T O P I C R E V I E W |
Cards77 |
Posted - 22 Oct 2014 : 22:26:17 I was reading Lost Empires of Faerun and came across this list on page 45 of all the mythals that still exist as of 3e(?) I guess.
I did search for this and couldn't find more than a handful of posts discussing one or two mythals. Though a compiled list may be handy for someone.
I have no clue where most of these are geographically and was wondering if we could compile their locations and what we know about what's left here (was it a city? Status of the mythal?).
I'm viewing this as pre-4th edition around 1372ish
Mythals still exist in a number of places. Those raised by elven high mages include Myth Drannor, Myth Glaurach, the Elven Court, Myth Adofhaer, Myth Dyraalis, Myth Nantar, Myth Ondath, Myth Rhynn, and Myth Unnohyr, as well as others now lost to history. Mythals such as those at Shoonach’s Imperial Mount, Myth Iiscar, and Myth Lharast have also been crafted by non-elves using epic spells.
Myth Drannor - Cormanthor Myth Glaurach - High Forest The Elven Court - Cormanthor Myth Adofhaer - Lost city of Silvaundae High Forest Myth Dyraalis - Tethyr/Calimnshan Myth Nantar - Underwater city (Sea of Fallen Stars) Myth Ondath - Moonsea North Myth Valorthae - Methwood Myth Rhynn - Tethyr/Calimnshan Myth Unnohyr - Tethyr/Calimnshan Shoonach’s Imperial Mount - no clue Myth Iiscar - Lantan Myth Lharast - Amn Myth Tarranvar - the Yuirwood. Evereska - Near the High Moor Silverymoon - a "wizard mythal"
I will continue to work on this as I get replies/do more research. I"m also interested in having a summary about each mythal that describes what it WAS, and what is currently there if anything. |
13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
althen artren |
Posted - 07 Sep 2015 : 04:39:31 Very small mythal in the Archwood: Dungeon 121-Secret of the Archwood. |
Duneth Despana |
Posted - 31 Aug 2015 : 13:54:22 Mythal on the banks of 'broad, trout-filled river' that runs east to west or west to east (my bet is on the Delimbyir) that fell to a flight of dragons mentioned in Evermeet chapter 14. I don't know if Elaine Cunningham or Ed Greenwood ever gave a name or any more detail to this city. |
Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Jul 2015 : 04:46:33 The two biggest issues I had with mythals were the way Silverymoon went from not having a mythal to having one, and the addition of keystones for mythals. Keystones do make for an okay plot device, but I don't think they were anywhere close to the best approach. |
Gary Dallison |
Posted - 08 Jul 2015 : 08:38:32 High Magic being the same as Epic Magic is how i've always viewed it. It works with Netheril as well, the Netherese used 10th, 11th, 12th level spells because they had predefined components a pre defined outcome, there was little chance of any backlash if the casting went wrong, and they were easier to research (in fact you could probably just steal the spell from your rival).
Compare that to Epic Magic where each ritual is essentially unique, if you get it wrong then you can die, they are horrifically complicated and often require multiple casters working in concert, and most of all they are very time consuming. Therefore the Netherese abandoned the Epic Magic of the elves in favour of the higher level spells.
Of course i extended Epic magic to be the same as rituals of 4e so that anyone can cast a ritual, they just have to understand the theory and nature of magic (represented by a skill check). These rituals can be made to imitate existing spells, and they can be altered on the fly to have slightly different effects (thats my explanation for how Elminster has his custom magic that no one else has, he makes it up as he goes along).
Oh and don't forget Myth Tarranvar in the Yuirwood. |
George Krashos |
Posted - 08 Jul 2015 : 06:55:05 I can weight in, but you have to understand that you are comparing 2E and 3E sources, which do not gel without some realmslore tweaking to account for changes in the D&D rules.
The "Cormanthyr" accessory provided a unique system for the casting of High Magic, which differed from what had previously been presented in "Elves of Evermeet" and didn't conform with passsages from the "Ruins of Myth Drannor" boxed set.
With the advent of 3E and epic rules, "Lost Empires of Faerun" attempted to smooth over the inconsistencies that existed by providing an explanation that High Magic was epic magic and now not a separate type of spellcasting, but rather a descriptor of a type of epic magic. In other words, elves casting particular epic spells of a communal caster nature were casting "High Magic", but not doing anything different to a group of humans casting the same spell if they could replicate it or get their hands on a copy.
This explanation in my view was a welcome one, for it assisted in explaining away some of the inconsistencies in mythal lore that had sprung out of some earlier 2E work, Myth Lharast being a case in point.
So in simple terms, if looking through the oily lens of the 2E rules, the mythal at Myth Drannor was a "wizardly mythal" and a 10th level spell (aided and abetted by the intervention of Mystra herself), not "High Magic".
In 3E terms, the mythal at Myth Drannor was a "true mythal" because it was cast by elves and replicated what the High Mages would have done if they'd wanted to cast it themselves. Mythanthar was not a High Mage, but he was an epic spellcaster and hence could use the 'mythal' seed to create a mythal over Myth Drannor.
As such, the concept of what a "true mythal" is/was altered in the change from the 2E rules to the 3E rules. A true mythal in 2E was one created by the High Magic variant spellcasting system showcased in the "Cormanthyr" accessory. In 3E, a "true mythal" was a mythal created by elves using epic spellcasting, because elves made the best mythals. The transition to 3E saw "High Magic" become a term of nomenclature, not a variant form of spellcasting and also paved the way for authors like Rich Baker to showcase variant types of "High Magic" as he did in his Farthest Reach novels.
I grant you that the 2E version made "High Magic" a bit more special, but the 3E approach gave it more in game flexibilty and more opportunities to craft realmslore to complement the concept, IMO.
-- George Krashos |
Cards77 |
Posted - 08 Jul 2015 : 04:01:27 quote: Originally posted by TBeholder
quote: Originally posted by Cards77
Mythals still exist in a number of places. Those raised by elven high mages include Myth Drannor, Myth Glaurach, the Elven Court, Myth Adofhaer, Myth Dyraalis, Myth Nantar, Myth Ondath, Myth Rhynn, and Myth Unnohyr, as well as others now lost to history. Mythals such as those at Shoonach’s Imperial Mount, Myth Iiscar, and Myth Lharast have also been crafted by non-elves using epic spells.
According to Cormanthyr, Myth Drannor was the first wizard mythal. High Mages were involved as secondary casters, but the central caster was Mythantor himself, who lost the ability to do HM and designed 10-level spell (technically, 3 component spells: one from the central caster, two collectively cast by helpers) to emulate "the real thing" - which required participation of Chosen of Mystra and/or actual High Mages to stabilize it anyway.
Well..ermm. In Lost Empires of Faerun it is listed as a True Mythal on page 45. The reason being there is no evidence that Mythantor couldn't use elven high magic, (or use a 9th level spell as an "epic" spell) epic magic was free of Mystra's Ban page 43, after the death of Mystryl. In Elves of Evermeet there are rules for using elven high magic after Mystryl's death.
George care to weigh in?
I'm not as concerned about categorizing every thing here as either "true" or "wizard" as I am about describing where they are, and our collective knowledge regarding what effects they were created with and their current status as of the time frame specified. |
TBeholder |
Posted - 08 Jul 2015 : 02:36:48 quote: Originally posted by Cards77
Mythals still exist in a number of places. Those raised by elven high mages include Myth Drannor, Myth Glaurach, the Elven Court, Myth Adofhaer, Myth Dyraalis, Myth Nantar, Myth Ondath, Myth Rhynn, and Myth Unnohyr, as well as others now lost to history. Mythals such as those at Shoonach’s Imperial Mount, Myth Iiscar, and Myth Lharast have also been crafted by non-elves using epic spells.
According to Cormanthyr, Myth Drannor was the first wizard mythal. High Mages were involved as secondary casters, but the central caster was Mythantor himself, who lost the ability to do HM and designed 10-level spell (technically, 3 component spells: one from the central caster, two collectively cast by helpers) to emulate "the real thing" - which required participation of Chosen of Mystra and/or actual High Mages to stabilize it anyway. |
Cards77 |
Posted - 08 Jul 2015 : 00:42:11 Is there anything else anyone can think of, or how I could flesh out these mythal descriptions more? Thanks. |
Brian R. James |
Posted - 23 Oct 2014 : 16:25:30 Myth Valorthae (located in the Methwood) - from the map of Chessenta in Dungeon 178 |
Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Oct 2014 : 16:02:52 I see that you edited your first post, Cards, but you overlooked some info... Myth Nantar is an undersea city, detailed in the Sea of Fallen Stars sourcebook.
Myth Lharast is in the Lands of Intrigue boxed set, so it's also in the Tethyr/Calimshan area. |
George Krashos |
Posted - 23 Oct 2014 : 15:59:57 Myth Nantar is in the Sea of Fallen Stars (underwater) and Myth Lharast is in Amn as noted by Wooly above.
-- George Krashos |
George Krashos |
Posted - 23 Oct 2014 : 01:22:28 quote: Originally posted by Cards77 Myth Drannor - I think we all know where this is. Myth Glaurach - Not sure...High Forest somewhere prior capital of Earlann? The Elven Court - Evermeet? Myth Adofhaer - No clue Myth Dyraalis - no clue Myth Nantar - no clue Myth Ondath - no clue Myth Rhynn - no clue Myth Unnohyr - no clue Shoonach’s Imperial Mount - no clue Myth Iiscar - no clue Myth Lharast - no clue
Myth Rhynn, Myth Dyraalis and Myth Unnohyr are in Tethyr and Calimshan - see "Lands of Intrigue" and "Empires of the Shining Sea".
Myth Iiscar is in Lantan - see "Ruins of Myth Drannor" boxed set for its first mention in the lore.
Myth Adofhaer is the lost mythal city of Siluvanede in the High Forest - see "Lost Empires of Faerun" (and Eric Boyd's hard drive).
Myth Ondath is in the Moonsea North - see "Volo's Guide to All Things Magical": write-up of the Gatekeeper's Crystal.
Evereska has a mythal also.
-- George Krashos
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Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 22 Oct 2014 : 22:48:06 The Elven Court is in Cormanthyr. Myth Nantar is in the Sea of Fallen Stars. You can read about Myth Glaurach here.
Shoonach and Myth Lharast are in the Lands of Intrigue area, and are in either that boxed set or the Empires of the Shining Sea one.
That's what I recall of the top of my head... I think the Cormanthyr sourcebook has a list in there, too.
Also, in 1E and 2E, Silverymoon was protected by layers of wards; in 3E, it was a mythal -- despite prior lore indicating that the mythal planned for Silverymoon was never raised. There are a couple of mythals in Waterdeep, as well -- one that keeps out dragons, unless the weilder of Ahghairon's staff lets them in, and another that keeps the city from collapsing into the miles of tunnels and delvings under the city. |
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