Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 26 Nov 2003 to 27 Nov 2003 (#2003-280) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 28/11/2003, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 11 messages totalling 433 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. almanac index (long) (4) 2. Traldar and their Immortals (3) 3. Ancient Taymoran Evil in Karameikos (3) 4. Happy Thanksgiving! ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 01:26:22 -0800 From: Herve Musseau Subject: Re: almanac index (long) > From: Harri_Mäki > > hi all, > here is the reason why I have been nitpicking about dead persons and other > mistakes in net almanacs during this autumn. Some months ago I was trying to > find some data I knew was there in one of the almanacs. I didn't remember the > year, so I had to go through three of them. After that I began to make > geographical/political index for me. > > And here it is. I hope somebody else finds this also usefull. It will be useful to me, that's for sure. I often have to go back to old events to edit new almanacs -- and as you noticed, i'm not failproof, so any help is welcome. In fact I had started a related effort in the 1019 almanac, by adding the Last Year's Events section in the Atlas section. Your initiative is a welcome addition. In fact, if you don't mind, I'll put your file on the MA website. On a related note, there is talk of working on a new printing of the past almanacs. This may include changing the font, integrating corrections to mistakes that were reported and that were often only corrected as errata (including all the new ones you mentioned recently, that have not been added to the errata files yet); we may also alter the content of the almanac more significantly, for example by removing parts of the Atlas that are copied from one year to the next like we did this year so that the almanac is less bulky (or that where it is it is for a useful reason), or maybe by generalizing the Last Year's Events section (for which you might be willing to help out, as you recently re-read and indexed it all); we may also add covers to those volumes which had none. Other ideas are welcome. Of course we also have to continue working on the 1019 events and adventures, and we have to wrap up the 1018 Adventure book (FYI two adventure have been completed, and one is unfinished). All of this means that we are of course still looking for volunteers to help. There is a whole range of possibilities for all kinds of talents, areas of expertise, levels of knowledge of Mystara and/or the MA, and personal desires or tastes: geographic entries and correspondences, simple or complex sets of events, adventures, artwork, editing... or even management (the MA is a large undertaking and totally under-managed). BTW, did you ever find the data you were looking for? ;) Although an index will certainly prove very useful and I thank you for that, can you tell me why a search with appropriate keywords within the directories in which you store the almanac on your hd or on the VotP (which has the advantage of also retrieving other, related nuggets of Mystaran lore) wasn't enough? ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 12:58:32 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Harri_M=E4ki?= Subject: Re: almanac index (long) > In fact, if you don't mind, I'll put your file on the MA website. > =20 I don't mind. I was also thinking about making same kind of index about the= persons, but let's see. > BTW, did you ever find the data you were looking for? ;) Yes, I found it.=20 > Although an index will certainly prove very useful and I thank you for > that, > can you tell me why a search with appropriate keywords within the > directories > in which you store the almanac on your hd or on the VotP (which has the > advantage of also retrieving other, related nuggets of Mystaran lore) > wasn't enough? > =20 I don't have an internet connection on my home computer, so I have been pri= nting all the almanacs on the paper. As you can imagine finding something o= ut of the couple of thousand pages of A4's was not very easy. Ok, had to ad= mit that transfering the almanacs on my home computer would have been easie= r, but I like to have those paper versions on hand. harri .............................................................. L=E4het=E4 oikeat joulukortit omalla kuvallasi! Maikkarin netiss=E4. http://www.mtv3.fi/postikortit/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 15:14:38 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Traldar and their Immortals Daniel, you're right. I checked it myself and I cannot find any canon sources that state the date of Orcus becoming an immortal. The date must have beenf rom a non-canon resource, althugh I wasnt able to find that on starflung right now. I suppose it would make sense to have Orcus become immortal around the time of the Invasions, although I believe the theory of him being younger was related to a rise of Lycantropy in Karameikos later on, as he is a Devil Swine.... Håvard --- Daniel Gioffre skrev: > Havard, > > I checked WotI this morning and it said nothing > about > when Orcus achieved Immortality. Do you remember > your > source? > > -Dan > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now > http://companion.yahoo.com/ > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 15:28:04 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Ancient Taymoran Evil in Karameikos All this thinking about Traladaran history made me thing. What if those Gnolls weren't just pushed away from Nithia, but were actually drawn to Traladara for some reason? Wasn't Traladara within the borders of Taymora centuries before? What if the Gnolls were lead to find this ancient evil? Now, Halav and his bronze weapon wielding warriors and their faerie allies may have been able to stop the invasions. But obviously they didn't finnish the job. This makes for quite a campaign idea! I need ideas for what kind of evil the Taymorans may have left behind in Karameikos... Håvard ______________________________________________________ Få den nye Yahoo! Messenger på http://no.messenger.yahoo.com/ Nye ikoner og bakgrunner, webkamera med superkvalitet og dobbelt så morsom ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 17:02:22 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Ancient Taymoran Evil in Karameikos Havard Faanes wrote: > All this thinking about Traladaran history made me > thing. What if those Gnolls weren't just pushed away > from Nithia, but were actually drawn to Traladara for > some reason? Wasn't Traladara within the borders of > Taymora centuries before? According to the map by Mystaros and to my borders, at the time Traladara was part of the Northern Taymoran Border, not exactly the center of the Taymoran culture, but certainly heavily exploited for its woodlands. The eastern part (Altan Tepee to Lake of Lost Dreams) was part of the Land of the Foimorians, though. > What if the Gnolls were lead to find this ancient > evil? Wow! > Now, Halav and his bronze weapon wielding > warriors and their faerie allies may have been able to > stop the invasions. But obviously they didn't finnish > the job. This makes for quite a campaign idea! > > I need ideas for what kind of evil the Taymorans may > have left behind in Karameikos... Some points: Northern Taymoran followers of Thanatos enlisted the help of Hill Giants in the Thanatos-Nyx war. The Hill Giants of western Karameikos may still hide remnants of this cult. The Northern Taymoran Border was one of the main field of action of the lycanthropic troops. There may be some magic item that helped the Taymoran generals in controlling their troops hidden somewhere (in a fortress, tomb or battlefield). The Temples of Tanyt (Nyx) and Sarrattalu (Thanatos) were secret undergound structure. It is possible that giants were employed in the construction of the last (and greatest) temples. Such gigantic dungeons may house "secret weapons" (special monsters like B4's Zargon, e.g., but also bound Fiends, magical items/weapons, even biological weapons -- e.g., a dormant Dusanu spores), ancient undead priests (Ancient Dead, Gray Philosophers), or portals to other places or dimensions, all of these guarded by undead (mummies, spectres, wraiths, giant skeletons or zombies), guardian constructs (bronze golems, for example). -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 09:35:27 -0800 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: Ancient Taymoran Evil in Karameikos Havard Faanes wrote: All this thinking about Traladaran history made me thing. What if those Gnolls weren't just pushed away from Nithia, but were actually drawn to Traladara for some reason? Wasn't Traladara within the borders of Taymora centuries before? What if the Gnolls were lead to find this ancient evil? Now, Halav and his bronze weapon wielding warriors and their faerie allies may have been able to stop the invasions. But obviously they didn't finnish the job. This makes for quite a campaign idea! I need ideas for what kind of evil the Taymorans may have left behind in Karameikos... This is a really interesting conjecture, and it meshes somewhat with a thought I'd had (seems like eons ago) about the Hutaakans in the Lost Valley. Recall that there was an ancient evil in the temple of the Hutaaka in that valley that could only be contained by the Hutaaka's rites (the hideous Kartoeba). Recall also that Pflarr is said to have turned his back on his Hutaaka followers in the Outer World after the gnollish invasions- yet there are priests in the Lost Valley... What if Kartoeba is one of those hideous beasts that the Taymora were involved with, and that Ranivorus had sent his gnollish followers to find and capture/enslave that beast (among other things, probably). His gnolls having failed in their task, Ranivorus instead appeared to the Hutaaka of the Outer World, demoralized at the loss of their patron, Pflarr. In a benevolent guise, he agreed to become their new patron in exchange for them becoming the caretakers of the "Hideous One", Kartoeba. For centuries, they have remained thus, unable to bring the beast under their control, but able to contain it in its prison until such time as Ranivorus wishes to unleash it on the world. As for other Taymoran monstrosities/horrors, that's a good question. I think even for those who don't like some of the continuity of James Mishler's Taymor, that the general trend seems to be that the Taymorans were engaged in some sort of Necromantic practices, so undead horrors wouldn't be out of the question. If you link them up with Thanatos (and his cohort Ranivorus) then minions/servitors/creations of the Outer Beings (or facsimiles thereof) might be quite likely as well. Given the appearance and nature of Kartoeba, there might even be Nightmare creatures (or again, the OBs) involved. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 09:38:31 -0800 From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: Traldar and their Immortals Havard Faanes wrote: Daniel, you're right. I checked it myself and I cannot find any canon sources that state the date of Orcus becoming an immortal. The date must have beenf rom a non-canon resource, althugh I wasnt able to find that on starflung right now. I think it's not so much an exact date, as it is the statement (not entirely certain where it's from- either Hollow World or WotI) that he lived in the Minrothad Guilds. If taken at face value, that places his "origin" date at a time after the Minrothad Guilds were established formally and politically (whatever date that was, can't think when offhand). If taken as just a generic "he was from the place now known as the Minrothad Guilds" then it could be any time that settlers arrived in that region, which might expand the available timeline somewhat. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 18:20:30 +0100 From: Francesco Defferrari Subject: Re: almanac index (long) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harri M=E4ki" And here it is. I hope somebody else finds this also usefull. Great work and very useful imo! Bye Francesco ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:53:55 -0500 From: Paul Westermeyer Subject: Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Especially, a happy, and safe Thanksgiving to our troops overseas. Thank you. -- "...How shall a man judge what to do in such times?!" "As he has ever judged," said Aragorn "Good and evil have not changed since yesteryear..." J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_ Paul Westermeyer, pwestermeyer@tampabay.rr.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 23:09:22 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Harri_M=E4ki?= Subject: Re: almanac index (long) Francesco Defferrari kirjoitti 27.11.2003 kello 19:20: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Harri M=E4ki" > And here it is. I hope somebody else finds this also usefull. > =20 > Great work and very useful imo! Thank you. Anyway I forgot to warn that there are lot of cases that somebod= y else might have classified differently and of course I'm pretty sure that= there are some errors included (typing mistakes etc.)... .............................................................. L=E4het=E4 oikeat joulukortit omalla kuvallasi! Maikkarin netiss=E4. http://www.mtv3.fi/postikortit/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 02:27:59 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: Traldar and their Immortals At Tue, 25 Nov 2003 12:25:55 -0800, Daniel Gioffre wrote: >I checked WotI this morning and it said nothing about >when Orcus achieved Immortality. Do you remember your >source? > I believe good Haavard is merely extrapolating the date of Orcus's ascension to immortality based on the date when the first true werebeasts appeared on Mystara (brought by Alphatians), since the description of Orcus says he was a devil swine in real life (the first IIRC). The problem is that you haven't counted that there are 3 types of lycanthropy: 1. true-blooded: these are true lycanthropes, they breed true and are descendant of Alphatian strains OR of the third kind of lycanthropes (see below); 2. infected: these are normal mortals infected with the lycanthropic disease by werebeasts' saliva and blood. They cannot breed true and don't usually pass their curse onto their children; 3. maledictive: this comes from powerful curses and can be passed onto the offsprings. Now what if Orcus became the first devil swine because of a curse he got while looking for an artifact of Entropy OR while using it (remember penalties and handicaps?)? This way we could hypothesize that he's really much more ancient than other werebeasts and has appeared at the beginning of the Mystaran history (he was probably a Beastman or another kind of ugly humanoid that achieved immortality in pre-Cataclysm time?) Just my two pieces... Ah and an OT for all the Italian Mystaraphiles: 25 Edition (publisher of D&D products in Italy) just created a space for us Mystara fans in its home site. Be sure to stop and pay a visit to offer your ideas and make your presence known. The URL is: http://www.25edition.it (click on the upper icon titled L'Incontro and scroll down till u see Mystara!) ^_^ DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac Lt. Cmdr. of U.S.S. Unicorn "You don't stop playing because you grow old: you grow old because you stop playing!" Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 And Mystara Italian Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/9940 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 26 Nov 2003 to 27 Nov 2003 (#2003-280) ****************************************************************