The Lost

[bloebick@juno.com (Benja]

On Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:29:18 -0800 "Tim Nutting"
writes:
>I'm building a new campaign set in Khinasi around the idea of the Lost
>coming back to power, or a few of them. Aside from the reference to
>the
>one ancient baddy in that area and the guy mentioned in BoP in the Eye
>of
>the Viper artifact, are there ANY other published info concerning
>these
>guys.
>


well, the Raven is supposedly another of the Lost (see Abominations and
Tribes), although this is disputed by some. the dude in the Black Hand
Tribes of Khinasi is definitely one. I don't know, but there is a truly
powerful and long-lost creature in the Legends of the Hero Kings that PCs
must deal with... it might be another of the Lost.

Benjamin

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[James Ruhland]

>
> I'm also interested to hear what other players and DMs might think about
> these mythical creatures. Are they like the Forsaken of the Wheel of
Time?
> (not too close I hope :) Are they something else/more/less? Undead or
> living, immortal? Imprisoned (a-la the 8th level spell).
>
Well, 1 of the Lost could be the Raven.

Another of the Lost is El-Sheigul, an undead "evil wizad" locked up half
way between the Shadow World and the Black Spear region.

Seems most of the rest are almost completely confined to the Shadow World,
wandering around eating the brains of anyone they catch, in rough imitation
of the Cold Rider/Azrai himself (on a "lesser" scale where "lesser" is
Liches, or a reasonable facilile theirof). But who's to say that another
doesn't start leaking into the "real" world wherever you need the bugger.

[CBebris@aol.co]

In a message dated 98-02-21 04:42:44 EST, you write:

>

Tim (and others),

Watch for more information about the Lost in upcoming products. I won't say
which one(s) and I won't give any more details about their nature because I
don't want to spoil the fun of discovery for any players on this list. But
we're as intrigued by these early spellcasters as you are, and by no means
intend to let them rest in peace forever :)

Carrie Bebris

[bloebick@juno.com (Benja]

On Sat, 21 Feb 1998 17:41:01 EST CBebris@aol.com writes:
>
>Watch for more information about the Lost in upcoming products. I
>won't say
>which one(s) and I won't give any more details about their nature
>because I
>don't want to spoil the fun of discovery for any players on this list.
>But
>we're as intrigued by these early spellcasters as you are, and by no
>means
>intend to let them rest in peace forever :)
>
>Carrie Bebris

Heh. Heheh. Hahahah. I hate to say it, but there aren't that many BR
products coming out this year. And with most of them dealing with the
Shadow World or second edition rules, I don't think it would be hard to
guess which products you mean, Carrie. But thanks for the mystery - now
I'm even MORE eagerly awaiting those products to dump upon those poor
souls playing in my Vosgaard PBEM. ;)

Benjamin

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[CBebris@aol.co]

In a message dated 98-02-22 21:19:21 EST, you write:

>

I realize that it's not a huge mystery. I just wouldn't want to be responsible
for any players seeing a *particular* product in the DM's hands and knowing
more than the DM wants them to about what it contains.

CB

[Tim Nutting]

> I realize that it's not a huge mystery. I just wouldn't want to be
responsible
> for any players seeing a *particular* product in the DM's hands and
knowing
> more than the DM wants them to about what it contains.

Appreciate that, I think one of my players is joining real quick to the
list... and well...

Thanks for the speedy reply on this, and now I REALLY want *that* product!
:)

Are there any more of the Lost allready published aside from El-Sheighul
and Atar of the Vos?

Also, can we expect more about who Azrai was, before he turned to evil?

Thanks again!

Tim Nutting

[Neil Barnes]

On Fri, 20 Feb 1998, Tim Nutting wrote:
> I'm building a new campaign set in Khinasi around the idea of the Lost
> coming back to power, or a few of them.

I'd love to hear what you're coming up with for this one. I've got a
campaign set in Khinasi at the moment, so any trade of ideas...

> I'm also interested to hear what other players and DMs might think about
> these mythical creatures. Are they like the Forsaken of the Wheel of Time?
> (not too close I hope :) Are they something else/more/less? Undead or
> living, immortal? Imprisoned (a-la the 8th level spell).

At a guess:

Pre-Deismaar the gods (principally Basaia, Vorynn and Azrai) could grant
a few favoured mortals the ability to cast True Magic (probably no more
than one or two such followers at any one time). Ruornil and Avani might
be examples of this. Azrai, being generally more powerful and more
greedy than the other gods, had more of such followers - the Lost. Most
of them died at Deismaar. El-Sheighul and (possibly) the Raven were
trapped in the Shadow World, greviously weakened. Presuambly some others
survived somehow.

I don't see them as being as powerful as the Forsaken - more second tier
villains (on the Serpent/ White Witch/ Rhobhe level, rather than the
Gorgon/ Magian/ Raven level). And I think their quite considerably
weakened - El-Sheighul can't leave the SW, and the raven needed a host
to be able to leave the SW and act freely. I don't know about blokey
from TotHW, since I haven't seen that yet.

> I plan on actually having one of them //imprisoned// on the Isle of the
> Ghosts off of Ariya, with my players (mostly LGs) being tricked into
> helping a sorcerer or priest free them as a part of master plot to resurect
> Azrai (going to stay with my own interps of that - though I await -
> anxiously - the Essence of Evil series).

Interesting.

neil

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Fri, 20 Feb 1998, Tim Nutting wrote:

> I'm also interested to hear what other players and DMs might think about
> these mythical creatures. Are they like the Forsaken of the Wheel of Time?
> (not too close I hope :) Are they something else/more/less? Undead or
> living, immortal? Imprisoned (a-la the 8th level spell).

I've always pictured them as somewhat between your standard spell-casting
lich and the "Witch-Kings of Angmar" who became the Nazgul in Lord of the
Rings. Basically regular mortals who were granted a spark of divinity by
Azrai (and I expect at least Vorynn, and probably Basaia did the same
thing for certain of their favored; reference the difference between
priests and prophets in Biblical literature). This spark of Azrai's
essense either turned those "Chosen" into liches, or else when Azrai was
destroyed they were linked to him and were cast into the Shadow World upon
this death. Subsequently, they either became liches, or lost their
material bodies, and are now tied to the Shadow World, and can only leave
temporarily (El Sheighul) or through taking over a "host body" (the
Raven). I would portray them as either undead, or as a "lost spirit" which
has lost its material body and thus cannot manifest in the material world
w/o difficulty, depending on your conception of the Shadow World.

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[gandalf]

Recently we finished a campaign where the Lost tried to come back to power.
Basically, this is what we figured they were. Note that huge parts of the
below were created by us - not necessarily 'official' or consistent with
'official' info.

Back before Deismaar, humans did not possess True Magic. However, the gods
could share a portion of their power with special mortals. These were
granted True magic and were essentially direct representatives of the god.
Azrai had 9 such followers. They served as his right hands; powerful wizards
that had control over the dead. They were superior both in power and in
knowledge to his other favourites such as the Gorgon. For ages before the
gorgon was even born, they served their dark lord by corrupting kingdoms and
amassing strength. Until the fall of their lord in Deismaar.
What kept them from becoming gods in Deismaar, was not their ability. They
were hampered both by being in various parts of the battle, aiding the
respective units under their command, but also because of their ties with
the world. They were Azrai's proxies in life; divine in a sense they were
closely tied to the prime material, in such a way as to carry out his wishes
in full strength. It turned out that they were too bound to the prime to
become gods - much in the same way the gorgon did not become one because of
his desire to be the emperor.
When Azrai died, they were scattered. Without the nexus and source of their
power, they were considerably weaker. Some drifted into the Shadow world.
Two were totally annihilated. Others were trapped, in the very crust of the
world they wanted to control.
For years the Lost were forgotten, only to be mentioned in ancient
manuscripts and tales to bring horror to people.
But rumours circulate, that were the two pieces of Basaia's bloodstones to
be united, then she would return (see book of magecraft). For some time now,
bloodstones of Azrai have started to disappear; unknown to where. The thiefs
left no trace and the owners could do nothing.
The group was introduced to the greater scheme (beyond hearing rumours, tips
and divinations on the above) by means of a great earthquake. It came on the
Eve of the Dead, between Ilien and Roesone (the two player-controlled
provinces). The regents had to investigate, as reports came of undead
streaming through the rift the earthquake had created. Reaching it, they
hastily fought a fiend of shadow, as he emerged from the ground and took to
the winds.
Soon, after lots of costly research in the College of Sorcery, they were
approached by a mysterious being. To make a long story short, the Lost were
nearly reunited, and now sought to reorganise and deal the final blow;
retrieve Azrai.
Thus, the players embarked in a long quest of survival. They generally had
two options - fight the Lost and make sure they would not have their way (a
nearly impossible task - not that they did not try), or go out of their way
to retrieve Basaia's missing bloodstone, figuring that only one of the Old
gods could know how to face Azrai.
While the second option was less certain (after all it took ALL the old gods
last time to stop him), the players undertook it, mostly because of a
wizard/priest of Avani whose hobby was history, and was a deep fanatic of
Basaia and her resurrection.
Anyhow, that is the framework... in between, lots of things went on, themes
foiled, projects destroyed, a huge, relentless world war that required one
to heed diplomacy, not swords, and basically the endless chaos we wanted but
dared not bring unto Cerilia. It was an amazing opportunity to watch the
rich, pampered PCs, used to dealing with snobby, foolish and foolhardy
nobles have to face a challenge they could not defeat with raw strength.
I do not know about the rest of you, but this is how I enjoy ending a
campaign. Screwing it all up so I HAVE to start over. ;-)
Role playing should be realistic. But it also should be fun.

[Jaleela]

I am assuming that this individual "Tannith Annul of Sigil " is just a name that someone made up and is not actually anywhere in any of the Official material, correct?

If it is not Official, who made it up and is there more information related to Tannith Annul of Sigil's theory?