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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1294943" data-attributes="member: 151">Those who've been following my story hour will know by now which of the wonderful ideas presented here were incorporated. For those who haven't, this is basically what happened: (note: I've added spoiler tags for those who don't want to know what the bad guys are REALLY up to.   Scroll down to the bottom for the information requests). [spoiler]Vlaakith, the Githyanki Queen made a pact directly with Fraz. Fraz, meanwhile, made a deal with Orcus. Fraz then made a deal with the ShadowTaker, in that case presenting himself as an agent of Tharizdun himself. This, collectively, was the Bargain. Sometime in the far, far distant past, the Flanaess was primarily populated by the Flan/Ur-Flan to the far East, and the proto-humans that would become the children of Gith. Fraz recruited many of the Ur-Flan to his dark goals, some worshipping him as a god. With his help, the demon prince kidnapped the whole of the proto-Gith race and sent them to the astral, in return for the Illithid's help in beginning to unlock his prison. This allowed Tharizdun's shadow to be cast, and his malevolence to be felt again in the world. At the same time, Fraz recruited the ShadowTaker to his cause, bringing him to worship Tharizdun, and preparing him to work as an agent for the Shadow of Tharizdun (eventually to be known as the Shadow King). His reason for this had several purposes. First, he had a ready ally, who he would eventually capitalize on with the Bargain. Second, it furthered his goals where Tharizdun was concerned. Third, it allowed him to create someone who could act as a magnet for the attentions of interlopers and dogooders who might be looking for a mastermind. That the Shadowtaker proved very effective at hidingn himself was problematic, but it allowed him some degree of anonymity. Meanwhile, Fraz begins, in disguise, feeding the wizard Vehn and the future Egg of Coot information from Mechanus on how to construct a variety of devices...all of which involve tapping the soul's energy or transference of the soul. He then introduces the Egg of Coot to the Shadowtaker, and lets events take their course. The ShadowTaker, by this point, introduces the Egg to the Shadow King. The very exposure to the Shadow of Tharizdun drives the Egg incurably insane and very pliable. He soon becomes an agent of the Shadowtaker, and feeds the knowledge he's gotten from Mechanus up the link to the Shadowtaker, who also begins investigating it, in hopes of using to free his master (little realizing that it all is part of a plan of Fraz's). Using another intermediary, Fraz approaches the Gith queen, acting as an agent of Orcus. Using the same information that he will share in part with the Egg, he shows her how to tap Elven souls for power. He then helps her construct the void chamber, using her entire palace as a broadcast device to transfer the souls...some to him, and the majority to Orcus. He then approaches her directly, and teaches her how to tap the power of the dead god, and convinces her to research the topic further, again as part of his ultimate goal. Fraz meanwhile helps Orcus return from the dead and helps reestablish him, in return for much of the knowledge of soul transference that he eventually provides to the mortals. Beyond that, he forges a pact with Orcus for mutual benficience, which is why he funnels the souls primarily to the demon prince of the undead. All of which is part of his coordination towards having several different beings gather different pieces of the puzzle he's assembling. He further emboldens Orcus to assualt the prime through his earthly agents in Rauxes. Fraz further works with the remaining Ur-Flan cultists still on the prime, having them infiltrate the druids of the old order, and then employs these agents in the waking of the Primals, all as a distraction. He attempts to enlist the aid of some of Iuz's agents, but finds that the Old one is too much of a threat, so he works to weaken the Old One's postion through the creation and manipulation of the Horned Society. He also uses the Horned Society to investigate the mysertious place known only as the Far Realm. In the meantime, he also works through agents within the Scarlet Brotherhood, secretly swaying them away from their masters into the worship of Tharizdun. These he directs to recover the Theorparts, to help release Tharizdun from his prison. He creates rifts among the Scaled Council, using agents and direct interaction with the Chromatics. At the same time, he works to destabilize the Chromatics, using many of the skills learned from Orcus to keep Ashardalon alive, and dispatching him to become a thorn in Infernus side. While not everything goes his way, he manages to manipulate most of the players to his way of thinking, and moving all of the pieces towards his own personal endgame. His desire? To release Tharizdun using the Theorparts, and then using them to drain his power and cast a significantly weakened Tharizdun into the Far Realms and bind him there, seizing the mantle of diety for himself.[/spoiler] (phew). Follow all that? Now, this brings me to the matter of the impending Astral conflict. Orcus has violated the injunction against direct interaction on the Prime...but he isn't a diety, so it's somewhat more tricky, legally speaking. The question, then, is this: What are some good reasons that the dieties are holding back? I have the vague notion that there is a set of laws/rules that only native gods to the Prime may remain there for any length of time and interact. Orcus is allowed on the prime for longer periods, as are all the demon princes....but the Interdiction of planar travel is gross violation of the unwritten rules. Clearly, the dieties are arguing over the hows, whys and wherefores....but does anyone have any more specific ideas? And I'd like to do some more with the Druid's council, since introducing the idea that at least two of the Druids want a fight for supremacy. I created the name "The Barrow King" for one. Does anyone have some ideas on what I can do to make a unique druid with such a name? For that matter, other than having wildshape enter into the contest, what else can I do for such a series of contests besides a bunch of punch-outs? Lastly, I've had Chavram travelling the Underdark, making alliances with the Drow to help him capture many of the buried binders. His grandson, Dravot's older brother Kaltin, secretly possesses free will from his grandfather, and has been plotting against him. He's arranged for a meeting with Dravot, to set some sort of plot in motion. But the question is, what plot? I haven't worked that one out, either. Once again, thanks in advance for your rat-bastardry. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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