Posted October 18, 2015
Spoilers...
Hello everyone!
Have you guys ever wondered what would happen if the PC never stopped Irenicus' plans?
Here's my take on it:
Everything up to the underdark would go swimmingly for him. In the game the PC is just dealing with the aftermath of Irenicus' path of ruin.
The drow and Irenicus would end up destroying Suldenesselar. After that their plans would start a downward spiral. Irenicus becoming a god would rustle a lot of jimmies. He would be an infant in deity terms and a lot of folks would take advantage of that. Gruumish and Lolth would kill him just for being an elf, and he would have to fight them alone. It's not like the Seldarine would back him up.
There are also god like beings like Demogorgon and Asmodeus who would kill Irenicus for some street cred. I'm not sure if El Minister is a god or not, but he is incredibly powerful and a new evil god coming into existence sounds like something he would get involved in.
And there's the Cowled Wizards and Shadow Thieves. They both rule by fear and have a lot to lose by standing idly by. I know the Shadow Thieves are a bunch of gangsters, but they are very good at gathering information. That's a skill that's a lot more valuable than it sounds. In fact, the generals of the Blood War highly value rogue types because of this.
Irenicus destroying Suldenesselar is an act of genocide against his own people. Something that terrible would get you pulled into Ravenloft. No matter how powerful your are (or think you are), the lords of Raveloft will always be stronger. Vecna got stuck there if I remember correctly - and Irenicus is no Vecna!
And then there's Ao, the overgod. All the things I mentioned might not even happen because Ao can just crush Irenicus like a bug. Why would he do that, you ask? Because Irenicus is upsetting an established balance, which is what triggered the Time of Troubles.
As for the drow...
They won't get very far either. When the PC goes to Ust Natha, we get some valuable information. The other races have agents in the city on "diplomatic" missions. And there's already a lot of conflict within the city's political infrastructure.
I'm not sure if the commanders on the surface would know about this going into the war, but they'd eventually pick up on it through reconnaissance. The fight with Suldensselar would already cause significant casualties. They do have golems, rakhshasa, and a few demons, but they would have to pull back their strongest forces to defend Ust Natha. The problem with armies is that they need to be supplied. Ust Natha and the road to the surface is how they would supply their troops, and with that gone everything else collapses.
The forces in Ust Natha would be taking on armies of beholders, illithids, deep gnomes, duergar, and possibly dwarves and derro. The drow forces on the surface would have to fight the combined might of several nations. Adalon would spread the word of the drow invasion as quickly as she could - and no one is going to refuse to help because if the drow win, everyone else loses.
The surface armies would win by setting up bases around the surface entrance in a circle. They don't have to move for a while. Each base looks out for the two beside it in case one of them is overrun. Ust Natha's numbers would further dwindle from attacks on the surface. I'd like to go into how the bases should be set up, but I reached "too long" several paragraphs up.
The drow would eventually lose to a pincer move. The underdark forces would overrun Ust Natha and the surface would eventually push further inward, putting pressure on whatever troops the drow have stationed there.
Well, that's all that I can think of. Let me know what you think of my post!
Hello everyone!
Have you guys ever wondered what would happen if the PC never stopped Irenicus' plans?
Here's my take on it:
Everything up to the underdark would go swimmingly for him. In the game the PC is just dealing with the aftermath of Irenicus' path of ruin.
The drow and Irenicus would end up destroying Suldenesselar. After that their plans would start a downward spiral. Irenicus becoming a god would rustle a lot of jimmies. He would be an infant in deity terms and a lot of folks would take advantage of that. Gruumish and Lolth would kill him just for being an elf, and he would have to fight them alone. It's not like the Seldarine would back him up.
There are also god like beings like Demogorgon and Asmodeus who would kill Irenicus for some street cred. I'm not sure if El Minister is a god or not, but he is incredibly powerful and a new evil god coming into existence sounds like something he would get involved in.
And there's the Cowled Wizards and Shadow Thieves. They both rule by fear and have a lot to lose by standing idly by. I know the Shadow Thieves are a bunch of gangsters, but they are very good at gathering information. That's a skill that's a lot more valuable than it sounds. In fact, the generals of the Blood War highly value rogue types because of this.
Irenicus destroying Suldenesselar is an act of genocide against his own people. Something that terrible would get you pulled into Ravenloft. No matter how powerful your are (or think you are), the lords of Raveloft will always be stronger. Vecna got stuck there if I remember correctly - and Irenicus is no Vecna!
And then there's Ao, the overgod. All the things I mentioned might not even happen because Ao can just crush Irenicus like a bug. Why would he do that, you ask? Because Irenicus is upsetting an established balance, which is what triggered the Time of Troubles.
As for the drow...
They won't get very far either. When the PC goes to Ust Natha, we get some valuable information. The other races have agents in the city on "diplomatic" missions. And there's already a lot of conflict within the city's political infrastructure.
I'm not sure if the commanders on the surface would know about this going into the war, but they'd eventually pick up on it through reconnaissance. The fight with Suldensselar would already cause significant casualties. They do have golems, rakhshasa, and a few demons, but they would have to pull back their strongest forces to defend Ust Natha. The problem with armies is that they need to be supplied. Ust Natha and the road to the surface is how they would supply their troops, and with that gone everything else collapses.
The forces in Ust Natha would be taking on armies of beholders, illithids, deep gnomes, duergar, and possibly dwarves and derro. The drow forces on the surface would have to fight the combined might of several nations. Adalon would spread the word of the drow invasion as quickly as she could - and no one is going to refuse to help because if the drow win, everyone else loses.
The surface armies would win by setting up bases around the surface entrance in a circle. They don't have to move for a while. Each base looks out for the two beside it in case one of them is overrun. Ust Natha's numbers would further dwindle from attacks on the surface. I'd like to go into how the bases should be set up, but I reached "too long" several paragraphs up.
The drow would eventually lose to a pincer move. The underdark forces would overrun Ust Natha and the surface would eventually push further inward, putting pressure on whatever troops the drow have stationed there.
Well, that's all that I can think of. Let me know what you think of my post!
