| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 27 Mar 2020 : 22:01:58
I've decided to take on Lopango during my quarantine. One thing I have these days is time being a NYC fellow. I figure I can stay safe here at my keyboard.
Here is the WIP of the update with only a few sections done.
Lopango WIP 3-27-20
What will be new in this version? Well, it will be expanded to include classes, races and a few monsters (though I eventually want to do an entire Incan based monster book, so this section will be short). I am also watching an amazing cartoon with my kids called the Mysterious Cities of Gold for inspiration. I highly recommend it!
Edit: Please ignore the Table of Contents - it's currently just a place holder and might as well say Lorem Ipsum Dolem.
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| louis_bowwow |
Posted - 29 May 2020 : 06:30:28
I like what you have so far. The addition of the timeline is cool. It helps bring history to the region and the fact that it brings the land into the current post spellplague era. Your skill and style of writing has definitely improved over the years and it shows. The only suggestion that I would give would be possibly the addition of a gazetteer that details some of the regions and the racial “homelands”, similar to what you did with the Anchorome book. Maybe fleshing out the southern jungles. I would be more than happy to help any way that I can. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2020 : 14:59:14
And since the note above about two Lauzoril's may be confusing (I'm still pulling a lot of this together)… a little on what I'm doing with the "tharch of Peleveran" and the "tharch of the wizard's reach"
In 1487 DR, Zulkirs Lauzoril Tavai and Lallara Mediocros suddenly reappeared and returned to the city of Escalant, blaming their nine year hiatus on the collapsing of an unstable demiplane. They found their former red wizard subjects in disarray. They quickly set themselves to the task of taking control of the city again, and after killing those who were foolish enough to stand in their way, their fellow red wizards soon accepted their command again. Their power was much diminished however, for without effective leadership, many of the red wizards of Escalant had either died in struggles for power or left seeking a new life. However, they found a Zulkir from a century past sitting in the seat of conjuration, for apparently Sabass of Thay, former Zulkir of Conjuration and leader of the Researchers political party, had returned to life somehow a few years following the “disappearance” of Zulkir Nevron.
A few days later, the nearby city of Laothkund which had supposedly been totally drowned beneath the waves of the Alamber sea taking a large part of the Wizard's Reach coastline with it, suddenly reappeared. Word also spread that many ruined and drowned cities of Chessenta, Unther, and Mulhorand had reappeared, but their populations had often changed noticeably. The nearby Chondalwood which had been a plagueland began to stabilize. The Underchasm had disappeared and a portion of the dwarven great rift had returned.
What was more surprising though was that the city of Laothkund had returned and was being led by red wizards. As the reports came in, it seemed that many of these returned places held red wizards. Lauzoril, Lallara, and Sabass, along with their own hastily formed retinue of soldiers and red wizards, soon visited the city of Laothkund, where they were escorted to meet Samathar Dulsaer, Aulkir of Transmutation of the tharch of Peleveran, and Hercubes Jedea, Aulkir of Evocation and King-in-exile of Mordulkin. While the three zulkirs were astonished to find the founder of the League of Samathar alive and well, nearly five centuries after his disappearance and its fall, it was in fact the citizens of Laothkund who were most bewildered by the visit. It soon became apparent why when they were brought into a private room and images began to appear in several crystal balls. Gradually the faces of many red wizards begain to appear. Many of the faces were ones that they had presumed dead, such as Zulkir Yaphyll Sirtula, Zulkir Mythrell'aa, and the “First Princess of Thay” Dmitra Flass. To Lauzoril's great joy, his two daughters, Mimuay and Nyasia, whom he had not seen for over a century were still alive, and moments later came the confusion as Lauzoril saw himself walk up and put his arms around his two daughters.
For Lauzoril, the act of seeing himself somewhere else immediately set off warning bells. Thoughts of shapeshifters, illusions, and other deceptive uses of magic filled his head. Thus, it was that he was surprised when his other self actually spoke first by saying, “Well, this is interesting.... apparently we finally have the answer to if the god of necromancy CAN duplicate a soul in separate timestreams. Either that, or I am actually going insane as some predicted would happen if we ever met. Either way, alavairthae, friend... or maybe I should call you brother? What exactly does one call an awakened clone of oneself when the two finally meet after a century apart, that is of course if the natural insanity doesn't kick in? Perhaps we should meet in private to discuss the activities of the past century, as I'm sure you'd love to get reacquainted with our daughters. They've both turned into such cherished treasures this past century, and Nyasia I can tell already would just love to chatter your ears off. Oh, and of course Lallara you are welcome as well, as I'm sure you and Dmitra would enjoy discussing past times. You should bring along that old goat Sabass as well I guess.”
Thus it was that the three Zulkirs found themselves down in the city of Upper Peleveran in the eastern Shaar, built atop the cliff's edge of the Landrise gorge where the reborn Cliffside City of Peleverai had been reestablished. Over the next few weeks, the story of the transfer to Abeir and subsequent involvement of the gods of magic in the saving of the red wizards, and the involvement of the red wizards in the saving of the gods in kind, was relayed. The story of the destruction of many of the cities of western Chessenta, and the need to expand in an environment surrounded by the forces of Karshimis the Tyrant, led into the story of their migration south into the eastern Shaar to the ruined city of Peleverai. They also relayed the negotiations that created an alliance between multiple remote trade enclaves, and even a hidden Netherese Flying Enclave amongst the Tears of Selune, to eventually form a new kind of Zulkirate known as the United Tharchs of Toril. While the tharch of Peleveran is perhaps its greatest tharch, there is no doubt that the majority of the strength of the conglomerate lay across the seas on the far flung continents of Maztica, Anchorome, and Katashaka.
Over the few months, the two groups shared much of what had happened over the past century on both worlds, but there was always a tension about which Lauzoril would remain Zulkir. It was actually the two Lauzoril's that worked this out between themselves, for they agreed to share the votes of an Aulkir and a Zulkir between them in national matters, but that in local matters to a tharch, each would be treated as a full Zulkir. This of course was dependent on the formation of a new tharch along the Wizard's Reach combining the power of the cities of Escalant and Laothkund. It was also agreed that some of the resources, including entire cities, of the tharch of Peleveran, would transfer their leadership to this new “Tharch of the Wizard's Reach”. In addition some red wizards of Escalant would take up roles of leadership. With all the upheaval it was agreed that rushing this transition could lead to disaster, and thus the transition into fully-fledged tharch has been being negotiated now for the last three years, and has only been finalized in the last few months.
In all, it looks like the Tharch of the Wizard's Reach consists of the cities of Laothkund, Escalant, Cimbar, and Soorenar, as well as the smaller villages of Tilbrand, Lasdur, Teth, and Taskaunt. However, it plans to expand, and these expansion plans are also what has taken so long to form this new Tharch. For instance, Aulkir Samathar wants to take over the city of Erebos, for it has become a symbol of Tchazzar's remaining might, and he would see all trace of the dragon turned god who imprisoned him destroyed. Meanwhile, Aulkir Hercubes Jedea and the entire Jedean clan would like to recapture their home city of Mordulkin, which is currently held by genasi once of Shyr. The Chessentan city of Toreus, meanwhile, has had its red wizard enclave infiltrated by Zulkir Lauzoril of Escalant, and many of its red wizards are helping with the local criminal organizations to hire pirates, mercenaries, and merchants to aid the capture of all of Mordulkin, Toreus, as well as the holdings around Watcher's Cape, including the mental subjugation of the heads of the Crimson Sea Maritime Priakos. But even though the ruling mages plot to seize new cities, the inhabitants of some of these cities, particularly Cimbar and Soorenar, do not desire being ruled by an even closer magocracy, and there is some whispering that they will return to local rulership much as their sister city of Akanax did several decades past. If they do so, some think that this may show weakness to their nearby Thayan neighbor, and so some red wizards recommend shoring up their own local defenses, especially now that Szass Tam sees a growing threat directly on his border.
Government and Politics
Tharchion ???
Council of Arcanists
School of Abjuration (Zulkir) Lallara Mediocros (human female, wizard 22(abjurer)), Zulkir of Abjuration. Hometown: Escalant. Lallara Mediocros is an extremely new addition to the United Tharchs of Toril, but that is only because when the spellplague hit, she was left on Toril. When the other Zulkirs of Thay were forced to remove themselves from Thay, they set themselves up as rulers in the city of Escalant and other smaller villages along the coast of the Wizard's Reach. In 1478 DR, the Zulkirs, in cooperation with the mercenaries known as Brotherhood of the Griffin, invaded Thay and stopped Szass Tam's machinations or world destruction. In the aftermath of this conflict, Lallara and the original Zulkir Lauzoril (the one who was not awakened as a clone by the deity Velsharoon and who helped form the Tharch of Peleveran) were left in a demiplane created by Szass Tam. Most assumed that Lauzoril had died falling off a cliff in this demiplane, but in fact a simple feather fall effect had saved him. Lallara too was assumed to have been killed by Tam, though she was last seen alive by the warmage Aoth Fezim. In truth, the two Zulkirs worked together, one breaking through Tam's natural defenses against mind control, and the other implanting a memory of the two of them being destroyed. The two awaited in hiding for Tam to leave before attempting their own escape from the demiplane. This delay had a strange effect, for after Tam left, the demiplane began to collapse upon itself, and despite their hurried spellcasting, they were somehow held captive by the plane itself, only being ejected during the first tremors of the second sundering in 1487 DR. The two Zulkirs returned to Escalant, where they found their red wizards lacking essential leadership, and they spent several weeks asserting their control again.
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2020 : 14:41:21
Here's some introductory material I had written up for my tharch to give an idea of what its doing.
Lopango, Land of Fire
This product builds upon the product “TWC2 Lopango - Land of the Sacred Sun” by Theodore Hild. However, this product builds on unshown areas of the map of Lopango , adding an entire society of humans who live along the southern coasts of the Lopango peninsula. For more information on this area, I recommend purchasing that product and using it in conjunction with this one. There are some changes which I have made to the history during the time that Lopango had moved to Abeir, such as the fact that certain gods were in Abeir and that within the majority of this area and magic was not affected as strongly as it was on Toril. Perhaps a chief change in this product as compared to that product is the lessening of the threat of sorcerous orcs and their slaves upon this colony, though that is not to imply that these same orcs are not still a threat to the areas indicated to be threatened by them in the aforementioned product.
The Lopango Tharch has embraced the heritage of the surrounding native populations as no other Tharch has done. Their culture has adopted the religions, traditions, and legends of many of the surrounding cultures into their own. This Tharch is made up of Mulan, Maztican, Azuposi, Natican, Metahel, Nahopaca, and Payit human races, and racial crossbreeding within the colony has begun to produce a people who are more honey golden or slightly bronzed in skin coloration, though skin colors range from ebony/mahogany to pale white. Generally, those of paler skin tones are considered more beautiful within the society, and traditional abhorrence to body hair has been cast aside within this tharch. Some would say that the people of this colony have embraced their savage nature, for they have adapted to wearing simple colored feathers and dyed furs, as well as establishing colleges of magic dedicated to the savage arts of Pluma and Hishna both. This has resulted in the creation of variant versions of animated guardians similar to helmed horrors or animated armor using Pluma or Hishna magic. The art of beast taming has also led this colony to be known for its non-traditional guardians made up of tamed jaguars, panthers, ocelots, displacer beasts, Kamatlan, death dogs, winged snakes, wyverns, giant spiders and scorpions, giant striders, as well as giant, ridable versions of parrots, toucans, and cockatoos.
This guy I hadn't even named yet, but I was making him the main leader of this guild which is spread across the tharchs
Academy of Arcane Craftsmanship (Thulkir) – Master of Pluma and Hishna magic, he has created many new strains of beasts. Mulan Half-breed, mother was a Maztican female. Lopango Jungle
School of Evocation (Zulkir) – Hazif Khaprekht In the tharch of Lopango. Staunch worshipper of Tezcossuth (as he refers to the local belief that Kossuth and Tezca are similar beings). Dresses in Plumafeather robes and is surrounded by a nimbus of purple flame. He has numerous wives in his harem of Mulan, Azuposi, Kolan, Maztican, Natican humans and even drow .
Tharch of the Lopango Jungles
Shortly after the founding of the enclave of Esh Alakar, the immigrant red wizards realized that they still had not found a land which would provide them the opportunities they needed to create a new empire. The enclave of Balduran Bay faced aggressive and magically powerful neighbors. The enclave of Esh Alakar could not support a large population. Still, civil war at home had driven many red wizards from Thay, and many had arrived in the True World with the hopes of finding a new home. In the Metahel people of the Pasocada Basin they discovered a people whose ancestry was of fierce, seagoing warriors who had been stranded in a land with little to no available wood with which to make ships. So, the red wizards did what they were best at, they contacted their fellow red wizards in the Hlath enclave and requisitioned enough lumber for the building of ten new longships with which to scout the nearby coastline.
After taking on several dozen slaves in hit and run raids down the coast, the red wizards heard stories of the Lopango, the land of Fire, from several Kolan slaves who worshipped the Maztican fire deity, Tezca. Taking this to be a positive sign, the red wizards soon found themselves in the jungles of the southern part of the Lopango peninsula. Finally, they had discovered a place in which they could grow.
Over the past hundred years, the red wizards of the Tharch of the Lopango Jungles have seen a huge population growth. They have built several towns, small villages, and even modest sized cities all along the coastline of the southern Lopango peninsula. They are primarily a fishing society, though they have cleared a sizable section surrounding their villages for enough agriculture to feed themselves. The plentiful wood from the surrounding jungles is carefully tended and they have begun the creation of many small groves meant towards making food and lumber production easier, using magic at times to speed up this growth. Still, there is much that they must still ferry from within the jungle interior to their homes in order to survive. They have many small farms meant for the purpose of raising chickens, various geese, ducks, peafowl, doves, parrots, and small ostrich-like rhea for their meat, feathers, eggs, and fertilizer. It is also a common practice to have small aviaries throughout the colony which capture and breed numerous other kinds of birds for their use in plumacraft. As a result, the Tharchs of Lopango are often filled with the music of numerous birdcalls.
While there are numerous small streams throughout these jungles, and many of these are directed to water their fields of crops, the water has not always proved safe for human consumption. Periodically the wizards do practice simple weather control magics to bring in rains, but they also make heavy use of windmills along the coast to draw up water periodically into large holding tanks. They then use simple aqueducts to deliver this water into water desalination containers run by the church of Kossuth. In these containers they boil sea water magically and allow the steam to flow into another container to cool back into water. They then have slaves take out the excess salt and other byproducts to dry, using this salt for things like meat preservation, and the remainder being combined with fertilizer due to its rich mineral content. This boiled water is safe to drink and is provided freely by the government at local fountains to all who come, though they often charge water merchants who come to purchase barrels of purified water to sell as street vendors, oftentimes adding fruit or lemons and liberal amounts of sugar to flavor the water.
The most common conflict that occurs is when members of the various villages travel into the interior of the jungle to harvest naturally growing cacao, coconuts, rubber, and other resources which they have yet to develop sufficient quantities of within their own communities as yet. The chief local threat to this Tharch is a group of jungle orcs whose mastery of sorcery was to the red wizards like that of a child artist comparing themselves to a professional painter. These orcs also keep a group of small lizardfolk which call themselves “Cayma” as slaves, as well as a small number of dark elves. Many red wizards specifically feed their giant parrot mounts on preserved orc and cayma flesh as treats, in the hopes that it will make them more willing hunters of this prey. Still, the orcs and cayma outnumbered them and held the advantage of a faster breeding cycle, so the red wizards have moved slowly and carefully in clearing the surrounding territory.
Orc and Cayma slaves are a common sight in the Lopango tharch, as is the occasional wild halfling or tabaxi captured in the nearby jungles of Payit. Halfling children in particular are separated from their parents and raised to be house servants and craftsmen, with the halfling adults forced to teach the red wizards what they know of the local plants and their uses. Female dark elf slaves are particularly prized, and a small population of half-drow slaves have managed to earn their freedom by their distinguished service in the military. While the Mulan humans rule the society, and their Metahel allies serve as overseers and guardians, they have captured Green Folk, Natican, Kolan, and even Maztican humans from the surrounding cultures, mostly females. In order to gain their trust and support, they have adopted these captured individuals into their society as second class citizens, rather than slaves. Of these, the people of Kolan have most successfully adapted to the life in a red wizard enclave, as they believe that the red wizard deity, Kossuth, is in fact their own god Tezca. The red wizards are more than happy to agree with the Kolans on this matter, especially if it makes them amenable to serving in their harems. They continue to allow the Kolan citizens to practice live sacrifice to their deity, typically using small animals, but occasionally orcs, cayma, or even unruly humans may be allotted to be sacrificed upon the altar of Kossuth.
With their access to large amounts of wood, this enclave also holds the largest navy, mostly made up of traditional longships, but also many caravels, cogs, and dhows. While they have cleared much of the surrounding jungle for agricultural use, they have developed a fishing and sailing culture, coming into conflict with many undersea threats, such as sahuagin, kuo-toa, merrow, and sea hags as a result. Some members of this colony have become the equivalent of weresharks as a result of red wizard adaptations of hishna magic.
The red wizards of this colony have done more than slowly build and conquer militarily. They have opened communication with the surrounding cultures, and even managed to open small enclaves within the surrounding cultures following their transfer to Abeir. For instance, in each of the major Kolan cities, the red wizards have established a small trade enclave, typically consisting of no more than a half dozen red wizards and their guards. In return for simple commodities such as cocoa beans, mayz, chocolate, fire peppers, and rare ingredients such as blood salt and certain cacti found in the desert known as the House of Tezca, the red wizards have addicted many Kolan commoners upon the pain killer known as Tekkil. They have also addicted Kolan leaders upon Mordayn Vapor, commonly known as Dream Mist. The Kolans believe the visions provided by this vapor bring them closer to their deity, and as a result the priests of their communities have ordered their people to provide the red wizards with any gold that they acquire. In addition, the red wizards have made huge profits in the form of captured orc and ogre slaves which have travelled south from Nexal to invade Kolan communities. The mages have also found the soil near Kolan to be amenable to the growth of an herb used in the making of the arcane enhancing drug called Paneolo, and have encouraged the natives to grow it in return for their magical services.
Perhaps their greatest accomplishment was when they arranged to open an enclave in the Maztican city of Tukan. Having heard that one of the heroes of the community was actually a former Thayan apprentice, the red wizards were able to use Halloran's childrens' innocence to gain their favor. In this city they found many practictioners of Pluma and Hishna magic, also known as feathermagic and talonmagic, and they were quick studies in discerning their secrets for their own use with their own arcane secrets. As a result, using feathermagic they've learned to create plumalitters, plumastone, and hishnahide. They've also applied such arts to other tools, for instance, their plumasails are extremely durable sails capable of harnesing the wind as no other simple sail cloth can. Also, with their knowledge of Hishna magic and Transmutation, they've created several new species of beasts, including giant parrots, cockatoos, and toucans as well as several other variations on jungle and sea beasts. As a result, rather than having large numbers of humanoid armies, this enclave has many individuals who fight alongside trained animals, many of which have been awakened.
In addition to their strong interest in the various arcane arts, this Tharch is also possibly one of the more extreme of the new Tharchs when it comes to religious practices. The worship of Kossuth (also known as Tezca though whether these are the same entity is debated), Velsharoon, Leira, Savras, and Talos are perhaps the most predominent religions, followed by various Maztican deities carried over by their natives. Many priests of the various other Tharchs in the “True World” come to New Kensten or Zanzilaha to receive their initial training in their orders before returning home, which helps keep the Tharch of Lopango as almost a centerpoint for the new United Tharchs of Toril.
Also, perhaps the above will make more sense with some information on what I view as the governmental structure of the tharchs
A Brief Overview of the Governmental Structure of the United Tharchs of Toril
It is no great secret that the red wizards of Thay believed in freedom. Freedom of religion was a cornerstone of their revolution, but perhaps more important was the freedom to perform magical research as they saw fit. They also sought a society where it was possible to freely elect their leaders from the greatest of their own. Thus came the formation of the Zulkirate, or rulership by representatives of the eight schools of magic.
When the red wizard's began their internal civil war, many saw a flaw in their current method of rulership through meritocracy. Essentially, what happened when the head of a school of magic gained too much power. However, there were also those that spoke out against strictly focusing on pure wizards. Others thought that Tharchions should at least have some vote on how rulership occurs in their own Tharch, though Tharchions who abused this power could still be replaced by the Zulkirate for failing them.
As a result, when the United Tharchs of Toril were formed, there were some changes made to their governmental structure. First and foremost, there would be no absolute ruler over a given school of magic covering all Tharchs. Each Tharch would produce an Aulkir for his or her school of magic, chosen by the red wizards of that Tharch, and a Zulkir would be elected from amongst these Aulkirs to serve as the schools main representative.
In addition, several “lesser” studies of magic have also been recognized as ones free of outside influence and thus deserving of inclusion, albeit with lesser voting status. There are special positions known as Khazirs which are given to alternative forms of arcane casters, such as sorcerers, eldritch knights, arcane tricksters, or those who study special forms of magical craftsmanship (such as pluma, hishna, magical item, and construct creation). These four societies are known as the Academy of Arcane Craftsmanship, the Sorcerer's Society, the Fellowship of Battlemages, and the Guild of Arcane Spymasters. These Khazirs can vote in local matters, but not outside their given Tharch, however the Khazirs of all the tharchs can elect a Thulkir to represent them in national matters (and more importantly, a Thulkir carries the same weight as an Aulkir in local matters). So, for instance, the Khazir of the Fellowship of Battlemages in the Tharch of Lopango can only vote in local matters important to Lopango. However, the Thulkir representing the Fellowship of Battlemages in the Tharch of the Western Pridelands, may also vote on matters representing all Tharchs, though his vote counts less than a “pure” wizard.
The positions of Aulkirs/Zulkirs and Khazirs/Thulkirs are lifelong. While this seems a simple rule, the complex nature of their society complicates the situation. If an aulkir serves for life, what happens if he or she becomes undead? By United Tharchs law, a zulkir/aulkir/thulkir/Khazir can only be removed if he or she is destroyed utterly, beyond hope of resurrection or existence as a member of the undead.
This election of Aulkirs/Zulkirs and Khazirs/Thulkirs has had a somewhat interesting effect on the society as well, in that a given tharch may have two individuals of similar power levels within a given school of magic. However, a position may open in another Tharch for said school of magic, and many red wizards rush to offer their services. However, given that the Aulkir/Khazir is elected by the local red wizards, there is a good chance that they will elect a lesser red wizard of local origin over an outsider. Therefore, it has become a common practice for interloper candidates to attempt to bribe local red wizards for their votes in order to show how their rule will be more beneficial to them.
Election of a Tharchion over a Tharch is left to the Aulkirs and Zulkirs of a given Tharch, and not to the Zulkirate across the United Tharchs. Thus, a Tharchion is answerable primarily to his local Aulkirs and is more inclined to do what is in the best interest of his own Tharch. Finally, unlike in Thay, the Tharchion is allowed to vote in matters affecting their Tharch, and their vote counts heavily.
In order to make it clear as to how much political clout goes along with a given title, weights of a given vote by title are as follows:
Zulkir – counts as 6 votes in both local and national matters (there is one caveat to this, in the form of both Zulkir Lauzoril's, wherein it was agreed that each would serve in separate tharchs and split the vote of one Zulkir and one Aulkir between themselves, having 4 votes each in national matters, but 6 votes each still in local matters.... see below for more details)
Aulkir – counts as 2 votes in both local and national matters
Thulkir – counts as 2 votes in local and 1 vote in national matters
Khazir – counts as 1 vote in local matters only
Tharchion – counts as 6 votes in local matters only
If someone somehow holds multiple titles (for instance, a Tharchion who is also a Zulkir/Aulkir/Thulkir/Khazir) each of their two votes may be cast separately. Matters are not considered national matters unless at least 4 Zulkirs agree that "its a national matter". So, in general national matters would only be if say a dragon decimated a city, a hurricane damaged a city, some army took over a city, a large group of wizards across tharchs wants resources to found a new tharch, some kind of magic of interest to the Zulkirs draws enough attention to warrant a meeting, some disagreement occurs between Tharchs and requires adjudication, etc....
The current Zulkirate consists of the following
School of Abjuration (Zulkir) – Lallara Mediocros, Zulkir of Abjuration of the United Tharchs of Toril. Lallara resides in the city of Escalant in the Tharch of Peleveran (soon to be separated into the tharch of the Wizard's Reach ).
School of Conjuration (Zulkir) – Jorgmacdon Odesseiron, in Esh Alakar, master of elemental summoning and served by numerous elemental beings and tasked genies, as well as many demons. Maybe even have him enslaving some lesser demon princess to his servitude. Perhaps Jorgmacdon now acts similar to a Suel Lich, possessing a body in order to reside in the world. He is surrounded by black flames, and he slowly burns out the body over years. Much like Velsharoon
School of Divination (Zulkir) – Yaphyll Sirtula, this impishly (in New Eltabbar, heading up Sirtula Academy)
School of Enchantment (Zulkir) Lauzoril Tavai, Zulkir of Enchantment, and former leader of the Imperialist faction. Lauzoril is a handsome green-eyed male of half-breed Mulan stock, ironically born to an Eltabbaran slave girl and a fairly incompetent red wizard named Chazsinal of the school of necromancy. and having pulled his way to the top who unlike his peers chooses to grow his hair rather than shave it. Lauzoril generally favors expansion through treachery and intrigue over open conquest, which initially set him back after the spellplague. He was awakened from a clone of Lauzoril left in Soorenar by none other than the avatar of Velsharoon himself. He suddenly found himself in a new world without his normal spy network and little knowledge of his surroundings. The cities of Western Damara were surrounded by the genasi of Shyr, Thus, he followed his normal strategy for dealing with threats, “Don't waste your own strength. Make your enemy waste his”. Lauzoril then employed his people's efforts in setting traps throughout the city of Soorenar, and illusions to hide that which he couldn't trap. In particular, he protected the Thayan enclave of Soorenar by placing wards that would subtly encourage the minds of anyone approaching to search elsewhere that was “more interesting”, and further covered the entire area with permanent illusions to appear as abandoned territory. Then using his knowledge of an ancient cliffside city down in the Shaar which he had investigated as a youth, he established a portal connection between the two cities. Finally, he led the Mulan and Chessentan people south to the transferred lands of the Shaar so that they could re-establish themselves in the Tharch of Peleveran. Lauzoril has fathered multiple children, many of whom are geased to only remember him as their father whenever he is in their presence. However, he has always favored his two first children, Mimuay, who has become the new Zulkir of Necromancy, and Nyasia, a beautiful, young song mage who helps him run his spy network and whom he is devoted to protecting. Their mother, Wenne, died during the War of the Zulkirs.
School of Evocation (Zulkir) – Hazif Khaprekht In the tharch of Lopango. Staunch worshipper of Tezkossuth (as he refers to the local belief that Kossuth and Tezca are similar beings). Dresses in Plumafeather robes and is surrounded by a nimbus of purple flame. He has numerous wives in his harem of Mulan, Azuposi, Kolan, Maztican, Natican humans and even drow .
School of Illusion (Zulkir) Mythrell'aa, Zulkir of Illusion and Tharchion of Luneira, is usually a cold and aloof personage. She generally leaves the tasks of overseeing her tharch, an ancient Netherese enclave floating amongst the Tears of Selune, to her various autharchs. When she does appear in public, she generally dresses provocatively and colors her skin in exotic shades unknown to humanity, such as being blue with purple stripes. There are of course those who believe that she does this so that the other times when she appears amongst her people in normal clothes, she won't be regarded a second glance. Prior to the spellplague, Mythrell'aa faked her own death, resulting in Dmitra Flass being elected the next Zulkir of Illusion in Thay. However, after the spellplague and her subsequent transfer to Abeir, Mythrell'aa was sent a vision by the goddess Leira herself which led her and Yaphyll to the Tower Terrible in Soorenar. Allying with a local mage-priestess of Velsharoon, Mimuay Tavai, they entered the Tower and freed the avatar of Velsharoon from his phylactery while on Abeir.
School of Necromancy (Zulkir) – Mimuay Tavai, Zulkir of Necromancy, Mage-Priestess of Velsharoon. Mimuay Tavai is the daughter of Lauzoril Tavai, Zulkir of Enchantment. Mimuay comes from a long line of necromancers, all of whom had a grudge against Szass Tam. Her grandfather on her mother's side was the former Zulkir of Enchantment, prior to her father slaying him and taking her mother Wenne as his wife.
Mimuay's familial line is one of abuse along both sides. Her mother, Wenne, had her mind magically manipulated by her grandfather so that she would never learn any magic beyond her embroidering and lived her life in a dreamlike state, thinking Lauzoril a handsome prince come to rescue her. Her paternal grandfather Chazsinal, incompetent at nearly everything, knew that he could not protect his newborn son from his undead grandfather, Gweltaz. So, Chazsinal sent newborn Lauzoril and his Eltabbaran slave mother, to be raised amongst enchanters.
It was this lack of proper parenting, along with a healthy dose of fear of his Zulkir rivals, which led Lauzoril to hide his children and wife from the rest of Thay. Thus it was that Mimuay grew up in a sheltered life on their estate in Thazalhar with few playmates. It was only as a young adult that her natural ability to speak with spirits developed, much to her father's chagrin. Even after his supposed eternal death she was often heard talking to her grandfather Chazsinal, though there seemed to be no undead presence to be found. Things began to get more creepy when Mimuay announced that she had made a new friend, who called himself Velsharoon, and who whispered secrets of magic in her ears. When the undead invaded Pyarados at the start of the War of Zulkirs, a small group of them invaded her father's estate while he was away, slaughtering the servants and guards. However, it was Mimuay who called upon Velsharoon in order to protect her mother, and was rewarded with the enslavement of all the undead who had come to harass them. Mimuay led her mother, Wenne, and younger sister, Nyasia, to the coastal city of Bezantur, where they were met by necromancer-priests of Velsharoon who swore they had been told a god-sent vision to escort them to the city of Soorenar.
During the War of the Zulkirs, Mimuay split much of her time between the church of Velsharoon in Soorenar and serving amongst her father's own forces. The church of Velsharoon taught her that Szass Tam was a false prophet and should be overthrown, which is of course what the spirit of her grandfather taught her as well. Then came the day that Szass Tam sent several cultists of Orcus to assault the church of Velsharoon in Soorenar, killing Mimuay's mother in the attempt. Since that moment, Mimuay has been consumed with revenge against Szass Tam.
When the spellplague occurred, Mimuay found herself and her sister in the city of Soorenar, both having stayed behind to keep careful watch over their father's secret clone while he went to war in Thay. Zulkirs Yaphyll and Mythrell'aa both appeared, claiming that they had received visions from Savras and Leira that they must find the phylactery of Velsharoon within the Tower Terrible. The high priest personally gathered a group of knights, blackguards, and priests to escort the red wizards into the holy sanctum. It was actually Mimuay who found and touched the phylactery, herself becoming a temporary vessel for Velsharoon's might, and with it she laid a kiss upon her father's brow. This awakened the clone of the Zulkir of Enchantment, despite the normal laws of magic.
Thirty years later, after ascending the path of both high priestess and red wizard, in a strange twist of normal red wizard tradition, Mimuay was accepted as the new Zulkir of Necromancy. No longer her father's child, she had long before moved to the Tharch of Esh Alakar to study the ancient necromantic lore rumored to be buried in the depths of the city. Still, her hatred of Szass Tam has only been refueled by her return to Toril, and it is only her father's wise words, “Don't waste your own strength. Make your enemy waste his.” that has given her the caution to instead manipulate Tam's forces to work against their own master, a master that still doesn't recognize the threat working against him yet.
School of Transmutation (Zulkir) – Talaskos Murthrond, see dragon 427 . Talaskos is a 28th level wizard who lives in the Balduran Bay colony. Talaskos Murthrond is a handsome, purring-voiced former Zulkir of Thay who long ago foresaw Szass Tam’s rise, faked his own demise, and departed his homeland for a skulking existence spent hiding in remote places of Faerûn amid magical mists of his own creation. However, Talaskos still kept his spies within the school of transmutation, even as Maligor, Druxus Rhym, and finally Samas Kul took over as Zulkir in his stead (though of these three, only Samas Kul knew of Talaskos' continued existence... a fact that Talaskos paid with information to keep secret). Thus it was that when Samas Kul decided to open a Thayan enclave in Balduran Bay, Talaskos Murthrond decided it would make a perfect place to exile himself. Thus it was that he setup his own tower on the outskirts of the settlement, on an island out in the bay, surrounded by mists and coral reefs to confuse those who would attempt to gain entry. He could thus keep an eye on the enclave for Samas Kul, without having to have a direct hand in its governance. He revealed himself to the mercenaries of the Flaming Fist as “Murthtal the Mystical Mist Maker”, which led to some confusion and led people to believe he was the archmage known as “the Mistmaster”. Talaskos prefers to watch, withdraw, and wait patiently for the best moment to strike—very different from most authoritarian zulkirs. He is known for using various gaseous or amorphous creatures that fight as his command, most prominently invisible stalkers, doppelgangers, mimics, elemental myrmidons, and once even the powerful desert wind elementals known as skriaxit. He is also noted as having mephits of all varieties at his beck and call, using them as personal servants. Unlike many red wizards, Talaskos is one who has chosen to master more than one school of magic, and thus he has the abilities of the arcane tradtions of both evocation and transmutation (obtained via the secondary arcane tradition and secondary arcane tradition mastery feats from the DM's Guild offering of The Complete Red Book of Spell Strategy). As a result of this, Talaskos is both Zulkir of Transmutation, but also Aulkir of Evocation for the tharch of Balduran Bay. Talaskos also possesses the “red wizard of transmutation”, spell focus (transmutation), and spell focus (evocation) feats. The red wizard and spell focus feats also come from the Complete Red Book of Spell strategy, and provide him with a bonus to spell attack and save DC's of +4 for transmutation spells and +3 for evocation spells.
After the events of the spellplague, Talaskos decided it was in his own best interest to reveal himself to the red wizards of the enclave, and thus he quickly became a deciding force in the rulership of the enclave. Several years after the transfer to Abeir, a great primordial power of cold arose in the mountains in northern Anchorome. Calling itself Shakak, the spirit of Winter, it invaded the tharch of Balduran Bay. With the aid of the other council members of the tharch, they'd managed to entrap the powerful being within the mountains, and the Collegium of Ice and Fire was built atop it to contain it. Talaskos long ago studied the artifact known as the Athora beneath Thaymount and its ability to increase a spellcaster's ability to cast spells, and he recognized a similar energy within this being. He began drawing upon it to increase his own spellcasting ability, and soon realized that Shakak had some ties to the world energy of Abeir itself. This led him to study the theories of Worldfire, in which one would seek to combine the energies of Abeir and Toril, transforming them into a more usable form.
Academy of Arcane Craftsmanship (Thulkir) – Master of Pluma and Hishna magic, he has created many new strains of beasts. Mulan Half-breed, mother was a Maztican female. Lopango Jungle
Sorcerer's Society (Thulkir) – Kilroth Mepexedil, Oslander Islands. Make this a Dragonborn who turned his back on his draconic masters. He is loyal to Mythrell'aa.
Fellowship of Battlemages (Thulkir) - Targuth Agneh, Thulkir of the Fellowship of Battlemages, Aulkir of Evocation for the Western Pridelands, and Tharchion of the Western Pridelands. See above Tharchion entry.
Guild of Arcane Spymasters (Thulkir) - Nyasia Tavai, Thulkir of the Guild of Arcane Spymasters of the Tharch of Peleveran.
Red Wizards and Laws
Red Wizards are almost always Mulan. It is forbidden by custom for a red wizard to take on an apprentice who is not of Mulan extraction, though in some tharchs having one full blooded Mulan parent is enough. Generally, those non-Mulans who show some promising magical talent are encouraged to study the paths of the bard, sorcerer, eldritch knight, or arcane trickster or similar paths. They are the only group in the United Tharchs allowed to wear red robes and anyone else foolish or ignorant enough to wear such robes is rewarded by instant death at the hands of the Red Wizards themselves. It isn't until an apprentice Red Wizard gains a "minimal" proficiency in magic, minimal to the red wizards being the ability to cast spells of 5th level, that he or she is awarded any position of importance in United Tharch society or government. It is also at this point that Red Wizards come under scrutiny from their superiors, as they are reaching a dangerous level of magical competency.
Still, despite the above, it should be noted that in at least three tharchs, this ruling against non-Mulan red wizards has not been upheld. For instance, in Lopango there are numerous individuals who have been trained who have little to no Mulan blood heritage. The ability to wield power is testament enough.
Under Thayan law, any red wizard was allowed to give orders to any citizen of Thay. This has changed under the laws of the United Tharchs, as Tharchions may ignore the orders of lesser red wizards if they are not the will of the local Aulkirs. This level of protection however does not extend down to the various autharchs and lesser bureaucratic functionaries elected to office by the Tharchion.
Also under Thayan law, red wizards were generally given to be the judges, juries, and executioners of all laws pertinent to its citizens. In the United Tharchs, each city creates a panel of Mulan autharchs to act in the interest of the government for settling disputes. This panel assesses guilt or innocence, whereas punishment is meted out by the local red wizards based upon their mood. This has released red wizards to spend more time working towards the improvement in their skill in art, while also increasing the power of the Tharchion who chooses the autharchs who fill this panel. This system is not without its issues, as some red wizards are noted for lighter punishments if given bribes or offers of servitude, and some autharchs are noted for accepting bribes in order to return a specific verdict. Generally, infractions by Mulans are treated lighter than those by humans of other sub-races, and humanoid offenders generally receive the worst treatment of all.
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2020 : 14:14:22
Oh, and for the region....
giant parrots (bred by the red wizards magically as mounts)
Parrogriffs (parrot griffins, tiger, jaguar, and panther bodies... not necessarily yellow/orange with black spots/striped.... go wild with color... picture battlecat from He-Man).
Lots of displacer beasts, kamatlan, etc....
I personally picture the tharch of Lopango having worked on incorporating animals into their society to a degree. Also, their focus on fire worship fits with the Kolan and Natican outlooks to a degree (more the Kolan, who have embraced these outlanders and the lives of whom were improved after being taken). |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2020 : 13:57:33
Secondarily, I've very much said I liked your work on Lopango, but that I'd recommend a few changes.
First, the sorcerous jungle orcs. It wouldn't take much to change these such that SOME tribes are following leaders who are warlocks instead of sorcerers, because honestly I just can't see that many magically blooded orcs. I can see orcs that offer themselves in service in exchange for power though. Even better is if they made pacts with multiple entities. For instance.
Orcs following Camazotz acting as their Patron. The tribe has access to giant bats that they use to fly in the jungle. Some of them may be vampires.
Orcs following Zaltec as their Patron. These are orcs from Maztica who have made their way this far south. It might include clerics as well as warlocks. They may not like the other orcs and want to sacrifice them.
Orcs following various demon lords who may have still had access to their patron since when Abeir crossed over, the abyss also became part of the elemental chaos, and Abeir does seem to have ties to the elemental planes.
Having some jungle drow converting to worship of Vulkoon (particularly males) makes sense to me (and possibly opening some ties to some Eberron crossovers).
I've also noted that I would include some red wizards down there forming a tharch. This tharch would have actually have embraced the idea of racial acceptance, with the ruling wizards taking on multiple wives from amongst the local populations and the populations that they brought with them. They would have come from the Pasocada basin and therefore had Metahel, Azuposi, "Dog People", and Nahopaca amongst their numbers (I'm picturing more Azuposi and Metahel than the other two). I'm also picturing them having stopped and picked up some Kolan "fire worshipping" folk and Natican folk along the way (the Natican may have believed that the sacking of some of their outlying villages was due to jungle orcs). Other red wizards still believed in racial purity and were somewhat disgusted by the society being formed, and they led their way south to Katashaka to form another tharch (the western Pridelands). If you wouldn't mind including them, I'm willing to share the map I developed and make additions to it if you like (you can use it either way, but I'm more inclined to make additions if I don't have to remove my own). You'll see I've vastly reduced the size of what I was doing before to now. My map also tries to place orc villages, the Supay gnomes, etc...
These are the cities I have, and you'll see them way down on the tip area that you never drew in the old Lopango document.
New Kensten (capital of the Lopango Tharch), Zanzilaha (mining town with ties to the nearby mountains), Szulranesh (jungle border town, logging), Jheskor (shipyards and lumbermills), Dethecar Village (farming, fishing, etc..), Mount Tezcossuth and the Temple of Tezcossuth
Link to the map
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hU0XOfCJoSnm39DaTsz5ZQRv6FibiVKH/view?usp=sharing
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2020 : 13:09:36
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
I've decided to take on Lopango during my quarantine. One thing I have these days is time being a NYC fellow. I figure I can stay safe here at my keyboard.
Here is the WIP of the update with only a few sections done.
Lopango WIP 3-27-20
What will be new in this version? Well, it will be expanded to include classes, races and a few monsters (though I eventually want to do an entire Incan based monster book, so this section will be short). I am also watching an amazing cartoon with my kids called the Mysterious Cities of Gold for inspiration. I highly recommend it!
Edit: Please ignore the Table of Contents - it's currently just a place holder and might as well say Lorem Ipsum Dolem.
One thing I'll note, mount Mixhuacan, which you don't detail, its always struck me that as a place with these mile high glyphs that appeared, etc.... and its separatist nature, that it makes a perfect place for a hidden stronghold of Illumians (from the 3rd edition races of destiny).
To give a brief overview, they are a race that was created by humans transforming themselves by using the "Ritual of Words Made Flesh". They have these illusory like floating glyphs that orbit their heads. I think they could have ties as well to the human servants of Esh Alakar that rebelled (i.e. The Ancient Ones referred to in City of Gold). Maybe some Illumians showed up and helped them transform. I picture these folk as worshipping Deneir, though they may have another name for him. Illumians often work in isolated cells/cabals with different purposes.
On the ancient ones from city of gold, just noted this... the definitely had ties to spelljamming… which is something I was developing of glassteel ships being found in the desert in a hidden by illusion place surrounded by massive cliffs. I had originally thought to make the place a spellweaver place, but it could just as easily have been a place for the ancient ones. I could also see Illumians and arcane actually getting along well
The Ancient Ones had discovered micha and learned how to use its power over the spirits. Their culture and their magics attained such
astonishing heights that even the secrets of spelljamming were tapped by a remarkable few.
By the way, having Illumian sorcerers hidden in Maztica could prove useful against the transgressions of Abeir. As Ed just put out, magic wasn't necessarily not working in Abeir. Sorcerers therefore might be able to adjust relatively easily. That of course doesn't necessarily mean they thrived, and of course they may have been decimated. However, if it provides another means to have had the predations of Abeiran dragons from destroying the local cultures, having Illumian sorcerers appearing in numbers to fight interloping dragons could make a lot of sense. Having them enslave some of these dragons magically and using them against further invaders could also be useful. Just a thought.
Oh, and on the Deneir thing.... you know my obvious views that the gods appeared in Abeir and took on mortal bodies as lesser avatars. I could definitely see him picking an Illumian to be his mortal servant and having this Illumian travelling the world to try and accomplish whatever the gods of magic were trying to accomplish while there. |
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