Introduced in The Dark Disciple trilogy by Margaret Weis, The Beloved of Chemosh are a terrifying and intriguing creature. Let’s learn all about The Beloved of Chemosh. Buy Amber and Iron here: https://amzn.to/3NrB2I2
Transcript
Cold Open
They willingly give their mortality for everlasting frivolity.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to talk about The Beloved of Chemosh. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing the Holy Order of the Stars sourcebook and Amber & Iron Appendix for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Many of the gods saw the absence of Takhisis as an opportunity. Someone had to take up the mantle as the primary evil deity, and Chemosh was not going to sit this one out. For millennia he has had devoted followers. His clerics wielded dark magic, able to infuse a semblance of life back into long-dead corpses. Devoted wizards of Nuitari would approach the god of death to learn the secrets of lichdom. Even those terrified of Chemosh like graverobbers, would leave offerings to the Lord of Bones. In fact, this would be a turning point for Chemosh. He was tired of the vile and ugly necromancers and embalmers who worshiped him. He wanted the vibrant, young and full of life devotees that so many other gods enjoyed. Rather than enjoy the fear of mortals, he would gain their love.
This is where the scorned and lost Mina would come in. Chemosh’s first task was to seduce this young woman into worshiping him, and then grant her authority to create what would be referred to as the Beloved of Chemosh. Mina, in the absence of her One God, Takhisis, took kindly to Chemosh, and they struck up a healthy love affair. When he asked her to bring more worshippers who loved life, Mina saw it as an opportunity to serve another god well. And she was incredibly successful. She would have those who wanted to love her, and thrill in eternal life, swear an oath to Chemosh, the Lord of Death, then she would kiss them right over their heart. This would sere her kiss into them turning them into the Beloved.
You would never know a Beloved for who they are. They remain in their prime of vibrant health and beauty. They are known as those with a lust for life, not a devotion to death. This juxtaposition ostensibly masks them from detection, as they may now be the friends of those who hunt undead, and they wouldn’t even know it! The Beloved are confident and charming. But the Beloved want to, nay, need to convert others into the service of Chemosh. They do not have difficulty finding those who want to live carefree as they do, or to enjoy a night of love with them. That is when the Beloved present the oath: I pledge myself to Chemosh. Once uttered, they plant a kiss directly over the heart, just as Mina did in the beginning.
This is when Chemosh allows death to take the victim, and he takes their soul. The victim feels their life slipping away in pain and spasm. But it is only momentary, for as the soul is ripped away, peace seems to settle upon them. As they open their eyes again, a new Beloved of Chemosh rises to repeat the process all over again. The initial experience of a Beloved is just as promised, eternal youth and life! It’s as if a beautiful and impossible dream has come true. However, in time, the lust and desires that led a Beloved down their path of damnation and ultimately servitude, begin to plague it in unlife. Wine and spirits no longer satisfy. Food no longer curbs their hunger. Memories of their former life fade as family, friends and lovers are forgotten. In the end, only the endless cravings and the commandments of Chemosh remain.
This, however, isn’t the worst of it. The Beloved will eventually discover that pain is all they feel, but there is a way to curb its endless torment… They must kill. They are able to use all the faculties they had in life to this end: Poison, melee, suffocation are all options and anything else they can imagine. As the newly dead souls go to Chemosh, the pain subsides for a time. In the end, only the name Mina can distract the Beloved from its purpose. They yearn to find her, even if they have never met her. They see her name in their minds, and her voice echoes in their ears delivering the Lord of Death’s commandments.
In time, even though you cannot detect a Beloved by sight, it is clear something is ravaging the countryside. As people abandon their lives and begin to travel, only seeking joy, then lives. There are those few who may be able to look deep into the eyes of a Beloved and see the emptiness within. Some animals may shy away from them, or even attack them as they are undead. But only those with incredible sensitivity can detect that something is wrong. Their skin is warm, they continue to eat and drink, laugh and weep. The only tell-tell sign is a discoloration over their heart on their skin, Mina’s kiss. Only divine magic can reliably reveal a Beloved, and only those who practice the disciplines of souls or spirits of the dead. They can detect the aura of the living or the absence thereof, and the Kender known as Nightstalkers are able to see that the Beloved are missing their souls.
Once the Beloved were discovered for the insidious evil they are, there were those who attempted to destroy them, but this proved infinitely more difficult than expected. Regardless of what was tried, the Beloved appeared to be truly immortal. Arcane and divine magic has no effect on them. In some cases it rebounds on the caster! Suffocation, fire, ice, lightning and holy water only slow a Beloved. Dismemberment is only an inconvenience, as it is able to pull itself back together again! This incredible power does not extend to causing death. They only hold the faculties they did in life, their skill or lack thereof with a weapon or magic is not imbued or enhanced. However, a weakness has been discovered, though it is loath to be used.
As the laws of balance and magic on Krynn, set down by the Highgod during the Age of Starbirth, doesn’t allow the creation of immortal servants, there was a small and terrible flaw. The Beloved could become unraveled, by the hand of a child. Yea, if a child strikes a beloved in anger, its true nature is revealed, and it is consumed in an unnatural fire that does not harm anyone but the Beloved. Innocence is all that can destroy the Beloved, but the innocence in turn is also destroyed. Children who do this are traumatized for life to witness the spectacle. They will require the care and attention of the gods to be healed from this tragedy.
Lest you find the idea of militarizing children an obvious tactic, let’s remember that it is the job of adults to protect the innocence of children for as long as they can, while preparing their developing minds for adulthood. To murder and watch those you strike ignite in flame as they scream and flail and curse and strike out at you until falling to ashen heaps at your feet, would torment anyone, let alone the fragile, developing mind of a child. This often leads to incurable trauma or worse, a desire to repeat the behavior in adulthood.
No one knows how many Beloved there are, or if they truly serve the Lord of Bones, or Mina, as long as she serves him. And no child can destroy more than once, as it’s at the cost of their innocence. The end of the Dark Disciple trilogy reveals Mina as a god who destroys the Beloved who have followed her to the Blood Sea, but are there more out there?
Outro
And that is all the time I have to talk about The Beloved of Chemosh. What do you think about this new form of undead? Will the Beloved ever reappear in the Age of Mortals? And finally, would you ever play a campaign where they are the antagonists? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
It’s going to get stranger.
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