So, Ive been looking at RARY THE TRAITOR and FtA to get some info about the Bright Desert, but pre-Wars, it doesn't really say too much about the Bright Desert pre-Rary. Did it still have all the Scorpion folk and Slum ruins kicking around? Was it basically just the nomadic remnants of the Sulm trying to eake out a living?
I would have it just as per Rary the Traitor but without any of the changes Rary and Robilar have wrought.
All the inhabitants were there when Rary and Robilar arrived but some have been influenced / recruited to varying degrees by the two newcomers. The scorpion men are the remaining people of Sulm and would still be there though if Rary opened any ruins and let more out (it's a while since I last read Rary the Traitor) then they may be less prolific and widespread.
The nomads would remain though wandering the desert freely and perhaps raiding occasionally into outlying settlements of Urnst and Greyhawk.
Was it basically just the nomadic remnants of the Sulm trying to eake out a living?
According to the GH hardback the nomads killed Karll's older brothers in a "border war" so I suspect they were pretty feisty.
Ghazal in Dungeon #30 was a pre-war adventure.
Absolutely. There's a good reason Robilar is uniting the nomads under one banner - they're excellent warriors. If you look at the history of the Bright Desert, although sparse, it's controlled by hardened desert warriors. Very Dune
I noticed theres an unusual variety of faiths active among the desert nomads.
In WGR3, the nomads' pantheon includes Beory, Obad-hai and Nerull.
LGJ3 added the hero-god Vathris to the list.
Although the nomads are Flan, they certainly have an ancient connection to the west, both with the Paynims reference in WGR3, page 15, and their legends concerning the Baklunish goddess Geshtai and her spring.
Finally, GH Adventures throws the Oeridian god Heironeous into this mess with the Holy Star of the Bright Desert.
There are articles on the Bright Lands in LGJ#21/Dungeon#98 and LGJ#22/Dungeon#103. While they focus on Rary's Bright Desert, I'm sure you can glean some interesting bits about its ancient history and culture. There's also LGH's Blight on Bright Sand pdf which includes a brief history of the Bright Desert. The Bright Desert's wikipedia entry lists a few more interesting sources, including a canonfire article by Erik Mona and The Brightlands an article on WotC site.
Oh and for those interested: here's a short summray of the LGH modules in the Bright Desert.
Although the nomads are Flan, they certainly have an ancient connection to the west, both with the Paynims reference in WGR3, page 15, and their legends concerning the Baklunish goddess Geshtai and her spring.
I don't think they have any connection to the West. Any Paynims arrived with Rary, and if Geshtai was involved in ancient times she came of her own accord, without the Baklunish transmitting her faith, in the same way Mayaheine arrived on Oerth without missionaries having to introduce her first.
Although the nomads are Flan, they certainly have an ancient connection to the west, both with the Paynims reference in WGR3, page 15, and their legends concerning the Baklunish goddess Geshtai and her spring.
I don't think they have any connection to the West. Any Paynims arrived with Rary, and if Geshtai was involved in ancient times she came of her own accord, without the Baklunish transmitting her faith, in the same way Mayaheine arrived on Oerth without missionaries having to introduce her first.
At least, I'd feel better if that was the case.
The paragraph of page 15 mentions a connection to the Paynims that predates Rary's arrival. However, the entry on Geshtai's Spring in the WotC Brightlands article offers a suitable explanation and indicates that Geshtai is not venerated by the Flan nomads.
Wasn't there a cursed Scorpion Crown Artifact which slowly transformed the Bright desert about a degree every few years?
-The Scorpion Crown turned the Sulm Empire into the Bright Desert. I don't know about the proportion of degrees : years.
BTW, the Bright Desert gets hot during the day, but also gets cold at night, like most deserts, so I don't know if its average daily temperature has changed all that much. The Crown destroyed the vegetation (among other effects), which in turn results in temperature extremes.
vestcoat wrote:
...Ghazal in Dungeon #30 was a pre-war adventure.
-Maybe. Dungeon #30 was the JUL/AUG 1991 issue. That could make it 584-585 CY. But there's no mention of Rary in the module, which came out in 1992, although there was mention of Rary's new domain before that.
Anyone else irritated by the LE Ghazal having Llerg as their patron? This was continued in Dungeon #98/Polyhedron #157, p. 26. I figure it's easier to change their deity than change their alignment. Bralm would fit nicely, I think.
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