End game: the domino effect of the veil being destroyed!

[cyber_savage]

Hey everyone!

In theory, if the PCs find a way to destroy the Veil surrounding Aryth, what would happen?

My guess:
1) Souls would now be able to return to the heavens
2) the gods could commune with their followers

BUT...
a) What would happen to the Whisper in Erethor? Woudl the souls of the elves be freed, thus ending the Whisper's presence?
b) What about Izador? He is in a weird half-living, half-dead form, waiting to suck up the magical energy of Aryth. If the Veil disappeared, would his form change back to it's pre-fallen form?

What else would happen?

Thanks!

[zubalove]

I'm debating using Midnight for the setting of a Pathfinder campaign, and piercing the Veil would be the end result. However, it wouldn't be the destruction of the Veil, but instead a small breach which would mean a glimmer of hope.

The heroes would ultimately be ejected to another plane at the end. A second campaign then could be planned to stage some kind of return... but who knows?

[Chaotix]

First and foremost, I recommend you do *not* break the veil. Doing so completely upends the setting and makes what's supposed to be impossible possible. Midnight is a setting of making the best of a bad situation, of carving out a life for you and your people underneath the Shadow's oppression. If you break the veil, not only does it become just a normal D&D setting for *that* game, but it defines any future games in the Midnight setting. If your players are brought back to Midnight as heroes, then their focus will inevitably be on breaking the veil again.

That said, it's your game, and if you and your players will have a blast doing it, then more power to ya    - here's some additional thoughts on what happens:

Yes, the souls that are considered "The Lost" and those that inhabit The Fell would be released and be allowed to continue on to their afterlife (though some may still be malevolent enough to stay).

The other gods ("The Silent Ones") would *be able to* commune with their followers, but only the long-lived Elves and Dwarves who were alive before The Sundering would know how to commune with them. The humans have no one alive who knows The Silent Ones beyond the tales told by their elders/ancestors. Humans would essentially have to re-learn those ancient religions before they could have clerics/priests again. If you wanted to have your players do this, I would recommend getting the Dragonlance Chronicles adventures and altering them into the post-veil Midnight setting, since that'd be exactly what they'd be doing (whoever's playing the "first priest" would be Goldmoon, etc etc).

The Whisper in Erethor *could* go away, or could stay. I think that's a GM's call. The souls of those Elves may want to stay until the war is won. Luckily, since the Elves have been successful thus far in maintaining a war front at the edge of Erethor, a return of the Gods to their priests would certainly turn the tide in their favor (same for the Dwarves).

Izrador would face the other gods in an epic battle that would shake the heavens. Depending on how you measure a god's strength, it could be one he could win too. If you say a god is only as strong as his number of devout followers, well... The Silent Ones have relatively few followers these days vs Izrador's legions of legates and troops.

The thousands of planar beings - angels, demons, elementals, etc - would all immediately return to their planes, having been stuck on Aryth for way too long. Other planar beings would avoid Aryth for a while, only coming if specifically summoned, just in case the veil comes back. No one wants to get locked in if that should happen again. Summoning of any kind may be more difficult, such that anyone trying to summon *anything* may need to learn the being's true name before it will actually come.

I'm sure there's more. I'll keep thinking on it, but these are my first ideas. There's a few old posts on this topic as well that you can farm for ideas, this one being one of the bigger ones:  http://www.againsttheshadow.org/index.php?topic=1761.0

@zubalove, I'm a bit concerned with just a small breach. This veil is cutting Aryth off entirely from other planes. If the souls find even a little breach, they'll all rush through and it'll change the world. If you want to give the party a glimmer of hope without changing one of the basic tenets of the setting, I recommend them finding a way to traverse the veil rather than breach it. If they can traverse it, then it's not as impervious as originally thought which should lead them to think it can be broken.

[orien45]

I had had a notion about how to make a Midnight game basically last a gaming lifetime.

The first campaign characters struggle against all odds, eventually becoming mythical characters of legend.  These characters, after falling to glorious deaths, become the foundation of a new pantheon that will eventually overtake the Shadow. 

The next campaign characters are people that have taken to the ideals and beliefs of the first campaign characters.  Their actions and lives strengthen the belief in the legendary heroes of old. 

So on and so forth... Shadow may have cut off the old gods but that does not mean faith and belief will not allow new ones to rise on this side.

Just a notion. I've played with the same group of people for twenty years or so, the idea of games lasting decades would be possible.

[Chaotix]

@orien45 - That's a cool idea! Run with it! Maybe plant some tales of the old gods and how *they* ascended to divinity after performing great and miraculous deeds and died as heroes just to pave the way for your players thinking they could do the same. Even Izrador could've once been a mortal in this version of history.

It would have to be something world-changing to garner enough support to become divine, but not so world-changing that it breaks the setting. Perhaps the culmination of your campaign could be the death of the Night Kings (though, not all have to die, Sunulael and/or Ardherin could certainly play dead and disappear for a while, to reappear in the second game  )? It's certainly epic-level to take down a Night King, let alone all four.