========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 10:02:36 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Paul George Dooley Subject: Re: Cult matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Max Monas To: Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 1:10 AM Subject: [MYSTARA] Cult matters > Hello everyone, > > I am have some difficulty with getting a good cult together. This is what I > have so far: > > The Black Rose Cult (taken from the Netbook of Cults, with some adaptations > by me). Mal, the original author, plays in same group as me. He's probably going to be chuffed that someone else is using his stuff. IIrc Black Rose was originally a RQ cult he designed with a little help from his players. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 18:18:27 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: erewan laubgaenger Subject: Re: try MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit thibault sarlat wrote: > try What exactly? IBON ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 07:43:05 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John R Hofmann Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit At the risk of starting a Basic DnD vs ADnD war, here's why I prefer the basic rules (I mean this to be as nonconfrontational as possible -- I REALLY don't want this discussion to turn as ugly as it potentially could): Advantages of Basic DnD (as I see it) 1) Dominion ruling rules are unparalleled. 2) You don't need to convert any gazetteers, which helps when you have a job and don't have time to do things like that. I, personally, barely have time to write adventures, let alone convert gazetteers 3) Weapon mastery rules. These are AWESOME. Not only do characters advance in their knowledge of weapon mastery, but if you don't run a munchkin type campaign (every peasant is a Grand Master with the pike and two handed sword), then the quest for a good instructor can be every bit as good as a quest for an artifact. 4) More classes than ADnD, if you use the expansion rules (PC4, PC3, PC2, PC1, Gaz series, etc). 5) In all honesty, the combat system is more realistic. Ten second rounds is far more realistic than one minute rounds. Hand to hand combat with weapons should be quick. 6) Because I grew up with those rules, playing a campaign for me just has a special feel when we make up 1st level Basic DnD characters and start in Threshold that I don't get from having an elven cleric-magicuser-thief. 7) Immortals rules (paths and immortal PC/NPC). This was an interesting idea that's been fleshed out in Basic DnD. Disadvantages of Basic DnD 1) Class system is less flexible. If I wanted the elven cleric-magicuser-thief, I can't have it without a rules rewrite that would take more time than using ADnD. 2) More published material for ADnD. If I thought that anything after Gaz 13 was worth buying, I'd likely have to convert it to Basic DnD from ADnD. 3) Many people are attached to a rule system like junkies are attached to heroin, and oftentimes getting ADnD people to play Basic DnD is tough. It's unfortunate for all the rule systems that people get so uptight about them, but it's a fact of life. I hope this helps shed some light on "the other side" for you. I've been a big fan of the Basic DnD rules without thinking that they were what was originally written on the stone tablets given to Moses. I've played other rule systems (GURPS, ADnD 2E, Palladium), but I always come back to "my roots." John Hofmann On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:52:28 -0800 Beau Yarbrough writes: > Not to be glib or naive, but why do YOU want to run a game > in OD&D? If you > can articulate that, you're well on your way to helping the players > understand. (And tell me why, if you would, since I don't see the > point of > not moving to 2E or 3E, myself.) > > BEAU > http://www.LBY3.com/ > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: > http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 15:17:10 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: the name a monster competition MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Yeah, it's pretty cool they TRADEMARKED the 'Frel' in Frelon. I think it should be Frel�n, this puts the emphasis on the 'on' in spanish, so freLON. Cl^Surin I don't know, but I suggest Cl�u-rin I also have Na%ruk, but then the % is a promille sign. Which I think should be Na�ruk. And Lyra Bird, Sarag-n, which I think should be Sarag�n or something. Also there seem to be � 's used throughout the file instead of semi-colons or something like that. Apparently wizards removed the downloads from the site, I can't find them anymore anyway. Michael ----- Original Message ----- From: Caroletti To: Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 9:10 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] the name a monster competition > > , you know like � and � never came across properly from > > rtf for me. > > I hated this. > > > Therefore for a couple of monsters I've been unable to work > > out what their name is.The two I'm having problems with are the > > > > Frelon - the o has something on top of it, not an acute however > > > > and the > > > > Cl_u-rin - the underscore is a totally unknown letter, it's under the > > Kla'a-Tah entry > > > > does any body know what these should be? > > > > And in lieu of that does anybody have any suggestions? > > > > I'll check out...hopefully > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > C_pta^n of the wogren > req few grli, Th&a s > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 08:30:41 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Alan Shutko Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet In-Reply-To: Beau Yarbrough's message of "Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:52:28 -0800" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Beau Yarbrough writes: > Not to be glib or naive, but why do YOU want to run a game in OD&D? * AD&D 2e is currently a bloated monstrosity, with billions and billions of optional rules, of which every player likes a different subset. * 2e is going away in August. Converting everything over to 2e, getting used to DMing it, etc. when I'llo be switching to something saner in a few months is a low priority. * BD&D seems (to me) to be much more cohesive a system and balanced for a whole variety of play. AD&D has always fallen apart when it got to high levels. Those are the major reasons. I also like the way classes work in BD&D. It gives real differences to other races. And it makes sense to me that you have to work to become a paladin. Lots of little things like that. Once 3e comes out, I'd definately consider moving to it, but not 2e. I'll play in 2e, but I'd rather not have to DM a campaign in it. -- Alan Shutko - In a variety of flavors! 227 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes, 23 seconds till we run away. Even bytes get lonely for a little bit. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 14:43:00 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Advantages of Basic DnD (as I see it) >1) Dominion ruling rules are unparalleled. Really? Out of interest, what rules do you use? I attempted to use various stuff (D&D Companion Set, AD&D DMG notes, Den of Thieves, whatever) and had major, major problems with everything (doesn't fit in with economics, gives vastly inflated/deflated income, too complex, simply doesnt work etc. etc.). Is there something I'm missing? (new stuff in gazetteers/modules I dont have, that sort of thing?). In the end I had to use Birthright, but without wanting realm spells that doesnt really work too well either. (Thanks to Solmyr for his many, many BR conversions...) Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 08:51:11 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] David wrote: >There is certainly no reason to confine those barbarians to a small >area -- maybe the entire region from the wildlands north of Hule to >the western part of the Adri Varma Plateau is filled with various >tribes of barbarians. To most "civilized" people, they are simply a >bunch of undifferentiated savages -- but among themselves they >would see major differences from one tribe to the next. Good idea! IMC, most of northern Brun is a place you don't want to visit at the best of times. I think that whole region (area north of Hule, bounded to the east by the Adri Varma Plateau, and to the west by Zuyevo and the sea that looks like Nyr Dyv (in Greyhawk) - you know, that inland lake in western Brun) could be filled with Hyperborian/Cimmerian-style barbarians. Toss in a few dragons and ancient evils, and scheming lich-kings, and you've got a fun place to torture players! :-) Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 16:55:41 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: the name a monster competition MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit shawn stanley wrote: > > Cl_u-rin - the underscore is a totally unknown letter, it's under the > Kla'a-Tah entry > > does any body know what these should be? > Open the rtf as a plain text, you'll find this: Cl\'8au-rin So it is Clau-rin, with something on. Perhaps trying to save a small rtf file with all variants of 'a' would help in identifying this one? -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 20:20:31 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: to James Mishler MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I would soon post a complete map of ochalea in 8 miles per hex.It would first be published in the next issue of the tome of mystara.Thanks very much to James who sent me his own map by air mail. it was terrific man... Next on the programm , the tanegioth archipelago. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 20:26:55 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Geoff Gander ha scritto: > David wrote: > > >There is certainly no reason to confine those barbarians to a small > >area -- maybe the entire region from the wildlands north of Hule to > >the western part of the Adri Varma Plateau is filled with various > >tribes of barbarians. To most "civilized" people, they are simply a > >bunch of undifferentiated savages -- but among themselves they > >would see major differences from one tribe to the next. > > Good idea! IMC, most of northern Brun is a place you don't want to visit > at the best of times. I think that whole region (area north of Hule, > bounded to the east by the Adri Varma Plateau, and to the west by Zuyevo > and the sea that looks like Nyr Dyv (in Greyhawk) - you know, that inland > lake in western Brun) could be filled with Hyperborian/Cimmerian-style > barbarians. Toss in a few dragons and ancient evils, and scheming > lich-kings, and you've got a fun place to torture players! :-) > > Geoff > Hmm...don't to be joy-killer, but something has already been developed by Adrian Mattias and Christian Constanten in the western Brun area, and something should also appear in thr next MA. Something about this can be found at Christian's site, but I don't recall the URL. Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:44:16 +1000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: shawn stanley Subject: Re: the name a monster competition Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable At 15:17 29/03/00 +0200, you wrote: >Yeah, it's pretty cool they TRADEMARKED the 'Frel' in Frelon. >I think it should be Frel=F3n, this puts the emphasis on the 'on' in= spanish, >so freLON. >Cl^Surin I don't know, but I suggest Cl=E1u-rin first suggestions cool. But alas the Frelon can't have a =F3 or it would have been the same symbol as our Sarag=F3n Lyra Bird. >I also have Na%ruk, but then the % is a promille sign. Which I think should >be Na=E4ruk. That one was easier to find out. Elsewhere in the file was the place name Ch=E2teau Roan. The symbol in this and Na%ruk were the same therefore we ge= t the Na=E2ruk. >And Lyra Bird, Sarag-n, which I think should be Sarag=F3n or something. I assumed as such. >Also there seem to be =D1 's used throughout the file instead of= semi-colons >or something like that. yeah I know annoying hey >Apparently wizards removed the downloads from the site, I can't find them >anymore anyway. well the Savage Coast one is already in glorious html on my site and Orcs Head and the Compendium will pretty much be ready to put up at next update, heck Orcs Head is already ready. shawn stanley http://dnd.starflung.com what have you done for me lately ... more to the point what have i done for= me - mightyfew, "i can't wait" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 05:08:43 +1000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: shawn stanley Subject: Re: the name a monster competition Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >Open the rtf as a plain text, you'll find this: > Cl\'8au-rin >So it is Clau-rin, with something on.=20 oh OK cool. >Perhaps trying to save a small rtf >file with all variants of 'a' would help in identifying this one? actually it ain't an a. the series of a's come out as \'e1, \'e2 etc. It actually ends up being a ... hmmm this ain't helping. The symbol it is turning up as is the =8A symbol which it is physically appearing to be now - which of course we'll all assume is wrong. It sounded like a cool idea. shawn stanley http://dnd.starflung.com what have you done for me lately ... more to the point what have i done for= me - mightyfew, "i can't wait" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 20:08:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Paul Benfield Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, I stopped using OD&D sometime ago but didn't want to lose out on some of the things you mentioned. I have converted the Weapon Mastery rules for AD&D and have used them in several campaigns instead of Weapon Specialisation/Proficiency. As you say as long as the DM is not over zealous they add dimension to characters and give warrior heroes something to aim for. My main problem with OD&D is the very poor treatment of the Cleric class, (no spells till 2nd level - what is that all about!) although I must admit compared with the experience tables in AD&D, the OD&D versions are much more sensible. (Can anyone explain why warriors are so penalised in AD&D?) To bring Mystara back into this email I really don't think the rules system matters as long as you are flexible! I've never bothered buying the AD&D supplements for Mystara because I'm so happy with the OD&D versions! (Gaz 3, Gaz 1 etc). My rules are found on my web site http://freeserve.virgin.net/paul.benfield Cheers Paul Benfield aka Cendaryl Hierydyl, sage of Greenheight (Opinionated teacher of heroes past and present) ----- Original Message ----- From: John R Hofmann To: Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 1:43 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] D&D differences sheet > At the risk of starting a Basic DnD vs ADnD war, here's why I prefer the > basic rules (I mean this to be as nonconfrontational as possible -- I > REALLY don't want this discussion to turn as ugly as it potentially > could): > > Advantages of Basic DnD (as I see it) > 1) Dominion ruling rules are unparalleled. > 2) You don't need to convert any gazetteers, which helps when you have a > job and don't have time to do things like that. I, personally, barely > have time to write adventures, let alone convert gazetteers > 3) Weapon mastery rules. These are AWESOME. Not only do characters > advance in their knowledge of weapon mastery, but if you don't run a > munchkin type campaign (every peasant is a Grand Master with the pike and > two handed sword), then the quest for a good instructor can be every bit > as good as a quest for an artifact. > 4) More classes than ADnD, if you use the expansion rules (PC4, PC3, > PC2, PC1, Gaz series, etc). > 5) In all honesty, the combat system is more realistic. Ten second > rounds is far more realistic than one minute rounds. Hand to hand combat > with weapons should be quick. > 6) Because I grew up with those rules, playing a campaign for me just > has a special feel when we make up 1st level Basic DnD characters and > start in Threshold that I don't get from having an elven > cleric-magicuser-thief. > 7) Immortals rules (paths and immortal PC/NPC). This was an interesting > idea that's been fleshed out in Basic DnD. > > Disadvantages of Basic DnD > 1) Class system is less flexible. If I wanted the elven > cleric-magicuser-thief, I can't have it without a rules rewrite that > would take more time than using ADnD. > 2) More published material for ADnD. If I thought that anything after > Gaz 13 was worth buying, I'd likely have to convert it to Basic DnD from > ADnD. > 3) Many people are attached to a rule system like junkies are attached > to heroin, and oftentimes getting ADnD people to play Basic DnD is tough. > It's unfortunate for all the rule systems that people get so uptight > about them, but it's a fact of life. > > I hope this helps shed some light on "the other side" for you. I've been > a big fan of the Basic DnD rules without thinking that they were what was > originally written on the stone tablets given to Moses. I've played > other rule systems (GURPS, ADnD 2E, Palladium), but I always come back to > "my roots." > > John Hofmann > > > On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:52:28 -0800 Beau Yarbrough writes: > > Not to be glib or naive, but why do YOU want to run a game > > in OD&D? If you > > can articulate that, you're well on your way to helping the players > > understand. (And tell me why, if you would, since I don't see the > > point of > > not moving to 2E or 3E, myself.) > > > > BEAU > > http://www.LBY3.com/ > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: > > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > Find Local Players: > > http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ________________________________________________________________ > YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! > Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! > Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 12:53:29 -0700 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Patrick Sullivan Subject: Re: Thanegioth Archipelago (was: to James Mishler) MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 >Next on the programm , the tanegioth archipelago. That's very ambitious of you :-) How do you plan to rectify the large-scale maps that show the Isle of Dread one size and shape and the X1 maps that show it larger and differently shaped? Patrick ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 22:03:35 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Thanegioth Archipelago (was: to James Mishler) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit hummm i gonna have to make some choices, if you have any suggestions, let me know, my purpose is to please the most people i can. Patrick Sullivan a �crit: > >Next on the programm , the tanegioth archipelago. > That's very ambitious of you :-) How do you plan to rectify the large-scale > maps that show the Isle of Dread one size and shape and the X1 maps that > show it larger and differently shaped? > Patrick > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 22:05:49 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit the whole thing about Brun and the central regions is available on my site ( the map at least) and also the empires of the far west (around the yalu bay).The rest is still to develop.But the men to contact are indeed Adrian and Christian. Caroletti a �crit: > Geoff Gander ha scritto: > > > David wrote: > > > > >There is certainly no reason to confine those barbarians to a small > > >area -- maybe the entire region from the wildlands north of Hule to > > >the western part of the Adri Varma Plateau is filled with various > > >tribes of barbarians. To most "civilized" people, they are simply a > > >bunch of undifferentiated savages -- but among themselves they > > >would see major differences from one tribe to the next. > > > > Good idea! IMC, most of northern Brun is a place you don't want to visit > > at the best of times. I think that whole region (area north of Hule, > > bounded to the east by the Adri Varma Plateau, and to the west by Zuyevo > > and the sea that looks like Nyr Dyv (in Greyhawk) - you know, that inland > > lake in western Brun) could be filled with Hyperborian/Cimmerian-style > > barbarians. Toss in a few dragons and ancient evils, and scheming > > lich-kings, and you've got a fun place to torture players! :-) > > > > Geoff > > > > Hmm...don't to be joy-killer, but something has already been developed > by Adrian Mattias and Christian Constanten in the western Brun area, > and something should also appear in thr next MA. > Something about this can be found at Christian's site, but I don't recall > the URL. > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > Captain of the XXth Cohort > Port Lucinius, Thyatis > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 14:59:37 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael Ray Johnson Subject: Re: the name a monster competition MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT shawn stanley wrote: > I'm working on converting the Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium but the > special characters, you know like � and � never came across properly from > rtf for me. Therefore for a couple of monsters I've been unable to work > out what their name is. For most of them I've been able to work out the > missing letter from the associated image file but whether there's a tilde > or whatever on top of the letter I don't know. > > The two I'm having problems with are the > > Frelon - the o has something on top of it, not an acute however > I can read the symbols fine on my computer. The symbol over Frelon is the French circumflex. ^ > and the > > Cl_u-rin - the underscore is a totally unknown letter, it's under the > Kla'a-Tah entry > It's Clau-rin with an umlaut(German)/dieresis(English) over the "a". That's two dots. Michael. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 13:08:47 -0700 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Patrick Sullivan Subject: Re: the name a monster competition MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT <> Yeah, I had just checked my saved copy of that file right before I got this e-mail. It shows up as Cl u-rin throughout, for me. Some sort of "s" could work, although I don't have any idea why they would have capitalized it. As for the Frelon, I don't see why it should be spelled in a Spanish manor anyway. After all, the creature initially was designed to fight the Aranea, so their language (which, IIRC, has never been detailed but Bruce was used Hebrew as the inspiration for place names in Herath) would be the one in which Frelon would fit. Or perhaps Dragon or Slag--both make at least as much sense as Ispan. OTOH, I'd say it's defitely not a Frel�n ;-) In fitting together the others, did you find any "O" variants other than "�"? Personally, I like � 'cause it looks cool, but that's probably not the best reason :-) Patrick ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 06:13:55 +1000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: shawn stanley Subject: Re: the name a monster competition Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >I can read the symbols fine on my computer. The symbol over Frelon is the French >circumflex. ^ > >> and the >> >> Cl_u-rin - the underscore is a totally unknown letter, it's under the >> Kla'a-Tah entry >> > >It's Clau-rin with an umlaut(German)/dieresis(English) over the "a". That's two >dots. it seems we have a winner in the competition, thank you Michael. Your prize will arrive in 6-8 weeks. shawn stanley http://dnd.starflung.com what have you done for me lately ... more to the point what have i done for me - mightyfew, "i can't wait" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 13:18:57 -0700 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Patrick Sullivan Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 >My main problem with OD&D is the very poor treatment of the Cleric class, >(no spells till 2nd level - what is that all about!) although I must admit >compared with the experience tables in AD&D, the OD&D versions are much more >sensible. I disagree completely. By high levels, Clerics are more powerful than any class other than magic-users. This is balanced out by making it slightly more difficult for them at lower levels. On the other hand, if you use the special clerical powers given in WotI, clerics even at first level become more powerful than thieves. After all, they can turn undead, fight fairly well, and wear armor already--particularly with the WotI changes, they are a bit overpowered if anything. The only logical reason to say that level 1 clerics should gain spells is the AD&D bias that, since that's the way AD&D does it, that's the way that makes most sense. IMO, OD&D is much more carefully balanced than 2nd Ed., and I really hope 3E is better. >(Can anyone explain why warriors are so penalised in AD&D?) Not a clue :-) Well, perhaps 'cause a lot of munchkins would rather play a half-dragon, half-elf cleric-mage, and AD&D at leas kind of caters to them? (Being intentionally annoying here--flame me, if you must, not the list) >To bring Mystara back into this email I really don't think the rules system >matters as long as you are flexible! I've never bothered buying the AD&D >supplements for Mystara because I'm so happy with the OD&D versions! (Gaz 3, >Gaz 1 etc). Hear, hear! On the other hand, there's so much Mystaran history with OD&D, it sometimes is difficult to seperate the two. When I get 3E, unless I'm really impressed I will probably alter it to make clerics more like they are in OD&D, simply because, in my mind, no little first-level cleric on Mystara should get spells :-) Patrick ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 16:16:15 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John R Hofmann Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've mostly used the DnD Companion rules, but once Bruce's economics rules came out, I've used them a lot. They may have their flaws, but that's OK with me. The Birthright rules are very good, but I don't like how tied into the world they are. John Hofmann On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 14:43:00 +0100 Rob writes: > >Advantages of Basic DnD (as I see it) > >1) Dominion ruling rules are unparalleled. > > Really? Out of interest, what rules do you use? I attempted to use > various > stuff (D&D Companion Set, AD&D DMG notes, Den of Thieves, whatever) > and had > major, major problems with everything (doesn't fit in with > economics, gives > vastly inflated/deflated income, too complex, simply doesnt work > etc. etc.). > Is there something I'm missing? (new stuff in gazetteers/modules I > dont > have, that sort of thing?). > > In the end I had to use Birthright, but without wanting realm spells > that > doesnt really work too well either. (Thanks to Solmyr for his many, > many BR > conversions...) > > Cheers > > Rob > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: > http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:31:52 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Blackmoor races Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi there! Being about to play the last part of my modified version of the Blood Brethren Trilogy (for those who don't remeber, it is set in Blackmoor using DA1), I have a couple of questions to ask you. I have studied Blackmoor's history as given in DA1 and compared it to Mystara timeline, and I've discovered that Arneson places many clans of demi-humans living and well established near the kingdom of Blackmoor. UNfortunately, according to the canon Mystaran timeline, the elves at that time (which I think can be considered around AC 4,025 ca., is that right?) lived in Evergrun only and had no contact with the Blackmoorians (who had not yet discovered technology in DA1). Likewise, the halflings lived peacebly in Davania, according to canon, so they couldn't be found here. The only demi-human race that could also have lived in Blackmoor is the early dwarven race, since it is said they dwelt all around the world. So, I am inclined to remove all traces or mentions of elves and halflings in DA1 (including turning NPCs like Mello the Halfling and Veslo Meridan into humans): do you think it's appropriate (else I'll have to rewrite the whole history of the demi-human races IMC..)? And also, how would the Blackmoorians react if they saw elves or halflings popping in their city after Uther's disappearance (since I have an elfin in the party)? Any other comment on running DA1 is welcome :) PS: reading the Blackmoor timeline by Zimri, I noticed he makes Svenny and Marfeldt incredibly older than Uther, while from the pictures in DA1 I figured they were about the same age... is that possible? PPS: The Afridhi are of Tanagoro lineage right? DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn "You don't stop playing because you grow old: you grow old because you stop playing!" Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 17:13:14 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I disagree completely. I second that. The Mystara3e group has been dead set on Clerics getting spells at first level. In my opinion at least, that concept is ludicrous - given the awesome powers that clerics get in WotI, delaying spells for a level is a worthwhile endeavor. Maybe one could institute the law that if a cleric worshipps an Immortal, and gets those powers at first level, he/she can't get spells at first level. But if that cleric is a heretical heathen and worships one of the lowbrow "Gods" of the other campaign settings, he/she gets spells at first level, but gets no special powers :) > >(Can anyone explain why warriors are so penalised in AD&D?) Because warriors were supposed to be the most powerful force in AD&D1. So they toned them down in AD&D2. However, I don't think anyone noticed in development that AD&D2 was a hashed together frankenstein-system - one can build a munchkin character easier in AD&D2, than in oD&D, or AD&D1. This, of course is total crap. Maybe it's just because i'm biased toward characters who start out as normal people, and then have to work to be great. Not some yahoo Elven Fighter/mage/cleric/theif who was born with the power to control flame. Ethan ---- Sorry I sound a bit bitter, but I've had to deal with hard headed players recently.. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 14:45:35 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Dave Keyser Subject: Re: Blackmoor races MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit DM wrote: > Hi there! > > Being about to play the last part of my modified version of the Blood > Brethren Trilogy (for those who don't remeber, it is set in Blackmoor using > DA1), I have a couple of questions to ask you. > > I have studied Blackmoor's history as given in DA1 and compared it to > Mystara timeline, and I've discovered that Arneson places many clans of > demi-humans living and well established near the kingdom of Blackmoor. > UNfortunately, according to the canon Mystaran timeline, the elves at that > time (which I think can be considered around AC 4,025 ca., is that right?) > lived in Evergrun only and had no contact with the Blackmoorians (who had > not yet discovered technology in DA1). Likewise, the halflings lived > peacebly in Davania, according to canon, so they couldn't be found here. > The only demi-human race that could also have lived in Blackmoor is the > early dwarven race, since it is said they dwelt all around the world. > > So, I am inclined to remove all traces or mentions of elves and halflings > in DA1 (including turning NPCs like Mello the Halfling and Veslo Meridan > into humans): do you think it's appropriate (else I'll have to rewrite the > whole history of the demi-human races IMC..)? It is your call, you can do either one. I personally would just leave the elves and halflings there, the results of splinter groups which migrated far and wide, and eventually settled at the edges of the Thonian Empire. They were undocumented in history. > > And also, how would the Blackmoorians react if they saw elves or halflings > popping in their city after Uther's disappearance (since I have an elfin in > the party)? Halflings would be treated as if they were children or as handicapped humans. Elves would probably be considered exotic and strange, enough to make people stare and wonder. Being a frontier people though, I would guess that they can handle something new and strange without panicking. > > > Any other comment on running DA1 is welcome :) The dwarves are warring with orcs, they could be early Beastmen, even if the history shows the Beastmen coming later. Same for the troll in DA4. And you might want to rename Goblin Kush on the map. Lizardmen and gatormen show up in DA2 and DA3, the lizardmen are probably fine as is, but the gatormen should have their name changed, they could be a pre-historic stock of lizardmen. > > > PS: reading the Blackmoor timeline by Zimri, I noticed he makes Svenny and > Marfeldt incredibly older than Uther, while from the pictures in DA1 I > figured they were about the same age... is that possible? I would take Zimri's word over what the artist drew, Svenny always struck me as being older. Marfeldt probably just stumbled onto some potions of longevity. > > > PPS: The Afridhi are of Tanagoro lineage right? Debatable. I have seen them proposed as the ancestors of the original Ochaleans before Alphatia arrived, or the ancestors of the Bellisarans. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:52:15 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>(Can anyone explain why warriors are so penalised in AD&D?) High level fighters are hard. They just arent as glamourous as mages. I saw a 17th level dwarf fighter go through a drow army, throwing the works at him. They just couldnt put this guy down (and it wasn't due to magic items, low magic item game). I was playing an 18th level wiz and there was no way I could top that. An extra point of THAC0 here and there is dull compared to funky new spells, but it adds up. (Incidentally, re clerics being better then thieves - thieves are utterly useless! They are next to useless in AD&D, and they are totally useless in OD&D where they don't even get the choice of actually being good at something (instead, they are mediocre in lots of things). Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:55:15 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >I've mostly used the DnD Companion rules, but once Bruce's economics >rules came out, I've used them a lot. They may have their flaws, but >that's OK with me. Ahh. Never seen those. >The Birthright rules are very good, but I don't like how tied into the >world they are. They are good - they are generic enough to cover a wide range of assets - kingdoms, thieves guilds, temples, whatever - but my gripe is that its too easy to turn a barren bit of plains into a city to rival Thyatis. Its just too fast. And if you don't use realm spells, they is nothing to dissuade you from doing so (in Cerilia you can't just settle everywhere because the wizards will get a tad upset, as the spread of civilisation reduces their magical power. In Mystara thats not the case, so using BR rules rapidly leads to the developers coming in....) Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 00:02:17 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Because warriors were supposed to be the most powerful force in AD&D1. So they >toned them down in AD&D2. However, I don't think anyone noticed in development >that AD&D2 was a hashed together frankenstein-system - one can build a munchkin >character easier in AD&D2, than in oD&D, or AD&D1. This, of course is total >crap. Maybe it's just because i'm biased toward characters who start out as >normal people, and then have to work to be great. LoL U What? Having played 2nd ed characters in 1st ed games, I can honestly say that I have never seen a 2nd ed character even come close to matching a 1st ed one. 1st ed spells are better, classes are better, and for wizards I merely direct you to tone downs in 2nd ed (check out Projected Image in both versions, and tell me which one is useless and which one is an obscenity, or the Monster Summoning spells). >Not some yahoo Elven Fighter/mage/cleric/theif who was born with the power to >control flame. Sounds like the stuff which pollutes the Realms. (Or Athas). Thats not 2nd ed, thats FR/DS and its influence for you. Incidentally, when I used Glantrian Circles in AD&D there was an outcry from players. I can see why, they are a lot more powerful than anything else I have ever used in a xD&D game before. I guess its just that settings seem to tack on cool stuff which is almost invariably powerful. Cheers Rob (Sorry I sounded bitter, but I've been reamed more than once in 1st ed games by using 2nd ed characters which are far weaker than they) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:19:33 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: Blackmoor races MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 4:34:20 PM US Eastern Standard Time, mdalmonte@PROVINCIA.RA.IT writes: << So, I am inclined to remove all traces or mentions of elves and halflings in DA1 (including turning NPCs like Mello the Halfling and Veslo Meridan into humans): do you think it's appropriate (else I'll have to rewrite the whole history of the demi-human races IMC..)? And also, how would the Blackmoorians react if they saw elves or halflings popping in their city after Uther's disappearance (since I have an elfin in the party)?>> Well, if you use the earlier portions of my own histories (posted on Shawn's site), there are logical reasons that the various demihumans have made their way to Blackmoor. The Dwarves migrated across the Frosthaven Landbridge in long ages passed, while the Elves and the Halflings (allied races) used magic and other means to settle in this region to keep an eye on the rising human societies of Skothar. IMC Dwarves were found throughout Skothar, while Elves and Halflings only had their settlements in the Northlands. << PPS: The Afridhi are of Tanagoro lineage right? >> IMC they are a Neathar group, similar in culture to the Afghans, Baluchis and Persians (Indo-European groups, the equivalent of Neathar in the real world). James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:28:10 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: Blackmoor races MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 5:33:04 PM US Eastern Standard Time, dave@PALMCHIP.COM writes: << > PS: reading the Blackmoor timeline by Zimri, I noticed he makes Svenny and > Marfeldt incredibly older than Uther, while from the pictures in DA1 I > figured they were about the same age... is that possible? I would take Zimri's word over what the artist drew, Svenny always struck me as being older. Marfeldt probably just stumbled onto some potions of longevity. >> Interestingly, in the original edition of the Blackmoor campaign (published as the "First Fantasy Campaign" by Judges Guild, written by Dave Arneson), Marfeldt is described as being a magical creation of a wizard (construct or vat-grown is unclear). Marfeldt was said to have accidentally killed the wizard during a friendly wrestling match... Being a creation, Marfeldt may not actually age at all! James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:32:05 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: to James Mishler MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 1:24:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time, thibsylv@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes: << I would soon post a complete map of ochalea in 8 miles per hex.It would first be published in the next issue of the tome of mystara.Thanks very much to James who sent me his own map by air mail. it was terrific man...>> Glad you got it, hope it was useful... email me privately if you have any questions... << Next on the programm , the tanegioth archipelago. >> Kewl... didn't someone already do the Isle of Dread? It's a great map, and I feel like such a stooge for forgetting the name of the guy that made it... I think it was Ironwolf maybe. But it took into account the map scale changes and looks real good... Also, will you include Nueva Ispanola, or will you do it as a generic isle? James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 15:32:56 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A.M.Merrifield" Subject: Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&D differences sheet) Content-Type: text/plain Mime-Version: 1.0 On Wed, 29 March 2000, SteelAngel wrote: > I second that. > The Mystara3e group has been dead set on Clerics getting spells at first level. > In my opinion at least, that concept is ludicrous - given the awesome powers > that clerics get in WotI, delaying spells for a level is a worthwhile endeavor. Hey, let's be fair here -- based on the discussions on the M3E list, I'd say that the number of individuals on each side of this particular argument was/is fairly even. Actually, almost every potentially problematic issue (0E Paladins & 0E druids being only available from 9th level, 0E Clerics getting turning abilities but no spells at 1st level, etc) has a fairly even split among group members. And I don't actually intend to bring up the arguments for either side here -- anyone whose interested can come join the project and read our archives. We've found ways to discuss these issues in a reasonably intelligent and mature way and have come to a few decisions on these 'touchy topics' which don't always make everyone happy, but generally do fit in with the primary intentions of the project. Jenni A. M. Merrifield -=> strawberryJAMM <=- -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ____________________________________________________________________ For the largest MP3 index on the Web, go to http://mp3.altavista.com ____________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 00:35:39 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 22:27:22 David Knott wrote: >In a message dated 2000-03-28 10:13:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, >jdaly@FRIEND.LY.NET writes: > ><< Actually, I always thought Hyborea could be similar to Conan's > Hyperborea(sp?). It is simply an association of similar names, and the fact > its in the north. Reasonable enough I suppose though. Heck, they could > rough it out with Frost Giants and whatnot... >> > >That's fine with me -- now the "barbarian lands" are really getting huge! >We could probably sneak a few Amazon tribes into the region, since I >suspect that most of the barbarian tribes would be male dominated, so >the Amazons and a few egalitarian tribes would provide some balance. > Excellent! I like all of these ideas, but in a way I think we should just define the borders and then not describe the area too much... Otherwise we'll end up filling the entire area with description of the things we don't want - lists of 200+ barbarian tribes (or whatever) doesn't sound would be much fun to do, but that's pretty much what I'd like to be in that region. Perhaps with just a *few* old ruins for the PCs to find AFTER the travel through all this hostile wilderness, of course :) BTW has anyone done eskimo cultures in Mystara yet? I haven't seen any... - The Stalker of Alphatia Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:45:31 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kevin Powers Subject: 3rd Edition Fighters... A return to OD&D? MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I was perusing the Dragon 270 samples online, and couldn't help noticing that the 3rd Edition fighter seems to be very similar in terms of weapon mastery to the OD&D equivalent. Remember all those rules for parries, thrusts, disarms, etc. from the EX/CM/MA/RC rules? Now they call them "feats." Just another heartening sign that WotC may have finally started to turn things around. We can only hope... ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 17:52:35 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: D&D differences sheet In-Reply-To: <00da01bf99bc$03ef9ec0$bd317286@pds3.resnet.nau.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Wed, 29 Mar 2000, Patrick Sullivan wrote: > more difficult for them at lower levels. On the other hand, if you use the > special clerical powers given in WotI, clerics even at first level become > more powerful than thieves. After all, they can turn undead, fight fairly > well, and wear armor already--particularly with the WotI changes, they are a > bit overpowered if anything. The only logical reason to say that level 1 The average powers given in WotI are not very powerful, and generally less useful and flexible than a first level spell slot. For me, the problem with it is more a matter of wondering WHY immortals wait until you're second level to give you spells. It's not as if you didn't go through some sort of acolyte period already to prove you have at least some minimal level of worthiness to wield his powers; you don't become a first level cleric the second you join the church. > >(Can anyone explain why warriors are so penalised in AD&D?) > > > Not a clue :-) Well, perhaps 'cause a lot of munchkins would rather play a > half-dragon, half-elf cleric-mage, and AD&D at leas kind of caters to them? > (Being intentionally annoying here--flame me, if you must, not the list) > Well, if there were any half-dragon/half-elves in AD&D, you might have a point, but there aren't. The real root of it is because before the Weapon Mastery rules in the Companion set, fighters in 0D&D got the shaft just as much as AD&D ones did. Both came out of the pre-basic set era in which fighters never got any special options, they just got more hit points and a better THACO as they went up in level. Only after the split between OD&D and AD&D did fighters in either game actually get any bennies besides 'more HP' and 'better chance to hit'. (Well, and 'use all potential weapons') John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 19:06:32 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&D differences sheet)] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable "Jenni A.M.Merrifield" wrote: > > Hey, let's be fair here -- based on the discussions on the M3E list, >= I'd say that the number of individuals on each side of this particular > argu= ment was/is fairly even. Actually, almost every potentially > problematic iss= ue (0E Paladins & 0E druids being only available from > 9th level, 0E Cleri= cs getting turning abilities but no spells at 1st > level, etc) has a fairly= even split among group members. Not to mention that there are some people who are more vocal than others = (not in a bad way- I just mean some people speak up on these issues more than others on the list do. I myself am one of the vocal ones on this topic, a= s it stands.) So, no, it isn't really fair to say- "All of such-and-such want such-and-= such" not without a lot more evidence to support such a position, at any rate. = I wouldn't want to put myself out on that limb, anyway. ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 19:31:35 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] The Stalker wrote: >BTW has anyone done eskimo cultures in Mystara yet? I haven't seen any... IIRC, Steven B. Wilson inserted an M-Inuit culture for Hyperborea - it should be on Shawn's site. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 19:37:29 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&D differences sheet)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >So, no, it isn't really fair to say- "All of such-and-such want such-and-such" >not without a lot more evidence to support such a position, at any rate. I >wouldn't want to put myself out on that limb, anyway. Point taken. I haven't been keeping up much with the 3e list, but the last impression that I got was that the overriding opinion was in favor of 1st level clerical spells. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 17:12:58 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&D differencessheet) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "Jenni A.M.Merrifield" wrote: > > Hey, let's be fair here -- based on the discussions on the M3E list, I'd > say that the number of individuals on each side of this particular > argument was/is fairly even. Actually, almost every potentially > problematic issue (0E Paladins & 0E druids being only available from 9th > level, 0E Clerics getting turning abilities but no spells at 1st level, > etc) has a fairly even split among group members. Where is this list? I've been looking for it to join. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:25:40 -0700 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Patrick Sullivan Subject: Re: Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&Ddifferencessheet) MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined >Where is this list? I've been looking for it to join. http://www.onelist.com/community/mystara3E you have to sign up for onelist to join, IIRC. Patrick ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 17:28:55 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A.M.Merrifield" Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Clerics & Spells at 1st level (was Re: D&D differences sheet)] Content-Type: text/plain Mime-Version: 1.0 On Wed, 29 March 2000, SteelAngel wrote: > >So, no, it isn't really fair to say- "All of such-and-such > want such-and-such" > >not without a lot more evidence to support such a position, > at any rate. I > >wouldn't want to put myself out on that limb, anyway. > > Point taken. I haven't been keeping up much with the 3e > list, but the last impression that I got was that the > overriding opinion was in favor of 1st level clerical > spells. Well, yes, it is true that after much reasonable debate and discussion on the topic it has been generally agreed -- even by some of us (like myself) who might personally prefer the "not until 2nd level" restriction -- that leaving 3E clerics "as is" is probably the best way to go from the point of view of creating a 'standard' conversion to 3E. That still isn't to say that we're all 100% hell-bent on destroying the "Mystaran Cleric". It's just that after mature discussion there has been some consensus (at least among those of us who were actively arguing about the issue) that the "damage factor" to the things that are considered Unique about Mystara (as recorded in a list generated collaboratively with Bruce Heard and members of this list and the MMB) is actually relatively minor overall. I'll grant that the 'conversion checklist' we use to aid our discussions has a slight lean towards leaving 3E as close to it's original nature as possible -- and that's for a number of reasons, one of which is the issue that 3E is a playtested game that is supposed to be well balanced, and the less we have to muck with it the better. But it certainly doesn't disregard the special aspects of Mystara. In fact, using the same list of Unique things and the same 'conversion checklist', we also concluded that the 0E Paladin and the 2E/3E Paladin are, in fact, using the same name for complete different classes. Thus the best course of action is going to be to design two 3E prestige classes representing the "Defender" (OE Paladin) and the "Avenger" as well as allowing for the standard 3E Paladin to appear -- especially in the post-wrath time period when the introduction of Mystara resources in 2E format brought the 2E Paladin into Mystara anyway. We will probably argue that the obvious changes to how many Immortals were treating their holy warriors before and after can be blamed on "something" that must have happened during WotI. In any case, it is certainly not the case that "all" the M3E project team members are for or against any given "complex issue". It is also the case that, ultimately, decisions must be made and the best way to make them is after reasonable, mature discussion of the pro's and con's of the possible solutions within the context of the project's overall goals, until a "consensus" is arrived at. And even when we have "consensus", not everyone is going to be pleased at the results, but that's just the way life is: "you don't always get what you want" and "you win some, you loose some". So, although decision A may not have turned out the way you would have prefered, decision B may be exactly the way you wanted it. Be happy with what worked out the way you liked, and for the things you don't agree with -- change it in your own campaign. We're not trying to tell anyone what to do in their own game. We are hoping to provide a 'baseline' on which future material can choose to depend ... or not. At least everyone will know that they're starting from the same page of the same book before being told to jump forward three whole chapters or throw the whole book away. :-) Sorry for the "rant". I just get so ... frustrated at these sort of complaints, sometimes. Especially when I know that most of the current M3E team are just trying our best to reconcile our favourite world with the upcoming new rules in a way that will help keep it somewhat "alive" and also work well for both new and old players alike. Anyone who really has an issue with any part of how this project is developing should not only get involved by joining the project mailing list, but should *participate* in the discussions -- or at least /read/ the arguments put forth by all sides -- before complaining about the decisions. Jenni -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ____________________________________________________________________ For the largest MP3 index on the Web, go to http://mp3.altavista.com ____________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 06:51:54 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: to James Mishler MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I'll do the whole archipelago, with ispanola too.I hope i would be able to have them all fit on one map.Otherwise i would have to make two (just like Ochalea) By the way i wanted to ask you, why is there so much caverns on ochalea. As for the mountains, i was not sure that there would be so much of them cause they are not present in 24 miles per hex.But it makes sense, so i'll add them.If you have the names corresponding to the numbers of the tanegioth archipelago, please tell me.Otherwise , when i would have drawn the maps, i'll send them to you for approval and comments.By the way , i have now a set of hexes correctly oriented, so my maps would look perfect (i hope). Magister Mystaros a �crit: > In a message dated 3/29/00 1:24:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time, > thibsylv@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes: > > << I would soon post a complete map of ochalea in 8 miles per hex.It would > first > be published in the next issue of the tome of mystara.Thanks very much to > James who sent me his own map by air mail. > it was terrific man...>> > > Glad you got it, hope it was useful... email me privately if you have any > questions... > > << Next on the programm , the tanegioth archipelago. >> > > Kewl... didn't someone already do the Isle of Dread? It's a great map, and I > feel like such a stooge for forgetting the name of the guy that made it... I > think it was Ironwolf maybe. But it took into account the map scale changes > and looks real good... > > Also, will you include Nueva Ispanola, or will you do it as a generic isle? > > James A. Mishler > Magister Mystaros > Check out my website: > www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 21:04:50 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Thanegioth Archipelago for Thibault Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Say- I did a workup of the westernmost islands in the TA chain a while back, in 8 mile/hex format. It's for a project I was working on, and isn't entirely filled in, but let me know if you'd like to see it. I'll send it on to you. ----- Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen Aspiring screenwriter, actor, and gadabout jsmill@wans.net "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 07:21:22 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Thanegioth Archipelago for Thibault MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit yes please send it to me at both my adresses. mystara@com.bi tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Andrew Theisen a �crit: > Say- I did a workup of the westernmost islands in the TA chain a while > back, in 8 mile/hex format. It's for a project I was working on, and isn't > entirely filled in, but let me know if you'd like to see it. I'll send it > on to you. > ----- > > Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen > Aspiring screenwriter, actor, and gadabout > jsmill@wans.net > > "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he > didn't exist." - Keyser Soze > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 00:31:08 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: to James Mishler MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 11:52:32 PM US Eastern Standard Time, thibsylv@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes: << I'll do the whole archipelago, with ispanola too.I hope i would be able to have them all fit on one map.Otherwise i would have to make two (just like Ochalea) By the way i wanted to ask you, why is there so much caverns on ochalea.>> IMC Ochalea is riddled with caverns and underground kingdoms ruled by Bakemono, Oni and Korobokuru (my Ochalea is more Japanese than Chinese, to the extent that the old Oriental adventures drew more on Japan than China for its source materials). That way I could have regions that were chaotic and infested with nasties while leaving most of the "upper world" unblemished and not making every critter a "spirit" from the Spirit World. The mountains and hills, however, are notorious strongholds for the subterranean races... << As for the mountains, i was not sure that there would be so much of them cause they are not present in 24 miles per hex.But it makes sense, so i'll add them.>> I figured that if Japan had been mapped in a similar manner at 72 miles per hex or even 24 miles per hex most of their mountains would end up being represented by hills at that scale, so there was plenty of room to make the "hills" into mountains... besides, retconning the geography is a Mystaran tradition, especially when it is to make it more interesting. Just look at the original and "current" versions of the Savage Coast :) <> The numbers on the map were for cartographic notation... in other words, there are similar numbers on the hexes of my 72 mile per hex and 24 mile per hex maps, in order to note which hex was which between maps. Looking forward to seeing your work! James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 00:34:30 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: Thanegioth Archipelago for Thibault MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 11:58:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time, jsmill@WANS.NET writes: << Say- I did a workup of the westernmost islands in the TA chain a while back, in 8 mile/hex format. It's for a project I was working on, and isn't entirely filled in, but let me know if you'd like to see it. I'll send it on to you. >> Must you ASK? Please do! Are you talking about the Western Thanegioth Archipelago (near the Serpent Peninsula) or the western isles of the main archipelago? I started working on the WTA (the "Karakarine" Islands, with Cubia Occidental, et al.) a while back but didn't get far... if only I didn't need that lousy job that pays the bills :) James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 03:30:24 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kevin Powers Subject: Where can I get the first Tome Of Mystara? MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Where can I get the first one or two (however many there presently are) Tomes Of Mystara? I am interested in those articles and maps. Thanks. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 10:39:03 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Where can I get the first Tome Of Mystara? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit the answer is: http://www.geocities.com/mystaratome/ Kevin Powers a �crit : > Where can I get the first one or two (however many there presently are) > Tomes Of Mystara? I am interested in those articles and maps. Thanks. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 06:05:20 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Eleanor Williams Subject: MYSTARA (Cult Matters) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Difficulty getting a good cult together? Try Cults of Praxis (not sure of the spelling) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 15:00:07 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Re: Elven subraces of Mystara Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 01:08:49 EST, David Knott wrote: << Here is a crude attempt at accounting for the variations in elven types described in the gazetteers as well as the apparent conflicts between OD&D and AD&D/2E sources. In most AD&D game worlds the dominant elven subrace is the high elf. On Mystara that is not true -- there the dominant subrace is the forest elf, a variant of the grey elf.>> Okay then I admit I've got The Complete Elves HBK but never put time into reading it, mainly cause I thought the elven subraces in Mystara were perfectly clear without having to adapt them to the AD&D standards. So I've a question: what are the high elves and how do they differentiate from grey (standard?) elves? << Forest elves have a natural talent for magic -- in fact, they are invariably trained so that when they reach adulthood they have attained 1st level ability in both the fighter and mage classes. They receive a bonus of +2 to dexterity and intelligence and a penalty of -2 to constitution and wisdom. With a minimum of 9 (adjusted to 11) for rolled intelligence, they are guaranteed the ability to cast arcane spells of at least 1st level.>> uh? why these bonuses and penalties? I don't really see why impose penalites on wisdom and charisma to MYSTARAN elves. Frankly, I thought elves to be amongst the wisest and most charismatic beings in Mystara... I don't think they should have bonuses nor penalties. Simply imagine their breed is innaturally intelligent and always produces elves with 9+ Intelligence score (no dumber than normal elves exist in Mystara). <> Again, I don't follow you, sorry. Why would magic become "instinctively" available to them and cause a charisma bonus is beyond my comprehension.. And besides, I don't think common Blacklore elves are that much charismatic.. <> Oh, now maybe I understand: this was done so you could actually explain how and why sorcerers could exist among the elves... well, not knowing what sorcerers do I can't comment on this. >From what I've heard, the only thing I can say is that sorcerers to me are very similar to bards.. <> I've theorized basing on their history, that they prolly originated from one of the elves' migrations (I think they broke off from Ilsundal's first migration when he crossed the Immortals' Arm) and later became winged elves through crossbreeding and magical ties with the fey or the faerie, as their legends tell. <> I don't get this.. why should shadow elves being involved in creation of water elves clans? They are the Minrothad elves, and we all know they were part of Ilsundal's migration, which has no tie to the Shadowelves. They surely derive from forest elves, and maybe had crossbreeding with acquatic elves, but it's more a matter of way of living than genetic I believe, if they chose the sea instead of the woods as their primary interest. <> But according to your hypothesis, only Savage Coast elves are high elves (born because of the Red Curse influence), so how's it possible that other elves have "recessive traits" of high elves, which were unexistant on Mystara till they arrived in the Savage Coast? Bear in mind I still don't know what's the difference between high and grey elves, so I might be making a blunder here (I apologize in this case) :) <> ok. << Matings of high elves with humans resulted in half- elves that bred true -- offspring of half-elves with elves, humans, or half-elves would invariably be half-elves.>> I see, this way you explained why there are half-elves in the Savage Coast only. It is logical. Geoff and I have a different idea regarding how half-elves are possible in Mystara, but I won't tell for now :) <> what are these? Anyway, aside from a few incongruences, I think it's an acceptable attempt to explain Mystaran elven subraces with AD&D 2nd and 3rd Ed terms. DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn "You don't stop playing because you grow old: you grow old because you stop playing!" Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:27:16 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Demihuman Relics: a Treatise (1. Preface) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" HI there! Some of you (the old timers) may remember me writing a thorough essay on the nature of the demihuman relics back in 1998. That essay dealt primarly with the elven relics. However, in this last year I've completed the essay covering also the other demihuman relics, and so this is the final version of my article. I'm posting in on the MML in four parts: Part 1 (Preface) explains what a Relic is and what's his role in the demihuman community, as well as stating some of the shared "powers" of the relic. Part 2 (Elves) lists all of the Elves relics, their history and roles Part 3 (Halflings) talks the Hin relic, its speculative history and powers Part 4 (Dwarves) talks about the dwarven relic, its speculative history and role Part 5 (Gnomes), yes, you've guessed, talks about the uniqueness of the gnomes relic and powers. Hope you'll find it interesting as much as I did by writing it. Feedback is welcome :) ************** A Treatise on the Nature of the Demihumans' Relics By Marco Dalmonte Special thanks to Andrew Theisen, Herve Musseau, Thorfinn Tait and David Knott. Preface: What is a Relic? Each demi-human community has its Relic, as the old Companion set teaches. But what does it mean exactly? What's the difference between a clan with a relic and another that hasn't got one? From what we can understand of the demi-human cultures reading throughout the various gazetteers and other supplements, the clan is a living entity made of different parts that all contribute to its existence. And the Relic is the HEART of the clan. Now, what happens if your heart is ripped off your body? Simple: you die. The same applies for the elves, the halflings, the dwarves and all the other demihumans who have been raised to praise and value the relic more than their own life. It is a way of life and a way of thinking more than game mechanics we're talking about here. The Relic is the center of the community, the thing that makes people feel united and belonging to the same race, the same world. It is the nexus of everything in life, that which connects together all the members of the clan. It is above all the (in some cases sentient) representative of the deity they worship, of the Higher Being that gave them the life and that constantly watches over them. And the members of each clan can see it and feel its power and presence tangibly every day: it is an eternal testimony of its real existence. Without the Relic, without that everlasting symbol of unity and of blessing, the community inevitably breaks apart and is destined to certain doom. And that's because its members think this in the first place, and if they think it, they will cause their downfall to come true (this attitude is called self-fulfilling prophecy). The Relic gives the members of a clan a reason to live and to have faith in the immortals, and when they haven't it anymore, then there is no more future for them: the world will simply swallow them, it's a matter of time. And so they don't live anymore, but they let themselves survive, maybe hoping that somebody take their relic back to them. However, this is true only of those demi-human communities that have grown into these concepts and ideas, that is to say of those communities who know of the existence of relics and prize them. There can be some demi-human strongholds in faraway places of Mystara that have never heard of a Tree of Life or a Forge of Power and that have learnt to live according to other values (the Kogolors or the Blacklore elves for example): to them the relics are nothing. They could have also developed other kinds of relics. This is fully understandable. But for the same reason we must understand that for those born and raised with complete belief in the religious and social unifying power of the relic, the absence of it is not tolerable. There can simply be no healthy community without a Relic at its heart like there can be no living being without a heart. [Part 2 follows] DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn "You don't stop playing because you grow old: you grow old because you stop playing!" Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:31:21 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Demihuman Relics: a Treatise (3. Halflings) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" HALFLINGS The Crucible of Blackflame The history of the halfling relic is one of the clearest and simplest in comparison with those of the elven and dwarven relics. In GAZ8 the whole tale of how the Blackflame was discovered under the Black Spires Mountains is told without mysteries (aside from the real origin of the Blackflame): "746 BC: hin discover Blackflame deep under the mountains" (GAZ8, p. 8). This means that prior BC 746 the halflings had no relic whatsoever, and so during their early ages, when they lived in Davania, they didn't own a relic. This probably sets them apart from the other demi-humans, as both elves and dwarves have already had a relic at the center of their communities from their earlier beginnings. But this also means that the hins felt the need for a relic later in life, because of the events that occurred them, and this is perfectly logic. We'll see this in detail below. Later on, in the Sacred Mysteries section (pages 16-20), it is revealed that the Blackflame is "a substance of the Sphere of Energy. Released in the Known World in very few places (usually deep caverns, such as those in the Black Spires mountain range in the Five Shires) by the Hierarch of Energy, it can be used by individuals aspiring to immortality by the Path of the Paragon." (GAZ8, p. 18). Blackflame is then a form of energy native of the Outer Planes (probably Draesten, Homeplane of the Sphere of Energy) released on the Prime by Ixion in an attempt to help the candidate immortals in his own Sphere. Yet the halflings (who are not renowned for attaining immortality in the Path of the Paragon) are the only ones to benefit from this item. How can this be explained? In order to understand the true meaning of Blackflame to halflings, we must first delve deeper into the true history of Blackflame. As I stated earlier, halflings didn't possess an immortal relic till they came to live in Brun (around BC 1300), fleeing mass persecutions at the hands of the Empire of Varellya in Davania (their true homeland). Some halfings stayed there, and still live in Davania nowadays, although they are very different from Five Shires' hin both in their customs and beliefs. But back to our point, when the halflings arrived in the Five Shires they thought they had found paradise, and founded Faerdinel, their first realm. Then they came in contact with the Gentle Folk, a reclusive group of elves who had migrated here from the inhospitable Glantrian territory four centuries before, fleeing the Glantrian catastrophe caused by the activation of a Blackmoor nuclear artifact. The Gentle Folk were a peaceble and somewhat remissive culture, who nevertheless influenced greatly the hins and took them under protection, so to speak. This is testified from the fact that until the Gentle Folk's disappearance in BC 1000, the hins lived free and in peace. But then, after the elves' disappearance, orcs invaded and the hins started three long centuries of strife and slavery. Then in BC 746 the hins found the Blackflame under their mountains and only two years after they were able to repel the orcish overlords and to chase them away forever, beginning their Time of Heroes. Was this incidental? How comes that the hins were left in peace till the Gentle Folk lived in their region, and then suddenly conquered, only to regain freedom after 300 years? The only hypothesis I can make is that Blackflame has always been the source of the hins' freedom and power in the region. According to Andrew Theisen's hypothesis, Blackflame originates from the Dimension of Nightmares, where it is the negative counterpart of Mystara's common flame. As suce, it is cold to the touch, it's black and radiates darkness instead of light. Why can Blackflame be found only in the Shires? Again following Andrew's hypothesis, we can say that what caused the Blackflame to appear in Mystara were the world shattering earthquakes that caused the downfall of the Taymoran Empire between BC 2000 and BC 1700 and formed Ierendi and Minrothad isles. These earthquakes were probably caused by the Taymorans dabblings in elemental and planar magics, and another unforeseen result was also the opening of dimensional rifts with the elemental planes of the Dimension of Nightmares. From these rifts leaked into the Prime Plane the negative elemental substance known as blackflame (later the Glantrian catastrophe of BC 1700 sealed back those rifts between Mystara and the Nightmare Dimension, trapping clans of Deep Glaurants, originary of that dimension, in Mystara). The Hierarch of Energy at that time (most likely Ixion), seeing this as a good opportunity to experiment the fiery energy of another opposite dimension in Mystara, seized part of this blackflame and hid it beneath the current Five Shires, waiting for the moment to inspire some worthy candidate to immortality to discover it. Then came the Gentle Folk in BC 1700, and through their wanderings in the subterranean caves, they emerged in the Five Shires. But at this same time, clans of Deep glaurants were also living there, and they began to chase away the new immigrants. The Gentle Folk stumbled upon the blackflame, and used it to counter the Deep Glaurants' attacks, succeeding in repelling them and finally being left in peace. When the hins came, they took the little fellows under their protection, and with the help of the Blackflame kept the country free. But when they disappeared (both because of the Immortals' will to transfer them in the Hollow World and because of their remissive attitude towards life), the hins were left to their own, and succumbed to the orcs. Only when in BC 746 they found the secret of Blackflame were they able to organize the resistance and chase away the orcs, gaining independence and freedom. Nowadays Blackflame is regarded by all hins as the source of their freedom and their way of living, and for this reason the Crucible of Blackflame is of utter importance for every living clan of halflings that originated in the Shires. It is to be noted however, that even if the hins of the Five Shires have their own three Halfling Heroes (hin Immortals Nob Nar, Coberham and Brindorhin) that inspire them, these hin attained immortality during the Time of Heroes, that's to say after the hins discovered Blackflame and how to use it. They cannot be the inventors of the Crucible then, or can they? It's time to make another distinction between the three Immortals. First of all, we can be sure that Nob Nar has followed either the Path of the Epic Hero (Sphere of Thought) or that of the Polymath (Sphere of Matter) according to the ballads and legends centered on his deeds. Brindorhin is a more obscure hero, although given his name ending with "hin", he could very well have followed either the Path of the Epic Hero (Sphere of Thought) or that of the Dynast (Sphere of Time), thus explaining why the halflings of the Five Shires dub themselves hin (in honor to the hero-founder of the nation). If this is true, Gunzuth (last king of the nation) is probably another alter ego of Brindorhin. Lastly, Coberham Shadowglint could surely have followed the Path of the Epic Hero and be an Immortal of Thought, but his nickname implies something subtler. Shadowglint = Light in the Shadows = Blackflame Coberham Shadowglint could very well have been the first Hin Master. He could have become a Master by studying the Blackflame and learning his secrets, then built the Crucible as part of his Trial, while sharing the Secret Mysteries of the Blackflame with other hins and creating the Hin Masters could have been his Testimony in the Path of the Paragon (Sphere of Energy). And this makes sense, since the Blackflame is said to be used by the Immortals of the Sphere of Energy. This way we realize how close is the link between the Blackflame, the Hin Heroes and the halflings originary of the Five Shires. And as a side note, this also means that if the above holds true, the Immortal Patron of Coberham Shadowglint was Ixion, and that probably the Hin Masters still pay homage to Ixion as well as Coberham, Nob Nar and Brindorhin. As a last note, GAZ8 says that the number of hin clans existing at one time must not be more than 100. This certainly doesn't mean there cannot be more than one hundred halfling clans, but that there cannot be more than 100 clans possessing a Crucible of Blackflame (which is given to each clan of hins born in the Five Shires). This is probably derives from the fact that the Blackflame well under the Five Shires cannot be used for creating more than one hundred Crucibles (and Chamber of the Ancestors, where the Crucible is held - see page 16 of GAZ8, DM's Booklet) without extinguing it or depowering it severely, so the hin Masters have fixed this limitation for the Shires welfare. Note on the Denial Power of Hins As for the power to negate spells attributed to hins living in the Five Shires, this is probably another side effect of the Crucible of Blackflames. My reasoning is that all of the Crucibles existing within the Shires create a mystical web that alters the magic used inside the Shires to the point of granting every hin that worships the Hin Heroes the power of calling upon the Crucibles' power and negate any one spell that is cast in his presence (the Denial power is based upon the hin's Willpower - see page 3 of GAZ8 Player's Booklet). This power was probably forethought by Coberham as another means of defense for his folk. However, given the fact there cannot be more than 100 Crucibles at any one time, this means the area effectively benefitting from this power is limited (the Five Shires). Were all of the Crucibles to be moved to another location, I suspect the Denial power would affect all hins (since the Crucible is attuned to the hin lifeforce) living in this other location. [Part 4 follows] ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:31:26 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Demihuman Relics: a Treatise (4. Dwarves) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable DWARVES Forge of Power The dwarven Forge of Power is different from the elven and halfling relic in that it was not invented by one of them to attain immortality, but rather it was given to the dwarves by their Immortal Patron, Kagyar Flasheyes.=20 There is no mention in GAZ6, The Dwarves of Rockhome, of a certain date where this immortal gift was granted to the dwarven people. Likewise, the gazetteer is unfortunately very sketchy on the subject of the Forge's cult and priestly care. All we know about the Forge of Power can be derived from the Companion set, and this is not much in comparison to the information gathered about the other demi-human relics through the various official supplements. Yet we do know enough about the dwarven history to speculate a possible origin of the Forge, and fortunately the details on its own history are so scant in the official supplements that this allows us the freedom to create without making inconsistencies. We can say that the first dwarves that appeared throughout Mystara at the dawn of the times did not follow Kagyar, mainly because he himself was at that time a simple Brute-man. We can however speculate that by the time of Blackmoor (BC 5000), the dwarves were enough evoluted to have a special interest in the crafts and ores, much like the current dwarves, even though their attitude was more carefree and friendly towards the other culture. These were the Kogolor dwarves kin. Now, Hollow World supplement, when talking about the Kogolors, says that their patrons are Frey/Freya and Garal Glitterlode, and that Kagyar has abandoned them. However, this refers to modern days Kogolors living in the Hollow World, not to Blackmoor era dwarves. In fact, Frey and Freya did attain immortality after Blackmoor's destruction, while Garal was a proteg=E9 of Kagyar, so he must be younger than the dwarven deity. This leaves us with the original problem: who was the first dwarves' patron at the time of early Blackmoor? A possible idea is Wayland, immortal patron of metallurgy and artisans, even though we don't know how old he is. For this reason I assume that the early dwarves' patrons were both Kagyar and Wayland, and later Garal Glitterlode, when Blackmoor was at its golden age. Now that we have deduced who the first Immortal patrons of the dwarves were, we can speculate a bit more about the dwarven relic. As hypothesized by Sharon Dornhoff, the Blackmoor dwarves probably already had a Forge which was at the center of their society, much like the Forge of Power is to modern days' dwarves. However, I speculate that these forges were mundane items, whose discovery had probably been prompted by Wayland and whose useage was not limited to the clergy. Later, when Kagyar felt the need to reshape the dwarven race to withstand the effects of radiations due to the Blackmoor catastrophe, he also borrowed the idea of the forge as central element of the dwarven society. So he altered the dwarves' physic and mentality, made them stouter and more apt to dwelling underground, instilled them with an unparallelled passion for mining ores and crafting items and placed them in the Known World. And in order to assure his children would not disappoint him, he created for them the Forge of Power. The modern Forge of Power is a relic imbued not only with astounding magical powers, but also with a deep social meaning. The Forge had been granted by Kagyar to his children as a sign of his favour, as the eternal symbol of their destiny and national character. It was more than a magical means to create items of superior manufacture: it symbolized their lifestyle. And at the same time, in order to legitimate this lifestlye, Kagyar made sure that the Forge could only be used under the supervision of his Keepers, loyal dwarf-priests. It was no more a mundane item, albeit very important to the life of the community, like the old days Forge. It was now a religious and institutionalised symbol that sanctioned Kagyar's supreme role in the dwarves' life and gave the dwarves the guidelines for their evolution. So this is the current state of the Forge of Power in the dwarven society: an imposed Gift from God that testifies their preferred state (something very similar to the Hebrew Ark of Alliance). But it is also a way to control and influence the dwarves' mind and politics by the priest caste, heralds of Kagyar himself. The last thing to understand before closing the topic is perhaps the most difficult: how can a Forge of Power be duplicate? We have seen that other relics can be easily duplicated to be granted to other demi-human clans (i.e. Tree of Life, Frond of Life, Blackflame). Others however, have not such power and are unique items (Elvenstar, Pearl of Power, Carven Oak, Chamber of the Spheres). The dwarven relic could easily belong to the second cathegory, given its specifics, were it not for the fact that the Companion set clearly states that every dwarven clan has its own Forge of Power. Now, since the first Forge was given to the dwarves by Kagyar, as we have seen, it is undoubtedly outside the dwarves' power to create copies of an immortal artifact. For this reason, we are left with only two possible explanations: either the different Forges must be created through a complicate and long ritual that involves calling upon the immortal spirit of Kagyar in the process to render the new Forge sentient (as Companion set states it is), or the First Forge of Power has some obscure means to duplicate itself without bothering Kagyar every time. A theory by David Knott has the dwarves creating a new FoP from an old one, although he doesn't really elaborate on what means "old" Forge (can a FoP become exhausted?). According to his words: "There must be some method for creating a new Forge of Power from an old one, but that the process must be a long and difficult one. To keep things simple, I would use the same method as is given in the D&D Rules Cyclopedia for making a Rockship -- but (optionally) add as a last step that the Dwarven Lens must be shattered and its shards fed into the Forge of Power to activate it. This would make it very costly and time consuming to create a new Forge of Power (at about a thousand years per Forge each), but it would be possible. Actually, I suspect that Dwarves are more likely to make new Forges of Power than to make Rockships." The only major hindrance I see here is the timeframe given: thousand years to produce a new Forge is not exactly what I call timely. And since there are at least three dwarven clans that live outside Rockhome (Burohur in Thyatis, Rocktooth in Norwold and the Alphatian dwarves of Denwarf-Hurgon) that must have gotten their Forge before setting out for the new region (which happened within the last millennia), this means it's impossible to have produced three FoP in so short time. For the sake of simplicity and logic then, we could simply decrease the timeframe to a more reasonable scale (a century instead of a millennia): this suits our needs perfectly. Thus the mystery of the Forge of Power duplication is solved: a complex ritual is needed to bless the new FoP with Kagyar's essence, which is then transferred into it definitely by smashing a Dwarven Lens onto it. This keeps the process quite lenghty and dangerous at the same time, and explains why there are so few dwarven Forges out there. [Part 5 follows] ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:31:13 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Demihuman Relics: a Treatise (2. Elves) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ELVES The Tree of Life As stated in numerous sources, the first ToL was created by Ilsundal in BC 1800 (GAZ5, page 7). However, it is not clear if it created the ToL before or after he became an Immortal: GAZ5 contradicts itself on this point. "Shortly after they were settled, Ilsundal, the elves' leader, learned the path to become an Immortal in the Sphere of Energy. As his Test, he created the Tree of Life, an Avatar of his power to guide his people" (GAZ5, p.7) Judging from this excerpt it seems he created the ToL as a mortal as part of his Test (see the Paths to Immortality in Master set or WotI) to become immortal. So he was able to imbue the ToL with his life essence even before attaining immortality (a truly unbelievable feat). But then later in the GAZ we read: "The original Tree of Life was created by the Immortal Ilsundal shortly after he became an Immortal in the Sphere of Energy." (GAZ5, p.69) So, in this case Ilsundal has created the ToL AFTER he achieved immortality. What's the truth then? Can a mortal create an item that is a sentient avatar of himself? We know that somebody else could have tried, but it seems he failed: "According to reliable lore, Algorn is actually embodied as a Tree of Life growing in the midst of this magical pocket.[..] years after he was heard from, a new Tree of Life was noticed here which resembled an elf not unlike Algorn the Treekeeper." (GAZ5, p.22) According to the tales then, the Treekeeper Algorn tried to attain immortality but failed, and after his disappearence the elves found a new Magic Place in the midst of which a new previously unknown ToL stood, its shape bearing Algorn's features. Whether it is true or not that this ToL is Algorn, this actually doesn't prove that he was trying to create his own ToL: after all why should he do this? The Test for the Path of Paragon requires the Paragon to craft an entirely unique and new magical item, and the ToL already existed. IMHO, Algorn was trying to perform some kind of other magical experiment that went awry, and in his last minutes, he begged Ilsundal (he was a Treekeeper) to let him stay in the forest to help his people, so Ilsundal turned him into a new ToL. However, this does not help us finding an explanation regarding the nature of the original ToL, and since the canon material TSR gave us isn't helpful either, we'll have to make abductions. My personal explanation is that Ilsundal created the Tree of Life as a unique but non-sentient magical item and then attained immortality. After that, he returned to Mystara (nobody had noticed his brief departure) and transferred part of his immortal spirit into the Mother Tree, creating an artifact which was also a sentient avatar. Then he proclaimed himself the Guide of the Elven Race, giving the Tree to the elves as symbol of his perpetual link with them, and introduced a few wise elves to its mysteries (creating his own clergy of Treekeepers). As the last step, he ascended to the heavens in front of his people to abide forever with the Immortals. Now, around AC 800 Mealiden and the Treekeepers asked Ilsundal to make duplicates of the Mother Tree to be brought with them in their long trek westwards and so Ilsundal CREATED other nine seedlings which would later grow into mature original ToL (the first example of avatars that grow older!). We know there are 10 Original ToL in Mystara: one is in the Sylvan Realm (sources: CM7, GAZ5), six were in Alfheim and are now in Karameikos and Wendar, protected by the clans they belong to (sources: GAZ5, WotI), and finally one is in Karameikos, the Callarii's ToL (source: GAZ5). Three are still missing. Where are they? I don't know, but i can tell you for sure where they are not: they're not in Wendar, because the wendarian elves have a totally different history and worship different immortals (source: PWA, the unofficial Wendar timeline by Shawn and me). The Shadow Elves don't have them for the same reasons, and also because if they had had one, they would have used it to save Canolbarth (source: GAZ13). The elves of Minrothad don't have any, because they worship different immortals (source: GAZ9). What elves do remain? Belcadiz elves (GAZ3), Norwold elves (CM1), Alphatia elves (DotE), Isle of Dawn elves (M5), Savage Coast elves (RS), Graakhalia elves (CoM), E'aars (OH), and N'djatwa (ogre/elf crossbreed from Dragon Magazine) if you count them. These are the ones we do know of, but others may exist. In this article i won't address the issue of the missing trees, however: this is left open to the various DMs. I would like to stop a little more on the topic of the creation of the other nine ToL. Andrew Theisen brought up an interesting point regarding their method of creation: "On the nature of the other ToL, perhaps they were created not as Ilsundal's avatar (like the original ToL), but like you hypothesized for Algorn, they were created from the spirits of other elven Treekeepers? Perhaps they had served Ilsundal well, or did something like Algorn (failed attempt at Immortality) and were rewarded with being turned into Trees of Life? In this respect, they may be seen in a similar manner to Titans, or other Exalted-type creatures?" [end quote] It could be. However, in this case those nine seedlings should be considered not avatars of Ilsundal but.. "vegetal titans". Yet they do function like any ToL described in Companion set (actually, they are the reference to look at when judging the nature of other ToL). Also I don't believe they all were created because so many Treekeepers failed their attempts at becoming Immortals: there cannot be so many would be immortals in a small area such as the Sylvan Realm in only 1000 years (well, at least that's my impression). However, i could think about Treekeepers who sacrified themselves for their race and clans accepting to become the vehicles of Ilsundal's power. The ceremony for the creation of the nine seedlings could have in fact required an extreme act of distress on the part of the Treekeepers (Ilsundal had to create nine seedlings from the Original Tree, and we know there is a strong bond between Treekeepers and the ToL), so extreme that they knew they would have faced death itself. Maybe Ilsundal wanted to reward them for their loyalty and sacrifice and allowed their spirit to reside inside the new seedlings, thus making them sentient. In this case they would be slightly different from the original Tree in the sense that they are still living avatars of Ilsundal but only because the spirit that inhabits them is that of a Treekeeper (who in in fact "a living avatar of Ilsundal" according to the religious beliefs, much like a cleric of Kagyar is a "living avatar" of the deity -i found this reference in GAZ6). So Ilsundal gives them all the spells and powers he gave to the Original Tree, but they don't count as avatars of him. Much less expensive in terms of Power Points.. A final note regarding the ToL to introduce my next chapter about another elven relic: "The Verdier elves left their clan tree behind when they emigrated from their homeland. Some say that tree was the inspiration for Ilsundal's later creation, the Tree of Life, familiar to so many mainland elves. [..] Whatever sprig or offshoot of the clan tree went with them had perished during their long travels" (GAZ9, p.43) This paragraph is really puzzling. This says that the elves who lived in Evergrun (for this is the homeland of the Verdiers, as one might from the last line which speaks of "long travels") had a special tree of some sort who was considered a relic. So it seems that the elves have always had a tree relic.. or is it? Could it not be instead the influence of what was written in the Companion set on those authors who wrote the gazetteers and the adventure modules that which prompted these lines (as Herve Musseau suggested)? Whatever the truth (and i doubt we will ever know), another simple explanation could be put forward without talking out the game mechanics. We all know the elves originally worshipped Ordana who created them, and we also know that Ordana's symbol is a tree (she herself is viewed as a Tree-Woman). So what if the tree we're talking about here was a tree that Ordana initially gave to all the elves to help them survive in the world? What if it was a tree that gave them neverending fruits and healed those who asked for her help (much like the cornucopia of the Greek myths)? Ordana gave it to every community of elves in Evergrun, but when they were forced to flee to Grunland few of the trees survived (if any.. maybe their magic was tied to the land of Evergrun). And after that, when the elves led by Ilsundal undertook the migration northwards, none of those trees were still alive and so the elves had no more relics. This is why Ilsundal has created his artifact: to give the elves a new relic to unite them again. More about this theory of the Tree of Ordana: we know that many mythologies have Trees in them (the Norse World Tree, the Biblical Tree, etc.). So maybe there were not many Trees of Ordana but one "uber" Tree of some sort created by the Immortal: a giant sheltering cornucopia tree (this is also very close to our Tree of Life, the one God created in the early days in the Garden of Eden -and since Evergrun is basically the elven Eden then the paragon holds). When Evergrun collapsed, it was presumed destroyed, but maybe it was just changed- there are still wild elves down there... So the One Tree is now lost (Evergrun was obliterated when the axis shifted.. or if not really obliterated, probably is now buried under the ices). However, two possible scenarios come to my mind: it is possible that Ordana transported Evergrun to her homeplane before it was destroyed, and it is there that the Elves go now when they die (very close to our beliefs). It is also possible that Evergrun still exists under the ices of the southern hemisphere (or in the Hollow World), and in this case whoever ventures there could make the greatest discovery of all times: an immense and mighty tree completely preserved under the ice that towers in the middle of those icy and dangerous mountains.. a tree with magical properties.. Imagine a scenario similar to HPL's "At the mountains of Madness" but with a mighty ancient relic instead of Lovecraft's horrors. But if you want to give your players some chill (besides that of the extreme latitude), then the Tree might also be sentient, a primeval Gakarak with the powers we mentioned which can speak to the minds of the nearby people and which has gone a little crazy after all those years (or maybe has been corrupted by a nearby Burrower). Now it wants to be awakened and freed from its icy prison, and it will manipulate whoever stumbles upon it to free itself.. and maybe its Burrower master.. A most definitely twisted version of Eden (read Clive Barker's "Waveworld" to have a better image of a crazed Guardian Angel and of a deserted Eden). The Pearl of Power "When Calitha Starbrow ascended to immortality in Evergrun, she created as her Test the Pearl of Power, a living relic that is the close-kept secret of the water elf clans of Minrothad." (GAZ9, p.42) So Calitha is the first elf who attained immortality on Mystara (Ordana is not an elf as you might remember), and she created the Pearl as the new powerful magic item required by the Path of the Paragon. But again the problem posed by the ToL arises: has it always been a living relic or not? And besides, how can a pearl be a living being? A tree is a natural (vegetal) life form, but a pearl is not. So again, this is probably due to the Companion rules about the elven relic, the only one to be sentient among the demi-human relics (and since the Pearl is an elven relic..). But let's go on reading: "A fragment of the Pearl was secretly taken by Poladan Meditor, at that time an assistant keeper of the relic. [..] At first Meditor was secretive about what he had done. For a long time the water elves had no relic at all to speak of, and when the fledgling pearl began to develop, the new keeper and his assistants kept the news to themselves. When the power of the off-shoot relic became noticeable, the keeper was confirmed in his office, but the elves kept the news of their clan relic from their human neighbours." (GAZ9, p.42) Now, given the fact that the pearl reaches maturity (becoming a true sentient relic) after 1d4 centuries, provided it is bathed in sea water monthly (see GAZ9 page 43), the new Pearl should have become sentient around BC 2900-2600 (the elves fled from Evergrun in BC 3000). But the text mentions "human neighbours" and we all know there were none in Grunland (present day Vulcania) around that period. Also it is highly unlikely that Poladan Meditor wasn't alive when this happened, since we all know the lifespan of an elf is really long and when Poladan took the fragment of the Pearl was only an assistant keeper (not older than 200 years IMO). So the Pearl obviously reached maturity in more than four centuries, maybe because Poladan didn't perform the right rituals all the time.. or maybe for another reason which i will explain later. Suppose that the Pearl didn't grow in those four centuries but became sentient AFTER the migration led by Ilsundal: maybe this was the reason why the Meditor left Ilsundal's migration in BC 2100 and settled in Karameikos, because they wanted to keep the Pearl to themselves (the Verdier simply stayed because the enjoyed the climate). But how did the pearl managed to survive for so long during the migration across Davania (remember it must be bathed monthly in sea water)? My answer is: none of the above explanations is true. Consider this: if the Pearl already existed when Ilsundal created his ToL, why did he attain immortality? His ToL would have been nothing so exceptional nor unique if the Pearl already existed and worked the same way. For this reason and also from the bits excerpted from the above quotes, i believe the Pearl was not alive in BC 1800, when Ilsundal created the ToL. My explanation is this: Calitha created a great magic item, the Pearl, back in the Evergrun days, and she left it to her clan as a precious artifact to be used in her name. The Keeper was merely the elf who knew all the powers of the artifact and who could use it as such: the pearl was not sentient at that time. The the Great Rain of Fire came and the elves had to flee. Believing he could use a chunk of the pearl in the same way the Keeper used the whole relic, Poladan stole one bit of it. Then, when he realized it didn't worked as he had planned, he hid it not to be accused of sacrilege, and passed it to his heirs as a great heirloom, never quite revealing its true nature. The Pearl was lost in the migration from Evergrun to Grunland, but a small chunk survived, unknown even to Calitha. And then Ilsundal came and he led the elves northwards: in modern day Karameikos the Verdier and Meditor decided they had had enough of this trek and split from Ilsundal's group, loving the climate and the woods and settling there. Maybe there was some quarrelling between their clanleaders and Ilsundal about his real ability to rule and about where his foolish ideas were going to take them (they had traveled for over 300 years after all, and even elves can get tired of wandering after so much time). Or maybe, as GAZ9 suggests, the two groups were prompted by the Powers of Time whom they honored (probably Calitha and Ordana) to leave Ilsundal's migration and to settle in the lands west of present days Thyatis. Whichever the case, they decided to begin a new life there. In the same century, BC 2100, Ilsundal found the promised land and the elves settled in the Sylvan Realm. In BC 2000 (see PC3 - the date given in GAZ9 is wrong), the Meditor elves were left stranded on the newly formed island of Alfeisle in the Sea of Dread as a consequence of local cataclysms. In BC 1800 Ilsundal attained immortality as i already described. It didn't take him too much time to realize that there were many other elven clans scattered around the world who needed to find a religious guide and inspiration. So he proposed to Calitha and Ordana to give these elves some relics that resembled the old Tree of Ordana or his own Tree of Life, relics that would have constituted the center of the religious and social life of the elves and that would have unified them throughout the world. Obviously, each clan would have had a relic close to its needs and beliefs, so they began to work. Calitha created the Frond of Life for the Aquarendi imitating Ilsundal's Tree of Life and used one of her mortal identities to do it (Tallivai the Rootmaker). Ordana probably created the Carven Oak (i'll detail it later in this article) for the Verdier who had begun a quest for a relic. The Wendar elves had already their artifact-relic and so had the Shiyes (i assume they too have a relic, although i ignore its powers and aspect). The Shadow Elves were at that time unknown to the Elven Protectors, and even if they were known, they were far too different from the normal elves to be helped (and besides, they seemed to already worship another immortal). The Meditors had always been Calitha's followers but they still needed a relic. So Calitha searched for her Pearl of Power to be brought to them again but could not find it anywhere. However, she spotted the remains of it in one of the Meditor's houses, and she proceeded in enchanting it again, this time imbuing it with her lifeforce like she had done with the Frond of Life. She then sent visions to the elf who owned the chunk of the Pearl instructing him of the practices he had to follow to make it grow properly. He listened and became the first Pearl Keeper. In about four-five centuries the Pearl grew and reached mature state, becoming fully sentient (BC 1000 ca). By this time, the Nithians led by Minroth had already colonized Trader's Isle. GAZ9 doesn't mention any known relationship between humans and Meditors before AC 276 (GAZ9, p.6), however that line i previously quoted ["the elves kept the news of their clan relic from their human neighbours." (GAZ9, p.42)] is clear: the elves were afraid the human neighbours could discover their relic and so they kept it secret. What i suggest is that maybe the Meditors spotted the Nithian settlements some time after the Pearl Keeper had revealed the existance of the new relic to his clan (around BC 1000), but they shun the Nithians knowing the humans were treacherous and could have used it for foul goals (remember the GRoF). Then, when Nithia was destroyed, the elves were left no memories of them. This is all i have to say about the Pearl of Power: it is very similar to the ToL, it can reproduce like it, it is sentient, and at the moment only one exists (that of the Meditors). It is basically the copy of the ToL, but it's Calitha's relic for the Meditors. The Frond of Life All that PC3: The Sea People accessory mentions about the Frond of Life is this: "Tallivai the Root Maker is the most honored of elven immortals. She is credited with the creation of the first Frond of Life. She represents life and continuity to the elves, and the abundant bounty of the sea." (PC3, page 52) The accessory also specifically says that the Frond of Life is a magical seaweed that has similar powers to a Tree of Life, that each is an Avatar of Tallivai and that is cared by a Frond Keeper (PC3, p.21). It also details the objects that can be manufactured using a Frond. As you can see, it is completely the same as the ToL, but it's been made for the acquatic elves. This doesn't contrast with the theory i explained above (which, i would like to remind you, it's not in contrast with the clashing information the various supplements give us: i'm just trying to put the tiles together to obtain a clear image). Just one thing i would like to underline about the Frond. The book says that each Aquarendi settlement has one (like the forest elves), so i infer there can be only one Original Frond (in contrast to the 10 Original ToL), which is held in Kellaalri, the Cavern of the Frond. However, the Cavern is also the place where the Aquarendi worship Manwara (the Old Being of the Sea, Protius), who is not in friendly terms with Calitha. I wonder how this could be possible.. The Carven Oak The true identity of the Creator of the Carven Oak is not revealed in GAZ9, even though the book says: "They had brought with them the Carven Oak, a powerful artifact given to the wood elves by the immortal they follow." (GAZ9, p.43) Since they are elves and since in this case the artifact must bear some resemblance with its creator (it was created to be used as a holy relic), i would say that Ordana is the Immortal worshipped by the Verdier (who follow the ancient traditions and didn't know of Ilsundal's fate since they left him). Also, both Verdiers and Meditors worship Powers of Time (GAZ9, p.4) and Ordana belongs to the Sphere of Time, and if you consider that Ordana's symbol is an Oak Leaf, then it is likely that my assumption is correct. GAZ9 also says that the Carven Oak is a Greater Artifact of Time and that it possesses none of the powers of common elven relics. However, this doesn't prevent it from being worshipped as a Clan Relic and from having its Keepers. In fact, only the Keeper and his senior assistant know all of the powers, uses and danger of the relic (GAZ9, p.44) and even though the Keeper is listed only as "E6" in the NPC section, i believe he and his assistants can very well be considered normal clerics of Ordana (like Treekeepers, only they are devoted to Ordana). This is due to the kind of worship and devotion the Verdiers have towards their Relic and its creator, which makes its Keepers true priests of the deity. The Egg of the Phoenix This item is only briefly mentioned in an adventure detailed in GAZ5 called "The Missing Artifact". From the title we can easily infer this is a very powerful item, yet it didn't get mentioned in the section of the gazetteer detalining the "Secrets of the Elves", appearing only briefly in the adventure appendix. The only information we have is this: "This is an artifact, said to be the creation of Mealiden - the artifact he created in the process of becoming immortal." (GAZ5, p. 87) Then it goes on detailing the powers of the Egg. Previously in the adventure (at the beginning), it was written that the Egg belonged to the clan Mealidil and that it was considered a "very valuable artifact" (GAZ5, p.85). From this meagre information, what we can deduce is that the Egg is a proper artifact, but it's not considered a "relic" in the real sense of the term. That is, it has no religious power, it is not commonly worshipped as the gift of the immortals: it is only a valuable heirloom with immense powers left to the Mealidil clan by Mealiden. Were a branch of the Mealidil clan to split from the main group and to claim it as its own relic, it would then be worshipped as such, BUT it could not be reproduced like the common ToL, nor would it have the powers of the demi-human relics (unless Mealiden himself altered it like i said Ilsundal and Calitha have done). However, there could be a special Egg keeper with the charge of taking care of the Egg and with the knowledge to activate its powers, but this would not have the powers of any Treekeeper Elf (spellcasting abilities and so on), unless Mealiden himself granted him such skills because of his devotion (very likely if the devotion is sincere: after all Mealiden has no reported clergy of his own, which is very strange for an Immortal). The Elvenstar And we finally arrive to examine the Elvenstar, one of the most controverse and mysterious artifacts of the elven race. The Elvenstar is introduced and featured only in X11: Saga of the Shadowlord, but its powers have never been described fully (or i shall say clearly). It is indeed an artifact and it can be used by anyone, although it has many drawbacks for those Chaotic people who attempt to use it. However, it can be considered (and in fact i have done so) a real Relic of the Wendar and Denagoth elves. X11 tells us that the Geffronell elves gave the Elvenstar to Bensarian of Kevar when he gave them the Blackstick to hide it. The Elvenstar is a precious and unique item, an artifact to be precise (even though by the time X11 came out the Master set rules for artifacts were not out yet, so it was not described using those rules). It seems really strange then that the elves of Geffron had bestowed it upon Bensarian as a simple gesture of friendship (also considered the fact that elves are not so openly friendly towards humans after the GRoF). True, he was a respected sage and a renowned friend of the elves, and he also seems to have elven blood in his lineage from his physical description. However, this is still an incredible event for the elves to give a human their relic. So what? Maybe the elves ignored the true power of the Elvenstar? Maybe it was not a relic for them? Very unlikely, since the elves of that region (Geffron) had owned and used it for decades if not centuries, and they were not a naive folk (note that they live in a very turbulent region full of humanoids and other dangers). Shawn Stanley and i thought about all these incongruencies and tried to give them a plausible explanation in our Timeline for the Wendar-Denagoth region (you can read it in my homepage at this URL: ). Also, since we saw that the Wendar elves had no relic whatsoever, i proposed to give them the Elvenstar as such, as a gift from their patron immortals: the Korrigans. The Elvenstar is not a relic in the real sense of the term (that is, it possesses none of the powers of the demihuman relics as described in the Companion set). In fact it is much more similar to the Carven Oak (an artifact worshipped as a heirloom left by the Patron immortals), even though in this case its powers are more important to the people of Wendar than its religious value. Without it, Wendar would be doomed (like the Geffronell elves have been), and the elves (and humans too) know it. For this reason it is highly prized and revered, for the life of Wendar depends on it. Yet there is no Keeper of the Elvenstar, and if there ever was one, now it's the King of Wendar's duty to keep it and to use it to help all the people of the region (even though the elves feel it's their right to have the priority over the use of the artifact). Should the Wizard King pass this duty to somebody else in the future (most probably an elf follower of the Korrigans), he will then become the new Keeper of the Star and a priest of the Korrigans too. Note about the Foresthomes I do second Herve Musseau's opinion about this issue. Here's the complete quote: " CM1 is an old module that was based on the green box, before Mystara was really described (notably by the Gaz series), and the green box states that each elven clan has a Tree of Life. But we know that many elven clans have no ToL, and that some don't even have a relic (eg the Shadow Elves, or any of the HW elves). Trees of Life in later Mystara products were tied to Ilsundal, and elves with different histories and faiths were given other relics (eg the Carven Oak). So I (but you may disagree and handle it differently IYC) assume that pre-Gaz accessories should have the phrase "Tree of Life" replaced by "clan relic", and that post-Gaz accessories have the phrase "Tree of Life" actually mean one of Ilsundal's Tree of Life (including daughter trees). " [end quote] The Foresthomes were introduced in module CM1, a module printed shortly after Companion set was released. Since the adventure detailed the elves of the north too, the author (Douglas Niles) probably thought it good to stick to what had been published previously. Thus he gave the Norwold elves (later called Shiye in DotE, belonging to the clan that settled in Alphatia in BC 800) the Tree of Life as their relic, following the guidelines given in Companion set (Player's Book). However, on account of later products (i.e. the Gazetteers) and of the arguments emerged in our conversation, it seems to me that CM1 has never really explained WHY there were ToL up there, and instead of giving us the final answer, DotE contributed to spread further chaos in this already intricated story. This way, we must reason with our logic and take into consideration the different elven cultures that have been so far detailed in the Mystara supplements: if we do admit the possibility of an elven culture without a ToL (and we saw there are some even in the Old World), then we must also allow ourselves the benefit of the doubt, so to speak. There is no clear reason to assume the Norwold Shiye have a ToL if we look at their history. Probably what Douglas Niles wanted to say is that they have a relic, but as we've seen not all the elves' relics are ToL. For this reason i believe the Norwold elves should have a different relic, maybe Eiryndul's relic (if any). However, if you do support the theory they've got a ToL, then it must certainly be one of the missing ToL of the legend. Note about the Chamber of the Spheres Following the thread to its logical end then, we couldn't possibly avoid to spend a few words for the Shadow Elves. When GAZ13 first came out, I think many of you may have felt a chill run down their spine. "Gee.. underground elves.. cool! Hey, but wait! These are not drow elves! Even Cooler! But look: they haven't got Fungi of Life!" *sigh of relief* That could have been a possible series of thoughts of those who read for the first time GAZ13, and fortunately now we can joke about this. But if the writers of GAZ13 had stuck to "canon" and followed the guidelines given in Companion set, we would probably be here now talking about the Fungi of Life and of their growth methods above ground. Carl Sargent and Gary Thomas have done a masterful job with the Shadow Elves, creating a race unique in its beliefs and customs but that fitted (almost) perfectly within the intricate Mystara timeline. They recognized that they had to bend some rules and that the Shadow Elves' culture was not like the common elven way of life, and so they tried to supply to the lack of a powerful relic with something else. And thus the Chamber of the Spheres was created. Sure, many of you will object when i say the CoS is the Shadow Elves' relic: after all, only the shamans know of its existence, so it doesn't really fit into my previous description of a typical demihuman relic. But the Shadow Elves aren't really a typical demihuman society, or are they? So what i'm trying to explain is that the Shadow Elves have a relic at the heart of their community too, but only some of them (the shamans) know of its existence, and amongst them only the highest ranking shamans know of its real power and use. But nevertheless, since this is a gift from Rafiel and since Rafiel is the soul of the shadowelves, then this is a true relic for them. Think about it: the center of the religious life of the shadowelves is Rafiel's temple, and the First Temple is the one built in the City of Stars within the Refuge of Stone. So this is the fulcrum of the shadowelves' religion: and what lies hidden in the core of this temple? The secret heart within the heart: as you can see, my theory is not that outrageous.. [Part 3 follows] ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:30:58 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Demihuman Relics: a Treatise (5. Gnomes) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" GNOMES Gnomish Relic: Fantasy Physics Gnomes are the fourth demi-human race known on Mystara, and most commonly considered the "poorer brethren" by all other demi-human races. The truth is that gnomes only appeared as playable PCs with PC2, Top Ballista. Until that time, they were only considered an NPC race, and as such was given no covering in the Companion rules, which described the Demihuman Relics in detail. But this doesn't mean gnomes are a subrace or that they haven't got a detailed history. Their history is, if possible, more detailed and instriguing than the dwarves' one, making the gnomes the only real itinerant race among the demi-humans of Mystara. Up to now, gnomes have no real place to call home or homeland (whereas the dwarves have Rockhome, the hins the Shires and the elves have multiple choices!) and have always lived where their errands took them, looking for new, strange and bizarre things following their nature. Also, this doesn't mean that the whole reasoning behind Demi-human Relics that has prompted this article doesn't apply to gnomes. Indeed, even gnomes have a relic, although we can deduce it only basing ourselves on the only adventure module focusing on gnomes ever published for Mystara: CM4, Earthshaker. Quoting directly from page 16 of the module: "The clan's relic, the Clock of Timelessness, is a 5-foot clock with a skeleton movement (the inner works can be seen clearly). Unlike Earthshaker, the relic is ornately decorated; gears are filigreed, armatures sculpted, and jewels are lavishly set in the clock's face. The relic has all the standard powers of a relic as described in the Companion rules. In addition, the relic can be used to fashion the rare equation of time. The equation allows time travel to any specific point in time. First the keeper and his aides must study and record the movements of the clock in perfect detail for one year. With this data, they must perform thousands of complex, magical, mathematical formulae in their heads. Nothing of this can be written on paper and the slightest error will cause the end result to be imperfect. Performing these calculations takes 20 years. When the final formula has been completed, the keeper and the clanmaster can correctly set the clock. When the clock is set, one person or object is instantly transported through time to the chosen date. The transported object remains there for 24 hours and then must either transport again (by use of another equation of time) or fade into nonexistence. Anything that fades disappears utterly and totally from the Multiverse as if it had never existed (although any possessions or previous deeds of a character do not change)." As we can see here, the gnomes' relic is the Clock of Timelessness, and it surely has unique peculiarities and powers that set it apart from the other "common" Demi-human Relics so far considered. Or at least this is the Earthshaker's gnomes relic. In fact, I believe that every clan of gnomes around Mystara has a different relic, with different powers, but all of them share the same fact of being avatars of Garal Glitterlode, just like every rightful Demi-human Relic should be. Quoting from Thorfinn Tait's good idea: "Like the Trees of Life, gnomish relics are avatars of the gnomes' Immortal (and creator), Garal Glitterlode. However, the gnomish relic is of a completely different kind from the other demihuman relics. It fills an entire room in the heart of the clan stronghold or meeting place. It consists of hundreds of whirring gears, metal tubes and pipes, valves, levers, buttons, dials, grills, flashing lights and little plates of glass. Of course it is never left untended, and there are always at least a few gnomish engineers running around the little platforms and walkways, meddling and "improving" on it. But what does it do? Well, it has number of different functions. First, it serves as the centre for the gnomes' communication tubes (most gnome stongholds have some form of communication system [internal, but sometimes external too] which utilises air tubes and message cylinders). Second, it is a source of "power" for some of the gnomes' inventions (usually menial house-work inventions). Third, it has a limited form of intelligence (being an avatar of Garal Glitterlode), and it can answer questions the gnomes ask of it. The questions are spoken into a metal tube, and answers appear magically on the little glass plates. Of course, the answers are not always helpful, and very often pretty obscure. But when it comes to the realms of Fantasy Physics, it can be quite informative and helpful (perhaps giving a +2 bonus to the Fantasy Physics skill checks of a gnome who consults with it)." To conclude, I think that even gnomes do possess a relic, but it is different and has several different powers from clan to clan. The Clock of Timelessness is just one example, while another is certainly the Flying City of Serraine. Within the city, the engine that makes it fly is probably another gnomish relic imbued with the spirit of Garal. And I'm sure the gnomes of Highforge in Karameikos have another kind of relic not yet known to us, just like those living in Hule. For all we may know, there is however one thing that all these relics have in common (besides sharing the power of Garal): they're based on Fantasy Physics, and they've been all built by the same gnomes that use them. This is the first and only example of self-made relics among the demi-humans, and although it is true that probably without Garal's intervention the gnomish relics wouldn't be so special, we must however reckon that the gnomes are much more independent and self-willed than their demi-human brethren. Fantasy Physics is the gnomes' real inimitable relic! END DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn "You don't stop playing because you grow old: you grow old because you stop playing!" Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 12:21:05 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Blackmoor races] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable DM wrote: > > I have studied Blackmoor's history as given in DA1 and compared it to > Mystara timeline, and I've discovered that Arneson places many clans of= > demi-humans living and well established near the kingdom of Blackmoor. Actually, it's more like Allston invalidated the modules by arbitrarily removing most demihumans from the Blackmoor region, but that's not really= the point, and its argumentative, and I'm a big poo for pointing it out... > UNfortunately, according to the canon Mystaran timeline, the elves at = > that time (which I think can be considered around AC 4,025 ca., is that= > right?) Depends on what effect you're going for. In my BM timeline, I've set the events around 4000 BC- the time when Allston mentions the Blackmoor kingd= om is on the rise. Given that BM wasn't a kingdom until Uther's rise (something= like 5 years before the start of DA1), that's where I got my point of view. Ot= hers have varied timelines, though. > So, I am inclined to remove all traces or mentions of elves and = > halflings in DA1 (including turning NPCs like Mello the Halfling and = > Veslo Meridan into humans): do you think it's appropriate (else I'll = > have to rewrite the whole history of the demi-human races IMC..)? As Mystaros pointed out, there is every possibility that elves and halfli= ngs migrated to near the BM regions (well, as likely as most of the Mystaran migrations, in any case). = As far as turning the NPCs into humans, I think you're doing them a disservice, because it really invalidates their histories in several case= s (the two in particular that you mention) and they are some of the most colorful and detailed NPCs in any D&D module. = (BTW- wasn't Veslo already a human? I may just be confused since there's = every indication that she's a half-elf...) Also, at least one of the pregenerated characters (an elf) is mentioned a= s being related to one of the Blackmoor elves. Not a problem if you're not = using the PCs, I suppose... > PPS: The Afridhi are of Tanagoro lineage right? I don't believe so. They were originally a mountain dwelling people, so I= 've always assumed they were of Neathar heritage. I don't recall the descript= ions of them offhand (well, other than Gul Hadda, and only because he's got "clothing" tattooed on his body). Maybe it mentions something in the descriptions? ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 12:49:38 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Criptonite Criptonite Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Blackmoor races] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Actually, it's more like Allston invalidated > the modules by arbitrarily removing most > demihumans from the Blackmoor region I have always wondered if Allston and Arneson disliked each other. Besides the demi-human problem, Allston also moved Blackmoor to Skothar and placed it south of Thonia. The DA series at many times indicates Blackmoor was in Brun and it was definatly north of Thonia. The Thonians even called Blackmoor "The Northern Marches" or "The Northlands." I have always been a fan of Allston's work. I think he has done some great things with Mystara. That's why I find it strange that the Hollow World boxed set would be so sloppy where it pertains to Blackmoor. Is it known if there was some type of beef between the two? --- -- --Criptonite ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 21:34:38 CEST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Max Monas Subject: Re: MYSTARA (Cult Matters) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >Difficulty getting a good cult together? >Try Cults of Praxis (not sure of the spelling) I would like to try it, but I don't know where to find this Cult. Do you have any idea where I can find this? Thanks, Max ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 18:22:15 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Elven subraces of Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit DM wrote: > > On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 01:08:49 EST, David Knott wrote: > > << Here is a crude attempt at accounting for the variations in elven types > described in the gazetteers as well as the apparent conflicts between > OD&D and AD&D/2E sources. > > In most AD&D game worlds the dominant elven subrace is the high elf. > On Mystara that is not true -- there the dominant subrace is the forest > elf, a variant of the grey elf.>> > > Okay then I admit I've got The Complete Elves HBK but never put time into > reading it, mainly cause I thought the elven subraces in Mystara were > perfectly clear without having to adapt them to the AD&D standards. So I've > a question: what are the high elves and how do they differentiate from grey > (standard?) elves? > To give a Mystaran example, high elves are similar to Belcadizan (dark haired and short), while grey elves are similar to Eusdrian elves (fair haired and tall). Then the grey elves are essentially more reclusive. In Tolkienesque terms, high elves would be Noldor, and grey elves would be the other Eldar of Aman. [...] > Geoff and I have a different idea regarding how half-elves are possible in > Mystara, but I won't tell for now :) > I have an idea about this and other anomalies of Mystaran elves, which has been recurring in my mind frequently. What if Mystaran elves were actually all half-elves, bearing a lot of elven blood? This would explain why 1) they aren't immortal; 2) they have facial hair; 3) the offspring of humans and "elves" are not half-elves. > <> > > what are these? > AD&D sylvan elves and wild elves. IMC, I divide the elves of Mystara (magic/radiance mutations, i.e. Ee'ar, aquatic elves and shadow elves) into three subspecies, one for the Belcadiz and Savage Baronies elves (plus any other dark haired elves I might have forgot); one for the Shiye, Sheyallia, Vyalia, Wendarian, Eusdrian and Minrothaddan elves; and one for Erewan, Callarii (and most other Alfheim elves). They are physically similar to AD&D High, Grey and Sylvan elves, though their attitude and mindset might be totally different. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 23:32:07 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: OD&D Tome of Spellcraft MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Hard to believe its been over a year since I've released a new edition of the > Tome for the OD&D'ers of Mystara. Is anyone interested in a 6th Edition of > the Tome, or should put the project to rest once and for all? me,me,me,me,me,me,me! mortus ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 23:52:15 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Conan (was:The Northern Wildlands] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > You could have Conan type characters from the Hinterlands. If you need an > excuse for introducing such a character in a campaign set in the Known > World, he could simply be an escaped Thyatian slave from that region. > > H�vard > or just one of the free hinterlanders of (i think) the leopard clan. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:16:56 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Cult matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > I hate alignment distinctions, but I agree that Thanatos is quite right here (he more of the 'destroy everything in sight' type, though working very patiently toward that goal). > > I would propose Hel. She is already worshipped in this manner in Sind as Kala, and has a cult of fanatical assassins there (The Byraiyas), which seem similar to what you describe (just think of the followers of Kali in 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' and you'll get the basic idea...). I'm not so sure about alignment, though. IIRC Hel/Kala is neutral evil, but she still fits the profile nicely I think, and she is a very powerful Immortal (she was actually more powerful that Thanatos until the end of the 'Wrath of the Immortals' war!) > > BTW, where did you find this netbook - I haven't seen it, and it sounds like good suggestions! I use the Byraiyas as a renowned 'Cult of Assassins' who are famed all over the Known World for their ghastly efficiency, and so hired to do evil deeds just about anywhere. This netbook sounds like a source I might want to check out if I want to develop the cult further IMC. > > - The Stalker of Alphatia the followers of kali in the indiana jones film were the thugee, a cult of assassins from the indian sub continent.this is part of why the D&D rc has the thug. mortus ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 20:49:09 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Blackmoor races MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/00 4:34:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, mdalmonte@PROVINCIA.RA.IT writes: << Hi there! Being about to play the last part of my modified version of the Blood Brethren Trilogy (for those who don't remeber, it is set in Blackmoor using DA1), I have a couple of questions to ask you.>> okay << I have studied Blackmoor's history as given in DA1 and compared it to Mystara timeline, and I've discovered that Arneson places many clans of demi-humans living and well established near the kingdom of Blackmoor. UNfortunately, according to the canon Mystaran timeline, the elves at that time (which I think can be considered around AC 4,025 ca., is that right?) lived in Evergrun only and had no contact with the Blackmoorians (who had not yet discovered technology in DA1). Likewise, the halflings lived peacebly in Davania, according to canon, so they couldn't be found here. The only demi-human race that could also have lived in Blackmoor is the early dwarven race, since it is said they dwelt all around the world. So, I am inclined to remove all traces or mentions of elves and halflings in DA1 (including turning NPCs like Mello the Halfling and Veslo Meridan into humans): do you think it's appropriate (else I'll have to rewrite the whole history of the demi-human races IMC..)? And also, how would the Blackmoorians react if they saw elves or halflings popping in their city after Uther's disappearance (since I have an elfin in the party)?>> i'd keep the demihumans. like the lyconthropes the demihumans in DA are kind of contradicted by later mystaran works. you could always use my "false ancient history" conspiracy where like the HW a memory altering immortal spell was cast to alter the memories of that period and its earlier times. much of this stems from the rather rapid rise of the pre-BEAGLE blackmoor which are rather advanced while other cultures are way behind. add to this that this rise was preceded by the rise of the blackmoor's parent empire, thonia, and the time from hunter-gatherers to DA series is quite small. i always prefered to place the DA kingdoms on skothar as to explain the more advanced developement of them over their brun cousins. so in many ways skothar becomes the birthplace of mystaran civilization. << PS: reading the Blackmoor timeline by Zimri, I noticed he makes Svenny and Marfeldt incredibly older than Uther, while from the pictures in DA1 I figured they were about the same age... is that possible?>> never really thought about it. << PPS: The Afridhi are of Tanagoro lineage right? >> though i have no real foundation for it i always explained that most were killed in the Duchy of Ten battle and scattered to distant parts. many of these survived the GRoF. those on Brun became the Ethie. those remaining on skothar became absorbed into the developing jennites. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 23:55:40 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Alternate Haven timeline (was Haven/Gullavia) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here is another idea for the timing of various events and adventures associated with both versions of the B3 module: 858 AC Haven is one of the founding Principalities of Glantri ca. 860 AC A calamity causes the Palace of Princess Argenta to become "unstuck" in time and vanish into an Outer Plane where time passes much more slowly (perhaps one year per seven years on the Prime Plane). The Palace reappears on Mystara, sometimes at its original location but some- times at other locations, every 70 years (which equals about ten years for the Princess and her lover). Shortly after the calamity Haven/Gullavia is overrun by Hulean bandits. The leader in charge of Gullavia makes peace with Glantri and pays a tribute of horses. ca. 930 AC The first reappearance of the Palace at its original location. No adventurers find the Palace at this time, but Argenta's only daughter wanders outside the palace grounds just before the Palace disappears. Argenta is distraught, and in the process of searching for her missing daughter she and her lover are caught and tightly bound within the "heart of Arik". The daughter of Argenta finds her way to the Abaddon Woods and is taken in by a local "wise woman". This young girl eventually grows up to become the new "Witch of Abaddon", as does her daughter. The second Witch of Abaddon has two daughters, one of whom is apparently stillborn in 972 AC and the other of whom survives and gives birth to D'hmis in 991 AC. ca. 1000 AC The second appearance of the Palace near the Lake of Lost Dreams. The Immortal Thendara grabs the nearest party of adventurers and teleports them to the location, where they attempt the green cover version of the B3 adventure. If those adventurers are successful, Argenta and her lover are freed and they become rulers of the local area. The palace remains put from then on, and eventually they make contact with Duke/King Stefan and pay homage to him, in return for which Argenta is named "Baroness of Haven". If the adventurers fail (as they should be assumed to do if that adventure was not successfully carried out by the player characters in your campaign), then the Palace vanishes once again. During WotI there are brief skirmishes between Glantrian and Hulean forces in the vicinity of Gullavia. The Baron of Gullavia provides early warning to the Glantrians of the approaching Hulean hordes and then cooperates with the Huleans when they arrive. After the war the Princes of Glantri recognize that he aided Glantri as much as he could and let the Baron retain power. In the near future the Baron dies and is succeeded by his young son. The new baron is smitten with D'hmis, falls in love with her, and marries her. Unfortunately for him, D'hmis turns out to be an evil necromancer who uses her arts to murder him and take over as baroness. She then uses her evil arts to extend her life and youth -- see the movie "Death- stalker II" for an idea of the methods she uses, but not the reason for their necessity. Over the next several centuries she gradually draws her realm into closer relations with Glantri and is eventually awarded the title "Baroness of Gullavia" with the associated rights to vote in Parliament, but the title "Princess of Haven" continues to elude her because of her inability to extend her region of control beyond the immediate vicinity of Gullavia. Assuming that Argenta is still trapped, adventurers in 1070 AC find the Palace in Ghyr in the far north of Mystara and free Argenta and her lover from the "heart of Arik" -- but before they can do more than that the Palace disappears again, and Argenta and her lover are lost with the Palace. Subsequent appearances of the Palace in 1140, 1210, and 1280 are in a variety of places. At some point after the appearance in 1280 AC, Argenta and her lover die. When the Palace reappears in 1350, it is haunted by Argenta and remains in place from then on. The orange cover version of B3 may be attempted ca. 1360 AC. Alternatively, if you decide that the 500 year reference is not to be taken literally, then Argenta could die at any point after 1070 AC and that the Palace comes to rest in its original location at its next appearance. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 23:55:41 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: The Northern Wildlands] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-03-29 6:41:49 PM Eastern Standard Time, alphatian@ANGELFIRE.COM writes: << Excellent! I like all of these ideas, but in a way I think we should just define the borders and then not describe the area too much... Otherwise we'll end up filling the entire area with description of the things we don't want - lists of 200+ barbarian tribes (or whatever) doesn't sound would be much fun to do, but that's pretty much what I'd like to be in that region. Perhaps with just a *few* old ruins for the PCs to find AFTER the travel through all this hostile wilderness, of course :) >> We could do what TSR did with the "thousand tribes of Neathar" -- they depicted the culture in broad strokes and defined a total of five tribes. That left 995+ tribes to the DM's imagination. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:11:14 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: My Midlands Material to Date Pt 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's some of the material I have on the Midlands for my Mystara... it has not yet been used, which is why it is still rather rough. Hope this is usefull to you all... The Midlands The Kingdom of Galannor, the Seven Duchies and the various Barbarian Tribes of the Great Midlands Forest are pretty much my own creation. There has been some influence from the Red Steel materials (specifically the Kingdoms of Eusdria and Robrenn, whose peoples are distantly related to the peoples of the Midlands). All this material is, of course, woven within the historical and cultural system that is Mystara, so it does touch on a number of other areas and has been influenced in general by published material. One strong artistic influence of note has been the works of Larry Elmore, specifically his Barbarians and Knights materials ("The Warband" immediately comes to mind). Also, I provide you with the usual warnings as to the Non-Canonical nature of these posts and all the information they contain. Enjoy! The Geography of the Midlands The Midlands consists of the Great Midlands Forest; all of the lands northwest of the Known World, northeast of the Savage Coast, southeast of Hyborea and southwest of Norwold. The great lake known as The Cradle is considered to be within the Midlands region, as is the upper (southern) third of the Borean River. While it is known as the "Great Midlands Forest", not all the region is forested; the forest is interspersed with large swaths of plains and swamps, and there are even a few barren regions. Most of the land is hilly, with a few large hills that can almost be termed mountains. The territory occupied by the Lands of Law (the Kingdom of Galannor, the Seven Duchies and the Tribes of Law) are interspersed with farmland and grazing prairie, and connected to each other and the Five Tribes by roads through the forests that are maintained by the Council of Order. Notable geographic landmarks include the barrens found between the Lands of Law and Great Hule, which are known as the Plain of Skulls, where battles have been fought between Law and Chaos for over two millennia. The ruins of the Kingdom of Law are spread throughout the Midlands, mostly in the hands of the Beastmen Tribes. The Great Pit, a great sinkhole in the earth some 8 miles across which reaches to an unknown depth into Mystara, lies in the midwestern section of the Midlands. The Citadel of Law, which vanished in the final battle with the Great Horde of Vaprak the Destroyer, once stood where the Great Pit now lies. Today it is the home of one of the largest and most powerful of the Beastmen tribes. The Peoples of the Midlands The inhabitants of the Midlands are primitive Beastmen, savage Elves and barbaric Humans, similar in culture to the same peoples found in the lands of Hyborea and Norwold. The Kingdom of Galannor and the Seven Duchies represent the only "Civilized" nations in the Midlands, with a few minor exceptions. These exceptions include the Alphatian Kingdoms of the West, which are little more than the pocket principalities of exiled Alphatian Wizards; the Druidic Union of Three, a marginally civilized society of three Druidic tribes; and the Thanedom of Radrast, also known as Iron Mountain, the lone settlement of Rockhome Dwarves in the Midlands. As regards the barbaric peoples of the Midlands, there are the Five Tribes of Law allied with the Galannor and the Duchies, which are the most powerful of the allied groups. There are an even dozen other major Human barbarian tribes in the Midlands, seven Tribes of Balance and five Tribes of Chaos; there are also a score or more minor tribes, each allied with one or more of the bigger tribes. The other Humans of note are the clans of Darine Gypsy Folk who pass through the Midlands on an irregular basis; some pass through from Hule to Wendar, while others traverse the other direction. The Demihuman population is quite varied. There are several Dwarven settlements, though only the aforementioned Radrast is independent. There are a number of settlements of Norse Dwarves in Galannor (allies from the east), and a few settlements of Khurishi Dwarves among the Duchies (the Khurishi are not allies, merely merchants). There are three major Elven Clans and about a dozen other minor Elven Clans; all are quite savage, usually xenophobic, and generally aligned with Balance, though some of the minor tribes lean toward Chaos (Eiryndul being their Patron of Choice). There are a fair number of Halflings found in Galannor, concentrated in the Hinshire, though few will be found in the Duchies (which the Hin believe to be a bit too oppressive). Gnomes are extremely rare, and are found only in the urban areas of Galannor. Of all the unusual races found on the Savage Coast, only the Lupins are found in any numbers in the Midlands, and then usually in Galannor (though there are a good number who appreciate the rigidity of Ducal Society, and have settled there). There are five major Beastmen Tribes, with untold scores of minor hordes; there is in general no organization or unity involved among the humanoids. The sole exception to this is in The Great Pit, which many regard as a Beastmen City. The Upper Pit is little more than a chaotic series of minor Hordes all scavenging the cast-off goods of those in the Lower Pit. The Lower Pit (also called "The Dive" by the inhabitants) is home to a "civilization" of Beastmen, much like the city of Oenkmar far to the east [Remember the underground city in the old Wormy comic? Imagine that, only not quite so clean, and not quite so nice]. The Lands of Law and the Council of Order Galandar, the capitol city of Galannor, is the home of the Council of Order, the union of the remaining descendants of the Kingdom of Law, which consist of the peoples of the Kingdom of Galannor, the Seven Duchies, and the five Tribes of Law. Together the Council of Order controls most of the eastern region of the Midlands. Their domains run from the Borean River in the north, along the edge of the Adri Varma Plateau north-west of Glantri to the Black Mountains, along the Plain of Skulls north of Hule to the Billeot Hills, and north-east again at a line parallel to the eastern border. The Duchies and the Tribes of Law hold the western and southern portions, while the Kingdom holds the north and the east. Altogether, the Lands of Law cover about 1/4 of the land area of the Midlands, widely interspersed among other Tribes and a few other Kingdoms. The Lands of Law are, however, much more powerful than their size might indicate, as their cultural and historical unity allow them to maintain a parity with the other forces of the region, though not to the extent that they can challenge the existence of the status quo. The "Secret" of the power of the Lands of Law is in the Council of Order, which is an outgrowth of the ancient Lawful Brotherhood, and is in fact an adjunct organization to that group, with it's venue being the entirety of the Midlands. The Council of Order is actually divided into two councils. The Council of Twelve consists of a representative from each of the Duchies and the Tribes of Law. The Council of Twelve meets on a quarterly basis, chaired by the Grand Marshall of the Lawful Brotherhood, who is appointed to the Council of Twelve by the Masters of the Lawful Brotherhood. The Council of Twelve tends to the common business of the Council of Order. Each member of the Council of Twelve has one vote though the Grand Master can veto any vote, unless it is a unanimous decision (all of The Twelve must vote in favor or against). Even then, if the issue concerns anything outside the jurisdiction of the Council (i.e., actual action), the Grand Council of Law must approve it, or the veto of the Grand Master will stand. The Grand Council of Law consists of the Council of Twelve (excluding the Grand Marshall), the Prince of Galannor, the Patriarch of the Temple of Law, the Three Counts of Galannor and the Sheriff of the Hinshire and the three Grand Masters of the Lawful Brotherhood. The Grand Council meets once per year to make policies and develop strategies for the Grand Plan. The Grand Council tends to be extremely conservative (some might say "ossified") as is befitting an organization that has lasted over two millennia (the High Magist of the Radiant Order still is not a member after over 200 years). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:12:23 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: My Midleands Material Pt 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Kingdom of Galannor The Kingdom of Galannor is centered on the city of Galandar near the headwaters of the Borean River, where once stood the Beastmen Homeland of Urzud. Galannor has a history going back over 2000 years, and has been a powerful force for Law throughout its history. The Kingdom of Galannor is a hereditary monarchy. The King is assisted by his three Counts (North, South and West) and one Sheriff; the Kingdom is highly centralized and run by bureaucracy. The Kingdom is divided into the Royal Domains (directly ruled by the Prince) and the Four Quarters, three of which are ruled by Reeves that report directly to their respective Counts. The Fourth Quarter is the Hinshire, which is the home to the majority of the Hin in Galannor. The Hinshire is led by an elected Sheriff who serves for life; the Sheriff is often called the "Little Count" by the Galanese, or as the Hinshire lies on the eastern border of the Kingdom, the "Count of the East". The Hinshire is essentially independent, though the old alliance between Kingdom and Shire makes it seem as though the Shire were part of the Kingdom. The City of Galandar is situated on the banks of the Upper Borean River, and in fact is split by the river. The West Bank is the home of the Grand Domain, which consists of the citadel and spiritual center of the Lawful Brotherhood. The expansive lands of the Grand Domain are essentially independent of the Kingdom [much like the Vatican and Rome in the RW]. The Royal Palace and the various bureaucratic complexes, trading centers, inns, taverns and other businesses are mostly on the East Bank. The Isle of Light sits in the center of the river, and upon it is the Grand Sanctuary of Law, center of the Temple of Law. It's political position is somewhat precarious, as both the Lawful Brotherhood and the King claim to hold domain over the Patriarch and the Hierarchy, while the Patriarch claims independence from both (the status quo, which has lasted some 1000 years). The Tower of the Order of Radiant Light is also found on the Isle of Light, and is the center of the Radiant Order, the Wizard's Guild of Galannor (a moderately new development, only having formed in the last 200 years). There are three traditional military forces in the Kingdom. The best, though smallest force is the Galanese Royal Guard, directed by the Prince. The largest force is the Militia of the Quarters; each Quarter has a Militia, consisting mostly of pikemen, directed by each Reeve, and can call up Reserves as needed. Then there is the Army of Galannor, which is comprised of the Knights and Squires of the Noble class and the Serjeants of the Gentle classes; knights and squires are mounted troops while the serjeants are dragoons. In addition to these forces, there are the members of the various sub-orders of the Lawful Brotherhood, ostensibly at the call of the King should Galannor ever be invaded. These include the Order of the Golden Dragon, the Fists of Law (AKA the Marshallate), the Shire Thorns and the Holy Guard of the Grand Sanctuary; each of these and others is detailed in it's own section, below. The people of Galannor are descended from both the original Oltec and Neathar tribes that were converted by the Lawful Brotherhood thousands of years ago and were once the citizens of the Kingdom of Law, and the Allied Barbarian Tribes of the Kingdom of Law (Oltecs, Neathar and Oltec/Neathar). The "typical" Galanite is therefore slightly above median in height (5'9" for males, 5'7" for females) and average in build. Skin is dusky to fair; hair is black, brown or rarely blond or red. Eyes tend to be hazel, green or blue. The language of Galannor is Galanese, based on a Neathar dialect with strong admixtures of Oltec, and a dash or two of Gold Dragon and Sollux. There are two major divisions of Galanese (from the Galanese point of view). There is Royal Galanese and Ducal Galanese (which the folk of the Duchies insist on calling Kargan). Royal Galanese is divided into High Galanese, Middle Galanese and Low Galanese; the Nobility of Galannor speaks High Galanese, while the Gentry, Guildsmen and urban Commoners speak Middle Galanese and Low Galanese is spoken by the rural Commoners. Most modern written works are in Middle Galanese. There is also Outer Galanese, which is a patois of Galanese and the languages of the Five Tribes. Used by merchants, tribesmen and the "underside" of the Kingdom, Outer Galanese has no written form, however it is noteworthy that hand signals are nearly as important in Outer Galanese as the verbal portions of the language. Galanese script is actually a derivative of the Sollux Script, and is called Sollan. There is also a calligraphic script called High Sollan. High Sollan is reserved for Holy Writings and High Galanese, while common Sollan is used in High, Middle and Low writings. Galanese names are simple and straightforward: Galan, Gandar, Kardun, Marek, etc. The names of the Nobility and the Gentility tend to follow the "Old Forms"; either a dual pairing of c-v-c + c-v-c or five letters, c-v-c-v-c; commoners and Guildsmen are less careful about following these forms, and often experiment, though the Temple of Law will not allow truly unusual names. There are several common suffixes and prefixes in the Galanese language: these include -nor ("Land of"); -dar ("City of"); and Ard- ("Fortress"). Thus, Galannor is "Land of Galan", Galandar is "City of Galan" and Ardgalan, "Fortress of Galan". ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:13:02 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: My Midlands Material Part 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Seven Duchies The Seven Duchies are, in order of relative power: Harlun, Mardun, Berendar, Darham, Ardwyn, Markel and Ardakar. There are also a number of minor Baronies throughout the region, most of which are associated with and in fief to the various Duchies. These Baronies were mostly founded within the last 500 years, and are in general little more than colonies of the larger Duchies. The peoples of the Seven Duchies and the Baronies are descended from the nobility and the urban peoples of the Kingdom of Law, and are all related more closely to each other than they are to the Galanese or the peoples of the Tribes of Law. Thus they identify with each other more than they do with the folk of either Kingdom or Tribe. There is a definite feeling of superiority among the Ducal peoples due to the nature of their ancestors. The Clan and the Lineage is very important in the Duchies, and form the basis of all other relationships. There are three major classes in the Duchies: The Nobility, the Peasantry and the Serfs. These classes are almost castes, as there are very few ways to move up in class. The Clergy fits somewhere in between, yet outside the Peasantry and the Nobility, and is the best way for an individual member of the Peasantry to "move up" in the world without joining the Ducal Guard. Most serfs and peasants are resigned to their fates, but some rebel. Peasants may move on to the Kingdom of Galannor if they wish (leaving everything behind), but the serfs are regarded as "property", and will rarely find refuge save among the Tribes of Law (which abhor the concept of serfdom). A fourth "class" in the Duchies is the Clanless, which are sometimes disparagingly referred to as the Freemen of the Duchies; they exist outside the normal social structure, and without the support of Clan or Manor. The Noble Clans are the rulers of the Duchies and the Baronies. They all claim descent from the nobility of the Kingdom of Law through one line or another. Some Clans intermarry, while others "preserve" their line by marrying only within the Clan (this has led to some very unusual bloodlines over the centuries). Each Duchy will be home to 5 or more Noble Clans; each Clan will hold a certain Charge or Duty within the Duchy (the Duke's Seneschal might always be from one clan, or the Captain of the Ducal Guard might always come from another, etc). The order of Nobility, highest to lowest, is Duke, Baron, Lord, and Knight. A Marquis is a Baron who is in charge of a strategic Fortress or Castle rather than a town The members of the Ducal Guard consist of the younger sons of the Nobility in leadership positions and certain members of the Peasantry. Peasants who become members of the Ducal Guard or who are so through heredity are considered to be in the Yeomanry, a class somewhere between Noble and Peasant [longtime families of the Yeomanry are known as Villeins, Woodwards or Haywards, depending on their hereditary duties]. They owe military duty to the Duke or Baron, though they are generally called upon only for full-scale invasions; they are allowed and in fact required to own and maintain weapons, including Long swords, Longbows and Crossbows. Yeomen also manage the various Manors of the Nobility, and the attendant Peasants and Serfs (the Knights are the ostensible rulers of the Manor, but they rarely if ever even deal with their manor, as they are too busy at court). A Vavasor is a Yeoman who has attained a level of power and wealth (though not respect) equal to that of the Knight that "owns" the Manor the Vavasor controls (in this case, the title Vavasor is an inheritable title). Vavasor is the highest rank a Peasant can reach in the Duchies, barring entering the Clergy. The Peasantry is descended from the gentry of the old Kingdom of Law who were able to hold some autonomy from the power-hungry Nobility during the Dark Age. Peasants hold most of the non-fortified villages, which are run by hereditary Vavasors. The Nobility and Yeomen of the region protect these villages in exchange for food, labor or other products. The Peasantry owns their own lands (through their Clans), and also must work the Manors of the Nobility for a portion of their day. Peasants are not allowed to own any weapon longer than a short sword, or any form of longbow or crossbow. There are, however, several Peasant Clans that have become proficient with the use of the dagger over the years... The Serfs occupy the lowest rung on the social ladder of the Duchies. They are the "property" of the Noble Manor on which they live. They have few rights, and for the most part those few rights are often ignored. The Serfs are descended from the common city folk of the old Kingdom of Law, who traded their lives and the lives of their descendants for protection. Serfs may not possess any weapon other than a knife, and if they are ever found to hold such in the presence of a Noble without permission the punishment is summary execution. The life of the Serf is "Nasty, Brutish and Short", to use a well-worn phrase. The Clergy is beholden to the Temple of Law based in Galandar, which is a point of contention for the Dukes and Barons (who may not, in general, choose their own Priests or Bishops, though they may send them packing and request another after a one-year grace period). The Clergy is usually the only way for a member of the Peasantry to move up in the Duchies, and promising lads are usually chosen for service with the gratitude of their parents. The Dukes are talking about forming their own Temple, however, if they can get the approval of the Lawful Brotherhood, which has "taken the issue under advisement" for the last three centuries. There are a few Abbeys in the Duchies with attendant lands that fall outside the jurisdiction of the Dukes and Barons. These are guarded by the Holy Guard of the Grand Sanctuary or members of the Order of the Gold Dragon, who will brook no argument from the Nobility on points of precedence or power. The Clanless (the "Freeman" class) fall outside the social structure of the Duchies, having a variable status depending on the local Duke or Baron. The Clanless are often Sellswords, adventurers, tinkers, merchants and others who often do not fit into the Ducal society all that well. The Clanless have their own separate section in every town and village in the Duchies. A Sellsword Troop might be considered prospective employees in one Duchy or Enemies of the State in the next. The Sellswords are the exception to the rule concerning weapons and peasantry; all weapons however must be "peace-bonded" while not on campaign, or the Sellsword is at the mercy of the local Nobility. Sellswords are ostensibly organized as a Guild in the Kingdom of Galannor, and thus have their special privileges and rights through the treaties among the Council of Order. Other Clanless have ties with the Guilds in Galannor, while some receive orders from the Temple of Chaos in Hule, and even others are contacts for the Darine Gypsy folk; one can never tell when dealing with the Clanless. Villages of the Clanless lie outside the normal borders of the individual Duchies and Baronies (a "fortified" village consists of little more than a wooden palisade and motte-and-bailey keep, as anything more substantial would raise the ire of the Dukes and Barons. The Dukes often talk about clearing out the "Clanless Vermin", but little effort is made to do so. The Clanless hold some influence in the region, however, as the third largest town in the lands of the Duchies is a Clanless settlement (see the City of Blades, below). The people of the Duchies are generally shorter than the Galanese (5'7" for men, 5'5" for women), but tend to a bulkier build than their cousins (add 10% to their weight; the opposite is true for serfs, who are frailer than their cousins, subtract 10% from their weight). Skin tends to be fair, ruddy and freckled, and hair is blond or red, sometimes black (often so in the case of the Serfs). Eyes are blue or hazel. Hair is worn long, and beards full. Clothing is rougher than that worn in Galannor, as is fitting for the more frontier-like nature of the Duchies. The language of the people of the Duchies is called Kargan, after the First King of the Kingdom of Law. Kargan sounds much like a stilted, archaic dialect of High Galanese; Kargan contains the original three inflections of the old language of the Kingdom of Law that today are differentiated by dialect among the Galanese. Kargan has Royal, Noble and Common inflections, which are used depending on whom one is speaking to rather than based upon whom is speaking. High Galanese and Kargan sound nearly identical, but to mistake a Ducal Noble for a member of the Galanese Nobility is to invite a Challenge of Honor at the least. The Nobility, the Yeomanry and the Clergy are the only ones that are allowed to learn how to read in the Duchies. Ducal works are invariably in the Kargan Script, a regional version of High Sollan. There is a strong black market for the written word among the Clanless. Clan names have suffixes in the Duchies, denoting the Social Status of the Clan. -akal is used for Ducal, -akav for Baronial, -akar for Lordship, and -akan for Knighthood. -akoy denotes Yeoman status, while -akul denotes Villein status (Yeoman for five or more generations, and currently a Vavasor). -ikev, -ikoy, and -ikul are the three Peasant suffixes, denoting Lower, Middle and Higher rankings (determined by the local Duke or Baron). -i is used for the Serfs, and is added to their Manor, as Serfs do not have "official" clans. In all cases, if the Clan or Lineage is matrilineal add the suffix -a to the regular suffix (thus, -akala to a matrilineal Ducal Clan). If the Clan name ends in a vowel, use the infix -l- (thus, Clan Kartha of the Baronial class becomes the Karthalakav). The nobility of the Duchies will invariably identify themselves by their title and given name, perhaps with a flattering epithet, then by the name of their clan or line, and then their Duchy or Barony. For example: "I am Sire Andros the Blue of Clan Varolakada, from the Duchy of Harlun". Dukes and Barons will simply use the name of their land ("I am Harlun"). Yeomen will use the their rank and name in their introductions, their Clan, and their Manor of Station: "Yeoman Sergeant Maral Kartalakul of Manor Mardak". Most peasants will simply use a given name followed by an occupational surname, e.g., Kip the Cottar, or Edra the Weaver, or use their Clan name among strangers: Kip of Clan Karailikoya, or Edra of Clan Bolnirikul. Peasants will rarely ever use a location as their surname, as it might be mistaken for a serf surname, though Yeomen will do so, with "...of Manor X" rather than simply "...of X". Serfs generally have only the given name, and will use the name of the location they belong to if required, e.g., Vular Mardakev, or Ertha Karmorrokeva. Anything goes with the Clanless... The Duchies Ardakar Ardwyn Berendar Darham Harlun Mardun Markel The Baronies Abbeys and Church Lands Clanless Settlements The City of Blades ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:13:53 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: My Midlands Materials Pt 4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Five Tribes The Five Tribes are, in order of size and influence, the Uimach (Oltec/Neathar), the Ausdran (Neathar), the Roanna (Oltec), the Andar (Neathar) and the Shonak (Oltec). They are the barbarian descendants of the commoners of the old Kingdom of Law and the Barbarian Tribes that had been their allies. History of Galannor The history of Galannor begins long ago and far away from the Midlands. By 2100 BC the destruction of the Taymoran was well underway through the "graces" of Thanatos, and Ixion was able to concentrate on what he regards as the Beastmen "Scourge" at Urzud. Ixion was concerned with maintaining the Balance; he did not eliminate the Beastmen, but he did what the thought he could do to lessen their power. He cast a very subtle Immortal level spell that began to bring Order into the Chaotic nature of the Beastmen; the modern tribes of Beastmen began to form, as their Chaotic genetic nature was slowly leeched from them. Ixion believed that this would cause internecine strife and that the Beastmen would eventually kill each other off, or that it would at least keep them from becoming an overwhelming menace. Having also seen a distinct imbalance forming in the Great Valley as regards Law and Chaos, Ixion formed the Lawful Brotherhood in order to counter the growing Temple of Chaos. Ixion had his remaining worshippers from the Great Valley migrate to the region to the north of the Great Valley, where they found a great tower, called the Citadel of Law. Here, they came under the guidance of Ostara, an Immortal ally of Ostara, disguised in her Mortal Identity. She introduced herself to the assembled group as the Selan Lightbringer, the Prophet of Law, and she began to introduce Ixion's followers to the Way of Law. Meanwhile, Ixion brought together a pantheon of Lawful Immortals (being dedicated to Balance, and not being Lawful himself, he did not become a part of the pantheon). He started with Hel's oldest enemy, Odin, and his new protegee, Thor. Odin agreed to head up the effort, and added Frey and Freyja to the group. Ixion then went to Ka, his old friend and ally, and asked him to guard the Mortal society that Odin and his Pantheon would watch over. Ka willingly agreed to help, as he could see the threat that the Temple of Chaos would pose to his followers in the future (many of the Oltec tribes of the region were among his followers). Ka then brought in Diamond, in opposition to the membership of Pearl in the pantheon of the Temple of Chaos, and they formed their own alliance within the pantheon, much as had Thanatos and Pearl in the Temple of Chaos. Finally, Terra, who already had numerous worshippers among the local Neathar tribes, asked to join. When all was ready, Ixion revealed the Pantheon he had created to his followers, who then each took one of the members of the Pantheon of Law as their patron Immortal. They then went out and begin preaching the Way of Order to the local tribes of Oltec and Neathar descended peoples. Under the new union of Immortals, the first Brothers of the Lawful Brotherhood went out into the forests where they converted the local barbarian tribes to the Way of Law. These tribes were descendants of Oltec, Neathar and Antalian tribes. They had little difficulty in bringing the barbarians into the fold as many of them were already followers of Ka or Odin, and their own shamans revealed the truth of the words of the Brotherhood of Law. By 1900 BC they had converted all the tribes within 100 miles of the Citadel of Law, and a new society formed in the deep forests of the north. Led by the Priests and Paladins of the Citadel of Law, the Barbarian Tribes were able to withstand the advances of the growing kingdoms of the Great Valley. The punitive expeditions into the Great Valley by the barbarians and the Lawful Brotherhood only put them even further into the "Barbaric North" scheme that the Temple of Chaos used to help unify the tribes and states of the Great Valley. At this point in time, the Lawful Brotherhood used bronze weapons and armor (they had some of the first Bronze Plate Mail on Mystara). They traded what bronze they could to the allied tribes, though they had little enough as it was. The tribes were still mostly in the Stone Age, but they used whatever bronze weaponry they could find (whether from the Lawful Brotherhood or found on the field). The Citadel of Law was still the only major structure in the Midlands, though a few primitive castles and forts had been constructed by the Brotherhood. In 1800 BC the Steel Wars began at Urzud, to the north and east of the Citadel of Law. The pressure the Lawful Brotherhood had been placing on the kingdoms of the Great Valley weakened as they turned to defend themselves from the Beastmen onslaught. The next century was fraught with great battles, slaughter and valor as the Lawful Brotherhood stemmed the tide of the migrating Beastmen. Fortification technology advanced at a rapid rate as a matter of necessity. The initial tribes that joined with the Lawful Brotherhood had by this time merged with them and new tribes flocked to the standard of Law. The Kingdom of Law: 1700 through 1400 BC Over time a city had grown around the Citadel of Law. Numerous castles, villages and temples had also been built throughout the land. In 1700 BC Kargan, Grand Master of the Lawful Brotherhood, was crowned as the First King of the Kingdom of Law in a great ceremony. It was an ill-omened event however, for a great black cloud swept in out of the east and obscured the sun, turning day into night (the cloud was the result of the explosion of the Blackmoorian Device that formed the Broken Lands). Kargan "Dragonheart", the First King, went on to lead his warriors and the barbarian auxiliaries in the greatest series of battles the Midlands had ever seen, which decisively ended the Beastmen Wars of the period. The years from 1700 through 1400 BC were ones of peace, growth and prosperity in the Kingdom of Law. The King and the Lawful Brotherhood consolidated their holdings and began to send missionaries and explorers out into the world. They visited Nithia, Norwold, and the Great Valley, noting where great concentrations of Chaos lay, and where their efforts might have been best put to use. These missionaries brought back news, magic and technology, notably the method for making Iron; thus, the Kingdom of Law joined the Iron Age around 1500 BC, though the local allied Barbarians remained in the Bronze Age, while many other local tribes remain in the Stone Age. The Kingdom had but few skirmishes with the Beastmen during this period, though the nebulous border with Hule burned almost daily with war; by this time that region had become known as the Plain of Skulls. But as the Kingdoms of the Great Valley could not put up a thoroughly united front, the Kingdom of Law was not threatened. The threat to the Kingdom actually came from within. In the late 15th century BC, the new Entropic Immortal known as Set decided to join the Temple of Chaos, and to prove himself "worthy" (i.e., to impress the current members), he decided to single-handedly bring down the Kingdom of Law. He began by sending his agents to the Kingdom to whisper words of power, wealth and greed to the Dukes and to the various junior lines of the Royal Family. His agents then began a campaign of destruction against the outer settlements and the agricultural lands of the Kingdom; he also engineered the migration of several barbaric tribes out of the north, to add danger and mystery to the mess. The Immortals of the Pantheon of Law, being engrossed in the rising Nithian Empire and the evolving Norse, Traldar and Sindhi cultures, were taken by surprise when the Kingdom of Law broke out in rebellion and Chaos! At the height of the chaos, when the forces of the various factions were all fighting with each other and the invading barbarians all across the Kingdom, a Great Horde moved out of Urzud, this time straight into the Kingdom of Law. Vaprak the Destroyer, an Ogre of prodigious size and power, led the Beastmen Great Horde. This is the same Vaprak that later attained Immortality under the name Jammudaru. His hordes didn't simply swarm over the fortifications; they brought them down around the defenders ears. They didn't merely burn villages; they razed them, and then salted the ground. They desired absolute destruction, not simple loot. Vaprak later claimed that he had been Cursed by a Wizard from the Kingdom of Law, and the war was his path of vengeance; only much later did he discover that there were no Wizards in the kingdom at the time (magic-use was frowned upon in the K. of Law). [It is still a secret held by very few that it had been the Immortal Loki in a mortal guise that had Cursed Vaprak, in a minor plot to add more Chaos to the fall of the Kingdom of Law]. The Horde tore though the Kingdom of Law until the final, climactic battle at the Citadel of Law. The Citadel, the city around it and most of the Great Horde disappeared in an incredible display of destruction (which heralded Vaprak's elevation to Immortality). The Kingdom of Law was shattered, as no one trusted anyone else, and no united front was brought to bear against the remaining Beastmen. The Kingdom of Law fell and only a very few citadels and castles remained standing. A long Dark Age settled over the Midlands. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:14:31 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: My Midlands Material Part 5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The First Dark Age: 1400 through 1200 BC After the fall of the Kingdom of Law in 1400 BC, the peoples of the Kingdom of Law and their various Allied Tribes lived in a state of Chaos for several generations, until one of the more powerful Dukes led a campaign against the home of the Beastmen. The Age of Law: 1200 through 700 BC His grandson, Galan Dragonheart, led the final battles against the Beastmen and razed their city, Urzud. There he built his new capital, and there it was that the Lawful Brotherhood built their new Citadel of Law. That was in 1190 BC, over 2000 years ago. At that time, Galan was yet a Duke, and did not attempt to claim the status of King. It wasn't until 500 BC that the Duke of Galannor felt strong enough to claim the title of King (this after stunning defeats of the forces of Hule and the recognition of Galannor's supremacy by the Grand Master of the Lawful Brotherhood). Therefore, the Galanese claendar dates from that year, and thus 1000 AC = 1500 YK (Year of the Kingdom of Galannor). In a notable dark moment in the history of Mystara, the Broken Lands far to the east are declared sacred by the Great Shaman of the Beastmen in 1190 BC; the City of Oenkmar is founded on the ruins of the Lost City of Aengmar, where was found the Blue Knife of Beastman myth and legend (actually, it was a sacrificial knife left by the Shadowelves who formerly lived in the city). Balancing out the dark moment of the founding of the Broken Lands, around the same time the City of Urzud falls to the Lawful Brotherhood, led by the great hero Galan Dragonheart. The city is razed and Galan builds his capital on its ruins; he names the new city Galandar, and his new kingdom comes to be known as Galannor. He and his descendants continue to drive the remaining Beastmen out of the old realm of Urzud; many flee to the Broken Lands over the next 2 centuries. The Second Dark Age: 700 through 500 BC 500 BC The Lupins spread throughout the region; many clans settle in the plains to the east of the Rakasta (in the modern Huptai Territories). Several clans make the long trek to the far east, where they come into contact with Dwarves from Rockhome, who are intrigued by their reports of the great range of mountains known as the Black Mountains. The Kingdom of Galannor: 500 BC through Today 500 AC The barbarian tribes of the north, united by the Lawful Brotherhood based in Parth Galan, mount a massive campaign against Great Hule. The beginning of the 100 Years War. 500 through 600 AC Several tribes of northern barbarians, not as fanatical about the cause of Law as the Lawful Brotherhood of Parth Galan, give up the fight and reave their way through Great Hule and the Beastmen Lands to the coast between Bellayne and the Traladaran lands, where they conquer the local Forest Tribes and settle down to form their own kingdoms. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:15:43 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Pantheon of the Midlands MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Pantheon of the Lawful Brotherhood and the Temple of Law Vidun (Odin) is the leader of the Lawful Brotherhood pantheon, and takes his role most seriously. Most of the Galanese do not revere Vidun directly; he is more of a distant, grandfatherly figure. He is the Patron of Truth, Rulership and Wisdom, so the various nobles and the Royal Family take him very seriously. The Holy Guard of the City of Galandar holds him as their Patron as well. He is regarded as the Father of Torun, and thus places much of the day to day workings of the Pantheon on his shoulders. His symbol is a golden Arrow of Law on a white field or, alternatively, a Gold Dragon Rampant on a scarlet field (especially in Galannor). Torun (Thor) is the "Right-Hand-Man" of Vidun, and is the patron of the Knights of Galannor, the Noble Contingent of the Army of Galannor (made up of younger sons of the nobility). He is the Immortal most commoners will pray to when they need guidance, as he is much more straightforward in thinking, rather than his more esoteric Patron and Father, Vidan. He is Patron of Righteous War and Honorable Actions, and as such there are a number of Paladins who dedicate their oaths to him. Thor is personally less than enthused that Odin has placed the "bureaucracy" of the Pantheon in his hands, but Odin just says that it will be a "good lesson in patience". His symbol is a golden sword, or more commonly, a golden spear. Kandar (Ka) and Berunna (Diamond) are the opposite of Buyulome (Thanatos) and Guzelik the Great (Pearl) in the Hulean Pantheon. While Buyulome and Guzelik represent Death, Destruction and Chaos, Kandar and Berunna represent the maintenance of Order in the Universe. They are said to ride before the Army of Galannor on its crusades against Hule, and are believed to patrol the Lands of Law searching out any taint of Chaos. They are the Patrons of the Order of the Golden Dragon (Paladins), the members of which enter Chaos-ridden territories seeking out sources of Chaos. High level Paladins can eventually get a Gold Dragon as a bonded mount, though Pegasai, Griffons and Giant Eagles are more common. The symbol of Kandar is a golden Arrow of Law or golden sword with eagle wings; the symbol of Berunna is a Gold Dragon volant (flying). Their symbol together is a golden band with a golden Arrow of Law inside. The coat of arms of the Order of the Golden Dragon is azure (blue), a Dragon volant or (gold); their badge is a golden ring containing a blue field, upon which is superimposed a white Arrow of Law. Darunna (Terra) Sula (Ostara) (Ostara is a lawful neutral Eternal of the Sphere of Energy; in mortal life, a Skhandaharian sun-priestess who achieved immortality when Blackmoor was young, with Ixion as her Patron). Ven (Frey) and Venna (Freyja) Galanese Name Common Name AL Areas of Concern Berunna (f) Diamond LN Dragons, Winged Beasts, War Darunna (f) Terra LN Marriage, Children Kandar Ka LN Life, Defense, Order Sula (f) Ostara LN Light, The Sun Torun Thor LN Vidun's Right-Hand-Man Ven Frey LN Agriculture, Rains Venna (f) Freyja LN Home and The Hearth Vidun Odin LN Rulership, Wisdom, Law ***************************************************************** Halun Halav LN Strategy, Anti-Beastman Kalam Al-Kalim LN Right Thinking, Honor Mata (f) Maat LN Social Stability Rad Rad LN Magic and Wizards Sul Ilsundal LG The Sun, Paladins Tara (f) Tarastia LN Justice, Revenge Tavar Ausar LN Demon Hunters Tumak Kurtulmak LE Repentant Beastmen Zanar Atruaghin LN Forests, Barbarians ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:33:45 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Blackmoor races] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-03-30 12:22:05 PM Eastern Standard Time, cthulhudrew@USA.NET writes: << Actually, it's more like Allston invalidated the modules by arbitrarily removing most demihumans from the Blackmoor region, but that's not really the point, and its argumentative, and I'm a big poo for pointing it out... >> Another interpretation might be that all of the demi-humans who lived in or near Blackmoor were killed in the Great Rain of Fire -- only those who lived far away from Blackmoor survived to become the ancestors of the modern demi-humans. Later histories ignored such peoples who left no modern descendants. In fact, this approach could take care of every contradiction in various sources about Blackmoor except for those related to geographic location. Pre-GRoF lycanthropy would have been eradicated by the GRoF, as would those Beastman subraces who were just beginning to breed true. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:33:48 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Elven subraces of Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-03-30 11:46:19 AM Eastern Standard Time, mdalmonte@PROVINCIA.RA.IT writes: << On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 01:08:49 EST, David Knott wrote: << Here is a crude attempt at accounting for the variations in elven types described in the gazetteers as well as the apparent conflicts between OD&D and AD&D/2E sources. In most AD&D game worlds the dominant elven subrace is the high elf. On Mystara that is not true -- there the dominant subrace is the forest elf, a variant of the grey elf.>> Okay then I admit I've got The Complete Elves HBK but never put time into reading it, mainly cause I thought the elven subraces in Mystara were perfectly clear without having to adapt them to the AD&D standards. So I've a question: what are the high elves and how do they differentiate from grey (standard?) elves?>> In AD&D, high elves are the "standard" elven race, while grey elves are more intelligent but not as strong as high elves. Since I figured that the "standard" Mystaran elf should be able to cast mage spells, I figured I would assign such elves a subrace with an intelligence bonus sufficient to ensure that ability. However, paying for that intelligence bonus with a strength penalty did not seem right for the elven warrior types of the Known World -- a wisdom penalty (which would discourage them from becoming clerics or druids) seemed to work better. <> << I don't get this.. why should shadow elves being involved in creation of water elves clans? They are the Minrothad elves, and we all know they were part of Ilsundal's migration, which has no tie to the Shadowelves. They surely derive from forest elves, and maybe had crossbreeding with acquatic elves, but it's more a matter of way of living than genetic I believe, if they chose the sea instead of the woods as their primary interest. >> There is mention in Gaz 9 that water elves bear a disturbing resemblance to shadow elves -- so I extrapolated from that mention that the offspring of matings between shadow elves and other elves (admittedly very rare) would have the characteristics of Minrothaddan water elves. I would agree that crossbreeding of "normal" elves with aquatic elves would be a better expla- nation of their unique abilities. << But according to your hypothesis, only Savage Coast elves are high elves (born because of the Red Curse influence), so how's it possible that other elves have "recessive traits" of high elves, which were unexistant on Mystara till they arrived in the Savage Coast? Bear in mind I still don't know what's the difference between high and grey elves, so I might be making a blunder here (I apologize in this case) :)>> I was figuring that the Belcadiz elves migrated from the Savage Coast to the Known World while most of them were still "forest elves" rather than "high elves". Various contacts between Alfheim elves and Savage Coast elves could have resulted in bloodlines of "forest elves" that carried "high elven" characteristics. The net effect is that any two Alfheim elves whose bloodlines are not known to be free of the "taint" of "high elven" ancestry could in theory give birth to a "high elf" who would lack the natural talent for magic of a "forest elf" and thus would have the same class options as a standard AD&D elf. Here is the general theory: Forest elf raised by forest elves: Trained as mage, becomes fighter ASAP, then advances in both classes. Any other classes are gained in addition to these classes. Non-forest elf raised by forest elves: The attempt to teach magic to this character may fail. The attempt to train this character as a fighter will succeed. This character will probably begin play as a single-classed fighter with no "talent" for magic. Other: The "high elves" of the Savage Coast do not expect that all of their children will have a natural talent for magic and thus do not try to force them into any particular careers. As a result, characters born and raised under these conditons may have any class combination available to high elves. <> << <> what are these? >> Basically they are elven subraces with bonuses to strength and penalties to intelligence as well as a more "primitive" culture that is more in tune with nature. Given that most known Mystaran elven cultures placed a strong value on mage ability, I saw no reason to posit subraces who would be penalized in that area. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:33:46 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Elven subraces of Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-03-30 3:49:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, agathokles@LIBERO.IT writes: << I have an idea about this and other anomalies of Mystaran elves, which has been recurring in my mind frequently. What if Mystaran elves were actually all half-elves, bearing a lot of elven blood? This would explain why 1) they aren't immortal; 2) they have facial hair; 3) the offspring of humans and "elves" are not half-elves. >> That is certainly an idea worth considering. Whereas AD&D 2E elves live 300 years or so and then weary of the world and move on, Mystaran elves live 800+ years but then die as other mortals do. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 10:25:26 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: My Midlands Material Part 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit do your creation fit the maps i drew (the ones based on Christian 's maps).If so or if not , may i put them on my site? -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 10:47:47 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: My Midlands Material Part 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/31/00 3:26:23 AM US Eastern Standard Time, thibsylv@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes: << do your creation fit the maps i drew (the ones based on Christian 's maps).If so or if not , may i put them on my site? >> No, my material unfortunately does not fit in with his. I began developing the Midlands before Christian offered his materials to the list, and never really took his developments into account (good stuff, definitely, but I already had plans for that area); though the materials are not necessarily completely incompatible. I have a very crude sketch map of my version of the Midlands somewhere, I'll see what I can find. It was always a side project (as can be seen by the lack of detail concerning the barbarian tribes as compared to the kingdom and the duchies)... James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 11:12:59 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Notes on the Five Tribes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/31/00 12:34:23 AM US Eastern Standard Time, Mystaros@AOL.COM writes: << The Five Tribes The Five Tribes are, in order of size and influence,>> Here are some details for the Five Tribes... << the Uimach (Oltec/Neathar) >> The UiMach are like Howard's Cimmerians, and are the most "Celtic" of the tribes. They are distantly related to the Robrenn of the Savage Coast and culturally similar to the Dunael and Caerda of the Isle of Dawn, though they are more "primitive" and atavistic than the other similar tribes. They are a mostly independent tribe and are on the borders of the Lands of Law and the Lands of Chaos, so they are a highly martial and skilled tribe of warriors. Kandar and Berunna are their Patron Immortals. << the Ausdran (Neathar),>> That should actually read "Neathar/Antalian". The closest RW culture would the the Rus, circa 8th to 10th century AD, though they are less Vikingish and slightly more Slavic in nature at this time. They have close ties with the Duchies, and thus are the most "civilized" of the Five Tribes. Darunna is their Patron Immortal. << the Roanna (Oltec),>> The Roanna are similar culturally to the Atruaghin Tribes, most closely to the Children of the Elk. They live in the southeastern section of the midlands, and are the tribe closest to the Known World. They are allies of the UiMach and their Patron Immortal is Zanar. <> The Andar live in the western regions of the forest. They have no RW equivalent, though it might be said that they somewhat resemble the Czech, Slovak and Slovene cultures to a minor extent. Sul is their Patron Immortal, and of all the Five Tribes they have the closest relations with the Elves of the Midlands. <> The Shonak also have no RW equivalent; they are closest, however, to the various Siberian, Tungus and Mongolian tribes, and thus their culture greatly resembles that of the Ethengars, except they are not fully nomadic, only semi-nomadic. They have a strong Neathar influence and are similar culturally to the Vaarana and Saamari of Kaarjala in Norwold. They live in the northernmost section of the midlands and have to deal almost weekly with raids by the minions of Pojaara. Tavar and Tara (Taavar and Taara in their dialect) are their Patron Immortals. James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:17:35 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Wyrmteeth Gazetteer-Part One MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Gazetteer: The Dragon Kingdom of Wyrmteeth as it appeared on the Tome of Mystara issue #2 by Iulius Sergius Scaevola (aka Giulio.N. Caroletti) Foreword by the Author I wrote this Gazetteer in order to complete the information found in CM1: Test of Warlords and Dawn of the Emperors, which explained briefly how 1,000 dragons lived in the Wyrmteeth range in Norwold. The presence of such a large dragon population was apparently unknown to people due to the ability of the Dragon King of Wyrmteeth, a cunning red dragon who avoided mass attacks against Norwold in order to keep his home free of human armies that probably would crusade against the "foul beasts." But I thought to myself: would a large red dragon really hide himself in a shell like a trembling mortal human in a city, or a dwarf in the mountains? Are not red dragons one of the greatest races of the World? So why hide? A red dragon that old would surely make himself one of the protagonists in the world theatre. So obviously, I had to change something. Humans are inferior beings, but may prove useful; a large army of human servants would be a fine toy in the hands of a dragon. The kingdom begun to form in my mind; I have tried to build it in the most believeable way, taking into consideration (a) dragon philosophy (we are better than the other races; we are free and don't need anyone; humans are servants); (b) dragon political beliefs (political plots and intrigues can appeal to any dragon as well as an open confrontation, and the evil nature of some of them make them perfect to plan projects that can kill many people if necessary without shedding a tear); and (c) the schemes of dragon Immortals. In the final section, I have traced a way you can fit Wyrmteeth's history inside the recent wars of the Wrath of Immortals. {Note: For my own purposes, I have changed the gender of the dragon Immortal Pearl. As Immortals may change their appearance at will, I did not see this as a great dilemma.] If creators of Mystaran web pages would use my information partially or totally to build material for their Mystara, I would like to be informed, although they may of course do as they wish with this information in their own campaigns. PLAYER'S GUIDE The Kingdom of Wyrmteeth: What Everyone Knows Jasper, a guard in the city of Alpha: "Why do you want to go to Wyrmteeth? Ain't you got enough dirty work in this country? Ain't you got monsters enough, here 'round Alpha? Ah, I see, it's too hot here, so you wanna cool down with a holiday in the mountains, heh? Boy, I don't wanna scare you, but you see, Norwold's a big place enough to find trouble, if you search for some. You can get killed in Landfall two minutes after you're there, if you enter there dressed like that - boy, I know you're a mage, but Norwold isn't Alphathia, and they'll just stab you in your back if you think you might be revered just because you know the power words for 'fireball,' got me? So, if you really wanna know somethin' 'bout the wyrms down there, well, listen to me and try dress like a man on your trip round Norwold. "Wyrmteeth...first of all, you see the mountains. Ice everywhere, and you'll wonder how to get there. The roads seem to be all the same: you walk until you're as cold as the snow filled tops, then a stronghold will block the way, and then you'll see the members of the army. They'll fill your head with questions, and they'll check your answers, and if something doesn't match or seems strange, well, you can turn your back and forget to enter the country. Then they'll give you the permit on parchment to enter. And they will check it in every town you pass through, so you'd better take care of it, or it's jail for a long, long time. The cities are no cities. They call them so, but they are not more than military barracks mingled with dark wooden houses and shady inns. Military everywhere. Think people in Norwold are reclusive? Well, you never hear a word in Wyrmteeth. Nobody speaks with strangers; they seldom speak to each other. They who're not soldiers are mercenaries, adventurers or people who's hiding or wants to be left alone. No fun up there. The only ones to speak are treacherous Thyathians that will play you all sort of nasty trick as soon they understand where you come from. And the laws are strict. Break them and you're in prison, and after that you're thrown out the country, and no way to get back. No one is stupid enough to do that, anyway. "And then there are the dragons. You never see them. You never talk to them. They live alone in their lairs, and leave the people in peace. They have armies to help them when their raids against us get to be too much for us to tolerate anymore. And if they decide to, they feed themselves on people in Norwold, or Wendar, or humanoids in Denagoth. There are plenty enough for them, so they don't care 'bout humans in their realm. They are served and revered, and protected in case of war. Dragons treat their servants well." The dwarf Balin of Rockhome, in a Corunglain tavern: "Well, you 'civilized' humans ain't wise enough to understand those people. They just want to be left alone, and do as they wish without asking anything of anyone. They have a strict society. The rules are simple: Stay out of trouble. Don't bother your neighbours. Don't bother the dragons. If you follow them, that's ok, it's a perfect place to live in. If you don't, you're out, they don't want problems so they erase them. It's simple. You humans think it is cruel, but it's just life as we dwarves see it. There are many dwarves in Wyrmteeth. It's the only place outside our clans where we can live without being annoyed by your exuberant ways. Wanna' live in peace with humans? Wyrmteeth. All religions tolerated; mages and clerics the same status as fighters; no thieves, no bandits, no rogues; lycanthropy is legal but controlled very well. Maybe too much army. But the dragons there ain't stupid or evil. They, too, just wanna' be left alone. It has worked until now - you don't annoy dragons, dragons don't attack you. Simple enough for a dwarf...but you humans are too stubborn to understand." Former Thyathian ambassador Lucius Balbus: "Wyrmteeth is a strange and gloomy country. You can live there for years and not know anything about anyone you have met in the streets each morning of your residence there. You see dwarves, humans, dragonkin, half elves, and they're ready to share a beer in the tavern, paying no attention at all whether you are a peasant or the emperor of Alphatia - but they will keep mouth shut on their lives, their origins, their ideals in politics and religion, even if you consider them to be friends. People who live there are all soldiers of fortune in the army, misanthropes, solitaries, refugees, or people who had enough of their troubles and want to live unnoticed and unannoyed. It's a very unnerving place to live if you are fond of social life, parties, games, jokes, or just of a good brawl in a tavern, except in Seel. The people are as cold as the air around them.'' General Stats Area The official Wyrmteeth Kingdom area is 48,822 km� (19,071 square miles), though dragons live beyond the official borders on the cliffs of Wyrmteeth Range, Icereach Range, and Final Range. Most of the area of the official territory is not settled. Population The Wyrmteeth population is composed of 28,000 humans and humanoids of different races. The people live only in towns and cities, because the harsh climate makes it nearly impossible to survive in the wilderness. The most represented race are the humans (20,500), of which 13,500 are of Antalian, Heldann, and Northern Reaches descent. 5,000 are Thyatians. Of these humans, approximately 4,000 are werewolves. The 7,500 non-humans comprise 3,000 dwarves; 1,500 dragonkin; 2,500 lizardmen and lizardkin; and 500 of other races (elves, gnolls, half elves, etc.). Apart from these, in the Norwold Mountain Ranges (both inside and outside the official territory of Wyrmteeth), there are approximately 1,200 dragons. Most of them swear fealty to the Dragon King of Wyrmteeth. Language The official language of Wyrmteeth is the common chromatic dragon tongue. Most inhabitants of Wyrmteeth, and all the natives, speak it. Other used languages are dwarvish (Stormhaven dialect), Antalian, and Thyatian. Coinage The Wyrmteeth official coin is the elke, a coin which bears on one side the simbol of Pearl, the Moon Dragon Ruler, Immortal of the sphere of Matter, and on the other the rising moon accompanied by an animal. When the coin is in silver (the common elke), its value is 1/10 of a gp, and it bears the symbol of a wolf; if it is in gold, it bears the symbol of a dragon (value 1 gp). If it is in copper, it bears the symbol of a boar (in honor of the dwarves of Wyrmteeth, which recognize the boar as their symbol), and is worth � silver elke (1/20 gp). Economy The economy of the region deals with two principal occupations: the first is the work done by freemen, soldiers of the army, clerics and wizards in agriculture (who, by their efforts, are able to produce potatoes and wheat enough to sustain the population, along with lamb and beef; fruit and other meats are imported), and woodcutters. The second economic base is the mining of minerals and iron. These mines are owned by the dragons, who usually employ dwarven engineers and miners to oversee work conducted by criminals when possible, and by specialized dwarven miners when the need arises. Some citizens also work as artisans (many dwarves craft jewels for the dragons; humans and dwarves alike are weapon forgers) or to provide services (cartographers, astronomers, sages, mercenaries, innkeepers). Many Wyrmteeth citizens are adventurers who hold Wyrmteeth as their home. Life in Wyrmteeth Most of the people of Wyrmteeth are humans, mainly of Antalian descent (people from Norwold or the Northern Reaches), but there are Thyatians, lycanthropes from Averoigne, dwarves, and members of other races. The customs are varied, because each group is normally devoted to his personal traditions. The people from different races keep themselves loosely in touch, and some national holidays are celebrated locally. Obviously, there is no nobility in Wyrmteeth - or, better said, there is no humanoid nobility in Wyrmteeth. Its true lords are dragons. Most people in Wyrmteeth are very serious, due in part to the influence of dwarven culture and the harsh climate. The normal humans of Wyrmteeth are generally cold and unfriendly Heldanners or Viking types who embody the more asocial aspects of the Northern Reaches populations. They talk very little, and they have few social activities. Additionally, many Wyrmteethians are descendants of refugees or exiles, so a many have developed a sort of cultural paranoia, believing that strangers (particularly those of the race from which they have fled) are hostile at best, and searching for them, or their family, at worst. They don't like people messing around, asking too much questions, and making too much noise. Otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for dragons to coexist with them. This feeling is less present in the Thyatians, and Seel is nearly a normal city. Life in Wyrmteeth is mainly work and rest, for citizens of all races. And then there are the dragons: The dragons live on their own, and are rarely seen. Most of them have learned spells to look like humans or dwarves, and they often visit the cities in disguise, but no one knows who they are, and no one really cares. Population is controlled by the authorities. Families are restricted to four children; those who have more must leave, or give the child up for adoption. In the future, if the population continues to grow, the authorities will surely reduce the number to three or two, if necessary. The dragons don't want new cities and too many humans around. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:18:53 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Wyrmteeth Gazetteer-Part Two MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Laws, Crimes & Taxes The most important laws of the state are included in the Constitution. They include: Every citizen of Wyrmteeth is free. He may be of any race, country, gender or faith (except the illegal churches of the "heretical" dragon Immortals). Every citizen of Wyrmteeth is protected by the law against the crimes detailed in the following paragraphs. Harm done to a citizen must be recompensed by the local authorities. If they cannot deal with it, the cause passes on to the High Courts. Crimes are judged by the local army, who act as tribunal, police force, and militia. Clerics of different faiths are used to resurrect the wrongful dead. Usually clerics or mages can be asked to use their spells to help find the truth in controversial matters. Principal crimes and punishments: Theft or Fraud The thief is jailed for 10 days each moon (monetary unit) they have stolen; the thief must repay the sum. If he is unable to pay, the state will provide him with the money, though each moon missing is another 10 days in jail. If two thieves rob 300 moons, then each of them must give back 300 moons; three hundred go to the victim, three hundred to the Treasury. Treason Traitors are stripped of all possessions. If the traitor has (innocent) heirs, the confiscated property passes to them; if not, it passes to the Treasury. Traitors are jailed for life. There is no death penalty in Wyrmteeth. Espionage Spies are accorded with the same as traitors. Falsely accusing a citizen of treason gets you half his potential punishment. Murder First-degree (intentional) murderers serve a sentence ranging from 20 to 100 years, depending upon circumstance (age of the victim, type of murder, etc.). They must also reimburse the church for their victim's resurrection. If resurrection is impossible they must be jailed for twice the period stated. If they don't possess the money to pay, the amount will be translated into days of jail (see "Theft") to add the punishment. Second-degree murder gets 1/5 of the punishment shown above, but must still pay the full fine. A temporarily insane killer will be examined by clerics at his expense and cured, then set free after he has paid (in money or jail days) the amount needed to resurrect his victim. An involuntary or accidental killer must simply pay back the sum to resurrect the victim. It is to be noted that an intentional assassin will be banished from Wyrmteeth lands, as will a two-time second-degree offender, a three-time "insane" offender, etc. Jail time is served as a hard labor period in the mines of Wyrmteeth. All the mines are directly subject to dragons, so in fact the jail period is a dragon service period. If a dragon wishes so, he can use the human or humanoid in others ways. No one usually cares if a 20 years condemned man vanishes mysteriously, and tears are seldom shed for one who dies in "jail." The dragons have the power to exile the punished instead of having them at their service. Usually, dragons don't do so. The killing of a dragon by other dragons of the territory is allowed. The dragons are not subject to the laws governing their subjects, but the stronger ones usually keep the less intelligent and powerful from harming the humanoid citizens. The murder of a dragon by humanoid hands has never happened since the Constitution was approved, but if such a case were to present itself, it would surely mean hard time for the assassin. Taxation is progressive in Wyrmteeth. Taxation is high, taking from 10% to 50% of annual income. Dragons are not taxed. Half of tax revenue goes to the Treasury, the other to the dragons, with a hierarchical distribution that is reviewed every month. Not paying the taxes is equivalent to theft against the state. If a citizen does not pay the taxes twice he is exiled. Wyrmteeth citizens don't typically mind paying the taxes, though, because the state services (army, healing, law) are good, and the progressive criteria is quite honest. Religion As explained before, there is no official religion in Wyrmteeth, though the country hosts the most important clerical temple and school of Pearl, the Moon Dragon. This presence has slightly reduced the religious tolerance level of the country: clerics and followers of Diamond (the Star Dragon) are no longer permitted; and those of Opal (the Sun Dragon) are watched with suspicion. However, most people of Wyrmteeth don't care about religion, and clerics are seldom zealots. Clerics and followers of the religions must not break the Wyrmteethian laws in following their faiths and rituals, so strange religions usually are not present here. The most common immortals followed here are: Pearl, the Moon Dragon - The Moon Dragon is extremely popular in Wyrmteeth. His cult is very old, and many humans who are not otherwise interested in religion appreciate him because they believe that it is thanks to him and the presence of dragons (which scares ignorant outsiders) that they can live in peace and be left alone. A great order of clerics of Pearl is the Holy Blood Sword, which is detailed in this work. Many lizardmen and dragonkin also revere him. Kagyar (Vulcanus) - Kagyar the Artisan, sometimes known as Vulcanus by Thyatians and fire elementalists, is revered here. Many artisans are present in Wyrmteeth, most of them dwarve; most of these are Kagyar's followers. Creating Wyrmteeth Characters [Note: Notes on creating characters may be found in TSR's Gazetteer series. Notes relevant to Wyrmteeth are found below.] Thyatians - Thyatians are mostly found in the city of Seel, which hosts 5,000 Imperial natives. They are by far the most friendly culture of Wyrmteeth. Although they are not so active and lively as their southern relatives, they are among the nicest people to deal with. They keep different inns and taverns in Seel, and travel often out of Wyrmteeth, many to visit their relatives in Thyatis, with whom they have still contact. Thyatians came here from three different sources: some were lycanthropes, werewolves that searched for a more easy way to live their condition; others were adventurous men who were searching for a new place to settle; still others were leaving Oceansend after the declaration of independence of the city during the Alphathian attack of 959. The Thyatians of Wyrmteeth are so concerned with feeling that they are still a part of the Thyatian Empire that many buy houses in their ancestral country, spending great amounts of time and money in order to travel there and spend some time in the company of their parents. Usually they do so in the coldest winter months. They also spend lot of time and money in order to import Thyatian wines, cheeses, and other products. Wyrmdanners (Heldanners & other Antalian peoples transplanted to Wyrmteeth) - The Antalians are the largest ethnic group of Wyrmteeth (13,000). Heldanners and men from the Northern Reaches living here call themselves Wyrmdanners. Many of them have lost a lot of their violent cultural traits, because the mostviolent and dangerous people were thrown out the country after AC 831. They have developed a more vengeful personality, easily offended by insults, and they have a special hate for the race that has caused their exile: Heldanners nearly all escaped the Order of Vanya's attack. Northern Reaches men are mostly descendents of pirates and bandits that hid themselves in Wyrmteeth. Some of them (30%) are people of Norwold who found more safe to be under the dragon's control than be exposed to their raids. These are more similar to Northern Reaches men, and more relaxed than their somewhat paranoid Wyrmteethian cousins. Werewolves - Werewolves number approximately 4,000. 800 are Averoignian; 1,000 Thyahian; 1,500 Heldanners or Northmen; and 700 of various other nationalities. They differ in nothing from their human neighbours, and it is nearly impossible to find who a werewolf is (though this is also because of the Wyrmteeth laws that help them remain unnoticed, as long they do not harm others). The laws forbid the use of anti-lycanthrope herbs or charms, and any visitor that is found bringing them in the country is cast out of the country, after a heavy fine. In 802, the Dragon King invited many refugees from Glantri, driven out by the persecutions and by the great plague, to settle down in Wyrmteeth. In his invitation there was an explicit mention of werewolves, so many of them undertook the long journey to Norwold. Some werewolves found it easier to settle down in that country, but others decided that they were too tired of fighting with humans, and perhaps the shelter of the dragons could protect them from the endless persecutions. In the following years, the lycanthropes tried to build themselves a new life in the country, but some of them had no intention of controlling the nature of the beast and proved often to be a threat to dwarves and other humans, so the risk of a new purge was high. The problems went on for many years, until in 831 the Constitution, approved by clerics of Pearl and dwarves, set a stop to them by imposing the exile to all troublemakers, both werewolves and humans. Many were forced to leave the country, others left of their own will, dissatisfied with the new laws. A large number remained; these were the ancestors of the Averoigne-origin lycanthropes. Soon, other werewolves from Norwold, Heldann, and Thyatis tried to secure permission to live in Wyrmteeth, and the population grew. Werewolves gained control of the Order of the Holy Blood Sword; many serve in the Army; and there is a branch of the Canine Protection Society in Seel. For more information on werewolf characters, see PC4, Night Howlers. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:19:16 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Wyrmteeth Gazetteer-Part Three MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Dwarves - Dwarves of Wyrmteeth are like any other dwarves on the surface of Mystara; they are short humanoids of heavy built, of strong constitution. Dwarves were the first race to be invited to Wyrmteeth after the 802 events. Some of them accepted, forming the Wurkrest clan; others refused, fearing dragon intrusion in their clan activities, and went to build the Stormhaven fortress. There are now 3,000 dwarves in Wyrmteeth. Dwarves of Wyrmteeth are all members of the Wurkrest clan, which is mostly composed of miners and gemcrafters. The Wurkrest dwarves are of light brown skin complection, and have blue or golden eyes, with red or light brown hair. They are isolationists; they want nothing to do with the outer world, and also have little to do with other Wyrmteethians, apart from those from their home town, Tua'than. Even then, dwarves think of Tua'than as two separate towns: Tua'than, the outer town, where humans live; and Groggat, the "real" town, the dwarven town (mostly under the surface, inside the mountain). Despite their isolationism, the dwarves have strong ties with their cousins of Stormhaven, and holds some contact (with clan Ambassadors) with Rockhome. Dwarves have their own society, and have a Clan Master and a Dwarven Relic. They consider themselves as employed artisans for a race that must be respected, and they believe that the dragons return this respect in kind. Thus, they are extremely proud of their work (perhaps excessively so), and view humans of Wyrmteeth as a sort of lesser race that works for the sustenance of the nation, while they dedicate themselves to higher activities. Lizardkin - Nearly all lizardkin live in Th'hral, which they founded in 845 AC. They are all under the direct rule of the Dragonlord Hk'rhal, who pleases himself with the name of Dragonlizard. Hk'rhal genuinely loves all lizardmen and lizardkin, whom he has always regarded as small, human-proportioned dragons, made by the lizard gods in the image of dragons. He has helped them build the city and devotes a lot of time to the city of Th'hral, where he is often found in the shape of a Lizard King. There are two different races of lizard-kin represented here, members of the arctic lizardman subspecies (they are white-azure in skin colour, and like cold climates) and varkha (presented in MCA III as underdark lizard men, here simply shorter and subterranean dwelling lizard men). Some live in the surface Th'hral, but most prefer to live in the subterranean lake that provides them with an abundance of fish. They are a reclusive race, and don't care much for other people in Wyrmteeth. They love their dragon ruler Hk'rhal,and are totally loyal to him, but care nothing for other dragons. In lizardkin society, males typically become fighters, while females become clerics of Ka; though it's not unusual to find a male cleric and a female warrior. Arctic lizard men receive a +2 bonus to strength and a -2 to dexterity. Varkha receive a +1 to strength, +1 to constitution, -1 to dexterity and -1 to charisma. Basic armor class is 5. Most are of neutral alignement, with varkha incling to lawful evil. DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE TO WYRMTEETH [Players, read no further!! - This section contains possible spoilers for playing in Wyrmteeth, and by reading on you will ruin your gaming experience there. If you have enjoyed reading this Gazetteer, please refer your DM here. For now, please scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "Home" to continue enjoying the Tome of Mystara. - Editor.] Dragon History of Norwold This is the true and complete history of dragons in Norwold. Most of the dragons of Norwold and Wyrmteeth are perfectly aware of it, simply because many of them have lived through many of the below events. Dragons as a race are one of the oldest created in Mystara. After the axis shift brought about by the Great Rain of Fire, Norwold became one of coldest regions of the planet. Dragons, as a race, have subspecies that adapt to any climate easily, and the high mountains of Norwold were a preferred choice for these intelligent flying lizards. The first dragons to come here were the White. They had moved from the Arctic Regions that had become too hot with the polar shift, and many settled here; others searched further, and finally moved along with frost giants to occupy barren Frosthaven. The White lived in Wyrmteeth from around 2800 BC in relative peace, little bothered by Antalian tribesmen who were occupied Norwold (indeed, these men proved tasty if frozen) Problems arose around the year 1900 BC, when a solitary red dragon named Syare stumbled upon the volcanoes of Wyrmteeth Range and decided to make them his new home. His encounter with the white dragons of the region didn't deter him; he defeated the greatest of them and the others fled, some to the Icereach range, some even to Frosthaven. Then he begin to ravage the Antalian villages and cities, contributing to the fall of that civilization. Syare forced the Antalian cities to revere him as a god, demanding sacrifices in his name. His rulership was cruel and savage, but it provided the Antalians protection against the horde of King Loark in 1722 BC. Syare ruled undefeated for centuries, finally leaving his realm only to seek Immortality in the Sphere of Matter. During his Quest, Syare spent years to regain an old Artifact, the Shard of Sakkrad, which he found protected by a gold dragon. The battle was hard, but he destroyed the wyrm and delightedly passed to a new life in which he had the powers of a red, a blue and a black dragon. In this shape, he decided to create a new land that would be the Testimony of his might and the final step toward Immortality. To this end, he defeated dragons and dragon clans without killing them, having them swear loyalty to his power and follow him to live in Norwold. This was the birth of Wyrmteeth, and in 745 BC it was also the birth of the Immortal Moon Dragon, Syare (which in the dragon tongue means "Pearl"). Syare looked upon Wyrmteeth and decided that before his leaving he would not appoint a successor. He was enthralled by the chaotic situation that would follow his departure, and he left Norwold suddenly, without a trace. The dragons took their time to discover what happened. Many simply didn't care of his leaving, and continued to live in Norwold; others were happy and left for their old homes. But other, more clever dragons saw the possibilities of power hidden in his departure. For the moment they did not act; dragons have plenty of time. While the strongest dragons of Norwold gathered their followers and prepared for a major war to obtain control on the region, Pearl cultivated with care the Antalians' old cult of the "Dragon God from the mountains" (in fact, Syare himself). The Wyrmteeth range became taboo for the barbarian tribes of Antalian descent, and although not many of the Antalians worshipped Pearl, many continued to fear him, and to live in the hope he would protect them from conquest outsiders, as he had before. Pearl watched with great satisfaction over Wyrmteeth, because it would be theatre to an epic war between dragons that would both satisfy his sense of drama and find him a worthy successor. Many dragons of different races fought for years, while the Antalians, barred from the mountains by religious beliefs, never suspected what was happening. As dragons clashed for generations, the memory of Syare-Pearl began to fade for most humans; but the mountain people, who could sometimes see a dragon pass by, still believed in the presence of a dragon spirit who protected the land. When the war finally came to an end, around 500 BC, it was Lyalia who succeded. A blue dragon, she led the Blues to become the greatest force of Norwold, aided by the White clan; most Reds and Greens, being inferior in number, fled to southern regions, with thoughts of vengeance. Black dragons, who had allied with Browns [D&D: Ambers], stayed low, but remained in Norwold, and waited. Lyalia's rule was not as wise as Syare's. She enjoyed leading great bands of dragons to destroy and sack human settlements, driving humans to hate the great creatures that they once believed to be their protectors. Not long passed before wyrmslayers began to appear in the now-infamous region, to destroy every trace of the "foul race." Lyalia was killed by a great barbarian leader, and dragons lost their ruler and their unity, scattering throughout Norwold. Reds and Greens, Blacks and Browns, returned to Wyrmteeth under the iron rule of a new commander, Incediarious (not to be mistaken for the female dragon of CM3: The Sabre River; that Incendiarious is the strongest of his children currently alive). Incediarious was a great wyrm of superior intelligence, originally from Rockhome. He had long lived with humans, roaming the world in search of gold and magic, and was one of the strongest creatures of Mystara. He saw in Wyrmteeth the same chance for power that his precedessor Syare had seen. But he acted very differently from Lyalia, keeping a loose control on the dragons, knowing that their free nature could only with difficulty be tamed into forming a real society. And he was not willing to spend all his time ruling; wielding raw power was good enough if it allowed him to concentrate on his treasures and his magic. This allowed him to reign for centuries over the dragons, whom he prohibited to organize and conduct great raids on villages of Norwold (in order to keep the humans from knowing the vast amount of dragons that lived there). The dragons lived and prospered. Centuries passed without significant events, until AC 802, year of the Great Plague. Many dwarves fleeing Glantri escaped to the north, and - to avoid crossing elvish territory - crossed the mountains to Norwold, where they formed the Stormhaven clan. Dragons who lived there were not overjoyed by the event, but the new ruler of Wyrmteeth, a dragon known as Mors Rufus ("Red Death" in Thyatian) who had succeeded Incendiarious around 400 AC when Incendiarious left in search of Immortality, saw a new way to attract followers. He presented himself in the guise of the "ruler of the mountains," who allowed the dwarves to stay. He asked the dwarves if they were willing to work for him in the mines of Wyrmteeth in exchange for settling in his kingdom, and some of the more young and ambitious agreed. They founded the mountain city of Grag Cath, while the others sought shelter in the caves of Stormhaven. Mors Rufus then made his intention known to other important rulers of the Known World and began attracting followers to his nation. There were not many people who liked the idea of working under a dragon, but Mors Rufus had carefully planned the immigration by inviting members of hunted races, such as werewolves, and those hated by humans who still had enough culture and civilization to be a good ally for the dragons (some lizardman, human exiles and refugees, misanthropes, a few half-elves). Many clerics of Pearl from all over the Old World left for Wyrmteeth; there they founded the Order of the Holy Blood Sword, elite fighters in the name of Dragonkind, in 828 AC. The Dragon Kingdom of Wyrmteeth was born. CONTEMPORARY EVENTS 831 AC: Clerics of Pearl and dwarven barristers design the Constitution, framing the laws of Wyrmteeth. Many lycanthropes and humans are expelled from Wyrmteeth or arrested to work in the mines, being accused of different crimes. Grag Cath is renamed Tua'than, with Grag Cath becoming the dwarven quarter under the surface. 843 AC: Foundation of the city of Th'hral. 859 AC: Sire Philippe de Suveire, a Glantrian noble werewolf in exile, becomes a cleric of Pearl. 871 AC: Sire Philippe de Suveire becomes High Cleric of Pearl and begins recruiting werewolf followers. 876 AC: Founding of the Legion of Moon, the elite force of the Holy Blood Sword, formed exclusively by lycanthropes. 883 AC: It is decided that only the High Cleric of Pearl may be the General of the Legion of Moon. 885 AC: Founding of the city of Seel. 893 AC: Founding of the city of Wheine. 952 AC: Wyrmteeth rulers invite Heldannic refugees to the nation. This act irritates the Order of Vanya. Mutual distrust follows the event. 964 AC: Official alliace between Rockhome and Wyrmteeth dwarves. 981 AC: The current Moonlord, Harald Hardr�de, signs a mutual aid treaty with Malachie du Marais, and supports Malachie's claims on Morlay and Malinbois. 985 AC: Sire Malachie du Marais founds the Canine Protection Society. Many Wyrmteeth citizens become full time members or sympathizers. 993 AC: Thyatian noble Julius Penhaligon becomes General of the Legion of Moon. 998 AC: Alliance between Wyrmteeth and Thyatis. 1000 AC: Gazetteer time. All information in this booklet is presented with this date in mind. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:30:05 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Poll: What is your favourite nation? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes, I'm back again with the results. I still hope to get in more votes,though, so don't stop sending your messages!!! Alfheim 7% Alphatia 7% [Limn 25% Floating Ar 50% Blackheart 25%] Bellayne 2% Broken Lands 2% Cynidicea 2% Darokin 8% Ethengar 3% Five Shires 1% Glantri 16% Hule 3% Ierendi 2% Karameikos 17% Nithia 2% Northern Reaches 2% Norwold 3% Rockhome 3% Serraine 1% Thyatis 9% Shadow Elves 2% Wendar 2% Yavdlom 2% Ylaruam 4% Iulius Sergius Scaevola Stupid Poller ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:20:09 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: erewan laubgaenger Subject: Re: OD&D Tome of Spellcraft MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Hard to believe its been over a year since I've released a new edition of > the > > Tome for the OD&D'ers of Mystara. Is anyone interested in a 6th Edition > of > > the Tome, or should put the project to rest once and for all? NO, it shoudn`t rest. and i`m interested. IBON ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 13:21:30 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Poll: What is your favourite nation?] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Caroletti wrote: > > Yes, I'm back again with the results. > I still hope to get in more votes,though, so don't stop sending your > messages!!! Say, have you thought about putting a poll up on the Dark Portal website?= I know that Eric Noah has done it a couple of times on his 3rd Editioin web= site. I think he used an automatic customizable poller from Beseen.com. ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 18:00:57 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Poll: What is your favourite nation? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Caroletti wrote: > > Yes, I'm back again with the results. How many voters there were? -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:27:19 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: By Crom! All this talk about Conan-esque adventures in the northern reaches of Brun came to life for me last night - Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer were playing back-to-back at one of the local theatres (which specialises in older movies and showing them at a discount rate). It was great! Has anyone adopted any of the materials in those movies (or the books) for their campagins at all? Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 16:25:29 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: By Crom! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/31/00 2:30:38 PM US Eastern Standard Time, au998@FREENET.CARLETON.CA writes: << All this talk about Conan-esque adventures in the northern reaches of Brun came to life for me last night - Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer were playing back-to-back at one of the local theatres (which specialises in older movies and showing them at a discount rate). It was great! Has anyone adopted any of the materials in those movies (or the books) for their campagins at all? >> Only peripherally in flavor and style, however, there is a tenuous though direct link between the Hyborian Age of Conan and the Known World of Mystara in my campaign. As mentioned earlier I decided that the land of "La Terre" ("The Earth" in French) was, for purposes of my own campaign, the World of Aerth, as described by Dave Newton and Gary Gygax for the Dangerous Journeys: Mythus game. Aerth is an alternate Earth setting, which was why I felt it was appropriate to use as a "Land of Myth". I had earlier decided that Aerth as described in that tome had, in its own ancient past, been the world upon which the Hyborian Kingdoms, the Stygians, Khitains, etc. had existed some 12,000 years before... and thus, the Cimmerians were the precursors of the Kelltic tribes, from which both the Caledonians (being Gaelic) and the Francians (being partly Belgaelic, the descendents of Gauls, Romans and Teutons) descended. Thus, somewhere in Nouvelle Averoigne and Klantyre, may flow the blood of one long ago known as Conan the Barbarian... Also, the Serpentine Empire is, naturally, derived in great part from the same material as found throughout Howards (and Lovecrafts) books. Remember, the Hyborian Myth Cycle of Howard is actually a subset of the Cthulhu Mythos Cycle from Lovecraft! Thus, all the work done by folks concerning the Outer Beings, the Nightmare Dimension and the Carnifex, etc., are part and parcel of Lovecraft and Howard both. As for "Conanesque" settings, there are three major regions that could claim to have inherited the "Hyborian Style". One, the major canonical source, is the Hinterlands, which have Cimmerian type barbarians and barbaric though not terribly primitive states (the Milenian Successor City States are highly reminiscent of the Hyborian Kingdoms, more so perhaps in my campaign but it is subtly there in canon as well). Another major Cimmerian type region is Dunadale on the Isle of Dawn; the Dunael and Caerda, though non-canonical and more Gaelic perhaps, are reminiscent of the Cimmerians in many ways. The third major official Cimmerian style region, though more Gallic than Cimmerian, is Robrenn. Then there are also the UiMach of the Midlands, directly based off of the Cimmerians of Howard, as I detailed ever so slightly just a while ago in a previous post; there is much of Hyboria in the Lands of Law as well. James A. Mishler Magister Mystaros Check out my website: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 23:58:22 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Poll: What is your favourite nation?] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Andrew Theisen ha scritto: > Caroletti wrote: > > > > Yes, I'm back again with the results. > > I still hope to get in more votes,though, so don't stop sending your > > messages!!! > > Say, have you thought about putting a poll up on the Dark Portal website? I > know that Eric Noah has done it a couple of times on his 3rd Editioin website. > I think he used an automatic customizable poller from Beseen.com. 1) About what? The preferred nation in Mystara? 2) How? Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Portal.Lucinius.Thyatis.Mystcities.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 23:59:58 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: Poll: What is your favourite nation? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Agathokles ha scritto: > Caroletti wrote: > > > > Yes, I'm back again with the results. > > How many voters there were? Uh...59... Iulius Sergius Scaevola C.O.T.XX.C. P.L.T. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 06:42:11 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: Poll: What is your favourite nation? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Glantri 16% > Karameikos 17% What? Karameikos beats Glantri?! You can't even get a decent magic education there! Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarro@pacific.net.ph ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:50:05 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Beau Subject: Re: Poll: What is your favourite nation? In-Reply-To: <007501bf9b62$5b3ba8c0$67f317d2@fanavarro> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:42 04/01/2000 +0800, you wrote: >> Glantri 16% >> Karameikos 17% > >What? Karameikos beats Glantri?! You can't even get a decent magic education >there! Clearly rigged by Karameikian halflings, dwarves and clerics. BEAU http://www.LBY3.com/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 06:51:16 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Contest: Kingdom of _____ (Was Poll: What is your favourite nation?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Mystarans: I've been thinking of this idea for a while... (The poll reminded me of it.) Can the rest of you fill in the blanks? Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure Glantri: Kingdom of Magic Alfheim: Kingdom of _____ Aengmore: Kingdom of _____ Alphatia: Kingdom (Empire?) of _____ Bellayne: Kingdom of _____ Broken Lands: Kingdom of _____ Cynidicea: Kingdom of _____ Darokin: Kingdom of Treasure? Wealth? Ethengar: Kingdom of _____ (War? Warriors?) Five Shires: Kingdom of _____ Hule: Kingdom of Lies? Ierendi: Kingdom of Fun (or should that be the Five Shires) Nithia: Kingdom of _____ Ochalea: Kingdom of _____ (Mystics? Faith?) Pearl Islands: Kingdom of _____ Northern Reaches: Kingdom of _____ Norwold: Kingdom of _____ (Wilderness?) Rockhome: Kingdom of _____ Sind: Kingdom of Intrigue? Serraine: Kindgom of _____ Thyatis: Kingdom of _____ (War? Quests? Conquest? Intrigue?) Wendar: Kingdom of _____ Yavdlom: Kingdom of Fate? Ylaruam: Kingdom of Faith? Kingdom of Madness, Kingdom of Deceit, Kingdom of Truth, Kingdom of Wealth, etc. etc. etc. Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarro@pacific.net.ph ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 18:26:05 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] Contest: Kingdom of _____ (Was Poll: What is your favourite nation?)] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable "Francisco V. Navarro" wrote: > > Alfheim: Kingdom of _____ Elves. :) > Aengmore: Kingdom of _____ Dead Trees (alternatively: Shadow Elves). > Alphatia: Kingdom (Empire?) of _____ Empire of Magic. (Blackheart: Kingdom of Nightmares!) > Bellayne: Kingdom of _____ Rakasta. > Broken Lands: Kingdom of _____ Orcs! > Cynidicea: Kingdom of _____ Madmen (alt: Kingdom Beneath the Sands) > Darokin: Kingdom of Treasure? Wealth? Realm of Plenty > Ethengar: Kingdom of _____ (War? Warriors?) Horsewarriors > Five Shires: Kingdom of _____ Munchkins. > Hule: Kingdom of Lies? Sure. > Ierendi: Kingdom of Fun (or should that be the Five Shires) The Magic Kingdom. :) > Nithia: Kingdom of _____ Death (if ancient Nithia) > Ochalea: Kingdom of _____ (Mystics? Faith?) Very Few People. > Pearl Islands: Kingdom of _____ Scattered, Sparsely Populated Bands > Northern Reaches: Kingdom of _____ Longships. :) > Norwold: Kingdom of _____ (Wilderness?) The Young Kingdom > Rockhome: Kingdom of _____ Dwarves. > Sind: Kingdom of Intrigue? Got me here. > Serraine: Kindgom of _____ the Air. > Thyatis: Kingdom of _____ (War? Quests? Conquest? Intrigue?) Empire of Conquest. > Wendar: Kingdom of _____ Northern Elves... and humans. > Yavdlom: Kingdom of Fate? Kingdom of Prophecy. > Ylaruam: Kingdom of Faith? Kingdom of the Sands ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 18:32:21 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [[MYSTARA] Poll: What is your favourite nation?]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Caroletti wrote: > Andrew Theisen ha scritto: >> Say, have you thought about putting a poll up on the Dark Portal = >> website? I know that Eric Noah has done it a couple of times on his 3r= d >> Edition website. I think he used an automatic customizable poller from = >> Beseen.com. > = >1) About what? The preferred nation in Mystara? Yeah. :) >2) How? Not entirely sure. Like I said, I think the one Eric used is available fr= om http://www.beseen.com but I think you might have to register in order to = use it. It lets you customize the poll, and it provides ongoing statistics fo= r respondents to see. Actually... come to think of it, it probably would only work if you use a= certain number of entries... you couldn't do an overall poll, probably...= oh, well. :( ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 15:30:04 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Beau Subject: GSoM: Tentative 3E courses Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I'm trying to work up an in-depth GSoM setting (although not winning any #@#$! Ebay auctions for Gaz3 isn't helping!), starting with a class list that lines up, more or less, with 3E skills, feats and specializations so that player choices about their characters naturally set them up for varying roleplay opportunities. This is, of course, a list that I'll be adding to once the full list of skills and feats come out. One of the things I was thinking was that there would be nine basic grades in each possible course, corresponding with the years of the majority of the students, but that further study or independent study (for level-raising purposes) should also be available. Most of these classes line up with 3E skills or can be lumped together to make one. It also seems likely that the Crafts would recruit students they monitor in certain key classes, although not every Craft has classes that scream "recruiting ground." Feedback is appreciated. -- Liberal Studies: Arcana 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Biology 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Crafts (cooking, herbalism, et cetera) independent study Liberal Studies: Diplomacy 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Engineering 1, independent study Liberal Studies: History (Glantri, Known World, et cetera) 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Linguistics (individual languages) 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Mathematics 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Monsters 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Politics 1, independent study Liberal Studies: Professional skills (apothecary, et cetera) 1, independent study Metamagic Studies: Empower Spell (FEAT) independent study Metamagic Studies: Maximize Spell (FEAT) independent study Metamagic Studies: Quicken Spell (FEAT) independent study Metamagic Studies: Silent Spell (FEAT) independent study Metamagic Studies: Spell Focus (FEAT) independent study Metamagic Studies: Still Spell (FEAT) independent study Militant Studies: Combat Casting (FEAT) independent study Militant Studies: Concentration 1, independent study Militant Studies: Iron Will (FEAT) independent study Militant Studies: Toughness (FEAT) independent study Militant Studies: Weapons training (by weapon) independent study Practice of Magic: Alchemy 1, independent study Practice of Magic: Arms and Armor Enchantment (FEAT) Practice of Magic: Item Enchantment (FEAT) Practice of Magic: Potions and Brewing (FEAT) Practice of Magic: Scrolls (FEAT) Practice of Magic: Scry 1, independent study Practice of Magic: Spellcraft 1, independent study Practice of Magic: Staff creation and enchantment (FEAT) Theory of Magic: 1-9, independent study (includes cantrips) Theory of Magic: Abjuration 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Conjuration 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Divination 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Enchantment 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Esoteric (Elementalists, et cetera) 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Evocation 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Illusion 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Necromancy 1-9, independent study Theory of Magic: Transmutation 1-9, independent study BEAU http://www.LBY3.com/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 15:51:31 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Beau Subject: More GSoM thoughts Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 1) Where do the students live when they're there for their eight months at a stretch? IIRC, the map of the school in GKoM doesn't show any dorms on campus. I suppose it can be presumed that there's guest houses throughout the cities that specialize in catering to students. 2) I'm trying to work up a list of GSoM faculty and staff. Besides various professors for the classes, there would be a library staff (I'm picturing at least one nagpa in their ranks, for some reason), the poor bastards who run the griffon stable, guards, professional acolyte types to keep the school actually running ... 3) I know it's the influence of "Harry Potter" on me, but I'm wondering if, given the existence of secret groups and social structure to the school, shouldn't there be overt student organizations? There's one or two decent ones in the Complete Wizard's Handbook, but most of them are pretty silly. Any thoughts on any others? 4) The underground levels below the school cry out for a little more structure, since having a great, totally unmapped dungeon below the school strains credulity. But having levels of labs/offices/private laboratories going back in time (oldest on top?) lends itself to a lot of neat school-based adventures. I can see wizard locking rooms (with warnings from long-dead heads of the school posted on the doors) that lead to a magical pit or a covered mirror that lead to the "Dungeonland" and "Land Beyond the Magic Mirror" adventures. Likewise, gateways to Ravenloft or Sigil would fit in well in some abandoned student's underground cell. Anyone else got any other GSoM thoughts? BEAU http://www.LBY3.com/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:28:47 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [[MYSTARA] More GSoM thoughts] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Beau wrote: > = > 1) Where do the students live when they're there for their eight months= > at a stretch? IIRC, the map of the school in GKoM doesn't show any dorms > o= n campus. I suppose it can be presumed that there's guest houses = > throughout the cities that specialize in catering to students. IMO, a good majority of the students are some sort of nobility (major, mi= nor, etc) and thus would stay in their families' city residences. The rest wou= ld probably have to seek lodging elsewhere in the city. There might be some residences in the inner city (that which lay inside the walls of Glantri = on the map of the city), but probably the majority of it lay outside the cit= y walls. > 2) I'm trying to work up a list of GSoM faculty and staff. Besides = > various professors for the classes, there would be a library staff (I'm= > picturing at least one nagpa in their ranks, for some reason), the poor >= bastards who run the griffon stable, guards, professional acolyte types >= to keep the school actually running ... Aside from Etienne d'Ambreville (pre-Wrath) and Harald of Haaskinz, there= is also Professor Emeritus Angus McDuff/McClintock, who returned to his tenu= re after a lengthy absence (he was living in the underground city of Oenkmar= ). There are some people listed in HWA1: Nightwail. I'll dig it up and check= it out tonight for you. = ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:50:08 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Magister Mystaros Subject: Re: Contest: Kingdom of _____ MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure Glantri: Kingdom of Magic Alfheim: The Elven Realm Aengmore: Kingdom of Shadows Alphatia: Empire of Magic, Kingdom of Wizardry Broken Lands: The Beastmen Realms Darokin: Kingdom of Gold Ethengar: Land of the Golden Khan Five Shires: The Hin Lands Hule: Realm of Chaos Ierendi: Kingdom of the Isles Nithia: The Lost Empire Ochalea: The Mystic Realm Pearl Islands: The Southern Isles Ostland: Realm of the Sea Wolves Soderfjord: Realm of Pocket Princes Vestland: Realm of the Northern King Norwold: The Great Frontier Rockhome: Realm of the Rockborn Sind: Kingdom of Ten Thousand Immortals Serraine: City of the Sky Thyatis: Empire of Destiny, or, The Fading Empire Wendar: Land of the Light Elves Yavdlom: Kingdom of Fate, or, Kingdom of Seers Ylaruam: Kingdom of Faith, or, The Desert Realm The Atruaghin Clans: The Spirit Lands Heldann: The Conquered Lands Minrothad: Isles of the Sea Princes ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 22:29:03 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: More GSoM thoughts In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.20000331155131.007c2c40@lby3.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 31 Mar 2000, Beau wrote: > 1) Where do the students live when they're there for their eight months at > a stretch? IIRC, the map of the school in GKoM doesn't show any dorms on > campus. I suppose it can be presumed that there's guest houses throughout > the cities that specialize in catering to students. I believe they have dorms in the main building as part of it, although noble kids probably live in family's house. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 21:14:59 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jenn Subject: Tome of Mystara #3 is available MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Tome of Mystara #3 is now available! This quarter's issue is full of all-new articles, adventures, and features, including: - 2 new adventures - Espionage rules for RPGs - Thyatis Expansion - timeline, senate, and literature - Isle of Dawn - NPCs Plus, Tervine, art, maps, and more! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/mystaratome/ Jennifer Guerra Editor, Tome of Mystara e-zine __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 00:56:05 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Contest: Kingdom of _____ (Was Poll: What is your favourite nat... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-03-31 6:00:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, fanavarro@PACIFIC.NET.PH writes: << Darokin: Kingdom of Treasure? Wealth? >> I vaguely recall that there was going to be a "Darokin: Kingdom of Gold" boxed set at one point before the Mystara line was canceled by TSR. In addition, the Karameikos boxed set has the following annotations for nations beyond its borders: Aengmor (formerly Alfheim) Atruaghin (The Clans of the Plateau) The Broken Lands (The Humanoid Kingdoms) Darokin (The Kingdom of Gold) Ethengar (Kingdom of Horsemen) The Five Shires (The Hin Nation) Glantri (The Kingdom of Magic) The Heldannic Territories (Land of the Knights) Ierendi (The Kingdom of Islands) Minrothad (The Kingdom of Sea Princes) Ostland, Vestland, and the Soderfjords (The Northern Reaches) Rockhome (The Kingdom of the Dwarves) Sind (Kingdom of the Wastes) Thyatis (The Empire in Ruins) Wendar (The Elven Kingdom of the North) Ylaruam (The Desert Kingdom) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 23:29:41 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Poll: What is your favourite nation? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A favorite nation... Don't have one. To be honest, it is depressing that this question isn't "Who is your favorite character?" Sort of illustrates the long-running problem Mystara has always had. IronWolf Beau wrote: > > At 06:42 04/01/2000 +0800, you wrote: > >> Glantri 16% > >> Karameikos 17% > > > >What? Karameikos beats Glantri?! You can't even get a decent magic education > >there! > > Clearly rigged by Karameikian halflings, dwarves and clerics. > > BEAU > http://www.LBY3.com/ > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message.