I was wondering, if Threll and Rexilar's people were enemies, wouldn't it make sense if they were enemies too? And if so wouldn't that make Threll the rival mage who imprisoned Rexilar? Oh well, I'sa jest wundrin'. ;D ;D ;D
Actually yes, you're right. Those two mages were enemies. More information on that is coming... the ruins of Rexilar will touch on that and there will be more coming later. But yes, absolutely, they were enemies.
Thought so. At one time, I found some more information on that, some things about Asylum, and something with Night's Jewel, probably whatever it is you were talking about with the colors, but when I went back, I couldn't find them anywhere. Did you remove these things, or is this just more confirmation that I'm a terrible looker.
My Khoras campaign is starting back up next weekend, and so I'm back in the boards :-) My players are headed into Kalimura/Talis/Bathynia, specifically to "find Rexilar", so I'm trying to pin down the history of the place.
Do you have an explicit timeline of the events that took place in that area? I think I've figured out the general order of events, but obviously some of what's written are untrue legends, not what actually happened. From what I can find, there's an issue of Rexilar living a -long- time, the legend of Threll being incorrect, and/or the phellysian creation myth being a little off. Here's what I have:
1. Rexilar created the phellysians immediately around the time of the Sundering ("The two suns began their endless dance...")
-The phellysians may have overthrown Rexilar ("Tanluris, the lands and estates own by that wizard, fell to the feline race... all of its land and resources.")
2. the phellysians fought with the Bathyn, and took some prisoners (including Threll)
3. Threll leads the prisoners out of Talis, and is on his way to becoming the leader of the Bathyn.
4. Threll becomes a sorceror
5. Threll dies during the Age of Chaos (1CY - 88CY) of "sickness" (Mage's Madness or Miradic Syndrome? It would make sense for Threll to be a wild mage)
6. Rexilar hid away in the Stone Phellysian during the Great Way (starting 89 CY -340 CY)
7. Threll (or some other rival to Rexilar, I'm assuming Threll because of no other named possibilities) finds the Stone Phellysian and traps him within it.
8. Rexilar's rival is slain, and the Stone Phellysian wanders out of the record books.
(Yes, I am an academic. Sorting through large quantities of source texts to produce a conclusion is a big part of what I do ;-) Normally it's better presented and cited than this, though. My apologies.) So...there is some considerable ambiguity. David, would you mind shedding some light on what actually happened? Or have you not made it up, yet? :-D
In my campaign, the activities of many long-dead wizards, including Rexilar, are having big effects on the PCs now, so they're trying to dig up as much information as possible.
On a related note, I see you're doing ruins for this month! Well...last month! Do you have any notes on Rexilar and Threll's ruins you're planning on putting up?
Thanks!
Yes, you're right, there are a couple of discrepancies... I'll rewrite those sections - Bathynia, Talis, Stone Phellysian, ruins, etc. More information coming. Give me a day or two to sort it out. Gotta dig through the notes. :)
I definitely understand that there would be discrepencies in the records and legends, as the events in question took place --2,700 years ago-- :D In that sense, the fact that there are discrepencies is actually pretty cool. However, my players will almost definitely make it a point to release Rexilar from his prison, as they really need to talk to him. So, I want to have the hard facts on hand, just in case.
Of course, they might just figure that hunting around for the Stone Phellysian will be too hard, and so go up to Avar, instead. Ah well :-)
If you want to start planning in advance, I can give you a rough outline of events just off the top of my head.
Rexilar did place himself in the Stone Phellysian. Details as to why he did it coming later. And it was Threll, his nemesis, who discovered him in there and basically used his magic to "bind" Rexilar in the Stone Phellysian. So, that's why Rexilar couldn't get out. Now, the Stone Phellysian was lost in the currents of history. Rexilar is still in there, in stassis. The Crimson Scourge is the secret group of phellysian sorcerers trying to find the Stone Phellysian and free Rexilar. So, it sounds like the party's objectives will overlap with that of the Crimson Scourge. Possible allies? Or perhaps competition? Your choice as to how you play that out.
Also, since Threll is the one who bound Rexilar to the statuette, the spells and rituals necessary to free Rexilar are (or where at one time) at Threll's fortress. So, it's possible the party may have to infiltrate the ruins of Threll's place to gather the clues and spells they need to perform the ritual.
The location of the Stone Phellysian is up to you. But one possibility is that the Crimson Scourge has already found it and they just haven't obtained the spells yet. So, it's possible that the party would have to go to BOTH sets of ruins - to Threll's fortress to get the ritual spells and then to Rexilar's fortress to get the Stone Phellysian. That would be a nice way to make sure the party goes deep into the territory of both nations. Lots of role playing potential there.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts. I'll add more detail to all of the revelant pages as soon as I can. Tonight if possible. (Since you've got a deadline).
I wrote up a lengthy reply, but then the internet died over here for a second, and I lost it. So, I'll just ask one quick question:
How can Threll imprison Rexilar when he's dead from sickness? Or was the dating just a clerical error?
If he imprisoned Rexilar, it had to be a clerical error. Remember, these are just David's rough and not-so-rough notes, and are not meant to be dogmatic in any way. Sorry to bring up the joke, but, and I have this problem a lot too, K. I. S. S., Keep It Simple. NO OFFENSE!!
Hey, Eltern, Threll and Rexilar are fascinating subjects, aren't they.
Yes, I admit... there was a clerical error in the dates in the original notes. And, as Tanis has pointed out, those notes are fairly rough. I am currently combining what's on the web site with a pile of old notes here. I will complete the write up of these notes and very soon, I'll post the completed history of both Bathynia and Talis. Including full details on Rexilar and Threll. It'll be fairly thorough. As a matter of fact, I'm going to add Talis and Bathynia to this month's spotlight. :)
Also, the ruins and the Stone Phellysian will get a slight rewrite so it all meshes together.
Actually, this is good. The whole Talis/Bathynia history is one of those "rough" areas of the web site that was never fully completed. So, this is good motivation for me to straighten that section out a bit.
Give me one more day and I'll post everything.
Here he comes to save the day! DAVID!
Quote from: Eltern on June 12, 2006, 08:38:18 AM
My Khoras campaign is starting back up next weekend, and so I'm back in the boards :-)
Hey Eltern! I can't wait to here more about your campaign, I've been waiting for what's it been a month or two? ??? Oh well, please post any new happenings as often as you can, if possible, daily would
always be appreciated.
Well, we only really run weekly, at best. And I've sworn off writing my own summaries of the sessions, because I always end up putting in details that I didn't tell the players. Then the players read the summaries and say "Wait a minute!" and go galvanting on some "clue" I left them, in a completely metagame fashion.
So, the summaries are up to my players. And evidentally my players are bums :-) I think we are two sessions behind in the campaign log, but it might be three. They spent at least one session in Asylum, then sailed out of there, running away from the Company. They're about to make landfall in Orrojek, on their way to Talis to "find Rexilar." There are a lot of details in between, of course, including the Ring of Flesh, Orctown, the Agrarian Guild, the Company, the Guild, mysterious amorphous attackers, suicide, etc. We'll see if I can't get one of my players to right those up.
As for what you're producing David: put up what you want to put up :-) It's your site. But if you want to detail persons, places and things that are going to be affecting my players, I would be nothing but pleased!
Ok. The new notes are up. I "tweaked" the history of Talis and Bathynia... slightly. ;) I went over it a couple of times so hopefully there aren't any errors. If you see something out of whack, let me know and I'll try to iron out the wrinkles.
As with everything on the web site, use what you want. But feel free to alter whatever you need to for your campaign.
Quote from: David Roomes on June 15, 2006, 09:56:56 PM
As with everything on the web site, use what you want. But feel free to alter whatever you need to for your campaign.
Oh, don't you worry about that :-) I doubt that Rexilar and Sorov worked on morphians in their early years, or that Lord Vaul is actually a morphian, etc. I just like to try to deviate from the presented world as little as possible, because it makes things a hell of a lot easier.
Hmm...so it looks like Rexilar was in fact alive about 62 years before the creation of the morphians. Problematic, since he's supposed to have helped in that project, according to my campaign. Hm....
Two options:
One, bump the conflict between Threll and Rexilar forward about 100 years. Doesn't actually affect much.
Two, say that Rexilar imbedded a bit of his life force in one or several "copies" of himself, which went on living, doing things. These copies/splinters/less Rexilars may be needed to complete the ritual to bring him back. That is confusing and adds complications to the background, but could be cool because I already have two such mysterious NPCs that could be Rexilar copies. Very, very old Rexilar copies.
Of course, the party just wants to get to Rexilar to talk to him about the morphian project, and how to cure an associated disease afflicted one of their members. It could be they only really need to talk to one of the copies, then.
Hmm...
Wow. Complex, multi-layered... sounds like one of my plot lines. I like where you're going with that... :)
I generally don't -try- to make things complicated. Here's how I do it:
-Get a very detailed world (For this campaign, I'm stealing yours).
-Present this world to the players.
-They make very detailed characters, with backgrounds, history, and motivations.
-I then create "shoves," where a force in the world alters the status quo for a character. For each character,this is their starting point, what gets them "adventuring."
-The characters move about in the world, interacting with things in an attempt to resolve their "shove".
Inevitably, the characters get involved with other aspects of the world, which may or may not be related to their original shove. The shopkeeper they talked to, the caravan they traded with, the dragon they heard about, the maurauders that raided them, etc. Even if when a player resolves their shove, they are hopelessly entangled in a myriad of other factors that will lead them to further adventures.
This idea extends to other PCs. Even if after 4 sessions one of the PCs resolve their own shove, at this point they have forged friendships with the other members of the party, and so will be inclined to help them with their own shoves.
The hardest parts of this method are creating the detailed world (Which is why I'm stealing it. Plus Khoras rocks), and engineering shoves that will keep characters going. A shove that resolves completely in 2 sessions may be enough to get the action started, but everything afterward may feel like an artificial continuation. Better to create shoves that can be partly resolved early, then expanded upon, then resolved a little bit more, and expanded upon again. This keeps the PCs in touch with their roots, their past, and provides a continuous source of conflict for the story.
For extra points, try to interweave shoves and storylines. In my campaign, the old martial arts master for one player could very well be the necessary person to talk to for another player's shove. This is partly just the Law of Conservation of NPCs (http://www.20by20room.com/2006/04/small_idea_the_.html), but can extent to other plot elements, too. Interconnectedness between factors makes the world seem to run without the PCs, having relationships without the PCs' direct interaction. This makes the world more realistic, and thus more fun :-)
Couldn't agree more. :) Especially with that last part... everything in the world should be connected and that gives it the feel of a living, breathing world where things continue to happen and react, even if the players aren't there.