Eclavdra and the EEG

[Scott]

Would some background info on Eclavdra's relationship with the EEG be worthwhile? How she became a follower? How she gained the info on how to release the EEG, etc.

[GT]

That; and how she got the giants involved to forgo the likes of Surtur and take up worship of unOerthly being(s) who had been defeated ages before. Interestingly, from the murals, the three EEG's seem a "self-contained unit". Unlike Demons, Devils and some of the gods, they do not seem to form alliances outside of their kind--merely demand worship and sacrifices from whatever sentient creatures they can find. They apparently feed on the matter and life energy of their sacrifices and desire no treasure, per se (although I reckon there would be some residual magic items, etc.)

[GT]

I would have loved to have seen Steve Marsh's notes that he auctioned off to see if there had been any ideas concerning these beings. Somewhere I have that partial list of his critter ideas, but no details---the original "Manual of the Planes" is kind of second only to Castle Greyhawk in the Holy Grails of 1E AD&D category... ^__^

[GT]

I've thought about e-mailing him for details on the likes of Oman-Arath, the translucent hunters, burning wraiths, Allem Tsegoth's Spawn, the sons of flame, the Starfire Dragon, etc. I was working on a personal version of Manual of Planes based off of 1E, the Gord books, and random bits from Rob and Steve that would have been closer to Gary's original visions, but without the details from Steve it's a bit moot...

[Scott]

I never felt that the giants worshipped the EEG. They were just in it for the plunder, mercenaries. All of the EEG info in the giant lairs seems to pre-date the giants.

[GT]

Hmmm, that seems logical to me. I forgot that the Temple in G3 was actually maintained by the Drow; not Snurre and company.

[geneweigel]

admin said:

Would some background info on Eclavdra's relationship with the EEG be worthwhile? How she became a follower? How she gained the info on how to release the EEG, etc.

That would be good if we wanted to...

SLAY THE ADVENTURE!!!!



Seriously, I think that style-wise that can come into play in the form of the description to an old (or current) lair of hers. As long as it isn't too lengthy and definitely not in "notes to the DM".

[geneweigel]

In regards to the giants worshipping the EEG, they are sacrificing their own kind to the EEG in the images and they have a specific giant's worship area.

[Scott]

Is that in G3?

[geneweigel]

Yes, in G3 HALL OF THE FIRE GIANT KING pages 9-10 in keyed areas 9 to 11 is the Temple of the Eye:



Also the drow cleric's area is key #12 (I couldn't fit that in).

[Scott]

So then, back to this:

gt said:

That; and how she got the giants involved to forgo the likes of Surtur and take up worship of unOerthly being(s) who had been defeated ages before. Interestingly, from the murals, the three EEG's seem a "self-contained unit". Unlike Demons, Devils and some of the gods, they do not seem to form alliances outside of their kind--merely demand worship and sacrifices from whatever sentient creatures they can find. They apparently feed on the matter and life energy of their sacrifices and desire no treasure, per se (although I reckon there would be some residual magic items, etc.)

Do you think Eclavdra convinced the giants to serve the EEG with promises of gain, or did she track down giants that already worshipped the EEG?
What about the temple in G1? My original thinking is that the fortress location was chosen by the drow due to the old temple being there, but now I wonder. Is it possible the giants were already followers?
My opinion was that the giants aren't too devout, and there worship is little more than, "Yeah whatever. When's the next raid?"

[geneweigel]

Note: Thats on the second of three levels and is copied from G1-3 not the actual G3 (that I got at GenCon 2002) but its cross checked and it is the same text word for word.

Note: QUEEN OF SPIDERS (the compilation adventure module from years later 1986) had the "Lame Wizards" (Dave "Zeb" Cook and Jeff Grubb) censor the text by removing my favorite line "and the bloody gobbets"...

[geneweigel]

On key 17 page 18 of D3 VAULT OF THE DROW it states:

ESTATE OF THE HOUSE OF EILSERVS: Device: Copper staff.
Rank: 1st. The Eilservs have long seen a need for an
absolute monarch to rule the Vault, and as the noble
house of first precedence, they have reasoned that their
mistress should be Queen of All Drow. When this was
proposed, the priestesses of Lolth supported the other
noble families aligned against the Eilservs, fearing that
such a change would abolish their position as the final
authority over all disputes and actions of the Dark Elves.
Thereafter, the Eilservs and their followers turned away
from the demoness and proclaimed their deity to be an
Elder Elemental God (see MODULE G1-2-3). Although
there is no open warfare, there is much hatred, and
both factions seek to destroy each other. An attempt to
move worship of their deity into the upper world, establish
a puppet kindom there, and grow so powerful from
this success that their demands for absolute rulership
no longer be thwarted, was ruined of late, and the
family is now retrenching.

[Scott]

Do you think that was in reference to Gary's original ToEE concept? It seems to obvious to mean the giants, from ealier in the same series.

[geneweigel]

Yeah, it just a refresher about the giants it seems.

Besides these guys being anti-Lolth predates the Lareth/Lolth/TOEE thing (1979) in D1 DESCENT INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH (1978) page 6 Encounter area D3:

If for any reason the Drow are seriously
threatened, she will attempt to save
herself by using her magical cloak to change
into a lurker above and fly off without notice or being
noticed, for she is charged with reporting to the
Fane any significant event which transpires after
the fall of Snurre, i.e. the ruin of Eclavdra’s
plans, for the latter is an opponent of the
Fane.

So Lolth being into the TOEE was probably a jealous attempt to compete with the "new" elemental evil trend amongst the Drow.

At least thats the way I think Gary seemed to be going there.

[GT]

Well, we know from the murals that Giants (as well as Drow, Humans and others... ) once worshipped the EEG's as well as serving as sacrifices ("bloody gobbets" ^__^). You know, if you read the description of Krakens, there seems to be some sort of link with the EEG's (in more than just appearance; although the Krakens have grown twice as large [about 60 feet long versus about 30 feet for the EEG's].) The Krakens once received worship from the surface dwellers too, before being driven to the depths. Perhaps the Kraken were originally a servant race of the EEG's before their banishment--if so, we have a "new race" for D4--the underground remnants of the original 30-foot version Krakens, perhaps paler (albino?) and even smaller (10 to 20-feet??) from their underground environment... What think you?

[geneweigel]

I just realized that what I assumed was an abandoned temple of the eye in G1 isn't the EEG at all. Its some kind of a blob and the effects and colors don't match up to the Giant's eye temple in G3 that is stated to be duplicated in every way except for the Drow in D3. (Note: it also doesn't match up to the colors or effects in WG4 FORGOTTEN TEMPLE OF THARIZDUN or any of the altars and effects in T1-4 TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL)

[geneweigel]

gt said:

Well, we know from the murals that Giants (as well as Drow, Humans and others... ) once worshipped the EEG's as well as serving as sacrifices ("bloody gobbets" ^__^).

Yes, it does imply something from long ago but it could be the shape of things to come like a prophesy too. So that leaves us right back where we started from:

That it could be "new" for the giants.

That weird temple not being the EEG sort of sets the reset button on old EEG giant worship. Maybe thats their old god.

[GT]

Actually, I had assumed that the abandoned temple might be an old and non-reactivated EEG temple...

[geneweigel]

The Drow showed up and suggested that the power of the EEG is on the rise to Snurre and the others which made the Hill Giants abandon their temple to the blob?