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+--- Thread: Fourth Age Past Lives (/thread-1962.html)
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Claude Saint-Clair - 02-07-2026
Also with regards to being born every age - my thought is they would be tied to the pattern and therefore would be in some regards. But that doesn’t need to be the case for our world building reasons. It can get complicated I think when you add in those people on the cusp of an age - basically being in one. Would that count for two ages - or just the one they were born in? Could get messy lol.
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Nox - 02-07-2026
as I understand it they are only spit out when they are needed.
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Nox - 02-07-2026
As far as seeing someone. I'm sure there are heros they don't recognize. They didn't name them all.
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Thalia - 02-07-2026
If they aren't recognisable as heroes to those who witness the call, then they're just a cool ghost army. So I would argue it is important simply for the mythos (and morale of the moment). That's what made me wonder anyway. Fighting alongside a legendary hero you recognise as such is a far different thing from fighting alongside a supernatural but unknown entity. No one is described as having modern or futuristic weaponry/clothes, or looking like a superhero or the terminator or something. If the intention was for them to appear as heroes how they appeared across the entire span of Ages, at least one would have been described that way since it'd be distinct/alien in the 3rd Age. There's only 100 or so of them. So I think they had to appear as recognisable to that Age (even if some of those stories were legends filtered from previous Ages).
So even if Nox doesn't have a 2nd or 3rd age life, his story/legend needs to exist in some recognisable form in the 3rd Age. Even if it's the equivalent of a fairytale. And he'd appear like that, not as he actually appears in the 1st Age. Not that you need to go into that kinda detail (though creating a myth that exists in the 3rd Age might be a fun thing to do).
HotH aren't just heroic souls, they are associated with legends and myths; that's the point. So at the very least they'd have to have enough rebirths to make them recognisable figures within the Ages they're called by the horn. Entire Ages at a time would also be a long time to spend in TAR while waiting rebirth. I think the fact they wait in TAR suggests they might get spun out more frequently than regular souls. Totally agree that for RP purposes a life per Age is a good rule. I am just talking about the books -- Birgitte definitely has multiple lives within an Age. 12 that she can remember since the Breaking. I was asking if the HotH get spun out more than most because they are heroes and the pattern uses them as such.
Quote:Only a few are bound to the Wheel, spun out again and again to work the will of the Wheel in the Pattern of the Ages…The Wheel spins us out for its purposes, not ours, to serve the Pattern.
- The Great Hunt, The Grave is No Bar to My Call
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Nox - 02-07-2026
something to think about. For now I'm leaning towards becoming a hero of the horn in this age for the first time. But it definitely is food for thought.
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Ascendancy - 02-07-2026
There's no rules about rebirths per age. RJ's notes say you can be reborn multiple times per age (e.g. Birgitte). For FA purposes we've kinda self-limited to once per age just to keep the timelines clean, but even that's not a hard and fast rule.
If I recall correctly, Mat saw heroes he recognized but also ones he didn't. And some were clearly from multiple Ages away (e.g. Ameratsu, Shiva) from the 3rd Age.
A list of known heroes is on the wot wiki. Some of whom were new for me to realize. Like St. Patrick! Oh my gosh that means Philip is a hero of the horn. That is very amusing to me.
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Claude Saint-Clair - 02-07-2026
Part of my reasoning for saying recognizing the heroes may not be important is that I don’t think anyone would recognize them all - and others may have different interpretations of what they look like. Like I said - arguments for both sides (sorry if I’m coming across as combative - not trying to be. I just like talking about this kind of stuff :-p)
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Claude Saint-Clair - 02-07-2026
(1 hour ago)Ascendancy Wrote: There's no rules about rebirths per age. RJ's notes say you can be reborn multiple times per age (e.g. Birgitte). For FA purposes we've kinda self-limited to once per age just to keep the timelines clean, but even that's not a hard and fast rule.
If I recall correctly, Mat saw heroes he recognized but also ones he didn't. And some were clearly from multiple Ages away (e.g. Ameratsu, Shiva) from the 3rd Age.
A list of known heroes is on the wot wiki. Some of whom were new for me to realize. Like St. Patrick! Oh my gosh that means Philip is a hero of the horn. That is very amusing to me.
Sounds like we need a wiki update to Philip :-D
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Ascendancy - 02-07-2026
Here's a question. The heroes of the horn come back to fight for the light in some sort of battle scenario. Does that mean all the heroes must be fighters? I mean, St. Patrick certainly wasn't combative. He was a fighter in that he defended the people of Ireland and the impoverished, but he was a peaceful priest. Although perhaps there were times when he picked up a sword? I dont know..
So question: can a hero of the horn be someone who isn't a warrior? How would that work? Do they return to fight for the light and just kinda take up arms and "know" how to fight? Like bringing Neo-like skills implanted into their brains via the soul-bound knowledge?
RE: Fourth Age Past Lives - Nox - 02-07-2026
Making a third age myth character might be kind of fun