scott-martin

I will always defer questions of prehistoric Saird to Jajagappa. And in that context it's worth lingering a bit on where we are in the fall of the northern forests. Rist is still a viable society but is already shrunken in the face of rising human power on the 1220 map. Looks like the inheritors of Eston in the Eston Wilds are technically calling the shots here . . . not sure how effective they are in this era. "Dense groves of trees cover hills and valleys haunted by elves, trolls, Tusk Riders, and bad memories."

They would have been such fancy prancing beasts.One emergent heroquest aspect of all this is of course the way the Black Horses have evolved from speedy but otherwise un-noteworthy mounts in WBRM into what we could consider the bijiif horses of the RQG Bestiary, restorations of the mutilated perfect pony from parts available in the underworld. This is almost a parody of the Golden Horse or Feathered Horse program, an inversion of horse eschatology . . . Grazers by Night. They can outrun the FHQ counter and keep up with Ironhoof. Since he comes from the approximate region of the western horse tribes this is interesting, undoubtedly a quirk of his heroic psychology for allies and enemies to absorb, accommodate or counter. I keep forgetting to check the sourcebook now that it exists! Nice to pin down the grant to 1545+ in current materials, even though it means some fancy footwork if people want to keep "over a century" or the Resettlement Sagas / KODP presence in the region. Like all good monster manuals, the Bestiary is full of the good stuff. Ethilrist becomes relevant after the Carmanian collapse and the hell ride is him ducking under the Ban, which dates that portion of the story (Volume VI) to 1499+. I'm happy with that. This gives the Mislari crossing, Companion fragment, etc. room to happen "over a century" from a 1618 start date. He might have made Nights of Horror, he might not. I'm not married to that piece of his mythos but know some people are. It's possible that Muse Roost was in place decades before Ethilrist took possession of the place, but I'm not eager to ascribe either serial incarnation ("Sir Ethilrist" as an inherited job title like "Dread Pirate Roberts") or straightforward time travel here. The "convergences" he chases in the fragment are bizarre and possibly take him outside the circles of time, but from the outside this probably looks more like big gaps in his narrative than opportunities to insert him where he doesn't belong. He's more likely to be absent from an era when a sequential life would mandate him being active than he is to emerge somewhere he shouldn't be. After all, he wasn't a Hero yet in the Companion fragment so wouldn't have access to attributes like heroic movement, escape, etc. The fragment is an interesting look at his ambition as well as his trajectory. He looks a lot like Greg in one of the portraits. My notes on his interaction with the Empire also say "ego = egi" but who has time to figure that out. Another shadow of the man in the red shirt, those early Carmanian syncretisms.

These might be the earlier horse people who find a loophole through association with Ironhoof, then are later assimilated into the "vendref" who preserve eyewitness accounts. The un-stitched bipedal line of Harfraftos. Modern people would just see "grazers."

Unless we posit a western extension of the Dragonewt Road Network that no longer exists in that form, these people would have needed passage through the Shadowlands, right? That tells me OOO was in the loop or not in a position to do anything about it, or the story itself is disinformation for humans to spread. If I had to render a hypothesis now I'd say a lieutenant had gone rogue with scavenged EWF secrets or worse and once he became a real diplomatic problem he had to be eliminated with clean hands. The UL informant tells a carefully sanitized version (Trollpak as a whole may be Shadowlands PR for a northern audience) designed to hide the embarrassing details while subtly cautioning ambitious trolls that there are worse things than death. The CHDP version contains even more careful silences. Putting them together as you do helps us approach what really happened and then a trip to the Ruins proper will confirm or deny. People who like extra bizarre dragonewts can posit that the draconic forces latent in the Ruin required a certain type of sacrifice or even just a commemoration of magical processes, something between a slow-cook barbeque and a long-burning signal flare. The elves are mysteriously quiet in the EWF era except for the isolated Pavis influences (man and city). I'm starting to think that they were especially vulnerable to the Kill so their participation was more thoroughly eradicated, and then the Newbloom was ultimately collateral damage in what board games fans know as the Shadows Dance scenario. Are there any references to elves and newts being particularly friendly or unfriendly to each other? EDIT who is the mother Tree here anyway? RIST, right?

[This will strive mightily to respect SPOILERS but you have already been warned.] Until today I dismissed the Troll Wars as a curiosity of the Inhuman Occupation or even a langatmiger Witz marking the site of some otherwise undocumentable grievance but you have opened my eyes. There were always hints that Vamargic had crossed a moral line and required extreme punishment. The Uz Lore informant, better connected to troll sympathies, understands the punishment but not so much the nature of the transgression. The CHDP source takes a more newt-friendly perspective and uses terms like "grotesque" and "disgusting" for what in Uz Lore simply looks like a really great troll party, but is not concerned with the lurid detail of burning the bodies and damning the souls. Nobody will say what the trolls did that was so wrong. I'd look first to the "intoxicating drinks" as part of the problem. This might be a euphemism for some unspeakable, delicious and intoxicating rite of troll cuisine too awful for them to talk about and the rest of us to even contemplate. Bad, bad, bad cannibal magic, even for dragonewts who normally consider a discarded body a cast more amusing than sacred. The new text casts this in a stronger moral light by calling it a "violation". . . desecration deserves desecration. But if the southern swarm's crime wasn't eating dragonewt what was it? Vamargic was also always a boundary crosser because both parents were romal, bloodlines poisoned by chaos, and they don't normally breed great trolls, which only Cragspider figured out how to make. ZZ is also always suspect as a carrier of troll illumination. Greg provides a hint in WF 6: the southern nation were called the "wood" trolls because "among them were many Dark Elves." This can mean a lot of things in our modern understanding . . . "intoxicating" mushroom drinks, stunted poison trees, some kind of half-elf / half-troll cross paralleling the Aramites and making the forest stink, krjalki, "newbloom aldryami." We just don't know. They don't survive and people don't talk about them. But this was a rough crowd compared to Braineater's people from button-down Dagori Inkarth. Now OOO didn't seem to mind what Vamargic's people got up to at home (this swarm seemed to provide a significant part of his muscle), but he didn't seem to protest too hard when they never came back either. No big loss. The humans in the Shadowlands cheered. What do dragonewts want? WF 6 also dangles the detail in front of us that they had Karastrand killed . . . this might be the "forced to react" reference in Uz Lore. They were initially friendly with OOO or whoever was running the Shadowlands at the time. That person sent troops and healers to retrieve draconic assets all the way from "Shadows Dance," which is an interesting set up of north vs south troll rivalry to come. I think southern trolls had right of way here until Vamargic's people abused that privilege. I suspect the resurgence of the Plinth was either a transitional stage in rehabilitating the Pass or another experiment that didn't really work out. They're evidently the people who stunk up the Stinkwood. This might have antagonized any "dark elves" in the region, who might or might not have been ended up in Korvan's carnivorous struggle in Cults of Prax a little later in the timeline. There might always be Blue Moon echoes at work in any troll/dragonewt interaction.

Bit of trivia: reading between the lines, Red friendlies spent a lot of effort flooding the market with lunar silver (^RMI) in order to knock as many Holy Country (^ING) and Sartar (^SOV) guilders as possible out of circulation. A lot of them were probably melted down and recast as lunars to keep the cycle going. Now the process is turning but there's still a vast amount of funny money out there.

The angels sing. Some people called this god MALKION but there were a lot of names in languages that no longer really survive. This god was born on the far western edge of the world, came to Genertela, achieved great things and was martyred. The details are controversial and rarely discussed in civil company. Everyone has an opinion and a favorite part of the story.

They are, but as Kate Bush says, we love them for that. Not yet. The author is very responsive to questions though. I don't know what the Praxians do around the edges of winter. I presume it's the rainy season so they're happy but could be very very wrong. Back on topic a listen to the carol "Seven Rejoices of Mary" gets me in a mood to consider that solstice rites are important for older women looking back while the young ladies look forward to running the rites of spring, and so the year turns. Regrets and other ghost stories. Perfect weather for the West and our god who history took from us and we just haven't figured out how to put back together again. Maybe this time. (out of reacts but I stole one of the northern barbarian's precious thanks! ka-ching!)

Yeah, it's controversial. We observe both New Years in our house (one vulgar / secular and the other for deep magic) and I wouldn't be surprised if the Kralorelan calendar starts from one solstice or the other as well for MGF. But this is the season the reindeer come knocking on the roof of all good bear cubs' dreaming and not a few of the naughty ones also. The important thing about these nights is not that we're recreating a world but simply that we're getting through it. We made it through the year, it didn't kill us, let's eat.

The consolidation of "New" Seshnela and reconstitution of the caste system was probably a glorious time for mercenaries but I don't see him evacuating the region without a firm push. The timeline there is also tight: if we take the Companion fragment as a fair transcription then he knows about the Arrolian Properties under that name (post 1389) and believes they are still a viable destination (pre 1450 circa). He might of course be wrong and Arrolia had already fallen long ago, but since his internal misgivings about his hero status in the text don't sound like someone who has already harrowed hell, I am reluctant to insert an extra-temporal episode before he emerges from the Convergence zone, however we would approach that now. According to the information he had when he went in, Arrolia endures. Whether it had fallen when he came out is another question, but in that case the emperor is going to be busy until at least the early 1460s. In this reconstruction I can see him helping to rebuild the empire in some capacity but the Nights of Terror put a hard stop on his participation before he needs to head down and build Muse Roost so he can start brooding. (Part of the impetus here is to start building a HQ/RQG transitional timeline so we can move beyond 1618 with some degree of confidence.) The fact that he doesn't show up in FS may either reflect lunar chroniclers' chauvinism or Greg's exhaustion with a juvenile creation past his prime. Ironically I suspect the former scenario here. Greg remained engaged with our favorite asshole until close to the end. So what are we seeing, now that Yomili and Halwal have both weighed in? He's on the run in the late 15th century and moving north (Companion). He ends up cutting a deal with an emperor, probably Magnificus. Magnificus or his immediate successor sends him south when the empire is restored. It's incidentally funny to see Hon-eel messing with the telmorites too. Evidently they were a problem or an opportunity for a lot of people once upon a time. Maybe the horses turn black after Horror, maybe not. TBD. Looking at the Companion again I suspect Keener Than is a useful algebra, a jungian cutout. Clever fellow, our Ethilrist, to deploy such an obvious achilles' heel, I mean hell, I mean "best friend." But this shows that I'm not a fan of easy "atroxian" placeholders after all.

Daddy! I suspect the now-vestigial Soul Arranger mythos hints at many esoteric mysteries preserved in the Guide of the Dead. Telling also that some people say Larnste engineered the birth of Umath while an issaries (I imagine a preposterously cute cherub, probably disguised as Groucho Marx) was born explicitly to grease the cosmic gears and make it happen. One force, two factors. Of course today we have the modern Issaries so who could ask for anything more? But we digress! I am eager to discover trader princesses to the immediate west who can shed light on these things and if anyone is still following the original post the book The Distaff Gospels came up over cocktails the other night. Highest recommendation.

Sacking Dunstop "a few years before Starbrow's Rebellion" might push the start of the 30-year commission back as far as circa 1580, which fits your timeline but is challenging to reconcile with settlement at Muse Roost "more than a century ago" (SKOH 257 . . . the currently deprecated "Atrox" is my placeholder for his real faith to be discovered). But I'm eager to hear solutions. We have debated the Mislari crossing in the past . . . if the fragment preserved in the Companion is the primary textual evidence then we're back in Volume III, once again "over a century ago" and a long way from hell. It's possible the grant and all or part of the 30-year commission happen as late as Volume V, in which case there's time later to hobnob with future kings, queens and emperors after the horse changes colors.

With a band of companions he traveled to the edge of the sea, and there he contacted a great spirit which could guide and protect many tribes — which could protect a kingdom. After that Westfaring success Sartar was recognized by the many peoples as their ruler. His original title was First (Prince) of the Quivini. Who controls the route west of Dragon Pass?

There's a feeling I get [as] I look to the West (beware) that I don't know enough about Ethilrist's heroquest orientation, so it starts with trying to get a grip on the slippery external facts behind his braggadocio. Separate sources say that the Mislari crossing (Guide) and the establishment of the Atroxist colony (SKOH) happened roughly contemporaneously, "over a century ago." This suggests that he came south somewhere between circa 1468 and 1517, i.e. the Fifth Wane, and the emperor who authorized the grant was almost certainly the Magnificus complex, which makes sense in terms of the larger Kingdom of Conflict southern strategy. However, we are also told (Guide) that he spent his 30-year commission harrying "Sartarite rebels," so the window narrows to 1491-1517 in order to fit all the facts. Lunar missionaries only show up after the apotheosis of Prince Sartar (SKOH), which means Ethilrist was an enemy of Boldhome for all or part of Saronil's reign but probably just misses his chance to be among the "strangers" who kill him. I'm sure people have explored this history in exquisite detail, possibly weaving conspiracy plots around the Telmorite migration, etc. What do you know? And if people want him present at the Nights of Horror, this complicates the timing and the motivations a little more.

Starting with your experience as a female gamer can unlock wonders. If the stories and structures available don't express your view of the world, nobody is better equipped to discover new ones that can do better. It probably won't happen all at once. Perversely Greg's essay in a book called "Choirs of the God: Revisioning Masculinity" might be really useful to anyone looking to decode a bit of the gender journey that gave us the stories and structures available. Once we know better where we've been, it can get easier to figure out where to go next.

Harst has a surprisingly broad reach but I digress into spoilers and minutia. The exciting thing about cult ecology is the way different theologies emphasize different levels of the Tindalos Religious Pyramid. Some are narrow because their epiphanies are abstract or they are actively fastidious, refusing casual affiliation so "lay members" are limited to people preparing for initiation. Others enjoy a broader footprint so most of their people are Tindalos 2 types. Orlanth in Orlanth territory is interesting because levels 2 and 3 are usually conflated and there's a lot of overlap toward 4. It's an egalitarian society with few intermediaries to act as spiritual chokepoints. Most people can talk to god and actively participate in the work of the world. Few may have the kind of deeper understanding (kate bush reference) that turns into spells, but who really knows if that's what matters. Anywhere you get a lumpen underclass will have more lowlies farmed for magic points serving as the audience in the rites important people perform. In some places this may actually look something like "Barntar," with a lot of lay congregants and few initiates or bigger magic people. In others, Harst or one of the lodrils. But this also verges on puppeteer mystery.

Welcome to the Hero Wars! The menenstral cycle for those carrying that onus will begin in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . .

I think this is ultimately where she needs to step up. While I like B personally, he did the work of getting them through 1622 and is now a little extraneous. That's okay, he was always meant for bigger horizons. This is her patch of ground to claim. Meanwhile I guess the nymph is happy, which tends to be all I care about.

Top thread of the season!! Thinking about the "ruins" of Stone Nest I realize I don't actually know much about the durulz archaeological record before Delecti made the Marsh. The Mongoose book makes some interesting leaps in terms of a broader pre-Dragonkill duck diaspora that then gathered into Dragon Pass as a kind of central homeland. Sadly that's about as far as its imagination goes, but I wonder if that global duck community needed more extensive housing than the current population can or wants to maintain. Maybe they truly have come down in the world from much more lofty circumstances. (Born in an egg like the EWF, after all.) Their boats (perfect for messing around in) would have been different when the current was stronger. And now that the topic is out in the open I don't have a lot of compelling evidence for the Wild Temple and Beast Valley before the Kill opened up the Zoo either.

Haha! YES. You want to make the river happy, this is how it works.

Then every day's your birthday! Happy birthday, Miss Chaostic, Alternative Miss World for 1626. Out of reacts, will come back around to this and the alchemy later.

Our best economists say there will be seven runic genders, the seas will fill with a nutritious and refreshing beverage like lemonade, every tribe will contain exactly 1600 souls (all personality types perfectly balanced) leaping out of bed three hours before dawn to pick perfect cherries, the Valind Glacier will melt, etc. I believe part of it but a lot of wild stuff comes out of Zoria these days.

Given the persistent rumor of testicles in RL elixir formulations (Fulcanelli opens the door in a dress) I would suspect blood is only the tip of the taboo factor. OTOH someone needs to step up to supply the known potion market and until Minlinster starts loading real spell points into craft beer or the beards come up with something useful I guess people will have to keep on making difficult choices.

Just to piggyback on everything else. When life gets complicated, adventurers and other complicated people have to make complicated choices. Maybe one community needs you more, so if your home clan told you to help out these other people, it's OK to stay with them and help them recreate the world. Unless you have a strong suspicion that the wyter wants you to come home, that's your community this year. Go ahead and do their rites. There's often a job for someone like you. In Orlanth land, getting lines on Day 5 and Day 6 is a great honor but they might find something else for you to do depending on your skill set and their needs. After this, you'll have a special relationship with these people. They might not be your clan but there's still a bond. When the wyter and your soul want you to come home, they'll let you know. Maybe you'll have adventures along the way and barely make it back when your presence becomes essential. Or maybe you were needed more elsewhere all along, so that's OK too. And in a world of orphans and disrupted lives, sometimes new wyters are born.

That's what I'm saying, man! People showed up dressed for an argument and got rebuke instead. To be fair I bet the programming was pretty sophisticated but who even thinks about deploying that kind of thing? Lucky Theo blew it by gambling on the big man. Bad genealogy, especially if good things come out of Dan like we hope. Sad. 1627 or bust!