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Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore
Denmark
1093 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Nov 2014 : 01:02:56
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Originally posted by Markustay
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolai Withander
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Originally posted by Dennis
There’s always two sides of a coin. Some call him an epic fail, while others laud him for his intentions, if not his means. I’m more somewhere in between. I admire, however, his sheer genius, likely superior to any archwizard living or otherwise, human or nonhuman.
Even Ioulaum? I seem to remember him being pretty darn intelligent as well!
I think the main difference between Karsus and the other Uber-Archwizards (Ioulaum, Larloch, Aumvor, The Chronomancer, etc) is that the rest of them took the slow-and-steady route to power, and Karsus, because of his youth, was more of a 'shooting star' - he acquired his power too easily, and before he had the maturity to use it wisely.
I like you call omeone more than 300 years old young!  |
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SaMoCon
Senior Scribe
USA
403 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2014 : 05:31:52
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Originally posted by Nicolai WithanderI like you call omeone more than 300 years old young!
That, and there is the saying, "wisdom comes with age but often age comes alone." The elves are some of the longest lived things on Toril with their high mages being some of the eldest of the eldest and yet that genocidal group has created some of the greatest disasters and the longest lived scars on the planet than anything and anyone else. Even the phaerimm pale in significance to this elite (and elitist) few.
I was thinking about the stories of Icarus and, the likely inspiration of the Icarus legend, Phaethon. Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus who created the wings of wax & feather and instructed Icarus to neither fly too high nor too low. Phaethon was the son of the sun god and was granted a wish but was dramatically warned that taking the chariot of the sun for a trip across the sky is likely to be fatal and offered a mulligan on the request. These were tales of the young and daring but also short-sighted and uncomprehending. Is Karsus relegated to this side of lore? The history does not support that, as has been detailed in just this thread.
If common knowledge says that Karsus hubris caused Netheril's fall, uncommon knowledge says that Karsus challenged Mystryl, and obscure knowledge says that Karsus was unprepared for handling the upkeep of the weave (DCs 10, 15, and 20 Knowledge History according to the Lost Empires of Faerun, pg 100, Table 6-1) then the name Karsus and his deeds are more commonly known, especially anywhere the Netherese Diaspora may have spread. The story, that is the more interesting tale. The Filk Songs "Do Virgins Taste Better (Than Those Who Are Not)" and "The Dragon's Retort" take up the cliche of fantasy heroes having to rescue virginal maidens from evil dragons and tells the story from the point of view of both the peasants and the dragon without a care given to the heroes, the nobles, or the maiden. For a time there was a Cult of Karsus so there must have been a reason the guy was so popular in the immediate aftermath of Netheril's destruction. Even a novice read-in of history (4 ranks of Knowledge History at 1st level in accordance with the 3e rules) grants a 50/50 chance to know that Karsus vied for power with the Goddess Mystryl resulting in both of them being snuffed. Thee is a lot of room to swing a story like that. |
Make the best use of the system that's there, then modify the mechanics that don't allow you to have the fun you are looking for. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2014 : 15:25:39
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Originally posted by Nicolai Withander
I like you call someone more than 300 years old young!
Perhaps in the end, but it is a fact that he was a 'prodigy', and that magic came to him very easily (I have some theories about that) at a young age. Because he never had to work hard for it, as others did, he never attained the level of maturity needed to weild that amount of power..
Have you ever met or seen someone 'born to money'? Same thing - they are completely clueless about how the real world works. It doesn't matter how old they get - they have no sense of self-control, because they've never had to deal with consequences. |
"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 15 Nov 2014 15:26:02 |
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Karsus: the Hero
