WEITERE INFORMATIONEN zu THENNLA
Die beiden Hauptautoren für Thennla (Jonathan Drake und Bruce Turner) haben im Laufe der Zeit zusätzliche offizielle Informationen zu Thennla publiziert. Einige sind Notizen aus dem noch unveröffentlichten Quellenbuch zu Assabia (
Assabian Rites), andere stammen von nicht mehr verfügbaren Plattformen und sind wiederveröffentlicht.
Das Folgende sind die gesammelten Informationen aus dem TDM Forum mit Angabe des Autors.
ASSABIAN SORCERY
Necromancers"Properly speaking, necromancy is the use of sorcery to contact and treat with the dead in order to learn about the future. Since the dead don’t actually know any more about the future than the living do, what it really involves is asking them to reveal what they do know about the past and present that still has currency, and can be used to influence future outcomes.
For most necromancers their chosen purpose is to obtain favours, knowledge and help from those who have gone before, for themselves or for their paying clients. They might be working the law courts, conjuring up the shades of the dead to serve as witnesses to a crime, or to reveal the true intention of some unexpected or inconvenient provision in a will. For others the ambition is to secure advice on securing the best possible settlement in the Many Hells after death – or even to avoid death altogether, and that is something that well-heeled clients will pay handsomely for.
Necromancy often gets a bad name, but in real life Necromancers rarely retreat to some crypt-like hideaway to obsess over creating legions of undead. Indeed, playing with the rotting physical remains of the dead is largely missing the point, unless the purpose is to acquire a staff of completely obedient but rather dumb servants and night-watchmen who don’t require food or pay. There is also a certain cachet if one’s intention is to terrify clients and rivals, or keep the curious at bay. On the other hand, attempting to prevent a dead soul from leaving the mundane world, or to recombine a spirit with dead flesh, is a classic necromantic pursuit but these are often hallmarks of a sorcerer who has lost all touch with his humanity."
(J. Drake)
Using Tap to fuel Enchantments"In this setting, the
Tap spell only works on sentient beings – that is one which possesses all three Characteristics of INT, POW and CHA. It does not work on dumb animals. A Sorcerer who uses the
Tap (Characteristic) spell to provide the necessary Characteristic Point to make an enchantment work rather than draw it from his own being is usually regarded as malevolent. Nevertheless there are some legal grey areas over this that allow local rulers to turn a blind eye to the practice. For example the use of condemned criminals is broadly sanctioned. It’s a commercial exchange in which half the money paid by the sorcerer for access to the criminal is kept by the Sultan, the other half is paid out to the condemned person’s family (if they have one). If the condemned has committed crimes such as murder or robbery, then the family’s share may be diverted to the victim or their next of kin by way of compensation. Sometimes a free person in desperate straits will sell a part of themselves to a sorcerer simply as a means of survival.
The use of slaves for tapping is usually tolerated so long as the
Tap is not made permanent. However this is an area where abuse can often be hidden successfully. In the sultanate of Jelhai there are few limitations on how a master treats a slave, and the purchase of slaves for permanent tapping, or of those slaves who have otherwise outlived their economic usefulness, is commonplace.
In order to be effective, the
Tapspell must be Combined with whatever enchantment spell or ritual the unfortunate victim is being used to fuel the Characteristic Points for. The victim needs to be present at the climax of the ritual if not all the way through. The victim can resist using
Willpower, and the use of drugs and other means to prevent that roll being successful is commonplace.
As with normal use of the
Tap spell, the process is highly inefficient, and only one fifth of the Tapped Characteristic Points make the transition to being deployed in the enchantment.
Using someone else’s Characteristic Points to fuel an enchantment is not always possible.
Animal Servant, Create Familiar, Soul Jar, and
Write Magic will simply not work if the Attributes or Characteristic Points bestowed on the enchantment do not come from the sorcerer herself."
(J. Drake)
The Ancient House of AbjahanThe Ancient House of AbjahanScenario Idea: "The Abjahan are an ancient Djesmir trading house made wealthy by rare yellow and red dyes made from rare minerals found in the Hundred Day Desert. The brothers Hamaja and Anjul who rule the house have long been angered by the falling fortunes of their city. The arrival of the withered mystic Ozom from out of the desert has given them an answer. He tells of an ancient Djinn severed into four parts and scattered. One who was able to collect those four parts would be able to reassemble the Djinn and bind it to service. The brothers have long held the Cauldron of Ratuf and used it to make (mostly) obedient ghuls from their enemies - for few other creatures can long survive the conditions of the desert mines. Now if they can find the remaining three they will have the power to command the other families of Djesmir to their will, overthrow the doddering Sultan, and restore the glory of the city!"
(B. Turner)
Tobasso Zoboda, a Sorcerer-King "To the outside world Tobasso Zoboda is a sorcerer-king of a tiny little territory on the edge of the Hundred Days’ desert. He inhabits a palatial mountain-fastness, is served by a private retinue of fearsome armed warriors, but provides well for the people who inhabit the settlement of Ukre that is built in its shadow and relies on Tobasso and his men for protection. Not only that, but it appears Tobasso can summon rain, and does so from time to time to the delight of his followers. Ukre is consequently an oasis, with the occasional localised rain-shower directed into clay-lined wells and cisterns beneath the ground.
In reality Tobasso Zoboda is the human disguise of Suppupulumastu Arensh K’An, a powerful Ifrit. It is a good disguise, loosely based on a real sorcerer whom K’An once encountered and deleted from history. His guards are actually lizard-men, covered in a glamour to appear human to the townsfolk and visitors to his stronghold.
The stronghold itself – at least part of it – is the Ifrit’s magical home, and exists in the strange liminal zone between material and spirit worlds that reflects the odd nature of ethereal beings. In its lower depths are the goblins who serve K’An, his steward is a proud and haughty elf named Lattu, and a pair of slave trolls, Kollah and Hollah do the heavy work and place an uncommon burden on the Ifrit’s resources to keep them fed.
K’An is often away from his Jinn Palace. When he returns it is to rest, sometimes to relax with whatever mortal woman he is currently in love with and has stolen away to keep for himself. In his absence, Lattu is in charge and wields absolute authority. (NB Goblins, Elves and Trolls are all different types of ethereal)."
(J. Drake)
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE CULT OF BASAT
"Basat is an important cult in the Taskan Empire, but it is 'different' because it's essentially a foreign cult that's been co-opted into the Taskan pantheon. There are still probably more adherents outside the Empire, who are not citizens, than there are within. A couple of notices that have been previously made available online:
The Corpse-BreakersAn extremist movement among Tarsenian traditionalists, the Corpse-Breakers are those behind the horrible desecration of Basati cemeteries. They are known to break into tombs at night and vandalise and destroy the uncremated remains with, it seems, the spiteful intent of denying the dead the hope of resurrection. Their motivation may be ignorance and hatred of the 'other', or there may be some sinister plot to stir up public feeling with the Basatis in order to limit the spread of the cult and to head off any suggestion that the cult could one day seek real power in the Empire.
The Army of Light Chief Plotter: Issambrul of Holambra, Basat Devotee, Wealthy Dye Merchant from the Sultanate of Perlak
Hotbed of Intrigue: The meeting places and temples of Basat’s cult in Assabia; the foreign camp at Pryjarna in the week of High Holy Day
Treasonous Thoughts: Issambrul works to turn the cult of Basat against the empire, so that a future patriarch of the cult might consider the overthrow of the Taskan Emperor and his Simulacrum a suitable cause in which to resurrect the faithful and form the Army of Light.
Personal Motives: Although a Taskan citizen, Issambrul is one of those people who consider Pryjarna to be the northern extent of Assabia rather than the southern extent of Tarsenia, and its central place in the worship of the Assabian deity Basat to be proof of that. He has nothing particular against Tarsenians, but he resents their dominance of the cult and he believes the Taskan Empire to be at best an unjust and oppressive instrument of power that will always be prejudiced against its non-Tarsenian citizens.
Issambrul is a man whose opinion matters to many within the Basati community. He attends many of the most influential gatherings of his fellow cultists that take place in the Sultanates of Djesmirket, and unfailingly makes the annual pilgrimage to Pryjarna across the Korazoon. Whenever he is among his fellow devotees he attempts to apply his influence in ways that support his aims.
During the conflict between the Taskans and the New Korazoon Movement of 1218-20, Issambrul wins high regard for persuading the cult to sponsor a number of garrisons in the Korazoon region aimed at keeping open ancient trade routes plagued by desert raiders. In this way he hopes to forestall the extension of Taskan garrisons and patrols into the vacuum left by the Sultanates that have failed to provide merchants and travellers with proper security. The garrisons are recruited from among Basat's devotees in Djesmirket and Morkesh.
Issambrul has selected a suitable candidate among the southerners to promote as a future candidate for the patriarchate in Pryjarna. This man is a priest from Perlak named Lashmal. He uses every opportunity to press the man’s case as the finest example of devotion to Basat that can be found anywhere. Lashmal is now a feted individual in some cult circles thanks to Issambrul’s impressive marketing skills, and has immense support among the cult’s rank and file. His name is never far from people's lips whenever there is discussion about any vacancy in the senior priesthoods.
In pressing the suitability of Lashmal to high office, Issambrul wilfully sows the seeds of discontent. He knows that there is no chance the Tarsenian establishment at the heart of the cult will allow a southerner, let alone a non-citizen, to become the next Patriarch. But he believes a play for power by the cult’s Assabian adherents will at least force some concessions – positions of influence just below the top jobs that go to their favourites, for example. His dream is that the cult’s internal politics shift in such a way that its loyalties in respect of the Empire become malleable, its response to any wider crises affecting the empire open to manipulation.
Lashmal the priest is flattered by Issambrul’s attention, and by the swelling reputation and popularity within the cult that comes with it. However he would be horrified if he knew Issambrul’s true purpose. He possesses a naivety and an otherworldliness that could see him unwittingly propelled into a political maelstrom and once there his actions will likely be highly unpredictable..
Issambrul is dimly aware of the activities of the Corpse-Breakers. So far sporadic outbreaks have occurred in Zarina, Taskay and Tarsang, and the stories have reached Pryjarna. The spread of this outrage would help Issambrul’s cause immensely, driving a wedge between some elements of Tarsenian society and the Basatis. He does not know that Maresh Martek, High Priest of the Emperor-cult at Taskay and Arch-Priest of Thesh is one of the Corpse Breakers' most ardent supporters because he sees the Cult of Basat as a rival to his own, whereas the Emperor-cult is keen to deal with the menace."
(J. Drake)
