Bindstoner Selection Process

[Gulnyr]

I was considering the bindstones this morning, and how some characters can bind their souls and some either can't or don't.  I started wondering which it is, "can't" or "don't."

Way back when, there was a dragon calling people to serve, and the LORE page on bindstones* mentions that the bindstones became active again after some lengthy period of inactivity and that "the souls of those who have been summoned to the defense of Layonara" are tied to them.  It gives the impression that Ozlo and/or someone associated with him specifically bound the Dragoncalled to the stones.  It could just be that only those who could be bound were chosen, though, which explains why all Dragoncalled could be bound and still fits the description.

Whatever the case, it was fine before, with the whole unified cause and greatest enemy ever stuff, when people were actually being summoned to the defense of Layonara, but that isn't happening now.  Despite that, people who were born well after the end of the war are still being bound to the bindstones.

So, to think it through, first I took the viewpoint that people could choose to be bound, but don't.  They would just need to go to a bindstone and focus, like any PC does.  Well, alright, but that really doesn't explain why more people don't.  There doesn't seem to be any severe negative consequence to being bound, most people don't live lives that put them at risk of death every day, and there are bindstones everywhere just like gas stations and fast food restaurants in the real world.  So maybe your average farmer wouldn't, but why not all those Mistonian and Dregarian soldiers who went to help liberate Rohden?  Why not the Rohdenese before them?  Why not every soldier in every army everywhere?  Why would mothers not take their children as soon as they were old enough to understand?

That leads to a mess, obviously.  The world would be different than it is, so choosing to be bound can't be the way things are.  It isn't that people don't bind themselves, but that they can't.

So, most people can't, and some people can.  How is it determined who is in which group?  "Summoned to the defense of Layonara" doesn't really explain anything, as members of groups bent on the destruction of Layonara can still be bound.  Maybe it's a random thing - some people just have the special something when they are born, and can be bound to the stones.  Maybe some god or gods are involved (though I can imagine Aeridin doesn't approve), but wouldn't be telling anyone since gods don't do that; people would just have to find out they could bind their souls on their own, making it essentially random.

To go off on a tangent for a second, I can easily imagine that lots of people become adventurers (think of all the 'bored on the farm' type submissions), but that not everyone who does can be bound.  Some of those who can't may have lucky careers and return to a normal life, but most of them probably don't make it very far.  I can also imagine that there may be hundreds or even thousands of people with the ability to be bound who just work in more mundane careers and never even consider it.  I've got the random thing stuck in my head, but it just seems to work so well as an explanation given the diverse backgrounds and concepts of the various PCs.  And just to cover this, in case anyone's thoughts turned that way, I am not now suggesting and never will suggest that it should be random whether any player character can be bound.  All PCs can and should be bindable.  The randomness is just an explanation of what we see.

Anyway, maybe no one knows in-character, and no one is told out-of-character to prevent metagaming.  While part of me wants to shake a fist and yell "Cop out answer, you lazy so-and-sos," I'm mostly alright with that as long as there is a real answer stashed away somewhere.  I know bindstones are a method of facilitating gameplay, and therefore an OOC mechanic, but they are deeply embedded in-character, too, and ought to be fully addressed for the good of the world.  Maybe no character or even player will ever really know, but that doesn't mean the hows and whys of them shouldn't be worked out, y'know?

That doesn't mean I wouldn't like an answer, by the way, heh.


* By the way, that LORE page is more out of date than just not explaining the bindstones themselves, as it still mentions The Planes and souls traveling to them.

[ycleption]

Agree with your main point... been something I've thought about as well.

* By the way, that LORE page is more out of date than just not explaining the bindstones themselves, as it still mentions The Planes and souls traveling to them.

Souls still do travel to the planes when they die, just the nature of those planes is different....
LORE: Layonara Cosmology

[Acacea]

That has actually been on Ed's list for a long time. I can only imagine that he must have decided on it by now, but it has been an outdated problem since the end of Ozlo.

Despite that, though, it doesn't seem like the biggest problem with the bindstones. They're scary, take a bit of your soul just to power them, die a thousand deaths that make for one long death - in other words surely only crazy people would use them, anyway? Hehe. Obviously it needs explanation somehow - perhaps Ozlo just turned them on for the Dragoncalled but then he died, and they stayed activated for those who are able...

That doesn't explain why new ones keep popping up with every single new town and temple, though. Supposedly they are these ancient mysterious stones that were created by powerful mages in times gone by. That puts them before the Cataclysm, so you already know they were tossed about and not necessarily remaining in any prime locations. Even buried underground and beneath the ocean. Clearly we do not have the ability to create more. Why then, do we put new ones in the module all the time? Build a temple...add a bindstone. How? From what?

[Acacea]

Maybe along with whatever criteria Ozlo had, he Summoned all those that were capable of binding after activating the stones... in other words, it was not being Called that made them bindable necessarily, but rather he Called all the people that were. After all, you can't tell wee little fresh off the farm Timmies that they need to defeat Blood if they fear death by goblins. And since the bindstones were dead before that, they were the first and the only ones to use them. After he died, they were no longer Summoned by that, but those who can still find their way to one? Seems to tie the generations together a bit better.

[Lalaith Va'lash]

I like your theories Acacea.

[EdTheKet]

Actually, it's been off my list for a long time now, it's working quite well actually

[Verideth]

How does this ring for pure speculation:

I assume any intact stones became active when they were all activated. Image someone using one for the town millstone and then it starts glowing. Ha!

Duke's, Kings, High Priests, ect... went out and found these lost stones. Stone's in their cities, mean people who use them would also come.

With us adventure types sulking about, rulers get a free army of problem solvers. We always go risk our necks for scraps of gold and trinkets.

That at least explains why the stones are in cities.

[Acacea]

They can't be moved, though. Edit - at least, they couldn't before. Maybe they magically became uprooted, but that wasn't the case before, is what I meant.

[EdTheKet]

Who said that they can't be moved?

IN any case, it's all figured out and will be revealed. And please note that it says the bindstones got active again. It doesn't say only Dragoncalled can bind, and it also does not say only Player Characters can bind
But the main gist of it is that everyone can. But that not everyone does. There's a risk involved (and it so happens that all player characters bind).

More on that soon!

[Filatus]

Ran into a dragoncalled NPC once before. They're out there.

[Lalaith Va'lash]

IIRC, there were even some dragons that were bound..

Though, now I wonder why wasn't Ozlo bound.. silly Ozlo

[EdTheKet]

Maybe he didn't want to.

[Lalaith Va'lash]

Somehow figured you'd say that

[Crunch]

Why wasn't Ozlo bound?   He was a high level fellow who once did adventursome things and shifted over to being a player behind the scenes -- a crafter of adventurers to save the world.  I know lots of people like that, except they craft trinkets instead of adventurers.  

It's obvious -- he was on his last sould strand.

[EdTheKet]

Why wasn't Ozlo bound?   He was a high level fellow who once did adventursome things and shifted over to being a player behind the scenes -- a crafter of adventurers to save the world.  I know lots of people like that, except they craft trinkets instead of adventurers.  

It's obvious -- he was on his last sould strand.

If he was on his last soul strand, then he would have had to have been bound. And if he was on his last soul strand, it wouldn't have meant it would've snapped at his death when defending the Oak. Could have, but not necessarily should have

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

But it's nice and dramatic to think of it that way, Ed. Noone likes to have a 10th strand cut, quibbling with some goblins over greenstone when your buffs run out. Much nicer to have it be important.