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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Jan 2018 : 20:39:41
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| On that (Seethyr) Map, there is a locale labeled 'Pichu Umu' toward the top-right side of Lopango, but there is no icon for it - does anyone know what that is? |
"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 04 Jan 2018 23:52:33 |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2018 : 20:51:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
On that (Seethyr) Map, there is a locale labeled 'Pichu Umu' toward the top-left side of Lopango, but there is no icon for it - does anyone know what that is?
Pichu Umu is the mountain holy city of the local folk in Lopango. If Lopango is the Incan empire, then Pichu Umu would naturally be Macchu Pichu.
By the way, that's an awesome drawing of sharktopus. Would you believe there actually is one in Bahamian myth known as Lusca? |
Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!
The Maztica Campaign
The Anchorome Campaign |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2018 : 23:59:20
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Really? 
I went looking for 'merfolk', etc., trying to find something I could use to illustrate my own stuff (and now I have to look up the legal parameters of 'fair usage' and 'derivative works'), and I saw that amongst the art and I was like, "what a wonderful 'legendary beast'.
I also like Sea races who's lower half is octopoidal, rather than fish. I'd like to create a race of Batrachi descendants like that (but they can shape shift into human form at will). I was thinking maybe they're the ones really running things in my Sahuagin Kingdom (which I have no name for as of yet).
EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the info - i should have picked up on that. Master Pikachu is one of my favorite RW ruins. 
EDIT2:
And whenI went back to find that pic, I ran into another that might be an even better representation of my Beiy'maar, and it doesn't even need to be modified! Their skin tones are much closer to human (like that pic), but it changes to bluish-green when they enter the water (their bodies have a natural 'hibernation mode' when it comes to storing oxygen on a cellular level, so that pigmentation actually represents the blood being quickly depleted of its oxygen - that's why they can stay under water so long without gills).
And that race is tied to a group of true seafolk from off the coast of Kara-Tur; some other hombrew lore I wrote a long time ago concerning a Netherese enclave that had plummeted into the Celestial Sea. But *shhhhhhhh* - no-one's supposed to know that. Its a big secret.  |
"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 05 Jan 2018 00:10:56 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2018 : 00:47:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Red Wizard Water-breathing magic, you say?
I'm surprised you haven't created an underwater Tharch.
But I am aware of a huge Sahuagin presence in the region - I mention them in my one CKC article (CKC9 - "The Sea Gates"). They have a very powerful kingdom in the Lopango Sea (that body of water between Maztica and Katashaka). I also included an ancient, still-operating Batrachi Gate there (in fact, ALL the gates in my article were of Batrachi origins, although some have been modified over the years), so that kingdom is probably existing in a sunken Batrachi city. When the Merman of the Trackless sea want to interact with their 'cousins' - the Ningyo - over in the Eastern Ocean, they ask seafarers to ride on their ships through the region, because they can't make it through by swimming - the kingdom is at least as powerful as Kurrimal/Aleaxtis over in the Alaber sea, and probably more-so.
There is also a growing population of weresharks along the Katashakan coast.
The Beiy'Maar - from my same CKC article - originated in the eastern ocean, but they've been spreading out into the Western Ocean and Trackless Sea. The Zakharans were at first concerned they'd be looking to settle in that massive island chain to their west (The Fara'sahad Islands), but the Beiy'Maar are content to stay on their ships (they are 'sea folk' - they do not have gills, but they do have webbed fingers and toes, and can 'hold their breath' for at least one hour at a time, as well as survive depths greater than humans can normally tolerate). They also have overly large, elf-like eyes, and pointy ears that have a swept-back, bat-wing like shape to them (in which they wear lots of jewelry). Rumor has it their settlements are actually vast floating platforms, but since they are so mobile and secretive, no non-Beiy'Maar has ever been to one. They had started to become an uncommon, but not unknown, site in Waterdeep, and as of the 'modern era' (post-Sundering), they visit ports all up and down the Sword Coast and along the Great Sea in the Shining South. If I further develop my Carribean-like island region, they will be one of the more interesting groups I do (they are very active in that area - they are naturally drawn to islands, because of their own dual nature). They've become very good friends with the folk of the Mokaloni (mahk-A-loni), with whom they feel a strange kinship (formerly the Wakaloni islands in my article and on my maps).
Modified Art of how I picture a female Stormcaller (Priestess).
And let us not forget the The sharktopus!
Lol, I almost did... I was considering a tharch beneath the ocean halfway between Faerun and Balduran Bay and having it be a connecting portal path between the two continents. I was also considering grabbing a cloud giant castle and having it parked for the same purpose (and I actually think I have to erase that out of some of what I've written).
That comes back to the idea that I feel that portals that span long distances should be "hard" to make, and thus the red wizards setup a series of short jump portals to make their enclaves (and transferal of goods between such) much easier. This would seriously impact caravan trade except that these portals should only work for a few minutes per day or maybe an hour per week or something like that. So, part of the necessary "management" of tharchs would be administrators literally planning out shipments and getting things lined up to get things from one place to another, oftentimes maybe via 3 to 6 portal hops over a month. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2018 : 00:59:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Really?
I went looking for 'merfolk', etc., trying to find something I could use to illustrate my own stuff (and now I have to look up the legal parameters of 'fair usage' and 'derivative works'), and I saw that amongst the art and I was like, "what a wonderful 'legendary beast'.
I also like Sea races who's lower half is octopoidal, rather than fish. I'd like to create a race of Batrachi descendants like that (but they can shape shift into human form at will). I was thinking maybe they're the ones really running things in my Sahuagin Kingdom (which I have no name for as of yet).
EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the info - i should have picked up on that. Master Pikachu is one of my favorite RW ruins.
EDIT2:
And whenI went back to find that pic, I ran into another that might be an even better representation of my Beiy'maar, and it doesn't even need to be modified! Their skin tones are much closer to human (like that pic), but it changes to bluish-green when they enter the water (their bodies have a natural 'hibernation mode' when it comes to storing oxygen on a cellular level, so that pigmentation actually represents the blood being quickly depleted of its oxygen - that's why they can stay under water so long without gills).
And that race is tied to a group of true seafolk from off the coast of Kara-Tur; some other hombrew lore I wrote a long time ago concerning a Netherese enclave that had plummeted into the Celestial Sea. But *shhhhhhhh* - no-one's supposed to know that. Its a big secret.
I like that image of the half octopoidal being, and I like that concept too. Interestingly, I just found out that native American mythology has such a being (called a Cecaelia)... so it could fit off the coast of Anchorome quite well... maybe two different cultures similar to the Shalarin with one following Dagon and another that's not evil as hell. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2018 : 01:19:45
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Just so you know, Kara-Tur (so, the Celestial and Yellow Seas, and the Eastern Ocean) have sahuagin-like fish creatures, only smaller, and they are peaceful. They're called the Hai-nu. They very similar in culture to a Mystaran creature called the Kna, except the Kna were very large (even bigger and stronger than Sahuagin). I don't know why Sahuagin are so damn angry, when the rest of their family tree seem like pretty nice guys.
If I had ever developed my K-T stuff, I wanted to do a lot with the oceans and its cultures - I love the Tako. I pictured the Kna coming from the colder, northern seas, and the Hai-nu from the warmer, southern ones. If you go too far south, back into cold waters again, you run into a more feral type of Kna I based off the Merlocks of WoW. When you finally get to see my Katshaka map, picture them living down in the icy waters along the bottom of the map. |
"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 05 Jan 2018 01:20:46 |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2018 : 14:11:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Using Google Sketchup I’ve tried to render the city of Mictlatepec from page 51 of the Maztican boxed set in 3D based on Douglas Niles’ original plans and the descriptions outlined in the set. Here is a log of my progress...
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=19117
Hmmm, so there is documented "old civilization" called Zateca? Any other info on it? |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2018 : 19:39:22
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| Sorry I haven't posted the Katashaka map - I had a bad case of 'burnout' for the past week. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2018 : 17:53:11
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Hmmm, so there is documented "old civilization" called Zateca? Any other info on it?
Canonically? I don't believe so. Only what was mentioned in the entry on Mictlatepec, though for some reason I remember some other information somewhere (can't find it in the boxed set) that also mentioned those people spoke a language called Teenek (IDK, maybe I dreamed that).
Non canonically, I am using this as a way to connect Maztica to the old adventure "Mechica" which was found in Dragon Magazine #70. The adventure included a race of Maya analogues called the "Sapotecs," and I am going to have these two people be one and the same.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Sorry I haven't posted the Katashaka map - I had a bad case of 'burnout' for the past week.
I know that feeling well! |
Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!
The Maztica Campaign
The Anchorome Campaign |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2018 : 19:47:05
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Fish out of Water
Belnaster Minthrant was one of the best Imaskari portal lords returned Imaskar had. It was only natural, then, that when the Serpent's Eye Trading Coster needed a portal built during the Wailing Years (the early part of the 15th century DR), he was the man they hired for the job. The Faerûnian end of the portal was to be located in an estate just outside of Athkatla, while the other end would be in the new continent of Laerakond that appeared across the Trackless Sea. While many mercantile houses floundered after the great losses incurred when Maztica vanished, others jumped at the chance at the opportunities the newly arrived continent would afford. To this end, land was purchased inside the city of Tarmalune by the Serpent's Eye as their 'western base of operations', and construction of the portal network was begun. It took Belnaster much longer than anticipated because of the changes to magic, but after thirty years the Gates were successfully activated. Authorities in both Athkatla and Tarmalune were kept in the dark about its existance.
The truth of the Serpent's Eye is that it is a front for the Twisted Rune, setup for the sole purpose of establishing a foothold on Returned Abeir. Belnaster has his suspicions his employers are hiding a great deal, but he is being WELL paid and therefor keeps these things to himself. Very few folk know of the portal, and even fewer know that there were over one hundred failed attempts to teleport before the first success, and some of those ended messily for the people involved. Although the portal was used for some years and some small amount of high-end trade items were passed through - gems, and the like - mostly it was just used for the leaders of the Serpent's Eye to conduct their business (most of which was covertly sinking the Twisted Rune's claws into Laerakond economies).
Then The Sundering occurred, and everything changed again. First off, Belnaster Minthrant can no longer go home. He is stuck in Amn and remains in the employ of the Twisted Rune. Several of his former students have also joined him, along with a handful of other Imaskari refugees (having fled the wrath of the vengeful Mulan), and these folk maintain their own building within the Serpent's Eye compound in Athkatla. Rumor has it it other small groups managed to escape and are also in hiding around Faerûn. As for the portal itself - it stayed put, both to the relief and chagrin of the people in charge. At first they thought they may have had an active portal to the world of Abeir itself (and they might*), but after a few tests it turned out that the other end of the portal remained in the exact spot it was in on Toril's globe as it was before, which means it is now in the savage wilderlands of southern Maztica. Its located at the northernmost tip of the bay that forms the mouth of the Pantica River (In the Ocostun Jungle in Far Payit, south of Zula). There are a number of strange ruins around it as well (which are definitely NOT from Tarmalune). A small enclave has been established on the Maztican side, but as of now the Serpent's Eye (really, the twisted Rune) is not sure how to proceed - not only is the portal now in an out-of-the-way location, but the gate itself is broken; it works intermittently, one-out-of-twenty times things simply 'disappear'. Belnaster and his subordinates have not had a problem - they claim they can control the 'flow' of magic better while moving through it. Other leaders within the organization refuse to use it however, which poses a bit of problem if they decided to continue to build operations on the far side of the portal. The title of this plothook refers to both the portal itself - now in the middle of nowhere - and to Belnaster and his fellow Imaskari, who considered themselves 'marooned' in a land of primitive savages (they're taking about Amn, not necessarily Maztica LOL).
*The disappearing items and people (and in a few cases, beasts) may be appearing somewhere on Abeir now, or they may be going elsewhere - no-one is quite sure. I'm leaving this open to individual DM's to decide and have fun with. |
"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 14 Jan 2018 19:50:31 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2018 : 21:29:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Fish out of Water
Belnaster Minthrant was one of the best Imaskari portal lords returned Imaskar had. It was only natural, then, that when the Serpent's Eye Trading Coster needed a portal built during the Wailing Years (the early part of the 15th century DR), he was the man they hired for the job. The Faerûnian end of the portal was to be located in an estate just outside of Athkatla, while the other end would be in the new continent of Laerakond that appeared across the Trackless Sea. While many mercantile houses floundered after the great losses incurred when Maztica vanished, others jumped at the chance at the opportunities the newly arrived continent would afford. To this end, land was purchased inside the city of Tarmalune by the Serpent's Eye as their 'western base of operations', and construction of the portal network was begun. It took Belnaster much longer than anticipated because of the changes to magic, but after thirty years the Gates were successfully activated. Authorities in both Athkatla and Tarmalune were kept in the dark about its existance.
The truth of the Serpent's Eye is that it is a front for the Twisted Rune, setup for the sole purpose of establishing a foothold on Returned Abeir. Belnaster has his suspicions his employers are hiding a great deal, but he is being WELL paid and therefor keeps these things to himself. Very few folk know of the portal, and even fewer know that there were over one hundred failed attempts to teleport before the first success, and some of those ended messily for the people involved. Although the portal was used for some years and some small amount of high-end trade items were passed through - gems, and the like - mostly it was just used for the leaders of the Serpent's Eye to conduct their business (most of which was covertly sinking the Twisted Rune's claws into Laerakond economies).
Then The Sundering occurred, and everything changed again. First off, Belnaster Minthrant can no longer go home. He is stuck in Amn and remains in the employ of the Twisted Rune. Several of his former students have also joined him, along with a handful of other Imaskari refugees (having fled the wrath of the vengeful Mulan), and these folk maintain their own building within the Serpent's Eye compound in Athkatla. Rumor has it it other small groups managed to escape and are also in hiding around Faerûn. As for the portal itself - it stayed put, both to the relief and chagrin of the people in charge. At first they thought they may have had an active portal to the world of Abeir itself (and they might*), but after a few tests it turned out that the other end of the portal remained in the exact spot it was in on Toril's globe as it was before, which means it is now in the savage wilderlands of southern Maztica. Its located at the northernmost tip of the bay that forms the mouth of the Pantica River (In the Ocostun Jungle in Far Payit, south of Zula). There are a number of strange ruins around it as well (which are definitely NOT from Tarmalune). A small enclave has been established on the Maztican side, but as of now the Serpent's Eye (really, the twisted Rune) is not sure how to proceed - not only is the portal now in an out-of-the-way location, but the gate itself is broken; it works intermittently, one-out-of-twenty times things simply 'disappear'. Belnaster and his subordinates have not had a problem - they claim they can control the 'flow' of magic better while moving through it. Other leaders within the organization refuse to use it however, which poses a bit of problem if they decided to continue to build operations on the far side of the portal. The title of this plothook refers to both the portal itself - now in the middle of nowhere - and to Belnaster and his fellow Imaskari, who considered themselves 'marooned' in a land of primitive savages (they're taking about Amn, not necessarily Maztica LOL).
*The disappearing items and people (and in a few cases, beasts) may be appearing somewhere on Abeir now, or they may be going elsewhere - no-one is quite sure. I'm leaving this open to individual DM's to decide and have fun with.
If this site had a thumb's up emoji, I would be using it now. Good stuff!  |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 02:00:07
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So I am trying to put some polish on my Katashaka map before I post it, and I realize I may have to shift some of the Xen'Drik (Eberron) locales around - simply overlaying one map over the other worked fairly well, but not perfectly. In order to get things to work precisely as intended, I am now picking through the Xendrik sourcebook for each locale, making sure it makes sense where I placed it in FR. And, of course, whle doing this, I am learning way more about Xendrik - and by extension, Eberron - than I had ever intended.
So in the sourcebook it refers me to issue 330 of Dragon Magazine, which happens to be an issue I've referenced for a bunch of other stuff over the past year, to learn about the Umbragen; a tribe of savage drow living in Xebdrik (and now, I suppose, Katashaka). There are two other known tribes of drow (each is very different than the others), and the text hints at a bunch more that have yet to be discovered. Good stuff - I highly recommend this source to anyone wanting to run jungle adventures - there is an entire section on encounters that does not place the encounters on the EB maps, so although they are obviously meant for Xendrik, you can literally drop them into just about any jungle setting.
So back to the Unbragen, who can almost be spun as a savage drow variant of Shadar-Kai (almost). They worship 'Shadow', sort of, which is where they get some of their powers. But this is where it gets interesting... the city they live in was built by a totally different group of elves - the Qabalrin. Its the Qabalrin who first found/created the source of Shadow power the Umbragen use (but they are not around anymore). The source says that the Titans (Giants) worshiped a god know as Ouralon, bringer of Light and Law. But the Qabalrin - one of the very few groups of elves to have not been enslaved by the giant empires - worshiped Ouralon's Shadow. A shadow of god, that was apparently also its own separate entity... in a jungle environment...
Anyone else seeing the parallels here? 
EDIT:
Also interestingly, there is a portal in Eveningstar that goes to Stormreach in Eberron, and vice-versa (its in the DDO game - the quest where you meet Elminster). It passes through the Demonweb Pits - I can only assume Lolth charges a toll. 
EDIT2:
This just gets weirder and weirder... you can also go to Barovia (Ravenloft) via this route.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
If this site had a thumb's up emoji, I would be using it now. Good stuff!
Thanks Wooly, appreciate the positive vibes.  |
"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 15 Jan 2018 02:52:49 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2476 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 04:26:02
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I like those connections you're making between Katakasha and Xen'drik. Xen'drik is one of those places from Eberron I find really interesting, even if I'm not playing in the setting.
BTW, AFAIK, Ouralon is Ourelonastrix, the blue dragon who taught magic to the first giants of Xen'drik in the Eberron storyline. His teachings eventually became the foundations of modern day magic. This Ourelonastrix can be either the original Ourelonastrix (the one who discovered the Draconic Prophecy in the ancient past, during the Demon-Dragon Wars) or one of his descendants. Is also believed that Ourelonastrix is the origin of the myths of Aureon, the god of magic of current day Eberron. The dragons go as far as to say that actually "Aureon" is a template of "god of magic" created by the original Ourelonastrix.
In Eberron, dragons believe that the gods of the non-dragon races are in fact ascended dragons, and that at certain times one of those ascended dragons ascends even further, to the realm of the true gods (the dragon gods: Bahamut and the others; no humanoid god is considered a true god by Eberronian dragons), leaving the "seat" free for a dragon to ascend and become the new "god of...".
Following Eberron's plot twists, Ouralon's Shadow (who is The Shadow, one of the evil gods of Eberro) can be either another dragon who perhaps acted in opposition to Ouralon. Or just taught another way... he is portrayed as a shadow dragon in some iconography. Perhaps, eventually he was raised/mythfied to divinity, just like Ourelonastrix.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Fish out of Water
Belnaster Minthrant was one of the best Imaskari portal lords returned Imaskar had. It was only natural, then, that when the Serpent's Eye Trading Coster needed a portal built during the Wailing Years (the early part of the 15th century DR), he was the man they hired for the job. The Faerûnian end of the portal was to be located in an estate just outside of Athkatla, while the other end would be in the new continent of Laerakond that appeared across the Trackless Sea. While many mercantile houses floundered after the great losses incurred when Maztica vanished, others jumped at the chance at the opportunities the newly arrived continent would afford. To this end, land was purchased inside the city of Tarmalune by the Serpent's Eye as their 'western base of operations', and construction of the portal network was begun. It took Belnaster much longer than anticipated because of the changes to magic, but after thirty years the Gates were successfully activated. Authorities in both Athkatla and Tarmalune were kept in the dark about its existance.
The truth of the Serpent's Eye is that it is a front for the Twisted Rune, setup for the sole purpose of establishing a foothold on Returned Abeir. Belnaster has his suspicions his employers are hiding a great deal, but he is being WELL paid and therefor keeps these things to himself. Very few folk know of the portal, and even fewer know that there were over one hundred failed attempts to teleport before the first success, and some of those ended messily for the people involved. Although the portal was used for some years and some small amount of high-end trade items were passed through - gems, and the like - mostly it was just used for the leaders of the Serpent's Eye to conduct their business (most of which was covertly sinking the Twisted Rune's claws into Laerakond economies).
Consider this stolen for my version of Laerakond.  |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 15 Jan 2018 04:36:07 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 05:05:37
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And the beauty of it is the Xen'drik lore 100% lends itself to the treatment I am giving it.
The places in Xendrik aren't 'in' Xendrik at all. All of those giant ruins? Sages have only recently come to realize the same exact ruins can be found on multiple worlds. Its like places in the Feywild, or Shadowfell. In fact, some have come to speculate there is some sort of 'primal Savage Plane' similar to those other transitive planes. But the TRUTH is much darker...
You see, its call the Feywild, and while most folks have become familair with the Fey parts, many forget that MOST of the Feywild is unexplored wilderness. Savage, untamed wilderness, filled ruins from the days when the Feywild was the Giantlands.The 'history' of Xendrik (straight out of the book) says those ruins date from a time 40K years ago... right around the time of the Dawn War. They were part of the One, True World. Corellon foresaw troubled times ahead (thanks, in no small part, to his consort, the 'Fate-Spinner' Araushnee) for the world, and ordered his people - the Eldarine (Eldar-reen) to find safety amidst the Giantlands, and so they did. The Archfey Danu created a new homeland for the Fey called Faerie, in the midst of the Giant Realms, and at first, the giants welcomed their new neighbors. But when the lattice of Heaven was rent asunder and the First World destroyed, casting bits of the Prime Material all over the universe, the Fey began to covertly subvert the Giant's servitors - the dragons - to their side, and a great war took place. The Giants were defeated, and driven into the Hinterlands of their own realm - a plane that would soon be called 'the feywild'.
The war between the giants and dragons lasted tens of centuries, and spread across the new worlds (Crystal Spheres). Ever were the fey present, lending aid to one side or the other, in hopes that the two would destroy each other. In the interim, the dawn war had ended and a truce was reached... but it wouldn't last. Right around the time the last of the Dragon/Giant wars wound down, the Godswar began, and more strife spread across the multiverse. To keep the peace, Ao devised a plan to capture the essence of most of the strongest primordials and imprison it within one world - a world created by splitting another in twain (the world had already been badly damaged when several of the participants in the Godswar destroyed the sun).
And so we have the situation we have now, with ruins from giant empires, and later dragon kingdoms, spread across thousands of worlds, but what most folks don't know is that they are ruins of all the same empires, and in some cases, they are even the same ruins, trapped in the feywild and phasing in-and-out of each world in turn. Later, much the same would happen with the wars between the Tieflings (Bael Turath) and the Dragonborn (Arkhosia), much of which spilled-over into the surrounding transitive planes of the Feywild and Shadowfell. History does have a way of repeating itself, and with each new wave of empires, and hatreds, The Forgotten Realms gets to add another layer unto its never-ending pile of 'kingdom bones'.
But there is a power in primal, savage places... some say it is Ubtao, others that it is Ouralon, and many other names on other worlds. Perhaps it is all the same power, linking these ancient, primitive locales together for some yet-unknown reason. The 'body' of that first World is long gone, but perhaps its blood still runs through all the old places. To a guy like Elminster, its not so much like transferring from one version of Stromreach to another, but rather, he can see the 'ghosts' of the people moving about in those other worlds, and by focusing on them, he can tune the world he is on out. To someone like him, it could just be a casual 'step to the left'. For the rest of us, dealing with these primal places of power could be the death of us... but thats what adventure is all about, eh? Going down the rabbit hole into the unknown. |
"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 15 Jan 2018 05:05:59 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 05:17:14
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Holly crap... I think I just crossed Xen'drik with the Feywild and reinvented Jumanji.
As I ended typing that above, I was trying to picture what it would be like - the Giantlands sending 'tendrils' into our world, much the way the Ravenloft sends 'the mists', and the Feywild sends 'enchanted forests' and 'islands of mystery' into other worlds. And the picture that immediately popped into my head was that scene in Jumanji where the vines are taking over everything - literally, the 'jungle' spreading into another world. The visual is PERFECT. 'Jumanji' is just those Hinterlands - the parts of the feywild we don't ordinarily see (because those transitive planes are like warped mirrors of our world, you will find similar types stuff from the region you are in on the other side, thus, people will rarely every see those savage jungle regions of the Feywild).
I could go a step further, and say that just as the giants 'retreated' from the prime material (the ruins of their empires) into the feywild, the Dragons, and elves that interacted with them, retreated into the Shadowfell. Thus, the draconic ruins lie on one side of the veil, and the giant ruins, the other. This also allows us to connect the ancient Drow (and other elves) to the Shadows.
It was Araushnee (in my homebrew) that warned Corellon about the destruction coming, so she would have been the most angry the dark Elves were 'left behind'. Probably her and Gruumsh. Thus, they created the Underways (the Shadowdark) as a way of saving the Dokalfar. |
"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 15 Jan 2018 05:19:21 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 16:15:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
So I am trying to put some polish on my Katashaka map before I post it, and I realize I may have to shift some of the Xen'Drik (Eberron) locales around - simply overlaying one map over the other worked fairly well, but not perfectly. In order to get things to work precisely as intended, I am now picking through the Xendrik sourcebook for each locale, making sure it makes sense where I placed it in FR. And, of course, whle doing this, I am learning way more about Xendrik - and by extension, Eberron - than I had ever intended.
So in the sourcebook it refers me to issue 330 of Dragon Magazine, which happens to be an issue I've referenced for a bunch of other stuff over the past year, to learn about the Umbragen; a tribe of savage drow living in Xebdrik (and now, I suppose, Katashaka). There are two other known tribes of drow (each is very different than the others), and the text hints at a bunch more that have yet to be discovered. Good stuff - I highly recommend this source to anyone wanting to run jungle adventures - there is an entire section on encounters that does not place the encounters on the EB maps, so although they are obviously meant for Xendrik, you can literally drop them into just about any jungle setting.
So back to the Unbragen, who can almost be spun as a savage drow variant of Shadar-Kai (almost). They worship 'Shadow', sort of, which is where they get some of their powers. But this is where it gets interesting... the city they live in was built by a totally different group of elves - the Qabalrin. Its the Qabalrin who first found/created the source of Shadow power the Umbragen use (but they are not around anymore). The source says that the Titans (Giants) worshiped a god know as Ouralon, bringer of Light and Law. But the Qabalrin - one of the very few groups of elves to have not been enslaved by the giant empires - worshiped Ouralon's Shadow. A shadow of god, that was apparently also its own separate entity... in a jungle environment...
Anyone else seeing the parallels here?
EDIT:
Also interestingly, there is a portal in Eveningstar that goes to Stormreach in Eberron, and vice-versa (its in the DDO game - the quest where you meet Elminster). It passes through the Demonweb Pits - I can only assume Lolth charges a toll.
EDIT2:
This just gets weirder and weirder... you can also go to Barovia (Ravenloft) via this route.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
If this site had a thumb's up emoji, I would be using it now. Good stuff!
Thanks Wooly, appreciate the positive vibes.
Hmmm, yeah, very much sounds like Ubtao and Eshowdow. Also, the link to Faerun was formed sometime around the spellplague if I recall correctly. I don't claim to remember much about it, but I know that the drow there worshipped a god of scorpions (which are a type of arachnid, and Lolth is a goddess of spiders, but some older sources called her a goddess of arachnids).
I would also note that Lolth had some involvement with Maztica as well following the ToT and around the time that Qotal and Zaltec were returning to Maztica. There are dark elves in Maztica and their plotting is important to the Maztica novel series. Some of them turned to Zaltec and Lolth was not happy about it. Meanwhile, the scorpionfolk of Maztica did not necessarily worship Lolth (there MAY have been some, but they would be undocumented).
EDIT: I will also note that the Eberron scorpion god is Vulkoor. The folks doing the DM's Guild Maztica Alive stuff (i.e. Seethyr and company) have introduced Vulkoon as a scorpionfolk Hero-god in their products for the scorpionfolk of Maztica. I believe that they introduced this as a result of the Eberron works, as I don't recall this deity from anything else prior, so I'm mentioning it in case there is some other linkage I'm not aware of. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 15 Jan 2018 16:25:15 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2018 : 22:29:05
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*Meh*
The Drow in my version of Maztica are (mostly) Tiamat-worshipers, but she is most likely using an alias. But I also have it where the Maztican pantheon were all just aliases for the draconic powers, and I have it where Zaltec = Zehir (who is also Set). Xendrik... (Z)Xehir... ANYWAY...
If I go back to what I mentioned earlier (or maybe in another thread), where Tiamat and Set are very ancient and secret 'besties', I can still get everything to work - I can see Maztican drow worshiping her, and the Yuan-ti (and other scalyfolk) worshipping Zehir/Set, and then there is room for Vulkoor (awfully close to 'Valkur', but ZERO resemblance otherwise... a pity) amongst the Scorpiofolk (Tlincallis).
In fact, since I've headed south of Maztica, there is room for plenty of gods, and since I am borrowing great swaths of the Xen'Drik material, and it says there are many very different groups of Drow (and other elves), there is room for Drow to worship two, three, or even a dozen different deities in these parts*. After all, Katashaka is only slightly smaller than Faerûn, and if we are adding-in Maztica (and Lopango), then its probably the same size or larger, giving us TONS of elbow-room without our separate renditions bumping-heads (I'd prefer if all Candlekeep-associated scribe material be mutually complimenatry in the DMsGuild, rather than contradictory). A tall order, I know... but thats why I did these maps. Trying for a little consistency among fanbrew.
Hopefully I'll have something ready to show with Katashaka later - I'll need lots of help filling in parts of that, despite porting-over stuff from multiple (other setting and homebrew) sources. And the Maztica and Katashaka lore really should be done hand-in-hand, considering how close they are (you'll see just how close when I'm done with the map). Speaking of which, it also shows the entirety of 'Tabaxiland'. Its a placeholder name, and I tried to come up with a better one, but now I feel that's just what outsiders call it (and since I don't think outsiders are welcome there, it doesn't really matter what the groups of felinefolk there call it... I'm figuring at least a dozen groups. Maybe borrow some stuff from Mystara's Rakasta lore), along with the Leonin of MtG and the Wemics, or course.
If we wanted to get silly, we could always make the equal-sized island to the south filled with canine-folk, a'la Mystara's Lupin. A bit of it shows, and I've tentatively named it 'Maugolkroth' (because I wanted it to sound ominous). A whole Cat vs Dog situation (stupid, I know). But honestly, I am saving the Lupin for Anchoromé (or whatever we decide to name that northern landmass, since I'd rather live that Ed-given name for the island chain as it was supposed to be). Ya know, we could probably start calling it 'Poscada' and it would work (hence, the Poscadar elves come from there).
*EDIT:
We definitely have to have one group of VERY primitive Drow/Dark Elves worshiping Ghaunadaur - a leftover from 'Stoneage' times (right after the first Sundering, and before the arrival of the Eladrin). They'd probably best fit culturally to the far south, where the Eternal ice begins, buuuuuut... Ghaunadaur isn't a good fit there. Maybe some ancient swamp-dwellers, instead of cave-dwellers. Maybe even give them some reptilian features (lay eggs? That ought to blow the minds of any 'modern' elves). |
"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 15 Jan 2018 22:36:10 |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 00:04:40
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
EDIT: I will also note that the Eberron scorpion god is Vulkoor. The folks doing the DM's Guild Maztica Alive stuff (i.e. Seethyr and company) have introduced Vulkoon as a scorpionfolk Hero-god in their products for the scorpionfolk of Maztica. I believe that they introduced this as a result of the Eberron works, as I don't recall this deity from anything else prior, so I'm mentioning it in case there is some other linkage I'm not aware of.
Yes, Vulkoon came about really in the Lopango sourcebook which came just a few months before the one on the scorpionfolk. Drow came to Maztica canonically during the Rockfire Disaster of 987 DR, after chasing what would one day become the Desert Dwarves of Maztica through miles and miles of tunnels under the Sea of Swords. Their magic caused lava to erupt from below and seawater to pour in from above trapping both the dwarves and the drow.
From there I had the drow split into a few different groups as one blamed their misfortune on the priestesses and their goddess. These drow headed south and emerged in Lopango. They came into contact with a barbaric, yet non evil sub race of the scorpionfolk known as the imperatonti (I currently have 5 subraces worked out throughout the True World), but pissed them off royally. After moving on, they emerged in the southern jungles of Lopango only to embarrassingly be enslaved by sorcerous orcs from Katashaka (who’s empire had fallen to The Sleeper). These drow have since dropped lolth altogether for worship of another arachnid deity - Vulkoon (whom they were exposed to among the Imperatonti).
Vulkoon himself is based on Vulkoor of Eberron (obviously), but is different in many ways. Long ago as a mortal scorpionfolk he assisted Obox-ob in entrapping the self proclaimed “Scorpion King” - the demon lord Rr’ikin’aka in the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss. Of course Obox-ob thought nothing of Vulkoon or his broodmates’ deeds and simply devoured his own “heroes” as he saw fit. This led the Vulkoon and the imperatonti who followed him to flee south - forever desiring revenge against the obyrith demon lord.
Anyway, that’s the lore I’ve used.
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 00:07:47
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I get the point of Anchorome being different from what Ed described, but there's canon lore as well that labels the northern continent as Anchorome. Specifically, Gold and Glory calls that area anchorome multiple times. Its easy enough to put a bunch of islands off the coast of said northern continent as well to fit Ed's description. It could also be that as you go further north on said continent you find that there's more water separating the land masses (though I'd prefer to stay away from that, since presumably some scholars have gotten their information from viewing the world in orbit). I'm just inclined to go with the flow here.
On the idea of candlekeep associated scribe material be complimentary, I'm interested in that as well. If you'd like to compare notes on what you're planning on doing for Katashaka, I'm more than willing to share my ideas. Essentially, for myself, Katashaka will be a land of beast humanoids (tauric and two-legged) of mostly mammalian and bird ancestry. I'll be putting two Tharchs there. One will be hugging the northwestern coastline. The other will be on the northeastern tip and smaller, but richer and more secure. Deeper in the jungle will be some other cultures of reptilian ancestry (one area will be filled with troglodytes living in caves near the surface and hunting at night), then in the center will be the land of the Nyamma-Numo (i.e. the land of the lost with giant beings worshipped like gods kind of like Kong: Skull Island). In the jungle in one area will also be a lot of ape cultures (some flying) under the control of hags. That's all in the top quarter of the continent. I'm specifically trying to not have a bunch of what we'd consider humanoids (dwarf, gnome, elf, Halfling, human, etc..) in the region, such that the humans who have shown up in the last century are something of an oddity. Maztica is full of that already. Now, if the lands of the nyamma-numo fill in the large portion of the middle to top third of the continent, and are ringed by mountains, the lower half could easily have human-like cultures that simply have not had contact with the northern portion of their own continent. Hell, there could be a bunch of giants there too. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 00:22:04
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Well, there is canonically a string of islands along the 'top' of the map, stretching from that northern continent all the way to Icewind Dale (some of the northmen Islands are part of that chain), and both I and Brian James have been referring to THOSE as "Anchoromé", because although they are a bit far north to be Ed's originals, they are the closest thing we have. The assumption here is that nearly all Faerûnians do not differentiate between the islands they encounter first, and the continent behind them. Thus, if the islands are named that, and they hear that name, they just assume it refers to everything 'over that way'. It fudges whatever little canon lore we have with the name enough to get it better in-line with what Ed had (although, at this point, we've been calling the landmass itself that for so long, I really no longer care - we could just call the islands the 'Anchoromé islands' just to differentiate them from the mainland.
I also want to add something akin to Ed's islands. I won't be able to follow his descriptions for the islands exactly, though, The islands themselves, YES, but not the distances and directions he described (because we have 'other stuff' there now). Not on the katshaka map though - they would actually fallout just north of the top edge. I'd have to 'pan back' with the Mazztica one, and include more of the ocean and northern continent (which I may do).
I meant to say in my post above, but I got side-tracked talking about lupines and crap - I wasn't going to 'fill in' any of the lndmasses other than Katahsaka, and even that, just very basic. However, I've gone ahead and detailed a lot of katashaka (still plenty of room though for just about anything) geographically, as well as tabaxiland, which i was avoiding. Its not a big deal, but it just looked weird - a honkin' big island that was completely bare. I left most of the smaller islands bare, though. |
"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 16 Jan 2018 00:22:49 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 00:37:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
EDIT: I will also note that the Eberron scorpion god is Vulkoor. The folks doing the DM's Guild Maztica Alive stuff (i.e. Seethyr and company) have introduced Vulkoon as a scorpionfolk Hero-god in their products for the scorpionfolk of Maztica. I believe that they introduced this as a result of the Eberron works, as I don't recall this deity from anything else prior, so I'm mentioning it in case there is some other linkage I'm not aware of.
Yes, Vulkoon came about really in the Lopango sourcebook which came just a few months before the one on the scorpionfolk. Drow came to Maztica canonically during the Rockfire Disaster of 987 DR, after chasing what would one day become the Desert Dwarves of Maztica through miles and miles of tunnels under the Sea of Swords. Their magic caused lava to erupt from below and seawater to pour in from above trapping both the dwarves and the drow.
From there I had the drow split into a few different groups as one blamed their misfortune on the priestesses and their goddess. These drow headed south and emerged in Lopango. They came into contact with a barbaric, yet non evil sub race of the scorpionfolk known as the imperatonti (I currently have 5 subraces worked out throughout the True World), but pissed them off royally. After moving on, they emerged in the southern jungles of Lopango only to embarrassingly be enslaved by sorcerous orcs from Katashaka (who’s empire had fallen to The Sleeper). These drow have since dropped lolth altogether for worship of another arachnid deity - Vulkoon (whom they were exposed to among the Imperatonti).
Vulkoon himself is based on Vulkoor of Eberron (obviously), but is different in many ways. Long ago as a mortal scorpionfolk he assisted Obox-ob in entrapping the self proclaimed “Scorpion King” - the demon lord Rr’ikin’aka in the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss. Of course Obox-ob thought nothing of Vulkoon or his broodmates’ deeds and simply devoured his own “heroes” as he saw fit. This led the Vulkoon and the imperatonti who followed him to flee south - forever desiring revenge against the obyrith demon lord.
Anyway, that’s the lore I’ve used.
Yes, I'd noted how you had those poor jungle drow serving the sorcerous orcs. I've filled the Lopango southern coast with many small villages as part of the Tharch of Lopango. I've actually had some of these jungle drow rescued and taken as wives by the red wizards of this tharch. Over the past hundred years, this tharch has bred with many of the native Kolans, Naticans, Mazticans, and Azuposi.... which is unusual for the racially bigoted Mulan people, so having a drow wife was simply seen as a sign of power. This allowed their population to grow fast, as many red wizards set themselves up with harems. It also upset many traditionalist Mulan folk who wanted to remain racially pure, and so within a generation of forming the tharch of Lopango, about half the population moved on down to the coast of Katashaka. The Lopangans are also much more religiously devoted than most red wizards as well, though they don't allow their religions to rule, but they do give much more respect to priests, and the belief in sacrificing to the gods has much traction here.
Most of the Metahel (whom I'm equating to "Northmen") also went with the folk to Katashaka as they were worried about losing their own culture, and I've given them a couple small islands to the west of both continents. These metahel have since become relatively isolated except for trading with the red wizard tharchs (so, I have metahel on these Anabrax islands, a small population in Lopango, and those remaining up along the coast of the Pasocada Basin).
Just because I think you may appreciate it Seethyr, here's some of what I did with the tharch of Lopango
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.
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 03:15:33
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Wow, you guys are picturing things a lot more 'busy' than I ever did.
I just wanted a peaceful jungle region with ancient giant ruins... and some savage drow. Drow like those Native in 2005's King Kong. Maybe a couple of yuan-ti in a swamp...
I don't want Orcs anywhere near Katashaka - I want things to be different. Else, why even bother going there? I almost wish Chult and the shining South didn't already have dinosaurs - its very hard to make Katshaka stand-out when we already have Chult. The closest thing to an orc I'd want is a losel (an orc/ape hybrid).
Which reminds me - a LONG time ago I named that other large island to the far south 'The Land of Flying Monkeys", and although that was only supposed to be a joke, people loved it. Problem is, I've come to realize that island has to be VERY cold. In fact, if you look at some of the planetary maps that came with the FRIA, it actually connects via ice - to the southern antarctic continent (which is called the 'Everice' on the Xendrik map, which I may keep for FR as well, but NOT that part that sticks up under Katashaka - that has its OWN name. You'll see).
So no apes there, except for maybe some yetis. Wait... maybe those things from the UE books - the Taer. And maybe some Tran, which are feline (maybe some of the catfolk of Tabaxiland came to this islands 20K+ years ago?) |
"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 16 Jan 2018 03:28:01 |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 04:08:37
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Sleyvas, I am really interested in your whole Red Wizard tie in. How did this get started? Is there a canonical connection with Thay and Katashaka, Anchorome or Maztica or is this all homebrew? I could see them really being interested in exploiting all of the True Worlds resources, well, because, that’s what they do. I’m going to try to collect all you’ve written in this thread and others about the Tharches (tharchs?) and try to get a better understanding of where you are headed.
Markustay, the orcs in Lopango are very, very different from normal orcs. I’ve tried to take the common races from Faerun and flip them (with good explanations/connections for doing so) and truly these orcs will be unrecognizable.
Since Lopango has come back up I have been thinking of doing a write up recently about a dragon in the old “Wyrms of the North” format. One night about a week ago, I just started writing about this guy and want to see what you all think. It’s just a start.
Acalanahuatzi
When they say a man is “at war with himself” typically it concerns understanding one’s own self worth and concern over actions that might not be in their best interest.
Yet when we speak of a dragon, and a two headed ancient tlalocoatl at that - being at war with yourself might literally mean being at war.
Such is the case with Acalanahuatzi. Once a powerful messenger of Azul and a favored being in the deity’s hierarchy - Acalanahuatzi now spends its long years plotting a way to destroy its other half without destroying itself.
See, tlalocouatls, also known as “rain dragons,” are dragons who have two distinct personalities living in a single body. As servants of a divine being, these two separate souls typically act in perfect harmony. Not only does their philosophy typically fall in line, but their every thought and action sync like a perfectly orchestrated musical masterpiece. If one were to observe a tlalocoatl in combat and somehow survive, they would swear that only a single mind guided a rain dragon’s every movement.
So what exactly went wrong with Acalanahuatzi is mostly unknown, but over it’s centuries of life, the powerful rain dragon has fought and destroyed many creatures of chaos. Perhaps at some point, the cumulative effect of so much exposure to madness caused the once regimented rain dragon to fracture. Over time, the two personalities grew distant from each other, and neither were truly a servant of the god of the rains any longer
Acalan and Ahuatzi
Acalan is the jaguar-like head of the tlalocoatl whose personality, on the surface at least, seems the most in tune with its old self. Acalan would have others believe that it still seeks to bring the rains and perform its duties in the True World as it always has. When it encounters humans and can somehow prevent its other half from slaying such fragile beings, this is the plea it makes for assistance in finding powerful magic that could separate him from his serpentine sibling.
If a lesser creature indicates that it is unable or unwilling to do so, they will unfortunately meet its true personality. A savage predator that delights in tearing meat from the bone. This is the one occasion that both halves will once again work in tandem. Only the common goal of survival, a desire to be free from each other, and the sheer enjoyment in tearing mortals apart is shared anymore between Acalan and Ahuatzi.
Acalan also takes pleasure in drowning mortals who have done nothing more to offend him than being born. The floods that he has brought to Lopango have drawn the attention of the goddess Koni- who seeks to make Acalan (and Acalan alone) her own herald, if ever the two were to split.
Ahuatzi is unlike any tlalocoatl that has ever existed (or half of a tlalocoatl for that matter) in that it has turned from its love of the element of water and instead embraced death. Ahuatzi, once sleek and sibilant, is now a dried withering husk that still lives on with the power of unlife giving it strength. Yes, Ahauatzi, and only Ahuatzi, has become a dreaded dracolich.
A sample tlalocoatl linked below...
http://rs1191.pbsrc.com/albums/z467/Seethyr/tlalocaoutl.png?w=480&h=480&fit=clip |
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Edited by - Seethyr on 16 Jan 2018 04:30:47 |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2428 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 09:24:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I see no issue with connecting the saurials to the sarrukh, though. However, I'd spin it that the saurials were an experimental race (or group of races) created by the sarrukh, who were either cast off for not being what the sarrukh wanted, or who fled the sarrukh to what became known to them as their homeworld.
Or specifically made for colonization?
Or a pet project of one sarrukh faction?
quote:
Maybe when Moander enslaved the saurials, he was bringing them back the same way they left.
Whoever discovered the way knew of two portals from a Lower plane to Prime.
Depending on how much the sarrukh planewalked back then, but possible.
Also, those in Malatra:
quote:
seem to be suffering spiritually from what they call an “abduction” from their home and “abandonment” by their “gods.”
- LIVING JUNGLE
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People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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Jürgen Hubert
Acolyte
Germany
33 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 18:38:27
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I left my version of Lopango largely underpopulated. The reason for this is that at some point in the past, jungle giants spread throughout the region - and they have a taste for human flesh. I was going for an "Attack on Titan" vibe, except that the giants are smarter and much, much stealthier.
However, the region was also changed recently by the discovery of possibly the largest known silver deposits in the entire world, deep in the mountains of Lopango (this was inspired by the real world Potosi in the 17th and 18th century, which is a fascinating place in its own right) - which brought outsiders to the region who have to secure two long trails from the mines to the coast, and who extract the silver under deeply horrible conditions.
More about this version can be found here:
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=18864 |
A German Geek - my gaming blog
Returned Maztica Discussion Thread - my interpretation of the True World
Doomed Slayers - my social analysis of adventurers. Also, a fantasy setting! |
Edited by - Jürgen Hubert on 16 Jan 2018 18:56:09 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 18:50:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Wow, you guys are picturing things a lot more 'busy' than I ever did.
I just wanted a peaceful jungle region with ancient giant ruins... and some savage drow. Drow like those Native in 2005's King Kong. Maybe a couple of yuan-ti in a swamp...
I don't want Orcs anywhere near Katashaka - I want things to be different. Else, why even bother going there? I almost wish Chult and the shining South didn't already have dinosaurs - its very hard to make Katshaka stand-out when we already have Chult. The closest thing to an orc I'd want is a losel (an orc/ape hybrid).
Which reminds me - a LONG time ago I named that other large island to the far south 'The Land of Flying Monkeys", and although that was only supposed to be a joke, people loved it. Problem is, I've come to realize that island has to be VERY cold. In fact, if you look at some of the planetary maps that came with the FRIA, it actually connects via ice - to the southern antarctic continent (which is called the 'Everice' on the Xendrik map, which I may keep for FR as well, but NOT that part that sticks up under Katashaka - that has its OWN name. You'll see).
So no apes there, except for maybe some yetis. Wait... maybe those things from the UE books - the Taer. And maybe some Tran, which are feline (maybe some of the catfolk of Tabaxiland came to this islands 20K+ years ago?)
Yeah, the ape area I'm talking about has girallons, giant apes, flying monkeys, flying apes, and a different creature from Unapproachable East... the Uthraki (but a brown furred version) who have some shapechanging abilities. They would be led by some green skinned hags with class abilities. The hags will also have some ogre-magi who they keep as lovers from a nearby culture of Kara-Turans whose spelljammers (which looked like a Wa tsunami <giant caterpillar> and a few shou dragonships that were locked in combat seconds before the spellplague) was attacked by a nyamma-numo. The Kara-Turans didn't realize their crew had been infiltrated, and while they've survived in the jungle for the past century, they are woefully small in number. They'll be living in the Jungles of the Jade Sovereignty, their main village will be the Emerald City which they've connected to their other villages via a golden paved road. Their main allies are a small mushroom like creature that sings named "campestri" (the campestri have an unusual talent for filtering soil to make excellent fertilizer and extracting salt, so they have served to make the sometimes swampy areas of the jungle habitable for the Kara-Turans to grow rice). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 19:34:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Sleyvas, I am really interested in your whole Red Wizard tie in. How did this get started? Is there a canonical connection with Thay and Katashaka, Anchorome or Maztica or is this all homebrew? I could see them really being interested in exploiting all of the True Worlds resources, well, because, that’s what they do. I’m going to try to collect all you’ve written in this thread and others about the Tharches (tharchs?) and try to get a better understanding of where you are headed.
Markustay, the orcs in Lopango are very, very different from normal orcs. I’ve tried to take the common races from Faerun and flip them (with good explanations/connections for doing so) and truly these orcs will be unrecognizable.
Since Lopango has come back up I have been thinking of doing a write up recently about a dragon in the old “Wyrms of the North” format. One night about a week ago, I just started writing about this guy and want to see what you all think. It’s just a start.
Acalanahuatzi
When they say a man is “at war with himself” typically it concerns understanding one’s own self worth and concern over actions that might not be in their best interest.
Yet when we speak of a dragon, and a two headed ancient tlalocoatl at that - being at war with yourself might literally mean being at war.
Such is the case with Acalanahuatzi. Once a powerful messenger of Azul and a favored being in the deity’s hierarchy - Acalanahuatzi now spends its long years plotting a way to destroy its other half without destroying itself.
See, tlalocouatls, also known as “rain dragons,” are dragons who have two distinct personalities living in a single body. As servants of a divine being, these two separate souls typically act in perfect harmony. Not only does their philosophy typically fall in line, but their every thought and action sync like a perfectly orchestrated musical masterpiece. If one were to observe a tlalocoatl in combat and somehow survive, they would swear that only a single mind guided a rain dragon’s every movement.
So what exactly went wrong with Acalanahuatzi is mostly unknown, but over it’s centuries of life, the powerful rain dragon has fought and destroyed many creatures of chaos. Perhaps at some point, the cumulative effect of so much exposure to madness caused the once regimented rain dragon to fracture. Over time, the two personalities grew distant from each other, and neither were truly a servant of the god of the rains any longer
Acalan and Ahuatzi
Acalan is the jaguar-like head of the tlalocoatl whose personality, on the surface at least, seems the most in tune with its old self. Acalan would have others believe that it still seeks to bring the rains and perform its duties in the True World as it always has. When it encounters humans and can somehow prevent its other half from slaying such fragile beings, this is the plea it makes for assistance in finding powerful magic that could separate him from his serpentine sibling.
If a lesser creature indicates that it is unable or unwilling to do so, they will unfortunately meet its true personality. A savage predator that delights in tearing meat from the bone. This is the one occasion that both halves will once again work in tandem. Only the common goal of survival, a desire to be free from each other, and the sheer enjoyment in tearing mortals apart is shared anymore between Acalan and Ahuatzi.
Acalan also takes pleasure in drowning mortals who have done nothing more to offend him than being born. The floods that he has brought to Lopango have drawn the attention of the goddess Koni- who seeks to make Acalan (and Acalan alone) her own herald, if ever the two were to split.
Ahuatzi is unlike any tlalocoatl that has ever existed (or half of a tlalocoatl for that matter) in that it has turned from its love of the element of water and instead embraced death. Ahuatzi, once sleek and sibilant, is now a dried withering husk that still lives on with the power of unlife giving it strength. Yes, Ahauatzi, and only Ahuatzi, has become a dreaded dracolich.
A sample tlalocoatl linked below...
http://rs1191.pbsrc.com/albums/z467/Seethyr/tlalocaoutl.png?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
Before I start in on my stuff, first let me say... love the dragon. My first thoughts were "was it a helm of opposite alignment".... but then I'm wondering "was it someone modifying the creature's mind magically/psionically?". Is this someone's subtle way of killing the dragon without having to kill it.
My United Tharchs of Toril is non-canon. I originally started discussing a concept that red wizards needed to give up on Thay and instead build a new civilization elsewhere. At first I pictured them down in the shaar, but having a whole culture "suddenly" down there on the edges of the underchasm made not a lick of sense, because it would have been documented. So, then we heard about 5e, and I knew Maztica was coming back. So, I theorized, how could I have a red wizard culture be somewhat powerful there, but not necessarily a massive empire.
That's when I came up with the idea that they were spread out like England with small Tharchs. They would trade between their own tharchs, interact with local cultures, but not dominate them entirely. It would all start off as trade enclaves that "grow" as a result of being isolated by the spellplague.
One of the big things to that would also be that the gods were in Abeir, and one of the things is that the gods appear to the people there. For instance, all the Torilian spellcasters (no matter the type) went to sleep one night just following the spellplague, and they all had a collective dream. In this dream, they could see all these spellcasters from all kinds of other ethnicities working together to make a powerful magic revolving around light magic. The next day, each culture would see THEIR sun god interacting with the sun as their own culture pictured it (i.e. some gods pull the sun across the sky, etc...). What was unusual about it was the two people standing side by side would see different things, meanwhile Abeirans would see nothing unusual. There was a similar instance regarding the moon prior to the sun dream. After this, all spellcasters who transferred to Abeir found themselves blessed with virility for the next generation. The red wizards, many of whom in the new world had multiple wives, thus produced many new young spellcasters.
My Tharchs are multiple in number, but some are very weak in comparison to others. For instance, the tharch up near Michaca/City of Godl (i.e. the Tharch of Esh Alakar) consists of Esh Alakar and the City on the Great Glass Lake, with a pair of Azuposi tribes that swear allegiance and offer tribute just to be pretty much left alone. The tharch of Oslander Islands is pretty much a couple small forts that interact with local natives, teaching them agricultural skills and helping them with magical weather in return for crops. The Tharch of Luneira is just a small Netherese enclave in orbit with the ability to turn invisible and has maybe the population of a medium to small city.
Then I have bigger tharchs with multiple villages/cities (Balduran Bay, Lopango, Western Pridelands of Katashaka, New Eltabbar in Katashaka, Peleveran in the Shaar, and the recently formed Wizard's Reach tharch). I've also put in the idea that up near Mulmaster is a group of red wizards in enclaves who are intrigued with this new notion of "spread out tharchs" put forth by a red wizard culture that "popped up out of nowhere" as a result of the spellplague. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 19:35:03
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Yeah, I'm thinking the 'ape region' should be on Katashaka itself. That other island should just have all srts of cold-type races (excpet frost goants, who still have a heavy presence in the glaciers to the south of Katashaka). In fact, I am still going through the Xendrik book and came across a 'gorilla city' type of entry, excpet those are real apes (mostly), and onlt one - the leader - has become 'awakened' (and even then, it only has an Int of 4). I'd want something halfway between that (the other parts of that lore we can keep) and what Paizo did in Mwangi {how fun is THAT to say?} with the 'Gorilla King' (*cough* Grodd *cough). Maybe give him an Int of at least 10. I am so tempted to just rip all the Mwangi stuff off, but then I'm back to doing my Misbegotten Realms, and I am trying to avoid that (I did steal one small region from 'elsewhere', but technically, it was actually designed to be inserted into any campaign world, so I am okay with that). I even found a 'Fairy Queen' in the Xendrik stuff (although they didn't really reflavor her at all). I may put more into this conversion than I had originally intended.
Anyhow, I came across a group called the Shulassaskar, who are very primitive, feathered Yuan-ti. I thought that was pretty interesting. Oh, and they're LAWFUL GOOD - hows that for a kick in the head? They hate the 'loss of innocent life'. Lots of great stuff in this Xendrik book - its almost more of a springboard of ideas than a cohesive whole, though. Just a dumping ground for anything even remotely jungle-related. Thats not such a bad thing, considering how I/we can use that stuff (its not really 'firmly cemented' into Eberron lore - its very 'loose').
And once again, sorry about the minor derailment here, but once I get the map up (trying for today), you'll see why we kind of need to keep the two regions connected (even more-so than Maztica and Anchoromé). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 19:56:11
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Oh, and I also love the 'dragon' (more of a serpent, really). I hadn't pictured him quite that way - thats disturbing and cool in a Catdog kind of way.
As for leaving the lands 'sparse' - I was really talking about Katashaka, but even with Lopango (whch honestly, I never thought about much before), I just figured very small, remote tribes, very much like parts of the Amazon today.
@Jürgen - I really LOVE the 'Attack on Titans' vibe for Lopango. Maybe - since others are doing very different things there - I can reuse that somewhere in katashaka (its pretty HUGE, and the idea of 'bestial giants' isn't really all that far off from the Xendrik lore I am trying to repsin there).
In the Xendrik lore (which, as I pointed out above, isn't so much a 'conversion' in the usual sense - I am spinning it that most of the stuff actually sits in a Jungle Demiplane), they have something called The Du'rashka Tul - the "Madness of Crowds". Its basically an ancient curse (not unlike the Kingkiller thing, now that I think about it) that affected the giants, and made them go into 'mindless rages' on each other and everything else, and it still effects just about everyone in Xen'Drik. Anytime a population center gets too large, or too 'sophisticated', the curse comes down and the people have this madness that has them tear apart their own settlements and run screaming into the jungles (to do the same to others, of they encounter any).
I like it, and its a great McGuffin for keeping things savage/primitive (so, ya know, no tharches or countries or anything of the like). Strangely, Stormreach (which I renamed Stormrath on the Katashaka map) is unaffected... so far. Not sure how I would want to respin it - the curse could be mass-based, thus affecting giants more . So, lets say, you add-up the weight of everyone in a population center (or small area) and for every 4 tons (2000 lbs x 5 = 10K lbs., or about 4536 Kilos) over 100 tons (200,000 lbs, or 90,718 Kilos) of 'intelligent flesh', there is a 1% chance per day of the curse kicking-in. Something like that. That means giants are MUCH more susceptible, and the larger, more sophisticated giants, even more-so. That works for me - keeps the flavor and wraps some consistent rules around it. Sometting in the water, I guess. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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