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Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?
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Author:  Heidi val'Tensen [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:44 am ]
Post subject:  Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Is there a proper description of Sir Arhinus val'Holryn anywhere? In Dry Rain he is only described as a clear eyed val wearing andrean plate and wielding a longsword and shield. However, later in the module his eyes were described as 'blazing.' The module is also unclear whether his eyes are clear because they look dead or clear because he is an awakened Psionic Val.

It made me wonder if he is close enough to looking 'normal' to pass for living or not? That also made it occur to me that I don't recall any official description of how a generic Chosen of Neroth looks - aside from Sir Arhinus, all the undead I recall from modules and books are other specific kinds of undead (vampires, liches, etc). I do remember that in Spear of the Lohgin (which I unfortunately don't have access to anymore) there was an illustration of an undead knight (it may have been Sir Arhinus, or it may have been a different Knight-Protector of Ashvan whom suffered a similar fate - I don't know and can't look it up) whom looked almost normal except that he appeared gaunt (malnourished gaunt, not necessarily dead gaunt) but had glowing eyes. However, the in the descriptions in Dry Rain Sir Arhinus had glowing eyes in one scene but not in another.

So that begs the question: Do Chosen of Neroth undead, specifically (as opposed to other types of undead such as liches), not decay and instead look like they did in life, but gaunt, and have eyes that only glow in intense situations such as combat? That would explain and reconcile all the descriptions I've seen of Sir Arhinus (including Spear of the Lohgin, but again, I don't have that book anymore to double check that it is the same Knight Protector of Ashvan), but I can also see it being possible that the module just lacked a proper description out of an oversight.

I ask for these specifics because I have will soon have a PC in the 5e campaign (posted this question in this subforum, because Sir Arhinus only appears in a Legends event, not any 5e event to my knowledge) whom is being brought forward from the d20 campaign and is by pure coincidence extremely similar to Sir Arhinus (Chosen of Neroth, Milandisian Knight, follower of Hurrian, etc), and I'd like as much info as possible on exactly how she should look (I would like that to be as true to the lore as possible rather than just making something up) before I purchase and paint a new miniature (it never mattered in the D20 campaign because she had a hat-of-disguise first and glamoured / greater scintillating armor later, so her appearance was largely moot, so my gaming group and I never looked into it any further and I just kept using the same mini and description I had used when she was alive - now its going to matter a great deal). (BTW, while I attended the LARP Sir Arhinus first appeared in during the d20 campaign, I was NPCing, so I never got to interact with him or get a proper description back then either)

EDIT: for clarity, I mispoke above - she is a former Milandisian Knight, current Almerican Knight - same point though.

Author:  blackthorn [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

During a prior kickstarter project for the Blessed Lands sourcebook (for ARPG), there was a pledge level as well for the Chosen of Neroth where you can bring your character back and converted from the d20 days.

If the same flavor copy for that Chosen of Neroth resembles that of the current, it does state that your appearance is similar to that of a common zombie. It also states that you obviously retain your past memories, skills ,etc.

Hope that helps.

Joe Cirillo

Author:  Heidi val'Tensen [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Thanks Joe, that helps immensely! (though I imagine we'll look a bit more better kept than a zombie - if for no other reason than we can brush our hair and bathe if we choose to LOL)

I'm still curious about Arhinus and what he actually looks like, though - super curious if the description in the module was an oversight or if he is actually a special, unspecified type of undead.

Author:  val Holryn [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Arhinius is not one of the pyre knights from Spear of Ashvan. Separate things. (FYI, the Secret Society known as the Champions of he Silver Chalice sent the spear to the First City). I believe it's artistic license in the similarity to the descriptions of his eyes. I do not think he is psionically active based on the events of Dry Rain. But I could be wrong.

I believe up close that it's impossible NOT to realize that the knight is undead. But I believe in bad light or at a distance it's possible for him to pass as normal. That's based on my own reading of the module and with interacting with James Zweirs (Arhinious) at the first LARP at King Osric's Court.

Regardless of what Sir Arhinius does or does not look like, players have a reasonable degree of freedom to figure things out for their characters. So it's an interesting guideline but not binding in any way. I have not seen the various "undead" PCs certs which would be more binding, but I trust Joe's description. Sounds like PCs who have been Chosen by Neroth will not be able to pass without a disguise of some kind.

Author:  Heidi val'Tensen [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Indeed, Eric. Armor + mask sounds like a necessity. Good thing masks are acceptable in all nations for certain clergy LOL

Hats of disguise will also be highly sought after

EDIT: Thought I'd add - my original d20 undead cert did not include a description, but I expect that the new cert will say 'zombie' like described above. I've cool with that :)

Author:  Southernskies [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Or the services of a Deathbringer with a sharp axe...

Author:  Heidi val'Tensen [ Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Arhinus val'Holryn (NPC chosen of neroth), description?

Southernskies wrote:
Or the services of a Deathbringer with a sharp axe...


This is great on many levels... because such a Deathbringer would be obligated to destroy evil undead and protect good undead... but each deathbringer gets to decide which is which LOL

Pretty sure I'll qualify as a good one though - and I'm sure a Deathbringer would love an undead cleric of a war-god buffing and healing him ;)

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