The FoS Nocturnal Sea Gaz project

[TwiceBorn]

Hey Frat people,

Any chance you'd consider extending the deadline for submissions to the Nocturnal Seas Gaz until sometime after Christmas? Work and personal stuff have prevented me from contributing anything thus far, but I'll definitely have time to write over the holidays... especially since my other half will be in Mexico.

Thanks in advance for your consideration...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

What topics or sections did you have in mind to contribute to, TwiceBorn?

[TwiceBorn]

What topics or sections did you have in mind to contribute to, TwiceBorn?

Probably a few legends (nothing specific as of yet). My first priority would be Liffe, but I might also be able to contribute something to the other two areas...

[Joël of the FoS]

Your request isn't unreasonable. You are right. Let's extent the deadline to January 5th.

But if you have time now guys, write now! As soon as we have your entries, as soon we review them and give you time to edit, if needed!

Don't use it as an excuse to report it for later

Joël

[TwiceBorn]

Your request isn't unreasonable. You are right. Let's extent the deadline to January 5th.

But if you have time now guys, write now! As soon as we have your entries, as soon we review them and give you time to edit, if needed!

Don't use it as an excuse to report it for later

Joël

Thanks for the extension, Joel!

[TwiceBorn]

While a direct Mystara/Ravenloft tie-in might be a cute in-joke for fans of both settings, it wouldn't make sense to players who know one setting but not the other ... which I'm pretty sure includes the vast majority of the Ravenloft audience. It'd also be inconsistent with the established pattern of the 3E Ravenloft materials, in that Arthaus's books opted (mostly due to copyright issues) to gloss over the links between Ravenloft NPCs and their various worlds of origin. Keeping 3E-Ravenloft self-contained and viable in its own right, rather than piggybacking on other game-settings' token darklords, is a practice I, personally, think is worth continuing: a person shouldn't have to know a thing about Mystara to understand Meredoth, about Oerth to understand Azalin, etc.

That being said, I may ask around on the Mystara websites, to see if the original authors of these links are interested in sharing their ideas about this particular darklord. The Nocturnal Sea Gaz is the first one the FoS has worked on, that includes darklords from established D&D settings, so it's the first time we've had the opportunity to ask for such outside input; doing that might help remind other settings' fans that Ravenloft is still out there. OTOH, if the authors can't be contacted, it'd be unethical to base Meredoth's history or domain on theories proposed in those links.

Hi Rotipher,

I hope you had a great Christmas, and that you still have a few days worth of holidays (at least!) to enjoy...

I have been thinking about Meredoth, and Graben/Knammen/Todstein lately. Have you established a direction for these domains, and are you able to share your thoughts?

Like many others, I was less than inspired by Meredoth's backround ("ooh, yay, another evil wizard who is guilty of making twisted experiments on the poor commoners..."). And now that he is stuck on a frozen island in Ravenloft, with only lebendtods and simple folk as neighbours/lackeys, and all the spells in the Player's Handbook already memorized, then what can he possibly be experimenting on that would be more interesting than the standard necromantic fare...

What about trying to convert creatures of the depths, like kraken and--better yet--uzollru, into undead servants that he can command? I can imagine Meredoth having an affinity for Dagon, and the suspicion that one of Dagon's uzollru servants is lurking in the depths of the Nocturnal Sea would be tantalizing indeed for a maritime necromancer. Perhaps Meredoth needs to acquire more and more victims (preferably living) in order to lure the uzollru with a worthy "gift", and has sent some lebendtod to the mainland to assist with this? Paradoxically, the more sacrifices he offers, the closer he gets to establishing a connection with the uzollru... without ever quite succeeding (which proves quite frustrating for the power mad wizard...).

Meredoth's psycho-social development could include a total lack of warmth in (and control over) his environment as a child (e.g., random punishments), which has left him with a need to overcompensate for his formerly weak internal locus of control by controlling absolutely everything, even if that means denying subjects their humanity. In the beginning, he may even have been one of those rare benevolent necromancers mentioned in the AD&D 2 e Complete Book of Necromancers, who gradually changed his focus over time (the need for absolute control tends to favour an evil disposition, even if one starts out with benevolent motives).

Meredoth has created lebendtods in order to ensure that he has mastery over both his subjects and the elements--nature can no longer threaten their lives or otherwise interfere with their activities. Perhaps he even thought, in his own twisted way, that he was acting in the islanders' best interests when he transformed some of them into lebendtods--after all, they were still able to pass as humans and to conduct their daily activities almost autonomously, with the added bonus of being quasi-immortal. And now he seeks to command the creatures of the depths just to prove that he can, and also to ensure that they do not become a threat to him or his own activities (or those of his subjects, if we give Meredoth a benevolent but horribly misguided streak)!

Given the insular nature of Graben, I can also imagine some Lovecraftian thralls of Dagon dwelling there or on Knammen (much like the folk of Innsmouth), and islanders venerating/propitiating the uzollru/Great Old One beneath the sea (epithet can of course be changed so that we are not so blatantly ripping Lovecraft off), as instructed by their good lord Meredoth. The islanders are insular and fearful because: a) they are a reflection of Meredoth's early psycho-social development (everything is beyond their control); b) they fear that the Great Old One will be angered and will devour them if they should try to leave, as will their lord Meredoth (which is an extension of "a").

And since Meredoth is supposed to be concerned only by his magical experiments, and to not care about the fate of the peasants (according to the DoD version)... then why do living humans remain at all on Graben? What purpose do they serve? Could they also be kept as a reserve of potential living sacrifices? Might Meredoth want to prove his success to some living mortals, to those he was originally charged with protecting?

Let me know if any of this fits with your vision of Meredoth and his islands (I realize that we might end up with a strange brew of Lovecraftian and gothic horror, but I think it can work). And if you would like me to develop some of these ideas further, then please don't hesitate to ask. I have a few days available between now and New Years to contribute to this project!

Cheers!

p.s.: and for what it's worth, I am among those who would like to see a few references to Mystara in Meredoth's origin story. They need not be long or detailed...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

TwiceBorn -

Thanks for passing on your ideas! I can't promise that I'll be able to use them at this stage -- there are some things already in the works for this project that may not be compatible with what you're describing ... or maybe they're too compatible -- but it's great to see that others will be interested in what I've done to make Meredoth less of a 'ho hum' darklord. Certainly, I'll be including several references to his ties with Mystara (even if I don't name names), and his shoddy upbringing and snobbish Alphatian heritage will be major elements in explaining his attitude problem. I'm also giving him reasons to poke his nose out of the lab once in a while -- although he won't be a 'player' in world events, a la Azalin or the in-game Frat, and frankly he wouldn't want to be -- and will be putting a spin on his past crimes and present curse that are a bit more consistent with other darklords' offenses and punishments.

If you're interested in helping out, and would be willing to work on some other things that need doing, please e-mail me and let me know, okay? In particular, I could use your help at converting some distinctly "Mystaran" monsters to 3.5, to give the domain some environmental ties to that game-setting.

Thanks lots!

[Bluebomber4evr]

If you're interested in helping out, and would be willing to work on some other things that need doing, please e-mail me and let me know, okay? In particular, I could use your help at converting some distinctly "Mystaran" monsters to 3.5, to give the domain some environmental ties to that game-setting.

Thanks lots!

Gah, I know this is months late, but if you still need help with these Mystara critters let me know. I made a few for my NWN Ravenloft server.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Sure, there's some monsters I haven't gotten converted yet. Any chance you've done a 3.5 conversion of the white-fang as a magical beast, for example? There's a "dragon" version in the Vaults of Pandius that I've been given permission to use, but I'd really rather see it as a magical beast if possible.

[Bluebomber4evr]

Hmm, I don't know what the white-fang is. I just converted stuff from the Mystara Monstrous Compendium. I converted creatures like plasms, ebon tiger, thoul, darkhood, wyrd..etc. But NWN is 3.0, not 3.5 >.<

Also, I did a write up of Nebligtode/Graben if you want to use it: http://www.nwnravenloft.com/forum/index ... 0#msg50760

I based it off of the info in Ship of Horror, combined with the brief blurbs in Domains of Dread and the 3rd ed. Campaign setting. I gave natives Norwegian names, as Meredoth was in Norwold before the Mists took him, and Norwold is Mystara's Viking-like land.

[Bluebomber4evr]

Nevermind, I see the white fang...that furry ice snake on pg. 117 of the Mystara compendium. I hadn't done a conversion because there isn't a decent model in NWN that would do the monster justice (there are a few snake models, but they're not the appropriate color).

If I were to pick classic Mystara monsters to convert for the Nocturnal Sea, I'd recommend:

Agarat, Baldandar, Bhut (different from the one in the 3rd ed. Fiend Folio), Darkhood, Darkwing, Dusanu (was in Dragon magazine recently), Ghostly Horde, Amber Golem, Skeletal Golem, Iron Gargoyle Golem, Rock Golem, Silver Golem, Gray Philosopher, Guardian Warrior, Giant Jellyfish, Lycanthrope - Wereswine, Mujina, Nuckalavee, Dangerous Plant - Amber Lotus, Dangerous Plant - Archer Bush, Dangerous Plant - Grab Grass, Dangerous Plant - Vampire Rose, Plasm, Sacrol, Shapeshifter - Randara, Spectral Death (Soul Eater), Spectral Hound, Spirit - Druj, Spirit - Odic, Living Statue - all, Vampire - Velya, White Fang, Wyrd, Yowler, Lightning Zombie

[Gemathustra]

Please oh please oh please oh please tell me you didn't actually recommend using the "Wereswine" lycanthrope, which is simply Hoggish Greedly with fangs.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

I really like your write-up of Nebligtode, Bomber; in fact, I used many of the same ideas for Graben Island culture, although my version is more Faroese than Norwegian in flavor. I hope you'll enjoy it, when it finally comes out.

Several of the monsters you mention will be making cameo appearances in the NS Gaz, using stats which members of the Mystara web-community have already given me their permission to use. Others might not receive a complete conversion-treatment, but will be referenced nonetheless (e.g. a grim reaper that manifests itself in Nebligtode just happens to resemble an OD&D soul eater! ).

And no, Gemathustra, the devil swine lycanthrope will not be making an appearance. With wereboars in Ravenloft already being evil-inclined, who needs them anyway?

[TwiceBorn]

Sure, there's some monsters I haven't gotten converted yet. Any chance you've done a 3.5 conversion of the white-fang as a magical beast, for example? There's a "dragon" version in the Vaults of Pandius that I've been given permission to use, but I'd really rather see it as a magical beast if possible.

Hey Rotipher,

I know I am waaayyy late with this, but I was still thinking of giving the white fang, the magen, and the kal-muru conversions a stab... let me know if they're still open, and what new deadline I should be working towards (job hunting has, unfortunately, been taking up most of my time lately).

Also... can you please confirm that you received the gaz entries I submitted to you back in January?

Thanks!

[Rotipher of the FoS]

I'm still in need of both the white-fang and the kal-muru, so whoever's first to make some time to convert them is welcome to do so. I've shifted gears to focus on the too-long-neglected doppelganger book for the time being, so there's no big rush to get them in ASAP; any time this month is probably soon enough. The magen, BTW, is no longer necessary, as I've thought of something creepier to use instead.

I did receive your text for Meerdorf, TwiceBorn; in fact, I've already passed the Graben Island write-up -- Meerdorf included -- on to the other moderators for review. Subtle, yet spooky stuff!