| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Delwa |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 00:04:04
Something said in another thread got my idea gears turning, and I wanted to see what kind of ideas others might want to share.
Here's the quote, for context:
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Shade would have been so much better used as a -- pardon the pun -- shady background villain. Instead of them constantly showing up everywhere, as part of just about every evil plot that you could think of, they should have been behind the scenes manipulators, working thru layers of intermediaries and rarely appearing in the limelight.
I'm already doing something like this in my own games, but I honestly didn't think of it in this manner until Wooly mentioned it. I have a surviving Shade wizard dabbling in Skullport's politics and power circles as a background villain.
I've got a Shadovar refugee Necromancer in Zhentil Keep searching for clues to where a certain Tomb of Horrors may be located.
None of them are big, in your face villains, they just are working behind the scenes in various parts of my current campaign for motives of their own.
So, my question is, if you were to take the current Realms, post fall of Shade, and take it as a given that some Shade wizards and common folk survived the city's fall, (I'm assuming that there were ways to escape a falling city, and that there were people that took the initiative to use them) where would you send them?
Where would the citizens of Shade that managed to survive flee to for refuge? I doubt Hillsfar would take them in, Shades aren't strictly human anymore.
What areas of Faerun do you think are particularly of interest to that Fallen Shade's culture?
Do you have any NPC ideas for this kind of scenario? Don't necessarily need stats, just goals, motivations, personality types, that kind of thing.
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| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Delwa |
Posted - 12 Sep 2015 : 21:00:48
Looking at the enclave Wooly mentioned, there isn't a lot of background on it. But there is a good bit about the city's current goals and motives. It was more a military enclave than a city, kind of like a floating army base. It was stationed near Thay to prevent the Thayans from accessing the Shadowfell or something like that.
I Googled around and wasn't able to find further info. I don't have the Dead In Thay adventure, so I don't know if it was mentioned there, and the FR Wiki doesn't have anything on it.
What would such an enclave do without the Most High's influence? I'm thinking of running it around as an independent strike force. They are an army, yes, but without Thultanthar as their "home base," they don't have any backup. I'd probably leave the area, and try to start a military agreement with nearby countries if I could. Become part of their boarder protection to keep Thay at bay, while making it known that we no longer serve or revere our dead leader.
It seems practical. Thultanthar and the Most High never struck me to inspire any kind of loyalty in their subordinates unless it was through faith in Shar, and I don't see much reason for a soldier to be a devout worshipper of Shar.
Any other ideas? Contrary notions? |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 12 Sep 2015 : 03:52:00
Ah, I see. In my campaigns I did something similar with XP awards. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 12 Sep 2015 : 01:00:27
@Jeremy: I was thinking milestone XP for surviving the encounter with a falling city? My DM sometimes gave us xp for just surviving an encounter we should have died in, to reflect the "live and learn" part of experience.
@Wooly thanks for that note! I'll look that city up when I get home. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Sep 2015 : 13:56:58
Shade had another flying city, briefly described in the Neverwinter campaign book: Kolthunral. There's not much info about it, not even a blurb about where it came from. |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 11 Sep 2015 : 06:21:21
quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
Another thought that came to me, it was said in another thread that the Most High only drew power from anyone of sufficient power. If a low level mage survived the city's fall, then that's a lot of XP.
Not following here. Where is the XP coming from? |
| Delwa |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 20:37:45
Some good ideas.
I like Jeremy's first one about Building an Army in Cormanthor. In my game, there's a strong contingency of Elves still trying to reclaim the woodland realm and having a rival faction of Shadovar and Mercenaries could be interesting.
As for Shade's floating cities... I'm not aware of any. Sakkors and Thultanthar both were destroyed, but I know in one novel I read (maybe one of the Drizzt ones in the Neverwinter series) it was mentioned that Shade was going around looking for old Enclaves to raise. If you wanted one to still be around, you might be able to finagle it, but I'm unaware of anything official.
It'd be an interesting case of history repeating itself if those goodly survivors fled to Halruaa, and integrated into society there.
I have a hard time seeing a substantial population of people fleeing to the Anauroch with the sands returning. Maybe a single mage that thinks he can lay low and play the long game you mentioned, but with the Sands returning, and presumably eventually overcoming, I think most refugees would see it as more trouble than it is worth. Especially with the Bedine not liking Shade, as was mentioned in The Companions.
Another thought that came to me, it was said in another thread that the Most High only drew power from anyone of sufficient power. If a low level mage survived the city's fall, then that's a lot of XP. Am I too far off base in thinking he'd rise in power rather quickly?
All good ideas! |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 05:38:56
Dont the Netherese have another flaoting city thats still around?
But if we assume the "High command" of the Shade enclave are now dead or at least out of the picture....
Those Netherese/Shades who arent evil may flee the empire.
Some thievy Shades may shift their worship to Mask away from Shar or they may also ally with Vhaerun or Jaezred Chaulssin
Evil Shades may try and flee with as much power as they can and set up their own pocket kingdoms.
Neutral or Good Shades may flee from Netherese controled areas to settle elsewhere perhaps telling the rulers of their adaptive lands about Shade plots, magic or agents working in their kingdoms or the Malaugryms.
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| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 05:10:57
Whither the Shadovar after Shade’s fall?
So, Thultanthar, aka Shade, has fallen, most of its people are probably dead, and the High One is no more. But the grasp of Telamont—and by extension, Shade—extended to all corners of Faerun, and beyond.
Thus the question: whither the Shadovar after Shade’s fall?
1. Build an army.
At least one competent arcanist or battle commander will rally a force drawn from the scattered mercenary bands roaming the forest of Cormanthor. To prove his or her worthiness as a battle commander, this shadovar will personally defeat one of the horrible monstrous menaces unleashed by a certain Chosen of Mystra into the midst of the mercenaries while they were attacking Myth Drannor.
2. Turncoat; playing the long game.
I imagine one or more of the Shadovar will offer their services to those they were previously working against. How to sell it? Offer to lead your new employer to a treasure or artifact held in reserve by Telamont or one of the princes. Once this treasure is found, use it to leave your employer and Faerûn behind for good.
3. Settle down in Anourach.
The sands may have returned, but anything newly constructed or rebuilt while the sands were gone can probably withstand it, for awhile at least.
4. Revenge.
If you know enough about how Shade fell, you can have your revenge on those responsible.
5. Rebuild Netheril, this time from the ground up.
Competent, organized Shadovar, with moderate magical talent and plenty of experience making things happen at the level of the mundane. Food from far away places; fresh slaves drawn from noble family stock of Cormyr; a comfortable castle for whichever powerful arcanist decides to take a holiday in the Spine of the World; rearranging the interior rooms, hallways, decorations and furniture of the abode of a Prince of Shade such that it draws on the best of current fashion and style in Waterdeep, Sembia, Cormyr and Baldur’s Gate, but not in an obvious way. These people are willing to live with the sands of Anauroch—they can make anyplace work, and probably govern better too.
6. Become the herald to a dragon.
If you were the majordomo or chief steward of a powerful Shadovar, you probably knew all the secrets worth knowing—how to escape through a gate, for example, when the flying city you’ve lived on for years and years starts crashing to the earth. You probably also know about the powerful both in and out of Shade, just as you know you’ll be hated, hunted and killed by just about anyone you run into. So, deal with a dragon.
7. Become a servant.
Shadovar are a lot like drow: their reputation precedes them; they’re feared, avoided and attacked if necessary. They’re also exotic. But unlike drow, they’re not elves. Travel far enough away from Anourach, and their reputation lessens. If approached correctly, a refugee from Shade can find a home among those who see keeping one of their number, like a living trophy. Or to “show proof” that the house the shadovar resides in is capable of cowing someone from Shade.
8. Shade fell, but you were never there to begin with.
The Most High’s power was not absolute. He was aware of much of what the arcanists of Shade were doing, were planning and even were thinking; just not everything. You are one of those “everythings.” Perhaps you’re a living magical experiment that went free when your master fell with the rest of Shade. Or maybe a warrior or servant or trade factor. Your blood is the blood of Shade—but yours has been a life away from home. Now that it’s gone, you don’t miss it much. Time to work for yourself, and interact with those already used to interacting with you. The ones with grudges will have to be eliminated, of course.
9. Return to the Plane of Shadow.
You and yours decide to embrace true shadow. The schemes of Telamont were really the schemes of a mad goddess—that much is obvious. So it’s time to leave the Land Under Shadow and embrace that which exists between the darkness and the light.
10. Rebuild Thultanthar.
This time the arcanists are not at the top of the pecking order. Shar and her ilk are accessories to the High One’s folly, and should be eliminated. Perhaps it’s time to embrace Bane, and to seek a boon from the Tyrant by praying to Bane and performing tasks that advance his worship and extend his influence. Doing what the Zhents failed to do, such as subjugating the Dales and boxing Cormyr in on three sides is a good start. When the ruins of Thultanthar rise again, it will take with it the best of what it and Myth Drannor have to offer. Thus the combined ruins are to be fortified, reinforced and protected. The War of Renewal has just begun.
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| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 02:06:55
Good question. Let's see what comes to mind. |
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