Stream of Annihilation Preview - DINOSAURS!

Not only did Chris Perkins pretty much confirmed that the product codenamed "Dust" is the one which Pendleton Ward was involved with (see below), but WotC's Greg Tito also confirms that the weekend-long live stream will feature the main announcement right at the beginning with a preview of a piece of art featuring.... dinosaurs! The video below features that art, as well as Tito talking about the various celebrities who will be attending (and starring in) the event.

[video=youtube;pEH1BX4m0eY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEH1BX4m0eY[/video]

"Something to look forward to. #wotcstaff #dust" - Chris Perkins
SaveSave​

 

[pukunui]

Let me put it like this, in long-standing FR lore, is there a city with merchants that ride on dinosaurs or use them as beasts of burden?

That's more or less what Mezro was before it was destroyed. Port Nyanzaru might be the same.

 

[AverageCitizen]

Also talked about Planescape and mentioned Eberron. Maybe a multi-setting adventure path?

That is what I think it will be. "Midway" being code for Sigil and the idea of transitioning into other settings.

 

[Narl]

"Chult's one major coastal settlement is Port Nyanzaru . . . merchant princes host dinosaur races within the city walls." - Volo's Guide to the Forgotten Realms in Dungeonology

 

[Demetrios1453]

But thats the thing. The Underdark did not originate in FR and is not FR specific. Lost jungly places in D&D with strange ruins and dinosaurs also predate FR and are found in other settings besides FR.

Which is fine. They can say Chult, or whatever.

Let me put it like this, in long-standing FR lore, is there a city with merchants that ride on dinosaurs or use them as beasts of burden?

"Small dinosaurs are not uncommon in the city, as they are often used for beasts of burden and as mounts by some of Mezro's more adventurous folk." - The Jungles of Chult p. 12, (c) 1993, TSR.

Granted, Mezro was, as mentioned up thread, apparently destroyed during the Spellplague, but some of its population survived, as "its displaced people" are mentioned on page 10 of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide ("Ruined Mezro stands across the sea from Calimshan, waiting for explorers and its displaced people to cleanse the city of its undead inhabitants and uncover the treasures that lie hidden there"). Presumably these displaced inhabitants would have taken their dino-riding ways with them to where they settled (the nearby port of Port Nyanzaru has logically been mentioned in this thread). And beyond that, those of the Tabaxi ethnic group who didn't live in Mezro presumably used dinosaurs similarly (why would such a useful skill be confined to the city folk?) and would continue to do so to the present day...

 

[Ilbranteloth]

This map. It was linked in this post.

You will most likely need to copy-and-paste the link into a new browser tab, since the website doesn't allow hot-linking. In any case, it's a map of Chult (from 4th Edition, I believe), which includes the Ruins of Mezro on it.

If you go to the folder (http://dndadventurersleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05), you will see other media for the month of May, mostly related to Tales from the Yawning Portal.

Those maps are from 1479, and it's now 1492ish. The SCAG specifically references the Chultan peninsula (and it's just visible in the map), so it's back to being part of Faerun proper, not an island. It also mentions Mezro is in ruins, but Port Nyanzaru makes more sense anyway. This might be the first AP that I consider running as is.

 

[Olive]

Let me put it like this, in long-standing FR lore, is there a city with merchants that ride on dinosaurs or use them as beasts of burden?

I don't know but I don't think merchants that ride on dinosaurs is a generic concept either

 

[Staffan]

Eberron is the only other option I can think of - but there dinos are associated with Halflings, and those look like humans in that pic.

Also, the dinosaurs on the Talenta plains in Eberron are mostly of the smaller variety - some might get to Large size, but generally lower than that. If you want bigger dinos, you'll mostly find them in Argonessen or Xen'drik.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

According to the FR wiki: "The Spellplague destroyed the city of Mezro, leaving it an undead- and monster-infested site.". Also, the Chult map uploaded to the AL website shows "Ruins of Mezro", so I don't think the teaser is showing Mezro.

So Acererak has been ousted from White Plume Mountain and has taken up residence in ruined Mezro, raising an undead army.

Cool.

 

[gyor]

Seriously, they couldn't even come up with a new Map, they just recycled the 4e Map, which thanks to the Sundering is out of date.

 

[speculart]

In for this in a big way