The History of Thay Demion
Thay Demion (c. 2935-1800PC) was an Irda of great magical potential. During this critical period after the passing of the Graygem, people once again began to be born with the gift. Magic during this time was un-organized, and came more from intuition than from study. It was generally impossible to control, except by fey creatures. It was a force that flowed through the veins of those who came into contact with the Graygem, or who were enchanted by the gods of magic prior to their passing.
Agni the fire Scion.
Acerak the demi-lich(thank you gary gygax!) was once a diciple of They Demion, who left the Irda Isle’s soon after his master’s demise. He traveled to the Northern coast of Palanthas and laid waste to the land. Establishing his stronghold in the depths of the Towers of Fell Sorcery(A tower run by renegades that was destroyed by the Conclave c. 1500 PC). Filled with numerous traps, Acerak protected his phylactery while he astrally projected into numerous planes, attempting to follow in the foot-steps of his master. Lacking his master’s strength of will, and lost in the depths of the psychic ether, Acerak could not maintain his connection with his material body adequately, and left it almost entirely behind in his quest for knowledge.
While still young, Thay Demion was fishing the shores of the north Irda island when he saw a light in the distance. It was the Graygem, passing over the seas. He called out to it, and it answered him. “The Irda have lost their way,” it said. “The Irda deserve the power that they had before Igraine’s heresy. It is the Irda’s right to be rulers of Krynn, because only they have the wisdom to rule and shape it’s peoples. There is great opportunities for those strong of mind. Have you not sought the hidden secrets lost to so many? Don’t you wish to possess the secrets of the universe? You should lead the Irda back to their position as rulers of the lower races. Feel the throb in your blood—that is the gift calling to you. Ask and so shall you receive, for it is the quickening. Three shall be chosen, and three paths lead to the ultimate secrets.” Thay Demion was found unconscious on the shore by the passing Scions. They took him with him and he began to awaken his inborn command over the elements. For two hundred years he studied with the Scions.
When he returned to the Irda Isles, he founded a new magical order which concentrated on necromancy, necrology, demonology, and elementalism. For five hundred more years, he led his researchers to discovery after discovery. He traveled the planes in search of its secrets. He led his researchers to also uncover secrets never before known. Namely, they uncovered the secret of the creation of free-willed undead T’liz, Morg, and Meorty. The Order was called “The Order of the Ebon Flame,” after the first artifact they created. He concentrated his efforts on the creation of more magical artifacts. Among his creations are the Death Rock and the Rod of Teeth.
Eventually, in his quest for power, he used these artifacts to dominate all his followers and turn them in to Namech--free-willed undead that continue to serve him. Two of his followers, Ka’sin’dariel and Tel’lem’dariel (his brother), he had already turned into Meorty, his undead enforcers. Having traveled to Mahkwahbi to observe the craftsmanship of the Rod of Seven Parts, he then improved on the design, creating another seven-part Rod. This final creation was the Rod of Necrological Perturbation (Or seven handed death). This rod enabled him ultimate control over undead of all kinds. It also allows him to create Namech’s and T’liz with one easy step. He had not made the rod entirely by himself. He inlisted the help of the God Chemosh, who helped with the artifact’s creation. Chemosh was willing to help, because even this dark god did not know the secrets of the T’liz or Morg, and bargained with They Demion to learn them. An additional part of the bargain was that They Demion would open a portal to the Death God’s plane, letting him into Krynn in full power. Little did Chemosh know that he was being tricked. Hiddukel aided They Demion in this trickery, as the God of Lies hoped to take advantage of the situation and attain mastery over both They Demion and Chemosh, using them to topple Takhisis’s and Sargonass’ reign over the Dark. To pull off this trickery, Hiddukel once again consulted with Nuintari. Hoping to see all these dark gods be bested by the power of Magic, Nuitari agreed, and supplied Hiddukel with the necessary spells. Hiddukel, now having Chemosh’s and They Demion’s doom at hand, gave these spells to Chemosh, who implanted them into the rod.
On the next High Sanction in the year 2300 PC, They Demion used Planar Genesis to create the plane Sar’la’Kante. He transported his tower there, and began the ritual to bring Chemosh into the world as a part of the bargain. However, it was the Gods of Magic who thwarted the plan. Hearing of Nuitari’s aid to Chemosh, the other God’s of Magic berated him, and eventually convinced him that Chemosh’s presence in Krynn could not possibly help the Order’s of High Sorcery. Solinari and Luintari approached Branchala and Sirrion, asking them to construct some artifacts that would aid in the destruction of the Rod. The two Gods created the Quadrangle of Opposition: the Kante Hammer of Everton, the Diadem of Divine Channaling, the Boots of Kivaradil Forest, and the Ring of the Wayfarer. Nuitari agreed to cooperate under the condition that he could pass on the secrets of Greater Necromancy to his Order of the Black Robes. The other gods of Magic agreed. In avatar form, the Gods of Magic approached the other Irda High Mages and informed them of They Demion’s plans. These Irda plane-shifted to Sar’la’Kante, and unable to out-right defeat They Demion, they imprisoned him. The remains of the Tower on the material plane ended up in Ergoth. Hiddukel, realizing he too had been double crossed by Nuitari, enlisted Morgion to corrupt the artifacts forged by Sirrion and Branchala. However, Sirrion’s artifacts were beyond the corruption of Morgion’s death magic. Instead, Morgion hid the artifacts across Ansalon.
The story ends with the Rod being split into its seven parts and hidden throughout Ergoth, and Nuitari teaching his Order the secrets of Necromancy (prior to this time, there was no such thing). Chemosh is enraged at the loss of the Rod and his opportunity, but is slightly placated with the knowledge that death magic is now in the hands of mages on Krynn, who will pay Chemosh at least some homage every time a Necromantic spell is cast. Chemosh’s clerics do not find the rod until Zortik finds a piece after taking up residency in the Ruins of They Demion in 352AC.
Currently, the Tower of the Ebon Shadow resides in Sar’la’Kante, and can be accessed from the Ruins of They Demion, if one knows the proper command words.
As I said earlier, my They Demion is like a 60 wizard/ 20 necromantic prestige classes. By comparison, my gods of magic are 20 outsider/90wizard(divine rank 13), my dalamar is 48 caster, my raistlin is 100 wizard(divine rank 19) after killing the gods and about 80 wiz(divine rank 3) after draining fistandatilus, and 45 wiz(divine rank 0) or so after chronicles.
The campainge starts when the pc's(starting at 3rd level) discover clerics of Chemosh searching through ancient ruins in southern Ergoth(near qualimori and silvamori) looking for parts of the rod of necrological perturbation. I have a tree graph that shows what powers the rod has depending on what 7 pieces are put to gether, but I can't post that, needless to say, when all seven pieces are together, the rod is very intelligent and can do the following:
Rod of Necromantic Perturbation(Rod of Seven Handed Death)
Major Necromantic Artifact created my Chemosh, Nuitari, and They Demion
Int 23, Cha 22, Wis 16
Ego 50: Purpose is to free They Demion
The completed rod has the following powers (all at DC 35):
Speech and Telepathy;
Wielder becomes Undead;
Can Read and Speak all languages;
Wielder constant SR 30;
Spell Reflection on failed opposed dispel checks(wielder gets +10) If the wielder loses, SR still applies. Otherwise the spell is reflected back on the caster;
Fear affect 100’ radius.
Constant: Wielder gains Undead traits, can read and speak all languages, does not need sleep or age
Lastly, the rod doubles spells per day for all levels. +4 AC, +4 all saves.
At Will: Magic Jar, Trap the Soul, Draw Life (Fort save or be drained 20d6 hit points which then heal wielder, sv. for half), teleport without error,
1/day: Undead Lineage, Undead Thrall, Undead Legion, Raise Nation, Create Lich, Create Vampire. Note: Some of these powers are modified from Dark Sun Dragon Kings 10th level psionic enchantments.
If the wielder does not kill a new person and make him undead each day he permanently losses 5 hit points. Using Rod as a mace—it is a +8 Mace that does 2d6 +8 damage on a hit and grants those hit points to the wielder as temporary hit points.
Spell like invoked powers(3/day):
Enervation
Finger of Death
Insanity
Dominate Person
Geas/Quest
Contagion
Fear
Darkvision
See Invisibility
Greater Scrying
Anti-Magic Field(does
not affect rod or wielder of rod)
Globe of Invulnerability
Spell Turning
Vampiric Touch
Control Undead
Create Greater Undead
Gate
Power Word, Kill
Create Stank( you all remember stank from 2nd ed DL right?)
Energy Drain
Slay Living
Other powers, takes full round action to add metamagic:
Maximize Spell
Chain Spell
Silent Spell
Still Spell
Empower Spell
Energy Admixture(Negative Energy)
Grants divine salient ability Undead Mastery. User can command or destroy 5 undead in this manner(regardless of HD), as a free action. That includes you, Chemosh.
Rod can also be used as part of ritual to bring Chemosh into Krynn.
For terms of using the rod against a being with divine rank, assume rod has a divine rank of 14.
Rod can only be destroyed in demiplane Sar'La'Kante during High Sanction with the Quadrangle of Opposition(4 artifacts created by branchala and sirrion), and the casting of the following spells by a Priest of Branchala and a Black Robe:
True Resseruection
Wheel of Life(9th level, must be researched by PCs)
Heal
Wish
The Priest of Branchala then calls Branchala's avatar who finishes the job.
Note: Chemosh will hate you forever if you destroy the rod, but he probably hates you anyway, so I guess this isn't not too bad.
Feel free to use this rod in your campaign. HeHeHe
Tell me what you think.
The levels, weapons in your campaign is definitely far in excessof anything I would ever consider utilizing.
I've always tended to prefer the low-power worlds.
Sounds like it's a campaign set to encourage power-gaming.
Personally in my campaigns even the God's are only roughly level 31-40.
NPC's of 18'th level or higher would pretty much be restricted to a small handful throughout the entire history of DragonLance.
If a character tries to control this rod, he will have stepped on the road to damnation, and become an NPC under the DM's control. Mostly I think the characters will just seek to destroy it.
As for "dragonlancy" I still hate that word. It is used by people to denigrate any other campaigns and adventrues but their own. It is also used as justification for horrible, horrible rules.
What is "dragonlancy" is this: What can happen, will happen.
Basically, it seems that your NPC's and other stuff seem to be taking center stage.....right out of the hands of the PC's. But if they like it....oh well. On a side note...The PC's in your game are not ever going to get their hands on this Uber Highgod-Killer Rod of Ultimate Destruction+80 are they? That would definitely break your game.
The PC's are way center stage in all of this. They are the party responsible for seeing the rod destroyed.
First off, the PC's do not yet have the stats to control the rod, it has an ego of 50 which is really high. They have finally managed to get all seven pieces, and have three of the items they need to destroy it. Once they get the other piece, they will have to wait about 100 more days for the next High Sanction, then they should be good to go. But (DM grins) 100 days is a long time for some enemies they have made along the way(including a ****** of red dragon and a beholder lich from sigil) to make their moves. They obviously have not tried to assemble it. They have also found a way to contain the rod from trying to use its geas/quest and dominate person abilities on them. The black robe in the party did get geas'd by the rod for a little while, but at that time they only had like three pieces so it was not as bad as it could have been, and they have been carefully monitoring party members with spells that detect such enchantments.
As for if they tried to use it, yes, this could possibly break the game, at least for some of the party, for a while. But their characters realize the problem. It is like Gandalf and the one ring. But Dalamar and the conclave has been advising them to destroy it, and that is what they are trying to do. It is such a sensative issue to the conclave that each robe has sent one representative in the party, that is why there is a black, white, and red robe in the party. The worst thing that could happen if they don't destroy it is if it falls into the wrong hands, and They Demion comes back. That would be way bad, he is a bad ass, and if he had the rod it would be really bad. He is like an 80th level caster, and he designed the rod so he knows all its powers. I think Chemosh coming onto Krynn would probably **** off Paladine enough that at the least he would send a horde of dragons and maybe some Solars after him. Even takhisis would probably be ******. But then Takhisis would show up, so I just hope they destroy the thing or it would be a mess. But it certainly adds to the thrill of the game.
As for what I would challange them with if they tried to use it, well there is a hell of a lot. It would eventually attract attention from demon/devil lords. Asmodeus/Baal/Beliel/Demigorgon/Tiamat/Chemosh would love this thing, and there already are key people in Sigil that have heard of it, so they are racing against time before they are invaded by outer planar stuff that will flatten them to get a hold of this artifact. They would have the whole conclave blasting them, armies of Knights and clerics attacking. Whoever trys to use the rod better be powerful enough to keep it, or they are dead, plain and simple.
Final note, the rod has a lot of great powers, but since the SR it confers is only 30, that is not much protection against even an approx 22 level caster or higher, and with the powers at a DC of only 35, most high level characters can make their saves. Yet there are enough other powers (like doubling spells, the undead mastery thing, all the metamagic stuff, the undead psionic enchantments, and just the fact that it is an epic +8 mace) to still make it a nice addition to a demon lord's inventory. For instance if my 48th level Dalamar was fighting a pc trying to use this thing, I think Dalamar would have no problem at all, even by himself, even if the pc had a couple of liches under his control.
Ferratus: Thanks, very insightful.
As for "dragonlancy" I still hate that word. It is used by people to denigrate any other campaigns and adventrues but their own. It is also used as justification for horrible, horrible rules.
I use that term in conjunction with the flavor that the Dragonlance campaign supplies....not horrible rules. Nor am I trying to advocate my way......As can be seen in my posts, not once have I suggested a different way to do it. IMHO, the campaign that atlantisreborn is running veers far off from what is typical of a Dragonlance campaign. Hence....not too Dragonlancey...but...it's cool......
Originally posted by atlantisreborn
Thought some of you might be interested in the background for my campaign. Maybe this will help explain why all my pc's are like 20-26th level and they still get their asses kicked
Curious... what level did your PCs start out as?
How long ago was that?
I don't think I've ever seen numbers that high with regard to characters.
Atlantisreborn:
1) Are you using the "standard" D&D cosmology, i.e. the Great Wheel?
2) If you are, then your players might run into some confusion when they run into Tiamat, as she is a five-headed chromatic dragon, just like Takhisis.
3) I was curious, what was your rationale for giving Raistlin quasi-deity (divine rank 0) status at the end of Chronicles? After all, your Dalamar is 48th level with no divine ranks. Was this done so that Raistlin would be unaffected by those deities with the divine power over death (e.g. deity wills mortal to die, mortal then dies, no save)?
1) Are you using the "standard" D&D cosmology, i.e. the Great Wheel?
Yes I am. I am using the standard dragonlance gods too. For instance, paladine resides in Lunia, The First Level of the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, and branchala in Gladsheim, chemosh in the Abyss, Nuitari in the border ethereal, Takhisis in Baator.
2) If you are, then your players might run into some confusion when they run into Tiamat, as she is a five-headed chromatic dragon, just like Takhisis.
Some of my "gods" are actually avatars of other uber-gods. So I have avatars of avatars. True, Tiamat is related to takhisis for me, but they are seperate. My tiamat uses the stats in dieties & demigods, and resides in Baator(Avernus), gaurding the entrance to Dis, and is worshiped in forgotten realms and other planes. But my takhisis is closer to 60th level/60HD Dragon, and I moved her to the temple of Istar, also in Avernus. However, in my campaign, Takhisis, Tiamat, Hecate, and Turnurbinious(a 25 mile long 5000HD worm that has heads in 10 different planes and spews disease), are all aspects or avatars of Tetrapadosis, a giant interplanar monster. Each one can be killed, but unless all four are killed, the others will regenerate after a few hundred years. So there are other gods in my campaign, they just don't involve themselves in Krynn, for instance Hecate.
3) I was curious, what was your rationale for giving Raistlin quasi-deity (divine rank 0) status at the end of Chronicles? After all, your Dalamar is 48th level with no divine ranks. Was this done so that Raistlin would be unaffected by those deities with the divine power over death (e.g. deity wills mortal to die, mortal then dies, no save)?
Exactly. It just didn't make sense to me that Raistlin was doing what he was doing. No one could touch him, even the gods pretty much left him alone. He apparently had gotten some key to divinity from Gilean when he was passed out in the library in palanthas and puzzeling over fistandantilus's spell books. At least that is how I interpreted it. And I needed to protect him from divine salient abilities that just annihilate mortals, which Takhisis definately has. It just seemed to make sense. In many ways, he already seemed to be exhibiting divine traits at that time, like completely overcoming his coughing problem, and he always seemed to know what everyone was doing even if they were a thousand miles away. Dalamar, on the other hand, got many of his recent levels though extra-planar exbiditions, and having sole access to Raistlins and fisty's spell books. Technically, I think he probably should have been 16 or so after the twins trilogy, considering the problems he had with soth and kitiara. But my vision for him was not compatible with what the books have so I put him at like 30 after the twins trilogy, after all he was Raistlins apprentice for a number of years, and I have him from Menzoberanzan, not Silvanesti.
Curious... what level did your PCs start out as?
Some pc's started out at 1st level about a year and a half ago real time, 2 years game time. The rest came in about 3rd level, and I had one come in at 12th level.
As far as high level gaming, I have realized that it is much more work for me. It takes me up to an hour to make a fleshed out 25th level npc(unless it is just totally generic, like 25th level fighter or something, then I can do it in like 5 minutes), and longer for a character like They Demion that is 80th level, has several templates, prestige classes, epic items, servents, etc. Programs like pcgen have been some help, but they don't have a lot of the extra material I use. It is a lot of work. Battles can be quite crazy. In a recent battle, two rounds took over an hour to play in real time. It takes a certain meticulousness. Expecially with the epic casters. They don't quite know their spells the way I do, so I can woop their butt with casters lower level than them, but they are starting to get it. Once the characters are solidly epic, like 30-40th level, a round of combat can see 15000 pts of damage flying around.
This is all a matter of scale. Every campaign I run is ultimately an interplaner campaign, even if it doesn't start off that way, simply because every world is a part of the planes. In fact this is true of most campaigns in general. Even if the characters are first level, they can potentially run into an enemy or ally that is 45th, or even 200th level, it just almost never happens. For instance, my random encounter table for the astral plane is a d1000 roll with a chances for running into evil alien dieties in the 200th level range, since even the dieties travel the astral plane.
One last thing about my They Demion. He was in Dark Sun for 10000 or so years and is known as Rajaat there.
And no, I don't have all the details worked out, but it seems to fit for the most part. I hope none of my players read this they will **** themselves. I am still trying to figure out how to convert some of my 200/100/200 wizard/cleric/paladin 2nd edtion type beings with genetic engineering and antimatter technology, and it is a pain. Yes, I have 500th level characters floating around the planes, so sue me.
That being said, I think the amount of work put into this campaign is remarkable. Even though it does not follow the canon of Dragonlance I personally think it is fun to see what people make of the setting.
When I started playing we all had über level characters, but gradually we found a more, shall we say, moderate equilibrium. However, I think the point is to have fun, and if that involves mixing worlds and using high level NPCs then by all means more power to you.
So atlantisreborn, keep those updates coming.
J_Phoenix
Wow. Does anybody remember the Greyhawk mage Waldorf from Dragon Magazine many years ago?
Actually, no, who was he?
Thanks for the encouragement.
Waldorf was a 253 level wizard (1st edition) who invented the nuclear bomb in Greyhawk. If I remember correctly he blew up almost all of Greyhawk and imprisoned all the gods and forced them to work in the salt mine beneath his castle.
Anyway, whenever I hear of high level characters I think of good old Waldorf. I think he was meant as a joke, so please don't think that I compare your work to Waldorf.
Rock on.
Good Old Grandpa J.
PS: A corpse is a corpse of course of course
and a corpse can't talk of course of course
but i can talk to a corpse of course
'casue I've got speak with dead.
- Poem found in Dragon Magazine # ??
Originally posted by J_Phoenix
Waldorf was a 253 level wizard (1st edition) who invented the nuclear bomb in Greyhawk. If I remember correctly he blew up almost all of Greyhawk and imprisoned all the gods and forced them to work in the salt mine beneath his castle.
The player, if I recall correctly, wrote into Dragon magazine requesting TSR to implement these changes going forward, such that the World of Greyhawk was now destroyed and he was in charge. Not surprisingly, the TSR staff ignored him.
Although some years later, Greyhawk Wars was released followed by From the Ashes, and one could almost smell the waldorf salad.
Cheers,
Cam
