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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5696 Posts |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1728 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jan 2008 : 16:58:40
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I have to admit to loving this little story for a few reasons.
A) It's a rolicking good, solid battle story.
B) It's set in Erlkazar, my baby.
C) "The Goblin Courts of Ertyk Uhl" was a module name that I'd drawn up and taunted my players with back in 1988/1989. I never actually got to develop more than the rough notes and a battle idea before I'd gotten hired by TSR and then ran out of time to run home campaigns (and also, one's day job make it less enticing to play D&D on weekends if you've already put 50 hours in with it that week). (When I was writing LANDS OF INTRIGUE, I dropped the name and a few nuggets from our game campaigns into Erlkazar, so that's where Jess got it from.)
D) In my mind, Ertyk Uhl was this runty little Kevin Spacey/"Keser Soze" type of goblin--utterly ruthless and nasty, but not the best physical specimen of a goblin (just hard enough to get and hold the throne, and keep others in fear of him). Think Yoda turned to the Dark Side and that's him. Jess made EU a hulking nasty mass of goblin flesh with presence, and that's cool. It's always interesting to see what folks do with ideas left lying about when you don't put in all the details.....
E) This story made me itch to make up more stories down Tethyr way.....
So thanks, Jess, for a fun read, a nostalgia blast, and a creative kick in the pants. It's appreciated, man. 
Steven |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Edited by - Steven Schend on 12 Jan 2008 17:00:37 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2008 : 22:52:36
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Really enjoyed this good fighting story. Would have been better though if the "good guys" weren't rescued at the last instant by their friends with an ogre army.
Kinda like Gandalf riding in with an army of Huorns |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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RodOdom
Senior Scribe
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 06:20:23
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| This story does just one thing and does it very, very well : violence ! I didn't really feel anything for the protagonists but I still enjoyed it |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36892 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 16:04:36
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| One thing I really liked about this story was the avoidance of a standard cliché: the two opposing commanders didn't wind up in single combat with each other, and when someone did engage the goblin king, it was pretty one-sided. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 00:58:35
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| I enjoyed seeing Lord Purdun (who was sorta-kinda the antagonist back in Master of Chains) being shown as heroic in this story. Overall, it was a pretty straightfoward tale, but I was surprised at the fate of that elven archer, as well as what happened when Purdun took that "foolish risk". |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jun 2008 : 21:54:52
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| I used to run a Persistent World campaign online in on NWN set in Erlkazar, so reading about Erlkazar was great. I'm sure the version of Erlkazar that I had in the game was paltry compared to what Jess and Steven wrote about it, but reading about familiar places was a joy. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Victor_ograygor
Master of Realmslore
Denmark
1076 Posts |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2008 : 07:03:17
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quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker
Would have been better though if the "good guys" weren't rescued at the last instant by their friends with an ogre army.
I have to agree with this, but I think it is forgivable. I'm a bit rusty on my Lands of Intrigue lore, but I seem to recall a timeline/historical note somewhere about the Shieldbreaker ogres, so the rescue was because of established canonical lore.
It was a very good tale otherwise, and I definately enjoyed it a lot more than Master of Chains. |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Realms of War: "The Seige of Zerith Hold"
