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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Sep 2008 : 22:02:30
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Tell us, please, o ye sages and scholars of antique lore: who's the blue-haired woman on the cover of the Spellbound "Campaign Guide"? She's between (presumably) Szass Tam (living person guise) and (presumably) the Masked One -- who's always in disguise.
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Chosen of Moradin
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1120 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2008 : 22:27:20
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This is a question that I have see the answer, too.  |
Dwarf, DM, husband, and proud of this! :P
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Facebook: yuri.peixoto |
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Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2008 : 23:17:12
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My Realms novel, Sandstorm, is now available for ordering. |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 02:22:01
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| I think it is a Rashemi Witch. |
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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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 03:39:29
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| I would agree with some sort of Rashemi witch, but not my view of what the Simbul would look like. |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3244 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 05:48:12
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| Rashemi witches always wear masks, so I'd say the one on the right is a witch. And I do believe that the blue-haired lady is actually the silver-haired Simbul, although I can't find any information on the cover except that it was done by Fred Fields. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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The Simbul
Learned Scribe
173 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 06:10:49
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I am fairly certain that it is supposed to be the Simbul, but it varies greatly from previous illustrations and descriptions of her. For one, her hair is too short, her height is way off, and she hardly looks like someone who has agelessness and a constituition score of 25+.
More consistent depictions of her were presented by Valerie Valusek (The Seven Sisters), Fred Foster (Silverfall), Todd Lockwood (The Simbul's Gift & Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting), Rebbecca Guay (Epic Level Handbook), and Kev Walker (Best of the Realms Book II) .
That said, she looks better than the hag she appeared as in the Secrets of the Sages 1988 TSR newsletter. |
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Thauramarth
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
729 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 07:38:45
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It's the Simbul, alright. For the trivia section: the cover of Spellbound was done by Fred Fields. If you can get a hold (a search on Google helped) of the original covers of Daughter of the Drow or Masquerades, you'll notice a more than passing resemblance between Fjodor, Szass Tam, and Victor Dhostar, as well as between Liriel Baenre, the Simbul, and Alias.
Maybe the Simbul is yet another Alias clone? |
Edited by - Thauramarth on 09 Sep 2008 07:41:07 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36826 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 12:43:36
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quote:
Originally posted by The Simbul
For one, her hair is too short, her height is way off, and she hardly looks like someone who has agelessness and a constituition score of 25+.
Okay, I've gotta ask... What does a 25+ Constitution score look like?  |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3244 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 13:44:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Simbul
For one, her hair is too short, her height is way off, and she hardly looks like someone who has agelessness and a constituition score of 25+.
Okay, I've gotta ask... What does a 25+ Constitution score look like?
More awake than the girl in the picture. Of course, Fred could have painted her after one of her nights with El... |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 15:45:23
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Now, now: the "hag" look (Ed's original illo, and dead-on correct) is actually a strikingly beautiful woman (silver hair but dark eyebrows, i.e. the Xaveria Hollander contrast "look") with her hair flying out wildly in all directions as lightning streams through it, and with her face contorted with rage.
For much of the time we Knights had contact with her, The Simbul appeared (when not in another guise entirely, due to her nigh-constant shapechanging) as a barefoot woman clad in the revealing tatters of a black gown that was torn, burned, and slashed from collar to ankle.
I really, really wish Ed's original (and quite striking) depictions of the Seven had been published, rather than being kept hidden as artists' references, as various TSR and freelance artists trying to "improve" on them over the years, and generally doing a rather poor job. It's quite right to say that most depictions of all of the Seven (current DDP comic version of Storm included) do NOT look like wise, VERY experienced women, when one concentrates on faces, eyes, facial expressions, and mannerisms.
Ed has always explained away the various "not even close" interpretations of Elminster and other Chosen, over the years (and their changes; e.g. Elminster from Gandalf clone to Sean Connery lookalike), by reminding us that all of these characters use magic to present an appearance to the world, and can alter it at will. I suspect The Simbul didn't want a lot of Thayans to know what she really looked like, and so altered herself for her artist's sitting. 
love to all,
THO |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 09:54:08
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Ah. That sounds like her. Given that she has silver hair (not blue), I'm sure that she would have altered her appearance for a sitting (given her propensity to appear as statues, mailboxes, and whatnot). 
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 14:55:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Simbul
For one, her hair is too short, her height is way off, and she hardly looks like someone who has agelessness and a constituition score of 25+.
Okay, I've gotta ask... What does a 25+ Constitution score look like?
Lance Armstrong would have to be close to +25 I think |
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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Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 15:13:16
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quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker
Lance Armstrong would have to be close to +25 I think
As somebody whose closely followed professional cycling for a decade now, I gotta say--not on his own, he don't.  |
My Realms novel, Sandstorm, is now available for ordering. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2008 : 04:05:53
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It might sound very mean of me to say, but Mr. Fields should have used a better-looking model.
It looks like he used his Mom.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2008 : 11:41:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Simbul
For one, her hair is too short, her height is way off, and she hardly looks like someone who has agelessness and a constituition score of 25+.
Okay, I've gotta ask... What does a 25+ Constitution score look like?
More awake than the girl in the picture. Of course, Fred could have painted her after one of her nights with El...
Like in many of his paintings, I think Fred used his wife as the model on this one (it surely looks a lot like his wife), which would explain why the Simbul looks a bit... *ahem* ... closer to being a middle-aged human woman than an ageless Chosen of Mystra (with 25+ Constitution). |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Who's the blue-haired woman in Spellbound?
