I have searched high and low without any luck. Has anyone taken on the challenge of describing Darnakurian and the sword,Hunger? I think such a major artifact would have been done somewhere. I believe it was used to drive Vecna off at the height of his power(pre-God of course) so it must be one hell of a chopper. Any help would be great!
Given the limited info available in Ivid the Undying, I don't think anyone could provide meaningful stats for Hunger. It would be like watching the stats of a deity. Sure, they look nice but who in his right mind would want to take it on? It has "epic" written all over it though.
Besides, given the Sentinels, I doubt anyone or anything beneath an epic-level party would stand a chance of snatching it. Even then, it would be a matter of rounds before the sword possessed its new wielder. And then the slaughter would begin...
As for the elven prince, his physical form is but an empty shell. His mind was broken so long ago by the actions he took, he would be raving mad at best.
This is one of the very few cases when it's actually best not to provide stats because, if somebody was unlucky enough to free the sword from its prison, it would be doomsday for the entire Flanaess
The only case in which this could be attempted would be, IMHO, if Iuz somehow "won" and conquered Oerth. Freeing Hunger would mean Iuz's doom but nobody would be left to celebrate afterwards.
The fact that the sword's status is given and its protectors detailed leads me to believe that The Hunger was meant as a viable adventure path for an Epic campaign. With nothing new coming for Greyhawk I thought a quest to destroy or stop the Hunger would be a fun one for one of my epic Gray Elf players. A quest that would challenge a group of Epic players needs a good history to give it some awe factor.Beating a weapon that spanked Vecna,ooooooh! The sword seems to be hinted at as being sentient and forged with the help of "voices from the void".Possibly a powerful outsider or alien god? Anyways if anyone has seen anything drop me a line. It could be fun to have a "create that artifact" thread to make a balanced version of the big bad sword of the Gray Elves.
And the elves guarding Hunger are 20+ not mere 20. The had hundreds (or thousands) of years to think of a way to destroy Hunger, but didn't seem to come up with one. So why should one lonely, albeit mighty Grayelf?
I believe Sargent put this story in there, so that a DM could come up with an Armageddon-scenario for his GH-Campaign.
Yes it would definately be an Epic adventure but I can't see any Artifact being on par with a Godling. All the Artifacts in the game pack a pretty punch and give any character a hell of an advantage but they are in no way cure all kill all. Ivid has a few artifacts in his arsenal after all. The Elves contained the "sword entity" also and they were probably 20th level,so the thing is not omnipotent.
The fact that the sword's status is given and its protectors detailed leads me to believe that The Hunger was meant as a viable adventure path for an Epic campaign. With nothing new coming for Greyhawk I thought a quest to destroy or stop the Hunger would be a fun one for one of my epic Gray Elf players. A quest that would challenge a group of Epic players needs a good history to give it some awe factor.Beating a weapon that spanked Vecna,ooooooh! The sword seems to be hinted at as being sentient and forged with the help of "voices from the void".Possibly a powerful outsider or alien god? Anyways if anyone has seen anything drop me a line. It could be fun to have a "create that artifact" thread to make a balanced version of the big bad sword of the Gray Elves.
Ahem .. if that's true, then I wonder why Carl Sargent wrote (and I quote)
Player characters should not be seeking Darnakurian or his appalling sword! This is an intensely evil and very, very powerful artifact.
That sword was created by the prince of a city whose magic was described as "The spells and lore known to them is virtually beyond comprehension in the Flanaess now" (read: epic).
Moreover, the wizard that cast the temporal stasis is described as "the last of the great gray elf wizards" (read: epic spellcaster). And, remember, it was the sword's wielder who had to make the saving throw, not the sword itself...
So, yes, IMHO that sword can be an artifact above and beyond all but a few of those known on Oerth. Certainly, some of Oerth's artifacts seem to be merely more powerful versions of "common" magic items in comparison.
and in a few other timelines that go into more detail but anyways you can find more if your interested.
"They had hundreds (or thousands) of years to think of a way to destroy Hunger, but didn't seem to come up with one. So why should one lonely, albeit mighty Grayelf? "
Because she has to? It is an Epic adventure that is the nature of it ,doing what was thought impossible. It would be an adventure for a party of Epic characters not a lone elf also.
Mortepierre
yes Carl wrote...do not seek it.Do you listen to everything your told?.LOL The idea would be the old Elfs magic puttered out now lets save the world. Yes it took all the older and better knowledge just to contain it. So stopping it would take a incredible effort and a good dose of luck....relearning some of that old voodoo and a Epic worthy of song.
Thats my point.
I thought it would be fun to tackle some of GreyHawks untouchable stuff and look at one of its great big bads but I seem to be alone. I am all in favor of Greyhawk getting sacked and the Council of eight getting bumped off also. Anyways I have had no interest in this thread other than the slapdown so ,no fun to be had here.....off to another board.
My upcoming fan book Kul'gobsula - Prison of Ice (to be released for free on the internet by christmas, if I can rescue my data from my crashed PC), will feature some stuff about the Vecna - Olven War.
My personal opinion is that Hunger was never destroyed.
I would search for the Elven prince in the Griff Mountains or on the Plane of Shadows. Even Ravenloft could be worth a look...
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JUST TO SAY IT
only the sourcebook IVID THE UNDYING is a perfect proof for the skill of the Greyhawk designers and makes RPGing on Oerth worth a try
I recommend to contact the German Living Greyhawk community; their camapaings focus on the Ardi Forest, If I am not mistaken.
You're right! And I've already given our answer. :D
Since Living Greyhawk doesn't support regional scenarios for characters above Lvl. 14 (or at least only in a very small number), and normally LG-Characters are supposed to be retired after having reached Lvl. 16, I doubt that the Coldwood, Darnakurian's Tower and Hunger are a very good playground for LG...
'till we meet in the Adri
Frank Roters aka Lagrange, Baron de Banville
Innspa / Adri-Triad
To learn more about LG in Germany / Austria go here.
It's one of the best around.
BTW, Atacit, this all points to the end that you're planning a bigger Aerdy campaign. Wanna give some info?
Foolishly, we disturbed one of the sentinels, broke his concentration, and he attacked us! Elves are so ungrateful. Anyway, it looks like the Cabal wanted to use my character (a shadow mage) as a vessel to wield the sword and were manipulating her towards that goal. We seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help but we couldn't tell if we should leave the elves to it, or if doing so would allow the Cabal to obtain the weapon. The evil guys want me alive and the good guys want me dead, and I still have no clue as to who is manipulating whom!
Players beware...