In Rary the Traitor, the motivation of Rary in turning on the Circle of Eight is touched upon. It seems like a plain case of hubris - he assumes that because he's the most powerful, wisest and most intelligent person he knows, he's entitled - maybe even obligated - to "pacify" Oerth by any means necessary. Certainly his elaborate preparations (such as strikes against the clones of his fellow Circle members) points at a long-brewed plan.
Yet the references to his behavior in other sources (such as the From the Ashes set or the LGG) indicate that his split from the Circle was really just a result of his personal dislike for certain other members (particularly Otiluke), and he really does seem emotionally driven.
Naturally the answer to this question is going to be a little different for each DM's campaign, but I thought I'd ask: What is Rary's motivation? Does he simply feel betrayed by the directions in which the Circle has drifted from his own goals, or is it possible that his future utopia cannot come to pass unless Mordenkainen and the rest of the old guard are dead?
(As a secondary topic: A couple of years later, Tenser broke from the Circle over alignment-based objections. Could the two schisms be related? Is Mordenkainen up to something that both a Neutral Evil and a Lawful Good would find objectionable?)
For Tenser, by the end of the Rot8 module, he is clearly fed up with the "inactivity" of the Circle when it comes to opposing the forces of Evil. Thus, by leaving it, he insures he'll be able to deal with that problem on his own terms. True, the "new" Circle may oppose him on that (and probably will) but - given he knows a great deal about the oldest members - maybe he thinks he can outsmart them.. or threaten to put their "dirty laundry" out in the open if they act against him. Who knows...
Plus, his castle sits on a source of magic so powerful he could craft artifacts with it. That has got to count for something.
Rary and Tenser have both split with Mordenkainen's balanced approach because both saw the GH wars as an obvious failure of his policy.
Granted their goals are vastly different but at the core their motivation is similar, they both want to take an active role and force some sort of resolution to stabilize Oerth rather then this endless instability.
Rary: is the "saruman figure", he wants "control" even if its enforced, he viewed Mordenkainen's philosophy as one of tempering exterme passions which threaten the peace. GH wars showed rary that when confronted with irrational adversaries, Mordenkainen's covert approach failed miserably and Mordenkainen is unwilling to openly use force when neccessary. In rary's mind power is meant to be used, not endlessly debated. Some threats can only be met with force and if someone has to get their hands dirty to acquire the power needed to keep everyone else in line who better then himself to take up the burden.
Tenser: simply sees Mordenkainen's philosophy as too detached, when the nations were ripping apart the Flanaess, obviously evil was on the march, where was the Co8 to restore the "balance", the Co8 dithered, they were needed on the battlefield not in meetings. For Tenser life isn't a philosophical exercise, he hears the screams, sees the burnt cities and shattered lives which are more important to him than the ultimately pointless "ivory tower" debates.
1. Mordenkainen set Rary up. The whole "traitor" thing was Mordenkainen's idea, he made Rary think he'd support him in this, and then when it actually happened he acted like it was completely out of the blue, denied all responsibility and covered up any evidence of his own culpability. The real "traitor" was Mordenkainen, manipulating Rary and the others for his inscrutible aims.
2. The Rob Kuntz hypothesis, or "Otto hypothesis." Nothing really about Rary, but Robilar was actually a clone created by Otto while Robilar was adventuring in the Empire of Lynn.
3. Mordenkainen and Robilar planned the treachery together, but Rary took responsibility for it so that Mordenkainen could still act as the head of the Circle of Eight. Rary knows that Mordenkainen must keep his role in the affair hidden and doesn't begrudge him that. Perhaps Tenser discovered the truth of this.
Mordenkainen can be a total amoral sleaze when it comes to advancing his vision of the Balance. He arranged to free Iuz, imprison Thrommel, and who knows what other throughly despicable acts.
Rary got tired of playing the shlub for Mordenkainen. He has his own plans. They might include being an Evil skeezer, or that could just be an act. He is an archmage with a penchant for mental magics after all, so who knows what he is up to.
Tenser just plain realized what was going on. Being Lawful Good, he just decided to stop trying to fool himself that serving the Balance meant opposing Evil since it was the active naughtiness that needed putting down. Mordekainen was using him, like everyone else, against anything not Neutral. That means he had to put the smackdown on Furyondy to keep Mordenkainen happy, and after being turned into a blue dretch, Tenser just decided that if he was going to have to deal with that stuff, any extreme acts he did would be blatantly in support of Lawful Good, and not just the half-measures of the Circle.
Rary originally joined the Circle for the vast access to resources. For the first time since he had joined, Rary saw weaknesses in Mordenkainen's machinations. He could break away from the Circle and use the resources he had gained to carve his own empire. The time to strike was nigh. Rary's plan seems to have worked.
Given the stakes, Mordy will stop at nothing to foil the BB's schemes and prevent Tharizdun's return - even to the point of releasing what he regards as lesser evils onto the world. So an enspelled sword here, an overly curious warrior lord there, roll on a decade or two and the Wars follow on as inevitably as night follows day. Chaos and war consume the Flanaess (balancing the chaos/law axis as OOE points out), the Great Kingdom is splintered and the rule of the Ivids ended, the Horned Society scattered, Keoland nudged from its slumber, Veluna/Furyondy hemmed by troubles, Nyrond humbled, the Iron League sundered and most important of all, the Scarlet Brotherhood is lured out of the shadows into the light, where they can be attacked and bled white. A good (or rather Neutral) day at the office, all in all.
Now - what if a certain archmage of your acquaintance with a little too much moral fibre for his own good got wind of what you'd done. What if he were to make that nasty little fact known? It's not easy to keep the Balance or work behind the scenes as you're accustomed to when every crowned head of the Flanaess knows you're the ultimate cause of their troubles. So, it's obvious that the man who knows to much (and anyone he's told) must die.
And so we have the Day of the Great Signing - when brave Tenser and Otiluke died heroically to prevent Rary and Robilar's mad scheme. Or so Bigby, the only surviving witness, told everyone. Curious how, if Rary and Robilar's intent was to kill the crowned heads signing the treaty that they had strike teams ready to destroy Otiluke and Tenser's clones. If they anticipated being interrupted by these two, why didn't they take measures to avoid that and so succeed their dastardly purpose? The thing to remember about mages, and archmages especially, is that even before they learn their spells, they are already experts with smoke and mirrors.
So Rary becomes the Traitor and withdraws into the Bright to become a bogey man to trouble the sleep of the rulers of the Central Flanaess. And then, but a few years later, Tenser's clone returns miraculously to counterveil the Traitor's influence.
And so the Balance is restored, as it must always be...
P.
Now - what if a certain archmage of your acquaintance with a little too much moral fibre for his own good got wind of what you'd done. What if he were to make that nasty little fact known? It's not easy to keep the Balance or work behind the scenes as you're accustomed to when every crowned head of the Flanaess knows you're the ultimate cause of their troubles. So, it's obvious that the man who knows to much (and anyone he's told) must die.
And so we have the Day of the Great Signing - when brave Tenser and Otiluke died heroically to prevent Rary and Robilar's mad scheme. Or so Bigby, the only surviving witness, told everyone. Curious how, if Rary and Robilar's intent was to kill the crowned heads signing the treaty that they had strike teams ready to destroy Otiluke and Tenser's clones. If they anticipated being interrupted by these two, why didn't they take measures to avoid that and so succeed their dastardly purpose? The thing to remember about mages, and archmages especially, is that even before they learn their spells, they are already experts with smoke and mirrors.
So Rary becomes the Traitor and withdraws into the Bright to become a bogey man to trouble the sleep of the rulers of the Central Flanaess. And then, but a few years later, Tenser's clone returns miraculously to counterveil the Traitor's influence.
And so the Balance is restored, as it must always be...
P.
Love your analysis
.. except.. that Tenser doesn't seem overly concerned by Rary. The "blue archmagus" eyes seem to look more north than south these days...
If you read LGJ 0 you realise that Mordy didn't just have a hand in the GH Wars. Mordy will do anything to enforce the Balance. What the excerpt of the Codex of Mordenkainen in LGJ 0 makes clear is that he considers Tharizdun to be the greatest threat to the Oerth and his careful balancing act. And then there's the Scarlet Brotherhood, who harbour within them the dark cancer that is the Black Brotherhood, who actively seek the theoparts that will undo the Biophage's prison. Obviously they have to be stopped.
Given the stakes, Mordy will stop at nothing to foil the BB's schemes and prevent Tharizdun's return - even to the point of releasing what he regards as lesser evils onto the world. So an enspelled sword here, an overly curious warrior lord there, roll on a decade or two and the Wars follow on as inevitably as night follows day. Chaos and war consume the Flanaess (balancing the chaos/law axis as OOE points out), the Great Kingdom is splintered and the rule of the Ivids ended, the Horned Society scattered, Keoland nudged from its slumber, Veluna/Furyondy hemmed by troubles, Nyrond humbled, the Iron League sundered and most important of all, the Scarlet Brotherhood is lured out of the shadows into the light, where they can be attacked and bled white. A good (or rather Neutral) day at the office, all in all.
Now - what if a certain archmage of your acquaintance with a little too much moral fibre for his own good got wind of what you'd done. What if he were to make that nasty little fact known? It's not easy to keep the Balance or work behind the scenes as you're accustomed to when every crowned head of the Flanaess knows you're the ultimate cause of their troubles. So, it's obvious that the man who knows to much (and anyone he's told) must die.
And so we have the Day of the Great Signing - when brave Tenser and Otiluke died heroically to prevent Rary and Robilar's mad scheme. Or so Bigby, the only surviving witness, told everyone. Curious how, if Rary and Robilar's intent was to kill the crowned heads signing the treaty that they had strike teams ready to destroy Otiluke and Tenser's clones. If they anticipated being interrupted by these two, why didn't they take measures to avoid that and so succeed their dastardly purpose? The thing to remember about mages, and archmages especially, is that even before they learn their spells, they are already experts with smoke and mirrors.
So Rary becomes the Traitor and withdraws into the Bright to become a bogey man to trouble the sleep of the rulers of the Central Flanaess. And then, but a few years later, Tenser's clone returns miraculously to counterveil the Traitor's influence.
And so the Balance is restored, as it must always be...
P.
Love your analysis
.. except.. that Tenser doesn't seem overly concerned by Rary. The "blue archmagus" eyes seem to look more north than south these days...
Given his recent experiences - I'll bet that Tenser has developed eyes in the back of his head. :D
P.
Otiluke was in charge of securing the place magically during the Day of Signing. So it makes sense that he was the "man on the scene". Tenser happening to be with him at the time is an odd coincidence (unless one accepts the Woesinger Hypothesis.)
D'you suppose Robilar had assembled a separate strike team for the rest of the Eight, aside from Drawmij? (Drawmij's secrecy about the whereabouts of his - pardon my Dr. Evil impression - UNDERSEA LAIR is well-noted in his character bio, and his magical skills would almost certainly be enough to keep that location secret and safe even against Rary or his daemonic assistants. I guess his paranoia's been justified now, hm?)
Assuming the point of the 'Day of the Great Signing fiasco' was to kill off Tenser and make Rary into a "visible villain" - what comes next? Do you suppose Mordenkainen is working with Rary on some level, or has he simply calculated Rary's next likely moves and is making use of the "fallen" Circle member without Rary's knowledge?
As for Tenser (after his resurrection) - Whatever knowledge he possessed that was "too dangerous" to allow him to live appears to have been lost. His lack of interest in Rary is understandable (and Rary's probably counting on it), because there are far more visible troubles threatening the innocent. Especially if you're running Tenser as the "kindly archmage" in AGE OF WORMS. Even I would have to admit that I'd rather have Rary around than the Spawn of Kyuss.
Ask Erik Mona on the Paizo AoW board. I am sure he'll answer that one.
Actually I already did. He said that using Tenser's name apparently added too much of a GH feel to the AoW (same reason for calling Greyhawk simply the "Free City"). I forget if he said it was a design decision or if he said his hands were tied by WotC, but obviously there was some pressure. I know if Erik had his way the whole AP would be GH through and through, but he has to make it adaptable to other worlds to please his masters.
D'you suppose Robilar had assembled a separate strike team for the rest of the Eight, aside from Drawmij?
I wouldn't have thought so. Bigby was probably in on it (perhaps Drawmij too), and Mordenkainen could have engineered things to keep the others (Otto, Nystul and Jalarazi) away from the scene.
Do you suppose Mordenkainen is working with Rary on some level, or has he simply calculated Rary's next likely moves and is making use of the "fallen" Circle member without Rary's knowledge?
That's a very good question. ;)
His lack of interest in Rary is understandable (and Rary's probably counting on it), because there are far more visible troubles threatening the innocent. Especially if you're running Tenser as the "kindly archmage" in AGE OF WORMS. Even I would have to admit that I'd rather have Rary around than the Spawn of Kyuss.
Or Tenser has many irons in many fires. Just because he's not teleporting into the Bright for a rematch doesn't mean he doesn't consider Rary a threat or a subject of interest.
P.