Glancing over the other posts here it seems the "Wizards Three" articles are some long tradition I've not been privvy to until now. That said...what??
How did Elminster and Mordenkainen end up at the same dinner table? Isn't Mordenkainen dead? I thought Rary killed him. Barring that I thought the whole 3rd edition cosmology was supposed to keep crossovers like this from occuring, at least in any way that would allow them to get together for chow.
Don't anyone take this as a complaint. I'm actually fascinated that the worlds are apparently coming back together a bit and I'm curious to see how widespread this is. Also I didn't recognize the lady who was with them, the name didn't strike me as familiar--but it did make me get a little smile on my face and hope it was a signature character from Eberron. Actually it'd be neat to get someone from Dragonlance there too, that way each published setting would get a seat at the table.
I can't wait to get a chance to sit down and read it through in detail. For one in hopes of resolving some of the cosmological quandries this causes, and for another to finally get a chance to meet Mordenkainen, who I've always thought seemed like a cool guy (well at least his spells paint him as a pretty cool guy--and sweet pic too.)
No, the worlds do crossover, except they're now much harder to do so than before. Now you have to go deep into the Shadow Plane to crossover into and entirely different cosmology as opposed to just using a Teleport without Error spell or Plane Shift spell.
In Forgotten Realms "Serpent Kingdoms" book there is this ruler of a nation that has gone plane-walking with some adventurers and they pissed off a world ruled by black dragons. Now the black dragons supposedly have found them and want revenge.
And spells with names like Mordenkainen, Rary, and Tenser stay the same in the Realms. Only problem is, they're not found within Realms history at all. Which every researcher of the arcane has concluded these are wizards from other Material Planes.
Also portals still do and can connect other cosmologies. The costs are the same, too. As for the new wizard, it was originally supposed to be Dalamar from Dragonlance, but for some reason Dragonlance is "locked" which is rather silly I believe. Last I checked it's a D&D world which means WotC/Dragon should have whatever licenses they want to use him as they please, Sovereign Press or not. Though I think it's more a matter of Dalamar has gone missing in Krynn as well? Not sure, I quit reading DL after Dragons of Summer Flame. THe girl wizard, Rautheen I think her name was, is from Greyhawk
As for the new wizard, it was originally supposed to be Dalamar from Dragonlance, but for some reason Dragonlance is "locked" which is rather silly I believe. Last I checked it's a D&D world which means WotC/Dragon should have whatever licenses they want to use him as they please, Sovereign Press or not. Though I think it's more a matter of Dalamar has gone missing in Krynn as well? Not sure, I quit reading DL after Dragons of Summer Flame. THe girl wizard, Rautheen I think her name was, is from Greyhawk
Krynn became locked after "Dragons of a Summer Flame" as part of the 5th Age stuff (where the Magic of High Sorcery ceased functioning, and so Dalamar was unable to leave).
The reasons behind all this were explained in the "War of Souls" trilogy. As far as I can tell, Krynn should now no longer be locked.
In any event, I suspect "The Wizards Three" is supposed to be a light-hearted piece of "what-if" fiction, rather than any serious treatment of the canon on the worlds involved. My guess is that Ed Greenwood just didn't feel like adding Dalamar back into the mix.
It certainly is a piece of "What-if" fiction set in Ed Greenwood's House (yes, the wizards are on Earth). While light-hearted, the stories do touch on the very real ability of these two powerful arch-mages to cross over into other realms despite the difficulties of such a transition.
By the way, Mordekainen was not killed by rary. The wizards that were killed were Otiluke (I think) and Tenser. Tenser was brought back from the dead, though.
It certainly is a piece of "What-if" fiction set in Ed Greenwood's House (yes, the wizards are on Earth).
That's assuming Ed Greenwood lives on Earth ;)
Håvard
I've only been a subscriber to Dragon for a few years and I often find myself asking "What's that?" so much, that I feel like a kid asking why the sun sets and why leaves fall in autumn. The Wizards Three article is another such fascinating subject to me, and I'd love to read more. A search for "Wizards Three" under "Dragon" in Paizo's search form only reveals two definitive results. Can anyone point me in the direction of more Wizards Three articles?
On a related note... Rautheene: where can I read more about her? I've a chronic compulsion to become fascinated by obscure and esoteric characters, and any leads would help satiate the info-hungry monkey on my back.
"3 Wizards Too Many" 196(82)
"Jest the Wizards Three" 242(48)
"Magic In the Evening" 185(56)
"Return of the Wizards Three, The" 238(42)
"Wizards Three, The" 188(26)
"Wizards Three, The" 200(20)
"Wizards Three, The" 211(82)
"Wizards Three, The" 246(86)
I looked these up using the DragonDex website, which is just an awesome resource for looking up anything pertaining to articles in Dragon Magazine.
Also, Rautheene, to my knowledge, has only ever appeared in the Wizard's Three articles. I think part of the reason Rautheene didn't have any further history in Greyhawk is because she was introduced mainly to search for Dalamar, and as such, was wandering the planes as much as she was with her mentor Mordenkainen.
It were indeed Otiluke and Tenser who were killed by Rary. The most recent, very short entry on that is in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, p. 16. (WTC 11743). Somewhat more information is found in "Greyhawk Wars" (TSR 1068), Adventure Book, p. 24, but to get insight into Rary´s treachery, look into "Rary the Traitor" (TSR 9386), p. 3-4. He could kill them mostly because he surprised them. His long-time plans described in "his" sourcebook show what a genius can do with enough resources and time on his hands.
The story of Tensers return to the living is told in "Return of the Eight" (TSR 9576). He featured prominently under the name Manzorian in a certain recently finished adventure path :-)
The "Wizards Three" was always a fun read, even if I never used any of the new spells described in there. I once had the luck to listen to Ed Greenwood at a gaming convention (mind you, over here in germany!), and he can be really funny. It makes me smile even all those years later.
BTW, to me the name Rauthenee sounds somewhat "realm-ish", which is probably no surprise. Does anyone else feel that way ?
Stefan
"3 Wizards Too Many" 196(82)
"Jest the Wizards Three" 242(48)
"Magic In the Evening" 185(56)
"Return of the Wizards Three, The" 238(42)
"Wizards Three, The" 188(26)
"Wizards Three, The" 200(20)
"Wizards Three, The" 211(82)
"Wizards Three, The" 246(86)
If I recall correctly, the series actually started one or two installments earlier - initially it was just Elminster and Mordenkainen, until they decided to invite someone from Krynn, whereupon it became "The Wizards Three". However, I might be wrong about that, since I'm just going from memory here.
If I remember correctly (my collection of older magazines didn't survive my divorce, unfortunately) the first installment actually began with El and Mordenkainen speaking as if they had been meeting for a while, and that they had decided on Dalamar as the representative of Krynn. The two originally had apparently talked to Fizban, then found out that he was a god, and were going to talk to Raistlin, but then Raistlin put his plans into action before they could contact them, and finally, they met with Dalamar.
The series included the three (Mordenkainen, Elminster, and Dalamar) for several installments, although at least once the Simbul made an appearance as well. Shortly after Dragons of Summer Flame came out, Mordenkainen and Elminster discussed how they had been unable to find Dalamar or contact him, and there were a few articles with just the two of them, until they introduced Rautheene as Mordenkainen's apprentice that had been tasked with travelling the planes looking for a way into Krynn to find Dalamar.
Apparently the most recent installment would imply that its not so much Krynn that is difficult to find now, but that Rautheene has been unsuccessful in contacting Dalamar himself.
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Apparently the most recent installment would imply that its not so much Krynn that is difficult to find now, but that Rautheene has been unsuccessful in contacting Dalamar himself.
Which, of course, sucks. Next to Raistlin and Lord Soth, Dalamar was (in my humble opinion) one of the best villains to emerge from the world of Krynn. In the end, I think he might be a better "evil wizard" than Raistlin, because he has never tried for any kind of redemption. He just goes on being thoroughly evil.
Bring Back Dalamar!
Krynn's also about 40 years ahead of the other settings, which makes things tricky. But the crux of it is that Krynn is not a part of the Great Wheel cosmology and has its own, in addition to having been moved by Takhisis following Dragons of Summer Flame.
There's a division in the fan base about whether it's a good or bad thing to rule out multiversal crossovers in Dragonlance. My point of view is that in a core Dragonlance campaign, Krynn is a relatively closed setting. In any other campaign, visitors from Krynn are perfectly fine, so long as you don't expect it to conform to what's accepted in the core DL version of things.
Thus, Soth never went to Ravenloft, there aren't Spelljammer ports in the city of Palanthas, drow elves didn't crash land their spelljammer ship in Southern Ergoth, and so forth... unless you're playing a Ravenloft or Spelljammer campaign.
Cheers,
Cam
If I remember correctly (my collection of older magazines didn't survive my divorce, unfortunately) the first installment actually began with El and Mordenkainen speaking as if they had been meeting for a while, and that they had decided on Dalamar as the representative of Krynn.
I checked this last night, and the first installment is #185, as listed above. It features only E and M. Dalamar was added later.
Much thanks KnightErrantJR! I'm off to buy said issues right now.