| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| X_Ice_X |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 16:20:32
Hello, I have been a fan of this special class for a long long time, and have always seen the bladesinger way of passing the knowledge as one of Master -> Student alone.
Though i have read in The fighters - Bladesinger, a reference to a school lead by the First Hilt.
I was wondering if there are any order information regarding academies/schools of Bladesingers, information regarding their hierarchies, since I always thought them to be really independent, and if in Myth Drannor or any big cities the Bladesingers were somehow institutionalized with formal roles as for example elite guards in the armies of the city. |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 19 Jun 2009 : 13:15:56
You're welcome. Glad I could help. |
| X_Ice_X |
Posted - 19 Jun 2009 : 12:23:46
Hoondatha your help was priceless, I'll try and take a look into cormanthyr and Fall of Myth Drannor to check those references. Bladesingers have always been a truly amazing and inspirational class, and its actually interesting theres not more info on them, and specially clear information without contradictions ehehe
If you ever come to find more info on this do not hesitate in posting ;) |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 18 Jun 2009 : 04:18:34
A quick update: I did a search of Evermeet, Cormanthyr, and Fall of Myth Drannor for bladesingers. I came up with a whole bunch of examples (it seemed at one point that nearly every noble house in Cormanthor had at least one and sometimes two bladesingers), but no mention of bladesinger schools or academies beyond the comment on lodges I posted earlier. Make of that what you will. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 18 Jun 2009 : 00:46:15
I agree on the extreme hit or miss quality of fan created works, but I think that beggars (and with twenty+ years of published Realms material, I'd hardly call us beggars) CAN be choosers. Pick and choose whatever you want, and if you can grab something great from an otherwise awful piece of trash, so much the better. Like I grabbed a new way for genasi to look from 4e. 
But I really wanted to mention that Elves of Faerun was fan, because it wasn't clear from Ashe's post that that was the case, and didn't want to get the OP's hopes up. |
| Misc. |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 23:22:15
Most fan-made material is of dubious nature, but beggars cannot be choosers, in terms of incorporating material into their campaigns. There are many elements of my Realms campaigns that I cannot take credit for having created, either having read them in Dragon/Dungeon, websites, message boards, the Realms-L list, and various other sources, that have indelibly affected my Realms campaigns in a positive manner, as well as the experience of my players. That, after all, is the ultimate goal. I've never seen what is being referenced, but there may be a diamond in the rough. Most things are hit-and-miss: either very good (like Candlekeep Compendiums), or very bad. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 22:42:04
That's really interesting, thanks for posting that. I like how it's clear Erik has a really good grasp of things like the elven from Cormnathyr. And as a fencer myself, I find it interesting for a whole other reason. |
| Aysen |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 22:00:45
Here's some information on bladesong styles by looking at the pure mechanics of elven fencing (although bladesingers often incorporate magic into their actual use), courtesy of Erik Scott de Bie in his ask-the-author section. The entries are on November 30, 2008 and December 02, 2008. It's not actual academies/schools, but I'd imagine some variation of these styles would be taught there.
As of my posting date, they occur at this link:
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3930&whichpage=29 |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 22:00:41
From Elves of Evermeet, page 110:
"Bladesingers are terrifying weapons experts and spellcasters. On Evermeet they are organized into small warrior lodges, each specializing in a different weapon. They are even more dedicated to the ancient ways and styles of dress than other Silver elves. They often tattoo themselves with old runes and symbols and their armor and weapons are all of great antiquity and beautiful craftsmanship."
Interesting above is the implied assumption that all bladesingers are moon elves, which is clearly false (the one statted bladesinger in the book is a green elf). |
| Fillow |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 20:56:54
quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
LK just published his Elves of Faerūn, Vol 1 electronically and it has a section on bladesingers. I believe there are a number of scrolls floating around here with more information as well.
Thanks for this Ashe ! |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 18:49:10
True, but most of the Elves of Faerun stuff is fan made. High quality, but invented by fans. Thus it's of dubious use in a question like this. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 18:45:51
LK just published his Elves of Faerūn, Vol 1 electronically and it has a section on bladesingers. I believe there are a number of scrolls floating around here with more information as well. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 17 Jun 2009 : 18:07:53
I don't have my books with me, but IIRC, the Evermeet sourcebook makes mention of bladesingers being organized into "lodges" based on the weapon they chose, and getting a tatoo upon graduation that was a stylized version of that weapon (the only one I remember being a striking snake for a chain).
This doesn't preclude a one-to-one master/apprentice relationship, of course. I think it's probably more likely that for the first few decades bladesingers train together, and only after they start getting some experience in the style would they pair off for more personal finishing training.
I look around a bit more once I get home. |
