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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  14:54:07  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
So, in Mulhorand there's the "statues-that-walk" which are believed to be from an ancient "stone giant" civilization from "before the lizard folk".were in the region. I read that as there was a stone giant civilization in the old empires region, specifically Mulhorand, and they were eventually replaced by the Sarrukh from beneath Thay. When did this happen? Not important right now I don't think.

Skip forward to 1356 DR. Derlaunt (a god king of Mulhorand, but not an incarnation... so of the royal family, and thus "god-blooded", and a cousin to Tholaunt, a current incarnation of Thoth... of house Tholaunt).... screws up a ritual that awakens all these statues that walk at once. The statues begin wandering all throughout the old empires randomly doing "stuff" that makes no sense to anyone. How can we use this, because I don't think anything was ever officially done with this.

So, I know my first thoughts were that "stone giants" came after the sarrukh. Then I thought to myself.... what if these didn't? Abeir has a rather strange set of "stone giants" who are very rocky skinned and who are involved with dream magic. We also have in the Black Ash Plains a different kind of "stone giant" called "ash giants". What if these statues-that-walk actually come from prior to the sundering? What if Derlaunt (the mulhorandi wizard who woke them by flubbing a ritual) was tricked by Grumbar somehow and this whole thing of the statues walking around had something to do with the transfer to Abeir. Maybe somehow they were setting "cornerstones" for the transfer and Grumbar knew it was coming. Maybe even Derlaunt is a blood of Geb (maybe his mother was of the family of Geb and his father was of the family of Thoth), and Grumbar needed someone of divine blood of a power of earth to enact the statues.

Maybe the "stone giants" of this region disappeared to Abeir long ago just like how the Mulhorandi did. In fact, there may have been multiple "types" of stone giants (some looking literally like stone, some like the ash giants). Some may have remained (just like how some of the Mulhorandi did) and moved south to become the ash giants. Perhaps even the "statues-that-walk" are in fact actually some of these stone giants and not statues, and they were awakened from their sleep (so they aren't constructs at all).

Just a thought, as I don't think anything was ever officially done. It could be useful... maybe not.... what do you think?

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  15:19:27  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Im pretty sure this was explained. The statues were made by the sarrukh and derlaunt tried to activate one but accidentally activated them all. The statues then went about trying to repair the old sarrukh buildings.

I dont think we can have stone giants existing before the sarrukh because giants didnt exist until after the sarrukh were gone.

But that doesnt mean the statues themselves didny exist before the sarrukh found them and altered them. The novel blackstaff said that civilisations quite often modify and reuse the magical relics of long vanished civilisations).

So perhaps the sarrukh enslave a group of naturally occuring golem like creatures (stone with thoughts and free will) and cursed them to work for the sarrukh for all eternity.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  16:36:46  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Im pretty sure this was explained. The statues were made by the sarrukh and derlaunt tried to activate one but accidentally activated them all. The statues then went about trying to repair the old sarrukh buildings.

I dont think we can have stone giants existing before the sarrukh because giants didnt exist until after the sarrukh were gone.

But that doesnt mean the statues themselves didny exist before the sarrukh found them and altered them. The novel blackstaff said that civilisations quite often modify and reuse the magical relics of long vanished civilisations).

So perhaps the sarrukh enslave a group of naturally occuring golem like creatures (stone with thoughts and free will) and cursed them to work for the sarrukh for all eternity.



Below from FR10 Old Empires just to add some clarity around things too

Long before the coming of the lizard folk, a race of giants walked
the Realms. They were destroyed by a great plague, but during their days of glory they built many magical marvels, among which were magical warriors that fought their battles for them. These warriors would defend their monuments, of which they were extremely proud, so that no creature who came after them could destroy the memory of their race.

Of the magical warriors, the only ones that survive are the Statues-That-Walk, also known as stone colossi. Each colossus is really an extremely powerful stone golem.



So, some of the things I'll note... they were destroyed by a great plague. I'll note that in a LOT of the old works, when some great magical screwup happens, its described as a "plague". Hell, look at the most recent "spellplague". In the Jakandor series, when magic becomes infectious and starts killing off its practictioners, its also called a plague.

Or the plague could in fact be a real plague, but one which only affects rock people... maybe some weird magical affect.

The statues weren't made by the Sarrukh. I don't believe we have written up anywhere that they were repairing anything for the Sarrukh or that the Sarrukh had had any success in using them? Hell, for all we know, the Sarrukh were run out of this area by the statues (which maybe were even more powerful back then... time weakens magic and all).

We can have "stone giants" before the "Sarrukh", just like how in the above "Sarrukh" are referred to as "lizard folk". Essentially, if there were "large stone people", then they were "stone giants".

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
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Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  16:50:13  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Giants and dragons probably DID pre-exist the Creator races, but this would have been of the 'Greater' (Planer/Celestial) variety, and not the terrestrial (Prime Material) kind.

Certain 'races' were created to help in the building of the universe, and to that end we have Primordial Dwarves, Planer Giants, and Celestial Dragons. When the Prime Material was Sundered, these same groups arose within most Crystal Spheres through various means, but almost always at the prompting of whatever created the original groups (but because the universe was 'lessened', so too were the creatures that came after). The Stone Giants in Abeir I doubt are the progenitor stone giants, but likely just another offshoot.

All that being said, as Dazzlerdal just pointed out, we already know where the Statues that Walk come from. I think there was a theory bouncing around here at some point that the statues in Waterdeep are based off of these - perhaps Khelben or someone else studied the Old Empires ones and recreated the tech.

But if you DID want to connect them to Stone Giants, there is a kingdom of Stone Giants right next door in the Giant's Belt Mountains called, "Fuigar, Land of the Stone Giants". IIRC, they were part of Imaskar (conquered).

There are also some interesting giant's in K-T, which do not have the normal 'elemental' leanings, which leads me to believe these may be surviving remnants of the Planer Giants. There are the Giants in Grey, who are large and mysterious (they are like The Watcher from Marvel Comics), and then there is a 10-12' tall variety that are just like large people, simply called 'giants' in most entries, but in the Hordelands material they are referred to as 'Coomb Giants', and this is only because they come from their village, Coomb.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 11 Dec 2017 17:04:12
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  20:07:50  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Agreed. I would not link these "stone giants" in Abeir to Annam's stone giants. In fact, in the 4e FRCS there's a creature that could be these giants of stone.... Rorn the Fury was a primordial and he has servants known as Mordrin, which are 30 feet tall gargantuan elemental humanoids (earth). They would certainly fit the bill here, and they would have been around prior to the sundering. It would check off all the boxes of being prior to the "lizard folk", being stone, being giants.

A MORDRIN IS A 30-FOOT-TALL CREATURE of rough, crudely assembled stone, somewhat similar to an earth titan but larger. A halo of swirling stones and boulders constantly orbits it.
Mordrin Lore A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana check.
DC 35: Mordrins are the eldest of the earth titans, the first to be formed in the shaping hands of primordials eager for servitors. They are always calm, even when in pain or dying, and are unshakably loyal to Rorn.

BTW, where's the Fuigar, land of the stone giants from?

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Gary Dallison
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United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 11 Dec 2017 :  21:38:37  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Fuirgar is a singular mention in Old Empires I think.

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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore

USA
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Posted - 12 Dec 2017 :  10:05:07  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The lizardfolk mentioned in that timeline entry don't have to (and probably weren't meant to) be the sarrukh. Personally I wouldn't put any major civilized races in the Realms prior to the Creator races - there's no indication that the sarrukh encountered any resistance while quickly conquering the world. But that's just my reading.

I also don't recall any official reference to the sarrukh creating the statues that walk. Maybe I missed something - especially likely if it was a 4e source.

Fuirgar is on the map in the paper Atlas so I'm guessing it wasn't created for FR10, but I don't recall Ed saying anything about it.



From what I remember of my own campaign:

I didn't think about Abeir when I was pondering what to do with the giants mentioned, because it was before 4e and the twin planet thing. I eventually settled on maug from the 3e Fiend Folio. I figured a mercenary war party of maug was separated from their regiment somewhere in the planes and appeared on Faerun. They couldn't get back to their war, or even communicate with their superiors. They started crafting a shelter, and as rescue became increasingly unlikely they quickly fell into the conflict between the retreating sarrukh and the prevailing dragons. The maug approached both sides for assistance with a portal to rejoin their regiment. The dragons were willing to make a deal; the mission to the sarrukh was less successful. So the maug battled the landbound minions of Okoth while the dragons rained down death by spells and breath overhead. The dragons and maug (and other allies) were eventually successful, and the dragons were suitably impressed by the maug's honor and longevity so they kept their word and provided the maug access to a portal which returned them to the outer planes.

I figured the maug are essentially immortal barring crumbling from injuries, so they just needed a source of stone to patch their wounds. That meant rudimentary mining. Their initial camp wasn't near mountains, so they dug downward. Some portion of their diggings remained, sprinkled with intact relics of various sorts, and this attracted the later Imaskari refugees to found the city of Gheldaneth on the spot. Other camps and mines were established by the maug, mainly to the south but some stretching northward perhaps as far as the Thaymount.

The maug were relatively few in number, so in order to protect their camps as well as their flanks as they marched, they created gargantuan stone constructs. These constructs could be infused with elemental "minds" and controlled with great precision through the use of minor magical amulets attuned to them. A few of these amulets have survived in the mines and in dragon hoards through the millennia to the present day. The constructs were alien to the Mulhorandi, both because of their great size and because their faces seemed to be carved into actual faces... but not humanoid faces. So they called them the "Statues That Walk" - because clearly they were made to resemble some particular creature, as opposed to simple golems. The Statues were subjected to much study, and some few scholars managed to divine the means to control them. There was a persistent myth that a ritual must exist to command *all* of the Statues, but this was never discovered.

That's about all I can conjure up at the moment, but it was homebrew anyway. Once again I like what you have, sleyvas.
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Gary Dallison
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United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 12 Dec 2017 :  10:36:33  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Im pretty sure George and or Eric pointed me to the source for the statues that walk being sarrukh made. I could have sworn it was in lost empires but i cant find it.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 12 Dec 2017 :  13:08:56  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh

The lizardfolk mentioned in that timeline entry don't have to (and probably weren't meant to) be the sarrukh. Personally I wouldn't put any major civilized races in the Realms prior to the Creator races - there's no indication that the sarrukh encountered any resistance while quickly conquering the world. But that's just my reading.

I also don't recall any official reference to the sarrukh creating the statues that walk. Maybe I missed something - especially likely if it was a 4e source.

Fuirgar is on the map in the paper Atlas so I'm guessing it wasn't created for FR10, but I don't recall Ed saying anything about it.



From what I remember of my own campaign:

I didn't think about Abeir when I was pondering what to do with the giants mentioned, because it was before 4e and the twin planet thing. I eventually settled on maug from the 3e Fiend Folio. I figured a mercenary war party of maug was separated from their regiment somewhere in the planes and appeared on Faerun. They couldn't get back to their war, or even communicate with their superiors. They started crafting a shelter, and as rescue became increasingly unlikely they quickly fell into the conflict between the retreating sarrukh and the prevailing dragons. The maug approached both sides for assistance with a portal to rejoin their regiment. The dragons were willing to make a deal; the mission to the sarrukh was less successful. So the maug battled the landbound minions of Okoth while the dragons rained down death by spells and breath overhead. The dragons and maug (and other allies) were eventually successful, and the dragons were suitably impressed by the maug's honor and longevity so they kept their word and provided the maug access to a portal which returned them to the outer planes.

I figured the maug are essentially immortal barring crumbling from injuries, so they just needed a source of stone to patch their wounds. That meant rudimentary mining. Their initial camp wasn't near mountains, so they dug downward. Some portion of their diggings remained, sprinkled with intact relics of various sorts, and this attracted the later Imaskari refugees to found the city of Gheldaneth on the spot. Other camps and mines were established by the maug, mainly to the south but some stretching northward perhaps as far as the Thaymount.

The maug were relatively few in number, so in order to protect their camps as well as their flanks as they marched, they created gargantuan stone constructs. These constructs could be infused with elemental "minds" and controlled with great precision through the use of minor magical amulets attuned to them. A few of these amulets have survived in the mines and in dragon hoards through the millennia to the present day. The constructs were alien to the Mulhorandi, both because of their great size and because their faces seemed to be carved into actual faces... but not humanoid faces. So they called them the "Statues That Walk" - because clearly they were made to resemble some particular creature, as opposed to simple golems. The Statues were subjected to much study, and some few scholars managed to divine the means to control them. There was a persistent myth that a ritual must exist to command *all* of the Statues, but this was never discovered.

That's about all I can conjure up at the moment, but it was homebrew anyway. Once again I like what you have, sleyvas.



Hmmmm, I like the race a lot. The Mordrin I mentioned are EXTREMELY powerful (level 28 elite brutes with 636 hit points), whereas the Maug are not (CR3 with 41 hit points). Granted that's comparing 4e to 3e rulesets.

However, like I said, I really like this race. Perhaps there were Maug and Mordrin together. The Maug being large and "more than 9 feet tall" would still be considered "giants" to many. The two cultures may have lived together with the Maug being much more numerous, and they would fit as the standard soldiers of Rorn the Fury who is a primordial. Maybe Rorn and Karshimis had some territory side by side in the way early days. They do "sound" like they'd somewhat get along. Then later, when Rorn went to sleep, they migrated/were wiped/had to go into hiding/changed allegiance to Karshimis.

Hmmmm, now that I think on it.... that petrified forest of the Maerchwood (southern Chessenta, southeast of Akanax/south of Luthcheq).... I'm liking the idea that the "little known inhabitants" are some Maug and Mordrin that recently were transferred as part of the second sundering.... and maybe they know the secret to controlling the statues-that-walk, and they start calling them home. In this way, we actually do something with them. Wonder what a fort made of petrified wood would look like. Would you need an especially powerful saw to slice petrified wood into planks, or just basically just slice much more slowly?

Hmm, and if we do the change allegiance thing... maybe after this transfer they discover the genasi of Akanul, and they consider them traitors? These Maug are LN, so they would seem the type to possibly like a despot. It could be interesting to have multiple types of "stone giants" in the area, because the average person of Toril wouldn't understand the differences.... so the "dream giants" be one type that are into peace... these Maug that are militant... the ash giants (which look more humanoid) another kind.

On a side note: I kept wondering what to do with "the maw of the godswallower" which seemingly went away during the sundering. I kept thinking to put a transferred land there (thus I was thinking the red mineral forest of shyr that I was making up... that I now have down near Firetrees). It finally hit me.... do something like what they were trying to do with the underchasm, but on a smaller scale. So, another place kind of like the great rift, but in southeastern Chessenta. Not as big as the great rift at all, but still having multiple cave openings into different levels of the underdark. The only written up community nearby is Traaskl Thorog in the middledark, a community of troglodytes. Might be interesting to also transfer some of these Maug down into this pit and they start making a community here... or maybe have this pit become the habitation point for those "dream giants"..... or a mix of both, with each side in something of a stalemate, to confuse the natives of Toril.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 12 Dec 2017 13:28:36
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 12 Dec 2017 :  13:35:40  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Oh, and on the "lizard folk" being the "Sarrukh"... That is correct, we don't have anything confirming what they're calling lizard folk as the Sarrukh. Actually, we don't even have anything saying that these lizard folk even found the statues-that-walk. We just have the notation that these stone giants were from "before" the lizard folk. However, when modern folk make references of "before the coming of the lizard folk", I generally take that to mean before the coming of the creator race that was lizards. Also, we do have some references of Sarrukh beneath Thay and in Okoth. So, we kind of have them in the area. Again, it is still a supposition though.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6638 Posts

Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  10:49:16  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Im pretty sure George and or Eric pointed me to the source for the statues that walk being sarrukh made. I could have sworn it was in lost empires but i cant find it.



I dropped a reference to maug in my timeline vignette for the Great Conflagration in GHotR, giving them a Faerunian origin and reason for being out and about in the planes.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  12:27:04  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Im pretty sure George and or Eric pointed me to the source for the statues that walk being sarrukh made. I could have sworn it was in lost empires but i cant find it.



I dropped a reference to maug in my timeline vignette for the Great Conflagration in GHotR, giving them a Faerunian origin and reason for being out and about in the planes.

-- George Krashos



This? It drops them into the abyss, but I guess they moved around? I would specify here also, when we say "Faerunian origin" we don't necessarily mean that the Raumathari made them. Not outside the realm of possibility mind you, as we have talked about the Raumathari making warforged, so this would simply be another kind of living construct.

Two sarnar later, while we were slowly rebuilding our strength, the Raumathari launched an invasion from the north. Under the command of their war-leader Thulkarr, an army of stone constructs marched against us in an inexorable tide, using portals to outflank us time and time again. Our warriors and drith servitors fought bravely but could not repel them, and our forces were slowly pushed back to Narjast.

It was then that Ayarch Rauthok persuaded the Nentyarch to unleash our last gambit: the Dark Fissure. While the Raumathari forces poured into the environs of Dun-Tharos through their portals, our remaining drithdarkar opened a series of portals to the Abyss. The result was all that we could have hoped for—a massive planar rift opened before the advancing constructs and snatched them into otherness. Our last reserves set upon the remaining disoriented Raumathari, and the few survivors fled using magic. Our daring gambit had crushed the enemy, and we knew that one last all-out attack would see us victorious.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  12:43:22  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That does bring to mind.... what other kinds of "living constructs" or able to think for themselves constructs that are out there? I mean besides the inevitables. So, warforged, maug, nimblewrights, helmed horrors (the do go free willed when their masters die)... there any fire/ice/lightning/water ones?

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 13 Dec 2017 13:16:39
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6638 Posts

Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  13:49:43  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The planar rift wrenched them into ... wherever you want them to go, not necessarily the Abyss.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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Markustay
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USA
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Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  20:06:02  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Fuirgar is a singular mention in Old Empires I think.

Its on the map from the product, as well as being on the FRIA maps and in the Fonstad Atlas. My copy of Ed's map of the OE stops at the edge of the mountains, so unfortunately I can't check if it was Ed's. I'm pretty sure it had a more recent entry somewhere as well. I just checked both the GHotR and LEoF and its not in those.

I like the Maug for the Abeir stone giants, and I like the Mordrin (what book are they from?) for the 'Statues that Walk' (perhaps these were put into stasis by someone, to be used at a later time?)

And let us not forget the Raumathari's most diabolical juggernaught of destruction - The AUTOGNOME!!!

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 13 Dec 2017 20:06:25
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  22:11:01  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay



And let us not forget the Raumathari's most diabolical juggernaught of destruction - The AUTOGNOME!!!



I once made an NPC autognome -- a tinker gnome that had accidentally turned himself into an autognome.

Sadly, the way I dreamed it up was way too Madcoil-esque, so I've pretty much abandoned the idea.

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Starshade
Learned Scribe

Norway
279 Posts

Posted - 13 Dec 2017 :  23:38:49  Show Profile Send Starshade a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If you guys include Autognomes, what about Clockwork Horrors?
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Markustay
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USA
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Posted - 14 Dec 2017 :  01:32:09  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Most people don't realize, the Autobots were built by the Imaskari.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone

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Starshade
Learned Scribe

Norway
279 Posts

Posted - 14 Dec 2017 :  10:37:37  Show Profile Send Starshade a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Since elves in canon buildt Bio Booster Guyver, why not :D
(from Spelljammer, bionoid, classic Japanese giant biorobot transform).
Ok, seriously, some of the more wacky Autobots could well be converted to D&D, especially the headmaster beast transform stuff from Japan, if that's what one wants with D&D..

quote:
That does bring to mind.... what other kinds of "living constructs" or able to think for themselves constructs that are out there?

To be alive you need to be able to protect yourself, procreate, live, grow, adapt, etc. Maybe we should define "living construct" as a hybrid of a tool, and alive; with some but not all features of life? If so, Clockwork Horrors is alive since they have their own ideas, proliferate and act independent.
I'd assume if one place Clockwork Horror in imaskar lands, the old Imaskari have simply found some, and kept some caged, tinkering with them hoping to learn their secrets, etc.

Edited by - Starshade on 14 Dec 2017 10:38:23
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xaeyruudh
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Posted - 20 Dec 2017 :  03:16:59  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

That does bring to mind.... what other kinds of "living constructs" or able to think for themselves constructs that are out there? I mean besides the inevitables. So, warforged, maug, nimblewrights, helmed horrors (the do go free willed when their masters die)... there any fire/ice/lightning/water ones?



"Living statues" from Mystara.

Also, thanks Mark, for Imaskari Autobots.
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  13:42:49  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Most people don't realize, the Autobots were built by the Imaskari.



Lol, I didn't see this before....

Ubtao made the Dinobots

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  14:20:35  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

That does bring to mind.... what other kinds of "living constructs" or able to think for themselves constructs that are out there? I mean besides the inevitables. So, warforged, maug, nimblewrights, helmed horrors (the do go free willed when their masters die)... there any fire/ice/lightning/water ones?



"Living statues" from Mystara.

Also, thanks Mark, for Imaskari Autobots.



Hmmm, interested... "Living Statues"... ok, this is one I hadn't heard of... not all that in depth, but still another type which would easily work. However, despite being called living, they don't seem to possess free will or to be anything more than some kind of magical construct under the complete control of a creator. Is there somewhere where they were giving the capacity to think on their own, do what they want instead of take commands, adapt to their environment, etc... Still, its not hard to picture these beings somehow gaining free will if their master dies, like a helmed horror.

Here's where I found info on them.
http://www.lomion.de/cmm/statlivi.php

I guess when I say living constructs too, I should make this more limited, because I think things like warforged can be resurrected? I could care less if such a being gets a "soul".. I'm thinking more "can function with free will, adapt to new situations, aren't under the command of another, etc..."

Guessing maybe we could even say that the awaken construct spell essentially gives the living piece to constructs. For instance, I don't care if a construct heals on their own or if they have to "repair" themselves. The procreation piece is the part that becomes problematic, BUT if SOME become awakened, and some of THOSE become mages who can create constructs and learn the awaken construct spell.... granted, said spell required A) 5000 XP and B) the brain of a humanoid that has been dead less than 8 hours

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4211 Posts

Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  15:34:00  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The possibility of a golem with free will is established Forgotten Realms Lore.

Can’t remember the name, but there was an Iron Golem...

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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USA
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Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  17:17:57  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

The possibility of a golem with free will is established Forgotten Realms Lore.

Can’t remember the name, but there was an Iron Golem...



You may be thinking of Minder. Her case is an odd one; the spirit of a dying dwarven adventurer was bound to a convenient golem. Actually, it may have been just a statue; she lacks the iron golem breath weapon, and if it had been a golem, then there would have been a resident elemental to kick out, first...

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 21 Dec 2017 17:50:22
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

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Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  17:43:53  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Most of the time, though, they're just "Statues that Chill".

And I am surprised no-one's mentioned the Modrons. They're like 'celestial constructs'.
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

That does bring to mind.... what other kinds of "living constructs" or able to think for themselves constructs that are out there? I mean besides the inevitables. So, warforged, maug, nimblewrights, helmed horrors (the do go free willed when their masters die)... there any fire/ice/lightning/water ones?



"Living statues" from Mystara.

Also, thanks Mark, for Imaskari Autobots.

The original versions could only take period-appropriate shapes, though. So you had one that could become a wagon, another that could become a catapult, another that could become a chariot, another an apple-cart...

And to take my joke another step further (and I can't believe I'm going here because I don't like 'giant robots'), perhaps the Imaskari had something akin to the All Spark - some sort of artifact they developed that 'gave life' to constructs?

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 21 Dec 2017 17:44:26
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  17:51:34  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay


And to take my joke another step further (and I can't believe I'm going here because I don't like 'giant robots'), perhaps the Imaskari had something akin to the All Spark - some sort of artifact they developed that 'gave life' to constructs?



Like some sort of forge?

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Gary Dallison
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  20:49:47  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I just read Serpent Kingdoms.

Looks like the empire of Okoth was destroyed by a war and then the survivors fled to the outer planes and in the abyss they encountered the Khaasta.


So this war with the "stone giant" civilisation may be the one responsible for the fall of Okoth. It sounds like Okoth may have won because it survived (but only just) and then collapsed to infighting shortly after.

So the statues maybe weren't repairing buildings as I had thought. They were instead demolishing buildings built atop the ruins of the old okoth ruins or made out of the enchanted stone of old okoth ruins.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  21:35:57  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay


And to take my joke another step further (and I can't believe I'm going here because I don't like 'giant robots'), perhaps the Imaskari had something akin to the All Spark - some sort of artifact they developed that 'gave life' to constructs?



Like some sort of forge?



blood...forge...

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2441 Posts

Posted - 21 Dec 2017 :  22:37:25  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And the Netherese copy-pasted the Imaskari, but without a "blood forge", they could only get Mazinger Z.

Now that I think about it... In Shin Mazinger is revealed that the robots are based in the greek gods (actually, aliens from other galaxies). For instance, Mazinger Z was made using Zeus' arm, that he lost battling Hades.

This can be a good idea for some giant golems...

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...

Edited by - Zeromaru X on 21 Dec 2017 22:44:44
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Markustay
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USA
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Posted - 22 Dec 2017 :  02:26:59  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Weirdly, Okoth is on the 4e campaign map (unlike any other edition), so I guess something new must have been going on there. Maybe a bunch of Sarrukh that got stuck in Abeir millennia ago 'came home'.

I'm just not seeing a Stone Giant civilization being up to the task of fighting Sarrukh.

What do we have canon-wise that says the Statues were going around fixing Sarrukh ruins? I'm having a problem connecting them, mentally. I just assumed (wrongly, perhaps), that the statues were human-seeming, since I think the old sources would have made mentioned of the fact if they were 'inhuman' (like a reptile). Thus, if these things did belong to the Sarrukh (or some, almost-as-ancient yuan-ti or other 'scalyfolk' race), why didn't they look reptilian?

So here I am thinking that these 'Statues' are really some ancient elementals that got summoned, and are somehow granted permanency (they're golems now). Thats almost a given . Now, the topic itself aside for a moment, that made me think about elementals summoned by Sarrukh... or illithids... or dragons, etc. Elementals tend to have a very rough humanoid appearance, but what if they are summoned by something else? Would they look more like THAT race?

I really liked the idea that the statues were the cast-off remains of Godly Manifestations, but then we have the problem of why they are going around repairing ruins. I think it would be much cooler (aesthetically) if the statues have an 'Egyptian' look to them - had beast-heads, and what not. Who knows? Maybe they all looked like Sebek.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 22 Dec 2017 02:40:41
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Zeromaru X
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Colombia
2441 Posts

Posted - 22 Dec 2017 :  03:06:37  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The 4e Okoth is a "rebuilt" Okoth, as the original is still in ruins. Basically, a few sarrukhs from Chult and other sites killed the Sseth worshiper sarrukhs that lived there in Serpent Kingdoms and reclaimed the old ruins, with the aim of rebuilding, but for now are keeping a low profile (so, nobody besides their yuan-ti and were-reptile servants know about this new Okoth).

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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