quote:

---

"The creation of a self-coherent universe was the perfect solution to Howard's needs and aspirations. His decision to people his Hyborian Age with Cimmerians, Vanirs, Nemedians and Afghulis, thinly-disguised names borrowed from history or legendry, was never really understood. Years later, Lovecraft would take Howard to task for this: "the only flaw in this stuff is R.E.H.'s incurable tendency to devise names too closely resembling actual names—names which, for us, have a very different set of associations…" [But Lovecraft failed to understand that by] carefully choosing names that resembled those found in our history and legendry, Howard wanted to ensure that no reader would be left wondering what a Turanian looked like, or be unaware that his Vanir and Æsir lived in the north parts of the world. By telescoping history and geography to create a universe that was new and yet familiar, Howard was deliberately striving for efficacy and stereotype, a technique that allowed him to create an exotic background with a minimum of description."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe

(In all seriousness, the folks at WaterAid do important work in addressing what will continue to be one of the biggest problems we're facing here in the "RW.")

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Arilou
Maybe a poem in Swedish?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ranak

Chris,
All similarities aside, I am sure that Baldur's Gate has better drinking water.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe

Here's another reason I like the the Realms in general and the 4E Realms in particular. The freedom from any anxiety of influence.

I've had one of those Dirk Gently kinds of experiences recently where seemingly disparate things start interconnecting in interesting ways. Well, interesting to me, anyway.

Three things I've read fairly recently are the FRCG, Patrice Louinet's introduction to the first Conan volume in Ballantine/Del Rey's fantastic Illustrated Robert E. Howard Library, and some of the cronicas in The Mexico City Reader.

You can probably hear the conversation these texts entered into most easily if I just pull out some quotes.

From Louinet's essay:

quote:

---

"The creation of a self-coherent universe was the perfect solution to Howard's needs and aspirations. His decision to people his Hyborian Age with Cimmerians, Vanirs, Nemedians and Afghulis, thinly-disguised names borrowed from history or legendry, was never really understood. Years later, Lovecraft would take Howard to task for this: "the only flaw in this stuff is R.E.H.'s incurable tendency to devise names too closely resembling actual names—names which, for us, have a very different set of associations…" [But Lovecraft failed to understand that by] carefully choosing names that resembled those found in our history and legendry, Howard wanted to ensure that no reader would be left wondering what a Turanian looked like, or be unaware that his Vanir and Æsir lived in the north parts of the world. By telescoping history and geography to create a universe that was new and yet familiar, Howard was deliberately striving for efficacy and stereotype, a technique that allowed him to create an exotic background with a minimum of description."

---

Which, I would argue, is what many writers, artists, coders, and designers have done since, not least those who are engaged in the ongoing creation of the Forgotten Realms. In addition to what Louinet wrote about geographical and historical shorthand, there's also a great "unstuck in time" quality in Hyboria and the Realms that allows stand-ins for Renaissance Italian city-states to exist hard by analogues for 1st Century BCE Celtic tribes, who may find themselves in conflict with a roving band of warriors from a culture based on 15th Century CE Ethiopia.

Which is, of course, awesome. Or even "kewl."

So, I was thinking about this when I came across this line in the discussion of Baldur's Gate's tremendous population growth since the Spellplague: "Those who pay attention to such things in Faerûn refer to the phenomenon as 'the Baldur's Gate Miracle.'"

Which immediately made me think, as I'm sure the line was designed to, of "the Mexican Miracle." And that's when I realized that Baldur's Gate is now the Ciudad de México of the Realms, or at least can be productively understood that way. And moreover, that just as Mexico City has spent the last hundred years becoming itself while staying itself, so has Baldur's Gate, and so have the Realms.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe

Heh. Well, Mexico City's problems have been simultaneously over and under-reported, I think. Don't forget that it's one of the oldest cities in the world, it may be the largest, and it's fantastically diverse (it probably has the best fine dining restaurants in the hemisphere, for example).

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe

Heh. Well, Mexico City's problems have been simultaneously over and under-reported, I think. Don't forget that it's one of the oldest cities in the world, it may be the largest, and it's fantastically diverse (it probably has the best fine dining restaurants in the hemisphere, for example).

---