Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 15 Feb 2004 to 16 Feb 2004 (#2004-43) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 17/02/2004, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 11 messages totalling 909 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. The Web Spell 2. Twin campaigns 3. Ancient religions of Mystara (7) 4. Blackmoor: when will it see the light? (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, 16 Feb 2004 10:36:24 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: The Web Spell Thanks to all of you for your thoughts. I's a weird thing really that it took 15+ years of a contiunous campaign before the Web spell became a problem for us. Strange... Anyway, now I can collect your thoughts, send them to my players and show them that any GM in her/his right mind would change the rule. After 15+ years the guys are a bit iffy when it comes to changing anything. And Dan: a 1st level MU could not cast a Web spell! ;) > Example: 1st level MU can web a L36 Fighter, when there are few other spells > that could even hope to stop him. Otherwise of course, you stated the original problem in incontravertible terms. The original spell just doesn't work. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 14:17:35 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Twin campaigns Hello, I have been posting material on my ongoing "Twin campaigns" to Shawn's site and sometimes on the list for some time now. The original motive for posting that stuff was to explain the background for the X10 material I sent to the list. Unfortunately "real life" intercepted me and I haven't been able to finish the War Updates. But at least the optional rules for X10 may be helpful to some. I hope I can find the time to send an abridged version of the Great War of 1012, so those who wish to play out X10 san benefit from those experiences. However, the Twin campaigns section has been a great help to me personally. It drove me to spell out the basics of the campaign to myself, in a form that is a bit more durable than scribbled notes in a cardboard bos. Also writing the historical timelines prompted me to translate the two larger campaign ideas in English and send them to Shawn's site - the Division of the Five and the Firelord Campaign. For those of you who might be interested, I'll go on postin Twin Campaigns stuff from time to time. The next installment should be a combined 1011 almanac & War updates. At the present the PCs have again gone their separate ways and continued building their lives. These exploits should create some material that could be useful more generally. For example, I have just finished fleshing out the Minrothad Tutorial Guild. If I have time, I'll send information on it. Stuff on Karameikos, Vestland, Soderfjord, Heldann etc. might be coming too. But as always, all this stuff has been created in a very campaign-specific environment - most of all, without the WotI material. In any case, here's a small update on the Geopolitical situation after the Nomad War, and some musings on possible futures. - - - GEOPOLITICS of Known World after the Second Nomad War (1) Karameikos Baron Hendricks and Bargle the Infamous have been killed by Yuri Turambar and Alexander Penhaligon, so Halag is once more and effective part of the realm. In a conference held after the fall of Black Eagle, rulership of Halag was given to Marius and Flavius Thrakius, two Thyatian-born knights who had previously held the Marilenev area. The Thrakius brothers are fervently Thyatian and despise the locals, so the Halag area might see more strife in the future. Marilenev was returned to Marilenevian rule, when Alexander Penhaligon revealed the identity of late Lady Magda's son, Mathhies, who had been living in Darokin. Matthies was brought into the country by a group of Traladaran militants, who tried to use him and a local "prophet" to incite civil strife once more. (2) To prevent future problems, Marilenev rule is supervised by both of the churches. The Great Patriarch of the Church of Traladara is about to die very soon. The next in line would be either Baron Kelvin or Baron Sherlane. After Oderbry's death Kelvin was made the head of the remaining Knights of Griffon, and Sherlane is the highest Patriarch. Much is at stake, since their notions on the Traladara differ a lot. However, it is unsure whether either of them is willing to divide their time between two offices. So the way might be open to other less eminent candidates. Duke Stephan is engaged in plans about the north: after the war Selenica declared independence. Alheimian, Karameikan and Rochomian governments formed the Selenican Defence League to safeguard the area. The League also occupies the Ust-Urt valley that was taken during the war. So, this situation has created frictions with Darokin (lost Selenica) and Thyatis (occupies Ylaruam and considers Ust-Urt part of it). But also it created new opportunities for business. Other significant changes: - The Torenescu family lost most of its power in the last two years, and their holdings are centered on a new mining colony south of the Callarii forests. The house is led by Dmitri Torenescu, since all the others have been killed. - Sascia lost her holdings around Luln and was given lands near the eastern borders. - Castellan Keep area is now a dwarven dominion led by the local dwarven clans who emigrated from Highforge. Thyatis Thyatis suffered from the Hattian Civil War, although the legions of Thanatos cult were beaten in the end (3). Thyatis also waged a small border was with Alphatia over the control of Helskir - Thyatis lost, and the city is one more Alphatian. But Thyatis managed to occupy most of Ylaruam in the final months of the war. The future: Thyatis will most likely turn its eyes towards the Northern Reaches, since Alphatia has increased its power in the Northern waters after the taking of Helskir. THe next target will most likely be Soderfjord. Alphatia As said above, Alphatia gained Helskir during the Nomad War - although the two empires don't see themselves as having taken part in it. During the war Quodhar rebelled against Alphatia, and it hasn't still managed to take the area back. Thyatians were suspected of helping the Quodhar, which sparked the Helskir conflict. Now Alphatia is strengthening its hold on Helskir (for example trying to decimate thieves' guilds, as can be seen from the previous Helskir stories). Next on agenda will be Oceansend... their forcefully recruited agent Yuri Turambar is already going there, blissfully unaware of these developments. Darokin The country was decimated during the war: it lost Akesoli and Akorros, which were burnt to the ground. Selenica bought its freedom with a lot of gold. It occupied the area of Pramayana, but was forced to sell it to Minrothad to stabilise its economy. Now the country is led by a "Vocator", a military leader appointed by the Council. During the spring of 1012 the Vocator - "General Winter" or Alasdair Mauntea - will start a civil war againts royalist elements in the borderlands, who don't agree with the present government. Minrothad Oran Meditor's assassination in the end of 1010 has left the country in a disorganised state. The houses are trying to gain more power, and the Meditor guild, led by Astra Meditor, has only a ceremonial role left. The old allies of Meditor are being percecuted by unknown parties. The Thieves' Guild has broken down after Oran's death - local guilds abroad have mostly gone independent, the Priveteers have gone solo, and the Blue Eels lost their employer. A lot will depend on Radagast Emry, one the the former Darokinian ambassadors and a citizen of Minrothad, who has secretly become a supporter of Meditor. But unknown to him, the Guild Elsan has forged alliances which make it the most powerful faction of all. The Forster Keeper is planning big-time, and the Forster and Corser guilds have large resources still. In addition to that, Minrothadian traders face opportunities in the weak Darokin market and their expansion to the West, Pramayana. Ethengar After the Darokinian embassadors treacherously killed the khan of Murkits, Chanai, a civil war ensued. The land has a new Great khan, Batu. Believe me! Batu ceded the control of the westernmost areas of the land to the remnants of the humanoid tribes, which now form a good buffer zone against Glantri. The humanoid tribes were united by the ethengar-like humanoids of Broken lands and their Khan. An uneasy truce between the norsemen and the humanoids stands. Glantri Evan though the Glantrians lost a lot of good soldiers, especially during the unfortunate invasion of Ethengar and the Battles to free Darokin City, their country didn't suffer much during the war. Glantri remains basically unchanged. Sind After the death of Hosadus and the fall of the Nomad armies in the end of 1011, the traditional tribal leaders revolted against Hulean rule. Huleans were overthrown, and it is said that Hule is in bloody turmoil. - - - (1) As can be seen from the Twin campaigns timelines, IMC there was a Nomad War around 500 AC, with an earlier Incarnation of Hosadus. (2) In our campaign we played out the Division of the Five sub-campaign, which included a period of near civil-war in Karameikos. Luln was destroyed, Alfric Oderbry died, Magda Marilenev was excecuted. (3) Followers of Alexander Penhaligon were instrumental in this. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:18:12 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara Good stuff Giampaolo! I'm looking forward to seeing more of this stuff. IMO I don't think we should be too afraid of changing dates for the creation of various immortals, as the dates may only have indicated that the immortal had a mortal identity at that time, rather than it being his/her first form. Im not arguiung that we should toss everything aside, but like someone else suggested, having Demogorgon drop by at an earlier stage sounds good. Also, Orcus should be around. I also agree with Andrew that Thanatos should be noted. IMO he, Ixion and Odin, aswell as Khoronus would be present in most religions at any time of history... Havard --- Giampaolo Agosta skrev: > Hi all, > > I've been playing for some time with some ideas on > the evolution of > religions in Mystara. Here are some thought and some > open problems. > > > History of the Religions and Cults of Mystara > > For this discussion, I'm using the terms defined in > Giulio's > Ethnographic History of Mystara. > > > Prehistory (before 5000 BC) > > At this point, there were three main human groups, > the Tangor, Neathar > and Oltec Men. IMO, they had three different > pantheons, along these lines: > > Tangor Man: Korotiku > Oltec Man: Ka, Ixion > Neathar Man: Verthandi, Odin, Valerias > > The first two are simply derived from canon sources. > My interpretation > of the original Neathar pantheon requires a longer > explanation, which I > will provide in a future post. > > Then, there were the Elves, protected by Ordana, who > also was patron to > other woodland creatures, together with Faunus. > Kagyar was emerging as the Brute-Man Immortal, while > Ka and The Great > One where the patrons of reptilian races. > Terra was a general patron of other races, including > perhaps the Giants > and Dwarves (the most linked to earth). > > There were also some entropics, Thanatos, Hel, Nyx, > and Demogorgon. > > An early offshot of the ``Neathar Man'' (Brunians) > was the Lhomar > people. Here is my first question: what was the > evolution of > Lhomar/Lhomarrian religion? > > > Rise of Blackmoor (5000 BC to 3000 BC) > > This is an important point in history. In these two > millennia, many key > Immortals are born. > > First, a split in the Neathar group creates the > Ahonians that evolve > into the Thonian people. Little is known of their > religion. From the > Blackmoor module, we know of an organized church in > Thonia, but we don't > know any Immortal patron. Ahonian-Thonian religion > remains an open problem. > > During the Blackmoor Age, two Thonians/Blackmoorians > reached > Immortality: Asterius and Khoronus. I think both of > them had small cults > in Blackmoor, which survived in later Blackmoorian > remnants, such as > Taymora. Rafiel is the last Blackmoorian to reach > Immortality. > > The second group of Neathar, Aharians, evolves in > part in the > Skandaharians. These still follow the proto-Norse > pantheon, Odin and > Verthandi. They may still know Valerias as Frigga. > Other Neathar are still primitive, and their > pantheon does not evolve > much. However, a member of this people, Djaea > attains Immortality. > > The Oltec Men splits in may groups. We know the > Afridhi worshipped an > obscure god, never mentioned after the GRoF. Perhaps > this Immortal was a > native Afridhi, and died when the last Afridhi were > destroyed in the GRoF. > > I know little of the Valoin. The History of Littonia > does not discuss > the Valefolk pantheon, nor the current Littonian > pantheon. Ideas? > > The Peshwah pantheon is not known, but if we > consider the Ethengar as > descendants of the Peshwah, then Ixion is certainly > the central figure > in Peshwah religion. The Peshawah/proto-Ethengar > Cretia reaches > immortality during the Blackmoor age. > > The main Oltec group still worships Ixion and Ka. > Rathanos is an Oltec, > and reaches Immortality at this point. > > The Beastmen appear during the Blackmoor age. They > are created by Hel > (who is certainly known to the Neathar and > Blackmoorian people). I > suppose Terra took an interest in them. (BTW, what > Immortals do the HW > Beastmen worship, if any?) > > In Old Alphatia, Razud becomes Immortal. > > > The Third Stone Age and Bronze Age > > During this age, the new Immortals lead their > followers in many > migrations and create new civilization. Also, new > Immortals are created. > > At this time, the Neathar tribes occupy most of > eastern Brun. > Antalian, Dunharian and Maharian groups are quite > different by this > time. The first follow the rising Norse Pantheon > (Thor, Frey and Freyja > attain Immortality during this age, and replace > Valerias and Verthandi, > who disappeared at some point). > Dunharians are followers of Djaea and Odin, thought > the cult of the > other Norse will reach them (mostly through Antalian > invasions and > migrations). > > Oltecs spread through Skothar, and Jennites > (followers of Rathanos) and > Teslans are established (what Immortals do the > Teslans worship, > Giulio?). Tarastia achieves immortality. > Western Oltecs (proto-Atruaghin, Savage Coast > Oltecs) still worship Ka > and Ixion, while Proto-Ethengar worship Ixion and > Cretia. > > Other followers of Rathanos do not cross the sea, > but merge with Neathar > tribes. They are the Nithians. > > The Goblinoids create Urzud. They are followers of > Terra, and from the > local Oltec-derived people (related to Ethengar and > Huleans) take the > cult of Ixion. Kaarash may be born in this age. > > Thonian remnants in Taymora follow Asterius and > Khoronus, but especially > Nyx. They also include Ordana and Wayland in their > pantheon, from the > Giantish and Elven pantheon. Thanatos corrupts the > Taymorans, causing > their destruction. > > Elves, meanwhile, have moved from Evergrun to Brun, > following Ilsundal, > who becomes Immortal at this time. Also, Rafiel and > Atzanteotl begin > creating a following among the Shadow Elves. > > > Nithian Age > > By this time, the Nithian pantheon includes > Rathanos, Ka and Ixion from > their Oltec background, and Odin from the Neathar. > Also Protius takes > some interest in them. Pflarr, Noumena and perhaps > Maat emerge as new > Immortals. > > Due to the Goblinoid invasion, the Ethengar pantheon > is modified, and > Terra joins Ixion and Cretia. The goblinoids leaders > Wogar, Yagrai and > Bagni reach Immortality, and begin displacing Terra > and Ixion. > > Jennites worship Rathanos and Tarastia. > > Maharian tribes (Urduk) and Oltecs have merged into > the Sindhi nation, > with a large pantheon including all Neathar and > Oltec Immortals. > > Trantalians and Thantalians, under Nithian > influence, develop their > pantheon to include Ixion and Protius as well as > Odin, Valerias and Thor. > Due to the Gnoll invasions in the Traldar lands, > Halav, Petra and > Zirchev reach Immortality and the Traldar pantheon > is formed. > > Atruaghin joins Takhati Stormtamer as patron of the > Atruaghin Clans. > > Eyrindul reaches Immortality and wrestle control of > some elven clans > from Ilsundal. By now, Ordana is worshipped only by > few elves. > > > Well, that's all for now. Comments are welcome, as > always... > -- > di nuovo come un tempo sopra l'Italia intera > urla il vento e soffia la bufera > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes havardfaa@yahoo.no 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: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:28:13 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara --- Andrew Theisen wrote: > Some comments: > >Rise of Blackmoor (5000 BC to 3000 BC) > >This is an important point in history. In these two > millennia, many key > >Immortals are born. > > This, to me, is definitely the turning point of > Mystaran Immortal history. That and the GRoF. (see below) > >The Oltec Men splits in may groups. We know the > Afridhi worshipped an > >obscure god, never mentioned after the GRoF. > Perhaps this Immortal was a > >native Afridhi, and died when the last Afridhi were > destroyed in the GRoF. > > Zugzul. Brought fire to the Afridhi (Arneson), and > also had an ice aspect (from Ritchie's DA4). > >The Peshwah pantheon is not known, but if we > consider the Ethengar as > >descendants of the Peshwah, then Ixion is certainly > the central figure > >in Peshwah religion. The Peshawah/proto-Ethengar > Cretia reaches > >immortality during the Blackmoor age. Also, most new immortals introduced in the upcoming Blackmoor sourcebook probably faded in this time. This is a good way to incorporate new material from that sourcebook into the timeline. Others may ofcourse simply be aspects of other known immortals who stayed behind. > Two different origins given for Cretia. In Gaz12, he > is said to have been a spirit who attained > Immortality. In WotI, he was a human Ethengar who > attained Immortality. Which is correct? Dunno. When > I did his writeup ages ago, I went with the human. > More I think of it, maybe something in between... > like a human with spirit (fey) ancestors and > bloodlines or something? I like that idea. I've always loved how discrepanices in canon spawn new creative ideas on the list. This makes Cretia much more interesting than as presented in any of the two official sources. He _may_ also have been sponsired by some old peshwa immortal before that one faded... I also like the idea of Demogorgon having been sponsored as a last act by the fading Frog. This explaining why Demogorgon has been bringing back many of the Frog's creatures in the post-Blackmoor ages... > Also, according to M5: Talons of Night, > Arachne-Prime would/should have reached Mystara > around this time, and the aranea appeared soon > after. This doesn't necessarily vibe with the > history of the aranea in the Red Steel setting, > though. I think I made a pretty good reconciliation > of this in one of my aranea articles, though in > retrospect, I could come up with different ways of > making them work together as well. I like Arachne Prime. IMO we should bring her back to life in present day Mystara aswell. URL for your aranea articles? > I actually like having Karaash be one of the orcs > that ruled over the Shires... whatsisname... Othrong > (who ruled c. 1000 BC). Either him or Thrail (c. > 801-784 BC), but Othrong is probably chronologically > a better fit. Just my opinion. Why not? A good option allowing us to shed more light on Karaash's background. Havard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes havardfaa@yahoo.no 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: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 11:19:09 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara Agathokles wrote: > Prehistory (before 5000 BC) > > An early offshot of the ``Neathar Man'' (Brunians) was the Lhomar > people. Here is my first question: what was the evolution of > Lhomar/Lhomarrian religion? A very good question, and something, to be honest, that I had never really considered. During their initial development, as they were spreading across southern Skothar and the now-sunken island bridge to Lhomarr, the Lhomar people certainly started out with the same Immortals as the Neathar did. This is the logical outset of their being a branch of the Neathar, anyway. Their early interactions with the Tangor were probably not overly hostile, so some cultural exchange was possible - they might have "picked up" Korotiku worship. Later tensions with the Tangor may have caused a significant number of the Lhomar to turn away from his worship, but the Lhomars' (and their descendants, the Lhomarrians') later history would prove time and again that fate is ever fickle, and so I think Korotiku retained a following among the common people, who understood that Xeron (Ixion) could never protect and guide everyone all of the time (contrary to what the priesthood claimed). Protius also had a strong following among the Lhomar, who, having arisen as a coastal culture, would be concerned about the sea and its bounty. The Lhomarrians also worshipped Protius (even during the periods when Ixion's grip was deep), as they were a seafaring culture, and their holdings were spread far and wide. Over time, and for a reason that I haven't worked out yet (but would be happy to discuss), Ixion became the dominant Immortal in the Lhomar, and then Lhomarrian, cosmology. This became especially true once the Lhomarrians came into conflict with the Carnifex of Y'hog, as Ixion was, and is, an active opponent of the Outer Beings, and His priests and priestesses were granted spells designed specifically to counter those unspeakable entities and their minions. Even then, other Immortals retained their followings, but worship was largely confined to individual households. After the sinking of Lhomarr, the priesthood of Xeron largely collapsed, as their patron had seemingly failed to protect the homeland of his "chosen people". The surviving Lhomarrian territories still had large pockets of Ixion-worship, but Protius came to the fore, as did other Immortals. On the flip side, Thanatos also had a dedicated following among the Lhomar and the Lhomarrians, as the bringer of death and the ender of all things. It was not until later on that some of the Lhomarrians actually began to worship him as their primary Immortal (they ascribed to him to role of the Master of Fate). From the time of their initial encounters with the Carnifex, the worship of the Outer Beings also took root in Lhomarrian society, and their following was, perhaps, the greatest among all human cultures in Mystaran history - cruel irony, perhaps. How does this sound for initial thoughts? 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: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 11:26:56 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara Agathokles wrote: > > The second group of Neathar, Aharians, evolves in part in the > Skandaharians. These still follow the proto-Norse pantheon, Odin and > Verthandi. They may still know Valerias as Frigga. > Other Neathar are still primitive, and their pantheon does not evolve > much. However, a member of this people, Djaea attains Immortality. > > The Oltec Men splits in may groups. We know the Afridhi worshipped an > obscure god, never mentioned after the GRoF. Perhaps this Immortal was a > native Afridhi, and died when the last Afridhi were destroyed in the GRoF. > > I know little of the Valoin. The History of Littonia does not discuss > the Valefolk pantheon, nor the current Littonian pantheon. Ideas? I had some rough notes, somewhere, concerning who the Littonians worship. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to work that out... Currently, the Littonians worship elements of the Norse pantheon, as well as Ordana, Protius, and others. The Norse influence derives from their long association with the Antalians, and possibly dates back to the Skandaharians, too (who may have had some level of interaction with the Valemen). Another element might come from their time of servitude under the frost giants, who may have observed the Norse pantheon as well, and who either imposed it upon their slaves, or reinforced it. The Littonians' worship of Ordana and Protius is more basic - it probably arose during the time of their Valemen ancestors, and reflected a reverence for the land and the sea as providers of life. A question arises concerning other influences, though. The Afridhi conquered the Valemen and drove many of them away from their homeland. Could some of them have worshipped Zugzul, either out of coercion, or in the hope that their oppressors would leave them alone if they did? 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: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:47:22 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara --- Havard Faanes ha scritto: > IMO I don't think we should be too afraid of > changing > dates for the creation of various immortals, as the > dates may only have indicated that the immortal had > a > mortal identity at that time, rather than it being > his/her first form. Hear! Hear! I especially back this, because a lot of the dates were written in WotI, that had the disturbing desire to downplay the power and role of Immortals, from Alternate Gods to mere Superhumans. Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis "I rather doubt Solarios brought the downfall of Alphatia. We humans are good enough to destroy each other...I think we should look at the fate of Alphatia in shock and horror, and not be glad at the thought of the level of destructive power mankind has reached." (Iulius Sergius Scaevola, on the Day of Dread 1017) ______________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail: 6MB di spazio gratuito, 30MB per i tuoi allegati, l'antivirus, il filtro Anti-spam http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:54:08 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara Geoff Gander wrote: > > How does this sound for initial thoughts? Good. Then we can highlight four main ages: 1) Origins: Verthandi, Odin, Valerias, the Neathar Pantheon. 2) Expansion: Protius is added due to interaction with the Sea People, Korotiku is added from contacts with the Tanagoro. 3) Golden age: Ixion is added to the pantheon, gains much influence; the priesthood of Ixion is supported by the priests of Valerias as well, but opposed by the priests of Odin. 4) Time of Isolation: Ixion becomes the main Immortal of Lhomarr, Odin and Verthandi reduced to minor powers, concentrate on other, more primitive, Neathar tribes. -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:56:38 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: Blackmoor: when will it see the light? I am beginning to lose faith in the fact that this product will ever see the light of day...well? Anyone at Zeitgest Games, when will it be on sale? Have you finished it? Why does it take so long? I am full of expectations, and we wait for it's publishing to fill the gaps between our Canon material and the Time of Blackmoor, and to expand upon our fan-base material using the new Blackmoor stuff!!! Giulio ______________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail: 6MB di spazio gratuito, 30MB per i tuoi allegati, l'antivirus, il filtro Anti-spam http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 18:09:35 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?la=20Volpe?= Subject: Re: Ancient religions of Mystara > Currently, the Littonians worship elements of the > Norse pantheon, as well > as Ordana, Protius, and others. The Norse influence > derives from their long > association with the Antalians, and possibly dates > back to the > Skandaharians, too (who may have had some level of > interaction with the > Valemen). In my Etnography, I thought that the Antalians are the result of the interaction between northern Skandaharians and Valemen. This to reflect the RW hypothesis that the blue eyes/blonde hair physical traits were developed by the Finn populations that lived in Scandinavia before the arrival of the Indoeuropean invaders. So the invaders came, and then, as they were mostly isolated from other tribes, the recessive genes of blonde hair/blue eyes became prevalent. A similar thing happened with the Valoin and the Skandaharians. The Valemen are the original population of northern Norwold; the Antalians that conquered the southern Valemen took those physical traits and moved a lot of time later south, to occupy Heldann and the Northern Reaches. Giulio ______________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail: 6MB di spazio gratuito, 30MB per i tuoi allegati, l'antivirus, il filtro Anti-spam http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:33:10 -0500 From: Dustin Clingman Subject: Re: Blackmoor: when will it see the light? Hi There! I can answer any questions you guys might have about Blackmoor. Don't lose faith, the book is coming along. When we had the last little round of setbacks while awaiting completion of some paperwork, we went back to a second round of playtesting which included some of the members on this list. That process has completed and is moving along to the layout stages. We plan to finalize the production of the book by the end of this month. From that point, we will need about 8-10 weeks to get it printed and into stores. Look for new updates as well as weekly previews coming in the next couple of weeks. We are going to be doing a "Countdown to Blackmoor" that will give some solid overviews of the setting. One point to note, since you mentioned it... Dave Arneson's Blackmoor is a skew on the normal timeline. Most of the elements are the same and will make solid reference to some of the concepts in Mystara, but since this is a 3rd party effort, there will certainly be deviations. For example, the December Dragon introduced a new race and prestige class in the form of the Docrae Omatu Master. You won't find that one referenced in any previous materials, because it is new. There are lots of cool and exciting things to see. We appreciate your patience and hold to reward it soon. Dustin -- Dustin Clingman Zeitgeist Games, Inc. www.zeitgeistgames.com -----Original Message----- From: Mystara RPG Discussion [mailto:MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM] On Behalf Of la Volpe Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 11:57 AM To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Subject: [MYSTARA] Blackmoor: when will it see the light? I am beginning to lose faith in the fact that this product will ever see the light of day...well? Anyone at Zeitgest Games, when will it be on sale? Have you finished it? Why does it take so long? I am full of expectations, and we wait for it's publishing to fill the gaps between our Canon material and the Time of Blackmoor, and to expand upon our fan-base material using the new Blackmoor stuff!!! Giulio ______________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail: 6MB di spazio gratuito, 30MB per i tuoi allegati, l'antivirus, il filtro Anti-spam http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/?http://it.mail.yahoo.com/ ******************************************************************** 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. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 15 Feb 2004 to 16 Feb 2004 (#2004-43) ***************************************************************