Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Uratoh 11-20-06, 01:40 AM	Today, for reasons too complex to discuss, a PC destroyed a minor artifact, an ancient elemental binding weapon using a Magma Paramental to power it. He shattered the khyber crystal on the hilt, unleashing it and...well, he did it on what I realized was a fault line. The paramental's emergence (Now grown to Monolithic statue after millenia) caused a volcano to erupt at the (former) location of Fort Orcbone in western Breland. It basically caught on the fault that formed the Byshek mountains...and now they kind of continue all the way down to Silver Lake. So, people with more geological and cultural knowledge than me...what aside from the fact that Breland's REALLY ticked at this development would result? climate changes, etc?
goblin_pride 11-20-06, 02:18 AM	Today, for reasons too complex to discuss, a PC destroyed a minor artifact, an ancient elemental binding weapon using a Magma Paramental to power it. He shattered the khyber crystal on the hilt, unleashing it and...well, he did it on what I realized was a fault line. The paramental's emergence (Now grown to Monolithic statue after millenia) caused a volcano to erupt at the (former) location of Fort Orcbone in western Breland. It basically caught on the fault that formed the Byshek mountains...and now they kind of continue all the way down to Silver Lake. So, people with more geological and cultural knowledge than me...what aside from the fact that Breland's REALLY ticked at this development would result? climate changes, etc? You need to watch a documentary on volcanoes. The variety and variables are too numerous to even try to address on these boards. If your PCs were standing there as a volcano blew it's top, you don't need to even worry about it, they're dead, restart the campaign as written.
Uratoh 11-20-06, 02:21 AM	well, they had the common sense to run like hell. the thing didnt exist/erupt until a few minutes after they'd cleared/teleported the heck out of there. The Magma Paramental Monolith's existance was enough to send them running. When a party can teleport, surviving stupidity becomes far too easy >_>. At least the guy who broke it got crushed outright by the Monolith.
goblin_pride 11-20-06, 02:38 AM	well, they had the common sense to run like hell. the thing didnt exist/erupt until a few minutes after they'd cleared/teleported the heck out of there. How far did they teleport? Running won't put enough distance to save a person from a pyroclastic flow, ask the people of Pompeii. And Mount St Helens devastated hundreds of miles away.
Uratoh 11-20-06, 02:46 AM	Should also comment I was being nice, the whole thing was caused by one PC (whos player was kicked from the group just after, because I told him he could NOT play mentally deranged characters) who decided if he couldent keep the artifact, no one could..even if the enemy killed him they wouldent have it sort of deal. Basically, I don't wanna kill the entire party, especially when theyve all got flight/teleportation (and being Eberron, there's SOME leeway for heroic escapes), for the actions of one frequently disruptive player.
Kensan_Oni 11-20-06, 02:55 AM	Okay. Volcanos are funny things, and the impact you wish this to have really depends on how big of an eruption you want to happen have happen. For instance, there are eruptions on the Isle of Hawaii all the time. Most of them are not a cause for panic, and it's constant flow expands the island by a few feet a year. No real noticable impact. Other eruptions tend to fill the sky with soot and ash, and tend to suck the oxygen out of an area. Things die, the sky is obscured, but geologically there is little impact. Maybe a few earthquakes, nothing serious in terms of game world. Now, if you decide to go for your full blown Crakatowa/Pompii level explosion, well... here are some of the things you can expect. 1) The sky gets blotted out, as ash and earth from the explosion hit the atmosphere and block out the sun for a few days. The sun becomes a 'blue' color from all the dust in the sky. 2) Those within, oh, 5 miles of the explosion get destroyed in the major catastrophy, in the fall of ash, general explosions, and huge chunks of rock falling out of the sky. Those within 10 miles are probably dying too, due to unlivable breathing conditions. Only things that don't breath live through it in this zone. 3) If you have a conjuction happening at this time, guarantee that it will be powered by such an event, and might even create a manifest zone around the event. Expect Outsiders to invade Breland due to this catastrophy. 4) Expect general worldwide panic for the next week as people try to figure out what happened, cults take this as a sign of the end, and all that other psycological fun stuff that happens when these kinds of things happen. And that's just for starters. As someone else said, if you want this to be a major event, this can really go beyond the forums in scope. Personally, I'd have it be a small geographic event, and have it done with.
goblin_pride 11-20-06, 02:57 AM	Basically, I don't wanna kill the entire party, especially when theyve all got flight/teleportation (and being Eberron, there's SOME leeway for heroic escapes), for the actions of one frequently disruptive player. I don't think you're understanding what it is I'm trying to say, a volcano at Ft Orcbone that could raise 100 or more miles of high mountains would utterly devastate Breland. No more Sharn because vibrations of the bedrock underneath it would topple the towers like a house of cards. The sky would be dark as midnight at noon within a day or two on most of Khorvaire. Winter would start within a few weeks and last for a couple centuries. In order to raise that mountain chain, the earthquake the volcano triggered would be something like a 16 on the richter scale, if not higher. A single volcano that could do that would end the planet's life, not just the characters.
Uratoh 11-20-06, 03:06 AM	hmm, well I havent 'officially' stated how much volcanoage happened...also I'm not terribly 'up' on geology...so what would be a more non-world-ending volcanic effect?
Kensan_Oni 11-20-06, 03:08 AM	I don't think you're understanding what it is I'm trying to say, a volcano at Ft Orcbone that could raise 100 or more miles of high mountains would utterly devastate Breland. No more Sharn because vibrations of the bedrock underneath it would topple the towers like a house of cards. The sky would be dark as midnight at noon within a day or two on most of Khorvaire. Winter would start within a few weeks and last for a couple centuries. In order to raise that mountain chain, the earthquake the volcano triggered would be something like a 16 on the richter scale, if not higher. A single volcano that could do that would end the planet's life, not just the characters. Well, hold on just a moment. Let's remember that this is a magical world. We can quantify this not as a geological effect, but a mystical effect. We still have some grand scale destruction going on, but we can contain it to manifest zones. Let us, for instance say that this even happen to come online while Lamannia was becoming Conterminous while Kythri became conjunctioned with it. The artifact acts as a trigger focus for the event, and opens a momentary rift between the energies of another world, and the energies of the dragon Ebberon. What you have is Ebberon assorbing some of Lamannia's wild energy, and as it activates in the mountains, it assorbs that energy into it's mountain range. Through planar magic, it pulls up and basicly scabs the mountains, as they raise during the chaotic flux of energy. However, this all happens in a very limited area, contained by a overexageratted Manifest Zone. Animals awaken, sudden spontanious growth of forests happen, and then get burned down in other areas. The volcano that erupts is part of the effect of the manifistation. I feel the DM wants to have this event have ramnifications that he can direct towards the players and the disruptive PC, then to destroy the game. I feel the best way to do that is to 'fairy tale' the change so that it doesn't destroy the world, but does affect it signifigantly.
goblin_pride 11-20-06, 03:19 AM	Well, hold on just a moment. Let's remember that this is a magical world. We can quantify this not as a geological effect, but a mystical effect. I realize it can be explained away as mystical, but the original question was about the geological after-effects. From that viewpoint it's a planet-wide catastrophe.
Uratoh 11-20-06, 04:01 AM	Well given the geological ramifications...I'm going with the mystical thing. Cause I do like the idea of extending the byshek mountains. So which manifest zone would be stuck there for awhile, what with a Magma Monolith living in it? And what would it mean for Droaam, who are currently planning to build their own fort in the newly forming pass (that replaced the massively open field)? and other fun mainfest thingys.
Splendide 11-20-06, 04:23 AM	If you're worried about it getting out of hand, send in a Siberys marked Lyrandar to rain on it, or Kundarak to seal it up.
Hufish 11-29-06, 05:46 PM	Have it sealed by sacrificing the remaining characters to it, a la Joe vs. The Volcano? :D
McFrankPatrick 11-30-06, 01:43 AM	Well, I think Goblin_Pride is leaning a bit toward the over-apocalyptic side. Mt St. Helens and Pompei (and even more cataclysmically, Mt Krakatoa) were all huge events, but none came even close to triggering a global catastrophe. I think that an event like you've described would cause casualties within a few hundred miles, but wouldn't endanger Sharn or anything truly distant. Ash in the skies would be a big deal, and might lead to unseasonably cold weather for a few months. Psycological possibilities are simply too vast to really delve in to, basically any cults you wanted to bring to the forefront would have cause to come out of the woodwork and cause some real ruckus. Another thing to consider is that mountains tend to form over millenia, a sudden geological event might reform (Mt St Helens) or level (Krakatoa) an existing mountain, but it wouldn't form a completely new towering mountain peak in days or weeks. More likely successive flows of lava would begin accumulating, causing a mountain to rise over the course of a few years. Then again, bring in the mystical and you can bend any of this to suit your fancy. I'm in favor of leaving it all as a side event in your campaign, because otherwise plumbing the full ramifications of a truly earth-shattering cataclysm could consume the whole experience, and who wants a campaign spurred by geology?
SkyOdin 12-01-06, 12:58 PM	People have already brought up the problems caused by ash in the sky: colder temperatures, less sunlight, etc. However, it is important to remember the larger results of those temporary climate shifts. Even if the ash only cuases disruptions for a month or two, that could still be long enough to do serious damage to crps throughout Breland. As a result, food prices could rise, and various degrees of famine could set in. That would probably be the biggest impact of a smaller big eruption. An utterly huge volcanic eruption could cause this on a glabal scale lasting for a few years. A Hawaii-style slow lava eruption probably not at all.
Syltorian 12-01-06, 01:53 PM	Well, I am not a geologist, so take this with caution: What would the effect be on the Silver Lake, nearby? Could you have some tsunamis race towards coastal communities? Wake up something that rests beneath? Depending on how much geological changes there are, fissures could open and change the water levels, and mountains will definetly raise it. Goodbye Xandrar. That, in turn, will spill over into Lake Galifar. Which will make all the locations there - including Passage and Varna, headquarters of two dragonmarked houses, rather unhappy. Vadalis could actually lose two of its holdings beyond Varna - Erlaskar and Delethorn. You don't even need the Silver Lake. What if the volcano eruption send fissures down into Kyhber? Even worse, maybe it shattered a Gatekeeper Seal nearby. It is not too far from the Eldeen Reaches, after all, and given how vulnerable they were to Byesh, controling the mountains would have been a prime strategic target for the Daelkyr (assuming for a moment that they would use human logic). Vharraak knows what creatures could be unleashed on that area... Khybershards could have been blown out by the volcano from the depth of Khyber. Then you get something like a gold-rush, as everyone tries to get hold of the stones.
Myrddin Wyllt 12-01-06, 03:33 PM	"If you hear hooves, don't think zebras...think horses." -Gil Grissom, CSI I gotta say, if your PC unleashed a magma para-elemental, I'd go with the Hawaii-style eruption. Far easier on the players' suspension of disbelief, and probably a lot less work for you over time....although: I'm reminded of an old Johnny Cash song: Lake of Fire. It might be interesting to have a high mountain "lake" that appears to be a flat plane of volcanic glass, but lying just a few feet below the surface is an enormous cauldron of <Dr. Evil Voice> white-hot-magma </Voice>. Could be used as a plot device later, by a bad guy using the new geothermal source to run his evil eldritch machine. That way, you can turn this bad experience into a good plot hook for a future adventure.
goblin_pride 12-02-06, 03:38 AM	Well, I think Goblin_Pride is leaning a bit toward the over-apocalyptic side. Mt St. Helens and Pompei (and even more cataclysmically, Mt Krakatoa) were all huge events, but none came even close to triggering a global catastrophe. If you read the original post he asked what the geological ramifications would be if the volcano raised the Byeshk range and extended it as far as Silver lake. Yes, I know a volcano shouldn't be able to do that at all, but if one did, it would be a world-killing event. Volcanoes are world-building tools, over time volcanoes make new lands that plants and animals will eventually spread into. Volcanoes do make moutains over geologic time, which is usually measured in eons, not millenia. A volcano that erupted with enough force to extend a mountain range by 100 or more miles in a short time wouldn't just cause a little ash to reach Breland, it would destroy Breland utterly. The earthquake that thrust those new peaks up would drop all the towers of Sharn without even dampening the shockwave in the slightest. Yes, from a purely geological point of view, a volcano of the magnitude to create the effects described by the OP would destroy half of Khorvaire before it was finished. And for the record, there was no summer at all for the three years following Krakatoa. One year even saw snow in July on the American east coast.
lordalm 12-02-06, 07:19 PM	The pcs wake up from a bad dream. No sign of the shard, the magma elemental or the twit that was going to destroy it. Spooky isn't?