Well the Book of Aberrations is out and an accompanying article by Bruce Cordell in Dragon. He wrote Gates of Firestorm Peak which is among my favorites not implicitly set in GH. Has anyone else used before or plan on using the Far Realms or material from the new aberration book in their campaign?
Well the Book of Aberrations is out and an accompanying article by Bruce Cordell in Dragon. He wrote Gates of Firestorm Peak which is among my favorites not implicitly set in GH. Has anyone else used before or plan on using the Far Realms or material from the new aberration book in their campaign?
Well the Book of Aberrations is out and an accompanying article by Bruce Cordell in Dragon. He wrote Gates of Firestorm Peak which is among my favorites not implicitly set in GH. Has anyone else used before or plan on using the Far Realms or material from the new aberration book in their campaign?
The Far Realms appear as GH "canon" in Quadriparitite a GH adventure in Dungeon 99 where a Far Realms incusion must be stopped near Shibboleth in the Gran March. The Far Realms is directly tied to Oerth's creation in pre-history.
The Far Realms also appears in Shadow of the Abyss an adventure in Dungeon 118 (one of the Istivin trilogy of adventures) in the guise of the Kaorti, a Far Realms race of wizards and sorcerors, mentioned in the Far Realms Dragon article.
I too love The Gates of Firestorm Peak and the half-elven alienist, Rhyll of Shiboleth, who is the villain in Quadripartite, would carry forward the "elven connection" with the Far Realm from Gates of Firestorm Peak.
The Book of Abberations with its Cuthbertine and Heironeon orders committed to fighting abberations, as well as the Cerulean Order (reference made to activity in Furyondy), would all seem naturals to oppose Far Realms incursions in GH.
IMC - I've used Gates of Firestorm Peak but haven't gotten much beyond that with the Far Realms. Now, with a host of new "toys," this looks a a really cool area to go into.
I have used various Cthulthu themes and creatures IMC but I'm not sure how this might tie into the Far Realms. The Necronomicon is now "canon" coming out of Liber Mortis, btw.
I too would be interested if anyone has looked into doing things with all of these themes. _________________ GVD
Well the Book of Aberrations is out and an accompanying article by Bruce Cordell in Dragon. He wrote Gates of Firestorm Peak which is among my favorites not implicitly set in GH. Has anyone else used before or plan on using the Far Realms or material from the new aberration book in their campaign?
While not explicitly stated, there is a connection made between Tharizdun and the Far Realm in the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (the RTTOEE was written before the Manual of the Planes brought the Far Realm into 3E canon). Specifically a Grell that comes through an interplanar archway below the Moathouse, and a rune circle in the Outer Fane that simultaneously summons a Grell and teleports victims to a "nether realm" where "the victim's senses are assaulted by mind-bending experiences beyond any mortal's ken, in a weightless place filled with Grell, swirling colors never seen before, impossible shapes and temperatures beyond heat and cold". Sounds like the Far Realm to me. As an interesting aside, Bruce Cordell is listed as one of the Module's playtesters as well.
Given Tharizdun's portfolio (madness and entropy) and the fact that he is imprisoned in a place that is outside the normal geography of the planes I think it is resonable to use the Far Realm as the location of Tharizdun's prison. The corrupting, reality destroying influence of Far Realm leakage (described by Bruce Cordell in Dragon 330) could be how Tharizdun plans to destroy Oerth. Each cerebrotic blot weakens the boundaries of his prison and brings him closer to freedom...
The Far Realm is also used in the early 3E adventure the Speaker in Dreams, which is tangentially Greyhawk since it is the default setting and it uses GH Gods. The adventure features proto-alienists (called such but before the Prestige Class was invented), a Gibbering Mouther, and the introduction of the Wyste.
For me, Tharizdun originated in the Far Realm, called to Oerth by Boccob (and perhaps other gods) in order to balance the new creation with entropy and dissolution.
Tharizdun was useful for a while, but eventually the gods needed to put him away. They cast off shadows of themselves - the Dark Powers - to guard him in his prison., the Demiplane of Dread. The imprisoners include Boccob, and the entity that preceded Pelor. Their evil, negative shadows are the Dark Powers, and they are ultimate active forces in Ravenloft.
Mak Thuum Ngatha (from Lords of Madness) seeks to free the Dark God. This was not its original purpose - originally it only sought to bring Tharizdun back to his plane of origin, for his absence had created an imbalance there. This is still Mak Thuum’s ultimate goal, but the freeing thing takes priority.
There is another entity - Bolothamogg, mentioned in Lords of Madness - who considers Tharizdun a contaminant, whose goal is to prevent Tharizdun’s return to the Far Realm. Perhaps it is the same as what Monster Mythology calls the Dark God.
Still another Elder Evil - Y’chak, the Violet Fang - was actually responsible for the destruction of Sulm, using the name of Tharizdun as a mask.
The Theoparts are five. They are the remnants of the spells used to bind Tharizdun; they have become semi-divine grues in the Inner Planes, the Princes of Elemental Evil. Some believe the spell cores within them form a word, or a sentence, and when read will free the Dark God. Cryonax is missing a tentacle, which has been reforged into a weapon, or perhaps an artificial limb, the final key.
The Rhennee are refugees from Ravenloft, and before that, a parallel Earth. A series of betrayals to the Dark Powers at the expense of their world and their people and curses by their own kin left them wanderers, and finally cursed to travel the lakes and river ways only, never to visit sea or land for long.
A group called the Six-Fingered Hand in Gothic Earth (the world of the Masque of the Red Death campaign) is actually guided by Graz’zt, who intends to destroy Gothic Earth and Ravenloft both and drag both world and plane into the Abyss. He has existed since the days of the pharaohs and considers the Red Death and the Dark Powers to be his rivals.
Last edited by rasgon on Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
The Rhennee are refugees from Ravenloft, and before that, a parallel Earth.
The Rhennee and the Vistani are related and both to Earth's gypsies with an affinity for The Mists. Rather than have the Mists as merely a conduit to Ravenloft, they could as easily be a conduit to the Far Realm as well. More of a universal than specific conduit.
Certainly, in GH where the Far Realm has most made itself manifest in the Gran March area, the Mists would fit in well with the topography of the Rushmoors.
Note - The Planes folder has been merged into the General Greyhawk folder, going forward. _________________ GVD
The Rhennee and the Vistani are related and both to Earth's gypsies with an affinity for The Mists.
The Vistani, at least, seem to have come rather from a parallel Earth - a place similar to our Europe, but not identical to it - a place with nations with names like Barovia. It's not hard to imagine that this is what Rhop is.
The Vistani, at least, seem to have come rather from a parallel Earth - a place similar to our Europe, but not identical to it - a place with nations with names like Barovia. It's not hard to imagine that this is what Rhop is.
It seems I was wrong, here. According to various web sources, the Vistani seem to have come from the "Gothic Earth" of the Masque of the Red Death setting. They originated in Egypt.
Because Ravenloft was part of the I series of modules, Barovia was apparently originally part of Aquaria on Oerth.
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