Atlas   Rules   Resources   Adventures   Stories       FAQ   Search   Links

Legend

by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary Davies

True Name of the Immortal

(OTHER NAMES AND NICKNAMES WITH WHICH IT IS IDENTIFIED IN SOME OFFICIAL SUPPLEMENTS, LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER; THE NAMES IN ITALICS HAVE BEEN ADDED IN THIS MANUAL IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT SOME PANTHEON)

Epithets of the Immortal

Level, Alignment, Sphere: the Immortal’s level is shown first, and between parenthesis the Immortal’s rank, followed by its abbreviated Alignment (L = Lawful, N = Neutral, C = Chaotic, G = Good, and E = Evil, these last two descriptors only serve for the conversion to Third Edition), and finally the Sphere the Immortal belongs to.

Symbol: the description of the Immortal’s Symbol; normally it is shown on the garments or on the Holy Symbol of its priests, and some holy symbols are the same shape as the Immortal’s symbol.

Portfolio: the aims, ideals, races and the cultures that the Immortal and its cults think important.

Worshipped in: The nations, regions and continents of Mystara in which there at least a hundred followers of the Immortal are present, and, normally, at least a priest and temple or a dedicated sacred place. Firstly the continent is shown the geographic area or, then between parentheses the nations in which the cult is present, all in alphabetical order. It should be noted that in the regions (Sind and Shahjapur) where the samdu religion is popular all the current Immortals have at least one manifestation form, which similarly happens in the Azcans and the Neathar religions. So for those civilisations only the Immortals that are considered most important or for which a specific regional name is known are shown.

Appearance: a physical description of the Immortal's manifestation form, or the physical form in which he lives and with which he appears to his faithful. When more than one form exists they are described after the first, which is the Immortal's preferred form. In the cases in which there are no descriptions given in the canonical material, the description is based on conjecture and hypothesis and is shown in italics.

History: this begins with the Immortal’s mortal history until the moment of his rise to Immortality, complete with temporal, cultural and geographic references. When the History of the Immortal is unknown, a probable History is shown in italics, preceded by the heading LIKELY THEORY.

Personality: the Immortal's character, his current plans and objectives, as well as his relationships with the other Immortals are explained in this paragraph.

Patron: the Immortal that sponsored the rise of the Immortal. If one isn’t mentioned in the official sources, then the most likely one is shown within square brackets.

Allies: stable Immortal friends and allies of the immortal.

Enemies: Immortals that are strongly opposed to or are currently fighting with the Immortal for various reasons.

Alignment of followers: first of all is shown the Alignment of the Immortal’s generic followers, then the compulsory Alignment of its clergymen. In absence of any distinction, the stated alignment is for both the common faithful as well as the clergy of the Immortal.

Favourite weapon: The weapon referred to outside of the parenthesis is the preferred weapon of the Immortal, which all his specialist clerics must know how to use. If more than one weapon is listed with the conjunction “and”, then the cleric is obligated to know how to use all the weapons referred to. If instead the weapons listed are joined by the conjunction “or”, it is enough that the cleric just selects one as the primary weapon. The weapons described between parentheses are those permitted for all the clergy of the Immortal and always include the weapons referred to outside of the parentheses.

Cleric’s abilities and powers: The list of powers, spells, general skills and abilities that the Immortal grants to his specialist clerics. The abilities mentioned are listed in the Manual of General Skills available online. As a rule, the Immortal is able to grant a maximum number of skills and powers based on his rank in the hierarchal scale of the Sphere:

Initiate: 1, Temporal: 2, Celestial: 3, Empyreal: 4, Eternal: 5, Hierarch: 6.

Ability and powers of the defenders of the faith: The list of powers, spells, general skills and abilities that the Immortal grants to his defenders of the faith (paladins, avengers or druid defenders – see the Chapter 3). When this entry isn't present, it means that the Immortal doesn't anticipate having any defenders devoted to his cause. The total number of skills and powers that the Immortal can grant to his defenders are half of those granted to his clerics.

Domains: the list of the Domains available for the clergymen according to the D&D Third Edition (3E and 3.5E) rules. Domains automatically included in the list of Domains are those that refer to the Immortal’s Alignment (Good or Evil, Chaos or Law) and the Domain relating to the Sphere it belongs to (Energy, Entropy, Matter, Thought or Time). They are followed by a list of 1 to 4 additional Domains characteristic of the Immortal’s interests. The rule applied in this manual sees a minimum of 3 Domains associated to each Immortal, with a maximum limit imposed by the Immortals rank as follows: Initiate and Temporal max. 4, Celestial, Empyreal and Eternal max.5, Hierarch max. 6. Furthermore, the elemental Domains can be associated to an Immortal only if it respects the agreement with the Immortal's Sphere: Water with Time, Air with Thought, Fire with Energy and Earth with Matter (Entropy can be associated with any element). The Domains listed are from the Third Edition Player’s Handbook, except those shown in italics, these are new Domains and they are described in Appendix 11 of this manual.

Preferred weapon: the Immortal’s Preferred weapon that the cleric must know how to use according to the D&D 3E rules.

Source: A list of the official supplements in which the Immortal is mentioned, listed in order of importance and pertinence; the supplements referred to by acronyms (the complete list is shown below for the reader’s benefit).

Acronyms used in this D&D supplement:

AC10	Bestiary of Dragons and Giants
B1-9	In Search of Adventure
B3	Palace of the Silver Princess
B4	The Lost City
CM7	The Tree of Life
CM8	The Endless Stair
CoM	Champions of Mystara boxed set
DA1-4	Adventure modules of Blackmoor
DDA2	Arena of Thyatis
DotE	Dawn of the Emperors boxed set
DrMa #	Dragon Magazine Number *
DuMa #	Dungeon Magazine Number *
GAZ1	The Grand Duchy of Karameikos
GAZ2	The Emirates of Ylaruam
GAZ3	The Principalities of Glantri
GAZ4	The Kingdom of Ierendi
GAZ5	The Elves of Alfheim
GAZ6	The Dwarves of Rockhome
GAZ7	The Northern Reaches
GAZ8	The Five Shires
GAZ9	The Minrothad Guilds
GAZ10	The Orcs of Thar
GAZ11	The Republic of Darokin
GAZ12	The Golden Khan of Ethengar
GAZ13	The Shadowelves
GAZ14	The Atruaghin Clans
HW	Hollow World boxed set
HWA1	Nightwail
HWA3	Nightstorm
HWR1	Sons of Azca
HWR2	The Kingdom of Nithia
HWR3	The Milenian Empire
ImmSet	Immortal set of rules
IM1	The Immortal Storm
IM2	The Wrath of Olympus
IM3	The Best of Intentions
MS-1	The Blizzard Pass
MS-2	Maze of the Riddling Minotaur
MstSet	Master set of rules
M1	Into the Maelstrom
M2	Vengeance of Alphaks
M4	Five Coins for a Kingdom
M5	Talons of Night
OHP	Orc's Head Peninsula (e-book)
PC1	Tall Tales of the Wee Folk
PC2	Top Ballista
PC3	The Sea Kingdoms
PC4	Night Howlers
PWA 1-3	Poor Wizard's Almanac 1-3
RC	Rules Cyclopedia
SCS	Savage Coast Sourcebook
TTS	The Tainted Sword (novel)
WotI	Wrath of the Immortals
X3	Curse of Xanathon
X5	Temple of Death
X11	Saga of the Shadowlord
X13	Crown of Ancient Glory

Note 1. List of the Immortals

The list comprises all the Immortals active in the Mystaran Multiverse that appear in TSR/WotC products for this setting. The statistics relating to their level of power and to the popularity of their cults are updated to 1003 AC, and would have had to remain almost unchanged until 1009, the dates of the end of the campaign described in the Wrath of the Immortals manual and that begin the era of the Poor Wizard’s Almanacs (1010–1013 AC).

Although all the Immortals, that have made an appearance in the various sets of rules and in the adventures published by TSR, are present, when it has been possible some of the lesser known Immortals have been incorporated into some of the more well known, assuming that the differences between them are simply in the name with which the Immortal is known by the different races (a technique that has already been used in the official supplements of TSR). As always good sense has prevailed, and when the unification was possible, it has been made; vice versa we had to resort to the creation of new patron immortals for the world of Mystara. We advise the reader to carefully examine the knowledge of the accessories mentioned above, for developing their own final judgement on the nature of the various Immortals presented there.

Note 2. The Dragon Rulers

According to the old Immortal set, the Dragon Rulers do not belong to the normal hierarchy of the immortals, and have an important place in the structure of the universe. The articles of Bruce Heard in Dragon Magazine (no. 158 and 170) on purpose of the draconic race and their evolution suggests that the dragons don't achieve Immortality following the canonical way of the Spheres, but through a ceremony known as sublimation, which exploits the accumulated treasures and experience in the course of their life for transcending their mortal form and become higher beings. Unfortunately in Wrath of the Immortals this important aspect of the draconic race has been omitted and I have chose to adhere to the more canonical form inserting the four Dragon Rulers in the hierarchal structure of the Sphere of Matter, adopting for each of them a sufficiently banal history for explaining their ascension.

The option that we suggest in this small appendix takes into account the old, more mysterious conception of draconic existence. There only exists one Immortal for the dragons, a unique being that fully enters in the Immortal ranks, and it is the Great Dragon (whose background remains unchanged). The three Dragon Rulers (the Dragons of the Sun, Moon and Stars) are instead Exalted Beings which achieved this level thanks to the Ceremony of Sublimation. Indeed, when a dragon becomes sufficiently powerful by exceeding the final level of his species, then he can complete the ceremony of transcendence and become a superior being. In this state he is able to make a choice: challenge the actual Dragon Rulers, or to approach the Four, the outer planes where the Dragon Rulers and the draconic souls dwell, to enjoy the communion with the First, the Great Dragon.

If the dragon chooses to challenge the draconic Ruler linked to his race and wins the challenge, he becomes the new Dragon Ruler relative to his Alignment, otherwise he is forced to immediately reincarnate and recommence his mortal life from the beginning.

If instead he chooses to enter “paradise”, he will remain in the Four for as much time as had elapsed in his life, and then be reincarnated in the draconic race chosen by the Great Dragon.

This is the only path for becoming Immortal that the draconic races should follow. Those that instead chose the secret road of the other races (the Paths of Immortality described above), are considered renegades and subverters of the universal order. In these cases, the Dragon Rulers always send some emissaries to eliminate the dissidents once discovered, if in time. Up to now, no dragon has ever gained Immortality through one of the Celestial Spheres, and the only one who may claim his divine status is the First.

It can also happen that sometimes, a Dragon Ruler feels the impulse of going further and challenges the Great Dragon. If he wins, he absorbs the Great Dragon and replaces him; if instead he loses he is absorbed by him, so that the essence of the First is never lost.

Note: the dragons attempt to sleep as much as possible in order to dream, seeing that during his dreams his spirit is projected into the Four, where they find total satisfaction in the setting most adapted to their spirit.

Note 3. Odin, Hel and the Northern pantheon

Odin's past is a mystery as much as Hel's, but there is strange coincidence in the fact that these two immortals closely resemble the Real World mythical deities, and also bear the same names. In addition, they surround themselves with immortals that bear the same names of the RW Norse deities, and this is really weird. Sure, there are others who may have similar names (Thanatos, Nyx, Wayland, Tyche, even Ixion himself), but the fact that this group of immortals actively creates a pantheon which is the exact replica of the RW one (names included) is odd. Moreover, it is the only example in Mystara.

To explain this, I have come up with this idea. Odin and Hel came to the Multiverse many aeons ago, when the mortals were still nothing but animals and the Immortals waged their wars in the outer planes. They came to this multiverse after fighting their own Ragnarok in their universe of origin, the Dimension of Myth. Odin had prepared for centuries for Ragnarok, amassing thousands of brave souls in Valhalla for the final battle. Everything was already established by fate: he would have been slain, but his sons would have survived him to rebuild the earth in Gimlč. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, and it was only his fault.

He was lured by Hel's tricks to actually think he could have won the war without dying, escaping the Norns' prediction. His actions however, caused the death of those who were destined to survive him, and chaos had its sway over Midgard. When the last of his warriors was dead, the war had ended, but the gods were no more. Only Odin and Hel were left, Hel laughing and Odin grieving for his sin against Fate.

The Norns saw and judged the two gods, and they cursed them to begin their war again in another universe. Thus, they were cast in the Multiverse, with only vague memories of their previous existence, but still deities. They knew they were enemies the first time they met, and spent the rest of their existence trying to discover what tied them together. Odin discovered it when he hanged from Yggdrasil and dreamt of Ragnarok, as much as he had done in his previous life. So he started rebuilding his old world, rallying Aesirs, Asinyie and Vanirs to help him, and shaping the myths of his followers to mirror the ancient legends of his past. Hel slowly remembered what had happened too, and she did the same, preparing for the final battle and bringing even more chaos to the world.

Now they stand, waiting for Ragnarok. Each one tries to further the goals of their sphere, but they know that eventually they will come face to face again, and the wheel will turn once again. Odin is determined to meet his doom this time, and has instructed his allies well, while Hel wants to take another turn and eliminate Odin before Ragnarok even begins.

In the meantime, the Norns still wait and look from afar...

Note 4. IM2: Wrath of Olympus

The adventure IM2, Wrath of Olympus presents several problematical aspects for the Mystara setting. The adventure in itself isn't entirely absurd, but it has been placed on Mystara, and specifically in the Republic of Darokin, that is has always seemed of all unsuitable for this setting, in how on the basis that seven good Immortals of high level (Empyreals, Celestials and Temporals) are thus crazy by openly defying the first law of the Five Spheres (“Avoid direct intervention on the part of an Immortal on the Prime Plane”) with a to say a little infantile behaviour, without a effective aim other than that of scaring the mortals. The Immortals involved in this adventure are marked with the designation of Olympian (relating to the Mount Olympus on which they dwell) and are the following, each one is listed with the level with which it was presented in IM2:

Member	Sphere	Level	Rank
Zeus (Taroyas)	Time	12th	Temporal
Hera (Patura)	Energy	10th	Temporal
Apollo (Palson)	Thought	10th	Temporal
Athena (Lokena)	Matter	8th	Temporal
Ares (Bemarris)	Energy	8th	Temporal
Aphrodite (Kythria)	Energy	7th	Temporal
Hermes (Turmis)	Thought	5th	Initiate

The Olympians are known in various regions of Mystara by their real name (the one shown between parenthesis), as specified in Wrath of the Immortals. They would have been the better choice for the Milenian (Greek-like) pantheon, but unfortunately the TSR writers didn't realise the great opportunity at their disposal and have preferred to ignore them, but then brought them back in the Wrath of the Immortals manual, lowering all their levels of power and giving each one of them a somewhat questionable background, which have been partially reviewed here in order to justify the presence of their cults on Mystara.

In order to better insert the adventure IM2 into the chronology and logic of the Mystaran Multiverse, we suggest that the DM takes into consideration this possible antecedent, which would serve to explain why the Olympians chose such a drastic method of action (like appearing in northern Darokin and starting to terrorise the people in order to gain their worship) and so out of place with the logic of the Immortals, and as ever the Entropics immediately intervened spurred on by Nyx and eliminate the rebel Immortals.

The Mandala of Myth

The Immortals have always known of the existence of other dimensions and parallel worlds, and have carefully studied these realities for avoiding pitch invasions and for trying to extend their own powers. The dimension surely most frequented and observed is the so-called Dimension of Myth, which houses the planet Laterre, an epic version of Earth, from which some of the more famous characters of the Known World (like the Ambrevilles and the McGregors of Glantri) and some Immortals (Idraote, and perhaps also Nyx, Odin and Hel).

The most ancient Immortals have an extremely long time ago resisted an invasion of the Mystaran Multiverse on the part of a group of divinities of the dimension of Laterre, the Olympians in the Greek pantheon headed by Zeus. Not wishing however to simply force them back to their own world per fear that in future they could become a threat, Odin proposed that these divinities should be locked up in a prison dimension and watched in the centuries ahead, so that they wouldn’t be harmed and without wasting too much energy in trying to eliminate them. He thus created the Mandala of Myth, an Immortal artefact that contains a mini–dimension deprived of magic in which they could imprison the Olympians Afterwards the Mandala was hidden in Pandius and placed under the surveillance of a group of Temporals who have been regularly alternated in the course of time, in order to avoid them falling victim to the strange energies emanating from the Mandala.

During her apprenticeship as a Temporal, the Immortal Talitha became aware of the existence of the Mandala, and many centuries later the occasion was presented to take advantage of this experience when her pupil Brissard was set to guard the artefact, together with Taroyas (Time), Patura (Energy), Palson (Thought) and Lokena (Matter).

With the support of the Hierarch Nyx, Talitha devised a plan for eliminating several Immortal rivals and to increase the Chaos in the universe thanks to the Mandala and to the stormy, sentimental relationships among some of the novice Immortals.

The facts are therefore carried out in the following way: Brissard pretends to be Palson and uses his charisma on the young Kythria in order to attract her into a secret room of the Mandala and immobilises her there. In the meantime Talitha has replaced Kythria and enticed the vigorous Palson, attracting him into a trap and locking him in a stasis field. Then, always in the form of Kythria, presented herself to two of her suitors, the daring Turmis and the ardent Bemarris, both young Immortals, and gave them a rendezvous in the room of the Mandala in order to decide which of the two she would select for her mate. When the suitors met, Talitha appears in the form of Kythria and Bemarris as Palson, and in the most classic of traditions Talitha orders them to fight in order to win her heart. She derived a fight that changed the protections positioned to guard the Mandala, and when the other guardians intervened, Brissard and Talitha vanished leaving the real Palson and Kythria at their post still incapacitated. In the confusion that ensued, the essences of the divinities held in the Mandala managed to escape and took possession of the bodies of the Immortals present: Bemarris became Ares, Kythria was Aphrodite, Lokena houses Athena, Palson was Apollo, Patura became Hera, Turmis was Hermes and Taroyas was Zeus. As an effect of the fusion with the divinities of the Dimension of Myth, the power of these Immortals rose to the levels shown in the adventure, and the Olympians reunited down on Mystara in order to re-found their ancient kingdom and challenge the Immortals.

Naturally Talitha was quick to warn Nyx of the event, who didn't hesitate to lose an excellent chance for chastening the thoughtless Immortals and to unnerve the ranks of the rival Spheres. Thus, convinced that the rebel divinities were still sufficiently weakened that they could easily be subdued, Nyx sent Talitha and Brissard to apprehend the fugitives and give them their just punishment, in order to also insure they erased any possible trace of their involvement and use the incident against the other Spheres.

During the fight between gods and demons, obviously the Olympians had the worst of it and only Athena/Lokena was saved, probably because the goddess Athena entered a pact with the spirit of Lokena and collaborated with her conscience (who better understood the Multiverse) in order to find a way out, or because the conscience of Athena was cancelled because of the magic and Lokena resumed control in time in order to save herself from the punishment of the Entropics. From this point began the adventure described in IM2.

Based on this view of the events, the DM has therefore two possibilities to choose from

1.    The events of the IM2 have already happened between 970 and 1003 AC (as the effects seem to prove all the facts described in the adventure, especially the composition of the Council of the Hierarchs), and as a consequence of their serious deficiency the Immortals possessed by the Olympians have all been freed from the influence of the rebel divinities (who probably have been destroyed or confined in some other place), and then reduced in rank by the Council of Mystara;

2.    The facts of the IM2 have still not happened in the Known World and the adventure will occur in Darokin‘s future.

Note 5. Statistics after the Fury of Immortals

As a result of the events of the Immortals Fury campaign, described in the Wrath of the Immortal’s set of rules, it is necessary to note that there will be a change within the hierarchies of power of the Immortals, and some Immortals have shown themselves strongly on the scene (Benekander/Gareth above all). These are the modifications that we suggest for all those Immortals that were involved in the war and in general in the events that followed from 1003 to 1009 AC (between which also the M5 adventure, Talons of Night set in Thothia), valid from 1010 AC onwards (such changes are purely optional).

Energy	Entropy	Matter	Thought	Time
Alphatia ↓ 15th, Celestial	Alphaks ↓ 19th, Empyreal	Djaea ↓ 35th, Hierarch	Asterius ↑ 28th, Eternal	Al–Kalim ↑ 4th, Initiate
Benekander ↑ Initiate, 3rd	Aracne Prima ↓ 5th, Initiate	Ka ↑ 36th, Hierarch	Koryis ↓ 19th, Empyreal	Vanya ↑ 24th, Empyreal
Eiryndul ↑ 21st, Empyreal	Atzanteotl ↑ 32nd, Hierarch	Valerias ↓ 30th, Eternal	Korotiku ↑ 33rd, Hierarch
Ilsundal ↓ 32nd, Hierarch	Hel ↓ 35th, Hierarch
Ixion ↓ 35th, Hierarch	Loki ↑ 31st, Hierarch
Kurtulmak ↑ 13th, Celestial	Thanatos ↑ 36th, Hierarch
Mealiden ↓ 22nd, Empyreal
Rad ↓ unknown
Rafiel ↑ 22nd, Empyreal
Rathanos ↑ 29th, Eternal
Razud  ↓ 30th, Eternal