HYPERBOREA / Paladins of Hyperborea

**Posted by The Butcher** 4/06/2014 10:24 am

What races do they hail from?

What gods do they worship?

I love the Paladin class across every edition of D&D and related RPGs, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of a do-gooder warrior empowered by gods of light and justice, in a world as grim and gods-forsaken as Hyperborea.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 4/06/2014 11:00 am

I assumed Paladins would worship the lawful gods Apollo (light, sun, healing, archery, swordsmanship, music, poetry) or Artemis (hunting, forests, hills, chastity, fertility, independence), or some regional or local variant thereof. Admittedly, they are probably few and far between.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 4/06/2014 11:01 am

Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

**Posted by Crisippo** 4/06/2014 12:09 pm

I've always liked it when the Paladin is a bit of lonely figure, always struggling for Good in a world filled with Bad and heaps of grey. In Hyperborea i think they would be even lonelier.

HandyHaversack wrote:
How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day?

It's almost like you've read my campaign notes.

Last edited by Crisippo (4/06/2014 12:11 pm)

**Posted by The Butcher** 4/06/2014 2:54 pm

Handy Haversack wrote:
Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

Great ideas!

On the Ixian front, I've been thinking of a hidden monastery out in the desert, where Monks and/or Paladins pray to Mitra and train for the day when the necromancers will burn in their crypts and they will take Ix back for the worship of the Unconquered Sun.

**Posted by mabon5127** 4/06/2014 2:58 pm

The Butcher wrote:
Handy Haversack wrote:
Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

Great ideas!

On the Ixian front, I've been thinking of a hidden monastery out in the desert, where Monks and/or Paladins pray to Mitra and train for the day when the necromancers will burn in their crypts and they will take Ix back for the worship of the Unconquered Sun.

Too funny. I just introduced Mitra to my campaign.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 4/06/2014 4:32 pm

The paladins almost begin to sound like Jedi after the Empire takes over, which is kind of a cool take.

**Posted by Maezar** 4/06/2014 5:03 pm

There can always be twists in creative character creation.

I just came up with the idea of a secret cabal amongst the otherworldly servants of an evil deity, plotting to overthrow their master and secretly granting powers to a Paladin of great principle.

Or perhaps dualism could be introduced to one or more of the known gods, with an order of Paladins struggling to revive the lost "good aspect" of a diety otherwise known only as evil or uncaring -- each of then an indirect manifestation of this faded figure aiming to fulfil a prophecy of return.

A strange artifact could create paladins, reconstituting in them a knowledge which engenders ultimate dedication tenets of a forgotten faith. I'm envisioning beams of golden light scintillating from within as one is inducted into the Fellowship of the Found.

Or any other thing!

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 4/06/2014 5:07 pm

Maezar wrote:
Or perhaps dualism could be introduced to one or more of the known gods, with an order of Paladins struggling to revive the lost "good aspect" of a diety otherwise known only as evil or uncaring -- each of then an indirect manifestation of this faded figure aiming to fulfil a prophecy of return.

Mordezzan and Aurorus would be interesting choices for that schema.

**Posted by The Butcher** 4/06/2014 5:35 pm

mabon5127 wrote:
Too funny. I just introduced Mitra to my campaign.

I mostly substitute Apollo for Mitra because of the Howardian resonance. Seriously considering having an enclave founded by a lost Roman legion somewhere in my Hyperborea, and have them be Mithraic worshippers. Now that'd be a nice breeding ground for Paladins; trained by Roman centurions and called to purge Hyperborea of its evil by the Unconquered Sun!

Maezar wrote:
A strange artifact could create paladins, reconstituting in them a knowledge which engenders ultimate dedication tenets of a forgotten faith. I'm envisioning beams of golden light scintillating from within as one is inducted into the Fellowship of the Found.

Maybe a knightly order of Keltic warriors who guard and drink from a mythic chalice, from which a martyred prophet from a distant land drank on the eve of his execution?

Last edited by The Butcher (4/06/2014 5:39 pm)

**Posted by Maezar** 4/06/2014 5:48 pm

The Butcher wrote:
Maybe a knightly order of Keltic warriors who guard and drink from a mythic chalice, from which a martyred prophet from a distant land drank on the eve of his execution?

Or perhaps the chalice his very calvaria.

Last edited by Maezar (4/06/2014 5:48 pm)

**Posted by Maezar** 4/08/2014 8:11 am

Related content in my latest post in this thread:
http://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=1391#p1391

**Posted by Odysseus** 4/08/2014 3:13 pm

Since reading this post and this article about Chthonic Serpent, I thought of Ixian paladins defending the ancient cult of a Serpent god that's been usurped by the Yig Clergy.

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 1:45 am

Rather than the 'lawful' good paladin, I would be inclined to see the paladin as something more akin to what Chainsaw is suggesting: a warrior who is lawfully devout to their god's ideals, or more accurately their interpretation of their god and its ideals. In this sense they are a 'holy warrior' (in their own eyes at least). If this is the case, it doesn't really matter what god, devil or ideal the paladin serves, because they'll still see their mission and purpose as true and noble.

**Posted by Ghul** 1/27/2015 8:23 am

IMC, they are very few and far between due to the prevalence of Chaos and the omnipresent orthodoxy of Xathoqqua, which stretched beyond man and to the animal world. Like Chainsaw suggested above, I've focused on Apollo and Artemis for divine representations of the "paladin way," but I don't stretch it to the degree that you are suggesting, RB. What I have considered is more deeply aligning some paladin associations to Law; the deities being less relevant to them and more akin to "saints" in their estimation, with Law being paramount and Chaos the enemy. It is a little more of a Moorcock-inspired approach.

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 3:02 pm

Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

**Posted by Ghul** 1/27/2015 3:15 pm

Rastus_Burne wrote:
Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 3:20 pm

Ghul wrote:
Rastus_Burne wrote:
Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?
It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."

Hah, me too.

**Posted by Ghul** 1/27/2015 3:45 pm

Rastus_Burne wrote:
Ghul wrote:
Rastus_Burne wrote:
Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?
It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."
Hah, me too.

BTW -- make sure you let us know when your order to NZ arrives, RB!

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 3:47 pm

Sure, will do! Very much looking forward to it