Post/Author/DateTime	Post
drizzt420 01-18-08, 05:05 PM	Is Karsus's folly common knowledge? Do most people, from Shadovars to farmers, who know or care about the Fall of Netheril know that is was the result of Karsus failed magic or do they still attribute it to the Phaerim's? (SP?) The reason I ask is in some tome (Lost Empires maybe) says that this is not common knowledge yet it is in a lot of books and my PC's think their characters know everything they've read... :rolleyes:
MarkusTay63 01-18-08, 05:13 PM	Not sure about sourcebooks, from the novels I've read Karsus himself is pretty common knowledge - the part about him casting a spell and bringing down netheril, anyway. I doubt many commoners know any facts beyond that, and probably only sages know the details concerning the Phaerimm, their life-drain, and the exact nature of Karsus's spell. Its not like the Church of Mystra would want something like that becoming common knowledge, know what I mean? :smirk: hope that helps.
Lord Karsus 01-19-08, 02:22 AM	Not sure about sourcebooks, from the novels I've read Karsus himself is pretty common knowledge - the part about him casting a spell and bring down netheril, anyway. -I believe it is either Faiths and Avatars or Powers and Pantheons that states that the story of Karsus' "folly" is commonly told by the church of Mystra, as a way to inform the common people that...all actions have consequences(, and that you don't f*** with Mystra). I doubt many commoners know any facts beyond that, and probably only sages know the details concerning the Phaerimm, their life-drain, and the exact nature of Karsus's spell. -There is a table in Lost Empires of Faerūn that gives the Knowledge: History DC's for knowing various things. The more specific, the less likely you are to know. Being as that commoners...aren't the smartest bunch, it's likely that they know the barest minimum of things, with perhaps people like the Bedine, or the Halruaans knowing a little bit more.
MarkusTay63 01-19-08, 02:28 AM	Like I said, they'd know karsus did something REAL stupid, but not much beyond that. Unless you happen to be Cormyrean Farmer w/pitchfork #2. ;) It's the "Shadow 'maters" - they whisper dark secrets in the night... :coolcthul
Lord Karsus 01-19-08, 02:46 AM	Unless you happen to be Cormyrean Farmer w/pitchfork #2. ;) -Well, Cormyrian Farmer with Pitchfork #2, it is said, is something of an alter-ego, of Karsus...:incog:
msatran 01-20-08, 03:15 AM	Hey. Actually, it depends on how close to the High Forest and Karse you actually live. I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge for the elves of the northern High Forest. I'm pretty sure it's NOT common knowledge for Theskian Farmer #1, unless he's the cousin of Cormyrean Farmer #2 and raising those shadow maters.
Lord Karsus 01-20-08, 03:19 AM	I'm pretty sure it's NOT common knowledge for Theskian Farmer #1, unless he's the cousin of Cormyrean Farmer #2 and raising those shadow maters. -Only when Theskian Farmer #1 is equipped with his Hoe of Intelligence, which gives him a +2 to all INT checks. Otherwise, he can't meet the DC. :)
Khaelieth 01-20-08, 11:29 AM	-There is a table in Lost Empires of Faerūn that gives the Knowledge: History DC's for knowing various things. The more specific, the less likely you are to know. Being as that commoners...aren't the smartest bunch, it's likely that they know the barest minimum of things, with perhaps people like the Bedine, or the Halruaans knowing a little bit more. Why would the Bedine know? Always thought they came through a portal from Zakhara after Karsus' Folly? I might be wrong.
Lord Karsus 01-20-08, 11:47 AM	Why would the Bedine know? Always thought they came through a portal from Zakhara after Karsus' Folly? I might be wrong. -Admittedly, I don't know. But, even if this were the case, the Anauroch is their home, and as it is chock full of Netherese ruins, it is prized by adventures, wizards and the Zhents. Somewhere along the line, I'm sure somebody did some research, to find out why.
Khaelieth 01-20-08, 12:00 PM	Well, exploring Netherese ruins is dangerous. There's also the nasty, powerful snakes there. It's not exactly for your run-of-the-mill archeolegist (sp?). And did all the Netherese know about it? You only had that enclave (Selūne one) that forsaw it, and Shade, and how were they to know why they suddenly fell outta the sky? I can just imagine the Celts - "THE SKY'S FALLING DOWN! RUN FOR COVER!" Hrmm.. Thinking they would know tbh. But...
Lord Karsus 01-20-08, 12:06 PM	Well, exploring Netherese ruins is dangerous. There's also the nasty, powerful snakes there. It's not exactly for your run-of-the-mill archeolegist (sp?). -I'm not saying that the average Bedine person would be exploring ruins, but, somewhere along the line, it makes sense that someone found out why the Zhents, why Wizards, why whoever has such an interest in the area. Depending on how long ago this happened, it makes sense that tribemembers would have a inkling of what's going on. ...and Shade, and how were they to know why they suddenly fell outta the sky? -Scrying, Divination, word of mouth, research...
The_Shaman 01-21-08, 04:40 AM	Why would the Bedine know? Always thought they came through a portal from Zakhara after Karsus' Folly? I might be wrong. Maybe, but iirc some Netherese survivors joined them at some point. Remember the Shattered Peak Cultists - that PrC from LEoF? I think it mentioned the Bedine tribes as the home of many people of Netherese descent.
Zsych 01-27-08, 10:29 AM	I think that most Netherese survivors would've blamed the Phaerimm until more details came about(unless you go by the Netheril novels, in which case they might not even have known about the Phaerimm). Shar told the Shades what they knew about The Fall, and Mystra told common people what they know about it. Of course, my opinion is that what actually happened was that Mystryl just went crazy and killed herself instead of relaxing for a bit while till the spell ended. Plus, as Ed says, it was complete luck that Mystra ended up with Mystryl's divinity, and that without that event, which Mystryl did not anticipate, magic would've been permanently dead. btw, I haven't read the knew stuff, so what hand did Shar have in Karsus' act, and what exactly was she trying to accomplish? Maybe she knew Mystryl enough to know that she'd commit suicide in such a situation, and didn't really expect her divinity to fall into the hands of a random mortal(as opposed to let's say... herself)
Lord Karsus 01-27-08, 10:40 AM	btw, I haven't read the knew stuff, so what hand did Shar have in Karsus' act, and what exactly was she trying to accomplish? -I recall reading somewhere that it seemed like they were trying to angle things such that Shar had a hand in causing Karsus to develop and cast Karsus' Avatar. I don't like it.
Zsych 01-27-08, 11:58 AM	There's a distance between helping him for some reason and being sure that Karsus would use it on Mystryl. If Karsus had chosen, powerful and expendable things might've gone very differently :P Besides even if she passed on a bit of info, or had the idea suggested to him knowing that its sheer awesomeness would force Karsus to do it, that doesn't mean that she had much of a hand in it(otherwise she might be able to do something similar herself and all gods would be at her mercy). Passing along let's say, some secret Imaskari magical knowledge would've saved Karsus research time though. ... just avoiding a god's senses would've meant first knowing that they were there, and what their nature was, so that you could avoid them. Maybe Shar passed Karsus some poor demi-gods to experiment on :P
Meldread 01-27-08, 10:29 PM	I wouldn't say it was impossible that Shar had some indirect hand in what happened. In addition to being a deity of darkness and loss, she is also well known to be a deity of both forgotten and secret knowledge. It may have been possible that she somehow inspired Karsus with the idea, maybe gently pushed him in the right direction, then used her power over secrets to hide his work from Mystryl. After all, one of the arguments against what happened involving Karsus was the fact that he actually had to spend time researching and developing the spell. Mystryl logically should have been able to discover this ahead of time and attempted to prevent it from taking place. As things are written she was taken by total surprise. As a result it wouldn't be a stretch that Shar found out what was going down and decided to provide Karsus with the cover he needed to develop the spell without detection. Edit - Although I am not really up to speed in regard to Shade Lore, it has been said that they began experimenting with the Shadow Weave before the fall of Netheril. They managed to get out of there before things went down badly. Would it have been a stretch that Shar gave them forewarning, considering they are pretty much her puppets?