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Hooch9
Acolyte
USA
20 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 05:32:14
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I tried searching the forum for an answer to this, but found nothing.
In the first book of The Harpers series, "The Parched Sea", at the bottom of page 65 is a few lines that confuse me. It discusses something known as "The Scattering". It states:
"My Father told me there were three great tribes of Bedine."
"The sheikhs of these Three Ancient Tribes dreamed of ruling all the people, and so they had their sorcerers summon N'asr's denizens to make war upon each other. The war destroyed the land and gave birth to Anauroch. It took the gods themselves to set the world right again, and some of them died before the carnage could be stopped."
"The Surviving gods scattered the Three Tribes to the corners of the world and forbade them to ever use magic again..."
A few questions:
The "Three Ancient Tribes": Are they describing the surviving Netheril states in Anauroch after the falling of the Netheril cities (Asram, Anauria, and Hlondath)? Or am I reading into it too much?
Summoning N'asr's "Denizens": It says the three leftover Netheril states summoned N'asr's denizens. The Bedine refer to N'asr as the rest of Faerun refers to Cyric (same god, different name). It also says that the war between them created the desert of Anauroch. Is this a reference to the Phaerimm? Or are the "denizens" something else?
Any input on this issue is welcome, as I am at an impasse on how this all connects together (if at all).
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Sheriff: Oh one other thing Earlie. Your boy needs to be in school.
Earlie Cuyler: School? Ain't dat da damn place where they got all dem uhh lets see, whatcha call um uhh? Fold outs covered in scriblins wrote up all over.
Earlie Cuyler: uhh? Books?
Earlie Cuyler: uh-uh, uh-uh, No they square like a magazine.
Sheriff: Books Earlie.
Earlie Cuyler: Noo not not that, but something like that, I wanna say boooooo...
"Don't you start with me. I have hobbies. I collect autographs. I don't Judge you for all those books you read!"
-Both of those quotes are from Squidbillies. |
Edited by - Hooch9 on 01 Nov 2010 05:46:05
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 19:05:04
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More then likely it is apocryphal.
That is a folklore legend about 'ancient times', and probably refers to several different events that the passing ages have blended together in 'campfire tales'.
The Bedine themselves are an odd group - logic dictates they came from Zakhara, or even Calimshan or the Raurin region, but what little history we have points to them being descendents of Netheril (apparently their tongue is a dialect of Netherease). I believe another source (Anauroch?) states that they 'came from elsewhere'.
There is a way of marrying the disparate bits, but I have to go out now, and I'd like to see what others have to say on the subject (most especially George Krashos) before I comment.
As for "N'asr's demons", I would say it is a reference to the Phaerimm, however distorted. This is the third anachronistic reference to Cyric's godhood I've come across - my bet is that whoever this N'asr was, Cyric stole his portfolio soon after ascending (hence the discrepancy).
Some Deity/Archfiend/Elder Evil probably held the portfolio of Madness, and this is where we get these older (and inaccurate) references to Cyric.
There was also a Scattering of Fate in ancient times down in Zakhara, which sounds a LOT like the part about the "surviving gods scattered the three tribes". If at least a small portion of the Bedine bloodline originated there, that could be one of the stories that is getting blended-in to the fall of Netheril.
Also, in order to make everything work, I would hazard to guess that N'asr was somehow responsible for the original containment of the Phaerimm (back when the Sarrukh did it), or was their leader/creator. They appear to have 'gone dormant' for countless millenia, and were 'reawakened' by the excessive use of magic above them.
Like I said, i can think of lots more, but I'll wait until others chime in.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 03 Nov 2010 00:46:14 |
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Galuf the Dwarf
Senior Scribe
USA
622 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 20:48:28
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The paragraph-long entry on the Bedine on page 106 of Races of Faerun states that the Bedine "migrated from Zakhara via a portal after the fall of Netheril in -399 DR and intermingled with a handful of Neterese survivors." It mentions they speak Midani, which is their ancestral language, but lost the ability to write it long ago. However, they emply the Thorass alphabet for writing, which they learned from traders who entered their lands.
As far as N'asr is concerned, it is left slightly vague to which deity supposedly answers the prayers in the afformentioned deity's name. It's rumored to be Cyric, as mentioned by Markustay, or possibly Kelemvor instead. |
Galuf's Baldur's Gate NPC stats: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8823
Galuf's 3.5 Ed. Cleric Domains: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14036
Galuf's Homebrew 4th Edition Races: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13787
Galuf's Homebrew Specialty Priest PrCs: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14353
Galuf's Forgotten Realms Heralds and Allies thread: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8766 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2010 : 03:20:03
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Races of Faerun strikes again.
BAD research for that tome. Someone (in another thread) just recently mentioned that the Bedine tongue is derived, at least in part, from Netherease. Also, the stories told in that novel point to them being somehow related to the netherease, and some of the Bedine history predates the fall of Netheril (I forget where, but its in one of those 'odd places' tucked-away in some unrelated source (possibly Elminster's Ecologies).
Anyhow, make two assumptions - there was a being named N'asr, who may have held the portfolio of madness, and probably was either the creator/discoverer, leader, or 'jailer' of the Phaerimm (or even all three). Second assumption: The modern-bedine are descended from a tribe of Mujhari (people of Zakharan blood) AND Netherease survivors. The Mujhari tribe travelled through a portal to Anauroch, right around the time Netheril fell, and possibly just before.
The second assumption leads to at least one other - that it was incredibly fortuitous for the Netherease survivors that a group of people who were well-adapted to living in desert conditions happened upon them just when their lands were turning into a desert. One can assume there was something else at-play here - perhaps divine intervention, or a rather sneaky Archmage's own surreptitious kidnapping of a group of folk that could help his people survive. If the group did indeed arrive ahead of the fall, one might suspect the Chronomancer was involved.
However, I think the explanation is both simpler and at the same time deeper then that. Since the current Bedine group is made up of both Mujhari and Netherease, it is fairly simple to explain why some tales place them before the fall - because the Netherease were, in fact, there for quite some time. So they have stories and traditions originating from two sources.
However, we still need to figure out how the tribe of desert Nomads got to Anauroch in the first place. my conjecture is this: That particular tribe was one of MANY that were displaced during The Scattering of Fate, hence the folklore surrounding their scattering (which combined with the stories of the three kingdoms). That tribe spent spent several centuries in the region known as The Shining Waters (in and around the utter east and then into the lowr raurin basin), where they discovered a Sarrukh/Batrachi trap-portal.
What? You never heard of one of those? they were all the rage some 30,000 years ago. 
Anyhow, the portal was designed to be one-way (that's the trap), and was cleverly placed in the Underdark in one of the main tunnels leading out from the Pharimm lands. When the sarrukh flooded the Phaerimm tunnels with Narrow Sea, MANY of the fleeing Phaerimm were teleported against their will beneath the Raurin desert, trapped in an isolated chamber deep below the surface.
And there they would have stayed, because without magic to feed on, Phaerimm are nearly powerless. It was brilliant plan, if the Muhjari that would some day become the Imaskari had not also discovered Batrachi portals, and began building a magical empire directly above the hibernating Phaerimm. Eventually the Phaerimm awoke, and were restored by the arcane energies that were working their way to the realms below. When they began making trouble for the Imaskari, the Artificers determined their origins and struck a deal with the bizarre creatures - they would reverse the portal's magic and allow them to return from whence they came, on the condition that they ALL leave and never bother the Imaskari again. The Phaerimm, not realizing just how much time had passed, were eager to return home and wreak vengeance upon the beings that imprisoned them.
When they returned to Anauroch's underdark, they then realized their mistake - the Sarrukh were long gone (or so they thought), and some simple tribesman now lived in the world above. tribesman that would someday found Seventon, and eventually the Netherease Empire.
As for the portal on the other end - it still lies in a hidden cavern in a rocky portion of the Raurin Desert. The Imaskari assured that none of their own people would accidentally discover (and trigger) the ancient portal by placing a very realistic illusion over the entire area.
That illusion worked well, and none found or entered the cavern... until the weave collapsed and the illusion came down. A cavern that, unfortunately for some, makes an excellent shelter from sudden desert storms. 
A bit complex, but everything works now. The Bedine, you see, were survivors twice-over, and they never forgot it was at the hands of an evil Sun god that their own Empire fell. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 03 Nov 2010 03:22:43 |
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A few lines of question in "The Parched Sea"
