Forming Osiris

[Veknironth]

Well, I hadn't thought about this much until recently, and this makes little sense to me. If Isis is trying to collect the pieces of Osiris, why would she build a shrine on top of the pieces she finds? Why not simply take them into her deific realm where they are at their most safe? I understand it's a role-playing conceit but it's a really bizarre one.

-Vek
"Similarly, why wouldn't Set or Anubis do the same if they came across one of the pieces?"

[ShadowLogan]

Could the enchantments the parts receive block them from being taken to a Deific Realm? Or does it require a complete set for them to go there?

Or why doesn't she move them to a single site (even if not her Deific Realm), allowing it to be better defended. Text indicates she's only had at most 1/3 of the 14 parts in her possession at any one time (which puts it at 4 or 5 parts).

We know both sides also built decoy sites (per D&G), what if they are all decoy sites and the parts have actually been transported to deific realm(s) for safe keeping and we just don't know it? Some parts have also been moved off world (Rifts Earth) IINM, which could further complicate recovery efforts.

[Library Ogre]

I'd lean towards "Most parts are off [the Palladium Fantasy] world, and Set cursed them to make them hard to assemble together." Set is powerful enough to make a curse stand in the face of Isis's magic (per the Druidic Law of Equals... EVENTUALLY one will give way). So, Isis has to find and keep the parts, but can't bring them together until she can beat the magic Set set on them. So, she has to play defense across the megaverse, keeping the pieces while acquiring the pieces while unable to protect them in a safe place. Since she doesn't know Set's curse, she doesn't know how to break it... it might be something simple, it might be something hard, but it's something the god of lies is keeping close to himself.

[GoliathReturns]

Well, I hadn't thought about this much until recently, and this makes little sense to me. If Isis is trying to collect the pieces of Osiris, why would she build a shrine on top of the pieces she finds? Why not simply take them into her deific realm where they are at their most safe? I understand it's a role-playing conceit but it's a really bizarre one.

-Vek
"Similarly, why wouldn't Set or Anubis do the same if they came across one of the pieces?"

Who's to say they haven't?

I mean, the deific realms themselves aren't 100% safe. So, they could still be stolen from there.

Second, it's often said that the best place to hide something isn't "at home", which is where people would look.

Third, don't keep all your eggs in one basket. They may be stored in several places, so that if someone manages to get in one place, and steal what's there, they don't get everything you've collected.

Several shrines could be false shrines, or real shrines with false relics. A few deific blessings, and the bone shows the expected magics.

Plus, we don't know the details of Set's curse. It may be that it can only be broken with ALL the bones. Or perhaps the ritual done to break it can only be done once all the bones are together. This kind of thing will keep the two sides stealing bones back and forth.

There's also the option that it's all a ruse. Isis has been collecting pieces, made fakes of the pieces she gets, and every now and then "my collection was stolen!". Set now thinks those pieces are back in the world, and includes them on his hunt, while she's only chasing down legitimate ones. Meanwhile, she's got a vault in some extra dimensional space that can only be entered with a command word, that has all of Osiris' bones except a few she's still chasing down.

--
GS

[Grazzik]

I love all these different ideas!

[Warning... megaversal tidbit] As per Rifts WB4 pg 145, Isis is in human form on Rifts Earth with memory loss. So, maybe she started something ... and just forgot about it and now it's just lying around waiting to be finished.

This is totally opposite of the Rifts Earth comment on D&G pg 146, which basically says she doesn't have any interest in Earth. Though she is known for mortal manifestations. So maybe the WB4 reference is for a manifestation... or it really is Isis and a manifestation is keeping up appearances back home in the deific realm to divert attention away from the missing goddess.

Regardless, the piecing together of Osiris is no simple feat and on a god-being timescale just around the corner, but on a mortal scale that could be an epoch. One can't assume god-beings are so selfless that they accommodate every GM wish to get it all done during the arc of a campaign or during the limited mortal lifespan.

[Library Ogre]

I mean, on the idea of hiding something in your deific realm... (minor BG3 spoiler)