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concept or creature type

Excellences

Summary

Excellences are powerful six-armed beings or creature type tied to creation theology, Pact threats, Sahuagin activity, Highden attacks, and the underwater shield crystal battle.

Known Details

  • Elven creation theology described six Excellences after light, dark, life, gods, and twelve gods.
  • Shandra identified a six-armed creature as an Excellence.
  • One fish-like creature threatened destruction around the Torisle Point and Sahuagin crisis.
  • A fire Excellence was attacking Highden and hostile to elves.
  • The Huntmaster was later found fighting an Excellence, and the party recorded Deed Excellence! as defeat or deed against it.
  • Dunensend treated agents of the excellence as agents of Infestus.
  • The Guilt, a prisoner under Grand Towers, claimed it could reset the control room, fix a prison, and later was identified in notes as an excellence!!.
  • Pride was expected to fix a prison but may have opened it instead.
  • Excellence beneath the sands protected the vulturemen after Garadul failed and may have a brother looking for him.
  • The leader of the Brass City was an Excellence killed during the battle with Dunensend forces.
  • Treamen was identified as the Earth Excellence; his jagged purple crystal skull artifact was recovered.
  • Day 32 records the party telling Xinquiss that the quilt might be an excellence or might be working for one.
  • A Hartwall auction chariot was linked to an Excellence defeated in the battle of the unending seas.
  • Day 35 council-memory manipulation made rescued prisoners forget that The Guilt was part of the council and distrust him.
  • A Day 35 side note listed Pride, Lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth near Lady Envy and dome information; the relationship to Excellences is unresolved.
  • Day 36 states The Guilt was an Avatar of Pride, Pride had been eaten by Garadul, Pride was a dark entity who wanted people to be proud, and Pride tried to disable as much as possible before being consumed.
  • Day 36 introduces Wrath, who described Wrath, Pride, Envy, and six others as nine little demons of Darkness; whether these are Excellences remains unresolved.
  • Day 42 identifies Trixus as an elemental of light and says Emri was missing soul-parts including guilt and misery, possibly overlapping the sin/emotion taxonomy.
  • Day 44 old-school history found an alteration orb that overwhelmed Geldrin with empathy and regret, and a note implying another emotion-orb location.
  • Envy, Wrath, and Pride are manifestations of emotions removed from the elves; their relationship to Excellences remains a separate taxonomy question.

Timeline

  • day-17: Theology and six-primeval-element lore introduce Excellences.
  • day-20: Shandra identifies a six-armed threat as an Excellence.
  • day-21: Regional reports include a fire Excellence attacking Highden.
  • day-22: The Huntmaster fights an Excellence during the underwater mission.
  • day-27: The Guilt introduces itself through automaton/spider infiltration and prison-control promises.
  • day-28: Pride may have opened a prison rather than fixing it.
  • day-29: The party meets Excellence under the sands and later hears The Guilt admit accidental prison opening.
  • day-30: The notes state The Guilt is an excellence!!.
  • day-31: The Brass City leader Excellence and Treamen the Earth Excellence are killed or defeated.
  • day-32: Auction history links a chariot to an Excellence defeated in the battle of the unending seas.
  • day-35: Memory grubs erase council members’ memories of The Guilt’s membership.
  • day-36: Seneshell explains The Guilt’s relationship to Pride, Garadul’s consumption of Pride, and Wrath’s nine-demon Darkness framework.

Open Questions

  • Are Excellences divine armies, independent monsters, or corrupted elemental beings?
  • What does he will be worse refer to in the Excellence hierarchy?
  • Are Pride, Wrath, The Guilt, Treamen, Darkness, Light, and the Brass City leader members of one Excellence set, or are some of them removed-emotion manifestations instead?
  • Why did The Guilt require five party members or expect there should be five?
  • Who wants The Guilt removed from council memory?
  • Is Lady Envy part of an Excellence/sin-title pattern, or a separate llamia leader?
  • Are the nine little demons of Darkness the same taxonomy as removed elven emotions, a rival taxonomy, or overlapping titles?
  • How do the removed soul-parts / emotions, empathy orb, The Guilt, and nine little demons fit together?