Where the flaem in the space that is now glantri? Is this set many years before 1000AC? There is a Thiatian officer named Glantri in the story. I have not fished my Glantri Gazetteer out of storage yet, so I'm curious what people know about these.
Is anyone familiar with these novels?
GW
I have read reviews, both bad and good. I'm more concerned with how much of it is accurate. Currently I'm reading the Dragonlord series. Love them or hate them, do they follow any of the timeline? Or do they just use reference of some of the known lands?
Where the flaem in the space that is now glantri? Is this set many years before 1000AC? There is a Thiatian officer named Glantri in the story. I have not fished my Glantri Gazetteer out of storage yet, so I'm curious what people know about these.
Is anyone familiar with these novels?
I'm glad you asked
I was frustrated with the Penhaligon Trilogy because it seemed inconsistant with canon Mystara, so when I read the Dragonlord Trilogy, I was pleased to see an author who had actually done his homework.
I dont have the books with me right now, but IIRC the Trilogy is set around AC500, that is around 500 years before the Gazetters. There are still Flaems in Glantri, but other peoples have joined them during the last centuries. I'm not going to spoil the rest of the trilogy for you, but other events you will discover also fit more or less with whats written in WotI and the Mystaran history, though some of it has a bit of a weird feel to it.
As for the Thyatian officer in Glantrian history, are you perhaps thinking of Alexander Glantri?
Håvard
GW
Love them or hate them, do they follow any of the timeline? Or do they just use reference of some of the known lands?
Where the flaem in the space that is now glantri? Is this set many years before 1000AC? There is a Thiatian officer named Glantri in the story. I have not fished my Glantri Gazetteer out of storage yet, so I'm curious what people know about these.
These novels, AFAIK, follow more or less the timeline, and are set before the arrival of the human and elven colonists in Glantri.
The Flaems are now in the Principality of Linden, but once occupied all the lands north of the main rivers that join in Glantri City (called Braejr at the time).
The Thyatian officer should be an ancestor of Alexander Glantri.
I was planning on tracking down the penhaligon series, but if it is nothing to do with the world, outside of name , then I don't want to waste my time.
I wouldn't go that far. The events are sort of hard to place in the timeline, though they probably occur around AC 1000-1005. There are references to King Stefan in the 3rd book though, that don't make sense at all. There is also mention of a city, Armstead, placed within Karameikos that is actually located on the Darokin side of the border. The descriptions of Threshold don't quite fit either. Other than that though, they work fine. Some explaination of what happened between the time of the novels and K:KoA is needed though. (Reconstruction, miraculous survivals etc.)
The novels are actually not that bad, especially the first one, but they are very sad, and the characters lean towards the pathetic more than the heroic. Still, there is plenty of stuff in there that can be used for your campaign!
You should be able to get the novels real cheap too...
Håvard
And the Glantri name from the books is Darius Glantri.
It seems they are leading up to the founding of Glantri.
GW
Actually- here it is.
Those are the dates that I had. Haven't gone back and checked DragonLord of Mystara for any dates, though, now that I have that one.
IIRC, the Darius Glantri introduced in those novels is a distant relative of Alexander Glantri.
There are some minor details that don't jibe with canon- Darokin isn't a Republic at the time of the novels, but that's where one of the main characters is from, for instance. Overall, though, the books fit pretty well with history as we know it.
I did a post on the MML a couple years ago, where I tracked a lot of the pertinent information from the Dragon-* novels (at the time, I only had the first two). IIRC, the first one takes place in 490 AC, and the second one 5 years later. I'm not positive on that, though.
Cool Cthul!
I thought I had seem this *somewhere* before. Thanks for the link.
Dragonmage of Mystara details how the current Dragon Rulers achieved immortality. It meshes well with what is written in WotI, especially on Diamond.
There are some minor details that don't jibe with canon- Darokin isn't a Republic at the time of the novels, but that's where one of the main characters is from, for instance. Overall, though, the books fit pretty well with history as we know it.
I'm not sure if Darokin is actually stated to be a kingdom. It's just Sir George claiming to be a Knight of Darokin that implies Darokin being feudal, isn't it?
Possible sollutions:
1) Sir George was Knighted at the time when Darokin was still a Kingdom. He might be very old after all.
2) Sir George is lying. It wouldnt be beyond a Mandrake.
3) The Knights of Darokin are a different sort of organization, perhaps like the Freemasons or the Knight Templars(conspiracy theory version) or another kind of secret brotherhood.
Håvard
Thanks for posting the timeline link.
GW
Sir George says in the books that he is quite old, having had to retire because others were wondering why he didn't age. Then starting another line of work. claiming to at times have been : A rogue, a wizard, and a knight. And now an adventurer/businessman.
That could explain it then? Perhaps he was knighted by one of the old Kings of Darokin? Or are there other references to Darokin not being a republic? Its been a while since I read that trilogy.
Håvard
As for the age thing, was he on an immortallity path?
I need to get these books. I've never read them, and they do sound interesting at the least.
I probably wouldn't recommend any of them to non-mystara fans, but I do think Mystara fans can get alot out of these novels.
The Dragonlord Trilogy is descent, as are "Dark Knight of Karameikos" and "the Black Vessel" (Savage Coast). I recently read "Sons of Dawn" which was strongly colored by the fact that it was written for kids, but cute nonetheless, especially by its inclusion of a few of the weirdest Mystara creatures out there.
Håvard
Gary
I thought I had all the Mystaran novels - but I must admit that I had never heard of 'Sons of Dawn'. I have the Penhaligon trilogy, the Dragonlord trilogy, as well as 'Dark Knight of Karameikos' and 'Black Vessel', are there any others that I'm unaware of?
I had to check the the product list to make sure, but it turns out that except for the ones already mentioned, there is only Rogues to Riches which I haven't gotten my hands on yet. It, and Sons of Dawn are from the Young Quest series written especially for "Young Adult Readers" (Read: Kids), and of the series only these two are specifically written for Mystara AFAIK. Sons of Dawn even has a few maps of Mystara in it.
Among other things, Sons of Dawn features A Gyerian, A Marine Decapus, Hattian Slavers and Shadowelf royalty...
Håvard
I can't recommend the book to any but the completist, almost nothing useful to pilfer for a campaign, and a book written for children, with a couple of amusing gimmicks.
GW
Well, I love Mystara.Tell you what. If you find the books before me and you finish them and decide to let them go, drop me a line here on the boards and I'll buy them off you. ;)
I would say I'd do the same, but I have a problem with hording anything related to Mystara.
Of course, this leaves me in the position of having to search out volumes 2 and 3 of both the Dragonlord Trilogy and the Penhaligon Trilogy... Ebay is my only tool in doing this, but buying individual items there tends to be unviable because so many people charge outrageous postage fees.
In any case, it seems ebay is a place worth considering for finding these books.
I just bought a set of six First Quest books, including Rogues to Riches and Son of Dawn, and another set with four Mystara books (Dragonlord of Mystara, The Black Vessel, Dark Knight of Karameikos, The Tainted Sword) on ebay this week. ;)
Of course, this leaves me in the position of having to search out volumes 2 and 3 of both the Dragonlord Trilogy and the Penhaligon Trilogy... Ebay is my only tool in doing this, but buying individual items there tends to be unviable because so many people charge outrageous postage fees.
In any case, it seems ebay is a place worth considering for finding these books.
I have seen them on ebay several times aswell. Amazon's used book section might have copies of some of them too.
Could someone perhaps provide a summary of Rogues to Riches?
Also, would any of the non setting specific First Quest novels fit in Mystara?
What are the names of the other First Quest novels?
Håvard
Looks like my players are getting impatient. They really want to start up a game. They keep saying Middle Earth, but I keep telling them. Too limited. No rare monsters, no mysteries. I tell them if you want to fight a Sauron type enemy, then you'll be adventuring against the Master of Hule. Close enough. :P
They seem willing to try and they also like the idea of having more than just elves, humans, dwarves and hobbits to choose from for races. As soon as they finish deciding what they want as characters I'll start a campaign thread andlist their characters and some of their stats.
As soon as they finish deciding what they want as characters I'll start a campaign thread andlist their characters and some of their stats.
I'd be interested in hearing what you're up to! Post it here if you'd like (and read about what some others are up to).
Could someone perhaps provide a summary of Rogues to Riches?
Also, would any of the non setting specific First Quest novels fit in Mystara?
What are the names of the other First Quest novels?
I am still looking for help on these issues...
Håvard
Well, since this is the topic of discussion, i would pose a question I posed a long time ago. I love the dragonlord series, and was wanting to set a game in the era of. So, is there stats for the heroes in the dragonlord novels? Also, for the armor and the weapons the dragonlord had? I'm relativly new as far as D&D goes, so my main experience has been with 3rd and 3.5. So, if there is a way to get stats on the requested items, or any suggestions so create them, I'm all ears. If need be, I can create a post dedicated to this, but i wanted to make sure i would get some responses first. Thanks, and great work for keeping this classic world alive.
I havent seen stats for any characters of the various novels, but I would be interested in seeing that too!
Its been a while since I read the Dragonlord Trilogy, but IIRC, the armor was a suit armor with protective magics, and also enabled the wearer to fly. Also, there were some sort of hooks on the sholders for attaching a cloak, perhaps one with even more powers enchanted on it. Though, by the time Thelwyn discovers the armor, the cloak is lost.
The sword can be set to "Cutting Force" or "Shooting Force". At least I believe those were the terms used, I always found those a bit silly. Cutting Force might be something like Flaming, whereas Shooting Force might be as powerful as a Lightningbolt. The Sword is probably at least a +4 weapon aswell.
What do you think?
Håvard
All in all, it makes for a nice little story about the newly formed nation of Aengmor, with quite a few interesting, mysterious side plots that are left hanging somewhat. Especially in light of the lack of info on Aengmor, this book could be quite useful.
Could someone perhaps provide a summary of Rogues to Riches?
I haven't read it yet, but here's the blurb from the back:
"Wait! I've got a plan!"
Rengie and Tooles have a scheme to get rich quick...
Little do they know they'll have to journey to the ice cap, ride cranky horses, joust warriors, fight frost giants, bargain with witches, use chickens to defeat dragons, and become noble despite themselves.
Perhaps they should reconsider.
On the other hand, Tooles can escape a prison by using just spit! Surely he can handle a few giants... Can they survive this quest? Should they survive? Ahh, if ever two ne'er-do-wells deserved to ne'er do well, it would be Rengie and Tooles. Fortunately for them, Fate looks after fools and children... and they aren't children.
FIRST QUEST books tell tales of brave heroes, wicked villains, mystical creatures, and powerful magics.
It sounds like a bit of a silly book. A flick through the first few pages revealed, I think, references to the Heldannic Knights - possibly they impersonate a couple of knights, though I'm not sure.
I'll let you know more when I've read it, although it's not top of my list currently. ;)
Also, would any of the non setting specific First Quest novels fit in Mystara? What are the names of the other First Quest novels?
The ones I have are:
"Rogues to Riches", by J. Robert King
"The Unicorn Hunt", by Elaine Cunningham
"Son of Dawn", by Dixie McKeone
"Summerhill Hounds", by J. Robert King
The Quest Triad: "Pawns Prevail", "Suitors Duel" and "Immortal Game", by Douglas Niles
I actually don't have book 3 of the Quest Triad - which probably nullifies the small chance I had of ever reading those books in the first place. Make no mistake, I bought this set solely for the Mystara books. ;) :P
I can't speak as to what the non-Mystara books are like, whether they are compatible, or what kind of settings they present.
I just got my books in the post a few days ago, and just now I finished reading Son of Dawn. I was rather surprised to find that it was quite enjoyable. The story was somewhat unrealistic, but not much more than many D&D campaigns end up being. Some of the characters were quite enjoyable, especially the shadow elf children.
I had a similar reaction to Son of Dawn, though I'd hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It did have its moments though. And I loved the inclusion of the Gyerian and the Decapus.
It sounds like a bit of a silly book. A flick through the first few pages revealed, I think, references to the Heldannic Knights - possibly they impersonate a couple of knights, though I'm not sure.
Thanks for posting the blurb! If anyone else has info on this novel, let me know. Maybe I will try and get a copy myself eventually.
The ones I have are:
"Rogues to Riches", by J. Robert King
"The Unicorn Hunt", by Elaine Cunningham
"Son of Dawn", by Dixie McKeone
"Summerhill Hounds", by J. Robert King
The Quest Triad: "Pawns Prevail", "Suitors Duel" and "Immortal Game", by Douglas Niles
The reference to Immortals in the last novel of the Quest Triad suggests that this story is linked to Mystara somehow. No ither settings have immortals AFAIK. Unless totally contradictory to Mystara's laws, I think most of the other generic ones can be argued to be set in Mystara aswell as most generic D&D stuff, not counting 3E default to Mystara...
Håvard
Thanks for posting the blurb! If anyone else has info on this novel, let me know. Maybe I will try and get a copy myself eventually.
Rogues to Riches isn't much more than the blurb. They leave Landfall under Heldannic rule, travel to Oceansend masquerading as knights, and continue north, saving I believe the Norworld capital from an Ice Queen Witch that reminded me of the Wicked Witch from Oz(it is a novel for children). The Ice Queen Witch had an army of humanoids, yeti, frost giants and white and blue dragons.
Although it WAS funny when one of the heroes charged the dragon with a chicken.
The reference to Immortals in the last novel of the Quest Triad suggests that this story is linked to Mystara somehow. No ither settings have immortals AFAIK. Unless totally contradictory to Mystara's laws, I think most of the other generic ones can be argued to be set in Mystara aswell as most generic D&D stuff, not counting 3E default to Mystara...
Håvard
I did check out the first novel in the Quest Triad. The author created his own land with cities and towns, there is a map in the front. The whole east end of the map was some kind of null space where you were disintegrated if you stepped into it. The protagonist faces a nightwing.
There is a scene early on where an Immortal is talking with a fairy, and from the conversation it seems the two are old friends and almost equals, but the fairy had fallen from power. If this sounds familiar, it comes from PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk.
It seemed to me that Niles had just picked bits and pieces from the Immortals box set and PC1 to write a story that would be "generic D&D". Actually thoseWhich is why I never added it to my product index. Now if the other books in the Triad moved the story to Mystara, I never had the opportunity to find out. So if someone wants to correct me, they can check out those two books.
Summerhill Hounds and the Unicorn novel were also generic, I read the former but glanced at the latter. Summerhill Hounds is nothing more than generic men and generic orcs.
That was why out of the whole batch I added Son of Dawn and Rogues to Riches but dropped the rest.
Although it WAS funny when one of the heroes charged the dragon with a chicken.
Now that is something I'd like to see.
Rogues to Riches isn't much more than the blurb. They leave Landfall under Heldannic rule, travel to Oceansend masquerading as knights, and continue north, saving I believe the Norworld capital from an Ice Queen Witch that reminded me of the Wicked Witch from Oz(it is a novel for children). The Ice Queen Witch had an army of humanoids, yeti, frost giants and white and blue dragons.
I'm guessing it is written in the same style as Son of Dawn. Still, one might steal some of the characters when detailling Norwold and Heldann. And it *is* set in Mystara afterall. I'll probably try and get ahold of this one.
I did check out the first novel in the Quest Triad. The author created his own land with cities and towns, there is a map in the front. The whole east end of the map was some kind of null space where you were disintegrated if you stepped into it. The protagonist faces a nightwing.
There is a scene early on where an Immortal is talking with a fairy, and from the conversation it seems the two are old friends and almost equals, but the fairy had fallen from power. If this sounds familiar, it comes from PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk.
It seemed to me that Niles had just picked bits and pieces from the Immortals box set and PC1 to write a story that would be "generic D&D". Actually thoseWhich is why I never added it to my product index. Now if the other books in the Triad moved the story to Mystara, I never had the opportunity to find out. So if someone wants to correct me, they can check out those two books.
Sounds like it. Still, I hold than anything written for OD&D (at least from Mentzer and onwards) is connected to Mystara somehow. Perhaps this world is an alternate dimension, or even a magical place on Mystara ala Thunder Rift?
A story about Immortals sounds interesting.
Summerhill Hounds and the Unicorn novel were also generic, I read the former but glanced at the latter. Summerhill Hounds is nothing more than generic men and generic orcs.
That was why out of the whole batch I added Son of Dawn and Rogues to Riches but dropped the rest.
Rogues to Riches is on the top of my to buy list also (I already have SoD). Thanks for the info and summaries! My neverending quest for a complete Mystara collection continues!
Håvard
I just got my books in the post a few days ago, and just now I finished reading Son of Dawn. I was rather surprised to find that it was quite enjoyable. The story was somewhat unrealistic, but not much more than many D&D campaigns end up being. Some of the characters were quite enjoyable, especially the shadow elf children.
All in all, it makes for a nice little story about the newly formed nation of Aengmor, with quite a few interesting, mysterious side plots that are left hanging somewhat. Especially in light of the lack of info on Aengmor, this book could be quite useful.
Would you mind posting this to the review site (http://reviews.dnd.starflung.com/other.php)?
There's no review of Son of Dawn (or any other book save the first of the penhaligon trilogy) right now.
Sounds like it. Still, I hold than anything written for OD&D (at least from Mentzer and onwards) is connected to Mystara somehow. Perhaps this world is an alternate dimension, or even a magical place on Mystara ala Thunder Rift?
A story about Immortals sounds interesting.
Håvard
It is time to take another look at the Quest Triad, then. I was conservative when I didn't include them in my product index years ago, but if someone reads all three and finds some usable material then we should reconsider.