Furyondy musings

 Date unknown, probably 1997/98.

Author unknown, but probably Pierre Couture

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What's going on now in Furyondy?

I read interesting postings related to « what if the Prince is not dead »

WGR4 mentions that« The Prince was abducted shortly before the wars began. ( ... ) Magical scrying has suggested to Belvor that his son is dead» - I assume that the Prince is really dead.

Now here are the alternatives:

n Marriage: Belvor III (quaffing other potions of longevity) marries with Kataryna, countess of Walworth, leader of the Shield Lands - That's a way to expand the kingdom to the North (If Furyondy is ever able to reconquer those lands, but that's another story)

n New dynasty: Have you ever heard of Artur I of Furyondy? Belvor is now working for the future of the Kingdom. He knows that Artur is the Chosen of Heironeous and he already arranged to give him some political weight. (Note to Qsamantha : Why not a Kataryna I of Furyondy ?)

(Note: They are all Paladin ofHeironeous)

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How the other gods view the « Holy Pact » ?

I have not read the rules of Birthright, but I assume that rulers receive special powers either from a god, or a group of gods or the land itself. I play « devotional power » so gods are interested in the quantity of worshippers they can align and gaining support from a ruler is good for a god.

The « Holy Pact » is tolerated because it states that the King of Furyondy will authorize religious freedom and that the Prince keeps freedom of action and thought (The Prince is not an avatar of Heironeous). Traditionally, evil cults are excluded from that rule but the other Gods are vigilant.

Fate of lstus Page 84 : « Unlike such cities as Wintershiven, Chendl is religiously very tolerant. Temple dedicated to most of the non-evil deities can be found somewhere in the city, and all are treated with respect by the city administration. Some faiths have two temples, one in the inner City, one elsewhere. Others have only one, outside the Inner City. Worshipers of almost any deity can profess their faith in public, confident of living through the experience unlynched. There is a small evil subculture, and services dedicated to certain evil deities are conducted under conditions of deepest secrecy »

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Furyondy and the Cult of Heironeous

Before the wars the cult of Heironeous was declining. Furyondy was a Kingdom at peace and Belvor II had demonstrated that a« mortal» king was as good and even better than other Kings. In fact, only the first King of a Dynasty is truly a chosen of Heironeous, the others are just heirs of a Chosen. They are good but not the best and Myro's story is the example of the difference between good and best.

In my own campaign (my campaign started in 545 CY), the clerics of Heironeous had recovered one part of the Theopart (Rod of three parts) and the high clergy had been nearly destroyed ( or perverted) by evil emanations. In the ensuing chaos, many priests were killed by disciples of Hextor and the only surviving representatives of the cult were Paladins.

In 580 CY, Heironeous was a lesser god (WoG-Guide), after the wars he was back to intermediate status (the difference is that lesser gods only grant spells up to the sixth level while intermediate gods grant spells up to the seventh level).

The Shield Lands were lost ( a country traditionally venerating Heironeous) but many commoners turned to Heironeous during the wars and the aspiring priests had the opportunity to rise quickly.

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The good conspiracy

We always speak of the deviousness of the evil cults, but good cults are also exceedingly full of intrigues.

The Pholtus case has been long debated (on AOL) and I read with delight the history(ies) of St. Cuthbert. As I understand the whole operation Pholtus was a god of law and goodness, he made concurrence to Rao, Pel or and Heironeous. Rao took the first opportunity to control Saint Cuthbert and to cut Pholtus from his Lawful good aspect. Deprived from his lawful good wing, Pholtus naturally switched to neutrality and justifies the Theocracy of the Pale. Rao successfully removed Pholtus from the group of Lawful good gods.

Pelor tried (tries) to do the same with Heironeous. As Heironeous recovered quickly from long years of peace, Pel or « imported » his own warlike deity : Mayaheine. I call that a backstab and nothing else.

Finally, the reunification of Furyondy and Veluna was not only territorial. The new kingdom was to be spiritually lead by the Canon of Veluna - A high priest of Rao. If the reunification had succeeded the « Holy Pact » was over. Some whispers that the death of Prince A vras arranged the clergy of Heironeous and some even say that they are responsible for his death ...

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Translation team needed for the following Chonology, mail (details 2 gives some explanation about the hows and whys)

Puine is the second born

-10 Conquest of the territories ofFuryon and Voll by the before-troops of Aerdy.

80 Annexation of the Steps Septentionales (northern Bank of the lake Whyestil).

100 Creation of the Viceroyalty of Ferrond: of Clatspurs Mts in Nyr-Dyv, and Lortmils Mts until beyond of Whyestil Lake: Voll, Fury on... The territory is divided into protectorates held by "Knight-Guards", supervised by the viceroy of Ferrond.

208 STINVRI (176: 208-253: 253) Stinvri is named Vice-Roi ofFerrond. It is the beginning of the decline of Aeri lmperiale and the Knight-Guards are not replaced any more when they die or are recalled to Rauxes. The Viceroy then decides to be based on the lords and local forces in order to ensure the protection of Ferrond.

210 Creation of the school of Magic of Falk.

229 vacant protectorates are allotted to the noble buildings more deserving. - Five protectorates in Furyon; - Two protectorates in Voll and others through the viceroyalty.

240 Creation of the Command of Knights of the Binder.

the 241 Guards claim the heredity of their functions in preoccupations with a stability. With the death of the first Guard, the noble ones claim the hereditary attribution of the grounds to the son of this honourably died knight. Stinvri grants to him, thus creating a precedent. The heredity of the load, the title and the ground will be allowed definitively in the years which follow.

247 Stinvri makes the function of Viceroy hereditary. It refuses to present its homages to the Emperor.

253 Great Kingdom sends a task force in Furyon. The troops are moved using a powerful fate of teleportation. The imperial troops move towards the Dyvers capital, but are stopped by the united forces of Ferrond, and by the magic support of the Stinvri Viceroy and the members of the Academy of Falk. Death of Stinvri

254 THROMMEL I (210: 254-264: 264) Starting of the Kingdom ofFuryondy. THROMMEL I, is made crown in released Dyvers. Set fire to of Dyvers allotted to the imprudence of certain Knights of the Hart: This kingdom ofFuryondy takes again the limits of Ferrond, but the royal capacity concentrates mainly on protectorates of Voll and Fury on: The territory of" Perrenland " is not managed any more, and Tenh takes again its autonomy.

264 THROMMEL II (233: 264-279: 279) 275 War of succession, this episode has war only the name, because there no was versed blood. Indeed, the branches juniors which were isolated heredity with the profit of the elder branches, claim a right on the grounds pursuant to an old law oeridienne enacting a rule 2/3 (Elder) and 1/3 (P"Uine) as regards succession. Tensions inter -family increased until a critical threshold. Thrommel II seeks a solution which does not harm the security of the Kingdom. It finally decides to create the Council made up of the Guards (7), itself and the seven representatives of the branches juniors. The consulting is intended quickly to apply the law by which the juniors prevail themselves, then to reform the rules of succession.

The Council Decision is based on a redistribution of the grounds:

=>Creation of the Kingdom ofFuryondy. 7 Provinces will be granted to the ainees branches.

The seven houses of Furyondy are the following ones:

Current holder

- House Halpen (Count): Crystalreach (Deceased) (Count Artur Jakartai) - House Rhavelle (Count): Gold County (Countess Kyaren Rhavelle) - House Kalinstren (Baron): Kalinstren (Baron Kalinstren) - House Jemian (Baron): Littleberg (Baron Jemian) - House Derwent (Viscount): March (Viscount Luther Derwent) - House Tyneman (Duke): Reach (Duke Benel Tyneman) - House Butrain (Baron): Willip (Baron Xanthan Butrain) (Nb: The title does not have any practical value. They are the titles held by the noble ones which had been selected like guards into 229. All these lords have a row equivalent to that of Duke All the other noble ones are either of the Barons, or of noble without title)

= > Creation of the Principality of Veluna 7 Provinces will be granted to the branches juniors.

Thrommel II reserving the use of the titles of Prince de Veluna and Provost of Veluna for his heir.

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Of Belvor and Avras

 Date unknown, probably 1997/98:

Myra had been killed and the« Holy Pact» could be renewed.

Belvor II remained on the throne until a new heir was found in the person of his nephew Avras. He then resigned in favor of Avras ( often referred as Avras III, because he reigned after Belvor I and Belvor II).

The old Belvor II died during king Avras's reign and the latter decided that to honor the name of the former his son would reign as Belvor III.

We all know Belvor IV, the current king of Furyondy and his son, who was to see the reunification of the kingdom. The Prince hesitated between Thrommel and Avras, but seemed to have at least chosen to be crowned as Avras IV, thinking that calling himself Thrommel should be presumptuous.

Pierre Couture

aka Belvor X

dtz@easynet.fr

Miro the Paladin-King

 Date unknown, probably 1997/98:

Prince Avras demise made me think of another strange occurrence in the past of central Flanaess: The history of the Paladin King Myro. (cfVecna lives!)

Myro was the son of Thrommel VII, like any royal heir he was lawful good and he was to become a powerful Paladin, but Myro was not happy to become the King ofFuryondy just because he was the son of his father, he wanted to prove his own abilities, he secretly left Furyondy at the age of seventeen and he totally disappeared for many years until he proclaimed himself« Paladin King » of one of the Bandit Kingdoms.

Then an « unnamed agent of an evil power bestowed him the Hand of Vecna » - Quite mysterious no ! - When you want to get rid of someone there are more direct ways than giving him an evil artifact, except if that person cannot be easily killed ...

The artifact slowly overcame the Prince's innate resistance to alignment change and Myro turned to evil.

An evil heir to Furyondy ! - What if Thrommel VII dies and Myro proclaims himself Thrommel VIII. Fortunately, the alignment change made him forget his origins and his insanity was just aimed at conquering more bandit kingdoms and menacing the borders of the Shield Lands and Nyrond.

When Thrommel VII died, and because of the« Holy Pact», no heir could replace Myra. This is the time of the first vacancy, the Regency was bestowed on the High Priest of Heironeous who selected a « temporary » king : Belvor I - Belvor was later nicknamed the« Mortal King», many think that's because he died less than two years after being crowned but those who know have a better understanding of what « Mortal » can mean.

After Belvor I, came his son Belvor II. Belvor II has been one of the greatest king of Furyondy even if he was not endowed with « divine » power. Meanwhile, Myra still lived increasing his strength and gathering his troops to attack either the Shield Lands or Nyrond.

Belvor II reached an agreement with those two countries and a joint force attacked the bandit kingdom and defeated Myra.

Pierre Couture

akaBelvor X

dtz@easynet.fr

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Furyondan history

 Date unknown, but probably 1997/98:

I have been working on the history of Furyondy since the Vice-Royalty became the kingdom of Furyondy.

Most of my reflection started in recent events linked to Prince Thrommel (also called Prince Avras in FTA). I wondered why Prince Avras was so concealed in the Temple of Elemental Evil. I cannot imagine that evil worshippers could just abduct the Prince of Furyondy, Provost of Veluna, Marshall of the armies and future temporal ruler of a (reunited) Kingdom of Ferrand (Furyondy + Veluna) just for the pleasure to disguise him into a vampire and make a good joke to some adventurers.

There is something more serious behind that act, there is the« Holy Pact». 

The last Vice-Roy of Ferrond, Stinvri, was an ambitious and powerful Magebut he lacked the abilities required to make him a true leader. So he schemed for his son Thrommel.

He founded the Academy of Magi of Falk and developed the so famous Furyondian, and now nearly extinct School of Metamagics, in order to oppose the magic of the Great Kingdom when the time will come, he then set the basis of a secret order of Chivalry called the Order of the Hart and above all he struck the « Holy Pact » with Heironeous.

The exact terms of the Pact are not well known but Stinvri promised that the cult of Heironeous should be placed above all others. In exchange, Heironeous granted some benefits to the kings and their heirs, as long as each king renews the « Holy Pact ».

The « Holy Pact » seems to include :

n The kings have never been sterile, but they can have one and only one son

- No daughters in the history of Furyondian kings and no succession struggles.

n The Prince is « naturally » lawful good.

n The heirs have full HPs, some extraordinary powers (immunity to energy drain, magical aging, magical alignment change) and above all the « heirs » have a spark of divine power that allow them to resurrect in a crypt under the High Temple of Heironeous in (new) Chendl whenever they are killed.

There are two limitations to that resurrection ability :

n The power is not activated if the prince is deliberately killed by good people and he cannot be resurrected. (I even included some kind of divine aura around the corpse as his soul body left his material body and two angels came to guide him to the seven heavens)

n The resurrection often fails (that's the godwill) if the Prince/King already has an heir (even young).

At the light of the « Holy Pact », the Thrommel/ Avras incident makes sense - As the evil forces were unable to permanently slay the Prince, they devised the Vampire masquerade to lure a good character into killing him (You've got to improve the illusion and let it fall when the Prince is killed - Watch the reaction of your players, as they discover what they have just done and the political consequences.

(Side note: Quaffing potions of longevity does not allow kings to leave longer, but it helps them remain strong and healthy until very advanced ages - Haste spells and speed potions have no effects)

Pierre Couture

aka Belvor X

dtz@easynet.fr

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Furyondy chronology

[Date unknown, but probablyaround 1997-98.]

I posted some months ago a chonology of kings and other events related to Furyondy (messages  Furyondy 1-7) - Here is the chronology again - I filled in the gaps and modified one or two dates as a result of my last posting. if you see something that contradicts an official TSR information tell me

I have also been working on an extended chronology (all events) but it is partially written in french and includes some facts from my own campaign.

Thanks

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Royal Chronology

208 STINVRI (176 : 208-253 : 253)

254 THROMMEL I (210: 254-264: 264)

264 · THROMMEL II (233 : 264-279 ; 279)

279 THROMMEL III (252 : 279-327 : 327)

327 THROMMEL IV (273 : 327-358: 358)

358 THROMMEL V (298 : 358-358 : 363)

359 THROMMEL VI (338 : 359-365 : 365)

365 The Long Regency or First Regency (nil : 365-380 : nil)

- High-Priest PARES ofHeironeous (365-378)

- High-Priest SOLENTAN ofHeironeous (378-380)

383 THROMMEL VII (365 : 365/383-439 : 439)

439 THROMMEL VIII [Myro] (391 : nil-nil: 450)

439 First Vacancy (439-440)

- High Priestess KATHRYN of Heironeous

440 BELVOR I (391 : 440-441 : 441) - The Mortal King

447 BELVORII (416: 441-475: 507)

475 AVRAS (III) [aka Hugh] (450: 475-522: 522)

522 BELVORIII (481: 522-537: 537)

537 Second Regency (nil : 537-542 : nil)

- Lord THROSTIN: Regent of the Realm/ Knight Commander of the Hart

542 BELVOR IV (524: 537/542-?: ?)

(Birth date: Regency/Coronation - End of reign: Death)

In the case ofThrommel VII that means that he is born in 365 CY and that a regency started the same year. He was crowned in 383 CY and reigned until his death in 439 CY.

The rules are filled with contradictions such as :

Thrornmel II and Dyvers :

* Thrornmel II is credited to have let Dyvers became a free city (CY 526).

That's a mistake ...

* Thrommel III lived around the year 927 O.R. (CY 283). He is the king who decided to build Chendl. (See WG9 "Fate oflstus" Pg 83)

* In 526, the ruling king was Belvor III (See Wars Pg 3) - He reigned 15 years and died in 537, so ..

-- Read the following (for the fun of confusion):

WARS - Dramatis Personae: Iuz the Old; page 3: " So it was that Iuz's external threat sundered Furyondy internally. By 505 CY, a three-way split had grown in the ranks of the nobility.( ... ). Least in power was King Avras III with his estates and kin. Trapped in the lands between the more powerful factions, the king futilely strove to appease both "

WGR5, Iuz The Evil - Spawn of Evil; page 3. « King Avras grew concerned about the rise of evil north of his lands ... But neither furyondy nor Vesve was directly involved in the banishment ofluz, generally dated to 505 CY »

WGR4 - History of Land; page 3 : "luz's disappearance in 503 CY was met with a sigh of relief. The current king, Belvor II, was to happy to forget about the fiend "

Conclusion:

There are many other references to A vras being the king who reigned when luz took control of the Northern Marches.

Most of the archives of Furyondy have been destroyed during the wars and the history has been compiled by Pluffet Smedger in CY 998 (four centuries after the wars)

(Side note: CY 998 = Oerth has not been destroyed and Rel Mord seems to have survived too)

Pierre Couture

aka Belvor X

dtz@easynet.fr

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The Dreaming God -A Fable

 From: Jason Zavoda [nemesis@MAGPAGE.COM]

Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 5:50 AM

To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU

Subject: [GREYTALK] The Dreaming God -A Fable

There was a dream of wings. Tharizdun laughed, and from his laughter the Gods of Oerth were born.

Tharizdun had eight children of his laughter. Some men would call evil, others good, but all hated and feared their father Tharizdun.

The Oerth was a wilderness. The elves walked naked beneath the trees, the dwarves were more of stone and mud than they were of flesh. Man was a beast, hunting in packs, hiding in trees and caves from the greater beasts around him.

The oldest of Tharizdun's children, born only a sliver of a moment before his kin, reached down and gave thought to mankind. Tharizdun watched and smiled and blasted the land. In some places he drew the heat away till the waters froze and the plants withered. With a glance he raised mountains that belched forth fire, or turned the grass and trees to sand where the days baked and the nights were bitterly cold.

Man did not perish, nor elves or dwarves. All grew stronger and new races and species were born. The other gods showed themselves to the tribes of man. The ancient fathers of the Flan, the Suel, Bakluni, Oeridian, and Olman, and tribes which fell and did not flourish, and tribes which live on Oerth beyond the borders of the Flanaess.

Tharizdun took the spirit of the beasts and the spirit of man and twisted. The monsters of the Oerth were born, touched by evil, brought forth to torment and to destroy.

The dreaming god, Tharizdun, grew bored with his children, tired of his own monsters, angry at the resilience of man. He would do away with them all, devour all the Oerth and the gods he'd born from his dreams, but his children knew his mind.

None had the strength to match Tharizdun. Not all eight together could defeat him, not even bind the master of nightmares. But together they might trick him and use his greatest strength against him.

The world was a dream to Tharizdun and while he was awake he was its master, but some part of Tharizdun always slept. A balance was struck between his waking self and his dreaming existence. The children of Tharizdun knew that they must shift the balance, send Tharizdun into an eternal sleep, but some small fragment of the dark god must remain awake or the Oerth, its people and its protecting gods would be swallowed whole into the dreaming mind of Tharizdun.

The children of Tharizdun created a great hall within a castle sitting on a hill. Inside they prepared a feast beyond the imaginings of men. Of the Oerth and on the Oerth this hill and castle and hall appeared to be, but it was an island of thought, a cage and a trap for the dreaming god, their father.

They sang and feasted and rejoiced. They wove a dream, a pale imitation of Tharizdun's great dreaming. It brought the dark god to them. He was within the hall, though the doors were barred, and ruin was around him. The hall was dark, the walls scarred and the finery tattered and decayed, but his children were not there.

He found ten thousand rooms within the castle walls, ten thousand horrors he left behind him, twisted dreams and nightmares, but always his children were not there.

The sound of laughter that he no longer possessed called to him and he .allowed it in greater and greater haste. Up he went till he came to a small door in the highest tower of the castle. Inside there was a child's room and sleeping in a bed was Tharizdun, his children 1 s dream, small and pale, a fragment of himself, the dreaming sliver that the waking Tharizdun held inside.

There was a ladder against one wall of the room and a trapdoor in the ceiling. Beyond the door Tharizdun could hear the laughter which he sought to reclaim. A little climb and the trapdoor was flung open. Inside was laughter and a dream of wings.

Only the gods know what happened to Tharizdun's oldest child. In the room below, the child Tharizdun is awake and laughs among ten thousand rooms, but does not sleep.

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Suel Gods Family Tree

From: Tal Meta  [talmeta@OPTONLINE.NET]

Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 5:20 PM

To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU

Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] Suel Gods Family Tree?

Peter Ouimette wrote:

> How are all the other Suel gods related? Is it anywhere I can look? Any ideas?

"In the beginning, there was Chaos. Out from Chaos came Lendor, who chose his Place and set his Pattern down, weaving Order from Chaos, and creating Time. While playing with his new creation, Time, Lendor created the world of Oerth and breathed upon it, causing life to spring forth from it's barren surface. Eons were spent diversifying the life thus created, and in Time it occurred to Lendor that life itself might be a tool to assist him in further refining his creations, so he creates from himself four children, namely Phaulkon of the Air, Weejas the Sorceress, Syrul of the False Promises, and Norebo, Prince of Chance. Turning his attention to other matters, Lender's children were free to create more progeny. Phaulkon and Syrul begot Kord the Athlete, while Norebo and Weejas gave birth to Llerg the Strong and Lydia the Muse.

Returning his attention to the world of Oerth, Lendor creates Osprem and Xerbo of the Seas, who together beget Akwamon the Storm, Meanwhile, Norebo and Syrul come together to create Phyton the Beautiful and Bralm the Taskmistress. Llerg and Bralm beget Fiery Pyremius and shadowy Beltar, the Dark Mother. Kord and Osprem beget Jascar and Fortubo, thus ending the direct lineage of Lendor."

(Mostly cribbed directly from Len Lakofka. Ranet won't appear in it, since Ranet isn't of his creation).

talmeta@optonline.net - Heretic, Dilettante, & God-Machine

AIM - talmeta

ICQ - 12594453

Homepage - <http://talmeta.net>

When cryptography is outlawed, bayl jvyy unir cevinpl.

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