Future of the Illians vs. Their Past

[Mailbox]

Agares was the first god to fall. Mulcarn is said to have the highest hell, or the 1st hell depending on how you want to look at it.

Did Mulcarn agree with Agares or did he fall for another reason?

 

[Mailbox]

Sort of a Necrobump but I figured it's better than making a new thread.

Now that the Illians are in the game to some extent, it would be interesting to know the lore behind the rituals. They're a representation of the Illians expending energy to regain their religious power but what exactly is powering the priests and snowfall around illian cities? Is it that Mulcarn's power is latent in Auric or the power is drawn from the cold mountain that is his empty vault?

 

[Kael]

Sort of a Necrobump but I figured it's better than making a new thread.

Now that the Illians are in the game to some extent, it would be interesting to know the lore behind the rituals. They're a representation of the Illians expending energy to regain their religious power but what exactly is powering the priests and snowfall around illian cities? Is it that Mulcarn's power is latent in Auric or the power is drawn from the cold mountain that is his empty vault?

This is non-canon, just the D&D game stuff. But the game revolved around the fact that the dominion of winter still existed even with Mulcarn dead. The power didn't go away, it was just unfocused. The spells of winter were an attempt to gather and use that power.

The difference between the D&D games and the campaign was that Tebryn was the one casting the spells of winter. Basically he figured out how to harness that power and was using it to cast large global world ending spells. This was the cause of armageddon. The last of the spells of winter, much like our final AC event was a massive spell that killed everyone of a selected race.

The party had been caught in the plots of Auric, Tuoni (the bearer of the gem of death) and Tebryn throughout the campaign. The final game of that campaign was an assault on the deadlands to stop Tebryn from casting that final spell.

They battled through the undead army with what remained of Erebus's empires and after the main assault team was lost (the party was the private guard of the king of the combined army) they were sent in to infiltrate the tower.

Calwinna of Junil faced off against her father in the deadlands. Abashi had risen and ruled the unending night sky. The battles were legendary. Inside the tower dark creatures summoned, rituals were performed and demonic visers prepared to barter for the pieces of Erebus that would be left after the ritual was performed. And there were many guardians.

But through heroism and talent, and a little help from the Umberguard, they reached the chamber where Tebryn was performing the ritual. Thats where the story got funky. Combat was always a minor aspect in my games. I planned a few throughout the game just so the players had a chance to roll dice and to break up the story, but we would often go hours without a battle. So its no surprise that the final conflict wasn't a battle it was an ethical crisis.

The just was that they discovered who Tebryn was and his dilema. That wasn't that pertinent to the characters as much as the players themselves since in the former campaign Tebryn was a player. The more pressing conflivt was between Tuoni and Auric. Tuoni wanted the players stopped, with ritual cast has was goign to collect all of the killed souls before they traveled to the underworld and create his own spiritual world to rule. Auric wanted the party to stop the spell, if all the power Tebryn had welled up wasn't released in the ritual it was enough for Auric to harness and become the new god of winter.

So the party was stuck between two evils and angry guys on all sides. Auric was an enigmatic as always, convinced from the beginning that it would all play out exactly as he wanted. Tuoni was much more aggressive.

 

[Corlis]

Sort of a Necrobump but I figured it's better than making a new thread.

Now that the Illians are in the game to some extent, it would be interesting to know the lore behind the rituals. They're a representation of the Illians expending energy to regain their religious power but what exactly is powering the priests and snowfall around illian cities? Is it that Mulcarn's power is latent in Auric or the power is drawn from the cold mountain that is his empty vault?

I'm not sure about the snowfall itself, but I'd figure that it's just a part of Auric/Mulcarn's power increasing. Presumably Mulcarn made his vault with his power as well, so even if the snow comes from his vault then it still comes from him in a roundabout kind of way.

The Deepening might be related to the ritual that brough Mulcarn into the world the first time. There is speculation that this ritual was based off of the one that Trenton Majosi intended to use to bring Danalin into the world. Some believe that the ritual would kill a lot of the god's followers before the god could enter creation himself, and when Trenton realized this he tried to stop the casting; unfortunately the Aifon were still killed, but Danalin wasn't called into creation. When Mulcarn entered creation using the same ritual he used the power that had been created by the deaths of the Aifons and so didn't have to kill off too many of his own followers. Therefore the Deepening might also be a recreation of that ritual, but because the power from the Aifons' death was used up in the first summoning he has to kill some of his own people this time.

But again, that last paragraph is still speculation, as there's some ambiguity about exactly how and why the Aifon died.

(This makes me want to play a Lurchrip game vs the Illians again, where Barny 'replays' Mulcarn for his gift of sentience...)

 

[orangelex44]

This is non-canon, just the D&D game stuff. But the game revolved around the fact that the dominion of winter still existed even with Mulcarn dead. The power didn't go away, it was just unfocused. The spells of winter were an attempt to gather and use that power.

The difference between the D&D games and the campaign was that Tebryn was the one casting the spells of winter. Basically he figured out how to harness that power and was using it to cast large global world ending spells. This was the cause of armageddon. The last of the spells of winter, much like our final AC event was a massive spell that killed everyone of a selected race.

The party had been caught in the plots of Auric, Tuoni (the bearer of the gem of death) and Tebryn throughout the campaign. The final game of that campaign was an assault on the deadlands to stop Tebryn from casting that final spell.

They battled through the undead army with what remained of Erebus's empires and after the main assault team was lost (the party was the private guard of the king of the combined army) they were sent in to infiltrate the tower.

Calwinna of Tyr faced off against her father in the deadlands. Abashi had risen and ruled the unending night sky. The battles were legendary. Inside the tower dark creatures summoned, rituals were performed and demonic visers prepared to barter for the pieces of Erebus that would be left after the ritual was performed. And there were many guardians.

But through heroism and talent, and a little help from the Umberguard, they reached the chamber where Tebryn was performing the ritual. Thats where the story got funky. Combat was always a minor aspect in my games. I planned a few throughout the game just so the players had a chance to roll dice and to break up the story, but we would often go hours without a battle. So its no surprise that the final conflict wasn't a battle it was an ethical crisis.

The just was that they discovered who Tebryn was and his dilema. That wasn't that pertinent to the characters as much as the players themselves since in the former campaign Tebryn was a player. The more pressing conflivt was between Tuoni and Auric. Tuoni wanted the players stopped, with ritual cast has was goign to collect all of the killed souls before they traveled to the underworld and create his own spiritual world to rule. Auric wanted the party to stop the spell, if all the power Tebryn had welled up wasn't released in the ritual it was enough for Auric to harness and become the new god of winter.

So the party was stuck between two evils and angry guys on all sides. Auric was an enigmatic as always, convinced from the beginning that it would all play out exactly as he wanted. Tuoni was much more aggressive.

Oh, wow....

Even if that's not lore, the implications of this whole story are amazing. Not the least of them is that Tuoni showed up - the mysterious three brothers again, it's kind of sad that thery don't have a bigger role in the current crises of Erebus. Another interesting tidbit is the presence of the Umberguard, a Hero who I think is drastically underestimated in the game - his lore just demands a major role somewhere. Tebryn is also cool, although his true backstory is buried a little too deep in the lore for my liking (I'm still not sure I have it down, although I know he's directly connected to Abashi somehow). All in all, even though the direct story isn't really applicable to the awaited scenarios, I'd like to think that some of the facets are used sometime. They're too cool not to be.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

But again, that last paragraph is still speculation, as there's some ambiguity about exactly how and why the Aifon died.

or even if... all that is known is that they disseapered... no souls were gathered into vaults, they all just disseapered

 

[jimi12]

No souls went to vaults probably means Tebryn collected them for his armageddon spells. I mean Kael said his spell would kill all memebrs of a race. It seems obvious thats what happened to the Aifons.

 

[Mailbox]

I just want to state this, the name of "The Draw" is so incredibly awesome. I'm not sure what else you could call it, the name is perfect. The Illians are so cool and full of flavor, worthy of my "favorite civilization".

 

[Fenboy]

Tebryn is also cool, although his true backstory is buried a little too deep in the lore for my liking (I'm still not sure I have it down, although I know he's directly connected to Abashi somehow).

In the game at least, Tebryn's phylactery (he was a lich) was embedded in Abashi's forehead!

/now if that isn't a safe place to keep it...

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Tebyrn is not a lich. He is a potent Runecaster, whose magic all depends on inscribing magic symbols. He inscribed a resurrection symbol on Abashi's forhead, which will bring him back to live whenever he is killed so long as the rune is intact.

 

[KillerClowns]

Tebyrn is not a lich. He is a potent Runecaster, whose magic all depends on inscribing magic symbols. He inscribed a resurrection symbol on Abashi's forhead, which will bring him back to live whenever he is killed so long as the rune is intact.

IIRC, Erebusian liches don't have phylacteries. So I suppose calling Abashi Tebryn's phylactery would be technically incorrect. But that said, lichdom and runecasting are not mutually exclusive.

 

[mahazel]

How Tebryn Arbandi appeared on Erebus after deal with Ceridwen? He was reborn as a child or she created new body for him?

 

[Darksaber1]

I think he was risen as a Lich.

 

[Love]

Spoiler :

After playing the scenarios, Auric isn't nice at all! He kills everyone in his path, most evil is when he kills Tasunke after he had helped the illians.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I don't know exactly how Tebryn returned, but I think he came back as an adult. Kael has specically stated that he is not a lich. I don't believe that he is undead. He is a very powerful Runecaster who was allowed to place a resurrection rune on the forehead of Abashi that will bring him back to life whenever he dies, until the rune is dispelled by slaying the dragon.

---------------
I agree Love, in fact it seems it me that Auric is more evil than Mulcarn ever was. Mulcarn was easier to sympathize with than most gods, and was only sort of evil. How is it that a kindly farmer's son from Brigidarrow could turn out so wrong? I expect Auric Ascended may very well be more wicked then the old Mulcarn.

Is it just me, or did Nikis-Knight try to sneak in his interpretation of Auric becoming possessed by Mulcarn's soul when he escaped the Shadowed Vale instead of being touched at birth as Kael had indicated?


Also, Auric doesn't really seem to be personifying the psychological aspects of Ice does he? True, he is rather reactionary, bu her certainly isn't static or restful. His personality seems now to be closely tied to both Bhall (passion) and Agares (Despair). Is it safe to assume that his fellow evil gods are driving him on and that the mortal cannot resist their influence as well as the god could?

 

[Grey Fox]

When Tebryn dies he is reborn as a baby, and remembers who he was as a teenager.

 

[Kael]

Also, Auric doesn't really seem to be personifying the psychological aspects of Ice does he? True, he is rather reactionary, bu her certainly isn't static or restful. His personality seems now to be closely tied to both Bhall (passion) and Agares (Despair). Is it safe to assume that his fellow evil gods are driving him on and that the mortal cannot resist their influence as well as the god could?

Auric is a low-functioning bipolar. One of the many characters in FfH with significant mental illness. Saverous (after the death of the burnt priest) has major depressive disorder, Perpentach is schizophrenic, and many many people are psychotic.

Its probably weird to view these characters through the lens of psychotherpy, but it helps me identify with them and really feel them as unique full characters. A lot of significantly bipolar people have amazing talents during the manic phases of their illness (what some call "Touched by Fire"). To me that would be one way a mortal personality would react to the burden of impending godhood, that so much ability and purpose would both excite and overwhelm the person. He is in the crucible between the voice driving him on and his own mortal limitations.

 

[Ekolite]

It's really annoying having to dodge through this forum trying to avoid scenario spoilers so thanks for the spoiler tags Love. I can't play Ice until after January .

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Is it just me, or did Nikis-Knight try to sneak in his interpretation of Auric becoming possessed by Mulcarn's soul when he escaped the Shadowed Vale instead of being touched at birth as Kael had indicated?

Nothing was snuck in. What exactly are you refering to?
The only writing I had was in the Decius scenarios.