Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 3 Nov 2004 to 4 Nov 2004 (#2004-240) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 05/11/2004, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 8 messages totalling 455 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Feedback on Traldar material? (2) 2. Traldars' seafaring skills 3. The Rise of Orisis (1/2) 4. The Rise of Orisis (2/2) 5. Katonate Confederacy (3) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 09:13:02 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Feedback on Traldar material? Andrew Theisen wrote: > > Haven't had much of a chance to examine it thoroughly > yet myself, but I definitely intend to give it a look. Same here. > Just look at the Traldar that reached the Savage > Coast, not to mention Milen and his followers who made > it all the way to Davania. IIRC, it was the Traladarans who reached the Savage Coast. This was around 450 AC, well after the Traldar had become Traladarans. Still, your other points are good: Traldar were definitely a seafaring culture -- IIRC, that's as well confirmed by their HW location. GP -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 03:27:32 -0800 From: DM Subject: Traldars' seafaring skills On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 18:47:02 -0800, Andrew Theisen wrote: > > Speaking of Traldar, I was looking through Savage > Coast materials the other day, and got to thinking- > the Traldar must have been one of the premiere > seafaring cultures of the Known World in their > heyday. > Just look at the Traldar that reached the Savage > Coast, not to mention Milen and his followers who > made it all the way to Davania. uh? Traldars reaching the Savage Coast? Pardon, Andrew, but I must have missed that... what are you referring to? The settlers who founded the City States of the Gulf of Hule maybe? But these are TRALADARANS not Traldars anymore, and IIRC they sailed there during the second half of the last millennium... IMHO the Traldars were a nation with skilled coastal sailors, but they didn't have enough knowledge to make oceanic voyages. Even the Nithians (who are by far more advanced than Traldars) started to sail across the ocean only during the XI century BC, and Milen's voyage was caused by a sheer desperation rather than careful planning! > I can see why the major Traldar establishments in > the KW are located primarily around the coast of > Karameikos, rather than more inland. Ahem, actually we have Traldar settlements all around Karameikos, also in the northern hills and closer to the Hutaakans... ;) DM __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 04:18:29 -0800 From: DM Subject: The Rise of Orisis (1/2) Well since Mystaros gave us his version of the story, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and introducing you my version of the early days of Nithia as well. This is basically a translation and summary of the backgrounds of four different CANON immortals drawn from the guide I'm finishing: Cheimos (CM8), Orisis (GAZ4), Maat (WotI and old Immortal set) and Bachraeus (Rules Cyclopedia). NOthing official had been written on them (apart from two lines in each of the above mentioned supplements) so I worked on the known facts and came up with this story. Read it and let me know if you like it ;) THE RISE OF ORISIS CHEIMOS Cheimos was born in Taymor when the Nithians began to move the first steps towards their greatness and the taymora were going downhill. A man of great intelligence and very talented in the magical arts, he quickly became apprenticed to one of the wisest sages of his time, the venerable Eldrian, living in its tower on the northern borders of the empire, safe from the fiery political and military conflicts between the various sorcerer kings and necromancers. However, after one century Cheimos understood that he had learnt all that his master could teach him, and he reasoned that only two possible ways stretched in front of him: either remain in Taymor and enter the fray that by now was extended to every region of the nation, trying to to defy weaker sorcerer in order to steal their secrets or to gain more political power, or leave Taymor and wander across the world looking for other secrets and hidden magic. Lacking ambition or a warlike soul and being thirsty for knowledge, he packed up and started to wander in the lands north of Taymor (basically in present day Karameikos and Ylaruam). He then came upon the newly founded Kingdom of Nithia, where he struck friendship with the local king, Orisis, and settled down there, becoming court magist at the service of Orisis and Maat. There he became acquainted with the cult of Thothys (Ssu-ma) and became first a devout follower and then one of its high-ranking ministers. ENTER MAAT AND ORISIS During her mortal life, Maat was a brave paladin renowned for her beauty, her courage and her virtue at the dawn of the Nithian civilization. Being a worthy warrior, she took command of a numerous tribe in the fertile Nithian valley, her virtue and faith in justice a shining example to her followers during her life. So great was her dedication to the cause of Goodness and her respect of life that she succeeded to impress her patroness, Terra, finally discovering the path of the Polymath. After being reincarnated three times to recover the Ivory Plume, she finally set out for her last deed: the unification and the pacification of the tribes living in the Nithian basin. Orisis on his part was a very wise and capable man, and his desire to give the Nithians a wide set of laws to prevent injustice and to allow the creation of a real nation with firm beliefs led him to seek for Maat’s alliance. After a long military campaign she finally decided to join forces with the enlightened chieftain of the Western Tribes, Orisis, and she married him. After a series of oaths and political weddings arranged either by sheer force of the arms and or by diplomatic talks, the pair was then able to proclaim the foundation of the Kingdom of Nithia around BC 1600. Later the pair started to know each other and they fell in love, thus strengthening their leadership over Nithia. ENTER BACHRAEUS However, Bachraeus coveted his older brother’s power and so started to spin a conspiracy in order to assassinate the king and take his place both on the throne and on the wedding thalamus. Bachraeus lured Orisis outside the royal palace by inciting some eastern tribes to revolt against Nithia. He then set out to subdue the rebel tribes, but once there he faked his own kidnapping. Worried about his brother, Oriris traveled to that region personally to parlay with the rebels, and there he was first poisoned and later murdered by Bachraeus, who then cut his body into different pieces and scattered them along the river Nithia. Bachraeus then killed all of the people who had participated in his coup to eliminate uncomfortable witnesses, and traveled back to Nithia with sad news. After his brother’s demise he made his claim on the throne of the kingdom and thanks to his allies’ support and the lack of a heir, he was granted the title of Prince Regent. ORISIS’ VENGEANCE After the rise of Bachraeus, Cheimos remained at his place without openly opposing him, but secretly helped Maat in her quest to find her consort and revive him. In fact, although struck deep at the heart, Maat didn’t resign to the situation, and shortly before the crowning of her brother-in-law she fled the capital looking for the corpse of Orisis. Thanks to her determination and the magical knowledge of Cheimos, she managed to recover the thirteen parts of Orisis’s body and mummified the corpse, succeeding to revive him as the first mummy. Orisis, aware of Bachraeus’s deceit, returned to get a rightful revenge and reclaim his lost throne. When Bachraeus got word that Maat had finally came back, he arranged for a meeting with her in his desire of securing his grip on the throne and wooing the widow queen as soon as possible. Great was his dismay when he found out that Orisis had come back too, and the rightful king unmasked his brother’s fiendish plan just in front of the court, calling upon divine powers to defeat him and reclaim his position at Maat’s side. Bachraeus was then banned from Nithia and Orisis laid a terrible curse upon him, making him half man and half snake, the first male medusa. In his long wandering outside Nithia’s borders, Bachraeus called upon the Immortals’ mercy many times, but every time he got only the hatred and spite of all the tribes he encoutered in his path, shunned and driven off as the terrible monster he had become. This poisoned his mind completely, and finally he began to make appeals to dark entities. Demogorgon answered his pleas, and led Bachraeus in the underground tunnles beneath Nithia, in the lost pathways and cities of an ancient but now dead civilization of intelligent lizardmen. There she tested his wickedness and loyalty and eventually turned Bachraeus in the first weresnake, granting him demonic powers to further his vendetta. [end part 1/2] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 04:20:16 -0800 From: DM Subject: The Rise of Orisis (2/2) [beginning part 2/2] ENTER SETIS When Bachraeus came back to Nithia under the identity of Setis, Cheimos was the first to be influenced by his malign powers. Setis bent the magist’s will to his own through a magical subterfuge and began to manipulate him first in order to discover the mysterious secrets that he guarded, and then to obtain Orisis’s trust, becoming one of his couselors. Thanks to his powerful divine and arcane magic and his alliance with the Entropic forces, Bachraeus spun his web of intrigue and deceit, murders and blackmailings, creating turmoil and hatred among the different factions behind the throne. These tensions culminated in a civil war and an attempted coup against Orisis and Maat, which Setis promptly used to murder Orisis (after discovering the weaknesses of his undead nature) and force Maat and Cheimos to flee in exile. Before Orisis’ demise however, Maat succeeded in transfering his soul within her womb, getting pregnant by magic and later giving birth to Mitras, son and father of himself. In BC 1570 Bachraeus destroyed the last followers of the old monarchs and through a firm grip on the army he subdued to obedience the princes that had caused the unrest in the kingdom, establishing a reign of cruelty during which Nithia knew the power and the corruption of the entropic powers for the first time. ENTER MITRAS After only twenty years a powerful and holy hero named Mitras, heir of Orisis and Maat, stood against Setis’s fiendish rulership and with the help of Maat’s charisma and influence over the Nithians, he led the people to revolt against the oppression spread by the corrupt rulers. After a civil war that last well over three years, Mitras forced Setis to escape after seizing the capital, and he reclaimed the throne of his father (his own throne), while Setis/Bachraeus crossed the border and completed his path in the sphere of Entropy around BC 1400. Mitras ascended to the throne strengthening the dynasty of Orisis, bringing Nithia from the bronze age to the iron age and enlarging the kingdom to the point of creating a real empire. On her part, after completing the construction of the Pyramid of Light, the first huge monument of the Nithian greatness (later destroyed during the fall of the empire), in BC 1520 Maat was surrounded by a moonlight in a gently summer night and disappeared, having succeeded in the Path of the Polymath. Following Mitras’s will, the Nithians created elaborate rituals to worship Orisis and Maat, the first Pharaohs, starting to follow them as true Immortals (and thus granting a large following to himself well before he ascended to immortality). Mitras/Orisis later completed the path of the Dynast he had begun in BC 1500 after establishing the Nithian Empire, and he then joined with his wife/mother Maat to continue looking over their followers. Maat and Orisis got a very important place in the Nithian pantheon: she became the Goddess of Justice and Honor, Mother of Nithia, while Orisis became the Founder, the Lawgiver, the Bringer of Light and the Keeper of the Dead, increasing the base of their faithful followers as a result of the expansion of the Nithian Empire. Orisis got a broad following even under the identity of Mitras both during his life and after his ascension, where Mitras was worshipped as the Justicer, Warrior of Goodness and Destroyer of Evil. BACK TO CHEIMOS When unfortunately Setis revealed his true intentions and Orisis was destroyed, Cheimos decided to flee Nithia, with the minions of Setis following his trail. Running for his life he came to the mountains of the northwest, in the broken lands created by the Glantrian catastrophe that had occurred a century before, where he succeeded in evading his pursuers. Unfortunately after rambling in this cold desert he contracted a terrible disease that began to corrupt his flesh and to eat away its memory, pushing him on the brim of the madness. Fortunately he was saved by a group of elven Wendarian scouts, and later carried in their forests, where they cured him with the Elvenstar. > From his rescuers, Cheimos came to know that a terrible magical catastrophe had turned the southern lands into that cradle of diseases and aberrations, and this revelation hit his mind in a very odd way. Cheimos (remembering his experience with Setis and the Taymora sorcerers) became convinced that magic was too much dangerous and powerful to wield, and that it should have been taught only to the wisest and most responsible people in order to avoid its misuse. Obsessed by this idea, Cheimos undertook a solitary quest in order to recover as many artifacts with arcane and divine powers and as many tomes containing precious secrets and knowledge as he could, so that they did not fall in the wrong hands. During this epic quest he got hold of an artifact of the Sphere of Thought that he used to hinder the plans of an ambitious Nithian wizard who lived in the Northern Reaches (who was trying to create an army of created using the souls of his slaves to power them), destroying the Entropic artifact that was the source of his power and therefore his infernal army. Finally Cheimos built a hideout on the mountains between Glantri and Wendar in a totally isolated zone, and an Endless Stair through which only the chosen ones could reach his hideout, where he hid and guarded all the artifacts he found in his voyages. Then, after choosing the wisest among the elven wizards as his assistant, he created an item to defend his shelter: the Throne of Power. After this feat Thothys (Ssu-Ma) appeared and announced him that he had completed the path of the Epic Hero, and in the XIV century the doors of immortality opened for Cheimos. Cheimos gave his tower and his inheritance to his apprentice, who became the Cheiromar, keeper of the secrets of the Endless Stair. That's the end of it. As usual, I'm eager to listen to your comments folks ^_^ DM __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 08:22:00 -0500 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Feedback on Traldar material? ============================================================ From: James Mishler I was wondering if anyone had comments or questions, or any other feedback, on the Traldar material I posted over the weekend. ============================================================ James, we bow down to your glory. I loved it. Of course I will have to tweak my elven thoughts into the mix; I still like the idea of using them as the major transports by ship at the time and as the immortal’s “police” to the Nithians. Another aspect of the Traldar’s plight, what of the War Rafts of Kron? I know I did a modern write-up on their Confederation. But are they remnants of ancient Taymor, Traldars from Milen’s escape, or Thyatians when they crossed back to Brun? Are they all influenced by Koritiku, and if so, they would be made of all three? I would like some thoughts on this one as well, possibly to put together a Kron Gazetteer. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 08:50:01 -0500 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Katonate Confederacy Oops, it has been a long time since I read my own material. The Katonate Confederacy would most likely be Tamor. I forgot about the pantheon and their names. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 11:15:49 -0500 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Katonate Confederacy Here is a teaser of sorts that I have been slowly putting together... Currency of the Katonate consists of specially prepared 1 x 1/8 inch kelp discs. There are 3 denominations, each represented by their shape (round, square, and triangle). The round disc called Pye is worth 1 silver. The square is called Diamn, and is equivalent to a gold piece. Lastly the triangle is called the Hyvpphe and is worth one platinum. What makes these discs special is their buoyancy. Gold is rare, and nice to have for jewelry, but is very heavy. So if one owns many pretty things, they will sink faster if they don’t have a lot of currency. 1 Pye will float 1 pound on the surface of water. 1 Diamn will float 10 pounds, and the rare Hyvpphe will float 50 pounds. People of the Katonate will also barter gold and other precious materials, as well as gills of water and the priests’ wine (Ylluvatari). Katonate Thieves Guild This guild has always been around. They are the ones to turn to when priests deny rations, or you want to secure some contraband items and such. They run the black market, and supply many items into the capital that could only be found on the outer rim or possibly on the mainland. Most members are Kna, and they are known for their experienced smuggling and trading syndicate. Because of this relationship, the merfolk tend to stay away from such activities, and would rather help the rimmers in their pirating, then “legally” trade with the Kna and outside clerical scrutiny. Famous/Infamous Peoples of the Katonates Illiovousti High Priest of Katonata (the capital raft and Sacred Garden) Illiovousti is the highest ranking member of the Katonate Priesthood. Voted in by a secret council, he only knows he was selected by his sudden blindness, and the fact his eyes turned obsidian black. Thus is the way and tradition of this position. He is still getting used to the blindness, and his hands have been rubbed so raw from walking about that he has not yet had enough time to read his new order’s sacred reels. As such, his health is declining faster due to the curse of the Katonatia (the obsidian artifact). Waavioolii High Priest of Vrroapaaul Waavioolii is a blue whale. Awakened by the Katonatia, she was able to discover enough of this strange artifact to contract the blindness associated to the surface dweller’s high priesthood. She has been able to keep her health, and has outlived 5 of the high priests of the Katonata and so believes she may be able to discover the truth of the Katonatia. Saalujek High Priest of Kamvaael (a renegade rimmer colony associated to followers of Tempikaaul) Saalujek is mad. Crazed by his unfortunate addiction to Tempikaaul’s Ylluvatari, he is already succumbing to the lich like disease this area is known for. Nearly a third of his body has shriveled and rotted, and he keeps these areas preserved by applying treated Tempikaaul Kelp like bandages. In his mad mind he preserved a giant squid as a new type of giant zombie that he keeps at the heart of his small colony. At first he thought of it as a pet, but now in his insane mind he believes it is the living avatar of Tempikaaul herself. Thus he feeds this bulbous beast with all sorts of prisoners as sacrifices to Tempikaaul. Kamvaael is a dark and blighted part of the outer rim. Only rumored to exist, mostly as the Katonate’s version of Hell, but this is a very real place on the outer rim. This colony suffers from a putrid fog that blocks out the sun and keeps the colony in pitch black nights and eerie fog shrouded days. There is no color to be found in this dreary place, everything is black and white, and any night vision or infra-vision is totally useless. The whole of the colony is “glued” together by Tempikaaul’s undead kelp. Anyone unfortunate enough to stand more than a minute within this kelp will sink into the kelp like quicksand. Treat the unfortunate victim as being webbed as per the spell, but loses 1 point of strength every round he is trapped. If the victim dies (STR = 0), he turns into a grey shroud in three days. Walking across the kelp is easily done, but one should always be careful not to fall into a gap and be swallowed into the kelp (a one in six chance for every 50 fe et). After spending more than two weeks within Kamvaael, one learns how to avoid such traps and would be able to decrease his chances by 1 in 10 every 50 yards. Most denizens of this place live on captured ships and makeshift rafts of floating debris. Many of the living folk are quite mad and insane, due to the debilitating effects of Tempikaaul’s Ylluvatari. Every week spent drinking one dose a day will need a saving throw vs. magic to avoid losing 1 hp to the strange zombie like affliction. Spell casters are rumored to become liches, but in reality they only become spell casting zombies (but are immune to turning). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 14:54:50 -0500 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Katonate Confederacy Here is some more, icluding the deadly, magical, and beuatiful Eeliistii... The Spiral of Knowledge This long spiral path in the heart of the Sacred Garden is walled on the right by a polished granite wall. Carved in the wall is the most complete history of the inhabitants of the Confederacy. Many children are welcome to come and learn here, and are encouraged to make rubbings with blank reels to take home and study. This practice has created a very learned society of those fortunate enough to afford such time to practice the skills of reading reels. The wall is made of black granite and is about 2 feet thick and 5 feet tall. It discusses many of the religious traditions, mathematical equations, and very exacting accounts of the Confederacy’s many voters and their gill worth throughout their long history. The wall is seamless and solid throughout its 1500 foot path. There is a section that is no longer allowed to be read, as it is much older and almost polished smooth from many years of rubbings and readings. This section will re-open when the current curators have a final rendition of the original text to re-carve back on the wall. There are some skipped periods in their history, as the reels that originally contained this information were lost to fire, moisture, or age. Spell Books for Wizards Wizards, although rare in the Confederacy, are viewed more as Priests of a different sort. They train with priests in their temple and they learn their religious studies, they just cast different spells. Their spell books would be too cumbersome to be read on reels, so they create ribbons to study. They are usually made of cloth with embroidered rises for the different letters that make their alphabet. Some priests will keep some prayers in the same manner, so it is hard to discern who is really a priest or mage. The Eeliistii make up most of the wizardly class, and they too have adopted the Katonate script. They can memorize the bumps and rises of the script into their flesh. Katonate Merfolk These merfolk are in truth vastly different from those encountered in the Sunlit Sea. Instead of the scaly fish tails most associate with merfolk, these have the hind quarters of octopuses. They prefer shadows to direct sun, and are more closely related to the deep dwelling dark merfolk than most societies would like to know. Their skin is photosensitive and tends to change color to match their environment, and can even change texture and shape to match solid objects around them. They also can change facial features enough to imitate other races or friends of victims. The Eeliistii, as they prefer to be called, of the Confederacy do not deal much with the regular Katonates. They don’t need many of the things the air-breathers need, and they only work with the priests to help them cultivate their kelp. In exchange, the Eeliistii make their homes within the kelp beds and cultivate many pearls, mollusks, and fish for trade. They are a private lot, and so do their best to keep up the rouse that the waters beneath the rafts are too dangerous for air-breathers. It is not much of a lie; the kelp the Katonates depends so much on can entangle and drown many an unfortunate victim. Lion fish and many varieties of poisonous jellyfish abound as well. To the Eeliistii these are no more dangerous than insect stings to mainlanders. The main crops of the Eeliistii are small pink pearls that they like to enchant with light spells. They use these to create light for the kelp beds, as the surface grabbing rafts tend to hide the much needed sunlight for their growth. This creates an eerie setting of pinkish light and green shadow beneath the waves and rafts of the Confederacy. Rumors abound of the Eeliistii having a taste for human flesh, and so many Katonates avoid swimming were kelp beds dot the surface. As stated above, the Eeliistii have adapted a way to memorize Katonate script into their flesh, and so they can communicate to each other just by t ouch and to multiple Eeliistii at a time. This and the fear of Eeistii intending to drown a hapless victim can get them into a lot of trouble, when the reality is they are trying to communicate across the skin of the victim as it is a much easier form of communication for them. This has also given rise to the rumor they are telepathic and they can read minds. They do have voices, and these they like to use to sing. Their songs are very enchanting, and some have adapted their singing ability to deadly charm spells. They also have the natural ability to mimic sound, and can imitate whale songs as well. Even whales fear this, as they believe Eeliistii sometimes imitate their songs to cause them to beach themselves when close to land. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 3 Nov 2004 to 4 Nov 2004 (#2004-240) **************************************************************