Herman Klang wrote:
Does anyone know what sages were like in Holmes/Portown? The rumors talk about a sage Ethbran.
There is a character called Ethbrand in something called the Dreamer's Cycle who might be the inpsiration (it's contemporary epic fantasy).
Was there a sage that Bonger and Zereth consulted?
I want to have one ready to go in case my players decide to do something other than rush in blindly.
Good question.. no idea myself, but any names that pop up in this thread are bound to pop up in my version of Portown : )
ReplyDeleteI added the sage as a logical extension of the rumors about the pre-history of the city. Sages are mentioned in OD&D Vol 3 and then expanded on in the Blackmoor supplement, where History can be one of their specialties. This material was then revised for the AD&D DMG.
ReplyDeleteThe name Ethbran is simply from the Holmesian Random Name generator. Each of the syllables is found somewhere in Holmes stories ("Eth" is from Zereth, naturally!) or the module B1 pre-gens. http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2013/07/random-names-one-sheet.html
ReplyDeleteHolmes' description of the underworld from the Maze of Peril mentions "the opinions of the sages and magicians of the time": zenopusarchives.blogspot.com - The Underworld of Holmes
ReplyDeleteGygax used Sages in Greyhawk as well; the City of Greyhawk had a group called either the Sages Guild or the Society of the Sages. See here for one their rumors that made it into print: zenopusarchives.blogspot.com - The City in the Lake of Unknown Depths
ReplyDeleteSee also here, where Gygax mentions a Sages Guild & how he ran the City of Greyhawk without developing it in too much detail: "...So the City of Greyhawk sprung up as a single piece of graph paper around the same time that level four of the castle dungeon complex was being developed.
ReplyDeleteOnly very gross details of the place were developed, save for the specific ones that the PCs (Player Characters) frequented. Thus there were about a dozen inns and taverns that had developed floor plans, inhabitants, and so forth. There were a score or so other locations that were likewise detailed – several temples, a wizard’s tower, the “Sages’ Guild”, the “Mercenaries Brotherhood”, a few arms & armor dealers, merchant shops, and of course moneychangers and jewelers. The wizard was never very helpful, and that was a role that was most enjoyable for the DM to assume. Eventually an irate monk (played by Terry Kuntz) dared to paint that curmudgeony spell-worker’s tower with red and white barber-pole strips. Of course the wizard took this in stride and styled himself the “Striped Mage of Greyhawk” thereafter. Another of the more amusing locations, this one of the merchant sort, was the “Mystical Trader” run by thieves who offered spurious magic items for sale, meantime doing the best to purloin the real ones possessed by the unsuspecting players. Naturally, this established changed locations frequently, and the proprietors altered their appearance with each removal.
Two major adventuring areas were thus solidly in play early on 1973. There were the castle ruins and its dungeons and there was the city, with key places that players’ characters would likely visit indicated by color: red for a tavern or inn, gold for a money changer or gemner, gray for a weapon and arms dealer, green for a merchant, blue for a temple, purple for the place of a potent wizard, etc. Other areas around the city were developed on the spot as the need arose. As a matter of fact, all of the adventures in the City of Greyhawk were “winged”, created from whole cloth on the spot, for being so immersed in the game it was quite easy to create exciting encounters, and play character roles suitable for such a fantasy city."
neuronphaser.com - Gygax’s Legendarium: To Forge A Fantasy World: Greyhawk’s Creation
I think I am going to flesh out Ethbran just in case I need him.
ReplyDeleteI found one other reference to a sage in Holmes' writings. In the early Adventure of the Lost City (which documents an actual play session), the six women they free from El Borak's caravan were described as being trained as a warrior, cleric, sage, hypnotist, psychic and witch.
ReplyDeleteZach H Going through those old posts it looks like you were working on a second floor of the Ruins. Did you make any more headway on that?
ReplyDeleteZach H Got it. Ethbran is a woman now.
ReplyDeleteHerman Klang You mean a second level of the Zenopus dungeon? Yes, several years ago I came up with a number of ideas for encounter locations for a second level. I still have them somewhere and would like to finish them. I never actually wrote it out formally or came up with a fixed dungeon design.
ReplyDeleteZach H I believe Mai-Ling was the courtesan/sage in the Adventure of the Lost City.
ReplyDeleteI'm naming all the sages in my Portown campaign Zach, Herman, Andy and Tony.
ReplyDelete