>
>Now onto the purpose of the post:
>I was thinking about the Shadow World last night, and I am curious to hear
what
>all of you (and Ed) think. Consider the following just a brain storm of
ideas…
>
>Now, if the SW is FULL of undead, and is “controlled” by these minions of
the
>nether world in the same manner that Cerilia is ‘controlled’ by Regents,
where do
>they come from? How do they repopulate? Are they free willed?
>
>I would like to think (and hope) that a new approach to the undead is
taken this
>time around. I’m tired of the ‘evil necromancer creating & controlling
undead’,
>and the entire lich ideology is becoming old hat. How about some new
angles?
>
>I suggest that the undead of the Shadow World are in fact, legitimate, self
aware
>entities. Perhaps originally hailing from the abyss or similar dark hidey
hole,
>and maybe, just maybe, the Cold Rider has managed to further ‘adapt’ and
‘educate’
>these undead ghoulies. (Kind of like what Azrai did with the Vos).
>
>So if the undead of the SW can rule kingdoms, how do they re-populate their
lands?
>
>Well, If some of the ‘higher’ forms of undead are capable of self
replication
>(wights & ghouls, for example) then these types could form the ‘population
>base’. I suggest that the lower forms, such as zombies and skeletons,
might be
>little more than the corpses & remains of travelers who have entered the SW
in
>some way. The remains of the ghouls & wights who have perished might also
become
>re animated as these lower forms. Perhaps the undead are so ‘attuned’ to
the
>shadow world, that they cannot truly be destroyed? Perhaps that’s the
ultimate
>curse… anything that dies in the SW is fated to be ‘reborn’ again and
again? So
>the wight dies, and is 'reborn as a skeleton. The skeleton is ‘slain’ in
some
>way, and it only ‘reforms’ again in a day? A fortnight?
>
>Ghosts might be the ultimate example of this endless cycle. After an
entity has
>been ‘destroyed’ so many times, that the physical body can longer be
manifested
>(burnt to ashes for example), perhaps results in the ‘spirit’ (I know,
undead
>don’t have ‘spirits’, but bear with me…) being risen as a
>ghost/ghast/spectre??? These guys might be sought out by the Cold Rider
for some
>evil purpose. Perhaps the Cold Rider ‘collects’ them for some dire
purpose?
>
>The Halflings… perhaps the halflings are similar to the 'Vistanni" of
Ravenloft
>(:::ducks behind a flame proof shield::
in that they still travel the
land,
>seeking to ‘lift the shadow’ so to speak. These small, under estimated
guys (in
>every campaign I have ever seen) might be the ultimate nemesis of the Cold
Rider.
>They might be organized into small ‘cells’ of resistance fighters, who
venture
>back and forth between the SW and Cerilia in order to further their cause.
>Perhaps the halfling race is itself ‘divided’ into two ‘races’, ones who
can
>Shadow Walk, and ones who can’t. Perhaps the halflings who are born in
Cerilia
>can Shadow Walk, as they were not ‘born with the Cold Riders curse’ in
their
>veins, while those unfortunate halfings born in the SW are possessed of
this
>‘taint’ and cannot leave. Thus, they form the main resistance, while the
Cerilian
>halflings work to free their ‘lesser’ kin.
>A race of halflings who are as trapped in the SW as the Cold Rider gives
the plane
>the much needed ‘innocence factor’ that is needed in order illustrate the
>‘evilness’ of the SW proper. What’s evil without goodness to offset it?
>
>When I think of the SW, I envision it very similar in flavor to ‘Woody
Hollow’
>(the headless horseman tale… can’t remember the name or author though).
I see
>blackened trees, Dry brown leaves flying through the night on a cold autumn
wind.
>All in all, a very ‘halloween-ish’ flavor. Replace the human factors of
the tale
>with undead, and you have the Shadow World.
>
>At least, that’s the way I see it.
>
>Keith
Sounds good Keith, the only suggestion I'd make would be that the
“population” is formed when an undead creature is created in the real world
by whatever means, Necromancy, murder etc. A “shadow” of this undead comes
into being in the shadow world. Therefore sites of great battles on Cerilia
would be densely populated in the SW.
The death of Azrai caused the Cold Rider to come into being as the
Shadow of the evil one. So use of Necromancy spells on a large scale, like
undead legion could result in a few extra problems for the caster. This
would create a whole bunch of new undead in the SW and eventually they cause
friction between the two planes and hey presto part of the SW population
find themselves on Cerilia
Hmm just came up with an amusingly evil idea: What happens if
you’re using this plot device and one of the Awnsheglien gets killed in a
way that causes him to manifest in the SW? (Grins evilly)
Nick
“Love is a device invented by bank managers to make us overdrawn”
Arnold Rimmer, Red Dwarf.