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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
 Posted - 09 May 2004 : 06:51:12
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First, I'll say this on quoting the Bible. When doing so, one must always consider the fact that any given passage has two sides: literal and spiritual. Fundamentalist Christians (like Chick, but thankfully not limited to him!  ) believe there's only the literal. However, that leads to some . . . interesting things. For instance, the Bible mentions the sun going around Earth. If one were to believe that all passages are literal, one has to reject proven physics.
Chick seems to do that, actually. If one takes a look at a tract on disproving evolution (which, might I say, it does not -- it's actually a rather clumsy argument, even for Chick), you'll find he didn't pay attention in physics class.  He seems to claim that, at the very least, subatomic structures can't exist. He bases this on the claim that protons, being of the same charge, would repell each other, and no atoms would exist.
It's an odd thing to say in an anti-evolution tract, unless he's anti-science. The point is, he doesn't seem to know about the "strong" nuclear force. We have proof positive that one exists -- the atom bomb.
Perhaps, though, he claims it to be the work of Jesus, considering the Bible quote he gives. Yet that does two things. First, it demotes Jesus to the role of a mere caretaker, exercising His will to keep the world running properly. That idea was rejected a long time ago. After all, if God needs to constantly supervise, then His creation isn't perfect. (That perfectness is arguable from our point of view, of course, but we're not talking about what we want.)
And second, if it was Jesus keeping atoms together, there'd be no way in creation we could make an atom bomb, much less a nuclear reactor. Those depend on breaking something, and you can't break Jesus' Will.
Well, in my usual long-windedness, I've gone a bit off topic. (Surprise, surprise.) All I wanted to do was show that literal examinations of the Bible can lack important pieces. And it's possible to disprove the literal aspect without science. Just consider all those proverbs and analogies Jesus used. They're everywhere in the Bible . . . likely because He had to beat us over the head with it all. 
What's that have to do with the discussion? Nothing, really. Since it goes into the arguments of interpretation themselves (rather than just the self-evident things here), I won't go into them on Candlekeep. You're welcome to email me if you'd like.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll answer Xullrae's question. Yes, there's more of Jack on the way. This is the prologue to Sage's PbeM, starting soon, and by that time Jack has found out where he is, made it to Waterdeep, gotten a few answers, and summoned a familiar. In that order, actually.
But will it be posted here? Well, yes. Not just yet, though. It's finals right now, so I've even less time at the moment than when I had to put most of my writing on hold. Plus Mr. Greenwood's suggestion of puting Jack in a world of my own making has taken root, and I've spent some time making that world. I'm afraid it won't be shown here, though, since it's the first serious I-think-I-might-publish-it project I've tried. Here's hoping you see it on a bookshelf near you.
Thanks for your compliments, and I'll try to at least post Jack's stat block with some background that might not come up in the story. After finals, I'll put continuing with the writing itself in a higher priority. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2004 : 07:39:56
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Looking forward to hear from Jack again! Why don't you have him swing by Candlekeep? that way Rondell would have a buddy for the trek to Waterdeep... 
Imagine: Jack, a man from Earth, learning his first tidbits of Faerûnian lore through the experienced eyes of a gnome...  |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2004 : 07:53:45
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Nope, sorry. As I hinted, the outline for how things happen is pretty solid. Of course, Artalis' character almost derailed a part of that (ooo, such mystery he crafts!  ), but we worked it out. Or rather, he adapted his character's entry to what I wanted.
And no, I'm not giving you any hints on his character.
By the way, if your character can use some sort of portal like the one Khelban has to get to the temple of Oghma in Waterdeep, that's where Jack's going to be getting some Realmslore from. You could meet him there. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Wood Elf Ranger
Senior Scribe
USA
627 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2004 : 19:40:04
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On the topic of religion I admire you on your stance on this Bookwyrm, not shying away from it. I know I'm very interested in seeing how he deals with the way Faerunians worship their deities and all. I like your idea too of his faith growing even stronger from it all 
Why don't you keep updating the Faerunian Jack Archers story here? Well after Sages PbEM gets started hmm maybe he can have a journal or something here But yes keep your true bookwork to yourself but of course let us know when you finish it and get it published so we can all go out and buy it! |
~Lee N.
"Breaktime yes?!.. Yes?.. Maybe?.. Noo, baaack to work.." -Grovel the Goblin from NWN: HotU |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2004 : 20:42:32
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Oh, I'm certainly planning on that. The story will continue from here when I have the time, and go on through the PbeM. The campaign itself will be told completely from Jack's point of view (or occasionally that of his familiar, perhaps), and will be in this style as much as possible.
That will require some editing of what other people post, but for the most part I doubt I'll be changing what they say at all. Just how they say it. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2004 : 01:53:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
By the way, if your character can use some sort of portal like the one Khelban has to get to the temple of Oghma in Waterdeep, that's where Jack's going to be getting some Realmslore from. You could meet him there.
I plan to write the next instalment of Rondell sometimes late tonight (I can't do that in the next few hours, as the girlfriend won the opposed intimidate check, followed by a successful suggestion - Bookwyrm, you know what I'm talking about)
Oghma makes sense for my character, for a variety of reasons, but this is not where he will spend his first weeks in Waterdeep. I don't know when the campaign will start exactly, but I plan to have Rondell hang in Waterdeep for a month or two, going on various errands, meetings and fact-findings ordeals before he meets the rest of the party at time t=0. I plan to do the trek on foot from Candlekeep... but that's another instalment altogether! |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2004 : 10:45:19
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I feel your pain, I really do. Er, symbolically speaking, that is, since I'm not subject to the same requirements. (Thank goodness.)
Realistically speaking, what I'm feeling runs more along the lines of "Better you than me."
(Psst -- try to zone out and dream up some Realmslore while she's not looking. )
As for the game, I believe it starts sometime during Flamerule, but I could be confusing it with something else. All I needed to know for Jack was that it was a warm part of the year (so he doesn't freeze his tail off on his first night) and that it was around a full moon (as shown in his first journal entry, at the start of this thread). |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2004 : 21:23:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
As for the game, I believe it starts sometime during Flamerule, but I could be confusing it with something else.
Are we starting in 1372 or 1373 DR? |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 00:35:13
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| I've no idea. You'd best ask Sage. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Artalis
Senior Scribe
USA
444 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 03:33:24
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So when do we get some deep background on Jack. Maybe a flashback sequence to Princeton? Maybe a childhood moment?
What were Jack's parents like? Obviously the were supportive, the gift of the blade was no doubt a costly one and indicitive of support for his pursuit of fencing. Do you plan on fleshing any of that out?
What about a girlfriend? Did Jack leave anyone behind? Is he going to be trying to return or is he cutting his ties and enjoying the new world he's in?
Just some stuff to get your creative juices going... |
Artalis
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 05:09:03
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The only one of that I can really answer right now is the last one: yes, he's going to want to go home. When he gets his feet under him, he'll see the attraction in exploring a "brave new world." However, he's completely cut off from everyone he knew and everything from his life before. It wasn't a perfect life, but it was his, it worked for him, and he wants it back.
Of course, he might change his mind later on. That too is a common thing in crossover fantasy (I direct your attention here to Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger books). Jack will grow to love magic, and even if he decides to go home, magic doesn't work the same there.
The best of both worlds would be just that. He'd love to have a secure, safe, and accessible two-way portal between Earth and Toril. Even though the connection between the two isn't as obvious as it seemed, now that I've taken out the idea that Common is the same as English, it'll be obvious to him that the two worlds were connected pretty well in the past. Just the legends of Mulhorand will be enough to kindle hope for such a portal.
Of course, some words and names are still going to be the same. He'll recognize the names of several gods and goddesses, and he'll understand concepts that are common in both worlds (though he'll find it odd that only red and/or gold and/or brass dragons made it to Earth, since the only dragons of that type he knows about breathed fire).
As for the rest of your questions, I've actually got those on his character sheet. I've been waiting for Sage to talk to me about the Fencer class so that I can post such information here. I could just post the background/apearance/history/attitude/etc sections before then, though.
I don't think there will be any flashbacks. I don't have anything against them, per se, but time-hopping doesn't mesh well with my style. I prefer point-of-view storytelling, so to speak. Jack may tell a story about his life before, but that's only if it comes up in roleplay.
There will be a lot of "thinking" episodes, of course. I can hardly get away from that, given how cerebral Jack is. He can think about multiple things at a time, as shown in the fight sequences. I may put a few things in there that would answer your questions.
By the way, I just threw in Princeton for the heck of it. I needed a big-name college, and considering how many US politicians seem to have gone to Yale and Harvard, Princeton seemed to be better. I might change it, though. CalTech and MIT are perhaps better for someone with Jack's smarts. (Anyone have suggestions?) |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 06:46:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Of course, some words and names are still going to be the same. He'll recognize the names of several gods and goddesses, and he'll understand concepts that are common in both worlds (though he'll find it odd that only red and/or gold and/or brass dragons made it to Earth, since the only dragons of that type he knows about breathed fire).
<snip>
By the way, I just threw in Princeton for the heck of it. I needed a big-name college, and considering how many US politicians seem to have gone to Yale and Harvard, Princeton seemed to be better. I might change it, though. CalTech and MIT are perhaps better for someone with Jack's smarts. (Anyone have suggestions?)
First paragraph: hmm, yes... it would be insanely cool if Jack's quest for a return home would entice him to investigate the whole Imaskari "cutting off the Mulhorand from their gods" episode... perhaps this would push Jack to explore the Underdark in search of this ancient civilization!
Second paragraph: MIT. Definitely. That's where it happens my friend! this school is your country's most important jewel, and I don't usually go praise U.S. schools easily! (being an engineer from Canada -- we must maintain a healthy rivalry you know... ) Every year the Canadian military sponsors its best and brightest for a Masters in Engineering, a "pick any school you want, and we're paying for your degree" kinda deal. Most Officers usually opt for either New York or MIT. It's no secret MIT is the best engineering school... even most engineering publications I receive praise it as the ultimate mecca! (although California has started to turn a lot of mechanical engineers' heads their way since that whole nanotechnology wave began four years ago! ) |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 07:16:43
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| The thing about that is Jack is more interested in facts than technology. He has (had) a double major in physics and mythology, with an aim to teach them in the future (as well as the fencing on the side). |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 12:21:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
The thing about that is Jack is more interested in facts than technology. He has (had) a double major in physics and mythology, with an aim to teach them in the future (as well as the fencing on the side).
Well... if his aim was to teach them somewhere which values pedigree: MIT. |
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Wood Elf Ranger
Senior Scribe
USA
627 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 15:03:29
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| I like MIT as well I think it fits more with his background, but thats my opinion |
~Lee N.
"Breaktime yes?!.. Yes?.. Maybe?.. Noo, baaack to work.." -Grovel the Goblin from NWN: HotU |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2004 : 15:36:15
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| Okay, I'll take that into consideration. I'm a bit busy at the moment (just taking some time off before going into finals -- I never study at the last minute, believing it's more important to be relaxed in a test), but I'll look up MIT's courses soon. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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macabail
Acolyte
Canada
15 Posts |
Posted - 13 May 2004 : 16:49:46
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you may want to look up the Stanford / Berkley combo as well, since they're somewhat focused on physics (in the case of Berkley) and oddball stuff (not entirely fair, but somewhat true in the case of Stanford).
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Macabail the Phoenix |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 14 May 2004 : 10:02:51
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Thanks; that sounds promising.
Regardless, I'm officially out of school for the moment, so I no longer have any excuse not to finish Part Five. 
Of course, as my friend pointed out, I've been putting off finishing my observance of National Procrastinator's Week . . . . |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Wood Elf Ranger
Senior Scribe
USA
627 Posts |
Posted - 14 May 2004 : 15:09:45
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| Bah you can put off procrastinating until next week |
~Lee N.
"Breaktime yes?!.. Yes?.. Maybe?.. Noo, baaack to work.." -Grovel the Goblin from NWN: HotU |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2004 : 09:38:24
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| Exactly what I said to him, the day we heard the event on the radio. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2004 : 05:30:20
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It sure has been a long time coming, for such a short section. But here it is, folks!
Jack didn’t find much. A dagger, with blade about twelve centimeters long and having a curious shine to it -- silver, it looked like. A large, bulky pouch with a lot of weird bits of plants, stones, and other junk in it. A ring on his right hand, with what looked like an agate mounted on it. Two bracers, also similar to the previous pair, long enough to cover most of Len’s forearms. Finally, the wand Ashimar had used on him during the fight, a twenty centimeter length of tapered wood. He wasn’t sure what type, but its dark color was natural.
After a moment’s thought, Jack strapped the dagger to his own belt. If magic worked here, there might be true lycanthropes, or other creatures vulnerable to silver. Earth had so many legends about the use of silver in fighting the forces of darkness that he couldn’t rule out the possibility. And besides, just the fact that it was a silvered dagger suggested it was important. He figured that his rapier probably had enough “Cold Iron,” the other great magically-important material, to hold off any elves or similar beings, if they too existed here.
Of course, the legends of Cold Iron being able to harm the Old Ones -- the fae -- had been born of the way the Celtic newcomers’ new iron technology had penetrated the older bronze materials. Proving the saying that magic and technology were separated only by understanding, it had been thought by the ancient Britons as they were driven back that these were magical blades, and the Celts liked that idea. With the way that fireside tales grew and grew, the Britons became the fae, magical beings who were powerless against Cold Iron.
Of course, that was mostly guesswork, since little remained from that time, and there was never any evidence of the “invasions” of the Celtic warriors who were supposed to have suddenly poured into Britain and Ireland. However, each legend usually had its share of truth to start with, and considering how other pieces of folklore arose all around the globe, the tales of war likely came from small-scale skirmishes in an otherwise peaceful time of migration.
Were fae real here, though? And if they were, would they be vulnerable to iron, the same way lycanthropes were supposed to be vulnerable to silver? Or was all of Jack’s knowledge of various myths as inapplicable here, in a practical sense, as it was at home?
Yet magic was real, here if not on Earth. With magic . . . were there any limits anymore?
The thought that even the science Jack lived by was no longer applicable worried him. Jack was a scientist. He saw the world as a series of patterns -- patterns that could be deciphered if one took the time and effort to do so. Kepler and Newton had done it. Michaelson and Morley. Einstein. Hubble. Hawking. Greene. The world he came from had order; surely even magic had order to it?
Pushing the thought away for the moment, Jack went back to searching Len’s possessions. Remembering the wizard’s comments about his master’s belongings, Jack also removed the ring and bracers. He wondered if they were magical as well. Perhaps Len’s boots, too? Jack looked down at his own feet. Was there some way to tell?
Jack frowned. That instinctive feeling was back, that same false-memory flash he’d been getting since he’d woken up. There was a way to tell. He poked his mental finger around again, and quickly came up with the spell he’d been “remembering.” It seemed small, somehow; the smallest pattern he’d found yet, in fact. However, once he spoke the alien words and made another strange gesture, his senses changed.
No, it was more like an extra sense. Jack closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a definite . . . something in the air over Len’s collapsed body. That shield-spell, he realized; it was identical to the one still hovering to Jack’s left. Knocking Len out must not have ended the spell. He could also feel the energy in the boots he wore, at about the same strength as the two shields but feeling different, somehow.
Now that he had an idea of what magic “felt” like, at least when this spell was active, Jack opened his eyes and started searching Len’s body again. The ring and bracers he’d taken also vibrated with magic, the ring more than anything else. The pouch and dagger seemed ordinary.
Further search of Len’s body came up with two more wands, each hidden in one of Len’s boots. They were both made differently from the first as well as each other, causing Jack to wonder what they did. One was made from an almost white wood, about the same length as the first. The other was a dull brown that was about a centimeter shorter.
He also found, under Len’s tunic, a pouch of coins -- mostly real gold. That was an odd sight to Jack’s modern eyes; this sort of money was long out of fashion on Earth.
All these items he took with him, even the pouch of the weird stuff. He didn’t know what might turn out to be useful, and anyway he didn’t want Len to have any tools left to him when he woke up.
To that end, he also grabbed Len’s backpack and started rifling through it. He didn’t to waste his head start on Len, who surely would start hunting him when he woke up; but he needed all the tools and information he could get first. Because of that, he also didn’t want this magic-finding spell to end. Unlike his shield spell, still following dutifully behind him, the magic-finding spell seemed to require concentration. Jack was pretty good at splitting his attention, but he’d noticed how, with each casting, that pressure in his mind seemed to decrease. He didn’t know how many times he could cast these spells before they ran out. Presumably he could rest and regain his strength, but that would certainly take time.
So, keeping a sliver of attention on his spell, Jack took the time to search the bag. Magic he found aplenty -- starting with the bag itself. He couldn’t figure out what its purpose was until he realized how much stuff he was pulling out. Jack nearly lost his concentration as he saw the bag’s interior was larger than it should be.
Jack gapped for a moment, then recovered. “Must be a Time Lord bag,” he muttered with humor.
Attempting to hurry, Jack took a quick inventory of what was in the bag. A change of clothes -- too small for him -- food, a set of fine tools, and a blanket. A belt-like item that had pockets containing vellum scrolls, twelve in all, and a map-case that held a number of other scrolls rolled up inside. All of these scrolls radiated magic. So did two more wands, six vials of strange liquids, and an iron rod about sixty centimeters long that had the strongest magic feeling yet.
He found two books as well, each wrapped in oilcloth. Neither were magical, but he took a look at them anyway. The largest was finely made, its pages expertly bound vellum with a protective leather cover. Opening it, he found it filled with strange, carefully crafted arcane symbols, arranged in a manner that suggested some sort of iconographic writing system. Occasionally, a different script would appear alongside these symbols, this one looking more like an alphabetical system. The latter type of writing was also in the second, smaller book, in what looked like the same handwriting.
Jack had a suspicion that the fancier-looking book with the strange symbols was Len’s spellbook. It wasn’t much of a leap, of course; the way it looked made it almost a Hollywood prop. The smaller one he wasn’t sure about, but it was likely a journal or notebook of some sort. Unfortunately, it was likely written in that same language that Len had spoken in first.
Since the bag itself was magical, Jack emptied it completely to make certain it wasn’t hiding anything else. Coming up with only mundane items, Jack didn’t bother to look at them; he could feel his concentration wavering. The act of holding this spell was more draining than he had expected -- which, considering the fact that this was his first time, was a stupid thing to expect.
Determinedly, he stood, leaving the loot behind him. Concentrating in the direction of the other abandoned items, he could “feel” the magics in that direction. And that was the next strange thing he found.
Len had specifically referred to his master’s cloak and rings in conjunction with the magic boots Jack was already wearing. Yet neither of the rings felt magical at all. In fact, the only thing magical here was the cloak. It was a plain garment; well-made, with a tight weave, but lacking embroidery or anything to break up its uniform grey. Even its clasp was just a simple steel clip. It didn’t look like anything more than it seemed, but the garment still emitted that aura of magic.
Shrugging, Jack draped it over his left arm, then searched through the clothes. He still found no magic, but still collected the rings, bracers, and the gold he found in an inside pocket. Since the clothes wouldn’t fit him either, he left everything else there.
Jack closed his eyes, and consciously let go of the magic-finding spell. The effect was immediate: he could no longer tell where magic was, and could only barely recall what it felt like. He opened his eyes and breathed deeply.
“Best be about it,” he muttered to himself.
Jack gathered his torn cloak, leaving his ruined boots behind. Crossing the clearing again, he re-packed Len’s bag with the items he had found, though he left the too-small clothes behind. He felt a twinge of guilt for stealing, but Len had attacked him without cause, and these were, essentially, spoils of battle. That wouldn’t hold up in court -- well, not an American court, anyway, though the local version might be different -- but Jack was too practical to give up anything he might later need.
Jack gave one last head-shake of disbelief, as he found that everything -- including his backpack -- fit nicely into the dimensionally unequal interior of Len’s bag. And yet the bag itself, full as it was, couldn’t have weighed more than two and a half kilos.
He gave one final look back at Len’s body. “A pleasure meeting you, Mr. Len,” Jack said with exaggerated politeness. “Let’s not do this again real soon, hmm?”
Then, settling his wide-brimmed hat on his head once more, he picked a direction and started off. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2004 : 05:31:26
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And so ends part one of this prologue. I'll try to get the next one out soon, but I haven't even started on that one yet. All the other sections had more after them by the time I posted them, but this time I logged on as soon as I was finished. I figured you guys had been waiting long enough.
As it is, obviously some of you (the other players in the PbeM) will know the particulars of how things turn out before the game starts, since the game will begin sooner than I can get Jack to Waterdeep, linearly speaking. However, I don't believe there are many spoilers, so don't worry overmuch. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Artalis
Senior Scribe
USA
444 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2004 : 22:52:14
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Shucks I was hoping that it would make it a little farther though...
Still I liked the look and feel of the goodies and the "train of thought" as usual. Too many times a wand is described as just "a wand" and the descriptions are left out. Nice work.
I can't help but eagerly await the next couple of installments.
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Artalis
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2004 : 03:41:58
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Well, I've begun the next installment, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long. Sorry it was so short, but I did tell you it would take a while.
I'm glad you liked the descriptions. I'm trying to write this in such a way that the reader doesn't need any knowledge of the D&D rules to understand it. Yet I'm also doing my level best to obey those same rules in the narative. If anyone sees any mistakes, I either interpreted them differently than you were expecting, or I actually did make a mistake. Now that the language issue is fixed, I'm only planing on fudging time and distance measurements and perhaps prices (though the different currencies will help).
Short-range time is easier to fudge -- we've been using the same time measurements (second/minute/hour) for several thousand years. It's easy to say that it got transfered along with humans back when. A day might even be fudge-able as well: early Torillian humans just adjusted the length of the second so that the whole system could match Toril's rotation rate, which was already about the same as Earth's. However, the fact that Toril's orbit is 365.249 or so days long means that the length of a year will be very strange to Jack -- if I let him notice it, anyway. Like I said, I'll have to fudge that one.
Distance is, again, another thing to fudge. If the other characters mention feet, inches, miles, etc., Jack's going to have a problem there -- or rather, I will. Now, a foot is based on the length of a grown man's foot (though apparently while wearing boots). A yard is the distance from that same man's nose to his outstretched thumb. So that can also be fudged -- convergent evolution of ideas, if not something actually carried from earth.
The length of a mile is from the Roman stadia, which is old enough that I might consider it to have transfered as well, though Roman ideas aren't exactly all over Faerun. And magic certainly didn't catch on much in Rome, so there couldn't have been much transfer, if any. The Romans weren't exactly the best inventors, but they jumped on anything remotely useful that someone else thought up. So since there was little mention of personal magic in Roman legends (the Greek ones had much more), I'd have to say it didn't transfer more than a minor spellcaster or two. Even as hard as magic is to work on Jack's Earth, the Romans would have been bent on getting more magic if they had known much about it.
Of course, you could get into Christian conspiracy theories, where once the Roman Empire converted, they struck out all mention of magic. But I'm not one for such theories.
Anyway, as to the items, anyone care to make a list of Jack's loot, based on what I put here? Extra credit* to the one** who gets the best guesses.
* Credit not redeemable anywhere. ;)
** Artalis and Sage (and by extension, Lady Kazandra) can't play, since they've seen the real list. :P |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2004 : 05:50:46
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quote:
Originally posted by zhentar reborn
I don't know if it was intentional but your character's beginning reminds me of Tarl Cabot in the Gor series by John Norman.
...the Gor books?
The Gor books? Oh, sweet mother of Athena. You mean this? You know, the books that contain concepts like:
quote:
Slave females are expected to use all of their abilities to please their masters. Since one of the most pleasurable things a man and woman can do together is have sex, slaves are used often for sexual purposes. On Gor, a woman subjected to sexual use as a slave is not permitted to hold back or inhibit herself in any way. Surprisingly to the Terran, but not to the Gorean, the slave female finds that she cannot help but respond deeply and powerfully to the use of a master: her biological tendency to submission, when allowed to manifest itself, rewards her with extraordinary pleasure in sexual use and sexual drives far beyond what the free woman can experience. Gorean slave girls have been known to break their own bones on the bars of their cages trying to touch a man when they have been secured for a long time.
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2004 : 07:14:25
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That's certainly not what I had in mind.
Maybe he was referring to some particular aspect of these books? I assume they're transfer fantasy (though I now have less desire to read them than I did when I didn't know what they were). |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2004 : 09:03:52
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| Yes, well, Tarl Carbot is a liberal arts teacher who gets transported into a fantasy world. Might just be that. I'm simply flabbergasted to find a reference to Gor here. It's like... I don't know, Nick Bent, a nutcase who posted an insanely misogynist manifesto? The Eye of Argon? The kind of things I expect to see mentioned (and ridiculed and bashed to oblivion, most deservingly) at another board I frequent and not here. |
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zhentar reborn
Acolyte
34 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2004 : 04:56:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
That's certainly not what I had in mind.
Maybe he was referring to some particular aspect of these books? I assume they're transfer fantasy (though I now have less desire to read them than I did when I didn't know what they were).
Thanks for the assumption (correct) Bookwyrm. Look winterfox, I bet I'm not the only person on this board who has read a REALLY whacky book. Believe it or not, when I started reading the first (and last) book of the series it didn't have any of that weird female-domination stuff written on the cover. Go figure. But thanks for concedeing that there are similarities. I fear that I might have touched a nerve with you, if so I'm sorry.  |
Think what you've always thought, and you'll be what you've always been. |
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Capn Charlie
Senior Scribe
USA
418 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2004 : 05:15:02
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Well, I enjoyed the movie. MAybe just because it is (or rather, was) a more popular media form they didn't have the stuff in it the book had.
In fact I have never read the book. But very little of what either you, or that one more than a little disturbed guy at something awful said, I saw almost none of it there.
And besides, it just tickles me when I see halflings try to smuggle themselves out of town in some guys pack.
Bookwyrm, Kudos on the latest installment. A bit scant, but much better than what I have written for you, so I am still in your debt.
I have to wonder however, how is Jack going to cope with the reality of his situation? I have been reading the Covenent books lately, and it brngs up a few concerns. Why does he just seem to blindly accept his situation? I know I for one would assume I was trapped in some horrible(or wonderful for me) dream.
Will some of this possible source for angst surface later on? Also, we are going to see some nasty side effects of the memory transferrance right? IT would be interesting to see his struggle to remain sane in the face of his situation, and these alien memories.
When I before mentioned a "morte like" familiar I was referring to an npc in the Planescape CRPG game, that was essentially a disembodied skull that served as little flying encyclopedia/advizor.
IF you chose a marginally intelligent familiar, or chose a more powerful one(a pseudo dragon would be nice) it would be interesting for him to be able to pick up a few basics of things on the way, without having to divert stage time to long conversations with npcs about "basic" things that might bog down play.
I would also be greatly interested with his adventures near mulhorand, but more from selfish reaons.
Have you also taken any thoughts toward the differences of present diseases and such? I doubt he has any immunities to a lot of the more common diseases. And it would be a shame for him to wipe out the heartlands with a new strain of flu, or die from gorgon pox. While it might slow down the game, it might just be interesting to see him think of this, and be downright appalled at some of the sanitary conditions present in a pseudo medievil society. And A torche cul is NOT charmin.
But I tend to focus on the little things at times. |
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Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2004 : 05:50:36
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Query: Bookwyrm, do you know what a Mary Sue/Marty Stu is?
quote:
Originally posted by zhentar reborn
Thanks for the assumption (correct) Bookwyrm. Look winterfox, I bet I'm not the only person on this board who has read a REALLY whacky book. Believe it or not, when I started reading the first (and last) book of the series it didn't have any of that weird female-domination stuff written on the cover. Go figure. But thanks for concedeing that there are similarities. I fear that I might have touched a nerve with you, if so I'm sorry.
No, I'm not offended, nor has my nerved been touched. If you want to do that, start ranting on the vein of "All fanfiction is garbage. Writers who can't create their own stories and characters are not worth reading" -- now that will get my blood boiling and my sporking-arm going. (FYI, yes, it's a depressingly common attitude.) I was just surprised.
quote:
Originally posted by Capn Charlie
Will some of this possible source for angst surface later on? Also, we are going to see some nasty side effects of the memory transferrance right? IT would be interesting to see his struggle to remain sane in the face of his situation, and these alien memories.
Not directly relevant, but I've always found the issue of characters who go through identity crises/memory juggle quite interesting. I'm working with this very thing in one of my fanfics, and my character has been transplanted with a false set of memories and is now regaining the "real" ones. (Star Wars. She's a Jedi, and due to certain triggers, her memories are coming back at a rate she cannot control. I'll have fun experimenting with her perception, as she will begin to really confuse things and... slip around the edge, especially since she's a former Sith Lord.) Another example of interest is Dune. (Yay Alia Atreides and her going crazy due to ancestral memories trying to take over her.) |
Edited by - Winterfox on 20 May 2004 05:52:02 |
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Jack Archer of Earth
