| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Gyor |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 05:01:20
Okay while places like Mulhorand, Mazitica, and Unther will be easy to fix by just transporting them back to Toril, what about destroyed cities?
I'm talking about cities like Innalith, Sudopholur, Cimbar and honestly countless others across Faerun which were not transported, but simply layed to waste, I want them back, but how do we do that without retconning?
Do we pull a Neverwinter/Luskan and say people just decided to come back and rebuild the city? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Venger |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 18:45:41
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Gorilla Glue...
Its amazing. 
And don't forget this.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Duct-tape.jpg/300px-Duct-tape.jpg
The solution to all of Faerun's problems. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 17:43:17
Gorilla Glue...
Its amazing. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 17:32:37
Unfortunately, in official lore, I don't necessarily see these cities recovering. In the case of Chessenta, I think this very much sucks, as I liked both Cimbar and Soorenar (Soorenar was becoming a favorite due to the fact that it was the mortal home of a recently risen god, and therefore I had it becoming a center for Velsharoonites... and both cities were becoming a center for worship of the red knight, a religion that I actually had Sleyvas converting to after his exile from Thay and subsequent moving into Soorenar). However, I think it would be even worse to see all these cities just suddenly recover. It would be better to use them as the "ruins" that adventurers need to explore, utilizing previous lore to provide story background. For instance, maybe Velsharoon's Tower Terrible (which had never been thoroughly searched, though his adherents had begun building a temple surrounding it) survives under the water and even has a large number of undead protecting it. Maybe its water sealed. Maybe Cimbar's still got some ties to the shadowstone (I forget what happened with it at the end of said book). |
| Emma Drake |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 15:24:44
If you're talking about official lore that is upcoming for 5e, the rebuilding method seems to be a common track the developers are taking. The "Reclaiming Blingdenstone" playtest adventure, for example, is about the gnomes going back to Blingdenstone and emptying it of the foul creatures who have taken roost since 1371. It makes the PCs part of that rebuilding process, which can be fun.
It seems like you don't want to "retcon," but there are ways of having those places exist without retconning. They mostly involve you playing a campaign in which they never fell. Or perhaps one where your PCs played an active role in the prevention of that tragedy. It's not canon, but it's certainly still a valid way to play.
I know I enjoy either the "let's rebuild," the "it never happened in my Realms," and the "we helped prevent it from happening" methods more than having a city pop back into existence as though it was never gone when we'd previously been playing as though it was destroyed. |
| Venger |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 06:25:49
Are you talking about in your own campaign, or how destroyed cities might be repopulated for 5E? Because I've had a similar thought and have been wondering how a place like Zhentil Keep could be returned to prominence (Which is something I really want to see because, damn it, I love Zhentil Keep, the Zhentilar, and the Zhentarim!).
My hope is that 5E will see the return of Zhentil Keep to its full glory and the return of the Zhentarim as an organization dedicated to extend the power and reach of Zhentil Keep. If I had my way, aside from Fzoul Chembryl being demoted from an Exarch so he can walk the mortal coil again, rejoin the Zhentarim, and lead the Church of Bane, is for the 4E Zhentarim to not be reduced to simple mercenaries. Think the 47 Ronin (who wanted to lull their true enemy into a false sense of complacency), or the Golden Company in A Song of Ice and Fire (who serve as mercenaries while biding their time and waiting for a chance to place a Blackfyre heir on the Iron Throne). They play the role of mercenaries but they're secretly searching for ways to weaken Netheril and raise Zhentil Keep back to what it should be. They've had 100 years to accomplish this feat, and after all this time they've finally accumulated the means they need to accomplish this feat.
They could in turn be aided in this by Mulmaster and Hillsfar. Mulmaster is a place where the Church of Bane holds a great deal of power, while Hillsfar is under the control of First Lord Torin Nomerthal, who's ruled Hillsfar for 20 years, even though they hold elections every seven years. What if Torin is an agent of the Zhentarim and is able to maintain control through their help? Between the Banites of Mulmaster prodded by a returned Fzoul and Torin turning out to be a Zhentarim agent, that could be enough to not only have Mulmaster and Hillsfar provide any necessary support to get Zhentil Keep rebuilt, but have them end up under the nominal control of a resurgent Zhentil Keep.
This last bit is pure wishful thinking, I know, but I'm going to lay it out anyway. From what I've heard of 5E many gods are returning and their portfolios will be clearly dileneated so that we know who has what. For the most part I see that working with all the gods, as there're plenty of gods who can stand to lose portfolios without losing what it is that makes them who they are (Cyric, for instance, really only needs the portfolios of Lies, Murder, and Strife to be who and what he is. Deception and Illusion can easily be returned to a reborn Leira while Intrigue can be given over to Mask). There isn't a whole lot of room left over for a reborn Iyachtu Xvim, though, in which case I very much doubt he'll be coming back. Rather than waste him, though, why not put him to good use? Why not bring him back but, rather than being a god, return him to his earlier state as a demigod who walked Faerun? And by demigod I don't mean the old D&D god rankings, but rather in his old mortal form and in the classical sense, like Hercules, Achilles, and Perseus.
What I'd love to see is for the Forgotten Realms to take a page from classical myth and have Zhentil Keep (re)founded by Iyachtu Xvim, the demigod son of Bane, just as demigods like Perseus, Aeneas, and Romulus founded cities like Mycenae and Rome. It'd be a great twist on those kinds of myths, and it'd be great to have a demigod in Zhentil Keep. Their own epic hero, except that he's evil and the son of an evil god, someone who's as supernaturally gifted as a demigod like Hercules. Make him a character who we could see being the subject of an epic poem composed by Zhentil Keep's own version of Homer a thousand years later.
"Sing, O Mistress of Night, of the wrath of Iyachtu Xvim, the Son of Bane,
That brought countless ills down upon the Shades of Netheril. Many vile souls
Did it send hurrying to the Towers of Night, and many Shadovar
Were yielded as prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Bane
Fulfilled from the day on which the sons of Zhentar fell once again into
Bloody dispute and ruinous conflict with the Twelve Lords of Netheril."
Not to mention that the Forgotten Realms could use more really great villains, and I think a properly written Iyachtu Xvim could be a truly great one. |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 09 May 2013 : 05:24:43
Well each game can take its own campaign, a DM does not have to accept certain events.
That said if the upheaval did occur in your campaign I can offer a few ideas.
Clearly not every citizen of any city would die, some could have been visited Waterdeep for example. If they lived though that they certainly might decide to rebuild the cities. It would take time however various magics can speed reconstruction.
There is also a possibility of new people hearing tales about cities of the past seeking to rebuild them because they like the lore and/or type of city/culture such cities are reported to had been like.
Any direction for refounding or rebuilding clearly would take time to build the populations back up. This though might be done by recruitment, tax breaks, offers of titles etc. |
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