I have a quick question, I don't know if this as been brought up before but I couldn’t find anything on the subject.
In the Champion of Mystara box it is written that after the destruction of Oceania Synn was allowed to stay in here lair to guard a secrete. Does anyone know what is this secret?
My voyage of the Princess Arc article starts right after they visited Oceania (the first Dragon Magazine I have is the one with a painting of a guy offering flowers to a She-Beholder on it) so I don’t know how it was destroyed or if anything at all is mention about this secret.
One of my players, who is a Lore Master, is researching Synn and I’m sure she’d like to know more about this secret (and so would I).
If anyone could help me on this, I would really, really, appreciate it.
Francis
So basically it's your choice: devise anything that you see fit for your campaign :P ;)
Nothing has ever been revealed about Synn's position in Oceania, so we do not know for sure what kind of secret she was guarding there. But it must be something major since a whole population of night dragons was dispatched there to conquer the island and hold it by their master (likely Thanatos).
So basically it's your choice: devise anything that you see fit for your campaign :P ;)
Hmmm...this is interesting.
BTW, IIRC Synn was also featured in one of the Mystara Arcade Games (Shadow over Mystara?). Was that the same Synn? Does it reveal anything more about her background?
In times like this it would really have been nice to have Bruce back on these forums...
Håvard
Anyway, I do not think that Bruce had anything in mind with that OCeania bit: it was just a way to add more mystery to the whole "night dragons" thingy, else it would have already surfaced somewhere in the products (remember that the Dragon mag where Synn is introduced came out at least 3 years before Mystara was closed, IIRC). ;)
Now I only have to come up with some good stuff for this secret.
Francis
Yes, the Synn featured in Shadow over Mystara (sequel to Tower of Doom) is the same Synn, and IIRC in the end she turns into a dragon!
Anyway, I do not think that Bruce had anything in mind with that OCeania bit: it was just a way to add more mystery to the whole "night dragons" thingy, else it would have already surfaced somewhere in the products (remember that the Dragon mag where Synn is introduced came out at least 3 years before Mystara was closed, IIRC). ;)
I'm not entirely sure of this, DM: remeber that, in those few years, the original plans for Mystara were completely changed at least twice.
In the original plan, there was a big adventure module devoted to the development of the plots of Synn, which never materialized -- see the reference file in the Vaults: http://pandius.com/refguide.html
Just a few relevant excerpts. First, Synn's description:
``Synn -- The Evil in the Dark
She is a powerful creature of the shadows, an undead dragon who masters the art of treachery and deceit. She often takes the shape of a young women, either human or elven. She is privy to information normally limited to her Immortal Patron. Upon her discovery of the Brotherhood of the Radiance (see d'Ambreville earlier), she subtly communicated information to The Master (see The Master above), and then set him up to seek a possible alliance with the Heldannic Order (see Wulf later). Her goal is to cause the downfall of Alphatia and Glantri, for which her Immortal Patron would establish an evil realm in the place of Glantri for Synn to rule, and ravage the remains of the Known World. Synn presently is Haldemar's archenemy (see Haldemar earlier), for she knows of a prophesy placing Haldemar at the heart of the Glantrian intrigue.''
And then the entry for the module:
PAA1 - The Crown of Synn: This adventure module is for use with the Princess Ark boxed set. The player characters are part of a landing party in the evil land of Glantri. They are to retrieve the Crown of Synn, an instrument of Glantrian hegemony in the Known World and return to the ship. The ultimate plan is to provoke Synn, Queen of Darkness and long-time rival of the Princess Ark, to risk an attack against the fabled ship and perhaps to meet her demise.
So maybe there was more to be revealed about Synn's origins and goals, but since the events leading to Synn's ascension as Queen of Glantri never happened, and the module was never written, there's no way to know whether there were, at that point, plans to involve her original role in Oceania with her later rivalry with Haldemar.
Perhaps the secret Synn was guarding was the artifact known as the Crown of Synn? And Perhaps the Crown can be used somehow in combination with the Radience as the text suggests to give Glantri dominance over the Known World somehow? Perhaps enslaving other rulers?
And Haldemar, not exactly a friend of the Known Worlders, ends up becoming their saviour?
Håvard
In the original plan, there was a big adventure module devoted to the development of the plots of Synn, which never materialized -- see the reference file in the Vaults: http://pandius.com/refguide.html
Nice- I've been looking for that reference guide forever, and could never find it! Thanks for finally pointing me in the right direction!
As an aside, I have always thought it odd how they changed the WotI timeline from a full 10 year span to 6 years. I thought the expanded timeline of the war (starting in 1000 AC) made a lot more sense, rather than trying to cram it all in starting in 1004.
Its amazing how useful that ref guide has turned out to be!
Perhaps the secret Synn was guarding was the artifact known as the Crown of Synn? And Perhaps the Crown can be used somehow in combination with the Radience as the text suggests to give Glantri dominance over the Known World somehow? Perhaps enslaving other rulers?
Maybe the Crown itself is some kind of Blackmoorian artifact, some control device from the Beagle?
And Haldemar, not exactly a friend of the Known Worlders, ends up becoming their saviour?
Well, at the end of the reference guide timeline, Haldemar becomes an agent of the Empire of Thyatis!
Hmmm...this is interesting.
BTW, IIRC Synn was also featured in one of the Mystara Arcade Games (Shadow over Mystara?). Was that the same Synn? Does it reveal anything more about her background?
In times like this it would really have been nice to have Bruce back on these forums...
Håvard
As has already been noted, the same Synn.
The whole plot of the arcade game is stopping her plan to destroy and overrun Glantri. But the game doesn't provide any background that we don't know from other sources.
I noted in D&D2 Wrath of the Dragon God, the dragon is referred to as a night dragon.
In times like this it would really have been nice to have Bruce back on these forums...
What happened to Bruce?
What happened to Bruce?
I don't know. He was very active both here and on the MML a few years ago, but since then we have heard nothing from him.
I think that for a long time he was hoping for TSR/WOTC to bring Mystara back, but perhaps he eventually just gave up.
Does anyone else know more?
Håvard
Does anyone else know more?
Not much more than you. I know he didn't move with the TSR folk when the WotC merger took hold and they up and relocated to Seattle, choosing instead to remain with his family in the midwest (Michigan, I think, is where TSR was located).
He remained active for a while after that, and was working on a Tortle article for Dragon around the time that 3.0 was coming out (and the article was going to be 3.0). He dropped off some time after that, though. The last I remember hearing from him was when someone on the conversion project asked him about Rakasta and their HD, and whether a direct 2 HD conversion or a 1 HD, No LA version would be more appropriate, and he gave some vague suggestion that could be taken either way.
Would be nice to see him around again, but I suspect he's busy with family and whatever work he's currently about. Too bad, because he was always a wealth of creative ideas for Mystara.
The reason I ask it that I've just run the Dungeon adventure 'Fiend's Embrace' for my low-level party and one of the PC'c has decided to keep the cloak in question. Well I thought I'd make life interesting for him and have the cloak subtley nudge him in the direction of Synn.
Regards
Gary
In times like this it would really have been nice to have Bruce back on these forums...
Hmmm :D
Håvard