The Role of Immortals in the Fate of Cultures
by Geoff Gander"Hmmmn. . .I'm curious as to why they chose to do that. Later they'd leave various Milenian remnants (Minea, Kastelios et al) to semi-recover/survive on the surface even after Milenia began to flourish in the HW. I suppose that might be related to the desire to eliminate knowledge of Y'hog/the Carnifex from the lore of the surface world, but wouldn't there be more subtle ways to accomplish that (cause the legends to drift and become incomprehensible on the point of the Carnifex, for example)?" - Porph
A very good question, James!
The reason why the remnants of Lhomarr were so cleanly (some would say brutally) removed from the surface world has to do with who the Immortals were at the time. I made a post on the MMB earlier about this, but I will reiterate here, as I think it's an interesting one.
In the days of the Old Carnifex (as in the Masters level modules), the Immortals who were around had never (IMO) been mortals. They just were. It could be that they're dead now, or that they moved on to become Old Ones, but the fact remains that they never experienced mortal life. Never knowing what it was to feel passion, to suffer, or to love, they simply banished the Carnifex into their prison dimension, and essentially wiped the slate clean. Their view of mortals would be similar to the way we see hamsters or gerbils.
During the time of Old Lhomarr, new Immortals arose. Some, such as Ixion (Xeron) and Korotiku, had already existed, but had grown fond of their "chosen" people. Others, such as Ordana (still a treant), were just embarking on their mortal lives. Many of those we know today wouldn't be born for millennia. But there were a tiny handful, most of whom have long since died, who rose from mortality to become Immortals. Ixion has been known to have brought several great Lhomarrian clerics into the ranks of the Immortals this way*. And so, when the time came in Pandius to decide the fate of the Y'hog Carnifex and the world, it was decided that the Lhomarrians would be sent to the Hollow World, to begin anew (a new, secret project), while the Y'hog Carnifex would be banished to a prison dimension, like their forebears. To save Mystara, every other civilisation would be purged of its knowledge, to begin anew.
The young Immortals, while they had lobbied hard to save the Lhomarrians and their allies, were revolted at the thought of destroying other civilisations, even those who had not contacted the combatants of the Dark War. They also were horrified that the Y'hog Carnifex, twisted by evil as they were, would be sealed off, there to fester and hate until they could be freed again. Should they, too, be wiped clean?
The elder Immortals, who had never been mortals themselves, could not understand these passions, especially from Valerias, she who had been raised by Ixion so recently to Immortality. They merely said, "These creatures are but mortals, they will grow again." They outnumbered the new Immortals, and their will carried the day.
And so the Y'hog Carnifex were imprisoned in their sunken city of Y'hog, the Lhomarrians were sent to the Hollow World, there to begin anew, and the remainder of the world was wiped clean of all civilisation, so that not even the tiniest fragment of Outer Being lore would survive.
Millennia later, Nithia came on trial. The newer Immortals vastly outnumbered the old guard by now, and though those elder Immortals again demanded that Mystara be purged of all possible taint, the young dwellers of Pandius revolted once more. "Never again shall an entire world pay the price of one nation's sins," they said, "and nevermore shall evil be trapped in dark dimensions, ever to bide its time. It shall be challenged, and conquered for good." So it was that, while those pure elements of Nithia were sent to the Hollow World, only memories of Nithia were erased from Mystara's collective memory, and even those colonies of Nithia who remained pure, such as Thothia, were allowed to remain whole. Thus was the will of the elder Immortals broken, never again to reign supreme.
*Valerias is described as not
remembering her mortal existence. I decided to make her mortal
identity that of a high-ranking Lhomarrian cleric of Xeron, during
the war against the Carnifex of Y'hog. This also provides some
reason for her on-again, off-again relationship with Ixion.