Do we know when Xaene was banished and Karoolck replaced him as Ivid's court mage? Presumably it was sometime in the 570s, as Karoolck was already in power at the time of Fate of Istus. Anyone have a canon reference to nail this down?
Karrolck deposed the former Court Wizard, Xaene (Wz16, NE) in 580 CY.
I'm not sure where it comes from originally, since I got it from a collection of text that PaulN6 gave me. I think it is from Ahlissa LG material. Hopefully he can shed light on the origins.
At the beginning of 579 CY, Xaene was thought to be dead, but returned and is still Ivid's court wizard (Dragon 59 p24).
In WG8, Xaene is rumored dead again and has become a lich. Karoolck is described as the "new" court wizard and is suspected of "guiding the Great Kingdom's internal machinery for the last six months" (69). This is two years "after the events detailed in T1-4."
With these sources in mind, I'd say Xaene was banished mid-579 CY. This gives Xaene time to become a lich and Karoolck time to establish himself.
EDIT: Ivid the Undying seems to contradict Dragon 59, saying that Karoolck, not Xaene, was court wizard when Carcosa denounced Ivid.
Last edited by vestcoat on Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ivid the Undying says the rise of Karoolck corresponds closely with the rise of Ivid V's wasting disease. So whenever Ivid first fell ill, that was probably when Karoolck took over (though Karoolck didn't give him the disease on purpose, and is indeed working to cure it - the disease is a side effect of the forces that Karoolck unleashed).
Fate of Istus says that Ivid's illness causes him to lose one constitution point a year. As of that adventure, his constitution is 12; originally it was 17, so Karoolck probably took over five years before. As of Ivid the Undying his constitution score is only 4, so if he is still wasting away at the same rate this must be 8 years after Fate of Istus, or 13 years after Karoolck's ascension. Ivid the Undying is set in 585 CY, which suggests the following timeline:
572 CY: Karoolck, having replaced Xaene as court magus, unleashes terrible malign forces in his pact with Baalzephon and his development of the fiend armors of the Demonic Knights of Doom, a precursor to experiments in creating the animuses. These forces react with the Malachite Throne and other evil artifacts and powers to inadvertently strike Ivid V with a wasting illness.
577 CY: The Rauxes chapter of Fate of Istus. The Adventure Begins said only that the events of this module took place between 576 and 582.
585 CY: The present day in Ivid the Undying.
Vestcoat wrote:
In WG8, Xaene is rumored dead again and has become a lich. Karoolck is described as the "new" court wizard and is suspected of "guiding the Great Kingdom's internal machinery for the last six months"
Keep in mind that he's been guiding the Great Kingdom's machinery not since his ascension, but only since Ivid's illness has taken a turn for the worse. So Karoolck has only been running the kingdom for six months (counting back from 577 CY, according to the above timeline), but assuming he's been the court magus for five years still makes his replacement relatively "recent."
However, it's possible that the wasting illness began before Karoolck actually replaced Xaene. Perhaps it started when Karoolck first signed his pact with Baalzephon, and he only got promoted some time later.
I can't explain the "The aforementioned battles transpired after T1-4 and spanned two years" line, especially since T1-4 itself takes place in 579 CY (ten years after the Battle of Emridy Meadows), which would place Fate of Istus in 581 CY. I'd ignore that bit, personally. But say for the sake of argument that Ivid's decline isn't as consistent as I assume above. I still think Fate of Istus indicates Ivid has been sick for five years, so we can do it this way:
576 CY: Ivid first becomes ill.
581 CY: Fate of Istus.
585 CY: Ivid the Undying.
I'm inclined to give Kuntz a little poetic license on this matter. He clearly wrote Down with the Wizard to take place after his 579 CY Dragon update. Also, it's obvious Sargent got a number of facts wrong (see the edit at the end of my first post).
However...Kuntz did say that Xaene disappeared twice, once while he was court wizard and again when he was replaced by Karoolck, so there is a way to reconcile these Kuntz and Sargent's seemingly contrary statements (if one is willing to fudge on the constitution points):
572 CY Xaene disappears and is rumored dead, Karoolck becomes court wizard and poisons Ivid,
579 CY Xaene returns, pulls rank, and briefy gets his job back from Karoolck.
579-580 CY Xaene disappears again, WG8
rasgon wrote:
572 CY: Karoolck, having replaced Xaene as court magus, unleashes terrible malign forces in his pact with Baalzephon and his development of the fiend armors of the Demonic Knights of Doom, a precursor to experiments in creating the animuses. These forces react with the Malachite Throne and other evil artifacts and powers to inadvertently strike Ivid V with a wasting illness.
Going slightly off topic, I've always been curious about this reference in OJ1: "572 CY The Dawnbreaker Clan of Rauxes fails to overthrow Ivid." Is this an attempt to canonize the assassination plot in RJK's Zayene modules? If so, then Xaene/Zayene was court wizard in 572 CY.
At the beginning of 579 CY, Xaene was thought to be dead, but returned and is still Ivid's court wizard (Dragon 59 p24).
I'm very familiar with this particular article, referring to Carcosa's denunciation of Ivid and statting out the Demonic Knights of Doom. I don't think it necessarily states that Xaene is currently Ivid's court wizard, however — only that he's rumored to have returned to Rauxes. Here's the relevant passage:
Quote:
Carcosa went on to specify that much of the madness was created from within. In fact, it is now known that a very high-level mage who was thought dead has indeed shown up once again. He is Xaene the accursed, cavorter with demons, arch-enemy of the Mages' Guild at Rauxes (which he could not subvert nor stand to serve), dabbler into all the arcane arts of destruction and chaos, and last but not least court wizard to Irvid [sic].
Xaene could have been supplanted by Karoolck prior to 579 CY and believed dead, and the above description would still be accurate.
FWIW, I'm detailing Rauxes for my 571–572 CY campaign, and I'm trying to establish Xaene's and Karoolck's relative positions at that time. My plan at the moment is for Xaene to be the current court wizard. As for Karoolck, I'm thinking of placing him as one of the heads of a tripartite Mages' Guild, referenced above but defunct by the time of Ivid the Undying. The other two guildmasters would be the (Neutral?) dark elf wizard Marriock and "The Gray One" (L/Neutral?), both mentioned by RJK in "Down With the Wizard". Any canon problems with these placements?
Don't forget to include Xaene's apprentice Alyshizia, who would be thirteen in 571! :)
Interesting. I'd forgotten about Alyshizia/Zebbenen of Stringen. I'll probably change her age, as the grognard in me objects to young magic-users. As a 9th-level wizard in 585 CY, I'd prefer to put Alyshizia in her mid-30s, so maybe she was ~20 in 571 CY.
Still, Alyshizia does raise another question of timing. She's an ex-apprentice of Xaene who presumably doesn't want to be found (though she knows hiding from her former master is ultimately futile). She left Rauxes just before the outbreak of the Wars, so c. 581 CY or so. Was she still Xaene's apprentice in 579 CY? If so, she was serving a two-headed lich in the Rauxes sewers. If not, why did she stay in Rauxes after Xaene's banishment / presumed death / lichdom?
I think there is some flexibility for Alyshizia's departure. Here are three options:
1) Alyshizia left sometime before Patchwall 582 CY, the official start of the GH Wars.
2) Alyshizia didn't leave until the GK became involved in the Wars. (As far as I can tell, Ivid started mustering his armies in mid-583.)
3) The "outbreak of war" Sargent refers doesn't have to be the Greyhawk Wars at all; it could be the declaration of war between Nyrond/Almor and the Great Kingdom in Needfest 578 CY (according to Dr65 p11 the war was initiated by Nyrond, WG8 states that it was Ivid who declared war).
Going back to the main topic, I keep finding references I overlooked that muddy the water quite a bit.
*First, the Dragon Magazine war declared at the beginning of 578 needs to span two years (WG8 p69). So Down with the Wizard can't happen earlier than 580 CY.
*Second, as Rasgon pointed out, ToEE + 2yrs = 581CY.
*Third, the LGG states that Hadric was expelled from Leukish "just before the Greyhawk Wars" (126). 581 CY would be a logical candidate and supports RJK's "two years" after T1-4 reference. Russ Taylor also came to the 581 conclusion in his Urnst timeline: http://www.cmc.net/~rtaylor/greyhawk/duchy_urnst/timeline.html. Hadric's exile has to occur before Down with the Wizard, so Down with the Wizard is also 581 CY.
*According to WG8, Xaene was "recently replaced" and "vowed vengeance...but nothing has been heard from him for over a year now" (my italics, 69). Thus is would seem that he was removed from the court in 579-580.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice that Dragon #59 refers to Xaene as "the accursed" right off the bat! Furthermore, WG8 states that Xaene did not become a lich and receive his curse from Nerull until after he was "ousted from the court wizard position" (p81). So I was wrong. DMPrata, you were correct in your interpretation: Xaene was already a cursed, two-headed lich and former court wizard at the beginning of 579. This also proves Sargent correct in that Karoolck was court wizard during Carcuso's proclamation.
So, whenever you decide to place Down with the Wizard, the only hard rule seems to be that Karoolck has been court wizard for fewer than two years at the start of the adventure.
... intrigue with Ivid's Court Wizard, Xaene, forced Bigby from his tower in Oldridge in 573 CY....
In chronological order, then:
573 CY: Xaene forces Bigby from Oldridge (LGJ #0).
576 CY: Ivid contracts wasting disease (figured from WG8).
577–578 CY: Xaene returns to Rauxes; Emastuss Carcosa pronounces heresy on Ivid, ordered arrested for treason (DRAGON® #59).
579–580 CY: Xaene replaced by Karoolck, goes into hiding, becomes two-headed lich (WG8); Alyshizia departs Rauxes (assumed from Ivid).
581 CY: Events of "Garden of Evil" & "Down With the Wizard" (T1–4, WG8, LGG).
581–582 CY: Emasstus Carcosa arrested (assumed from WG8 & Ivid).
My only other question, then, is when and why Xaene left Rauxes the first time (before his "return" in 577/578). Perhaps he was traveling to research Ivid's wasting disease / the Red Death (which I've long felt must be connected). Feedback?
That's probably the best possible timeline considering the conflicts in cannon sources.
According to this article - http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=403 - Xaene left Rauxes for "several months" to study the Red Death. Since the Red Death started in 576 CY (TAB), this conveniently explains Xaene's first disappearance from Rauxes and further links the start of Ivid's sickness with the Red Death.
After more consideration, RJK's "Dawnsbreak Clan" in WG8 is most certainly the same "league" refereed to in his Zayene modules (EDIT: see "Dawn's Break Clan", Tower Chaos, p26)
Thus, here are some more dates for your timeline:
572 CY: Xaene foils assassination attempt on Ivid by the Dawnsbreak Clan (OJ1, WG8, Prisoners of the Maze).
576 CY: Xaene leaves Rauxes for several months to study the Red Death.
583 CY: Xaene visits Szeffrin (Ivid, the "start of the Almorian campaign" extrapolated from Wars)
586 CY: Xaene involved in the destruction of Rauxes (TAB p24)
However, RJK probably intended the Dawn's Break Clan to be the antithesis of the Midnight's Darkness Clan mentioned in Dragon #59. If this is the case, The Dawnsbreak AKA Dawn's Break Clan is the same as the "Secret League of Pholtus" mentioned in the same article: Pholtus being a sun god, sun = dawn, and the Dawnsbreak Clan also being referred to as a "league" in both WG8 and the Zayene modules. SO... the assassination attempt and Zayene modules were meant to coincide with Carcosa's proclamation at the beginning of 579 CY. The OJ1 authors missed this and placed it too early.
While I don't own the Zayene series (need to remedy that one of these days), I do think it makes more sense for RJK to have set them post-576 CY, that being the baseline date of the 1980 folio and 1983 boxed set.
Dungeon #124's "Chambers of Antiquities" (by Rob Kuntz) includes a brief note from Vexxus Maure to "Uncle": "Perhaps this Xaene, who you foresee coming from another dimension soon, should be eliminated in advance lest he find the pattern and counterfeit our claims. I would gladly travel to the Current to complete the deed."
The funny thing is, the text says Vex's library was last updated 300 years ago.
Dungeon #124's "Chambers of Antiquities" (by Rob Kuntz) includes a brief note from Vexxus Maure to "Uncle": "Perhaps this Xaene, who you foresee coming from another dimension soon, should be eliminated in advance lest he find the pattern and counterfeit our claims. I would gladly travel to the Current to complete the deed."
The funny thing is, the text says Vex's library was last updated 300 years ago.
Xaene originated in Rob's Kalibruhn campaign and not Greyhawk, so the reference to "forsee coming from another dimension soon" is probably related to the eventual migration of Xaene into Greyhawk when RJK began to co-DM with Gary. I assume the Maures are seeing an omen/vision of Xaene as a possible future rival (a la the visions from the Spice in Dune), and think that they need to nuke him before he makes the transition. That's my reading of "eliminated in advance" and "travel the Current" anyway! _________________ Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
Don't forget to include Xaene's apprentice Alyshizia, who would be thirteen in 571! :)
Interesting. I'd forgotten about Alyshizia/Zebbenen of Stringen. I'll probably change her age, as the grognard in me objects to young magic-users. As a 9th-level wizard in 585 CY, I'd prefer to put Alyshizia in her mid-30s, so maybe she was ~20 in 571 CY...
-I forget what edition you play. But if you play AD&D1 or AD&D2, you could make her a 0 level Apprentice; if the newer stuff, a 1st level Commoner or 1st level Expert. Or maybe a 1st level Sorceress?
-I forget what edition you play. But if you play AD&D1 or AD&D2, you could make her a 0 level Apprentice; if the newer stuff, a 1st level Commoner or 1st level Expert. Or maybe a 1st level Sorceress?
I'm omitting Alyshizia from my 571 CY Rauxes. (She may be in the city, but she's a 20-year-old nobody.) I figure if Xaene disappeared without a trace c. 576 CY, his apprentice(s) probably would have left his service. Since Alyshizia stuck around until c. 580 CY, I'm assuming that she entered Xaene's service when he returned the first time in 577–578 CY. At that point, she'd be 26 or so — just the right age for a 1st-level magic-user in AD&D®.
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