What is machine of Lum The Mad and where it is detailed?
S.H
I think the main source is the 2e Vortex of Madness module although it might have focused exclusively on the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O (also originally described in the 1e DMG). Note that the Might Servant is also mentioned in the LGJ 1 entry about the Belching Vortex of of Leuk-O, which is reportedly in the Hestmark Highlands.
http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/dd1/boa.htm
It's thought that a last, desperate effort to invoke the artifact's power was what in the end destroyed the city, opening up a vast planar rift and sucking the ancient capital of the Great Kingdom into Limbo.
But it's still blamed for Rauxes' destruction.
Baron Lum was an Oeridian warlord who lived during the Great Migrations, long before the crowning of the first Overking. It was partly because of brilliant artifact-wielding leaders like him and his general Leuk-o that the Oeridians were able to conquer so much territory in so brief a time. There was apparantly a period after the time of Johydee that the Oeridians spent frantically gathering as many artifacts as they could in preparation for their long migration and the manifest destiny in the Flanaess they believed to be theirs by right. Lum was something of a mechanic in his own right, able to understand the intricities of the Machine like few had before and none have since.
The Machine of Lum the Mad is not evil, exactly, but there is a wrongness about it, a hideous alien complexity that inevitably drives all its users insane. It disappeared for a time, bringing Lum with it, but it was back in Aerdi hands by the time of the Greyhawk Wars, installed in the fortress Rifter, which had been built by Ivid II.
Vortex of Madness had it that Lum is still alive, somehow preserved by his Machine and floating with it in the plane of Limbo all these long centuries. How that jibes with Ivid the Undying's placement of the artifact is unclear. Maybe the Machine can exist in more than one place at the same time. I wouldn't be at all surprised.
Vortex of Madness had it that Lum is still alive, somehow preserved by his Machine and floating with it in the plane of Limbo all these long centuries. How that jibes with Ivid the Undying's placement of the artifact is unclear. Maybe the Machine can exist in more than one place at the same time. I wouldn't be at all surprised.
Is Vortex set in Greyhawk or in a generic world? Just curious I don't own it and was wondering if its worth purchasing.
I was unaware that it had material on the Machine. thanks!
Mike
Is Vortex set in Greyhawk or in a generic world? Just curious I don't own it and was wondering if its worth purchasing.
I was unaware that it had material on the Machine. thanks!
Mike
It's set in the Outer and Inner Planes. And other planes, too. There's a scenario involving a rebellion among the githyanki, one involving the City of Glass in the Elemental Plane of Water, one involving the imprisoned Greek titans trying to break out of their prison, one involving a demiplane with DiVinci-esque mechanical things, one involving the Machine of Lum the Mad in Limbo, and I forget if there are other things or not. The titular Vortex of Madness is created by the Machine of Lum the Mad, and it roughly ties the various scenarios together.
So it's not Greyhawk, but it's not really a generic world either. I mean, "the world" could be Oerth, but the adventures don't take place there. They take place in the specific, non-generic planes as detailed in the Planescape materials, although Vortex of Madness isn't a Planescape product itself.
The Lum stuff doesn't really closely fit with the Ivid the Undying Lum stuff, though. Chris Pramas (the designer) probably didn't think to look in it when researching the book, which is understandable. I mean, you wouldn't immediately think "I'll read this never-published book describing the Great Kingdom for all my Lum needs" unless you had already read it, and therefore knew.
So old Lum seems to have been active in the lands that became Aerdy.
P.
And another bit of Baron Lum trivia: it was mentioned in one of the LGJs (Allan Grohe's artifacts article IIRC) that he possessed the blade Druniazth (the Claw of Tharizdun), but lost it in a clash with Ur Flan necromancers near the Thelwood (now the Bonewood)...
Oh yeah, I forgot that I'd written that :D
The sword first appeared more than eight hundred years ago, in the hands of Baron Lum (this was years before he discovered his Machine). He wielded a blade in combat described in the same manner as Druniazth against Ur-Flan sorcerers near the Bone Wood, but lost it during the fray. He spent his remaining years trying to recover the sword, and the search for it drove him slowly mad.
That's from my draft article, so Eric may well have changed the Bonewood to the Thelwood.
1. From the nightmares and visions of Druniazth, which is tied to a god of madness.
2. From the stress involved from trying to find Druniazth after he lost it.
3. From the Machine, which also has insanity as a side-effect of its use.
Lum was triple-mad.
That's from my draft article, so Eric may well have changed the Bonewood to the Thelwood.
Well, it was the Thelwood back then - since it didn't turn boney until the 580's CY.
Devin
The Lum stuff doesn't really closely fit with the Ivid the Undying Lum stuff, though. Chris Pramas (the designer) probably didn't think to look in it when researching the book, which is understandable. I mean, you wouldn't immediately think "I'll read this never-published book describing the Great Kingdom for all my Lum needs" unless you had already read it, and therefore knew.
And we all know how thorough Carl Sargent was about researching his stuff before Ivid was "published".
Out of all the races the Oeridians have the most inconsistancies in their history and timeline so I guess I can't crucify Carl too much.
Show
it was placed in expansion pack for "Baldur's Gate II". Inside the tower of the Demogorgon. In it was prisoned a crazy mage, which has discovered the machine. It looks like big d12 with lots of silly, unusefull tools on it.
http://www.womengamers.com/images/articles/editorials/e32001/tob_4.jpg
A version of the machine also appeared in the CRPG Baldur's Gate 2. I know that's FR and not GH, but it could be useful for getting a visual idea of whatthe thing might look like.
Devin
Never liked that version of the machine. For one thing, it didn't look at all like previous versions. For another, it was the first time ever we heard that the machine's user could become trapped inside by pushing on the wrong button (although that idea certainly has merit)