toodeep wrote:
[...] Matias is of a sect that is "mounted" by spirits, so we don't really know if Matias is Matias. Maybe he was Matias, but as part of previous events he picked up a hitchhiker "somewhere." If a spirit could be the Destroyer, he could be almost anyone. It also raises the potential for him to raise his "army" from anywhere (or one place in particular) and then turn the pre-existing forces of good into forces of.... evil. I think it is very important to keep a very close eye on the well in the coming period.
I independently had similar thoughts. While it's possible that Matias is bad, it's also possible that a spirit carried within him is causing the body to do bad things. It might be a matter of partial control or influence (comparable to the split soul some PCs can have) rather than outright control of the body.
Taking it a step further, said spirit might be happy to push it to the point of angering powerful people and warriors and on purpose to get Matias slain so that all the spirits within can escape.
My best ideas on containing the souls within Matias should they get out are to be careful on any potential death or other circumstances when they may escape:
- keep him at the Well of Souls, so hopefully escaped souls/shades will get immediately drawn into the Well
- keep him at the spirit trap in the House of the Chained [see Blessed Lands, p.. 123-24], though that may bring up the question as to which magic is more powerful: that of the spirit mount or that of the spirit trap. Those guardian spirits might be able to fight any spirits released from Matias, or maybe Matias could take the guardians away and free them.
- have multiple Wards against the Unnatural in place around him, especially from strong casters and Beltinians
We should try to think of other ways to block the shades. We also need to protect Exorcists.