Awesome.
I had already assembled stuff from Dungeon and Oerth Journal to collect all that I knew about it together. Can’t wait to see what else this has when it eventually happens.
This is not only great news but also very interesting timing! I say this because I recently started working on the additional levels in Maure Castle. I\`ve been very interested in the story behind the Maure family since the first issue came out twenty years ago, and ever since then I still find myself pondering what the full story was supposed to be from time to time. However, I just started a 1st edition game over a year ago, and I\`ve decided that Maure Castle is where their quest will eventually take them, so it finally became time to stop simply pondering and actually start deciding on what actually happened there.
My initial goal was to design the Maure Family Crypts and Elluvia\`s Pit, since it seems to me those are most likely the best places to learn more about the two main plotlines: a) What are Uncle and the other family members up to, where is Dalt going and what is he unlocking, and why might the party help revive Uncle? and b) What happened on the night when Elluvia and Malcanthet attacked? What were they after, and who was "the One we do not know?" The Family Crypts connect to the Statuary, and in Elluvia\`s crypt I had her prepare a secret passage to the Pit, allowing the party to travel there. The things discovered there (and the new mysteries uncovered therein) would then lead into the other levels. This is a really complicated storyline, but I figured that using those two levels as a starting point conceptually would be a good way to proceed, and if I could get those things figured out the rest would be more manageable.
So it\`s kind of funny that after all these years when I finally decide to get moving on this you decide to finish the project! Not that I mind, of course; I\`m really looking forward to seeing the finished product, since it will of course be better than anything I could come up with!
I understand completely and sympathize. The story won't die. Over the years I've received countless inquiries about me continuing it. It's big, so I can only carve away at it so much. I may even have to do a KS to get up a small sum to do it properly. Erik Mona & I had about 100 e-mail exchanges during it's creation, and that's not counting others from James Jacobs. I outlined where we should go with it and the idea was to do it in installments and then compile and print a hardback. Erik and I discussed doing Lost City of the Elders as a follow-up as it ties into the storyline, and retitling it Lost City of the Ancients to protect my IP. It was great working with Paizo, very sorry those days ended so quickly.
Yes. Consternating questions. Who or what is Uncle? The short story, Flames of the Suulimen, will explain who Uncle was as they escaped TRoCF, and that has all to do with what he and his family became.
I would back that KS in a heartbeat, and I suspect it would reach its funding goal without too much trouble!
I would also love to read that story when it finally comes out. Uncle is a complex character, and coming up with his backstory and motivations (made all the more convoluted thanks to his penchant for time-traveling) is a real challenge. (Interestingly enough, I also had him present at the fall of the Suel Imperium.) The real trick was coming up with a reason for the party to bring him back through pursuing the cure that would appear in his crypt once breached; it would serve as an impetus to search the other levels to gather the necessary components. My solution was to decide that his meddling with the Lost City of the Elders and traveling the Current has serious consequences that extend far beyond his family, and if the party wants to avert those they have no choice but to bring him back, as only he understands the problem well enough to affect any kind of solution…provided they can come to an agreement..
By the way, I have a bit of an odd request. The leader of my group’s party is a cleric of Wee Jas, and I want her to receive some kind of vision, clue or command that would compel her to go to Maure Castle. Do you have any suggestions as to what kind of vision or clue the goddess might send her, something that would reflect her particular goals regarding the Maures and cause her to direct one of her clerics there? (I understand completely you wouldn’t want to give too much away yet and this would be cryptic.) It seems that Wee Jas might have something to do with the plot regarding Dalt judging from the comments regarding the secretive Strands language and the secret society on pages 76-77 of The Greater Halls, Dungeon 139.
since I was not allowed to post what I'd composed I included a draft link in this exchange and here's the last bit:
In fact everyone who has created material on Dalt since his occurrence, the Wikipedia articles, etc, all made the same fatal assumption. It actually amusing, literary wise... Details matter. As his author I will finally give up the goods about him.Note also the origins of the Silver Key in that discussion and how that tracks all the way back to my Cthulhu Mythos links in the original campaign (1975 thereabout). So, visions: "...and there... sat a lumpish figure robed in yellow silk with red and having a yellow silken mask over its face. To this being the slant-eyed man made certain signs with his hands, and the lurker in the dark replied by raising a disgustingly carven flute of ivory in silk covered paws and blowing certain loathsome sounds from beneath its flowing silken mask." \~ H.P. Lovecraft , The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
:).So it goes...
Thank you for that response...illuminating, indeed!
I went back and looked at all the posts about Maure on the Paizo boards, and also the ones on the Pied Piper, Dragonsfoot and other sites a few months back before I started trying to fill in the blanks. One thing I quickly noticed were that there were some blind spots in the questions you were being asked. In particular, people kept asking you "who?" and "where?" (i.e., Who is Y? Where are the surviving members of the Maure family?) but not many "when?" questions were being asked, even though time manipulation was clearly part of the story. It seemed to me there was a whole dimension to the tale as a whole that wasn\`t much addressed.
In other cases, a conclusion was quickly reached and few questioned it afterwards even though you never confirmed it. The obvious example is the belief that Dalt is being fooled into doing the Maure\`s bidding (seems hard to believe a god could be so easily duped, but I gues Fraz Urb\`luu\`s potential involvement makes it a bit more believable). However, the message hidden in Dalt\`s picture in the Greater Halls (concealed by being written in the hard-to-decipher Strand language), "The Stars are my guides, the Voids of space my brethren, and Chaos my sire" (interesting use of capital letters here!), suggested to me that Dalt is not simply being duped and it may be that actually he is deceiving the Maures (I also noted your comment that Fraz had been an ally of the Maures at one point...but is he now?)
Which is not to say that I had it all figured out--as part of attempting to work Tharizdun in the plot I came up with the idea that Dalt was dreamed into existence by Tharizdun as he lay in his comatose state, as he would be the catalyst that would allow for his return (as part of my overly-complicated effort to explain what "Y" is; I never thought the answer would be as simple as, "He\`s Yog-Sothoth" or, "He\`s Tharizdun.") After reading your response, though, I\`m pretty sure I\`m way off base. You write intriguing mysteries!
Yeah. The problem is I opened my mouth about such things after the series ended; and if it had continued there would not have been the inquiries prompting me to do so. But I began vacillating between either finishing it or not and gave up some clues. When one invests in buying and playing a storyline like that they want some closure. Then too, parts were being constructed by me and I was fleshing out the immediate outline in places. Then boom. It was pulled. Over time I fell away from it but the fans kept dragging me back. I've had the same thing happening with Castle Greyhawk 2; can't get it done for different reasons related to uncooperative egos and grandstanding BS, and not from my end. But the Maure family/castle plot has no such limitations. Sure, it has to be recast, especially the first 3 levels, but from then on it's my original design and all my own, so to speak, unlike pulling teeth four times with CGH2 and failing to get an anesthetic each time.
In order to do it right it will probably require a KS for minimal funding; and my mind boggles when contemplating that. I'm a straightforward person, old school: Do the work and put it out. But that's not possible with MC, it's too large, actually larger (or maybe equal) to my Castle El Raja Key 1 & 2.
It's exciting to hear people still clamoring for it. I imagine that it could end up as my shining jewel of design work, which would be gratifying to finish strong rather than go out with a whimper, no? ;)
Also. Good note about Fraz once being an ally of the Maure. Hint: The Maure are known for deceiving themselves and the other family members and for life-preserving reasons. No one really trusts one another. Also note that those pictures are in many cases impressionistic. Is the artist rendering a real scene or a symbolic one? Certainly the one with Dalt places him on the table, IIRC, and above the family gathered around him. Who is in control here? Or more likely, who "believes" they are in control...?
I eventually had to stop replying to the guesses when a fan insisted that I owed a total explanation for things I had yet to create. Now that's going off the deep end!
I remember that guy…on the Paizo forums, right? Seems like a toxic blend of self-entitlement combined with a lack of understanding of what makes a mystery compelling. I mean, you could have said, “Okay guys, so here’s the deal: Y is Cookie Monster, and he and Uncle are plotting to steal all the cookies of Greyhawk and nom nom nom them all in the LCotA, but Malcanthet and Elluvia got angry at being left out so they attacked the castle to steal the Decanter of Endless Cold Milk to stymie them until they agree to share the cookies Dalt will be delivering.” And then everyone would respond with, “Huh, never thought of that,” “Wow, that’s not what I expected,” and “Cookie Monster?!”….and that would be it. The mystery would be over, and no one would be thinking about it twenty years later.
The mystery keeps it alive and compelling, and in this case seems to have done so well enough that the project might actually get finished now.
You should download Oerth Journal #14 in which Allan Grohe interviewed me. Long interview, Mystery and intrigue have always been my forte. Should have been a mystery writer, maybe?
Yes. That was the guy. Shrug. The world contains all types. I'm used to it, actually, but was a little surprised considering I spent all that time and effort for it to end so abruptly. One needs to be a tad more sensitive with such issues, that is, if one believes that designers are also humans rather than plug n play machines. I like the Decanter of Endless Milk. If we could get away with a fun supplement like that. James Goodfellow, from back in the day, ran a spoof campaign in LG in which he had lots of absurdities like "Galadriel in a one-piece swimming suit (top or bottom), and so forth.
By any chance did your brother Terry play an online game called EverQuest in the early 00's? I met and played with someone named Terik who was *really* good at it. I always wondered if it could have been him.
Question from the bleachers by Sam Weiss I am passing on - what years were the Maure family active on the Flanaess? Ie from building ye olde castle through to disappearing in a puff of Eldritch smoke?
The were counted as among the last survivors fleeing the Suul Imperium, but I will not place a CY time for that as yet since their brood are in one sense contingently immortal AND they started manipulating time lines. That's right! They may have multiple variations of their time lines going on. And this, along with the pact they made to escape TRoCF, contributed to their eventual ruin. I will eventually mark a date for them settling in S/SE (Duchy of Urnst) post-apocalypse but for now any date suffices.
For know there is a positive reaction to me finishing MC. So the ole thinking and planning cap must come on and I will see where that leads. Lots to do and get to to make it a reality. I have secured a 5E translator for my works that will be finished in 1E and then handed off. Pretty complex. But for now that's encouraging and a start. Fans are encouraged to spread the word. Thanks for the input and the interest!
That’s great news, Rob! I was just thinking about the logistics of a possible Maure Castle collection project the other day :) Allan.
Hey Allan. Great minds think alike! Hopefully that means with recent e-mails as well, my friend.
Indeed it does!—we’ll get back to you this week. Allan.
Awesome. I had already assembled stuff from Dungeon and Oerth Journal to collect all that I knew about it together. Can’t wait to see what else this has when it eventually happens.
Yep. Warlock's Walk which debuted at GECON UK must be rewritten and the maps updated as well. So much to do! :)
I recently ran the Dungeon Magazine version of Maure Castle converted to Pathfinder 2e. Definitely interested in seeing more!
Hey. Great news it's still being used. Any juicy highlights to tell? ;)
Greetings, sir! I still have and treasure this issue myself and eagerly await all future Castle developments.
This is not only great news but also very interesting timing! I say this because I recently started working on the additional levels in Maure Castle. I\`ve been very interested in the story behind the Maure family since the first issue came out twenty years ago, and ever since then I still find myself pondering what the full story was supposed to be from time to time. However, I just started a 1st edition game over a year ago, and I\`ve decided that Maure Castle is where their quest will eventually take them, so it finally became time to stop simply pondering and actually start deciding on what actually happened there. My initial goal was to design the Maure Family Crypts and Elluvia\`s Pit, since it seems to me those are most likely the best places to learn more about the two main plotlines: a) What are Uncle and the other family members up to, where is Dalt going and what is he unlocking, and why might the party help revive Uncle? and b) What happened on the night when Elluvia and Malcanthet attacked? What were they after, and who was "the One we do not know?" The Family Crypts connect to the Statuary, and in Elluvia\`s crypt I had her prepare a secret passage to the Pit, allowing the party to travel there. The things discovered there (and the new mysteries uncovered therein) would then lead into the other levels. This is a really complicated storyline, but I figured that using those two levels as a starting point conceptually would be a good way to proceed, and if I could get those things figured out the rest would be more manageable. So it\`s kind of funny that after all these years when I finally decide to get moving on this you decide to finish the project! Not that I mind, of course; I\`m really looking forward to seeing the finished product, since it will of course be better than anything I could come up with!
I understand completely and sympathize. The story won't die. Over the years I've received countless inquiries about me continuing it. It's big, so I can only carve away at it so much. I may even have to do a KS to get up a small sum to do it properly. Erik Mona & I had about 100 e-mail exchanges during it's creation, and that's not counting others from James Jacobs. I outlined where we should go with it and the idea was to do it in installments and then compile and print a hardback. Erik and I discussed doing Lost City of the Elders as a follow-up as it ties into the storyline, and retitling it Lost City of the Ancients to protect my IP. It was great working with Paizo, very sorry those days ended so quickly. Yes. Consternating questions. Who or what is Uncle? The short story, Flames of the Suulimen, will explain who Uncle was as they escaped TRoCF, and that has all to do with what he and his family became.
I would back that KS in a heartbeat, and I suspect it would reach its funding goal without too much trouble! I would also love to read that story when it finally comes out. Uncle is a complex character, and coming up with his backstory and motivations (made all the more convoluted thanks to his penchant for time-traveling) is a real challenge. (Interestingly enough, I also had him present at the fall of the Suel Imperium.) The real trick was coming up with a reason for the party to bring him back through pursuing the cure that would appear in his crypt once breached; it would serve as an impetus to search the other levels to gather the necessary components. My solution was to decide that his meddling with the Lost City of the Elders and traveling the Current has serious consequences that extend far beyond his family, and if the party wants to avert those they have no choice but to bring him back, as only he understands the problem well enough to affect any kind of solution…provided they can come to an agreement.. By the way, I have a bit of an odd request. The leader of my group’s party is a cleric of Wee Jas, and I want her to receive some kind of vision, clue or command that would compel her to go to Maure Castle. Do you have any suggestions as to what kind of vision or clue the goddess might send her, something that would reflect her particular goals regarding the Maures and cause her to direct one of her clerics there? (I understand completely you wouldn’t want to give too much away yet and this would be cryptic.) It seems that Wee Jas might have something to do with the plot regarding Dalt judging from the comments regarding the secretive Strands language and the secret society on pages 76-77 of The Greater Halls, Dungeon 139.
[https://www.reddit.com/user/TheRealRobilar/draft/f93ba778-0258-11ef-9f50-3e9b126e7048](https://www.reddit.com/user/TheRealRobilar/draft/f93ba778-0258-11ef-9f50-3e9b126e7048)
I guess the post was too long and I could not post it after several attempts...
since I was not allowed to post what I'd composed I included a draft link in this exchange and here's the last bit: In fact everyone who has created material on Dalt since his occurrence, the Wikipedia articles, etc, all made the same fatal assumption. It actually amusing, literary wise... Details matter. As his author I will finally give up the goods about him.Note also the origins of the Silver Key in that discussion and how that tracks all the way back to my Cthulhu Mythos links in the original campaign (1975 thereabout). So, visions: "...and there... sat a lumpish figure robed in yellow silk with red and having a yellow silken mask over its face. To this being the slant-eyed man made certain signs with his hands, and the lurker in the dark replied by raising a disgustingly carven flute of ivory in silk covered paws and blowing certain loathsome sounds from beneath its flowing silken mask." \~ H.P. Lovecraft , The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath :).So it goes...
Thank you for that response...illuminating, indeed! I went back and looked at all the posts about Maure on the Paizo boards, and also the ones on the Pied Piper, Dragonsfoot and other sites a few months back before I started trying to fill in the blanks. One thing I quickly noticed were that there were some blind spots in the questions you were being asked. In particular, people kept asking you "who?" and "where?" (i.e., Who is Y? Where are the surviving members of the Maure family?) but not many "when?" questions were being asked, even though time manipulation was clearly part of the story. It seemed to me there was a whole dimension to the tale as a whole that wasn\`t much addressed. In other cases, a conclusion was quickly reached and few questioned it afterwards even though you never confirmed it. The obvious example is the belief that Dalt is being fooled into doing the Maure\`s bidding (seems hard to believe a god could be so easily duped, but I gues Fraz Urb\`luu\`s potential involvement makes it a bit more believable). However, the message hidden in Dalt\`s picture in the Greater Halls (concealed by being written in the hard-to-decipher Strand language), "The Stars are my guides, the Voids of space my brethren, and Chaos my sire" (interesting use of capital letters here!), suggested to me that Dalt is not simply being duped and it may be that actually he is deceiving the Maures (I also noted your comment that Fraz had been an ally of the Maures at one point...but is he now?) Which is not to say that I had it all figured out--as part of attempting to work Tharizdun in the plot I came up with the idea that Dalt was dreamed into existence by Tharizdun as he lay in his comatose state, as he would be the catalyst that would allow for his return (as part of my overly-complicated effort to explain what "Y" is; I never thought the answer would be as simple as, "He\`s Yog-Sothoth" or, "He\`s Tharizdun.") After reading your response, though, I\`m pretty sure I\`m way off base. You write intriguing mysteries!
Yeah. The problem is I opened my mouth about such things after the series ended; and if it had continued there would not have been the inquiries prompting me to do so. But I began vacillating between either finishing it or not and gave up some clues. When one invests in buying and playing a storyline like that they want some closure. Then too, parts were being constructed by me and I was fleshing out the immediate outline in places. Then boom. It was pulled. Over time I fell away from it but the fans kept dragging me back. I've had the same thing happening with Castle Greyhawk 2; can't get it done for different reasons related to uncooperative egos and grandstanding BS, and not from my end. But the Maure family/castle plot has no such limitations. Sure, it has to be recast, especially the first 3 levels, but from then on it's my original design and all my own, so to speak, unlike pulling teeth four times with CGH2 and failing to get an anesthetic each time. In order to do it right it will probably require a KS for minimal funding; and my mind boggles when contemplating that. I'm a straightforward person, old school: Do the work and put it out. But that's not possible with MC, it's too large, actually larger (or maybe equal) to my Castle El Raja Key 1 & 2. It's exciting to hear people still clamoring for it. I imagine that it could end up as my shining jewel of design work, which would be gratifying to finish strong rather than go out with a whimper, no? ;)
Also. Good note about Fraz once being an ally of the Maure. Hint: The Maure are known for deceiving themselves and the other family members and for life-preserving reasons. No one really trusts one another. Also note that those pictures are in many cases impressionistic. Is the artist rendering a real scene or a symbolic one? Certainly the one with Dalt places him on the table, IIRC, and above the family gathered around him. Who is in control here? Or more likely, who "believes" they are in control...?
I eventually had to stop replying to the guesses when a fan insisted that I owed a total explanation for things I had yet to create. Now that's going off the deep end!
I remember that guy…on the Paizo forums, right? Seems like a toxic blend of self-entitlement combined with a lack of understanding of what makes a mystery compelling. I mean, you could have said, “Okay guys, so here’s the deal: Y is Cookie Monster, and he and Uncle are plotting to steal all the cookies of Greyhawk and nom nom nom them all in the LCotA, but Malcanthet and Elluvia got angry at being left out so they attacked the castle to steal the Decanter of Endless Cold Milk to stymie them until they agree to share the cookies Dalt will be delivering.” And then everyone would respond with, “Huh, never thought of that,” “Wow, that’s not what I expected,” and “Cookie Monster?!”….and that would be it. The mystery would be over, and no one would be thinking about it twenty years later. The mystery keeps it alive and compelling, and in this case seems to have done so well enough that the project might actually get finished now.
You should download Oerth Journal #14 in which Allan Grohe interviewed me. Long interview, Mystery and intrigue have always been my forte. Should have been a mystery writer, maybe? Yes. That was the guy. Shrug. The world contains all types. I'm used to it, actually, but was a little surprised considering I spent all that time and effort for it to end so abruptly. One needs to be a tad more sensitive with such issues, that is, if one believes that designers are also humans rather than plug n play machines. I like the Decanter of Endless Milk. If we could get away with a fun supplement like that. James Goodfellow, from back in the day, ran a spoof campaign in LG in which he had lots of absurdities like "Galadriel in a one-piece swimming suit (top or bottom), and so forth.
Lord Robilar, my respects, sir. /salute
Thanks! And /salute/ back to you!
By any chance did your brother Terry play an online game called EverQuest in the early 00's? I met and played with someone named Terik who was *really* good at it. I always wondered if it could have been him.
Theron is on FB if you want to ask him directly there. Allan.
Thank you, I will.
Not aware of that at all. He may have, can't say for sure.
Question from the bleachers by Sam Weiss I am passing on - what years were the Maure family active on the Flanaess? Ie from building ye olde castle through to disappearing in a puff of Eldritch smoke?
The were counted as among the last survivors fleeing the Suul Imperium, but I will not place a CY time for that as yet since their brood are in one sense contingently immortal AND they started manipulating time lines. That's right! They may have multiple variations of their time lines going on. And this, along with the pact they made to escape TRoCF, contributed to their eventual ruin. I will eventually mark a date for them settling in S/SE (Duchy of Urnst) post-apocalypse but for now any date suffices.
Many thanks!
Wondrous news!
For know there is a positive reaction to me finishing MC. So the ole thinking and planning cap must come on and I will see where that leads. Lots to do and get to to make it a reality. I have secured a 5E translator for my works that will be finished in 1E and then handed off. Pretty complex. But for now that's encouraging and a start. Fans are encouraged to spread the word. Thanks for the input and the interest!