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Manirian Scratchpad IV: The Aldryami & the Reforestation


Nevermet

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21 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Whether the OOO can ever be raised or returned is a question mark.  Perhaps they beget a new child instead, the Only Young One?  Or perhaps Argan Argar sends his new favored hero Obash Broos-smasher to aid his wife with an army of trolls.  Clearly the aldryami represent a new wave of Arm Demons that must be dealt with.

Getting them to create a new child is probably appropriate and might be part of putting the Holy Kingdom back together.

 

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16 minutes ago, John Biles said:

Getting them to create a new child is probably appropriate and might be part of putting the Holy Kingdom back together.

If OOO came from the darkness and blue Belintar washed in from the sea, I'm sure there are apocalyptic Esrolian factions trying to ensure that the next cycle gives birth to a green god. Whether they succeed or not, it makes good high-level plotline.

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44 minutes ago, scott-martin said:

If OOO came from the darkness and blue Belintar washed in from the sea, I'm sure there are apocalyptic Esrolian factions trying to ensure that the next cycle gives birth to a green god.

Sounds like a plan!  But will it be the aldryami or the Esrolians who succeed?

Who wants to claim the "Harsh"-"ax" as theirs? 🙂 

Edited by jajagappa
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One of the things I've begun to appreciate about Maniria is that, regarding the geo-politics of the late Third Age and the Hero Wars, it is either Esrolia-facing, or not. (Or more accurately, Holy Country-facing)

The eastern, Esrolia-facing part of Maniria are the Volior and Gorphing River Valleys.  This was true Kotorland in the Second Age, and before that it was solidly Entruling.  For those reasons, but more so the blunt geography, it is always the wilderness just west of the extremely urban and populated Esrolia.

Western Maniria is not as focused on Esrolia, and it has no equivalent.  while there is trade with Ralios, there's no war or deep politics with the Safelster states at the beginning of the Hero Wars.  Instead, there is a muddled soup of various things: Tarinwood and Arstola, the Pralori, Handra, the Newts, WTF is going on in Ramalia, etc.  As one moves west across Maniria political and social fragmentation increases.

 

For the purposes of this thread, I would argue therefore that eastern Maniria is defined during the Reforestation by an Aldryami / Esrolia conflict, the Reforestation of western Maniria will be more about local communities trying to survive by any means necessary until someone or something unifies them.  The hero will clearly be an intelligent otter.  Exactly what unifies them, if anything, will dramatically change the course of how to resist the trees.  Indeed, there will likely be a great deal of old-school questions to connect magics and relics together, bouncing from the Tombs of Selgos to the Low Temple of Caratan, to the Libraries of Ramalia, and finally a quest to the ruins of Gualal and Hemat to acquire a giant Zistor-mech

 

There may even be a new "plose."  Erenplose was enveloped in air to save it from water.  Kaxtorplose was enveloped in earth to save it from light.  What will be enveloped to save a city from the green?

 

I'm tired, and babbling.

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8 hours ago, Nevermet said:

Exactly what unifies them, if anything, will dramatically change the course of how to resist the trees.

The Resurrection of Slontos?  Tree-chopping Arkat?  

8 hours ago, Nevermet said:

There may even be a new "plose."  Erenplose was enveloped in air to save it from water.  Kaxtorplose was enveloped in earth to save it from light.  What will be enveloped to save a city from the green?

Mostaplose?  The ultimate in dwarf-made technology - devoid of any signs of green or growth.

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5 hours ago, jajagappa said:

The Resurrection of Slontos?  Tree-chopping Arkat? 

If we're going for pithy names, I'm a fan of Boar Saw the Lumberjack. 😎

(More seriously, yeah, a coalition is going to have a radically different feel if it is lead by Kaxtorplose, Handra, the Pralori, or Ramalia.  Jockeying between humans in the coalition will likely be a stumbling block for their effectiveness)

 

5 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Mostaplose?  The ultimate in dwarf-made technology - devoid of any signs of green or growth.

I've thought about that, but the ideas haven't coagulated enough for me to post yet.

Edited by Nevermet
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1 observation and 1 question

 

Observation: the Reforestation will create mass migrations in Maniria by the Manirians seeking to escape the forests.  I would imagine this population to generally follow rivers downstream.  Consequently, the coastal cities of Handra, Fay Jee, and Peelo would likely have to figure out what to do with refugee populations, as would Thelos over in Vinvale and Roskoth in Esrolia.

 

As for the question: How do the Aldryami of Arstola differ from the Aldryami of Tarinwood?

Edited by Nevermet
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/14/2020 at 7:30 AM, Nick Brooke said:

RuneQuest campaigns are about heroic adventurers overcoming obstacles to save the things they love. The broad sweep of the Hero Wars is about massive events that threaten the things they love. Finding the right response -- the heroquest or myth or relationship or argument or loophole your heroes can use to save their home from otherwise certain devastation -- is what your campaign is all about. Anyone whose only contribution is "That place will be destroyed in year X" doesn't care about it as much as you do, so their defeatist mumblings can safely be ignored. Because fantasy roleplaying teaches us that heroes will do extraordinary things to save the things they care about.

So much this. Though... "That place will be destroyed in year X unless you *yes, you* do something about it..." works for me.  Sorry, just wandered in from the forest after a long walk.

J Kyer

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3 hours ago, Voriof said:

just wandered in from the forest after a long walk.

The prodigal returns!

On 8/16/2020 at 11:57 PM, Nevermet said:

As for the question: How do the Aldryami of Arstola differ from the Aldryami of Tarinwood?

IMG Arstola is special because it participated directly in IFWW and so has a history of cooperation with all the standard races and cultures of the Dragon Pass region. It looks to the east and understands Unity. They're the pure Weberian type, as it were, the stereotype against which Central Genertelans measure all other forests.

From what I can figure out, Tarin's survival covenant seems to have been a bit less generous and more introverted. Their achievement was getting different elf communities to work together with a few liminal outsiders but that's really as far as it went. As a result, while they learned how to interact with various forms of meat within Time (there have been experiments with trade / diplomacy), it isn't their preferred mode of operating so true Tarin Friends are both scarce and weird.

This doesn't make Tarin evil or even "xenophobic," which can be an easy way to create a Blank Land where nobody talks and nothing is known. They were active in the Bright Empire because it suited their internal religious goals and might preserve deep mysteries of Nysalor to this day in the forest deeps off the conquest routes.  But that was a long time ago. I suspect they are vicious to the pig people, ambivalent around the serpent shamans of the "western jungle" and aloof around other elder races. My dumb theory is that their particular "eaters" weren't what we call trolls at all and have mostly died out.

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/25/2020 at 9:56 PM, scott-martin said:

From what I can figure out, Tarin's survival covenant seems to have been a bit less generous and more introverted. Their achievement was getting different elf communities to work together with a few liminal outsiders but that's really as far as it went. As a result, while they learned how to interact with various forms of meat within Time (there have been experiments with trade / diplomacy), it isn't their preferred mode of operating so true Tarin Friends are both scarce and weird.

This doesn't make Tarin evil or even "xenophobic," which can be an easy way to create a Blank Land where nobody talks and nothing is known. They were active in the Bright Empire because it suited their internal religious goals and might preserve deep mysteries of Nysalor to this day in the forest deeps off the conquest routes.  But that was a long time ago. I suspect they are vicious to the pig people, ambivalent around the serpent shamans of the "western jungle" and aloof around other elder races. My dumb theory is that their particular "eaters" weren't what we call trolls at all and have mostly died out.

Connecting this to Tarinwood's continued support of Ramalia's rulers gets very intriguing.

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