#arnisant

(art by nrcgray on DeviantArt)

People often wonder if there is such a thing as fate, or destiny, and if there is, what is theirs? Unfortunately for a lot of legendary heroes, that fate is often dying doing something really badass and heroic, a final sacrifice that opens the door of victory for those that survive them.

Such was the fate of General Arnisant of Taldor, famed for daring to be bold enough to offer Taldaris’s Bequeathal, the legendary armor and treasure of the Taldan Royal Family, to then-demigoddess Iomedae to secure her aid against the Whispering Tyrant in the Shining Crusade (an act that almost got him executed by the Grand Prince at the time). His other daring act was when he bore the Shield of Aroden against the Tyrant himself, and the shield itself sacrificed itself to save him from a spell that would have ripped his heart from his chest. What Tar-Baphon got instead was a shard of that shield embedded in his hand, still blazing with holy power.

Despite this victory, however, Arnisant still died that day, and the lich was sealed away, the fragments of the shield enshrined in honor of him forever.

That is until the events of the Tyrant’s Grasp AP, in which Tar-Baphon figured out how to weaponize the remaining shards, until even that blew up in his face thanks to yet another noble sacrifice. Sucks to suck, Baphy m’boy.

However, those events have made serious changes to the setting that might make actually calling upon Arnisant’s spirit (which is today’s subject) a bit difficult if you First Edition games take place after those events.

See, the original method of calling on Arnisant was to either go to the War College in Vigil (impossible now) or a site of a battle of the Shining Crusade (dangerous) and swear an oath to lay low every undead you meet and drink a tincture made from the remains of an undead creature you have personally slain (symbolically representing your prior adherence to that oath and also a test of fortitude, because gross).

Still, for those that seek great resilience, especially with a shield, they might seek out the spirit despite these difficulties to become another adamant defender of the people.

Those that choose to take a taboo when invoking Arnisant feel a compulsion to protect all others, even defeated enemies. However, this obviously doesn’t extend to creatures that are an obvious and current threat.

Most guardian spirits grant the ability to absorb incoming damage of all stripes, but Arnisant, who was most famously seen wielding the Shield of Aroden, empowers the medium’s shield, improving it’s defensive power. Additionally, if an attack or spell would kill or permanently in capacitate the mystic, Arnisant can sacrificially absorb the effect, negating it but banishing the spirit from the medium, leaving them without their spirit based abilities until their next séance. Even then, calling back Arnisant later requires ceding a bit more influence for that session.

A fairly simple modification to the guardian spirit, but a rewarding one if you’d rather wield a shield and get a sweet AC bonus. The ability to negate a single effect or attack that would remove you from the occasion is also really fun, because even in your diminished state, you cans till do more than you could if you were dead. I can definitely see this spirit being used on melee-heavy builds that alternate between champion and guardian for the most part.

We’ve talked up the in-setting history of this spirit a great deal, but the spirit can easily be reflavored to fit any setting. On that note, however, we must ask the question of why certain mediums seek out the legendary general. Some might do so out of a desire to honor such a legendary savior who made the ultimate sacrifice, however, some might view him as a patron of those that wish to emulate him, which might attract those that deep down feel they don’t deserve to live. A heavy topic to be sure and not for every table, but one that might be worth exploring in the right environment.

They say that Sebran of Loknan was never honored in life, only in death. One hundred years ago, the young half-elf gave their life defending the city of Aelhome from invaders, and now the elves erect statues of him as if he had always been theirs. Perhaps this is why his spirit has never answered the call of an elven medium save for the greatest of need.

When the party’s ship is wrecked after accidentally wandering into the tendrils of a whaler jellyfish, the party wakes up on the shore of an island that clearly shows signs of being abandoned sometime in the past. There, among the ruined structures is a temple and a broken shield, one that still carries the spirit of the one that died defending it to the last.