| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 21 Apr 2012 : 16:51:15
So, the Eminence of Araunt is one of the few things I liked in the 4E FRCG, and I don't think it'd be that difficult to backport it to the 1370s era.
Here's a thought I had the other day... The Eminence was founded by a bone naga named Lod, and has the goal of uniting undead into a single kingdom. What if Lod (or his [non-canon but not implausible] unseen backer) has a goal further than that... What if Lod or his backer was a rival of Myrkul or Velsharoon, and the whole point of the Eminence is to simply gather lots of power -- power that will eventually fuel a bid for deification?
Maybe the plan is to get enough worship from intelligent undead to get promoted.
Maybe the plan is to get a bunch of intelligent undead under one banner and siphon off their power, similar to how Bhaal's followers were sacrificed to help Bane 1.0.
Maybe the plan is to have a bunch of intelligent undead eventually do a mass sacrifice of thousands of innocent people and use the energy from that for power.
Or maybe the idea is to get lots of intelligent undead together and convince/trick them to form a single entity that's powerful enough to become a deity.
Heck, going with what little I know of 4E lore, maybe deification actually is the goal, and maybe it was Eminence-manipulation that led to the thwarting of Szassy's plans with the Dread Rings... |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Markustay |
Posted - 21 Sep 2014 : 18:26:47
I like that - I like anything that connects Abeir to other (past) lore. We really needed more of that.
So (FR)folks simply became aware of the EoA because of the (un)Sundering/Spellplague - for whatever reason you want to use - and the assumption is thats where they came from. I like the idea of them coming from both worlds; that one of the few 'paths' left open between the two worlds was through death (that the 'closed' nature of Abeir was designed to stop living things from crossing between them, maybe?) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 20 Sep 2014 : 15:14:48
In another thread, I suggested that maybe the Imaskarcana inspired the Nether Scrolls (and dang it, the timing is all wrong for that idea!  ). Mentioning those nifty Imaskari doohickeys made me remember this thread... And giving it some further thought, I've come up with a new variation or two.
Keeping the idea of the Sixth Imaskarcana being a sort of necromantic Holocron, and keeping the friendly neighborhood necrodude with the placeholder name Frehd...
Maybe Frehd wasn't a wizard necromancer at all... Maybe he was either one of the people kidnapped and brought to the Realms by the Imaskari, or a descendent of them. Perhaps, in fact, he is a priest of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead.
Frehd wants to go back to Egypt. The problem is, when the Imaskari kidnapped everyone, they were not kind enough to leave the door open behind them, and of course all the roadmaps are in another language (and will never fold back into that original, tight bundle. What's up with that?).
So Frehd wants to go back, but does not know the way there. He comes up with the idea of speaking with the dead -- surely, those who originated elsewhere and have passed beyond the mortal veil would know a lot more! Thus, Frehd starts poking his nose everywhere, looking for intelligent undead to chat with.
Unfortunately, no one is able to give good directions. So he keeps looking, and builds the beginnings of his portal network in the process -- after all, he just needs to know where to go. Once he finds the right path, he can use this network to get his assisting undead buddies and his kidnapped people home.
Time passes. Frehd becomes more and more obsessed with finding the way home, but keeps not making any progress. The effect on his sanity is not a positive one... Eventually, Frehd himself shuffles off this mortal coil. But the knowledge and lore he'd learned from Necromancy for Dummies was enough to keep some portion of his mind around....
That portion remembers seeking out intelligent undead, and building a portal network... It also remembers looking for a home. Looking for a specific, lost home, now that part is forgotten or twisted -- just looking for a home is the part that remains.
Then along comes Lod. Loddie finds the Sixth Imaskarcana himself, and thinks to use it. This opens him up to Frehd, who finds a handy new tool for accomplishing his goals. So Lod is forcibly recruited. And Frehd uses Lod to go back to what remains of Frehd's original idea: linking up with intelligent undead and finding (even making, if necessary) a new home. Lod himself is just a tool, not really knowing what Frehd is looking for (partially because Frehd's fragmented mind is no longer sure), but forced to go along with it, anyway.
And the beauty of this spin (at least to me) is that while it does provide a Faerūnian origin for the Eminence, it doesn't rule out the Abeirran connection. Maybe Lod wasn't from Laerakond, but one of his portals took him there, and he spent enough time and was active enough there that to all appearances, that's where the Eminence originated! |
| Markustay |
Posted - 03 Feb 2013 : 16:33:53
Yeah, its pretty hard to do anything with the Realms without it looking like something else already in the realms, or from something else entirely.
Now, you could possibly combine the two - say the Tome of the Unicorn IS the lost Imaskarna. 
Thus making Shoon VII the power behind LoD. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Feb 2013 : 05:06:59
quote:
Originally posted by daarkknight
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
The other thing I am thinking has to do with Wooly's idea of having Lod 'sucked into' the book (or whatever form the Imaskarkana takes). What if something already was imprisoned in the tome, and the only way it could agin its freedom was by having someone else take its place? It could be anything from a Imaskari Necromancer to an archfiend to an Elder Evil.
Don't we have a derivation of this idea with Shoon VII (IIRC) and the sorceress Argentresses involving the "Tome of the Unicorn?" Shoon VII was able to take over her body after she discovered the book.
It's not an uncommon idea. |
| daarkknight |
Posted - 03 Feb 2013 : 03:05:42
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
The other thing I am thinking has to do with Wooly's idea of having Lod 'sucked into' the book (or whatever form the Imaskarkana takes). What if something already was imprisoned in the tome, and the only way it could agin its freedom was by having someone else take its place? It could be anything from a Imaskari Necromancer to an archfiend to an Elder Evil.
Don't we have a derivation of this idea with Shoon VII (IIRC) and the sorceress Argentresses involving the "Tome of the Unicorn?" Shoon VII was able to take over her body after she discovered the book. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 02 Feb 2013 : 16:54:50
Now that I have had time to think about this, I may make it a 'background plot' - the ancient dead emperor (the one killed by the Thayan council) Araunt is in hiding somewhere - possibly Mulhorand or Murghōm. I haven't quite gotten that far in my thinking as to where he's sequestered himself.
I had some ideas last night as I was falling asleep concerning Nex and Geb (from Golarion), and putting them into Unther and Mulhorand (I've been creating amalgam-nations for my Realms), so I'll see how that goes (as I work on the map it helps my creative juices - I can actually picture armies sweeping over the landscape in past wars). I like the idea of Araunt being the old Thayan Emperor (as an ancient dead/mummy) hiding in Mulhorand (in the City of the Dead, naturally), but that may be a bit too repetitive with Szass Tam. I have to work out the details of the overthrow (perhaps Araunt was a necropriest and Szass Tam was his wizardly adviser?)
EDIT: Instead of the emperor, I could make it a daughter of the murdered emperor. Making Araunt female might be enough of a twist. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 01 Feb 2013 : 01:29:36
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
As for the Eminenence of Araunt in my Frakensteined Realms... I'm not sure. I say the old (dead) emperor was araunt, that might work (but I could end up with too much of a 'Mordor' vibe for Thay, if I'm not careful).
Well, the concept of something dead inhabiting a powerful artifact and corrupting the surrounding land isn't wholly limited to just Mordor and the LotR.
One of the fun things about my conception that I presented earlier... is that the kingdom of Araunt is wherever the Codex may be at any one particular time. It's quite literally a kingdom of the dead without borders. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 31 Jan 2013 : 22:28:13
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
My personal Realms would break canon, anyway, with the Thayan Civil War. <snip>
Yeah, Just did some (more) major tweaking to my hodgepodge setting in regards to Thay as well. Its currently a lot like the 1e/2e Thay (pre-Thaymart), but that is a result of a fallen Thayan Empire which once ruled a far vaster territory.
I turned (old) Thay into the a Roman Empire type of thing, and then said the 'High Council' (the Senate) killed-off the Emperor in a "beware the Ides of March" kind of scenario. (Et Tu, Szass Tam, Et Tu?) That sent the Council (The Tahrchionate + The Zulkirate) into a tailspin of backstabbing and power-grabs, until we have the current (1e/2e) situation. That was all about a century ago. I toned-down the magic and undead quite a bit (and stuck the 'Stygia' vibe I used to have down in Mulhorand... for now). I suppose my new incarnation is a lot like The Great Kingdom (Aerdy from GH) After the Ashes (I may even borrow the Animus concept for a couple of tharchions).
As for the Eminenence of Araunt in my Frakensteined Realms... I'm not sure. I say the old (dead) emperor was araunt, that might work (but I could end up with too much of a 'Mordor' vibe for Thay, if I'm not careful). Think 'Governement below the Governement' (quite literally - a powerful lich running things from beneath Thaymount without anyone being any the wiser.
Unfortunately, that turns Szass Tam into Lod, and I don't like him as a lackey. It might work better as new 'cult' coming up out of Mulhorand. |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 31 Jan 2013 : 20:49:37
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer
The processes that power these undead transformations are, ironically enough, powered by living souls, which deprives the deities of new souls to collect--not sure how this hurts the deities, but I'm working on it.
It's been a bit since you originally posted, and thus you might have already come up with an idea, but as a thought:
If one isn't particularly fond of what happened to Kiaransalee (erasing her from her follower's memories, etc, but we likely won't see anything of that sort again, anyways)...
Souls originally destined for another deity, originally providing that other deity with the standard benefits of worship, are now actively leeching certain (albeit miniscule on an individual scale) amounts of power/influence from their original god, which is then funneled (knowingly or otherwise) away for the nefarious intent.
Think Richard Pryor's character in Superman (I think that was the movie...been a while, so I could be misremembering). Making it so that his account received every last half-cent currently in circulation in the banking system, making him insanely wealthy virtually overnight. Translate that to small amounts of worshiper's power reversing itself, channeling that tiny amount of power (for whatever reason), perhaps unnoticed (or not!) by the deities who are being skimmed off of. Enough undead, with perhaps greater amounts of power the higher form of undead you are, and you have a virtual font of divine energy for attempted apotheosis or any other otherwise-unreachable goal.
- OMH |
| Alenis |
Posted - 31 Jan 2013 : 10:51:22
I think it would be interesting if, somehow, Jergal was behind the Eminence. I mean, he was once an incredibly powerful greater god, controlling the portfolios of what Myrkul, Bane, and Bhaal eventually controlled, plus several others that he didn't pass on. And he gave his power up because he was just so bored and fed up with everything. Now, he's the servant of whomever is the god of the dead, essentially acting as their seneschal, but how many ancient, uber powerful gods really want to do that. Maybe it was part of some master plan. After all, he and his church do sanction the creation and use of undead, so long as it advances the cause of death in the world. |
| Xar Zarath |
Posted - 31 Jan 2013 : 05:13:39
Maybe you could make it as such that the Eminence, while a secretive organization, it merely acts as a front to a worlds spanning undead empire? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 28 Jan 2013 : 05:21:15
My personal Realms would break canon, anyway, with the Thayan Civil War. As I've described elsewhere, I'd spin it more like the splitting of Clan Wolf in the BattleTech universe -- two different factions, one at home, one in Exile, each considering themselves to be the one true follower of the original path. I think something like this gives a lot more potential, because then you have two groups working against each other, and countless other power groups getting into the mix to either seize power for themselves or to weaken Thay, overall. (My Thay-In-Exile would be based out of Mulmaster and would control the Red Wal-Mart trade, which I would also modify somewhat from canon)
I think I'm fine with the idea of Abeir as a different world -- provided that it has no connection to Toril, other than that of portals. In other words, I dislike the idea that both were one world that was split.
So bringing in the Eminence as invaders from another world isn't a bad idea... I don't think I'll run with it, myself, but it's not a bad idea.
I think I'm going to scrap the Eternal Imaskar aspect of my idea. I like the idea of the Sixth Imaskarcana being some sort of necromantic Holocron, and I like the idea of connecting it, somehow, to the Eminence. I'm just not quite there on figuring out what to do with it all, afterward. |
| JohnLynch |
Posted - 28 Jan 2013 : 01:09:51
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
See, I'm looking at having the Eminence be totally homegrown, and from Faerūn.
Aaah, damn. If it's alright, I'd like to leave my post below "as is" as an alternate take on using the "Eminence of Araunt" in 1370s DR (first detailed as an 1385 DR campaign, but with notes at the bottom as to how to bring it forward to whenever you feel like).
My thinking is this: Abeir in and of itself isn't a bad idea. It's a great setting that has a lot of potential. The problem was wholeheartedly in the fact they merged the Abeir setting into the Forgotten Realms.
One of the key ideas being the Forgotten Realms that TSR downplayed is the idea of there being portals everywhere leading to other worlds and that high level play would involve travelling through these forgotten portals to realms that have been lost to modern day Faerun.
A cool plot for me would be to have inter-world adventures with the Abeir setting (what connection, if any, Abeir has to Toril would be entirely up to you).
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
My own thinking on the Eminence suggests that the Codex of Araunt [or, rather, the ritualistic knowledge contained within] is, itself, the key [and, the secret founder/backer] of the "kingdom."
I like this idea. And think it works well with where I was thinking.
Background
In 1385 DR Szass Tam forces Yaphyll to perform a divination for him. Presumably the Spellplague won't occur in your campaign. As such she has a vision of a way for Szass Tam to achieve divinity itself. The Codex of Araunt. Szass Tam immediately starts employing divination magic and other means of garnering information when he learns of its location in Abeir. He locates a portal to this world and sends through a small infiltration crew (duped adventurers if you will) and they retrieve the codex for him. With their holy book gone, the Eminence of Araunt starts readying for a war to retrieve their holy book.
Adventure
In the city the PCs are in rumours start circulating of strange undead attacks on respectable businessmen. The PCs investigate (perhaps an ally was the target of one of the attacks) and they find evidence of undead making these attacks. They track down the attackers and finally find the undead in the midst of attacking a magic shop. They defeat the undead but and notice a tattoo on each of them of three vertical slashes.
Alas this is a dead end. Or so they think. They're detained by the City Watch. 1 hour after the battle, the zombies they were attacking transform back to humans (albeit dead ones). The PCs should be able to identify the people. After an investigation into these people they discover these young adults had joined a cult. They discover the crypt that they had been using as their hideout but it's been abandoned. The cult leaders have already left. One of the cultists was a librarian and looking through her apartment for clues the PCs discover notes on the sites of various tombs. These tombs lead further towards the Sea of Fallen Stars and closer to Thay.
The Eminence of Araunt have traveled to Faerun and are starting cultist cells to grant them knowledge of this realm. They're also building up an army of undead to hurl against those who dared to steal the Codex. As the PCs chase the cultists they find more and more bizarre experiments in the cities they travel to. They find half-undead. Undead dogs who go rabid and start attacking people (transforming those people into ghouls and starting a zombie apocalypse that the PCs must destroy). However as they go they learn more and more about the Eminence of Araunt and the fact they're from another world entirely. They also discover that the true target of the Eminence is Thay.
Eventually the PCs find from a Red Wizard enclave that Szass Tam is the one responsible for stealing the Codex. The PCs must join the civil war as the Eminence is forcing Thay to fight their civil war on two separate fronts (one against Szass Tam, the other against the Eminence) as they're not distinguishing between Szass Tam's men and the other Thayan forces.
This is perfect for Szass Tam as it's giving him time to work out how to use the codex to transform himself into a god. The PCs infiltrate Thay and make their way through the battlefields towards Szass Tam's headquarters. They're aided along the way by a couple of Red Wizards while the rest simply attack the PCs.
The plot culminates in the PCs reaching Szass Tam just as he's about to transform himself into a god. There's a big climactic battle and the PCs defeat Szass Tam. However the Eminence of Araunt is still at large. If they're able to take control over Szass Tam's forces they can ally with the other Thayan faction and together they destroy the Eminence of Araunt's armies.
Follow Up
Although the army of the Eminence of Araunt was destroyed. Not all of its followers were. They go into hiding (think Taliban) and continue to be a force that will plague Toril.
Furthermore the PCs have knowledge of portals that lead to a whole other Realm. The Red Wizards are (of course) eager to locate and use these portals to extend their trade network. Other forces in Toril will also be curious of these portals. Such portals can prove to be a security risk for whatever nation they're located in. But they can also prove to be a boon in that they open up new trading partners and possibly new allies. Churches will also want to use these portals to spread their faith to a new world.
Finally Thay is no longer at civil war (or at least shouldn't be after too long). It will not become an undead nation (thanks to the PCs) but it will soon become united and a force to contend with once more.
While Szass Tam may have been stopped, there is still many more threads that need to be dealt with to fuel further adventures.
That's how I'd do it at least. I like the idea of high level play involving other worlds as it helps justify what the high level NPCs are doing all the time (no, Elminster can't go deal with that country's civil war. There's currently an illithid world that's trying to break through to Toril to enslave everyone).
If you want to run this adventure earlier so that its closer to the year your campaign is set in then you can do a couple of things. The easiest way is to say that Szass Tam seduces Yaphyll (in a non-sexual manner) and has her perform a divination for him (at which point she realises what Szass Tam's plans are and is horrified).
However that "breaks canon" and I know not everyone is comfortable doing that. I personally see PCs as "outside of canon" as in they can do stuff that completely contradicts canon and forces the world into a different series of events as those described in the books. As such you could have the PCs find a hidden location that provides extremely obscure information on Abeir and the location of portals to them. The PCs sell or somehow reveal this information to an NPC and it finds its way back to the Red Wizards and Szass Tam. Enough in game time passes to allow the events in the "background" to play out (minus the civil war angle depending on when your campaign is set) and the adventures continue mostly as written above. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 27 Jan 2013 : 16:01:29
I'm trying to figure out how I can use some of this in my latest campaign, which blends-in stuff from a few other settings.
The one thing I really love is that the Imaskarcana is at the base of everything. I have two ways that could go - it could be like a Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets thing, and the Imaskarkana is like Voldemort's diary. Since Voldemort starts out the series very much like a Lich, its a kind of fitting homage. A piece of the author's essence (soul?) is bound into the book, and its trying to achieve 'true life' by taking someone else's (in this case Lod). BECOMING Lod is the intelligence in the book's ultimate goal - he is slowly subsuming his personality.
The other thing I am thinking has to do with Wooly's idea of having Lod 'sucked into' the book (or whatever form the Imaskarkana takes). What if something already was imprisoned in the tome, and the only way it could agin its freedom was by having someone else take its place? It could be anything from a Imaskari Necromancer to an archfiend to an Elder Evil. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 27 Jan 2013 : 11:41:31
It's nice to see a power group that would overtly clash with Szass Tam, and the Eminence is so close to doing that...Or maybe, they are, already... |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Jan 2013 : 06:17:00
Oh, and to recap my objective, here: I want to play with the Eminence in the 1370s era; so I'm looking to retcon them to being from Faerūn and to have some goal in mind other than a large Dead Man's Party. This is all, obviously, homebrew. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Jan 2013 : 06:14:29
Someone else mentioned the Eminence, and made me recall this thread... Still not 100% satisfied with my idea, here, but I'm still convinced that it's going to make me think of something better.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So, here's my latest thought...
You've got a mage who we will, for sake of simplicity, call Frehd.
Frehd has a thing for ancient Imaskari magic. He's way powerful, way smart, and manages to find the location of one of the lost Imaskarcana -- we'll call it the Sixth Imaskarcana; IIRC, that one is undescribed. It doesn't matter at this point, this is still brainstorming.
The Sixth Imaskarcana is some sort of device loaded with much magical lore, predominantly necromantic in nature. Maybe it's even got something resembling an intelligence inside it already, like the kiira that Araevin found in the Last Mythal books. A necromantic Holocron, if you will.
So Frehd learns a lot from this thing, and gets to be even more of an Imaskari fanboi. He's also getting on in years, and comes up with the nifty idea, perhaps inspired by the unheard prompting of the Sixth Imaskarcana, of becoming a lich with the Imaskarcana as his phylactery.
Well, the process doesn't go so well for Frehd; turns out that you really shouldn't try to use an artifact as a phylactery. He's bound to the Imaskarcana, and in fact becomes the bodiless, free-willed intelligence of the artifact.
Frehd gets to thinking, and since he's already an Imaskari fanboi, thinks that their idea of giving deities the finger was a pretty nifty one. He hatches a rather ambitious plot: to recreate the barrier that kept out the deities of the slaves the Imaskari stole. Except he wants to scale it up, and prevent all divine influence in the reborn Imaskar. Which is the second part of his idea -- he wants to recreate Imaskar, as well, but he wants to do it as a necrocracy, a nation ruled by the undead. Specifically, liches. He wants to found Eternal Imaskar.
So to do all that, first Frehd has to seriously ramp up his power levels. And to do that, he founds the Eminence of Araunt, with Lod as its leader. Lod may not even know he's not the real leader...
|
| The Sage |
Posted - 01 May 2012 : 01:35:52
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Not sure if he appeared in any Zakhara material (I barely owned any of that), but he was mentioned as the main 'big bad' in The Complete Book of Necromancers, which details the sub-sub-setting of Sahu, The Island of the Necromancer-Kings.
That's the one. I couldn't recall whether it was the "Necromancer" book or an Al-Qadim source. Which is a reminder, actually, that I really need to re-read these older sources. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 18:51:47
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
If you can get your hands on it, it is one of the more interesting 2e 'Complete' books. Most of the stuff is real over-kill, so thats why its supposed to be DM-only.
Anyhow, I highly recommend you read the section on Sahu - there are at least 2 (Waterdeepian) NPCs in there, and a WD organization is mentioned (the society of anatomists, or some-such). It also contains some other juicy FR lore (like Loviatar's fight with Cyric). A definite must-have for FR aficionados. It is the ONLY source I know that links Zakharan material to FR material directly (the NPCs interact, and are from both settings).
Reagrdless, good stuff, and it could give you lots of great ideas if you are going to use the EoA. 
I will look into that...
But we have a character from the Dales who is of Zakharan descent, so there's a direct connection there. Holly Harrowslough, paladin of Lathander, has a Zakharan parent (I think her father). Holly was in the books Finder's Bane and Tymora's Luck. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 18:06:36
If you can get your hands on it, it is one of the more interesting 2e 'Complete' books. Most of the stuff is real over-kill, so thats why its supposed to be DM-only.
Anyhow, I highly recommend you read the section on Sahu - there are at least 2 (Waterdeepian) NPCs in there, and a WD organization is mentioned (the society of anatomists, or some-such). It also contains some other juicy FR lore (like Loviatar's fight with Cyric). A definite must-have for FR aficionados. It is the ONLY source I know that links Zakharan material to FR material directly (the NPCs interact, and are from both settings).
Regardless, good stuff, and it could give you lots of great ideas if you are going to use the EoA. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 17:57:20
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Not sure if he appeared in any Zakhara material (I barely owned any of that), but he was mentioned as the main 'big bad' in The Complete Book of Necromancers, which details the sub-sub-setting of Sahu, The Island of the Necromancer-Kings.
That explains it... I've got a lot of the old Complete books, but I've twice built my collection, and ignored the necromancers book both times -- just not into those guys.
And while I do have all of the Zakhara stuff, I've got such a huge backlog of reading material that I've not even put that stuff on the to-read list, yet. Those are a more recent acquisition for me; I only had one of those books before the fire I went thru. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 16:30:36
Not sure if he appeared in any Zakhara material (I barely owned any of that), but he was mentioned as the main 'big bad' in The Complete Book of Necromancers, which details the sub-sub-setting of Sahu, The Island of the Necromancer-Kings.
I rezzed another thread in the "Sages of Realmslore" section about Thasmudyan, and some interesting ideas were brought up there - that nog & Kadar were imaskari survivor-states (they are immediately SE of the Raurin region, on the other side of the mountains). The Necromancer Kings came from there, after those kingdoms fell (see Ruined Kingdoms. It must some sense, in hindsight, now that we know Shou-Lung began as the 3rd age of Imaskar - Anok Imaskar (Tan-Chin was highly active in that region between K-T proper and Zakhara, along the coast of the Segara Sea - see Ronin Challenge). This means some Imaskari culture was brought to that jungle region, which lead to the founding of Nog & Kadar, which lead to the founding of the Island of the Necromancer Kings. So in a very round-about way, Thasmudyan is FR canon, and seems to be all about undeath.
I've pegged the Cult of Worms as the predecessor of the Cult of the Dragon, but you may find it works well as the pre-cursor to Lod's organization. Although the official material says he's a Baatezu, its easy to re-think him as an Elder Evil, or anything else, really. He's pretty 'primal' (as in, 'ancient, lost power').
Bhaluin, the Drowned City, in Gbor Nor (Broightstar Lake) is also an excellent tie-in for Imaskari necrology - check its entry in The Horde campaign set.
quote:
Originally posted by Xar Zarath
I like the idea of using Thasmudyan, but since he is a exiled archdevil(most likely) his goals would be to gain an army of undead in the Prime, to remake it into his own personal demesne, before storming Nessus to put down you-know-who.
I was thinking along the same lines, and that he could possibly be Orcus' LE opposite. However, I would say that part of his 'fall from power' should be attributed to his love of undeath, which isn't very lawful behavior (it violates the laws of nature).
Which is why I say he may be a Baatezu (or an even more ancient Baatoran), but he doesn't necessarily have to be a devil (anymore). He could be to modern devils what Obyrith are to Demons. This is also why I think he could be classified as an 'Elder Evil' by this point (like Pandorym, which gives us another Imaskar tie-in). |
| The Sage |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 08:02:39
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Didn't like Thasmudyan, eh? He's canon, but so esoteric that he is nearly as good as using 'an unknown quantity'.
No idea who he is.
I'm going from memory, but I think Thasmudyan is from Zakhara. He's a Baatezu lord who is said to be worshipped by the necromancer kings of an ancient kingdom. |
| Xar Zarath |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 07:10:34
I like the idea of using Thasmudyan, but since he is a exiled archdevil(most likely) his goals would be to gain an army of undead in the Prime, to remake it into his own personal demesne, before storming Nessus to put down you-know-who. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Apr 2012 : 04:46:03
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Didn't like Thasmudyan, eh? He's canon, but so esoteric that he is nearly as good as using 'an unknown quantity'.
No idea who he is.
Using a homebrew backer, though, allows me to do exactly what I want with him. I'm not sure that my Eternal Imaskar idea is the best one, but it's what I've got at the moment. I'm sure there's something better, but it's eluding me, at the moment.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I like the idea Lod doesn't know he's being used. If we go with your 'controller artifact' - the Imaskarkana (or some other 'lost tome of secrets') - then he could have accidentally triggered an imbedded spell within the work, that subtly manipulates him (like a geas).
That works, as well, though I favor having some intelligence in the driver's seat. I think a former mortal would have more understandable motivations.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Or it could be less subtle - it could be something along the lines of him "hearing the voice of god". He could think he really is doing 'the work of god', while something else is at play (but in D&D, with no monotheistic god, that fine-line doesn't even exist).
I've not gotten as far as working out how Lod is controlled. This is still all wandering about in my mind, looking for the best ideas to get together with.
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| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Apr 2012 : 18:18:27
Didn't like Thasmudyan, eh? He's canon, but so esoteric that he is nearly as good as using 'an unknown quantity'.
I like the idea Lod doesn't know he's being used. If we go with your 'controller artifact' - the Imaskarkana (or some other 'lost tome of secrets') - then he could have accidentally triggered an imbedded spell within the work, that subtly manipulates him (like a geas).
Or it could be less subtle - it could be something along the lines of him "hearing the voice of god". He could think he really is doing 'the work of god', while something else is at play (but in D&D, with no monotheistic god, that fine-line doesn't even exist).
If heavily re-worded the above, leaving out the RW examples. Upon editing I could see how someone could have been offended. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 29 Apr 2012 : 17:11:04
quote:
Originally posted by Xar Zarath
And he fears this mysterious founder, maybe the Terraseer or Aumvor?
I see him as being either an unwitting puppet, being very subtly manipulated, or as a willing partner, enjoying his position of apparent leadership. The unwitting puppet would be more fun, I think.
And I prefer a previously unknown third party, as I posted above. Nothing against Aumvor or the Terraseer, but I don't see them having the motivation that I'm giving to Frehd, and I'd prefer not to use one of the canon big names -- too obvious. |
| Xar Zarath |
Posted - 29 Apr 2012 : 11:04:18
And he fears this mysterious founder, maybe the Terraseer or Aumvor? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 13:47:02
quote:
Originally posted by Xar Zarath
The origins of EMA lie in Abeir but that does not mean they could have already arrived in Toril ages ago.
Again, my objective is to come up with a version of the Eminence that is divorced from its Abeiran origin. I'm trying to make it something that originated in Faerūn.
quote:
Originally posted by Xar Zarath
Perhaps Lod is just a lackey receiving orders from an even more powerful member of the Eminence.
In canon, Lod founded the Eminence. But in the version I'm spinning here, Lod is merely the front for someone else. In this version, Lod is the only one who knows he's not truly the founder or driving force behind the Eminence. |
| Xar Zarath |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 10:42:19
The origins of EMA lie in Abeir but that does not mean they could have already arrived in Toril ages ago. Perhaps Lod is just a lackey receiving orders from an even more powerful member of the Eminence. |
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