from reading Dorl Tavyani's journal (and from talking to him) that Dorl Tavyani has a reality distortion field of the strongest nature. Everything he says sounds reasonable when you hear it, at least until you go away for a bit--and his curse is that he never gets to go away from himself to the place where the foolishness is revealed. (It is a DM's prerogative to include snide parodies of president/chief scientist/CEOs of our acquaintance.)
Year 434. Dorl Tavyani starts his adventuring career at the age of 25, having learned a bit of illusion from a pipe-smoking gnome named Gerriman.
Over the course of several years, he carries out a number of splendid and dangerous quests, with minor and inconsequential assistance from a number of companions of no particular note. Not only that, he manages to look good doing it.
He doesn't stay with any one set of companions for more than a few adventures.
Year 439. Dorl Tavyani purchases his first green-bladed sword. From close reading, it sounds like it is not terribly magical. But it goes well with his outfit.
Year 442. Dorl Tavyani adopts the green-bladed sword as part of his personal heraldry.
Year 447. Dorl Tavyani is alarmed by the discovery of his first incipient wrinkle. This terrifying confrontation with mortality starts him on the path of experimenting with a variety of life-preserving and beauty-preserving potions and treatments. This becomes an increasingly expensive obsession with him that lasts the rest of his life. On the plus side, these things work better than in real life, so he stays fresh-looking until death (and beyond).
Year 456. In his continuing obsession with preserving youth and beauty, Dorl Tavyani hits upon the idea of becoming a demigod. (Dorl never thinks small...) He starts obsessively researching every story he can uncover of mortals ascending to divinity, and trying to discern the common elements.
Year 457. Dorl Tavyani starts talking about his godhood as a fait accompli (without fully explaining why he's made the switch). He switches his priorities to building a temple to himself.
Year 460. The temple is not yet completed, but Dorl Tavyani recruits an itinerant priest named Kyoon Orbiss to start spreading the good word. (Dorl Tavyani seems to think that Kyoon Orbiss is a sincere convert.)
Year 462. The "first temple" is completed. (Dorl Tavyani describes plans for a second and third temple, but there's little evidence of any other temples ever happening.) Kyoon Orbiss takes up residence as high priest.
There are daily miracle shows, in which Dorl flies out of the secret passage in a puff of smoke, creates programmed illusions of aerial monsters, and nobly defeats the monsters. (There is never any explanation of whether or how Dorl Tavyani provides any healing miracles.)
[OOC: there's a question of whether people would be so credulous about gods in a world where illusions work. My rationalizations:
- Even though there's more evidence of illusion magic than in our world, there's also more attested stories of divine ascensions than in our world, too.
- Even in our world, there are enough gullible people to build a cult around some strange and unsubstantiated things.]
Year 468. Dorl Tavyani begins writing his memoirs; everything earlier in this journal is actually his memoirs as of years 468-469.
Year 470. A supplicant arrives at the temple with an excellent pair of weapons: a beautiful green sword and green dagger. The supplicant says that the green sword means Death and the green dagger means Disease. Dorl Tavyani covets the sword and demands it as a sacrifice. There are oblique references to High Priest Orbiss handling the problem; the net result in Tavyani's journal is that the supplicant offers both weapons as tribute.
Dorl Tavyani immediately adopts the sword as his favorite, because it's very pretty and sparkly and matches his symbol.
Year 471. Dorl Tavyani is still continuing his researches into immortality. He's doing so surreptitiously, because of the need to maintain a public face. He wonders about the noted longevity of elves, and muses about kidnaping an elf or two for experimental purposes.
December, 475. Dorl Tavyani gets peeved at the dagger, because it's not nearly as good-looking as the sword, and disease isn't nearly as cool as death, and it's pricking him all the time. He commands Priest Orbiss to have it sold off.
January, 476. Dorl Tavyani fusses about a stain on the floor near the west wall of the sanctuary. He demands that the servants work extra-hard on cleaning that off.
late January, 476. Dorl Tavyani hints that he's feeling unwell. He increases the amount of money he's spending on curing magics.
March, 476. Dorl commissions a larger, thicker tapestry to cover the black stain on the west wall.
June, 476. In the middle of a performance, Dorl suddenly feels a sharp spike of fiery pain wracking his body. He barely makes it back to the secret door, flies badly down to the chamber, and is horribly sick for the rest of the day.
September 17, 476.
(Dorl Tavyani stops dating entries.) With nothing but his preservative magics in his study with him, Dorl Tavyani slowly wastes away in his study. His fervent belief in his own divinity prevents him from acknowledging his fear of the dragon-beast--from a casual reading, it seems he just chose to stay in his study for quite a few journal entries.
(50-odd entries later.) After a point, he starts rationing his medicines, trying to consume half a dose, then a quarter, to save it indefinitely. The disease returns, and he spends days curled up in a fetal position, racked with pain that feels like he's on fire. His writing becomes increasingly shaky.
(30-odd entries later.) There is no indication of time, but it seems that the entries are coming less frequently. Dorl writes with shaky scrawls about how he's having trouble holding the pen, and sometimes it seems to fall through his fingers. He draws incoherent analogies to other deities, and the trials they went through on the route to their ascension.
(8 widely-spaced entries later.) Dorl is aware of a change coming across him. It's increasingly difficult for him to hold the pen, and it's not just the fever making him weak--the fever seems to be eroding his flesh as well.
The last entry:
It is quickly apparent from reading Dorl Tavyani's journal (and from talking to him) that Dorl Tavyani has a reality distortion field of the strongest nature. Everything he says sounds reasonable when you hear it, at least until you go away for a bit--and his curse is that he never gets to go away from himself to the place where the foolishness is revealed. (It is a DM's prerogative to include snide parodies of president/chief scientist/CEOs of our acquaintance.)
Year 434. Dorl Tavyani starts his adventuring career at the age of 25, having learned a bit of illusion from a pipe-smoking gnome named Gerriman.
Over the course of several years, he carries out a number of splendid and dangerous quests, with minor and inconsequential assistance from a number of companions of no particular note. Not only that, he manages to look good doing it.
He doesn't stay with any one set of companions for more than a few adventures.
Year 439. Dorl Tavyani purchases his first green-bladed sword. From close reading, it sounds like it is not terribly magical. But it goes well with his outfit.
Year 442. Dorl Tavyani adopts the green-bladed sword as part of his personal heraldry.
Year 447. Dorl Tavyani is alarmed by the discovery of his first incipient wrinkle. This terrifying confrontation with mortality starts him on the path of experimenting with a variety of life-preserving and beauty-preserving potions and treatments. This becomes an increasingly expensive obsession with him that lasts the rest of his life. On the plus side, these things work better than in real life, so he stays fresh-looking until death (and beyond).
Year 456. In his continuing obsession with preserving youth and beauty, Dorl Tavyani hits upon the idea of becoming a demigod. (Dorl never thinks small...) He starts obsessively researching every story he can uncover of mortals ascending to divinity, and trying to discern the common elements.
Year 457. Dorl Tavyani starts talking about his godhood as a fait accompli (without fully explaining why he's made the switch). He switches his priorities to building a temple to himself.
Year 460. The temple is not yet completed, but Dorl Tavyani recruits an itinerant priest named Kyoon Orbiss to start spreading the good word. (Dorl Tavyani seems to think that Kyoon Orbiss is a sincere convert.)
Year 462. The "first temple" is completed. (Dorl Tavyani describes plans for a second and third temple, but there's little evidence of any other temples ever happening.) Kyoon Orbiss takes up residence as high priest.
There are daily miracle shows, in which Dorl flies out of the secret passage in a puff of smoke, creates programmed illusions of aerial monsters, and nobly defeats the monsters. (There is never any explanation of whether or how Dorl Tavyani provides any healing miracles.)
[OOC: there's a question of whether people would be so credulous about gods in a world where illusions work. My rationalizations:
- Even though there's more evidence of illusion magic than in our world, there's also more attested stories of divine ascensions than in our world, too.
- Even in our world, there are enough gullible people to build a cult around some strange and unsubstantiated things.]
Year 468. Dorl Tavyani begins writing his memoirs; everything earlier in this journal is actually his memoirs as of years 468-469.
Year 470. A supplicant arrives at the temple with an excellent pair of weapons: a beautiful green sword and green dagger. The supplicant says that the green sword means Death and the green dagger means Disease. Dorl Tavyani covets the sword and demands it as a sacrifice. There are oblique references to High Priest Orbiss handling the problem; the net result in Tavyani's journal is that the supplicant offers both weapons as tribute.
Dorl Tavyani immediately adopts the sword as his favorite, because it's very pretty and sparkly and matches his symbol.
Year 471. Dorl Tavyani is still continuing his researches into immortality. He's doing so surreptitiously, because of the need to maintain a public face. He wonders about the noted longevity of elves, and muses about kidnaping an elf or two for experimental purposes.
December, 475. Dorl Tavyani gets peeved at the dagger, because it's not nearly as good-looking as the sword, and disease isn't nearly as cool as death, and it's pricking him all the time. He commands Priest Orbiss to have it sold off.
January, 476. Dorl Tavyani fusses about a stain on the floor near the west wall of the sanctuary. He demands that the servants work extra-hard on cleaning that off.
late January, 476. Dorl Tavyani hints that he's feeling unwell. He increases the amount of money he's spending on curing magics.
March, 476. Dorl commissions a larger, thicker tapestry to cover the black stain on the west wall.
June, 476. In the middle of a performance, Dorl suddenly feels a sharp spike of fiery pain wracking his body. He barely makes it back to the secret door, flies badly down to the chamber, and is horribly sick for the rest of the day.
September 17, 476.
A thousand curses on that accursed mage!
During the second ceremony today, there was a new visitor in attendance, who gave her name as Elyssisoriel, called Starhand. Dorl Tavyani was delighted at the opportunity to share his glory with such a renowned mage.
But the witch showed no respect whatsoever! Just after Dorl Tavyani had manifested to defeat the first amergina, the Starhand shouted out that it was "nothing but a cheap illusion". She continued her vile diatribe, saying "I came to plead for help understanding and defeating the plague that consumes our land. But I see I need not ask about the plague--I see it right here before me."
Dorl Tavyani's rage was immense, and he was preparing to throw her out on her ear for not showing due respect. But then, there was a horrid eruption from the right wall, and a snarling horror of black, scaly menace came out.
Dorl Tavyani was unwilling to grace such a blasphemous site with his presence, and departed for the inner sanctum. Let the horrid mage defeat the dragon-thing and apologize for her heresy, and then Dorl Tavyani may return to his temple.
(Dorl Tavyani stops dating entries.) With nothing but his preservative magics in his study with him, Dorl Tavyani slowly wastes away in his study. His fervent belief in his own divinity prevents him from acknowledging his fear of the dragon-beast--from a casual reading, it seems he just chose to stay in his study for quite a few journal entries.
(50-odd entries later.) After a point, he starts rationing his medicines, trying to consume half a dose, then a quarter, to save it indefinitely. The disease returns, and he spends days curled up in a fetal position, racked with pain that feels like he's on fire. His writing becomes increasingly shaky.
(30-odd entries later.) There is no indication of time, but it seems that the entries are coming less frequently. Dorl writes with shaky scrawls about how he's having trouble holding the pen, and sometimes it seems to fall through his fingers. He draws incoherent analogies to other deities, and the trials they went through on the route to their ascension.
(8 widely-spaced entries later.) Dorl is aware of a change coming across him. It's increasingly difficult for him to hold the pen, and it's not just the fever making him weak--the fever seems to be eroding his flesh as well.
The last entry:
At last, I have become... immortal
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no subject
Date: 2002-10-29 12:49 pm (UTC)Empire-wide timekeeping went down along with most other empire-wide practices.
no subject
Date: 2002-10-29 01:12 pm (UTC)Are characters aware that it used to be done this way? That is, is the correct reaction closer to "wow, this was back before the fall" or "wow, that emperor lived almost 500 years"? (Yes, I realize that we have other evidence that dates Dorl Tavyani; I'm asking a broader question.)
no subject
Date: 2002-10-29 01:43 pm (UTC)