Shadow World Rules (long)

[ryancaveney]

On Sat, 15 Mar 2003, Yair wrote:

> As for myself, I reserve the S World largely to incorporeal undead
> (spirits), which I see mostly as manifestations of the dying people
> from the real world.

I actually put rather a lot of corporeal undead in the SW. I favor
Dosiere`s description from the _Atlas_: "The landscape is eerily similar
to Cerilia, and events in Cerilia are mirrored in the Shadow World. This
realm, however, is populated by undead creatures; skeletons and zombies
serve as laboring peasants, ghouls run towns, and ghosts control entire
kingdoms" (p. 9) If my players ever wanted to make an extended journey
into the SW, they`d discover that it is politically much like their normal
Cerilia, with wars and trade routes and law holdings and so on, except
most folks happen to be undead, and the sun and moon look really weird.
The big changes in my SW political landscape are the awnsheghlien and the
elves. For example, Rhoubhe owns huge tracts of the SW, including the
entire Aelvinnwode; Tuar Annwn is also much bigger in the SW, but most
Sidhelien realms are completely empty in the SW, except for lots of very
scary trees, and none of the undead can get in. The Raven and the Magian
are both playing the game of kings in both worlds with similarly-sized
realms; the Vampire and the Banshegh pay somewhat more attention to the SW
than the normal one, and el-Sheighul spends almost all his time and energy
there; but the Gorgon pays the SW almost no attention, and the Chimera,
Sphinx and Basilisk have no presence there at all. Most realms have no
direct regency connection across the barrier; the main similarity in
structure is that the undead inhabitants of, say, SW Roesone tend largely
to be people who once lived and died in normal Roesone, and likewise
elsewhere.

My Cold Rider is mostly based in Aduria, trying to unite all the lands
under her (yes, in my SW, the CR is female; she was at Deismaar as a
living being, but now is trapped in the SW) domination and then invade
Cerilia just as Azrai once did. Many SW regents think the Magian is her
vassal and the spearhead of her invasion; the fact that he appeared in
Cerilia as far away from the Manslayer as he could get is no coincidence.

> I also populate it with Halflings and Fey

Heresy alert: in my Cerilia, there are no Halflings, and never were.
I just don`t like the little buggers.

> While the "place to find undead" is very useful for adventures
> within Cerilia, I think exploring the shadow world should reveal more
> than simply a "negative energy plane" or a "quick-transit plane".

Oh, I quite agree. In my Cerilian cosmology, I have kept all the standard
inner planes, and the Negative Energy Plane is a completely separate
locality (with which Azrai`s bloodline and powers are closely associated,
much as Basaia with Fire, Masela with Water, Vorynn with Positive Energy,
et al.). Quick transit is accomplished through something like the standard
ethereal (which is Brenna`s plane of power), but the danger is that one
can never really be sure upon stepping out of it which of the three
Cerilias (normal, dark and light) one is going to end up in, or indeed
accidentally get sucked into while moving past.

> Plus, I`ve got a major story arc just waiting to happen there (little
> wonder, since I`ve written it all) if my players will ever choose to
> pursue it, so I think I`ll stick to my version of it. :P

But of course! =)


Ryan Caveney

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[ryancaveney]

On Sun, 16 Mar 2003, Mark VanderMeulen wrote:

> Circular mirrors could also be understood to be a proper symbol of
> Ruornil, the moon god, in his full phase.

This I like. I will definitely keep it, even though I`m not excited by
the "Mirror World" name suggestion. I see the parallelism, but my gut is
telling me there`s a better one out there somewhere. *sigh*


Ryan Caveney

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[ConjurerDragon]

Ryan B. Caveney wrote:

>On Sun, 16 Mar 2003, Mark VanderMeulen wrote:
>
>>Circular mirrors could also be understood to be a proper symbol of
>>Ruornil, the moon god, in his full phase.
>>
>
>This I like. I will definitely keep it, even though I`m not excited by
>the "Mirror World" name suggestion. I see the parallelism, but my gut is
>telling me there`s a better one out there somewhere. *sigh*
>Ryan Caveney
>
Talking about mirrors: Do you know the books by Stephen R. Donaldson
"The mirror of her dreams" and "A man rides through"?
There mirrors are portals to other worlds (into which a normal woman
from our earth drops...).

Mmmh, how would you call the ability of a Priest of Ruornil to pass into
the Shadow World like a halflings Shadow Walk?
Feat: Moonwalker? ;-)
bye
Michael Romes

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[Trevyr]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Birthright Roleplaying Game Discussion
> [mailto:BIRTHRIGHT-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM]On Behalf Of Ryan B. Caveney

> > Circular mirrors could also be understood to be a proper symbol of
> > Ruornil, the moon god, in his full phase.
>
> This I like. I will definitely keep it, even though I`m not excited by
> the "Mirror World" name suggestion. I see the parallelism, but my gut is
> telling me there`s a better one out there somewhere. *sigh*

How about "the Ehrfynnon," coming from the Sidhelien for "Bright Well" or
"Pool of Light."

Ehr from Ehrsheghlein, and the rest from "ffynnon," Welsh for pool or well.

Mark V.

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[ryancaveney]

On Mon, 17 Mar 2003, Mark VanderMeulen wrote:

> How about "the Ehrfynnon," coming from the Sidhelien for "Bright Well"
> or "Pool of Light." Ehr from Ehrsheghlein, and the rest from
> "ffynnon," Welsh for pool or well.

Huh! Rather neat. I like it. Thanks!


Ryan Caveney

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[ConjurerDragon]

Mark VanderMeulen wrote:

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Birthright Roleplaying Game Discussion
>>[mailto:BIRTHRIGHT-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM]On Behalf Of Ryan B. Caveney
>>
>>>Circular mirrors could also be understood to be a proper symbol of
>>>Ruornil, the moon god, in his full phase.
>>>
>>This I like. I will definitely keep it, even though I`m not excited by
>>the "Mirror World" name suggestion. I see the parallelism, but my gut is
>>telling me there`s a better one out there somewhere. *sigh*
>>
>How about "the Ehrfynnon," coming from the Sidhelien for "Bright Well" or
>"Pool of Light."
>Ehr from Ehrsheghlein, and the rest from "ffynnon," Welsh for pool or well.
>Mark V.
>
And if nothing helps then simply call it the "Twilight Zone" ;-)
bye
Michael Romes

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