City of Shade [Archive] - Wizards Community

City of Shade [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nailo Nightbreeze
01-22-05, 02:36 AM Hey guys. It's been forever since I've been here, but I'll go ahead and give this another try, lol.

Ok, I'm about to start playing in a new campaign. My DM has set the following restrictions:
Must be from the City of Shade
Must be human
Must be of Neutral or Evil alignment

But the problem is... I don't really know enough about the city of Shade to create a real great backstory to go with this guy. My character is a Lawful Evil Paladin of Tyranny (Unearthed Arcana) who's deity is Bane. So, any help anyone wants to put out there would be great :D
LiXinjian
01-22-05, 12:42 PM City of Shade has just returned from the Plane of Shadows.

I don't know about Bane being worshipped by the Shadovars, however, since Shar is usually the one they turn to.

They were a bunch of Netheril wizards who phased their whole city on to the plane of shadows moments before the fall of Netheril, and now that they are back, they are mostly interested in recovering ancient artifacts of netherese origin... and probably taking over the world, I guess.

Lots and lots of wizards in the lot, and some pretty impressive abilities when they stick to the shadows.
Vharuck
01-23-05, 01:40 AM They are usually Shade templated (FRCS), and most have minor wizardly training. You have never seen any other cities or civilizations (unless if you were a lich that lived during the time of the Netherese Empire), so everything is very weird to you.

For you, I'd suggest a story that builds upon the fact that you knew you were going to return to Toril soon and studied up on it so that you could hatch a nefarious plot to profit from the change and introduction into the world.
Sir_Darien
01-25-05, 11:27 PM Wecome back to the boards.

Brief history of the city:

The City of Shade is the last surviving flying city of anciant Netheril. It was in the plane of Shadow as part of one of its rulers experiments when Karsus caused the sundering of the weave and thus the fall of Netheril. Due to the magical cataclysm the city becamed trapped in the plane of shadow unable to return home. Over a thousand years passed with the people learning to survive in this harsh and unwelcoming environment. Recently a way back in was found and the city retuned to the material plane once more. Almost immediately the Shades sought out their ancient enemies, the phaerimms, a malicious and evil race of primal abberations and did battle with them. They also began melting the northern glaciers attempting to bring water and thus fertility to their ancient homeland in the great desert of Anaroch. This melting triggered a rash of climate changes at lower altitudes and after a group of skirmishes with nations such as Waterdeep and Cormyr (one of which resulted in the destruction of Tilverton), the devices being used to melt the glaciers were destroyed by the phaerimms who in turn were all but driven to extinction by the Shades.

Population and Leadership

The city is an inherited magocracy ruled by a high prince named Telamont Tanthul. Telamont and his twelve sons, collectively known as the Princes of Shade, have ruled the city for as long as anyone can remember and it is whispered that Telamont may actually be the Lord Shadow, the original ruler of the city who took it to the Plane of Shadow over a thousand years ago. Only the highest echelon of Shade society are actually "Shades," as in creatures with the Shade template. These are usually powerful arcanists (the shade term for both wizards or sorcerers), priests of Shar, or high ranking (captain or better) military officiers. Becoming a Shade is not something that occurs naturally. It is a "reward" given to those that the princes find worthy. Telamont and all his sons are shades. The rest of the free Shade populace is human. Humans make up the skilled laborers, merchants, soldiers, low ranking nobles, and artisans of the city. Low level priests and arcanists are also human though they greatly aspire to join the ranks of their masters and become Shades. The bottom end of Shade society consists of slaves. Almost any humanoid race can be found there in servitude, but humans, orcs, and half-orcs are by far the most common.

Religion

Shar is worshipped almost exculsively in Shade. Though other religions are not actually outlawed, someone who does not at least pay lip service to Shar will quickly find themselves ostracized from the community at large. Additionally Shars clergy tends to make sure that individuals who actually speak out against Shar dissapear in short order.

Power Structure

The High Price is the supreme ruler of Shade no one dares question his orders, not even his sons. Beneath him are his sons who present a unified front in public, but behind the scenes squabble for power. Each of the princes have specific areas or organizations in the city that they are in charge of. The princes have diverse skills, but they all possess at least some power in magics. Beneath the princes are the high arcanists, the most powerful mages in the city other than some of the princes, they and the lesser arcanists run the day to day business of the city. The highest ranking members of the church of Shar are roughly equivalent to the high arcanists in terms of their station in the city. The military is by and large independent of the power stucture of the city. It is led by one of the princes and counts members of virtually every class among its numbers.

And now for some advice: :)

You've got the paladin of tyranny ready to go I'm assuming so I won't try and talk you into a different class, but Bane really isn't big in the city of Shade. You may want to consider one of three options:

Option 1: Change diety to Shar. Simple enough

Option 2: Worship Bane clandestinely. Perhaps you were an advance scout, you came to the prime material plane months or even years before the city returned. Your job was to learn about what was happening in Faerun and report it back to your masters. You were exposed to different faiths at this time and you took the teachings of Bane to heart. If you want to take it even further, perhaps you were sent to investigate the Zhentarim or another organization with strong ties to Bane and now you actually work as a double agent, reporting back to your Zhent masters!

Option 3: Talk to your DM about the Shades in HIS world, maybe they are more tolerant of other religions or maybe Bane IS the god worshipped exclusively by the Shades.

Whatever way you decide to go, make sure your choice of deity isn't going to cause you unexpected headaches down the road.

Well hopefully you'll be able to use the info I've given you to make an interesting backstory for your character. If you've got time, post it when you're done. I'd like to see what you come up with. Evil backstories are always fun.

Later

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nailo Nightbreeze 01-22-05, 02:36 AM	Hey guys. It's been forever since I've been here, but I'll go ahead and give this another try, lol. Ok, I'm about to start playing in a new campaign. My DM has set the following restrictions: Must be from the City of Shade Must be human Must be of Neutral or Evil alignment But the problem is... I don't really know enough about the city of Shade to create a real great backstory to go with this guy. My character is a Lawful Evil Paladin of Tyranny (Unearthed Arcana) who's deity is Bane. So, any help anyone wants to put out there would be great :D
LiXinjian 01-22-05, 12:42 PM	City of Shade has just returned from the Plane of Shadows. I don't know about Bane being worshipped by the Shadovars, however, since Shar is usually the one they turn to. They were a bunch of Netheril wizards who phased their whole city on to the plane of shadows moments before the fall of Netheril, and now that they are back, they are mostly interested in recovering ancient artifacts of netherese origin... and probably taking over the world, I guess. Lots and lots of wizards in the lot, and some pretty impressive abilities when they stick to the shadows.
Vharuck 01-23-05, 01:40 AM	They are usually Shade templated (FRCS), and most have minor wizardly training. You have never seen any other cities or civilizations (unless if you were a lich that lived during the time of the Netherese Empire), so everything is very weird to you. For you, I'd suggest a story that builds upon the fact that you knew you were going to return to Toril soon and studied up on it so that you could hatch a nefarious plot to profit from the change and introduction into the world.
Sir_Darien 01-25-05, 11:27 PM	Wecome back to the boards. Brief history of the city: The City of Shade is the last surviving flying city of anciant Netheril. It was in the plane of Shadow as part of one of its rulers experiments when Karsus caused the sundering of the weave and thus the fall of Netheril. Due to the magical cataclysm the city becamed trapped in the plane of shadow unable to return home. Over a thousand years passed with the people learning to survive in this harsh and unwelcoming environment. Recently a way back in was found and the city retuned to the material plane once more. Almost immediately the Shades sought out their ancient enemies, the phaerimms, a malicious and evil race of primal abberations and did battle with them. They also began melting the northern glaciers attempting to bring water and thus fertility to their ancient homeland in the great desert of Anaroch. This melting triggered a rash of climate changes at lower altitudes and after a group of skirmishes with nations such as Waterdeep and Cormyr (one of which resulted in the destruction of Tilverton), the devices being used to melt the glaciers were destroyed by the phaerimms who in turn were all but driven to extinction by the Shades. Population and Leadership The city is an inherited magocracy ruled by a high prince named Telamont Tanthul. Telamont and his twelve sons, collectively known as the Princes of Shade, have ruled the city for as long as anyone can remember and it is whispered that Telamont may actually be the Lord Shadow, the original ruler of the city who took it to the Plane of Shadow over a thousand years ago. Only the highest echelon of Shade society are actually "Shades," as in creatures with the Shade template. These are usually powerful arcanists (the shade term for both wizards or sorcerers), priests of Shar, or high ranking (captain or better) military officiers. Becoming a Shade is not something that occurs naturally. It is a "reward" given to those that the princes find worthy. Telamont and all his sons are shades. The rest of the free Shade populace is human. Humans make up the skilled laborers, merchants, soldiers, low ranking nobles, and artisans of the city. Low level priests and arcanists are also human though they greatly aspire to join the ranks of their masters and become Shades. The bottom end of Shade society consists of slaves. Almost any humanoid race can be found there in servitude, but humans, orcs, and half-orcs are by far the most common. Religion Shar is worshipped almost exculsively in Shade. Though other religions are not actually outlawed, someone who does not at least pay lip service to Shar will quickly find themselves ostracized from the community at large. Additionally Shars clergy tends to make sure that individuals who actually speak out against Shar dissapear in short order. Power Structure The High Price is the supreme ruler of Shade no one dares question his orders, not even his sons. Beneath him are his sons who present a unified front in public, but behind the scenes squabble for power. Each of the princes have specific areas or organizations in the city that they are in charge of. The princes have diverse skills, but they all possess at least some power in magics. Beneath the princes are the high arcanists, the most powerful mages in the city other than some of the princes, they and the lesser arcanists run the day to day business of the city. The highest ranking members of the church of Shar are roughly equivalent to the high arcanists in terms of their station in the city. The military is by and large independent of the power stucture of the city. It is led by one of the princes and counts members of virtually every class among its numbers. And now for some advice: :) You've got the paladin of tyranny ready to go I'm assuming so I won't try and talk you into a different class, but Bane really isn't big in the city of Shade. You may want to consider one of three options: Option 1: Change diety to Shar. Simple enough Option 2: Worship Bane clandestinely. Perhaps you were an advance scout, you came to the prime material plane months or even years before the city returned. Your job was to learn about what was happening in Faerun and report it back to your masters. You were exposed to different faiths at this time and you took the teachings of Bane to heart. If you want to take it even further, perhaps you were sent to investigate the Zhentarim or another organization with strong ties to Bane and now you actually work as a double agent, reporting back to your Zhent masters! Option 3: Talk to your DM about the Shades in HIS world, maybe they are more tolerant of other religions or maybe Bane IS the god worshipped exclusively by the Shades. Whatever way you decide to go, make sure your choice of deity isn't going to cause you unexpected headaches down the road. Well hopefully you'll be able to use the info I've given you to make an interesting backstory for your character. If you've got time, post it when you're done. I'd like to see what you come up with. Evil backstories are always fun. Later