"However, the PCs might come across an ancient plaque left here if they make a careful search of the chamber. Though they can’t read it right now, they might decide to take it with them. Give the players a copy of the plaque enscribed in ancient halfling letters (found on the inside cover). If the PCs figure out how to translate it at some later date, give them a copy of the translated plaque (also found on the inside cover). The message on the plaque hints at events to come that will eventually shake up the campaign world and take it in startling new directions. Watch future products for details."
Translation of the plaque: "In the Fourth Age Rhulisti Shall Return - The Gray Age Becomes the Blue Age - And the Wanderer Shall Return"
Is this something that was going to be revealed on future products and never were cuz the product got cancelled or what?
Does anyone have more information on this?
Thanks!
Based on some of the ideas that have been revealed in the Q&As to the designers, my thought is that this refers to the return of the three halflings that were in suspended animation inside the Messenger vessel. I also wondered if one of them might be Rahn Thes Onel, the absent rhulisti overlord, but that's just my own speculation.
Mystery of the Ancients would be a great lead in for the return of the three Rhulisti. It definitely indicates that DS was heading into that direction at the time.
and perhaps they had even forseen the green age, the age of magic, and the time of the sorceror kings, (if you can manipulate genetics, perhaps you can predict what certain genetic lines will do? yes? ) so they know of the eventual rise to an avangion, and they know that creature will restore athas.To add further twists to the tale, the raaig entry in Terrors of the Deadlands mentions a creature who is apparently a rhulisti avangion. I wonder how connected that might be...
How's this for a thought.. Rajaat learned of the halflings life shaping techniques, couldn't duplicate them himself, but could adapt magic to reach similar ends... here's a what if.. what if the halflings did originally create avangions and dragons.. how much they would resemble our current avangion or dragon types is up to you, and what powers they would have is also up to you.. they may or may not have psionics, as they may or may not have magic (most likely not) but they might have life shaping powers of some type..
But think of this... what if the two paths to a higher existence Rajaat found in the Pristine Tower were indeed, already created?? What if his creation of dragons and avangions.. was something he simply coppied from the work of the halflings??? After all, the Pristine Tower was created to fight the dying of an age right?? Perhaps both nature master's and nature bender's were searching for ways to undo the effects of the brown tide.. perhaps dragons and avangions were what they came up with... Maybe they had the chance to enact on some of those designs.. maybe they didn't...
I personally like to think that Rajaat wasn't born like the rest of the pyreen.. or in other words, that he wasn't one of their decendants.. I like to think that Rajaat, and maybe all the pyreen.. were crafted directly in the Pristine Tower.. then set loose... what if some nature benders crafted Rajaat to fulfill the purpose he set out for?? (Maybe there is a long term plan that Rajaat was one variant of.. one plan calling for a nature master's version, another a nature bender's version.. and the nature Bender's being the types they were, tricked their way into Rajaat's creation. :-) And boom.. it's history).