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Post by havard on Oct 18, 2009 4:19:40 GMT -6
Who was Robert of Geneva, the founder of Blackmoor and the one who built Blackmoor Castle?
In my upcoming campaign sequel, I am considering having the Ghost of King Robert appear and try to contact one of the PCs. I'm not really sure what he might be up to though, or what his motiviations might be. I see him as a good ghost, but he might also have an agenda of his own.
Havard
Edit: Changed Genova to Geneva
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Post by Finarvyn on Oct 18, 2009 8:24:19 GMT -6
Havard, I swear that you have nothing to do all day and night but sit back and come up with obscure Blackmoor questions. That's so cool!  Sadly, I don't know this one. |
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Post by aldarron on Oct 18, 2009 8:49:03 GMT -6
Havard, I swear that you have nothing to do all day and night but sit back and come up with obscure Blackmoor questions. That's so cool! ROFL! No idea either Havard, but my '77 copy of FFC lists him as "Robert I king of all Geneva." The thing I noted when I read that was the all Geneva bit. What the heck is Geneva? Was that the name Dave originally (1971) gave to the land in which the tiny village of Blackmoor was located? Arneson also noted that Robert I was not the original builder on the site, but built upon the ruins of an older structure "The newer structure incorporates many of the underground galleries of the older structures as well as the main tower which has stood througout the history of the area" (p30). On p 32 he says that the tower has the ghost of Baron Alveraz, who was killed in a surprise barbarian attack - presumably the one that destroyed the place before Robert I rebuilt/expanded it. Maybe Baron Alveraz is the ghost your looking for. |
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Post by havard on Oct 18, 2009 10:41:32 GMT -6
Havard, I swear that you have nothing to do all day and night but sit back and come up with obscure Blackmoor questions. That's so cool! Sadly, I don't know this one. Hehe! As I mentioned elsewhere recently (on the Piazza I think), whenever I post more than usual, it is probably not because I have alot of spare time on my hands, but because I am supposed to be doing something else which I would like to avoid doing.  However, I am starting a sequel for my Blackmoor campaign in about a week and my players seem more enthusiastic about it than ever so that's another reason for my recent surge in Blackmoor activity  Havard |
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Post by havard on Oct 18, 2009 10:50:44 GMT -6
No idea either Havard, but my '77 copy of FFC lists him as "Robert I king of all Geneva." The thing I noted when I read that was the all Geneva bit. What the heck is Geneva? Was that the name Dave originally (1971) gave to the land in which the tiny village of Blackmoor was located? I am guessing the name is an Out of Game Reference (is that a term), referring to a player or friend of Dave's from Lake Geneva, perhaps from Gary's Group? Robert I is the founder of the Great Kingdom (later Thonian Empire), and also the one who expanded the realm to the North. He is also the one who built the Castle, or at least had it constructed. Ofcourse, when we have a Robert I of Geneva in the game, that probably means we should have a place called Geneva as well. Perhaps Geneva is one of the smaller realms that King Robert was ruler of before he managed to unite all the provinces of the Great Kingdom? The D20 Sourcebook lists him as Emperor Robert I, probably to reflect the fact that Thonia is an Empire rather than a Kingdom. This can be traced back to DA1. Interesting points. King Robert I might not even have been in Blackmoor ever in his life, but Alveraz is already established as a Ghost. Do we know anything more about him though? The Barbarians he was killed by were probably Skandaharians... Havard |
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Post by Finarvyn on Oct 18, 2009 13:08:40 GMT -6
Oh, the "Genova" versus "Geneva" thing threw me and I had a brain cramp.  Remember in the early days that most characters had the name of the players, or some sort of variant of the actual player's name, so King Robert was most likely someone named Robert. I alwsys assumed that King Robert I of Geneva is Rob Kuntz, from Lake Geneva, WI, and that this was somehow a crossover from the C&C Society Great Kingdom days. (A "King Kuntz" is mentioned in Domesday Book #7 and again in #9, #12, and #13.) |
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Post by havard on Oct 18, 2009 13:41:29 GMT -6
Oh, the "Genova" versus "Geneva" thing threw me and I had a brain cramp. My bad, sorry about the typo That's what I figured as well. Now this is a sound theory! I think the crossover between the C&C days and Blackmoor's history run quite deep, especially in the case of the FCC. Does the Domesday book issues say anything more about King Kuntz? I guess the main point is that the Great Kingdom in the Blackmoor universe is the same as the Great Kingdom from the C&C society, though how exactly that relates to the Great Kingdom of Greyhawk is debatable... confusing stuff! Havard |
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Post by harami2000 on Oct 18, 2009 14:00:15 GMT -6
Now this is a sound theory! I think the crossover between the C&C days and Blackmoor's history run quite deep, especially in the case of the FCC. Does the Domesday book issues say anything more about King Kuntz? Only as Rob Kuntz (King) - and soon to be overthrown - in #7, sorry. |
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Post by thorswulf on Oct 18, 2009 22:44:24 GMT -6
Somebody really needs to reprint as many of issues of Domesday Book as they can get ahold of, bind it all together and sell it to all of fans of OD&D history!
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Post by grodog on Oct 19, 2009 20:55:58 GMT -6
I'm working on it |
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Post by Finarvyn on Oct 19, 2009 21:45:17 GMT -6
Grodog, there's an extra EXALT or two in it for you if you pull this off. |
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Post by havard on Oct 20, 2009 3:06:49 GMT -6
I want! Havard |
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Post by havard on Nov 12, 2009 10:42:08 GMT -6
Bob Meyer sent me some early Blackmoor documents which describes Blackmoor as the northernmost province of the "Empire of Geneva". I guess that is simply an older name for the Great Kingdom/Thonia.
Havard
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Post by snorri on Nov 12, 2009 12:03:45 GMT -6
Linking Geneva to Great kingdom sounds pretty reasonable.
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Post by havard on Nov 12, 2009 13:37:31 GMT -6
Linking Geneva to Great kingdom sounds pretty reasonable. I guess its all related to the whole issue of the C&C Society Map being based on parts of the USA, with Lake Geneva being the location of Gary's group (Greyhawk) and St. Paul/MN being the location chosen by Dave for Blackmoor. It would have been interesting to hear if there were other games linked to that map as well. Or even to see Gary's original maps of GH rather than just the ones reworked by TSR. Havard |
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