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    Canonfire :: View topic - [LG] Bright Sands "Results"
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    [LG] Bright Sands "Results"
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    CF Admin

    Joined: Jan 09, 2004
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    Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:56 am  
    [LG] Bright Sands "Results"

    Hey, all.

    Living Greyhawk has posted an article detailing the results for the campaign's recently concluded Blight on Bright Sands story arc. Creighton Broadhurst's article may be read HERE.

    The article also briefly touches on LG's forthcoming Rise of the Ancients arc. Rary has some unfinished business.

    Happy gaming.
    Don (Greyson)
    Nyrond Triad
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    Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:13 pm  

    Very cool summary. I kinda wish I had ran that campaign as I've always enjoyed using Rary since Rary the Traitor. What confuses me about the Blight series is, why would the PCs -not- want the Scorpion Crown unmade? The intro to the article suggests some did agree with Rary's purpose but the majority perceived he had some kind of ulterior motives? It seems to me that the main benefactor of the quest, Karistyne (a paladin not surprisingly) does not have the greater good in mind. Sure Rary might be considered shady, but isn't the curse of the crown an older and more prevalent evil? In my limited knowledge of the series, I would say she has a proxy grudge with Rary through Tenser because of the Greyhawk Wars debacle. I speculate Tenser is the one with less than noble ulterior motives. Ever since "Return of the Eight" he has been just as flighty as Rary, both having left the Circle. He is jealous of Rary's empire and doesn't want another Archmage in the region. Especially one with a thriving dominion. One only wonders which side of this Mordenkainen would be on?
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    Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:16 pm  

    mortellan wrote:
    He is jealous of Rary's empire and doesn't want another Archmage in the region. Especially one with a thriving dominion. One only wonders which side of this Mordenkainen would be on?


    Tenser jealeous of Rary? Maybe something more like mad at Rary for killing him and having his clones destroyed. Being Rary's empire as an unbalancing power in the region as it is, I see Tenser more as its couterpart. Never seen Tenser as a ruler.

    As for Mordenkainen, he's always on his own side, seeing everyone as pawns no matter how powerful they can be. He'll always manage, indirectly mostly, to bend them to his needs. At last it's all about balance.

    Saludos,
    Gabriel
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    Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:35 pm  
    Rary Can Do Good

    mortellan wrote:
    What confuses me about the Blight series is, why would the PCs -not- want the Scorpion Crown unmade? The intro to the article suggests some did agree with Rary's purpose but the majority perceived he had some kind of ulterior motives? It seems to me that the main benefactor of the quest, Karistyne (a paladin not surprisingly) does not have the greater good in mind. Sure Rary might be considered shady, but isn't the curse of the crown an older and more prevalent evil?

    I wondered why not unmake the crown, too. Unmaking the crown might restore the Bright Desert to a lush and verdant region full of resources. And, it might undo the curse on the lizardfolk and Asherati (yeah, LG has those in the Bright Desert). But, maybe Rary would use the resources of a restored Sulm to war against the Urnst states, Nyrond and Greyhawk.

    In character (I played a paladin of Mayaheine through the story arc) I struggled with this issue. It just seemed like unmaking the scorpion crown was a great idea, and that Karastyne was being unduly short-sighted and horrendously unreasonable. I hated working for her because she seemed to have tunnel vision. As Mike put it, she did not seem to have the greater good in mind - just an unyielding dogma minus the benefits of a larger view of potentialities. It was like she was mindlessly pursuing Rary without thinking about the ramifications.

    I still think Rary is misunderstood.

    Don (Greyson)
    Nyrond Triad
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    Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:14 am  

    Tenser left the Circle of Eight due to philosophical differences. Once he had returned Tenser had the hindsight of seeing what the meddling of the Circle of Eight had led to in the aftermath of the Greyhawk Wars. Yep, the Circle of Eight sure did a fine job of handling that one.

    Tenser was the only Lawful Good member of the group, so there was probably always some tension there anyways. I imagine Tenser was willing to make some concessions to his compatriots in the interest of the greater good, or at least in balancing out the growing power of the evil nations. Well, the Greyhawk Wars just proved that he was wrong to do this, and so, seeing the mess of things, he decided to go back to keeping his own council. Tenser would have his agents as before, plus new ones, and do things his own way. Plus, after all of the things he himself endured, I think he had also developed a broader agenda of his own and could not serve both his and the Circle's interests at the same time any longer. Tenser had been very obviously singled out for destruction, so it makes sense that after his return he'd look a bit more to his own interests for a change.

    Rary and Robilar are good foils for Tenser, seeing as they almost succeeded in ending his existence permanently. I don’t see Tenser as being jealous of Rary’s power/rulership. He just has a personal vendetta against him(and Robilar), and will seek to undermine/destroy anything that either of them have a hand in.
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    Last edited by Cebrion on Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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    Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:25 am  

    Rary and Tenser's relationship: Tenser 2 - Payback

    Tenser no doubt got fed up with all the philosophical debate that Mord seems to enjoy - plots within plots angle.

    As for unmaking the crown; Tenser and his allies have no problem unmaking it and restoring the bright lands after rary is removed. The last thing Tenser wants to do is transform it now and strengthen his enemies hand. - Greater Good for now.
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    Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:30 am  

    Annoying. The description of the Hardby politics directly contradicts what was actually stated in the module where the events were decided. In the module Aleeta is in cahoots with Robilar and the Karistyne side is trying to prevent Ileena Norbelos from surviving to vote.
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    Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:46 am  

    Jealousy was a bit off I admit. Everyone has some good elaboration on the motives. As for Tenser removing Rary then restoring the land(Sulm), I wonder what he'd really do upon further reflection. A restored land without Rary around would fall squarely into a three maybe four way conflict. (I'm thinking GH, Urnst, SB and natives) When it was a desert noone wanted it but Rary, who had specilized knowledge. Now everyone knows the realm is viable. Tenser being LG, would favor who? GH is neutral, SB is evil, the natives are at best neutral, and Urnst is generally good. Urnst however has no historical right to that land so it could be contested easily. Thus Rary's absence creates a resource/land conflict in the center of the Flanaess. Another Greyhawk War possibly. That is the LG way? Status quo would be the Mordenkainen way, which Tenser is against. The only other options are, prevent sulm's rebirth but leave Rary in charge of a desert or...replace Rary with a LG alternative to the Bright Lands, namely, Tenseria!
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:43 am  

    NiTessine wrote:
    Annoying. The description of the Hardby politics directly contradicts what was actually stated in the module where the events were decided. In the module Aleeta is in cahoots with Robilar and the Karistyne side is trying to prevent Ileena Norbelos from surviving to vote.


    Not just that module but a lot of background too - in Slavers it was stated that Aleeta despised Greyhawk and was selling them out, and more recently (in Dungeon or on WotC site) it was stated that there had been some treaty between Ilena and Rary and that there had been direct contact between Rary and Aleeta, with a view to her becoming his apprentice!

    However, it may be that Aleeta is a better politician than we give her credit for and staying in bed with Greyhawk means she rules to fight another day.
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:51 am  
    Gateway to Bright Sands

    PaulN6 wrote:
    (in Dungeon or on WotC site) it was stated that there had been some treaty between Ilena and Rary and that there had been direct contact between Rary and Aleeta, with a view to her becoming his apprentice!

    I think two items mentioned this treaty and the notion that Aleeta was not only pro-Rary, but also a secret apprentice. Dungeon 109 comes to mind with Paul Looby's awesome "Hardby: City of the Scorned". And COR5-06 Gateway to Bright Sands. I think the who's who section at the beginning indicates that Aleeta is a secret Rary supporter and apprentice. I'll have to check both this evening.
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:24 am  

    I think that makes a more interesting story. Now that this thread is here it's making me rethink details about things in my own campaign.
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:15 pm  

    carlanco wrote:

    As for Mordenkainen, he's always on his own side, seeing everyone as pawns no matter how powerful they can be. He'll always manage, indirectly mostly, to bend them to his needs. At last it's all about balance.

    Saludos,
    Gabriel


    I'd like to point out that in pretty much all the Mordenkainen appearances during Gary's tenure, its Mordenkainen who is getting shown up or outmaneuevered, not his foes. Mordenkainen's appearance in the Gord the Rogue novels is especially clear. And the Circle's track record post Gygax isn't very good either. They are all powerful individuals, but there isn't much to suggest that the Circle of Eight is actually /effective/ at their stated goals.

    I think they are typical bunch of Ivory tower adventurers who think they know what's best for the world but aren't nearly as bright or politically adept as they they think they are.
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:05 pm  

    Vormaerin wrote:
    I think they are typical bunch of Ivory tower adventurers who think they know what's best for the world but aren't nearly as bright or politically adept as they they think they are.


    From this and your post on the "Distilling Greyhawk To Its Essence" thread it seem you're not very fond of the Co8. ;-)

    Quote:
    He'll always manage, indirectly mostly, to bend them to his needs.


    Ok, maybe here I went too far with the "always". I guess he sees himself like a mastermind pulling the strings, but the results not always turn the way he wanted. BTW, I'm reading "Artifact of Evil" (Mordy hasn't showed up yet). ;-)

    Saludos!
    Gabriel

    p.s. Sorry for the detour on the thread...
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    Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:53 pm  

    Oh, I like the Co8 fine. I just don't like seeing them turned into a GH equivalent of the Harpers. As a group of buddies who happen to be personally powerful, they are kind of interesting. There is a big difference between being personally powerful as an arcanist and being influential, however. There's a nice Ars Magica example of one of the early contenders for Primus of House Flambeau (leader of a mage guild, essentially). One of the contenders focused on amassing personal power, while the other focused on a network of favors and patronage.. The more personally powerful mage didn't become leader...

    Anyway, the point was that they weren't designed initially with the intent to be the master manipulators of the Flanaess. That role was retrofitted onto them and doesn't fit very well, imho.

    Now if you want groups I just plain don't like.. well, there's the Shadowsages and the Council of Five or whatever they were called. The former, imho, detract from GH's emphasis on 'realistic' nationalistic intrigue in favor of fantasy/espionage novel conspiracy groups. Its a perfect FR group and a lousy GH one. And the latter strikes me as one of those made up comic book villain groups formed just so there were enemies for the main hero group.. "uhh, let's grab five cool solo villains and call them a group."
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