Fall of the Black Queen

[Havard]

I'm working on a little project on the Elves of Blackmoor, but this is an area where I require some assistance. The D20 books contain a lot of little tidbits scattered around in them, but sorting out the order of things is tricky.

Here's what I've got so far:

1) Alliance between Humans and elves.
2) Humans betray the elves.
3) Elves split into Cumasti and Westryn
4) Black Queen assumes control over the Westryn.
5) "Fall of the Black Queen"
6) Black Queen's Father curses the Westryn Kingdoms in the West.
7) Undead start appearing in large numbers in the Westryn forrests

How does this seem to you guys? The order of events could be different than what I have suggested here. One thing I find weird is that the Queen has a father who is still alive, yet she is still referred to as the Queen. Usually he would be the king and she would be a princess.

My assumption is going to be that the Alliance between Humans and Elves is against the Temple of Id. It never says so, but I will assume that "Humans" here refers to Thonians.

One thing I am also unclear about is what the "Fall of the Black Queen" refers to. Does she die, or is it a fall, in the sense of being turned to the Dark Side? I am guessing the latter. If so, the appearance of Undead could be linked to her fall, rather than the Curse. The Curse could instead have to do with the Westryn no longer being able to produce offspring with humans.

I am making the Curse of the Bloodwood a separate matter. The text also seems to suggest this. I am connecting that one to the Magewars.

The DA series do not mention Undead, but does state that there's a "Blight" affecting the elven woods of the Duchy of Ten.

Havard

[Rafael]

Can't really comment on that, except that if this works out to your pleasure, we will put it in the Maiden's timeline.

[Havard]

Can't really comment on that, except that if this works out to your pleasure, we will put it in the Maiden's timeline.

Cool,
I will have a complete Elven Timeline ready for you soon. I just need to sort out some details. I think you are going to like some of the more obscure references I have found for it


-Havard

[RobJN]

How does this seem to you guys? The order of events could be different than what I have suggested here. One thing I find weird is that the Queen has a father who is still alive, yet she is still referred to as the Queen. Usually he would be the king and she would be a princess.

Doesn't the heir come into the full title when their predecessor abdicates?

Neat stuff, Hav. I like the idea of a surface-y split between elven nation, with one branch withering under a curse. But maybe I'm just morbid like that. :twisted:

[Havard]

Doesn't the heir come into the full title when their predecessor abdicates

That is true. The question then becomes, why did he abdicate? Another possible storyline here is that the Black Queen's father was the king of all of the elves in the north. When the alliance with the humans failed, the king adbicated in shame. His eldest son was to take over the reign, but the former king's daugher declared herself Queen of the Westryn, taking them on a different and darker path. Seeing that his daughter set on a course that would weaken the elves further, the former king cursed his daugher, on his death bed. The new king of the Cumasti would be Lord Ithamis, who had just fathered a son, Menander who would one day become lord of the Cumasti and also have some claim on the title, Lord of the Northern Elves.

Neat stuff, Hav. I like the idea of a surface-y split between elven nation, with one branch withering under a curse. But maybe I'm just morbid like that. :twisted:

I like it too. It is further evidence of the cool ideas that did in fact come out of the D20 line. Of course, while the Westryn are withering away, the Cumasti arent doing too good either.


-Havard

[Havard]

Here's a revised and expanded version...:


Legend of King Uhlmar
Elves believe that they were created by Ordana, thousands of years ago. In the early days, they lived in a paradise-like state, protected by the spirits of the forest. As the elves began exploring the world outside the woods, they encountered other races. Only the Fey Lords still maintained the relationship with the forest spirits that all elves had at one time enjoyed. At the time when the first Thonians settled in the North, King Uhlmar was the ruler of the Northern Elves. King Uhlmar sought to befriend the Thonians and for centuries the two races prospered from this good relationship.

INNOCENCE LOST
It was at this time that a great evil rose in the North. A dark cult, worshipping the deity known as Thanatos, threatened both the Thonian and Elven way of life. This dark army had constructed a stronghold upon the site where the God Temrin was said to have been murdered. The Stronghold was known as the Temple of Id.

King Uhlmar had seen many Thonian Kings be born and die since he first encountered this race. He now proposed an alliance of Elves and Thonians against the Cult of Id. The elf Aquassiru, who was Uhlmar’s friend and General of the elven armies warned the king. Thonian attitudes had changed and the current ruler was not as honorable as his predecessors. However, Uhlmar was confident that the humans would do their part. However as the elven army marched on the forces of Id, the Thonians pulled out, leaving the Elves to fend for themselves. General Aquassiru realized that his worst fears had come true. He had to make a hard choice. Drawing his sword, he bravely charged the enemy, demonstrating such courage that all his elven warriors were inspired. The elves came out victorious and the Temple of Id was destroyed. The enemy was defeated, but the victory had taken its toll on the elves. Many elves were dead. General Aquassiru had suffered a fatal wound. Upon his death bed, the General asked that his soul was to be transferred into his sword, so that he might serve future generations of elves as an advisor. The sword would be known as Tel’Aquassiru, or Feyhold.

DECLINE OF THE ELVES
The aging king, Uhlmar, was gravely saddened by the loss of his friend. Many elves now turned against the king, blaming Uhlmar for putting too much trust in the humans. The king was even more deeply hurt to learn that the leader of these elves was his own daughter, Princess Ceridrone. The princess declared herself ruler of the elves of the west. Her followers called themselves the Westryn and wowed never to trust humans again. Uhlmar was dying of extreme old age. As a young prince, he had been one of the elves to first venture outside the forests. At the end of his reign, he was now seeing the decline of the elven race. On his death bed he cursed his daughter and the elves of Westryn, a curse that would lay on this race until this day.

King Uhlmar’s successor was his son, Noris Ithamis, whose wife had recently given birth to their young son, Menander. King Noris became the leader of those elves who had remained loyal to Uhlmar, from now on known as the Cumasti. King Noris did not however, wear the True Crown of the Elves, as it had been lost with Uhlmar. It has been said that this Crown might hold the secrets of restoring the elven race, but many young elves dismiss this as a mere legend.
Ceridrone, now known only as the Black Queen of the Westryn was the ruler of a Cursed Race. She let dark things crawl into her withering forest realm, losing all care for life. Spirits of the dead began to haunt her halls. Today the paths to the City of the Black Queen are all but forgotten.

-Havard

[aldarron]

That's a pretty good story Havard. I'm a little luke warm on the idea of a dying father cursing his daughter though - makes him look like the bad guy.

Why is she called the Black Queen?

Maybe the reason for the split is theat she led a faction of elves who were devoted to the cult of the Id and made an alliance with the humans who were also in supposrt of the cult? The split could then be when the aging king declared the cult a menace that must be destroyed.

The black queens side is defeated and the survivors move west.

Kinda like Gygax's origen story for the drow.

What do ya think?

[Havard]

That's a pretty good story Havard.

Thanks Dan!

I guess I ought to have explained some of the background for this story. As I have mentioned on the Piazza, what I did was collect various bits and pieces of information from the Blackmoor D20 line and piece them together like a big puzzle. I then mixed in some elements from the DA series.

The following things are my inventions:

1) I created the characters Uhlmar (simply mentioned as the Black Queen's father) and Noris Ithamis as well as naming Uhlmar's daughter Ceridrone, rather than just 'the Black Queen'. The names were taken from various places in the D20 book. Noris is named after the Noris Wood, or rather I imagine that the wood is named after him.
2) I linked the Origin of the Elves from the Hollow World boxed set to the D20 DAB Fey Lord Prestige Class.
3) I connected the Elf Human alliance to the destruction of the Temple of Id, and many of the details on the Cult of Id are my ideas or based on ideas from discussions in this forum.


Some canonical tidbits:
a) The True Crown of the Elves was mentioned in the BM Player's Guide
b) Tel'Aquassiri is described in the 4E Sourcebook.
c) Other information is found at various points in the d20 DAB Campaign Book.

I'm a little luke warm on the idea of a dying father cursing his daughter though - makes him look like the bad guy.

I see what you mean. I need to have the father curse his daughter since that is in the books, but perhaps there is some way I can change the text to provide more sympathy for the king? I see him as a tragic figure though.

Why is she called the Black Queen?

Most likely she dabbled in Necromancy, although perhaps she simply dressed in Black? I was thinking about a separate story, detailing how the Queen's Husband was killed in the battle against the Temple of Id, due to the Human betrayal. Perhaps she wore black as a symbol of grief?

Maybe the reason for the split is theat she led a faction of elves who were devoted to the cult of the Id and made an alliance with the humans who were also in supposrt of the cult? The split could then be when the aging king declared the cult a menace that must be destroyed.

The black queens side is defeated and the survivors move west.

Canon says that the split ocurred because the humans betrayed the elves and broke the alliance. In your version there would have been a split before all of this since the Cult of Id are clearly evil. Also, I don't see the Westryn as evil. They are misguided and lost perhaps, but not truly an evil race.

The Queen is a different matter. She may also have started out as misguided, but she seems to definately have moved to the 'dark side'. This all happened more than 500 years ago, but being an elf, she is most likely still around, either living or undead.

Kinda like Gygax's origen story for the drow.

I will have to read up on that one

Havard

[aldarron]

Ah, I see the parameters you are working under.

Okay, how about this. The Elves, being generally aloof from human affairs (see AiF) don't care one whit about the growing cult of Id, but when approached by a delegation from Baron X of Blackmoor, seeking an alliance with the Elves to wipe out the Id, Uhlmar readily agrees, both because he looks forward to a good war, and because he is more favorably disposed towards humans than many elves. Ceridrone counsels her father against it, warning that humans cannot be trusted.

Unbeknown to the Elves, Baron X has himself secretly converted to the cult of the Id, and plans the "attack" as a means to draw the elves into an ambush and destroy them, leaving the Baron as the uncontested master of the north.

The trap is sprung, but the elves (perhaps being warned at the last minute?) are a far more formidibal foe than the Baron realizes, and though they suffer tremendous losses, including the beloved Master Elf Aquassiru - Ceridrone's husband, the elves are victorious. Also killed in the battle are Baron X and all the Id cultists.

Uhlmar's rashness and trust of humans has cost the elves very dearly - thus prompting Ceridrone's rebellion.

(basically here, I'm trying to give a reasonable explanation behind your idea of human treachery at the battle of the temple)

Gygax Drow story - from fiend Folio
"Ages past, when the elvenfolk were but new to the face of the earth, their number was torn by discord and those of better disposition
drove from them those of the elves who were selfish and cruel. However constant warfare between the two divisions of elven kind
continued, with the goodly ones ever victorious, until those of dark nature were forced to withdraw from the lands under the skies and seek safety in the realm of the underworld."

[aldarron]

Just had another thought...

What if "Baron X" above is "Gregg Scott", or rather Baron Reggcot or something.

So, mortally wounded he somehow merges himself with the ID as the temple crumbles around him, and arises centuries later as the Egg of Coot!