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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Dec 2007 : 00:20:45
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HI all,
Just wondering, where can I go to find some lore on the Lady of Plagues, Talona?
By "lore" I mainly mean stories and such, but I'd also like some gaming material about her, like Prestige Classes, magics used by her cult, magic items, related monsters and such, etc.
For instance, I saw a lot in the book Libris Mortis that could go well with Talona, ranging from the Angel of Decay (very powerful undead that literally leaves a trail of sickness behind it) to the 'Mother Cyst' Feat, which sounds like something she'd give her worshippers as a 'reward'.
Any further information would be helpful, thanks.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2007 : 00:34:26
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Faiths & Avatars would be your best bet, thinks I. The 2E deity trilogy (the other books were Powers & Pantheons and Demihuman Deities) was full of wonderful lore on the deities of the Realms, and those books remain some of the best Realms material we've ever had.  |
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Lodis Knight
Acolyte
16 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2007 : 11:02:47
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The novels Lady of Poison and Venom's Taste. The latter deals more with Yuan-ti, though.
For gaming materials I would suggest the Unapproachable East. Serpent Kingdoms has some snippets about Talona as well.
Oh and the Cancer Mage prestige class from the BoVD seems like a good fit for Talona worshipers. "They revel in filth, disease, and decay."  |
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Shilo99
Seeker
63 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 14:42:41
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Hi Ardashir,
2e has a number of snippets about Talona, with a fair bit of detail in Faiths & Avatars, as Wooly Rupert mentioned, about there roles as plague bearers, quarantine officers, poison dealers etc. (It's still probably the best Realms supplement ever produced). Not so much in the 3e Faiths & Pantheons. She seems to have always been more prevalent in the South (warmer climes more susceptible to plague, maybe).
Most refs to Talona are through her role in bringing about/ending plagues throughout history, e.g. the Empire Plague, around -374 DR (Year of Shattering), the plague of 1150 DR (Year of the Scourge).
Also note the impact of Talona in the downfall of Asram (Netherese survivor state), in -33 DR: “Asram is devastated by a plague sent by Talona to gain more worshipers…Asram falls victim to a plague, from which there are no survivors.” See FR13 Aauroch, and presumably Grand History of the Realms.
She’s also the bad god in the Cleric Quintet, as I recall.
Plenty of detail about her in Unapprochable East, in her guise as the Rotting Man, playing havoc with the environs of the Great Dale through her Talontar Blightlords (PrC), blightspawn, subservient volodni (pine folk) etc. Like how many gods are represented in that region, it’s a refreshingly different take to the rest of the realms. All the rotting refs remind me a lot of Moander, so you could draw parallels/relationships here if you wanted.
S |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 18:03:57
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| Don't forget the Talona/Kipputyo war. Hm . . . I might have to delve into some musing on what Kipputyo was like before Talona offed her and took her mantle as well. Not to mention the fact that she seems to be stepping on the toes of Moander/Finder/Lolth when it comes to rot, filth, and corruption in the Unapproachable East. |
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Ranak
Learned Scribe
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2008 : 04:59:32
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If you have the time, you might want to check out the novel Lady of Poison as well.
quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
HI all,
Just wondering, where can I go to find some lore on the Lady of Plagues, Talona?
By "lore" I mainly mean stories and such, but I'd also like some gaming material about her, like Prestige Classes, magics used by her cult, magic items, related monsters and such, etc.
For instance, I saw a lot in the book Libris Mortis that could go well with Talona, ranging from the Angel of Decay (very powerful undead that literally leaves a trail of sickness behind it) to the 'Mother Cyst' Feat, which sounds like something she'd give her worshippers as a 'reward'.
Any further information would be helpful, thanks.
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 15:59:53
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I'm ashamed that I forgot about this thread.  Thank you all for your words of advice concerning the Mother of Plagues.
BTW, isn't Talona supposed to be 'the' most frightening deity among the Chondathans, due to a horrible plageu she released among them right before Sembia and the Dales broke away from Chondath proper? I seem to remember something like that from Races of Faerun. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 16:07:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
I'm ashamed that I forgot about this thread. Thank you all for your words of advice concerning the Mother of Plagues.
BTW, isn't Talona supposed to be 'the' most frightening deity among the Chondathans, due to a horrible plageu she released among them right before Sembia and the Dales broke away from Chondath proper? I seem to remember something like that from Races of Faerun.
I don't know if that's true, but it would make sense to me. |
"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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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 18:09:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
I'm ashamed that I forgot about this thread. Thank you all for your words of advice concerning the Mother of Plagues.
BTW, isn't Talona supposed to be 'the' most frightening deity among the Chondathans, due to a horrible plageu she released among them right before Sembia and the Dales broke away from Chondath proper? I seem to remember something like that from Races of Faerun.
You probably mean, 75 DR Year of the Clinging Death (it's in Vilhon Reach). Talona isn't directly blamed.
The speculation is that she originates from the War of Light & Darkness as Disease, enemy of Chauntea particularly. Her presence in the Barrens of Doom & Despair probably means she was somehow bound there cause otherwise the plane she would create would be much more lushful. So she isn't connected with decay directly, which is Moander, but something like ''nature out of bounds'', ''too much life'' and similar. |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 14:52:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
BTW, isn't Talona supposed to be 'the' most frightening deity among the Chondathans, due to a horrible plageu she released among them right before Sembia and the Dales broke away from Chondath proper? I seem to remember something like that from Races of Faerun.
IIRC, Venom's Taste by Lisa Smedman picks up on this tiny bit of lore/history but mostly as a part of the background story of the main caracter Arvin. His mother died of the Mussum's plauge that spread in that region (city of Mussum) centuries ago, when she was out adventuring/exploring in that particular region. |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
Edited by - Ergdusch on 04 Jul 2008 14:54:07 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2008 : 21:29:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Ergdusch
IIRC, Venom's Taste by Lisa Smedman picks up on this tiny bit of lore/history but mostly as a part of the background story of the main caracter Arvin. His mother died of the Mussum's plauge that spread in that region (city of Mussum) centuries ago, when she was out adventuring/exploring in that particular region.
Just for the purpose of clarity, she did not die "centuries ago". I know you didn't mean to type that, but it reads like that. |
"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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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2008 : 21:50:43
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Hmmm... I don't know a lot about Talona, other then the interesting few bits about her 'war' with Kiputtyo - which ended in the southern Anauroch/Stonelands/Goblin marshes/Tunlands region.
There seems to have been two cities involved - it appears it came down to those two cities in the end (where each of the two goddesses was worship primarily in one), and it didn't end too well for either city (they worshipped Disease, after all).
Not a whole lot of detail there, and there were also two cities in the two Tunlands swamps that appear to be originally Batrachi that I have often mused were later occupied by others and were in fact the two cities involved in that little 'dispute'. Nothing concrete there - just some conjecture of mine given the proximity and similar stories of their downfall (LONG after the Batrachi were already gone). Plus disease = swamps = Batrachi... it's a pretty easy connection to make.
I never really connected Talona with the 'venomous' aspect before, but now that this thread has me 'musing' down that road, I wonder if it's Talona who will get rolled in core's Zehir (although I'm still putting my money on Set). Perhaps it will turn out that both will be one and the same in 4e - it would make some sense - Talona could just be Set's alias amongst non-Mulan humans.
Keeping in mind that 4e isn't equating deities with races the way earlier editions did. |
"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 Jul 2008 21:51:50 |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jul 2008 : 20:55:27
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| I've heard that there is some lore about Talona and a cult of her in the 'Cleric Quintett', esp. in the first book of that series. |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2008 : 05:55:03
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The Complete Book of Necromancers, which is linked to Zakhara but is not considered Realms canon (by Hasbro, for what their opinion is worth!), has a section on the worship of a plague deity and describes a clerical kit (it would be a prestige class nowadays) devoted to worshiping the same.
It's just my opinion, but I consider Complete Book of Necromancers one of the five or so best books ever written for D&D, at least among those which I have read. Kurtz knew whereof he wrote, and with a few deity name changes the setting described could be dropped straight off the coast of Zakhara with no other modifications.
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2008 : 22:29:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Ergdusch
I've heard that there is some lore about Talona and a cult of her in the 'Cleric Quintett', esp. in the first book of that series.
That's true--followers of Talona are involved there. |
"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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Lore of Talona
