Tell Me
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Tell me
about
the
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Consult
the
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The
Cheaters
Copyright 1998 by Brant
Casavant
NB: The Prolongers were introduced in the
Planescape Monstrous Compendium II, p. 72.
Keeping
Out
of the
Dead-Book's
an Art
"How
long have I been alive? Well, let's just say I knew your
great-great-grandparents. They were good people, and I
loved them both very much -- and that's the only reason
I'm grantin' you this interview, berk.
"Anyway,
you wanted to know about me and the group known as the
Prolongers? Well, start with the questions,
then.
"Well,
we Prolongers know the dark of it all. That's why we
spend so much time tryin' to give the Grim Reaper the
laugh. Only the most skilled and most intelligent bloods
can keep out of the way of Death's scythe. That's why our
group is so small. I'd have to estimate that, oh, 95% of
the sods that try to peel Death fail within the first
fifty years. That's why our little association is so
small -- only the most talented cutters are considered
'true' Cheaters.
"Yes,
I did say that the Prolongers know the dark of Death.
Okay, we don't know it per se, but we know a whole lot
more then most of the ignorant sods that exist in the
planes. Think about it this way: does anyone really know
what happens when you die? Sure, the priests say that
your spirit becomes one with the plane that most suits
your personality. What's so bad about that?! Are you
barmy, berk? Do you want to spend the next eternity
working for some power? Or performing drills on Avernus
for some Pit Fiend? How about living as a rock in
Pandemonium for the few eons? I know I don't want to
spend forever being grass for some cow in Elysium or
what-have-you.
"And
the worst part is no one's even sure if that's what
really happens. There's no rhyme or reason to this stuff,
berk. The priests're just preachin' what their deities
are tellin' them to preach. What if you die, and on the
way to your final resting plane, there's a slip-up and
you wind up in the Abyss? Wanna clean some Abyssal Lord's
toilets for the next five hundred centuries? Yeah, I
didn't think so."
--
Interview with Gavin St. Argis, Prolonger
bard
Sect
History
The
Prolongers have been around for a very, very long time.
So long, in fact, that no one can really remember the
exact number of years. Most people guess it must be at
least a few thousand, however. It's not because the
Prolongers are such a popular group, in that they receive
thousands of new members a year, but rather because their
members just don't die. Well, they do, but very, very
rarely.
No
person or group of persons can really claim
responsibility for forming the group called the
Prolongers. The Cheaters have always existed in one form
or another. Now, many berks have opinions on how the
Cheaters got their life-extending power (you know what
I'm talking about) -- but let me tell you something, no
one really knows what happens to Prolongers. Not even the
Prolongers know what happens to them.
The
Cheaters do know of a few specific requirements that must
be met before someone suddenly wakes up one day and can
drain the life outta some worthless berk. First, the
Prolonger-to-be must have already found some means of
extending his life, and they must have already prolonged
their existence an additional fifty years. Huh? Is that
it? Berk, there is another requirement you know -- if
there wasn't every high-up on the planes would be a
Prolonger by now! The other requirement is, as much as I
hate to admit it, fear of Death. Yup, that's death with a
capital "D". The day that the Prolonger-wannabe realizes
he's terrified of Death, and he's met the other
requirement, he suddenly undergoes a transformation. When
he falls asleep that night, he awakens the next day with
the power (and the very strong desire) to drain people of
their life forces so as to supplement his own.
"Oh, sure, I
could be undead
instead...
but who wants to wander
round with flesh
hanging off
their faces
and smelling of carrion?
For eternity?
Not this
body, and that's a cert!"
- Fathervold, Prolonger
Psionicist
No
one's really sure how this happens, but it does, and
because of this, the Prolongers aren't very organized.
It's not like they need to seek out a future candidate
and train him in the ways of eternal life. And, since the
Prolongers are so disorganized, they don't even really
qualify for "sect" status. They're more of an informal
brotherhood, if you will. They know that others of their
kind exist, and that's about it. There are no meetings to
discuss "sect" policies and no leader. Each Prolonger
basically goes on "living" his life, usually never
meeting another of this kind. Such is the way of life
everlasting, apparently.
The
Factol
Actually,
the Prolongers don't have a factol, 'cause they're not
really a sect. There is one woman, Lucital Fireblast, who
is the oldest known Prolonger...ever. Anybody who knows
of the Prolongers knows about her, and all the Prolongers
recognize her as "the best of the best".
Lucital
Fireblast
Planar, female human
wizard
Level: 14th
Alignment: NE
Str: 7, Dex: 18, Wis: 17,
Int: 19, Con: 10, Chr: 13
HP: 47, AC: 0, THAC0: 16
Spell Immunities: 1st-level illusions
Spells: 5/5/5/4/4/2/1
Magical Items: (And there are a lot!) Ring of
Protection + 3, Bracers of Defense + 3, Ring of
Spell Storing [w/ magic missile (2),
burning hands (1)], potion of
resurrection, ring of wishes [1
wish], wand of illusion, ring of
elemental command, ring of sustenance,
scrolls of protection [Acid, cold, electricity
(3), water, undead, poison (2)]
Spellbook: (* usually
memorized)
1st: Burning Hands, Charm
Person*, Color Spray, Alarm, Identify, Feather Fall*,
Magic Missile, Sleep, Tenser's Floating Disk*, Wizard
Mark, Friends*, Detect Magic*, Read Magic
2nd: Alter Self*, Fool's
Gold, Knock, Undetectable Alignment*, Vocalize, Wizard
Lock, Ghoul Touch*, Forget, Levitate*, Melf's Acid Arrow,
Continual Light, Web*
3rd: Clairaudience,
Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic*, Acidic Blast*, Hold Person*,
Slow, Tongues, Suggestion, Lightning Bolt*
4th: Charm Monster*,
Confusion, Fire Trap, Fear, Evard's Black Tentacles*,
Improved Invisibility*, Minor Globe of
Invulnerability*
5th: Advanced Illusion*,
Airy Water, Animate Dead, Conjure Elemental, Wall of
Force*, Wall of Iron*, Wall of Stone*, Monster Summoning
III, Dismissal
6th: Globe of
Invulnerability*, Chain Lightning*, Move Earth*, True
Seeing, Mass Suggestion
7th: Teleport Without
Error*, Control Undead
Lucital
has been alive longer then anyone can remember -- the
chant says that she has seen the first battles of the
Blood War, and she's seen Sigil being formed. But that's
just the chant, and it ain't too reliable. The only
problem is, no one knows her background. She's been
around so long that no one can give first-hand knowledge
of her history, except her, and she's not
talking.
Make
no mistake about it, though, Lucital is not the leader of
the Prolongers. She is merely the oldest Prolonger
around, and because of this she is the most respected
(among the Cheaters, that is).
Sect
Headquarters
None
to speak of, since the Cheaters are a group of
individuals without much contact between each
other.
Role-playing
the Prolongers
Be
edgy. Be paranoid. Constantly be thinking of your next
victim, and always size up berks based on how long their
life force will prolong yours. Most Cheaters have been
around long enough to amass a mound of jink large enough
to make a Merkhant jealous. Thus, a goodly portion of the
Prolongers have more bodyguards and spell-slingers then
your average Factol.
Although
a Prolonger's primary goal is to live forever, he's not
stupid enough to simply limit himself to that. A
Prolonger will go out of his way (or pay a huge amount of
jink) to acquire magical items that provide protection.
Your average Prolonger will have more rings of
protections or bracers of defense then you can
shake a wand at, and they'll be sure to have either a
charmed or really well-paid cleric on hand to cast
resurrection if something goes wrong. A Cheater
will go to any length to get his greedy hands on
something that will grant wishes. A Cheater's
primary wish is to either make himself invulnerable or to
grant himself eternal life -- without having to kill
others for it.
Membership
The
requirements listed in the History section are the only
requirements needed to "get membership" to the
Prolongers. Other Prolongers won't consider "new members"
to be "true" Cheaters until they have escaped Death's
grasp for at least one hundred years.
Allies
& Enemies
The
Prolongers don't have too many allies. A Prolonger can
expect some aid from members of the Athar, who point to
them as perfect of examples that the so-called "gods" are
not all powerful. If they were, the Defiers say, why
haven't they just destroyed the Cheaters?
The
Bleak Cabal is on neutral terms with Cheaters, not really
caring what the berks do to stay alive. The Fated have a
twisted form of respect for the Prolongers, considering
them the epitome of the faction's ideals.
On
the other hand, the Dustmen loath the Cheaters -- so much
so that they've even established a small cadre of
fighters and mages that hunt the Prolongers down and
put'em in the dead book. The Dead consider what the
Prolongers do an abomination, and simply cannot
understand why anyone would want to spend eternity
suffering through "life".
The
Mercykillers, Harmonium and Believers of the Source also
hate the Prolongers, not such much for who they are but
what they do. The Believers don't think anyone should
have their lives cut short so some other unworthy berk
can live forever. The Mercykillers and the Harmonium just
don't like the Prolongers killing people.
However,
the Prolongers aren't really a sect. Members can hold
other factional beliefs and still desire immortality --
in short, prolongers can be a member of a faction as
well. What their factols would think if they found
out one of their members was a prolonger, well, that's
another matter!
Advantages
& Disadvantages
Hmmm...advantages.
Let me think. Oh, I've got one. Maybe the fact that the
Prolongers live forever. If you don't consider life
everlasting a good benefit, you've got some issues to
deal with. The Cheaters also have the bizarre power to
drain people's life forces, similar to the energy
drain ability of some undead. This energy drain can
be performed once a week, and all that is needed for it
to take effect is contact with the victim. Once contact
is established, the victim loses one level of experience
for every round of continuous contact. Each level drained
decreases the age of the Prolonger in question by one
year.
The
main disadvantage to being a Prolonger is that they age
10-times fast then the average mortal -- which means a
Prolonger needs to drain someone's life force once every
four weeks or so if he wishes to no longer age.
Prolongers are also unable to advance in experience level
once they attain their immortality. They'll become more
knowledgeable, wily and wicked for sure, but they never
gain another level.
The
Current Chant
There
is hardly any new chant concerning the Prolongers. Ever.
The only long-lasting chant that floats around is that
people believe the Prolongers have a weird contract with
the Grim Reaper. Most people who know anything about the
Cheaters believe they attribute their strange energy
draining powers to either Death or some fiend, who, in
return for eternal life, asks for other people's lives in
return.
The
Dark
The
Prolongers really do get their powers from Death. When
they begin fearing Death, Death senses it. When the
Prolonger-to-be reaches a certain level of paranoia,
Death steps in and grants them the energy draining power.
The lives that the Prolonger extinguishes go to Death. In
return, Death doesn't collect on the Prolonger's soul.
Presumably, the additional death caused by the
Prolongers' draining of mortals to sustain themselves
more than makes up for the fact that the prolongers
themselves won't die. At least in the eyes of the Grim
Reaper.
The
moral of this story, kiddies: sometimes the chant is
right. And in cases like this, it is.
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