New thread breaking off from the children of dragons thread so we can remain on topic there, but further explore Abalach-Re and the city of Raam.
I think all the SMs are crazy. They’ve lived for eternities, and all done, seen, and experienced countless things, both good and bad. There’s no way they haven’t been broken themselves a few times along the way.
That being said, just saying she’s crazy or doesn’t care seems a great disservice to AR. I want to know more about her motivations and reasoning, the whys and hows of her crazy. She’s one of the most interesting SMs there is. She took Raam: the wealthiest of the cities (at least until its gem mines ran dry), and the birthplace of “modern” Tarandan psionic teaching/thought. She orchestrated the attack and assassination of Dregoth, who by all rights should have curb-stomped everyone (with the possible exception of Hamanu, if you want to play up Hamanu’s “specialness”), and then proceeded to systematically loot his research and treasure. She also (according to the adventures) did that whole Rafernard scheme and—by the rules as written—will succeed in an epic spell she made to skip 4 defiler metamorphosis steps unless the PCs stop her. That all speaks to a lot of motivation, smarts, and planning on her part. On top of all that, her relationship with her city (open rebellion, borderline anarchy), her relationship with motherhood (simply labelling her a slut who can’t figure out birth control—which I think a lot of people do, unfortunately—is just lazy and misogynistic), the Badna religion . . .
Yes, she’s crazy. But her crazy is INTERESTING, on so many levels.
I am not a fan calling everything that doesn’t make sense to us crazy. I think it originates from Hollywood Hitler in the movies, where Hitler is crazy, mentally ill. I think he probably wasn’t mentally ill (“crazy”), but this Hollywood Hitler template is the basic template we are dealing with whenever thinking of a dictator. I think that most of the SKs are probably sane, it’s just that we cannot comprehend what it means to be an immortal and virtual demigod.
I would say that Abalach-Re is bored. She has seen everything and done everything imaginable. So she purposely creates chaos in her city for her amusement. The idea of one of her templars being mugged in an alleyway is hilarious to her.
It’s ironic that Dregoth has the planar gate because Abalach-Re would be the first to say sayonara to Athas if she knew it was possible to leave.
MOAR ideas about Raam and Abalach-Re, please.