UnCon: War of the Worlds [Archive] - Wizards Community

UnCon: War of the Worlds [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ORC_Paradox
09-18-05, 10:43 PM This competition is multi layered and is taking place across the cosmos.

It is run in four phases. The first phase runs until Thursday. This is where people post their entries. On Thursday, nomination phase will take place where people may nominate threads to move to the next round. The top entries (Three to five, depending on the number of entries) will be up on a poll to be voted on as Friday's phase. The votes will end Friday night.

The final entries will be put up against each other in one final poll against the top entries from the other world entries on Saturday. Woo hoo! You're not just setting up the best entry for your area, but against the other areas as well!

Here's what you'll be making:

A mace.

Not just any mace, but one that represents this world. We need to see the back story of the mace, the powers of the mace, the material it's made of, and it's current location/owner. Be as creative and descriptive as possible. The challenge is to present the mace as part of your chosen game world, but be clearly explained to folks who may or may not know anything about the world. Folks will be voting on your entry based on coolness factor and adaptability to any game world, even with the rich history. What this means is we don't need a detailed description of every war in the game world, or all the details of the game world. But enough of the flavor of the game world should be apparent in the mace's description.
Serpentine
09-21-05, 05:17 PM Miria's Black Heart, The Heart of Vyshaantar
+2 Unholy Mace
(Intelligent Special Purpose Weapon;
Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 17; Alignment NE; Ego 21)

The wielder of Miria's Black Heart must be an elf of evil alignment. The mace allows the wielder to cast Animate Dead 1/day and Darkness 3/day, with no expenditure of material components, bestows a continuous Deathwatch effect upon the wielder, and has 10 ranks of Spellcraft. The mace is dedicated to protecting the race of sun elves, and has the Dedicated Power to Slay Living with a successful touch attack. The soul mace of Miria Ardurien Vyshaan is telepathic, and can read and speak Common, Elven, Draconic, and Abyssal.

Miria Ardurien Vyshaan was a sun elf princess, a member of the corrupt and aggressive elven Vyshaan dynasty in Aryvandaar over ten thousand years ago. They instigated the Crown Wars between elven nations, during which the Ilythiiri were turned into the drow, the Aryvandaar High Mages completely destroyed a rival nation, and finally were destroyed themselves by the Elven Court and priests of Corellon during the fifth Crown War ten thousand years ago.

The truth is that the Vyshaan were aided in their rise to power by the fallen solar Malkizid, who seduced them with appeals to their pride. Vyshaan High Mages made deals with demons and wielded forbidden powers, including delving deeply into necromantic lore. These same High Mages destroyed Miyeritar utterly, leaving only the blasted remnants of the High Moor where once stood a beautiful forested empire.

After the end of the Fourth Crown War and the banishing of the Drow, the Elven Gods, the Seldarine, brokered peace among the remaining Elven Nations through their priests. The Aryvandaar controlled most of the elven empires at this time. The Aryvandaar (now Vyshantaar) began to engage in silent conflict with the Elven Court, persecuting non-Vyshaan High Mages and priests of Corellon. During this time period, Miria Vyshaan the Beautiful created the mace that bears her name.

When the Elven Court ruled that the Vyshaan were the aggressors and demanded that they remove themselves from power, the Vyshaan revolted and began the Fifth and Final Crown War. During the Fifth Crown War, every single descendant of the Vyshaan was killed; Miria's Black Heart absorbed a portion of her soul, and was lost in the ruins of Aryvandaar, later to become the High Forest. The treants guarded the evil mace (and other relics of the Vyshaan) for millennia.

Miria's Black Heart is a black onyx mace with ornate carvings, displaying the sigil of Miria and the symbol of Clan Vyshaan on its head, along with the carved head of Miria at the end of the hilt. She appears to be a beautiful and proud-looking elven woman with long hair. The mace's hilt is wrapped with strips of black dragon leather.

The daemonfey regard the Vyshaan with a certain admiration, considering them the last scions of true sun elven culture, and researching the remnants of that fallen empire. The half-demon sorceress Sarya Dlardrageth has been paying particular attention to discovering the whereabouts of the black mace, and if it is found, will offer riches, magic and power to any holder of this Vyshaan artifact in trade. If the holder refuses to trade, or plans to hand it over to someone who might destroy it, the tiefling elves will attempt to steal it or murder the current holder.

When the treant army moved north to blockade the daemonfey stronghold of Hellgate Keep, Miria's Black Heart was found by a traveling merchant from Loudwater, who brought it to Waterdeep and sold it without knowing what it was. Its sworn guardians have since discovered it missing and require outside help to track it down.

It is currently being passed from hand to hand among members of the underworld in Waterdeep, leaving a trail of dead thugs and cultists in its wake. The current owner is the Fire Knife-affiliated moon elf rogue Maldivas, who plans to send it to his superiors in Westgate. Or maybe he'll just keep it and carve out an empire here.

Miria's Black Heart Across the Cosmos
There are powerful necromancers of every age and in every world: those who would deal with negative energy and resist the natural turn of their own lives, clamoring for immortality and power.

In Eberron, Miria Ardurien d'Vol was a necromancer of House Vol who possessed the elven Mark of Death, and was killed by the Undying Court during the purge of the Bloodline of Vol. Her mace's head is inscribed with the Least Mark of Death, and contains a Siberys dragonshard focus +1 attuned to the Mark of Death in the hilt. (This dragonshard does nothing unless the wielder can activate the Dragonmark of Death.)

Miria's Black Heart resurfaced, thousands of years later, in the port city of Stormreach in Xen'drik, brought there by a half-drow scavenger who did not understand what he had discovered. It was for sale in the bazaar when it was purchased by Professor Synos Davandi (LE Male Gnome Expert 5) of Morgrave University. Davandi returned to Sharn, where he was murdered and the mace stolen before he could sell it. The murderer's trail leads to the burnt-out ruins of the Closed Circle mage order.

In Eberron, this mace is a sacred artifact of the Blood of Vol; those cultists and the half-dragon lich Vol pursue the mace in this world.
-After using the weapon's powers, the wielder of Miria's Black Heart discovers a shadowy tattoo like a black brand spreading across the skin of her chest. Echoing the mark on the mace's head, the Mark of Death is growing steadily. Resisting the tattoo, which has the potential to develop into a true dragonmark, requires the wielder to make a Will save against the mace's Ego score (21) weekly.
-If the wielder already has the Dragonmark of Shadow, that dragonmark begins to change shape into the Mark of Death.

In Greyhawk, Miria was a grey elf priestess and servitor of Vecna who betrayed him to side with his lieutenant, Kas. When that lich lord/god was pulled into Ravenloft, Miria and Kas were pulled into his realm as well, to act and reenact their betrayals forever. Miria's mace, like the Sword of Kas and the Hand and Eye of Vecna, travels the world of Greyhawk as an artifact.

If Miria's ego takes control of or the Mark of Shadow fully manifests on a PC or BBEG NPC, the current realm containing that character and those near them might be pulled into the mists of Ravenloft. This is particularly interesting if the previous world was Greyhawk, and the Realm entered is Tor Gorak.

In Planescape, Miria's Black Heart acts as a portal and spell key to the Negative Material Plane. So who did the Heart of Vyshaantar, the woman who turned down hundreds of sun elf suitors, belong to? The answer is simple and diabolical -- Malkizid, the fallen solar. During the fall of Vyshaan, Miria's Black Heart was snatched up by the rogue angel, who either escaped or was banished from the Prime, depending on whose account you believe. The mace was intended to travel the planes, tempting the good with power and causing petty despots to become kings. But Malkizid's plans were countered by Sigilian manipulations, and he lost track of the mace.

This is the key to destroying the artifact: the wielder must enter the Abyss and show Miria that Malkizid loves another more. When this is done, Miria's Black Heart will break into a thousand pieces.
ORC_Paradox
09-23-05, 09:19 PM Congrats, Serpentine! You win this round and move on to the next.
Serpentine
09-25-05, 09:55 AM Need some FR love for Miria's Black Heart, folks.
The voting thread for UnCon: War of the Worlds finals is here. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=508286

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ORC_Paradox 09-18-05, 10:43 PM	This competition is multi layered and is taking place across the cosmos. It is run in four phases. The first phase runs until Thursday. This is where people post their entries. On Thursday, nomination phase will take place where people may nominate threads to move to the next round. The top entries (Three to five, depending on the number of entries) will be up on a poll to be voted on as Friday's phase. The votes will end Friday night. The final entries will be put up against each other in one final poll against the top entries from the other world entries on Saturday. Woo hoo! You're not just setting up the best entry for your area, but against the other areas as well! Here's what you'll be making: A mace. Not just any mace, but one that represents this world. We need to see the back story of the mace, the powers of the mace, the material it's made of, and it's current location/owner. Be as creative and descriptive as possible. The challenge is to present the mace as part of your chosen game world, but be clearly explained to folks who may or may not know anything about the world. Folks will be voting on your entry based on coolness factor and adaptability to any game world, even with the rich history. What this means is we don't need a detailed description of every war in the game world, or all the details of the game world. But enough of the flavor of the game world should be apparent in the mace's description.
Serpentine 09-21-05, 05:17 PM	Miria's Black Heart, The Heart of Vyshaantar +2 Unholy Mace (Intelligent Special Purpose Weapon; Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 17; Alignment NE; Ego 21) The wielder of Miria's Black Heart must be an elf of evil alignment. The mace allows the wielder to cast Animate Dead 1/day and Darkness 3/day, with no expenditure of material components, bestows a continuous Deathwatch effect upon the wielder, and has 10 ranks of Spellcraft. The mace is dedicated to protecting the race of sun elves, and has the Dedicated Power to Slay Living with a successful touch attack. The soul mace of Miria Ardurien Vyshaan is telepathic, and can read and speak Common, Elven, Draconic, and Abyssal. Miria Ardurien Vyshaan was a sun elf princess, a member of the corrupt and aggressive elven Vyshaan dynasty in Aryvandaar over ten thousand years ago. They instigated the Crown Wars between elven nations, during which the Ilythiiri were turned into the drow, the Aryvandaar High Mages completely destroyed a rival nation, and finally were destroyed themselves by the Elven Court and priests of Corellon during the fifth Crown War ten thousand years ago. The truth is that the Vyshaan were aided in their rise to power by the fallen solar Malkizid, who seduced them with appeals to their pride. Vyshaan High Mages made deals with demons and wielded forbidden powers, including delving deeply into necromantic lore. These same High Mages destroyed Miyeritar utterly, leaving only the blasted remnants of the High Moor where once stood a beautiful forested empire. After the end of the Fourth Crown War and the banishing of the Drow, the Elven Gods, the Seldarine, brokered peace among the remaining Elven Nations through their priests. The Aryvandaar controlled most of the elven empires at this time. The Aryvandaar (now Vyshantaar) began to engage in silent conflict with the Elven Court, persecuting non-Vyshaan High Mages and priests of Corellon. During this time period, Miria Vyshaan the Beautiful created the mace that bears her name. When the Elven Court ruled that the Vyshaan were the aggressors and demanded that they remove themselves from power, the Vyshaan revolted and began the Fifth and Final Crown War. During the Fifth Crown War, every single descendant of the Vyshaan was killed; Miria's Black Heart absorbed a portion of her soul, and was lost in the ruins of Aryvandaar, later to become the High Forest. The treants guarded the evil mace (and other relics of the Vyshaan) for millennia. Miria's Black Heart is a black onyx mace with ornate carvings, displaying the sigil of Miria and the symbol of Clan Vyshaan on its head, along with the carved head of Miria at the end of the hilt. She appears to be a beautiful and proud-looking elven woman with long hair. The mace's hilt is wrapped with strips of black dragon leather. The daemonfey regard the Vyshaan with a certain admiration, considering them the last scions of true sun elven culture, and researching the remnants of that fallen empire. The half-demon sorceress Sarya Dlardrageth has been paying particular attention to discovering the whereabouts of the black mace, and if it is found, will offer riches, magic and power to any holder of this Vyshaan artifact in trade. If the holder refuses to trade, or plans to hand it over to someone who might destroy it, the tiefling elves will attempt to steal it or murder the current holder. When the treant army moved north to blockade the daemonfey stronghold of Hellgate Keep, Miria's Black Heart was found by a traveling merchant from Loudwater, who brought it to Waterdeep and sold it without knowing what it was. Its sworn guardians have since discovered it missing and require outside help to track it down. It is currently being passed from hand to hand among members of the underworld in Waterdeep, leaving a trail of dead thugs and cultists in its wake. The current owner is the Fire Knife-affiliated moon elf rogue Maldivas, who plans to send it to his superiors in Westgate. Or maybe he'll just keep it and carve out an empire here. Miria's Black Heart Across the Cosmos There are powerful necromancers of every age and in every world: those who would deal with negative energy and resist the natural turn of their own lives, clamoring for immortality and power. In Eberron, Miria Ardurien d'Vol was a necromancer of House Vol who possessed the elven Mark of Death, and was killed by the Undying Court during the purge of the Bloodline of Vol. Her mace's head is inscribed with the Least Mark of Death, and contains a Siberys dragonshard focus +1 attuned to the Mark of Death in the hilt. (This dragonshard does nothing unless the wielder can activate the Dragonmark of Death.) Miria's Black Heart resurfaced, thousands of years later, in the port city of Stormreach in Xen'drik, brought there by a half-drow scavenger who did not understand what he had discovered. It was for sale in the bazaar when it was purchased by Professor Synos Davandi (LE Male Gnome Expert 5) of Morgrave University. Davandi returned to Sharn, where he was murdered and the mace stolen before he could sell it. The murderer's trail leads to the burnt-out ruins of the Closed Circle mage order. In Eberron, this mace is a sacred artifact of the Blood of Vol; those cultists and the half-dragon lich Vol pursue the mace in this world. -After using the weapon's powers, the wielder of Miria's Black Heart discovers a shadowy tattoo like a black brand spreading across the skin of her chest. Echoing the mark on the mace's head, the Mark of Death is growing steadily. Resisting the tattoo, which has the potential to develop into a true dragonmark, requires the wielder to make a Will save against the mace's Ego score (21) weekly. -If the wielder already has the Dragonmark of Shadow, that dragonmark begins to change shape into the Mark of Death. In Greyhawk, Miria was a grey elf priestess and servitor of Vecna who betrayed him to side with his lieutenant, Kas. When that lich lord/god was pulled into Ravenloft, Miria and Kas were pulled into his realm as well, to act and reenact their betrayals forever. Miria's mace, like the Sword of Kas and the Hand and Eye of Vecna, travels the world of Greyhawk as an artifact. If Miria's ego takes control of or the Mark of Shadow fully manifests on a PC or BBEG NPC, the current realm containing that character and those near them might be pulled into the mists of Ravenloft. This is particularly interesting if the previous world was Greyhawk, and the Realm entered is Tor Gorak. In Planescape, Miria's Black Heart acts as a portal and spell key to the Negative Material Plane. So who did the Heart of Vyshaantar, the woman who turned down hundreds of sun elf suitors, belong to? The answer is simple and diabolical -- Malkizid, the fallen solar. During the fall of Vyshaan, Miria's Black Heart was snatched up by the rogue angel, who either escaped or was banished from the Prime, depending on whose account you believe. The mace was intended to travel the planes, tempting the good with power and causing petty despots to become kings. But Malkizid's plans were countered by Sigilian manipulations, and he lost track of the mace. This is the key to destroying the artifact: the wielder must enter the Abyss and show Miria that Malkizid loves another more. When this is done, Miria's Black Heart will break into a thousand pieces.
ORC_Paradox 09-23-05, 09:19 PM	Congrats, Serpentine! You win this round and move on to the next.
Serpentine 09-25-05, 09:55 AM	Need some FR love for Miria's Black Heart, folks. The voting thread for UnCon: War of the Worlds finals is here. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=508286