[DS] Nikaal, Gith, & Yuan-ti - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

[DS] Nikaal, Gith, & Yuan-ti

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
carn_marazar
Jul 01, 2008 23:35:18 Ok, I'm new to this message board and a few years late for the Big Discussions, by the looks of it. Dark Sun is one of those things that captured my attention and never let go. Very surprising to learn that nowadays nikaal are popularly thought of as a primordial race from Athas' Blue Age.

I always saw things a little differently.

HYPOTHESIS:
Nikaal are NOT an ancient race. They are a result of breeding between gith and yuan-ti.

EVIDENCE:
- Prism Pentad mentions that nikaal are a new race (if I'm not mistaken), suggesting that they haven't been around for long, at least in the Tyr region.
- The 2nd ed. stats for nikaal and gith are similar in a few ways, one of them very strange: they both have a movement rate of 10. Not the standard 12, not 9. Movement speeds, as a rule, were multiples of 3. But theirs was 10.
- The description of nikaal in Terrors Beyond Tyr states that they have serpent-like eyes. Not lizard-like, not reptilian. The word choice clearly indicated that there was something snake-like about them.
- There are no snake-based races specifically mentioned as useable within the Dark Sun setting except for yuan-ti. They also appear in Wake of the Ravager, for what it's worth.
- The Terrors Beyond Tyr entry for nikaals also states that their homeland is supposedly somewhere beyond the Ringing Mountains... meaning that they did NOT come from the direction of the Pristine Tower.

SPECULATION:
- Gith are egg-layers, as are yuan-ti, so they should be capable of breeding.
- Athasian yuan-ti could have been present during the Blue Age as a primitive aquatic species, much like sea snakes. They would have been spared annihilation during the Cleansing Wars in that case, as they would have had no relation to the Rebirth races.
- If yuan-ti were an ancient race, they could have been geographically removed from the githyanki entry point to Athas, and as such would not have encountered the gith for a long time. If nikaal only started showing up recently, that would explain why.

The bottom line, though, is that nikaal are NOT an ancient race and are somehow related to gith. I just knows it!

What do you think? Poke holes in my theory! :P
#2
renteria
Jul 02, 2008 14:33:41 I always figured they were products of the mutative properties of the tower?...
#3
Kamelion
Jul 02, 2008 18:40:08 That's a cool analysis and an interesting take on the nikaal. Nice one. Separating them from the Blue Age races as well as from the Pristine Tower is a good move and makes them quite distinctive.

Ideas that present the nikaal as a primordial Blue Age race have no basis in original DS canon (as you point out) but originate in some early fan-based work (by Steven Bell, iirc, although Steven also credits Eric Williamson and there is some other stuff by Will Kendrick in the DS mailing list archives that mentions the nikaal as a Blue Age race - I'm not sure who came up with it first.) Anyway, I quite liked these ideas, so when writing the nikaal entry for Terrors of Athas, I included a veiled reference to that work, but kept away from any overt reference to the Blue Age. But your theory stands up well on its own merits and avoids blurring the lines of canon. Good stuff.
#4
squidfur-
Jul 03, 2008 0:19:21
- Gith are egg-layers, as are yuan-ti, so they should be capable of breeding.

Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P

runs away screaming and laughing....and burping
#5
carn_marazar
Jul 09, 2008 21:59:57 Thanks for the feedback, Kamelion. I'll have to check out Terrors of Athas.

Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P

runs away screaming and laughing....and burping

Um... right then... So how do you explain THIS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draco_%28genus%29 ?????? Mwuhahaha.
#6
phoenix_m
Jul 10, 2008 16:51:56
Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P

runs away screaming and laughing....and burping

What? Does the name Quetzalcoatl mean nothing to you?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 carn_marazar Jul 01, 2008 23:35:18	Ok, I'm new to this message board and a few years late for the Big Discussions, by the looks of it. Dark Sun is one of those things that captured my attention and never let go. Very surprising to learn that nowadays nikaal are popularly thought of as a primordial race from Athas' Blue Age. I always saw things a little differently. HYPOTHESIS: Nikaal are NOT an ancient race. They are a result of breeding between gith and yuan-ti. EVIDENCE: - Prism Pentad mentions that nikaal are a new race (if I'm not mistaken), suggesting that they haven't been around for long, at least in the Tyr region. - The 2nd ed. stats for nikaal and gith are similar in a few ways, one of them very strange: they both have a movement rate of 10. Not the standard 12, not 9. Movement speeds, as a rule, were multiples of 3. But theirs was 10. - The description of nikaal in Terrors Beyond Tyr states that they have serpent-like eyes. Not lizard-like, not reptilian. The word choice clearly indicated that there was something snake-like about them. - There are no snake-based races specifically mentioned as useable within the Dark Sun setting except for yuan-ti. They also appear in Wake of the Ravager, for what it's worth. - The Terrors Beyond Tyr entry for nikaals also states that their homeland is supposedly somewhere beyond the Ringing Mountains... meaning that they did NOT come from the direction of the Pristine Tower. SPECULATION: - Gith are egg-layers, as are yuan-ti, so they should be capable of breeding. - Athasian yuan-ti could have been present during the Blue Age as a primitive aquatic species, much like sea snakes. They would have been spared annihilation during the Cleansing Wars in that case, as they would have had no relation to the Rebirth races. - If yuan-ti were an ancient race, they could have been geographically removed from the githyanki entry point to Athas, and as such would not have encountered the gith for a long time. If nikaal only started showing up recently, that would explain why. The bottom line, though, is that nikaal are NOT an ancient race and are somehow related to gith. I just knows it! What do you think? Poke holes in my theory! :P
#2 renteria Jul 02, 2008 14:33:41	I always figured they were products of the mutative properties of the tower?...
#3 Kamelion Jul 02, 2008 18:40:08	That's a cool analysis and an interesting take on the nikaal. Nice one. Separating them from the Blue Age races as well as from the Pristine Tower is a good move and makes them quite distinctive. Ideas that present the nikaal as a primordial Blue Age race have no basis in original DS canon (as you point out) but originate in some early fan-based work (by Steven Bell, iirc, although Steven also credits Eric Williamson and there is some other stuff by Will Kendrick in the DS mailing list archives that mentions the nikaal as a Blue Age race - I'm not sure who came up with it first.) Anyway, I quite liked these ideas, so when writing the nikaal entry for Terrors of Athas, I included a veiled reference to that work, but kept away from any overt reference to the Blue Age. But your theory stands up well on its own merits and avoids blurring the lines of canon. Good stuff.
#4 squidfur- Jul 03, 2008 0:19:21	- Gith are egg-layers, as are yuan-ti, so they should be capable of breeding. Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P runs away screaming and laughing....and burping
#5 carn_marazar Jul 09, 2008 21:59:57	Thanks for the feedback, Kamelion. I'll have to check out Terrors of Athas. Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P runs away screaming and laughing....and burping Um... right then... So how do you explain THIS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draco_%28genus%29 ?????? Mwuhahaha.
#6 phoenix_m Jul 10, 2008 16:51:56	Exactly!!! Just like birds and snakes are always doing - being that they both lay eggs.:P runs away screaming and laughing....and burping What? Does the name Quetzalcoatl mean nothing to you?