True World Resurrection

[Seethyr]

You can go ahead and use anything I post. Cut it up or rearrange it however it best fits for your books.

I have looked at TWA3. There is a lot of good lore in it.

Thank you! On both accounts.

Do you have a source for the Mictlaneca and Zateca information? I have not heard of them or I missed it while reading.

Certainly - there's a whole mini-adventure (called Mictlatepec and the Mictlaneca) and on it starting on page 51 in the 2e Boxed Set. The City of the Dead is apparently one of the last remnants of their civilization that occupied Huacli before the Otomi and the other five city states.

[Louis_bowwow]

Interesting read. I had forgotten about that. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics and reread the first books. The Zateca could be the people that allied with the desmodu to over throw the vampires.

As far as The City of Dead, that could be a source of recruits or an adversary for the vampires. Either way could be fun. I think I would prefer them as an adversary. Basically, they are fighting over the same food source.

[Seethyr]

I tweaked your vamps and desmodu a little bit to work a backhistory for the Door of Stars and the nation of Huacli. What do you think? Too much of a change?

This combines your work with allowing PCs to revisit the Dragon Magazine adventure "Mechica." It's all falling into place.


HUACLI REGIONAL HISTORY

The Nexalan Empire was vast and overpowering. It subjugated nations far and wide and it was once thought to cover the whole of the True World. Despite their distance from Nexal, the city states of Huacli were no stranger to the Empire’s reach.
Yet somehow, despite multiple attempts, the city-state of Otomi has always managed to resist ultimate defeat. They won many battles and often set the Nexalans fleeing back to their valley with hardly a slave in tow.
Undaunted, the Nexalans brought about greater and greater forces to bring down the stubborn Otomi, and the inevitable conclusion would be victory. But when the victorious force finally marched into the city itself, they found naught but a ghost town. Abandoned homes, temples, even meals left uneaten were all that could be found. The treasures were few, and although copper could be found in relative abundance, the haul was hardly worth the campaign’s expenditures. After many seasons and many attempts, the Nexalans finally gave up and left the Otomi.
The secret that has saved the Otomi was a relic of an ancient time and unknown origin. Before they inhabited the mountains and valleys of Huacli, there was a nation of folk known as the Zateca. The Zateca spoke a language called Teenek that still has some words in use in modern Huacli, but that is not the only remnant of their civilization.

THE DOOR OF STARS
__________________________

The Door of Stars is a relic that predates even the Zateca, and they are said to have found it hidden in the same mountain cave in which it still resides.
The Door is a gateway to other worlds, controlled by a series of crystals and unknown symbols – a “control center” of sorts. The Door is utterly unbreakable, as is its control panel. Sixteen crystals arranged in a sequence on a four by four panel open doors to different worlds and allows for nigh infinite permutations. Experimentation is almost useless to find “random” worlds but it has been done before (most just keep the gate unopened). In the circumstances where one has been found, it has only caused disaster – once allowing an otherworldly retinue of vampires and their spawn to enter the True World and decimate the Zateca population. The Otomi know this, and experimentation is now strictly forbidden.
The Otomi know of one specific sequence which leads them to a world where the Zateca have relocated to a thousand years past where they are now known as the Sapoteca. It is this land – sometimes called Mechica, to which the Otomi flee when under duress.
Other sequences are said to exist hidden in ruins that are themselves hidden deep in the mountains.

*Note that given there are 16 crystals and 16 positions to fill there are over twenty trillion crystal permutations.

THE ZATECA
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The Zateca inhabited Huacli long before the current civilization and its city-states. They were a peaceful people, at home in the mountaintops, but very similar in temperament to the Payit far to the east.
They found the Door of Stars early in their prerecorded history and came across the crystal sequence that opens the door to Mechica. Whether the sequence was found in an old ruin or through experimentation is unknown, but when they entered, they came across a native population also known as the Mechica. The Mechica were not outright hostile, but also did not entirely welcome the Zateca. An uneasy truce formed as the Zateca colonized the uninhabited mountains of the new world. The Mechica, most likely due to the strange language of the newcomers, mispronounced the Zateca name and over time, the Zateca became known as the Sapotec.
On Toril, the remaining Zateca sought to find new worlds through the Door of Stars. Whether out of greed or simple curiosity, they experimented with abandon. After many years and tens of thousands of attempted sequences, the door finally opened to a world of darkness. Within moments, a retinue of vampires and their spawn poured through the door and killed all the Zapotecs they could find. Within a decade the Zapotec civilization on Toril was no more and the vampires were prepared to move beyond Huacli’s mountain borders.

THE DESMODU
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Unbeknownst to both the Zateca and the invading vampires – another race took note of the horrors that came through the Door of Stars.
A shy civilization of batfolk known as the desmodu inhabited the mountains and remained virtually unknown to the Zateca. The vampires threatened their underground caverns in addition to the surface world and inevitably war began. The desmodu were fierce in defense of their home and were immune to much of the vampires’ power. In another decade of time, with heavy losses among the desmodu, the vampires were driven back in an event known as the Day of the Purge. The vampires were backed to the coast of Huacli and onto a temporary sand bar as the desmodu picked them off one by one astride their giant bats. The sand bar went for many miles until ending at an unknown island where the undead arrived just as the tide came in and destroyed swaths of their vampire spawn. The cruel undead have languished on this island kingdom for many centuries now, ravenous and degenerate. They call their kingdom Nochte, and slaughter any who approach.

[Seethyr]

After the historical intro above, I get into the PC involvement...

This is unedited so please forgive poor grammar.

ADVENTURE BACKGROUND

The adventure begins in the city-state of Otomi. The “nation” of Huacli is more unified in recent years than it has been in the past, but in reality, the whole region is more of a collection of independent governments. Otomi Is considered by outsiders to be a capital for all of Huacli, but this is not technically factual.
If the players are following the adventure path which began with TWR1 The Sea Demon’s Pearl and TWR2 The Maztican Ball Game, they should be aware that something major is afoot in the True World. The Druids of Maztica, having seen their skill and unexpected performance in the Kultakan Grand Tournament, now believe that the characters will continue to play a major role in what they are hoping will be the resurrection of their goddess. If the PCs had the vision of the goddess from TWR1, they will know that the druids are correct.
A prominent druidess, Malinalli of the Otomi, will have summoned them here to the mountain city in order to determine if the PCs desire to continue in their role. She will have already offered 100 gold quills (1,000 gp) through a messenger simply for them to make the trip.
The adventure can also be played if the characters are not yet involved in the adventure path. In this case, however, it is up to the DM to determine the reason why the characters are in Otomi. Huacli is known for its exports of copper and perhaps the players are hired to accompany a returning caravan. Either way, Malinalli will have had visions about their role in this all and will approach them within hours of entering the city.
The druids have existed for some time now, forming when the gods stopped answering prayers and when the sky turned to steel over a hundred years ago. Now that the world is back to what it once was, the druids consider this the fulfillment of a prophecy that the goddess Maztica would return. In their visions, the druids have been told that they must first acquire an item known as the Risa Stone. The magic of the Risa Stone could distract her son Zaltec long enough to allow her tonalli (soul) to reunite with a mortal form. Otherwise, the vindictive god of war would personally strike down any who attempted such a deed.
Unfortunately, the Risa Stone is not of this world - and if heroes were to acquire it for her, they would have to pass through the Door of Stars.
The Door of Stars has existed since time immemorial and it is hidden in a nearly inaccessible cavern far in the mountain passes. The Door can connect to an infinite number of worlds, and the Risa Stone exists in one.

ADVENTURE SYNOPSIS

After a few hours in the Huacli city Otomi, the player characters will be approached by the druidess who summoned them. She (Malinalli) will explain to them the adventure backstory and send them on their way.
For the first phase of the adventure, the PCs will have to infiltrate a City of the Dead known as Mictlaneca in order to discover a code long hidden by the ancient civilization which once inhabited (and still do in a way) the city.
In the next step of their journey, the players will have to brave an underground journey to the Door of Stars and open the portal. They will beset upon by an ancient vampire and his spawn who has survived an ancient purge, but the characters may find allies here in unexpected corners.
Through the Door of Stars, the PCs find themselves in a whole new world, one very different from their own where foreign, yet familiar gods and myths reside. In this land, they need to locate the fabled Risa Stone and take it by force from the nation of cruel men and women known as the Mechica.
Getting it back to the True World will require the PCs to find additional allies in this strange land among the gnomish tlaloques and the shy Sapotecs - a people who once inhabited the True World but migrated here long ago.
With the Risa Stone in hand - the Druids of Maztica reward the PCs handsomely before preparing the PCs for their next mission.


I have also aquired artwork for the cover thanks to HeliacWolf's permission.

[Louis_bowwow]

That works for me. You could bring in a lot of random elements into play with the Door of Stars. Very cool.

[Seethyr]

That works for me. You could bring in a lot of random elements into play with the Door of Stars. Very cool.

Yeah that’s really what I’m going for. There’s really not enough mesoamerican adventuring out there, and I figured this would be a way to interconnect it all. This way, if a DM wants to visit the Azcans, they can. The upcoming Magic the Gathering location. No problem.

[Louis_bowwow]

On that note, here is a link to a website that was created a while ago. The author details a pretty extensive continent with a mesoamerican theme and he placed Mechica on it. It’s fairly well fleshed out and a good source of inspiration.

http://www.devinlc.com/sazhansiirgaz.htm

I have a document that I downloaded about a decade ago that is pretty cool. It’s called Ezahuac, and details another Aztec themed setting. I like it a lot, but it’s about 44 pages long, so too big to post. For the life of me, I can’t find where I got it from on the internet. I have searched for a long time and nothing pops up.

[Seethyr]

On that note, here is a link to a website that was created a while ago. The author details a pretty extensive continent with a mesoamerican theme and he placed Mechica on it. It’s fairly well fleshed out and a good source of inspiration.

http://www.devinlc.com/sazhansiirgaz.htm

So far it's a good read. seems like the author through a lot of the more obscure races from the 3.5 splatbooks in wherever he could and has a thing for incarnum (which I never quite got into, but am willing to try.)

I have a document that I downloaded about a decade ago that is pretty cool. It’s called Ezahuac, and details another Aztec themed setting. I like it a lot, but it’s about 44 pages long, so too big to post. For the life of me, I can’t find where I got it from on the internet. I have searched for a long time and nothing pops up.

May I take a look? (should I PM you for email or use the yahoo group?)


On another note, I decided to work out the Mictlaneca as a template that matched the flavor of that adventure a little better instead of just using regular old zombies, ghouls and ghasts. I'm planning on using this both in the Door of Stars and the monster book I have coming out...

_______________________________________________________________________

MICTLANECA

In the mountains of Huacli lies the city of Mictlatepec, also known as the City of the Dead. The city goes about its daily business as it has for centuries, but there is one major difference from a normal city that can be difficult to determine until it is too late – the whole city is full of the undead men and women known as the mictlaneca.
Unfortunately, the plague of death has not stayed in place as of late, and the mictlaneca have spread to other parts of the True World.
Living Undead. The mictlaneca are humanoids who become undead, but maintain many of the traits of their former lives and often behave in a very similar manner. Depending on their standing in life, they take on the traits of zombies, ghouls, ghasts or wights.
Talisman of Perpetual Life. Only one of these items is known to exist currently but another might easily be created as knowledge of the rite spreads throughout the true world. This talisman of hishna created the first mictlaneca, the ancient ruler of Mictlatepec named Alban. Only by wearing this talisman upon the moment of death can a mictlaneca gain the powers of a wight.
Knife of Perpetual Service. In order to bring his followers with him for eternity, Alban used a knife of perpetual service to create the other mictlaneca – those with the powers of ghasts, ghouls or zombies. Sacrificing an individual humanoid with such a device causes that being to rise the following evening as one of the living dead. More knives have since been created and many exist outside of Mictlatepec.

MICTLANECA TEMPLATE

A humanoid can become a mictlaneca. When a creature becomes a mictlaneca, it retains all of its statistics except as noted below. Each change is based on the base creature’s CR.
Type. The creature’s type becomes undead.
Alignment. The good-evil axis of the creature’s alignment becomes evil.
Resistances. Necrotic
Immunities. Charmed, exhaustion, poison, poisoned
New Abilities/Actions. The creature gains the following abilities and actions based on its original CR. Each ability uses the proficiency and stat bonuses of the base creature.


[b]CR Range[/b]|[b]New Ability/Action[/b] CR0-1/2|Undead Fortitude ([i]as Zombie[/i]) CR1-2|Bite ([i]as Ghoul[/i]) CR3+|Bite and Stench ([i]as Ghast[/i]) *CR3+|Life Drain ([i]as Wight[/i])

*Only if created with Talisman of Perpetual Life

[Louis_bowwow]

Yeah, just PM me and I can send it your way.

I just took a look at your new monster book and it looks good. If I think of anything I will send it your way.

[Louis_bowwow]

If you are interested in it, WOTC released the Ixalan setting guide. The link for it is bellow. The bestiary is pretty interesting.

https://media.wizards.com/2018/download ... ixalan.pdf

[Seethyr]

If you are interested in it, WOTC released the Ixalan setting guide. The link for it is bellow. The bestiary is pretty interesting.

https://media.wizards.com/2018/download ... ixalan.pdf

This is an utterly fantastic bit of work. I love this setting and am absolutely going to find a way to bring my own players there. This is how I envisioned dinosaurs in Maztica for one.

I’m thinking of working the Door of Stars to allow for a connection. Now that it’s all in 5e stats there’s no reason not to. Essentially Ixalan is Maztica done correctly.

[Louis_bowwow]

That’s pretty much my feeling. It is not RW history re-skinned. It is a re-imagining.

I like how the natives can hold their own against the invaders. The elder dinosaurs are pretty cool as well. Kind of like kaiju in a way.

If I could find a place to put it, I would put the entire setting near my Maztica. I will be stealing many parts of this to incorporate into my Maztica setting.

[Jürgen Hubert]

That’s pretty much my feeling. It is not RW history re-skinned. It is a re-imagining.

I like how the natives can hold their own against the invaders.

In the real world, the natives had plagues of apocalyptic proportions to deal with. In fantasy settings with magical healing, this is less likely

[Louis_bowwow]

Okay, I don’t normally push products, but if you liked what you saw from the Ixalan guide, you will love the book Art of Magic the Gathering - Ixalan. I just picked it up and it is fantastic. It is in essence a setting guide for Ixalan. It details the lands, people and history. It is also very visually stunning. I highly recommend it. I just had a chance to thumb through it and I’m impressed. You can get it for a discount on Amazon. Check it out. If you have any questions about it, let me know and I will try to answer them.

[Seethyr]

So, the entire TWR series is nearly done. In summary, the first three adventures and supplements have been up on DMS guild for a while, but what I am really happy with is the near completion of TWR4. I'll include links to them all below.

The final installment is about Zatal, the massive volcano that sits in the center of the Valley of Nexal and canonically has a megadungeon of sorts below it. I've managed to link its origin to the death of Maztica at the hands of her son Zaltec. Combined, I think this adventure path has become my own favorite since TWC1 and TWC2.

TWR1 The Sea Demon's Pearl
TWR2 The Maztican Ball Game
TWR3 The Door of Stars

TWR4 Zatal - The Mountain of Fire DRAFT 6-7-18

If anyone runs any of them, I would love to hear your story.

[Zeromaru X]

Do you have plans for Lopango? Or you will be focused on Maztica only? Last I knew, you were working on something at Candlekeep, but I lost track of it.

[Seethyr]

Do you have plans for Lopango? Or you will be focused on Maztica only? Last I knew, you were working on something at Candlekeep, but I lost track of it.

I love Lopango - I feel like no one has done Inca before so it became a real passion to learn about and try to write up a fantasy equivalent that actually fit into the Realms. The only problem is that Maztica is a niche and that makes Lopango really a niche within a niche, so I kind of left it alone.

Your post makes me think there’s actually interest though, are you looking for an adventure or something different?

[Zeromaru X]

Lore. I have downloaded your Land of Fire document, and is so small, that it made me curious. There is no more info on the setting?

[Seethyr]

Lore. I have downloaded your Land of Fire document, and is so small, that it made me curious. There is no more info on the setting?

For now that’s all there is. I have some old notes from 3e days that I may expand upon now though. I’ll keep you posted.

[Seethyr]

Here’s some material from around 2013-2014. It was some of my first attempts at this whole thing so please forgive its errors and imbalances. I think I will redo the lore about Ten Ten and Kai Kai.

Itla Tlayohua

Also, this was my first 3e version of Lopango that I updated for the 5e version. There was some material that didn’t get reused.

Lopango 3e

[Zeromaru X]

Thanks. I find odd that there is so small amount of info about Lopango. I mean, even Anchorome got more stuff, like the Poscadar elves.

OTOH, the place seems to be a good free space for world building.

[Seethyr]

OTOH, the place seems to be a good free space for world building.

That may be the best thing about it. Even Osse has more information. Maybe we should start a Lopango building thread?

[Zeromaru X]

That would be an excellent idea.

[Zeromaru X]

Double post, but... Seems all the info in those PDFs was made by you? If so, wow. Good job.

I like some stuff, not so much others (there are some obvious shout outs to real life stuff), but overall this is really good material.

[Seethyr]

Yeah I looked really really hard for actual Lopango lore and came up woefully short. So I did my best to write my own.

The old stuff (pre 5e) is an embarrassment at this point, I had just started writing and did not have a firm grasp on 3e rules (I only played, never Dm’d at the time). The tidbits of lore in there that I do like will be redone.