| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 18 Oct 2019 : 21:22:25
Is there any speculations as to what has gone down in Malatra in the time of the Spellplague and subsequent Sundering? I believe it remained on Toril, but would the Spellplague have caused some of the wards that protect it to fizzle out? Is it open now with the "low magic" theme gone or lessened? |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| shades of eternity |
Posted - 22 Oct 2019 : 02:50:50
ha yup
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Deep within the Malatra Jungle is a breed of Saurials that returned to Toril independently of their return to the Western Heartlands. Known as Lacerials, they are mostly found along the River Of Lost Idols, 100 miles east of the tribe of Rudra. They have become two tribes, the Whitehearts and the Blackflames.
The Saurials do not openly talk about this split, just that it was filled with shame at a time when Saurial killed Saurial. They have rejoined along the river, but still wear markings that denote their faction. They do not want to forget.
They have abandoned their gods and now worship nature spirits. Despite an alliance with the local Yuan-ti and a sect of chaotic evil leopard hengeyokai, they aren’t actively hostile to most races.
The tribe is led by Trueblood, a young Hornhead who was the apprentice to the former wizard apprentice of Whiteheart. While untested, he is The Saurials of the Lost Vale Page 9 of 96 aided by a Bladeback shaman named Starr, a Flyer rogue named Quickwing and a Finhead fighter named Strongarm. This council of four dictates policy with the outside world and is responsible for
their policy of isolation.
Despite being polite and tolerant of other species, they like their secrets. They do not offer visitors lodging and outsiders are banned from viewing any of their rituals. In spite of this, they are willing to trade and assist their neighbors; proven friends earn strong loyalties at the personal and communal level.
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Saurials are a particular favorite. :) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 21 Oct 2019 : 22:21:00
The area was particularly known for having saurials (known there as Lacerials). In fact, I know that the Saurial Paladin dragonbait was down in Chult searching for the city of Mezro with Artus Cimber. We don't necessarily know Dragonbait's motives for searching for this city. What if the city of Mezro has portal links to the Saurial's location in Malatra (as a way to link these two far flung but similar areas). Given Ubtao's affinity for dinosaurs, I could see the Saurial's growing to accept him as their deity.
This is an adventurer's league adventure featuring Dragonbait and Artus Cimber. It might be interesting if there were a portal in Mezro linking to Malatra.
https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/dragon/18/DRA18_RisenMists.pdf |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Oct 2019 : 23:31:09
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
If you have access to it, the Aberrant dragonmark from Eberron can work perfectly as spellscars in 5e.
Actually, since spellscars were introduced, I've thought the dragonmark mechanic would be a good way to do them -- not just for one dragonmark, but for most of them. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 20 Oct 2019 : 21:57:02
Looks like I have some Polyhedrons to pick up lol |
| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 20 Oct 2019 : 18:28:45
If you have access to it, the Aberrant dragonmark from Eberron can work perfectly as spellscars in 5e.
As for Malatra's one unique thing, I'm not knowledgeable about these "Hollywood-esque real world anslogues" on the Realms, but I remember reading somewhere that Malatra has something ancient aliens civilization with an old Asian flavor (Angkor wat and that stuff). |
| shades of eternity |
Posted - 20 Oct 2019 : 16:10:46
okay starting up this engine again.
best I can tell, it's essentially an indochina analogue, especially if you split off the Kuong Kingdom.
Now mix in a bit of "lost world" and here are some rough ideas that may or may work:
1. the spell plague happened, so many people fled to the jungle for comparative safety. There are "quarentine villages" that might be losely supported by outside sponsors (thinking tu lung) but these are entire towns of spell scarred. The side effect of this happening is that they learn from each other and learn how to use their powers by learning each other. Since 5e doesn't use the spell scarred, I would use the sorcerer as a basis.
2. The resundering dropped off magical energy and displaced creatures from other worlds. Besides a great place to grow Kaiju, these include dinosaurs.
3. the local species would be affected by Butu (goatman), Lizardman, Plantman, Aarakocra, and apparently some sort of Hengyokai based on ostriches.
So I ask the following questions
- what is Malatra one unique thing?
- would there be hidden temples from the beginning of time? Perhaps some sort of Serpent Kingdom that we can fiddle with.
- What critters must absolutely be in Malatra?
- Is the setting pretty much tribe vs tribe, or is there space for some change in civilization? |
| shades of eternity |
Posted - 19 Oct 2019 : 13:13:02
including previous references to make it easier to stew:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Malatra
http://www.identicalsoftware.com/rpg/dnd/living_jungle/LivingJungleBook_web.pdf
http://www.identicalsoftware.com/rpg/dnd/living_jungle/
https://malatraredux.obsidianportal.com/
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3067
Polyhedron #121 "Living Jungle Special, Updated Malatra Map"
and apparently
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=16055
there was a controversy involving the map. :p
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| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 19 Oct 2019 : 01:43:53
There is no mention of Malatra in that article. Just a general Kara-turan update, and from the point of view of the hengeyokai race.
That said, the Spellplague did cause some unrest in Kara-tur, forcing a lot of hengeyokai to migrate to Faerûn. Perhaps some of them ended up in Malatra. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 18 Oct 2019 : 23:45:31
Dragon 404 had some stuff about Kara-Tur. I haven't read it. That being said when I open it and search on the text Malatra, I don't see any entries. |
| shades of eternity |
Posted - 18 Oct 2019 : 22:55:17
okay I haven't done much, but did do a quickie write up when I did my own musings on kara-tur
To quote myself
"
Malatra: This area is now the home of the Saurial Tribes (because dinosaur people are awesome) who live in the land of the Kaiju. Great megafauna and dinosaurs roam this land and often go on rampages that go far beyond their borders. This may have been influenced by a Godzilla marathon. :p
Come to think of it, saurials already kinda have a caste system, so another point for using them in this area (that and their official standing in the area)."
https://breadthofpopsanity.blogspot.com/2018/03/kara-tur-some-thoughts-part-1-overview.html
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