Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 1 May 2003 to 2 May 2003 (#2003-115) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 03/05/2003, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 14 messages totalling 304 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover 2. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover (8) 3. Great Nithian Figures! (2) 4. Latest on HackWurld of Mystaros 5. Glantrian Library (was other threads) (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: Fri, 2 May 2003 08:51:07 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover The Gaz on Glantri gives us some good insight on a Wizards reading habits. It cost alot of money to start a library, and if your going to research 9th level spells, alot of very expensive books. The Gaz even describes what materials the cover is made of, color, pictures, et... But, what are in those books? Are they all Math and Physics? Do all those dusty tomes in the Library cover Magic Missle? What are those wizards reading? I am going to try to produce some articles for your reading pleasure, about what kind of content is found within Glantri's Library books. The first thought that comes to my mind is this... If I were a Glantrian Mage, and I wrote a book, what would I write about? Well the first thought that comes to mind is a book on my experience at the GSoM, but most of the teachers I would write about, are still alive, and some are Princes. Not a good idea, unless I intend to garner an ally or two and do not mind taking on a couple of enemies by doing so. Then again, the book itself is mainly for my enjoyment, and would only be read in my demise by anyone else. Only a necromancer would be able to punish me then. It is not like I am going for the best seller list, there is no mass publication, printing press, or license for public writing; well it is Glantri, I would need a license or two. A useful book would be on what licenses I need in order to survive a visit to Glantri, but then there is not enough time to devote to studies and writing 60 books on bureacracy. There you have it! Studies. Most books would be pers ! onal journals on studies. No wonder you need a large library to study a single spell! No body wants to rewrite the whole process, you have the books you are studying, just jot down some notes to look back on. The more expensive the book is, the better the notes are. Of course you don't want to condense your full knowledge of your life into one book, I mean you read all them other books to get this far, why let some young naive mage earn your knowledge in a single tome? So you fill your book on useless tidbits on the habits of a warbler sparrow's migration through the Broken Lands. Or practical water temperature readings on the Streel River, just a daily observation jotted down every morning before sunrise. Of course you don't want future readers to think you were some dull academic passing this world as a wizard. You want some of the glory you rightfully deserve, you are a Glantrian Mage, you will want everyone to know that the Magic Missle spell you discovered was n ! one other than your own device, never mind it has the same somatic nuances as Jaggar's, yours sparks as it hits (his doesn't). Of course other authors don't want any wanderers picking up all their useful knowledge without a few side effects, you need a book of curses for that unfortunate spy or thief. Then you have tons of journals, the more the better. Who of all people in an adventuring party would write a book on discovering the lost treasure of Ardelphia? (keeping in mind that Glantrian Wizards would not be traveling with a Cleric claiming the same knowledge as to reading and writing). So keep these things in mind when your wizard is collecting a library, and spending all that time in gold and research. Is it all for the spell, or is he recollecting his thoughts and jotting down a few notes? Give your wizard a name, take 5-10% of those library costs, and call it your own notes, and your own books on wizardly studies. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 09:15:07 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover The Green Book of Langeshmeet This simple green book has approximately 120 pages of curious scribbling and writings of an unintelligible nature. Anyone studying a page needs to make a Will save at DC 10 or see a single disturbing image upon the page. A second Will save at DC 15 is needed to avoid the curiosity of “reading” a second page. Upon reading any additional pages, the DC is increased by 1 for both saves. It does not matter upon what page is the last page read, but after reading the complete book, the victim will read the only decipherable words, “14 Days”. Of course anyone that wants to read the book, upon learning there are “pictures”, may read the book in its entirety and fall victim to the same curse. The curse, be that is a deadly book; the curse is a horrible death by fright. By what ever means, the only explanation that could be given is that the disturbing images are productions of an undead nightmare (if such a creature could exist). After 14 days the images conjoin together to open a gate and let this foul beast out to destroy the reader. Oddly enough there is rumors that similar other texts have been popping up under other more popular titles. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 09:57:59 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover The Troubles of Two Not a book, but a series of books detailing the lives of two mundane brothers as they travel the Known World finding mysteries to solve. Popular among second and third year students at the Great School of Magic, teachers like the books because of the brothers’ use of mundane science to solve problems (a good practical application of knowledge, without wasting precious magic to solve everything). Another popular series of the same genre can be found about a woman named Nancy, solving mysteries in the same fashion as the Boys of Two. Jeremy Boiler A very popular series of books for first year students, it details the adventures of Jeremy as he learns magic in an imaginary world of Mugland. In resent years, students have even adopted fraternities based upon those mentioned in the book’s school of magic named Orcwarts. Although entertaining and fun to read, many believe these books are introductions to real world societies and secret organizations. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 10:10:33 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Lady Jane’s Books of Prey Popular among the more military minded, this series of periodicals focuses on the military strength of nations in the Known World. They list numbers of units, counts of siege equipment, and even list various riggings on war ships found in the navies with silhouettes of their shapes. Meant as a very serious study of armies, most see the books as bragging of Thyatis’ superiority of military might, or as an attempt to scare other nations into submission. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 10:37:45 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Things that Never Were This rare tome on things that never happened, tries to explain the world’s many different beliefs on creation, immortality, artifacts, and other such nonsense. A collection from many different and even rarer tomes, this book condenses many of those stories, and has even created even more books based upon its stories. The book tells of ancient lands by the name of Tuma, or underground cities in the desert of Ylarum, mysterious islands in the Sea of Dread, and even a tale of how at one time there used to be a second moon. Mordabunds Treatises on Necromancy and Lycanthropy The unfortunate reader of these books is more likely to get killed based upon the helpful hints on how to counteract the curses of these nefarious creatures. Readers learn of such helpful tactics as to use pink violets to ward off zombies, standing still in the presence of a werewolf, imbibing small amounts of arsenic to kill vampires, and other more dangerous tactics to stay alive in a survival situation when facing one of these creatures of the night. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 09:53:50 -0500 From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Great Nithian Figures! Heya All! Just thought I'd drop the list a little note about some cool figures, = not sure if this was mentioned while I was away. Crocodile Games = produces a game called Wargods of Aegyptus, and they have a LOT of = fantastic figures in Egyptian style, especially fantasy humanoid types. = Here's a link to their Web site: http://www.crocodilegames.com/ Here are the Mystara/HackWurld equivalents: Anubi =3D Hutaakans Basti =3D Nithian Rakasta (warning for some Americans: boobie alert!) Undead =3D Nithian mummies and such Heru =3D An as yet undiscovered (?) Eagle-based humanoid race? Perhaps = once followers of Ausar, son of Orisis? Asar =3D Living Nithians, though they also have an Egyptian-style Wemic! To-Tanum =3D These guys are PERFECT for my old Stonefolk/Hrukwarf in = their Nithian phase. Nekharu =3D AWESOME Nithian Nagpas Typhons =3D An as-yet unknown (?) ass-headed humanoid race... made in = mokery of the Hutakaans by Set, perhaps? Tethru =3D Ibis-headed priest (only the one figure so far), a Nithian = follower of Thoth, obviously... These are awsome figures altogether (adn I head the game isn't bad, = either). I picked up a couple of them a while back, meant to mention = them, don't think I ever did. James =20 ****************************** James "Mystaros" Mishler Freelance Writer and Troubleshooter mystaros@earthlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 10:00:57 -0500 From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Latest on HackWurld of Mystaros Here is the product announcement, which went up on the Kenzer boards a = while back. I'm only just coming up for air now... still hard at work. = (^_^) <> Apparently it won't be a hardback, at least this announcement doesn't = say anything about it. It's just freaking huge. There should be some = support articles in upcoming issues of KoDT... still haven't nailed down = which ones yet. Hope to know soon! James =20 ****************************** James "Mystaros" Mishler Freelance Writer and Troubleshooter mystaros@earthlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 11:38:19 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Castille Baromon de Preto’s Treatise on War The book that earned this elf’s infamy and caused his expulsion from the GSoM and Glantri, even reading his book is outlawed; a copy still exists in the restricted section of the Great School of Magic’s library. The researcher looking into this book can learn many useful tactics in military might and use of magic. The book also describes Castille’s training at the GSoM, even learning a few useful spells of Crimson Scourge, and Delayed Blast Arrows. Upon reading this book, the learner will also find that Castille was not only talented with a bow and necromantic spells of mass death, but also a very capable alchemist and producer of extremely toxic compounds. The reader is also very likely to adopt some of his misgivings towards humans (as all his spells and poisons were very deadly to humans and not elves). It is even rumored to be laced with a contagious poison that mimics a version of his Crimson Death spell, except it doesn’t affect elves. Another rumor states that C ! astille was a Dark Elf, and bound the soul of his former teacher to the book, and the books grey leather is this teacher’s skin. This rumor probably started when several students witnessed the book falling off its shelf and began to “breath” as it lay on the ground. On another note, Castille’s former teacher left for an extended vacation the day before Castille’s expulsion, no notes have ever been made on this teacher’s return. History of Ru Another outlawed book, at least in Boldavia, this book keeps popping up now and then in Glantri’s Library. The book is considered a fictional account of a cleric named Ru and his tribe’s migration across the Broken Lands to Boldavia. The book gives a detailed account of Ru’s family being cursed from a vampire that existed in the Malphegi Swamp prior to the Beast Man invasion that caused his tribe to move northward. In the story it also tells how a Flaemish council invited Ru to live in modern day Boldavia in order to quell vampirism that had plagued the area prior to his appearance. The book also hints to a strange portal that could explain the alien nature of modern day vampirism in Boldavia. The book ends in a prophecy of Ru’s return from this same portal, to quell all the undead in Glantri. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 12:26:29 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Prophecies and Dreams of Entou’sun This ancient tome details the prophetic dreams of an old Alphatian wizard, prior to the Flaems appearance in Glantri. In this book, Entou’sun, describes the coming of King Alphaks rule, as his character King AElfacts, and his eventual demise and civil war. He foretold the destruction of Ancient Aphatia, and even foretells of its second destruction, and even of its third destruction. Some scholars believe the second destruction came when Thyatis became independent of Alphatia, mainly to explain his prophecy of “all of Alphatia shall float among the red sky”; thus explaining Floating Ar and a Pearl Island volcano that erupted and turned the sky red at the time preceding the first crowning of a Thyatian Emperor. Many stories are written in such a way to apply them to any major event in history, so it is not really studied as a true prophecy, as his prophecies are not truly understood until the event is over. Still, his prose is very uncanny when all the pieces of history a ! re finally fitted to his verse. Many versions of Entou’sun’s “dreams” exist, with many more treatises on applying his prophecies to modern day histories and/or events. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 10:18:39 -0700 From: John Calvin Subject: Glantrian Library (was other threads) Hey Chris, I love those book examples! I actually started a project like this quite a few years ago. It's remnants can still be found on the web. http://www.geocities.com/chimpman.geo/glantri_index.html I always kind of liked this idea, even though I lost time for it. It's basically just html pages and javascript. It allows you to find a specific book, or search the library for a random one. I think you also had a question before about the different levels in the Glantrian Library. I pulled the descriptions on the above web site directly from Gaz 3, so that may help you aout a bit. Enjoy. -John ===== Rule #85. I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button." from "A Guide to Becoming an Evil Overlord" by Peter Anspach __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 14:10:30 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Glantrian Library (was other threads) > > From: John Calvin > > Hey Chris, > > I love those book examples! I actually started a project like this quite a few > years ago. It's remnants can still be found on the web. > > http://www.geocities.com/chimpman.geo/glantri_index.html > > I always kind of liked this idea, even though I lost time for it. It's > basically just html pages and javascript. It allows you to find a specific > book, or search the library for a random one. > Thank you! The site is great too! I can spend several days lurking in the dark corners of the library, drooling over all the ancient and forgotton lore found there. We'll have to colaborate and expand the Library! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 15:36:28 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Tales from the Orc’s Head This book details the Lawful Brotherhood’s expansions into the Savage Coast. This is a good source of information for pre-Espan Savage Coast, as a journal for the adventures found in the C series module of the Savage Coast. The Divinities of Yav This book of heresy, as a diviner of Yav wrote it, details the epic voyages of the people of the Yavdolm. Researchers of this book can also get a glimpse at some divination magic and some strange mathematical equations that can be used to study engineering towers of a very complex design. Essays on the Ylari This book was compiled by Castille Baromon de Preto, as part of a project while under the tutelage of the Drachenfels. While not outlawed, the book has a complete translation of the Nameh into common Thyatian. Said to be the first, and only, complete translation of the Ylari’s holy book into another language. Besides the translation, this book is also reported as Castille’s first evidence of military genius, although at the time, it was considered the Drachenfels’ influence. It was this book that Castille earned the Prince’s scholarship and recommendation into the GSoM. Politicking Glantri Style This book, along with many various interpretations and essays of, is considered mandatory reading at the GSoM. A much updated version is due out soon, and is reported to include an essay of the Ten Tenets of Rad. As all previous versions were made before the influence of Rad was evident in politics. Aeleand’s Mystical Concoctions This little alchemical codex boasts a complete list of everything flammable. That is once you put a spark to it. Although with further research of his handy work; one will learn how to set stone ablaze with the potions explored in this book. Quite useful, the ingredients needed for his potions are very expensive. With further research, than his book alone, one can create the same effects with much cheaper components Dalgrim’s Mutations This curious book contains much more than simple mutations; it also has the most complete anatomical study of a dwarf. The dwarf named Dalgrim, was “found” frozen solid, and was a perfect experiment for cross-cut dissections of a humanoid species. Once all documentation was finished, Dalgrim was then sold to the public in neat little preserved cubes. Ten across form an inch in width; and ten 1 inch cubes weighs a pound. Because of the curious nature of the Dalgrim pieces being of perfect width and accurate weight, many of his cubes have been the mainstay for weighing and measuring for the curious public. Some of the cubes have been fashioned into neat little puzzle boxes called Dalgrim’s Cubes. It is said the hasp closing this book was originally Dalgrim’s belt buckle. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 13:17:43 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: Great Nithian Figures! Magister Mystaros wrote: Nekharu = AWESOME Nithian Nagpas They could work as current day Varellyan-style Nagpas, as well. Their wardrobe doesn't seem too uniquely Nithian. Typhons = An as-yet unknown (?) ass-headed humanoid race... made in mokery of the Hutakaans by Set, perhaps? The Typhons heads seem more draconic than donkeyesque to me (aside from the ears, anyway). They might be Malpheggi lizardmen, or something. And the Khemru (which you didn't mention) are definitely the Savage Coast's Goat-Men... Perhaps these particular figures could represent Nithian era (pre-Spell of Obliteration) Goat Men in that region... maybe their great civilization (mentioned in the Goat Men entry in the Red Steel Monstrous Compendium) fell as a direct result of the BC 500 SoO that wiped out the Nithians? IE, the Goatmen had benefited directly from Nithian presence in the region and had adopted/adapted many of their cultural ways? Anyway, glad you remembered to bring our attention to them! Thanks! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 16:35:51 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Meta-Magical Feats in 10 Days This catchy little title hides the true meaning of this book. This book instructs the wizard in the smallest of cantrips performed by a little preparation. Little things like lighting a pipe with the snap of your fingers, making square rings with smoke from the very same pipe, or making your knife dance as it cuts your food. All of these things can be done by most anyone, without magic, but this book shows the wizard how to do all these and more by magic, dazzling the public with your mastery of the elements surrounding you. What this means is anything that could normally be done in a mundane manner, with absolutely no disruption, can be reproduced by a free magic cantrip, material components needed are the same as if they were needed to be done manually. To produce flame for a pipe, your material component is a tinder box. To flip a page in your spell book, the necessary item is the spell book itself. To have your spell book float in front of you while reading, you w ! ould need a book stand in your possession within 5 feet of you. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 1 May 2003 to 2 May 2003 (#2003-115) **************************************************************