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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 12 Nov 2017 :  16:36:49  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Just saw this and was surprised. I never recalled it from previous lore. I know in 4e BRJ apparently moved these aarakocra to an earthmote in southern Chessenta (makes sense, people hunt you... leave the area).

From the original old empires

The Riders to the Sky
This mountain chain is on the southeastern border of Chessenta. These are mostly hills ranging between 3,000 and 5,000 feet in height. On the southern end are a number of cliffs that are home to the tuuru, a race of giant birdlike lizards (pteranodons).

Legends exist that in ancient days these huge birds were used as mounts by the warriors of Unther. Given the size, weight, and strength of the pteranodons, it is doubtful that they could support a human rider; either larger varieties once existed or the legend is a hoax.

There are also the ruins of an ancient aarakocra civilization on the slopes, but this tribe was hunted to extinction a century ago for sport by mercenaries from Chessenta.

The eastern portions of the Riders to the Sky have mostly been cleared, though some bandit and outlaw tribes use them as bases to wage raids on Unther and Chessenta. The western portions, along the edge of the Winding River, are much wilder. There are troll villages, and duergar inhabit underground caverns.

Half-drow who were exiled from Yuirwood long ago are rumored to live among the trolls.



Ironically, I also just found this, which links back to other works by Scott Bennie (the guy who made old empires)

The Hills of Maerth
Between Akanamere and the Adder River are the Hills of Maerth. These low but rugged hills are known for their rare minerals; a large number of ancient mines dot the surface of the hills.

Recently large tracts of the hills of Maerth were purchased by the well-known plane-wandering archmage Azurax Silverhawk (23rd-level mage), who is seeking a philosopher#146;s stone.


Azurax Silverhawk is a NPC in Dungeon mag issue #10 who is using a portrait of longevity to keep himself alive long enough to gain more power. He creates He is seeking immortality. Interestingly enough it also says in that adventure that Azurax's home "he has barred all areas within his complex from contact with deities, so only first and second level clerical spells may be granted. Spells which require contact with a deity do not function." It also says that Azurax is "on very good terms with slaadi masters". In said adventure he is level 21, but this has him at level 23... so in theory he survived. Given that he may have been spending decades to himself when the spellplague happened.... I think this guy could be fun. Wonder if Scott would be pissed if I used his NPC?

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 12 Nov 2017 :  19:20:07  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I doubt he would have included the NPC for publication if he didn't intend for him to be used in some fashion.

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Markustay
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Posted - 12 Nov 2017 :  20:49:56  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I KNEW I based my idea for pteranadon-riding Turami ('back in the day') for pre-Thayan Thazalhar came from somewhere!

Aside from stealing it from Conan, of course.

{In the books, they WERE supposed to be pterandons, but Frank Frazetta couldn't help 'cooling them up' a bit).

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


Edited by - Markustay on 12 Nov 2017 20:50:22
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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe

Australia
401 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  01:53:13  Show Profile Send BadCatMan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I was going to have the lost half-drow tribe be followers of Eilistraee (called Eilish, a mysterious lost god named in Desert of Desolation) who lived as Amazon warrior women, wore little but war-paint, and rode pteranodons. I reasoned drowish women would be light enough to ride a pteranodon. That's in modern times though, not the ancient legend. I never did get my Chessenta campaign there, however.

Dinosaurs (well, not true dinosaurs) seemed to be almost a thing in Chessenta: there are also plesiosaurs in the Methmere. I was going to add more to my campaign.

One odd thing I noticed developing the Riders to the Sky article for the wiki is that newly minted Magister Maxiladanarr Torstren destroyed his own tower in the range and faked his death the same year the Great Bone Wyrm Alasklerbanbastos woke from hibernation to begin his efforts to take over Chessenta and Threskel. Did one prompt the other? It's intriguing. One great benefit to the wiki is the ability to put together lore like this and discover the hidden stories and link you might not otherwise notice.
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Riders_to_the_Sky

BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
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Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki

Edited by - BadCatMan on 13 Nov 2017 04:56:23
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  04:36:04  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I may have to borrow Eilish for the Utter East stuff - I like what you did with her here.

I'll use her a counter to kali/Lloth (Mar preaching peaceful coexistence vs ones wanting to bring mayhem to their oppressors).

And Eilish's brother No-Charaun, god of theives (another heresy - No Cha combined with Vhaeraun).

And to get back to the thread topic, I think some sort of hybrid creature may have been created - larger, stronger pteradons by mating them with Wyverns. I think maybe thats what the Tuuru might have been.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 13 Nov 2017 06:40:28
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2441 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  04:49:08  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That's interesting, really. BTW, according to BRJ's article, in the current Realms (or at least, in 4e), the ones riding the pterandons are a tribe of wildens (or what you call killoren).

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

Edited by - Zeromaru X on 13 Nov 2017 04:49:42
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BadCatMan
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Australia
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Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  05:08:27  Show Profile Send BadCatMan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
They could be another genus & species of pterosaur, such as the quetzalcoatlus, which is much bigger than a pteranodon and one of the largest pterosaurs, simply misidentified by outsiders. Same lore, same basic beast, just a minor correction to the facts.

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

I may have to borrow Eilish for the Utter East stuff - I like what you did with her here.

I'll use her a counter to kali/Lloth (Mar preaching peaceful coexistence vs ones wanting to bring mayhem to their oppressors).

An Eilish's brother No-Charaun, god of theives (and other heresy - No Cha combined with Vhaeraun).


The quirk from Desert of Desolation is that Eilish is depicted as male and wielding a staff, which would makes for some bemused Eilistraeens. I connected it with the confused early Ilythiiri worship mentioned in Lost Empires of Faerun, page 59. A Eilistraeen priestess PC immediately wanted to find the lost tribe and bring them back into the fold.

Though at this point I realise they would've been rather like Avatar's Na'vi.

EDIT: Half-drows living with trolls may actually explain Sinveri Trollkin down in Ulgarth.

BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki

Edited by - BadCatMan on 13 Nov 2017 07:15:23
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  06:59:02  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Even better - the entirety of the Vedic pantheon (in the K-T material) have their sexes reversed (and by 'entirety', I mean the 2-3 that are actually mentioned). Indian gods have this very 'pretty', androgynous thing going on anyway. Plus, only a god that used to be mortal would even be concerned with such things.

The Utter East has one stirge-crap crazy pantheon.

quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

EDIT: Half-drows living trolls may actually explain Sinveri Trollkin down in Ulgarth.
I didn't know about those - nice catch. The first time around we worked on the uE we had the whole 'trow' thing going on, which is why I put those 'twisted dark elves' in the Treggi forest to begin with. I suppose a few recluses could still be in there. I forget the backstory I gave them, but they are troll-blooded drow.

I don't quite understand the first part of your sentence, either. Methinks you spend so much time editing the Wiki you forget to edit yourself.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 13 Nov 2017 07:00:22
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BadCatMan
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Australia
401 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  07:17:43  Show Profile Send BadCatMan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

I don't quite understand the first part of your sentence, either. Methinks you spend so much time editing the Wiki you forget to edit yourself.


Living with trolls, I missed a word. I'm a professional editor, processing bad English takes its toll.

BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
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Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2441 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  08:01:36  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

And to get back to the thread topic, I think some sort of hybrid creature may have been created - larger, stronger pteradons by mating them with Wyverns. I think maybe thats what the Tuuru might have been.



You maybe are on to something here. In BRJ's Chessenta article, the tuurus are a "race of winged drakes". And this is something of special note, because in 4e dinosaurs existed since the first Monster Manual (under the name of "Behemoths"). So, we cannot say that they were changed to drakes because of a rules stuff, as rules in 4e allow dinosaurs.

Perhaps the tuurus are either drakes or a special breed of pteranodons mated with drakes.

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

Edited by - Zeromaru X on 13 Nov 2017 08:04:56
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  13:45:03  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

I was going to have the lost half-drow tribe be followers of Eilistraee (called Eilish, a mysterious lost god named in Desert of Desolation) who lived as Amazon warrior women, wore little but war-paint, and rode pteranodons. I reasoned drowish women would be light enough to ride a pteranodon. That's in modern times though, not the ancient legend. I never did get my Chessenta campaign there, however.

Dinosaurs (well, not true dinosaurs) seemed to be almost a thing in Chessenta: there are also plesiosaurs in the Methmere. I was going to add more to my campaign.

One odd thing I noticed developing the Riders to the Sky article for the wiki is that newly minted Magister Maxiladanarr Torstren destroyed his own tower in the range and faked his death the same year the Great Bone Wyrm Alasklerbanbastos woke from hibernation to begin his efforts to take over Chessenta and Threskel. Did one prompt the other? It's intriguing. One great benefit to the wiki is the ability to put together lore like this and discover the hidden stories and link you might not otherwise notice.
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Riders_to_the_Sky




Hmmmm, I like this a lot (the half-drow), especially considering one of the things I want to do is to bring back Akanax... but different. I want to have Crintri half-elves/drow who were transferred to Abeir, and they split into 3 factions (each following a different Crintri princess). One will follow Kiga the Predator (Zakharan panther/leopard huntress goddess) since Loviatar isn't around, and she'll be focused on breaking away from the tharch of Peleveran to retake Dambrath from the Malar worshipping Arkaiun. One will want to divorce her people from religion, preferring arcane power.

The final Crintri princess will have served temporarily as the weakened avatar of Inanna that is LN not LE (alongside a chessentan male who will have served as the weakend avatar of Ramman). These two manage to gather Chessentans, drow and elves from beneath Torsch, in the jungles of the Chondalwood, as well as wemics and centaurs from the region. Some of the elves think this Inanna is Eilistraee (sp?), and some humans think she's the Red Knight. Anyway, after say 80 years of being out of Chessenta, they'll have returned, and recaptured Akanax (which is now heavily forested surrounding it).

So, anyway, after that long story.... having half-drow mounted on pteranodons.... I like it as an additional inclusion. Being that a large portion of these are half-elves, many of them may be young and have actually been born in/grown up in Abeir.... so they may have fully embraced Inanna as their goddess.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  13:54:44  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

That's interesting, really. BTW, according to BRJ's article, in the current Realms (or at least, in 4e), the ones riding the pterandons are a tribe of wildens (or what you call killoren).



hmmm, so it does. However, that being said, this would be POST-spellplague. So prior to the spellplague, there may have been half-drow doing this. Then post spellplague its Wildens/Killoren.... or tribes of both.

From dungeon #178

Sky Riders: These rough hills along the Chessentan frontier are rich with mineral wealth and thick with monsters. The northern reaches, around Dragonback Mountain, are firmly under the dominion
of Alasklerbanbastos, the Great Bone Wyrm and self-proclaimed Dragon King of Old Unther. The southern peaks are home to the predatory, screeching tuuru—a race of winged drakes used as mounts by tribes
of nomadic wilden (mimicking the elite aerial warriors of Unther from days of yore). Legends say that Tchazzar dwells somewhere within the remote crags of the Sky Riders, waiting for a time when his people
need him once more.



Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  13:57:00  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

They could be another genus & species of pterosaur, such as the quetzalcoatlus, which is much bigger than a pteranodon and one of the largest pterosaurs, simply misidentified by outsiders. Same lore, same basic beast, just a minor correction to the facts.

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

I may have to borrow Eilish for the Utter East stuff - I like what you did with her here.

I'll use her a counter to kali/Lloth (Mar preaching peaceful coexistence vs ones wanting to bring mayhem to their oppressors).

An Eilish's brother No-Charaun, god of theives (and other heresy - No Cha combined with Vhaeraun).


The quirk from Desert of Desolation is that Eilish is depicted as male and wielding a staff, which would makes for some bemused Eilistraeens. I connected it with the confused early Ilythiiri worship mentioned in Lost Empires of Faerun, page 59. A Eilistraeen priestess PC immediately wanted to find the lost tribe and bring them back into the fold.

Though at this point I realise they would've been rather like Avatar's Na'vi.

EDIT: Half-drows living with trolls may actually explain Sinveri Trollkin down in Ulgarth.



I was just thinking it sounds like the Na'vi when also looking up the Killoren/Wildens. Want to make it a little weirder.... the big red winged creature in the movie is Toruk.... these are Tuuru... kind of close. Probably coincidence though.

On Sinveri Trollkin..... why, yes it would... though she also has ties to Dambrath. So, maybe a half drow from the skyriders met a Dambrath half drow, and they raised their child in Ulgarth? its odd how this kind of stuff comes up in conversations just shortly after we bring up things.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 13 Nov 2017 14:03:12
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 13 Nov 2017 :  17:41:07  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In these hallowed halls, we talked about EVERYTHING 'a short while ago'.

You could almost go with a 'Dinotopia' kind of culture in Unther at one point in the distant past (although I'd save that flavor for one of the countries on the Chultan Peninsula).

We sometimes forget Dinosaurs are still very much a thing in The Realms.

EDIT:
And EVERYTHING really does keep circling around - I had put huldrafolk (basically, 'snow elves', with tails) in the far north, all across the whole 'top' of the world, and picture the Maraloi of the Ama Basin (Kara-Tur) being of that type.

And during recent discussions elsewhere, I decided that that was one group of Spiritfolk (half-fey, or in the 4e lingo, they would actually be half-Eladrin!) that went north, when things began to get 'odd' for them in Imaskar (actually, proto-Imaskar - the original Raurin culture there which I picture being something akin the Celts {the Cortae}, some of whom mixed with the elves/fey in the region).

Thus, mixing elf (Sylvan Elf) with humans gives you a half-elf, and mixing Eladrin (Fey, or our old Gold/Silver elves) should give you spiritfolk (although this unfortunately violates previous canon). So now I am thinking spiritfolk had tails - perhaps its a hybrid form, because 3e's UE doesn't make mention of something like that.

So here's a solution I am toying with right now - just like the elves (technically, 'lesser' fey) have Lythari, the Eladrin ('High Elves', or 'Greater' Fey) should have shifters as well - its a pretty common element in folklore. If we just repurpose the word 'Kami' from the east (and I can tell some of you are starting to squirm at that), and say Kami are to Eladrin what Lythari are to Elves, perhaps we can get it to all work out. And thus, Hengeyokai would really be K-T's shifting Eladrin (Kami), and it all works out.

Or, I could come up with an entirely new word, since using 'Kami' will probably stick in some people's craw. What if I repurpose (not really) Phooka? Phooka could be our 'Eladrin lythari'. That would actually make sense. And then Hengeyokai are actually just all Phooka who have specific animal forms based on clan. And Phooka just becomes a subset of 'Kami'*, as it should be.


*Spirit, which has a slightly different connotation in eastern mythos. They used the word the way D&D uses 'outsider', which would also include the spirits of the dead for them (what we call noncorporeal undead). Ya know, I just realized something - why DO we call ghosts, etc., 'undead'?

They're not... they're freakin' just plain DEAD!
Only the 'solid' ones should be considered 'undead' (and even then, I don't think the mindless ones should really be classed that way either - they're basically just automatons that are using body parts).

So if my zombie gets 'killed', I can just stitch it back together and then its a (flesh) golem. D&D is stupid.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 13 Nov 2017 18:07:58
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