Why were they fighting that war anyway?
The Suel Imperium was a hellish place to live decades before its ultimate destruction in the Rain of Colorless Fire; many of its noble houses led vast crowds of refugees through the treacherous Harsh Pass due to the war and infighting, and the enduring madness of their last emperor; even the emperor's own son and heir made sure he was on the other side of the continent. Perhaps they planned to one day return to claim their birthrights, but it was not to be - shortly after the Suel doomsday weapon, the Invoked Devastation, vaporized the great cities of the Bakluni, a group of surviving Baklunish spellcasters met in the circle of Tovag Baragu and called down a countercurse, the Colorless Fire, which incinerated the fertile Suel lands and left only dust and ash in their wake. Except for the houses protected by the archmage Slerotin Wayfarer, nearly every citizen of the empire was destroyed in one day by transparent flames raining down from the heavens. Some of the cities, protected by magic, lasted longer, but they were soon buried beneath the waves of dust that swept over everything like an ocean tide.
Wow... the kind of power that musta gone into such spells...
Well, thanks for the info! Anything else you care to think of'd be lovely.
I'm still...a bit shocked. even though it's only a game-world...
Second, the legacy of the Suel Empire lives on in countless magic items, spells, and a few artifacts (Orbs of Dragonkind for instance). Not to mention the worst legacy of them all: the Scarlet Brotherhood.
And, yes, quite a few people are drooling after the spells that started all this but, luckily for us, they haven't managed to duplicate them.. yet. Although, judging by the infamous Fire Wand of Suloise, some have come close.
The Bakluni didn't fare better. Actually, they apparently suffered a greater loss since almost nothing remains of their once proud cities (which may have something to do with what the Bringer of Doom really is.. )
Still, they retain their affinity for creatures of the elemental planes and such creatures seems to still respect them.. to some degree.
I remeber reading that a Baklunish diety helped them with the Reign of Colorless Fire. Has anyone else read anything like ths? I searched but never found confirmation.
That's unofficial, from one of the Oerth Journals. Dorgha Torgu is a deity that Gary Gygax said he had found in one of his old files and shared with us - a Baklunish god who helped with the Rain of Colorless Fire and subsequently dwindled to the status of quasi-deity.
Thank you very much!
I forgot.
Thanks everyone!!!
(anything else greatly appreciated)
Well, "nothing left" is a bit extreme. First of all, there are quite a few ruins left, some of which are worth exploring if you're after elder magic and don't mind running into degenerate suels. The novel Sea of Death by EGG is a great description of one such expedition.
Don't forget Andre Norton's Quag Keep. It also has an excellent description of the Sea of Dust (not sand) and how it might be crossed.
If you look onto the history, there has been about 1000 years since the rain of colorless fire, plenty of time to rebuild some semblance of society. Hence I used the Darksun Campaign setting for all things in the sea of dust. Worked Awesome. It in my opinion it fits perfectly.
Due to the geography surrounding the Sea it is nearly impossible (but possible) to get into the Sea of Dust by mountain passes and even harder to get out. It takes to long ( and too dangerous) to fly over it safely. Impossible to teleport or use extra dimensional magic to get there (or out) due to the radiations still emanating from the Twin Cataclysms 1000 years ago. Best way, take the mountain passes and hope your a good climber or go under Via the under dark!
Sure the Rain of Colorless Fire did much damage to the area, but what if it was the use of defiling magic!?!? And the secret never got out. Something the characters find out. As well as the area is inhabited with pure blooded Suel, exotic in every way that darksun has to offer, adapting to the harsh sun as only the sea of dust can offer!!!!
I love it!!
That's unofficial, from one of the Oerth Journals. Dorgha Torgu is a deity that Gary Gygax said he had found in one of his old files and shared with us - a Baklunish god who helped with the Rain of Colorless Fire and subsequently dwindled to the status of quasi-deity.
It's originally from the old AOL Greyhawk boards. I reprinted it as an appendix to an article in one of the Oerth Journals (whichever one has the first Fading Lands article), but the Council got worked up (I took its posting to the board as implied permission to distribute with attribution; they wanted explicit permission from EGG) and made me pull it, so the DT version was only up for one day. I don't know which version is available at CF! etc. I may or may not have made the "editor's edition" available to a few people later on for posting at CF.
Another little bit of ancient trivia.
Stone endures
Nell.
A link with creative ideas on this subject.