Seasonal Greetings

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Blackmoor Blog and the guys at the Comeback Inn.

Hope you have been a good froggie this year! :)





-Havard

Image snatched from: http://twinklesandsparkles.blogspot.no/2010/03/christmas-frog.html

All 3 MMRPG Seasons Available!

Fake covers I made for the MMRPG

Just a quick message to let you know that all 3 seasons of the Blackmoor MMRPG are now available at The Comeback Inn. Sort of an early Christmas Present for you there.

Enjoy!

-Havard

Origin of Mystara's Known World

Known World Map Replica by Thorfinn Tait

The D&D fantasy world that later grew into the World of Mystara, originally referred to as the D&D Game World, or simply the Known World first appeared in the module X1 The Isle of Dread (1981) by Tom Moldvay and David "Zeb" Cook. 


It has for a long time been rumoured that Tom Moldvay ( 1948 – 2007) based the setting on elements from his own campaign. However, over at the Mystara Facebook Group, James Mishler just reported the following:

Per Lawrence Schick in a post I just read..."...the Known World was originally based on the shared-world campaign Tom Moldvay and I ran in Akron, Ohio, before we were hired by TSR. I invented most of the names, including Thyatis, Ylaruam, Ierendi, Darokin, Atruaghin, and Glantri."

The origin of the names of the various countries has also been up to some speculation. Frank Mentzer has hinted that Ylaruam was simply the word Morally spelled backwards. This seems to be well in line with Moldvay & Cook's modus operandi. Another location developed by the two in the same setting is the city of Yavdlom, which also reveals a code if spelled backwards. 





-Havard

Rise of the Cumasti: Comelar Ithamis

With the death of King Uhlmar, the Elven Nation fell into chaos. The elves of the Wood Realms of the West followed Ceridrone , the Black Queen, the daughter that Uhlmar had cursed for her betrayal. The eastern elves, known now as the Cumasti split into factions, arguing among themselves. The Elder Council could not agree on which direction they should take, leaving each of the eastern Wood Realms to fend for itself.

In the largest of the Cumasti Wood Realms, the Redwoods, leadership fell upon the shoulders of Comelar Ithamis. The Council of Elders said that  although Comelar was the eldest son of Uhlmar, they would not accept his claim to be king of all elves before he could produce Uhlmar’s Crown.  Unfortunately the Crown had disappeared during the time of duress following the former King’s death.  Because of this there were even those among the Cumasti who would not accept Comelar’s rulership. The Goss Clan was especially noted for their desire for independence.

Comelar was an unusual young elf with an openness towards the world reminiscent of his father in his younger days. He carried the sword Woodhold, and some said that he sometimes talked to the blade. In spite of his strange ways, the elves of the Redwoods were loyal to Lord Comelar.

With the divisions among the elves and the increasing number of humans arriving in the North, as well as the appearance of a new race in the North, that the humans called Dwarves, Comelar did not sit idly by. While he was denied command of the Elven Nation, he began to consolidate what power he had, building up the defenses of the Redwoods. He founded an order known as the Gen’Ri, whose mission was to gather information on the races that lived outside the woods.

The information the Gen’Ri brought back was terrifying. The Goss Clan which had opposed Comelar’s leadership had managed to place one prince in Mithgiliwyr as ruler of their woodland realm, while his half brother Raddan had managed to claim the throne of Blackmoor. Raddan’s hunger for arcane power drove him into becoming a leading force in the Mage Wars. When his brother refused to join his side, Raddan destroyed Mithgilliwyr’s Woodrealm, turning it into the Blood Woods. With these arcane wars raging on, the Cumasti Wood Realms again looked to Comelar for leadership. Gradually they began to recognize him as Lord of the Cumasti.

Seeing that the threats from the outside world could not be ignored, Comelar secretly supported the Archmage Skelfer. With the end of the Mage Wars, Comelar made renewed contact with the Thonians, although he was in no way interested in making the Wizards Cabal welcome in his own lands. Skelfer accepted this, given the aid Comelar had given to the Archmage during the time of strife. Upon Comelar’s death, his son, Menander, continued to expand the contact with the Thonians. Menander Ithamis would often walk among humans in disguise, learning of their ways  through personal experience as well as from the information provided to him by the Gen’Ri.

The first real intervention of Menander’s forces into Thonian lands was after the Egg of Coot had invaded and occupied Blackmoor Town. Only through the aid of Menander’s Army were the heroes of Blackmoor able to drive the Egg out. Menander recognized the dangers of the Egg as too great for one race to stand against alone and continued his efforts to work with the other races, finding allies among Humans, Halflings and even the Dwarves.

***

Notes: 

In previous material, I named Uhlmar's son Noris, but later realized that Menander's father had been named in the D20 Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Sourcebook. 

The Gen'Ri and Mithgilivyr Goss were introduced in The Blackmoor Player's Guide.

King Uhlmar is my creation.

***


Image Source

More discussion of this topic.


-Havard

MMRPG Finale Approaching

Over at the Comeback Inn Forum, we have been releasing Season 3 of Blackmoor the MMRPG this autumn. Now, only a few episodes are left and we plan to release them all in time for Christmans. Season 3 marks the last of these freebie adventure modules which are easy to use with any edition. They are released with the expressed permission of Zeitgeist Games.

Season 3 Fake Tribute cover by Havard

So, stay tuned with us over at The Comeback Inn and make sure that you download these final MMRPG episodes as they are released in the weeks ahead.

Discuss this article and download the adventures here.






-Havard

Life of Keres (Burrower Wars Part III)

Summoning the Burrowers

As the Burrower Wars raged on, Keres would often think back to the events of his life having lead up to this point. While Keres was human, his true parentage was unknown. As a young child, he was discovered by a tribe of Brute-Men, the Qullan who raised him as their own. Perhaps it was growing up with the Qullan that made him feel different. He felt even more like a stranger among other tribes, the powerful Garls, the dangerous Fey or the Human Tribes.

Instead explored the mysteries of the Shamans. The Qullan had always regarded Keres as a holy child. As he grew older he began wandering into the Great Glaciers. This is where he found the weapon. The Carnifex Scythe. This artifact from the Cthonian Age was where he first encountered real power. And from that point on, he knew that he wanted more.

The Carnifex Scythe

Looking back at his life, his biggest achievement was climbing the mountain top to the Throne of the Gods. From that point on it was easy. Tricking the God, Temrin, back to his lair and killing him with the Carnifex weapon. He drew power from Temrin's blood, which he drank. Also, he kept the god's still glowing heart in a medallion around his neck.

Using these two sources of power, Keres could summon the Burrowers, in order to destroy the world. From this destruction he hoped to drain infinite power. But there was something wrong in his memories. A person appeared now and then. A human. He wondered if this human had actually been there, but the face appeared him the memories of Keres in many stages of his life. Who was he though? This mysterious figure. 

Keres had been wondering about this Mystery Figure for a while now. Would he see him again? Unfortunately, the next time the Figure appeared, it would be too late for Keres to do anything about it. "You!" he said, as the Figure appeared in front of him. 

"Who are you, thief?" Keres asked, noticing that the Figure held the Temrin Medallion in his hand. But the  mysterious man simply vanished in thing air. With a grim smile on his face. 

Instantly, Keres felt the mind-link to the Burrowers disappear. That day, his armies began to fail. Months later, all was lost.

***

The mysterious figure returned to his own time. Khoronus, General of the armies of King Robert of Geneva had climbed the mountain to the Throne of Gods centuries after Keres. The Throne olds the secrets to Time Travel, allowing Khoronus to thwart Keres' plans. With Keres explosed, the Gods intervened. 

Some believe that Khoronus placed the Heart of Temrin near the Bramwald Forest, where was later constructed the Bramford Abbey, whose monks claim it still resides there today. Then he left the world. A new God of Time had been born. But it is said that he left behind a means to travel through time, so that others could explore such mysteries in later centuries. 

Behind the Curtains: Additional Comments.

In this installment I wanted to explore how the Burrower Wars came to an end. Also, hinted in this material are clues to Khoronus' quest fore Immortality. The connection between Khoronus and Bramford Abbey is a round about nod to some of the work of Fred Weining on Greyhawk's Blackmoor. In addition this article allowed me to take a closer look at the different groups becoming involved with the Burrower Wars. 

This series of articles has sparked some really helpful discussions. Thanks for great ideas provided by Aegir and Yatzronomo on the Comeback Inn, and everyone in this thread on The Piazza, especially Ripvanwormer for suggestions to the Carnifex Scythe.  

More discussion of this article here.

Image Sources

Carnifex Scythe  

Star Summoned Dhole

-Havard

Gygax Magazine and TSR Games

Interrupting the ongoing series with a news flash.

I first heard about TSR Games and Gygax Magazine over at The Piazza. Apparently this new company will be publishing a new old school focused magazine in print and electronic formats. Gary's two sons, Luke Gygax and Ernie Gygax are involved in this projects as are Tim Kask, Jayson Elliot, Jim Wampler, James Carpio and several others. Gail Gygax has stated that the project is not supported by the Gygax estate.

More information can be gleamed from Loremaster, the Gamers & Grognard's blog as well as The Piazza discussion.

Looks to me like with the good people involved in this project, this could become very interesting. I hope that they will offer the possibility of print subscriptions overseas. With the disappointing announcement about Kobold Quarterly folding recently, this could be a good time for their launch too.


I wish the Gygax boys the best! :)



-Havard