Why raid 1000 miles away? (Faerun)

[Laserlight]

In our campaign, we've landed at a lonely island southwest of the Moonshaes, where a a number of learned holy men--"somewhat in the druidical line, and skilled hands at all manner of physick"--set up for some peace and quiet. It was overrun and destroyed hundreds of years ago, by soldiers from Calimshan--which is a thousand sea-miles away.

The troops came, destroyed the community, killed everyone, and left.

Why would Calimshan send troops that far to destroy something like a monastery? What reason can you dream up?

Extra points for reasons that explain why we should be able to find a halfling-sized magic rapier. :smallbiggrin:

[NamelessNPC]

Because Benny "Swift Fingers" Furrybelly, halfling swashbuckler exceptionale, had a price on his head and was hiding in the monastery

[Randomguy]

Maybe Calmishan was framed or tricked by another nation that has interest in ruining Calmishan's reputation or starting a war or something?

[Psyren]

Isn't Calimshan basically D&D Iran Agrabah?

A rival to the ruling Pasha (a noble of high enough station to command soldiers - or perhaps even his treacherous Vizier) could have gotten wind of a powerful artifact that was supposedly housed - in whole or in part - at the monastery. This artifact, when complete, would unearth one or both of the genies trapped beneath the Calim Desert and enslave it to the wielder's will, promising limitless wealth and power - and of course, the chance to become the new Pasha. Under false pretenses - a staged kidnapping, framing them for a noble's murder,etc. - the vizier/noble would then declare a Fatwa (or similarly deadly decree) against the monks living there.

The rapier could easily have been left behind by one of the soliders, or by an unfortunate guest who was staying at the monastery and got caught in the conflict.

[Spuddles]

Some bad intelligence had convinced the invaders that there were weapons of massive destruction there.

[Archmage1]

Being a desert people, and very much status oriented, the ships captain was a noble who knew nothing about sailing, and got them rather lost. After successfully attacking a town(not their actual target), he then tried to sail them home, and sunk in a storm.

The halfling sized rapier...
One of the soldiers was a halfling, and he was left behind, as his companions overlooked him. Eventually, he starved to death, because he had a massive wis penalty, and left his rapier behind.

Or, you know, a bored god with nothing better to do spends his time scattering unusual objects around to be found by adventurers just like you...

[Alienist]

With favourable winds that's only 5-6 days of sailing (approx tech equiv of AD 0 Roman Empire)

Presumably with a medium power spellcaster your fleet could do even better than that.

Logistically that 1000 miles of sailing might be easier/faster than marching the army a 'mere' 200 miles.

See also: Vikings, and the mysterious 'Sea Peoples' who trashed the Meditteranean at the end of the Bronze Age*

*Basically these guys were such badasses that everyone else had to gain a tech level** just to fight them off.

**Unless your mental picture of tech levels is from the civ computer game series, in which case it's more like having to gain 20 tech levels.

-----

As a counter-point, when Richard the Lionheart (that Frenchie who never lived in England and didn't speak English, and who constantly betrayed his own father, then lost every battle he could get his hands on, and who has the best darn PR team ever assembled) loaded up his ships with men and horses to go off to join the crusades, they had to stop daily to get fresh water because they went through TONS of it every day.

Also, yay dysentry! The silent killer!

[Alienist]

Some bad intelligence had convinced the invaders that there were weapons of massive destruction there.

It wasn't bad intelligence, they knew he had them because they'd sold them to him in the first place and he hadn't used them against Iran the Urak Hai. What they hadn't realised was that he'd been using them on the Kurds Kobolds in the hills on the other side of the kingdom in a decent attempt at committing genocide.

[Krobar]

LOL.

I have an epic character I played for a long time retire on his own island down there. Way out in the middle of the Trackless Sea. It's a small, uncharted island only a few hundred yards across. And pretty well stocked.

Tell your DM I said to help yourself.

[lsfreak]

Why would Calimshan send troops that far to destroy something like a monastery? What reason can you dream up?

This? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance) :smallbiggrin:

Keeping in mind I know nothing about Faerun, my ideas would be
- They hold an artifact of great power that the organization needs for one reason or another. They were defending it to the death. Alternatively, the organization wanted to keep it for protection and the monastery was under its sway, not enough to carry out the artifact's desires, but enough to refuse giving it up.
- They have some physical proof of a secret that would destroy the organization, such as that their leader got the position illegitimately, or record of some act that if revealed would get them killed. Maybe a person there has the proof, or *is* the proof.
- What they thought was peaceful learning wasn't; they were inadvertently causing or setting up to some create catastrophe. A siphon between places, draining one in order to draw power to another; weakening planar boundaries; training someone prophesied to be the downfall of the group.
- Being tricked into believing any of the above.

But keep in mind 1000 miles isn't actually all that much by ship. Still no short distance, but not unreasonable. See this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viking_Expansion.svg) map of Viking raids. At which point the answer becomes, because that monastery had goods/money that could be gotten easily.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A prominent and powerful noble was swindled by a league of inventors and smokepowder salesmen from Lantan, something about a device that was promised to turn lead into gold. He sent a fleet to retaliate, so they used a storm-creating machine to drive the fleet off course. This monastery was the first thing they found, and they mistook it for their target. The rapier belonged to a retired gnome adventurer with a penchant for gadgets who had settled down in the monastery, of course they mistook him for one of the high-ups in the organization. Complete Adventurer and Dungeonscape have weapon modifications that should be applied liberally to the rapier in question.

[Kirgoth]

The monks were wealthy, pacifist, unarmed and complacent, thinking 1000 miles was enough protection. Wrong !

[HalfTangible]

In our campaign, we've landed at a lonely island southwest of the Moonshaes, where a a number of learned holy men--"somewhat in the druidical line, and skilled hands at all manner of physick"--set up for some peace and quiet. It was overrun and destroyed hundreds of years ago, by soldiers from Calimshan--which is a thousand sea-miles away.

The troops came, destroyed the community, killed everyone, and left.

Why would Calimshan send troops that far to destroy something like a monastery? What reason can you dream up?

Extra points for reasons that explain why we should be able to find a halfling-sized magic rapier. :smallbiggrin:

In an ancient prophecy, it was revealed that a powerful halfling spellsword would one day arise to overthrow the ruling body in Calimshan. As often happens with ancient propechies, someone took it very seriously when they learned of a powerful halfling spellsword who fit the prophecy's criteria (pick whatever criteria you want - maybe the halfling was blonde, dyslexic and had two silver teeth or something). So they sent an entire platoon to find the halfling but the community refused to give him up, so they destroyed the entire community. They never found the halfling, who had already died of Offpanelitis. His rapier had been hung on a wall, and ignored by the soldiers because it LOOKED far more rustic than it actually was (the illusion that kept this up dispelled after they left)

Feel free to polish that however you wish. I don't even know what Calimshan is.

[Zubrowka74]

You know what ? I like the idea of another country framing Calimshan but this island and the massacre reminds me of the island monastery in The Book With No Name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Kid).

Essentially the monastery was hiding a powerful and old artifact that the BBEG decided to get. Perhaps he tricked an army into attaking the monastery only to get the item.

[Story]

Because the army was bored and everyone knows Monks are easy targets.