Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 5 Jul 2004 to 6 Jul 2004 (#2004-138) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 07/07/2004, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 12 messages totalling 400 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Return to... (7) 2. Return to Rahasia 3. Return to Minrothad (3) 4. Return to X4/X5/X10... ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 10:48:47 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: Return to... If "return to" means just a remake of a classic: I'd like to see Return to Curse of Xanatohon, remade against the background of the Ethengar and the Rockhome Gazetteer. The cultist plot could be a tad more interesting and be tied to a local political scene. IMC I totally remade the adventure (actually having just read abstracts of it) as a plot by the Cretia cult to incite war between Vestland and Soderfjord. It also would be a good opportunity to explicate who "Duke Stephen" is, and what the hell is he doing in the middle of those Northerners! He always sounded a bit odd. If "return to" is a look at the events after the original adventure, I'd like to see Return to Fire Mountain - perhaps an archeological survey to the ancient ruins that unearthes something sinister... It was one of the best dungeon crawls ever made, a dungeon that even made sense in some way. But the PCs won't usually get a chance to cover a lot of ground in the caves. Explicating the ancient race would offer interesting possibilities. IMC I actually have made a Return to B10. It was the first longer scenario I ever wrote, about 14-15 years ago. I used the Wrath of the Iron Ring idea in the module and had Iron Ring hijack the inhabitants of Sukiskyn plus all of the loot the PCs had gathered before heading off to the Valley. The chase took them through Karameikos to Kelvin, Treshold, Sulescu, Blight Swamp and of course Black Eagle itself. Worked very well. I have also written a series of developments in the Hidden Valley IMC. The Hutaakans won the Traldar and have begun a slow process of enslaving the local gnollish tribes. Some time in the future thay will pose a serious threat to the area. (BTW, two times a PC has contemplated a return to the Valley, but decided against it.) Ville ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 04:01:19 -0700 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Return to... I always thought there was more to be made of Horror on the hill which is normally seen as a hack and slash module. I played it so many times with so many different DMs that i can see many ways to enrich it with a good background."Horror's back on the Hill" My second choice would be Rahasia too My X choice would go to X9, adapted to fighting the influence of the Hk in the SC."return to the Savage Coast" X4 & X5 should be fused and the rajah of Jaibul could easily be used to make a sub plot... CM7 should be adapted and could be integrated in a "Return to the Sylvan Realm" CM8, which i have never played nor DMed has its potential too "Return to the Endless stair" anyway all of them could be fun. But i like to think that we have rich enough ideas to make brand new modules and campaigns without re-doing old modules...Of course we could borrow ideas from the the oldies... ===== Thibault SARLAT a.k.a Clenarius www.mystara.fr.st ICQ 16622177 MSN Messenger: clenarius@hotmail.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 17:08:27 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Return to... --- Thibault Sarlat wrote: > CM7 should be adapted and could be integrated in a > "Return to the Sylvan Realm" Hmmm....that sure does sound like an interesting scenario! especially updated with the facts that the SE are now in charge of Alfheim. PErhaps the sollution to curing the dying elven forest lays in going back to the Sylvan Realm? Havard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 17:10:30 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Return to Rahasia --- Chris Cherrington skrev: > In keeping the ocean connection of Hule to Sind to > Ylari, via the elves. The three witch sisters could > be originally of Sindhi or Hulean descent. Some > living relatives could then be related directly or > indirectly to the Belcadiz in Glantri (giving their > Secret Craft an ancient Sindhi or Hulean origin). Cool idea! It would be interesting to develop the background to the Secret Craft of WitchCraft through making this connection.... Havard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 17:12:28 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Return to... --- Ray Allen skrev: > I say X4/X5. If they were rewritten as a single > module > with better background, they would just be amazing. > I've > done this for MC and I think it turely deserves a > "Return > to the..." Besides, the Master showed up a second > time > in X10, right? He needs to come back for a third. > :) Why not make it a Return to X4, 5 & 10? Would be awsome to see that megamodule! :) Havard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 17:14:27 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Return to... --- Chris Cherrington wrote: > Another convert to "The Way" ;-) > I am thinking of the Verdier names like Elsan, Kasan > and a few other "Middle Eastern" feeling names. > Keeping up with the Mysticism, the Siswa could also > be the missing link to the "brotherhood" of Hule and > the Ylari. I am thinking of the storyline that a > family of Verdier elves stole an Oltec artifact that > Priests of Hule once revered. This could happen > when the two clans traversed the Savage Coast to > Eastern Brun. Eloysis? the wizard could have hailed > from Jaibul or Sind and brought that form of > Mysticism to the elves. Agents of Hule could have > at one time steal back their relic, and Al-Kalim may > have travelled to Hule to win it back, creating some > kind of bond between the two cultures. Al-Kalim > brings back the relic to the greatful elves, and now > the elves control a mecca point of the followers of > Al-Kalim to view this relic and share use names and > ideas between the two cultures. Possibly knowledge > of the elven relic is the bargaining tool to make > the Ylari side with Hule during their campaigns. Hmmm...I see lots of good ideas here. So the Verdier would be the Siswa elves? Id love to see a full writeup of the History of the Verdier with the Siswa stuff incorporated. This would help make the Verdier different from the other Wood elves, like the Vyalia and the Wendar elves... Havard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 12:00:59 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Return to... ============================================================ From: Havard Faanes havardfaa@YAHOO.NO Hmmm...I see lots of good ideas here. So the Verdier would be the Siswa elves? Id love to see a full writeup of the History of the Verdier with the Siswa stuff incorporated. This would help make the Verdier different from the other Wood elves, like the Vyalia and the Wendar elves... ============================================================ Pretty much, the Verdier are quite different than the other elves. Bleached by the sun, so they have been mistaken as Shadow Elves. They have different abilities than the normal Sylvan variety of elves. The Meditor clan stayed in tune to their forest way, but never had a Tree of Life. The Siswa are land elves, like the Meditor, but I think the Verdier are a better pick, as they are almost a sub-race of elf, but cousins to the Meditor. I imagine that the Siswa traveled with the Verdier, and did not choose the Ocean Way, but instead chose “The Way” as shown by Eloysis. The names Rahasia, Eloysis, and others are actually Indian, so the origins in Jaibul sound better. Plus if they traveled along the Savage Coast to Southern Karameikos (or Tamor), they would have had contact with the Sindhi at the height of their civilization. Since the Sindhi had a very bad run-in with shapeshifters, the current Circle of Witchcraft fits very well with having its origins in Sind; and als o gives the elves that kept close associations to Sind, a serious hatred of shapeshifters themselves, explaining a lot about the Night of Long Knives (Silver Purge?). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:18:00 -0400 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Return to Minrothad The Verdier are virtually a sub-race of the typical Mystaran elf. The Verdier built ships in 1680 BC to visit their cousins the Meditor. This is the reason they are now a sea-faring sub-race? Not likely. Okay, let’s revisit a little elven history for the sake of the Verdier. 100 years before the GRoF, the Aquarendi seek the guardianship of Manwara, an Immortal of the Sea, and enter the warm waters to begin a new life. (PC3) 2300 BC: Ilsundal's elves cross the Strait of Izonda to the Immortal's Arm, then head east along the Savage Coast. Another group takes another route through the Addakian Sound, where they rejoin Ilsundal's band and continue with them. (GAZ5) Now, if not all the Aquarendi took to the ocean as well, and decided to keep breathing the salt air of the ocean, on a nice wooden deck; that would have given these elves 800 years to start to change. If the second group consisted of the Sheyallia and Meditor, they could have “hired” the sea-faring Verdier to transport them across the Addakian Sound. Okay, back to canon… The Sheyallia clan turns south, onto the Serpent Peninsula, and settles in the forest. The Meditor and Verdier clans, disliking the increasingly rainy and hot climate, sail east in search of better lands. (CoM) See this passage? They “sailed” east. Verdier clansman did not build ships a full 620 years later to rejoin their Meditor cousins; they already have been building ships. Now this makes more sense, this allows the Meditor to remain Sylvan, and gives a long enough time span for the Verdier to become tow-headed and sun-bleached. Now, why say they built the ships to visit their cousins? Simple, during this time, we have 3 competing civilizations, the Sindhi, Taymora, and Nithia. All of them very well suited for land based expansion. Now the Verdier, they are a masterful sea-faring race, with plenty experience hauling other people around. They could have moved the Shiye to Alphatia, help the Nithians move the barbarians to the Hinterlands, and possibly the Dunael to the IoD. They may even have taxied Minroth and his people a couple of hundred times back and forth from the mainland to the islands. Taymor washes away, Sindhi are plagued to death with shapeshifters, and Ni thia is their last link. Once Nithia goes down, so does the memory of what the Verdier were doing with all these ships. Having a distant memory that the Meditor were their cousins, the now believe they made them to visit their offshore brethren. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 14:40:19 -0500 From: Eric Anondson Subject: Re: Return to... On Jul 6, 2004, at 10:12 AM, Havard Faanes wrote: > --- Ray Allen skrev: > >> I say X4/X5. If they were rewritten as a single module with better >> background, they would just be amazing. I've done this for MC and I >> think it turely deserves a "Return to the..." Besides, the Master >> showed up a second time in X10, right? He needs to come back for a >> third. :) > > Why not make it a Return to X4, 5 & 10? > Would be awsome to see that megamodule! :) Some might say that is what Wrath of the Immortals was... in part... ;) Regards, Eric Anondson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 13:11:05 -0700 From: Ray Allen Subject: Re: Return to X4/X5/X10... True... but the main antagonist wasn't the Master in WotI. IMC, the PC's hate the Master and they haven't even met him yet. :) Basicly, I destroyed their homes, burned their crops, raped... pillaged... and scared the family dog with the Master. They __really__ hate him. :) As a DM, I just can't wait to see how this turns out. --Ray. --- Eric Anondson wrote: > On Jul 6, 2004, at 10:12 AM, Havard Faanes wrote: > > > --- Ray Allen skrev: > > >> I say X4/X5. If they were rewritten as a single > module with better > >> background, they would just be amazing. I've done > this for MC and I > >> think it turely deserves a "Return to the..." > Besides, the Master > >> showed up a second time in X10, right? He needs to > come back for a > >> third. :) > > > > Why not make it a Return to X4, 5 & 10? > > Would be awsome to see that megamodule! :) > > Some might say that is what Wrath of the Immortals > was... in part... ;) > > > Regards, > Eric Anondson > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > > ===== If you have to choose between books and computers, there's no doubt which you should choose. You should choose books. --Bill Gates of Microsoft ---------------------------------------------- Geek Code: GLS$ d- s:+ a C++ UL++++ P? L++ E---- W++ N+ o-- K- w--- O? 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That is because the Verdier were moving Shiye Elves east to Alphatia and transporting Nithians west to the Savage Coast on the return trip. And just how did the Nithians know that the Traldar moved to Davania? It was probably the Verdier were hired to move them, and then in turn hired to move some troublesome barbarians to go bother somebody else. Now that would be another good twist having the same barbarians ransack the prior customers, and pay the Verdier to take them back and go bother the same people that hired the Verdier to make them go away. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 23:53:12 -0400 From: Christopher M Cherrington Subject: Re: Return to Minrothad oops, switch all instances of Verdier with Meditor, I had the two clans confused. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 5 Jul 2004 to 6 Jul 2004 (#2004-138) **************************************************************