About Old Ones
by Bruce HeardThe question always comes up about who -- or what -- the Old
Ones are. We know very little about them, other than vague
references in the original D&D Immortals boxed set. That's it.
Nothing more.
If we know that the Old Ones are as far removed from the
Immortals as the latter are from their mortal kin, then their
powers must be absolute and without limit. The question is, who
could wield such power... and why? Even now that the World
of Mystara is a part of the AD&D Game's universe, the
question remains. Admittedly, traditional AD&D Game gods are
more powerful than Immortals in several ways, but their power
is neither absolute nor limitless.
Simply put, the only creature I can think capable of achieving
such unfathomable power over all mortal and divine beings of
all the planes of existence and their infinite universes is... well,
me. "That's it," you think. "Bruce has finally lost his wits! He's
fallen off the deep end, forever discarding all remaining shreds
of humility and given in with reckless abandon to the ultimate
manifestation of his ego!" <smile>
Well, not quite. Yet. <smile again>
Along with any DM and the players who constantly mold the
imaginary universe in which their heroes dwell, I share the
unlimited power of the Old Ones. In that regards, can I or any
DM create entire universes? Indeed! I am omnipotent? Of
course! Can I, in a blink of eye, destroy billions of mortals and
their gods? Yes, for I am the very substance of all energy,
thought, matter, time, and entropy in all the worlds of which I
dream. They are mere figments of my imagination! I think,
therefore they are. <smile once more>.
Now that we've tied the existence of real life DMs with the
cosmogony of Mystara, let's see how that could impact the
philosophies of the mortals and the Immortals' understanding of
their world.
Virtually no one in the Mystaran universe would truly know
who the Old Ones are. It'd be frightening to discover that you
and your entire universe were all an illusion, a part of someone
else's dream. You don't exist and your every-day thoughts and
acts are actually controlled by someone else. No one on Mystara
would certainly believe it. Instead those who had ever heard of
the Old Ones could believe they created the universe and that
they observe quietly. Immortals still would be the driving force
behind churches and temples, but any belief of the Old Ones'
existence would somewhat overshadow the Immortals' power.
The Immortals would have no reason to believe otherwise.
They would probably endeavour to uncover any information
about the Old Ones, like Rad did (Etienne d'Amberville's
Immortal alter-ego) in Wrath of the Immortals. Their
assumption is that perhaps Immortals could themselves grow to
become Old Ones. Eventually, Rad was "abducted" by the Old
Ones at the climax of the adventure for finding out about just
that. In other words, Rad was pulled out of the campaign world
after having discovered the existence of his DM!
As far as some of the Old Ones were concerned (a few others
and myself), Rad had gotten out of control and it became
necessary to alter that character. Etienne was originally created
as a lawful (read lawful-good) character. He was later made to
become the Immortal Rad and to tangle up in Mystara's endless
intrigues. As a result of the plot behind Wrath of the Immortals,
Rad either became insane (Immortals going insane?), or shifted
alignments. Either way, Glantri without Rad lost some of its
colour, thus Rad's "abduction" and later return to Mystara.
What would Rad remember of all this? He'd recall nothing at all if we wished it so (it's good to be the DM, isn't it?) or perhaps this:
"The Immortal stood on a huge wooden plateau, staring around
him at a new and bizarre universe. Strewn about were oddly
shaped, multi-coloured objects with numbers on them. Statues of
painted lead lay about, silent parodies of heroes brandishing
their swords at unseen dangers. A large crystal cylinder stood
incongruously in the distance, filled with a bubbly, black ichor.
The Immortal visitor had a moment of panic when, suddenly,
a gigantic mountain in the distance shifted on its base,
seemingly leaning forward.
"But a mountain it wasn't. There, behind a colossal wall
showing scenes of dragons, lizardmen, and warriors, appeared
an insanely huge person. Pointing a gargantuan finger at the
Immortal, he thundered: "I liked you better before. I shall keep
you out of Mystara until things calm down, and then, I shall
send you back with the thought that you only are a reflection of
my dreams. You shall meditate about this when you are not
fighting the forces of darkness in Glantri. Yes, I think that will
be fine."
"The Immortal attempted to utter the words of a spell, but his
mouth wouldn't move. He struggled to raise his arms, without
success. He conjured from within him all the storms of magical
Immortal power he had ever unleashed, but to no avail. He
stood there, puny and utterly helpless, staring back at the Old
One. Only then did Rad discover that he too was a statue of
lead, hopelessly paralysed and mute. All things then vanished,
and as Rad tumbled into oblivion, he knew then that he had
learned one very obvious thing. There was such a thing as
Humility for Immortals."