mystara, Micheal Roy First off, my sincere compliments on the 1014 Almanac - I noticed the odd spelling and grammar error, but that's only to be expected in a project this large and otherwise pretty much flawless. :) Assuming the 1015 Almanac is already in the works, how do I contribute? It would be a grand thing if Rikard Prospero were to do an article on The Great Hule, which I might be able to humbly help out with... And now, for some other points inspired by the Almanac: ---------- The Extra Continents in the Hollow World: > VATERMONT 23, AC 1014: Princess Ark Leaves Shahjapur > [...] > What This Means: The continent of Jomphur was purposely > left undeveloped in the HW Boxed Set so individual DMs can > populate as they see fit. The purpose of the Mystaran Almanac > is to continue to develop the current history of the world, > not to make and develop the whole world. I therefore left > this part deliberately blank, as each DM will have their own > personal favorite to add here. > Hopefully, the members of the Mystaran Mailing List will > develop the area someday, and maybe there will be an > "official" fully developed Mystara. I might as well take a first stab at this one.. The main continent of the Hollow World covers the cultures that have disappeared from the surface pretty well (they even have an extra, the Merry Pirates). There are a few societies that are missing (such as the original and current Vulture Peninsula inhabitants, the ancient hin (who happened to breed a sort of giant hamster as mounts, now extinct on the surface of Mystara ;) ) and 'wild' rakasta and lupins). However, IMHO, the other two continents are mostly empty - the Immortals plan ahead, after all, and Mystara's history is far from over. :) I expect that one of Atruaghin's current projects is to raise a giant mesa for if/when the Atruaghin Clans are ever threatened (say, by a giant horde of humanoids coming in from the north... perhaps the decimation of the Amerind-like culture leads to the Orcwars of 1020 AC?). And perhaps, until the space is 'used up', Immortals such as Terra and Nyx feel free to use the empty areas to play with and create entirely new species and cultures - just where /did/ the Hivebrood come from, anyway? ---------- The Future: Mystara has had a long, varied, and unique past - it's future will surely be just as unusual. Let's take a look at what has already been 'officially' and unofficially written about Mystara's future (timeline references from Timeline v1.3, still in progress): > 1015 AC: Projected time of the arcade game, "D&D: Tower > of Doom". > 1017 AC: Projected time of the arcade game, "D&D: > Shadow over Mystara". As was stated in the 1014 Almanac, > It is my belief that the events of the arcade game take place in the > year AC 1015, while those of the follow up game "D&D: Shadow over > Mystara" take place in the year AC 1017. The actual details of the > plot will be given in the AC 1015 version of the Mystaran Almanacs. As I've never played, or even seen, these games myself, I'll bow to Micheal Roy, Herve Musseau and Cthulhudrew here. I know that there is a FAQ about the two games floating about somewhere on the 'net, so if you want to find out more, I suggest you try to find it. > 1018 AC: Time of the novel, "Dark Knight of > Karameikos". Again, from the most recent Almanac, > The novel "Dark Knight of Karameikos" takes place in the year AC 1018 > as it mentions it's the 12th year on the throne for the King of > Karameikos. This pretty much speaks for itself. > 1020 AC: Joint Darokinian and Thyatian operations to > protect their interests. All-out war pits humans vs. orcs. This line came from GAZ10: The Orcs of Thar. At the time, the Broken Lands were completely seperate from Glantri, and the Great Crater didn't exist. Here's my projection of the scenario: With the recent Migration (and possible decimation of the Atruaghin Clans), plus raids from the 'orclands' between Aengmor and Ethengar, Darokin (probably with assistance from the rest of the Western Defense League) tries to quell the problem once and for all. Meanwhile, Synn has manipulated Glantri into a confrontation with Thyatis. Because Prince Kol is officially in charge of the humanoids of the Broken Lands, Glantri finds itself in the position of being the focus of yet another war (after just finishing up one against the Ethengar Khanates), only this time against Darokin and Thyatis. How the two Aengmors affect this is anybody's guess... but the Orcwars are likely to last many years. > 1050 AC: Ylaruam falls under the rule of Kin faction > sultans. Its culture and economy flourishes, but its values > decline, and there is a resurgence of traditional tribal > enmities. From GAZ2. This seems to have been moved up to 1014 AC, unless the Preceptors regain their power (possibly even around 1020 AC). > 1150 AC: The deaths of High King Maramet of Vestland > and his sole heir throw the nation into a political turmoil. > The Sorona, the enchanted crown of Vestland, is sought by > various factions hoping to claim the throne. [NOTE: This is a > variant timeline that is now unlikely to take place. See > adventure D&D module X13, .] From GAZ7, this seems to have been ret-conned by the Almanacs to about 970 AC. However, there's nothing to prevent a very similar set of circumstances from arising again... > 1200 AC: Great War with the Master of the Desert > Nomads. [NOTE: This is a variant timeline that is now unlikely > to take place. See adventure D&D module X10, Shield>.] This event seems to be mostly relegated to an alternate timeline. Then again, the Master might always gather his forces and try a second time... nobody ever said villains ever had to be original. :) The Far Future: Who knows what lurks in the future of Mystara? (The Chronomancer knows... ahem. :) ) Here's a few general ideas thrown out, feel free to rip them to shreds, detail them better, or make up your own. :) - Contact is made with EMs - 'Extra-Mystarestrials', aka spelljammers. - Confederations such as the NACE and the WDL become the common form of large-scale government. - Rad/Etienne eventually becomes an Old One. - Karameikos, the Five Shires, Darokin, Restored Alfheim, Glantri, and Rockhome become a single nation. - The meteor that caused the Great Crater is only the first of many to pummel the surface of Mystara. - The green-skinned aliens finally send another ship to try to find the Beagle. - Techno-magic is re-developed, and is either controlled properly or leads to another devestating explosion such as The Great Rain of Fire. - Immortals of the Sphere of Time wage a war against intruding chronomancers over Mystara's past and future. - New species, Immortals, and cultures appear. - Old societies and races are destroyed and/or send to the Hollow World. - Immortals disappear or are destroyed. I'm going to play with this some more, and see if I can come up with a coherent timeline for the next few millenia. :) ----------