Candlekeep Forum
Candlekeep Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Active Polls | Members | Private Messages | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Realmslore
 Sages of Realmslore
 Primordials to Ao
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

creyzi4zb12
Learned Scribe

Philippines
129 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  11:35:11  Show Profile  Visit creyzi4zb12's Homepage Send creyzi4zb12 a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
I recall reading in some FR novel of primordials that even Ao feared..... I can't remember where it was mentioned.

orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc

Kno
Senior Scribe

452 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  11:42:07  Show Profile Send Kno a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ao only feared Cyric

z455t
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7978 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  14:20:31  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ao seems to have been actually been entirely emotionless, aside from lashing out with momentary anger and blinding Tyr, later expressing a sort of impatient annoyance or haughty disregard in Waterdeep. For the most part, Ao's been as indifferent towards Cyric as to any other god - he certainly has little to fear from any the gods aside from them all simultaneously suicidally abandoning their portfolios and thus casting the Realms into extreme imbalance.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  14:54:55  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Kno

Ao only feared Cyric

I don't think so.

As for the primordials, I think fear is not the word. Worry may be more appropriate. If the primordials are loose and wreck havoc in Ao's domain, the overgod's hands would be full, no doubt. But he'd manage. He's an overgod, so he must have a million contingencies only he and he alone knows. Besides, to overthrow an overgod, you must be an overgod yourself. Or a Super-Overgod. Or a council of overgods.

Every beginning has an end.

Edited by - Dennis on 10 Jan 2012 14:55:40
Go to Top of Page

Quale
Master of Realmslore

1757 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  16:43:35  Show Profile Send Quale a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Maybe shadevari

Or that aboleths from Bruce Cordell's novels
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  17:10:39  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Quale

Or that aboleths from Bruce Cordell's novels

Ao has a say who or what can enter his Crystal Sphere. His allowing Xxiphu to do so suggests he's not threatened by the Eldest nor the whole Abolethic Sovereignty.

Every beginning has an end.
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  18:31:05  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
However, we do not know if Primordials have power outside of the Crystal Sphere they are known in - and deities sometimes do, which means it is theoretically possibility for primordials to have this ability as well.

Ao has never demonstrated he has power beyond his sphere, and if anything, what little canon we have on him infers he does not. For instance, The Godwall may have been something attached to the outside of Realmspace's Sphere, and it could have been Ao's 'master' that removed it (which is why it took so long to be removed - Ao had no control over it - and his master only became aware of it when his attention shifted to Toril).

Have any primordials been described as multi-spheric powers? I know they were on Abeir, but from what little we have to go on, Abeir is located within Realmspace, just out-of-sync with it.

I personally think that there are various tiers within the primordial structure, just as there are within the deific echelons (even mortals have them in 4e!) This means that, theoretically, most primordials could be of lower stature then Ao, but a few could be more powerful. Ao himself could be a Primordial, who's domain is Realmspace, wherein he has absolute power. As we learned from Mystra (amongst others), a power is most vulnerable within its own domain (and also most powerful - balance at its finest), which means it should be possible for Ao to be 'hurt' within Realmspace by a being of equal or greater stature.

Or Atropus could just swing-by and start nibbling on his sphere.

Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?

Or would that be us?

On a related (to the OP) topic, could the World Serpent have been the original world of Abeir-Toril, and it was shattered when the world was sundered (and split-off into Abeir)? If so, would there be an over-deity or primordial for that world, a Chauntea/Earthmother figure, that could possibly re-combine and reform the original world?

Theres your 5e hook right there.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 10 Jan 2012 18:35:55
Go to Top of Page

Wolfhound75
Learned Scribe

USA
217 Posts

Posted - 10 Jan 2012 :  22:21:38  Show Profile Send Wolfhound75 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
[Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?



Didn't the original SpellJammer "erupt" from inside a crystal sphere, shattering it in the process? I guess that makes it sort of parasitic like the Alien series.

Ugh...I've been infected with SmallJammers! (And yes, they're called SmallJammers, that's not a typo.)


Good Hunting!

"Firepower - if it's not working, you're not using enough." ~ Military Proverb

"If at first you do succeed, you must've rolled a natural 20!"
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36784 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  00:16:02  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wolfhound75

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
[Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?



Didn't the original SpellJammer "erupt" from inside a crystal sphere, shattering it in the process? I guess that makes it sort of parasitic like the Alien series.

Ugh...I've been infected with SmallJammers! (And yes, they're called SmallJammers, that's not a typo.)


Good Hunting!



Indeed. Which makes me wonder... The Spelljammer breaks a lot of rules in Spelljammer and regular D&D canon, like breaking a sphere or the fact that gods can't really say anything about it. What if this is because the Spelljammer is the last remnants of the overdeity and/or the pantheon of that shattered sphere? An explanation along those lines would explain a lot...

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  01:08:09  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Nice.

What if Overgods are actually trapped within their domains, like prisons? Like the Titans of Greek mythology, they may have done something in the distant past, and now their punishment is to be Spheric Guardians.

Then the Spelljammer would be "the one that got away".

It would explain why gods can't effect it - the bubble around the ship would be like a Sphere in-miniature, and basically, the Overgod-sentience within can still ban deities from its Sphere. Its like a portable Godwall

I like it.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 11 Jan 2012 01:08:42
Go to Top of Page

The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  02:00:33  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Wolfhound75

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
[Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?



Didn't the original SpellJammer "erupt" from inside a crystal sphere, shattering it in the process? I guess that makes it sort of parasitic like the Alien series.

Ugh...I've been infected with SmallJammers! (And yes, they're called SmallJammers, that's not a typo.)


Good Hunting!



Indeed. Which makes me wonder... The Spelljammer breaks a lot of rules in Spelljammer and regular D&D canon, like breaking a sphere or the fact that gods can't really say anything about it. What if this is because the Spelljammer is the last remnants of the overdeity and/or the pantheon of that shattered sphere? An explanation along those lines would explain a lot...

Intriguingly, I've considered the origin of the Spelljammer along somewhat similar lines.

What if the Spelljammer were some type of divine weapon [that has obviously forgotten it's primary purpose {maybe because it was activated too early?}] forged by the fallen overdeity/pantheon of the shattered sphere? A last-ditch attempt to strike back at the enemy of the overdeity/pantheon/crystal sphere, perhaps?

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7978 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  05:20:14  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Player: "Okay, I'll be a 1,000HD antediluvian wyrm, max level every class, with every wondrous item in the book!"

DM (Ao): "Sure. You fall on your sword and die."

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 11 Jan 2012 05:20:42
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  13:51:25  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote

Trapped overgods? I don't know, but I'd like to think that creating a crystal sphere, which appears like a requirement for one to be called an overgod, is creating and safeguarding one's reality. Overgod A may pay Overgod B's crystal sphere a visit upon the latter's permission, but would be totally in B's restrictions. There may be some inter-crystal sphere rules set up and agreed upon by a convocation of overgods, allowing them to enter each other's domain, but preventing them from seizing control. A "peace treaty," if you'd like.

Every beginning has an end.
Go to Top of Page

Marc
Senior Scribe

657 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2012 :  14:01:45  Show Profile Send Marc a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by creyzi4zb12

I recall reading in some FR novel of primordials that even Ao feared..... I can't remember where it was mentioned.



Is this a 4th edition novel?

.
Go to Top of Page

Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore

Denmark
1093 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2012 :  20:19:28  Show Profile Send Nicolai Withander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I might be totally mistaken, but to me, and the way I think of Primodials or Elders are that they are somehow a constant. Something not a god but equal in power. Dendar, I think is one. In Nors Mythology its a worm that coils around the entire world.

But a long story short, I believe them to be something created not by the will of a god or Over god, but somehow by chance or by war or sorrow og somehow by a combination.


Well at least thats how I think of it!
Go to Top of Page

creyzi4zb12
Learned Scribe

Philippines
129 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2012 :  23:43:45  Show Profile  Visit creyzi4zb12's Homepage Send creyzi4zb12 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Marc

quote:
Originally posted by creyzi4zb12

I recall reading in some FR novel of primordials that even Ao feared..... I can't remember where it was mentioned.



Is this a 4th edition novel?


No, it's in the Avatar series...

orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc
Go to Top of Page

Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore

Denmark
1093 Posts

Posted - 02 Feb 2012 :  00:09:43  Show Profile Send Nicolai Withander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No doubt Ao would or could have problems if they all turned on him, but I would suspect that since he banished them all to abeir he would have no such trouble killing one...
Go to Top of Page

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11734 Posts

Posted - 02 Feb 2012 :  14:09:02  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Wolfhound75

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
[Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?



Didn't the original SpellJammer "erupt" from inside a crystal sphere, shattering it in the process? I guess that makes it sort of parasitic like the Alien series.

Ugh...I've been infected with SmallJammers! (And yes, they're called SmallJammers, that's not a typo.)


Good Hunting!



Indeed. Which makes me wonder... The Spelljammer breaks a lot of rules in Spelljammer and regular D&D canon, like breaking a sphere or the fact that gods can't really say anything about it. What if this is because the Spelljammer is the last remnants of the overdeity and/or the pantheon of that shattered sphere? An explanation along those lines would explain a lot...

Intriguingly, I've considered the origin of the Spelljammer along somewhat similar lines.

What if the Spelljammer were some type of divine weapon [that has obviously forgotten it's primary purpose {maybe because it was activated too early?}] forged by the fallen overdeity/pantheon of the shattered sphere? A last-ditch attempt to strike back at the enemy of the overdeity/pantheon/crystal sphere, perhaps?




And throw in that the lady of pain was involved somehow and this created the city of sigil. Conspiracies area always the most fun things in realmslore.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
Go to Top of Page

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11734 Posts

Posted - 02 Feb 2012 :  14:14:11  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolai Withander

I might be totally mistaken, but to me, and the way I think of Primodials or Elders are that they are somehow a constant. Something not a god but equal in power. Dendar, I think is one. In Nors Mythology its a worm that coils around the entire world.

But a long story short, I believe them to be something created not by the will of a god or Over god, but somehow by chance or by war or sorrow og somehow by a combination.


Well at least thats how I think of it!



Yeah, but Jormungand, the world serpent, was still of the gods. It was the child of Loki and a giantess. Unless of course Loki wasn't actually a god (since its been intimated that he's a jotun... which could the giants of Norse mythology be Primordials?).

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
Go to Top of Page

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11734 Posts

Posted - 02 Feb 2012 :  14:17:16  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by creyzi4zb12

quote:
Originally posted by Marc

quote:
Originally posted by creyzi4zb12

I recall reading in some FR novel of primordials that even Ao feared..... I can't remember where it was mentioned.



Is this a 4th edition novel?


No, it's in the Avatar series...



The avatar series was to bridge 1st and 2nd edition. Primordials weren't even a glimmer in the thought processes of the developers yet. If something mentions primordials in those books, I'd read it along the lines of the generic version of what a "primordial power" is in a lot of stories (i.e an ancient power).

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 03 Feb 2012 :  18:03:41  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yes, both Titans and Jotuns (which I believe to be the same group) are primordial Giants. 'Earthly' (mortal) giants came later, after the first godswar (and were created by Annam on Toril).

Annam would be a primordial with this reasoning. Othea, on the other hand, may have been something akin to an Elemental (lord?) Giantess.

There being two tiers of 'giant' not only makes sense, its also canon - In Planescape, they differentiated between the 'common' titan in D&D, and Planer ones associated with the Greeks. Note that even in Norse mythology, the giant-types have elemental associations.

Coincidentally (or not), dragons also have two tiers - mortal, and Celestial. I hold that the Elder Gods (who I call Drękons) created the first Celestial Dragons (Lung), who then proceeded to create the mortal ones we are more familiar with. That means, in my proto-cosmology, (greater) Titans and Celestial (Lung) Dragons are 'cousins', of a sort - each created for a separate purpose and having a hand in creating the world. At some point in time, they had a falling-out, which may have been one of the earliest confrontations that escalated in the Godswar.

Mostly, conjecture, of course.


"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 03 Feb 2012 18:11:23
Go to Top of Page

Jakk
Great Reader

Canada
2165 Posts

Posted - 21 Feb 2012 :  23:23:27  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?

Or would that be us?


You know... I think you might have something with that last comment...

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

On a related (to the OP) topic, could the World Serpent have been the original world of Abeir-Toril, and it was shattered when the world was sundered (and split-off into Abeir)? If so, would there be an over-deity or primordial for that world, a Chauntea/Earthmother figure, that could possibly re-combine and reform the original world?

Theres your 5e hook right there.


Now this is an angle I hadn't considered... I'd thought of a few other ways to use the gods to achieve this goal, but I like this one... and of course, it would return to pre-3E distances and geography, giving everyone (designers) lots of space to work in... and it would be riddled with portals, allowing speedy travel over these vast distances... hrm... this place sounds familiar...

Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.

If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic.
Go to Top of Page

Veritas
Learned Scribe

209 Posts

Posted - 16 May 2012 :  02:42:18  Show Profile  Visit Veritas's Homepage Send Veritas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Not intending to resurrect an old thread but the novel but the O.P. is thinking of "Prince of Lies" by James Lowder which is a 2E novel depicting the creation of the Cyrinishad, the destruction of Zhentil Keep, and the ascension of Kelemvor. The passage the OP refers to is when Cyric visits Oghma's library looking for a spell to locate Kelemvor's spirit.

"Cyric scanned the lines of cramped magical script, penned by a long-forgotten evil god named Gargauth. The cryptic text alluded to
primordial battles between the greater powers and weird beings more mighty even than Ao."
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 16 May 2012 :  02:56:07  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hmph.. interesting thought just occurred to me - if a crystal sphere is the 'body' of an Overgod, could there be a 'disease' it could get? Is that one cracked sphere we have in canon the result of some sort of creature or 'infection' that feeds upon Overgods?

If we can have an Undead World, why not some sort of uber-virus that infects spheres?

Or would that be us?

On a related (to the OP) topic, could the World Serpent have been the original world of Abeir-Toril, and it was shattered when the world was sundered (and split-off into Abeir)? If so, would there be an over-deity or primordial for that world, a Chauntea/Earthmother figure, that could possibly re-combine and reform the original world?

Theres your 5e hook right there.
[/quote]

And there ladies and gentleman is the concept behind my first novel, probably never to be published, but I'm working on it all the same.

We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
Candlekeep Forum © 1999-2024 Candlekeep.com Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000