Last Patch of the Syndic's Ban

[Adam K. Nedman]

So I've been reading through the Guide to Glorantha, and I had a question about the Syndic's Ban—and specifically when (and if) it's finally completely over for good.

The map on page 201 shows that as of the year 1621, there are four areas still under the Syndic's Ban.  A sidebar on page 228 describes when the Ban is lifted from three of those four areas: the lands west of Samita Lake in 1624, Xemstown in 1625, and Charg in 1628.

But what about the fourth area—a smallish patch of land north of Tastalar?  Is it specified somewhere in the Guide when (or if) the Syndic's Ban is lifted from that area, and am I an idiot and I missed it?  Or is that information available somewhere else?  Or is that something that's just never been specified?

Furthermore, is there any information as to what's in that area (aside from what can be inferred from its surroundings)?  The map seems to show a city there, at least...

[metcalph]

1 hour ago, Adam K. Nedman said:

But what about the fourth area—a smallish patch of land north of Tastalar?  Is it specified somewhere in the Guide when (or if) the Syndic's Ban is lifted from that area, and am I an idiot and I missed it?  Or is that information available somewhere else?  Or is that something that's just never been specified?

Furthermore, is there any information as to what's in that area (aside from what can be inferred from its surroundings)?  The map seems to show a city there, at least...

Home to the Third Eye Blue

Quote

The
highlands of the region, from whence the
Third Eye Blue people first came, are still cut
off by the Ban.

Guide p232

No indication on when it gets freed from the Ban.

[g33k]

9 hours ago, metcalph said:

Home to the Third Eye Blue...

Well now, that's a big huge plot arrow!

Were they somehow "extra targeted" by the Ban -- did it hit harder there, and thus not get dispelled?  Have they embraced & reinforced it, perhaps as an extra layer of protection/hiding from the Mostali?  etc...

[Andrew M]

I was thinking , that it could be an interesting protection for a group with some unusual magical abilities

[John Biles]

4 hours ago, g33k said:

Well now, that's a big huge plot arrow!

Were they somehow "extra targeted" by the Ban -- did it hit harder there, and thus not get dispelled?  Have they embraced & reinforced it, perhaps as an extra layer of protection/hiding from the Mostali?  etc...

Perhaps this is where the Ban was enacted by the death of the God of Silver Feet.

[dumuzid]

It's the ancient homeland of the Third Eye Blue, as opposed to their modern center in the Brass Mountains of Carmania.

I did some development of this area for my current campaign, it was the setting for the climactic adventure for Fire Season, 1627 in that game.  For our purposes I decided that the Ban dissolved around the area over Sacred Time 1626-1627.  I theorized that when the Ban first rose, it trapped Third Eye Blue pilgrims from the Brass Mountains come to visit the ruins of the old homeland plus the Uncoling and settled Fronelans who regularly came to trade with those.  Over the decades of the Ban these people formed a composite community that built a new walled settlement on the site of the Third Eye Blue's original city.  They'd grown to a few hundred individuals by the time the Ban lapsed.  I named the settlement, both the modern one and the ancient site, Pikungo after Piku, the leader of the Zaranistangi offshoot who settled in Fronela and became the Third Eye Blue at some point after their people first lost the Red Sword of Tolat.

I made Pikungo the resting place of one of the three Weapons of Talor for my campaign as well.  My players visited  to earn the Weapon, and ended up helping to command the community's defense against an expedition from the Kingdom of War.

Edited January 4, 2023 by dumuzid

[Erol of Backford]

Thinking this is a good place to post...

So a PC is from the Yellow Bear Hills. They awake in 1590 and for some reason are drawn east to the Holy Country. They skirt the Ban, (see red arrow in the clip belwo) head around the northeast shores of Samita Lake, is caught hunting near King Congern's Lodge near Redelos.

Redelos (small city): This city is the location of
King Congern’s hunting lodge, where the king and
his companions hunt in the wooded foothills of the
Nidan Mountains. (GtG p.227)

They managed to be spared via Queen Yira's intervention and thereafter seduction and playful torture. Rumor has it she likes younger men of the wilds... She is beautiful, but ruthless and cruel – and said to have the look of a wild cat. (GtG p.204) He decides to flee Catwoman before she kills, has him killed or her husband can get his hands on him.

The PC's for Bad Deal Pass and meets the dwarves there. He joins a caravan heading to Esrolia/Holy Country from there... 

What happens while wandering along the Ban boarder? Are there strange spirits that beckon you to enter? Do strange beasts await to devour you if you enter the fog? What happens if you do or is there a wall of force/something like that, preventing one from entering? IIRC, it forced ships ashore smashing many if not most as it moved across the oceans.

Has anyone developed some sort of strange encounter table for these areas where someone moves along the perimeter of the Ban areas?

Maybe it is just a wall of sorts and nothing happens along the Ban borders that is out of the ordinary?

  

[John Biles]

Thoughts:

1.  Sometimes, you hear the God of the Silver Feet screaming as he dies.

2.  Voices tell you to turn back.

3.  If you don't turn back, you get magically lost and wander off.

4.  If you overcome that, then you encounter physical obstacles.

5.  If that fails, you find yourself coming out the other side.

[Joerg]

Known effects for entering the Ban border include that you walk inside the mist for weeks, then you return in a matter of hours or less to your place of entry when you turn back. Skirting along the border might be different, but we don't have any data (except that Harrek ignored the Ban).

[Erol of Backford]

13 hours ago, Joerg said:

Known effects for entering the Ban border include that you walk inside the mist for weeks, then you return in a matter of hours or less to your place of entry when you turn back.

This is a great way to expedite training! It's like speed reading for skill or trainable characteristic improvements without burning character life in game, that is unless I got it backward and you are in there for hours but once back outside its been days or even weeks?

I suppose the good ole immortality potion would help the same.

[Joerg]

Time does continue to flow, but while the expedition may have marched miles upon miles upon miles into the mist, taking weeks to get that far, the return way may appear like only a few miles that can be done in a matter of hours. Three weeks in, four hours out, with the same amount of time having passed outside of the fog. (Or possibly more time?)

[g33k]

1 hour ago, Erol of Backford said:

This is a great way to expedite training! It's like speed reading for skill or trainable characteristic improvements without burning character life in game, that is unless I got it backward and you are in there for hours but once back outside its been days or even weeks?

I suppose the good ole immortality potion would help the same.

As a GM, I would rule that it's specifically movement/travel that gets wibbly-wabbly.
You can't just settle down with a training manual in camp, study & practice, and come out days later with a season of study under your belt.

Unless you're trying to train-up some sort of travel-related skill, I guess; travelling for the sake of travelling, a tick-hunting peregrination.
Pretty specific, but... yeah, I'd allow it!

[mfbrandi]

11 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

This is a great way to expedite training! It's like speed reading for skill or trainable characteristic improvements without burning character life in game

Forget the Ban for a minute, as we seem to be agreed it doesn’t work like this, but suppose you had an Area Y such that you could step into it for 10 minutes of outside time and get 40 years in Area Y for training (or whatever). You go in; your twin stays outside. When you pop back out freshly trained-up for the challenge you were ill-prepared for before, you would be 40 years (less ten minutes) older than your twin. It is like one of those time-dilation stories, but you are the person left behind on Earth to age. So you precisely do burn character life, but you don’t burn wider campaign timeline. This makes it more interesting, as it is a trade-off: you are “instantly” better trained, but you are decades closer to death (and probably in worse physical shape). Fun!

[Joerg]

34 minutes ago, mfbrandi said:

Forget the Ban for a minute, as we seem to be agreed it doesn’t work like this, but suppose you had an Area Y such that you could step into it for 10 minutes of outside time and get 40 years in Area Y for training (or whatever). You go in; your twin stays outside. When you pop back out freshly trained-up for the challenge you were ill-prepared for before, you would be 40 years (less ten minutes) older than your twin. It is like one of those time-dilation stories, but you are the person left behind on Earth to age. So you precisely do burn character life, but you don’t burn wider campaign timeline. This makes it more interesting, as it is a trade-off: you are “instantly” better trained, but you are decades closer to death (and probably in worse physical shape). Fun!

We have a name (but no official rules yet) for such a thing: Heroquesting. It even comes with one option to stop aging, as discovered by Hofstaring Treeleaper.

[Erol of Backford]

8 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

You go in; your twin stays outside. When you pop back out freshly trained-up for the challenge you were ill-prepared for before, you would be 40 years (less ten minutes) older than your twin.

The PC's have stopped in to visit Urvantan and stocked up on Unaging Potions!

8 hours ago, Joerg said:

It even comes with one option to stop aging, as discovered by Hofstaring Treeleaper.

Where is this myth/Hero Quest detailed? I know where to find the quest to bring him his hands and get out of Hell but where are his Hero Quests detailed if they are? Hero Questing into the Ban sounds like great fun. Maybe some of one of the PC's from Yellow Bear Hills has family or friends, etc. still under the Ban and they need something from them?

 

[Whizbang]

On 6/11/2024 at 12:41 PM, Erol of Backford said:

 

Maybe some of one of the PC's from Yellow Bear Hills has family or friends, etc. still under the Ban and they need something from them?

 

Probably left the iron on.