Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 25 Aug 2002 to 26 Aug 2002 (#2002-222) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 27/08/2002, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 11 messages totalling 841 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Wrath of the Immortals II (4) 2. Taymor and Varellya (3) 3. Revised Taymoran history (2) 4. 3E Epic levels: Abominations = Burrowers? (2) ******************************************************************** 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: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 09:20:31 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Wrath of the Immortals II Here is the long awaited sequel to the Epic World Shattering Mystara Adventure Scenario. What follows is a summary of the events. More detailed information will follow, but id like to hear your feedback first :) Enjoy! What happened during WotI? Thanatos was seemingly quiet during Wrath of the Immortals. But when Thanatos is quiet there is always good reason to be worried. During WotI, he had secretly freed the banished immortal Arik from his prison. In this prison, Arik had been contacted by the creatures known as the Outer Beings, ancient enemies of the Immortals, who have now been driven away from the Multiverse, which is protected by the Vortex Dimension. However, the Outer Beings have been able to contact creatures within the Nightmare Dimension, including the Arik and the race of Carnifex who have been imprisoned there. Arik’s crime was that he had aided the Carnifex in their war against the Immortals, providing them with forbidden knowledge and magic. They constructed a device similar to the Nucleus but it was a weapon used to kill and and harness the power of an immortal. With Arik freed, Thanatos and his new ally began planning the release of an Outer Being called Garethax. When the Doomsday device destroyed Alphatia, the destruction caused a massive strengthening of the Sphere of Entropy. Thanatos was able to channel this power into a summoning spell, releasing Garethax from beyond the Dimensional Vortex. It is Garethax who appears as the mysterious black figure before Rad and Ixion. The Immortals believed that he was an Old One, which is exactly what Garethax hoped for. What happened to Rad? Rad was imprisoned in a demiplane created by Garethax. The demiplane was inspired by the Dimension of Nightmares, Rad being tormented by memories of his past. However, Rad managed to escape, however reduced to a mortal. This scenario assumes that Rad is now a 20th level mortal human wizard. If you have already played through Mark of Amber, you might have a different outcome from that adventure. However, it should not matter. Even if Rad is released as a fully fledged Immortal, he will have kept this secret. Garethax will have learned of his escape, but would not bother or risk to deal with Rad at this point. However, Rad suspects that something is wrong The Church of Gareth The mysterious new immortal known as Gareth is of course Garethax. Garethax’ only motivation is revenge. He established the Church of Gareth which has become increasingly popular, especially in Darokin, to undermine the power of the Immortals. The Church preaches against the Immortals who play with and manipulate the lives of mortals. In many countries, the ruling elite, have claimed that their rulership is based on the blessings of the Immortals. This leads to peasant revolts all over countries like Thyatis and Karameikos. Ogdoban Treel Treel was the security officer of the FSS Beagle. His tamperings with the space ship (selling off parts to the natives) of the imminent destruction of the Spaceship in the Blackmoor era. He was killed by Benekander’s reprogrammed security robots. However, his bones were transported with the Beagle’s engines. When the Doomsday device was activated he was resurrected and immediately ascended to Immortality, similarly to Benekander when he was released from the Mirror Shield. Ogdoban was contacted by Garethax and his now his most trusted ally. Much to the annoyance of Thanatos and Arik. At the end of this adventure, there will be a final showdown between Ogdoban and Benekander. The Master of the Desert Nomads A few years after WotI, the population of Sindh revolts against his rulership and drives the Masters forces back to Hule. Meanwhile, however, the Master has gained the possession of an Artifact known as the Crown of Chaos. It allows him to cast a massive curse on the Sindh population, turning all the humans in that country into orcs who are loyal to the Master. The PCs may stop this if they are investigating the Church of Gareth in Sind and may learn of the Crown and its potential before it reaches the Master. In any case the Master will soon have Sind under his control. Garethax opens a portal to the Dimension of Nightmares and releases armies of the Raptor-like Carnifex to strengthen forces of the Desert Master. The Master now launches an attack via the Ahdri Varma Plateau onto Glantri. The forces make their way all the way to Glantri City where lay siege on that magical city. At this time Garathax himself appears in his True Form in Glantri, demonstrating his true power. There he is immediately attacked by Ka. It is a terrible battle between Garathax in the shape of a Gigantic Black Nightmarish Dragon and the Tyrannosaurus form of Ka. Garathax quickly enough disposes of Ka and proceeds to Ka’s homeplane to finnish the job. There he is immediately attacked by several other Immortals who he easily disposes off before killing Ka on his homeplane. Then he returns to Glantri. Meanwhile, forces of Thyatis, Darokin, Heldann, Wendar, Karameikos and The Five Shires (and Possibly Daria) have reached Glantri, but seem no match for the invaders. New allies appear: It’s the Alphatians! Together, the united forces of the World are able to drive the invaders back. But Garathax is still to be dealt with. By now, with the help of the PCs, Rad and a group of immortals, including Benekander, Rafiel and Ixion have learned that Garathax is still linked to the Nucleus. Rad, the PCs and Benekander make their way back into the Cave of the Radience. However, there they are attacked by the Demon Ogdoban and a series of lesser fiends. It should be obvious that the battle with Ogdoban is Benekanders own. The PCs and Rad must defeat the lesser demons and make their way into the Nucleus. There they will initiate a sequence which will turn the Doomsday weapon against Garathax. In a last moment effort Benekander kills off Ogdoban, and teleports Rad and the PCs out of the Cave before the weapon is fully activated. In a final showdown between Ixion and the other immortals fighting against Garathax, the Nucleus kicks in and destroys Garathax. The Nucleus explodes, taking with it Benekander and Ogdoban aswell, wiping out all the traces of the Beagle, left on Mystara. The explosion would have destroyed Glantri aswell, but (if the DM wants) the Immortals present are able to contain it, leaving Glantri (relatively) unscathed. CONSEQUENCES: Alphatia?? When the Karameikos Flying Ship returned from the Hollow World, Master Terrari learned that Alphatia still existed. This revived him, reminding him of his old quest for Immortality through the Path of the Dynast. He made his way to Alphatia. On the way he located an artifact created by Parlatarkan which will allow Alphatia to fly through the Anti-Magic field. He then contacted his daughter, convincing her that they should return Alphatia to the surface. However, once back to hovering over its old location the device runs out of power, leaving Alphatia howering above the Sundsvall Whirlpool. Terrified Thyatis and Heldann uneasily watch the return of the Empire. Thanatos and Arik Arik has mysteriously disappeared after this conflict, leaving no trace. Thantos simply denies any involvement in this whole affair. And although everyone knows this is all a lie, noone can prove it. Glantri If Glantri was destroyed by the Nucleus, then it will now be a new Greater Brokenlands, a base for new evil overlords to threaten the Known World. However, if the Immortals were able to contain the explosion, then Glantri will return to normal. Having seen the Wrath of the Immortals up close, the ban on Clerics will surely be returned after this! The Desert Master Although many of his troops have been destroyed, the Master is stronger than ever. He is still in full control of the now orc populated Hule and Sind and is armed with new Carnifex monsters. It is only a question of time before he will launch his next campaign into the Known World. Thyatis, Heldann and Alphatia are aware of this, but an allied campaign between the three powers against the Master seems unlikely in the near future at least. Rad Several things may happen to Rad. He has made friends with Rafiel who will surely be willing to sponsor him on his way to the Path of Immortality, or even allow him access to his newly contructed Chamber of the Spheres which functions like the Nucleus and may allow Rad to regain his immortality, or if the other Immortals are convinced of Rad’s achievements hduring the battle against Garethax, they may restore Rad to Immortal status immediately. ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 10:17:44 +0200 From: FHWT Subject: Re: Wrath of the Immortals II Hi! Just imaginging the events transferred (magic->technology) to our real world makes me shiver :) The scenario has many access points to high-level adventures. Great work! I even consider calling my "old" players to arms to defeat that ugly Garethax ;) Hopeless in direct confrontation, for sure, but gives the opportunity to invole "my" nice tower in some adventures (has gate to plane of nightmares). Valiantly fighting aside Rad on the plane of nightmare! Yeah! And after defeating all evil guys, the bad, bad cleric kills the weakened Rad :) (Etienne wasn't nice to me once in an adventure...) Laren Nightmaster, Tower of Dreams ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 09:37:17 -0400 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Taymor and Varellya After perusing the DV Guide again, a thought occurred to me: The dates I had originally laid out for the foundation of the Androkian cities of Cestia were BC 608 for Kart-Hadasht, BC 400 for Gades, and BC 1500 for Mogador. Obviously, these dates are all after the fall of Taymor, so perhaps the best idea is to state that, sometime between BC 1600-BC 1500, some Taymoran refugees made their way to Varellya - specifically the province of Androkia (what is now Cestia), as it would have been the easiest area for them to reach, due to its proximity. The result would have been an strengthening of the "M-Phoenician" element of that region of Varellya (whose culture overall has never been detailled, officially or otherwise). All this is perhaps a minor matter, but it could resolve the potential issue of Phoenician-inspired elements in both cultures, and now nothing would have to be rethought or altered in either culture or timeline. What do you think, Agathokles? Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 09:26:26 -0400 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Revised Taymoran history Agathokles wrote: > > Hi all, > > I've decided to give a look at the Mystaran Atlantis, Taymora. I like > James Mishler's work on the nation, especially the necromantic magic and > lycanthropy bits, but I'm not especially fond of the correspondence > established between Taymora and RW Sumerian/Babilonians, since these > cultures are already used to cover many aspects of Nimmurians, Enduk, > and even Alphatians. > > My RW counterpart for Taymora would probably be the Phoenicians and/or > the Peoples of the Sea (Philistines, Sardinians, Sicilians, and Libians > tribes that attacked Egypt twice, without success, and perhaps destroyed > the Hittite civilization). Very interesting! It's been quite a while since we've seen anything Taymor-related. I would note that, in my descriptions of Varellya (what few there are - the main reference here is my writeup of Cestia in the DM's Guide to Davania), I had originally decided to base that culture on the Phoenicians (hence names like Gades and Kart-Hadasht in southern Cestia, which is still inhabited by the original people of Cestia - the Varellyans, although they are now called the Androkians). I pulled those place names from an historical atlas. Of course, this means that there could very well have been some form of contact between the Varellyans and the Taymorans, perhaps in ancient times (i.e., before either culture really got off the ground), to establish such a connection. If you really want to trace things way back, and if you use Lhomarr and its related information IYC, you could add that influence, too. When I created that culture, I tried to base it on popular conceptions of Atlantis - generally Mediterranean in flavour, but nothing specific. Exactly how such a connection could be made is problematic, owing to the great length of time between the cultures, but it might be possible. Nevertheless, this timeline shows you did a considerable amount of research, integrating a lot of different pieces of work. Good stuff! :-) Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 18:07:33 +0000 From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Revised Taymoran history Geoff Gander wrote: > > I would note that, in my descriptions of Varellya (what > few there are - the main reference here is my writeup of Cestia in the > DM's Guide to Davania), I had originally decided to base that culture on > the Phoenicians Very interesting! I wasn't aware of this connection, anyway, see my comments about your other post, as it seems to me that the two references can fit pretty well. > If you really want to trace things way back, and if you use Lhomarr and > its related information IYC, you could add that influence, too. When I > created that culture, I tried to base it on popular conceptions of > Atlantis - generally Mediterranean in flavour, but nothing specific. Uhm, I definitely need to refresh my Sage Knowledge (Lhomarr) NWP ;) I'll trace the connection back before going on to Taymoran culture and society. > Nevertheless, this timeline shows you did a considerable amount of > research, integrating a lot of different pieces of work. Good stuff! :-) Thanks for the appreciation! :) I felt those pieces of work were great, but needed the integration. I also wanted to take advantage of those events to explain the jump from Bronze age tech to Iron Age, as it seems that bronze is much easier to produce, and not so inferior to iron (not to steel, of course). Placing the main mines of tin (or lead, or other metals used in bronze) in Taymora, it is explained why Nithia made the transition. The same could even work for other nations (Varellya, just to pick one). -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 18:07:48 +0000 From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Taymor and Varellya Geoff Gander wrote: > > All this is perhaps a minor matter, but it could resolve the potential > issue of Phoenician-inspired elements in both cultures, and now nothing > would have to be rethought or altered in either culture or timeline. What > do you think, Agathokles? Refugees reaching Cestia around 1600 BC fits perfectly with my other additions to the Taymoran timeline. And by considering Taymora to be more directly linked to the Phoenicians' (supposed) predecessors rather than to Phoenicians themselves, it would fit even better. The evolution from Taymoran to Varellyan culture would be explained by the resistance of the original Neathar cultural heritage. However, the event herebelow suggests another possibility: > 1850 BC > Foundation of the Kingdom of Varellya. The Varellyans have reached Iron > Age by this time. Perhaps the contacts might date back to this time, as groups of expatriate Taymorans fleeing from the internal conflicts reached the Varellyan settlements. They could have brought metallurgy knowledge with them, and kept some trade relations with their motherland. When the disaster struck Taymora, southern Taymorans would have crossed the sea to reach their relatives/business parteners, settling north of them, that is in the new Cestian cities. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 16:06:18 -0400 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Taymor and Varellya Agathokles wrote: > Perhaps the contacts might date back to this time, as groups of > expatriate Taymorans fleeing from the internal conflicts reached the > Varellyan settlements. They could have brought metallurgy knowledge with > them, and kept some trade relations with their motherland. > > When the disaster struck Taymora, southern Taymorans would have crossed > the sea to reach their relatives/business parteners, settling north of > them, that is in the new Cestian cities. I think this works out very well. It also provides an explanation for Varellya's rise to power soon afterwards. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 13:35:15 -0700 From: John Calvin Subject: 3E Epic levels: Abominations = Burrowers? Hi All, Haven't picked up the 3E Epic Level book yet, but I've been following a few threads here and there about it. There was one thread in the planescpe mailing list that spoke of the Abominations as a sort of quasi-diety level evil entities. Anyway this sounded sort of simmilar to what the Burrowers are supposed to be. What I wanted to ask the list was this: Have any of you picked up the Epic Level book, and is there any material in there that is worth looking into (like in the example I gave above)? Can we use Abominations as Burrowers? Thanks, -John ===== Rule #53. If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her. from "A Guide to Becoming an Evil Overlord" by Peter Anspach __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 09:11:49 +1200 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Wrath of the Immortals II > What happened during WotI? > Thanatos > When the Doomsday device destroyed > Alphatia, the destruction caused a massive > strengthening of the Sphere of Entropy. Thanatos was > able to channel this power into a summoning spell, > releasing Garethax from beyond the Dimensional Vortex. > It is Garethax who appears as the mysterious black > figure before Rad and Ixion. The Immortals believed > that he was an Old One, which is exactly what Garethax > hoped for. I like this. Perhaps the NoS doesn't exactly drain entropy after WotI, but changes it into other forms of power for Garethax. Still entropic, just not straight magic/entropy. later you talk of a device to capture immortals power. Could Garethax have turned the NoS into one of these? Rad doesn't die though, but his immortal power is trapped in the device. > What happened to Rad? > Rad was imprisoned in a demiplane created by Garethax. Perhaps the demi-plane is linked to the device. Also rad will believe he has been punished, not knowing that Garethax is not an old one, but suspecting something is up. > The Church of Gareth I like this idea. > In many countries, > the ruling elite, have claimed that their rulership is > based on the blessings of the Immortals. This leads to > peasant revolts all over countries like Thyatis and > Karameikos. Thyatis and Karameikos would not be my first choice as examples of this. Probally Ylarium and Heldan I would say, But I don't think thyatis needs immortal aproval as such. More the countries that focus on immortal patronage for their rulership (that wouldn't be Draokin now would it) . After all the current emperor of thyatis was put in power not because of aproval, but Anya's disapproval of Thincol. And Stefan does not claim to "be" Halav, just doesn't dispell it. Both Thyatis and Karameikos leave religion fairly open in their politics (although it does affect their bias) IMO. > Ogdoban Treel > Treel was the security officer of the FSS Beagle. His > tamperings with the space ship (selling off parts to > the natives) of the imminent destruction of the > Spaceship in the Blackmoor era. He was killed by > Benekander’s reprogrammed security robots. However, > his bones were transported with the Beagle’s engines. > When the Doomsday device was activated he was > resurrected and immediately ascended to Immortality, > similarly to Benekander when he was released from the > Mirror Shield. Ogdoban was contacted by Garethax and > his now his most trusted ally. Much to the annoyance > of Thanatos and Arik. At the end of this adventure, > there will be a final showdown between Ogdoban and > Benekander. As a plot device this works, but as an event I don't like it. It should be immposible to raise him after this length of time. Though speak with dead might work (which is why I would say he is there) . Benekander never really died and that is why he could become immortal. Maybe though Ogdoban is already a lacky of thantos, who spared him when he found out the destruction and evil he had managed to cause. With the new found powers of the NoS thantos has been off learning all he can from Ogdoban to see what damage he can cause. This means that Ogdoban has probally resurfaced and perhaps (depending on weather he is fully immortal, a demi-god, or still mortal) has been supporting the Brotherhood of the Radiance (and probally one of them, but is really a lacky of thantos and a spy) > The Master of the Desert Nomads > A few years after WotI, the population of Sindh > revolts against his rulership and drives the Masters > forces back to Hule. Meanwhile, however, the Master > has gained the possession of an Artifact known as the > Crown of Chaos. It allows him to cast a massive curse > on the Sindh population, turning all the humans in > that country into orcs who are loyal to the Master. I really don't like this. The mear fact they are orcs should not make them ally with the master. And the population would probally not survive food wise if they were orcs. Sind is poor, barren, and overpopulated. The reason the master has orcs is the deals he has made with them over time and they have become part of the population of Hule. I would more likely have the master move more troops (probally humanoids) into hule, perhaps this causes some displacement of the population into surounding regions and also allows for a strenthening of the masters position. Orcs become as overloards in some areas, treating the population as slaves. Perhaps there is a Crown of Chaos but what it does is allow the master to have greater control of his humanoid minions. I think that would work better. > The PCs may stop this if they are investigating the > Church of Gareth in Sind and may learn of the Crown > and its potential before it reaches the Master. In any > case the Master will soon have Sind under his control. > Garethax opens a portal to the Dimension of Nightmares > and releases armies of the Raptor-like Carnifex to > strengthen forces of the Desert Master. I'm not so sure Loki would be comfortable with this ally, as he is more about clever trickery then distruction. Perhaps the KW sends a large force to sind's aid and Loki is forced to accept the offer, turning the tides at the last minute. The KW's armies, outmatched are forced to retreat. The masters position in sind is weakened but now Thantos and his allies have a foothold. > The Master now > launches an attack via the Ahdri Varma Plateau onto > Glantri. bassed on the above it would be less so the master and more the legions of thantos and his allies. > The forces make their way all the way to > Glantri City where lay siege on that magical city. At > this time Garathax himself appears in his True Form in > Glantri, demonstrating his true power. There he is > immediately attacked by Ka. It is a terrible battle > between Garathax in the shape of a Gigantic Black > Nightmarish Dragon and the Tyrannosaurus form of Ka. > Garathax quickly enough disposes of Ka and proceeds to > Ka’s homeplane to finnish the job. There he is > immediately attacked by several other Immortals who he > easily disposes off before killing Ka on his > homeplane. This is the one bit I really didn't like. Killing Ka is one thing, but I don't know that it should be so easy to kill him on his home plane and if Garathax is killing immortals in this way wouldn't he take care of the other immortals that got in his way like this too. And it is likely that it is only one of Ka's forms/identities that is killed and I would not have him appearing in his actual manefestation form (u know, the one that glows). An immortal on his home plane is especally dangerous and I don't think it should be so easy or quick if it happened. You say "terrible battle" then "quickly enough disposes" but the two are not that compatible. Perhaps "vicious combat" but Garathax "soon has the upper hand and is able to dispose of Ka." The reason he is so quickly disposed could be perhaps an underestemation of Garathax's power and so does not attack him with full strength. I'm not saying that Garathax shouldn't be able to take Ka on just that I don't think it should happen. > Then he returns to Glantri. I don't know that that should be the end of Benekander, but the rest sounds ok. See below though. > CONSEQUENCES: > > Alphatia?? > When the Karameikos Flying Ship returned from the > Hollow World, Master Terrari learned that Alphatia > still existed. This revived him, reminding him of his > old quest for Immortality through the Path of the > Dynast. He made his way to Alphatia. On the way he > located an artifact created by Parlatarkan which will > allow Alphatia to fly through the Anti-Magic field. He > then contacted his daughter, convincing her that they > should return Alphatia to the surface. However, once > back to hovering over its old location the device runs > out of power, leaving Alphatia howering above the > Sundsvall Whirlpool. Terrified Thyatis and Heldann > uneasily watch the return of the Empire. I like, although: 1.) the immortals may have something to say about this! 2.) perhaps not in exactly the same position (hey it could fall on glantri when the NoS blows up) ;D Take out both empires 3.) I'm not sure if the populace would be thrilled (hey where are you taking us!?! we like 24 hour sunshine! no more vampires!) > Thanatos and Arik > Arik has mysteriously disappeared after this conflict, > leaving no trace. Thantos simply denies any > involvement in this whole affair. And although > everyone knows this is all a lie, noone can prove it. As it should be. > Glantri > If Glantri was destroyed by the Nucleus, then it will > now be a new Greater Brokenlands, a base for new evil > overlords to threaten the Known World. However, if the > Immortals were able to contain the explosion, then > Glantri will return to normal. Having seen the Wrath > of the Immortals up close, the ban on Clerics will > surely be returned after this! IMHO the most of the city should be destroyed in the blast, but the populace by and large should have managed to escape before the seige. Those that remain would have most likely been fleeing the conflict of the immortals, or involved in the battleing (and hopefully outside the blast radius). > The Desert Master > Although many of his troops have been destroyed, the > Master is stronger than ever. He is still in full > control of the now orc populated Hule and Sind and is > armed with new Carnifex monsters. It is only a > question of time before he will launch his next > campaign into the Known World. Thyatis, Heldann and > Alphatia are aware of this, but an allied campaign > between the three powers against the Master seems > unlikely in the near future at least. little to add hear, even with my earlier suggestions in place. An alliance is especally unlikly given the losses. > Rad > Several things may happen to Rad. He has made friends > with Rafiel who will surely be willing to sponsor him > on his way to the Path of Immortality, or even allow > him access to his newly contructed Chamber of the > Spheres which functions like the Nucleus and may allow > Rad to regain his immortality, or if the other > Immortals are convinced of Rad’s achievements hduring > the battle against Garethax, they may restore Rad to > Immortal status immediately. Perhaps his power is freed from it's imprisionment in the NoS and he regains his immortallity that way. Chris ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 15:39:03 -0700 From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Wrath of the Immortals II >> > The PCs may stop this if they are investigating the > Church of Gareth in Sind and may learn of the Crown > and its potential before it reaches the Master. In any > case the Master will soon have Sind under his control. > Garethax opens a portal to the Dimension of Nightmares > and releases armies of the Raptor-like Carnifex to > strengthen forces of the Desert Master. I'm not so sure Loki would be comfortable with this ally, as he is more about clever trickery then distruction. Perhaps the KW sends a large force to sind's aid and Loki is forced to accept the offer, turning the tides at the last minute. The KW's armies, outmatched are forced to retreat. The masters position in sind is weakened but now Thantos and his allies have a foothold. > The Master now > launches an attack via the Ahdri Varma Plateau onto > Glantri. bassed on the above it would be less so the master and more the legions of thantos and his allies. << I like the ideas that are going on here, and this one sparked off an idea of my own. What if the Hollow WOrld is more than just a museum of ancient cultures, what if it is actualy more akin to a "repository." That would suggest that the imortals could use the cultures located there for their own purposes (which I'm sure some do), and it might also suggest that there is a "shared purpose" that the immortals have all agreed to. That purpose might be for example, to maintain an uncorrupted/uncorruptable army that could be used agains the Outer Beings and their followers in the inevitable event that they would escape their prison and attack Mystara. If Thanatos is allied to the Outer Beings in any way, this may explain (at least in part) his overwhelming desire to corupt the Holow WOrld (through the use of Burrowers and other evil plots). This corruption would deprive the Imortals of a great resource in their time of need and might allow him (along with the help of the Oter Beings) to destroy the multiverse... So in the event of an Outer Being supported Carnifex invasion on the planet, the immortals might start calling in trops from the Hollow World in order to battle the invaders. Portals could start opening up with Nithians, Oltecs, Jennites, Tanagoro, Millenians, Llomarians, and yes - even Alphatians*, springing out of them to do battle. Tons of possibilities are springing into my mind here. How do you coordinate all of these diverse cultures (some of whom fight each other on the inside of the HW)? WHat happens when the war with the Carnifex is over? Do the cultures all go back quietly, or would some of them want to stake a claim in this new territory? Anyway, great ideas here. Keep em coming. -John * This may even be one of the reasons for saving the Alpher COntinent in its entirety. Most cultures are transported to the HW and allowed to grow naturally. However if the OB attack was on some knd of inescapable timetable (and the immortals of time would know about it), then perhaps the immortals elected to preserve the entire continent because they knew that they would have need of it in the near future, and could not allow the Alphers the time to repopulate on their own. Just a random thought. ===== Rule #53. If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her. from "A Guide to Becoming an Evil Overlord" by Peter Anspach __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 17:50:17 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: 3E Epic levels: Abominations = Burrowers? > What I wanted to ask the list was this: Have any of you picked up the Epic > Level book, and is there any material in there that is worth looking into (like > in the example I gave above)? Can we use Abominations as Burrowers? Hadn't thought of that, but I don't see why not. I've been working (in the back of my mind) on creating Burrowers for 3E using the rules in ELH and Deities and Demigods, but hadn't gotten anywhere offhand. Basically, I was figuring on having "Burrower" be a template of some sort, which is then applied to creatures and characters. My stumbling block seems to come in the form of the Greater and Lesser Burrowers. The Annelids, for instance, are relegated to Burrower status, but are definitely a "Lesser" form of Burrower than the ones imprisoned in the Hollow World. (They are unintelligent, and relatively weak- no magic, etc.) The Burrowers that I began to describe in a couple of articles that are available on Shawn's site (D'Resh the Destroyer and Klarkaszh the Corrupter) are more in line with what I would call a "Greater" Burrower. Basically, I figure they were powerful monster characters in their mortal lives (D'Resh some kind of barbarian/fighter combo, and Klarkaszh either a sorceror or psion), which were then elevated by Thanatos (ie, he applied the Burrower template to them). The template would then either give them some ranks in Deityhood or else simply rank 0 as the Abomination group gives. I couldn't quite figure out where they ranked against the Immortals, though. Obviously they were powerful enough that the Immortals couldn't simply kill them outright (else why go to the trouble of bothering with the Spell of Preservation?) but I don't think they are quite 'divine' in the same sense as Immortals... Anyway, looking over the abomination, that could work. I might go for something between that and the Kaiju template from an issue of Dragon magazine some time back. Anyone else have thoughts? ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 25 Aug 2002 to 26 Aug 2002 (#2002-222) ****************************************************************