The Most Romanceable God in D&D is a Lich
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Evening Glory is one of the lesser known, yet most intriguing, deities in the massive pantheon of Dungeons and Dragons. As a god of both love and undeath, she presents some really interesting questions for player and character alike!
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00:00 - INTRO
00:50 - THE PART WITH THE AD
02:15 - WHO IS EVENING GLORY?
08:44 - THE AMBER TEMPLE
10:55 - MISTY FORTUNES AND ABSENT HEARTS
12:27 - ESMAE THE WITCH
16:23 - GLOVIA
18:18 - GRAXXYGAK
19:39 - IVAN
20:16 - OMOU
22:52 - OBSESSION
25:05 - THE RITUAL
29:44 - FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks for watching everyone! What wild, weird, or fascinating tale from D&D's history would you like to see next time?
As you've been not limiting yourself to D&D and listing history, I think it'd be fun to educate the newbies (DM's and players) with The Tale of Old Man Henderson
I am playing a similar character to her 3e version right now with slight differences. I am playing a character who seeks to put an end to death, suffering, and loss by creating undead who maintain their personality and are not bound to his will as undead slaves, but instead, are free to protect their loved ones or pursue other life works. He is on the path to lichdom because one lifetime can't be enough time to solve "perfect undeath" or someone would have done so by now but he also has no desire to feed on souls seeing it as a necessary, temporary evil that must be done to solve the greater injustice of mortality. Also my DM has allowed my character, perhaps inadvisably, to find a ritual allowing my character to become a minor god via the ritual sacrifice of the rest of the party. So the possibility of becoming a lawful neutral lich god is laid out before him, if he is willing to pay the price.
A overview of the craziness of the cult of Thoon would be interesting
Kyuss
Some Elder Evil shenanigans? I think it would be fun to delve into the cosmic madness of older editions and mayhaps some ways to bring them into 5e?
So they had a goddess of undead that wasn't evil, and for her only inclusion in 5e they decided to make her evil? boo.
Sounds like a chance for a redemption arc waiting to happen.
That's WoTC for you. Ruining what we love to make a quick buck.
I'm STILL mad about spelljammer, I'm actually glad they didn't re-release Dark Sun. Just wing it, it'll work out far better.
I wouldn't call her evil, more desperate. If there was an aligment shift I would rule it to Chaotic Neutral not to evil.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusketI don't think it's fair to compare box set whose shape was decided on the corporate level, and what was probably a single writer sneaking a single reference to an adventure of lore probably only they remembered. If it was WotC's job the entire campaign would be about Raven Queen and Orcus with no mention of Evening Glory.
@@LegendStormcrowthe we can fix her people xD
Well, you know what they say: Romance is dead.
Nice
You can't spell necromancer without romance
This comment scores a crit
*undead
@@antoninperron1307 Neck romancer 😂
She puts the romance in necromancy
That’s a good one
I love it!
I would say she gives the romantic to the necromantic.
I have to ask myself if YOUR mother had any children who lived.
one can say she
raised it
*Me at the beginning:* “Oh, this is so cool! I love when they do unusual things with deities instead of sticking to the obvious dichotomies. A True Neutral love deity? A non-Evil god of undeath? And you can see how easily this could be bad for the mortals involved, because even a lesser deity has a different perspective on things. You could get so many interesting stories out of this! I want to play a Paladin of this god!”
*Me by the end:* “…Oh, of course, because the most interesting thing you could possibly do with one of your few non-Evil gods of undeath is corrupt them. Obviously. That’s what people wanted, right? For this multiverse to become LESS nuanced & interesting? Ugh…”
100000% agree
Yeah, DnD uses undeath very poorly.
I mean you can just ignore the second half and have fun with the concept? It's not like any dm uses 5e canon anyway.
Bot now, you have the option, to work to break the chain of obsession, it is hard, but it isn't natural to her, so it is possible to break that chain. Least story wise, could be interesting to try. Not redemption, not saving, but love of a goddess for nothing more than care of a soul once so kind, for it is only in true kindness, honesty, and or love, can one break an obsession born of twisted malice.
Least could be. (To be clear I do agree, but it can be a fun angle to work with.)
Kinda want to run a campaign centered around the party finding the locket and working to purify her before releasing her.
Maybe it's just me, but I find the original version of Evening Glory way more interesting. She did something legitimately new with undeath, while the new version feels more generic.
100% agree, plus this version of Evening Glory defines the Ravenloft Dark Powers, and that's a huge no from me. The Dark Powers are supposed to be undefined, they aren't supposed to be some evil beings trapped in amber.
I've been pretty unimpressed with most 5th edition Ravenloft lore in general, so that's not new.
@@r4z0rv1n3I'd agree with that too. It's so hard to do a Big Reveal like that that isn't a huge letdown; the only times I've seen it work are when it's planned from the beginning, which definitely isn't the case here.
I disagree, Evening Glory does not need to be a dark power technically. I also find her story of obsession compelling. It's not perfect but I would not call it generic. (I do love both versions though)
to be honest, the fact that the dark powers were never defined was always the very thing I most hated about them. Sure it makes sense to leave a few boxes here and there empty for the DMs to fill on their own, but the Dark powers are the equivalent of handing your DM the blank character sheet back to them and saying _"you_ write it for me."@@r4z0rv1n3
that said, I also agree that the original version of Evening Glory was more interesting.
Why can't they be the same? Maybe the heroes can repair her? Return her to her true self, when she is only what she is because of where she is.
The goth girlfriend archetype has truly ascended (quite literally apparently).
Evening Glory would absolutely adore the Addams Family.
Morticia and Gomez are head over heals for each other.
The family loves and supports one another.
They love everything dark and morbid, and unashamed of it.
Goth.
The Addams would probably forget/ignore that Evening Glory is a god and treat her like a family friend.
My skills of art betray me as I will never be able to draw this (and does this justice) for this upsets me 😔😔
I can see them not really caring she's a god, just that she's a nice person and proves the undead are lovely people unlike like the monsters humans make them out to be. Not just that, but Evening Glory would absolutely be the cause of the Adam's Family seemingly ageless immortality throughout the years. They'd see her as a wonderful friend and welcome her into their home with love in their hearts, and she'd allow them to live on forever without fear of separation from their family members in death.
Ah yes here are my Hechmen : the crazy necromancer mother
The ghost of a half dragon half troll
The leper cursed to be a mongrel
And Wario
To be fair, as far as characters to randomly throw into a story go wario is oddly very fitting
That sounds to me just like a typical party of player characters
in my homebrew campaign, i've made a whole region devoted to the worship of the older version of evening glory. she's legitimately my favorite d&d deity and she needs more love. thank you for covering her!!
Well, I'm stealing her for mine. 😂
All cleric party who get stuck in Barovia. They all worship old Evening Glory. They're horrified to find the twisted evil version there. Campaign becomes about finding the components to a ritual which will restore her to rights.
Yep. I'm still in the veggie chopping stage of my world, and didn't even start brewing. Totally creating a region devoted to her.
I played a warforged paladin of her. Had fallen in love with an Erinyes that he had traveled with to help her punish a demon that had harmed each of us.
Oh, you know I'm making a cleric or paladin of Evening Glory
My favorite PC was a Death Cleric of Evening Glory.
Make him look like Brock from Pokemon lololol
Perfect for a paladin/undead warlock.
Lore idea: Option the Fourth, Esme's ritual succeeds, but something unexpected occurs as the essence of two mortals merge with that of the corrupted Evening Glory. Something inconceivable. Tatiana, the mortal hunted across reincarnation, who has resisted the fangs of Obsession for countless lifetimes, grants Evening Glory the will to purge herself of its corruption. Esme's soul is cast out from the fusion, becoming a wailing ghost to hound Strahd's footsteps. The Awakened Evening Glory flees into the mists of Barovia, unable to leave while bound to the target of Strahd's obsession, yet unwilling to abandon the unyielding mortal that saved her.
And when Strahd learns what has occurred, a hunt begins that will culminate in a final battle between the forces of Eternal Love and Undying Obsession.
Honestly, this would probably be my version of what happens too, and I think it would make for a great campaign or novel, or if done right, would make for a great adventure choice for a video game.
Man, that concept for 3e is also so... bittersweet.
This IDEA of life, and love, and happiness. Eternal beauty and youth. Even regular undead CHANGE, they rot away; her undead don't. They're total stasis. Total STAGNANCY. Isn't part of love the growth, the decline, the heartbreak, the lessons? You can't experience love, experience the pains and joys of growing with someone, like that. It's living (un)life in a photograph; beautiful and meaningful and wonderful in so many ways, and yet still not... the full experience. It's trying to preserve life in glass.
This is exactly how I interpret the concept as well. It’s definitely something I can understand the appeal of, but it certainly has its dark side.
A better version of love, then
I disagree completely. If life was eternal or at least much longer it would just be our normal. Calling something wrong or "not the full experience" just because it's different is very narrow minded.
@@xXSamir44Xx i think you willfuly misinterpreted what OP said. They said that part of love is endings. Heartbreak is an inherent part of love, everlasting love is what's unnatural.
In 3.5 it says Evening Glory was the goddess of preservation of love at any cost.
Valentine one shot with main NPC "Evernia Gloria" thats guides the party through the city as they celebrate the day of the Eternal Love.
Not a plot twist, Evernia Gloria is Evening Glory herself and the Day of the Eternal Love is her holiday.
Thanks most of my players are complete newbies that don't know anything about the lore so I thought It be a good idea to introduce them this way
@@putthewrath9450 Since they don't know about her or any of the lore, you can keep her original incarnation and nothing will be wrong or lost.
Omg shes perfect for an NPC I'm building for my party! He's a human necromancer who's trying to bring the love of his life back after binding her soul to his shadow in order to save her.
Im gonna make the quest he gives "please, seek out this goddess and convince her to help me. In any way you can. If you do, I will grant your party anything you desire."
I don't know. I think Adassec the God of going up and down stairs & ladders is the most romantic diety of all
Using Yennefer as the stand-in for the crazy Witch is wild. Accurate, but wild. lol.
Crazy witch in love... that's literally the description of Yennefer Von Vengerberg .
Using Evening Glory as an undead patron for a warlock after curse of strahd could be fun as it allows for the player and her to unknowingly be looking for a cure for her obsession
Trying to get her back to her old self would be a pretty good adventure hook. Since her followers are almost all undead there are bound to be those who have been around since she got trapped in Barovia and remember what she used to be like. On finding out that she has come back but become twisted in the process they dangle money, the threat of a new dark deity and possibly immortality in front of a group of adventurers to see who can help fix their goddess.
First time I heard of Evening Glory was through a meme, using that template of Gru from Despicable Me. I don't remember any details, but it went something like this.
1: Turn some person into a vampire.
2: Make them a cleric of Evening Glory.
3: Get fucked by the vampire.
4: Wait, what?
Well, there goes subverting our expectations, right out the window. Too bad. Up to that point, it was something out of the ordinary, a unique entity. Now she's not much different than every other crazy undead entity.
You raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly. Bravo...
I mean you could just ignore the second half and work with the first concept of her? Most DMs homebrew everything anyway.
I'm with Wes, just ignore her corruption and, if so desired, her involvement with Barovia at all and keep her True Neutral.
Ignore what the 5e writers do. Theyre morons and they continue to pervert the game for their own vision. Embrace the Old Lore and Old Gods. They were better.
When you try to subvert every expectation, all that you end up subverting is the audience's expectation of quality.
@@JoshuaRWorkman
I can see it now, Some upjumped PC be finna wanting to donut Evening Glory for what happened in Barovia and EG is like "Huh?"
I think a Lich of Evening Glory would make a really great sympathetic villain. Someone like Dr. Henry Killinger from Venture Bros.; unflappable, undead, and unstoppable, but they only want what's best for the person/people/thing they're fighting for, and truly care about those they love. Maybe the former BBEG of the world died, and they're trying to train up a new person as their replacemen, acting as their parent figure in the process. Or maybe their former lover died during/before the lichification process, and now they're trying to make their dreams come true, through whatever means necessary. Heck, you could even have them be the 'evil ruler' of a whole nation of willing Undead that has decided to go on the offensive after centuries of raids by the living and the less-willing Undead. There's so much potential!
Also, that intro was awesome.
Undead relationship counselor is a fun angle for a lich.
I remember seeing a challenge to do a nation ruled by the Undead that has a good alignment. My idea is that they have a culture that has a lot of emphesis on public service, responsiblity, and ensuring the prosperity of one's family. Becoming an Undead is seen as part of a service to the larger community, and something that isn't permenent, you will eventually go on to your final rest once your service has ended.
I’m gonna use this.
@@luddsen8314Feel free, and I hope it works well for you campaign or setting.
@@brettwood1351look up the story of Astoshan.
This god is perfect for sooo many character backstories. Especially reborn.
Oh dear... so that might be the reason my wholesome necromancer kenku is allowed to survive in our campaign, my gm might have taken inspiration from this one :D
Yup. I actually had my one character be a follower of hers. As he and his wife aged they were content in their lives, but both worshippes her. Both had always said they'd live eternally with eachother, and ultimately she dies of cancer. He burries her at her favorote location (a little cliff overlooking a valley that they'd occasionally watch the sun set together at). He'd go up annually to sit there every year on their anniversary. Long story short he becomes an adventurer, ends up failing lichdom due to the spellplague, gets a body back, becomes a lich, loses his mind because his soul is fragmented. His soul is gathered back up by his warlocks and the custodian of the school he founded, and still, in undeath, as the years pass by, as the plinth and her bust wear away, as the bench crumbles and falls into rubble... each year he sits and watches the sun rise and set with her.
Yeah wispybones is one of my favorite characters
I'm a DM and former administrator for an online Neverwinter Nights community set in 3rd-edition Forgotten Realms. Evening Glory is probably the most requested deity who isnt already part of the FR pantheon and isnt an elf god. Sadly she is a Greyhawk-only goddess in 3e, with no presence in the Realms, so we always have to deny those requests.
She has incredibly Greyhawk-y vibes
@catch.22 yeah, FR is a LOT stricter about "undead always evil" in almost all cases.
This is completely weird and unusual. Exactly what I like to hear when it comes to older DnD lore. I started out in 5E, you see.
I think you have inspired so many pcs backgrounds with this 1 vid
Oh yeah, this is a great Warlock patron. The Obsession aspect of the goddess just makes it better.
Plus the undead part makes it so good!/ they might be a cleric undead SUCH JUCIY LORE AND CONFLICT WITHIN PARTIES@@AnotherRandomUserName100
I really would love to see more stories that have the dark and the macabre without it being evil. I love the dark arts but I don't enjoy being evil.
A half dragon troll ghost buying or stealing any gloves that are even slightly unique sounds great
Evening Glory is just the god of the elder emos. Their name also sounds like an emo band already too.
I think she was a big part in the Astoshan the Grey Necromancer story from awhile back, good stuff.
That last comment made so many gears in my head turn. I literally been haunted by a campaign concept including Lathander and Graz'zt and this fits too well.
Come to think of it, wouldn't Evening Glory have a realm where the souls of her worshippers go if they don't become undead? Oh, here's an idea, the whole souls in the domain of dread trapped in a cycle of reincarnation? That's a corruption of something Evening Glory and Lathander were working on, allowing her followers souls to reincarnate, find each other, and fall in love again.
@@brettwood1351Brilliant idea, I will be utilizing it in my plan
I doubt Strahd would be won over by Esmae (fused with Tatiana and Evening Glory) that way.
Because obsession is like an intricate dance: in the case of Strahd and Tatiana: Tatiana's constant rejection of Strahd and Strahd's continued persistence: the torture has become a pleasure in itself, all Strahd's
Then comes Esmae's attempts to butt in, to hijack this dance?
Strahd would sense Tatiana's own rejection to this process, one she was unwillingly forced into. Strahd who even for all this time obsessing over Tatiana: he respects her greatly in a way, never forcing his way with her. So now Strahd sees Tatiana being violated this way?
and more importantly: Strahd's own 'dance' be interrupted ? ... by none other than Esmae: the one he actually despise?
Strahd would be furious.
Esmae would be distraught: that what's supposed to be fulfillmen of all their dreams.... would not be so.
Strahd would attack Esmae, no matter of futile.
Esmae would try to persuade Strahd... and failing that... would seek to put Strahd in bondage instead, being such a yandere like she is.
But Tatiana, if she's able to, would resist Esmae.
Evening Glory would have her chance at ultimate freedom: all she has to do is betray Esmae by empowering Tatiana just enough for her to break free.
Likely Strahd, Esmae, and Tatiana, all of them would be ruined, maybe destroyed.
Evening Glory would be loose and free.
Welp thank you for this I'm 100% using this when my party goes into the Amber Temple. A Power among powers that helps the others by manipulating the obsessions of mortals into taking the other trapped powers bargains. Hell this could be the reason Strahd took the deal with Vampyr, a twisting web of obsessions reaching out of the Amber Temple and to the hearts of Barovia, like the Radiance of Hollow Knight slowly taking root to drag in all worlds into Strahd's domain so she can be remembered eternal through the trapped souls desperations and obsessions keeping them going
In short this is some good shit my guy, thank you
Okay, while I love this story, I hate one theme that it's centered around: All things dark and Macbre are evil. Even if they don't start evil, there has to be something to twist and corrupt every candle lit in the darkness. This has happened in most settings with neutral death gods, they eventually have to become dark evil, power hungry creatures for the party to conquer or slay. I hate that the creators of DnD had to take one of the few truly beautiful things from such a dark book as Libris Mortis and make it just another cookie cutter evil undead god.
Yes, I love the dark, the macabre and the prohibited shadowy magic but I'm too empathetic to play evil characters, I always try to do some arrogant egomaniacal character and before I realize I have adopted orphaned poor kids, this happened three times alredy lol
I really would like to see more stories that have the macabre without it being evil.
It's WotC (and, frankly, the wider D&D fandom) in the 2020s; what are you honestly expecting? They wouldn't know nuance, gravitas or shades of grey if it slapped them in the face.
It's a little off-topic, but I absolutely love the type of god who is just a nice guy or gal. The kind of deity to just show up in your camp and go fishing with you or make offers that are just kind gestures.
Something about that trope just rings so well with me. Someone with all that power and responsibility, and they still make the time to understand and/or spend an afternoon with mortals.
One example that's been on my mind is the purple catalyst comet from Adventure Time.
She offers Fin the chance to explore all of reality and experience new life if he was willing to let go of his current life and all of it's experiences.
I dont remember exactly, but Finn says something along the lines of "You're asking me to let go of all these things, but what you're offering doesn't sound bad."
The comet, in response, says "That's because it's not. I'm just giving you a choice."
Obviously, I'm paraphrasing, but it's one of the most beautifully surreal moments in the show.
The Triple deity would look awesome, the resurrecting soul, the necromancer/witch, the devoted love, it's giving Hecate or the old epithets of Persephone
A trinity of Rejection, Obsession and Love
Man, I lowkey want a storyline about prior undead cleric of Glory taking the party on a quest of "reclaiming the sanity of their goddess"; I imagine that her coming back in such a state would cause quite a schism
Astoshan Steurm "The Gray Necromancer" Favored of Evening Glory is a big part of why i even looked at her portfolio. Hopefully, both their stories continue
25:12 ""Lesser is not the operative word in that phrase"" after 25 minutes of lore-dump I can see why this scenario is popular LMAO this is poetic as hell, thanks for sharing it all for folks that probably won't see it organically. (tfw you AND your SO are both into this kinda stuff but are BOTH introspective shut-ins (f))
I have a player in an old campaign who was obsessively in love with this deceased hero from an older age. He was a legend in the world they played as with some historical validity. I would have loved to include this in their character but the story has come to end. Maybe in a one shot
This was very interesting. It inspires me to "Homebrew" a different ending with the aid of the Wish Spell and other powers. The party would need to be at least lvl 20 & include a Life Domain Cleric, a Death Domain Cleric, a Chronomancy Wizard, a Necromancy Wizard, an Undying Warlock, and an Oath of Redemption Paladin. The party allows the merging to occur yet afterwards frees Evening Glory, the merged Witch successfully marries Strahd eternally. Then they free Barovia from darkness and reconnects it to the Material Plane which also frees all the Lost Souls to go on to the Afterlife at last. They banish & bind the other Dark Powers to a separate self-contained Plane that can't influence anywhere else. They then Restore Evening Glory to full power purified of Evil/Obsession.
All that I think creates the best ending.
Romance is dead
Chivalry is dead
God is dead
Man, I’M DEAD
This is gonna be great for my undead based campaign. Can’t wait for more undead to be covered!
It’s funny that I ran across this video, I have a village almost entirely full of her followers, the other half aren’t fully fledged followers but they’re interested in learning more before taking any of her rites. It also acts as a save haven for her both her followers and the interested parties.
There's a lot of difference between love and obsession but they function together like sleep and death. Obsession wants but can't view the reality, but I feel like true, lasting love needs a less destructive form of that kind of devotion, without the obligation from the other.
It kinda feels like Evening Glory is going to face a pivotal moment where she may grant a request made from love that ends with a conflict between love and obsession. Imagine if a woman begs the goddess to bring her husband back, but this devotion becomes twisted into a cruel controlling monster. A divine gift twisted so far even the corrupted goddess is horrified.
Seeing the ability for souls to continue, she might eventually end up getting purified into promising souls to be reborn over and over into eternal love without corruption. A divine promise that, you two who ask, will be always destined to meet.
She's shifted in a way that could drive her into a darker nature, or a genuine conflict within her portfolio. Either she becomes evil, or the differences will eventually come into conflict
That’s a very interesting take. I like the idea that some day her portfolio might come to terms with itself and actually end up pushed the other way towards good. The concept of promising to reunite two souls in love over and over again is a really interesting direction I hadn’t considered.
@@DungeonDad it means a ton that you read my comment. I figured that a fluctuating scale of what makes love viable wouldn't fit very well with that obsessive need for something not to change.
Evening Glory is currently experiencing the darker, more twisted form of love and I feel like the main point of being in love is pushing the other to be better. Each life knowing your past mistakes just makes the love deeper as you find the other again to grow closer. It's that age old take of two lovers born to meet, and I think that commitment might be closer to her desires after combining with the witch.
"No death can take us, no god can shake us, from the other. I give to you a love eternal."
Both feelings are ge.
There was a point where I was mad with Curse of Strahd, almost obsessed. How did I even miss this? It's great!
I like the idea that if we have to keep what they did with Ravenloft, that the corruption was left in the Realms of Dread while Evening Glory herself was freed. The corruption can still play a part as a Dark Power or some kind of powerful entity manipulating things.
Since the remake of "The Crow" just dropped it's latest trailer, just want to say the entire plot of "The Crow" feels like something she'd work as one of her darker miracles.
27:38 Strahd rejects her. She kills him in rage and becomes the new ruler of the domain and begins merging all of the domains of dread, turning Barovia into her seat of power, seeking to undo the Curse of Strahd, obsessed with still taking Tatiana’s place by somehow recreating the events as Strahd’s soul becomes trapped in the same way Tatiana’s was, dying over and over and rejecting Tatiana over and over.
That’s how I’ll play it in my world, anyway.
Femdom misandrist fanfiction tragedy if I ever saw one. Fitting the "world setting" narrative and themes. Unfortunately it does what D&D has been doing since third edition, instead of growing the seeds planted or building from already established foundations, it manipulates and corrupts reality into "the new version".
Each Dungeon Master has great power even if they relinquish their responsibilities.
You do you, it's your world after all.
@@azazelreficulmefistofelicu7158huh?? 😭 how would you do it then 😂
We need a D&D Romanceable Deities Tier List lol
I had a campaign idea with an undead theme stewing for a while that Evening Glory fits into it perfectly without any modifying... Well, maybe dropping the obsession part, or maybe even not.
She also works great for any Grave Cleric, or Bard with Necromancy spells.
This is SO MY NEW CLERICS GOD/.WARLOCK'S PATRON.
Honestly a good aligned undead or undying warlock is probably the best method to represent a follower of Evening Glory in 5e although I could easily see a Twilight Cleric working as well but the former avoids accusations of cheese/min-maxing. If you can get your GM to agree go a step further and use either the Reborn lineage or Hollow one gift from explorers guide to Wildemount to play into the benign undead.
Evening Glory's twisted and corrupted form gives me HUUUUUGE House of Pain from "Jeepers Creepers" vibes. Her unleashed on the material plane would likely end in A LOT of those being created. The movie being created by an actual factual monster notwithstanding, I think it is a trope you can heavily borrow from if you want to incorporate her into your games.
I like this one. Like a WAY cooler and infinitely less problematic version of Naderi from pathfinder. Good. Goddess.
So in my game, my players have recently, unknowingly at the time, released Gargauth the exiled 10th Lord of Hell. Who's said to rival Asmodeus in terms of power. And to make it more interesting, I decided to make Gargauth into Asmodeus' brother. Whether this be an actual family relation, or just an incredibly close bond, its supposed to start a war between the levels of hell that the gods don't want to see happen because it would absolutely destabilize everything and throw the blood war into the demon's favor.
But now, I'm siting here trying to think. What would Gargauth actually WANT with the throne of Hell? Why was he so content to walk the world of mortals. What if Gargauth was searching for something. Searching for someone. What if Gargauth was searching for Evening Glory, whom loved each other. And with the powers of hell, Gargauth wants to grab Barovia and pull it BACK to the material plane. To break the barrier that holds it as a Domain of Dread so that he could be reunited with Evening Glory. And the players have to be in the center of what is ultimately a love story. Of a man who would burn the world to the ground to reunite with his lover.
The moment I saw this I had to get in and hit the like button. You have the unique ability to target my childhood memories with unnerving accuracy. Or maybe it's just because many of them involved Libris Mortis.
Between this and the Book of Vile Darkness (but I'm not gonna talk about that) I really thought the deity options were kind of interesting, but because their existence had major implications in the sort of cosmic balance of the world, I felt like I would never be able to fit them into a game. Like, there's a whole deity for ghouls?? When is doresain going to come up in the game, let alone a compelling way? Now I can think of some ways, but many flavors of spooky dead guy god can only get so interesting. Evening Glory always stuck with me, because her (and Afflux, the blood god) seemed like they actually had a unique place in a pantheon or in a game. The idea of everlasting love is such a radical set of values to embody in a fantasy setting where "everlasting" is more than an abstract sentiment, and is much more complex than "Bone Dogg eats dudes."
I got really disappointed when I never saw anything about her again outside of that book, or even much other mentions in the book she was introduced in. Now I'm hearing she was actually in 5th edition, in Curse of Strahd?? You're truly doing the dead god's work, reviving my lost childhood ideas to be placed in a new game.
It's a little disappointing to hear that she's boring evil and such in Curse, but that gives me an idea. Not only does gothic horror have the potential for a tragic romance dead on, but there's a story of domains of dread in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft that sticks in my head that could be leveraged. It's the story of the woman in the domain that is undead, animated by a replaced magical heart. Inhabitants of the domains of dread really have the whole "star crossed lovers that can't (or shouldn't) ever end up together" thing going on.
Glad you enjoyed this one! I really like the idea that EG may have ended up in another domain of dread where she is much more the focal point of the story.
Evening Glory intrigued me so much and gives me ideas for my future world where a lot of the lessons that need to be learned is how to move in and the dangers of clinging to the past. I'm ashamed to say I own that 3.5 libris mortis book, yet haven't read about the deities within. I will be now
0:35 Well that scared the shit out of me...
If I remember right, there is a little bit more to things than that which is brought up in the slightly expanded version of the modules when they had a limited POD version of it that had more campaign stuff and notes from the authors.
One thing is an alternate of the second adventure ending to prevent the unintended players respond to the end in violence situation that popped up at a lot of tables, but the entire thing is more of a directors cut that also adds a few other things that hint towards the dark powers being even more than they appear to be in the basic adventure and Curse of Strahd. Namely that the Amber Temple is not where the actual Dark Powers of Ravenloft are, and that they're more limited there to just Barovia...and the odd power there also provides guises for potential dark powers to tempt and interact on a lower level than their normal thing, and it includes some things that came from earlier things involving Ravenloft such as the stone altar and elemental rift as potential side adventures (both from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft...and the authors wanted to add the Knight of the Raven as a Paladin subclass, but decided against anything more player side for it the compiled version...though it did add in things that were pretty neat rewards that got more powerful through the adventure as you go if you play through the entire campaign).
It also makes it clear in the notes that Evening Glory in this is somewhere between an Aspect and a Vestige using 3.5 terms with a large chunk of possessing ghost to it. There is more of her elsewhere and that the wizards who built their trap only got a small piece of her, and the authors guess about what would happen with the locket is that it would return to the rest of her, wherever she would be to be reabsorbed into the greater whole
I played a reborn cleric of the Evening Glory in a Strahd game. It was one of my favorite characters to date. She had an epic ending. Love this diety!
Honestly I do love this dirty and now what to make a cleric of her. Though I don’t like the idea for of her being turned into generic obsession I like the idea that her church is split one that follows her old way and another focus on the obsession of love. So think your classic yandere in anime that’s the darker side of the church.
Ok time to right a new campaign
That’s a very cool take on the idea
I absolutely love that you introduced this idea. It's really interesting to bring interesting situations and ethical concepts into this game. You have proven your passion for this in an awesome way. Thanks for your hard work brother.
That's a great outfit for you. Looks great!
This was also a stand-out episode. I'd love more dives into modules like this. I'm an exclusive Home-brew campaign DM, too much of the fun for me is wrapped up in writing the stories behind the game, but getting breakdowns of all the cool stuff in the canon modules is super interesting.
My Campaigns main citie's church is mainly to her. I'm so glad to see a video to her!
I would have changed one thing, being that Evening Glory was trapped because undeath was "evil" and that she did not get corrupted over the years but held true to her original dogma. Esmae would still try to use Evening Glory to get her own obsessive love satisfied, but the adventurers would be helped by Evening Glory whispering to them via divine telepathy/divine interference to stop Esmae from misusing her in such a ritual. Some additional bits to iron out but that would be my Broad strokes.
"The worst they can say is no."
Esmae to Omou:
This was so cool, thanks for diving into it! Really good inspiration for my own campaign setting.
I'd love to see you cover Pale Night and/or Malcanthet lore at some point. Imo there's not enough on either of them. Yeah sure Asmodeus is cool and all, but an Obyrith so old and powerful she's known as the Mother of Demons? A succubus queen?? So much more interesting than Ol' Hoof and Horn if you ask me
I love the part about Pale Night wheree her true form is so horrific and alien that the universe itself hides it, and one her best attacks is just managing to remove the veil.
@@brettwood1351 Absolutely!! Like, a form so horrific and unknowable that creation itself takes steps to keep it hidden?? That's so cool 😩
This was such a cool story!
This is also the perfect inspiration for something I’ve been stuck on in my world building in how there can be a reason for less evil undead characters in my world!
Thank you so much for enlightening me with this story
10:00. I had this exact idea for my dnd lich, in which he would be looked away in a relm for basically forevee (or until he managed to get out).
Guess I will start using that
A neat ending would be for the ritual to be completed. tatianas thirst for freedom returning evening glory to herself and putting esme at peace finally, no longer desiring strahd, but peace, freedom, self determination and the wish to finally accept herself without and figure out who she is without defining herself by someone else's standards and wishes.
What a great little story time... super enjoyable... will definitely check out rest of your content... 💕
I’m working a villain who was a paladin but now a zealot obsessed with forcing his sense of justice on the material plane… finding a locket with a god of literal obsession speaking into his ear could be a tragic and interesting way from him to break his oath and turn into the villainous character he is now
Great work dude! Incredibly interesting and the amount of history you dug up is fantastic.
"Great champion, would you allow me to hold you, but briefly? Perhaps you might share with me some of your lifely vigour, and your stout-heartedness. Doing so will grant me the warmth of a champion. Do you think it vulgar, perhaps? Where I come from, it is a sacred act."
this is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. Nice work on the video, I am inspired
You know, I think I'll lift Evening Glory into my setting.
I think it will go something like this: When the Adventurer's returned to the land of the living, the locket slipped between a crack in reality, drifting in the Void between Worlds. Due to the timeless nature of the void, the locket was floating there for an undetermable amount of time until it was caught in the fiery birth of a new universe.
The locket itself was annihilated in the blast, but Evening Glory was thrust into a virgin universe, no mortal beings to worship her, no sun or stars to gaze upon.
She did, however, find two figures. One of blinding light, and the other of infinite darkness. While it was clear the two beings had been fighting, there were healing scars and other injuries across the two of them, then seemed more at peace with each other.
To prevent me from just rambling away at my worldbuilding, Evening Glory is rehabilitated from her time in the Domain of Dread, and the first marriage she presided over was, in fact, between these two entities.
Her primary domains are Love, Passion, and Marriage. (Undeath really isn't a domain in my setting).
You know someone should write a campaign/ mini-adventure where the pc's help follows purify Evening Glory. I could you imagine a kind priest of EG slowly starts to decompose and lost his mind asks the party for help. Only for them to realize that purifying her would weaken some force filed/ curse a bad guy case to keep an item or person their obsessed "safe".
So I thought of a cool way to save Evening Glory without changing anything up to this point. TL;DR: She's trapped in that locket in the end, lockets have a dual nature (a picture on each side when you open them), so what if Evening Glory also develops a dual nature? She finds herself metaphorically divided (between love and obsession) and then physically divided when the locket is broken in two...
So lets say the locket escapes when the heroes leave with it but it manifests elsewhere; near someone powerful who's subconsciously calling out to her. A young lover caught between two others: One they have loved since they were kids and the Other they only met recently but have developed an obsession for. This person finds the locket and opens it to discover their 2 loves depicted, one on each side of the locket.
Evening Glory, through this person, finds herself suddenly divided between her everlasting love and undying obsession...
She's awash in a sort of nostalgia; she can feel that some of her devoted are still "alive" and she wants to resume spreading eternal love and beauty.
But part of that witch she was joined with survived into the locket, became part of her, and has found root in the obsessions of this world.
Hijinks ensues. Maybe her followers find her, maybe the lover's triangle culminates in a powerful magic battle, maybe another powerful entity/god senses her presence and intercedes... Culminating when the opened locket is physically broken in two.
The old Evening Glory emerges, forever changed but re-devoted to her original purpose. And from the other side a new demi-goddess is born, a goddess of Undying Obsession. Her holy symbol could be a perversion of evening glory, like a thorny vine that chokes out other plants but prevents them from dying... Or as a reference back to where she was 'born' it could be an evening glory flower encased in amber.
What an engrossing bit of lore. Thanks for sharing this. Makes me want to check out more Adventurer's League stuff. This also reminded me a bit of the story of Arazni from Pathfinder
It's wild how much that ending with the locket lined up with a homebrew decision I made running CoS for one of the players and their mysterious deity. Great video, Josiah!
I actually have a character currently running Curse of Strahd solo (at least technically; it's been on hiatus for a while now). He's a paladin that happens to be a dhampir slowly turning full vampire and wants to also become a necromancer-mage. Amusingly, he was Lawful Neutral initially, but I kept being such a nice guy to literally everyone I could, that my DM offered me a switch to Lawful Good, because it just fit the character better, and I took it.
My character also adopted Rose & Thorn as his ghost children, which he is fiercely protective towards, and the wraith mother from the same mansion is now his ghost maid and her baby became a reincarnation of his vampiric father due to fey-god/former party member shenanigans, so he's also playing uncle to his own sire that's human again (my DM takes a _fair few_ liberties with the core material, but I love how he does it). Being in service to Anubis, he cares a lot about ethics but never saw undeath as inherently evil, because where he's from (a fantasy version of Transylvania), it's really not.
What I'm saying is that I'm sure I could point my DM here and... perhaps my character can attempt to save Evening Glory. Girl deserves a break.
Honestly this makes me recall a character i had, her parents got killed and her home burned by bandits, she survived. A necromancer on his way to defeat the bandits stopped by and raised her parents and she followed, though it took awhile for the necromancer to realize the badly burned girl was alive. When he did he made her his apprentice, she views the undead like animals or people depending on their intelligence.
Loved the video as always. Gotta love the deep lore!
Ah. The perfect diety/patron for my paladin/undead warlock.
Interesting story point could be created, where the party brings her locket back to the realms, and ask a priest how to cleanse a soul that was tainted from being locked inside a place of evil. Priest mentions a fountain that can cleanse curses, but warns the players that curses react differently when being cleanses. After placing the locket into the fountain, either they have to fight the evil, outwit the evil, or something (dm decision). The after effects can be determined by the dm and players, but my headcanon is that when they open the locket, she disappears and starts doing what she did in 3e.
I have thought of a really strange combination of Evening Glory and one of the monster talked about years ago on this channel. What if Evening Glory's religion went extinct years ago and that is why she is no longer a god in your setting, but a Time Elemental (Deep pull I know) made its way onto the material plane. That caused a shift in the fabric of reality causing a town that worshipped Evening Glory to be brought back to the present. Now, her religion is revived in a sense.
Yeah in Pathfinder goddess Urgathoa literally says "Don't let anything stop you from enjoying life. Especially death"
This is easily one of your best videos. Its incredible! Great job
Wow, thank you!
I can't believe I forgot about this gem of a goddess
This was OUTSTANDING! Thank you for the lore dump!
I can picture Evening Glory developing an antagonistic relationship with a transplant from another RPG, the Demon Prince Andrealphus, lord of Lust in In Nomine. I can see them butting heads because Andrealphus, Andre to his friends, is the embodiment of lust as something that is largely just about the physical part of lust but also about using the other person as a 'Thing' to gratify one's own needs. That or I can also see Andrealphus manipulating Morning Glory, after all a strong enough Obsession ignores the will of the person you're obsessed over, then again being used like that could lead to the obsession of Wrath. There's an ongoing conflict that could mined here.
Fascinating! Great share!
This was awesome! Loving this new series
One of my favorite videos of yours. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this you just added an item and goddess for a campaign I'm running. Now I need to learn more about her!
Love the series ❤. Thx for the content
this was beautiful.
Edit:
Omou made me cry.
Edit number 2:
This whole thing made me cry.
SO shook that there's no Death Becomes Her references in the background visuals
Okay time to make a cleric of evening glory. Such a cool idea of a God. But the healed version with a hint of obsessive issues