If you disagree with the above, set that sentiment aside for a moment. What if it were called upon to devise a way to expel The Old One from Oerth. What would you do? Allow one restriction to contain your get-rid-of-Iuz theory - no direct divine intervention. Keep it local; use a party of PCs; a conglomerate of allied armies; an angry Circle of Eight, etc.
So you Iuz haters (like me) let loose. If you think Iuz is the best thing since Tasha's uncontrollable laughter, still take a shot at planning his end. And, of course, everyone in between is invited to fire a volley at the Lord of Pain.
The master of the City of Skulls mocks you, as he has done for a hundred years. What do you do?
This thread is mirrored at Canonfire.com
Morte's onto a good start. A group of PCs small enough to work their way to the Howling Hills undetected. And powerful enough to serve death to Iuz when he comes to investigate the Souls Husks. I am sure they might have to contend with Null, Halga and other Iuzian emisaries.
While the Soul Husks may seem like the most likely place to strike (from a DM's point of view), one might follow Gord's lead, and threaten Iuz's paramour and the treasure he stores in her abode.
I'll end this post by noting that I've enjoyed Paul Looby's evocations of an old campaign, in which Kelanen attempted to help destroy the Old One yet was not up for the task. Alas.
Personally, as I've said before, I think Iuz could/should go away for a couple of hundred years on a quest for full godhood. IMO, it'd be pretty funky to set a campaign in 800 CY where Iuz is just an old boogy man story, his empire a legend, his temporal power a historical fact, until those crazy Iuz cultists suddenly start manifesting divine powers again and strange (perhaps even vaguely Cthulhuesque) things start happening the Howling Hills...
P.
Unless I'm misremembering.
What do you get when you nuke Cthulhu?
A radioactive Cthulhu! :D
Addressing Elendur's question first, I tend to think that Iuz's apotheosis necessitated the Souls Husks, in a way related (in form) to Zagig Yragerne's imprisonment of certain deific avatars (aspects?). Alternatively (or complementarily), Iuz the demi-god may be the latest (finally successful) incarnation of some Flannae demiurge. Rasgon has written about this idea. His post is available at Canonfire, iirc.
Any links please? Also what does demiurge mean in this context?
I'll end this post by noting that I've enjoyed Paul Looby's evocations of an old campaign, in which Kelanen attempted to help destroy the Old One yet was not up for the task. Alas.
Where would one find these evocations?
Or do you mean the excellent fiction by ManOfTheCranes in which a chosen of Kelanen battles Iuz. Those are available here:
http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=Man-of-the-Cranes
Paul's evocations should remain available at the GreyTalk Archives. They're different than the fiction by Man-of-the-Cranes. See http://www.greycitadel.com/greycitadel/greytalk.nsf. With search terms I couldn't immediately find the right posts, but reviewing posts by "woesinger" is well worth the time. Alternatively, Paul might post here about the death of Kelanen.
By demiurge, I'm evoking Gygax's "definitions" in his Gord the Rogue series, but I also mean a sort of lesser (flawed) creator-god-figure (per the word's standard definition). Here's the link to Rasgon's post, The Birth and Childhood of Iuz: http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=28. After you review it, let's discuss whether the term demiurge is (not) usefullly applied to the Old One.
I remember reading that article. Great stuff. gives Iuz the Old a whole other possible meaning...
I was always unsure of the demiurge term in the gord books. The Dark One of the Valley is called Demiurge there, but in published GH he is only a very highlevel Wizard. I'm not sure if the more historical definition applies to either version.
(Also I'm now more used to the Dicefreaks definition of Demiurge as highest Demonic Rank beyond Demon Lord/Price, Demogorgon is a Demiurge there for example)
Paul's evocations should remain available at the GreyTalk Archives. They're different than the fiction by Man-of-the-Cranes. See http://www.greycitadel.com/greycitadel/greytalk.nsf. With search terms I couldn't immediately find the right posts, but reviewing posts by "woesinger" is well worth the time. Alternatively, Paul might post here about the death of Kelanen.
Thanks for the pointer. I was on Greytalk for a while but that seems to have been before my time. I'll read up on Paul Looby's posts when i have the time for it. The mortal history of Kelanen interests me. If it's only near as good as the fiction from Man of The Cranes it will be a great read. Any more tips for search terms/titles?
Next, anyone who enjoys very well written fan fiction should review Paul Looby's "In Days of A Splintered Sun" series, which was fantastic and realistic at appropriate times.
Finally, here is the post where Paul described the epic death of Kelenan: http://www.greycitadel.com/greycitadel/Greytalk.nsf/SearchResults/1EAB14B2D285B982852568A5006463E6?OpenDocument. Notice the different spelling, which made my original search fail.
Hmm, I can't remove the space between the c and u in document, so after you click that link and receive the error message, correct the URL line in your browser by removing the characters between those letters. In my browser, the characters are "%20%20". Sorry for the clunky fix.
If you follow the prophecy, a few very important events must occur before Iuz is thrown down. Among them is the defeat of the Scarlet Brotherhood and the destruction (or at least "deactivation) of Tovag Baragu. Then there is the whole issue with Tenshii Vishanta.
Anyone using Thelbican's prophecy in their game as it pertains to Iuz?
(probably due to the way links are handled on these "improved" boards
)Here is the long version of the link (Note that you must cut and paste the URL below into a browser's address field):
http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=102
Thanks for the heads-up, Mortepierre. I wonder what's up with this link-posting issue?
I would imagine that if the Circle of Eight (or at least concerned members thereof) didnt cack Iuz, there isnt much chance of any other group doing it.
Ah but with the Co8, the trick is that - whether you consider them pre-War or post-War - some members would never agree to come attack Iuz directly.
Post-War, I would imagine that Bigby and Nystul would be highly motivated to do so, but Drawmij, Mordenkainen, and Warnes would oppose them. If some chose to act on their own, they could probably count on Tenser's help but that wouldn't be enough.
So, it's not so much a can't do as a won't do situation.
I would think that removing Iuz from Oerth would have to Involve Saint Cuthbert. Perhaps the forces of balance manage to set up a series of confrontations between those in the service of Iuz and the Saint till the two themselves are involved. At that point the forces of Balance are in place to force whichever the two wins such a struggle, and then the playing field is leveled.
Oh wait, that's Greyhawk 2000...nevermind. :D