| Andor the Wise |
Now, if you ignore the prayer, and go JUST by the second part, then the scene in the painting takes on a different context. Yes Elluvia is showing Dalt where to go, and convincing him to go. And yes, the image shifts to a shadow leaving her and going into the sky. But notice her reaction when Dalt leaves..pg.75 scene 4. "The red-haired woman smiles and turns away. A huge inhuman shape wrapped in darkness rises from her frame as if it had adhered to her Shadow and then vanishes into the skies above."
| Andor the Wise |
She smiles...perhaps because it is SHE that is doing the deceiving? Think about it...where is Afelbain? (I keep saying Dalt's painting...but it's actually Fraz-Urb'luu's painting ABOUT Dalt) The only reason to think Fraz-Urb'luu is the shadowy figure...is the prayer. But if the prayer is a ruse...and Fraz-Urb'luu and Elluvia are in fact ALLIES...then perhaps the painting shows them collaborating together to deceive Dalt.
| Andor the Wise |
So rather than Elluvia thinking she is having Dalt release Y (Yog Sothoth), but him actually going to get Tharizdun...perhaps she turns the deceptive tables on Uncle...and let's them think that's what's happening, but instead either he's off on a wild goose chase... therefore the reason Malcanthet defaces his painting- to strand him...or, Elluvia actually has Dalt getting the "one we do not know."
| Yolande d'Bar |
Andor,
Why is "centuries" since the catastrophe in error? When do you think the catastrophe occurred?
(I DM'd the PCs in my campaign through Maure Castle, Antiquities, Greater Halls, and the 3.5 Warlock's Walk over the last year or so. I was supremely disappointed they weren't more curious about the paintings in the Greater Halls.)
| Andor the Wise |
I also am running a current campaign using Maure...and the paintings actually scare the crap out of them. They only interactedvwith the painting of wee has....but not to the point of offering a gift...the rest they want nothing to do with. As to your "centuries" question...scroll up in the blog to a previous post by me...I did a timeline of events from dates given in the Maure adventures...and the "History of Oerth" timeline in the Oerth Journal.
| Andor the Wise |
Andor,
Why is "centuries" since the catastrophe in error? When do you think the catastrophe occurred?
(I DM'd the PCs in my campaign through Maure Castle, Antiquities, Greater Halls, and the 3.5 Warlock's Walk over the last year or so. I was supremely disappointed they weren't more curious about the paintings in the Greater Halls.)
I replied below in the blog. Actually..above and below.
| Andor the Wise |
Dungeon 112 pg.44...5249SD Tabular Steel scrawls message. According to Oerth Journal...5249 SD= -267 CY. Also on pg.44, Purple Stone went bat crazy 853 years ago. So -267 + 853 puts date of module at 586 CY. Pg. 79 has a genealogy of the Duchy of Urnst with records as recent as 350 years ago. 586 - 350= 236CY. Dungeon 124 pg.82-83 says Ben's repository was updated 300 years ago. Sooooo...the LATEST the catastrophe could have happened was 3 centuries.
| Andor the Wise |
More Maure Musings: (this goes in a lot of directions, so please excuse the scatterdness)...
Aflebain and Elluvia are Bro/sis. They represent Roderick/Madeline in FotHoU.
In that, Madeline was entombed alive...is that Elluvia's fate?
Roderick painted. Is Aflebain the artist of the Gallery Paintings?
Aflebain has possession of the scythe of Yeenoghu in his treasure Vault with entire room basically dedicated to Yeenoghu and the Ghoul Lich. Aflebain was a necromancer who housed entire level of Undead. His death was depicted in the painting of Orcus, NOT Yeenoghu. Why? The site gives him Powers over Ghouls and ghasts.
Orcus and Yeenoghu are enemies, because the Ghoul Lich was once loyal to Orcus, then Yeenoghu 'stole'him.
Crystals of Sooth: by using the Crystals of Sooth while upon the Current I discovered a possible future problem generating from one named i l l, who is about investigating the 3 Forge in Temple.
| Andor the Wise |
3 forge in temple = 3 origin temples.
Being that the Maures tend to be subject to dreams (otherwise current would be the way Druid travel), I'm assuming the current is a way of mind travel or possibly ethereal are astral and by using the crystals while in the state, it's a type of Commune with agents of time?
Now being that Vex "would gladly travel the current to complete the deed" tells me that the current is most likely the astral plane or the time-space continuum.
According to the page Time Travel, a lot of negative energy in a wormhole could cause the Casimir effect, allowing time travel Through the Wormhole so if Berserk left on the current (Wormhole) than his staff mentioned in the Shad Duan painting is the negative energy source needed to open the current.
"We are separated by a magical seal... Impossible! It sounds as if Berstek wrote this last entry right before Escaping The Castle. Now, his journal pages were found in his Workshop. So, where did he enter the current at? What room is close enough that he could have gotten to in time? Or was the portal in his treasure room number 32? Or possibly number 31?
The first stanza appears to be cursing Uncle for his greed. If that's the case what was he greedy for? I've got Vex being the cursed one. It would make more sense that it was Uncle because the last statement assumes he was attacked by Malcanthet, yet it also implies that Berstek was not present during the internment, if it truly was Uncle.
Could the statement read "the formula guards against me" ?
Akashic Record... deep within the astral plane... can observe scenes from any moment from the recent too distant past. Travel to this is incredibly difficult. It abuts the dimension of time. Risk becoming lost in the currents of the dimension of time. Egyptian Book of the Dead. Tibetan Book of the Dead.
| Andor the Wise |
Of course, I also ran across a thread titled Abandoned Chapel of Dalt?http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=14649 where someone mentions to RJK about a Randall Flag avatar connection, so I looked up Flagg and saw an avatar named Nyarlathotep. Looking him up, come to find out that the priest of Leng, who RJK said is who Mordy got the silver key from in his original works, had a silver key, was known as the High Priest Not to be Described, and was an Elder Hierophant. Nyarlathotep has many forms/avatars: the Crawling Mist from the Dreamlands (the Elder Eye floated above its sleeping owner and invaded his dreams), Messenger of the Old Ones, etc. Now as the summoning of Y is always preceded by his unnamed servant, could Dalt be said servant...ie. Nyarlathotep? Other items of note from the Dungeon Maure adventures: the Dalt painting and Fraz's painting both describe Dalt as having olive skin. In the Guide to the World of Greyhawk describes Oeridians as having olive skin. Dalt is shown to have robes with the symbol if Fharlangn. Also throughout the modules there is mention and/or signs of Fhar and his brother Celestian,who are Oeridian gods. I find it interesting that in a place of Suel mages, that you would find evidence of another culture's deities. In another thread somewhere it states that Fraz at one time corrupted druidic rituals to include human sacrifice. An entire sect of nature gods was debased,hence their relocation from Concordant Opposition to the border with the Abyss. Could this be the Elder Gods (who I personally believe to be Hierophant druids) .
| Andor the Wise |
Berstek said "may Y absorb him like he did Dalt!"...this implies Y was already successfully summoned, otherwise Berstek is merely assuming. Given the Maures' time manipulation, or even without it, being that all the clues span a millennium of Oerth real time, could Y have been summoned, and that not have anything to do with the catastrophe? In (I'm assuming) Uncle's note, which was described as ancient, Dalt had already left to summon whoever...the writing implies that the one being summoned was to help Uncle and allies against those Elders who were "aligned against us." It also implies the Elders' animosity against them had something to do with the EYE. Could the EYE be the instrument that allows them to travel the CURRENT? Y having been summoned would explain the pit and sacrifice area FOR Y. If Y HADN'T been summoned by DALT, then why the need for instruments of an already summoned being. Or, if those areas were FOR the purpose of summoning Y, then why the need for Dalt? Also, I believe somewhere it stated that Y didn't like succubi...and would be angry if Elluvia's Pit was close to him....which AGAIN implies Y had been summoned already by the time of that statement.
| messy |
infomatic wrote:Who’s Ill? And why did the Maures consider her a threat?What is ILL looking for?
this question doesn't seem to have been addressed. so she's looking for the three origin temples. i don't remember these being mentioned anywhere else. help?
while we're on the subject of that note, the crystals of sooth are a mystery, too. help?
| Andor the Wise |
Rob Kuntz wrote:infomatic wrote:Who’s Ill? And why did the Maures consider her a threat?What is ILL looking for?this question doesn't seem to have been addressed. so she's looking for the three origin temples. i don't remember these being mentioned anywhere else. help?
while we're on the subject of that note, the crystals of sooth are a mystery, too. help?
I believe the three origin temples to be those in the Amedio Jungle. In Living Greyhawk there are 3 ruined cities, Tomochan being one. I don't know if all 3 were in the Savage Tide, but someone in this post mentioned that Malcanthet had her eyes far south and alluded to it being the Amedio.
As far as the Crystals of Sooth...as far as I can tell, they are probably some sort of way of safely travelling the current.