| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| The Last Zulkir |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 19:59:35
Ok, here's the deal. Having had some of the 5E Realms events, most notably the Sundering, pointed out to me: I was under the impression that the current Realms timeline had reverted away from 4E Realms: the Spellplague hadn't happened, everything was hunky dory because Ao decided to fix stuff or something. I started working on a campaign idea on that basis, taking elements from The Rolling Girls, Tomb Raider and the Sundering into account. But then I caught a timeline reference implying that the Spellplague and everything did happen, and that the Sundering came after the fact. In short, that the current Realms are a continuation of the 4E Setting.
Can someone clarify this for me? I'm not 100% against 4E Realms (I have problems with it, but there are things I like in there too) but having the more recent stuff lead from that instead of 3E changes my campaign plans significantly. (Because AFAICT, the Sundering hasn't restored any places, it's just been bringing some gods back and I was planning to start my campaign in Lantan, and IIRC the isle got flooded in 4E)
Also, I'm investigating any particularly famous/rare books known in Faerun, as part of my prep work for the same campaign. I'm less interested in something like Volo's Guides, more looking at obscure, one off items. Journals kept by famous figures, collections of poetry, literature of any sort... any particular recommendation?
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Last Zulkir |
Posted - 29 Apr 2015 : 08:31:16
My current plan sends the party from Lantan to Myth Drannor. That already puts them through Suzail, and close to Westgate... I know the basic answer to that question is 'everywhere', I'm just curious as to people's favourites. They're already going through Tethyr, the Shining Plains and Snowflake Mountains.
As to the tech thing, eh, that's understandable.  I get that it's not something everyone's too fond of, and I certianly wouldn't advocate it spreading too far... still, I like having the isle around for when I do want to do something involving technology.
(Provisional thought on them surviving the Spellplague: they never got 100% flooded. The remaining land was enough to support a population, and the rest of the land is still there. WIth a little Gnomish inginuity, I think they could clear the water and raise the overall land level a bit. There'd still be significant danger of their new carefully regulated island going out of control though.) |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 29 Apr 2015 : 08:13:12
I dont like tech in fantasy. Lantan is the tech center of the realms, inventor of smokepowder and such. okay I dont like guns in fantasy games. and guess where they came from. Its just never really been my cup of tea. different strokes for different folks and all that.
but you like it and thats great for the realms.
touring spots: Baldur's gate, beredosk, silverymoon, kuldahar, waterdeep, suzail, myth drannor, westgate just to name a few. |
| The Last Zulkir |
Posted - 29 Apr 2015 : 06:27:41
Huuuh. Intriguing. Kinda reminds me of the Time of Cascading Years in Exalted. There's a lot that can be done with that. Thanks for sharing it! :D
Well, glad to know they survived one way or another. Now back to research on other stuff. *hums* Lantan was supposed to be unreachable in 4E due to a giant monster. So I'm not sure how we were supposed to know it'd flooded at all... Refugees? If Mulahond's back in shape because of the protection of their gods, perhaps Gond got up to similar tricks to protect his people?
Oh, BTW, any thoughts on my other question: interesting rare tomes in the Realms? And for an older one that I think everyone asks sooner or later, if you've got a party touring Faerun, any particular spots you'd like to take them to? |
| Irennan |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 22:20:53
The answer that Ed mentions in his post is this (sorry, forgot to post it alongside Ed's reply)
quote:
Originally posted by Malcom
Well, as Ed explained it to me at a recent convention, Halruaan magical shields went up, making teleportation and scrying impossible and clouding most divination magic into chaotic uselessness . . . and when the Spellplague hit, many Halruaans died went magic briefly "went wild" and structures collapsed, in-flight effects failed and gravity took over, active magics turned chaotic, and so on. At the same time, many wizards went insane or got brain-burned or were killed when caught in their own spells going chaotic . . . and a lot of the surviving Halruaans assumed the realm was under attack and cast or activated all of their appropriate "rainy day" defenses - - so MORE shields went up, many of them twisted or going wild as time passed . . . so Halruaa was effectively cut off from the rest of Faerūn. And caught in mid-dimensional segueing between Abeir and Toril (and not the entire country as a neat whole unit, but bits and pieces of it in a very localized fashion). Which in turn meant more wild magic and the leakage of other magics from elsewhere through it, and MORE defensive spellcasting, and . . . an increasing "no go zone" from the POV of those nearby in Toril.So it doesn't so much "blink" as it disappears into/behind impenetrable mists of tangled magic (old comics readers, think of all of those weird panels drawn in elder Doctor Strange issues), for a time.
To emerge with many structures devastated (think of many World War II cities after heavy bombing), the populace scattered, weary, and wary . . . and even more determined to be isolationalist.
Have I got it right, THO? Ed?
To me it sounds like those parts of Halruaa that were protected by whatever abjurations were in place got trapped between Abeir and Toril, rather than in the Weave, leaving the rest of Halruaa there, looking as a sort of nuked place. After the end of the Spellplague (when things had settled down a bit), those parts of Halruaa were put back in their place, alongside whatever change had happened to them. Most people thought that it was nuked because of all the magic that went out of control (cutting communications) and because Halruaans had really no desire to let outsiders know about their conditions.
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| The Last Zulkir |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 22:11:17
quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
quote:
Originally posted by The Last Zulkir
Hrm... the places that got overlapped with Aebir could be brought back. But places like Halruaa and Lantan got full on wiped out. Is there any chance of those returning? I'll remove them from my plans for the moment, but I like both of those locations.
If you like them then keep them. Make the Realms your own. The Realms I use still have all of the stuff that was destroyed or altered in a profound way (The Shaar).
Good ethos, but I prefer to work with change where I can, for better or worse. There's a ton of the changes in the 4E Realms that I don't like, or feel are less effective.... but at the same time, there's stuff that intrigues me, or that I feel I can work with and do something with.
The Red Wizards are probably a good example, or at least are the easiest one for me to turn to (what a shock, with this username. ;) ). I don't like what happened to them with the Zulkir Civil War, Sazz Tam turning it into a more standard Evil Tyranny of Evil rather than a more politicking filled cut-throat magocracy... but there is potential in how things panned out. The diaspora created by the Enclaves, the shifting of culture... whilst I have problems with it, there's other stuff I can pull with it too. And I'd like to extend that approach outwards.
quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
lets see I think Ed Greenwood had a response to halruaa... dont remember about lantan.... btw I hate lantan
Erm... fair enough. Any particular reason for hating Lantan? I couldn't find a lot of stuff on it.
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Halruaa has never gone anywhere (you can read what Ed himself said here: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19841&whichpage=6#464546 --which is all official, since what Ed says is canon--). We don't know about Lantan yet, but it could have survived as an Atlantis-like civilization.
Hrm... that's interesting, but it comes in in the middle of the conversation. How exactly did Halruaa survive? Were they always there and it was just an illusion? Did they pull a Shade and teleport offworld? (that responce makes it sound a little like they're stuck in the weave.) Or are they being retconned into always having been there and successfully weathering the Spellplague? |
| Irennan |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 21:57:01
Halruaa has never gone anywhere (you can read what Ed himself said here: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19841&whichpage=6#464546 --which is all official, since what Ed says is canon--). We don't know about Lantan yet, but it could have survived as an Atlantis-like civilization. |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 21:56:13
lets see I think Ed Greenwood had a response to halruaa... dont remember about lantan.... btw I hate lantan |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 21:55:54
quote:
Originally posted by The Last Zulkir
Hrm... the places that got overlapped with Aebir could be brought back. But places like Halruaa and Lantan got full on wiped out. Is there any chance of those returning? I'll remove them from my plans for the moment, but I like both of those locations.
If you like them then keep them. Make the Realms your own. The Realms I use still have all of the stuff that was destroyed or altered in a profound way (The Shaar). |
| The Last Zulkir |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 21:39:06
Hrm... the places that got overlapped with Aebir could be brought back. But places like Halruaa and Lantan got full on wiped out. Is there any chance of those returning? I'll remove them from my plans for the moment, but I like both of those locations. |
| Irennan |
Posted - 28 Apr 2015 : 20:33:02
The Sundering is indeed Ao's separating Abeir and Toril again, while bringing back a lot of the deities previously lost (he's doing that by reforgin the Tablets of Fate), so yes: the Spellplague happened. The Sundering could be very well bringing places back, but we don't know yet. In fact we know very little about what it did to the Realms, as the associated novels were simply some mortals' perspective on a narrow part of a greater happening. |
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