Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 2 Oct 2002 to 3 Oct 2002 (#2002-258) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 04/10/2002, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 13 messages totalling 671 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Ideas for Boldavia (2) 2. The Dragon articles 3. Continuing the Firelord story 4. Firelord - the last part 5. Comics on Mystara 6. The Dragonlord series (4) 7. A Complete Guide to Dragons 8. Renardy (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: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 00:20:39 -0700 From: Ohad Shaham Subject: Re: Ideas for Boldavia The first is already done (still much details ahead of me though) and the seconed might be harder. But I aim to please. Morphail (who is going to collect some old debts from a freind who knows how to draw and another who has a scanner...) Joe Kelly wrote:I would like to see the military forces of Boldavia and maybe a description of a coat of arms. Thanks! JK Wolf ******************************************************************** 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. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:36:44 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: The Dragon articles On Thu, 3 Oct 2002, Giampaolo Agosta wrote: > I'll once more send you to http://dnd.starflung.com/dragon.html > A number of available articles are linked there, including the dragons > articles. > Thanks. I thought I had seen some article on the net, but had forgotten where. I scoured the Vaults, but I guess I just plain missed this link. Yours, Ville ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 13:09:20 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Continuing the Firelord story Better late than never: here's the fourth chapter to the Firelord campaign scheme which I sent to the list ages ago. The rest can be found in the Vaults. -Ville ----------------------------- 4) Fleshing out the Islands: Important Locations As I lack a scanner I cannot provide you with my original maps of Thanegioth. Also I lack the skill to use any of those nifty computer programs to make map files. Still, you can find good map bases for Thanegioth in Thibault Scarlat's web pages. For example: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mystara/maps/sea_of_dread/sea_of_dread.htm There are also small-scale maps of Thanegioth in the old Expert Set map and the Rules Cyclopedia map. Below I have detailed the various isles as they exist in this campaign scheme. The Isle of the Firelord This is the easternmost island of the archipelago, and one of the three largest ones. From east to west it is approximately 150-160 miles long. It is shaped like an arch, and the western base of the arch is approximately 100 miles south from the northern tip. This is the main base of the empire of the Firelord. The western half of the island is mountainous and barren land. In the southernmost rugged hills lives a formerly isolated tribe of fire giants, who have made a loose alliance with the Firelord. North of the hills is about 20 miles or broken land, which ends in a vulcanic mountain range. These mountains separate the western part of the island from the rest. Only a narrow pass allows traffic. There is also a small forest and a sandy beach on the western coast, sheltered by the mountains. So far Firelord's troops have either ignored or missed it. It could be used as a secret landfall. The mountain range is inhabited by fire salamanders, which survive here due to the presence of one active wormhole-volcano. Some more isolationist Red Dragons live here also, they have very little or no contact with their people in the western islands. In the northern end of the pass is a fortress, which has a strong garrison. It functions also as a school for fire cult initiates. There is a lava basin ("firestone plain") to the north. The initiates travel there to meditate and study the secrets of the starfire sphere. From the fortress a well-kept Thyatian-style road leads to the eastern parts of the island. About 10 miles from the fortress a smaller road forks to the right and ends at a military training camp. The northern areas of the western half of the island, are grassy plains. The northernmos areas of the island, the middle of the arch, are dominated by the Plain of Fire, a plateau that rises steeply from the ground, with sheer cliffs. (east-west: 40-50 miles, north-south: 12-15 miles at most). A great dome-shaped temple has been built in the middle of the plain. The only accessible path to the plain is guarded by a huge bronze golem, which lets only members of the Cult to pass, if they utter the right incantations and make the right gestures. Many creatures of fire prowl the Plain of Fire. South of the plateau is jungle, which stretches to cover also most of the eastern half of the island. The eastern half of the island is, as said, dominated by the jungle. Howeverm the southernmost parts are grassy plains, where most of the grain of the Empire is being grown. The road that leads to the western fortress cuts through the jungle, and it is heavily guarded. In the jungle, near the northeastern shore and close to the plateau, is a secluded school for advanced fire cultists. There is also a temple of Rathanos. Woe those foolish adventurers who decide to storm its gates. The only real city of the archipelago, the City of Fire, lies in the middle of the southern plains. It is a relatively large city, with a population consisting of enslaved nuari and slaves captured in the pirate raids, and the "cosmopolitan" mix of Daricus's followers. Four roads lead out from the city. One of them to the northern jungels and eventually to the mountain pass fortress. The northeastern road leads to heavily guarded zzonga plantations (graanhouses). The eastern one lead to the shore, where is the harbour of the Fiery Navy, the shipyards and a small town. The western road leads to the shore, where are the main barracks and training grounds of the Firelord's army. Also, a smaller path leads to the south, ending in the southern tip. There is an isolate lighthouse, which is used to lead back the ships that sail for the Hinterland route, and for ships returning from pirate missions (they always take "a detour"). The Central Archipelago and the Red Dragons The central archipelago consists of the Four Draconic isles, and one island called The Farthest Shore (OK, this will get even more leGuinesque soon…). The latter islans is about 30 miles southwest from the southwestern tip of the Isle of Firelord. The name was given by the Rakastae, and it was passed on to the Red Dragons. On this island a certain ancient Red Dragon ruler, an ally of the first Firelord, was slain by the king Rak'Asta. The king also perished in the dragon's fiery breath. The sword of Rak'Aste is still buried in the remains of the Ancient Red, waiting to be found. The island is a taboo for the Red Dragons. About 50 miles west lie the Draconic Isles. First comes the Isle of the Snake, which is actually a very small and a larger island, connected by a coral reef. Then is a roundish island called Death's Head, rouchly 20 miles across. The largest one is the Jaw, which is about 90-100 miles long from southwest to northeast. About 70 miles north of the Draconic Isles lies the Dragon Reef, a sacred place of the Sea Dragons. According to legends is grew on the body of a slain sea dragon. Isle of Dread and the Descent of the Rakastae Because of the adventure module "Isle of Dread", there is a ready-made map available. It can be found in Thibault's page also. You can use the standarn map, and even some information from the module, but I have made many significant changes. First of all I removed the Kopru and the temple on the central plateau. I replaced it with the ruins of the rak'astan civilisation. The rakastae that now inhabit the island are of the standard breed, a "degenerated" version of the elder race. They live in primitive matriarchial tribes, where the female population lives in the villages, ruled by a strict caste system. The males wander in the jungle, hunting and gathering food and other materials for the females. The latter are mainly crafters. One significant part of their culture is a religious program of breeding that casts out "deformed" children - much like the Shadowelves. Only this time the children who show signs of their elder heritage are removed from the gene pool, speeding up the process which "animalises" the former were-species. Other inhabitants of the island include phanatons and bugbears, who fight each other sporadically. There is also a community of aranea, a tribe of lizardmen and the old green dragon Abode. Tribes of Nuari, subjugated by the Firelord, live in the southern part of the island. There are four villages: Terinu, Waranu, Usi and Nunala. Waranu has the Fiery Navy harbour and the biggest garrison. Firelord's troops man the Great Wall. North from there open the southern and central parts of the island, bordered on all sides by the sea or the mountains. In the southernmost area, close to old tar pits, and the nearby swamo, live the lizard men. Firelord's local commander is in the process of instigating them to attack the rakastae. This area is separated from the jungle by a series of hills. In the northern part of the hill country live the aranea. They have become Firelord's allies and have been attacking the rakastae too (one method has been to magically enrage the LostWorld-type monsters living in the jungle. (OK, If you like to stick with some laws of ecology, you should dispense with the dinosaurs. But they are JUST too cool.) The jungle belongs to the rakastae. The main village is ruled by a matriarch priest, who worships a distorted version of "the Lion god" (she still gets spells, though). The four male tribes, the Panthers, the Lions, the Tigers and the Sabretooths, have dealt out the jungle between themselves - although during the mating season the fights for the priviledge get fierce, but seldom lethal. (IMC I made the rakastae compatible with humans due to their heritage, and the PC who gained the lost soul of King Rak'Asta actually agreed to. The clawmarks stayed a long time, since the group cleric didn't see it fit to heal them magically.) To the northeast, across the mountains there is a small jungle, where the phanatons live. They war with the bugbears who live in the mountains. Abode lives in the jungle north from there. The rakastae who have been cast out and who have survived live near the northwestern swamp. During the years they have created a small community. But due to the small gene pool they are in a sorry state. The Elven Island: the Children of the Swan This is the next large island to the west. The elves call it "Kulan-Gath". The vegetation is more diverse than on the other islands due to the influence of the elves. There are some plains, some thick jungle, and some more elfesque forest. The western part of the island is dominated by the elven trees. There is one large sweetwater lake also (The Swanwater), and a river leads from it to the gulf on the northern part of the island. The shores of the gulf are sandy beaches, which have a golden tint (The Golden Sands). South of the gulf, aftern som estretches of forest, is a large plain (the Hoof plain). To the west the forests grow more dense and dark, until at the western cape they are sinister indeed. The Children of the Swan live in the western part of the island. Some centaurs and chevalls live on the Hoof Plain. West from there begin the treants' area, and there is also a small community of flitterlings in the northernmost tip. But lately a darkness has been spreading to the island. The darkest western forests have been spawnig terrible plant monsters that eat anything that moves. Good trees are dying, and bad ones stretch their roots over large areas. Now a tribe of Wood Imps has been moving east with the darkening of the forest, and it is threatening the Flitterlings. Treants are worried also. The Children of the Swan haven't been able to intervene, since they have their own problems. Firelord's troops landed on the Golden Sands, began cutting down the trees and built a stockade. Now they are building a naval shipyard. Elves couldnät match the fiery magic of Firelord's servants and Rathanos's clerics, since the tribe isn't exceptionally large. The situation has worsened even more as the Sea Witch, an ally of the Firelord, has been sending her minions to harry the elves. The Sea Witch Darwa lives on the westernmost island. It is unknown how she got there, but she is very powerful. I suggest giving her most of the Witchcraft powers in the Glantri Gazetteer, and perhaps some more. She should be a tough adversary. She uses her summoned creatures as commandoes, through which she can channel her powers. The Northern Firelord Defences and the Route to Thanegioth "The First tower" is an island about 180 miles north from the northest tip of the elven island. Firelord had a strong fortress built there to guard the secret searoutes to the north. There are ballistas and catapults equipped with magical and alchemical firey ammo, trained hellhounds, elite troops and several capable Cultists. The Great Whirlpool and the Sea Dragons The Great Whirlpool is situated south of the Isle of Dread. It is a large wormhole to the Plane of Water. The Sea Dragons live around it, hiding from their enemies. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 13:20:07 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Firelord - the last part 5) Different Ways to Use the Campaign Scheme There are of course many ways how this campaign scheme can be used. I think the most important things are: 1) the esoteric element offered by the Cult of the Starfire Sphere, and the strong links it has to the history 2) the ethical issues related to the anti-imperialistic and imperialistic ambiguities of Daricus. He is not your run-of-the-mill straight evil villain: he has a cause, and in some way a just one, even if his methods are vicious. Also the connection to the two Empires gives some spice to this campaign. Here are some basic suggestions: - Thyatian Agents: Seeking the Mysterious Pirates - Alphatian Agents: Stopping the Zzonga Traffic Both of these are good, since they involve the political and ethical dimension. In the Alphatian case there might also be the possibility that the (some of) the PCs are trying to grab the power of the Starfire Sphere. - Nuari: Insurrection against the Colonisers - Slave Rebellion Even though built on very different backgrounds, these two will make Darícus much more of a villain. Of course these two can be combined. - Exlorers of Lost Treasures, or "What the hell is THIS?" This lessens the tension of the campaign a bit, since the politics of the campaign aren't so evidently present. A good lead into the adventure is required, not so crappy like in the Isle of Dread module. - Others: The PC Firelord? Allies of the Firelord? Agents of another candidate, Barimoor agents… These possibilities expand the scale of the campaign as far as one likes, but will require even more work from the DM. Many things must be rewritten. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 13:12:27 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Comics on Mystara --- Ricardo Matheus skrev: > Hi there! > > Just leaving a note to say that I uploaded the > drawings of two other > characters (adress below). Ricardo, you've done it again. I really liked the new Rakasta guy, Kasiki. Moric looks cool too, but I wish the picture was larger and had more detail to it. Waiting impatiently to see the comic! Btw, with your artistic talents, have you considered providing some illustrations of Mystaras more famous NPCs? Etienne, Bargle, King Stefan, Jamunga Khan... Håvard ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 13:23:30 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: The Dragonlord series --- The Stalker skrev: > On Wed, 2 Oct 2002 14:05:17 +0200, > =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= > wrote: > > >IIRC the Dragonlord Trilogy is set around AC500. > (snip resume) > > Since Håvard just explained (spoiled) the plot, I > won't go into that Ehh..I probably should have included a spoiler warning shouldnt I? Sorry guys... Håvard ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 07:53:15 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: The Dragonlord series At 04:44 PM 10/2/02 -0700, you wrote: > > I know I discussed this before with people from this list, though it might > not have been on the list itself... Not even sure who it was, but I think > it was Andrew Theisen. I think I remember this discussion, and though I don't recall exactly what we came up with, I dredged up my Dragonlord books, and here's what I found: > Somewhere in the novel there is a reference to how long ago it was when the > Flaems arrived, and you can fit everything in after that. The prologue of > the first book when Thelvyn is born is set around AC 475. Dragonlord of Mystara, p. 2: "The Flaem had first come into the northern frontiers of the Highlands only eighty years or so earlier..." >> From Gaz3, we know that the Flaems first began to settle the Highlands (Glantri) in 395 AC. If they began to settle the northern regions of the highlands (Boldavia, Aalban, etc.) then that would put the opening sequence of Dragonlord in 475 AC or thereabouts. There is probably some leeway to be had here, though. > His actual adventures do not begin until he is fifteen, so most of the first novel >is set in AC 490. There is then a five year 'gap' between the first and second > novel, so that the second and third novels take place around AC 495. At > least that was what we worked out the last time we discussed it. Chapter 1 and on of Dragonlord takes place when Thelvyn is 15 years old (p. 22), so that places the majority of the book, then, in 490 AC. As for the second book, I don't recall the reference exactly (I'll try and dig it up later) but I seem to recall that it was set 5 years later than Dragonlord, or 495. I didn't have the third book at the time of our initial discussion, I don't believe, though I do have it now, so I'll try and dig into it and figure out when it takes place chronologically. > Just in case you like to put it into a context that fits, in which case > those are the numbers I'd go with. Me too. :) (Of course, there are some minor inconsistencies in the books- Sir George Kirbey is from Darokin, though there was no Republic of Darokin at the time. There is an Emperor of Thyatis named Constantius in the second book, but he appears in none of the "net-canon" timelines; etc.) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 07:58:43 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: The Dragonlord series At 07:53 AM 10/3/02 -0700, you wrote: > > I didn't have the third book at the time of our initial discussion, I don't > believe, though I do have it now, so I'll try and dig into it and figure > out when it takes place chronologically. Just went through (quickly) Dragonmage of Mystara, and the first reference to time that I got was this (p. 23): "Shadowmere had been abandoned since that time, until late the previous summer when the Great One had Kharendaen bring Thelvyn here so that the spell preventing him from becoming a dragon could be removed." Seems to place Dragonmage a year later than Dragonking, so the dates of the books would be: Dragonlord (prologue): 475 AC Dragonlord (rest): 490 AC Dragonking: 495 AC Dragonmage: 496 AC ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 17:09:02 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: A Complete Guide to Dragons In a sort of berserk-like frenzy, I wrote this magnum opus...a lot of informations have been taken from Bruce Heard's article (truly rip-offs), but they have been changed to fit my theories on the Cosmos (see A Complete Guide to the Cosmos) and dragon Immortality. I hope you'll take a look and let me know. It's not complete yet, I am going to write one day or another stats for the dragon rulers and some articles to fit the Mystaran Dragons in these ideas, although there really is no need for major conversions... You can find the Guide at the Dark Portal site: http://www.geocities.com/iuliusscaevola Under the "Monsters" section - you see it in the index page, anyway... Greetings, Giulio ______________________________________________________________________ Mio Yahoo!: personalizza Yahoo! come piace a te http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.my.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 08:29:41 -0700 From: Joe Kelly Subject: Re: Renardy ????????????????????? I have an issue at home that deals very specifically = with the different types of Mystaran Rakastas, such as the leopardmen, = lionmen, cheetahmen, etc. I'll let you know what issue. =20 JK Wolf >>> davidk@SYNOPSYS.COM 10/02/02 05:59PM >>> Dragon Magazine #247 I really wish Bruce Heard had gotten the Rakastas and Tortles into Dragon Magazine. Stone Marshall wrote: > Dragon Magazine #180 has plenty of background material for Renardy. = NPC's, > descriptions of the different areas in the kingdom and a really good = map. It > uses OD&D rules and terms. There is another issue which describes the > sub-races of lupins in 2nd Edition rules, but I can't find it and I dont > have them on the computer for lack of space :( > 40 gigabytes only goes so far..... > > Multizar the Mage > > >From: Joe Kelly > >Reply-To: Mystara RPG Discussion > >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM=20 > >Subject: [MYSTARA] Renardy > >Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2002 08:23:25 -0700 > > > >I am looking for material background of NPCs and such on Renardy, any = help > >would be much appreciated. > >And yes I have the Red Steel stuff. I am thinking of using Montaigne = for > >background material. But needs a bit of revising. Any other suggestions?= > >Thanks! > > > >JK Wolf > > > >******************************************************************** > >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp=20= > >The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/=20 > >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM=20 > >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com=20 > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp=20 > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/=20 > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM=20 > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp=20 The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/=20 To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM=20 with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 11:05:43 -0700 From: David Keyser Subject: Re: Renardy Thanks my memory completely failed me there. Giampaolo Agosta wrote: > David Keyser wrote: > > > Dragon Magazine #247 > > IIRC, it's 237. > > > I really wish Bruce Heard had gotten the Rakastas and Tortles > > into Dragon Magazine. > Cheer up, he did the Rakasta article ;) > > From http://dnd.starflung.com/dragon.html > 247 Rakasta of Mystara > > There's still the Tortle article missing, though :( > -- > > Giampaolo Agosta > > http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles > > ******************************************************************** > 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: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 15:52:44 -0500 From: Web Warlock Subject: Re: Ideas for Boldavia I don't know if this helps, but I did work out some things for Mystara-Glantri and Boldavia in particular on my Ravenloft page. http://www.xtreme-gaming.com/theotherside/Ravenloft.php More stuff from my theory that Mystara is the birth place of Ravenloft (the domain). Warlock > > Helo MMLers! > > I am working on a mini-gazeteer for Boldavia (surprise surprise..). > > As you are the target audience I stopped to check with you lot, > and see what would you expect of such a gazeteer and what would > you like me to add (or loose). > > Thanks- > > Morphail (Ohad Shaham) -- Web Warlock web.warlock@attbi.com Author, the Netbooks of Witches and Warlocks The Other Side: http://www.xtreme-gaming.com/theotherside/ The FanCC: http://www.fancc.org/nbownw/ Shadow Earth Games: http://home.attbi.com/~brannantim/ -- Gypsy: Tom, I don't get you. Tom Servo: Nobody gets me baby. I'm the wind. - Mystery Science Theatre 3000 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 15:33:08 -0700 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: The Dragonlord series On Thu, 3 Oct 2002 07:53:15 -0700, Andrew Theisen wrote: (big snip) > > There is an Emperor of Thyatis named Constantius in the second book, > but he appears in none of the "net-canon" timelines; etc. > Nor is the Alphatian emperor "Demases" that is mentioned somewhere in one of the books... I think it was in the first one in reference to some magical trinket Kirbey has, but then I have only the second book... - The Stalker ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 2 Oct 2002 to 3 Oct 2002 (#2002-258) **************************************************************