Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Skalliska 12-04-03, 11:39 PM	Hello all. Well I've got a group of players around 25th level or so and am working up to the point where they invade Evermeet. This isn't an evil party, actually they are neutral and there is quite a bit of back story as to why they are invading but long story short they are going in to recover one of the nether scrolls. Since in this game I've already nailed down that yes indeed the elves at Evermeet at least have access to the netherscroll which they have twisted into their own interpretation I need to figure out what kind of resistence will be encountered. Any suggestions? I know at first the players might just be rebuffed with any normal request to enter the island no matter how they argue and what proof they have, the elven rascism is too strong. However some of the characters have ties to the fey and the fairie dragons and other fey might just aid them esp to help rid themselves of their elven oppresors.
Desies 12-05-03, 12:01 AM	Evermeets first wave of defense are all of the aquatic trolls and saquagin(sp?) that generally kill all ships in sight. There are a fair number of Dragon Turtles as well. Now the elves themselves have a tempest surrounding the outside seas. Also aquatic elves act as a type of subnet. The elven navy is pretty powerful as well. Once inside Evermeet there are three main arial defenses the pegasus/hippogriff(can't remember) riders, giant eagle riders and the small number of dragon riders. On the ground there are all the Elves (naturally), as well as a large number of fey (nymphs, centaur, fairies, etc.). And also the Lythari. That is all I can remember from the book Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham. Anything else you think would fit would probably be alright too.
Dargoth 12-05-03, 12:02 AM	Read the novel Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham
Kuje31 12-05-03, 12:10 AM	Or the Evermeet sourcebook. :)
Mellomir 12-05-03, 03:36 AM	Originally posted by Skalliska However some of the characters have ties to the fey and the fairie dragons and other fey might just aid them esp to help rid themselves of their elven oppresors. The elves of Evermeet oppressing the fey? :confused:
Gotrex 12-05-03, 03:52 AM	your probably gonna need an army to do it id surgest allying with the drow
thalious 12-05-03, 06:34 AM	Originally posted by Gotrex your probably gonna need an army to do it id surgest allying with the drow Or Illithids. Drow are more prone to be traitors. Not that Illithids are paragons of loyalty, but they tend to be lawful.
Northen_Spur 12-05-03, 08:43 AM	It could be done but don't expect it to be neutral or Good, cause most of the actions are gonna be evil. First, there must be no druid or Rangers (who are strongly allied with nature in your group). then delagate the tasks of getting the equipement needed to invade, try to prevent elven spies to tie in all your activities to a single person. - Go to Lantan, and get yourself the most technological avanced equipement in the realm, Smoke powder weaponds, Bombardes, Canons, reinforced Gallaleons. And if you have the men and the gold try to have a 2 to 1 avantage over the elven Navy. - Hire mages, that are trained in dealing with nature attacks, then hire mages/alchimist/Talonite priest to make poisons, acid, phosphorus nitrate that wont disapate in water. - Hire Clerics of Talos and Umberly (keep them on seperate ships) - Try to find Flyers of your own (optional), - Have your ships leave at diffrent dates, to meet at a distant point far from posible spies. Border evermeet (assuming the fleet came to an arangement with the trolls and the Sahaguin or better has allied with them) - Since your (hopefully) 2 vs 1 againts the elven navy a few ships with the Umberly priests should start pouring the speacial poison over the sides with priests of Umberly making sure water currents keep it inside the aquatic elf safetly net perimeter. This will kill several aqua elves and force the defenders on the island to divert their attention to saving them. (optional but risky) also pour oil at the same time, with the umberly priest making sure the currents make it stay around the island, then set it on fire. - One the poison is set, the ships should concentrate on the elven navy. - if by chance the elven navy is destroyed to move to the tempest wall. If you bearly make it retreat and pray to gods that the elves won't seek vengence once the navy is rebuilt. The tempest wall - You have 2 options either your mages find a way to counter the magic in the wall or you make the Talonites priest quadruple the tempest's size and strenght. The increace should cause it to start harming the elves on the island so they might turn it of themselves. - Once the Tempest is neutralised, ships should approch with Umberly priests making sure there is a thin ring of clean water near the hull of the ship so the poisons wont rot the ship hulls. - Use the bombards and fire magics to try to put a blaze the forest, trying to destroy as many nyphs and other charming beast in the process. Don't be in a hurry to set foot on the island. - Once several clear area are secure get ready for the invasion Invasion of evermeet. Every Man, woman, nature spirit, elemental, avatar you name it will be in this fight. - First send expendable low lv fighters and clerics to see if the elves din't try to lure you in a trap. Use the ships to give them cover fire. - Make Several well armed beach heads, you don't want once major elf attack to destroy your entire invasion - Once there, summon every demon, monster , beast , raise the dead, raise the undead, try to get evil god avatars. As mentioned above a deal with the Drow or the Illithed could give a bonus underground attack. - From Here good luck you will be fighting elves on all sides, they will try to get reinforcements (even Human) to save their precious island. If Word gets out you will be attacked on all sides, You will need to be well entrenched and you will fight for every cm of evermeet you conquer. - they conquer evermeet (Good luck!) assides from evil organisations, your pc's won't be hailled as a hero. they will be seen as a powerfull evil to be hunted down. If the elves rebuild they will hunt the Pc's down, maybe even their decendants. But I's say oh they have a 3% chance of success give or take 3%
Desies 12-05-03, 09:41 PM	yeah it is very difficult task. Three god's allied together (lolth, malar, umberlee) were unable to complete this task so it is very unlikely.
Knightcrawler 12-06-03, 12:47 AM	The Elf Eater
Gnarsh 12-07-03, 06:13 PM	not to mention, in the unlikely event that they start to win, odds are Corellon and the rest of the Elven Pantheon will be pretty angry, maybe sending down a few avatars for reinforcements...
Purple Dragon Knight 12-07-03, 06:51 PM	Whatever Northen_Spur said, except: - no calling of godly avatars whatsoever! doing so gives carte-blanche to the Seldarine to send their own avatars! - do not discount the help of Elminster, Khelben and other such meddling uber demigods: I can see Evermeet calling upon these first thing! remember that Evermeet is super magical, and magic communication will happen right away... so you need your own uber evildoers (Larloch, Phaerimm, Szass Tam, etc.) and promise them HUGE rewards, spoils, titles, etc. You'll have to yield equity if you want to get that venture started! ;) - this is a major entreprise: you need to validate your costs in terms of the rewards or spoils you would be getting. Make sure you have the intelligence that will confirm the presence of huge hoards of treasure; validate your campaign, otherwise you'll fail to get any allies, and if you don't, you'll get ruined in the process. Personally, I wouldn't go for it. What is there that justifies such a pain in the arse invasion? Let the elves be; they moved there to get some peace. You can get fish and nice little trees anywhere else in Faerun...
Fallen Solar 12-07-03, 08:32 PM	Since the last invasion, there can be no doubt that the elves have gotten more paranoid and increased their already staggering defenses. Attacking the island directly might not be the best strategy, in my opinion. Prehaps a better idea (but one that involves much metagaming) would be to take over Blackstaff Tower and use the portal to Evermeet there to send a large group of highly trained assassins through to kill the elven high council. That decaptitation would no doubt start infighting amoungst the Moon and Sun elves over the new rule, which might give an actual invasion of the island a chance. Then again, your survival chances are about the same if you walked up to Elminster, slapped his pipe out of his mouth, pulled his beard and told him that the Simbul lays down for orcs and trolls.
The_Sleeper 12-07-03, 09:32 PM	I too have have planned an invasion of Evermeet in my campaign so its kinda funny you should mention this, and for the same reasons no less; the Nether Scrolls (Tree Form). How i am doin this is that a major charector has dominated the Phaerlin completely using an ancient Imaskari artifact and has been working to unify the Drow of the Underdark together to march on Evermeet. Its a long story as to how anyone can possibly do this but i will say that this charector is looked upon by most drow as the Chosen of Lloth, but dissapeared some centuries ago. Upon his return to the underdark, he has been hiding out in the SharnLands, waiting and watching for the outcome of the WotSQ, whereupon he will lead a quest to unite the drow, regardless of the outcome of the WotSQ. Im not even sure if the Phaerimm and the Drow combined can take Evermeet, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out none the less.
Kuje31 12-07-03, 10:18 PM	Originally posted by Fallen Solar Prehaps a better idea (but one that involves much metagaming) would be to take over Blackstaff Tower and use the portal to Evermeet there to send a large group of highly trained assassins through to kill the elven high council. Except that portal isn't there any more. It got moved or destroyed in one of the novels I think it was.
CdrcJsn 12-08-03, 07:39 PM	If all you want to do is to steal the scrolls, then why bother trying the start a war with the entire island? It's a lot easier to try to steal the artifact rather then tear it from the destroyed husk that was once evermeet. 25th lvl characters? Have them permanently change themselves to elves. I don't care how you do it, magic jar, polymorph, wish, epic spells, etc., as long as you take steps to prevent detection you should be fine. They're gonna need a good background, else people might wonder where such powerful elven heroes came from. If your characters are really smart, they should plan on spending a few years on the island itself and get acclimated to the area before going ahead with the theft. If they really want, they can persuade an outside group to try and invade evermeet as a cover to their own theft. Also, unless you plan on killing every single elven high mage/priest on Faerun, you need a demiplane to hide your stolen artifact in. cedric
The_Sleeper 12-08-03, 07:47 PM	Normally i would agree with you CdrcJsn, but the scrolls are not the only reason Evermeet is being invaded, at least not in my campaign. That is more a cover to rally the drow. The real reason this charector wants to invade Evermeet is to discover the secrets of the High Magic ritual Uaul'Selu'Keryth for himself, and he believes the Queen of Evermeet, or possibly the king, holds this knowledge.:b: :smirk:
Wooly Rupert 12-08-03, 08:03 PM	Originally posted by The_Sleeper Normally i would agree with you CdrcJsn, but the scrolls are not the only reason Evermeet is being invaded, at least not in my campaign. That is more a cover to rally the drow. The real reason this charector wants to invade Evermeet is to discover the secrets of the High Magic ritual Uaul'Selu'Keryth for himself, and he believes the Queen of Evermeet, or possibly the king, holds this knowledge.:b: :smirk: Uh, King Zaor has been dead for years... And that's a lot of work for a single High Magic ritual. I agree with CdrcJsn; there's easier ways to do it.
Desies 12-08-03, 08:45 PM	The Elf Eater Malar attempted that...he was foiled when Aeridie, Sehanine and one other elven goddes (can't think of her name) turned both Lolth and Malar into elves and it attmepted to eat them.
Sirius_Black 12-08-03, 11:27 PM	Originally posted by Wooly Rupert Uh, King Zaor has been dead for years Maybe the elves are using body doubles to fool enemies into thinking Zaor is still puttering around in his garden? Those tricky elves...they will food you with stuff like that all the while they continue to go along happily making cookies in the trees.
Gotrex 12-09-03, 05:57 AM	As far as i know there is still a portal in blackstaff tower its in return of the archwizards and thats one of the most recent novels if you managed to unite the drow and the phaerimm then you would probably have a decent chance of success the elves are over reliant on magic and magic isnt really going to hurt the phaerimm very much (ignore return of the archwizzards its portrays phaerimmin a rediculouse manner) back this up with numbers and the sneakyness of drow and you have a winning combination really it shouldnt be to hard to do this the drow will jump at the chance because of there intense hatred of the elves and the you can probably get the phaerimm involve due to the vast amount of magic loot if you get those 2 forces combined id advise using blackstaff tower like he power above said to bypass defences and kill the leader ship which should create a good amount of chaos in evermeet another thing you should do is when you start making some progress make sure that other people hear about this such as Tam and Telemont once the major evil organisations hear that the elves are doing badly i dont think they will wait long to jump o the bandwagon and help
Alienfreak 12-09-03, 08:24 AM	1. The portal of Blackstaff Tower: Yay ... probably the portal is still there (i dont know if it still is). BUUUT where the **** do your "heroes" know that from? Who told them? You think you can get that information by Divination Magic. I bet that all the portals that lead to Evermeet (which is treated as a part of Arborea [so forget taking Lolth with you ;)] are protected from Divination by High Magic. And if you try to get into blackstaff tower, youll need to fight your way in. The Complete Tower is sealed against Teleportation and so on. And i think a fight would alert the elves. And where do you think that portal leads, yeah right into the throne room of their queen? I think they already thought of the idea that one could be hijacked (or wouldnt lolth have used them in her first attemp?). The place it leads is surely sth that is a deathtrap for whole armies :behold: 2. Why should the drow help you? Do you think your 25th level (hey ... already epic level, huh?) can make them help you? I think the drow still remember the last time they tried it. And that time there were 3 Deities fighting with 'em PLUS a "circle" (it was only one, but with the power of a whole circle) of Sun Elf Highmages. 3. The armies of Evermeet: They have Spell Jammer ships, Old Wyrm Dragons with High Mages Riding them, one of the most powerful fleets on Toril (you really think you can outnumber that fleet that easily without making them notice it?). Also the Giant Eagle Riders, the Unicorn Riders and all those fey creatures living there (in the evermeet book there was stated that all the creatures living on evermeet help together if they are attacked) 4. They have new defenses since the last attack of the Drow. The Aquatic elves have spellcasters now (probably even High Mages [they have at least one]). How you want your ships to survive that? The last time the Sea Trolls were on the attackers side and had an advantage because the aquatic elves had no fire and had no spell casters, but now they have both (magical fire :D ) 5. The "undead" army of Corellon: It is stated that Corellon has an army of "dead" elves that are serving in an army of great elven heroes that are under command of Corellon himself and stand ready to defend the elves. 6. The artifacts Evermeet can use: What artifacts do you have that are powerful and can help you against evermeet? I think just transforming you into an elf wont help you against the High Magic that guards evermeet. I think they would even detect you as an non elf if you go there in elf form I think they have a 1% Chance to achieve an victory in this battle. If you play the defenses of Evermeet right. Sorry ... level 25 sounds good ... but doesnt make you the king of the world. I think there are more than just a party of 25th level elves on evermeet. Its easier to conquer Thay than conquer Evermeet
The_Sleeper 12-10-03, 02:50 PM	Originally posted by Wooly Rupert Uh, King Zaor has been dead for years... And that's a lot of work for a single High Magic ritual. I agree with CdrcJsn; there's easier ways to do it. I wasnt aware the king was dead, but then again, thats why im doing all this research on evermeet, so it matters little. Again, with any other ritual, i would have to agree with you, but this paticular one i think would be well worth the effort. Imagine if an Archwizard from Netherin like Larloch or Telamont got their hands on the knowledge of Sundering ritual, and YES, this paticular person IS really an Archwizard, but only one other sould knows this at the moment (gamewise), and i dont think he's gonna go running to the Matron Mothers whining:smirk:, Imagine if these individuals could figure out the ritual and convert it to a spell, probably en par w/ KA, then the whole world would tremble before their might. I hope this clears it up a little. I can give no more away, because i am still constructing the campaign, and if i say more, i fear i will give much away. :rolleyes:
The_Sleeper 12-10-03, 03:00 PM	Originally posted by Gotrex As far as i know there is still a portal in blackstaff tower its in return of the archwizards and thats one of the most recent novels if you managed to unite the drow and the phaerimm then you would probably have a decent chance of success the elves are over reliant on magic and magic isnt really going to hurt the phaerimm very much (ignore return of the archwizzards its portrays phaerimmin a rediculouse manner) back this up with numbers and the sneakyness of drow and you have a winning combination really it shouldnt be to hard to do this the drow will jump at the chance because of there intense hatred of the elves and the you can probably get the phaerimm involve due to the vast amount of magic loot if you get those 2 forces combined id advise using blackstaff tower like he power above said to bypass defences and kill the leader ship which should create a good amount of chaos in evermeet another thing you should do is when you start making some progress make sure that other people hear about this such as Tam and Telemont once the major evil organisations hear that the elves are doing badly i dont think they will wait long to jump o the bandwagon and help Thanx for your input and support, Gotrex :D It is much appreciated. Ill keep what you said in mind. I think Telamont or Larloch may lend support, but at this point in time, im not sure. The Attack on Evermeet may happen before they even know whats going on and who is really behind the attack ( they dont know another Archwizard survived. I may have them, or maybe Tam or some other good villain jump on board after the innitial attack, if the elves dont fare well that is:b: I was going to forge an alliance of sorts with the other Archwizards after Evermeet is taken, but you gave me some ideas so it might happen before or while it is happening. As im sure you can see, this campaign is going to have many "chapters", if the pcs can survive that long that is.
Fallen Solar 12-11-03, 06:32 AM	The biggest problem with enlisting major evil powers from the realms (such as Larloch and Telemont) is that in doing so, you'd attract the attention of the major goodly powers of the realms, specifically Elminster who probably would love good opportunity to break down Larloch's power base. Another problem with the major evil powers is that they have a habit of betraying each other. What better way to weaken a rival power than to doublecross them to the elves? Mayhap an invasion of Everska would be perferable? Being on land it would prove a hell of a lot easier to deal with, plus it would still be a major blow to the elves.
Hoondatha 12-12-03, 10:12 PM	One note regarding the tempest winds that guard against ships automatically sinks all non-elven ships that enter the radius. So, yeah, the iron-clad ships (nice touch, btw) could probably destroy the fleet IF the fleet came out to do battle, AND was outnumbered, AND fought predictably, there's no way the human ships could get through the wind barrier. Your only chance is to somehow hit them from all over, all at once, and with no warning. You also need to somehow stop all of the elven allies (both elves and people like Elminster) from coming to help. That happened in the Evermeet book, but I doubt you could pull the same trick twice. Plus, while you can lock Evermeet off from Faerun, you can't lock it from Arvandor, because it's technically part of the plane. So nothing's going to stop the Seldarine from marching in with their armies to defend the place. I agree with Solar, Evereska is a much easier nut to crack, especially when there's no chance of the character finding the information they're seeking. The Cormanthyr book specifically states that the Killing Storm ritual had been deliberately forgotten, and that high magic rituals were never written down. Plus there's no chance of a human wizard, no matter how powerful, ever being able to adapt it (not that your players need to know any of that...) If I was creating the campaign (and I'm going to start wildly inventing, so bear with me), I'd go to the only place that's ever actually USED the ritual in question: Aryvandaar. Remember, the KS was a variant ritual, and its creators supposedly died during its first casting. So go to Aryvandaar's ruins, the current High Forest, looking for essentially that empire's version of Dekantur, where all the magical research was done. To challenge someone of an Archwizard's power, I'd then create, uhh, I don't know... a survivor-city of the empire? One that seceeded from Aryvandaar after the Dark Disaster, wove a near-impenetrable mythal around their city, and removed themselves from the Crown Wars. Now you've got a group (and you can make them as many as you want, say 50,000-100,000), that no one knows of, as powerful as Aryvandaar at its height, dedicated to making sure that the empire's lowest points never return. THERE is something for your players to bash against. The city might have the ritual, or they might know where it is, or they might be desperately trying to destroy it after word reaches them that it's been found. Whatever way you want to work it, you've got a group that's incredibly involved (make them good, with a major shame-complex over letting such a thing happen), that's as powerful as the elder days at their height (sorry, Tolkien reference, but it seems to fit). And you can go wherever you want with it. Hope this helps some, Hoondatha
The_Sleeper 12-15-03, 03:59 PM	Hmmmmm. You make some good points Hoondatha:D . Thanx! you have given me much to think about, and have given me some ideas:smirk: . I might take it in a new direction, but I need a common goal to unite the Drow, Evereska just isnt big enough of a victory. If I was creating the campaign (and I'm going to start wildly inventing, so bear with me), I'd go to the only place that's ever actually USED the ritual in question: Aryvandaar. Remember, the KS was a variant ritual, and its creators supposedly died during its first casting. I loved this idea. it has alot of possibilities,:D . thanx again
Hoondatha 12-15-03, 04:11 PM	Well, if you want something to unite the drow, really get them angry at someone, you can blame the fact that they're living underground and not ruling the surface on the Aryvandaarn city/empire. Give a couple good rabble-rousing speeches about how they thwarted the drow's dreams of conquest and committed atrocities against their ancestors. It might work. It's also, at least partly, based in reality, since Aryvandaar started the Crown Wars. At the beginning, the to-be-drow were on the surface, conquering their neighbors. At the end, they were drow underground.
The_Sleeper 12-16-03, 03:54 PM	Hehe, thats a good idea;) . It could work... Ive been thinking, and i think im gonna have Malkiah (the main villain) journying the surface for some time before he finds any traces of what he is looking for, possibly all the while having the pcs following his trail (if they dont join him), so i might incorperate what you have said, and use this paticular battle to unite the drow together. It will probably be the spark that ignites the war, in fact. In the end though, i think it will still come back to Evermeet. Ill probably use this as my climax to the campaign. The Phaerimm especially will need great incentive to join the battle, even with Malkiah's domination-like effect over them with his artifact. Together with an army of Drow the likes of which havnt been seen since the time of Telantiwar (or however you spell it) comming from underneath them, and the Phaerimm attacking them from all sides at once, as well as their huge slave armies, i think the odds will be a little less in favor of the elves. If and when Malkiah comes into the battlefield, that will also bring favor to his armies, as he himself is a force to be recconed with. I have no intentions in making this a easy battle for either side, and it will probably take a few weeks or more(game time) and at least a month real time for the final battle to come to its conclusion. Oh yea, one more thing. Malkiah isnt after the Killing Storm ritual, he is after the Sundering Ritual itself, which is what KS was originally derived from i believe, although i could be wrong. Only 2 ppl are said to know the ritual, and one of them is the Srishnee. In my campaign, the other is the Queen of Evermeet.;)
The_Sleeper 12-23-03, 08:31 PM	Well, i just finished the Evermeet novel, and id have to say, im soooooooo glad i got it. It gave real depth into my understanding of the Isle of Elves, as well as the history of the elves themselves. I loved it. But anyways, its given me many ideas as to how i should go about the invasion, as well as how i might handle the conclusion, one way or another. :rolleyes: Just thought id let y'all know;) :D
Desies 12-24-03, 01:20 AM	After reading you have seen a horribly failed attempt at an invasion. Now you know what not to do!
The_Sleeper 12-25-03, 12:42 AM	Hehe, basically that was the idea.;)