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Message no. 1
From: Hahns Shin Hahns_Shin@*******.com
Subject: Thera
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 14:29:14 -0500
>ED players; what happened to Thera, I have the main book which just says
>that no one knows what has happened. If no one knows how's this for an
>adventure hook; as part of the ritual that protected Thera from the Scourge
>a pocket of mana was created, leaving Thera as magical as when it was
>sealed. As mana levels fell and the last of the Therans were killed off a
>horror found its way into the then deserted Thera. It stayed there,
trapped
>in the pocket, until Thera was rediscovered, it observed the divers taking
>the treasure and either corrupted them or left them, wishing to discover
>more about the state of the world. In an underwater installation near
Thera
>wierdness begins, the corp sends in a team of runners to find out what's
>going on. Think Event Horison meets the Abyss :)>
Umm, I don't know if Thera gets destroyed... the main conflict in Earthdawn
is the civil war between the dwarven nation of Throal and its alliances, and
the human nation of Thera (note: other races lived in both empires, but the
majority of the population was dwarf and human, respectively). Thera was
notorious for looking down on other nations, magical warfare, and slavery
(so basically, they were the bad guys), and when the mana levels fell off,
Thera tried to enslave all of the other nations surrounding it. Thera isn't
just an island, either (though the island MAY be Thera's floating capital
city)... it's an empire that spanned the entirety of Europe. Think "Roman
Empire was not just Rome" and you get the picture. You MIGHT want to use
the hidden city of Parlainth. I can give you more info if you'd like
(Parlainth used a ritual to make everyone forget about its existence to save
itself from horrors).

Hahns
Message no. 2
From: Josh Harrison mataxes@****.net
Subject: Thera
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 18:53:27 -0400
As one of the resident ED exprets, I feel thhe need to clarify some
misconceptions.

----- Original Message -----
From: Hahns Shin <Hahns_Shin@*******.com>
> Umm, I don't know if Thera gets destroyed... the main conflict in
Earthdawn
> is the civil war between the dwarven nation of Throal and its alliances,
and
> the human nation of Thera (note: other races lived in both empires, but
the
> majority of the population was dwarf and human, respectively).

Actually, Thera does get destroyed, but in the future of the official ED
timeline.

Also, Thera is not a human kingdom. During the events described in the
game's sourcebooks, Thera is led by an obsidiman. While humans are a large
portion of the population, Thera verges on a magocracy -- it is an empire
led by powerful magicians. The "power behind the throne" is, IIRC, a group
called the Heavenherds -- who I suspect are immortal elves (who they are and
what faction they belong to in the SR setting has never been clearly
revealed -- it's easier for me to say who *isn't* part of that group).

> Thera was
> notorious for looking down on other nations, magical warfare, and slavery
> (so basically, they were the bad guys), and when the mana levels fell off,
> Thera tried to enslave all of the other nations surrounding it.

Actually, the slavery took place long before the magic level started
dropping. The Therans took slaves to help build the kaers and citadels where
the people of the world took shelter during the Scourge. Some villages sold
their neighbors to the Therans as slaves in exchange for the info to protect
themselves.

When the Therans returned to Barsaive after the Scourge, they started up the
practice again, but the Kingdom of Throal had come to the conclusion that
slavery was wrong. This philosophical difference, coupled with the Theran
belief that Barsaive was rightfully "theirs" fueled the conflict between the
nations.

> Thera isn't
> just an island, either (though the island MAY be Thera's floating capital
> city)... it's an empire that spanned the entirety of Europe. Think "Roman
> Empire was not just Rome" and you get the picture.

This is correct. Thera proper is just the one island. However, it controls
many provinces in the surrounding area -- what is today the upper Nile,
North Africa, the Italian "boot", northern and eastern Europe, and they even
have a small amount of influence in the Indian subcontinent.
Message no. 3
From: Phil Smith phil_urbanhell@*******.com
Subject: Thera
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 17:13:05 GMT
>From: "Hahns Shin" <Hahns_Shin@*******.com>
<snip>
>You MIGHT want to use
>the hidden city of Parlainth. I can give you more info if you'd like
>(Parlainth used a ritual to make everyone forget about its existence to
>save
>itself from horrors).

That could work, tell me more. Actually I do know about how Parlainth was
sealed off from the horrors and a spell (which failed) was used to make
everyone forget. Wasn't Parlanth tainted by the horrors whilst it was
sealed off in astral space?

Phil

...Unfortunatly one of them spotted our hidden microphone and followed the
extension cable back to the police station.
Milton Jones

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Message no. 4
From: Gurth gurth@******.nl
Subject: Thera
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 20:00:44 +0200
According to Phil Smith, at 17:13 on 13 Jun 00, the word on the street
was...

> That could work, tell me more. Actually I do know about how Parlainth was
> sealed off from the horrors and a spell (which failed) was used to make
> everyone forget. Wasn't Parlanth tainted by the horrors whilst it was
> sealed off in astral space?

The spell didn't fail, it worked well enough to make everyone forget
Parlainth existed. Part of the vanishing act was that whoever was wearing
a certain magical ring would be drawn to Parlainth's location and attempt
to bring it back to the world (this is described in the first three
Earthdawn novels).

However, Horrors had already gotten into the city before everything was
ready, so when they did vanish into its "pocket dimension," those Horrors
inside could kill (etc.) everyone at their leisure, since nobody had
anywhere to run to.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Here come the golden oldies. Here come the Hezbollah.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
->The Plastic Warriors Page: http://shadowrun.html.com/plasticwarriors/<-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ UL P L+ E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
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Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 5
From: Josh Harrison mataxes@****.net
Subject: Thera
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 17:23:34 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Smith <phil_urbanhell@*******.com>
> That could work, tell me more. Actually I do know about how Parlainth was
> sealed off from the horrors and a spell (which failed) was used to make
> everyone forget. Wasn't Parlanth tainted by the horrors whilst it was
> sealed off in astral space?

The spell didn't fail; everybody on the physical plane had their memory of
the city erased. The spell to remove the city was designed to leave a few
obscure clues behind so that Parlainth could be returned after the Scourge.

When the spell was cast, Horrors had already infiltrated the city. The
Horrors were unable to leave the city because of the powerful magic.
Needless to say, they weren't happy about this, and spent the next four to
five hundred years extending the torment of the people trapped in the city
with them. When the city was returned, it was devastated, with nothing but
Horrors, undead, and falsemen (basically golems) inhabiting it.

Geographically speaking, Parlainth is most likely located just north of
Sverdlosk in central Russia -- just in case you were interested in bringing
it into your SR game.

-- Josh
Message no. 6
From: Strago strago@***.com
Subject: Thera
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 18:22:34 -0400
Josh Harrison wrote:

> <SNIP>

> When the spell was cast, Horrors had already infiltrated the city. The
> Horrors were unable to leave the city because of the powerful magic.
> Needless to say, they weren't happy about this, and spent the next four to
> five hundred years extending the torment of the people trapped in the city
> with them. When the city was returned, it was devastated, with nothing but
> Horrors, undead, and falsemen (basically golems) inhabiting it.
>

Is it canon that the city returned? Or is that just conjecture? If not, just all
of a sudden make it reappear in Shadowrun with the Horrors, undead, and falsemen
(basically golems) and send your players to clean it up...

>
> Geographically speaking, Parlainth is most likely located just north of
> Sverdlosk in central Russia -- just in case you were interested in bringing
> it into your SR game.
>
> -- Josh

--
--Strago

All Hail Apathy! Or don't. Whatever. -abortion_engine

SRGC v0.2 !SR1 SR2+ SR3++ h b++ B- UB- IE+ RN+ SRFF W+ sa++ ma++ ad+ m+ (o++ d+)
gm+ M P
Message no. 7
From: Josh Harrison mataxes@****.net
Subject: Thera
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 23:53:59 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: Strago <strago@***.com>
> > When the city was returned, it was devastated, with nothing but
> > Horrors, undead, and falsemen (basically golems) inhabiting it.
> >
>
> Is it canon that the city returned? Or is that just conjecture? If not,
just all
> of a sudden make it reappear in Shadowrun with the Horrors, undead, and
falsemen
> (basically golems) and send your players to clean it up...

Yes, it is canon that Parlainth returned to the physical world. It was found
by J'role the Honorable Thief (the story of its discovery is recounted in
the novel "The Longing Ring" by Chris Kubasik). FASA released a boxed set
for the city, so I think it is fairly certain the city returned.

However, I would imagine that the intense terror and magical energy
surrounding the events in the city would leave quite an astral imprint. I
don't think it would be too much of a stretch if the city's ruins were a
locus for the return of the Horrors. How about if the ruins are uncovered in
an archaeologgical dig, and strange things start to happen. It wouldn't take
too much imagination to modify some of your original ideas to fit the
"canon" arrangements. (And don't feel like you need to adhere to those
either -- do whateever you think will be best for your game.)

-- Josh
Message no. 8
From: Gurth gurth@******.nl
Subject: Thera
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 10:32:45 +0200
According to Strago, at 18:22 on 13 Jun 00, the word on the street was...

> Is it canon that the city returned? Or is that just conjecture? If not, just all
> of a sudden make it reappear in Shadowrun with the Horrors, undead, and falsemen
> (basically golems) and send your players to clean it up...

It is canon, and described in detail in the Parlainth boxed set. You
could, if you want to do what you suggest anyway, of course rule that the
spells were only deactivated for a time by the events described in the
first ED novel trilogy, or that someone re-activated them at some point.
Why they'd want to do that, though, I don't know.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Here come the golden oldies. Here come the Hezbollah.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
->The Plastic Warriors Page: http://shadowrun.html.com/plasticwarriors/<-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ UL P L+ E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 9
From: Phil pames@*****.net
Subject: Thera
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 08:10:28 -0500
At 10:32 AM 6/14/2000 +0200, Gurth wrote:

>It is canon, and described in detail in the Parlainth boxed set. You
>could, if you want to do what you suggest anyway, of course rule that the
>spells were only deactivated for a time by the events described in the
>first ED novel trilogy, or that someone re-activated them at some point.
>Why they'd want to do that, though, I don't know.

Oh, that's easy: Tremendous, powerful horror inside that no one could
possibly kill. Redo the spell, toss Parlainth with the horror inside right
back into the astral pocket dimension, and everyone walk around being self
congratulatory. Maybe some modifications, so that the area that it was in
could be guarded, so that anyone wearing the Longing ring could be
captured, and the ring chunked in the sea for a while before some other
idiot finds it. Of course, eventually this tradition dies off, after the
mana dips so low that to pull Parlainth out would be impossible. And then
some Shadowrunner/Cyberpirate on a tropical vacation finds this ring washed
up on the shore. Or alternately, on a shopping trip, finds it in the
jewelry section and just has to have it...

Phil
Message no. 10
From: Raveness Ravensbane ravenessravensbane@*****.com
Subject: Thera
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 06:17:54 -0700 (PDT)
<sippers>
> Yes, it is canon that Parlainth returned to the
> physical world. It was found
> by J'role the Honorable Thief (the story of its
> discovery is recounted in
> the novel "The Longing Ring" by Chris Kubasik). FASA
> released a boxed set
> for the city, so I think it is fairly certain the
> city returned.
>
> However, I would imagine that the intense terror and
> magical energy
> surrounding the events in the city would leave quite
> an astral imprint. I
> don't think it would be too much of a stretch if the
> city's ruins were a
> locus for the return of the Horrors. How about if
> the ruins are uncovered in
> an archaeologgical dig, and strange things start to
> happen. It wouldn't take
> too much imagination to modify some of your original
> ideas to fit the
> "canon" arrangements. (And don't feel like you need
> to adhere to those
> either -- do whateever you think will be best for
> your game.)
>
> -- Josh

Ok, if Parlainth dissapeared, and was forgotten by
everyone then found again, what is there to say that
another such city did the same but wasn't as careful
about putting things out there that would lead the
city to be RE-discovered...
There is a city that people have forgotten about for
thousands of years and some scientist finally says
"Hey wait a second, why doesn't this part show up on
my GPS?" and they send some teams in to look, but the
teams never return...that's when they send in the
Shadowrunners..."Just tell us what's there, 'come on
it'll be a cake walk. I bet it's really nice there
this time of year."

====~Raveness

http://www.sova.net/trish/roleplaying/shadowrun/pocketsecretary/

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Message no. 11
From: Martin Steffens marste@*********.com
Subject: Thera
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 08:08:16 -0700
From: Raveness Ravensbane

> Ok, if Parlainth dissapeared, and was forgotten by
> everyone then found again, what is there to say that
> another such city did the same but wasn't as careful
> about putting things out there that would lead the
> city to be RE-discovered...

The thing is that the Parlainth boxed set is meant
as an adventure module for ED. So city comes back,
some horrors are still inside, but after that you
have a small city growing next to it to cater for
the adventurers. They run around in the city for
hundreds of years killing, looting and all that
while the magic level slowly drops. At one stage
the horrors will disappear because of this, most
things that were worth something get robbed from
the place and it becomes just another set or ruined
cities. As far as I understand it if the magic
shielding of the city was linked to the magic level
and it stays intact you might have a chunk of land
disappearing in a few hundred years (would be funny
if there was a new city on the place) with no one
remembering anything about it.
Considering that the spell used wiped the memory
of the place from everyone's mind the levels need to
be a lot higher than they are in 2060.

What might be possible is something along the
awakening of the dragons; something that hid itself
on a different plane at the end of the magic cycle
and re-enters once magic comes back.

Martin Steffens
marste@*********.com
+353 (1) 706 6644

Further Reading

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