Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 26 Jan 2003 to 27 Jan 2003 (#2003-28) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 28/01/2003, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 9 messages totalling 386 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. IMC: Veiled Society Adv (Sess 1) (4) 2. Corunglain's Deep - 2. Wolvers & Nithians 3. Lycanthropy, Taymora & Nithia 4. Initial Plot Hooks for B6 5. Lycanthropy, Taymora & Nithia (long) (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, 27 Jan 2003 10:58:41 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: IMC: Veiled Society Adv (Sess 1) On Sat, 25 Jan 2003, Darth Darknerd wrote: > procession and attended a banquet, where they flirted > with the nobles and ambassadors. A lot of the PCs had > the hots for the ambassador of Glantri... This seems to be pretty common among adventurers ;) Our group also stumbled upon each other while trying to entice her. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 02:11:53 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Re: IMC: Veiled Society Adv (Sess 1) I never heard of anything like that. To think someone would recreate scion, sorcerer, etc. in D&D0e... __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 12:20:37 +0100 From: Jacob Skytte Subject: Re: IMC: Veiled Society Adv (Sess 1) Darth Darknerd wrote: > I never heard of anything like that. To think someone > would recreate scion, sorcerer, etc. in D&D0e... Why wouldn't they? If you see something cool in another edition or an = adventure for another edition, or even for another game entirely, = there's nothing to stop you from adapting that to your favorite rules = system. There are lots of problems with maintaining balance, but that = doesn't mean you don't try. A lot of people bring older edition classes = etc. into 3E, why is it strange to do it the other way around..? Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:26:29 +1100 From: Jonathan Nolan Subject: Re: IMC: Veiled Society Adv (Sess 1) > I never heard of anything like that. To think someone > would recreate scion, sorcerer, etc. in D&D0e... Well I think they do it to keep the rules and the associations they like... a lot of the boxed set OD&D stuff is a little bit like 3e in terms of the subclasses - merchants, monks, mystics, druids, whatever. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:00:48 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: Corunglain's Deep - 2. Wolvers & Nithians CORUNGLAIN'S DEEP 2. Wolvers & Nithians Wolvers were a race of wolflike humanoids that dwelled in the mountain ranges that currently make up the borders between Rockhome and Vestland. The Wolvers were a quite peaceful race, not very fertile, versed in magic, and masters in the art of shapeshifting. They worshipped the Canine Seven, a pantheon of virtually unknown Immortals, although probably the names by which they were known to the Wolvers are just alternate names for well known Mystaran Immortals. Head of the pantheon was Tagazin, the Jackal Demon, an Immortal from the Sphere of Time. When they got in touch with Nithians, Wolvers were cunning shapeshifters, able to assume an almost human form. In their natural form they were similar to the current "wolfman" form of werewolves, although they were less than 1,70 tall, and were less muscular and of slim built. In their human form, they mantained their physical built; long, slim fingers, and pointy ears were the only alien traces in them. The Nithians entered in touch with Wolvers around BC 1000, when they conquered the Antalian and Thantalian (Protothyatian) tribes of the Northern Reaches. The Wolvers were very reclusive, and the Nithians not overly interested in the barren areas of the Northern Reaches, so the contact with the Wolvers was in the beginning scarce. However, the discovery of the true nature of the Wolvers puzzled some of the Nithian magicians and clerics, especially those that studied lycanthropy (see John Calvin's "A Treatise on Lycanthropy"). Several Wolvers were captured and killed by the Nithians, and brought back to the cities of the Kingdom to be studied - it was in this way that the Nithians, experimenting upon the Wolvers, were able to create Gnolls and Hutaakans. Unfortunately for them, the enraged Canine Seven interferred with their work, causing the Wolver-descended races to be totally uncontrollable. There is speculation that maybe Pflarr himself was none other than one of the Canine Seven reincarnated in the body of the first succesful experiment. ===== Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis "We poor few forged as brothers in this furnace will emerge as the steel of future generations" -- from "Legionary's Prayers", by Ionaos Nolan ______________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Cellulari: loghi, suonerie, picture message per il tuo telefonino http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.mobile.yahoo.com/index2002.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 08:41:25 -0800 From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Lycanthropy, Taymora & Nithia >> Still fighting my battle for the union of all our > greatest works into a single, consistent piece of > fan-based coherent canon, I noticed a discrepancy > between the dates of Taymora's sinking in the > Ethnography and the Lycanthropy treatise by John > Calvin. According to my own sources, Taymora sank in > 1750 BC approximately, while John says 2000 BC > approximately. According to my sources, moreover, > Nithians settled in nowadays Ylaruam in 1700 BC, > rising swiftly around 1500 BC. If John Calvin's date > is corrected toward my own, the two pieces of work > would be extremely consistent with each other. > > John if you agree you should change 2000 BC to 1750 > BC, while I will mention the lycanthropic strains that > you described in the Ethnography. > > What do you think? And you other Mystarans? << More likely than not, if those are the dates I used I probably got them from either PC3 (Sea People) or James' own work. I'll go back and check my notes tonight and make sure. >> The way this had been answered in the past, on my own part, was that Taymor sank in 2000 BC and the islands that made up Ierendi shattered and the other bits sank in 1700 BC, the same time as the explosion in the Broken Lands << I also seem to recall multiple sinking events happening, but for the life of me I couldn't site where I got that idea from. I'll have to get back to you on this one. -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!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 12:42:21 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Initial Plot Hooks for B6 The B6 module has the party zap at the front gate, and eveyrone knows each other. This seems unreal, so I wondered if anyone could think of creative ideas for (1) why the party meets one another, and (2) shows up together at the front gate, and (3) perhaps goes to one specific inn. - Joaquin __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:40:25 -0800 From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Lycanthropy, Taymora & Nithia (long) Arrrgggg!!! ;) Sorry for the length of the post... it got out of hand... Ok, Here is what I find from my notes (and yes, I spent 20 minutes looking for PC3 on my shelves - most of the rest is taken from my (shameless plug) Khoronus timeline program): PC3 gives 2 dates - 2000 BC is listed at the "cataclysm" (with a reference to Gaz 9) and 1720 BC where the "land masses split further" Gaz 9 (which PC3 references - specifically for the 2000BC date) says this "Cataclysms split land masses and ocean floods create islands; Meditor elves are left on the new-made Isles of Dread." and gives the date as 1700BC. There is no mention of the "elven accident" of 1750BC. Gaz 1 states that Blackmoor devices explode in 2000BC (quite clearly referencing the GRoF, so I think this can be discounted). Gaz 3 1700BC "Local cataclysm. The elves disappear and the Broken Lands become unstable." Gaz 4 1720BC "(Approximate date) Land masses split further, forming 10 islands south of the Five Shires." Gaz 5 1700BC "Elves driven out of Glantri by local cataclysm." Gaz 10 1700BC "Local cataclysm rakes Broken Lands and buries the Great Horde. King Loark dies, his horde breaks apart." Gaz 12 1700BC "Elves in Glantri trigger a cataclysm that has a profound affect on the lands of the steppes. The Land of Black Sand is formed. " Gaz 13 1700BC "Elves find artifact of Blackmoor in the Broken Lands and trigger a cataclysm which buries the Hoard. Loark dies, the remains of the hoard break apart. Elves driven out of Glantri by local cataclysm. " Gaz 14 1750BC "Geological disasters-volcanic eruptions and earthquakes-splinter off much of the land south of the modern day lands of the Five Shires and the Atruaghin Clans. The plateau under which the surviving Azcans have been living largely collapses, killing many of them and leaving the survivors in a shattered, hostile land. " AND 1700BC "Glantri elves discover a lost Blackmoor device and detonate it, destroying their nation. The survivors begin a migration deep underground as the blast sends a huge cloud of ash and smoke into the air that does not dissipate for many years." The HW boxed set mentions the elven catastrophie in 1700BC. It also mentions volcanoes and the land mass split, but lists the time period from 1750 to 1500. So what does this mean? You tell me! What a mess! I believe that because PC3 is the only canon reference to Taymora (or at least the most complete that I know of) I did use the 2000BC date for the sundering of the Ierendi and Minrothad Isles. It also mentions a further seperation in the 1700s (which could be attributed to the elven catastrophie - although that occurence is not mentioned directly). Gaz 14 mentions both the land mass split (which it places around 1750), and the elven catastrophie of 1700. The HW mentions much the same thing. Gaz 9 mentions the land mass split in 1700, but not the elven catastrophie. So does Gaz 4 (also listing the 1700BC time). Gazs 3, 5, 10, 12, and 13 are all the opposite and mention the elven catastrophie, but not the land mass split. So... It is quite clear to me that something disasterous happened near 1700BC (most likely caused by the elves, hehe). It is also quite clear that at some point in time (between 2000BC and 1700BC), southern Brun was wrecked creating the Minrothad and Ierendi Isles. The point that is unclear concerns the breaking of southern Brun. When exactly did it happen? Some interpretation might lead one to believe that the two events (the elven catastrophie, and the shattering of Southern Brun) are one and the same. With regard to my Treatise on Lycanthropy, I believe that our illustrious Thyatian captian is referring to the following passages: "BC 2000 - Herathean Lycanthropy After the fall of Taymora several refugees, including some victims of Mythic Lycanthropy, fled to the west and ended up in what is now present day Herath. The Aranea who lived there at the time were starting to fell persecuted by the other races around them. Sensing their own demise they mutated the Mythic strain for their own purposes. By purposefully infecting themselves with the disease, the Heratheans had devised the perfect cover. They showed only their were-form to the outside world, in their case a humanoid form. Unfortunately they could not escape all of the side effects of Mythic Lycanthropy, and many of them suffered from either temporary, or permanent loss of memory and personality." Here I'm being a bit vague. The "fall of Taymora" may be either the destruction of the land, or the destruction of the kingdom (perhaps caused by the civil war between IIRC, Nyx and Thanatos). I believe that James puts the civil war at this time, so that might be able to account for fleeing refugees. [Note: James also puts the destruction of the land at this same time.] "BC 2000 – Undersea Lycanthropy This sinking of Taymora caused as much havoc below the waves as it did above. Several tritons and merrow exploring the ruins became infected with a nasty strain of Mythic Lycanthropy. It is unclear exactly how this happened. Some believe that it was merely inevitable that the disease would spread in such an environment, while others suspect that some vampire lord survived the sinking and was trying to rebuild his empire from below the depths." This passage however, is less vague about the whole thing. I'm not averse to changing the date here from 2000 to 1750 (or 1700). I don't think it makes a difference. If that will help your timeline Giulio, then consider it done. Anybody else have any thought on this matter? ===== 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!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:15:28 -0800 From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Lycanthropy, Taymora & Nithia (long) Oh... By the way, in case anyone is interested in the Khoronus timeline utility, the link is here: http://www.geocities.com/chimpman.geo/Events.html I've uploaded 6 new fanbased timelines (those relavent to this discussion), all by James Mishler. They are labeled as TAY1 - TAY6. I've also uploaded Champion of Mystara and Savage Baronies timelines. ===== 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!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 26 Jan 2003 to 27 Jan 2003 (#2003-28) ***************************************************************