| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Razz |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 06:33:25
Where can I find game rule information on the Seven Imaskarcana created by the Imaskari? I know in 3E there has been three that's been detailed, I think. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th? What of the other 4? Is there a 1E or 2E sourcebook for FR that can lead me to finding out the abilities of these artifacts?
Also, I remember reading something about the false Imaskarcana. What's that about?
Thanks to the great sages here than can give answers or their best advice.  |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Brian R. James |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 16:41:02
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Lesser and Greater Imaskarkana... I like that better then 'True' and 'False'...
<especially since Ed's were turned into the 'False'>
You sure about that Mark? The 'False' Imaskarkana, as far as I know, come from Robert Sullivan's article in Dragon #281 "Imaskarcana: Faces of Magic" |
| Markustay |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 15:54:50
Lesser and Greater Imaskarkana... I like that better then 'True' and 'False'...
<especially since Ed's were turned into the 'False'> |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 07:01:08
I've long held the (personal) view that there are lots of Imaskarna - the term originally being used in Imaskar to denote a magic or lore repository. There are the "offical" Imaskarna (of which yes, we've only seen the "odd" ones - but in my view that is because the even ones are ... well, slightly more ... mobile and the seventh, ties them all together ...) and then the other Imaskarna made by various wizards and groups/cabals of that realm.
-- George Krashos
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| Jakk |
Posted - 07 Jul 2009 : 03:08:48
Just a little point of trivia... it's curious to me that the only Imaskarcana that we have any sort of information about are the odd-numbered ones... 
Edit: And apparently I'm the only one who finds this fact curious... not really surprising, as I have a rather curious sense of curiosity...  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 Jul 2009 : 16:14:06
quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
Then again, the Arcane Age have some very specific rules about time travel, and a ninth level spell to make limited 1-year trips.
And then, Mystra, Azuth, Oghma, Deneir, and Labelas Enoreth collectively watch out for time travelers. And Labelas' Knights Paradoxical are more or less Faerūn's "Time Police". That being said, you definitely could find out information on the Imaskarcana in the past; you just couldn't physically take it (or any magic item) back to the present with you.
For me, the "rule" in arcane age was a way to try to make characters in one time setting fit within all the parameters of Netheril - i.e. we don't want a wand of magic missiles going back to before the Netherese general invented it. Silly if you ask me, especially considering the lengths TSR went to blend the worlds in to Planescape and Spelljammer settings, you could go back in time in Krynnspace, hop a Man-O-War and be on Toril any time.
Also, the original Old Empires accessory had the Font of Time in Mulhorand (which is right next to Imaskar, by the way) which allowed time travel under an entirely different set of rules.
And there's an astronomical feature (a constellation, as I recall) in Greyspace that can toss spelljamming vessels to random points in time and space. |
| The Masked Mage |
Posted - 04 Jul 2009 : 15:48:19
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
Then again, the Arcane Age have some very specific rules about time travel, and a ninth level spell to make limited 1-year trips.
And then, Mystra, Azuth, Oghma, Deneir, and Labelas Enoreth collectively watch out for time travelers. And Labelas' Knights Paradoxical are more or less Faerūn's "Time Police". That being said, you definitely could find out information on the Imaskarcana in the past; you just couldn't physically take it (or any magic item) back to the present with you.
For me, the "rule" in arcane age was a way to try to make characters in one time setting fit within all the parameters of Netheril - i.e. we don't want a wand of magic missiles going back to before the Netherese general invented it. Silly if you ask me, especially considering the lengths TSR went to blend the worlds in to Planescape and Spelljammer settings, you could go back in time in Krynnspace, hop a Man-O-War and be on Toril any time.
Also, the original Old Empires accessory had the Font of Time in Mulhorand (which is right next to Imaskar, by the way) which allowed time travel under an entirely different set of rules. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 29 Oct 2007 : 18:13:15
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Secrets_of_Imaskar_WE.pdf (whose URL is ... ) may be of interest to any DM running an Imaskari-oriented adventure, and I am sure that some more knowledgeable scribe than I will know where to locate that particular scroll. 
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20050216a
When in doubt, consult the Web Enhancement Archive.
Well that's a handy little link to have!
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 28 Oct 2007 : 18:34:58
They're the reason the Illithids needed to go back in time....
The LeShay are Timelords.
Dr. Whoooooooo... Dr. WHO.... <where's my dancin' smiley?> |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2007 : 02:08:37
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Secrets_of_Imaskar_WE.pdf (whose URL is ... ) may be of interest to any DM running an Imaskari-oriented adventure, and I am sure that some more knowledgeable scribe than I will know where to locate that particular scroll.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20050216a
When in doubt, consult the Web Enhancement Archive. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 27 Oct 2007 : 01:42:40
Secrets_of_Imaskar_WE.pdf (whose URL is ... ) may be of interest to any DM running an Imaskari-oriented adventure, and I am sure that some more knowledgeable scribe than I will know where to locate that particular scroll.
|
| Hawkins |
Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 17:41:00
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
Ok, this is really bugging me because I can't remember. What's LeShay?
Here is the SRD incarnation of them:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/leshay.htm
quote:
From the Epic Level Handbook, pg 202
As elves are to humans, so are leShay to elves (but more so): a race immortal, enigmatic, and exceptionally powerful.
LeShay look like tall, thin albino elves, except they lack the oversized ears of true elves (leShay ears look more like half-elf ears) and, while they have the glossy dead-white hair of true albinos, their eyes are pits of darkness.
Then it goes on to tell how they are immune to age and disease and only die if killed, can pick up any language, and some history on them predating the current multiverse. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 02:01:50
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
Ok, this is really bugging me because I can't remember. What's LeShay?
I believe they are in the Epic Level Handbook. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 01:41:30
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
Ok, this is really bugging me because I can't remember. What's LeShay?
Some type of proto-fey/elf creature. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 01:38:19
Ok, this is really bugging me because I can't remember. What's LeShay? |
| Skeptic |
Posted - 25 Oct 2007 : 21:31:37
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I like Imaskarcana, it has a certain 'ring' to it.
I HATE the LeShay... what is that? French for 'The Fey'?
For some reason, though, having the LeShay speak French seems somehow... right.
LeShay means nothing in French. (Well, it could mean "the Shay")
I hate the word too. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 25 Oct 2007 : 21:19:17
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
Then again, the Arcane Age have some very specific rules about time travel, and a ninth level spell to make limited 1-year trips.
And then, Mystra, Azuth, Oghma, Deneir, and Labelas Enoreth collectively watch out for time travelers. And Labelas' Knights Paradoxical are more or less Faerūn's "Time Police". That being said, you definitely could find out information on the Imaskarcana in the past; you just couldn't physically take it (or any magic item) back to the present with you.
And don't forget the real Amauntor: he had, as part of his portfolio, "all time." Journeying back to a time and place when he is still vigorous would probably lead to ... consequences....
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 25 Oct 2007 : 20:57:44
I like Imaskarcana, it has a certain 'ring' to it.
I HATE the LeShay... what is that? French for 'The Fey'?
For some reason, though, having the LeShay speak French seems somehow... right.
Maybe when they handed off the Imaskarcana to Emperor Omanond, they quoted that Beatles song -
"Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble" 
|
| Hawkins |
Posted - 24 Oct 2007 : 20:19:52
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Will I be grilled if I say I hate the word "Imaskarcana"?
For the record, I also hate the word "LeShay".
Lol. I actually like them. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 24 Oct 2007 : 20:16:15
Will I be grilled if I say I hate the word "Imaskarcana"?
For the record, I also hate the word "LeShay". |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 24 Oct 2007 : 07:00:04
Wasn't there another Imaskarcana detailed? I seem to remember it being mentioned as a random treasure in a fungus cavern underneath the Chondalwood. But then again, I may be misremembering. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 23 Oct 2007 : 04:14:47
Essentially, the party I ran did this:
Being sent into the past they had NOTHING on them that was unique or magical in any way...they knew only common weapons from that period (worth a fortune to be non-magical...and hard to come by!) could be taken...and those items only if they had been lost before the period they were going back to! (some serious use of contact other plane, summoning ancient weapon/armor makers and legend lore went into this operation!!!) Once there, the party went about collecting magical items to use in the period they were in. When the year was over (they always appeared on the morning of the first day of the year and vanished just before sunrise the next year on the same day) they went back into their own future...where only a month had passed as described in the spell.
Each time they went back, they could only pick a year other than a year already visited. To make the campaign more fluid, they always went back to the very next year and secured the things they had gained from their hidden cache.
To make a long story short, the wizards of the party had a field day learning ancient magic...and the rest of the party became VERY wealthy...it was nice to visit a dungeon where they had secreted nice magical treasures and valuables from centuries gone by. It was some fun seeing them construct their caches in the past so that they could be discovered in the future...
Anyway, by the time all was said and done the two wizards knew quite a bit about Netheril because they had spent ten years adventuring in it! This only amounted to ten months in their own "time-space" and was explained away to their retainers (who maintained their holdings) as them simply being gone adventuring.
So, I don't see that there would be a limit on someone doing the same...going back to Imaskar and studying it in depth to learn as much as possible...
And gain a magic item or dozen that they hide in a special place |
| Daviot |
Posted - 23 Oct 2007 : 03:50:18
Then again, the Arcane Age have some very specific rules about time travel, and a ninth level spell to make limited 1-year trips.
And then, Mystra, Azuth, Oghma, Deneir, and Labelas Enoreth collectively watch out for time travelers. And Labelas' Knights Paradoxical are more or less Faerūn's "Time Police". That being said, you definitely could find out information on the Imaskarcana in the past; you just couldn't physically take it (or any magic item) back to the present with you. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 22 Oct 2007 : 23:46:22
Alternate Reality or not...you could still find more information in the past than in the present.
Just a thought. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 22 Oct 2007 : 22:36:52
quote:
Originally posted by dalor_darden
Well, if you really want to know what the other Imaskarcana are...
Use a Time Travel Spell and go back and see! That may seem weak, but I had a party that had great fun in Netheril, and they gained a GREAT deal of experience being gone a year IN Netheril, but only being gone a month in "real" time where they were from.
Manshoon: "How in the name of the Black Lord have you gained so much power! Only last year you couldn't even defend against my weakest magics!"
Party Member What's-his-face: "Last year to you, but a decade to me! Now prepare to taste my Tolodine's Killing Wind! Zhentil Keep will fall!"
Don't know if I got the spelling right on that one...but you guys get the idea.
Ed has often said that chronomantic spells don't work "as described" on Toril. The only exception of which I know is visiting Netheril, which has some very, very, very stringent rules. (Chronomancer was a Netherese archwizard himself.) Someone who tried to travel back to ancient Imaskar would probably not wind up in the past of the current timeline, but in some alternate timeline, or would return to an alternate "present." Alternatively, some deity would probably just jerk you around and make you think that you had travelled to Imaskar (Oghma, lord of all knowledge, has Trickery as one of his clerical domains; you should be so lucky as to have him mess with you -- as opposed to some "nameless abomination from the outer gulphs of space and time").
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 21 Oct 2007 : 20:32:37
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
There is an interesting painting found in an Imaskar ruin, in one of the early chapters of the novel Darkvision penned by Bruce R. Cordell. It depicts Emperor Omanond standing with seven fey-like figures each carrying a magical tome. The name inscribed below the figures reads leShay. This painting seems to be intimating that the leShay (described in the Epic Level Handbook) had a hand in crafting the seven Imaskarcana. This further strengthens one hypothesis that the leShay may indeed be the Fey creator race. Just some food for thought.
Indeed, I was going to mention this myself. It would appear that the Fey did indeed craft a series of tomes similar to the way the other Creator races crafted the Nether Scrolls.
The GHotR go further to state that the Fey have been dabbling in changing things in FR since the beginning of time, starting with the entry in -27000 DR. I've been saying all along that the Fey came FIRST, not last, out of the four Creator Races, and this placement of them further back along the timeline does much to support my suppositions. I have a feeling that their original homeland was on or near Toril (Abeir?), and after the affair of the Black Diamond they were forced to move their Realm to another dimension. Note that the Star Elves (originally brought to Faerūn by the Fey) have done the same, and according to Darkvision the Imaskari also dabbled in these kinds of dimensional magic (hence the Fey reference in the novel).
And Bruce Cordell is Lead designer of the 4e realms.... |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 21 Oct 2007 : 17:34:59
Well, if you really want to know what the other Imaskarcana are...
Use a Time Travel Spell and go back and see! That may seem weak, but I had a party that had great fun in Netheril, and they gained a GREAT deal of experience being gone a year IN Netheril, but only being gone a month in "real" time where they were from.
Manshoon: "How in the name of the Black Lord have you gained so much power! Only last year you couldn't even defend against my weakest magics!"
Party Member What's-his-face: "Last year to you, but a decade to me! Now prepare to taste my Tolodine's Killing Wind! Zhentil Keep will fall!"
Don't know if I got the spelling right on that one...but you guys get the idea. |
| Brian R. James |
Posted - 21 Oct 2007 : 16:56:03
There is an interesting painting found in an Imaskar ruin, in one of the early chapters of the novel Darkvision penned by Bruce R. Cordell. It depicts Emperor Omanond standing with seven fey-like figures each carrying a magical tome. The name inscribed below the figures reads leShay. This painting seems to be intimating that the leShay (described in the Epic Level Handbook) had a hand in crafting the seven Imaskarcana. This further strengthens one hypothesis that the leShay may indeed be the Fey creator race. Just some food for thought. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 13 Oct 2007 : 20:00:51
When dealing with them, it is important to remember that (supposedly) they react violently to being questioned by anyone speaking anything but the "pure" language of the old empire (Roushom). Use the "search" function here for a thread I started about their linguistic xenophobia.
|
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 17:41:01
quote:
Originally posted by Razz
(heh, the Lifedrain spell was one I've been longing to see done).
Unless I am mistaken (and I've not yet replaced the book, so I can't check), this spell was detailed in the 2E Anauroch sourcebook. |
| Razz |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 16:03:09
I see, the false Imaskarcana are the Faces of Madness items. I have that article so that's good.
As for what Steven Schend said and some bits in LEoF, thanks for that reference and info. I agree some items should be best be left for DM's imaginations, a key reference to and artifact's core abilities and even a few that have been around for a long time should be given game mechanics out by now (heh, the Lifedrain spell was one I've been longing to see done).
Thanks all! |
