It is indeed a shame, and I look forward to a recanonization of the basic plotline at a later date!

I've wondered whether the foreign continent found in that world was another continent on the world of Arcanis or on another world. The moons and especially the stars should have very easily answered that question to PCs, but I don't know whether we ever got an explicit answer as players.

Even if the specifics of Nyambe have to change for copyright reasons, the big story concepts presented about the val'Abebi in "Secret of Semar" winds up raising more questions than it answers. That was also a classic Arcanis mod insofar as doing the "obviously right" thing was actually probably the wrong thing in the big picture. Actions have consequences, and Arcanis is for smart players who look beyond the surface.

Nyambe Adventures was a really nice setting and book, and I admire PCI and the other 3rd party gaming companies with whom they partnered in d20 days. Replacing that continent with another African-style continent is simple enough on a big scale, though the book had so much richness and depth that it will be hard to replace the level of detail.

22) There were references to "Orc" nations both in Uggur and among those who (according to the Altherians) lead the siege of Khafre' prior to it floating to the Altherian Plateau. Were these 'orc' armies Gar, are they now humans, or something else entirely (to be revealed at a later date)? At least in the case of Uggur, I think there are a few Kio players who may be interested in knowing.

I vaguely recall something on the old Yahoo forums regarding the Gar originally being Orcs (in the 3rd Ed D&D days), but I can't source the information.

I pulled out my Codex Arcanis and quickly scanned it. There are references to the Ssethregoran empire using multiple 'goblinoid' races as slaves in their underground holdings prior to the creation of the Elorii, and how the "various goblinoid races" drove the Ymandragorans from Yahssremore to the Kraldjur Morass. It doesn't specifically use the name 'Gar' anywhere that I've seen though, and there isn't really any information on the wars of extinction in the Codex Arcanis.

The race portion of the Codex dealing with Half-Orcs does not address your question either, unfortunately.

EDIT: For some reason I didn't think to look at the Altheria portion of the Codex. It describes the orcs as being the Followers of the Bone Serpent.

Seeing as the Gar were wiped out (for all intents and purposes) by the Elorii prior to the fall of Yahssremore and that humans arrived significantly later on Onara, the orcs referenced here would have had to have been a separate race. What that race would now be, however, is an interesting question.

A few corrections: the Ymandragorans were not driven from Yahssremore, the Ssethregorans were. The Gar that were conquered by the Ssethrics during the Issori War and enslaved we're the Gar Ormal ("people of the plains") tribe, not the Gar as a race. Other tribes are known to exist (See Bestiary vol. 1), and it is possible not all of them were enslaved by the Ssethrics.

I cannot find any reference to any real conflict between Gar/Orcs and Elorii, with a known alliance existing between Uggur and Seremas. There was also an alliance with the goblinoids during the Elorii Revolt, which may or may not have been Gar in the present non-3.5 OGL parlance.

There is one known tribe of Gar who (at least used to) live on the ruins of the Vault of Larissas Lament. However, despite some very. . . Inexplicable diplomacy by BEAST, a large number of the tribe was killed by the adventurers in that event.

I would refer to two modules from the 3.5 rule set that mention the Gar in varying degrees.

First is Beyond the Threshold of Never from Year 5. In the Adventure Summary and Background there is this quote.

This shows that the non-humans of Uggur have a secret alliance with Entaris not a widely known one. But they are still a threat to all nations near their boarder.

The second module is The Warload of Quagga from Year 2 of the Invisible Kings of Metra.

The Adventure Background provide this information.


Also while questioning Ig the players can learn much about the history of Uggur.
On the history of Uggur, past and present:
• The Ugguruk Empire was flourishing around 4,100 BIC. It was mainly a nocturnal civilization largely confined to what is now Uggur and the League states. They warred against the Sseth with a passion.
• They worship the Other (Oyi), and used wild servitor races as slaves-kobolds, trogloydytes and Ss’ressen. Two ancient forts still bear Ugguruk names-Tyroch and Rhyudoch.
• The Uggurruk Empire faded into decline later when the Lhyllifen and the Mhyrician Kio/Undir Alliances destroyed their Empire centuries later.
• Currently hordes of Uggur are massing and beginning to raid with renewed vigor. They wield strange scythe like weapons adapted to their great strength. He can show the player characters a massive bladed arm guard with a wicked curved blade that extends like a punch dagger, as well as a large two bladed weapon sword like on each side, curved scimitar like.
• They use dark magics gifted by their dark god, and practice human sacrifices. They train griffon’s and wyverns as winged mounts as well. If left unguarded, they will pour into the Western Lands and invade the League of Princes through underground tunnels that riddle the mountains.
• They have a limited level of technology, but some of their war machines are quite advanced. In addition, they have developed great ballistae’s that can mount on their Wyverns and be fired by riders from the sky which are most devastating to ground troops, as they keep out of range of ground ranged attacks. The Warlord of Quagga has next to no magical or divine powers in his camp at this time.


My understanding of the Gar as they are now was that with the change over from 3.5 all previous races have been removed, and the Gar represent a more generic monstrous humanoid background, like Gnolls, bugbears, and orcs and their respective half-breeds. Basically they have all been merged into one race.
But with both Uggur and Gar being used interchangeably it is difficult to distinguish between them.

I hope that answers your question Nierite.

Brain fart on my part. Unless the Sorcerer King came to Ymandragore from the Blessed Lands...

One major consideration for the Ugguruk Empire: it goes against st the few things we know about the Gar. For example, the original reference for the Gar Ormal (repeated in the new BL history chapter) is that they worshipped nature and the spirits as shamans, not the Other. Even the most recent bestiary seems to show them as a tribal, barbaric peoples. It gives no evidence that they had at any point unified into a large and powerful body like Uggur in the Western Lands. This doesn't mean that they didn't, as anything is possible, but it doesn't match with canon in the ARPG timeline.

Additionally, that adventure has them worshiping Oyi as The Other/Umor. While this sounds intriguing, I point you to the list of deities thread in the Spoilers board. When listing Oyi, Henry claimed ignorance of that beings existence. Either he's trying to pull a fast one on us, or such a being isn't part of his official canon.

Either are possible, however.

Hello,

Before conspiracy theories spiral out of control, that particular Metra adventure used material from Scott Charlton's personal notes and Scott does not want said material used. Thus all source material that was mentioned in that adventure is null and void.

No fault of The Vault, as he/she had no way of knowing.

As for the Cult of Oyi, I honestly didn't remember reading it, but that adventure was released quite a while ago.

Thanks for the clarifications! It makes attempting to parse your cryptic conspiracies and half-truths in universe a little easier. . . until you give us new ones which completely destroy our previous conceptions of reality