Flix 5,191 Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) Well to celebrate the release of the new CM Items Mod, I'm going to finally post a thread for the last thing I was able to squeeze in before release, a new full set for the Inquisitor. This has been in planning for a LONG time (since last September), so I was determined to get this completed and released. Religions and myths tell stories of gods, angels, and divine beings beyond count. However some of the most memorable ones are those that make mistakes, fall from grace, are cast down, defeated, and generally just fail. Priests of the Inquisition know this, and they also know that Ker is the supreme goddess, sublime in her chaos, perfect in her evil. Therefore they have no shame in invoking the memory of these failures to further dishonor them and to advance the glory of Ker. This set of priestly robes and ritual mask are the embodiment of this idea. I wanted this set to invoke doom and the occult. It is somewhat focused for a caster build and the Netherworld and Supremacy aspects. Set Pieces Kingu's Bleeding Wound (Head)Kingu was a god in Babylonian mythology, and — after the murder of his father Abzu — the consort of the goddess Tiamat, his mother, who wanted to establish him as ruler and leader of all gods before she was slain by Marduk. Tiamat gave Kingu the 3 Tablets of Destiny, which he wore as a breastplate and which gave him great power. She placed him as the general of her army. However, like Tiamat, Kingu was eventually slain by Marduk. According to one traditional story, Marduk mixed Kingu's blood with earth and used the clay to mold the first human beings. Kingu then went to live in the underworld kingdom of Ereshkigal, along with the other deities who had sided with Tiamat. Anzû's Shattered Wings (Shoulders)Anzû is a divine storm-bird in Akkadian mythology, the son of the bird goddess Siris. Anzû was a servant of the chief sky god Enlil, from whom Anzû stole the Tablet of Destinies, hoping to determine the fate of all things. With the Tablet of Destinies, anything he put into words becomes reality. He hid the Tablets on a mountaintop and at this point he became known as a demon or monster. Depending on the tale, either Lugalbanda, Ninurta, or Marduk himself are sent to retrieve the Tablets. No matter which hero is sent, Anzû's wings are broken by use of a net and he is slain by a barrage of arrows. Defense Value is unlocked by Armor Lore. Iblis' Stiffened Spine (Torso)In Islam Iblis is a jinni who refused to bow to Adam. When God created Adam, he commanded all the angels and Iblis (whose rank allowed him to be considered equal to that of an angel) to prostrate to Adam as he was termed "the Best of Creation". All the angels did so but Iblis refused to bow, and was brought into a state of rebellion against God. Iblis was proud and arrogant and considered himself superior to Adam, since Adam was made from clay and Iblis from smokeless fire. For this act of disobedience, God cast him out of Jannah (paradise) and cursed him to Jahannam (Hell) for eternity, and thereafter he was called "Shaytan." Belial's Broken Idol (Belt)Belial is a demon in Jewish and Christian texts whose names means "worthless." In one of the Dead Sea scrolls, Belial is described as the leader of the Sons of Darkness: "But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility. All his dominions are in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt. All the spirits that are associated with him are but angels of destruction." It was Belial who inspired the Egyptian sorcerers, Jochaneh and his brother, to oppose Moses and Aaron. The Fragments also say that anyone who is ruled by the spirits of Belial and speaks of rebellion should be condemned as a necromancer and wizard. In Hebrew texts idolaters are known as "the sons of Belial." Casting Speed is unlocked by Armor Lore. Attar's Uncertain Rule (Arms)Attar is the god of the morning star in western Semitic mythology. He is the male counterpart to Ishtar or Astarte. In Canaanite legend, he attempts to usurp the throne of the dead god Baal-Hadad but proves inadequate as the throne symbolically refuses to seat him. When he is unsuccessful at taking the throne of Baal, he descends to become the lord of the underworld instead. Attack Value is unlocked by Armor Lore. Phaëton's Precarious Grip (Gloves)Phaëton was the son of the sun-god Apollo and the sea nymph Clymene. Challenged by his playmates to prove his divine heritage, Phaëton asked his father for some proof of his relationship to the sun. When Apollo promised to grant him whatever he wanted, Phaëton insisted on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. When the day came, the fierce horses that drew the chariot felt that it was empty because of the lack of the sun-god's weight, and went out of control. Terrified, Phaëton dropped the reins. The horses veered from their course, scorching the earth, burning the vegetation, changing much of Africa into desert, drying up rivers and lakes and shrinking the sea. Earth cried out to Zeus, who, to prevent further disaster, was forced to intervene by striking Phaëton with a lightning bolt. Like a falling star, Phaëton plunged blazing into the river Eridanos. Lucifer's Plummet (Legs)In the expanded lore of Satan's origins, he is depicted as the most beautiful and glorious angel, who fell from Heaven after being cast down for the sin of pride aginst God. In this telling he is equated with Lucifer, whose name means "light-bringer" and "the morning star." In Isaiah 14:12-15 Lucifer is taunted: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to Sheol the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit." Hephaestus' Limp (Boots)As the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Hera, the queen of the gods, Hephaestus should have been quite handsome, but baby Hephaestus was small and ugly with a red, bawling face (in some tellings he already had a lame, shriveled leg as well). Hera was so horrified that she hurled the tiny baby off the top of Mount Olympus. Hephaestus fell down for a day and a night, landing in the sea. Unfortunately, one of his legs broke as he hit the water, and never developed properly. In another version, he was cast down by Zeus, and he fell for an entire day before landing on the island of Lemnos, where he was cared for and taught to be a master craftsman by the Sintians. Full Set Gallery One thing I'm trying out with this set, is that several modifiers are unlocked by Armor Lore, so many pieces will not be that great for an Inquisitor without the skill or low investment in it, but high levels of Armor Lore should pay off well. It's pretty interesting, when you read these various myths, they all bear some striking similarities, and if you follow comparative mythology, you start to wonder if all of these stories really branched out from one original story from a time beyond memory. I want to give a big thanks to Pesmontis for helping me make the skull helmet a wearable piece of armor. It was originally a skull displayed above orc tent entrances. I also want to thank Dimitrius154 for allowing me to work on texturing his belt model and using it in the set. Edited March 25, 2014 by Flix 3 Link to comment
Silver_fox 399 Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2014 This is a wonderful and in quite a few meanings godly set (at least it has godly names and appearance). I told you before that it looks incredibly good and fits the Inquisitor perfectly, but I'm willing to say it again every time I see this set. The mythological background fits the looks, fills the set with meaning, and is just interesting to read (re-read for me, as I knew all those stories, but still interesting). The modifiers are something special. At first you look at the set as it now is, and think it OP. Then you give it some thought - a lot of locked modifiers that require skill investment to shine, and the fact that the caster Inquisitors are not extremely powerful in general make the set appear adequate. Inquisitors were quite weak in the original Fallen Angel, I&B and CM patch made the melee ones fare a whole lot better (dual-wielding claws is a fine way to a boss-killer), but casters still needed this special something. With Disgraced Gods you've delivered it - quite special set that is really something. The set bonuses are like that too. The first reaction: "Lifeleech and Double Hit together at good values! ". After a bit of time:"Let's not forget that it's caster's set and both Lifeleech and Double Hit are weapon-only modifiers". They look powerful, but come handy only if the caster goes melee, and as casters do not usually excel in melee, they really need these modifiers to accomplish something this way. And the other way around - the melee Inquisitor can wear this set for the set bonus, but this way he'd be stuck with item bonuses that benefit the caster and not him. So it turns out to be balanced in the end. But I can easily imagine the glee of a player who finds one of these items - if these things are good at something, they are good in making an impression. 2 Link to comment
Pesmontis 168 Share Posted March 25, 2014 > ".. to invoke doom and the occult.." The whole concept might even be unprecedented, even beyond Sacred 2.. 1 Link to comment
Flix 5,191 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) but casters still needed this special something... I think you understand it the set perfectly. Really, although there are no explicit bonuses to Gruesome Inquisition aspect, the set could be used by a caster Inquisitor who had some Combat Arts from that aspect. The set was designed somewhat around my triple aspect Inquisitor. I noticed that with the exception of Clustering Maelstrom for big mobs, the Gruesome Inquisition Combat Arts were pulling most of the weight in terms of killing power. This set has just enough modifiers and set bonuses to reward an Inquisitor who goes into melee combat, but keeps the major focus on casting power, because, as you said, the Inquisitor could use a boost for his spells. > ".. to invoke doom and the occult.." The whole concept might even be unprecedented, even beyond Sacred 2.. Haha yeah maybe so...although in ancient times it was more common to take gods from other cultures and religions and turn them into demons, low-lifes and generally just "bad guys." Now it seems more to common to just treat a foreign god as just not existing at all, or in the West at least, to keep the bland "maybe they're all right and none are right" agnostic view. I'll have to look up some of the game lore text and dialogue from the Grand Inquisitor, but I remember especially being struck by the way he was totally unfazed by Sophia's assertion that there was only one creator god, and all the other "gods" were really just aspects. "Ker is the only one that matters" he says, or something like that. Supreme confidence in their dark god, combined with willingness to efface the other gods or "aspects", was what gave birth to the idea. Edited March 25, 2014 by Flix Link to comment
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