Shadow War campaign In-Game: Chapter 32- Friends Lost

[Navarre]

{Correctomundo!}

[sab39]

This is a partial list of the things T'Ning learned that he explains to the party. Valor, Abe Foster and Herr Schmitt are the sources of these pieces of information... sometimes it's called out who said what if it seems to matter or be based on limited knowledge or possible bias, but sometimes I couldn't remember or it was said by multiple people.

There are many universes
The primordial (Celestryn and Aurora) created all of them
They are all tied together by the Weaving
Some (including Sabbathyr and Asherea) are "unfinished"
Some have been destroyed
Abe says the Primordial are 'trying to get it right' - they've created different universes trying to find the right balance for peaceful coexistence of all
Abe Foster is a "Nexus"
Previous universes tended to have high magic
This was one of the things that the Primordial felt caused discordance
In all of these universes there are some constants
Valor and Warsong exist in all universes
Valor and Warsong were created by the Primordial to protect their creation
They are not always 'protector of elves' and 'protector of man' but their purpose is always protection
They do not necessarily know who their wielder IS but only their wielder can wield them effectively (in all universes)
Herr Schmitt is not Valor's wielder, but Herr Schmitt claims to have wielded Valor anyway with some success
But they always only have one wielder
In "many" universes Valor is "stuck on a wall"
In Sabbathyr (and other universes but not all) Warsong has been destroyed
Abe explained that every decision being made creates a new universe - basically the many-worlds theory from quantum mechanics
The Nexus are a "race" of people who exist in many universes at the same time and are aware of it, and can control it and act as gates.
Multiple Nexuses too close together cause instability in the Weaving which can open rifts
Anything could come through those rifts
One of the Nexus is the Ravager, who is the most powerful, but insane
A nexus usually has some innate sense of its existence in other places, but the Ravager more than any other has been driven insane by that constant awareness
Like the Primordial, the Ravager is also trying to "get it right" and achieve something but Abe did not know what
The Ravager is the one destroying the universes
The first Nexus was Marcus Moonshadow
Other than possibly the Ravager, he's the most powerful
Moonshadow is not native to Asherea, he came there. Abe said he's not supposed to be there
Marcus (and Canus) came from a world called Absynthia which is now destroyed
In the earlier universes the Primordial did not have children, in Absynthia they had Jondelyn
And in Asherea they had the Einshar we knew about
Valor says that "all" the Einshar worked together to betray the Primordial (but it's not clear if it was including Jondelyn in that)
Valor says that it has not seen "most of" the Einshar in a long time, but saw Ximon "recently" (which seems to confirm that "Simon" and "Ximon" are the same) and that Valor believes Ximon to be remorseful for his betrayal of his parents.
Valor does not have any knowledge of whether any other Einshar are remorseful, but presumes that since Illumian rules the world and has not acted on any such remorse, that he is not.

... more to come as I remember it (or Nav can fill some in too)

[sab39]

Abe said that the Ravager is the one who says 'tick-tock'
Valor specifically instructed T'Ning, once he got back to Asherea, to "get me off that damn wall". T'Ning asked if that meant killing Carrigan, Valor objected to that characterization but did not exactly deny that it might be necessary.

[Navarre]

T'Ning remembers that the universes are not only sealed away from each other but that the planes within a given universe are also sealed.

This was true on Sabbathyr, where the dead linger in "the Grey Realm". This coincides with the evidence experienced by those on Ashearea.

The closest example of any sort of magical travel seen by any of you is the Abundant Step ability of the monk at Carrigan Manor. This does not involve extra-planer travel however.

The lack of ability to perform feats such as Teleportation would also explain why the world's most powerful known wizard, Hayden Hyde, could not intercept Donovan on his way back to West Wellington or have a minion such as Evanard Blackthere arrive in the city sooner.

However, it seems that a Nexus can achieve multi-planer and even trans-universal travel when others cannot.

[sab39]

T'Ning presumes, by the way, that Sionnach is also a Nexus because that's the most natural thing she might have in common with Faerun that would make both of them able to see through Manor Wards.

T'Ning is also confused about the Tick-tock business because so far it's been associated with the Ravager, the manor ward, and whoever spoke through Smitty's corpse (which is presumed to be Hyde). So WTF?

[Web.Metz]

Faerun thinks on Absynthia and if it too has an Elvish translation.

[Navarre]

"Absynthia" is not a word you know. It does not seem to be of any particular language of which you are aware though the subtlety of the etymology suggests there could be a linguistic tie. Perhaps a language older than anything you currently know to exist.

[Navarre]

T'Ning also recalls revealing information on Jondelyn.

In the several universes the Primordial first created, there were no children ("Einshar"). Jondelyn was the first of their known children, born into the Absynthia universe. When the Absynthia universe was destroyed and the Primordial left that universe, Jondelyn left with them.

The next universe known to have been created was Ashearea and Sabbathyr the last to be created. According to Abraham, a former resident of the Absynthia universe, Jondelyn traveled to Sabbathyr with her parents and stayed there for some time.

Here she created the Kaazradi, the Gnome race. This explains why they are the race most closely tied to magic.

At some point, however, she left Sabbathyr and traveled back to Ashearea. She arrived at the time line of her parents, sometime before the Ascension. Here she seemingly ended up in the conspiracy with her new siblings and their offspring to overthrow the Primordial.

It has been stated by Abraham that the Gnomes of Ashearea originally came to this universe from the race created by Jondelyn on Sabbathyr. Therefore, both Jondelyn and the Gnomes traveled back in time from Sabbathyr's time line to that of Ashearea's, where her parents had returned to continue the construction of this universe.

Coupled with the language parallels and other known events, it seems probable that the Gnomes of Ashearea influenced the development of the elven race on Ashearea. Further, at some point, this history has become lost to the point that the name "Kaazradi" has been assumed by the Ashearean elves instead of the Gnomes.

[Web.Metz]

Faerun starts writing furiously on the origin of the gnomes. Finally some closure!

[Gaumer]

"So ye gnomes be from some other place, eh? Be 'ead is a buzzin' I be tellin' ye.

Can I be gettin' a refill o'er 'ere, Landru.

But what o' 'eaven an' 'ell? Do those places be like these other places like the one ye be visitin', Broomstick? Or do all these places be 'avin' a 'ell o' its own? "

[Navarre]

Landru pours you a refill of his homebrewed tea.

"Careful there. Another cup of this and we might be having to come back for you when this adventure is over."

[Gaumer]

"Oi, after 'earin' such tales as true from me own mate's mouth, a little buzz 'bout me 'ead will be welcome."

[sab39]

"Herr Schmitt said that Sabbathyr was supposed to have its own heaven, I think, but it wasn't working right. He said that when you die in that world you're supposed to move on to somewhere else... he called it an 'Ascension' which seemed highly significant to me... like it might be a clue to what Illumian did or something. But in their world, as in ours, it's not working right and the spirits are all stuck in limbo."

"He didn't mention anything about a Sabbathyrian hell."

[Gaumer]

"*burp* Ah, I be seein'. So in this other world o' yers the spirits be walkin' the world just as in our own? 'Ere ye be able to be seein' 'em, right Broomstick? Can ye see the spirits in this other world?"

[sab39]

"Nope. Even in the graveyard, not a thing."

"But in the graveyard here... it was eerie. When I concentrated on it, I could see everyone who's ever been buried there, I think. And they could see me and kept talking about how I glow."