Originally Posted by Silver/
Originally Posted by ldo58
I have another iterpretation of Balthazar. In my mind, after Isobel dies, Ketheric turns to Shar. He then builds that entire gaunltet of Shar to "raise" dark justiciars. Obviously, thjis is a super human endeavour. So, Shar herself must be involved. This is also the time that I think Aylin was captured (she was already in Eithrym before Isobel died) and imprisoned in Shar's abode in Shadowfell. It was Shar who directly or indirectly imprisoned her rival's offspring for eternal torment. (Why did Selune not interfere ? Selune doesn't seem to interfere with anything actually, e.g. Shadowheart's family, het temple falling apart etc...)

After the justiciars are defeated by the Harpers, Balthazar comes on the scene. To me, he is a Myrkul devout. He manages to revive Isobel and turn Ketheric from Shar to Myrkul. But this leaves Ketheric with a problem. If he wants to keep Aylin he needs to get her out of Shadowfell and in his domain. That is now Balthazar's primary mission, but he cannot possibly do this as he will never be able to pass the 3 trials. When the party arrives that's the reason why he accepts our help. Well, that's how the story goes in my mind at least.
The Nightsong is
locked in a soulcage, and the reason Ketheric is immortal is necromancy as supplied by Balthazar as an intermediary for Myrkul. When we fight him, he doesn't actually have Myrkul amplified extraordinary powers. This is the danger of using combat stats to determine what Act 2 figures are capable of in lore. It just doesn't work. Everyone has either a MacGuffin, is powered/de-powered by a major deity -- but, only when convenient -- to the point you can't assign "power levels" reasonably

Aylin's power level ( I.E, only slighter higher than a Deva summoned by Planar Ally ) does fit her lore specifically at least, to be fair.

* Gets captured by some smarmy mortal arcanist
* Simple set of Deva wings, armor and shining sword, nothing to really write home about
* Has the potential of once again getting defeated by another smarmy mortal arcanist ( Lorroakan )

She's not even as strong as Zariel ( A Solar turned Archdevil ) lore-wise, either pre or post betrayal.

Last edited by Relogon; 28/07/24 02:22 PM.