| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| jordanz |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 01:44:48
Do any exist? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 05:23:28
Well, I like the idea of other "real world" cultures getting time in the Forgotten Realms. Medieval Europe, Asia and etc get their spot; so I made an effort to find a place for a warrior named Aja Sakumbe to hail from.
The area of The Shaar is the answer I came up with. To me, the Border Kingdoms were a fine example of colonial powers setting up on the edge of what was once the predominant domain of peoples much like the Zulu.
It fits for us.
That is what I love about the vastness of the Forgotten Realms, wiggle room. |
| Eladrinstar |
Posted - 03 Apr 2012 : 16:48:20
Durpari aren't black, they're dark skinned, but not what we (Real world people) would call black. If we saw a Durpari we would think they were from India.
But yes, Turmish is black, and a good way to add racial diversity in the Heartlands for your players without having to go to Chult. |
| jerrod |
Posted - 03 Apr 2012 : 05:00:40
My my.....so we ARE included in the realms without having to have pointed ears and worship demon-spiders! That's......refreshing!lol |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 03 Apr 2012 : 04:44:33
this thread didnt need re animated.
let it die.
furthermore there are no real world ethnic groups in the FR. |
| Sinjin Oban |
Posted - 03 Apr 2012 : 04:10:57
quote:
Originally posted by jordanz
Do any exist?
If you want to address the original topic, check the "Do the realms have an Africa-like region?" thread. Its here in the General Forgotten Realms Chat topics.
That thread went pretty well, I thought. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 15 Jul 2008 : 17:11:48
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
Re the practicality of painting completely black skin, here's a photo of a naked woman in black body paint (I think) on the cover of a photography magazine.
Very striking picture. |
| Gwydion669 |
Posted - 14 Jul 2008 : 06:45:38
True "black-skinned" drow also made a brief appearance in the second Dungeons and Dragons movie. They were in the background of one shot, hanging upside down, being bled dry, I believe. You get a much better view of them snacking on the set in the "extras" section of the DVD.
PS: Make sure to watch it with the "player's commentary" running. Four players are providing comments in the role of the iconic characters. It's so bad, it's funny. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 14 Jul 2008 : 01:56:44
quote:
Originally posted by Rory
On the original subject I was wondering if there are any prominent black human characters of note. The only possible two I know of is Vajra Valmeyjar from the AD&D comic and later modules and possibly Farl Bloodaxe who was described as having dark skin in the novel Crusade. He was a high-ranking Purple Dragon so I don’t know if he was dark skin by their standards or a “Black Knight” immigrant of sort.
My impression has always been that Farl Bloodaxe was what most Americans would call "Black" -- no waffling about, the man sounds like a Negro, un-cursed, non-primitive, just a Black man in authority in Cormyr. Curiously, he also has green eyes, which is a recessive genetic trait on Earth. Even though he commanded the Cormyrian infantry during the Crusade, I don't recall any mention of him anywhere outside of the novels except here in the hallowed halls. Perhaps we could encourage the Master of the Green Wood to spin some lore about him, seeing that poor Farl's been dead a hundred years or so.... 
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 13 Jul 2008 : 23:36:17
Nice - I've saved it and will remove the background as a... reference.  |
| Faraer |
Posted - 13 Jul 2008 : 20:04:27
Re the practicality of painting completely black skin, here's a photo of a naked woman in black body paint (I think) on the cover of a photography magazine. |
| lowtech |
Posted - 16 Apr 2008 : 07:55:43
I've always pictured the Chultans as looking like sub-Saharan Africans, the Tashalans and Lapaliyans as the peoples on the Horn of Africa, and the Dupari as Asian Indians with mixed "Aryan" and Dravidian ancestory (note to the ignorant: "Aryan" means the North Indians, not the Nazi conception). As for the Shaarans, I used to think of them as looking the same as their Lapaliyan neighbors (based on old portrayals of Shaaran centaurs, with whom they shared the same environment), but recent artwork and character descriptions indicate Amerindian features (don't ask me how their ancestors migrated from somewhere in Kara-Tur). The Turmish I picture as Moors or Tauregs. I wish Ed would put this subject to rest (if he hasn't already), so that I don't have to keep altering mental pictures of characters based on new information. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 07 Apr 2008 : 15:07:13
quote:
Originally posted by Kyrene
Again in true Realmsian fashion, they share their space with the African elephant-like Loxos and the alien-like Thri-Kreen, making real world parralels difficult to substantiate.
Indeed--Shaarans are in truth people adapted to their environment rather than a people who are strictly parallel to any one real world culture (remember too that "Native American" cultures are highly varied, depending on where a particular tribe lived). |
| Kyrene |
Posted - 07 Apr 2008 : 07:55:40
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
I've always gotten the impression that Chultans are an "African-like" people.
While Shining South and specifically the picture of the Shaaryan Hunter in Players Guide to Faerûn again gives the distinct impression that the Shaar is in fact populated by "native American-like" dark-skinned people -- perhaps with either a Masai or indeed native American culture and love for a nomadic existence -- as opposed to pure "African-like" people. Again in true Realmsian fashion, they share their space with the African elephant-like Loxos and the alien-like Thri-Kreen, making real world parralels difficult to substantiate.
Though it is non-canon for the most part, the cRPG Neverwinter Nights 1 had a dark skinned character as one of the main supporting NPCs (Aarin Gend, a Chultan). |
| The Sage |
Posted - 07 Apr 2008 : 01:42:23
There's also Nazeem, of Chult, in Master of Chains. The novel itself takes place in Erlkazar. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 07 Apr 2008 : 01:18:34
quote:
Originally posted by Rory
On the original subject I was wondering if there are any prominent black human characters of note. The only possible two I know of is Vajra Valmeyjar from the AD&D comic and later modules and possibly Farl Bloodaxe who was described as having dark skin in the novel Crusade. He was a high-ranking Purple Dragon so I don’t know if he was dark skin by their standards or a “Black Knight” immigrant of sort.
edit...
Is this thread like half locked or something? I have the last post but it didnt bump the thread.
The novel Ring of Winter has quite a few dark-skinned characters in it, as it takes place in Chult. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 06 Apr 2008 : 01:15:57
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Hey, it wasn't my fault this time. The Lady K forgot to close the cage door after she'd finished feeding them. 
Now what kind of guy blames things on the mother of his child? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 06 Apr 2008 : 01:04:03
Hey, it wasn't my fault this time. The Lady K forgot to close the cage door after she'd finished feeding them. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 22:15:56
quote:
Originally posted by Rory
Is this thread like half locked or something? I have the last post but it didnt bump the thread.
No, some of Sage's gremlins are still wandering free. We keep telling him to round them up and put them in a cage, but he instead just put it on his to-do list, which now numbers approximately 304,905 items. |
| Rory |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 08:22:13
On the original subject I was wondering if there are any prominent black human characters of note. The only possible two I know of is Vajra Valmeyjar from the AD&D comic and later modules and possibly Farl Bloodaxe who was described as having dark skin in the novel Crusade. He was a high-ranking Purple Dragon so I don’t know if he was dark skin by their standards or a “Black Knight” immigrant of sort.
edit...
Is this thread like half locked or something? I have the last post but it didnt bump the thread. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 31 Mar 2008 : 05:30:35
I think its those 'child-bearing hips' that are throwing us off on that one. The rest I like, but something about the legs really bothers me.
I like both, but for different reasons, and they both got the skintone right, which is what this threads all about. |
| Karzak |
Posted - 31 Mar 2008 : 04:20:45
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
This one's for Wooly - I found another very excellent example of an artist being able to produce what he is paiid to.
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ad_d/icewind2/art/iw2art04.jpg
You must paste the link directly into your browser - they don't allow linking from another site. After a few moments though, it still came on for me after the error message. 
That was from the Icewind Dale video game - all of its artwork was excellent.
That one's lovely. To be honest, I found the one Wooly linked... hideous. Of course, I think Elmore's art (and any art done in a similar style) is ugly beyond belief. Tacky, flat colors and full of dead-eyed people whose facial expressions seem to be locked into two modes: emotionless and constipated. Campy 80s fantasy art is not really my cup of tea. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 31 Mar 2008 : 02:59:16
Yeah, that was kinda my point. I don't think its all that great, but if you look at the face, hands, and breasts you can see the artist at least did a bang-up job with the fleshtones. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 31 Mar 2008 : 02:55:54
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
This one's for Wooly - I found another very excellent example of an artist being able to produce what he is paiid to.
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ad_d/icewind2/art/iw2art04.jpg
Eh, I can't say I really care for it... But then I'm really picky on my fantasy artwork, since I came into this hobby when Elmore, Easley, and Caldwell were doing everything. It does, however, prove that getting the skintone right is not impossible. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 30 Mar 2008 : 21:20:48
This one's for Wooly - I found another very excellent example of an artist being able to produce what he is paiid to.
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ad_d/icewind2/art/iw2art04.jpg
You must paste the link directly into your browser - they don't allow linking from another site. After a few moments though, it still came on for me after the error message.
That was from the Icewind Dale video game - all of its artwork was excellent. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Mar 2008 : 01:38:49
Also, in some old sourcebook somewhere (please don't ask me where) it was mentioned that Elves can derive sustenance from the sun! That would mean that something in their skin (animal Chlorophyll?) allowed them to do this. I don't think they could survive completely on sunlight, but they would be able to last longer then most other beings without any form of nourishment (it was more like supplemental).
So, we can hypothesize that turning their skin black not only removed this naturally-occurring photosynthesis-like ability, but also made sunlight itself anethema to do them (Ulticaria). Now, the original Dark Elves were very much like the Grugach (Wilf Elves), and were much closer to nature then Grey (Sun & Moon) Elves. That means the curse wasn't so much a change of skin color, as it was a denial of them to 'live beneath the sun'.
We must remember one of the cruelist paradoxes of Drow dogma - they yearn for the day when they may one day 'walk beneath the sky' again, and yet, strive as they might, it is that same 'overworld' and its sunlihght that causes them such pain.
That was true nature of Corellon's curse - to change that which brings them joy into that which brings them pain. The skin color was merely a side effect of changing their skin's chemical reaction to sunlight.
|
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 28 Mar 2008 : 22:54:56
quote:
Originally posted by Ozzalum
quote:
Of course, the concept of being "cursed with dark/black skin" is also pretty dodgy thanks to real world baggage.
Agreed. I think you have approach it as a curse that made them unnatural: colorless or black-and-white. Otherwise, the obvious question becomes, what's so bad about having dark skin? We talk a lot here about bad decisions being made by WotC but the "cursed with dark skin" one was a doozy.
Well, we'll have to go back quite a ways before WotC...back to the days of the Fiend Folio where the dastards came from in 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
Way back when the Drow were REALLY something to be feared in the Underdark. Now they are sort of like Worf on Star Trek:
If you want to show how bad something really is...just have it beat the crap outa a bunch of Drow all at once and there you have it!
More back to the original topic: where ARE the dark skinned people...as in, what nations compare to real world peoples so that folks have something to compare them to? Perhaps this is a good question for ol' Ed and THO! |
| Ozzalum |
Posted - 28 Mar 2008 : 20:35:23
quote:
Of course, the concept of being "cursed with dark/black skin" is also pretty dodgy thanks to real world baggage.
Agreed. I think you have approach it as a curse that made them unnatural: colorless or black-and-white. Otherwise, the obvious question becomes, what's so bad about having dark skin? We talk a lot here about bad decisions being made by WotC but the "cursed with dark skin" one was a doozy.
|
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 28 Mar 2008 : 19:31:08
quote:
Originally posted by Ozzalum
But seriously, sort of, I don't think it is right to say anything about the appearance of Drow is "natural." They were cursed with unnatural coloration.
Of course, the concept of being "cursed with dark/black skin" is also pretty dodgy thanks to real world baggage. |
| Ozzalum |
Posted - 28 Mar 2008 : 18:49:02
quote:
Either way, we've strayed pretty far from the original topic.
Tough to argue with that and I can take the hint that you are employing your Rod of the Last Word. Or perhaps this post says that I can't.
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 28 Mar 2008 : 18:26:41
IIRC, Ed's Drow WERE White... TRUE white, not that pinkish-peach skin color we usually term as 'white'.
Very much like the Shadow Elves of Mystara, I believe.
He even mentions them in 2e DotU, but only in passing, as an 'aberration' among the Drow. Still, they make more sense, had they evolved 'naturally', as did the Mystaran 'Subterranean Elves.
Another species of Underdark Elf are the Rockseer Elves, who I believe had pale skin tones as well. They are not 100% canon to FR, but in the Elves of Faerûn project, we have placed them as the Green Elven Allies of the Illythiir, who fled below ground with them once the descent curse fell upon the Drow.
Sorry... this has gone slightly off-topic. I tend to ramble on at times. 
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Wow, I need to go back through some of my d20 resources again. I completely forgot abotu Underland, and that's a damn cool concept. Thanks for reminding me of that one Markustay.
Yeah, I always loved that concept - that even the Underdark had an Underdark!
Monte Cook produces some awesome stuff, and I adapt a lot of it to my Realms. |
