| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 09 Sep 2017 : 01:24:22
I don't really have any money to invest in it, but I figured I'd throw this out there. After some of the discussion here, I really have this picture of Peleverai viewed from looking at it from the outside. I'm picturing a river gorge with waterfalls along the back at the top and the sides about halfway up the cliff walls. Then numerous little cliff edges, stairs, and somewhat decorated holes in the wall. However, I'm also realizing that I don't need that much detail on the cliff walls because I want the bigger picture to be this giant copper dwarf male/elf female holding up a brazier with "dancing flames" of carved metal that makes this bridge across the gorge. If anyone is remotely interested and has artistic skill, I'd really appreciate it. If not, can't blame a guy for asking. BTW, even if it was just a black and white sketch, that would be great.
To commemorate this building of elven and dwarven cooperation, they erected a giant, hollow copper statue of an elf and a dwarf midway down the length of the gorge and connecting both sides. The dwarf was naturally shown to be in larger scale, as is common in statues created by their race, so that the two figures would reach the same height. The two figures, an elven female and a dwarf male , held their arms skyward and supported a great brazier, atop which was a twisting sculpture of writhing flame, decorated with flickering faerie fire-like lights that slowly changed their hue from a deep purplish indigo at dawn, vibrant blue in the early morning, a verdant green just before midday, a deep yellow at highsun, a rich orange in the afternoon, and finally soft red and pink hues as the sun sets. Throughout the night, it gives off a soft, violet glow which gives off enough light to make out the many cave-like openings along the landrise in this river gorge.. When it rains, the sky above the entire gorge is filled with wavering and intermixing rainbows, and it is believed that this is a later blessing bestowed by Khass the Rain Lord. The interior of the two structures contains stairs which connect the two sides of the river gorge, and a small platform of flat rock suitable for massing fifty or more individuals anchors each side. These platforms are decorated in the style of the culture that lived on that side of the cliffside city, green elves on the north and dwarves on the south. In addition, the girth of the dwarven statue allows for numerous additional areas in which doors could be opened and arrow slits cut, allowing for equipment such as ballista and mangonel batteries for repelling the occasional marauding dragon, roc, or other large, magical beast. Much smaller but similar wall sconces fill the inner city of Peleveria to this day, many with continual flame spells that mirror the colors of the statue-bridge. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 10 Oct 2017 : 16:55:46
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
quote:
You know, thats probably why I want to save her so much. Her and Alusair - two incredibly brilliant, strong women who deserved so much better than what male authors did to them. 
Mari Agneh's fate surprised me a little, too. Not because a character died, not because a female character died, not even because she died in an inhumanly horrible fashion. But because her death dared to be a surprisingly inconsistent deviation from WotC's usual tip-toe-on-eggshells carefully inoffensive mediocrity and blandness.
I interpret this "cruelty" from the (male) authors as being an opportunistic mechanism to deliberately emphasize the evils of Thay. A tragic story within a story about heroic sacrifice and redemption - or of reckoning and vengeance? - but one painted in grim and gritty tones to fit the treacherously corrupt landscape of Thayan politics. No good deed ever goes unpunished, and in Thay the punishment for challenging a Zulkir - even successfully - always has dire and unpleasant consequences. She had to literally become a monster to defeat a monster. The fact that she was female was only emphasized when victimizing a female underscored the narrative - prior to her death scene she was a decidedly strong, confident, and "masculine" sort of character.
As an aside, I thought Tsagoth was uncharacteristically civilized in his dealings with Mari. Polite, informative, concerned, sympathetic, almost pleasant. True he was caught in a bit of a bind, and he was perhaps unusual among his own kind, but as a blood fiend he would seem more inclined to kill and consume and violate and dominate than to parley as an equal.
Yeah, Mari Agneh was one of my favored Tharchions, but Spellbound took her out of power a long time ago (1995?). In fact, I had an NPC (Targuth Agneh) who I portrayed in the fashion of what today would be called a "spellsword" and using rules from Skills & Powers. He was a young red wizard during the salamander wars due to his cousin's influence, and even though he was an invoker, he specifically was working against his own Zulkir indirectly because of Mari (can't remember if I had her as his sister, cousin, or Aunt). He was trying to find her as well. I always portrayed him and Sleyvas as apprentices to the same master, but whereas Sleyvas was about finesse, two weapon wielding, and trickery ... Targuth was about brute force, two handed weapons, and heavy armor. In fact, I am still using him, as I plan to make him the tharchion of one of my Tharchs. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 10 Oct 2017 : 04:46:18
quote:
You know, thats probably why I want to save her so much. Her and Alusair - two incredibly brilliant, strong women who deserved so much better than what male authors did to them.
Mari Agneh's fate surprised me a little, too. Not because a character died, not because a female character died, not even because she died in an inhumanly horrible fashion. But because her death dared to be a surprisingly inconsistent deviation from WotC's usual tip-toe-on-eggshells carefully inoffensive mediocrity and blandness.
I interpret this "cruelty" from the (male) authors as being an opportunistic mechanism to deliberately emphasize the evils of Thay. A tragic story within a story about heroic sacrifice and redemption - or of reckoning and vengeance? - but one painted in grim and gritty tones to fit the treacherously corrupt landscape of Thayan politics. No good deed ever goes unpunished, and in Thay the punishment for challenging a Zulkir - even successfully - always has dire and unpleasant consequences. She had to literally become a monster to defeat a monster. The fact that she was female was only emphasized when victimizing a female underscored the narrative - prior to her death scene she was a decidedly strong, confident, and "masculine" sort of character.
As an aside, I thought Tsagoth was uncharacteristically civilized in his dealings with Mari. Polite, informative, concerned, sympathetic, almost pleasant. True he was caught in a bit of a bind, and he was perhaps unusual among his own kind, but as a blood fiend he would seem more inclined to kill and consume and violate and dominate than to parley as an equal. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 10 Oct 2017 : 04:01:08
Thats apart of the problem with using novels as canon - each author puts a slightly different spin on the characters. Also, I felt totally underwhelmed by Dmitra's demise... it was so anticlimactic I actually decided not to read the other two books (and only kept to that for about a week, although I read the first 2-3 chapters of book I and put it back down). I just find the whole thing SO depressing. Having accidentally read them out-of-order didn't help either.
You know, thats probably why I want to save her so much. Her and Alusair - two incredibly brilliant, strong women who deserved so much better than what male authors/designers did to them.
Was looking for something on Chult, and came across an image from someone's homebrew material (I have no idea where the image is originally from), but I felt it tied into the original intent of this thread - Two dwarves staue. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 06 Oct 2017 : 00:01:50
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I don't really feel 'close to' Lauzoril. In fact, I didn't even find him memorable in the stories (of course, I'm not finished with the books yet). And I don't really recall any sort of interaction between the two, other than the typical animosity all the Zulkirs and Tharchions have for each other.
Malark is interesting - I was thinking about spinning it a totally different way, but I'd have to finish the series first to see how things turn out. The book hinted at him doing what he did (to Dmitra) out of pity - he wanted to give her a clean death. If that is true, it may have actually been his intention to 'send her elsewhere' if he knew about a contingency (this theoretical clone of ours), and it would certainly fit his character to think that (the result of his actions) would be an acceptable means of 'help'.
EDIT:
I just checked the FRwiki, and it says Lauzoril died in 1478 DR, but doesn't say why that happened.
Lauzoril has always been my favorite Zulkir, because his goals have always been expansion via subterfuge and political moves. He was the leader of the Imperialist faction, but not because he wanted to drag armies all over or blast people. That being said, his representation in various novels varied by the writer. Richard Lee Beyers I felt tried to give each Zulkir their voice, but he also didn't have a lot of room to do it in. Lauzoril gets a better representation as a person in the Simbul's Gift, though his story is NOT what you'd expect.... and there's some glaring things in that novel that grated on me (like having this one mage ordering all the Zulkirs to gather at his command).
Oh, and his "death" in 1478 is not certain. If you haven't actually read the series all the way through, I won't spoil it for you, but several of the Zulkirs are given endings that are off-screen. In fact, Mythrell'aa's "death" that makes Dmitra a Zulkir for a couple weeks/months is totally off screen at the start of the 2nd book and they don't even detail it.
@Ayrik - I liked Maligor, much more than his replacement, Druxus Rhym. I will also say though that I do kind of like the portrayal of Samas Kul as a red wizard who sees power in money. Although I do not plan on bringing him back at all, his influence was essential in my story on the founding of the United Tharchs. He sets something in motion that he never could have foreseen.
|
| Ayrik |
Posted - 05 Oct 2017 : 20:08:26
(Never liked Lauzoril, dull and dreary character. Nor Malark, much too munchkin for my taste.)
(Maligor was the best Zulkir of all time, of course, far more deserving of the Red Cloth than his peers!)
(Although I do admit Nevron had a really cool name.) |
| Markustay |
Posted - 05 Oct 2017 : 19:20:02
I don't really feel 'close to' Lauzoril. In fact, I didn't even find him memorable in the stories (of course, I'm not finished with the books yet). And I don't really recall any sort of interaction between the two, other than the typical animosity all the Zulkirs and Tharchions have for each other.
Malark is interesting - I was thinking about spinning it a totally different way, but I'd have to finish the series first to see how things turn out. The book hinted at him doing what he did (to Dmitra) out of pity - he wanted to give her a clean death. If that is true, it may have actually been his intention to 'send her elsewhere' if he knew about a contingency (this theoretical clone of ours), and it would certainly fit his character to think that (the result of his actions) would be an acceptable means of 'help'.
EDIT:
I just checked the FRwiki, and it says Lauzoril died in 1478 DR, but doesn't say why that happened. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 05 Oct 2017 : 13:01:57
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Well, you might be thinking more in terms of 'what is useful in an RPG', which normally, I would be on the same page.
However, I've always really liked Dmitra Flass, and I would love to see something more interesting that is pure story, like something you'd read in a novel about her, rather than just making her more useful in my games (and as I said, that IS how I normally approach these things, so this is an exception to my own rule). 'Dmitra Reborn' (literally) has a nice ring to it.
On the other hand, perhaps there is someone else who is impersonating her, using her old fame, and now this 'minnie me' version of her has to find out what going on... in the body of a little girl. Sheesh... I think I just created an anime. 
Ya know, the Forgotten Realms WOULD make an insanely good anime. We got 'old perverts', scantily clad young vixens, uber-powerful near-gods, and a whole pack of large-breasted wonder-women... including one Drow. Thats got anime written all over it. We may need to create a 'Little Drizzit' for our "against-the-odds, young, 'chosen one' type hero" (but only if its done by Shonen Jump), otherwise, adult Drizzt is fine).
Yeah, I've liked her too, and the concept of her bodily taking over another individual is a good one. In fact, as I think on it, my story of Sleyvas escaping Thay and faking his own death involved him using a contingent spell of some sort from 2nd edition holding life force transfer. This might actually be a good means to perform the same, and perhaps she's even occupying a new body. In fact, Malark having been her spymaster, he may have known where she had clones and simultaneously had them all destroyed, so that's why this tertiary method of survival was forced into play. The question then become "to Abeir, or NOT to Abeir". If she didn't go to Abeir, what's she been doing this last hundred years, since she died just following the spellplague. If she DID go there, then there's options like I described above.
By the way, would you be adverse to me using this idea in some of what I'm writing up? I'm not sure if I would, but it is as you say an interesting story idea. In fact, IF I did have her go to Abeir, and it did come out that Lauzoril does fall in love with her and marry her.... how interesting might that be given that his children are probably in their 30's at the time of the spellplague. If he say waits for her to "grow up" to the "ripe" age of say 15 or 16, that might only be a few years...... and it would of course fit the anime profile  |
| Markustay |
Posted - 04 Oct 2017 : 23:41:32
Well, you might be thinking more in terms of 'what is useful in an RPG', which normally, I would be on the same page.
However, I've always really liked Dmitra Flass, and I would love to see something more interesting that is pure story, like something you'd read in a novel about her, rather than just making her more useful in my games (and as I said, that IS how I normally approach these things, so this is an exception to my own rule). 'Dmitra Reborn' (literally) has a nice ring to it.
On the other hand, perhaps there is someone else who is impersonating her, using her old fame, and now this 'minnie me' version of her has to find out what going on... in the body of a little girl. Sheesh... I think I just created an anime.
Ya know, the Forgotten Realms WOULD make an insanely good anime. We got 'old perverts', scantily clad young vixens, uber-powerful near-gods, and a whole pack of large-breasted wonder-women... including one Drow. Thats got anime written all over it. We may need to create a 'Little Drizzit' for our "against-the-odds, young, 'chosen one' type hero" (but only if its done by Shonen Jump), otherwise, adult Drizzt is fine). |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 02 Oct 2017 : 03:28:21
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Oh, and you are right about the timing - it happened within the first few months of the spellplague, when things were still chaotic, so its very easy to blame any sort of 'magical mummery' we want on that (like maybe she wasn't supposed to be a child? The contingency was supposed to wait until the 'vessel' was full grown?)
Or combine our ideas - what if the pendant was on a 'timer', and she was supposed to takeover (upon her death) her child's body when the child reached adulthood. It would have still been a baby when the Spellplague hit (maybe...), and then wherever the child is sequestered is transferred to Abeir, and the child remains in stasis because of that. Then, that part is transferred back to Toril (when Ao does his 'repair job'), and the stasis ends... because the Weave-based magic finally kicked-in, and the timer had already 'run out', and her essence is transferred from the locket to the child.
The whole point of the child-clone is really to have her 'start over', but from an in-game perspective, I am just saying she had to do a weird, round-about method to thwart Szass Tam finding her clone. I'm not overly thrilled with the 'went to Abeir' part either, so maybe the spellplague did something else in her regard? itw as completely random... there could have been an entire village 'encased in Amber', or some such, that awoke when Ao did the ReSundering.
The main thing for me comes down to "what do we gain via this story". For me, having had her in Abeir for the last hundred years and in Peleveran has her come back with a semi-solid foundation under her feet. I have also played with the idea of having her involved with Mulmaster via children as well, but that being literally via children of hers. Essentially, I plan to have it that the 3 Vast villages of Kurth, Blanaer, and King's Reach had a lot of their outlying land bought with Thayan funds and many Thayan citizens loyal to her moved here during the civil war. But, the main thing being that they improved these communities when they came, so the people were appreciative of these Mulans arriving. With the other nearby trade enclaves in Raven's Bluff, Calaunt, and Mulmaster this region may have actually had leadership in the form of the Flass family (maybe Dmitra had brothers, sisters, children, aunts, uncles, etc... that she placed here, and they've seen her as something of a folk hero for the last century while she was gone). Thus, there may be a small tharch in the making in the Vast between Vesperin and Mulmaster, which would greatly benefit from the support of these newly arrived tharchs from Abeir.
|
| sleyvas |
Posted - 02 Oct 2017 : 03:07:07
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I think weighted voting power - in deciding (controversial) things of "importance", anyhow - goes far beyond the usual Machiavellian machinations and dirty politics we might expect. One Zulkir might be worth six Thulkirs. But defying or angering a Zulkir (along with his entire school of Red Magic) can have rather dire and lasting consequences.
[Edit: I wonder if a Zulkir or Tharchion can elect to "split" his votes onto both/multiple sides of an issue? A more sophisticated way of "abstaining" because it can weigh the balance with greater precision than one vote, thus influencing or revealing differences among the voters in finer detail.]
Hmmm, I didn't cover abstaining, but yes, I would think they could not vote as an option. I did cover in my stuff that if a person has votes due to multiple positions that they can spend those votes differently. However, I like there being a need for them to spend them as the position and not as a pool for the person (i.e. so these are my votes as Tharchion and these as being an Aulkir). There will only be a few individuals in the United Tharchs that actually possess more than one position though.
It is a good point about crossing the Zulkir. However, in my United Tharchs, things are MUCH more widespread. Granted, they are somewhat used to being widespread due to their trade enclaves, but those were small "ambassador" units. These new Tharchs literally dot the globe in a way similar to but not as encompassing as the British empire. So, as a result, a lot of red wizards and even the Zulkirs are mainly concerned with their local politics and their local issues, unless there is another tharch relatively close. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 01 Oct 2017 : 03:52:17
Found a pic (finally!) of how I picture the child looking, growing up in some remote rural village somewhere.
Little Dmitra
As for the Aoth thing, that's interesting, since she has a connection to him. Could be he was the one who 'checked in on her' from time to time (doesn't exactly work in context of the novels, but so what... lots happens 'off camera'). If she'd trusted anyone, it might be him.
So if she was 6-7 in 1479 DR, what year is it now? How old might she be at this point? I don't want her growing-up during the 'lost century', because then we suck all the fun right out of the story. |
| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 01 Oct 2017 : 03:44:10
The 4e FRCG gave a few alternatives for players to "save their characters" and play with them in the 1479 DR. From memory, I remember a pair:
-Your characters were sent into the future thanks to the magics of the Spellplague. Perhaps you were using a teleportation spell, or using a portal. O in place with magical effects around, and the plague just changed the nature of the magic and you appeared in the future.
-Your character got "fossilized" in Spellplague for a century. Totally preserved in time, he didn't age for a day, even. This usually gave you high chances to get an spellscar, so you can play with that if you like.
-An spellscar made you ageless, a la Aoth Fezzim of the Brotherhood of the Griffon novels. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 01 Oct 2017 : 03:23:33
Oh, and you are right about the timing - it happened within the first few months of the spellplague, when things were still chaotic, so its very easy to blame any sort of 'magical mummery' we want on that (like maybe she wasn't supposed to be a child? The contingency was supposed to wait until the 'vessel' was full grown?)
Or combine our ideas - what if the pendant was on a 'timer', and she was supposed to takeover (upon her death) her child's body when the child reached adulthood. It would have still been a baby when the Spellplague hit (maybe...), and then wherever the child is sequestered is transferred to Abeir, and the child remains in stasis because of that. Then, that part is transferred back to Toril (when Ao does his 'repair job'), and the stasis ends... because the Weave-based magic finally kicked-in, and the timer had already 'run out', and her essence is transferred from the locket to the child.
The whole point of the child-clone is really to have her 'start over', but from an in-game perspective, I am just saying she had to do a weird, round-about method to thwart Szass Tam finding her clone. I'm not overly thrilled with the 'went to Abeir' part either, so maybe the spellplague did something else in her regard? Like, it was completely random... there could have been an entire village 'encased in Amber', or some such, that awoke when Ao did the ReSundering. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 01 Oct 2017 : 03:01:30
I was thinking along the lines of a REAL 'clone' (one that must start out as a baby), or perhaps some sort of daughter no-one was aware of (with that leader of Mulmaster - she stayed there for a year, so plenty of time to have a secret kid). Since she worked closely with Szass Tam for awhile, she was aware he had certain magics at his disposal that allowed him to track normal magical clones people had stashed (she probably was with him when he located one and destroyed it, and then went and killed the original). So she devised a way of having a contingency without it being a true (magical) clone. Either a child, or some sort of biological clone (the child is more awful, but the other may be a bit too sci-fi). She has this kid secreted away with a magical locket (she tells the people who are in charge of her care that in it is a picture of the child's mother... but when they dared open it one time, it was empty).
Dmitra herself wears a matching locking, and when Marak kills her, her likeness is transferred from the locket she was wearing to the one the child was wearing (its a type of phylactory, of sorts), and her personality slowly subsumes the child over time. in other words, she 'gets another chance at life'. Still, a bit cruel to do to your own offspring, but she is a Zulkir of Thay, after all. Some of her memories might be 'spotty'. Who knows? maybe she got her hands on a copy of Manshoon's clone spell and reworked it so as to confuse Szass Tam's divinations (so the locket would work like an 'instant update' thing). I really like the idea of a picture of her in the locket (looking exactly like her at the time of her death) transferring to the one the child has.
Originally I was going to go with a comatose clone, very similar to normal clone spell, but also a child (once again, a 'grown' clone, rather than fully-formed, to confuse Szass Tam's scrying magics), but then she'd have to have someone taking care of a child-vegetable for a time, and I can't get that to work logically (like, how are they feeding her and stuff?) Basically, however I spin it, I wanted Dmitra to have 'grown up' all over again, with most of her former memories intact, but with a whole new life (and perhaps a somewhat different/better personality). I was also thinking some poor farmer and his wife as the caregivers, at least until the child 'awoke', but that doesn't work either - Dmitra was too careful a planner to leave her life to something like that (unless she had some other trusted agent watching them in secret... but who would she have trusted that much?)
So I think maybe a daughter secreted away in Mulmaster, that only a handful of people might have known about, raised by the court there. I also thought of giving her a twin brother - perhaps one that was a known quantity (so one child public, the other hidden). The brother grows up to be a typical ebil (Mulmaster) douche, of course (that's why I was thinking of having her whisked away to some farmers in the Great Dale for rearing - maybe there was a plot to kill the child and some nanny took pity on her and ran off with her).
Of course, maybe I can just make the pre-pendant child 'souless' (an empty vessel), so 'special'. Maybe have her be able to do limited things, like eat, etc, but no personality or anything. Basically just a living autonamaton until the pendant became active. And then I have to decide if the pendant needs to stay with her or not, which could be interesting. Maybe have it where a certain amount of years need to pass by while she is wearing it, until the 'merge' is total? Also, if Tam is smart enough (and he is) to still be 'on the look out' for his former Zukirs, the activation of the pendant (or perhaps, after the time-period is up and she is 'fully' Dmitra) he sense she is back... which is good fodder for a novel (some Harpers/whoever must protect an 'innocent child' from the ebil lich, but the child itself may not be so innocent... something like that).
Imagine a six or seven year old girl who can actually make her imaginary friend 'real'.  |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Oct 2017 : 00:06:35
I think weighted voting power - in deciding (controversial) things of "importance", anyhow - goes far beyond the usual Machiavellian machinations and dirty politics we might expect. One Zulkir might be worth six Thulkirs. But defying or angering a Zulkir (along with his entire school of Red Magic) can have rather dire and lasting consequences.
[Edit: I wonder if a Zulkir or Tharchion can elect to "split" his votes onto both/multiple sides of an issue? A more sophisticated way of "abstaining" because it can weigh the balance with greater precision than one vote, thus influencing or revealing differences among the voters in finer detail.] |
| CMH |
Posted - 30 Sep 2017 : 22:27:44
That looks pretty good.
Minor issue you should think about, is how your art will look as a thumbnail on Dmguild.
Oh and here is the changes you asked for.
http://fav.me/dboyjq8 |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 30 Sep 2017 : 00:00:30
Oh, and if you have a better way for her to come back than "her clone was awakened by Velsharoon" AND ends up with her in Abeir for the last century..... I'm all ears, because I hate using that excuse on BOTH Lauzoril and Dmitra.
Although now that I think on it, since Dmitra DID die right as the spellplague hit..... it could be that her clone awoke in Abeir just because the two worlds were still in flux. Wouldn't even need the hand of a god.
Still anyway, all ears... you got a better idea? |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 23:44:08
Oh, and just to give an idea of how the above "voting" comes into play... because it can be interesting if enough ally...
So, in Peleveran, there is 1 Tharchion, 1 Zulkir, 7 Aulkirs, 1 Thulkir, 3 Khazirs
In local matters
Dmitra (Tharchion and Aulkir) 8 votes, Lauzoril 6 votes, Nyasia (Lauzoril's daughter... and Thulkir) 2 votes
for a total of 16 votes in this 3 person voting block
the other 7 aulkirs and 3 khazirs combined.... 17 votes between all 10 people.
So, locally within the Tharch of Peleveran, if Dmitra, Lauzoril, and Nyasia are in agreement, all they have to do is flip ONE person on the other side to get what they want. Since there are rarely "national" matters that would require a Zulkir in another Tharch to vote in Peleveran's local matters, this effectively puts the control of Peleveran in the hands of these 3 individuals as long as they stay in agreement.... unless its something that can cause all of the other aulkirs and Khazirs to align against them.
BTW, matters are not considered national matters unless at least 4 Zulkirs agree that "its a national matter". So, in general national matters would only be if say a dragon decimated a city, a hurricane smacked a city, some army took over a city, some kind of magic of interest to the Zulkirs draws enough attention to warrant a meeting, some disagreement occurs between Tharchs and requires adjudication, etc.... |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 22:45:55
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I have maps that got so huge (file-wise) that they tend to crash my computer (in fact, my current Unapproachable East one is doing that Grrrr...).
Anyway, this is probably NOT the right place for this, but since I believe this art thing is connected to your 'United Tharches' project, I'll ask here (because I couldn't find a thread for that - only your Old Empires one).
I want to 'save' Dmitri Flass, and I have an... unusual... thought about saving her (YES, even though she died in a novel... since when does THAT ever matter? In a D&D setting no less?), and I recall you saying something about that awhile back (when I mentioned where she might be in 5e, and was informed that the ebil 'powers that be' killed her off... as they did all the powerful female characters in 4e).
Yeah, I was planning on bringing her back at the same time that I brought back Lauzoril. Basically, Lauzoril's daughter (Mimuay Tavai) enters the Tower Terrible in Soorenar (with help from some others). Mimuay is noted in the Simbul's Gift to have a gift for necromancy, so I extrapolated that into her adulthood where she became a mage-priestess of Velsharoon. She comes out of the tower serving as the lesser avatar of Velsharoon on Abeir. One of the things she asks of the deity is to bring her dad (Lauzoril) to her and also Dmitra Flass (because since Mimuay's mother's death, Dmitra was always kind to her). So, Velsharoon "awakens" the clones that both these individuals had located in these remote enclaves that transferred to Abeir.
Just to note, while Mimuay likes Dmitra, I'm having Lauzoril's other daughter (Nyasia) be catty with her. Nyasia is NOT spooky like her sister Mimuay, and is in fact a bard (and Thulkir of the Guild of Arcane Spymasters). Meanwhile while on Abeir, I'm having Lauzoril and Dmitra spark up a relationship. I should also note that the awakened Dmitra does not have any knowledge of ever having been the Zulkir of Illusion, and in fact I'm having Zulkir Mythrell'aa still alive, but on a floating former netherese enclave called Luneira (formerly Doubloon) in orbit. So, I have local leaders for each school of magic in each Tharch (an Aulkir) and then a Zulkir whose vote counts more heavily for matters that affect all Tharchs.... Mythrell'aa is Zulkir of Illusion, Dmitra is both Tharchion and Aulkir of Illusion for the Tharch of Peleveran (which actually gives her a lot of power in Peleveran, but little outside this Tharch).
In order to make it clear as to how much political clout goes along with a given title, weights of a given vote by title are as follows:
Zulkir – counts as 6 votes in both local and national matters
Aulkir – counts as 2 votes in both local and national matters
Thulkir – counts as 2 votes in local and 1 vote in national matters
Khazir – counts as 1 vote in local matters only
Tharchion – counts as 6 votes in local matters only
The below should explain Thulkir and Khazir if you're interested
In addition, several “lesser” studies of magic have also been recognized as ones free of outside influence and thus deserving of inclusion, albeit with lesser voting status. There are special positions known as Khazirs which are given to alternative forms of arcane casters, such as sorcerers, eldritch knights, arcane tricksters, or those who study special forms of magical craftsmanship (such as pluma, hishna, magical item, and construct creation). These four societies are known as the Academy of Arcane Craftsmanship, the Sorcerer's Society, the Fellowship of Battlemages, and the Guild of Arcane Spymasters. These Khazirs can vote in local matters, but not outside their given Tharch, however the Khazirs of all the tharchs can elect a Thulkir to represent them in national matters (and more importantly, a Thulkir carries the same weight as an Aulkir in local matters). So, for instance, the Khazir of the Fellowship of Battlemages in the Tharch of Lopango can only vote in local matters important to Lopango. However, the Thulkir representing the Fellowship of Battlemages in the Tharch of the Western Pridelands, may also vote on matters representing all Tharchs, though his vote counts less than a “pure” wizard. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 19:07:05
I have maps that got so huge (file-wise) that they tend to crash my computer (in fact, my current Unapproachable East one is doing that Grrrr...).
Anyway, this is probably NOT the right place for this, but since I believe this art thing is connected to your 'United Tharches' project, I'll ask here (because I couldn't find a thread for that - only your Old Empires one).
I want to 'save' Dmitri Flass, and I have an... unusual... thought about saving her (YES, even though she died in a novel... since when does THAT ever matter? In a D&D setting no less?), and I recall you saying something about that awhile back (when I mentioned where she might be in 5e, and was informed that the ebil 'powers that be' killed her off... as they did all the powerful female characters in 4e). |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 13:54:24
well, I extolled how much I was enjoying Paint 3D having used it for the first time yesterday. I now have to unfortunately say that I had closed the program and an now trying to reopen it to play with it with snip.... and it won't open the file. I have 24 gigs of memory and a CPU that's maybe all of 2 years old (it was the middle of the road CPU 2 years ago, but its still got like 12 CPU cores), so something in the new program must not like a ton of objects and flipped out is my only guess. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 12:59:11
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I'd pivot-back the female on the left - she'd fall over in that position (and I know its 'just a statue', but that actually makes it worse). the hands do not need to be so close to the center of the brazier (in fact, it makes much more sense for them to be closer to the perimeter).
Nice job, overall. I really need to get this new computer of mine working right - I have a new drawing tablet I am dying to use, for exactly this sort of thing (I didn't need it for maps - I need it for free-hand type stuff).
Thanks, I may play with that... because I can easily enough. Might even give me the ability to shorten her tiara and use her ponytail as I original meant as extra support on the edge. That being said, the more I look at it the more I'm realizing how MUCH it shifted the view when I did a save as JPEG instead of as 3d. Walls don't meet, etc... I may just use snippingtool to capture what it looks like from MY vantage point instead of letting the program do the conversion. After all, in the end, I'm really only wanting a 2d drawing, its just this 3d tool made it so much easier to do.
By the way, I had spent maybe 2-3 hours the other day making my own drawing using a Quad of Thay, but being that I'm not artistically inclined... I snipped a previous drawing, pasted into a program to make it absolutely black and white, erased the interior so that I just had the base shape, then kind of drew it back in. I'm thinking it might be interesting to make a Quad and another spelljammer and a netherese enclave and the moon in the background in this and rotate it into different perspectives. I may just do that just to get a little hands on time more in playing with 3D.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CYc8h_6sg8SGY2am1RVXNpVUE/view?usp=sharing
You know, I'm really curious about one thing as I discuss this. One of the things my Dad used to tell me as I was growing up was that he was glad I enjoyed this game but that it wouldn't get me anywhere, and I needed to focus on some other things. 30+ years later, I look back and I first started working on an x8086 ibm-compatible computer with wordstar because I wanted to write up my characters (which led to wordperfect, which lead to Microsoft word in all its incarnations). I learned how to make a database so I could track spells. I learned a little C++ programming so I could make some basic random treasure, random scroll, random encounter things. I learned spreadsheets later for similar game tabulating reasons (keeping track of a business, randomizers, etc..). I learned about scanners and picture editing software so I could put pictures on my character sheets. Some things I first learned about at work but turned them to the game (such as using Visio to make objects for heraldry) and thus became even more proficient for later work efforts. Socially at work, since I'm in IT, this game and its general genre has fueled many discussions and opened friendships.
So, as I look back at my life... a lot of my success in business has come from love of this game. I once mentioned it to my Dad about 4 or 5 years ago, and he smiled and laughed at himself, saying he'd never found anything that infatuated him like my Mom and us kids, but that he was glad that he'd been wrong. As I get older, I have a girlfriend and her 9 year old daughter. I find myself with less and less time (which I know I still put in way too much time, but I can't stop), but I wonder.... is this story similar to everyone else's? |
| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 04:37:34
I'd pivot-back the female on the left - she'd fall over in that position (and I know its 'just a statue', but that actually makes it worse). the hands do not need to be so close to the center of the brazier (in fact, it makes much more sense for them to be closer to the perimeter).
Nice job, overall. I really need to get this new computer of mine working right - I have a new drawing tablet I am dying to use, for exactly this sort of thing (I didn't need it for maps - I need it for free-hand type stuff). |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Sep 2017 : 04:27:29
Let me say again, thank you very much. It was only after seeing what you did that made me think of trying out microsoft's new paint 3d.... I know its a newbie tool, but I'm a newbie, and boy did it work for me. I haven't had this much fun doodling in a long time. Its fun to actually realize a picture you have stuck in your head.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CYc8h_6sg8bl8tX1FHXzRvOXc/view?usp=sharing
Hmmm, and I'm realizing that when I saved from 3d to a jpeg, it did shift a few things, but still, its got my idea. |
| CMH |
Posted - 28 Sep 2017 : 01:12:42
One of nice things about working in photoshop is changes are relatively easy.
So if want to change something let me know. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Sep 2017 : 00:25:48
Thank you very much. Its not quite what I was looking for, but it does give me an idea of a way to make this maybe. |
| CMH |
Posted - 27 Sep 2017 : 21:55:19
Okay sleyvas, here is a link to my take on your request let me know if you would like any changes.
http://fav.me/dbor22k |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 11 Sep 2017 : 12:44:10
quote:
Originally posted by CMH
I understand, I do art for fun so that's fine.
I use photoshop for my art, so it would be in color.
Also when would you want this done by?
I make miniature figures, jewelry and etc, and sell them on my shapeways shop so if you pass the word around to anybody interested that's more than enough compensation.
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/artscape
Cool, and since I bought a 3d printer and suck at using it... I may hit you up on that too. On the timeline, its no rush. I would like to put my stuff out sometime in say 3 or 4 months, and initially I want to make an overview of all the tharchs, then I'll put out the peleveran specific one, then I plan to do other regions as time permits. |
| CMH |
Posted - 10 Sep 2017 : 21:44:36
I understand, I do art for fun so that's fine.
I use photoshop for my art, so it would be in color.
Also when would you want this done by?
I make miniature figures, jewelry and etc, and sell them on my shapeways shop so if you pass the word around to anybody interested that's more than enough compensation.
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/artscape |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 10 Sep 2017 : 12:06:32
quote:
Originally posted by CMH
I might give it a crack if you want.
I haven't done many landscapes but I enjoy challenges.
https://cmhart.deviantart.com/gallery/
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/artscape
Just to be clear, the reason why I would want this would be as a cover for something I want to put up on DMs Guild as "pay what you want". I'll probably never make more than $20 off my whole effort, so its done out of love. I would though naturally give you credit for the art. If its in black and white, I'd probably either try to color it in something like paint or print it and color with colored pencils and scan it back in. |
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