Did they Die? Did survivors make it out in your campaigns?
Regards
Gary
But during subsequent days of dread, only mortal magic fails. This is why The cleric of Gareth in Sind is able to use her artifact to perform miracle cures and even raise the dead on this day.
Roger
IIRC, during the week without magic, Immortal magic failed as well, leaving the HW sun, a gate to the elemental plane of fire, closed. I remember reading somewhere that many HW people thought the world was ending.
So what effect would being reduced to near-polar climate for a week have? I'd imagine it would be pretty devastating, though there could be shelters and buildings that would stay warm even if their "power" stopped working for a while, so the elves might not be completely wiped out.
Ofcourse, if Serraine and Floating Ar survived then perhaps the Blacklore survived too?
I am wondering if this idea of Immortal Magic failing was such a good idea...
Havard
As far as the Blacklore elves, although the magically enhanced climate would have reverted to the natural polar clime, the automotons are technological, not magical, and their sole purpose is to take care of the elves. I think that, although the Blacklore elves had their first bout of hardship in their long existance, they survived with minimal long-term damage due to the aid of their automotons. Certainly, some damage was done, however, as elves are magical in nature (even the Blacklore) and would have gotten sick in the first place... add the climate change, and I think a small population reduction would have resulted... maybe 1-3%?
Roger
In Top Ballista, there's an adventure thread where the city crashes somewhere in the Dymrak.
Was it the whole city, or just a gnomish plane? IIRC, if you're thinking of the one with the gremlin nest in the Dymrak, it is just a solitary gnomish vessel.
Similarly, Florting Ar should have "crashed" and floated on the water. When magic returned, the magic effects returned (as they were not dispelled, simply suppressed like in an AM field). So Ar survived with earthquake-like damage, but not total destruction.
It is noted that Floating Ar simply lost some altitude, but didn't lose their magic completely, and that Immortal level magic was unaffected (I believe it's stated in PWA1010 in the beginning, though I'd have to double check).
The Hollow World thing is definitely an exception for some reason, but I don't recall if it was ever addressed as to why (in other words, it may have been an oversight).
As to why the Hollow Worlders didn't freeze to death, I don't know. Geothermal heating maybe? (It's as likely as anything, right?)
Back to the Sun failure, though, the Blood Brethren trilogy takes pains to point out that the sun is vital to the Spell of Preservation- as such, the sun going out would/should have had some sort of effects in those terms. Maybe a week without magic isn't quite enough time to account for changes in cultural bias that would go into place when the spell reactivated, but I think it might be interesting to explore some theories as to what the loss of the spell might have caused for that week. Hmmm....
(Actually, come to think of it, perhaps the HW Sun failure was due to more than just the Week Without Magic? Thanatos' plot in the HWA series should take place roughly around 1004 AC, at least according to one calculation I did- based on Koriktodeva Raya's age in the PWAs and in HWA3). Maybe he had a hand in the sun going out?)
(Actually, come to think of it, perhaps the HW Sun failure was due to more than just the Week Without Magic? Thanatos' plot in the HWA series should take place roughly around 1004 AC, at least according to one calculation I did- based on Koriktodeva Raya's age in the PWAs and in HWA3). Maybe he had a hand in the sun going out?)
Perhaps someone didn't like the Sun Wight, so they took advantage of the scenario?
IIRC, during the week without magic, Immortal magic failed as well, leaving the HW sun, a gate to the elemental plane of fire, closed. I remember reading somewhere that many HW people thought the world was ending.
The end of the Sixth Sun for the Oltecs and Azcans, pehaps?
It is noted that Floating Ar simply lost some altitude, but didn't lose their magic completely, and that Immortal level magic was unaffected (I believe it's stated in PWA1010 in the beginning, though I'd have to double check).
Can someone confirm this? I couldn't find the reference in PWA1010, but it could still be in there obviously.
Havard
During the events of Wrath of the Immortals, when Alphatia sank, the floating land masses of the nation were never in danger; the Immortal Palartarkan saved them, keeping them floating above Alphatia while the continent below sank and disappeared.
I'll check the rest later.
well that certainly should be taken as a clarification that Immortal magic never failed during the Week Without Magic. That means the Spell of Preservation and similar effects would have been intact. The Blacklore elves might have suffered a few snow storms during that time, possibly proving fatal to some, though the culture would still be intact.
Serraine probably survived due to the technological parts keeping that city afloat.
My only big issue then with WotI's magic drain is the failure of Potions of Longevity. I can see reasons for wanting to kill off the thousands of high level magic users of Mystara if one wanted to give Post WotI Mystara a different feel. But spells or other magical effects that changes a character permanently should not IMO be affected by magic failing. With Alphatia sinking and Etienne gone, the only high level wizards of annoyance were the guys at Scaleras (spl?), 250 of them IIRC, and there must have been better and easier ways to get rid of those?
Havard
My only big issue then with WotI's magic drain is the failure of Potions of Longevity.
Aside from the reasons you state, the reason this didn't/doesn't make sense is because the effect of the potion of Longevity, as I understand it, isn't a constant one. It's a one time thing; you drink it, and the magic affects the physical change of de-aging you. I guess the reasoning was the same behind things like Walls of Iron, for example- which are permanent unless dispelled (I'd forgotten that until I just checked), but it just doesn't seem quite right. Shouldn't characters that drink them then constantly radiate magic? And wouldn't this idea of the effect being dispellable be a widely known phenomenon among drinkers, such that they either took other precautions or found an alternative means of life extension? Otherwise, high-level wizards would be constantly throwing dispels at each other during duels and the like, rather than bothering to try and use a fireball or something.
Aside from the reasons you state, the reason this didn't/doesn't make sense is because the effect of the potion of Longevity, as I understand it, isn't a constant one. It's a one time thing; you drink it, and the magic affects the physical change of de-aging you. I guess the reasoning was the same behind things like Walls of Iron, for example- which are permanent unless dispelled (I'd forgotten that until I just checked), but it just doesn't seem quite right. Shouldn't characters that drink them then constantly radiate magic? And wouldn't this idea of the effect being dispellable be a widely known phenomenon among drinkers, such that they either took other precautions or found an alternative means of life extension? Otherwise, high-level wizards would be constantly throwing dispels at each other during duels and the like, rather than bothering to try and use a fireball or something.
You seem to have identified the line of reasoning behind the Longevity Potion effect from WotI, but this is at best a redefiniton of how potions work, or more likely a misunderstanding of the rules. If this is true for potions of longevity, why isn't the same true for healing potions?
I think this too is better ignored. There are other ways to get rid of those high level mages. As said, this mainly concerns the wizards of Scaleras, and there must be other ways to get rid of those.
I'd even go with "the disapperance of magic for one week caused many ancient magic users to die as they had become so attuned to their art that they could not survive being deprived of that force for so many days."
Håvard
There's also the number of magically created/controlled creatures on Sclaras. Many of these would have been set free, and attacked their former masters. A L36 MU without magic would be hard pressed to survive against a couple of dozen Goblin servants, say. And as for the Mage who thought it would be a good idea to have Hellhounds as guard dogs...
*Snicker*
You evil genius!
that certainly is a good way of explaing why those mages are no longer around in AC1010.:D
However the PWAs state that Immortal magic was not affected, noting that Floating AR survived intact, teh Spell of Preservation was unaltered and the Immortals were successfully able to transport Alphatia to the HW during a time when they supposedly had no magical means to do so.
My comprimise is to change one word: instead of reading that Immortal magic "failed", it should be read as "faltered". This should be enough to make up for the inconsistancies of the varied effects in most campaigns.
Roger
I personally would explain that phenomenon away as being either due to the machinations of sinister Immortals (such as Nyx or possibly Thanatos- remnants of his earlier HWA plot).
Roger