Ur-Flan
| Ur-Flan | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Arcane |
| Founded: | Prehistoric |
| Leader: | Various |
| Members: | Wizards, sorcerers, necromancers |
| Allies: | Old Faith |
| Enemies: | Aerdi, City of the Summer Stars |
Ur-Flan, called the "Ur-Flannae" in Ivid the Undying, is the name for the mystics amongst the earliest Flan.[1] They are noted for their rare mystics, adepts, sorcerers, and wizards amongst the ancient Flan tribes and kingdoms—and are known especially for being "wicked,"[2] having facility in necromantic arts, consorting and summoning both devils and demons,[3][4] and "performing unspeakable rituals."[5]
"Ur-Flan" is also used to refer to the language spoken by the Ur-Flannae people.
History
[edit | edit source]In some of the earliest recorded histories, the Ur-Flannae could be found in many locations as far back as "a thousand years before the Twin Cataclysms" (c.-1422).[6]
During the Great Migrations, the Baklunish and Oeridian tribes who crossed the Cold Marshes in the north, found themselves facing the early Flannae in the region, and turned back.[7]
Ur-Flannae mages and necromancers helped bring down the City of the Summer Stars with fire and acid from the sky, summoned monsters, undead, and decimated thousands of square miles of the Coldwood, although Darnakurian slew them in repayment.[8]
Prior to forming the Kingdom of Aerdy c.-216 CY, the tribes of the Aerdi were not individually of sufficient strength to challenge the Ur-Flan.[9]
Before c.-200 CY, Lum the Mad wielded the sword Druniazth "against Ur-Flan sorcerers near what’s now the Bonewood." However he lost the sword in battle, and the search for it is what drove him mad.[10]
In -108 CY, Ur-Flan insurgents attempted to assassinate the King of Aerdy by summoning a "winged horror."[11]
"Eventually, the Ur-Flan sorcerers waned in power and vanished."[5]
The last stand of the Ur-Flan against the invading Aerdi was at the Isle of Lost Souls.[12]
Society
[edit | edit source]The Ur-Flannae were most notably found in the ancient region which eventually became Blackmoor Town and Arn, but they were also found in northern areas which are now called Tenh, as well as Stringen in Aerdiaak/North Province (and later North Kingdom), and spread as far as the "eastern coast of the Flanaess."[13] and as far south as ancient Sulm in the Bright Desert.[6]
The Ur-Flan were greatly feared by the Flan, moreso than by the Aerdi Oeridians who succeeded them as masters of the Flanaess. "With their unholy powers, they enslaved their own people.... [they] set their slaves to build great ziggurats and rewarded the unfortunate thralls for their labours by sacrificing them to dark powers."[4] They trafficked with fiends and vile wyrms and made war upon the olve—most notably the olve of the City of Summer Stars."
Relationships
[edit | edit source]The druids of the Old Faith allied themselves with the Ur-Flannae at times, or at least elected not to challenge them when they did not greatly damage the balance of nature. Some among the druids still preserve some of the ancient Ur-Flannae lore and secrets.[5]
Notable individuals
[edit | edit source]Named Ur-Flannae mystics include Vecna and Keraptis.[citation needed] Some of the depraved families of the Ataphad Islands trace their ancestry to the Ur-Flan of old.[2]
Magic
[edit | edit source]Northern Adepts of ancient Old Blackmoor were Ur-Flan sorcerers[14] who are noted for their poems which have been passed down over time. From these poems, secrets can be derived for "strengthening protective magic"; i.e., making abjurations more difficult to dispel.[15] The Northern Adepts are distinct from the Ur-Flan who are necromancers, because at least two distinct traditions are referred to as being practiced by contemporary Flan wizards—those who practice these poems of "protective spells"[16] and those who practice the "poetry of the necromantic invocations"[17][16] which strengthen necromancy spells[18]
In Living Greyhawk
[edit | edit source]Ur-priests
[edit | edit source]Some powerful Ur-Flan mystics may have been called "Ur-Priests." This is a name of a prestige class published during third edition, and the name seems to indicate this is the case. The prestige class was used in the Living Greyhawk campaign from 2004-2008[19][20] but was only permitted for NPCs (as the prestige class members must be of evil alignment).[21]
History
[edit | edit source]Ur-priests only learn their abilities from another Ur-priest,[21] meaning the knowledge would have been passed down for as much as a millennium—since even before the beginning of the Great Migrations.
Magic
[edit | edit source]Ur-priests despise deities and can come from any background and training, but may not practice any form of worship of a deity (have a divine spellcasting class) and if they did so previously, they must renounce their deity (become an ex-cleric).[21] However, "a small number of them" learn to tap into deities' divine power and steal tiny portions of it for their own ends without any need to worship a deity. Ur-Priests fall into a trance and mentally intercept power being sent from deities to their devout, but are always careful not to consume too much power from any one deity, instead taking only what they need. The strongest Ur-Priest is as strong as powerful clerics, all without the need to follow any religious practices.[21]
Rumors and legends
[edit | edit source]There are said to be three of the greatest of the Ur-Flannae mystics buried beneath the Isle of Cursed Souls.[3]
"Some of the oldest books of Flanaess Oeridian mages give riddles and allusions to the work of Ur-Flannae mystics" with stone fragments from the Causeway of Fiends.[3]
"Legend says that the numerous mounds and standing stones throughout [Arn] were created by the Northern Adepts of Old Blackmoor (presumably a cabal of Ur-Flan sorcerers) to constrain the encroaching Black Ice."[14]
Some believe the Phalanx was built on an Ur-Flannae sacred site.[22]
Amongst the natural caves which dot the Gull Cliffs, there are rumored to be magical sites which are supposedly the burial chambers of at least two ancient Ur-Flan mages or necromances."[23]
See also
[edit | edit source]See also: Flan
References
[edit | edit source]Citations
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Ivid the Undying (1995), p.8.
- ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.146.
- ↑ a b c Ivid the Undying (1995), p.53.
- ↑ a b Looby, Paul (15 April 2008). Mysterious Places: Isle of Lost Souls. wizards.com. WotC. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved on 18 January 2023.
- ↑ a b c Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.161.
- ↑ a b "Blood of Heroes". Living Greyhawk Journal #3 (Feb 2001), p.15.
- ↑ Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.4.
- ↑ Ivid the Undying (1995), p.74.
- ↑ Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).
- ↑ "Artifacts of Oerth". Living Greyhawk Journal #10 (Dragon #294, Apr 2002), p.96.
- ↑ Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.157.
- ↑ Looby, Paul (15 April 2008). Mysterious Places: Isle of Lost Souls. Wizards.com. WotC. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved on 18 January 2023.
- ↑ "Demogorgon's Champions; Death Knights of Oerth, pt.2". Living Greyhawk Journal #7 (Dragon #291, Jan 2002), p.92.
- ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.34.
- ↑ "Regional Feats of Oerth". Dragon #315 (Jan 2004), p.54. Lays of the Northern Adepts
- ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.6.
- ↑ Ivid the Undying (1995), p.86.
- ↑ "Regional Feats of Oerth.". Dragon #315 (Jan 2004), p.54. Lore of the Ur-Flan
- ↑ Living Greyhawk Campaign Sourcebook v3.0, 594 CY (2004) , p.29.
- ↑ Living Greyhawk Campaign Sourcebook v7.5.0, 597 CY (2007) , p.34.
- ↑ a b c d Complete Divine (2004), p.70.
- ↑ Ivid the Undying (1995), p.42.
- ↑ Ivid the Undying (1995), p.100.
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]- Grohe, Allan T., and Erik Mona. "All Oerth's Artifacts." Dragon #299. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
- Menge, Eric. "Power Groups: Druids of the Old Faith." Wizards of the Coast. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008. Available online:[1]
- Mona, Erik. "Regional Feats of Oerth." Dragon #315. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.
- Sargent, Carl. Ivid the Undying. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995. Published online. PDF by William Allman with maps. Original RTF archived:Wizards.com. WGR7 or WGRx
- Thorsson, Modi, and Kevin McCann. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant. Lakewood, CO: Iron Hammer Graphics, 2002.
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lore of the Ur-Flan (General) | Rules | Feat/Proficiency/Skill, | Dragon magazine #315 | 54 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Dragon magazine #208 | 54 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Dragon magazine #291 | 92, 95 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Dragon magazine #293 | 90 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Dragon magazine #294 | 96 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Dragon magazine #315 | 54 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Ivid the Undying | 8, 42, 49, 53, 74, 86, 100, 102, 153 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Living Greyhawk Gazetteer | 5, 23, 34, 146, 157, 161 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Living Greyhawk Journal #1 | 29 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Living Greyhawk Journal #3 | 15, 27 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Living Greyhawk Journal #4 | 7 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #01 | 14 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #05 | 5 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #11 | 42 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #18 | 11,17 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #20 | 23,24 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #22 | 4,5,7,8,10,12,44,52 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #24 | 28,38,40,44 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #25 | 14,19,43 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #27 | 16,17 |
| Ur-Flan | People Group | People, | Oerth Journal #31 | 30 |