Suar-Lanyr between 1246 N.C. and 1310 N.C.

Background: The Suar-Lanyr found themselves sorely tested during the Valatha'Kahn. Many refused to take sides, unwilling to strike down their fellow Gelvani. Others found themselves forced into battle, if only for the sake of defending innocents on both sides. Kalthanan himself fought against the Drey'Gelvani invaders at the threshold of defenseless Que'Gelvani holds, his blades symbolically bound with mercy spells, refusing to spill Gelvani blood even as atrocities became ever greater in number.

Sadly, accounts of such gallant behavior was lost in the bloodshed. For many years, a large number of Gelvani believed that the Suar-Lanyr at best failed to prevent the war… and at worst had at least played some part in the killing that is now a wound in their racial memory.

Kalthanan Korianthil departed Mirivia around 1246 N.C. He was followed by a number of the Alathani of Mirivia. He was branded a secessionist and a traitor by many of his people, and for several years he did not bother to even answer their accusations. The majority of the Suar-Lanyr answered his call, though, and gathered in the mighty tower and city that he and his followers built built from the ruins of an ancient Gelvani stronghold.

By the time Kalthanan re-asserted himself in the royal courts of Mirivia, warriors who had recently witnessed him fight revealed that the lord of Issantia used disciplines and arcane powers hitherto unseen. Visitors to Shar-Issantys confirmed that the lord of the Suar-Lanyr has taught these powers to a select number of his training masters and allies.

Mechanics: During this time period, which paralleled the real world transition from 2E to 3E, Kalthanan developed powers that he'd never had before. Specifically, Kalthanan was never able to combine spells with melee attacks.

We never actually said how Kalthanan came up with these powers. I don't believe either of us ever proposed a retcon of the sort wherein Kalthanan was "always able to do these things". The process was basically focused on what the Suar-Lanyr should be able to do given the mechanics of the prestige class format and the various abilities (Feats, extraordinary abilities, class features, etc.) available in 3E.

I think it's most fitting that the development of these powers be a part of a literal, in-game transformation of the character. Kalthanan went to Issantia to found a realm that was based on his philosophy. He raised a stronghold, an academy, and a city, and gathered unto him the Suar-Lanyr. He spent some time up north doing "his own thing"; it was ten years before he re-joined his friends to fight back the Parthans from Camus, and another twenty-four before the Barukar brought him more fully back into the spotlight.

I think it's only fitting that his transformation to a 3E character and the development of these new powers occurred during this time, when Kalthanan was living in relative solitude… in the sense that he left behind Mirivia and was focused more on his own realm, his followers, his philosophy, etc. These years, after the siege of Camus, would have been when he experimented with new techniques, researched new spells, etc. This would result in the Suar-Lanyr Prestige Class as we know it.

This Prestige Class, like the Suar-Lanyr Archetype, Kalthanan would best be represented in a sourcebook dedicated to the Gelvani. Background-wise, Kalthanan had levels in this Prestige Class, as did a number of other NPCs. These would include the more progressive Suar-Lanyr masters from the various Gelvani realms (see the document that you sent me, Ken); the teachers that Kalthanan entrusted with leading his academies (at the three towers); and obviously a large number of promising adventurers. Many of these would have been Suar-Lanyr of the "old school" - members of the order since before 1246 N.C. Several would have been adventurers who were recruited into the order and simply earned levels in the Prestige Class (see, for instance, the NPC apprentices from your writeup on the adventure against the Frost Dragon, when Kalthanan met Keleen). Typhon would have been one such adventurer.

The rules for the Suar-Lanyr Prestige Class would serve, first and foremost, as a nod to our own campaign; second, as an indicator to the buyer of the evolution of the game material paralleling the evolution of the world's background; and third, as a viable option for those wishing to play an older character, or for a GM to build one of the NPCs who joined Kalthanan's court following the Valatha'Kahn.

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