::Bastchian scans the room, meeting the eyes of all those near.::

My brethren, long has it been since I?ve last seen my homeland. By no mistake was it my will to come here, as it was most of ours, but not for the appeal of Kermoria. I came in hopes to find the body of my younger brother, so that Tieheq may not forget him in his halls.

The loss of my father and brother during the second war fueled a rage in me that would be felt by the Ocular. By these feats did Emperor Giesa grant me the choosing of my own assignment: to find Lybox?s body. I was alone through the Dark Pass, and downtrodden when months passed with no information of where he might have been laid.

I began to grow tired of the feeble natured `adventurers? of these parts, the majority of which only seeking to establish their own self-preservation. I figured it likely the surviving Kermorians beat him and burned his body, as only a boy of his age could be subject to their requital.

He proved more resilient, however.

I came upon him in the wilderness, seething with an infectious bloodlust; slaying a host of beasts and paying no heed to my presence.

Well?no heed until he charged that is.

He knew me to be his kin without my saying. Most of my questions for him were futile, as his memory of our father, the war, and his survival was sparse. He had not lost the resolve of our people, though.

It was my plan to return to Albaria, and bring my brother before our emperor. But the recall of our forces back home had soured him, and he convinced me there were capacities in these lands that I might yet find beneficial before my return.

I know many of you were born here, and have never even seen your homeland, let alone the true glory of the Gorbesh Empire.

I know many of you find warfare tasteless, and have set your roots to a more simple style of living.

Some of you claim Kaldar alone.

I beseech you: We are one people.

I am likely not alone in this view. Never has Gorbesh killed another Gorbesh in war, and even when `Kaldar? murdered their king was this law upheld. Religious persecution of followers of the 13 was minimal, but I will not deny it occurred. Mudslinging of rumors is the most any can claim otherwise. Most of which was likely instigated by a conquered people.

It is my hope to see unity amongst us; dispel rumors and lay fact to those with questions or cynicism. Some of you may know very little of the war and our people. Some of you may know of our background and could offer so much to our young.

I know the sentiment in these lands is that we Gorbesh are seen as oppressive and unjust. In this I ask that you consider the source. The truth is that protection to Kaldar and Gnome alike was given without a moment?s pause throughout our history.

Some of you recognize and honor your Gorbesh roots, but may have felt alone in this?alone and dejected by some of the more ignorant.

Some of you have been longing for something more. You feel the blood of Xin?Alaudus coursing through your veins. We are the decedents of God killers; Dragon Slayers. It was the Gorbesh that crippled the Seven-pointed Star, long before Lanivel; a warrior whose racial background is still questioned today.

Prophesied by some to be the dragon slayer reborn, the ambiguity of a conqueror taller and stouter than a human, but as wise as his adversaries seems all to clear to me?as I?m sure it is to some of you.

We have lost so much. I proudly progress through the ranks of the barbarian guild, and admire the temperament of Everild. But it is Tieheq who strengthens me and Merion who watches over me in battle. Many of us are forced to seek the favor of what to us is a lesser deity; deities whose grounds were unprotected and thus crushed by our forefathers and to whom the Kermorians have built pretentious, gaudy temples.

I encounter Kermorians wearing the insignia of the silver fist, some even claiming our heritage.

I?ve never known a people that could mistake a Gor?tog as a Kaldar or Gnome?

I feel as though the majority of Kermorians view us as tame dogs, as though they `let? us join them here. Some may be currently subdued, but this does not have to persist.

We seek to restore our level of involvement in Elanthian history. The Outriders were once many in this land?perhaps it shall again be so. If you claim the silver fist as one of the Gorbesh, or are supportive none the less, I urge you to hold counsel with those of us that do so as well. Our voice can be heard at whatever volume we can produce.

::Bastchian steps down and re-joins a group of large Gorbesh clad in black and silver.::

**********

A group of players seeking to enhance their RP experience by means of this awesome story in elanthian history are getting together. I know this war was the coolest DR event I ever got to experience first hand.

Gorbesh literature is few and far between but we are basing our ideals primarily on GM Cadaya's alabarian timeline, and the 10 Albarian Deities. Both can be found here:

http://home.grandecom.net/~geniusclown/DragonRealms/TinkerHome.htm

If you RP as Gorbesh and are interested in meeting some like minds, or are Kaldar and simply seek to find out more, please contact me via AIM or email at HomSkilW53@aol.com

Player of Bastchian
P.S. Sorry if it's a repeat for any of those at the meeting

Remember the good ol' days, when no one complained about the good ol' days?

In reponse to - Re: For Damozel Re: Point of cultural curiosity

<<It was related to the stance of the Albarian deities where Necromancy is concerned.

Here is my overpriced 2 Platinum on the subject. This is all theory here so don't take my words as gospel. Also - if you find holes or incorrect stated facts, please let me know!

Are you seeking specifically the stance of Gorbesh deities, Gorbesh culture, or both?

Kaldar Culture circles Gorbesh culture back to its Tribal Roots - Pre-Xin'Alaudus, back before he united the three major Gorbesh Tribes - Lakixeq , Beuven , Ilat . Early Kaldar and Pre-Alaudus Tribal Gorbesh were similiar in their way of life. Life was simpler then.

While the Timeline brushes over Xin'Alaudus defeating an already very, broken Endian Nation as well as the fact that Luethras were physically different than Gorbesh*, it appears to me that the Tribal Gorbesh, under the leadership of Xin'Alaudus, absorbed bits of the fading Luethran culture to form into the Gorbesh Empire that it is.

<<** Endian Nation = Luethras
<<*Luethras lifespans were more comparable to an Elf or Dwarf.

What Gods did the Endian Nation worship? It is not stated. Perhaps the Deities were similiar or the same to those that the Gorbesh worship, or perhaps the Gorbesh Gods are Long Lived Super Leuthras themselves (unlikely, but worth the thought).

How does this tie into Necromancy ?

a. - I point to direction of the Rasman Sect, who dominated Endia during a large segment of the Luethran Fourth Age.

The Rasman Sect, named after the Rasman Plague**, were a cult of death worshippers. They constructed the City of the Dead - How Necromantic sounding is that?

<<**Rasman Plague was named after Azham Rasman who died from the sickness. Azham is the title of a Luethran Leader.

Xin'Alaudus was born shortly after the Royalist Leuthran's defeated the Rasman Sect. The remnants of Rasman Sect would have still been culturally fresh on the rising Gorbesh tribes.

My connection here isn't to say that necromancy was acceptable to early Gorbesh culture. In fact, it was probably initially despised because of the devastating effects on Albaria that the Rasman Sect had created.

The Rasman City of Dead was settled by the Gorbesh in 1368. That is only 16 years after the start of the Alaudian Empire. It was renamed Ixaem - however it is dead within a year. That city is cursed, possibly with the Spirits of the Rasman Sect who were entombed by the Royalists.

As the strength of the Empire grew and culture flourished, without a doubt, (some) educated Gorbesh probably became curious into the arts of Necromancy, especially if they believed it could be wielded into destructive power for their conquering purposes.

b. - Gorbesh Gods, I view, as impartial to Necromancy other than: the Destructive gods are not provoked by it, and the productive ones do not care for it. Below are a few that might have interest:

- Xosurion, Dominion of Bone. Possibly appealing to Necromancers.<Neutral>

- Orisas, Domain of Spirit. Conflicts with Necromancers because only she should have the ability to control the dead (or undead). <Anti-Necro>

- Sraxaec, Domain of Blood, God of Life. Sraxaec's blood renews life. There could be an appeal for Necromancers - even a patron god. While Sraxaec is usually about renewing life, a twisted spin on it could say - bringing the animating the dead would fall here. <Patron & Anti-Necro>

- Sieben, Domain of the Mist. God of Chaos and Havoc. Sieben could support Necromancers, simply because he likes to foster havoc. <Neutral>

That's my longwinded lecture for the moment!

--Vyraka--

I am suddenly very interested in finding out what the current calendar year/month/etc it currently is, and when the next prime year is. I'm not sure where to start, never having played a moon mage.

Any ideas?

I've taken on the Prime Year,on and off over the years. It is usually the one that leads to me getting burned out of DR for a while.

The Quick Version: I believe the GM who would actually have the answer to that question is no longer in DR, thus any answer will be just speculation.

After study the timeline thoroughly, I haven't found any conclusive evidence of a prime year. However, IC wise, Vyraka believes The Second Gorbesh-Kermorian War (a major Military maneuver) must have been around a Prime Year (roughly 353-354).

During the Period of 315-317, the Gorbesh maneuvered through the Dark Hand to get to Kermoria. Again - another major military maneuver.

Of course - these dates aren't on a true 35 Cycle. So- I don't know.

Can we take a vote?


--Vyraka--

>> However, having never played a moon mage, is there such a thing as 'full opposition' of one of the interior planets?

Just to save you some time here's the most information a Moon Mage can get about the position of a planet:

>per planet
The planet Verena is well within perceivable range.
The planet Estrilda is well within perceivable range.
The planet Durgaulda is well within perceivable range.
The planet Yoakena is well within perceivable range.
The planet Penhetia is well within perceivable range.
The planet Szeldia is within your perceivable range.
The planet Merewalda is well within perceivable range.
Roundtime: 4 Sec.

---

Rev. Reene

"There is an innocence in admiration; it is found in those to whom it has not yet occurred that they, too, might be admired some day."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Alright I don't really have anything definitive to base the 35 year cycles on but seeing as both Gorbesh and Elanthian calendars are of the same length conversion isn't too hard if we can find one. The best I've been able to come up with was the year 1375 pre-lanival as a prime year seeing as Eimuetek, the great trade center for the empire was begun then, I took the formula out through the calendar and it matches up with a lot of large events, including the Emperor's decision to send the Outriders through the hand to attack Kermoria. Assuming that's the case then our last prime year was 375 and next will be 410, making our current year of 392 Avieben-Aneus. As to what # cycle we'd be on is beyond me since I don't know where to start the calendar but it the rest seems to make sense.

Jerecis S'Onser'ei, Fist of the Empire

I don't know what I'm more upset about...

Vyraka seemingly having really fat thighs or not buying more of these thigh bags...

>tap thi bag
You tap a supple leather thigh bag painted with clenched silver fist that you are wearing.

>rumm thi bag
You rummage through a supple leather thigh bag painted with clenched silver fist and see a pitted iron casket, a moldy mahogany casket, a copper-edged mahogany skippet, a mud-stained oaken skippet, a copper-edged ironwood skippet, an ordinary lockpick, a stout lockpick, a slim lockpick, an ordinary lockpick, a corroded stout lockpick, a twisted stout lockpick, a stout lockpick, a wax label, an ordinary lockpick, a rough-cut chakrel amulet, a stout lockpick, a slim lockpick, a slim lockpick and a stout lockpick.

--Vyraka--

>>Eh they're not fat thighs, they're just muscular. And attached to a nice set of Kaldar-bearing hips.

LOL

---

Denstimar Dustyfoot
Idon Raider - www.idonraiders.com
"Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?" - Walt Whitman

<<I just had an AC/DC song pop into my head.

Queen's "Fat Bottom Girls" came to mine...

;-)

--Vyraka--

>>Queen's "Fat Bottom Girls" came to mine...

Greatest band + greatest song ever.

This is why I <3 V.

---

Denstimar Dustyfoot
Idon Raider - www.idonraiders.com
"Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?" - Walt Whitman

>>That song totally rocks...until the "get on your bikes and ride" line. That just...buzzkills.

Heresy! Bicycle Race is another awesometastic classic song. Repent, repent!

(Though as a bit of trivia: only the single version of Fat Bottomed Girls, the flip-side of which is Bicycle Race, contains the line in question. If you listen to the longer version, from the Jazz album, that line doesn't occur)

:P

---

Denstimar Dustyfoot
Idon Raider - www.idonraiders.com
"Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?" - Walt Whitman

<<This song is the ringtone for when my wife calls.

"They make the rockin' world go round..."

LOL - In my first response to this post (which I Deleted), I had a typo - which changed the meaning in so many ways - though could be true in its own right.

--Vyraka--

My first area of search would be the Dark Hand and how they dealt with it when they crossed. I don't remember anything stating explicitly one way or another when I first dug into the necro lore prior to the coming of Lyras.

Just a few points for this discussion.

>>Sorcery does not seem to be taboo in Gorbesh society; if it is taboo in any way, they seem to be rather practical about disregarding this taboo when constructing weapons of mass destruction.

This is true, their battle spheres &c. are sorcery. It's best kept in mind that sorcery is only bad (with the exception of the sorts of necromancy that produce divine outrage) because the societies our characters live in deem it to be such. The Alaudian Empire apparently is much more pragmatic on the issue and doesn't see it as a bad thing, at least as long as it's used to their advantage in war.

>>the big exclamation-point difference between the Kaldar and the Gorbesh would be that the Kaldar have accepted worship of the Kermorian pantheon of deities

Not all of them. Anywhere you see mention in the official lore of the Kaldar converting you will see an adjective such as 'many' or 'some' used in the sentence somewhere.

In addition to that, their beliefs, even those who do believe in the thirteen, as presented in the lore, seem to be a bit of a mixed religion. For example their approach to Lanival (their reason for coming to Kermoria) isn't because they love what he did in the past for the Kermorian people so much as their belief that he might have been their own god-emperor Xin'Alaudas reborn. And because there's a belief that both of those figures will return again someday, they came looking for him. This also means that even those Kaldar who do not accept the 13 could have had a perfectly valid reason for traveling north into Kermoria.

>>As a random aside, the Kaldar and Gnomes were also part of the mass movement which brought the Prydaen and Rakash to the lands. The Prydaen suffered terrible atrocities at the hands of Necromancers, prompting the movement, so sort of by transitive property...?

There really isn't a transitive property to be found in that situation. All four races were introduced at the same time mechanically, that's just a matter of development and release schedules at the time. The Prydaen and Rakash came from the west, while the Kaldar and Gnomes came from the south. Each group came for completely different reasons through completely different territory. That having been said...

>>If you felt like playing a Kaldar necromancer that would be quite fine, but I would not approach it from the angle that the Gorbesh are, in fact, quite fine with resurrecting the dead.

I agree with the above statement.

And my personal take on the whole thing:
If I had to guess, I would posit that the Alaudian Empire would have little if any problem with some necromancy, namely the sort that doesn't cause divine outrage, since the apparent nature of such things seems likely to be abhorrent to all immortals. Sorcerous invisibility or throwing a little acid at your enemies? No big deal. Heightening pain or sucking someone's vitality? Another tool in the arsenal. But when you try to mess with the established universal order, holding up souls on their journey to Orisas? That's where the line is probably drawn. Purely personal conjecture there, though.

Of course, my own character, given what he knows and his background, approaches all of it from a much different angle than I do as a player.

---

Squire Xalahai Zayasero, Player of

>>The jury is sort of out on that right now.

True, and a good catch, I forgot about that part. The problem with posting at 2:30 AM.

---

Squire Xalahai Zayasero, Player of

Any divinity with even a remote amount of interest in the wellfare of the plane, even if it's just so it has enough targets to torment, gives out kill-on-sight orders regarding Necromancers. If the Gorbesh gods are any different, it'd be an indication that they aren't really gods in the sense that Kermorians use and understand the term.

Enough time and bad blood exist between the continents, not to mention the Kaldar and Gorbesh cultures, that information about what they're doing down there is spotty.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

>>the leader of the Kaldar exodus was big on two things, one being that Lanival was Xin'Alaudas (as you mentioned) and the other being the 13.

Quite true, but a leader does not an entire movement make.

>>If you are playing a Kaldar right now, you are worshipping the Kermorian pantheon of gods - even if this is because it is mechanically impossible to get favors from the "real" Albarian gods.

This is true too, though the current (yes, purely OOC and mechanics-based) fact that favors aren't required to avoid perma-death at least allows the possibility for the door to be open for other ways to play it (as a disclaimer, I wouldn't support doing that, but I could see a valid argument being made on an OOC level). Though any character denying the existence of the Kermorian gods, as I'm sure you will agree, is certainly insane.

As far as my own character goes, he actively worships Chadatru and maintains a healthy reverence for the 38 other major Kermorian gods. He also pays personal homage to his ancestral Gorbesh gods, though never having had a real indoctrination into that religion, he will admit he doesn't know how to properly 'worship' them as such. He would love to learn, though. He also has a particular fascination with The Huntress, whom he considers to have certain aspects potentially in common with the Gorbesh gods, given what he has managed to piece together about her and them. He enjoys theological/theosophical scholarship.

Reene: Thanks for the pointer to the Moon Mage topic, very interesting stuff well worth the read.

Armifer: Thanks for weighing in, any new insight or perspective on these sorts of topics is always appreciated.

---

Squire Xalahai Zayasero, Player of

AYCOCKT, the points you raise are interesting, but I would keep in mind that while some aspects of the Gorbesh heritage might speak to our PCs, they are Kaldar, and differ from the Gorbesh so much in social (and probably spiritual, too) ways that they came to identify themselves as a new race completely.

I wouldn't put too much stock in ancient Gorbesh mythology - much of which is probably symbolic instead of literal (blood magic in the Albarian sense in Kermoria? Unlikely) - to justify your Kaldar being a Necromancer. I'm fairly certain that is not how it is intended, and keep in mind that your PC is now an occupant of Albaria.

I personally feel much more comfortable having my Necromancer's background and personal beliefs informed by his guild choice alone, whereas my other characters consider race and such on their outlooks. If someone is willing to go so far as to defy Gods that will literally strike him down for his acts, he's probably not doing it because he has a bone to pick with S'kra Mur.

---

"I hate you so much right now." -GM Armifer

>>If you read any of my journals from the social side folder, you'll see I justify it purely based on building a better empire point of view. Oritaibeng came here as an observer to report back. While in the process of taking notes be got a great big idea on how to improve an empire and improve on a new way to crush this planets resistance. All very Gorbesh views.

I haven't run into the character with mine in person, but from what I've read of the journal entries I like the way you've gone with him.

>>Sadly I have to again bring up the point our history is full of holes, gaps, and there's not been alot of activity involving Gorbesh in some time with the exception of a NPC here and there. So I guess we all have to make light of the lore we have and create possibilities.

Those holes are where the fun always tends to be. As you say, it gives the players a chance to make our own decisions on the way of things. I'd like to see a bit more lore and history come out for the Albarian races myself (particularly on the religious and imperial politics angles), but I think it should be done with care and, like all good lore additions, it should add more new holes than it fills in old ones.

---

Squire Xalahai Zayasero, Player of
"This idea may have worked in another time and another place, but here it immediately fell on its face and went 'Durp durp.'" - Armifer

>>It wasn't exactly mortal v immortal here. Xin'Alaudus was trained and backed by Tieheq, which supposedly >>continued long after that battle.

Have any reference pages for that? I'd love to see some other lore I've not seen yet. I've been digging around for a long time.


No ranger stands alone.