And I'm stuck on some lore questions that I'm hoping some of you can help me answer.
Giant lore is almost entirely based off of Annam, yet Gerti Orelsdottr worships Auril. Was this just a way of consolidating lore and to cut out the giant deities in 3.x? Would this not make other giants think she is very maug for this?
I'm wanting to run a game where players are going to find a way to ressurrect Othea by visiting her in the Astral Realm and then performing a ritual to bring her back with the help of Ulutiu. Then the two will strike at Auril and kill her.
I'm also trying to find out more information on the whereabouts of Lanaxis since he was "cursed" by Othea to be mortal should he ever leave her mountain's shadow. Furthermore, where exactly is Othea located as a mountain? In the Galena range?
Thanks if you can help.
as to where lanaxis is, dont know off hand
I'm a 3.5 player. Hope that is still acceptable among this community (not sure since I don't really browse).
It's absolutely acceptable. You'll see some edition war here, though... just don't let it push you away.
And I'm stuck on some lore questions that I'm hoping some of you can help me answer.
Giant lore is almost entirely based off of Annam, yet Gerti Orelsdottr worships Auril. Was this just a way of consolidating lore and to cut out the giant deities in 3.x? Would this not make other giants think she is very maug for this?
Annam definitely has a history in the Realms, as does Ulutiu (who was smacked into a permanent slumber, and Auril has been absorbing somehow). Auril herself has an unusual history, having started out as a fey celestial of sorts. She was corrupted and turned evil by a powerful artifact (a gem created by some drow deity), eventually renaming herself Auril and allying herself to Talos. As a result, she became a minor deity, and was growing stronger due to Ulutiu.
From Brian James, a designer and frequent poster here (as Iakhovas) we have this additional lore:
Aurilandür and Auril are one and the same. Long before humans started venerating the Frostmaiden, she was known as the Frost Sprite Queen, a (mostly) benevolent winter fey with a seat on the Court of Stars. She was latter corrupted by a malign artifact, warred with her sister the Summer Queen, and was banished from the Feywild. Thereafter her name was stricken and she was referred to only as the Queen of Air and Darkness. At this time she garnered a human following and joined Talos-who-was-Gruumsh as one of the Gods of Fury. With the aid of Silvanus, the dark artifact’s hold over Auril was shattered during the Stormstar Requiem, and the Aurilandür of old has once again begun to peak through Auril’s icy, malevolent veneer.
This was from a post he made HERE.
As to why Gerti worships Auril, who apparently shifts back to a (good? neutral?) Aurilandür by 4E Realms, I'm not sure. Perhaps because of Ulutiu, but I don't know for sure.
I'm wanting to run a game where players are going to find a way to ressurrect Othea by visiting her in the Astral Realm and then performing a ritual to bring her back with the help of Ulutiu. Then the two will strike at Auril and kill her.
I'm also trying to find out more information on the whereabouts of Lanaxis since he was "cursed" by Othea to be mortal should he ever leave her mountain's shadow. Furthermore, where exactly is Othea located as a mountain? In the Galena range?
Just speculation on my part here, but it's possible Othea's body is still laying in Voninheim, where she fell to poison. It was covered over by ice, but is located somewhere in the Ice Spires.
As for Othea's resting place, because of the Giantcraft book, I was thinking it was closer to Vaasa or Damara, possibly north beneath Ulutiu's great glacier. "Annam married a lesser demigoddess who manifested herself as a vast mountain located on the edge of the region now known as The Cold Lands."
But of course this begs the question, how could "her lips" have been poisoned by Lanaxis if she was manifested as a mountain? Plus all the other various things she did like bearing children. Mythology is pretty out there, especially this one.
Maybe I'll just have to improvise for my game rather than relying on lore if this one hasn't been fully filled out.
Now to figure out more about Lanaxis and who The Twilight Spirit really is.
Thank you for the replies.
As for Othea's resting place, because of the Giantcraft book, I was thinking it was closer to Vaasa or Damara, possibly north beneath Ulutiu's great glacier. "Annam married a lesser demigoddess who manifested herself as a vast mountain located on the edge of the region now known as The Cold Lands."
But of course this begs the question, how could "her lips" have been poisoned by Lanaxis if she was manifested as a mountain? Plus all the other various things she did like bearing children. Mythology is pretty out there, especially this one.
Maybe I'll just have to improvise for my game rather than relying on lore if this one hasn't been fully filled out.
Now to figure out more about Lanaxis and who The Twilight Spirit really is.
Hrrrm... a "mountain with lips" might mean a volcano? I'm stretching here, obviously. But sealing the lips could mean that he did something to "poison" the volcano such that it "died" and will never have active volcanism any more. Perhaps it was capped, or the fault lines underneath were stabilized, no more lava, etc.
For your game, bringing her "back to life" might mean restoring the active volcano such that it warms the surrounding region and it's not just ice and snow on top of a mountain. With warmth, things could start growing again, people might move in, etc.
Good ideas. Thanks Jorunhast.
No probs.
Voninheim was supposedly near the Ice Spires, yet the great glacier that supposedly overtook it doesn't reach that far west.
I've also heard some people mention that it was high magic that forced the great glacier back away from Vaasa and Damara, and in The Great Glacier its said that a shift in Toril's tilt toward its star caused a warming period that forced the ice back.
Bleh.