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nbnmare
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
205 Posts

Posted - 24 Feb 2007 :  18:13:49  Show Profile  Visit nbnmare's Homepage Send nbnmare a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
I've recently been giving some thought to the origins of the numerous deities of Faerun, mainly inspired by certain discussions here and over at WotC, particularly the excellent ideas on the Jhaamdathan pantheon presented by Gray Richardson. This has inspired me to write a few pieces of Realmslore on the subject. While unofficial, it is all based as closely as possible on established canon, and attempts to answer certain questions.

Malar the Beastlord


Though certainly not as ancient as Shar or Selune, nor Mystra or Chauntea, Malar has existed since the first beasts walked the land. Originally the Beast Lord was a mere demipower, his portfolio including only marauding beasts and monsters. His appetite for power, however, was as insatiable as his appetite for slaughter and death.

For a time, there were few deities for him to challenge; those few that did exist were all intermediate or greater powers, and even Malar could admit he would be no match for any of them. It would be like a mere ant attempting to challenge his might. However, as more intelligent creatures began first evolving and later arriving in Faerun, and new gods formed or interloped from other worlds, the Beastlord began seeing an ever growing number of opportunities.

Eventually, Malar set his sight on Herne the Huntmaster, a minor god worshipped only by the orcs in a small area of northwest Faeraun. Still, it was a mighty and ferocious fight, and perhaps only the second or third open battle of the gods since Shar and Selune's mythical conflict. After a length of time that spanned many mortal years, the Beast Lord finally tore his foe to shreds, ripping from him the portfolios of hunters and stalking, the influx of divine energy elevating Malar to the status of a lesser power. Yet while he was emboldened and pleased with his victory, the Lord of Beasts was not yet content. He wanted more.

Malar next set his sights on the gods of the various werecreatures. First he attempted to consume Squerrik, god of wererats, but the cowardly deity hid from him. From the shadows, the god of concealment promised he would forever remove his influence from the world of Aber-Toril, if only Malar would spare him. The furious Beastlord had little choice but to to agree.

Next Malar set his sights on Ferrik, but the god of weretigers proved his equal went it came to the hunt, and the two chased each other across the plains for centuries, each continuously elluding the other until both became tired of the sport.

The Beastlord decided instead to slay Eshebala, god of foxwomen. This plan too, proved to be in vain. While he actually managed to locate and corner this particular foe, the goddess of vanity, charm and cunning proved more than his match; not with tooth or claw, but with words and beguilement. Promising that if he were to spare her she would forever be subservient to him in all things (with a particular emphasis on the all aspect), Eshebala convinced Malar to slay her ancient enemy Balador, god of werebears. He, she claimed, would be a far more worthy opponent for the Lord of Beasts.

The battle between Malar and Balador was indeed as Eshebala had promised: both glorious and terrible, more taxing for the Beast Lord than even his epic battle with Herne. In the end, the god of marauding beasts and the god of protection each proved the other's equal; both gods finally collapsed, near-death and utterly exhausted.

When he had sufficiently recovered from this titanic battle, Malar turned his attention to Daragor, god of werewolves. With renewed rage and fury, the god of monsters launched his most vicious assault yet. Daragor again proved a worthy foe, but Malar had learned much from his battle with Balador, and after another mighty battle he finally managed to tear his enemy assunder.

Malar's victory would have been complete, were it not for the untimely intervention of another deity whom the Lord of Beasts had previously never encountered. Just as he was about to claim his new portfolios and with it great power, the dark god Loviatar appeared as if from nowhere. It is said the two made a terrible pact that day, one which would be sure to have dark, mysteriously, and bloody consequences in the far future. The details of the arrangement are known to naught but themselves (although the two remain allies to this day), but when she left, the Maiden of Pain took with her Daragor's portfolio of pain.

Whatever the terms of the agreement he had just made, Malar was well content with the remaining spoils of victory: the portfolios of bloodlust, werewolves, and seawolves. With Squerrik's abandonment of Faerun (although Malar would later wonder how true to his word the god of disguse had truly been), and the apparent subordination of Eshebala, he transformed his dominance of werewolves and seawolves into that of all evil lycanthropes. Not until the arrival of the Mulhorandi god Sebek and his werecrocodiles would this domain be challenged.


Next Origin of the Gods: Kiputytto and Loviatar

Edited by - nbnmare on 25 Feb 2007 22:24:23

nbnmare
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
205 Posts

Posted - 24 Feb 2007 :  20:46:49  Show Profile  Visit nbnmare's Homepage Send nbnmare a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Here's the beginnings of an attempt to integrate Finnish mythology with the Realms versions of Kiputytto, Loviatar, and Mieliki. I've taken some liberties with both Realmslore and the real world myths; for example, while the "real" Kiputytto and Loviatar were indeed sisters, the idea of two sets of twins is entirely my own creation. I'm actually quite surprised established Realmslore hasn't touched on Kiputytto and Loviatar being sisters, since it's the perfect explanation for the animosity between Loviatar and Talona. The Finnish Mieliki did indeed have a husband named Tapio and several children (Annikainen, Nyrckes, Telervo, and Tuulikki) and the Finnish Loviatar was married to Tursas.

The very existence of an Illuskan pantheon is (as far as I know) an unofficial concept, but I've never understood why there was a Rus pantheon and not an Illuskan pantheon, considering the Rus were simply one particular group of Illuskans. There is no official list of gods worshipped by the Rus, but we do know the modern Rashemi worship Mieliki (Khelliara), Chauntea (Bhalla), and Mystra. Of these, Mieliki fits perfectly. The ancient Illuskans and Rus didn't worship Chauntea, though they did have two similar gods, Pekko and Taari. Following the Dawn Cataclysm, Chauntea took over the agriculture-related responsibilities of these two deities, but the traditions established by the priests (or more accurately, shamans) of the Illuskan farming gods would live on; in particular, the brewing techniques introduced by the clergy of Pekko later led to the creation of infamous Rashemi firewine. Mieliki and Chauntea developed their unique Rashemi names because, over time, they came to be closely associated with a particular pair of the many hundreds of spirits worshipped by the native Rashemi.

Finally, there's Mystra. The Lady of Mysteries was not an original Illuskan deity, but she was introduced to various Illuskan tribes by the Nethese somewhere between -3000 DR and -2500 DR or so. The tribe known as the Rus were particularly enamored with the (to them) new goddess, and skalds of the tribe even adapted an existing myth to explain her place in the Illuskan pantheon; supposedly the deity Lemminki (the Illuskan's own god of magic) undertook a lengthy quest to the Underworld to win Mystrl's heart, and after the wed, the two agreed to share dominance of magic, wizardry and spellcraft between them.

A few generations later, the Rus would attempt to emulate the Netherese with the creation of a small, secretive, and exclusively male society of wizards, known as the Hidden Order. These wizards group gradually came to displace the more traditional runecasters amongst the Rus, although many runecasting traditions were kept alive, by both the Hidden Order itself and the tribe's priests of Mystra. After the Rus travelled to distant Rashemen, and the Rus and native Rashemi people, society, and culture intermingled, the Hidden Order gradually began to focus on the creation of magical items, recognizing that the Witches of Rashemen were far superior spellcasters. Thus the Vremyonni of Rashemen were born, and the inhabitants of that country began to refer to Mystra as "The Hidden One".


The Sisters of Misery, Part 1

The Illuskan deities known as Sisters of Misery were siblings, or to be more precise they were two sets of identical twins: Kiputytto and Loviatar (the Maidens of Disease), and Kivutar and Vammatar (the Maidens of Torment). Each set of twins loved their twin as much as any evil deity might, but they hated the other pair. They were the daughters of Tuonetar and Tuoni, the Illuskan gods of the dead and death respectively, but each set of the twins believed the other pair was the result of an affair between their mother and another deity; the Twins of Disease considered their sisters the bastards of a Devil Prince named Perkele, while the Twins of Torment insisted that their sisters were the offspring of a Demon Lord named Piru.

Some sages, particularly those who claim to have knowledge in planar and extrawordly matters, speculate that when life first began to flourish on Aber-Toril, Chauntea invited several deities from other worlds to act as caretakers of various regions and particular groups of people of her world. While those she invited were all good and neutral deities, and most were those who represented beneficial aspects of nature, some dark deities followed in their footsteps --perhaps due to the intervention of Shar; it is suggested that the Sisters of Mercy chased after the godddes Mieliki and several other deities as they travelled from one such world. (Even these particular sages go to great lengths to point out they don't believe all gods other than Selune, Shar, Chauntea and Mystra arrived in this manner; some, they say, were created by a yet unknown natural process (possibly by belief itself), others arrived on Aber-Toril at their own whim, and several are ascended mortals.)

When the Dawn Cataclysm struck, the Maidens of Disease were quick to seize the opportunity to finally eliminate their hated siblings. Kivutar and Vammatar were simulteanously struck with rapidly acting magical wasting disease, causing all the agony and suffering they had ever caused to mankind to rebound back on them ten thousand-fold. Loviatar and Kiputytto delighted in their win, and split the spoils of their vile act between them; Loviatar was given the portfolios of agony and suffering, while Kiputytto received the portfolios of misfortune and poison.

To further cement their victory, soon afterwards a group of evil and mainly chaotic Coramshite and Talfiric deities launched a vicious assault on the nature gods of the Illuskan pantheon, traditional foes of the Sisters of Misery. (This group would later come to be known as the Gods of Fury, but at the time it consisted of at least five others in addition to Auril, Malar, Talos, and Umberlee.) Although three of the alien deities were slain during the conflict, all but one of the Illuskan gods of nature were slaughtered. Much to Kiputytto's chagrim (since the two were particularly bitter foes), the sole survivor was the goddess Mieliki; however, the Maidens of Disease still took much delight in the fact that all four of the Lady of the Forest's children, as well as her husband Tapio, were slaughtered.

The Maidens of Disease had not been celebrating their dual victory for long, when yet another interloper god soon arrived with battle in mind. The god Tyr (whom, much to the sisters' disdain, originated from the same world as they) called forth Tursas, the Illuskan god of war, to do battle. Tursas was Loviatar's husband, whom she had come to be somewhat fond of, and the Maiden of Corruption offered to weaken this meddling invader with a great illness. Her husband, who had a strange sense of honor, refused, insisting that the battle must be a fair and equal fight. The battle was long and great, and the few surviving Illuskan deities observed it with much interest, some even placing bets and wagers on the outcome. In the end, the foreign god perserved, and the other Illuskan deities bowed down before his might. The Twins simply snorted with disgust at their snivelling fellows, and left to explore the rest of the newly available world.

Loviatar and Kiputytto quickly discovered there would be many challenges ahead of them. The Talfiric pantheon had almost has many nature gods as their own, and all were potential enemies. The Netherese god Moander, the Coramshite deity Talona, and the Jhaamdath deity Borem would all contest their portfolios. And, to Loviatar's particular displeasure, the Coramshite pantheon had a deity of endurance and suffering, a certain upstart named Ilmater...


A brief overview of the gods mentioned above (prior to the Dawn Cataclysm):

Annikainen: N Demipower of dark and night.
Kiputytto: LE Demipower of decay and plague (later Lesser Power of decay, misfortune, poison, and suffering).
Kivutar: CE Demipower of agony and poison.
Lemminki: CG Intermediate Power of magic, heroics, and water.
Loviatar: LE Demipower of corruption and illness (later Lesser Power of agony, corruption, illness, and suffering; later still Lesser Power of pain, hurt, agony, torment, suffering, and tortue).
Mieliki: NG Intermediate Power of forest creatures, rangers, and autumn (later Intermediate Power of forests, forest creatures, rangers, dryads, and autumn).
Nyrckes: N Demipower of cattle and hunters.
Pekko: NG Lesser Power of farmers and brewers.
Taari: NG Intermediate Power of agriculture, summer, luck, and success.
Tapio: NG Intermediate Power of forests, druids, and spring.
Tuonetar: NE Intermediate Power of the dead and the underworld.
Telervo: NG Demipower of woodland glades and growth.
Tuoni: N Intermediate Power of death and proper burial.
Tuulikki: NG Demipower of fertility.
Tursas: LE Lesser Power of combat and war.
Vammatar: CE Demipower of misfortune and suffering.


Next Origins of the Gods: The Sisters of Misery Part 2

(How Loviatar lost the domains of corruption and illness and gained hurt, torment and torture; the death of Kiputytto; the arrival of Bhaal.)

Edited by - nbnmare on 26 Feb 2007 01:40:32
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer

USA
1098 Posts

Posted - 25 Feb 2007 :  21:36:40  Show Profile  Visit Brian R. James's Homepage Send Brian R. James a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Excellent work nbnmare. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer

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nbnmare
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
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Posted - 26 Feb 2007 :  01:19:40  Show Profile  Visit nbnmare's Homepage Send nbnmare a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thanks Briain. The next installment is well under way, though I got a little sidetracked by Mielikki's origins (which will expand upon and continue off what was said the "The Sisters of Misery, Part 1").


EDIT: Incidentally, I was just re-reading the description of the Illuskan people in Races of Faerun, and I'd completely forgotten about a group of Illuskans travelling through a portal to Dambrath in -54 DR. Considering the later importance of Loviatar in that country, this fites in with the idea of Loviatar being an Illuskan deity very nicely indeed .

Edited by - nbnmare on 26 Feb 2007 02:51:50
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Jakk
Great Reader

Canada
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Posted - 23 Oct 2008 :  22:13:07  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I hate thread necromancy... but I found this 18-month-old scroll in my quest for divine origins and creation lore. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what (if anything) became of Part 2? Part 1 is a brilliant piece of Realmslore. I'm also looking for anything in official published lore regarding the origins of the gods. I know the story of Shar, Selune, and Mystryl from Faiths and Pantheons, but I don't have my 2E sources available to look for other tales there.

Thanks!

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.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
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Posted - 24 Oct 2008 :  01:56:02  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk

I hate thread necromancy... but I found this 18-month-old scroll in my quest for divine origins and creation lore. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what (if anything) became of Part 2? Part 1 is a brilliant piece of Realmslore. I'm also looking for anything in official published lore regarding the origins of the gods. I know the story of Shar, Selune, and Mystryl from Faiths and Pantheons, but I don't have my 2E sources available to look for other tales there.

Thanks!
I don't think Part 2 was ever posted here at Candlekeep. Plus, nbnmare's been inactive for nearly a year now, so I'm not sure whether you'll see the next part anytime soon.

As for origins of the gods, well, it's not really a subject that's received a great deal of attention in the Realmslore. Faiths & Avatars provides some hints, as does Demihuman Deities and Powers & Pantheons. Ed also briefly touched on how some Realms gods came about through his "Down-to-Earth Divinity" article in DRAGON #54. He's also [briefly] discussed deity-origins in his scroll here at Candlekeep [I'd suggest a search].

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Jakk
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Canada
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Posted - 24 Oct 2008 :  04:46:59  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thanks Sage!

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.
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Ardashir
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Posted - 24 Oct 2008 :  20:43:01  Show Profile  Visit Ardashir's Homepage Send Ardashir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I really like the origin given to Malar. He's one of my favorite Realms deities.
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jordanz
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Posted - 27 Oct 2008 :  17:34:57  Show Profile  Visit jordanz's Homepage Send jordanz a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yes the Malar's origin was great. It makes me wonder why more details regarding the Gods are not provided. I've always been interested in Gods who were formerly mortal. Anyway NBNmare, great job. I would love to see some rightups on Azuth and the Red Knight. Also, I know it's Greyhawk, but Saint Bane was a bad MoterF$#R!
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The Sage
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Posted - 28 Oct 2008 :  00:04:39  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In Ed's Stormlight it mentions [briefly] that Bane grew up on a world very different from Faerūn. It doesn't say what world he came from nor really anything about it. I assume from that passage that Bane must have been a planewalker or was at least brought through a portal to Faerūn from another planet.

Likely candidates for Bane's homeworld are: Oerth, Athas, or Ortho. Possibly also Earth or Krynn. We may never know the secret, but I for one would be very interested in a novel that touched on the life, ascension and recent resurrection of Bane [even though we know the "resurrection" part if unlikely to be the focus of a future novel].

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Jakk
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Canada
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Posted - 28 Oct 2008 :  05:06:37  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

In Ed's Stormlight it mentions [briefly] that Bane grew up on a world very different from Faerūn.
<snip>Likely candidates for Bane's homeworld are: Oerth, Athas, or Ortho. Possibly also Earth or Krynn. We may never know the secret, but I for one would be very interested in a novel that touched on the life, ascension and recent resurrection of Bane [even though we know the "resurrection" part if unlikely to be the focus of a future novel].



I second your interest in such a novel. If Bane's homeworld is "very different" from Toril, I would lean toward Athas or Earth; Oerth and Krynn aren't *that* much different from Toril. From the stories we know of the ascension of the Dark Three, the story of Bane would be very similar to the stories of Bhaal and Myrkul, at least up to and including the ToT, so one might as well tell the story of all three...

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.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 28 Oct 2008 :  05:34:17  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

In Ed's Stormlight it mentions [briefly] that Bane grew up on a world very different from Faerūn. It doesn't say what world he came from nor really anything about it. I assume from that passage that Bane must have been a planewalker or was at least brought through a portal to Faerūn from another planet.

Likely candidates for Bane's homeworld are: Oerth, Athas, or Ortho. Possibly also Earth or Krynn. We may never know the secret, but I for one would be very interested in a novel that touched on the life, ascension and recent resurrection of Bane [even though we know the "resurrection" part if unlikely to be the focus of a future novel].




Ortho?

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The Sage
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Posted - 28 Oct 2008 :  12:31:28  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ortho is a prime world, where the Harmonium originate from. They conquered the entire sphere before coming to the planes and establishing their faction in Sigil.

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tauster
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Posted - 29 Oct 2008 :  20:40:53  Show Profile  Visit tauster's Homepage Send tauster a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

Ortho is a prime world, where the Harmonium originate from. They conquered the entire sphere before coming to the planes and establishing their faction in Sigil.


Sage, can you please tell where that comes from? I'd very much like to read this piece of lore because of the "entire sphere"-aspect! This might be turned into another chrystal sphere for Spelljammer...
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The Sage
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Posted - 29 Oct 2008 :  22:55:07  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by tauster

quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

Ortho is a prime world, where the Harmonium originate from. They conquered the entire sphere before coming to the planes and establishing their faction in Sigil.


Sage, can you please tell where that comes from? I'd very much like to read this piece of lore because of the "entire sphere"-aspect! This might be turned into another chrystal sphere for Spelljammer...

It's referenced in several PS sources, but the main reference comes from The Factol's Manifesto tome.

Richard Gant wrote two excellent pieces on Ortho that would help [or, rather, helped me when I attempted much the same] when utilising the world as a location for a SPELJAMMER campaign. One on Orthospace, and the other features some unofficial lore on the world of Ortho itself.

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Edited by - The Sage on 29 Oct 2008 22:56:08
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Markustay
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Posted - 29 Oct 2008 :  23:25:40  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I was going to ask about Ortho myself - its pretty good that you could stump both Wooly and I about worlds (him being a Spelljammer fan, and me being a Map afficionado).

Personally, now that we have new lore since this thread was made, I think Bane may very well have come from Abeir.

Oh... and 'very differnt' is extremely subjective. The world may be a complete opposite, or that world could be exactly like Toril, except it has Blue wizards of Thay.

I'm glad you brought this thread to my attention, Jakk... it fits in well with an article I'm planning on a race of proto-humans who were around at the same time as the other Creator Races. Those guys would be the forerunners of the Illusken and Reghedman, and also interbred with several other groups to form the Kalmyk (who in turn later broke-up into northern {Kalmyk} and southern {Gur}branches, who in turn split even further into the Rashemi, Nar, Sossalites, ect...).

Too bad The Sundering nuked that human civilization back into the Stoneage.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 29 Oct 2008 23:27:24
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
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Posted - 29 Oct 2008 :  23:59:10  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

I was going to ask about Ortho myself - its pretty good that you could stump both Wooly and I about worlds (him being a Spelljammer fan, and me being a Map afficionado).
Wooly's not the only SJ fan here at Candlekeep. He just often gets to most of the questions before I do, or because they pop up when I'm sleeping.

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Jakk
Great Reader

Canada
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Posted - 30 Oct 2008 :  01:48:01  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

I was going to ask about Ortho myself - its pretty good that you could stump both Wooly and I about worlds (him being a Spelljammer fan, and me being a Map afficionado).


I'll have to check out those links; I had never heard of Ortho either. I guess I just didn't read my Planescape stuff closely enough...

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Personally, now that we have new lore since this thread was made, I think Bane may very well have come from Abeir.


It would certainly be appropriate, given what Abeir has done to Toril... Which new lore is being referenced here, apart from the Spellplague and its consequences?

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Oh... and 'very differnt' is extremely subjective. The world may be a complete opposite, or that world could be exactly like Toril, except it has Blue wizards of Thay.


I guess that world would give an entirely different meaning to the term "blue-blooded"...

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I'm glad you brought this thread to my attention, Jakk... it fits in well with an article I'm planning on a race of proto-humans who were around at the same time as the other Creator Races. Those guys would be the forerunners of the Illusken and Reghedman, and also interbred with several other groups to form the Kalmyk (who in turn later broke-up into northern {Kalmyk} and southern {Gur}branches, who in turn split even further into the Rashemi, Nar, Sossalites, ect...).

Too bad The Sundering nuked that human civilization back into the Stoneage.



Happy to help. I like old books, so I suppose that's why I find myself perusing so many old scrolls here and reactivating more than is probably healthy. Reghedman? I've never heard the term before... former inhabitants of the Great Glacier region before Ulutiu's slumber, I assume... looking forward to the lore.

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.

Edited by - Jakk on 30 Oct 2008 01:49:52
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tauster
Senior Scribe

Germany
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Posted - 30 Oct 2008 :  08:48:56  Show Profile  Visit tauster's Homepage Send tauster a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
It's referenced in several PS sources, but the main reference comes from The Factol's Manifesto tome.

Richard Gant wrote two excellent pieces on Ortho that would help [or, rather, helped me when I attempted much the same] when utilising the world as a location for a SPELJAMMER campaign. One on Orthospace, and the other features some unofficial lore on the world of Ortho itself.




Thanks a lot for these links, Sage! I opened a new scroll in The Piazza's SJ board for Orthospace. Since this has not really much to do with the Realms, anyone who's interested can post or read there, so this scroll gets not derailed any further.

...I just hope that inviting people to other boards is not seen as bad manners!

Edited by - tauster on 30 Oct 2008 08:50:22
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 30 Oct 2008 :  13:18:32  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No, it isn't. You've certainly been a member here at Candlekeep long enough to suggest other sites/forums that scribes may have an interest in.

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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 31 Oct 2008 :  21:31:13  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk

Reghedman? I've never heard the term before... former inhabitants of the Great Glacier region before Ulutiu's slumber, I assume... looking forward to the lore.

They are racially identical to the Illuskans - they are the branch of that ethnicity living on the mainland around the Ten-Towns region.

The reason why my hypothetical proto-group (inspired by BRJ's original GHotR work) is now defunct is because it existed at the top of the world, but the Sundering not only occurred central to their lands (dumping most of them into the sea in the NW), but also altered the axial tilt of the planet causing much of their civilization to be covered with ice (and turning Zakhara into a desert).

They are one of those mysterious groups now 'lost' to history thanks to the Elves re-structuring time and space. It also helps explains some 'lore anomalies' rather nicely.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 31 Oct 2008 21:48:06
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Jakk
Great Reader

Canada
2165 Posts

Posted - 03 Nov 2008 :  23:32:18  Show Profile Send Jakk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

<chop>
The reason why my hypothetical proto-group (inspired by BRJ's original GHotR work) is now defunct is because it existed at the top of the world, but the Sundering not only occurred central to their lands (dumping most of them into the sea in the NW), but also altered the axial tilt of the planet causing much of their civilization to be covered with ice (and turning Zakhara into a desert).

They are one of those mysterious groups now 'lost' to history thanks to the Elves re-structuring time and space. It also helps explains some 'lore anomalies' rather nicely.



I hadn't realized (or had forgotten) that the Sundering was the cause of the desertification of Zakhara; I just assumed that it was a combination of the continent's position on Toril and geography...

First question: Are there any maps of Toril pre-Sundering?

Second question: Where would I find (a) said maps and (b) details of the Sundering not present in the GHotR, if such exist? (Mark: There's a project for you (the maps, of course) if you need to take a break from the 3E Toril map after finishing K-T and Zakhara.)

Third question: What 'lore anomalies'? Now you have my attention...

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.

Edited by - Jakk on 03 Nov 2008 23:33:20
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