Canonfire!

Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:11 pm Tenser

Anyone care to speculate about what Tenser might have been doing during the Greyhaw Wars? I seem to recall that Bigby, Otto and Mordenkainen were quite active in Furyondy for at least part of the war. Given Tenser's strong tendencies towards law and good and propensity for battle magic I'd expect him to be there as well but I haven't read anything at all about where he was and what he was doing.

Ta.

Damien.

Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:51 pm

I too can't see him sitting idle, but I haven't seen anything to indicate what he was doing during the war either. He does tend to have some anbiguous feelings about Mordenkainen and his actions, and by extension those of the Circle, so it is possible he could have retired to his fortress and sulked for part of the war. He was one of the three who discovered Rary's betrayal before the fact, so he could also have spent some time around Rary. It's not inconceivable that he might have spent some time in Ket attempting to get Rary to intervene with the Beygraf and at least keep Ket out of the war. He could have begun to suspect Rary during this time.

Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:38 am

I was under the impression that none of the Circle of Eight were aware of his treachery until the Day of the Great Signing in Greyhawk. Bigby, Otiluke and Tenser were making one final round of checks before the talks were to begin and they discovered Rary in the process of laying his magical traps...

Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:27 pm

Yeah, that does look to be the case from reading Rary the Traitor. If anyone was suspicious of him it probably would have been Otiluke.

Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:32 am

Well the lack of activity during the begining of the war can be explained by all of the Circle (save Mordenkainen) recovering from thier "destruction" at the hands of Halmadar-Vecna. Later in the war though; it's apparent (as allready mentioned) that Mordenkainen, Bigby and Otto were involved in Furyondy; and Nystul would certianly be active in Tenh. This does certainly make you wonder about the rest of the circle.

I could see Rary telling the others he wouldn't get himself involved and then actually go to Ket and start to indulge his "new evilness".

Drawmij may not have cared too much until the Scarlet Brotherhood and rise of the Giants threatened Keoland (and even then...he might not have cared much).

Otiluke would probably have stayed in Greyhawk the whole time; perhaps as the Circle's insuracne that nothing too crazy happened in the city while all the rest of them were scattered throughout the Flaness.

Tenser and Jallarzi, both being the Good-aligned members of the Circle; you do have to wonder about. Perhaps Jallarzi went to the borderlands of the County of Urnst and the Bandit Kingdoms to make sure things stayed quiet; while Tenser went south as Turrosh Mak stirred up the Pomarj and took over/destroyed the southern Wild Coast (where he was born). Being the fighting kind; maybe he linked up with disparate dwarven/mercenary faction and fought at the battle of Celene Pass. It certianly helps explain why such a small force was able to beat back the teeming hordes of Turrosh Mak...

Then, they all come back together for the Signing of the Pact; and then the events we all know happened (i.e. Rary's discovered; the big magical battle between Tenser, Otiluke, Bigby and Rary).....and all the plans each may have had (such as Tenser and/or Jallarzi taking a more active role in helping out the good nations of the Flaness) are de-railed....

Just spitballin' here.....thoughts?

Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:35 am

Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:34 am

My apologies for having worded this badly.....what I meant by "indulging in his new evilness" is precisely the kind of things you mention....

I.e., I too believe he was coming to the "evil" viewpoint in the years leading up to the war; and the events of facing Halmadar-Vecna would have quite probably been the last straw for him to begin his plan.

So say that for most of 582 as the war kicks off; he's recovering from the Halmadar-Vecna incident. In 583 he goes to Ket; rallies his Paynims and followers; perhaps tries to convince Zoltan to not make an alliance with Iuz; but once Zoltan does; he leaves Ket's buisness for later and figures that now is the time to act; and heads to Greyhawk to make final prepartions with Robilar. The war ends; and the talks of the Treaty to be signed in Greyhawk provides Rary and Robilar with thier opportunity.

Of course, he's caught in the act and the events unfold as we know them too.

I didn't mean to suggest he was out flinging puppies off a cliff or kicking the crtuches out of the cripples' hands! Happy

Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:46 pm

Drawmij did play a key part in organizing the refugees from the Lost Lands and settling them in the Good Hills.

Otiluke was probably busy enough in his duties as President of the Society of Magi and member of the Directing Oligarchy that he couldn't take an active part in the war.

Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:19 pm Re: Tenser

Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:08 pm Manzorian

He may also have been working against the interests of the Scarlet Brotherhood in the Amedio. If you include the cities of Cauldron and Sasserine in the World of Greyhawk it appears that under the guise of Manzorian Tenser has agents and interests in both cities. Who better than a member of the Circle of Eight to tackle the job of piercing the veil of secrecy around the Brotherhood in the latter half of the war? I know that the area is more Drawmij's purview but Tenser has always been a meddler and Drawmij would have been very busy already...