Wee Jas' Familiar

[A_Gray_Phantom]

One of my players is playing a human cleric of Pelor, and has established a church in a theocracy overseen by Wee Jas. Wee Jas herself is going to pay a visit to the church, but this is mostly as an excuse to check out the adventurers herself.

Seeing as the party is dominated by chaotic members, and she's the lawful neutral goddess of death, vanity, and magic, I'm certain hijinks and shenanigans will ensue.

(The party named their derpy pet dog after her.)

I was doing some research on her, but one particular detail seems amiss: what's her familiar? She's the Ruby Sorceress, so naturally as a sorceress she should have a familiar, right?

I've read that some have compared her to the Raven Queen, but having a raven for a familiar seems so basic. Not fit for the Goddess of Vanity.

Perhaps a homunculus, then? Nah, seems like more of a wizard's familiar.

I'm thinking Wee Jas would have something REALLY over the top: I'm imagining a ruby peacock. Like, a peacock LITERALLY made from rubies mined from deep within the elemental plane of earth, and brought to life with the tears of a ravid she milked herself while surfing through the positive energy plane just to prove that she could.

That's just my idea. Anyone else think of anything? Or perhaps I've overlooked some lore that describes what her familiar actually is?

[Eldan]

3.5 Deities and Demigods just lists "Familiars (Ravens)" in her description, but you're right, that's boring. That also makes her a Wizard 20/Cleric 20, not a sorcerer, though.

Let's brainstorm a bit. Jasite Temples are said to feature a lot of artwork and magical fire, often red. She's the ruby sorceress and also a goddess of beauty. And a goddess of Undeath.

Maybe some over-the-top magical construct? A beautifully filigreed automaton, animated by ruby fire? Or a mummy, in full regalia and expensive clothing? You know, the clean and respectable kind of undead.

I'm not sure Wee Jas would be that over the top, really. One of her names is also The Stern Lady and she's highly, highly lawful and traditional. I'm imagining her as quite tasteful, in some ways.

[Malphegor]

It's Wee Jas, so I feel that something like this would be an appropriate avatar for her.

Imagine it being a bit more feminine, and without horns.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

It's Wee Jas, so I feel that something like this would be an appropriate avatar for her.

Imagine it being a bit more feminine, and without horns.

Oh, that's cool! So maybe a floating, burning skull?

[A_Gray_Phantom]

3.5 Deities and Demigods just lists "Familiars (Ravens)" in her description, but you're right, that's boring. That also makes her a Wizard 20/Cleric 20, not a sorcerer, though.

Let's brainstorm a bit. Jasite Temples are said to feature a lot of artwork and magical fire, often red. She's the ruby sorceress and also a goddess of beauty. And a goddess of Undeath.

Maybe some over-the-top magical construct? A beautifully filigreed automaton, animated by ruby fire? Or a mummy, in full regalia and expensive clothing? You know, the clean and respectable kind of undead.

I'm not sure Wee Jas would be that over the top, really. One of her names is also The Stern Lady and she's highly, highly lawful and traditional. I'm imagining her as quite tasteful, in some ways.

Hmm, well, the theocracy she's overseeing is ruled by a mummified pharaoh, so maybe the pharaoh herself is her familiar? That'd be kinda cool.

But what'd be more tasteful than a ruby peacock? Like, I'm trying to strike a balance between vanity, and practicality. She's kinda gives me this elizabethan kinda vibe:



Edit: Okay, wow, that image was WAY bigger than I expected it to be

[Eldan]

I mean, yeah. That fits very well.

[ShurikVch]

I've read that some have compared her to the Raven Queen, but having a raven for a familiar seems so basic. Not fit for the Goddess of Vanity.

How about the Giant Raven, Legendary Raven, or Deathraven Swarm?

[Eldan]

Ravens are loud and crap everywhere. That's not dignified.

[ShurikVch]

Giant Raven have Int 12, so should behave better than a common Animals...

[Malphegor]

A phoenix might be thematically appropriate though in a weird way. Phoenixes are all about dealing with death efficiently ("I guess I'll just rebirth myself if I have to, jeez"), are all firery to fit with her screaming skull logo, and are fancy birds who are purdy, as she is often said to be minus bird except in slang english terms for ladies.

[Evil DM Mark3]

You are missing an important detail.

3.5 Deities and Demigods just lists "Familiars (Ravens)"

Nor Raven. Ravens. ALL Ravens. Any raven she is aware of and she wants to use is her familiar.

The whole sky goes dark with corvids, the very sun seems blotted out. The cries of the wise bird of death ring out. Ravens, even common tame ones, can be taught to speak. This cloud of humble servitors, black and restrained so as to not overshadow their mistress, the goddess of vanity does not wish her servants to shine, only her, cries out a chant of repentance and death as it settles over the whole area, keen attentive eyes watching everyone, from every angle.

Then she makes her entrance, the bright splash of colour against the sea of black. Maybe she arrives astride some strange and wonderful creature, maybe in a pillar of ruby light, maybe she just suddenly IS, in the middle of the chamber or at the place of honour.

But her familiar? Ravens. Nothing fits her better. Intelligent, deathly, proud, everywhere.

Its amazing what an s can do isn't it.

[liquidformat]

Why not a slaymate as a handmaiden dressed up all prim and proper?

[Elves]

The Elizabethan image of her is great. A stern sinister Queen Elizabeth all in red is totally what you should go for. Yes, a red peacock would look nice because the tail mirrors her neck ruff. I think having it be gemstone is too over the top. Just have it be natural, like this:

Spoiler

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Having all the crows in the area become agitated would be a nice premonition of her presence.

[thorr-kan]

When I saw the thread title alone, my first thought was "Pelor." It was followed by my second thought, "Nah, too obvious. Vecna. Shhhh; it's a secret!" You mentioning a Pelorite cleric made me laugh.

That out of the weigh, the Red Elizabeth imagery above is awesome. I also second the idea of all ravens. Everywhere. Ever.

[Deadline]

That out of the weigh, the Red Elizabeth imagery above is awesome. I also second the idea of all ravens. Everywhere. Ever.

This (and EvilDMMk3's post too). It's especially relevant if one of the PC's has a Raven familiar. Have Wee Jas co-opt it for the duration of her visit. Because she can. She's a deity, and her appearance should unnerve and disturb mere mortals. She shouldn't just appear and look like she's going to a formal party. Not unless she wants to, which she totally could, because again. Deity.

[Telonius]

(The party named their derpy pet dog after her.)

How did the party come across this dog? Because I'm thinking a "Dante the dog" (from Coco) might be in order.

[NNescio]

The Elizabethan image of her is great. A stern sinister Queen Elizabeth all in red is totally what you should go for. Yes, a red peacock would look nice because the tail mirrors her neck ruff. I think having it be gemstone is too over the top. Just have it be natural, like this:

Spoiler

Show

Having all the crows in the area become agitated would be a nice premonition of her presence.

Alternatively, a Blackadder-esque Lizzie works well too.

[liquidformat]

Alternatively, a Blackadder-esque Lizzie works well too.

Plus Blackadder was amazing, it would be a good way to go!

[tiercel]

Nor Raven. Ravens. ALL Ravens. Any raven she is aware of and she wants to use is her familiar.

The whole sky goes dark with corvids, the very sun seems blotted out. The cries of the wise bird of death ring out. Ravens, even common tame ones, can be taught to speak. This cloud of humble servitors, black and restrained so as to not overshadow their mistress, the goddess of vanity does not wish her servants to shine, only her, cries out a chant of repentance and death as it settles over the whole area, keen attentive eyes watching everyone, from every angle.

Then she makes her entrance, the bright splash of colour against the sea of black. Maybe she arrives astride some strange and wonderful creature, maybe in a pillar of ruby light, maybe she just suddenly IS, in the middle of the chamber or at the place of honour.

I’m liking this — very Hitchcockian, but in the eerie, growing, gathering intense-avian-interest way, not necessarily in the screaming-under-attack way: more and more feathered black forms, first a few, then a gathering storm, no mere murder of crows or conspiracy of ravens but a veritable apocalypse of corvids.

Especially when they begin to sing/chant, no mere birdsong but a fell arcane chant of grim forboding (insert Ominous Latin Chanting here), wings outstretching as the chant rises to a climax, one pinion from each bird falling into a feathery maelstrom from which emerges the Dark Lady herself, clad all in sable befeathered splendor.

Wee Jas herself is going to pay a visit to the church, but this is mostly as an excuse to check out the adventurers herself.

Seeing as the party is dominated by chaotic members, and she's the lawful neutral goddess of death, vanity, and magic, I'm certain hijinks and shenanigans will ensue.

(The party named their derpy pet dog after her.)

If, being a literal goddess, Wee Jas can co-opt animals to her own fell design, one might imagine the party’s dopey dog barking once, loping up to the goddess, and sitting attentively before her for a long moment as if silently communicating all that it has seen with the party to her, whilst she slightly tilts her head, narrows her eyes, and softly intones with the slightest of sardonic smirks, “I see.”

Has her namesake dog been spying on the party the whole time? Is it more than it’s seemed? Has she simply co-opted it to learn what it knows? Or is the Dark Lady simply trolling the party out of some sense of grim irony?

[Bohandas]

3.5 Deities and Demigods just lists "Familiars (Ravens)" in her description, but you're right, that's boring.

And more to the point IIRC the divine familiar ability specifically says they can also have an individual regular familoar of a different type.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

A phoenix might be thematically appropriate though in a weird way. Phoenixes are all about dealing with death efficiently ("I guess I'll just rebirth myself if I have to, jeez"), are all firery to fit with her screaming skull logo, and are fancy birds who are purdy, as she is often said to be minus bird except in slang english terms for ladies.

That's actually brilliant!!

[A_Gray_Phantom]

You are missing an important detail.

Nor Raven. Ravens. ALL Ravens. Any raven she is aware of and she wants to use is her familiar.

The whole sky goes dark with corvids, the very sun seems blotted out. The cries of the wise bird of death ring out. Ravens, even common tame ones, can be taught to speak. This cloud of humble servitors, black and restrained so as to not overshadow their mistress, the goddess of vanity does not wish her servants to shine, only her, cries out a chant of repentance and death as it settles over the whole area, keen attentive eyes watching everyone, from every angle.

Then she makes her entrance, the bright splash of colour against the sea of black. Maybe she arrives astride some strange and wonderful creature, maybe in a pillar of ruby light, maybe she just suddenly IS, in the middle of the chamber or at the place of honour.

But her familiar? Ravens. Nothing fits her better. Intelligent, deathly, proud, everywhere.

Its amazing what an s can do isn't it.

Now THAT'S an entrance! 😧

[A_Gray_Phantom]

The Elizabethan image of her is great. A stern sinister Queen Elizabeth all in red is totally what you should go for. Yes, a red peacock would look nice because the tail mirrors her neck ruff. I think having it be gemstone is too over the top. Just have it be natural, like this:

Spoiler

Show

Having all the crows in the area become agitated would be a nice premonition of her presence.

That thing is GORGEOUS! Seems everyone thinks that a peacock made of literal rubies is a little too on the nose, so I may dial that back.

I'm loving the idea of a bunch of ravens gathering in one spot, symbolically blotting out the sun (because this is Wee Jas' land, not Pelor's (the sun god's) land, and all chanting in faux Latin.

There is an NPC that has a raven as a familiar. I could have it show up as a cameo to help explain what is happening.

Then the ravens form a cloud of feathers and fire, bursting forth in that gorgeous red dress is the goddess herself, followed by a red peacock (because she's a goddess who can totally have more than one familiar).

I won't include a phoenix, though, since rebirth isn't really her thing. Death and taxes are the themes of the theocracy, not rebirth (yet).

How did the party come across this dog? Because I'm thinking a "Dante the dog" (from Coco) might be in order.

The players had nearly kidnapped a random drunk guy off the street, so I mockingly asked if they wanted to kick a puppy on the way back to their home. Unsurprisingly they asked to roll for a search check to find some puppies. At first they had no success, but the druid helped and... yeah. Now they have a derpy shih tzu poodle mutt that always has its tongue hanging out and walks kinda funny. They named her Wee Jas.

I'd already been planning on having Wee Jas visit their church, but this makes it better. And yes, I've compared the dog to Dante from Coco. (I love that movie.)

I'm planning on making her come across as very pompous and no-nonsense (Stern Lady, Goddess of Vanity), so when she inevitably meets Wee Jas (the dog) I want to subvert expectations and have her heart completely melt by how adorably pathetic the dog is.

And yeah, I kinda like the idea of her implying that she planted the dog in their church. I want them to start second-guessing everything 😂

Like, seriously, Wee Jas is one of my favorite gods. She's up there with Bacchus and Bast (all of whom I love for separate reasons), so I want to make sure I portray her correctly, but also to have fun with it.

Thanks for all your suggestions! If you have anymore questions or ideas let me know!

[A_Gray_Phantom]

Oh! One more thing: someone suggested a slaymate. One of the allied NPC's has one of those. He treats her like an adopted daughter. He named her Sayako (like in the horror movie). The party adores her, and she's scared away all of her babysitters.

She does wear a hijab, but only one party member (a githyanki bard) has been dumb enough to try and peek underneath. He was immediately bitten, and failed his saving throw.

The cleric who adopted her is a good guy, though, and healed the bard. "That was your one warning. Stop being stupid."

I'll probably have her dressed up in a very ornate, red hijab when Wee Jas (the goddess, not the dog) comes and visits.

[Thurbane]

There's the Wilora (City of Splendors p.141): a tiny bird-like magical beast, which has a hypnotic song, memory snatching gaze, and shape changing abilities (during night hours it can assume the forms of any bird-like magical beast up to Large size, and also the form of any creature if has snatched a memoery from).

Would be a fitting familiar for Wee-Jas, I believe. It's natively CN, but no reason that hers wouldn't match her alignment.