Broken Lands: The False Olympians and the Seven Realms
by RipvanwormerIn IM2 The Wrath of Olympus, seven initiate Immortals travel to the Broken Lands to rule as gods. In the module, they're identified as Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite. Athena's true name is given as Lokena; much later, in Wrath of the Immortals, the true names of the other Olympians are identified as Patura (Hera), Kythria (Aphrodite), Palson (Apollo), Taroyas (Zeus), Turmis (Hermes), and Bemarris (Ares).
Anyway, most of these correspond obviously with the Seven Realms in M3 Twilight Calling: Kythria/Aphrodite to the Green Realm, Palson/Apollo to the Yellow Realm, Turmis/Hermes to the Rainbow Realm, Bemarris/Ares to the Red Realm, and Taroyas/Zeus to the Blue Realm. The two exceptions are Lokena/Athena and Patura/Hera, who don't correspond obviously to the remaining White Realm and Black Realm, perhaps indicating the conspiracy didn't manage to get the group of conspirators that they originally intended, or that Lokena and Patura were too independent-minded to completely embrace the intended aesthetic. I'd connect Lokena/Athena to the White Realm and Patura/Hera to the Black Realm, however.
Could the Olympians have traveled to the Broken Lands specifically in order to access the power of the Septahenge and the Seven Realms?
The description of Guardian Mesa:
M3, page 4 wrote:Guardian Mesa is a noted landmark in The Broken Lands. The characters should have no trouble finding it. Guardian Mesa is in the approximate center of the Broken Lands, about 50 miles from the city of Corunglain... A high mesa of gray basalt rises among the sharp jagged rocks, roughly circular in shape. The mesa towers a thousand feet high and 500 feet wide. The top of the mesa is shrouded by strange clouds, much like normal storm clouds, but at times they mysteriously reflect different colors. Sometimes they have a blue tint; sometimes they look red. While you watch you see every color of the rainbow come and go.
The description of Mount Olympus:
IM2, page 42 wrote:About 10 miles north of Corunglain it is as if a knife were drawn across the throat of the land, abruptly dividing the earth into two wildly divergent landscapes. To the south lies the fertile lands of Darokin; to the north stretches the blasted features of the Broken Lands. The dark bulk of Mount Olympus dominates the northern horizon. The black cloud covering the summit gives the impression that the mountain top has disappeared or has broken off. Occasional flickers and bolts of lightning give shape to the roiling mass.
IM2, page 48 wrote:And in the Broken Lands, just north of Corunglain, a block of basalt rises like an accusing finger from the blasted remains of Mount Olympus. Rather than reconstructing the mountain, the Hierarchs chose to let the black tower remain forever as a reminder to all Immortals of the time when Immortals tampered with the Prime Plane, and the consequences of their actions.Mount Olympus's peak resembles a flat plateau or mesa because its actual peak has been shunted into another dimension.
Note that 50 miles north of Corunglain is approximately the location of Natoka's Grave, mentioned in Gaz 10's Player's Guide, page 10:
Gaz 10 wrote:A deserted plateau, called Natoka's Grave, covers central Red Orcland between two mountain ranges. Natoka's Grave is notorious for being the red orcs' sacred burial grounds, as well as a strange place where large rocky pillars rise straight up from the ground, supporting huge, flat stones.
According to the poster map, Natoka's Grave is 2,500 feet high, so it's probably not the exact same place as Guardian Mesa.