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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 13:57:14
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From the Sage -
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The following is something I wrote in response to a question a scribe from Candlekeep asked me several days ago. I'm posting it here, as some of scribes may be able to make use of the information as well -
Bringing them [that is, the Githyanki] into an FR campaign shouldn't be too hard. However, unless you want to play a very strange githyanki, you should think carefully about why he or she is there.
Considering they live on the Astral Plane, where time has no business, they need to go someplace with normal time to mate and grow. This is why they have special camps, usually on many Prime worlds, where githyanki are born and raised and trained.
If one of these camps was raided, most likely by githzerai, a single lost survivor might be left, and be raised by friendly people that came across it and end up your PC.
Githyanki raised by their own race are extremely xenophobic and elitist. They wouldn't hang around with lesser beings more than necessary. There should be some good reason, like a plot to kill illithids, githzerai, work on dominating/eradicating all other races, searching for an artifact of importance, etc.
As for the lich-queen, that's just the way things are. That's the way things have been for a damn long while. The idea of not giving you life to the Queen is so alien to most githyanki that they can't contemplate it (there have been exceptions throughout the eons, of course). In 2e it was 12th level, if I recall correctly.
On the other hand, I believe the Queen doesn't explicitly state that she drains their life-force. I think it's more along the lines of 'great reward and they are never seen among the normal githyanki again' explanation.
Worshipping gods isn't a part of their natural being. The githyanki have their Witch-Queen, and a racial agreement with Tiamat, which is why they can call on red ragons as allies. If any githyanki became a priest, it would be of Tiamat.
Tempus, is too nice to be a githyanki god. All he is concerned about is battle. While battle is impportant to githyanki, they have goals beyond it. Tempus would be a mindless warmonger, not worthy of devotion.
Shar is too human by far. And why would they want to limit themselves to her? The power granted by the Shadow Weave might be nice, but in all likelyhood, they would lose the ability to call on red dragons, and that isn't worth it by far.
Lastly, githyanki are not so much worshippers as followers. The fact that their queen is treated like a god is more that she is the leader of the entire race, the one who plans their conquests and strategies to lead the githyanki to glory.
They are not as individualistic as their distant cousins the githzerai, but they are still reluctant to submit themselves to other powers not of their own kind.
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
Edited by - Lady Kazandra on 15 Apr 2004 13:57:51
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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 14:02:05
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A little more from the Sage -
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Now, what the nature of the pact is between the Witch-Queen, and Tiamat, no one knows, except of course Vlaakith and Tiamat.
And, if she's still alive, Gith. Though I have a theory that Gith was given to the illithid god Ilsensine and implanted with a divine tadpole to become Maanzekorian, the illithid god of knowledge. Only with Maanzekorian's death did Gith's soul finally become free.
Like I said previously, Githyanki are unlikely to worship gods because of their intense racial loyalty to their queen, because they resist anything else that inhibits their independence, and because they come from the Astral Plane, where the corpses of dead gods are there for everyone to see and even build fortresses on. It's hard to think that much of Bane when you built your house on his head.
On the other hand, if the githyanki did build a fortress on the corpse of Bane, what would they think when he came back to life? Is Bane's corpse still there, or did it disappear when the god emerged from the body of his son? Maybe they're looking for revenge against the god that took their home away, or maybe they've become obsessed with the idea that Bane is still dead, and attempt to prove that the god that claims to be him is an imposter.
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6646 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 14:51:34
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Githyanki already exist in the Realms thanks to two sources. The original Ol' Grey Box had a githyanki corpse turn up in the Dalelands (DMs Sourcebook) which might indicate a githyanki presence there. A more concrete reference can be found thanks to Eric Boyd - Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, p.86 which notes a githyanki enclave in the old dwarven sub-realm of Torglor - once part of Deep Shanatar.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 14:58:05
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I'm sure the Sage was already aware of those references. As far as I know, these postings are simply alternate suggestions he made in regards to the type of question he was asked. I would think that they should only be seen as possible additions to bringing the Githyanki into an FR game. DM's should also look to the sources suggested by George Krashos.
In the end, it's all useful Realmslore  .
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
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martynq
Seeker
United Kingdom
90 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 15:51:47
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I have a feeling that githyanki also made an appearance in the final part of the Marco Volo trio of adventures. I don't have the books in front of me, so cannot confirm off the top of my head quite which forest in the Dalelands they were found it (Spiderhaunt or Cormanthor, I think?).
[Must remember to log onto this site more often from home!]
Martyn |
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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 16:11:10
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Does anyone else have any information about the Githyanki in the final Marco Volo adventure?. I'd check, but I remember the Sage saying he doesn't have those three modules.
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 17:14:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Lady Kazandra
Does anyone else have any information about the Githyanki in the final Marco Volo adventure?. I'd check, but I remember the Sage saying he doesn't have those three modules.
Yup, there's a bunch of githyanki in that module. They are serving the intelligent artifact The Dragonking's Eye. |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2066 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2004 : 21:16:08
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| It's not as "official", but githyanki were brought into "The North" (now the Silver Marches) in a old Dungeon adventure (1e?) about finding a silver sword and the consequences that ensue. I think this could be integrated with the Dungeon #100 /Dragon #__ stuff entitled "Incursion". |
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http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2004 : 10:23:41
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From the Sage -
quote:
That's a great suggestion Mr Boyd, thank you. Although I have the 'Incursion' adventure from Dungeon #100, I've spent a lot of time trying to find the best way to incorporate it into my existing campaign.
I've always like the principle behind the silver swords, ever since I first read about them in Manual of the Planes 2e.
Oh and, I believe the corresponding Dragon issue was #309
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
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Bringing Githyanki into FR
