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Hi all,
So, this is something that I am interested in, since it seems to be consensus among the fandom that this is bound to happen in the Blackmoor universe.
- Even though I think it's not backed by Arnesonian canon, you heathens!
That said... Where does this concept come from, and, has it ever been detailed, in canon, or fanon?
I have to confess one thing, though - I personally dislike that Blackmoor is usually used as a sort of footnote in Mystara canon.
The original author did not intend that, and neither is the destruction of Blackmoor at the very end of the story based on anything
Mr Arneson wrote, said, or approved, AFAIK.
THAT said... What do you make of the Beastman(?) Crusades?
Between all that we have of Mystara, Wilderlands, and of course DAVE ARNESON'S actual Blackmoor,
I think this could be an intriguing concept to explore.
Personally, I have my own version of how these events come to pass:
As I have often hinted, in my continuity, the one cataclysmic event I would want to send the "Heirs of the Maiden" through
would be The Saga of the Dragon Cult.
I hint at such an event in the last chapters of The Promised Land, as it is discovered that the magic that essentially holds the world together is DRACONIC in nature...
Yours,
Rafe
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So, how would 1400's Blackmoor really look like?
I'll make a start and say: The Sinking Lands are likely, well, sunk. 
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I don't have much thoughts to offer on this issue, apart from the fact that the crusades lasted way too much (centuries!), considering the difference in technology between the two armies.
I'd imagine a Blackmoor driven by a clergy mad about purity of race, raging war externally on the beastmen (and how about lizardmen etc.?) and internally, putting pressure on elves, dwarves, halflings, etc.
Like every war, there must have been some "gray area" where "deals" were made.
Somebody must have helped the beastmen, somehow, to withstand the technological war pressures (maybe the same races that had the internal persecutions? that would be shocking, isn't it?).
I see the situation a bit like the native americans that in few decades moved from a hunter/gathering culture with mostly stone age tools to rifles and horses that were introduced just before the "conquest" or the west and made them a much more powerful opponent. The difference is that I expect for a significant length of time the beastmen to outnumber the Blackmoorian warriors / war machines, while native americans were quickly outnumbered by the pioneers and soldiers.
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My beef exactly. The concept didn't quite seem to fit, with the technological disparities.
I personally like to link the concept to the Gnoll Wanderings from WL; that's somewhat applicable.
Also, for War Machines, I have usually used, of all things, DragonMech. There could be some things to successfully steal for BM.
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Le Noir Faineant Wrote:I personally like to link the concept to the Gnoll Wanderings from WL; that's somewhat applicable.
Sorry, I didn't get this point.
Can you please expand on it?
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Yaztromo Wrote:Like every war, there must have been some "gray area" where "deals" were made.
Somebody must have helped the beastmen, somehow, to withstand the technological war pressures (maybe the same races that had the internal persecutions? that would be shocking, isn't it?).
If you read the Blackmoor Epic History, The Beastmen are basically pawns of the Draconic Empire, as well as the main tool of Hel/Hella to reduce Odin/Odir's influence.
Not only to Beastmen breed like rabbits, but they would also be supplied by both divine and arcane(draconic) magic.
-Havard
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I've recently being gathering some idea about beastmen as I agreed to work on an expanded version of Hyboria FanGazzetter (maybe including Borean Valley as well) with its author (here is current version, made only by "the other guy": http://www.roberto.roma.it/FORUM/downloa...yborea.pdf).
One of the ideas is a mystical place / arifact (?), called "the Breeding Pit", that allows crazy rates of reproduction and is a gift from Hel.
As you can see, we're more or less on the same page... however, I think there should be something else supporting the beastmen, but I haven't figured it out properly yet.
Smuggling of technological weapons to them could be part of it, but I'm not sure if it's enough yet to bridge the gap...
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Havard Wrote:Not only to Beastmen breed like rabbits, but they would also be supplied by both divine and arcane(draconic) magic.
Shamans and Wiccas have quite a lot of limitations (although theoretically trolls can be extremely powerful magic users, if they only could remember how to do it again... :roll: ), so that magic help is in the shape of object / artifacts or a more direct, although covert intervention? (or both...)
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Yaztromo Wrote:Le Noir Faineant Wrote:I personally like to link the concept to the Gnoll Wanderings from WL; that's somewhat applicable.
Sorry, I didn't get this point.
Can you please expand on it?
Essentially, a migration from the melting north pole of the world of WL forces the Gnolls that inhabit the area to wander south - by the thousands.
And that creates quite a... Something.
However, as I said, while I think one can make such a concept work, I don't necessarily think it's the best possible solution for a metaplot that covers an entire century, or more.
Tolkien's treatment of his 4th Age might serve as a conceptual background: What if Zugzul comes back? In the LFC, he flees west.
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