Gathering all the armies of Faerun [Archive] - Wizards Community

Gathering all the armies of Faerun [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DrunkDwarf
08-16-04, 07:15 PM In an upcoming Epic campaign (a party of 3 lvl 21 characters currently), we will be asked by the harpers to meddle with the affairs of Mulhorand and Unther

Basically, its a world war scenario, the Red Wizards have decided to take Mulhorand while its busy trying to conquer Unther, Mulhorand has been made vulnerable, with its troops away, and tired from fighting its own war.

Now, as far as i can gather, the Red wizards wont be stopping there, they have teamed up with the Zhents, and the Shades.

the Red Wizards are giving Unther supplies, and are on the move.

We haven't been told much so far, but we've been given enough to think about. But we know we'll be the ones to lead the campaign against the Red Wizards.

This is where our party comes in, we need to find a way to stop the Red wizards (at least for now) and save Mulhorand.

the party consists of...

a lvl 21 Human Wizard/Spellguard of Silverymoon/Archmage (my char, see sig)
a lvl 21 Dwarf Fighter/Dwarven Defender
a lvl 21 Ranger or Rogue most likely (player often changes character)

Now the problem is, how can we gather an army quick enough, and powerful enough to stop them? we're talking about a large Red Wizard/Zhent/Shade army

who nearby could be convinced to help? Halruaa? Dwarves of the Great Rift? what about further away, all across Faerun?

I thought about sending out messengers to all across Faerun, going to particular powerful countries and summon them to a meeting, where we would try to convince them to join the cause, to stop the Red Wizards once and for all.

Which countries could be convinced? which countries would be the most important to get to join the cause? How much support could these countries safely provide us?

How would the many forces from around Faerun transport their armies? how quickly could it be done? Gate to a plane, then Gate to Mulhorand? Lots of Teleportation Circles? any ideas?

From what we have been told, we wouldn't have long, the Red Wizards would have taken Northern Mulhorand in a months time.

We have no substantial resources to speak off, apart from the Harpers. The Indecisive player was thinking of going for the leadership feat, to get a small group of men. But thats not a lot.

any thoughts or ideas would be great :)
DrunkDwarf
08-16-04, 07:36 PM hmm.. just looked over my post, and it occurs to me that i should've put this in the Faerunian People & Places section :/ i had originally had something else in mind to say

Could a lovely WizO kindly put this thread in a sling and fire it over there?
ruleslawyer
08-16-04, 11:32 PM Well, here are some thoughts while we're waiting for this to be moved... ;)

First off, Thay's armies might be able to move into Mulhorand without difficulty, but how in the name of perdition are the Zhentarim and the Shades getting their forces to Mulhorand? That's one issue right there that your characters might be able to exploit.

Second, and related to the point above, if it's a coalition of disparate foes, why not fight them on their own terms? Trouble in Darkhold should be plenty to distract the Zhentarim; such trouble is absurdly easy to stir up from without (Cormyr's forces, bolstered by powerful Harper mages from Berdusk and the Dales, mounting an offensive) or, better still, from within (stirring up the Western Zhentarim against their Eastern compatriots and pushing matters to the point of all-out mutiny). The Shades are a tougher foe (in fact, IMHO, they're just a bit much even by FR's standards, but that's another topic); here, the Harpers might have to apply their influence most directly, in an assault by the Chosen of Mystra and others directly on the City of Shade and its mythallar. No way would the Shades lift a finger to aid the RW if they were worried about a (this time successful) assault on the city. In fact, I'd actually argue that from a totally utilitarian perspective, the right thing to do might be to just let the RW pursue their assault on Mulhorand with some success, drag the Shades into the conflict, and then take the opportunity to break their smug self-assurance while they're involved in a conflict thousands of miles distant. The Shades are a far greater threat than Thay, from what I can tell.

Third, it's unclear that Unther would welcome the influence of the Red Wizards, of all people. Unther's freedom fighters would probably welcome a rollback of Mulhorand's incursion, but the fact is that the people of Unther probably wouldn't fight side by side with Thay. Perhaps the smartest thing the Harpers could do would be to broker an extremely quick truce between Unther's resistance and the Pharoah, thereby allowing Mulhorand to withdraw its forces to the Thazalhar and protect itself. After all, it's not like Unther's "forces" would press the attack if Mulhorand retreated behind its borders, any more than the French Resistance started mounting forays into Germany following Operation Barbarossa.

Finally, I'd say that a gathering of the Chosen of Mystra and a number of powerful NPCs, plus your characters, could make a good case for just launching an assault directly on the zulkirs' strongholds in an attempt to "persuade" Thay of the unwise nature of attacking a foreign power. However, if I were a real powermonger in Toril, I'd actually assume that the entire invasion were a front to draw out the Realms' great and mighty, since that seems the only reason why Thay would try an open invasion of Mulhorand in the first place.
DrunkDwarf
08-17-04, 04:58 AM As far as i can gather from my DM, the shades and zhentarim have both moved their armies in advance

i think the zhents are going by sea, hiring the pirates of the area to take any attention away from their passage, and generally being secretive about it.

the shades probably used shadow travel of some kind, planar travel, something along those lines.

I dont think our characters have enough proof of the shades involvement to launch an assault on them, this is based on harper information, and they are not totally sure whether the shades are involved yet, but theres a good chance.

your other points are very interesting, thanks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DrunkDwarf 08-16-04, 07:15 PM	In an upcoming Epic campaign (a party of 3 lvl 21 characters currently), we will be asked by the harpers to meddle with the affairs of Mulhorand and Unther Basically, its a world war scenario, the Red Wizards have decided to take Mulhorand while its busy trying to conquer Unther, Mulhorand has been made vulnerable, with its troops away, and tired from fighting its own war. Now, as far as i can gather, the Red wizards wont be stopping there, they have teamed up with the Zhents, and the Shades. the Red Wizards are giving Unther supplies, and are on the move. We haven't been told much so far, but we've been given enough to think about. But we know we'll be the ones to lead the campaign against the Red Wizards. This is where our party comes in, we need to find a way to stop the Red wizards (at least for now) and save Mulhorand. the party consists of... a lvl 21 Human Wizard/Spellguard of Silverymoon/Archmage (my char, see sig) a lvl 21 Dwarf Fighter/Dwarven Defender a lvl 21 Ranger or Rogue most likely (player often changes character) Now the problem is, how can we gather an army quick enough, and powerful enough to stop them? we're talking about a large Red Wizard/Zhent/Shade army who nearby could be convinced to help? Halruaa? Dwarves of the Great Rift? what about further away, all across Faerun? I thought about sending out messengers to all across Faerun, going to particular powerful countries and summon them to a meeting, where we would try to convince them to join the cause, to stop the Red Wizards once and for all. Which countries could be convinced? which countries would be the most important to get to join the cause? How much support could these countries safely provide us? How would the many forces from around Faerun transport their armies? how quickly could it be done? Gate to a plane, then Gate to Mulhorand? Lots of Teleportation Circles? any ideas? From what we have been told, we wouldn't have long, the Red Wizards would have taken Northern Mulhorand in a months time. We have no substantial resources to speak off, apart from the Harpers. The Indecisive player was thinking of going for the leadership feat, to get a small group of men. But thats not a lot. any thoughts or ideas would be great :)
DrunkDwarf 08-16-04, 07:36 PM	hmm.. just looked over my post, and it occurs to me that i should've put this in the Faerunian People & Places section :/ i had originally had something else in mind to say Could a lovely WizO kindly put this thread in a sling and fire it over there?
ruleslawyer 08-16-04, 11:32 PM	Well, here are some thoughts while we're waiting for this to be moved... ;) First off, Thay's armies might be able to move into Mulhorand without difficulty, but how in the name of perdition are the Zhentarim and the Shades getting their forces to Mulhorand? That's one issue right there that your characters might be able to exploit. Second, and related to the point above, if it's a coalition of disparate foes, why not fight them on their own terms? Trouble in Darkhold should be plenty to distract the Zhentarim; such trouble is absurdly easy to stir up from without (Cormyr's forces, bolstered by powerful Harper mages from Berdusk and the Dales, mounting an offensive) or, better still, from within (stirring up the Western Zhentarim against their Eastern compatriots and pushing matters to the point of all-out mutiny). The Shades are a tougher foe (in fact, IMHO, they're just a bit much even by FR's standards, but that's another topic); here, the Harpers might have to apply their influence most directly, in an assault by the Chosen of Mystra and others directly on the City of Shade and its mythallar. No way would the Shades lift a finger to aid the RW if they were worried about a (this time successful) assault on the city. In fact, I'd actually argue that from a totally utilitarian perspective, the right thing to do might be to just let the RW pursue their assault on Mulhorand with some success, drag the Shades into the conflict, and then take the opportunity to break their smug self-assurance while they're involved in a conflict thousands of miles distant. The Shades are a far greater threat than Thay, from what I can tell. Third, it's unclear that Unther would welcome the influence of the Red Wizards, of all people. Unther's freedom fighters would probably welcome a rollback of Mulhorand's incursion, but the fact is that the people of Unther probably wouldn't fight side by side with Thay. Perhaps the smartest thing the Harpers could do would be to broker an extremely quick truce between Unther's resistance and the Pharoah, thereby allowing Mulhorand to withdraw its forces to the Thazalhar and protect itself. After all, it's not like Unther's "forces" would press the attack if Mulhorand retreated behind its borders, any more than the French Resistance started mounting forays into Germany following Operation Barbarossa. Finally, I'd say that a gathering of the Chosen of Mystra and a number of powerful NPCs, plus your characters, could make a good case for just launching an assault directly on the zulkirs' strongholds in an attempt to "persuade" Thay of the unwise nature of attacking a foreign power. However, if I were a real powermonger in Toril, I'd actually assume that the entire invasion were a front to draw out the Realms' great and mighty, since that seems the only reason why Thay would try an open invasion of Mulhorand in the first place.
DrunkDwarf 08-17-04, 04:58 AM	As far as i can gather from my DM, the shades and zhentarim have both moved their armies in advance i think the zhents are going by sea, hiring the pirates of the area to take any attention away from their passage, and generally being secretive about it. the shades probably used shadow travel of some kind, planar travel, something along those lines. I dont think our characters have enough proof of the shades involvement to launch an assault on them, this is based on harper information, and they are not totally sure whether the shades are involved yet, but theres a good chance. your other points are very interesting, thanks.