One of the players in the RotRL campaign that I'm GM'ing is an Inquisitor with an interest in solving mysteries and digging out horrible old nasty secrets...
I thought that it would be cool for him to uncover lore about Thassilon (there's a lot good stuff in AP 1). I know that not much is known by the folks in Sandpoint, but would there be libraries where such knowledge might be found - and would it be good for the campaign?
thanks for your thoughts,
GRU
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The way that I am running it is there is a wealth of information around, but most of them are theories. Like Polynesia being settled from Southeast Asia versus settled from South America, there are various treatises that have been written by Pathfinders and amateur Archeologists!
Ultimately, I have made Brodert Quink one of the foremost experts in Thassilonian history... and I use him to shed a little light on discoveries that the PCs make. That way, the PCs always come back to Sandpoint.
Go to town! Come up with wild theories... The Spire of Lemriss was used as a sort of antenna to draw magical energies to focus into whoever performed a certain ritual on the top floor of the tower... The ring in Riddleport was a "stargate" that leads to other worlds, if only someone knew how to activate it... The Old Light was a border point used to serve as a neutral zone to trade spells and goods between Bakrakahn and Shalast before war erupted, because of a violation to a treaty. Things that aren't necessarily true, but sound plausible enough...
Magnimar, Korvosa, and Kaer Maga would likely be homes to giant libraries where many of these treatises may be held.
Hope it helps!
The way that I am running it is there is a wealth of information around, but most of them are theories. Like Polynesia being settled from Southeast Asia versus settled from South America, there are various treatises that have been written by Pathfinders and amateur Archeologists!
Ultimately, I have made Brodert Quink one of the foremost experts in Thassilonian history... and I use him to shed a little light on discoveries that the PCs make. That way, the PCs always come back to Sandpoint.
Go to town! Come up with wild theories... The Spire of Lemriss was used as a sort of antenna to draw magical energies to focus into whoever performed a certain ritual on the top floor of the tower... The ring in Riddleport was a "stargate" that leads to other worlds, if only someone knew how to activate it... The Old Light was a border point used to serve as a neutral zone to trade spells and goods between Bakrakahn and Shalast before war erupted, because of a violation to a treaty. Things that aren't necessarily true, but sound plausible enough...
Magnimar, Korvosa, and Kaer Maga would likely be homes to giant libraries where many of these treatises may be held.
Hope it helps!
Good take!
thanks,GRU
The Pathfinder Venture-Captains in Magnimar have their own private library and have the best actual knowledge on Thassilon :) But its also not complete and mostly theory :) But it would be closer than the great library of Magnimar, witch incidentally didnt get marked on the map for some reason...
In my campaign, Brodert is the only one that can translate Thassilonian with consistent accuracy, but even then it is not word for word. Other places, like the Magnimar Library, have just theories, etc.
I have been doling out the info from PF1 through the various Thassilonian runes they find throughout the adventures at various Thassilonian ruins. They usually try to make a copy of what they find and bring it back to Brodert.
In my campaign, Brodert is the only one that can translate Thassilonian with consistent accuracy, but even then it is not word for word. Other places, like the Magnimar Library, have just theories, etc.
I have been doling out the info from PF1 through the various Thassilonian runes they find throughout the adventures at various Thassilonian ruins. They usually try to make a copy of what they find and bring it back to Brodert.
An interesting take--I guess an enemy like Erylium, then, who is fluent in Thassilonian would make a valuable captive! (that or aa Comprehend Languages spell will be important)
@OP--there are good ideas in this thread. The take home message is this: Security by obscurity is part of what glues this AP together in the correct order, and one of the most exciting times for the characters interested in archaeology will be at the end of part 4 when they make a find so amazing that it dwarfs all current knowledge of Thassilon (and then later when they find the lost city of Xin-Shalast). By emphasising how theoretical and sketchy all current knowledge is and making hard facts elusive, this will build up the importance of said facts and really awe the PCs. I'm not quite done Stone Giants yet, but I know for sure that at least one PC is going to be so excited with the discovery there that the player is going to be noticably excited in real life.
The Pathfinder Venture-Captains in Magnimar have their own private library and have the best actual knowledge on Thassilon :) But its also not complete and mostly theory :) But it would be closer than the great library of Magnimar, witch incidentally didnt get marked on the map for some reason...
the secret library...
In my campaign, Brodert is the only one that can translate Thassilonian with consistent accuracy, but even then it is not word for word. Other places, like the Magnimar Library, have just theories, etc.
I have been doling out the info from PF1 through the various Thassilonian runes they find throughout the adventures at various Thassilonian ruins. They usually try to make a copy of what they find and bring it back to Brodert.
Yep Brodert could be a good contact/ partner for the groups inquisitor.
GRU
In my campaign, Brodert is the only one that can translate Thassilonian with consistent accuracy, but even then it is not word for word. Other places, like the Magnimar Library, have just theories, etc.
I have been doling out the info from PF1 through the various Thassilonian runes they find throughout the adventures at various Thassilonian ruins. They usually try to make a copy of what they find and bring it back to Brodert.
Yep Brodert could be a good contact/ partner for the groups inquisitor.
GRU
In my campaign, Brodert is the only one that can translate Thassilonian with consistent accuracy, but even then it is not word for word. Other places, like the Magnimar Library, have just theories, etc.
I have been doling out the info from PF1 through the various Thassilonian runes they find throughout the adventures at various Thassilonian ruins. They usually try to make a copy of what they find and bring it back to Brodert.
An interesting take--I guess an enemy like Erylium, then, who is fluent in Thassilonian would make a valuable captive! (that or aa Comprehend Languages spell will be important)
@OP--there are good ideas in this thread. The take home message is this: Security by obscurity is part of what glues this AP together in the correct order, and one of the most exciting times for the characters interested in archaeology will be at the end of part 4 when they make a find so amazing that it dwarfs all current knowledge of Thassilon (and then later when they find the lost city of Xin-Shalast). By emphasising how theoretical and sketchy all current knowledge is and making hard facts elusive, this will build up the importance of said facts and really awe the PCs. I'm not quite done Stone Giants yet, but I know for sure that at least one PC is going to be so excited with the discovery there that the player is going to be noticably excited in real life.
good point. I'll try to make sure that the players feel that their discoveries are "groundbreaking"
thanks for great input, guys!GRU
Brodert is indeed a good contact for the party...
But remember, his peers find the theories he comes up with full of wild fancy and hard to believe (making him somewhat of an outcast among sages)...
And the discoveries that the heroes are bound to make in the course of the AP, will vindicate him. :)
In my game, the modern-age knowledge of Thassilon generally amounted to jack and s&*@. 10 000 years is twice as long as the entire history of civilization in our world - the unimaginable abyss of time that swallowed all real knowledge, particularly in the age and the place where the discipline of ancient history does not even exist and anyone who knows anything important hoards knowledge in hopes of converting it to power. All that remains are vague legends of ancient terror and of time when giants ruled the land, and extremely sketchy warnings in the scriptures of major religions. I also made all but the biggest Thassilonian monuments ruined to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. The only reliable way of researching Thassilon was asking various divine servants who remembered that time to, please, tell you, what the heck is going on.
In my game, the modern-age knowledge of Thassilon generally amounted to jack and s~~~. 10 000 years is twice as long as the entire history of civilization in our world - the unimaginable abyss of time that swallowed all real knowledge, particularly in the age and the place where the discipline of ancient history does not even exist and anyone who knows anything important hoards knowledge in hopes of converting it to power. All that remains are vague legends of ancient terror and of time when giants ruled the land, and extremely sketchy warnings in the scriptures of major religions. I also made all but the biggest Thassilonian monuments ruined to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. The only reliable way of researching Thassilon was asking various divine servants who remembered that time to, please, tell you, what the heck is going on.
Except Thassilonian still exists as a learnable language. That gives vocabulary and name meanings - So, literally reading the writing on the wall can and will give clues.
Consider how much more we have learned about Egypt once the Rosetta Stone gave us the ability to translate Pharaohnic Egyptian.
Except Thassilonian still exists as a learnable language.
And where I'm concerned it doesn't, for the reason stated above. Sure, Comprehend Languages can fix the problem with reading Thassilonian scriptures, if someone (cough, PCs, cough) uncovers a well-preserved Thassilonian dungeon for the first time in millenia (no stone carvings exposed to elements survived for this long). If PCs take their time translating and analyzing, good for them.
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And where I'm concerned it doesn't, for the reason stated above. Sure, Comprehend Languages can fix the problem with reading Thassilonian scriptures, if someone (cough, PCs, cough) uncovers a well-preserved Thassilonian dungeon for the first time in millenia (no stone carvings exposed to elements survived for this long). If PCs take their time translating and analyzing, good for them.
Except Thassilonian still exists as a learnable language.
No stone carving ... unless magically preserved. And these guys had what it takes to do that.
The point has not come up yet in my campaign, but one solution I am toying with is ... Do the gods really want knowledge of Thassilon resurfacing again ?
Say, How do you think Sarenrae would feel abou one of her priestesses digging up a tablet (or mural, or ...) detailing the seven sins in glowing way ?
Player : I cast "comprehend language"
DM : Sure. Oh, but ... roll D20 + your level please.
Player : 25
DM : sorry buddy, close, but ... no cigar
So that would leave experts like Broder Quint all important experts, since they are not dependant on this spell.
Thoughts ?
The way that I am running it is there is a wealth of information around, but most of them are theories. Like Polynesia being settled from Southeast Asia versus settled from South America, there are various treatises that have been written by Pathfinders and amateur Archeologists!
Ultimately, I have made Brodert Quink one of the foremost experts in Thassilonian history... and I use him to shed a little light on discoveries that the PCs make. That way, the PCs always come back to Sandpoint.
Go to town! Come up with wild theories... The Spire of Lemriss was used as a sort of antenna to draw magical energies to focus into whoever performed a certain ritual on the top floor of the tower... The ring in Riddleport was a "stargate" that leads to other worlds, if only someone knew how to activate it... The Old Light was a border point used to serve as a neutral zone to trade spells and goods between Bakrakahn and Shalast before war erupted, because of a violation to a treaty. Things that aren't necessarily true, but sound plausible enough...
Magnimar, Korvosa, and Kaer Maga would likely be homes to giant libraries where many of these treatises may be held.
Hope it helps!
Good take!
thanks,
GRU
Janderhoff, the lair of the stone giants, with their librarian from AP1, along with Brodert Quink, should provide a lot of info. Granted, the campaign that I'm running, Quink can't be disturbed as he's in Janderhoff having a know-gasm! He's enjoying all the tomes that his heart desires!
That and the lodge has set up a small lodge in the home of the stone giants in the wake of Karzoug's umpteenth demise (probably a lot of times he's been killed), as the traffic of gold and treasure hunters are wanting to flock to Xin-Shalast.
Granted, I haven't ran the CotCT fully, but Korvosa is under quarantine from other neighboring ship traffic, and being Magnimar is closer to Absolom by boat, most smart captains don't even try to go that way.
The ring at Riddleport, was discovered to be Karzoug's lens into time. I forget which AP book that is discovered in, but its the Second Darkness AP.
I love this thread.