Timor Gazetteer

[Jasper]

#3) What happened to Timor?

The sewers are obviously not Paridon made and at least a few adventures who servived would have found relics telling of the city of Timor (if even an old half rotted newbill or a faded painting). Legends say (as a few Timorians could have excaoed into the mist with thier stories) that the city was the jewel of its time and it still stands, all its riches up for the plunder. Any adventurer brave or foolish enough to travel the queen's tunnels to find the way to this lost city can return with a kings ransom in gold and jewels not to mention books and art that would make even the most stoic professor drool in delight.

[Tobias Blackburn]

Good point Jasper. Timor also had some very powerful mages, so the draw of the lore (and possible items) contained down below could be very tempting, once stories of the ruins reach the surface.

[Mortavius]

I'd be happy to take on a section or more of Timor. I've always been intrigued by the domain. What do you want me to work on?

[Tobias Blackburn]

I'd be happy to take on a section or more of Timor. I've always been intrigued by the domain. What do you want me to work on?

Would you like to do the social structure of the Hive? The Queen, The hunter, the Handmaiden (elite guards for the queen) and possibly come up with a few other types? Maybe try to do what they did in Gazetteer III and expand on the capabilities (and weaknesses) of the Marikith?

[Undead Cabbage]

Another trick behind designing new types of Marikiths is keeping this Gothic Horror style. With something like the Marikiths, it will be easy to trip off into something that fits better in a 'power-game' fantasy game than a Ravenloft game. I'm a little worried about Marikiths just being another dungeon crawl race. Really, they should inspire fear in their enemies.

Any thoughts on specialized Marikiths with strange hunting tactics? Perhaps implementing the strategies of many carnivorous insects and arachnids (ant lions, squirpions, spiders, wasps, etc). 'Bugs' are a common theme in horror. As a Zoology major, I might have some ideas for this. However, until I get Paridon's geography and sites of interest done, I don't want to commit to much else.

[Tobias Blackburn]

As it stand the marikith are like orcs. You fight them once or twice, you know their tricks and you don't need to worry about anything till you get to the big boss down below.

There should be a certain amount of variety in them. Some that are meant to bring back food, others that are meant specifically to capture live prey completely unharmed, and perhaps a few scouts. Make a list of possible abilities to tack onto them like Spider Climb, or Web (even better, a version of ectoplasmic coccoon).

It's the unknown that really make marikith unknown, so giving them variety extends that, even for experienced dungeon crawlers.

[Undead Cabbage]

How about a Marikith with similar hunting (well, I should say reproducing) strategies as these guys: Tarantula Hawks

[Jester of the FoS]

The Three Themes of Timor:

1. Fear of the Unknown.

2. Corruption of the Known.

3. Isolation while Surrounded.

That's what I'm basing my take on.

Fear in general seems to be big in Timor. The creatures there feed on it, and inflicting it turns people into monsters.

[Nathan of the FoS]

How about a Marikith with similar hunting (well, I should say reproducing) strategies as these guys: Tarantula Hawks

Or, perhaps even better, a marikith predator with this reproductive strategy? (The marikith already have a reproductive strategy--it's named the Marikith Queen. )

[Tobias Blackburn]

The Three Themes of Timor:

1. Fear of the Unknown.

2. Corruption of the Known.

3. Isolation while Surrounded.

That's what I'm basing my take on.

Fear in general seems to be big in Timor. The creatures there feed on it, and inflicting it turns people into monsters.

Actually it has been people's actions in Timor that turned them into monsters and while those actions have sometimes been motivated by fear they can come from any number of reasons.

[Jester of the FoS]

So we have Mortavius, Tobias, Nathan and myself.
Who wants to do what?

Possible sections include:
* History
* Geography (description of the myriad layers)
* Former Lord (it hints in the Islands of Terror that the Queen is the second lord replacing her mother).
* Forcer City
* Human inhabitants/settlements
* Other monsters and things haunting the deep
* Marikith society
* The Queen (current sketch, plans

Personally, I’d like to deal with the humans and survivors.

As for theme, I think fear is key; however, something should relate and tie into the Queen’s fear of being replaced.
Perhaps the sewers and ruins of subterranean Timor are littered with the remnants of the lost city. Sunken buildings, ruins, flushed items, discarded objects, etc. Thus, everyone who lives or visits there is reminded that people used to rule and were replaced by the Marikith. They do no truly belong here anymore, this is not their home. They have been replaced as the dominant life. And to the Marikith it reminds them that they are replaceable too.
This nicely adds some variety to the land (more than sewer tunnels!) while adding a thematic element.

[Tobias Blackburn]

I already have some extensive notes on History, the former darklord, the former city and the current non-marikith inhabitants (everything from appearance, lifestyle and education, religion, attitudes towards magic and all the rest.).

I also have a lesser degree of notes on everything else if anyone wants to see them.

I think that it would be wrong to assume that everything ties into her fear of being replaced. It makes more sense to tie it all to the general feel of the domain, which has always been corruption. The Hive Queen "won" in her last domain and the spoils should have been brought down to her level. The most beautiful city in the world, broken apart and scattered around a sewer.

It's easier to tie everything to Timor's corrupting effects than it is to a fear of being replaced by a single offspring. Being replaced is a fear for above. Down below it is disappearing entirely or becoming something monstrous yourself.

[Mortavius]

I think another theme of Timor should be it's "alieness." Not overly so; I like the idea of there being remnants of the city of Timor in the domain, but these should also serve to emphasize the complete alien nature of the Marikith. These are unknown beings, unkowable by all but themselves. The fact that their Queen was once human only serves to reinforce the fact that they have come so far away from what they were.

As to what to work on, I can certainly work on the Marikith society, if that's what people want. I also have an interest in coming up with ideas for some of the other inhabitants of Timor (monster-wise).

[Tobias Blackburn]

I think another theme of Timor should be it's "alieness." Not overly so; I like the idea of there being remnants of the city of Timor in the domain, but these should also serve to emphasize the complete alien nature of the Marikith. These are unknown beings, unkowable by all but themselves. The fact that their Queen was once human only serves to reinforce the fact that they have come so far away from what they were.

As to what to work on, I can certainly work on the Marikith society, if that's what people want. I also have an interest in coming up with ideas for some of the other inhabitants of Timor (monster-wise).

If you have ideas for more monsters you should definitely go ahead with them. Keep in mind the laws of Timor though. There can be no intelligent monsters in Timor because their actions will cause them to transform into Marikith.

I don't think that Timor must be completely "alien" in its presentation, but it must remain dark, unknowable and all-consuming. It's the feeling of being hunted by the shadows themselves. Look at... well, look at the movie Alien (and Aliens). Most of the movies do not take place in evil, unknowable places. They take place in the ship, or in a colony, or power plant. The fear comes from an unstoppable, unknowable foe in dark, crapped spaces. It doesn't come from the alien ship, and part of the horror from the Alien Queen's lair is the way it absorbs and corrupts the surrounding area. Timor itself should not be as alien as the Marikith, but it should be a representation of the way they ruin anything they touch.

[William Blackmoor]

We're the Marikith, you'll be assimilated, resistance is futile...

Sorry couldn't resist.

But actually, we think of Alien to much. But "Alien" is the least "gothic" thing runnig around. Maybe we should take a step back and take a look at the more human Borg as a role model for at least some aspects of the marikith race?
And then there is always "Cthulhu"'. The Markith could be pictured as an elder, maybe degenerated race, with strange intelligence and alien ethics, impossible to understand for humans and bent on taking back their old home. There could even be a cult placating the Marikith queen (with or without success, I think I'll included one in my writeup for the mystery-cults of Paridon).
In my (false) history of Paridon I suggested putting the creation of the markith queen into ancient history. Maybe their "return" will be interpretet as an awakening from a long period of hibernation by those who know about them?