Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 09:40:48 -0500 X-Authentication-Warning: phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM: majordom set sender to owner-mystara-l@ using -f From: (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.MPGN.COM Subject: mystara-digest V1997 #18 Reply-To: mystara@mpgn.com X-UIDL: 8943970237cb64c26a528f95efab61be mystara-digest Thursday, January 22 1998 Volume 1997 : Number 018 Mystara is a trademark of TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved. The following topics are covered in this digest: Re: [MYSTARA] - [MYSTARA] Water circle of Alphatia Re: [MYSTARA] - [MYSTARA] Water circle of Alphatia Re: [MYSTARA] - House of Ritterburg [MYSTARA] - House of Sylaire [MYSTARA] - My Oesterhaus idea (was: Jews of Mystara) [MYSTARA] - Thanatos Files (LONG) [MYSTARA] - Vanya's Knights true history (was: Thanatos) Re: [MYSTARA] - Lycanthropy and demi-humans Re: [MYSTARA] - Lycanthropy and demi-humans Re: [MYSTARA] - My Oesterhaus idea (was: Jews of Mystara) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 03:01:57 EST From: Kaviyd Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] - [MYSTARA] Water circle of Alphatia In a message dated 98-01-21 10:55:08 EST, ccosman@huntingdon.edu writes: >Here's one... What happens to the spell of preservation during the time of nno magic. That's easy. The Spell of Preservation is Immortal level magic, so it was termporarily lost during the week of no magic (but of course a week is not long enough for most people to overcome cultural biases) and was left permanently weakened as per the first PWA. It is not affected on any subsequent Day of Dread. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe mystara-l' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 03:31:51 EST From: Kaviyd Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] - [MYSTARA] Water circle of Alphatia In a message dated 98-01-21 13:35:17 EST, ccosman@huntingdon.edu writes: >I should really clarify what I mean. During the week magic takes a well ddeserved break. What happens with those little underground creatures that the spell of preservation keeps in check. They made a week's worth of progress towards getting loose. Fortunately, that wasn't enough for them to get free. >Also. Could people abandon their >culture without the downside during this time? I suppose the penalties would not have kicked in for a week, but very few people would have taken advantage of this freedom. Remember, the sun had gone out and most people thought that the end of the world was nigh. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe mystara-l' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 10:45:49 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] - House of Ritterburg On Wed, 21 Jan 1998, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: >>House of Ritterburg >>Aalban >>Main resource: 1 animal (swine), 1 vegetable (cabbage/potatoes/ gggrain/beer) >Why not 1 animal and 2 vegetables? They produce cabbage/potatoes/grain and beer after all, not just 1 sort of vegetable. Well, I guess you could do that, though I assigned only 1 vegetable resource to Aalban because all that stuff is similar (grown for food), and beer is a derivative of grain. I'd assign several vegetable resources only if they were quite different (such as grain and silk). >What about the war machines crafted in Aalban. Do they count as resources? Don't know what to make of them. They don't seem to fit too well into any of the three groups (mineral perhaps?) ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe mystara-l' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 11:02:09 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [MYSTARA] - House of Sylaire House of Sylaire (including Marais) Nouvelle Averoigne Main resources: 1 vegetable (food), 2 animal (furs and meat) 6 hexes: clear, river; rural; pop. 10080; tax 1008 dc 2 hexes: clear; rural; pop. 2240; tax 224 dc 1 hex: clear, river; suburban; pop. 1680; tax 504 dc 10 hexes: hill, river; rural; pop. 4200; tax 420 dc 5 hexes: hill; rural; pop. 1400; tax 140 dc 1 hex: forested hills, river; borderland; pop. 210; tax 10.5 dc 1 hex: forested hills; borderland; pop. 140; tax 7 dc Vyonnes: large town; pop. 5200; tax 2080 dc Ximes: small town; pop. 2500; tax 750 dc Perigon: small town; pop. 1200; tax 360 dc Total population: 5200 large towns, 5380 small towns/suburban, 17920 villages/rural, 350 borderland Tax Income: 5503.5 dc Resource Income: 27517.5 dc Standard Income: 29252 dc Council Tax: 12455 dc Net Cash: 20566 dc Overhead (65%): 13368 dc Available Cash: 7198 dc With 396252 XP/year, in 10 years (1000-1009) Etienne d'Ambreville gains 3962520 XP (which doesn't mean much). Alternate: 66042 XP/year. In 1011-1014, Isidore d'Ambreville gains 1585008 XP, rising from M11 to M22 (but by the rules no higher than M15). Alternate: 264168 XP, rising to M13. Touraine Main resources: 1 animal, 1 mineral 5 hexes: hills; rural; pop. 1400; tax 140 dc 2 hexes: hills, river; rural; pop. 840; tax 84 dc Touraine: village; pop. 560; tax 56 dc Total population: 2800 villages/rural Tax Income: 280 dc Resource Income: 1400 dc Standard Income: 2240 dc Council Tax: 784 dc Net Cash: 896 dc Overhead (45%): 403 dc Available Cash: 493 dc With 20160 XP/year, in 10 years Genevieve de Sephora gains 201600 XP, rising from M20 to M21. Alternate: 3360 XP/year, does not rise in level. Fausseflammes Main resources: 1 animal, 1 mineral 5 hexes: forested hills, river; borderland; pop. 1050; tax 52.5 dc 4 hexes: forested hills; borderland; pop. 560; tax 28 dc Fausseflammes: village; pop. 400; tax 40 dc Total population: 400 villages/rural, 1610 borderland Tax Income: 120.5 dc Resource Income: 602.5 dc Standard Income: 964 dc Council Tax: 337 dc Net Cash: 386 dc Overhead (35%): 135 dc Available Cash: 251 dc With 8676 XP/year, in 10 years Gilles Grenier gains 86760 XP, rising from M9 to M10. Alternate: 1446 XP/year, no rise. Malinbois (data from PC4) Main resources: 1 animal, 1 vegetable 3 hexes: forested hills, river; borderland 3 hexes: forested hills; borderland 1 hex: hills; borderland Villages: pop. 2417 Total population: 2417 villages/rural, 2083 borderland Tax Income: 345.85 dc Resource Income: 1037.55 dc Standard Income: 2766.8 dc Council Tax: 830 dc Net Cash: 553.4 dc Overhead (40%): 221.4 dc Available Cash: 332 dc With 16600 XP/year, in 5 years (1000-1004), Diane de Moriamis gains 83000 XP, rising from M11 to M12. Alternate: 4150 XP/year, no rise. Morlay (data from PC4) Main resources: 1 animal, 1 vegetable 4 hexes: mountain; borderland 2 hexes: forested hills; borderland 1 hex: hills; borderland Villages: pop. 1919 Total population: 1919 villages/rural, 1081 borderland Tax Income: 245.95 dc Resource Income: 737.85 dc Standard Income: 1967.6 dc Council Tax: 590.3 dc Net Cash: 393.5 dc Overhead (35%): 137.7 dc Available Cash: 255.8 dc With 11805 XP/year, in 5 years Malachie du Marais gains 59025 XP, not rising in level (he now has about 585000 XP). Alternate: 2951 XP/year, no rise (540000 XP). Morlay-Malinbois (data in addition to Morlay and Malinbois figures above) Main resources: 2 animal, 1 vegetable Villages: pop. 2982 Total population (all principality): 7318 villages/rural, 3164 borderland Tax Income: 890 dc Resource Income: 4450 dc Standard Income: 7120 dc Council Tax: 2492 dc Net Cash: 2848 dc Overhead (55%): 1566 dc Available Cash: 1282 dc With 64080 XP/year, in another 5 years Malachie du Marais gains 320400 XP, rising from M10 to M13. Alternate: 10680 XP/year, still no rise (but will rise very soon). Analysis Nouvelle Averoigne is a great dominion, mostly because of the town of Vyonnes. Other dominions are rather mediocre. Even the new Morlay-Malinbois isn't that good compared to other principalities. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe mystara-l' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 12:06:44 +0100 From: DM Subject: [MYSTARA] - My Oesterhaus idea (was: Jews of Mystara) Daly wrote: >DM wrote: >AC 1050, when Oesterhaus' son will seize the throne during a difficult political and financial situation for Thyatis after another world conflict. Then, pushed by his father, he will begin to hunt down halflings using many excuses and having them as scapegoat of the difficult thyatian situation. But the real cause behind this persecution is that Thanatos (Oesterhaus) knows that a halfling has been prophesized to be the saviour of the millennium, the one who will slay him, and wants to prevent it at all costs. <> Well, use it if u like. I didn't think somebody else could take interest in this since it is very campaign-related. Normally i don't talk about my campaign on this list, but since the topic has been also touched by the current posts about Thanatos, i'll give you something more about what i've planned for Thanatos IMC. First of all, Thanatos has this big project running in Thyatis that will reach its climax with Oesterhaus' son gaining the throne and commencing the extermination of the halflings. This will lead to a very grim future for the Old World, when Thyatis will gain the edge over all the other cultures and in league with Minrothad and (surprise!) with the Heldannics it will cast its shadow over the whole Known World, Norwold and the IoD. However, a prophecy has foreseen the coming of a new hero that will make the sun shine again on the world at the end of the century: "Dark shadows across the sky Hear the people's wail and cry Short is the hero but long is the way To conquer peace and Death to slay Across time the hin will come One hundred years and Death begone!" So Thanatos has arranged for one of his minions (an ex PC of my campaign turned evil -and NPC) to kidnap his would-be slayer in the present and to imprison him inside a special artifact he crafted, the Gem of Thanatos (where his minion is also imprisoned.. don't ask me how, it's a long story) and to transport him in the future, where his companions will never reach him (thus avoiding him to discover his mortal identity and crush his masterplan). However, the PCs will be contacted by a Chronomancer (the son of one of them!) who will take them in the future altered by Thanatos to correct the events. They'll go inside the gem, where another world exists, populated by those unlucky souls that have been absorbed by the item, and they'll confront their former friend, now lord of this realm, to save the halfling. Suffice to say that they should be able to exit the gem with a newly formed artifact (the sword Bane, formed by the fusion of the twin swords Evilbane and Goodbane in possession of the halfling and the evil ex- friend) that will be the key instrument in the final defeat of Thanatos on this plane.. So Thanatos will have a major setback in his plans, and he will be wanting revenge asap.. and he'll get his great vengeance in what i've called "The Last Adventure", which will really be the last one played by this group of PCs (whether they succeed or not). It is loosely based on Stephen King's "The Stand" and involves a long forgotten alphatian weapon named "Project Black Sun". 'nough for now.. All this to say that Thanatos is IMHO the BEST immortal villain ever invented, and i advise u to use and abuse him as much as u like: there's no limit to Thanatos' evil and madness, i tell ya! DM DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe mystara-l' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 12:09:48 +0100 From: DM Subject: [MYSTARA] - Thanatos Files (LONG) Andrew Morrow wrote: << I'd like to start a little discussion about what Thanatos is up to. Bear with me a little while as I produce what we already know: 1- He has considerable influence in the County of Hattias and with the Hattian Storm Soldiers. (DotE) 2- He recently completed a major plot in which he freed a pair of Nithian created servants from their long imprisonment and used them in an attempt to corrupt the Hollow World. Although he failed, there is no evidence that his fellow Immortals were ever able to punish him for his efforts. (The Blood Bretheren Trilogy- HWA1-3)>> As somebody else pointed out (think it was Drew), Thanatos was listed as be Highest ranking in HW boxed set, but in WotI we see that Hel is the ruling Hierarch of Entropy, so it may very well be that Thanatos has lost power after his failed master stroke against the other Immortals. Sure he's cunning and subtle, but he was openly discovered at the end of Blood Brethern and the Immortals have surely had their vengeance upon him once freed! However, he has regained the lost status at the end of WotI, so he's back again (though i doubt he was ever out of business..). <<3- He has a tower full of followers in the Nithian desert, working with the followers of Ranivorous (sp?) to corrupt the nobility through the Pharoh's new wife (what is her name?) and generaly wreak havok in Nithia. (HWR2 and the PWAs)>> Yes, that's intriguing. The Towers of Sekhaba and.. Soth?.. well the second one escapes me at the moment.. they're in fact two paralized burrowers which are extending their dark powers over Nithia with each passing year. And now that Senkha (who has fallen prey of one of them) is the Pharaoh of Nithia this could bide only ill for nithians and the HW in general (though i think the burrowers are not really directly controlled by Thanatos: he may use them sometimes, but for the most time they are slumbering entities that think for themselves). I know the responsibles for the HW had some earthshaking events in mind for Nithia for this year's almanac, but i don't know really what they're up to.. <<4- At the end of WotI Thanatos usurped Hel's place as Reigning Hierarch of Entropy. (And if you think that wasn't planned somehow, you haven't been paying attention.) (WotI)>> Duh? Sure Than is cool and nasty, but don't start crediting him merits that he doesn't deserve.. Also Andre Martins added: <<5 - The Hattians are supposed to be followers of Vanya, however their chief is Thanatos in a mortal identity. One of the few reasons a Immortal can act directly in Mystara is to punish her followers, so, unless the count is following Vanya's orders, she would very likely have acted against him. And I don't see Thanatos getting an identity where he must obey someone to go undetected.>> Never thought about the possibility that no other Immortal KNOWS about Thanatos' having assumed the identity of Oeasterhaus??? Remember that Immortal ID CANNOT be detected by ANY spells (immortal or mortal), so he's virtually safe unless he starts casting immortal level magics on the Prime Plane or goes around in Pandius telling everyone how cool is using Oesterhaus' body! Also remember that killing a mortal using immortal means is not allowed and will force the Council of Mystara or any other immortal guarding group to act against that individual. Now, Thanatos is said to have possessed Oesterhaus' body after slaying him! Quote from Dawn of the Emperors, page 9: "But the real Heinrich Oesterhaus is long-dead, slain while adventuring by the Immortal Thanatos. Thanatos took his guise and identity, and rules Hattias in his place, raising Oesterhaus' son in his philosophy of hatred and spurring the Storm Soldiers on to greater atrocities" But he wasn't "framed" for this obvious fact by anyone! This means that no immortal has discovered him yet, so he can go on with his plan as he likes. Also remember that he's not the only one using immortal IDs for his own plans: Vanya and Valerias did the same during WotI and this had strong repercussions on Thyatis' history, but nobody did anything against them (particularly against Vanya, whose curse caused Thincol's death!). And Rad, aka Etienne d'Ambreville, is the most blatant example of an Immortal using a mortal ID to influence the events of a whole nation of mortals for a prolongued period. So what i'm trying to say is that it's likely (or acceptable) that Vanya hasn't figured out who Oeasterhaus is for real, but she certainly knows that the SS are no more aligned with her precepts, and that's why she's now more concerned about Heldann than Thyatis' Knigths. <<6 - Why has Vanya instructed her followers to stop Alphatia during the WotI? She certainly knew Thyatis would not be able to stand long against the forces of Alphatia, specially with rumours of the glantrians tampering and menacing the magic in Mystara (Haldemar heard it in 1000 AC, so there must have been some whispers going around in Alphatia and getting more wizards to support the war, just in case). And Thyatis is one of the major nations that worship her, she wouldn't want to lose ground there and loss power. And Thyatis was far from its better, with all the corruption and drugged officials it had to do anything else than to buy Glantri some extra time. She has no interest in Glantri, so why risk losing ground to protect other people interests?>> Have i understood your question right? U wonder why Thyatis has moved against Alphatia, its oldest enemy, when it threatened to invade the Old World to conquer Glantri? Well, because it wanted to SURVIVE!! Without referring to immortal quarrels, if Thyatis let Alphatia do its war, it knew that this would have meant having Alphatia right at the doors of its empire, surrounding it on both sides! And with Glantri's resources to its disposal, it would have been unstoppable! Whereas allying itself with Glantri meant a chance to stand against Alphatia and to even beat it a bit, maybe conquering some territories on the IoD or in the OW with the excuse of the war! As for Heldann, since the Heldannics' ruler hated the alphatians for what they had done to him and to Heldann in the past decades (see Haldemar's continual interferences with Heldannics' affairs in the Savage Coast and HW), and since this could help open the Norwold front with a good motive, he had more than one excuse to back up Thyatis and Glantri! Then add the Immortal strifes and the groups formed after the meeting of AC1000, and you have more than one good reason to see Thyatis and Heldann allied to Glantri against Alphatia! <<7 - The Hattians have a strong prejudice against women, Vanya has Rathanos as her enemy simply because he preaches male superiority. Many of the Storm Soldiers are her clerics, so she could easily force them to review that society's view. And she does nothing.>> She does nothing because she has nothing to do with the SS anymore, and we all know this perfectly.. <<8 - Take a look ate the fighting orders in Thyatis. The Player's Guide describe 4. One of them follows Ilsundal. Two are said to be followers of Vanya, the Storm Soldiers and the Brotherhood of the Grey Lady. The last one, the Sisterhood of the Sword only accepts women and certainly would have Vanya followers among its members. That is a lot of influence in Thyatis. She could have forced Thanatos out of control of the SS if she wanted and could have used to war between Glantri and Alphatia to make Thyatis stronger. She decided to put the empire into destruction's way to make the Heldannic Knights stronger.>> Sorry, i must disagree here. See my previous reply at point 5 for why Vanya hasn't chased off Thanatos and at point 6 for why Thyatis intervened in WotI. Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 09:40:48 -0500 X-Authentication-Warning: phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM: majordom set sender to owner-mystara-l@ using -f From: (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.MPGN.COM Subject: mystara-digest V1997 #18 Reply-To: mystara@mpgn.com X-UIDL: 8943970237cb64c26a528f95efab61be Also you must bear in mind that Immortals are powerful, but Vanya WASN'T the Emperor of Thyatis at that time! Thincol decided to enter the war because that was the best thing to do at that time: this is international policy, mind you. Why has USA agreed to send troops in Vietnam when France asked for help to stop the North Vietnamese invading their territory in South Vietnam? Apparently no motives, but in fact there was a good one: North vietnamese were communists and supported by USSR, so they could not let USSR take over Vietnam because it would have had dramatic consequences in the Far East sector! This is why they issued the Vietnam Intervention and why, after the Frenchmen quitted what was essentially THEIR war, the US Army took the thing in its own hands! The international chessboard of politics functions the same way in Mystara.. Andrew Morrow also wrote: << The Hattian invasion of the Heldann Freeholds wasn't entirely their idea, or Vanya's. Thanatos has an incredible ability to get other Immortals to do what he wants, and I think this was just one example. This move got Vanya's clerics out of Thanatos' hair back in Hattias, and provided him with a toe hold in the north as he slowly worked to subtly push them into becoming a truly nasty group of characters, instead of just generaly unpleasant.>> Wait. The Knights of Vanya conquered Heldann between AC950 and 952. But in DotE (AC 1000) Heinrich Oesterhaus is listed as being 45 years old. So this obviously means Thanatos was not in control of the SS when a branch of them decided to migrate and conquer heldann. Jamuga Khan pointed out that they went on a quest for Vanya's relics (meaning her mortal remains) and that they discovered them at Green Bay in Davania. Ok, but what has this to do with Heldann conquered? I think we still need logical answers to why the Knights took the decision to conquer Heldann. Bruce? << Now let's shift gears a little. The Voyage of the Princess Ark (VotPA) series in Dragon introduced us to the Isle of Oceania, and its major inhabitants, the Night Dragons. Synn, their queen, has become very important in Mystara. She appears in VotPA and CoM, then later, as her alter ego Lady Dolores of Hillsbury in the PWAs, JA, and G:KoM. The VotPA also introduces us to a Heldannic Knight named Herr Rolf, who eventualy became the head of that order and ruler of the Heldannic Territories. (Could somebody provide his real name as it appears in the PWA's? I'm working from memory here.)>> Ok, this is tricky. The issue appeared long ago on the list but it wasn't really dealt with. I must reckon that i haven't got access to those old issues of Dragon magazine so i don't really know how the story went. BUT what i know is that Herr Rolf was in fact Wulf von Klagendorf, the man that became High Priest of Heldann after his meeting with Haldemar. Follow me here because this is a very important point. All the Knights respect Vanya and have always acted in her name so far: honorable conquest of Heldann, war against Alphatia, attempted intrusion in HW, trade with Savage Coast and major conquest of Norwold. CONQUEST has always been their goal, and Vanya's the Patroness of Conquerors, so i don't see any flaws here. But later the HK have been behaving really badly and have forgotten their honorable ways: their greatest sin being the Inquisition! As a result of the mischief and pain they caused in name of Vanya, she has deprived ALL of them (except a few worthy individuals who still served her and refused to obey von Klagendorf's orders) of their spellcasting capacities (both Knights and Clerics)! [This is drawn from canon sources (PWA3 & Joshuan almanac)] Now explain me how and why the heck should Thanatos (if he's really behind the Heldannics) deprive the Knights of their spells if they're following his orders? IMHO the Knights have gone too far in their religious fervor and this has been a logical consequence of their actions & blind faith in their beliefs (RW religions have done the same in many occasions without necessarily involving Satan's influence over them). Vanya has tried to retake them on the right path and to make them see their misdeeds by withholding her clerical spells, and it seems she is succeeding (see Mystara Almanac). Even von Klagendorf has understood his errors and wants to redeem! How can that be if he's not human but possessed by some mysterious unholy force as u claim?! Rememeber that Vanya has used the inquisition in Narvaez too, but that was done for another pourpose (as Patrick Sullivan explained many months ago): to make Ixion unpopular among the population. In fact, the Inquisitor (Vanya in Narvaez) is at the service of Ixion, and anything done by Inquisitors is cosidered ordered by Ixion.. but this was absolutely unwanted in Heldann, where Vanya is the primary immortal! See my point? << It is implied that Synn is working for an Entropic Immortal. In the VotPA, she kills Herr Rolf and claims his body. The next time Rolf is mentioned, he is alive and heading the Heldannic Knights. So who raised him? Even more importantly, the Night Dragon's description specifies that they have the power to claim the souls of their victims. So the soul of the head of the Heldannic Knights is in the posession of a Night Dragon working for a mysterious Entropic Immortal. And which Entropic Immortal are we fairly certain is already involved with the Knights? You do the math.>> On this subject i have many doubts, and i think for the sake of clarity we should ask Bruce Heard for a thorough and final explanation about Herr Rolf's real end (and Herr Wulf's real identity). << So it all boils down to this- Thanatos has his fingers in pies in Hattias, Nithia, Glantri, and the Heldannic Territories. What is he up to? Are all these plots connected? Will he bring back the Blood Bretheren to help in Nithia? (Even if they died in your campaign, that shouldn't even slow him down.) What was Synn guarding on Oceania- is it something she doesn't want found, or something Thanatos wants kept under wraps, but on the Prime Plane ready for use if need be?>> Sure Thanatos has many secret plans and projects he's working on, but he's an immortal and we are merely mortals: we cannot demand to discover all of them.. ;) Anyway, Synn's secret is something that still puzzles me. Not only for the fact that she was guarding it, but because there was a whole CLAN of night dragons on Oceania serving her in her duty IIRC. What the hell is then hidden in that isle? An artifact of Thanatos? But who said Synn is working for Thanatos? What if she's working for another immortal? Maybe an immortal associated with dragons? I bet Bruce hasn't really thought about all this when he wrote that few lines in the VotPA.. :) Last comment by Andre Martins: <