Lantan's Abeiran years. Any new info?

[Millstone85]

So long story short, I have to reinvent a character of mine.


Alright, I have decided that Maël is Lantanese.

Lantan is an archipelago south-west of Faerûn. Its recent history is described in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide page 71, although most of it is shrouded in mystery. The key points are that:

Lantan is a nation of artificers, known to have once belonged to the church of Gond.
The Spellplague moved Lantan from the world of Toril to the parallel world of Abeir.
On Abeir, Lantan had to adapt to the gods' absence and to greater elemental power.
The Sundering returned Lantan to the world of Toril, but the nation is now secretive.

Maël would have been born during the Abeiran century. I will try to write a more complete backstory for him.I am fine with the information available in the SCAG, but I have to check if 5e has since brought anything new on the subject.

Thank you if you can shine on that.

[Joe the Rat]

The only thing I have pulled are references to the friendly relations between Lantan wizards and the temples of Gond, and a penchant for making magical devices. A few notes pop up in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Nothing major lore-wise.

[Psyren]

I'd say Lantan's profile has raised a bit with the multiversal push to have Artificers - particularly the gears-and-wires kind - show up in more D&D settings than just Eberron, especially now that they're vastly easier to play and occupy a more distinct party role than in prior editions.

As for what happened on Abeir, that's primarily one of the setting mysteries for you to figure out (if it matters). Artifice seems like one of the magics best suited to it however going by original lore.

[Unoriginal]

As said above, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist mentions that Latan has some inventors capable of crafting fully functional automatons (one of them being sapient, but that is noted as unusual) and big, complex vehicles, and the Tasha's mentions how they have Artificiers.

I don't recall anything being mentioned about the time spent in Abeir, be it for Latan or any other places.

[Millstone85]

Alright, that's great and I already have some ideas for what has been going on in Lantan.

[Naanomi]

From older lore, they are one of the few places in Faerun to know how to make gunpowder (and not just smoke powder); a gift granted to them during the Time of Troubles

[Unoriginal]

From older lore, they are one of the few places in Faerun to know how to make gunpowder (and not just smoke powder); a gift granted to them during the Time of Troubles

Doesn't Gond make all gunpowder useless in Abeir-Toril, though?

[Naanomi]

Doesn't Gond make all gunpowder useless in Abeir-Toril, though?
Eh it is more complex than that but... he did work to make specific exceptions (including Lantan, as a reward for protecting him when grounded during the Time of Troubles... also some places in Kara-Tur because ?fantasy counterpart culture fireworks?)

[PattThe]

Eh it is more complex than that but... he did work to make specific exceptions (including Lantan, as a reward for protecting him when grounded during the Time of Troubles... also some places in Kara-Tur because ?fantasy counterpart culture fireworks?)

Tis called smokepowder. It does what gunpowder does but exists as a magical alchemical product produced by the church in limited supply. On planes with different gods and magic systems like Oerth, it pulls an infinity gauntlet and does nothing on those worlds. I'd imagine any Giff in torillian wildspace are using smokepowder, as the wiki says it is common in space.

I can't imagine that the southern Lantanese got much done on Abeir to raise their reputation, what with the dragons and elementals and absolute insanity that century must have been full of.
Oh, and they didn't just get warped. First, all their magical catalyst in every workshop and church and machine exploded so much so that the islands erupt in glittering chemical fires at the dawn of the spellplague- meaning no readily prepared magic can be used to conjure a way to protect one's-self or stop the blaze. Then the tidal wave hit. Then they were displaced alongside much of their land- probably dropped onto a sheer ledge of some plateau or cliff in a blood-soaked steppe or mesa with a sky of constant dragonbreath and elemental gods. Whacky!

edit: yes any talk about abeir will be guesswork because the 4e designers had a strict "idk you figure it out" policy on such things. an ancient tradition in D&D design.

[Naanomi]

Tis called smokepowder.
No, not Smokepowder. Gond taught the people of Lantan how to make gunpowder non-inert in small quantities; a secret controlled by high-ranking members of his clergy on the condition they would never do so in such quantities as to threaten the use of Smokepowder overall

[Millstone85]

gunpowder (and not just smoke powder)
Tis called smokepowder.
No, not Smokepowder.Oddly, the SCAG's entry on Lantan only refers to smokepowder.


I can't imagine that the southern Lantanese got much done on Abeir to raise their reputation, what with the dragons and elementals and absolute insanity that century must have been full of.
Oh, and they didn't just get warped. First, all their magical catalyst in every workshop and church and machine exploded so much so that the islands erupt in glittering chemical fires at the dawn of the spellplague- meaning no readily prepared magic can be used to conjure a way to protect one's-self or stop the blaze. Then the tidal wave hit. Then they were displaced alongside much of their land- probably dropped onto a sheer ledge of some plateau or cliff in a blood-soaked steppe or mesa with a sky of constant dragonbreath and elemental gods. Whacky!I think I will go with the idea that modern Lantanese are largely descended from Abeirans who came across this, to them, new land. That will go well with my character being a genasi.

Also, I am going to answer one of the SCAG's questions...
To whom did they turn when in that other world their prayers to their favored god, Gond, went unanswered? by shamelessly ripping off Breath of the Wild and saying that Gondar rituals awoke four ancient gargantuan beast-shaped elemental machines. I will call these the elder elemental myrmidons.

[Unoriginal]

Something just came to my mind.

Abeir is from where the Toril's Dragonborn population is from, right?

I imagine a century there saw Lantan get a lot of Dragonborns wishing to settle there, so it could be that current-Lantan has a greater percentage of Dragonborn than most other places.

[Psyren]

Something just came to my mind.

Abeir is from where the Toril's Dragonborn population is from, right?

I imagine a century there saw Lantan get a lot of Dragonborns wishing to settle there, so it could be that current-Lantan has a greater percentage of Dragonborn than most other places.

Good callout, I like this idea.

[KorvinStarmast]

Abeir is from where the Toril's Dragonborn population is from, right? Aha, as a non 4e guy, I didn't pick up on that. Interesting.

I imagine a century there saw Lantan get a lot of Dragonborns wishing to settle there, so it could be that current-Lantan has a greater percentage of Dragonborn than most other places. And it being kind of tropical feeds into the 'losta lizards' kind of environment. (Yes, I know that white and silver dragons rather break the mold on that)

[Naanomi]

Oddly, the SCAG's entry on Lantan only refers to smokepowder
I mean... Not too odd, I get the sense that the writers of SCAG didn't delve too deeply into established lore in their writing