Saturday, September 19, 2020

The Bloodlines of Tiamat

You know those role-players that insist on writing down details like their eye color? Well, we're going to make eye color matter in DnDs. 

In the beginning, the Lords of Mutability Fought the Lieges of Stability. Jokulhaups, god of renewal, remained unconcerned in the fight, viewing time as a cycle and the conflict as pointless. However, the Elder Eye, a god that switched sides and was later imprisoned for it, wormed his way into Jokulhaup's heart and rent it in twain.

From the Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Charisma of the divided god was born Tiamat, she of five heads that represented the five aspects. From Wisdom was born the god Bahamut. Being of a common origin, they created similar agents to enact their agendas, the dragons.

Bahamut has to play a patient game. He knows he can't beat Tiamat without eons of careful and considered stratagems.  Bahamut's most powerful creations are the psionic dragons, most of which became gods in their own right. Metalic dragons are also Bahamut's doing. In his wisdom, Bahamut has not deigned to rule his creations, but rather does parallel universe Mario64 Chess, prodding pieces into position.

Tiamat has five heads of five hues. Each head has endeavored to create cult and cabals throughout the cosmos. These are known as The Heads to those--usually mad prophets--who have been able to glean her designs. Unbeknownst to Tiamat herself, she is a pawn of the Elder Eye, serving as his aperture into reality and as the get out of jail card he's been manipulating for half a kalpa

So where does eye color come in? Well, if a player chose to go with red, yellow, blue, green, or black for their PC's eyes, they are already an inheritor of Tiamat's legacy. She's the dark ancestor of humanity on a spiritual level. Bahamut counts for all the other colors. No, they (probably) didn't make humans and demihumans  personally, but they have manipulated the history of the races of Midgard. 

Now this has campaign potential. At first, the GM can mention the striking eye color of certain prominent characters, then the players can start to connect the dots and get paranoid of anyone with that chroma. Then a new croma is introduced. What color were so-and-so PC's eyes again? The same color? Huh. Have you ever thought of switching sides? This agent of Tiamat would like to make you an offer, and it's really tempting... 

Of course, eye color is just a hint at what could be in the complex makeup of one's soul. In fact, when people really consciously dedicate themselves to factions, their eye colors change to match their allegiance.


The Red faction of Tiamat is all about strength. They tend to be war mongers and generals. War forever! That's the ticket! They love riling up the demihumans, especially the "ugly" ones, to keep them on hostile terms with with humanity. Keep in mind that there are many Red agents within the orc and goblinoid tribes too; they work with their human counterparts to keep tensions and racism high.


The Green faction is concerned with constitution. They are into building up their bodies to unlock strange powers. One of their favorite tools for recruitment and recreation is psychedelic substances. They hope to engineer a plague that they alone will survive. They have many emissaries in the far realms, trying to get into the good graces of aboleths and illithids.


The Black faction is about Dexterity. They operate in the shadows, seeking for a way to return the universe to oblivion. They are up for chances to defile temples, open hell-gates, and summon slaadi.



The Blue faction is Intelligence. They enjoy manipulating others into doing their bidding and acquiring arcane knowledge. Lots of evil wizards are offered the secret of lichdom for joining. Their end game is another Gigantomachy. They were behind Venca, Zargon, and Kyuss. They'll be sipping amontillado as they watch the world go boom.


The White faction is Charisma. They tend to recruit kings, barons, and other politicians. Many vampires fill their ranks. Trump is one of their representatives in our reality. Let the rabble squabble for scraps while the White faction has their cake.

It is said, let not one head known what the other is doing, and may the best faction win. However, the great high priestess of Tiamat secretly helps all the factions. She has a diadem with three gemstones of different hues in addition to heterochromatic eyes. Sometimes she loses track of herself for days-long blackouts. She assumes that Tiamat takes her over at these times, but it is the Elder Eye. His name is Tharizdun, but it's such a blasphemous name that memory of it was sealed away.

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