Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 6 Jul 2002 to 7 Jul 2002 (#2002-174) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 08/07/2002, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 5 messages totalling 208 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Regarding Urt 2. Modrigswerg (3) 3. Sentient Races List - Addenda ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 03:34:36 -0400 From: David Knott Subject: Re: Regarding Urt From: "DM" > > It was so until the boxed set Hollow World came out. Mystara's hollow > and there's another mini-world inside it, so it isn't possible for it to be a > Monolith (since it has no core). On the other hand -- What if Urt = World Shield? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 11:17:47 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: Re: Modrigswerg Ok guys, I've thought a little about the issue and here are the things I'll tinker with to write the history. (Please Shawn do not put this on the site, they are only ideas and I'll write a better thing soon, after I have received some comments) 1) The dwarven race is slowly dying out. One of the dwarven clans, the Modrig clan, begins to research means to stop this. At the time, dwarves are not forbidden from becoming magic users, although the thing is extremely uncommon. The best MUs come from the Modrig clan. Some elements of the Modrig clan are contacted by elves corrupted by Loki and/or Hel (don't know how many yet) that teach them the life-binding rituals and other similar things in the effort to make the dwarven lives longer and to find ways to increase the dramatically low birth ratio. The dwarves are not gruff like they are now, being still of the Kogolor type, and they are not hostile to elves, so they trust them. However the elves' magic is utterly corrupting, and the main personalities of the clan are corrupted by dark magic. 2) When the dwarves discover this there is an uprisal of the sane elements of the Modrig clan. While the clan is in civil war the other clans, convinced by the intervention of Kagyar, exiles all the Modrig clan, unregarding of the difference between evil and good dwarves. The dwarves still live in the Northern Reaches, and the Modrig hide in the darkest mountains or live to Ostland by sea. There is no more contact between the Modrig and the main dwarven community. All traces of the Modrig's clan existance are erased. The evil elves become in some ways the Dark Elves of the legends. 3) Here things get confused. I'll think about it and send the next post. Vale, Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ______________________________________________________________________ Scarica il nuovo Yahoo! Messenger: con webcam, nuove faccine e tante altre novità. http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.messenger.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 16:38:25 -0700 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: Modrigswerg On Sun, 7 Jul 2002 11:17:47 +0200, =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= wrote: (snip) > 1) The dwarven race is slowly dying out. One of the > dwarven clans, the Modrig clan, begins to research > means to stop this. At the time, dwarves are not > forbidden from becoming magic users, although the > thing is extremely uncommon. The best MUs come from > the Modrig clan. Dwarven wizards? I must confess that I have my concerns about this idea already. Not to slash your ideas or anything, but that's my gut reaction. I think my concern is because it sounds a little to me as a "let's make Mystara more 3e compatible" (dwarven wizards/sorcerors are possible in 3e), which is something I don't like. Maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but I don't want to twist Mystara so it fits some crummy old rules. I exorcised mind-flayers and drow from my 2e Mystara campaign for the same reason. If there is to be 3e Mystara, then I'd say twist the rules until they fit, not the other way around. Not that that is what you're saying - you haven't said that - but it's what's going through my head as I read this. Just tell me I'm wrong and I'll shut up about it :) > Some elements of the Modrig clan are > contacted by elves corrupted by Loki and/or Hel (don't > know how many yet) that teach them the life-binding > rituals and other similar things in the effort to make > the dwarven lives longer and to find ways to increase > the dramatically low birth ratio. The dwarves are not > gruff like they are now, being still of the Kogolor > type, and they are not hostile to elves, so they trust > them. However the elves' magic is utterly corrupting, > and the main personalities of the clan are corrupted > by dark magic. > I'd twist the idea a little. Instead of having dwarven wizards who are trying to find out why the dwarves are dying, why not have some dwarves want to figure out why they can't be wizards. They research the matter, but it doesn't amount to much. Then the 'dark elves' (whoever they are going to be) promise to help them overcome the problem and gain wizardly power. However, these elves have ulterior motives. They are corrupted by either Hel or Loki and intend to corrupt the dwarves as well - the promise of wizardly power is just a ruse to entice the dwarves. Once the corruption begins, the dwarves do begin to gain some wizardly powers, but they are really gained from the Immortal of Entropy more than any understanding of arcane magic. Once Kagyar realizes this, he fears more and more dwarves will be enticed by magic and become corrupted. Even if the dwarves resist the corruption, he will still lose them as his followers, so he begins removing them so that the dwarven race seems to be dying. Eventually he removes a portion of the 'unspoiled' dwarves to the HW as the Kogolor dwarves, then 'recreates' the rest into the Rockhome dwarves with false memories of what happened. Loki/Hel/ the 'dark elves' similarly implants false memories in what will be the Modrigswergs because there is no advantage in having them remember that they used to follow Kagyar. Kagyar might even create an 'anti-magical trait' in dwarves that are particularly strong toward elves who are a very magical people and who were the race to originally lead the dwarves astray... (snip rest) Say, does anyone remember if any Immortal patron(s) were established for the Modrigswerg dwarves before? - The Stalker ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 19:50:13 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: Sentient Races List - Addenda At 01:46 PM 7/6/02 +0000, you wrote: > > Cryion > A race of bat-like humanoids, the Cryions live (as their name suggest) > in arctic climates. Their society is organized in clans, called mnelds. > They have limited technology and few shamans, and are likely to be found > around the polar openings in Mystara. > References: Creature Catalog. Myself and a few others (S. B. Wilson, IIRC among others) thought that the Hyborian reaches would be a good location for mnelds of Cryions. > Gakarak > A variant on the Treant theme, the Gakarak are solitary and brooding > creatures, the last survivors of past ages. Only large, ancient > (pre-Blackmoorian) forests are likely to host a Gakarak. There are > probably not enough of them left to have a true society. > References: DA4 City of Gods, Creature Catalog. I always kind of liked the concept that Gakaraks were ancient Treants, centuries or even millennia old, that had grown more powerful and more distrustful and wary of lesser sentient races. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 14:55:14 +1000 From: Alfred O'Meagher Subject: Re: Modrigswerg advantage in having them remember that they used to follow Kagyar. Kagyar > might even create an 'anti-magical trait' in dwarves that are particularly > strong toward elves who are a very magical people and who were the race to > originally lead the dwarves astray... > > (snip rest) Or have a very simple dichotomy - Dwarves can be wizards - at the cost of every Dwarf ability they have. To symbolise their abandonment of the "misguided" ancestral traditions of their forefathers, they shave off their beards - as true heretics and abandoners of all that Dwarfkind stands for. Thus a religious movement rejecting the Dwarf heritage is supported not by immortals (since no good ones would help them) but by wizardry, sponsored (unknown to the Dwarf practitioners) by evil immortal(s). ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 6 Jul 2002 to 7 Jul 2002 (#2002-174) **************************************************************