Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 8 May 2006 to 9 May 2006 (#2006-91) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 10/05/2006, 17:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 6 messages totalling 517 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. On Printing maps 2. Claw (Was: Re: [MYSTARA] Anyone do Red Steel?) (2) 3. Kara-Kara 4. Verdans, Oiobás and Phanatons 5. (mystara) Ist campaign continues ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:29:32 +0300 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: On Printing maps Most of the single country maps (8mil/hes) work very well when printed =20 on A4/letter size. Most copy shops should have the option of printing on A3 (I don't know =20 the equivalent term in anglo format). For example Isle of Dawn should =20 come out nicely that way. But still, some maps require more. For larger maps, there is a good solution. Better laser colour =20 printers have a "poster" option. The printer program cuts one picture =20 into several smaller ones and prints them individually (there =20 shouldn't even be any overlap). With some patience and scotch tape you =20 get cool poster maps. I would think that advanced copy shops have this option. I am the proud owner of a huge map of Brun continent, printed from =20 Thibault's excellent files. I also collated large maps of Norwold and =20 Known World (about A1 size I think). ...and to think of all those days I spent (15 years ago) carefully =20 making a 24mil/hex map of Known World-Sea of Dread-Sind-Norwold-Isle =20 of Dawn-Northern Lands. I still have it, it's still pretty. But after =20 getting my hands on better quality maps with a better "resolution" I'm =20 beginning to feel that I might have used that time in a better way. I =20 never really had any use of that hand-made map in those olden days. Ville ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 04:20:24 -0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=C1tila_Pires_dos_Santos?= Subject: Re: Claw (Was: Re: [MYSTARA] Anyone do Red Steel?) On 5/8/06, Giampaolo Agosta wrote: > > > No, not that recent, most likely she's had some time to start running > her cults. Even better =3D) I guess now I have most of the info/ideas needed to adapt Claw to the Savag= e Coast. The only problem is still my bad english =3D) I hope I can post at leats the first part (of eight) of the adventure on th= e MMB next week =3D) > By the way, an year in Mystara has only 336 days, while in Laterre/Earth > > has > > 365 days. In 12, 13 years, you get an extra year. Are you considering > this > > difference when comparing Laterre/Mystara dates? =3D) > > Not here, the approximation was too rough. However, on the Italian MMB > there's a small project for compared timelines that makes the correct > computations for most worlds. Very interesting! I just take a look, but i'll read further as soon as possible =3D) I wish we had active portuguese mystaran forum, like the english or the italian one =3D/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:27:45 +0200 From: Francesco Defferrari Subject: Re: Kara-Kara Francesco Defferrari wrote: > Havard Faanes wrote: > Although Orcs can be portrayed as misunderstood > primitive humans, many DM's prefer to run them as > truly evil. Brutal and savage might be more > appropriate though; Orcs are often the agents of evil > simply because they are so easy to manipulate by > greater and truly evil creatures or demons. I'd said that the two ideas are not necessary incompatible: orcs could be very evil in a campaign because their history, their master, their religion or their life made them so, it's only the idea that orcs and humanoids could be evil from birth that I reject absolutely. First because that could lead the players to massacre baby orcs or surrendered orcs, and those are quite unheroic and disgusting actions, and Second because I think that the notion of an "absolutely evil race" has been used too much times in RW history to justify genocides and therefore it's not a desiderable and acceptable game element. But that don't mean that the PCs should not have those ideas, indeed they probably should be racist and have many various prejudices: in medieval times people could be racist with the inhabitants of nearby town, and often more racist with their neighbours than with the inhabitants of faraway lands :-) It's just that I strongly believe that the DM can often create interesting adventures challenging PCs and players prejudices :-) Obviously in Tolkien and many other fantasy books, Orcs do seem absolutely evil, but that's just because they usually embody all what's evil in the RW: war, conquest, imperialism, violence and so on. Neverthless I think that fantasy rpg and especially Mystara could benefit from a little more deepening about the history and motivations of humanoids. IMC, for example, the players began as "humanoids massacrer", believing that "the only good humanoid was the dead one", and most of the group even supported the idea of killing surrendered and captured humanoids. Later, they encountered a good bugbear, who joined the group: at first, the bugbear himself thought that he was the only good humanoid in the world, and therefore kill humanoids was the right thing to do, but later he tried to pacify and civilize his people, had to cope with humans'racism and now, twenty years later game time, he has two sons who think that the humans would never accept humanoids nations as legitimate partners, and so humanoids will always have to fight for survival with every means necessary, while he try to find a way to estabilish a new pattern of humans-humanoids relations that often seems impossible to achieve. So you see how the simple notion that "humanoids are not evil from birth" could greatly enrich the game in many ways :-) BTW Gaz10 humanoids cannot be really evil, they are just too likeable :-))) bye Francesco Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale! http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 10:04:41 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Claw (Was: Re: [MYSTARA] Anyone do Red Steel?) Átila Pires dos Santos ha scritto: > > I wish we had active portuguese mystaran forum, like the english or the > italian one =/ OTOH, national forums for such niche interests as our own tend to be too small -- e.g., no matter how active the Italian MMB is, it's still no more than 10 or so users (which boils down to two or three people doing most of the writing). GP ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 12:32:58 -0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=C1tila_Pires_dos_Santos?= Subject: Re: Verdans, Oiob=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=E1s?= and Phanatons I just realized how many mistakes and missing parts of the information are there in my original email, I decided to re-write it altogether (and post i= n the original MMB thread too) =3D) Hope you guys enjoy it! And let me know what do you think =3D) Again, thanks Thorf and Giampaolo =3D) -Babosas Babosas was an verdan-speaker barony, east of Vilaverde, conquered and absorved by Hule in 971. Originally settled by traladarans and hulian-descended humans, this region was deeply influenced by the verdan traders. Eventually, the powerful verdan traders of the Babosas family claimed this land as their own barony. The verdan cultural influence can still be noted in the names Babosas (now Babriz) and Carac=F3is (Snails, no= w Karakoy). -Marino Originally part of Narvaez and now part of Texeiras, Vila Franca has an unique Verdan dialect, heavily influenced by Espa (based on Galician). Capital of the barony of Marino, Vila Franca has an seafarer tradition comparable to Porto Preto, also due verdan influency. Vila Franca used to attract many Vanya followers because this town had a relic of Vanya, a weapon she possessed when she was still a mortal. How thi= s relic ended in Vila Franca is not known; even the story how it was found is questionable. It is said that a young cleric of Vanya had a dream where he was being guided through Guadalimas and showed where this lost relic was. The relic was brought back to Vila Franca and the fame of the lost relic of Fa=F1a/Fanha spread in the region. Not much after this, the last independen= t elven settlement were conquered by Ispan Conquistadores, inspired by the relic, making their way to Torre=F3n through Vila Franca. The relic had disappeared after the last local wars, when Vila Franca was ransacked. -Tanaka The verdan culture differs from Espa due Yavdlom influence. The Yavi people that settled on the Savage Baronies region was called Oiob=E1. This tanagor= o humans lived on an small island, close to the Serpent Peninsula. Guided by an Babalawo/Ramla (seer), Ekundayo, leader of the seafarers Oiob=E1, ordere= d his people to prepare themselves to migrate, their home was no longer safe. So, they arrived in the north shores of the Gulf of Hule (906 AC) and found the ruins of a fishing village (it's name was Villa Naval). Following the prediction, they settled there, renaming the village as Adetokunbo (that means "the crown came from over the sea"). The Oiob=E1 claimed all the regi= on between Vilaverde and Narvaez as part of Yavdlom, absorving the local verda= n settlers and mingling with them (many oiob=E1 find their way into Vilaverde= as well). When the old Ekundayo died (909 AC), his two sons divided the land; while part of it was officialy still part of Yavdlom, the other part now wa= s the Dominion of Tanaka, with Adetokundo as the capital. Eventually, the Yavdlom territory became Texeiras in (929 AC) and twenty nine years later Takana was absorved by it, renaming the name of its capital as Velha Navalha (Old Razor), derivating from the original Ispan name Villa Naval (Naval Village). Oiob=E1 culture deeply influenced the verdan people. This includes the verd= an favored Immortals: Oiob=E1 Verdan "Real Name" Iemanj=E1 | A Sereia | Calithia Starbrow Ians=E3 | Fanha | Vanya Oxum | Val=E9rias | Valerias Xang=F4 | O General | Thor Exu | O Embaixador | Masauwu Iemanj=E1 is the Oiob=E1s' main patron due their seafarer tradition (the mo= dern Verdans have inherited both chraracteristics). The name "Ba=EDa da Sereia" (Bay of the Mermaid) was given to this bay to honor A Sereia/Calitha. There are other Immortals that the Oiob=E1 that still lives in Yavdlom also worships: Orunmil=E1-If=E1 | Yav Ogum | Halav O=E7anhe | Zirchev Ox=F3ssi | Faunus Ibeji | Korotiku Nan=E3 | Hel *Abalua=EA | Chardastes *Omolu | Yagrai *These Immortals sometimes are believed to be the same entity (two sides of the same coin: healing and disease), but they are, in fact, two different Immortals (Chardastes and Yagrai). -Jibar=FA These are the translations of the Jibar names. This is a rather speculative list, considering Jibar is the mystaran version of Tupi language. Words marked with * aren't cannon; Translations between # are cannon. -SETTLEMENTS Jibar=FA =3D Great Chief's Tomahawk, "Great Chief's Warriors" ("Ji" means Tomahawk and "Mbaru" means Great Chief) Itucu=E1 =3D Lake of the Noisy River ("Itu" means Noisy River and "Cu=E1" m= eans Lake, Bay or Hole) Cafu=E1 =3D Palm tree (from "Camu=E1") Cana-U=ED =3D Old-#Soul#, "Venerable Soul", "Venerable Ordana" ("Iu'Kan" me= ans Old) Ixu=ED-Bi=E1 =3D #Land#-Person, "Phanaton Land" ("Mbi=E1" means Person) Cur=FA =3D Child (from "Curumim") Cuirib=E1 =3D Many Tails ("Cui" means Tail and "Tiba" means Many) Mara=E1 =3D Rattle (from "Marac=E1") Irixum=E1 =3D Walk back, "Hunters-on-foot" ("Iri" means To Return and "Etum= a" means Leg) Ji-Tapar=E1 =3D Swallow-Tomahawk, "Winged Warriors" ("Ji" means Tomahawk an= d "Taper=E1" means Swallow) Ara=ED =3D Tempestuous (from "Arani") Marau-Pur=FA =3D #Mother#-Navel, "Terra's Navel" (from "Puru=E3") Ajum=E1 =3D Yellow (from "Ajub=E1") *Sumar=E1 =3D Enemy (from "Sumar=E3") -------------------------------- -GEOGRAFIC FEATURES Ur=FA (Battle of) =3D Mouth (from "Yur=FA/Ur=FA") Uatuma-Ij=FA (Ballte of) =3D #Huntsman#-Thorn, "Zirchev's Thorn" ("J=FA/Ij= =F5" means Thorn) Jurur=FA (River) =3D Melancholic, Sad Xing=E1 (River) =3D Canoe (from "Igara") Acua-U=ED (Forest of) =3D Great-#Soul#, "Ordana, the Great Forest Soul" ("A= =E7u" means Big, Great) Parau-Ix=E1 (Hills of) =3D Angry-Fellow ("Parahy" means Angry and "Apix=E1"= means Fellow) ------------------------------- -IMMORTALS, CREATURES AND PEOPLE U=ED =3D #Soul# (from "M=F6uel"; a.k.a. Ordana) Marau-Ixu=ED =3D #Mother#-#Earth# ("Arya", "Mama" means Mother and "Iwi" me= ans Land; a.k.a. Terra) Uatum=E1 =3D #Huntsmen# ("Uya" means Arrow and "P=FAra/Awa" means Person; a= .k.a. Zirchev) *Iara =3D Mother of the Waters (from "Yara"; a.k.a. Calithia) *Tup=E3 =3D Thunder (from "Tupana"; a.k.a. Thor) *Jaci =3D Moon (from "Yaci" a.k.a. Valerias) *Guaraci =3D Sun (from "Kwaraci"; a.k.a. Ixion) *Curupira =3D Body of Child ("Curumim" means Child and "Pira" means Body) *Boitat=E1 =3D Fire Snake ("Mboi" means Snake and "Tata" means Fire) Barana-U=ED =3D #Orchid#-#Soul# ("Deboterame" means Flower) Uriji-Xu=FA =3D #Forest#-#Whisper# ("Yw" means Tree and "Yur=FA/Ur=FA" mean= s Mouth) Comments: The settlement names seems to confirm what is already known: Phanatons were originally organized as independent tribes, which one corresponding to one settlement. Herath actions made the phanatons band together, creating the confederated nation of Jibar=FA (that means: the Phanatons under the Great Chief rule). Sumar=E1 is part of Baronato de B=EAn=E7=E3o. Originally a texeiran trade o= utpost, it was placed here because phanatons didn't trust this humans, fearing that they were like herathians and wanted to attack Itucu=E1. That's the reason = for the name given by the phanatons to this settlement. Through Sumar=E1, the local verdan culture (Baronato de B=EAn=E7=E3o) was influenced by Jibar=FA.Theverdans know what is a Curupira or a Boitat=E1, for example. Jibar culture was influenced by Verdan as well (the Jibar names on the official maps were written in Verdan, for example). Parau-Ix=E1 ("Angry-Fellow") Hills might have this name because of the constant threat Herath was (and still is) to Jibar=FA, making the local phanatons more agressive. The native Immortals were U=ED, Marau-Ixu=ED and Uatum=E1; Verdans brought = Iara, Tup=E3, Jaci and Guaraci with then (although Ixion isn't a popular Immortal= in Texeiras or Vilaverde), but they are not yet popular Immortals in Jibar=FA. Boitat=E1 is said to be an "transparent, flying snake" creature that lives somewhere close to Jibar=FA. According to the legend, this snake acquire th= is special properties because it ate mary eyeballs. This legends probably refers to Ee'aars "mad stars" ability or to the Will-o'-the-Wisps that live in the Grey Swamp. Curupira (and the simmilar legend creatures, Caipora and Saci) is said to be an small, green creature, with deformed body, that protects the forests. Curupira is known for having red hair and twisted feet; Caipora is kown for riding boars; Saci is known for having an red cap and only one leg. It is possible that this legends refers to goblins or fey creatures. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 21:23:04 -0500 From: Pat Taylor Subject: (mystara) Ist campaign continues Sorry its been so long since i have put up the next installment of Ist. Between School, work, and significant others well you know how it goes........ We left our party being used as bait to lure the Alphatians and the Black Dragon Society, a rouge group of thugs who venerate Black Dragons. This campaign takes place mainly in Skothar. Unfortunatley i didn't have alot of the material we have now so i kinda made it up as we went. The party consist of Ist- a male minotaur warrior Estabon- ex Thyatian gladiator Tzin- an ex Minean Pirate Myricca- Female minotaur cleric (actually a reincarnated ex-party member sent back by her patron, unbeknownst to th party or her) After a particlularly nasty tie up with the BDS the party has sought the help of an old ally in destroying them. But this ally has his hands full with the Jenn freedom fight against the Alphatians. The party begin tracking Virgo and Gamulli and their hideout. Hitting small groups of Black Dragon Society thugs, mines, and villiages. Finally Gamulli is enraged and send a strong task force to finish this meddlesome group off. In the mean time Alender, their Jenn friend, has been luring the Alphatian force closer to BDS territory. Soon the two groups square off, but not without including the heros. Ist and Majo team up to take out two black dragons, while Tzin and Estabon lead a small unit of jenn horsemen against an Alphatian skirmisher group. The fighting was fierce and a large treck of forest was devestated. Finally the Alphatian force proved to be victorious. The Alphatian loses were heavy though and they were not able to follow the party into the forrest. Alender tells the party of a contact he wants to make in the city of Ankorage. A young adventuress from far to the west. She will be invaluable to help in the cause of drawing the forses of Alphatians from oppressing the Jenn people. She will be known by her companion of a strange dog-like humanoid who is not a gnoll. The party rest with the Jenn camp and then head out at the beheast of Myricca and Majo to fulfill the mission for Alendar. the journey to the city was tedious. The party had to refrain from responding to injustices to the natives from Alphatians on their journey. Any rash actions would have open them to suspicion and jeapordized the mission. The greater good was a hard thing for the group to focus on as they made their way. I espeacially gave a few graphic instances of gross oppression to test their resolve. A young Jenn man was being beaten for grabing an Alphatian MU without permission. Two young boltmen were target practicing with some Jenn children, not hitting the children, but coming close enought to scare them out of their wits. The party made it but many time they were close to blowing their cover. The closer the party drew to the city of Ankorage though, the oppression lessoned. There were instances of the two races working well together. Entrance to the city proved to be a task, but a plausable ploy of Majo, obviously a MU, and Tyricca were bringing their "slaves" into the city. Ist had trouble being chained and giving up his sword to Myricca for safe keeping. While taking a toll of the city and its layout Tzin notices someone practicing the craft....unfortunately they were doing it against him. The party quickly learns valuable information from the unlucky thief. After securing rooms, the party seeks to find the mysterious woman from the west who keeps company with a dog like humanoid. Majo begins circulating amonst the nobility, listening to rumors and such. In the library he discovers more on the one called Bo-Keem Marid. It seems he was born of Alphatian parentage in Rock Harbor 250 years ago. He was believed killed while on an expidition 170 years ago. No one has heard of him since. He was very talented, but most of his ideas were rejected as being too grandios even for the Alphatian society. Tzin and Estabon with the help of their new "friend" Xeris begin becoming fixtures in the cities layout. As a cover Myricca opens a "protection" company...hiring out her "slaves" for entertainment and bodygaurds. Small city adventures result from protecting a polymorphed dragon from the unwanted advances of an alphatian noble woman, seeking a lost Nymph, and protecting the beer supply for the upcomming mid year festival. Finally Tzin is able to make contact with the strange dog like humanoid who is called a lupin. The party meets with the pair. The warrior woman is named Tatanya and the lupin is Shay Dubois. Adventures who have travelled far across many seas and now want to go home. Yet they also lead an underground of the oppressed peoples in the city. through their efforts many of the oppressions have began to disappear. Tatanya agrees to help Alendar and the party, but only if the party helps her. She lets the no 3 man in the organization an Alphatian 'commoner" become the leader for the underground, but she wants to go home. where is home? Traldara as she knows it, but Karamikios is its name from the invaders. She left home 4 years ago on her shearing, but now she is ready to visit her father.....and his estate near the gulf of halag. Estabon who really doesn't miss his homeland of Thyatis is against the notion, but Tzin and Ist miss the sea, plus Majo has another tugging. So the party with the pair book passage toward the lands to the west. well this ends this segment, please tell me what you think, i will try to have the next segment up soon...of thier sea journey and encounters. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.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 - 8 May 2006 to 9 May 2006 (#2006-91) *************************************************************