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 motivations of the phaerimm?
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freyar
Learned Scribe

Canada
220 Posts

Posted - 03 Dec 2007 :  17:07:27  Show Profile  Visit freyar's Homepage Send freyar a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Ok, so I've gone and looked in the FRCS and the 2e arcane age sourcebooks Cormanthyr and Netheril, looking for what the phaerimm might really want (especially now that they're loose in 1370s Faerun). But other than wanting their home to be left unpolluted by Netherese magic and a vague desire "to end all life" (or something like that), I find very little. Anyone know of more information on what really motivates the phaerimm? Or for that matter, anything about their ecology.

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AlorinDawn
Learned Scribe

USA
313 Posts

Posted - 03 Dec 2007 :  19:56:46  Show Profile  Visit AlorinDawn's Homepage Send AlorinDawn a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Good question.

What exactly is it that the average magic wielding, maniacal wind sock full of ego wants out of life?
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Alisttair
Great Reader

Canada
3054 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  13:34:06  Show Profile  Visit Alisttair's Homepage Send Alisttair a Private Message  Reply with Quote
To have complete control of all magic and hoard it all to themselves maybe?

Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)

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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
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USA
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Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  15:34:55  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alisttair

To have complete control of all magic and hoard it all to themselves maybe?



But the question is still 'why?'

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)
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freyar
Learned Scribe

Canada
220 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  16:03:59  Show Profile  Visit freyar's Homepage Send freyar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Based on these responses, I guess there isn't a good long source on phaerimms. Any fellow scribes interested in working this out with me?

My first thought is that they keep a number of underdark races as slaves (heck, they are evil aberrations after all) but mostly want to keep to the underdark, waging turf wars with beholders, illithids, etc. However, they are particularly sensitive to the use of magic and get "environmental" problems from overuse of the weave, as during Netheril. This has led a large group of phaerimms to the conclusion that all other magic-using races must be either destroyed or enslaved. An interesting thought I had (based on physical appearance only) is that the wyste (from MM2) is a phaerimm that has been poisoned by magical pollution.

What do you think?

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Alisttair
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Canada
3054 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  16:27:10  Show Profile  Visit Alisttair's Homepage Send Alisttair a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin

quote:
Originally posted by Alisttair

To have complete control of all magic and hoard it all to themselves maybe?



But the question is still 'why?'



Why does any being crave absolute power? Greed? Hunger? Something simply innate in them perhaps?

Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)

Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
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USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  16:57:51  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alisttair


Why does any being crave absolute power? Greed? Hunger? Something simply innate in them perhaps?



But the question is still unanswered.

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)
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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe

Germany
657 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  17:26:20  Show Profile  Visit Ayunken-vanzan's Homepage Send Ayunken-vanzan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by freyar

An interesting thought I had (based on physical appearance only) is that the wyste (from MM2) is a phaerimm that has been poisoned by magical pollution.

What do you think?



I don't think so. The description gives absolutely no hint which would back up this assumption. Even their appearance doesn't match the Phaerimm exactly because they lack arms.

"What mattered our lives now? When our world had been torn from us? Folk wept, or drank, or stood staring out over the land, wondering what new horror each dawn would bring."
Elender Stormfall of Suzail

"Anyone can kill deities, cause plagues, or destroy organizations. It takes real skill to make them live on."
Varl

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Jorkens
Great Reader

Norway
2950 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  17:51:17  Show Profile Send Jorkens a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well, to me it has always seemed like they are paranoid megalomaniacs. Anything that can be a threat to them must be controlled or destroyed. No one is to be trusted. One could say that they were driven by fear.
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe

USA
527 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2007 :  18:06:14  Show Profile Send GRYPHON a Private Message  Reply with Quote
According to the Ruins of Myth Drannor...'the phaerimm desire to expand their power to rule a human surface realm without incurring the wrath of an assembled human army, a host of baatezu or Sharn, or magically-strong foes.'
Since they each spend their existence plotting against each other...doesn't seem likely, does it?

'Everyone dies...I only choose the time and place for a few.' --Eric Destler
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  00:17:34  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No it doesn't.

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)

Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 05 Dec 2007 00:18:28
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freyar
Learned Scribe

Canada
220 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  04:41:24  Show Profile  Visit freyar's Homepage Send freyar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayunken-vanzan

quote:
Originally posted by freyar

An interesting thought I had (based on physical appearance only) is that the wyste (from MM2) is a phaerimm that has been poisoned by magical pollution.

What do you think?



I don't think so. The description gives absolutely no hint which would back up this assumption. Even their appearance doesn't match the Phaerimm exactly because they lack arms.



Actually, they have seven tentacles around their mouth openings, which could be some sort of mutated arms. Since phaerimm gain claw attacks (and therefore arms) as they age, this doesn't seem like much of a stretch. The shape and size aren't bad, but I do agree that blindsight vs full vision is a bit different.

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freyar
Learned Scribe

Canada
220 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  04:43:36  Show Profile  Visit freyar's Homepage Send freyar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by GRYPHON

According to the Ruins of Myth Drannor...'the phaerimm desire to expand their power to rule a human surface realm without incurring the wrath of an assembled human army, a host of baatezu or Sharn, or magically-strong foes.'
Since they each spend their existence plotting against each other...doesn't seem likely, does it?



Kind of like a lot of beholders, sounds like. I didn't have that bit of info, thanks!

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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe

USA
527 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  12:02:38  Show Profile Send GRYPHON a Private Message  Reply with Quote
It is in the 2E boxed set...

'Everyone dies...I only choose the time and place for a few.' --Eric Destler
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nbnmare
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
205 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  12:12:10  Show Profile  Visit nbnmare's Homepage Send nbnmare a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by freyar
Kind of like a lot of beholders, sounds like. I didn't have that bit of info, thanks!


Kind of like numerous types of creature, in fact (dopplegangers spring immediately to mind).
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Matthus
Senior Scribe

Germany
393 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  12:24:43  Show Profile Send Matthus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I don’t think we will be able to understand such alien minds. All comparisons with human motivations will surly get the wrong end – at least this it what I tell me to “understand” the aberration types.

The toppling of Netheril was a reaction for destroying their homes through the enormous usage of magic from the mages above – that motivation is crystal-clear and understandable to me. As to why they started the war against Evereska there are questions left open imo.

But why they are, and what they want beyond that – this is one of the mysteries of such races .

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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe

Germany
657 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2007 :  16:55:26  Show Profile  Visit Ayunken-vanzan's Homepage Send Ayunken-vanzan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Matthus


The toppling of Netheril was a reaction for destroying their homes through the enormous usage of magic from the mages above – that motivation is crystal-clear and understandable to me. As to why they started the war against Evereska there are questions left open imo.



When they left their prison, they felt the enormous magical presence of the mythal nearby … which made them drooling …

"What mattered our lives now? When our world had been torn from us? Folk wept, or drank, or stood staring out over the land, wondering what new horror each dawn would bring."
Elender Stormfall of Suzail

"Anyone can kill deities, cause plagues, or destroy organizations. It takes real skill to make them live on."
Varl

FR/D&D-Links 2ed Downloads
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