Iffinbix

[Darius West]

Here is an enigmatic tidbit from the Pavis Common Knowledge book (page 11).  Apparently this happens post-Troll invasion:

"Iffinbix was the name of a settlement which lasted until about 1400. It centered about a god of that name, connected to the earth, but with some sort of sorcery as well. Yojarl Thirdeye was the name of their leading hero, who showed how to eat the Agipith root which lets worshipers across the threshold of their temples without harm.  When their temples are found even now, the root must be eaten to ensure safety.  These temples are easily recognized by their four-sided sloped, slate roofs."

So Iffinbix is an earth deity who teaches sorcery and requires people to eat a spiny Praxian cactus to enter his temples.   I could see how this might be of value to rubble survivors, but trolls could eat such a cactus pretty easily I think.

So does anyone have any clue as to where the settlement of Iffinbix might have been, or any related information?  Feel free to speculate wildly, as this one is a head scratcher.

[jeffjerwin]

Timeline-wise he's active - and note his 'third eye' during Sheng Seleris' domination of Prax.

[metcalph]

My guess that Yojarl was a Celestial Empire magicians who sought to sidestep the Troll seal on the walls of Pavis.  The Agipith root was necessary to enter a temple outside the walls to one inside the wall.  The threshold is not the entrance to the temple but the space between the temples.  There were several Iffinbix temples at first but most fell into disuse after the Rubble was never as rich as promised.  All but one were abandoned when the Celestial Empire collapsed.  The sole active temple lay within the City of Thieves (which could connect to any abandoned temple within the Rubble) but this too was quietly buried when the Dragonewt Dream occurred.  

[Sir_Godspeed]

4 hours ago, Darius West said:

 I could see how this might be of value to rubble survivors, but trolls could eat such a cactus pretty easily I think.

Perhaps the Trolls' ability to easily digest a poisonous substance was to their detriment, since the ritualistic ingestion required some element of poison-interaction or activity? A minor, or trace amount, but still more than what the Troll digestive system would leave behind?

Just a thought.

[Darius West]

18 hours ago, metcalph said:

My guess that Yojarl was a Celestial Empire magicians who sought to sidestep the Troll seal on the walls of Pavis.  The Agipith root was necessary to enter a temple outside the walls to one inside the wall.  The threshold is not the entrance to the temple but the space between the temples.  There were several Iffinbix temples at first but most fell into disuse after the Rubble was never as rich as promised.  All but one were abandoned when the Celestial Empire collapsed.  The sole active temple lay within the City of Thieves (which could connect to any abandoned temple within the Rubble) but this too was quietly buried when the Dragonewt Dream occurred.  

Yes, it makes sense that an earth deity with sorcery might be using some form of sorcerous teleportation to get into the Rubble when it was closed.  As to the origin being part of the Celestial Empire, well, all we have to go on is the ambivalent title "Thirdeye" which could relate to quite a few things.  Note that Sheng is born in 1220, and the Celestial Empire doesn't yet exist when Iffinbix is already operating in the Rubble, but then the beginning date of Iffinbix operations isn't clear but seems to be post 1250.

I was actually wondering if it might have come to the region with Selenteen's Expedition from Teshnos around the 1250s.  If you think about it, a means of sorcerous teleporting would have been really useful for trade and empire, so using Iffinbix worship would have made a lot of sense for Selenteen to take along.  The cult would have been immensely useful for the isolated humans in the Rubble forts, as a means of teleporting between settlements.  It would have been much faster and safer than coast hugging ships, plus Teshnans are famously lethargic and so don't like rowing much.

I think the real problem is that Iffinbix comes out of nowhere.  No pantheon seems to claim Iffinbix, and it doesn't seem to fit into anything else we know.  It seems unlikely to have been a pure Pavic construction, but that is not impossible either.  Perhaps Iffinbix was less an actual Earth Deity, and more a rubble hero of a more bookish kind who made interesting discoveries in Lord Pavis' writings?  A pity we have so little to go on.  Do you think the name sounds Pentan or Teshnan?  IDK.

17 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Perhaps the Trolls' ability to easily digest a poisonous substance was to their detriment, since the ritualistic ingestion required some element of poison-interaction or activity? A minor, or trace amount, but still more than what the Troll digestive system would leave behind?  Just a thought.

It is quite a good idea.  It uses the troll's superior digestion as a means of invalidating their protection.  If there is any significance to the agipith beyond this I am unaware of it.

[jeffjerwin]

Regarding the name Iffinbix, it may be a Old Pavic distortion of another name. Yojarl sounds a bit Pentan to me... Or it could be 

Compare Jolanty, the name of SS's god, which is Zho Lath Ey in Kralorelan. Names can get really distorted.

[davecake]

On 1/2/2019 at 3:54 AM, metcalph said:

My guess

Peter, you had an entirely different theory about Iffinbix and the Agipith root in 1997!

Quote

I think that it's a variant form of the Mee Vorala Cult crossbred 
with some sorcery looted from the offices of the City Magician. 
The cult relied on the consumption of special roots to achieve an 
altered state of consciousness. Its temples would be breeding 
grounds for the special fungie/truffles/roots. 

I like the psychedelic Mee Vorala connection myself!

Apparently in the same era, I thought Iffinbix was the city magician 'cult', and that they officially died out (but actually became corrupted by vampirism, and are the source of the vampires in Blind Kings Hill, with knowledge stolen from Delecti, and connected to the vampires in Dyskund Caverns), but these days I would (in light of Ian Thompsons excellent Masks of Pavis material) associate that whole plotline with Potonis. 

Celestial Empire sorcery connected to a weird misguided mysticism and Kralorelan alchemy sounds a fruitful avenue of exploration. 

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

18 minutes ago, davecake said:

Celestial Empire sorcery connected to a weird misguided mysticism and Kralorelan alchemy sounds a fruitful avenue of exploration. 

You mean "Kralori Black Magic"?

[davecake]

1 hour ago, Lord High Munchkin said:

You mean "Kralori Black Magic"?

Some people might say that. The Kralori would surely describe it differently, maybe imply it to be Sekeverian. 

[JonL]

6 hours ago, Lord High Munchkin said:

You mean "Kralori Black Magic"?

[Byll]

That was nothing, but that's how it always begins, very small...

[Darius West]

On 1/3/2019 at 4:20 PM, davecake said:

(in light of Ian Thompsons excellent Masks of Pavis material) associate that whole plotline with Potonis. 

Does anyone know a place Ian's magazines can be accessed?

[JonL]

On 1/3/2019 at 6:44 AM, Byll said:

That was nothing, but that's how it always begins, very small...

Gloranta-variation: Since the Opening of the seas,  "Kralori-towns" have developed in major ports such as Nochet.

[Steve]

3 hours ago, Darius West said:

Does anyone know a place Ian's magazines can be accessed?

This has been a popular request. I seem to remember that someone on G+ said they had a memory stick that they got from Ian that they hoped would have some useful information on, but I don't recall a definite conclusion to this.

 

[jajagappa]

11 hours ago, Darius West said:

Does anyone know a place Ian's magazines can be accessed?

They are not available online to my knowledge (or even for sale anywhere).

[Darius West]

Well that's a shame.  Is Ian on this forum ever?

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Darius West said:

Well that's a shame.  Is Ian on this forum ever?

Not to my knowledge.  I don't think I've seen anything by or about him since the early-to-mid 2000s.

[jeffjerwin]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Not to my knowledge.  I don't think I've seen anything by or about him since the early-to-mid 2000s.

Ian Thomson's last gaming writing credit was in 2011 with the Footsteps of Fools series for Dying Earth, with Pelgrane: http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/in-the-footsteps-of-fools/.

Edit: if anyone knows how to find him... it would be Robin Laws, who, coincidentally or not, is working on the new Pavis book.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by jeffjerwin

[Darius West]

On 1/6/2019 at 1:41 AM, jeffjerwin said:

Edit: if anyone knows how to find him... it would be Robin Laws, who, coincidentally or not, is working on the new Pavis book.

I wonder what (if any) surprises Robin Laws has in store for us regarding the physical remains of the Iffinbix cult, and what New Pavis looks like in the wake of the Whitebulls.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Darius West