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jordanz
Senior Scribe
553 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Feb 2016 : 05:49:51
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Hi all. What would you say was the largest mass assemblage of Mystical and/or Divine /Psionic power in history of the Realms? Not counting Divine beings?
The great invocation (or was it "devastation")?
Various Battles of Myth Drannor?
Something else?
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Owesstaer
Acolyte
Luxembourg
30 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2016 : 06:55:06
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To me, Karsus' Folly would be the first that springs to mind.
Or as I happen to be doing some research on theses subjects at the moment: some elven High Magic Ritual like the Dark Disaster or the Descent of the Drow?
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eeorey
Seeker
Bulgaria
96 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2016 : 11:45:11
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There were over 40 000 casters when that one city on the Moonsea was destroyed, I can't remember what it was called at the moment... Northwatch? They did summon Gruumsh who is a divine power, but even without that... 40 000.
The giant wave that destoyed Jhaamdath, the imprisonment of Calim and Memnon (those two fighting by themselves as well) and the fist sundering are right there with the two mentioned above cases of High Magic.
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jordanz
Senior Scribe
553 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2016 : 16:08:59
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quote:
Originally posted by eeorey
There were over 40 000 casters when that one city on the Moonsea was destroyed, I can't remember what it was called at the moment... Northwatch? They did summon Gruumsh who is a divine power, but even without that... 40 000.
The giant wave that destoyed Jhaamdath, the imprisonment of Calim and Memnon (those two fighting by themselves as well) and the fist sundering are right there with the two mentioned above cases of High Magic.
They summoned Gruumsh himself or an avatar? |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2016 : 01:19:20
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Northkeep's destruction is pretty high on my list too...especially considering the fact that they were likely lower level humanoids!
The fall of Myth Drannor wasn't all that much of a cataclysmic event as far as magic goes...it was more worn out.
I would dare say that a great many would think that the Nar/Raumathar conflicts were pretty damn serious...especially with the summoning of such worthies as Eltab and etc. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6351 Posts |
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Bulak
Acolyte
Netherlands
26 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2016 : 11:25:54
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The 'witness report' states Gruumsh thrust his spear down from the heavens to destroy Northkeep, which could mean the orc god literally appeared in the clouds and threw his weapon down to the city, but I read that as an enormous (unnatural) thunderstrike or something similar that was 'summoned' by this divine ritual on a grand scale.
So I would say they didn't quite summon gruumsh (or an avatar of Gruumsh). It's more like they 'summoned' the wrath of Gruumsh. I.E. they cast a very powerful miracle.
As for the assemblage of power: the 40,000 were led by their religious leaders to conduct this ritual, but the majority were normal warriors, as far as I know. Considering that, I would say the hundreds of elven High Mages responsible for the Sundering trump them in magical power. Their spell's effect was a lot more impressive than the destruction of one city. |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6351 Posts |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2016 : 16:56:25
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Off the top, I would count the largest concentration of magic in their year:
The creation of feyportals or planar shortcuts such as the Trail of Mists, by woodland fey, elves and gnomes (although I tend to think these are more likely to be coaxed from the planes with more gentle magics, taking years to complete the proces and thereby limiting the amount of raw magic needed)
The arrival of some interloper races, fiends or dieties (examples: the Dragonfall, arrival of Sun Elves, Mountain Dwarves, Mountain Orcs, Tyr (Valigar), the Curse of Yeenoghu)
Creation of Nether Scrolls
The shattering of Mershaulk, the World Serpentgod, into a multitude of snake aspected dieties with differing agendas
The installing of the Godswall by the Imaskari
The first attempts of spelljamming by certain races
The attempted destruction of the King Killer Star by the dragons, resulting in the creation of the Tears of Selûne.
The Sundering (and creation of Evermeet)
Various epic spells cast during the Crown Wars (such as the Dark Disaster, killing mists resulting in the destruction of the Miyeritari realms and the creation of the High Moors; or the Descent of the Drow the multiversal curse creating the drow)
The spells cast to shear off, topple and lift mountains to create the Netherese Flying Enclaves
The wars between Netheril and the Phaerimm, creating the Anauroch
The destruction of the Giant Empires, the Tearfall (creating the sea of Fallen Stars)
The casting of 'Karsus Folly'
The destruction of Jhaamdath by high magic summoned Tsunami
The Conflagration, during the wars between the Nar demonbinders and Raumathari battlemages
The sealing of the Dgen of Calimshan
The wars between the Thayan Zulkirate and Aglarond
The sealing of Hellgate Keep with the Gatekeeper Crystal
The creation of Rhymantiin (in the Blackstaff novel)
The start of the Shadow Storm by Sharran cults and the Netherese
The creation of Dun Thaross (druidic citadel)
The reversal of the taint of Wendonai from Miyeritari blooded drow, by drow of the Dark Promenade
The creation of Dread Rings, the binding of Bane (Szass Tam is one powerful lich)
The stand of Tyr against a demonic invasion in the North somewhere after the Spellplague
The raising of Xxiphu out of the Sea of Fallen Stars
The summoning of The Great Rains, refilling the Sea of Fallen Stars at the end of the 15th century
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My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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jordanz
Senior Scribe
553 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2016 : 23:38:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind
Off the top, I would count the largest concentration of magic in their year:
The creation of feyportals or planar shortcuts such as the Trail of Mists, by woodland fey, elves and gnomes (although I tend to think these are more likely to be coaxed from the planes with more gentle magics, taking years to complete the proces and thereby limiting the amount of raw magic needed)
The arrival of some interloper races, fiends or dieties (examples: the Dragonfall, arrival of Sun Elves, Mountain Dwarves, Mountain Orcs, Tyr (Valigar), the Curse of Yeenoghu)
Creation of Nether Scrolls
The shattering of Mershaulk, the World Serpentgod, into a multitude of snake aspected dieties with differing agendas
The installing of the Godswall by the Imaskari
The first attempts of spelljamming by certain races
The attempted destruction of the King Killer Star by the dragons, resulting in the creation of the Tears of Selûne.
The Sundering (and creation of Evermeet)
Various epic spells cast during the Crown Wars (such as the Dark Disaster, killing mists resulting in the destruction of the Miyeritari realms and the creation of the High Moors; or the Descent of the Drow the multiversal curse creating the drow)
The spells cast to shear off, topple and lift mountains to create the Netherese Flying Enclaves
The wars between Netheril and the Phaerimm, creating the Anauroch
The destruction of the Giant Empires, the Tearfall (creating the sea of Fallen Stars)
The casting of 'Karsus Folly'
The destruction of Jhaamdath by high magic summoned Tsunami
The Conflagration, during the wars between the Nar demonbinders and Raumathari battlemages
The sealing of the Dgen of Calimshan
The wars between the Thayan Zulkirate and Aglarond
The sealing of Hellgate Keep with the Gatekeeper Crystal
The creation of Rhymantiin (in the Blackstaff novel)
The start of the Shadow Storm by Sharran cults and the Netherese
The creation of Dun Thaross (druidic citadel)
The reversal of the taint of Wendonai from Miyeritari blooded drow, by drow of the Dark Promenade
The creation of Dread Rings, the binding of Bane (Szass Tam is one powerful lich)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_bc0xyFjrE
The raising of Xxiphu out of the Sea of Fallen Stars
The summoning of The Great Rains, refilling the Sea of Fallen Stars at the end of the 15th century
Wow thank you sir....would love to see some of the events from above flesh out. My biggest attraction to al this is the lore, it's just so interesting to me
The 2 that most interest me are :
The stand of Tyr against a demonic invasion in the North somewhere after the Spellplague
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The destruction of the Giant Empires, the Tearfall (creating the sea of Fallen Stars)
So Tyr left the upper plains to get offed on the prime? I must know more!!!
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1265 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2016 : 00:31:07
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Oops - my first reply was related to the avatar trilogy--divine beings involved.
What about when Mother Baenre destroyed House Oblodra in 1358? Some epic energies involved here. |
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3802 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2016 : 00:35:08
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I thought Tyr was slain while standing against a fiendish invasion of the upper planes... he couldn't have died on the prime--deities can't be killed like that  |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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Bulak
Acolyte
Netherlands
26 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2016 : 12:35:56
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
Whereas I usually take excerpts like that to be nothing more than propaganda.
Either the humans wanted to diminish the achievement of the orcs by making out the had to cheat and summon a gods power to destroy the city. Or the orcs were claiming their gods were more powerful than the humans therefore the orcs are more powerful. In reality though it is similar to claims in the bible.
So the orcs attacked north keep riding on the backs of dragons to get there. There was a massive fight and the island collapsed during it. I doubt there were 40,000 spell casters there, the proportion of spell casters in human populations is low so I would imagine it is similar or even lower in orcs. Then the average Orc is going to be of significantly lower level than a human because of their shorter lifespan and heightened aggression.
More likely there were a few hundred shamans from the few hundred clans north of the moonsea and many others watched. What spell they worked may have been nothing more than a lightning storm that was unrelated to the island sinking
I agree, although I’d say it only makes sense as orc propaganda. Acknowledging the orcs managed to get help from their deity doesn’t diminish the orcs’ achievement. Human version: Northkeep was fine holding the besieging army at bay until the weather (or an earthquake or whatnot) achieved what the orcs themselves couldn’t.
Still, if the casters among the orcs used divine magic to create a lightning storm, they could claim it was the Wrath of Gruumsh. Just like my cleric of Mystra could call every healing spell he casts a Blessing of Mystra. The orcs may well have truly believed their own propaganda.
quote:
Originally posted by jordanz
The destruction of the Giant Empires, the Tearfall (creating the sea of Fallen Stars)
It’s not clear what actually happened, but some kind of disaster hit Abeir-Toril. It seems most likely that a large meteor struck the surface and the crater eventually became the Sea of Fallen Stars.
A lot of dragon eggs hatched relatively soon after the event.
(Tearfall is described as dragon eggs raining down on Toril like meteors in old giant legends. Assuming there giants are wrong, but did actually witnessed a meteor shower: perhaps small meteors accompanied the huge one that created the Sea of Fallen Stars, or bits broke off of the big one.)
Eventually, war erupted between dragons and giants, and the giant empires / kingdoms were destroyed.
In my mind Tearfall is the Faerûnian version of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater. |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2016 : 12:38:30
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Aye, Irennan. You might be right. Tyr took that stand on the "upper realms" according to the 4e FRCG. I interpreted that to be somewhere in the North Realms, but it's more likely it was during the demonic invasion of Mount Celestia (also described in the Empyrean Odyssey, which focused more on the planar breakdown of Celestia; the chaos in the orderly Halls of Requisitions and the High Courts of the Triads domains).
Gonna check The Crystal Mountain the third book in the series, if I can find any more details. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2016 : 13:43:17
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Alass, I couldn't find a description of Tyr's stand in the book.
It did detail the demonic invasion and collapse of the Halls of Justice. This and his dramatic ordeal with Helm over Tymoras heart led to Tyr losing faith in himself and abdicating his godhood to Torm so he could make a stand against the limitless hordes at the Battle of Deepbark Hollow, up to the point where Bahamuts legions decided to bolster the Triads defensive forces and end the invasion. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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Shadowsoul
Senior Scribe
Ireland
705 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2016 : 20:10:07
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| Don't forget the Necklace of Ulutiu creating the Great Glacier. |
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
#8213; J.R.R. Tolkien
*I endorse everything Dark Wizard says*. |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2016 : 03:18:01
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| The sundering had a chapter in Elaine's Evermeet novel, if you want to read the "flushed out" description of that event. |
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Topic |
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Largest Mass assemblage of power in the Realms?
