Thoughts about False History

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

1) Jameld of Hroth can't really be 200 years old. Sithicus was formed in 720. Chronologically, Jameld was no older than 4 when he and Van Richten hunted that bog monster. He's in his late thirties by the time VRA is written, but that's still a kid in elvish terms. Is anyone going to tell him that?

2) Anyone else noticed that the Kartakan false history about Harkon starting a revolution turned (with some changes for extra spook) into his Act of Ultimate Darkness in VRGtR? Lies turn into truth if you tell them for long enough...

3) If you ever feel useless, remember there are archeologists working in Dementlieu.

4) Let's be serious for a sec: I think False History might be the most horrific thing in the entire campaign setting.
I mean, in the real world, we have a lot of history.
Human civilization is thousands of years old. Human existence? Millions of years. Life on earth? Hundreds of millions. Earth itself? Billions. The universe? Over ten billions. Our world is ancient, and it's barely starting.
Even if we only focus on our little part of it (which is what we usually do), or believe it's actually a lot younger (like a very literal intrepretation of some religions does), we're still left with millenias
Some people find this scale terrifying ~ it makes us look tiny in comparision.
I don't.
I love living in a big world, by both space and time. A big world means I'm part of something big.
Maybe it's because I'm Jewish ~ I'm continuing traditions my ancestors started millenias ago, even though so much have changed, and I'm proud of that. Or maybe it's because I'm a very curious person, and a big world means I'll never run out of things to learn. Or maybe it's because I'm a young adult still figuring out their identity, so it's validating to me to think that somewhere in this huge world there must, statistically, be a place and time where I belong.
I love living in a big world, and I love learning its history, even the dark and messed up parts of it. Because learning history means learning all the ways people thought in throughout our existence ~ which mindsets can we learn from, which should we avoid, and which are just refreshingly differnet.
So... Imagine if one day you found out none of this is real.
The world is only 300 years old, and your nation isn't even a quarter of that. Not only that your faith isn't real, but neither did your ancestors believe in it, because you don't have any! You think every day about the Roman Empire? Funny thing, it never existed! Not only that the moon landing was a conspiracy, but so did Galileo Galilei! The events of the Bible are made up, but so are dinosaurs! Your parents act like they don't remember what it's like to be kids because they never really were ones!
Like, of course we have discoveries like that on a smaller scale all the time ~ but even then there's always someone who's pissed off. If I found out something like that on a global scale, I think I'd go insane.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

It's a good thing most people in the Demiplane are unaware of this.
Conversely, someone like "S" takes comfort and pride in being able to say "At least I know that I am real." Even if they'd need to add a "now" at the end.

But yes. Mass depression, mass hysteria - all kinds of horror would be unleashed if people at large learned about the existence of False History.

Still, I could see the revelation as the source of a stoic mindset and philosophy. "Reality is unreal, but we need to deal with it. We abandon the lies of the past, create our reality now and march on."

Or perhaps some would say: "If the past is not real, then who's to say the present or future are real? If we do not possess objective reality, then the subjective narrative we inhabit is all the reality we have, and we should carry on living as we always have."

[IanFordam]

1) Jameld of Hroth can't really be 200 years old. Sithicus was formed in 720. Chronologically, Jameld was no older than 4 when he and Van Richten hunted that bog monster. He's in his late thirties by the time VRA is written, but that's still a kid in elvish terms. Is anyone going to tell him that?

The way I see things, Jameld of Hroth actually can be 200 years old. It's just that his memories from before 720BC are highly untrustworthy if not outright lies.

Which is really just further argument that False History is terrifying.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Perhaps he is, indeed, 200 years old.
Because he was created a certain physical age, with pre-fabricated memories installed.
Since he was 'put into play', he has continued to age and accrue memories normally.

And yes, this is terrifying. One of the Dark Powers' best terror tricks, to be honest.

[Mistmaster]

That's the reason why there is no False History in the Mistworld. Because it sucks.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

To each their own.

[Mistmaster]

To be honest, it creates a lot of confusion murking timelines and all, even forpeople who like it.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

That is part of the point.

[Mistmaster]

It is annoying. But, as yiu said to each their own.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

1) Jameld of Hroth can't really be 200 years old. Sithicus was formed in 720. Chronologically, Jameld was no older than 4 when he and Van Richten hunted that bog monster. He's in his late thirties by the time VRA is written, but that's still a kid in elvish terms. Is anyone going to tell him that?

The way I see things, Jameld of Hroth actually can be 200 years old. It's just that his memories from before 720BC are highly untrustworthy if not outright lies.

Which is really just further argument that False History is terrifying.

Maybe. But I like the thought that the snobbish guy who thinks he's older and wiser than everyone around him is really just a delusional baby.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

Perhaps he is, indeed, 200 years old.
Because he was created a certain physical age, with pre-fabricated memories installed.
Since he was 'put into play', he has continued to age and accrue memories normally.

And yes, this is terrifying. One of the Dark Powers' best terror tricks, to be honest.

Yes, but how relevant are these false memories in terms of life experience?
Because Jameld is characterized as a man who knows he's over a century older than even his oldest colleagues, and thinks it makes him smarter than them. My point is that if his memories aren't real, why would the lessons he learned from them be? He'd remember what the Dark Powers want him to remember, think what they want him to think - which could be absolutely stupid things!
In fact, his false experience puts him at disadvantage compared to people who were born normally, because it gives him false confidence and prejudices that might literally have no base in reality.
He has no right to patronise anyone on base of wisdom or expertise, and I want to see his face when he realises this.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

To be honest, it creates a lot of confusion murking timelines and all, even for people who like it.

I suspect Mr. Dungeons and Mr. Dragons consider this an advantage. An all-purpose excuse for continuity issues.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Perhaps he is, indeed, 200 years old.
Because he was created a certain physical age, with pre-fabricated memories installed.
Since he was 'put into play', he has continued to age and accrue memories normally.

And yes, this is terrifying. One of the Dark Powers' best terror tricks, to be honest.

Yes, but how relevant are these false memories in terms of life experience?
Because Jameld is characterized as a man who knows he's over a century older than even his oldest colleagues, and thinks it makes him smarter than them. My point is that if his memories aren't real, why would the lessons he learned from them be? He'd remember what the Dark Powers want him to remember, think what they want him to think - which could be absolutely stupid things!
In fact, his false experience puts him at disadvantage compared to people who were born normally, because it gives him false confidence and prejudices that might literally have no base in reality.
He has no right to patronise anyone on base of wisdom or expertise, and I want to see his face when he realises this.

That depends entirely on how the Dark Powers want to play the game. Do they want a chump who'll die easy? A ticking time bomb that will blow up in the good guys' faces sooner or later, as you suggested? Or a potential opponent for their dark toys, to make the game more exciting?

At the level the Dark Powers operate on, it could be any of the above, a combination thereof, or something else entirely.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

To be honest, it creates a lot of confusion murking timelines and all, even for people who like it.

I suspect Mr. Dungeons and Mr. Dragons consider this an advantage. An all-purpose excuse for continuity issues.

In-game, it allows the Dark Powers to sow confusion and chaos, which possibly amuses them.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

It's a good thing most people in the Demiplane are unaware of this.
Conversely, someone like "S" takes comfort and pride in being able to say "At least I know that I am real." Even if they'd need to add a "now" at the end.

But yes. Mass depression, mass hysteria - all kinds of horror would be unleashed if people at large learned about the existence of False History.

Still, I could see the revelation as the source of a stoic mindset and philosophy. "Reality is unreal, but we need to deal with it. We abandon the lies of the past, create our reality now and march on."

Or perhaps some would say: "If the past is not real, then who's to say the present or future are real? If we do not possess objective reality, then the subjective narrative we inhabit is all the reality we have, and we should carry on living as we always have."

Reminds me of how I reached the conclusion that an existentialist mindset is the bane of Cosmic Horror. Cthulu doesn't get to decide whether or not my life are meaningful; I create my own meanings, and I don't care what eldritch horrors think about them.