Last night I was looking up some information and while rummaging through all of my old D&D stuff I came across my old DS maps. The cloth one, the paper one from the 2nd printing boxed set, the one from Elves of Athas, the one From Mind Lords, and so on.
As I was waxing nostalgic I saw a couple of places on the big map (from the second printing) that I remember weren't covered in the Wanderer's Journal.
I was wondering if anyone out there has done any write ups on either :
The Mud Palace
The Blue Shrine
I was thinking of fleshing these places out and if anyone has started that would make things easier ;)
Thanks for looking and any help you give!
But the Mud Palace is wide open as far as I have been able to tell.
Did you have any preliminary ideas about where you wanted to take either of these locales?
That is for the "physical" aspect of it. As for the reason that it is called the Mud Palace, its inhabitants, and main features I'm not sure where to take it.
I was thinking that it might be a place where a vortex/gate to the Elemental Plane of Water could be located, and for some reason it is (and has been for a while) malfunctioning. Water + dirt = mud.
What do you think? Too off the wall? Or maybe just plain stupid?
For your idea for the elemental gate to water, that could work. The gate was a building on the surface that sunk. Now, water gushes out, like an underground spring and water clerics have build a temple there as lavish as a palace.
Originally posted by erasmus1634
Well, with the Mud Palace I was thinking of using some place in the real world (The Vatican) as a basis for the outline of the buildings/ setting.
That is for the "physical" aspect of it. As for the reason that it is called the Mud Palace, its inhabitants, and main features I'm not sure where to take it.
I was thinking that it might be a place where a vortex/gate to the Elemental Plane of Water could be located, and for some reason it is (and has been for a while) malfunctioning. Water + dirt = mud.
What do you think? Too off the wall? Or maybe just plain stupid?
Vortices are always a great angle. Then you'd need to start thinking: ok, we've got the 'mud' part down, but who or what was making the "palace"? And why haven't the nearby Giants/ Andropinis moved in on it? All kinds of story ideas there.
Originally posted by Ral of Tyr
Perhaps Andropinis constructed the Mud Palace for the only women he loved and she has dwelled there for centuries. Or perhaps the Mud Palace is no concern of Andropinis....or perhaps a powerful avangion/druid dwells there.
Well, this is Athas, so just remember that whatever it is, it should wipe out half the party and turn the remainder of them into flesh-eating zombies. Oh, and all the water has to be stagnant and undrinkable, so they're dying of thirst by the time they get there, and the one clean pool they find has a cistern fiend in it.
As an aside, I ran a combat with the 3e version of the cistern fiend against a 10th lvl halfling fighter, a dozen low-lvl fighter henchmen, and a halfling druid6/ranger 4. The dang thing took out half the city watch and reduced the fighter to death's door before they brought it down.
In my gaming group, cistern fiends have always been synonymous with the Evil DM, and that's the way I likes it
I've had players say "screw this, I'll take my chances with dehydration" rather than get within 50 feet of any large body of water.Originally posted by Jon, Oracle of Athas
Don't your players ever wonder who places all these cistern fiends in the pools? They should go after that druid terrorist....
Oh, they take it out on my in metagaming: by designing gamebreaking characters like 2e Kreen dartthrowers with type E poison, half-giants who use forearm axes to get the strength bonus on the little 1d2 spike, psionicists with 64 psionic blasts per round, and flying invisible silent defilers with necklaces of fireballs and rings of shooting stars. It's a hate-hate relationship -- but Dark Sun is all about hate and destruction, and ripped up character sheets.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
I always had the Blue Shrine as part of a series of elemental shines. The Magma shrine, for example, was destroyed by Wyan to create the deadlands (flooded them with magma). At the very center of these shrines stands the Pristine tower. I kind of went with a "Stephen King's: Dark Tower" style to that campaign, although the PCs never pursued it far enough to figure it out (ie. they were eaten). I had the shrines placed equidistant from each other in a circle around the pristine tower. There's actually some precedent for this as there are other color-named shrines to the North.
Too bad SotDL contradicts that, at least the begining part (A gate was open into the plan of magma, had nothing to do with a magma shrine).
I like the idea alltogether though.
I would figure that jon would have written something about his Blue Shrine?
-Due to the "magical" nature of the water (Gate, Vortex) the former residents and buildings were transformed into mud during the Cleansing Wars. Rules-wise the inhabitants have a "mud creature" template attached to normal humanoid. They only show themselves occaisionally and never to a Sorceror-monarch or their cronies.
They have been biding there time and their leaders are now interested in making trade ties to the outside world now that several SKs are dead, particularly Andropinis. However, factions in the society are xenophobic and want to finish where Rajaat left off...
Could be wrong (my work has problems with me lugging in my DS books for reference materials), but I was pretty sure the Blue Shrine was the one where there were no doors - only windows up high where water spouted out. Was I wrong? Am I thinking of Mud Palace?
That's the Mud Palace, the Blue Shrine is thus far undocumented. If I ever get the Ruins of Athas project started, the Blue Shrine will be one of the first areas I cover. And obviously, fan input will be desirable for such a project.
Huh? That's a pretty good idea, I think. Think about it....
Undead smurfs. SCAAAAAARRRRRRRRY.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Here's a thought for you: It's blue because some SK smeared smurfs all over it.
Huh? That's a pretty good idea, I think. Think about it....
Undead smurfs. SCAAAAAARRRRRRRRY.
/me screams in terror and runs from the undead smurfs singing that awful song
"La la la la la la, la la la la la....."
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
Not that I should want to spoil your fun by putting in an intelligent comment (;))
Oh yes, you're so above us.
/me bows before the great one
Anyways...
but I read 2 people saying a magma gate is at the origins of the deadlands. Aren't the deadlands the Obsidian plains? In the timeline it stated that a magical accident cause obsidian to flow out and cover those lands, no?
A gate to the para-elemental plane of magma was opened, magma then poured onto said plain, said gate is still open mind you, though it's not as large as it started out as (I think).
The magma cooled and formed obsidian, hence the name of the area.
Originally posted by NytCrawlr
Oh yes, you're so above us.
/me bows before the great one
Anyways...
As I was joking about your smurf-smearing comments, I do hope your also joking when reacting in that fashion. Anyways, indeed...
A gate to the para-elemental plane of magma was opened, magma then poured onto said plain, said gate is still open mind you, though it's not as large as it started out as (I think).
The magma cooled and formed obsidian, hence the name of the area.
Again, where is that described in?
The timeline is rather vague about the flow of obsidian, but the (short) description in the Wanderer's chronicle seems to support it and contradicts the magma theory:
''A few clumps of bushes and groves of trees rise out of the breaks in the obsidian, but whatever foul magic formed the plain also turned these once-living plants into black stone''
-Wanderer's Chronicle, p.120
Now, magma might turn to obsidian stone (though I doubt it would on such a scale anyways) but trees do not. The trees where most likely covered with obsidian, or actually transformed into obsidian. There are also numerous references to being covered with obsidian or obsidian coated items in descriptions of Small home and the City of a Thousand Dead. As magma climbs neither trees nor buildings, this seems to contradict the idea of a simple magma gate which poured magma which later solidified into the obsidian.
So, my question was, where is the magma gate described?
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
Again, where is that described in?
Again, SotDL...
So, my question was, where is the magma gate described?
Yet again, SotDL...
Who wrote (writes?) SotDL?
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
Ok, so my new question will be :p
Who wrote (writes?) SotDL?
You're serious?
SotDL stands for Secret of the Deadlands, i.e. one of the two accessories that T$R wrote for DS but were never published. The other was Dregoth Ascending.
Clearer?
I assume athas.org has access to this material? Was the magma gate from the original material or not?
BTW Nyt, I like it much better when you smile! :D
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
I knew the product's name (if it can be called a product), but I didn't know if it was even completed or not, and if it was tsr or athas.org who had written the most of it.
I assume athas.org has access to this material? Was the magma gate from the original material or not?
BTW Nyt, I like it much better when you smile! :D
I'm going to try and be civil here...sorry, but this is getting a little annoying, only because I feel like you aren't really paying attention, plus I'm a tech in a call center and have very little to 0 patience to begin with, so correct me if I am going overboard here.
In answer to your questions though, yes, it is a real product, yes, T$R wrote it (esp since said T$R logo is on said product), and yes, the magma gate is in the original material.
How do I know this you ask? Because I have access to said original material and have read it.
Can I give said material out, no, because that violates certain agreements with WotC.
Hope that helps.
Another
for you.Anyways, thanks for the info Nyt, really. I am paying attention, but it's just because the material I had seemed to contradict the magma gate, so I was wondering why people were talking about it, not having myself had any chance to look at SotDL or even talk about it before, since I've been away from these boards too long. Also I did not know if SotDL had been completed, so I wondered if maybe athas.org completed parts of it for its upcoming release, and if they were the ones who decided to go with the magma gate or if that was already in. I hope that's clearer on my part too. Anyways, thanks for the info.
As for the temper thing, well, I don't know what I've done to upset you so much, but I'm sorry if I did anyways. My first ''intelligent comment'' remark was simply because you guys were now talking about smurf-smearing, which I deemed not that serious, and a bit annoying actually. Frankly, half of the threads here end up talking about space hamsters, so. While I don't complain since I can just ignore those and read the good stuff written here, it does tend to screw some good topics sometimes. My remark was probably fro some frustration over this. So I'm sorry and I'll try to refrain from commenting on the matter again.
Thank you for your patience, Nyt. And please believe all of the above is not sarcasm.
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
Man, you guys need to relax...
Sorry, it's probably the diet change, all the caffeine, and recent life stuff I've been dealing with.
Anyways, thanks for the info Nyt, really.
Anytime, I don't mind keeping everyone informed on DS, at least what I know of it.
As for the temper thing, well, I don't know what I've done to upset you so much, but I'm sorry if I did anyways.
I just need to chill...
God damn twitch, I feel like Lore in that one Star Trek episode.
:D
P.S. Yeah, we do stray off topic quite a bit, but I don't mind it since taking things way too seriously all the time is not in my nature, that and one can only talk about DS for so long before one needs a break. So the many off topic comments are a good thing IMO, plus they help with getting to know each other more.
At least for me anyways.Originally posted by NytCrawlr
So the many off topic comments are a good thing IMO, plus they help with getting to know each other more.
Who are you again? :D
Originally posted by Pennarin
Who are you again? :D
The incredible, edible, Nyt. :D
Originally posted by Pennarin
Who are you again? :D
I have no idea.
Amnesiac Gamemaster seeks lost memories.
Shei-nad said we always go off topic about space hamsters.
As you can see, that's simply not true.
We'll got OT just about anytime we can :D
I stand corrected...
;)