Wrath of the Immortals

Wrath of the Immortals is the last major supplement for the Mystara setting of Dungeons & Dragons, and was essentially Mystara's equivalent to the Time of Troubles in the Forgotten Realms or the Greyhawk Wars of Greyhawk. That is, it's the mega-adventure that blows the setting up and basically completely screws it all over in the process. The second such adventure after the X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield, for those counting; but this one Goes To Eleven.

Seriously, this adventure destroys so many plot hooks established by the Known World Gazetteers (itself a scramble after X10), levels the Savage Coast, and basically causes a mega-apocalypse in the Hollow World by turning off the Spell of Preservation and the internal sun for a week. The Realms and Greyhawk got nothing in terms of being screwed over.

Breakdown of Events

Phase I - The Prelude

Immortals of the Sphere of Energy discovered that the powers the Glantrian artifact provides to wizards drains magical energy to the point where magic's very existence on Mystara may be threatened. These Immortals decide to intervene and conspire to destroy the artifact. Their scheme would break an age-old pact with the other Spheres that forbade any direct involvement with the affairs of mortals. This causes a catastrophic schism in the Immortals' pantheon.

The spiritual patron of the Glantrian wizards, Etienne d'Ambreville (Stephen Amber to us rosbifs, from X2: Castle Amber) adamantly opposes the artifact's destruction. It is his conviction that the time of magic has passed on Mystara and that it should yield before la Culte de la Raison true science and technology. Magic should be reserved to Immortals only. For this reason he opposes the artifact's destruction. His opponents form the Ring of Fire, a loose alliance set against d'Ambreville and the artifact. In response, d'Ambreville establishes the Fellowship of the Star, an alliance with several other Immortals opposed to direct intervention among mortals. The two factions run into a stalemate. They cannot defeat each other and decide to fight the conflict down at mortal level.

Phase II - The Build-Up

The Immortals start building up their forces, trying to increase the number of their followers - the more followers, the more power to the Immortals and their causes. This leads to a fierce race for magical power. One after another, states, kingdoms, and empires fall under the control of an Immortal. Adventurers are sent on quests benefiting one faction of Immortals over another. Immortals of the fifth sphere (Entropy) so far remained quiet. They secretly and systematically help weaker factions. Their plan is to ensure no faction gets a cheap victory, since Entropy feed upon misery and destruction. These Immortals are known as the Brotherhood of the Shadow.

Phase III - The Great War

Immortals assembled large forces of mortal followers. Raids and local wars break out. Soon the conflict degenerates into massive campaign wars (Alphatia clashes with Thyatis, the Orcs of Thar invade Darokin, the Shadow Elves seize Alfheim, and Ethengar plunders the Northern Realms, etc). The Brotherhood of the Shadow causes conflicts to be as devastating as possible according to their plan, and quietly keeps switching sides. The Brotherhood of the Shadow becomes the leading faction.

Phase IV - The Aftermath

At the end however, the Brotherhood of the Shadow openly sides with d'Ambreville and his allies, hoping to ruin an all out attempt from the Ring of Fire to destroy the artifact.

The Ring of Fire rallies the Thousand Archmages of Alphatia and throws them against Glantri. Their bold move succeeds and the artifact is neutralised.

Although not destroyed, the artifact no longer drains magical power from Mystara. Instead, it feeds upon the evil powers of Entropy's grimmer fiends, vampires, liches, and other servitors of darkness, greatly weakening the Immortals of Entropy in the process. With fear, they now sense their possible doom in centuries to come.

Alas, the cost of the battle remains very dear to many. The Alphatian archmages are destroyed in their assault of Glantri. They were the source of an arcane power upon which Alphatia was built, and their demise causes the destruction of the arcane empire. With horror, the wizards see Alphatia's mainland sink into the cold Sea of Dawn.

Unbeknownst to mortals in the Known World, the Wizard Empire becomes a floating continent in the Hollow World, while its remaining colonies fall under Thyatian occupation.

Etienne's Immortal soul is trapped in the artifact and corrupted. He becomes a minion of the Sphere of Entropy, along with all his followers in the Brotherhood of the Radiance.

Glantri is ravaged by the war, becomes a pawn of darkness, and sinks into a dark age. Glantri and the Orcs of Thar become the new threat against mighty Thyatis. In the mean time, the face of the Known World has forever changed.

Changes to Mystara

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Glantria has a giant fucking crater taking up several once-powerful provenances due to being hit with a meteorite. Infested with humanoids originally from the Broken Lands, they are now petitioning to be recognized as a new province in their own right. Clerics are also now allowed in Glantri, rather than being hunted down and exiled or killed.

Apocalypse in the Hollow World

Whilst largely glossed over in both the boxed set and the subsequent Poor Wizard's Almanacs, realistically, the week of no magic, which was stated to spread into the Hollow World, would have had catastrophic effects on the great prehistorical preserve. Remember, the sun of the Hollow World is a magical construct, and it explicitly was turned off for the duration of the entire week. Thus you would have had a solid week of unending freezing cold darkness in a realm that previously had never known night... to say nothing of how, with the Spell of Preservation being turned off, the Burrowers would have been released. The only bright side of it is that the Spell of Preservation and its stifling effects on progress and advancement would have been turned off as well... but still, talk about a baptism of fire... well, ice!

With no warning or way to stockpile anything, the Week of No Sun would have plunged the Hollow World into anarchy; being a completely unprecedented phenomena would have only compounded the chaos and fear. Farmers would have struggled to bring in what portions of their harvest they could be torchlight before the cold ruined it all. More civilized races, who thusly would have stockpiled food, would have weathered the catastrophe better than those that rely on daily hunting and foraging to survive. Forests would have been ravaged to provide lifegiving fuel for the fires keeping civilizations alive - the Merry Pirates would have been locked in their cities by frozen seas and forced to burn their ships instead. Theocracies would have plunged into massive civil unrest as their priestly rulers can neither explain nor lift the darkness, regardless of their prayers - the more malevolent ones like the Azcans or the Nithians would probably be overthrown entirely, since the Spell of Preservation is no longer in effect and their patron Mystaran Immortals are no longer able to show up in person to put down revolts.

Whilst this applies all over, it largely focuses on the human majority of the Hollow World. The demihumans have their own unique weaknesses and advantages.

• Beastmen: Already adapted for life in the arctic regions of the Hollow World, and with infravision that allows them to hunt freely regardless of the sun's absence, the Grruuk are in a position to weather the Week of No Sun fairly well. They would probably migrate south towards more hospitable climes all the same, likely scavenging from the villages of those who perished from the cold.
• Brute-Men: The tougher, hardier Brute-Men would probably suffer in much the same way as the other primitive human peoples of the Hollow World, although their superior hardiness and strength might give them some advantage.
• Elves:
  • Blacklore: Most likely these go extinct. Those that don't die from having a magic-powered prosthetic organ be shut off would face starvation, as the servitor robots no longer operate and the lights sustaining their hydroponic gardens cease operating. On the other hand, they still maintain the traditional elfin infravision, their home valley is heated by geothermal vents that would be unaffected by the sun's absence, and they are uniquely adaptable amongst the denizens of the Hollow World. As such, those Blacklore Elves not killed outright are likely to gather in personality cults around the most competent-seeming of their number; the Week of No Sun may, ironically, be the biggest kick in the ass to actually do something that the Blacklore Elves will ever get.
  • Gentle Ones: Extinct. Herbivorous and with no self-preservation instincts, the vast majority of the Gentle Ones would simply starve or freeze to death without even trying to save themselves. The rare mutants who do have some self-preservation instincts (they are a PC race for this reason, after all) would still likely just manage to die somewhat later than their counterpart unless they are taken in by friendly outsiders.
  • Icevale: Ironically, the Icevale elves would thrive in the Week of No Sun, being infravision-equipped and vital Arctic hunter-gatherers. As the cold intensifies, they would sweep into once-warmer realms, extending their territory.
  • Schattenalfen: For the light-averse, darkness loving Schattenalfen, the Week of No Sun is virtually paradise... if only it weren't so fucking cold! They raid the surface freely and openly until the cold forces them back into the subterranean warmth of their lairs.
• Hutaakans: Whilst they lack infravision, their heightened senses of hearing and smell compensate for the darkness to an extent, and their civilization is organized enough that starvation isn't a huge risk. The biggest problems they will likely grapple with is social upheaval, as their priest-dominated society wrestles with the sudden powerlessness of those priests and the total absence of support from Pflarr.
• Kogolors: Whilst not as well-suited to surviving as their dwarf cousins, the Kogolors likely won't do too badly either. Like the Icevale Elves, they're used to living in cold environments, and their infravision gives them an edge in the darkness.
• Kubitts: In addition to all the struggles facing any other Iron Age human society in the Week of No Sun, kubitts have to deal with the fact that they're only 18 inches tall. On the bright side, the cold does kill off all the dinosaurs that make such a nuisance of themselves. They may move from treetop villages to underground ones, in order to gain increased shelter from the cold.
• Lizardfolk: Extinct. Cold-blooded swamp-dwellers and a short, sharp ice-age do not mix.
• Orcs: Ironically, the Krugel orcs lack infravision as a result of adapting to life in the Krugel badlands. Combined with the scarcity of life in their homeland that forces them to depend on raiding to survive, the Krugel orcs likely go extinct, or massacre each other in desperation-fueled cannibalistic riots that leave them a shadow of their former selves.