Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 28 Aug 2004 to 29 Aug 2004 (#2004-180) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 30/08/2004, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 9 messages totalling 547 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Expanded Darokin Timeline Part 1 (4) 2. A Mystara Wiki (2) 3. Rough Expanded Darokin Timeline (3) ******************************************************************** 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: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 02:44:08 -0700 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: Expanded Darokin Timeline Part 1 --- Aaron Nowack wrote: > Anyone who does have that module, and would like to > see it added in, is > welcome to do a quick write-up and I'll see about > integrating it. Same > goes for other obscure/non-obvious sources and/or > other fan-based material. Well, this may not end up being much of a writeup, but I'll see what I can do. Info from WotI and IM2- Wrath of Olympus: c. 200 BC: The warrior Balthac and his companion, the elf-woman Sinan, battle monsters across the known world and become legendary. Balthac is finally slain while battling the great red dragon Calor, who had long plagued the men of the region later to become Darokin. (WotI, IM2) 200 BC - 21 AC: Humans venturing into the wilderness regions around the Streel River are befriended by a human warrior named Aurum. Aurum assists the men in colonizing the region, with his knowledge of the lands, and a small town is eventually founded (the future Darokin City). Aurum's arms are also invaluable to the vulnerable settlers at this time. (IM2) During times of trouble, a gold dragon sometimes comes to the aid of these settlers as well. (IM2) ? BC: A great army of undead arises in the depths of Malpheggi Swamp and heads north, towards the human settlements. The humans are nearly overwhelmed, and the warrior Aurum is nowhere to be found. Fortunately the gold dragon arrives and blasts the undead, driving them back to the swamps. In a dramatic moment, a ball of light emerges from the swamp and flies into the heavens, leaving behind a new constellation in the sky. The day after the battle, a party of warriors enters the swamp to investigate, and discovers Aurum's twin spears amidst a knot of twisted undead bodies. The undead are slain. The realization that Aurum the warrior and the gold dragon were the same person sinks in, and the new constellation is named Draco Aurum in honor of the humans' champion. The crossed twin spears become the symbol of the Republic. (IM2) - 1 21 AC: Ansel Eastwind founds the Kingdom of Darokin and Darokin City. He proclaims himself King Ansel I of the House of Darokin. The new Kingdom only controls territory in, roughly, a 32 mile radius from the city. 550 AC: The human wizard Kazad (known among the elves as Illodius) attempts to invade the Canolbarth forst with an army of beastmen. The elven hero Sinan the Anointed challenges Kazad to single combat and both champions are destroyed in a tremendous cataclysm. The beastmen are routed (as are Darokinian armies that sought to capitalize on the elves' moment of weakness). The area where Kazad and Sinan battled is wasted and Alfheim Town eventually constructed on the site. (IM2, Gaz5.) - 2 795 AC: Lillian (last name unknown) is born to a family in high standing in Darokin. (WotI) 802 AC: A plague is sent by the Immortal Yagrai, spreading to Glantri.(GAZ10, Gaz3) The plague also spreads southwards, to the city of Corunglain. A healer from the shores of Lake Amsorak, Ascalon, travels to Corunglain to help. He eventually travels north, into the Broken Lands, to seek the cause of the plague. He is not heard from for weeks, but the plague stops, and his dead body eventually sails downriver to the city. He is hailed as a hero of the people. (IM2) - 3 812 AC: Lillian marries Alexander Corran. They give birth to a son, Edgar.(WotI) 821 AC: Alexander Corran is ennobled as a baron. He, his wife Lillian, and their son move to the mountains of northern Darokin. (WotI) c. 821 AC: Lillian Corran is stolen away from Corran Keep by a vampire, a minor noble of the Braejr Highlands. (WotI) c. 845 AC: Lillian's master is destroyed by Etienne d'Ambreville, and Lillian is freed. She remains in Braejr (now renamed Glantri City). (WotI) 875 AC: The Great School of Magic opens in Glantri City. Lillian Corran is among the first students to enroll. She increasingly becomes drawn to the study of Entropy. (WotI) c.900 AC: Lillian Corran becomes a cleric of Hel. (WotI) Between 900 and 1000 AC: Lillian Corran (now known as Lady Lillith), organizes the Cult of Balthac in northern Darokin, at the command of her patron Hel. (WotI) Footnotes: 1) Obviously, this section can stand to be fleshed out a lot more. Basically, I figure Aurum, Balthac, and Sinan to be "legends" of a sort akin to the "Traladaran Three"- Halav, Petra, and Zirchev. They predate most written records, and are sort of the Darokinian early heroes. Some of the stuff about Aurum could be expanded upon greatly. Also, Malpheggi undead were led by a Lich. I figure this Lich could be Nithian, perhaps, or Taymoran. 2) Sinan is said to have battled the human wizard Kazad and his orcish hordes in a battle that threatened the Canolbarth. The description of this battle, as well as the cataclysmic fate of the two participants, seemed to mesh well with the invasion of Illodius given in Gaz5, so I merged the two histories here. 3) Ascalon is described as a famous healer from the shores of Amsorak ("generations ago", which would fit the date) who halted a mysterious plague that assaulted Corunglain. The plague was the result of a demon in the Broken Lands, but I felt that all of this backstory fit very well with the idea of the Glantrian/Yagrai plague (and certainly Yagrai could have sent a demon as the agent of his plague), so merged the two concepts. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 21:05:19 +0800 From: Francisco Navarro Subject: Re: A Mystara Wiki Hail Mystarans! I think the wiki a good idea and I will be contributing one of these days, particularly to the Mystara Encyclopaedia. I do agree as well it has its appropriateness, that somethings will do well in the wiki, while some topics will not. One subject matter which I think would do well might be a Mystara spell compendium. It need not include the common spells from the rulebooks, but I think it should include Mystara-specific spells from canon sources, and original contributions, so long as they are clearly Mystara-specific. I think there should be provisions made for if the spell is in D&D, AD&D, or 3E format. And the spell entry should include the origin of the spell (i.e. Glantri, Alphatia, Nithia, Sind, etc.). I don't know how to go about this. Let us ask the Wiki Warlock. Kit Navarro Glantrian Arcanist On 29 Aug, 2004, at 1:34 PM, shawn stanley wrote: > I've had a look at this and it's quite nice. Whilst of course people > have > to agree to have their own works put up there for everyone to help > create I > thought that the idea of the Mystara Encyoclopaedia was an excellent > one - > and one that I hope expands rapidly as that is a resoruce I think the > gameworld could use very well. > > At 07:46 AM 24/08/2004 -0700, you wrote: >> Well, >> I couldn't wait to get started on this. >> >> With the wiki there are a some cool features. >> >> Like CamelCasedWords like this one -> will create a >> posible link to a new page by placing a "hyper linked" >> ? after the word, then all you have to do is click on >> it to create the page and automatically all apearences >> of the word s become links to the page. (you can use >> back ticks like this `Page Name` as well, the edit >> page has a bunch of tips on it). >> >> Like exporting as html -> this allow anyone to export >> the wiki or any part of the wiki as static html. >> This will make it a breeze to archive it on >> dnd.starflung.com (If successful, I for one would like >> to see the wiki hosted there one day, integrated into >> the official site, won't the other worlds be jealous >> then, Viva Mystara). >> >> Like Email Notify -> this allows you to subscribe to a >> page and receive mail when the pages changes (right >> now I have it set to notify on each edit but it can >> be set to once a day). >> >> Like file uploads -> this allows us to store files (i >> would think maps and images might be useful, but this >> kind of activity could be a problem) here as well as >> text content (but I have it limited for now as I have >> not installed new disks). >> >> Like html and java -> yes that is right, html and >> java right there on the page, a nerd neccessaty ( >> >> There are more, but blah blah blah... >> >> So check it out. >> >> http://celestialweb.dnsalias.net/wiki/mystara/Wiki >> >> -Keene >> >> P.S Don't be afraid to try it out, it's easy and >> backed up. I put some stuff on it, some mine, some >> clipped, to get it started, but you can add to it >> change it update it, hell even delete it feel free. >> >> The top, left, bottom , and admin pages are password >> protected just email me and I will give you the >> password if you wish to edit those. > > > shawn stanley > > what have you done for me lately ... more to the point what have i > done for me > - mightyfew, "i can't wait" > > ******************************************************************** > 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: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 10:30:12 -0400 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Expanded Darokin Timeline Part 1 Very interesting! One item in particular - the undead army arising from the Malpheggi - ties in nicely with another idea of mine. 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: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:50:43 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: A Mystara Wiki Francisco Navarro ha scritto: > > One subject matter which I think would do well might be a Mystara spell > compendium. > > I think there should be provisions made for if the spell is in D&D, > AD&D, or 3E format. And the spell entry should include the origin of > the spell (i.e. Glantri, Alphatia, Nithia, Sind, etc.). > > I don't know how to go about this. Let us ask the Wiki Warlock. Hi Kit, from a technical point of view, an index is simply a list of links. Basically, you would need to define a set of "tags", e.g.: `1st level spell` `2nd level spell` or: `Glantrian magic` `Alphatian magic` etc. Then, you would use those terms in the spell description, so it will link to the appropriate page: `Sinaria's Soundwave of Power` (`Glantrian magic`) `2nd level spell` [description should then follow] This is the simple part, but you will note that it only works single way, so as in the Mystarapaedia you have to insert new elements in the appropriate index pages manually. I'm not enough into the Wiki tech to know how a double way linkpage can be implemented (it is simple from a theoretical point of view, though). Bye, GP ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:06:36 -0500 From: Aaron Nowack Subject: Re: Expanded Darokin Timeline Part 1 The Stalker wrote: > This came up a good deal of time ago, when I asked about the best period > to choose for some historical time for certain things to happen in > Darokin, which were important to an adventure I was running IMC at the > time ("The Forgotten Man" from Dragon no. 75). You made several > suggestions yourself (which I ended up using - thanks for that btw - it > all ended up with the anti-paladin in the story having done some really, > well, anti-paladin-appropriate things...), but then the discussion turned > to the timing of the Dragonlord trilogy and how it might interfere with > the adventure. Yeah, I think I remember that discussion, and I'm glad my suggestions were useful. >> Given that the date of the Flaem arrival in Glantri is 395 AC, according > to Gaz3 and other sources, this places the Prologue at around 475 AC, and > the actual events of the first novel at around 490 AC. >> >> I don't have an exact quote on the second novel, but I do recall that it > says it takes place 5 years after the first, so c.495 AC. Don't own the > third novel, but I'm trying to track it down, for the sake of completeness. >> > > As for the last novel, I'd say that since it follows right on the heels of > the second chronologically, I'd put that in 495 too (or perhaps 496). Okay, that more or less matches what I was thinking. Now, the tricky part: anyone with a better memory of the books or whose copies are handy care to help me figure out what events in them impact Darokin? About the only thing I think I remember is that at one point Darokin invades Glantri, but I can't recall any of the details. -- Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.mimiru.net/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:17:57 -0500 From: Aaron Nowack Subject: Re: Rough Expanded Darokin Timeline Geoff Gander wrote: >> As royal, and soon ducal, power faded in the north, the Attleson Dukes >> were no longer able to extract tribute from their vassals, many of whom >> had ties to the old Corun family. Some ambitious lesser nobles declared >> themselves Dukes in their own right, and the Dukes of Corunglain were >> powerless to stop them. > > Good enough for me. Do the dates still work, though? Yeah, the dates are fine. I've still got a ways to go before I reach this period, particularly considering that my next step is going back and using some of your stuff to fill in detail in the 500 BC - 21 AC period. >> Not as much to say here, this can mostly be integrated without much >> difficulty. The date of Almarand's conquest suggests it allied with >> Linton and Corun Houses against Mauntea in my "Merchants' War" (the last >> big war before the Great Merger). > > Sounds good to me. The other details arising from the fall of that > kingdom was that the Almarandian royal house, unwilling to surrender, fled > for a safe haven. I haven't decided where they went, but their > descendants are still out there, maintaining to this day their right to > rule Almarand. Hmm.. obvious candidates are Glantri, Minrothad, and Thyatis. Possibly Alfheim for the first few years, depending on Almarand's relations with the elves. My instinct also says that these guys have to get involved somehow when the Master invades Darokin, but that might just be bad memories from Solmyr's old Mystara Birthright PBEM. >> The Establishment of al-Zalenikah should probably be somewhere around >> 250 AC, when canon sources indicate Ylari fleeing Thyatian colonization >> entered Darokin. The conquest, however, wouldn't be by Darokin itself, >> as Selenica remains an independant Kingdom up to 574 AC in my version. > > Good enough for me. I wanted to expand a bit on that element of Darokin's > history, as well as write a brief, dark chapter. No doubt, Darokinians > today would play down the whole business about al-Zalenikah. No doubt. -- Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.mimiru.net/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:21:01 -0500 From: Aaron Nowack Subject: Re: Expanded Darokin Timeline Part 1 Andrew Theisen wrote: > --- Aaron Nowack wrote: > >> Anyone who does have that module, and would like to >> see it added in, is >> welcome to do a quick write-up and I'll see about >> integrating it. Same >> goes for other obscure/non-obvious sources and/or >> other fan-based material. > > Well, this may not end up being much of a writeup, but > I'll see what I can do. Info from WotI and IM2- Wrath > of Olympus: > *snip* Thanks very much for writing that up. Now I just have to get all that integrated in. ;) -- Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.mimiru.net/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:01:02 -0400 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Rough Expanded Darokin Timeline Aaron wrote: > Hmm.. obvious candidates are Glantri, Minrothad, and Thyatis. Possibly > Alfheim for the first few years, depending on Almarand's relations with > the elves. Probably neutral, although an Almarandian delegation probably tried to obtain elvish support before the fall of the kingdom - obviously to no avail. This would probably have soured the royal house on the elves. Based on your suggestions, I would lean towards Minrothad or Thyatis as a place of exile. Thyatis because it's an empire, and the king probably hoped that he could somehow curry favour with the emperor (Gabrionus V at the time, IIRC) for political and/or military support. Minrothad because the royal house had money, and they might have thought they could invest it, make even more money, and eventually hire an army to retake Almarand. > My instinct also says that these guys have to get involved somehow when > the Master invades Darokin, but that might just be bad memories from > Solmyr's old Mystara Birthright PBEM. It would make perfect sense. Hule probably supported several of the petty states that arose in the 600s and 700s, and Almarand, being home to a branch of the royal house, would have been an irresistible target. After the fall, Hulean spies could have watched the Almarandian Royal Family in exile, and possibly have fed them information and promises of "support" in their claim to the throne. Afterwards, the royal family would be a potentially useful pawn. 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: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:12:21 -0500 From: Aaron Nowack Subject: Re: Rough Expanded Darokin Timeline Geoff Gander wrote: > It would make perfect sense. Hule probably supported several of the petty > states that arose in the 600s and 700s, and Almarand, being home to a > branch of the royal house, would have been an irresistible target. After > the fall, Hulean spies could have watched the Almarandian Royal Family in > exile, and possibly have fed them information and promises of "support" in > their claim to the throne. Afterwards, the royal family would be a > potentially useful pawn. I don't know about Hule being involved so early - was the Master even active during that period? Even if he was, I thought Darokin didn't have any real contact with Hule until the Master took Sind during WotI - hence why Darokin was so unprepared. However, I certainly can see the Master setting up as many puppet regimes as he can in occupied Darokin during the war, to free up as many soldiers as possible for the front. You know, one could run a really cool campaign in the run-up to the invasion where the players are DDC agents slowly discovering the Hulean threat and then working to thwart Hulean agents spreading dissent and preparing the way for the invasion, all while the superiors back home scoff at the thought that a bunch of desert nomads could seriously threaten the Republic. -- Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.mimiru.net/ ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 28 Aug 2004 to 29 Aug 2004 (#2004-180) ****************************************************************