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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Jan 2017 : 18:09:42
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As part of my project to import the Nentir Vale on my next Neverwinter campaign, I'm working in a background for the Vale (mostly, just adapting the Vale lore to the Realms). Hope this is the right section for doing this. As English isn't my native tongue I apologize beforehand for any grammatical errors you may find.
Feel free to give me your opinions (the only lore I know of the area comes from the Neverwinter Campaign Setting, so any expanded lore you may want to add to this is welcomed), correct my horrible English and/or throw at me rotten tomatoes (?)
History of the Nentir Vale
The Age of Elves
(–22900 DR to –1100 DR)
Old legends from the dawn ages tell of a time when this land was a great forest that had little to fear from the dragons of old, because Malorunth the Eternal Ash, a powerful treant archfey, extended its protection across the entire region. The eladrin of Illefarn built a prison in the mountains of this forest, to sequester the most dangerous prisoners and criminals of the Crown Wars. The Winterguard, an order of swordmages from that long-lost realm remained true to their original mandate, even after the fall of the elven realm, thought they eventually began to recruit members among the humans and other demihuman tribes who lived in the forest to replenish their numbers.
After the Crown Wars, a few elves abandoned Illefarn in self-imposed exile and settled in the southern region of the great forest, the land now known as the Kryptgarden Forest (although locals call it Harken Forest, and elves call it Windsong Forest). They founded various settlements in what is known today as the Spiderhaunt Thicket. A handful of elves quickly developed a strong connection to the forest's primal spirits and became the land's first druids. Over the centuries, the druids became wholly attuned to the forest's needs and became known as Harken's Heart, named after its symbolic position in the great wooded land. Many of the forest other elf residents came to view Harken's Heart with a growing combination of distaste, disapproval, and fear, believing that the druids' obsession with the primal power drawn from the ancient wood was unnatural.
Alas, the time of the forest came to an end. One spring evening, Malorunth inexplicably fell silent, withered leaves falling in droves from his brittle, petrified branches. With Malorunth's passing so too fell the forest's protective mantle. Scores of dragons infiltrated the woodland, triggering the first of several titanic confrontations between wyrm and treant. When the so-called War of Endless Branches finally ended, the great wood stood divided. But even though dragons had razed large swaths of woodland, it was festering suspicion and doubt that ultimately divided the treant clans. With little evidence to back their claims, some deciduous treants openly blamed the conifers for the Eternal Ash's demise. Soon, heated words bred violence, and civil war engulfed the forest.
When the deciduous treants declared war on the conifers, the Harken's Heart lent their aid to the deciduous treants with such zeal that many began to see them as dangerous, even other druid sects. The treant fellowship ripped apart, creating a deep rift that endures still. In the wake of the treant civil war, most conifers migrated into the northern wood, known today as the Neverwinter Wood, or locally as the Winterbole Forest. Reaffirming suspicions of their betrayal, the Winterbole treants turned their veneration to the goddess Auril. The deciduous treants continue to revere Malorunth to this day, whose petrified trunk stands enshrined in the heart of Harken Forest. Harken treants cling to the belief that the Eternal Ash will return to them, but only if his murder is avenged.
And so, with the forest divided, the region came to be known as the Nentir Vale.
After the war ended, a powerful druid named Eyton cursed the Harken's Heart druids, severing them from their primal power source. Angered by Eyton's actions, yet fearing his great power, the Harken's Heart druids appealed to the goddess Mielikki for aid. The goddess heard their prayers, but she partially acceded to their pleas. She altered their curse—now known as the Harken's curse—to affect them only if they were outside of the Harken Forest.
By the time Illefarn divided into three independent realms, including Iliyanbruen (where Neverwinter Wood now stands), the relevant humanoid group of the Nentir Vale were the Tigerclaw barbarians. They claim to be direct descendants of the primal spirit Hunter of Winter, a powerful sabertooth tiger. As the lorekeepers tell it, the barbarian chieftain Hota Swiftstripe was hunting near a glacier when he encountered the spirit and both battled, until Hota won. Hota didn't killed the beast, however, and for that he was blessed by Hunter of Winter, who transformed him into a shifter. All the Tigerclaw's shifters believe themselves to be Hota's descendants.
The ancestors of the orcs that are known today as the Bloodspear Clan defeated the ancient iron dragon Kulkoszar and established themselves in the Stonemarch, while the human tribes of the Eastern Valley, in the Old Hills, founded the city of Andok Sur, a necropolis dedicated to the demon prince Orcus, where the barbarians interred their enemies while still alive. Eventually, the vampire lord Zarguna turned Andok Sur into a vibrant City of the Dead, and gained control of almost the entire eastern region of the Nentir Vale. The gods saw Andok Sur as a threat to the natural world—a threat they could not abide. At the height of the city’s power, a great earthquake rocked the Old Hills and the City of the Dead fell into the earth and was buried to be forgotten by time and history.
Humanoids of this age also built the Temple of Yellow Skulls as a place to worship the Princes of Elemental Evil. Eventually, rakshasas followers of a being from other world, known only as the Elder Elemental Eye, conquered the place and re-purposed it to their needs. A rakshasa wizard bound several powerful demons to golden skulls he hid in the temple, earning the temple its name. Eventually, followers of the gods of good and law attacked the temple and killed all of its inhabitants. They sealed the temple and eventually it was forgotten.
The Time of Dwarves and Humans
(–1100 DR to 180 DR)
The empire of Netheril only constructed a few settlements in the Nentir Vale and all of them eventually were completely forgotten. Valthrun's Tower (located in what is known today as Winterhaven) is believed to have been built around this time.
There were also realms independent of the mighty empire. Among those city-states was the petty kingdom of a tiefling wizard known today as Karavakos, who had struck a pact with infernal powers for an army to defend his land from both monsters and civil war. The legion of devils came at a very reasonable price. They would fight on his behalf and obey his orders without question. If he ever led them to defeat, however, they would abandon him and he would be cast into eternal captivity. His kingdom soon expanded across nearly all the Nentir Vale. When he tried to invade the Feywild, however, he was defeated by the lords of the fey. Invincible on the battlefields of the natural world, the devils had no such protection in other realms. Defeated, Karavakos was imprisoned by his dark masters in the Pyramid of Shadows, alongside with his eladrin consort, a princess known as Vyrellis. His kingdom disappeared soon after.
Several centuries later, after the fall of Netheril, in the depths below Thunderspire Mountain, minotaurs founded the great city of Saruun Khel. They venerated the gods of good and law, and soon their kingdom covered almost the entire central region of the Vale. But even as the followers of the gods continued to proselytize in the kingdom, agents of the demon lord Baphomet worked in secret to undermine them. Saruun Khel soon became the center of an oppressive minotaur kingdom that subjugated neighboring lands.
At the height of its power, a battle for the throne of Saruun Khel erupted into a vicious civil war. Out of anger at the minotaurs' growing devotion to the god Ghaunadaur, the demon lord Baphomet cursed them with mindless fury. The minotaurs battled one another until only a few survivors remained. Saruun Khel was abandoned and eventually forgotten.
The Era of Orcs and Wizards
(180 DR to 1302 DR)
After the end of Iliyanbruen, predominately human communities began to spread across the north, forging numerous kingdoms. Again and again, orc hordes laid waste to human settlements, only to see conquered lands retaken by humankind and its allies.
The most powerful inhabitants of the Vale at the time were a commune of dragons who lived in the Dawnforge Mountains. These dragons considered themselves rulers of the Vale and constantly raided the groups of nomadic people that were attempting to settle the land. Among them, the most dangerous was a three-headed red dragon named Calastryx.
By the year 1090 DR, the Nentir Vale was a thinly settled borderland, home to quarrelsome human hill-chieftains and remote realms of humanoids such as dwarves and elves. Monstrous demihumans plagued the area, and ruins such as those on the Gray Downs or the ring-forts atop the Old Hills date back to these days, as also do the stories of the human hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir.
That same year, the Chaos Scar, a long, wide valley was carved by the fall of a massive "meteor" (actually, an elder evil from the Far Realm named Shoth-Gorag). As the giant rock passed overhead, milk curdled, livestock fell over dead, and ill fortune befell all. The meteor crashed into the earth with deafening force, and red radiance lit the sky for a week. Then it vanished. The meteor had carved its massive gash in where once had stood a wild forest and swamp between a line of small hills—the Chaos Scar.
The meteor fell near a keep constructed by a powerful goliath sorcerer named Voran Earthmane. While Voran was lucky and survived the destruction of his keep, many of his magic items were lost. With his life's work in shambles, Voran collected those of his belongings he could find and departed for lands unknown, and his name and legacy faded into history.
The malevolent remains of the meteor began to sow seeds of wickedness, attracting those of a perverse and corruptible bent. Over the centuries, creatures of evil spirit have been drawn to this part of the Vale. A long-forgotten king erected a wall across the valley's mouth, trying to contain the threat of the Chaos Scar, with little to no success.
Sometime after the Chaos Scar was created, a group of banites discovered the heart of the meteor. Mistaking it for a gift from their tyrannical deity, they took it. Around it, high on the cliffs above the Chaos Scar, they built a small fortress temple they named Hallowgaunt, and began to be called the Brotherhood of the Scar.
It is rumored that around this time Restwell Keep was built near the Chaos Scar by a clan of dwarves, but soon they were defeated and enslaved by a hobgoblin king only known as Grim Eye. Other rumors tell that Grim Eye was the one who commissioned the Keep, the dwarves already his slaves. Whatever the truth, Grim Eye's petty kingdom didn't last. Sometime after Grim Eye mysteriously disappeared, the blue dragon Fafnar conquered the Keep and made it his lair for a time.
In 1140 DR, Gardrin the Hammer, a paladin of Tyr, led a group of crusading knights to the Gardbury Downs and built the Gardmore Abbey, and a few months later the village of Fastormel. The knights of Gardmore Abbey launched their Crusade of Conquest and fought orcs, lizardfolk, and the minotaur remnants of Saruun Khel, killing hundreds of the monsters before establishing the abbey as a safe bastion in the north. This campaign is believed to have paved the way for the settlement of the Nentir Vale. The towns of Phandalin and Winterhaven, and the Barony of Harkenwold were founded three decades later.
As settlers (usually nobles from Waterdeep trying to create their own realms) began to conquer more territories on the Vale, the old hill clans resisted. Hopelessly outnumbered, they stood with their faithful hounds against the mighty armies of Waterdeep, even as the Tigerclaw barbarians retreated far into the northern wilderness of the Winterbole Forest. Although the hill clans fought bravely, they were annihilated in a final desperate battle upon the Gardbury Downs. Long after the battle, the hounds of the hill clans prowled the battlefields, howling over the corpses of their masters and refusing to leave their sides. The Waterdavians built a great barrow in honor of the warriors of the hill clans, and after the last of their bodies was interred, the hounds vanished. Legends of ghostly "hounds of ill-omen" became common in the subsequent years.
The dragons of the Dawnforge Mountains wiped out several of the new human settlements that were established during this time. The Waterdavian settlers sought out any who could help quell such assaults, and a dwarven thane sent a battalion of shield dwarf warriors to establish a forward operating fortress in the mountains. The dwarves named it Hammerfast.
In 1179 DR, a Neverwintan hero named Aranda Markelhay obtained a charter to build a keep at the portage of the Nentir Falls, where it is believed the legendary Vendar killed the dragon of the Nentir. She raised a simple tower at the site of Moonstone Keep, and under its protection the town of Fallcrest began to grow. Sometime after, many wealthy lords built manors and states around the town. Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city.
The struggle against the dragons ended in 1189 DR, when the War Wizard Starris sacrificed his life to place a curse on Calastryx, forcing the dragon to slumber beneath the Forgepeak Mountain. The other dragons' attacks lessened, allowing civilization in the Vale to grow. The fortress of Hammerfast became a sacred necropolis were dwarven lords and champions of Moradin were interred, and eventually a vault for dwarven treasures.
After having slaying the red dragon Pyrothenes, the Waterdavian knight Boris Zaspar founded the town of Mistwatch in the shore of Lake Wintermist. The first building raised was Widower's Watch, named at its completion for Lord Zaspar, who lost his beloved wife to sickness the first year after claiming his land. After his castle was completed, stone buildings replaced the wooden shacks and piers grew out across the water to meet the burgeoning fishing industry's needs. The crude hamlet became a thriving town, a trade partner for nearby Winterhaven, and an important stop for merchants bound north from Neverwinter, or west from Fallcrest and Harkenwold.
A few decades after, the orcs of the Stonemarch became a significant threat. After the orcs launched several attacks on Gardmore Abbey and destroyed the town of Phandalin, the knights ventured into the Stonemarch to wipe them out and put an end to the raids. It took a full century for the orcs to recover from the losses they suffered.
The knights also brought low a temple of Zehir in the depths of the Witchlight Fens (a local name for the Mere of Dead Men). However, the knights suffered devastating losses in this campaign, primarily because the cult of Zehir was so adept at recruiting converts to their faith from within the ranks of the knights, creating highly effective spies. Eventually, Zarel, the daughter of the head of the paladin order of that time, was corrupted by the Yuan-ti and transformed into a vampire.
The famed dwarf bandit Greysen Ramthane was a scourge of Waterdeep's borders for many long years. He and his coterie of thieves looted untold wealth from the city. Eventually, Waterdeep dispatched a small army that tracked Greysen to the Restwell Keep. After an extended siege, the soldiers stormed the keep and slew the bandits to a man. But what happened next became the source of countless rumors and legends. The task force's commanding officer, a half-orc named Bertak, claimed to find only a tiny portion of Greysen's stolen wealth within the keep. Stories claiming that Bertak and his cronies pocketed much of the treasure persist to this day, but others believe that Greysen's wealth is still hidden somewhere in the keep, protected by traps and mechanical guardians.
In 1200 DR, a cult of worshipers of Shar purposely created a rift to the Plane of Shadow in the Cairngorm Peaks, near the town of Winterhaven, trying to free the shadow dragon Shadraxil. The knights of Gardmore Abbey quickly destroyed the cult, sealed the opening, and built a keep to watch over the location and contain the threat. A cabal of wizards put a magical seal on the rift to prevent the shadow dragon from coming into the mortal world. This is the site known as the Keep on the Shadowfell.
Many people still tell about the folly of Lord Arrol Kalton, who raised his manor about this same year in the Witchlight Fens. Soon, however, monsters—among them the powerful black dragon Shadowmire—drove off the tenants Arrol had brought with him, and the manor was never finished. At the end, Arrol and a handful of his servants and family lived alone in a half-finished keep, slowly falling into ruin until they disappeared as well. Some believe the old Kalton fortune still lies within the ruins of the abandoned manor.
Sometime after the destruction of Kalton Manor, Shadowmire was able to establish himself as the ruler of the Witchlight Fens, subduing the inhabitants of the swamp to his will without real opposition.
The Modern Age
(1302 DR to Present)
In the earliest years of 14th century DR, the knights of Gardmore Abbey brought back from one of their crusades an ancient artifact known as the Deck of Many Things.
In 1324 DR the Ruins of Castle Inverness manifested themselves from another world in the Nentir Vale.
After the dead of Tyr, the knights of Gardmore Abbey became followers of Bahamut.
During the Spellplague, some parts of Nentir Vale were exchanged with parts of Abeir. That included the vayemniri fortress of Rolaz-Gaar. For the most part, Nentir Vale wasn't affected by the Spellplague like other regions of the Realms.
During the Wailing Years, a force of orcs from the Stonemarch, led by the orc warlord known as Nightbringer, descended on Gardmore Abbey. Aided by ogres, hill giants, and demonic embodiments of chaos, the orcs laid siege to the abbey. Rumors say the knights could have survived if it not for the folly of one person. Fearing the attackers and unable to trust in Bahamut's deliverance, the captain of the knights, Havarr of Nenlast, turned to the Deck of Many Things for aid in the siege. Havarr drew the Skull card, and scores of undead monsters emerged from the space between worlds and spread throughout the abbey, bringing terror and destruction in their wake. The walls were breached, the Stonemarch forces spilled inside, and a titanic battle among knights, undead, and orcs left the abbey in ruins. Some believe the Deck of Many Things remains in the abbey, unable to leave because the magic the paladins had placed to prevent intruders from reaching the artifact also prevented the Deck from disappearing. No one knows the truth.
The town of Kiris Dahn, built by human hands in the western lands of the Ogrefist Hills, stood strong against invaders for decades after the fall of the Abbey. It had magical stones created by tiefling artisans that could kill anyone who attacked the town. The stones were almost all spent, but protected the town against invaders for decades.
Then, in 1400 DR, chaos and ruin came to the Nentir Vale when an orc horde called Clan Bloodspear swarmed down out of the mountains to the northwest. By this time, Waterdeep power was diminished and cannot afford to sent their armies to the Vale, and without the knights and paladins of Gardmore Abbey to aid them, Fallcrest's army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears in the Gardbury Downs. The orcs burned and pillaged Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Vale, destroying all in their path until they found their match in the dwarven fortress of Hammerfast.
A champion of Gruumsh named Tarrak led the assault on Hammerfast. He swore to Gruumsh to destroy the place and loot its treasures. The Bloodspears conquered the necropolis but gained little from it. The orcs killed the priests and warriors tasked with guarding Hammerfast, but they also suffered great losses to the dwarven defenders, and Tarrak died in the assault, along with many other fanatical worshipers of Gruumsh. The dwarves' burial chambers were also riddled with traps, many empty, and only a few containing treasure. Having suffered so many losses, the Bloodspears were forced to withdrew, leaving behind a broken and battered land.
In the first decades of the 15th century, dwarves came from the south with the aim to settle in the Vale. Due to the Spellplague, the southern citadels of the dwarves were broken and in a state of chaos, and the dwarves determined that the dead had no use for a fortification such as Hammerfast. Thus, the necropolis was transformed into a city of the living. However, orcs demanded that the dwarves set aside part of the fortress for their priests, as the fortress that had claimed so many orc lives had became, in Gruumsh's single, baleful eye, into a monument to his worshipers' ferocity.
The dwarven priests beseeched the gods for guidance, and in a sacred compact struck with Moradin and Gruumsh, the town's founders agreed to respect the dead and defend their resting places in return for the right to settle here. Since then Hammerfast has grown into the largest and richest settlement in the Nentir Vale.
In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. The town became a shadow of the former city.
In 1405 DR, Sir Jerold Keegan, the commander of the forces tasked with the protection of Shadowfell Keep, slaughtered many of the keep's residents—including his own family—and them himself in a fit of madness. The keep was abandoned after that, and an earthquake a few years later collapsed the upper towers and walls, and turned the place into a ruin of tumbled stone. Sometime after, a tribe of goblins set up a lair within the subterranean chambers beneath the keep.
In 1430 DR, a group of famous explorers and warriors who operated near Hammerfast, known as the Silver Company, delved into the "ghost tower" that appeared in the ruins of Castle Inverness for the first time. The result was tragic—one of the Silver Company, a woman named Oldivya Vladistone, perished. Her husband, Salazar, continued to adventure with the Silver Company for some years, growing more despondent the longer he had to deal with his wife's death. Eventually, Salazar Vladistone sacrificed himself to save the people of Hammerfast from a dragon attack. Vladistone's spirit did not rest quietly after his sacrifice, however. He became a ghost, haunting the Nentir Vale as he made pilgrimages to the grave of his wife in the ruins of Inverness. Soon after, the deeds of the Silver Company faded into obscurity.
In 1450 DR, a pair of retired adventurers—an elf wizard named Vanamere and a human fighter named Lethion Goldenhawk—married and built a tower south of the Cloak Wood as a private residence. A few years later, the tower became an important point in the defense of the Nentir Vale, due to its strategic placement between Fallcrest, the Ogrefist Hills, and the Witchlight Fens. Then, in 1460 DR, goblins from the Ogrefist Hills and the Witchlight Fens joined forces with a clan of hill giants, and launched an attack on Vanamere’s tower. Vanamere used a ritual to summon a mighty storm, and when the monsters breached the tower, a great bolt of lightning struck its peak, causing the tower to explode. Jagged shards of rock killed most of the invaders, and the remaining monsters fled back into the hills, never to return again. What became of Vanamere no one knows. According to legend, when the lightning struck, she became one with the tower and remains trapped within its ruined walls to this day.
In 1475 DR, three wizards—Hasifir, Niame, and Samazar—discovered the ruins of Saruun Khel in the Thunderspire Mountain, while seeking reliable access to the Underdark. Accompanied by retainers, the wizards spent long months in the ruins. Among the magic items they recovered were several command amulets, which allowed them to control the bronze warders, minotaur constructs built in the city's heyday. The wizards used the bronze warders to clear the upper level of the ruins, establishing a stronghold there—the Seven-Pillared Hall, and founded the order of the Mages of Saruun. In the Seven-Pillared Hall, dwarves, duergar, drow, and other merchants of the Underdark come to trade with a few lucky merchants of the surface.
In 1479 DR, the citizens of Kiris Dahn abandoned the town when faced with invading goblin hordes, as they believed all of the slaying stones were expended at last. The town had endured a long decline under the rule of the Kiris family, and the citizens scattered rather than follow their ruler. The goblins overran the town and renamed it Gorizbadd.
In the same year, Lord Peridin Drysdale, a human paladin of Torm, launched an attack against Restwell Keep. The Keep had served as the base of operations for a band of evil adventurers known as the Six Blades of Fortune. While the Blades fought monsters in the Chaos Scar, they also preyed on other, weaker adventuring bands, and even raided a few caravans. As they were content to keep their depredations far from their base of operations, in time the keep became a small outpost of civilization. Wanderers, refugees, and other folk in search of a safe harbor settled within the keep. The Blades saw a benefit in the growing community within their walls. The taxes they collected paid the mercenaries who guarded the keep, and within few years, a small village stabilized within its walls and became a center for adventurers heading to the Chaos Scar. Despite the Blades' nature, they believed the safe harbor and profit offered by the keep was worth preserving.
In time, though, the Blades' criminal ways caught up with them. Lord Drysdale chased them after they stole a holy icon of Torm. Lord Drysdale and his followers slew four of the Blades and drove off the remaining two survivors. While he had planned to leave the keep and its inhabitants to their own devices, he saw that doing so would leave the inhabitants vulnerable without the Blades' protection. Assessing the threat posed by the Chaos Scar, he decided to remain in the keep as its new ruler. The guards and administrators who ran the village under the Blades' rule are still in place, and Drysdale plans to organize expeditions into the Scar to defeat the evil that dwells there. More than a few residents, accustomed to the old regime, resent the paladin's uncompromising push toward order and morality. As a result, Drysdale's authority is weak in the village.
The Vale Today (1490 DR)
Though the Nentir Vale is not under immediate threat of another large invasion, the area still has more than its share of monsters, evil gangs, and otherworldly dangers. Most of the communities that sprang up during the Vale's brief heyday are still present, but greatly reduced in population and influence. Between these points of light lie vast tracts of untamed land and abandoned farmsteads, ruined manors, and broken keeps, remnants of fallen civilizations. Bandits, wild animals, and monsters roam freely throughout the Vale, threatening anyone who fares more than a few leagues away from one of the surviving settlements. Travel along the roads or rivers is usually safe, but every now and then travelers come to bad ends between the towns.
Now, for the second time in its history, the Nentir Vale is a destination for those of stout heart and great prowess—adventurers who seek to turn this near-wilderness once again into a place where peaceful folk can forge a life for themselves.
This is a place in need of heroes.
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Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 27 Jan 2017 04:51:16
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2017 : 03:39:21
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Looks good - am I to assume all the Nentir Vale bits are NV canon, or is some of it yours?
If thats all NV, then I didn't know nearly as much about the setting as I had thought. 
Maybe I could bug Brian or Matt - they probably have a NV history lying around somewhere on their hard drives. |
"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 27 Jan 2017 03:40:45 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2017 : 04:19:33
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| For the moment, all is canon Nentir Vale adapted to the Realms. I had yet to post the changes to the setting made by my players (that I guess, they will happen after 1479 DR). |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Matt James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
918 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2017 : 04:44:20
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| I like this. |
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Matrix Sorcica
Seeker
Denmark
89 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2017 : 16:15:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Matt James
I like this.
Me too.
In my own campaign world, I'm mashing up the Sword Coast, the Nentir Vale and Varisia from Golarion, so this is a godsend. |
Edited by - Matrix Sorcica on 31 Jan 2017 20:12:32 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2017 : 18:03:13
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I'm working on expanded version myself, for the DM's guild. Started the timeline yesterday. There are still a couple of events in your timeline I'll have to ask you about, Zeromaru X, that I haven't found in other sources. 
Still working on the map, of course. |
"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 31 Jan 2017 18:03:34 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2017 : 20:20:24
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| Please, ask what you need. That's a project I like to be part of, lol |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 05:34:21
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I haven't completed the canon bits gleaned from the Grand History of the Realms yet, but there is a lot more orcish stuff going on in that region - once called the 'Twilit Lands' - than I had thought, which is very, very good. At least two named hordes. Thats the kind of stuff I was looking for, to better integrate everything.
I've decided to color-code the Timeline - and old idea I used in my now defunct Kara-Tur timeline, and borrowed/adapted from Bryan James' original (fanwork) GHotR. Canon FR lore will be in Black, Canon Nentir Vale Bits will be in another color (probably red), and 'merged' (non-canon) entries will be in a third color (maybe dark red).
There was another 'lost kingdom' somewhere up on the NE coast of The Realms (not the crazy dwarven one - I got that). I have Yarlith as well. I may have to go through SotM, PftM, and PftF cover-to-cover again, but that would be time-consuming. I had a compiled list of all locales from those works, but thats one of the things I lost. I've been meaning to go back through them, but I don't want to take that much more time with this project. As it is I spent all of today on research.
Maybe Krash, or even Eric, will come along and help a brother out. 
EDIT:
I haven't picked-up the 4e Neverwinter book yet, so I'm still unsure about some things - where is the part about the treants from? Is that FR, or NV? I know in FR canon dragons burned the forest and separated it, but I don't see anything about the treants in FR canon (unless its newer 4e canon from that book I still don't have).
And BTW, I'm going to be able to separate Harken and Kryptgarden, right along that path that goes off the left side on the Harkenwold Map (so the White River IS still fully within the Harken). The southern Neverwinter Wood will be called the Winterbole by Valers, as you have it above. |
"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 01 Feb 2017 06:21:55 |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 06:59:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
EDIT:
I haven't picked-up the 4e Neverwinter book yet, so I'm still unsure about some things - where is the part about the treants from? Is that FR, or NV? I know in FR canon dragons burned the forest and separated it, but I don't see anything about the treants in FR canon (unless its newer 4e canon from that book I still don't have).
The treant stuff is canon Nentir Vale. It is from the "Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale" book.
And that was... a coincidence. Because, I didn't knew the dragons burned the forest in FR canon. The dragon-treant war, and the destruction of Nentir Forest is also Nentir Vale stuff. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 01 Feb 2017 07:05:46 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 07:15:05
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Oh, cool. I thought you had already integrated those bits - neat.
quote:
Originally posted by KanzenAU
Stornanter?
Where is that from? One of those three sources I mentioned above?
Thanks for the name, BTW.
EDIT: Just found that one - had forgotten that one as well. But I don't think it was the one I was thinking of, unless Krash or Eric repurposed a name from an older source (or rather, fleshed-it-out and connected it to other lore). |
"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 01 Feb 2017 15:26:46 |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4430 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 14:58:26
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| Wow, I'm truly impressed! Thank you for the lore of the land and it's inclusion into the Realms. Consider this take and adapted instantly. Since I still play 4e heavily it allows me to keep almost all the 4e world stuff intact and add it to my Realms games seemlessly |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 15:31:06
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I've always felt Nentir Vale was worthy of being in the Realms. This particular placement isn't the best one geographically, IMO, but now that I've become enamored of it, I realize the potential it has in regards to its proximity to WotC's main focus area.
And lore-wise, it might just be a much better fit than where I had it (under the High Forest). Historically, it shoe-horns into this spot rather neatly. |
"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 01 Feb 2017 15:31:40 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 15:56:49
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The sad thing about it is that Nentir Vale was originally designed to be part of the Realms (according to Chris Perkins' tweet). But then they discarded the idea and made it an independent pseudo-setting...
BTW, any suggestions on how to transplant the Raven Queen to the Realms pantheon? She is one of my fave goddess of 4e. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 01 Feb 2017 15:58:25 |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 16:02:05
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| nice work, even though I despise the nentir vale..... |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 16:11:50
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Isn't she from the Feywild? Just leave her there, and say she has become very interested in The Forgotten Realms since the Spellplague, and is now 'making moves' to create a real foothold there.
She may have been aware of the Realms all along, and maybe even had a secret cult or two, but without permission from Ao she couldn't enter the sphere. Then Mystra gets wacked, Ao goes quiet, and all the 'rules' of Realmspace are thrown right out the window for a century. The Raven Queen sees her chance and swoops in, first establishing herself firmly in the Nentir Vale (where she already had a small cult following), and has been spreading outwrd since. When Ao reset the setting (The Sundering 2.0), he allowed her to keep what she gained, and have an official presence in The Realms (after all, it would have been very unfair to just strip her of of all her hard work).
She probably already had a few 'frenemies' within the Realms - Auril is an archfey (the Queen of Air & Darkness), and probably a rival, and Lloth is an ancient Elven deity, and I would say that her Araushnee persona WAS actually a fey orginally, and I've always felt Umberlee also made for a good (former?) archfey, because of some odd tidbits in the old Spellbound box concerning a 'long lost sea deity' (or some-such), and the fact that that region had the Yuir Totems (who were ancient fey Powers) governing it at one point (so the conclusion there is that Umberlee was that entrapped 'sea power' that has long-since gotten loose).
Not sure how she would get along with the rest of the FR pantheon, or the Seldarine, for that matter. Is both Kelemvor AND Myrkul in the 5e Realms? That could make things even more confusing, but at the same time, could be your excuse for The raven Queen (with the 'Death' portfolio split-up now, she grabbed herself a piece). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 16:16:56
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Nope, Shadowfell. Although the idea is good...
She is an ascended human (she killed Nerull and stoled his powers during the Dawn war). Then stole a few other portfolios. In fact, in the PoL setting she stole the portfolio of Fate from Lolth, so their rivalry on the Realms can be ancient.
I will work around it. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 01 Feb 2017 16:19:53 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 16:33:49
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It still works - just leave out the bits about the fey.
Still, I can see her butting heads with all three of those other female deities, and Loviatar as well (Female evil gods don't seem capable of the 'Dark Three' thing). I can see her having more cordial relations with FR's neutral and good deities.
Not sure how she would work with Shar around, especially being from the Shadowfell; Paul Kemp sort of established that Shar is THE preeminent 'Shadowy' god in one of his novels (it had to do with the size of statues at a shrine located in the Shadowfell). Although The Raven Queen didn't exist back then - from a meta-gaming viewpoint - she must have also had a statue there (it was a multispheric temple that supposedly showed all - or at least, most - of the shadow-gods).
Although, now that I am thinking about it, Mask was there as well, and it could have just been all deities from Toril - the world is a BIG place.
EDIT: I haven't read-up on her in quite some time (probably almost ten years!) - I had forgotten she was also associated with Winter. It might be best just to merge her with Auril at this point. As for the two different back-stories, thats easy, because of prior deity lore from FR - At some point in time, in the past (or maybe even right around the time of the spellplague), The Raven Queen absorbed Auril (a former Yuir Totem). If you set it back much further than that (maybe around the time of the Dawn Cataclysm or Karsus' Folly), you could even say thats when the RQ gained the 'winter' portfolio. I think that would be the neatest solution. I'm sure the FR 'purists' will rage over this now (but since we got major changes to Auril in 4e, THIS would make an ideal explanation for that).
And both names could still be in-use.
EDIT2: And I would also say that she is known as Pharasma in Golarion... which has no bearing on her FR/NV aspect, but that goddess is just so cool (and a good fit) that I would just keep that info in the back of my head. This will give her more of a 'multispheric' feel, and help explain some afterlife-weirdness we were discussing in another thread (because part of Pharasma's duties is to get the souls first, and then send them off to wherever they need to go... like Kelemvor's realm, or some other 'death god' from other parts of Toril - she just 'sorts them'). Heck - you could even lump all of these into FATE from Zakhara (which is also an excellent FR fit for Pharasma, because that goddess has 'prophesy' in her portfolio).
quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
nice work, even though I despise the nentir vale.....
Why despise?
I agree that a few parts are rather... 'iffy' (Hammerfast jumps to mind)... but the rest of it is an excellent D&D setting.
Maybe its just the heavily encounter-based nature of 4e that is getting in the way here?
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I am also adding (at least) one settlement to the map, because of the one I moved (which will all be explained at the time I have something to show - it will be more self-explanatory that way), and I would recommend (highly) using the most-excellent Darkmoon Vale material from Paizo for it - it makes for a perfect fit to Nentir Vale (every FR/NV conversion I worked on included it). I purchased all the relevant materials as package deal for a very good price - not sure if they still have that package available. |
"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 01 Feb 2017 17:12:13 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 17:33:08
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| I do not known much about Auril, and the wiki article is incomplete. In what sources she is detailed? |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 19:11:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
I do not known much about Auril, and the wiki article is incomplete. In what sources she is detailed?
The best source is the 2E book Faiths & Avatars. I would expect DriveThruRPG to have that as a pdf (my pdf copy predates that website; I bought it from Paizo, when they were selling WotC pdfs) |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4430 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2017 : 21:18:40
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| I placed the Raven Queen in my Realms and as Consort of Kelemvors. Basically her homeworld was overrun by a necromantic plague that encompassed the world and she fled it's destruction. She eventually found her way to Toril as it was phasing and shifting with another world (Abeir) and so she secretly made her way into it's Cosmos and found a small fold in the Shadowfell to call home. Unbeknownst to the Raven Queen, she took up residence close to the Foundation of Loss, Shar's old dominion and the gateway to the Towers of Night in the Astral dominion. When Shar caught word of this interloper she sent agents to destroy them. The Raven Queen fought bravely but was on the brink of destruction and her plea for aid, by anyone willing, went across the planes and was heard by someone on the Fugue Plane: Kelemvor. Swiftly Kelemvor came to her aid and rescued her in time before her quaint shelter was destroyed. He took her to the Fugue Plane to recuperate and in the time spent there, fell in in love with this dark mistress. The two were not so unalike in the matters of death and the undead, though their methods differ (with her creating things like Revenants). In the end she settled there on the Fugue Plane with Kelemvor. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6648 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2017 : 03:48:15
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I did this a long time ago: http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/history.html
You might want to go through it and see how it correlates with the history you've come up with. I'm in the process of updating it, but as I have about 4 timelines on the go at the moment, as well as other projects, that might not appear any time soon.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
Edited by - George Krashos on 02 Feb 2017 03:48:39 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2017 : 03:50:54
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| Thanks. I'll be downloading this ASAP. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2017 : 19:37:03
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| Thanks for the link, GK - I like how well-footnoted it is (are you sure you and Eric aren't related?) |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6648 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2017 : 22:07:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Thanks for the link, GK - I like how well-footnoted it is (are you sure you and Eric aren't related?)
Only by passion and a touch of Asbergers I think!
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2017 : 21:52:54
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| WotC has included Raven Queen in Unearthed Arcana as a patron for warlocks. I guess this solves my continuity problem with the canon and this Realmsian conversion: she began as a patron for warlocks on the Realms sometime after the Spellplague, and eventually became a full goddess. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 13 Feb 2017 21:57:29 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2017 : 23:06:10
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I'd personally merge her with Auril. Not a perfect fit, but the Raven Queen's lore kind of obliterates our FR lore about the afterlife, and Kelemvor.
We could always spin her as a some-time consort' of Kelemvor's - that might work. Mystra's been missing for a century, and she was none-to-cuddly with Kel before that, so I would say it works well.
I just checked the Wiki again - she has a direct connection to Nerull. That means another connection to GH. She killled him and took his stuff. Kelemvor better watch his butt, then. I'd spin her as the 'weigh station' of the afterlife (taking the place of The Fugue for FR) - she gathers ALL the souls and then sends them to their respective pantheons (Thus, Kelemvor doesn't have to bother sorting-out the people from K-T, Maztica, Zakhara, etc).
So she's redundant with Auril, redundant with kel, and also even a bit redundant with Shar (she lives in the Shadowfell). I like her a lot, but making her work with the existing pantheon is rough.
EDIT: And in case anyone missed THIS MAP from the other thread. |
"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 13 Feb 2017 23:08:21 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2447 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2017 : 23:34:31
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| Well, the new UA article depicts her as a sort of Anubis, from egiption myths. She is the in charge of overseeing that mortals die in their intended time, and to kill those who pursue false immortality (such as becoming undead). So, her role as a goddess of death is different to those of either Kelemvor (the judge of the dead), Mirkull (the god of death) and Jergal (the scribe of the dead souls). |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 13 Feb 2017 23:35:57 |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2017 : 23:41:45
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I imagine the Raven Queen as much like Kelemvor, but operating out of the Shadowfell and watching over the dead for other worlds, not Toril (because Kelemvor already does that). She'd like to gain more influence in Toril, and potentially even supplant K, but conflict with Orcus and other powers have kept her from expanding her reach. I think that balances lore nicely without having to introduce her to the Faerunian pantheon.
For a "Nentir Vale has always been on Toril" conversion, Markustay's idea works really nicely.
Edit: I think the UA lines up too closely with Myrkul's portfolio, which is why I suggested they might have the same portfolio, but on different worlds. |
Regional maps for Waterdeep, Triboar, Ardeep Forest, and Cormyr on DM's Guild, plus a campaign sized map for the North |
Edited by - KanzenAU on 13 Feb 2017 23:44:06 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2017 : 23:51:04
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Well, reading that, she almost seems a good replacement for Fate, down in Zakhara... except for the 'ice' thing. That doesn't really fit very well with a desert culture.
And if I were to write her backstory, I'd have her originating as a mortal woman (sorceress) from Raven's Bluff, who somehow found her way to Nerull's realm of Pluton, and managed to beguile him.
And, of course, she should be the patron goddess of that city now in 5e, because, ravens and stuff. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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A Realmsian Nentir Vale chronicle
