An annoying feature of current culture. Ever since StarGate lifted the concept and took off so well, now every sideways ring portal looks like "The Stargate." I've had to get creative with my mass transit designs as a result.
Actually, Stargate stole the design from Riddleport.
Curse you Riddlegate! "I am not a crook..."
|
Is it just me or does the Cyphergate in Riddleport harbor look an awful lot like a huge Stargate? The possibilities abound!That was my first thought.
My second thought was, "Man, Riddleport's a lot smaller than I thought..."
My first thought was stargate - my second thought was "Wow if that falls to the water side by design and floats, it would make a good defense for the town, forcing invaders to come by land, thus eliminating the power of and seige equipment and constructions stored on the ships."
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
My first thought was stargate - my second thought was "Wow if that falls to the water side by design and floats, it would make a good defense for the town, forcing invaders to come by land, thus eliminating the power of and seige equipment and constructions stored on the ships."
Oh Damn! That's awesome!
Like a defensive reef that snaps into place.
I like it. A lot.
Either that, or (since it has runes etched into it) it projects a force field that shields the town from the sea. Maybe it's used during times of war and to ward off tidal waves from destroying the town?
The Cyphergate does have a purpose... and we'll reveal it eventually... but it's not a stargate.
I am trying to guess or imagine...
Okay, let's take the literal 'Riddle' out of Riddleport. My understanding is that it's a place of business and commerce without necessarily a whole lot of regulation (law enforcement).
I'll dismiss the idea that it's a mass transportation device, due to the power requirements it would have, and the fact that it's out in the open. Not that there's free access to it necessarily, but it's not squirrelled away.
What purpose could it serve that would require it to used by possibly by large public groups, doesn't have a huge power drain?
Now factor in the commerce aspect of Riddleport.. and then the fact it really is called a Cyphergate.
What's a cypher? It's a code. A code is information that is made secret except to the intended party. That can be a riddle, but riddles are intended to be guessed at. Cyphers are not, they're meant to be unlocked by the individual with the key to the cypher...
So, in conclusion, my guess is that the Cyphergate masks those things that pass through it from something else. Divination, tracking, scrying.. something.. it obscures something.. possibly identity.
What use would that be to a city like this? Where there is relaxed regulation of rules and laws...? Lots of use. The unloading and resale of stolen property for one. Slave trade? Slaves are notoriously religious, and you can base that fact on many well known real world cultures, including the Hebrew culture and that of the American South. Remember, the initial description of Riddleport (which since then may be revised) described it as a city of pirates.
I venture that the Cyphergate mystically encrypts things against being located, or relocated, and is used by the Masters of Riddleport to permit business transactions of a lucrative and unethical nature.
And if there's only one Cyphergate, well heck, you got a commodity there. It's only natural that a trading place would spring around it.
|
|
I am trying to guess or imagine...
So, in conclusion, my guess is that the Cyphergate masks those things that pass through it from something else. Divination, tracking, scrying.. something.. it obscures something.. possibly identity.
Except if you read the city description it really sounded to me like the inhabitants had no idea what the Cypher gate does. It is a riddle to them that Scholars want to unravel.
I would guess its a huge focus of some sort - like a rune well or a soul lens.
Either that or a weapon part - like the Old Light.
Except if you read the city description it really sounded to me like the inhabitants had no idea what the Cypher gate does. It is a riddle to them that Scholars want to unravel.I would guess its a huge focus of some sort - like a rune well or a soul lens.
Either that or a weapon part - like the Old Light.
Ah.. forgive me then. I am posting from work in between tasks and was going by memory. It was a fun exploration of the idea though.
|
|
Now factor in the commerce aspect of Riddleport.. and then the fact it really is called a Cyphergate.What's a cypher? It's a code. A code is information that is made secret except to the intended party. That can be a riddle, but riddles are intended to be guessed at. Cyphers are not, they're meant to be unlocked by the individual with the key to the cypher...
So, in conclusion, my guess is that the Cyphergate masks those things that pass through it from something else. Divination, tracking, scrying.. something.. it obscures something.. possibly identity.
Another possibility is that it acts as a decipher script - that way anyone could read any document, and thus appraise its value better. This may also have a side effect of 'marking' the items, as illiterates could understand them, thus masters at forgery live just outside the Cyphergate willing to copy any document that has passed through it.... for a price
or maybe the real riddle of Riddleport is that our ideas are being milled from our heads and the best being used to fuel this ring in whatever purpose it really has..
EDIT: *NOTE ALL OF THE PREVIOUS HAS BEEN INVALIDATED A FEW POSTS ABOVE*
What if this cyphergate is just another huge leftover like the bridge in Magnimar?
or maybe the real riddle of Riddleport is that our ideas are being milled from our heads and the best being used to fuel this ring in whatever purpose it really has..
Lolol, perhaps it is, perhaps it is.
If they gave me a thumbs up "good job" like they did the guy who came up with the 'slips' idea for the halflings of Magnimar, I wouldn't mind. Like monkies, I perform for praise. ;)
It's all in creative fun.
|
|
My first thought was stargate - my second thought was "Wow if that falls to the water side by design and floats, it would make a good defense for the town, forcing invaders to come by land, thus eliminating the power of and seige equipment and constructions stored on the ships."Oh Damn! That's awesome!
Like a defensive reef that snaps into place.
I like it. A lot.
I was thinking along the lines of the Chain that was stretched across the Hudson river to keep ships from attacking fort Ticonderoga, it was big enough to damage the underside of ships as they sailed over it if I remember correctly.
What if this cyphergate is just another huge leftover like the bridge in Magnimar?
Ah, but Master Jacobs alludes that it has a purpose!
And to Cpt_kirstov, don't throw the *INVALIDATE* the baby with the bathwater just yet...
Maybe Wicht is right. But on the other hand, if it has a purpose, then that implies someone knows what it is.
You see, the Old Light HAD a purpose. The Cyphergate HAS a purpose. It could be that I am splitting hairs on what James said...
But I also know that Riddleport and a lot of Varisia is still in an organic state, that is, under development and refinement.
Worst I can be is wrong ;)
|
|
And to Cpt_kirstov, don't throw the *INVALIDATE* the baby with the bathwater just yet...
Maybe Wicht is right. But on the other hand, if it has a purpose, then that implies someone knows what it is.
You see, the Old Light HAD a purpose. The Cyphergate HAS a purpose. It could be that I am splitting hairs on what James said...
This is true... maybe its just a really big runewell, and the town is in another plane (sorry went into planescape mode there for a second)
Creative Director
|
More to the point, and I might as well mention this now, the Cyphergate has a role to play in an upcoming Adventure Path idea that's bumping around in my head. This isn't the Runelords or the Crimson Throne adventure path, but something after that. Might be the third Pathfinder AP, might be the tenth. In any event, the reason it's called "Cyphergate" is because it serves as a "gate" into Riddleport's harbor, and no one knows what it is, therefore it's a cypher. It's also a riddle. We didn't want to call it the Riddlegate since that was too close to the city's name, so Cyphergate it is!
|
|
More to the point, and I might as well mention this now, the Cyphergate has a role to play in an upcoming Adventure Path idea that's bumping around in my head. This isn't the Runelords or the Crimson Throne adventure path, but something after that.
Bah! I hate simple answers to mysteries! ok - so name has nothing to do with it... having it be a ring might have something more to do with ti then.... I know! We find out that Glorian is really a stone inside a pocket of air in some giant world's river, and the ring will be picked up and out of the world once Gollum's (or Smeagol if you will) brother finds it.
I probably have a rather unique problem when it comes to things like riddles and cyphers in my campaigns. Most everyone in my rather large D&D group is a performer at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We have a little "booth" where we interact with the audience by telling riddles. We know, literally, hundreds of riddles. We've done research to find some, written quite a few ourselves, and have even had them written for us by our fans.
So, when it comes to riddles in our D&D games, I frankly just can't use them. If I start to say a riddle the group will either know the answer right away, or will have an answer in about a minute or less.
Plus I have found that most adventures that say they have riddles in them really do not have riddles in the classical sense of the word. What they really have are logic puzzles. While a good riddle can sometimes be thought of as a logic puzzle, not all logic puzzles are a riddle.
I probably have a rather unique problem when it comes to things like riddles and cyphers in my campaigns. Most everyone in my rather large D&D group is a performer at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We have a little "booth" where we interact with the audience by telling riddles. We know, literally, hundreds of riddles. We've done research to find some, written quite a few ourselves, and have even had them written for us by our fans.
So, when it comes to riddles in our D&D games, I frankly just can't use them. If I start to say a riddle the group will either know the answer right away, or will have an answer in about a minute or less.
Plus I have found that most adventures that say they have riddles in them really do not have riddles in the classical sense of the word. What they really have are logic puzzles. While a good riddle can sometimes be thought of as a logic puzzle, not all logic puzzles are a riddle.
From the Player's Guide, I had assumed that the Cyphergate was covered in Thalissonian runes, making the "riddle" part of it more of a question of lacking a Rosetta-stone, rather than a straight up word or logic conundrum.
Also, in regards to the earlier comment about the size of Riddleport, in 1500 CE (AD, whatever you prefer) London had a population of 50K and Paris had about 200K.
From the Player's Guide, I had assumed that the Cyphergate was covered in Thalissonian runes, making the "riddle" part of it more of a question of lacking a Rosetta-stone, rather than a straight up word or logic conundrum.
Wouldn't Comprehend Languages take care of that pretty quickly?
From the Player's Guide, I had assumed that the Cyphergate was covered in Thalissonian runes, making the "riddle" part of it more of a question of lacking a Rosetta-stone, rather than a straight up word or logic conundrum.Wouldn't Comprehend Languages take care of that pretty quickly?
Not necessarily. Page 73, RoRL #1 gives us a bit of insight into the runes of Thassilon. We know that the runes (a few, some, all?) are the product of Rune Magic, which is described as "the written language of creation." Further, the runes are also described as "symbols of power"and as being "suffused with magic." Finally, the runes are the "gift" of the (as far as I can tell) dead God Lissala, further cementing the magical nature of the runes.
So from this text (and admittedly, I'm grasping at straws) I would go one of two ways in my campaign. First option would be that the runes of the Cyphergate (and most other rune-covered monuments in Varisia) are magical writings, and thus cannot be deciphered with Comprehend Languages.
The second, more elaborate interpretation is that the physical runes are only half of what makes up a rune word, the other half being some kind of magical power or energy. In this view, as long as the runes, and the monument, are inert (or otherwise not magically active) the runes are unintelligible. Perhaps a good analogy would be XML (or some other markup language). The runes form the elements of the language, but magic is needed to give meaning to those elements. You might be able to get a very general idea of what the function of a simple rune-phrase would be, but complex rune sequences would be rather unintelligible.
In this view, it would be reasonable for a NPC/sage type to piece together the general purpose of a Thassilonian rune structure or monument, for example,
I am a little late on the Runelords train, and I have just finished RoRL 1. Where is info on Riddleport? Is it in RoRL 2? I have been busy at work and I plan on starting to read it tonight.
|
Watcher, I like your analysis but I'm not sure if the Runelords would have expended so much effort on an anti-divination device considering their low opinion of divination in general (which is odd to me, considering how political they were).
I rather like the idea of the cyphergate being a sort wizardmark/rune/sigil scrambler that nullifies wards, opens locks and removes the magical signifiers of ownership. Notable items that were traded between Runelord lands could have first traveled through the gate to insure their safety. If the written word had so much power in Thassilon it could have be used as a weapon - an era of eplosive runes terrorism. Bureaucrats might have actually been afraid to read foreign missives until they passed through the cyphergate. Perhaps some, or all, of the Runelords shared it its creation to mutually benefit from its, um, awesome spyware ;)
Nowadays the gate could function sporadically, rearranging contracts, unfastening locks, burning runes into mainsails. It's a rare occurrence but the scholars of Riddleport (riddlemasters?) believe these episodes hold the key to understanding and activating the ring. They pay good money for these puzzle pieces and there's an active trade in fakes.
What the cyphergate could promise is a way to defy (and possibly weaken) the god Abadar - god of locks, vaults and promises. Maybe that is the riddlemasters' ultimate goal. It would be a hell of a blow to Magnimar and Korvosa. Beautiful revenge?
I know my view will be rather bland, but I like it as just a ruined gate that was used by the runelords to move their various giant slaves throughout the vast empire. Especially if it was created by the First Emperior, Xin.
same possibilites that have always been with us; there has always been multiple dimensions, planes, prime material worlds. Heck, the Gythyanki have astral cruisers.
If I'm not mistaken, Riddleport is built on the ruins of the Runelord of Lust's city.
That might open up the interpretations of what a giant ring in the harbor is.
If I'm not mistaken, Riddleport is built on the ruins of the Runelord of Lust's city.
That might open up the interpretations of what a giant ring in the harbor is.
My goodness...
Heh.
I am at work, any way to confirm this speculation? One thing I always wanted was a better understanding where the ancient cities were.. but James indicated much further down the Path that would be revealed.
|
Creative Director
|
If I'm not mistaken, Riddleport is built on the ruins of the Runelord of Lust's city.
That might open up the interpretations of what a giant ring in the harbor is.
Nope. Korvosa's the city built over the site of Xin-Eurythnia, the city of lust. Riddleport's just built around a weird arch on the coast that straddles a river.
|
|
Nope. Korvosa's the city built over the site of Xin-Eurythnia, the city of lust. Riddleport's just built around a weird arch on the coast that straddles a river.If I'm not mistaken, Riddleport is built on the ruins of the Runelord of Lust's city.
That might open up the interpretations of what a giant ring in the harbor is.
Well until this is explained I'm going to use it as I described above. Since I've been looking for a topic for my NaNoWriMo story that I wanted to set in the pathfinder chronicle's setting... I'll have it as a main plot element in the story