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Voriof

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Voriof last won the day on August 27 2020

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  • Forest dwelling canoeist

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  • RPG Biography
    Did some writing. Did some playing. Started with D&D and RQ back in the 70s. Played a lot of things since. Was very proud of Trader Princes.
  • Current games
    D&D 5th with the kids. A few indy games played over Discord.
  • Location
    In a forest by the sea (Maine)
  • Blurb
    Old RuneQuest, HeroQuest, Pendragon, etc player. Wandered off into the the trackless forests of Wenelia. Wandered back out recently. Probably need to trim my beard.

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  1. Not particularly. I get far worse from the folks I investigate. You haven't threatened my family, for example. It seems Maniria has a lot more going on than I was aware of when working there previous! I was told 'just worry about Harrek'. As I said, a place where a GM can do some world building in relative peace without worrying excessively about the plot line. But there's stuff going on as well, which, long term, is probably a plus. It was a bit of a void at the time. - From a forest overlooking the sea (which is already rising here in Maine)
  2. Voriof

    Wolf Pirates

    This is interesting information - and food for thought. Though for me, I wonder if Gloranthan piracy, especially in the Holy Country, would be more akin to that found in the Mediterranean during the Classical period? But then, reports for the time seem to indicate that every other headland concealed a lurking pentekonter or hemolina. * Pirate fleets in the ancient times could reach great numbers - up to several hundred vessels - until Pompey's campaign in the first century BCE. One of my professors pointed out that, from the point of view of the Trojans, the Hellens were the biggest pirate fleet ever seen... He also said, figuring out if a settlement was 'piratical' was pretty much impossible from the archaeological record unless you found something "really nifty." But every fishing village could turn pirate and probably did, when opportunity arose. Which meant the various city states and polities would create leagues and construct pirate-hunting ships as a matter of course... And these might often be little better than pirates themselves, depending on the polity. Sixty ships seems small, to be honest. That said, I am not really sure where we are in the evolution of sea-faring around that coast. From a forest by the sea without pirates, I hope - V * i just realized my love for "Turtletaub's" Wine Dark Sea is showing again.
  3. For what it is worth to anyone, Greg sent me off to Maniria way back in the day to write because he felt it was a place that was not going to be heavily touched by the upcoming trouble - certainly not to the level Dragon Pass will be. A good, quiet place for people, especially NEW PEOPLE, to build a campaign and a world to their liking. A place with history but it was very much a place where players might become the movers and shakers as there really wasn't much of a future script other than, say, Harrek returning and burning everything to the ground. AGAIN. As to the Rokari and Ashara, I was not told any differently on the lists when starting out that they weren't Rokari derived. The write up on Ashara is a quote from Greg. I'll try and dig up the email... somewhere. And yes, thank you, Jeff. The Silk Road was one of my touchstones for writing - particularly how it manifested in the Classic and Roman periods. At the time, I was working as a geo-archaeologist in Turkey and my mentor was very much into ancient trading systems. So, I did look into the effects of the Silk Road's slow decline after the advent of really good shipping and the rise of far more efficient global trading networks. And also, of course, the trade networks set up in North America first by the French - who had a far better relationship with the Amerindians than some others - and later the Hudson Bay Company (the Empire of the Bay). I tried to have the hand of Castelain lie lightly on the region but they were good merchants and provided something the locals did need: some sort of neutral party. Still, I'd love to tuck Taprobane (Sri Lanka) and the annual monsoon trading fleets from Arabia and China into the mix somewhere but couldn't really figure out how. Still in a forest by the Sea but without coffee. - V
  4. A bit of necromancy, but it's good to see Renvald Meldekbane still fighthing the good fight! - From a forest by the sea
  5. ...or the ritual merely said, 'this is not a ship or a boat, move along, move along' in a way the guardians would accept. Sidstepping (and probably eroding) the Closing enough to avoid it. From a forest overlooking the sea J Kyer
  6. Voriof

    What is canon?

    Well, he could be just wearing that loincloth and the armor is forming around him as he becomes... GUITAR GOD. I'd go with Prog Rock. Have you seen a Captain Beefheart cover? Or listened to Rush? (though I would consider glam rock along the lines of Spinal Tap... er... say... Isn't that mountain range a spine? (Where did I put those those 14" trilithons anyway?) From a forest overlooking the sea... of silliness J Kyer
  7. Voriof

    Walrus ivory?

    Dear Sir, I appreciate the extremely high-octane nightmare fuel that you have seen fit to post for me to see. Thank you very much. That being said, insect ivory? Sure! Why not? That said, I wonder what the chitin of a big rhino beetle mandible would be useful for. Though I think that's pretty much troll territory and chitin. I am not sure that chin would be useful as a carving material compared to ivory. I am going to have trouble unseeing that picture though. Yours, from a forest by the sea, without holy cripes bugs, J Kyer
  8. Voriof

    What is canon?

    Either that or Argrath is undergoing apotheosis into a GOD Of PROG ROCK! Which, for my lights, would be completely worth it. Now, where did I put those King Crimson albums? From a forest by the sea and silliness, J Kyer
  9. Really looking forward to this caravan getting on the road. From a forest overlooking the sea, J Kyer
  10. Voriof

    Walrus ivory?

    And I'm sure there's something along the coasts that can be *cough* harvested. Certainly any of the oh-my-god-so-many monsters along the Wenelian coastlines would suffice. Probably why the islanders at Iron Harpoon got shellacked by the Sea Folks. I always wanted to explore the seas and islands off the coast there but never got the chance. FWIW. Warlus-oids and pseudo-Narwhals are cold-water critters but I am sure there's some sort harvest-able analog in the islands and and waters. Some nice isolated beaches and rocky island breeding colonies. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, you're already considering bogarting some of the Ivory Plinth here. Monster hunting is always good for character development (and/or dismemberment). And at the end of the day if SOMEONE SOMEWHERE wants it, the Trader Princes will find SOMEONE to dig it up, hunt it down, chop it up, or harvest it.... for them. They won't do it themselves if they can get away with having someone else do the dirty work. I like the idea of an Ivory tree. Probably grows in a symbiotic and harmonious relationship with ebony. What about Minimoths (see Girl Genius). I am sure they infest everything they can. Cities. Towns. Granaries. Occasionally they swarm and must be eradicated by any means necessary. I am sure ruins are crawling with these little pests until the trollkin eat them. From a forest overlooking the sea, J Kyer - who will always choose 'what makes a good story' over... well... almost anything.
  11. Notes which were eminently useful as background, I might add. You really helped me dial up the 'heck, this place is broken' vibe to where it really needed to be to be. I really haven't looked at the modern version of Maniria/Wenelia but the point was to give plenty of social, political, and above all cultural differences to create conflict which, one hopes, the descendants of the Trader Princes might either mitigate or take advantage of. *addition* That said, I seem to recall Nick always found them to be decadent, decaying and verging on irrelevance (that's a poor choice of words) but I found them to be dynamic and revitalized. I think it's just the POV. Nick looked at them from outside (and perhaps through the viewpoint of feudal nobility). I looked at them from the point of being the sons and daughters of explorers, traders, and negotiators who were rising to the occasion. Nick lives in a country full of Castles. I live in a country full of fur trading posts. Empire of the Bay (about the Hudson Bay Company) was something that I read and referenced from time to time. (Oh dear, I'm getting serious again and less silly...) That said, I reread Trader Princes and it very much was a collaborative effort for which I am thankful. The ghastly writing on my part? I can do better now. Regards from the forests of Maine, J Kyer
  12. FWIW, the former was what I intended when I wrote it as a little Easter egg. Issaries headed west on his journey but Castelain headed east. But that was a long time ago and the world has changed greatly since then. And Castlain was never really a thinker. He did the things that needed to be done and hoped for the best. He was, I think, well rewarded for his trust in the world. Again, FWIW, Ashara was something Greg rattled off from the top of his head and then just gave that big old grin of his and went on to the next problem with the manuscript. Wenelia and Manira were sort of the wreckage of History and Pre history. Everything was there but all broken or "the last remnants of a mighty people" tucked into some ghastly little valley. Much like, for a terrible and violent example, much of the Balkans are today. At the time, that area was very much on my mind. Sort of the whole point of Blood Over Gold was writing in a place that was relatively untouched and was a good place for people to make their own Maniria without having to worry about consulting the sages and being afraid of the continuity gods smiting one's campaign. And, as to the Hero Wars, it was a blind spot, yes. But, with the world changing, the Trader Princes and their way of life was not "doomed" doomed but very, very threatened. New ways were required. New paths. "We're all doomed by year X.... unless YOU (yes, you!) stop it." I just helped push a big rock into place so as to let someone get a push. J Kyer - just commenting on some silly thing he found tucked into the world. P.S. And yes, I really do like reading Nevermet's take on the old place. Again, FWIW.
  13. So much this. Though... "That place will be destroyed in year X unless you *yes, you* do something about it..." works for me. Sorry, just wandered in from the forest after a long walk. J Kyer
  14. Ah, I miss Wenelia. Someday, I think I'd like to go back there. It seems a lot has changed over the years. I have a lot of traveling to do, it seems. J Kyer
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