| Dazzlerdal |
Hi Wicked Woodpecker.
I haven't looked into the languages in much detail but I often find it helps not to think of a language as static. The language spoken in England has transformed much over 200 years from celtic to latin to saxon to English and English borrows much of the wording of latin languages but has a structure reminiscent of celtic languages.
So Untheric and Mulhorandi are slave languages within the Imaskari Empire and probably borrow much of their words and structure from Rauric.
It is possible that Unther or Imaskari expanded into Zakhara at some point in the distant passed and influenced the languages of that land in the process. We also are not entirely sure where the Imaskari came from but I have found hints that Imaskari originally came from Durpar which is across the sea from Zakhara and so may originally have come from Zakhara.
Its all a bit of a mess i'll admit but that's part of the fun.
| Dazzlerdal |
I have the base outline of Mulhorand available.
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/regions/the-old-empires/mulh orand/
I've tried to expand somewhat on the history and distinguish it from real world Egypt.
The animal headed gods are now depicted as such because of the rise of beast cults during the second empire. The title of Pharaoh comes from the Imaskari title of Empheroar (meaning Lord Artificer), the gods have the same names but their history is based wholly on events within Faerun.
I've attempted to set up a governing dynamic in Mulhorand whereby the Pharaoh is the ultimate power and the Church of Horus-Re administers to the central government. Beneath the Pharaoh are the Divine Precepts who are the titular heads of each church (the Pharaoh is the Divine Precept of the Church of Horus-Re so is the most powerful man in Mulhorand) and each Church has an area of responsibility in central government. Beneath the Divine Precepts are the regional governors, known as Precepts, who implement policy within the regions.
Mulhorand has a standing army, known as the Legions of Dawn, each of which is recruited and maintained by the Church of Anhur, but each legion is often commanded by those loyal to the Church of Horus Re. The Precepts have a militia known as the Pehtemi (Shields of the People) who act as local police forces and internal patrolmen.
Just need to work on the specifics for now.
| Dazzlerdal |
After a very long break (had to do a work based certification), I'm back to working on this.
I've been working on my version of the rules a fair bit
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/arrgs-rules/arrgs-classes/
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/arrgs-rules/arrgs-magic-item s/
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/arrgs-rules/arrgs-options/
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/arrgs-rules/arrgs-races/
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/arrgs-rules/arrgs-skills/
I've also returned to Dalath to try and finish the skeleton articles I have been working on. It now has a secret group of slaves (the Fire Drakes) trying to free Dalath from the rule of the Freeholder houses, but in secret the Fire Drakes are supplied and organized by the Freeholder Houses who in turn are beholden to the Millennium Wyrm.
The Cult of Tiamat wishes to infiltrate the Fire Drakes (believing them to be dragon worshippers) but every time it gets close a rebellion occurs and all the slaves (and the Fire Drakes) and its cultists are slaughtered
If anyone has any information or ideas for Dalath I'd really appreciate it, as there is precious little I can find on the settlement so I'm mostly making it up here.
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/regions/the-old-empires/unth er/dalath/
| Dazzlerdal |
I'm working on the cult of the old gods, based on some information provided by Tom Costa (hope he doesn't mind, I think I've renamed the city to something more Untheric).
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/organisations/the-cult-of-th e-old-gods/
Its an amalgam of priests who worship one of a variety of gods that have long since died or fled from Unther and Akanu. The tyrannical rule of Gil-Geamesq and decline of Unther has caused this cult to flourish in the last few decades.
The ensi of the old gods will be looking for items of significance to their deity so they can try and bring them back to life (for those that are known to be dead) or bring their attention back to Unther (where they have been absent for a long while).
They are also trying to convert as many as possible into worshipping the old gods, usually by providing good works such as herb lore, education, marriage ceremonies, blessings, advice, etc.
In a future adventure path involving the invasion of Unther (by Mulhorand) and ultimate rebirth of Unther, I'm imagining that some of these old gods might be restored to life by this cult and the activities of the players - who will find artefacts relating to these gods and assist in rituals to bring them back to life.
| Dazzlerdal |
So I'm starting to detail the children of the god kings. I figure the first generation would be almost as powerful as the godkings themselves but most were killed off during wars and intrigue or Gilgeam assassins. The second and third generation are truly exceptional and very long lived. The other generations are a bit better than a normal Mulan with the occasional super being born once in a hundred generations.
These beings are important because their blood holds power and if you want to bring a godking back to life you need power; powerful blood, powerful rituals, and or powerful items.
I have a few of these children of the gods scattered across unther and chessenta (entropy is hunting them). They will be pivotal for a future adventure involving the invasion of unther and then it's rebirth with a return of as many old gods as the party can help with.
There are even a few children of the gods for Gilgeam. I know the sources say he has no children but Gilgeam has a habit overwriting history and fabricating the truth. His children are special because they are all first generation and were imprisoned by Gilgeam with a big part of the adventure being to stop Gilgeam from returning.
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpres...n/gil-geamesq/
| Dazzlerdal |
Added Ningal into the list of NPCs, and made her one of the children of the gods.
She is a great grandchild of Nanna Sin (I named him Sin-An'na). Her abilities are of course inherited from her ancestor. The magic items she possesses come from another source (she claims a gift from the sea - a cryptic clue to a secret extradimensional shelter that Shu-Mmatq; Untheric god of the sea, once discovered and stored his relics in before fleeing Gilgeams secret purge of the godkings).
It will be Sin-Ningal that leads the population to the secret extra dimensional refuge high above Shussel (the Vanishing), although she will not travel there herself, and the population of Shussel will there be attended to and trained by the divine servants of Shu-Matq.
Sin-Ningal will not accept help from others because she intends to become Sin-An'na reborn (and a future goddess cannot be seen to be weak and accept help from others), she will also not compromise her future power by aiding those who are unworthy or those who might reduce her future power (servants of other gods of the moon or protection).
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/npcs-2/npcs/
| Dazzlerdal |
Okay, so Northern Wizards is next.
I've decided on it being a new organisation commissioned by Hercubes Jedea to help Messemprar gain independence and thus create an additional city state in threskel to counter the rising threat of the vanities in mourktar (Hercubes predicts they will seize power and will then seek to conquer all of threskel).
So Shu-Urlasq and the other members of the northern wizards listed in the old empires book are the inner circle and all come from threskel (although only Shu-Urlasq knows the true mission and benefactor).
The Northern Wizards chose the moniker of an old military order of wizards from Unther's past when Chessenta gained independence and it was thought Tchazzar would March on messemprar first. The old order has long since disbanded but the name has entered folklore as the city's defenders.
The Northern Wizards recruit from wizards in messemprar that seek an end to Unther's dominion over the city. The requirement for entry into the order is that they provide a number of friends/family/associates that will be used as messengers by the order (thus lowering the risk of betrayal).
There are at least two red wizards in the list of members (They want an end to Gilgeams rule over the city so they qualify for membership). Borsipa is a double agent for Gilgeam (she escaped slavery during the slave revolt, was later captured by Unther's forces and offered her life and freedom in exchange for being a double informant, and was later rescued by the slave revolutionairies.
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/organisations/the-northern-w izards/
| Dazzlerdal |
I think I've developed the Church of Ish-Tarri as much as I can.
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/organisations/the-church-of- ish-tarri/
I've included how the church gradually migrates to the worship of Isis (or is in progress of doing so). I've dealt with Ish-Tarri's absence and a possible means for her return (although in an altered form). I've got the oil of eternity in there. I've got some adventuring ideas. And there are a few more npcs to flesh out the organization.
If anyone has any other thoughts or something I've missed from existing lore (relating to the religion - not the god, that's a separate article).
| Dazzlerdal |
Added pages on Sebek and his cult, rather than have him as an always "ebil" outcast that gets eradicate by the armies of Mulhorand every few centuries, I've tried to turn him into a misguided brute that made some bad choices and fell victim to a curse that made him into the crocodile monster.
Having passed that curse onto his followers, I'm leading towards the Cult of Sebek being another pawn of the sarrukh (an accidental creation), that they intend to use against the Mulhorandi so they can drive them from the region and reclaim their former territory.
| Dazzlerdal |
I've been busy on Mulhorand lately, working a lot on all the various churches and gods, I've done this deliberately because Mulhorand is a theocracy and has a very important part in how Mulhorand exists so I need to figure out each individual piece before I can figure out the whole.
The Church of Bast
The Church of Horus-Re
The Church of Osiris
The Cult of Set
Mishtan
Sultim
| Dazzlerdal |
Recently i've been working on Chult to try and weave the 5e lore back into the 1356 timeline. Currently they seem to have placed the 5e tomb of annihilation in Chult and added previously unknown settlements, locations, magic items, and people, without any attempt to weave them into the already existing lore. So i'm attempting to do that.
Omu, as a large city and formerly powerful empire would have had a political impact on the Tabaxi people and Mezro, the ruins of Orolunga add one of many pyramid like structures to Chult, and pyramids mean spellweavers (see Ascore and Mulhorand)
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/regions/chultan-peninsula/ch ult/
I'm also beginning to compile all the lore for Cormyr in a single place, including all of Ed's musings on Candlekeep (and now twitter), as well as all the novels and the magazines. Its a mammoth task
https://alternaterealmsblog.wordpress.com/home/regions/heartlands/cormyr/