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Elsenrail
Seeker
Poland
72 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Sep 2010 : 17:30:04
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The books deals with the Far Realm invasion on reality, sort of.
I suppose it may be licencia poetica... but on page 320 Mr Cordell wrote "the wrath of beings older than Lord Ao...". When I read that, I blined in confusion. So, is the overgod actually not the first ever being?
The Far Realm exists as a concept of no time, space etc. but it surrounds the cosmos, which was created by Ao, as stated in FRCG. As far as I remeber, there were some uvuuu-something in the Far Realms mentioned as the rulers of that plane (it was in the epic level book). Their CR wasn't particuralry high.
Can anyone explain me how was the Far Realm implemented to the FR comoslogy before the 4th edition?
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Ghaunadaur
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2010 : 22:00:08
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The Far Realm was first mentioned in Cordell's The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996).
After that, the Far Realm was featured in Fiend Folio (2003) and Manual of the Planes (2001).
In 3rd Edition, it was implemented into the Eberron setting as "Realm of Xoriat".
It's loosely based on the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos and specifically "The Greater Old Ones". The Uvuudaum are the Lords of the Far Realm, vaguely humanoid beings with two arms, six spider-like legs, and an appendage with an iron spike at the end for a head.
I guess according to Cordell, abominations like the Mind Flayers, the Beholders and the Aboleths originally came into the multiverse from the Far Realm. I seem to remember though that at least the Mind Flayers had a completely different origin story that can be found in a 2nd edition product somewhere, originating from an earth-like world that you actually get to visit in a 2nd edition adventure of some sorts. Now that I think about it there might have been an article in the first edition Dragon magazine too.
According to the 4th edition Manual of the Planes, the Far Realms is “outside creation, existing in the theoretical realm of timeless infinity". The deities of FR do not exist outside time, since they can actually be killed. I don't think Ao was ever actually portrayed as a demiurg, just as "the God of the Gods", an extremely powerful being that had the power to punish the gods themself. In "Faiths and Avatars" it says: "Ao is the only Over-Power in Realmspace" and that he regards the powers of the realms as his creations. In the 3rd edition FRCG it says that Ao created the Pantheon, but it's unknown if he created the cosmology of Toril.
So I don't think that Ao is all that powerful outside Realmspace. He probably, like his creations, even exists in time and space and can actually be killed too. Would make an interesting topic for a DDI article.
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Key of Stars - confusing lore
