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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 23:49:14
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Disappoint? Worry not friend Erik. 
Just hearing that you're working away on various types of books is a welcoming thought indeed. 
I knew Erik's post script would catch your eye! |
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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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 00:10:16
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Update: Downshadow is out of my hands and the galleys are back at WotC. Now we have but to wait.
What do you guys wanna talk about?
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 01:03:46
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Excellent news! 
As for topics of discussion... well, I've always been curious about what type of other worlds/settings FR authors would like to write for? Even if it's just something they'd like to imagine.
So, I've decided to pose this question to you Erik.  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 03:20:33
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
As for topics of discussion... well, I've always been curious about what type of other worlds/settings FR authors would like to write for? Even if it's just something they'd like to imagine.
So, I've decided to pose this question to you Erik.
Excellent question, Sage!
Aside from settings of my own making (one of the novels I wrote this last year basically takes place in Seattle, Autumn 2008, for instance, and another is an apocalyptic steam-punk/airships/final fantasy sort of setting, and another is of course my version of San Francisco plus superheroes), I think I might be comfortable writing in a number of other big, popular settings (some of them shared world, some of them not).
So here’s my list of “dream” settings (please don’t laugh at me), in no particular order:
1) Eberron: Briefly considered this, actually, as I played all of one (1) campaign in Eberron and grew very attached to my PC (the warmage Mask). But I wrote this story as Shadow of the Winter King instead, so there! But I still have plenty of ideas, so if the Eberron folks ever come to me for a story, I’ve got more than a few ready.
2) Ravenloft: Always been a dream of mine. I know exactly the story I would tell, too. Death isn't always the end, you know . . . 
3) Hyboria: Though I obviously write in a different tradition (where, for instance, women are more than scantily-clad-sexpots-in-distress or scantily-clad-femme-fatales), I could write kick-ass stories in Conan's world. Oh yes. And I’d probably talk about gender in the world.
4) Middle-Earth: Peter S. Beagle once wrote, “The impulse is being called reactionary now, but lovers of Middle-earth want to go there. I would myself, like a shot.” I could built some great stories there, in and around the epic events of LotR, or just off on my own.
5) Westeros/Seven Kingdoms: I love George R.R. Martin, and part of that is just because of the sheer wonder of the world he has built in his epic series. I would naturally gravitate to exploring the feminist issues at heart in the series (as with #3, above).
6) Everquest: Woo-hoo! If only this line were still continuing, I would totally be there. Oh yeah, baby! Oh yeah!
7) Final Fantasy 7: Yes, I’ll admit it. I was a big, big fan (game hit when I was 14, fan forever, such a geek). And clearly there have been more stories told in this setting (Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children). I would totally write a fanfic novel in this setting and though it would surely suck, I would absolutely enjoy doing it.
(*Ahem* Not that I have done that or anything. *ahem*)
I’ve also considered World of Warcraft and such things as Warhammer or Mechwarrior. Experimented with a little fan fic on those . . . turns out ok. I could get really into it, presented the opportunity. When it comes down to it, I just want to write, and given the chance, I would write anywhere, anytime, about anyone.
A couple that I never considered are Star Wars and Star Trek. Not that I couldn’t--I just never really thought about it.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
Edited by - Erik Scott de Bie on 07 Nov 2008 03:21:57 |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3743 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 04:21:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
...and another is an apocalyptic steam-punk/airships/final fantasy sort of setting,
Sounds interesting. Any chance we'll learn more about this novel/setting at some future time?
quote:
...and another is of course my version of San Francisco plus superheroes),
It's not about the X-Men, is it? [Given their recent move to the western coast of the US] 
Seriously though, that also sounds interesting. Any chance we'll learn more about this novel/setting at some future time?
quote:
1) Eberron: Briefly considered this, actually, as I played all of one (1) campaign in Eberron and grew very attached to my PC (the warmage Mask). But I wrote this story as Shadow of the Winter King instead, so there! But I still have plenty of ideas, so if the Eberron folks ever come to me for a story, I’ve got more than a few ready.
Heh. Funny you should mention this. The Lady K recently featured a cameo-appearance for a certain "elf" in the EB campaign she's currently running. The elves of Xen'drik weren't prepared for that! And neither was I. 'Twas a real treat.
quote:
2) Ravenloft: Always been a dream of mine. I know exactly the story I would tell, too. Death isn't always the end, you know . . .
The real question is, which Domain would you set your story in?
quote:
3) Hyboria: Though I obviously write in a different tradition (where, for instance, women are more than scantily-clad-sexpots-in-distress or scantily-clad-femme-fatales), I could write kick-ass stories in Conan's world. Oh yes. And I’d probably talk about gender in the world.
Never been much of a Conan fan [aside from the Dark Horse comics]. But a possible de Bie-based work for Hyboria could certainly get me involved with the setting as a whole.
quote:
4) Middle-Earth: Peter S. Beagle once wrote, “The impulse is being called reactionary now, but lovers of Middle-earth want to go there. I would myself, like a shot.” I could built some great stories there, in and around the epic events of LotR, or just off on my own.
There's certainly a lot of background you could play around with, that's for sure.
quote:
5) Westeros/Seven Kingdoms: I love George R.R. Martin, and part of that is just because of the sheer wonder of the world he has built in his epic series. I would naturally gravitate to exploring the feminist issues at heart in the series (as with #3, above).
I've actually only started developing an interest in Martin's work after a friend of mine ran a three-shot series of adventures in Westeros using the old d20 rules from a previous issue of DRAGON. 'Twas good fun. So much so, that I've only just purchased all the currently released books, with the intention of reading them over the summer.
quote:
6) Everquest: Woo-hoo! If only this line were still continuing, I would totally be there. Oh yeah, baby! Oh yeah!
I gotta get into these books again!
quote:
7) Final Fantasy 7: Yes, I’ll admit it. I was a big, big fan (game hit when I was 14, fan forever, such a geek). And clearly there have been more stories told in this setting (Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children). I would totally write a fanfic novel in this setting and though it would surely suck, I would absolutely enjoy doing it.
I'm sure.
The question is though, did you also purchase the limited edition replica of Cerberus's gun as I did?
quote:
I’ve also considered World of Warcraft and such things as Warhammer or Mechwarrior. Experimented with a little fan fic on those . . . turns out ok. I could get really into it, presented the opportunity. When it comes down to it, I just want to write, and given the chance, I would write anywhere, anytime, about anyone.
I could see you writing MechWarrior fiction. But would you be a Clan or Inner Sphere fan? 
quote:
A couple that I never considered are Star Wars and Star Trek. Not that I couldn’t--I just never really thought about it.
Given the premise and tone of Ghostwalker, you accomplish great things with a similarly-themed story set in the SWU I think.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 07 Nov 2008 04:27:56 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 06:35:48
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
MechWarrior! I hope something relating to House Davion.
No, no... House Liao FTW!
FTW, in this case, means "For the Whine". |
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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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 15:51:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-You were 14 when FF7 came out? So, you're, like, 25?
I'm not *like* 25. I am *exactly* 25.
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
...and another is an apocalyptic steam-punk/airships/final fantasy sort of setting,
Sounds interesting. Any chance we'll learn more about this novel/setting at some future time?
I hope so!
Having just finished and soon to edit the first book in a series set in this world (the World of Ruin), I hope to publish this story, hopefully sometime in the next couple years. It's more along the lines of traditional sword-and-sorcery style, leaning a bit toward epic.
quote:
quote:
...and another is of course my version of San Francisco plus superheroes),
It's not about the X-Men, is it? [Given their recent move to the western coast of the US]
Nope, totally original. It's kind of Powers meets Watchmen, and thus an homage to both works.
When it'll be published, who can say? I want to keep it a writer-owned book (like Powers), so it may have to wait a bit until I get more of a readership/money. But anything I write has at least the potential to be the thing that *gets me* that. So you never know.
My college roommate (who's got mad illustrating skills) and I are working on it, along with a comic that he devised. His will probably be made first, and I hope to be a co-writer with him.
quote:
Heh. Funny you should mention this. The Lady K recently featured a cameo-appearance for a certain "elf" in the EB campaign she's currently running. The elves of Xen'drik weren't prepared for that! And neither was I. 'Twas a real treat.
Sounds like your Lady K has both excellent taste and crazy DMing skills. Kudos to her!
quote:
quote:
2) Ravenloft: Always been a dream of mine.
The real question is, which Domain would you set your story in?
Mordent. I don't think it gets enough love (a Scrooge-like ghost for a domain lord isn't nearly as sexy as a vampire master or a death knight), and with my story, it totally would.
quote:
I've actually only started developing an interest in Martin's work after a friend of mine ran a three-shot series of adventures in Westeros using the old d20 rules from a previous issue of DRAGON. 'Twas good fun. So much so, that I've only just purchased all the currently released books, with the intention of reading them over the summer.
I hope you enjoy them--Martin is one of the best fantasy writers out there today.
I've run two Game of Thrones d20 games, both of which have gone very well. The first was in-and-around the climax of book 1 (Game of Thrones) and the second was background to book 1. Both of them concerned Arya (my favorite character, for reasons that should probably be obvious).
quote:
The question is though, did you also purchase the limited edition replica of Cerberus's gun as I did?
Oh, I didn't go that far . . . mostly because I didn't know there WAS a such thing!
quote:
I could see you writing MechWarrior fiction. But would you be a Clan or Inner Sphere fan?
Either, both, conflict, s'all good.
One of my best friends from my high school D&D group tried to get us into Mechwarrior at one point. I made a really cool/sexy female pilot (meep!), but it didn't really go anywhere. I got bogged down trying to design my own mech--not because I was bored, but because the possibilities were endless and I got lost in a maze of science-fiction/giant-robot fantasy and when I finally found my way out, 3rd edition had come out and we started playing that.
quote:
Given the premise and tone of Ghostwalker, you accomplish great things with a similarly-themed story set in the SWU I think.
Now that I think about it, I *did* once write a short story in the SWU . . . it was during the first of my three writing classes, when I was 13-14 and taking a SF/F writing class at Sacramento State. I don't remember much about the story except it concerned a mercenary/smuggler (meep!) who was trying to escape a complex and saw his nemesis (a female bounty hunter--double meep!) up in a control room and shot her with his blaster, cracking the windows which promptly became red with blood spray.
I suppose--considering my writing style of late--nothing about that story is really surprising.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3743 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 17:28:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
I'm not *like* 25. I am *exactly* 25.
-Hey, hey, hey...You could have been 24, and not turned 25 yet due to a late birthday. So, I don't want to hear it!
-That's pretty cool, I think. On one hand, it's cool that you're around my own age, and not an "adult" (in the loosest sense of the world) like most of the other authors/designers. At the same time, though, it's a bit disheartening, for me, to compare me, to you. There you are being a successful author and all, while here I am, not being a successful anything, and being a relative nobody. Don't take that as if I am in a depression or anything, but...It's hard to explain, but I am sure that you get the gist of what I'm trying to get across. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 07 Nov 2008 17:29:37 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 17:44:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
...while here I am, not being a successful anything, and being a relative nobody.
Come on, that's silly.
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"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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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 17:48:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
That's pretty cool, I think. On one hand, it's cool that you're around my own age, and not an "adult" (in the loosest sense of the world) like most of the other authors/designers.
to paraphrase a famous quote or three:
I know Erik Scott de Bie, I've met Erik Scott de Bie, I'm a friend of Erik Scott de Bie's, and Erick Scott de Bie, sir, is no adult (in any sense of the word).
Yanno, unless you count maturity and professionalism and all that junk... |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 18:40:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
I'm not *like* 25. I am *exactly* 25.
-Hey, hey, hey...You could have been 24, and not turned 25 yet due to a late birthday. So, I don't want to hear it!
Point!
Seriously, keeping track of birthdays in books I'm writing drives me nuts. In my notes, I don't list people by how old they are, but by when their birthday is and then equivalent age for where they appear (for instance, Arya Venkyr: 10 Mirtul 1349, 24 in GW, Fox-at-Twilight: 1 Hammer 1297, 67 in "tGT", 77 in DoM, 182 *if* she appears in 4e FR).
In one of my non-WotC novels, people don't have birthdays--it's all measured by how many winters you've lived through. If you're a newfound, unnamed baby and you're alive on the first day of spring/first day of the new year, you are *marked* (non-specific as to that process, but most people have a mark of some kind telling the year of their bith), *named* (if you're wealthy/powerful enough) and you are considered one year old regardless of when you were actually born. This system breaks down for the people who are too poor to earn names and/or aren't officially recognized (mostly commoners and children of criminals), so it isn't uncommon to find a scamp or gutter rat of indeterminate age. Once a person hits puberty, it's fairly obvious roughly how old they are, and once you hit the age of majority, your mark shifts to depict it.
And that was way, WAY more than you needed to know about how age worked in one of the novels I just finished writing (SotWK). But so.
quote:
That's pretty cool, I think. On one hand, it's cool that you're around my own age, and not an "adult" (in the loosest sense of the world) like most of the other authors/designers.
I'm glad you think so--I am one of the youngest WotC writers. They contracted GW from me before I could legally drink to celebrate it.
quote:
At the same time, though, it's a bit disheartening, for me, to compare me, to you. There you are being a successful author and all, while here I am, not being a successful anything, and being a relative nobody. Don't take that as if I am in a depression or anything, but...It's hard to explain, but I am sure that you get the gist of what I'm trying to get across.
Oh I absolutely understand what you're saying, and--as the lovely Lyrna put it--that's just silly.
I wrote a lot (a practice novel a year since I was 15). I got lucky and got a book contract when I was 20. The book sold well enough that WotC wanted me for more. That's all it is--luck and perseverence. I have my own set of insecurities and pressures and feelings of inadequacy just like everyone else, and I am quite jealous of the wonderful work that a lot of people of comparable age to my own manage to pull off.
Scott Lynch, for instance--love the man's writing to death, but damn! He was only in the 25-26 range when he published the immensely successful Lies of Locke Lamora. And let's not forget Chris Paolini, who at a very young age published the multi-bestseller Eragon, which he wrote at least mostly in his teens.
Age is just one of those things that we think means more than it really does. However young or old you are, you progress through life at your own pace, and your sense of accomplishment depends on how you define yourself.
(And let's not overlook your own accomplishments in re: the Elven Netbook, which is a work I highly respect and laud.)
So don't give yourself a hard time. Life isn't easy--if it was, everyone would do it!
quote:
Originally posted by Garen Thal
I know Erik Scott de Bie, I've met Erik Scott de Bie, I'm a friend of Erik Scott de Bie's, and Erik Scott de Bie, sir, is no adult (in any sense of the word).
Oh snap.
quote:
Yanno, unless you count maturity and professionalism and all that junk...
Aw.
Same goes for Brian Cortijo, by the way, and Eytan Bernstein and a lot of us writers/designers. We may be *adults* of varying ages, and quite mature and professional to match, but we all of us have that certain spark and love of "kid-stuff" (i.e., gaming) that shows when we hang out.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 23:29:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Nope, totally original. It's kind of Powers meets Watchmen, and thus an homage to both works.
I'm not really all that familiar with Powers. But I've long been a fan of Watchmen. Sounds good.
quote:
My college roommate (who's got mad illustrating skills) and I are working on it, along with a comic that he devised. His will probably be made first, and I hope to be a co-writer with him.
Has your college roommote worked on any commercial art/imagery that we may be familiar with? Or is it all private work at the moment?
quote:
Mordent. I don't think it gets enough love (a Scrooge-like ghost for a domain lord isn't nearly as sexy as a vampire master or a death knight), and with my story, it totally would.
I had a feeling you'd say Mordent. Or even Dementlieu for that matter. And I've yet to see any worthwhile tales featuring Wilfred Godefroy.
quote:
I've run two Game of Thrones d20 games, both of which have gone very well. The first was in-and-around the climax of book 1 (Game of Thrones) and the second was background to book 1. Both of them concerned Arya (my favorite character, for reasons that should probably be obvious).
So the second system of d20 rules for GoT has been released?
quote:
One of my best friends from my high school D&D group tried to get us into Mechwarrior at one point. I made a really cool/sexy female pilot (meep!), but it didn't really go anywhere.
She wasn't Canopian, was she?
quote:
I got bogged down trying to design my own mech--not because I was bored, but because the possibilities were endless and I got lost in a maze of science-fiction/giant-robot fantasy and when I finally found my way out, 3rd edition had come out and we started playing that.
Indeed. I've had a lot on interesting ideas for 'Mech designs [mostly OmniMechs], but actually incorporating those ideas into physical numbers and stats for the 'Mechs is were the process tends to break down. 
quote:
Now that I think about it, I *did* once write a short story in the SWU . . . it was during the first of my three writing classes, when I was 13-14 and taking a SF/F writing class at Sacramento State. I don't remember much about the story except it concerned a mercenary/smuggler (meep!) who was trying to escape a complex and saw his nemesis (a female bounty hunter--double meep!) up in a control room and shot her with his blaster, cracking the windows which promptly became red with blood spray.
Suitably gruesome!
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 23:42:10
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I've another question for you Erik, this time regarding Ghostwalker.
"The Nightingale's Song." What type of music do you imagine working with something like this?
The reason I'm asking is because I am in a "writing Realms music" frame of mind at the moment [having worked on a specific oboe-piece for an upcoming joint FR/RAVENLOFT campaign], mostly due to my efforts to set some of Danilo's more bawdy ballads [that Elaine generously provided] to music.
I've got a few ideas for tone and theme, mostly deriving from The Nightingale of classical origins. But I'd like to know what possible conception ideas you might have had for setting this song to music when you first wrote it?
I hope to produce a workable result [either as sheet music, or an MP3] that [with your permission] scribes can download from Candlekeep as part of "Milil's Shrine."
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 00:10:51
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
I got bogged down trying to design my own mech--not because I was bored, but because the possibilities were endless and I got lost in a maze of science-fiction/giant-robot fantasy and when I finally found my way out, 3rd edition had come out and we started playing that.
Indeed. I've had a lot on interesting ideas for 'Mech designs [mostly OmniMechs], but actually incorporating those ideas into physical numbers and stats for the 'Mechs is were the process tends to break down.
Y'all are both familiar with the Heavy Metal Pro program, aren't you? That software makes Mech designing a snap. |
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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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 01:22:03
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Nope, totally original. It's kind of Powers meets Watchmen, and thus an homage to both works.
I'm not really all that familiar with Powers. But I've long been a fan of Watchmen. Sounds good.
I highly recommend Powers. It's my favorite comic.
quote:
Has your college roommote worked on any commercial art/imagery that we may be familiar with? Or is it all private work at the moment?
All private at the moment, as far as I know. He's busy getting his Masters in archeology. Illustration's kind of a hobby with him--but one that he's really, really good at (kinda like me and writing!).
quote:
So the second system of d20 rules for GoT has been released?
Just the one, to my knowledge--I used the same Fantasy Flight(?) system for both games, and it worked ok.
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Y'all are both familiar with the Heavy Metal Pro program, aren't you? That software makes Mech designing a snap.
Oh man--you ARE a MW-geek, aren't you?
Cheers
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Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 01:43:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
He's busy getting his Masters in archeology. Illustration's kind of a hobby with him--but one that he's really, really good at (kinda like me and writing!).
Heh. I was all ready to devote myself to studying archaeology at university back in '95. But the programming bug bite me around the same time as well, and bite hard and sharp so that I couldn't ignore it anymore. [Well, that, and the fact that graduate archaeology students here in Australia are expected to serve at least three-to-four years studying aboriginal artifacts and sites in the extremely arid and hot Australian Outback. And I've never liked the heat in the city, so I can only imagine how well I would've fared in those Outback locations.] So, unfortunately, I've had to devote my interest in archaeology to mostly amateur studies and local organisations set up to assist those whose focus on the subject delves a little deeper than the average "archaeology fan."
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Y'all are both familiar with the Heavy Metal Pro program, aren't you? That software makes Mech designing a snap.
Oh man--you ARE a MW-geek, aren't you?
He's not the only one. HMPro has been a regular feature at my BT gaming table since the first [and highly bug-infested] version. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 08 Nov 2008 01:45:24 |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 01:44:45
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
"The Nightingale's Song." What type of music do you imagine working with something like this?
...
I've got a few ideas for tone and theme, mostly deriving from The Nightingale of classical origins. But I'd like to know what possible conception ideas you might have had for setting this song to music when you first wrote it?
Good question, Sage!
When I wrote it, I wasn't writing it as a "song," per se--but really a sort of epic verse/poem sort of thing. It's Arya relating her experience. I didn't originally envision musical accompaniment of any kind--Arya intended it to be acapella.
Which, of course, does not mean that music *isn't* ordinarily applied to it--history is rife with instances of originally non-musical poetry being set to music. When bards perform the Nightingale's Song [which has indeed been performed in my old Realms campaign as part of a bardic music activation], they supplement it with whatever music they think meet.
So what I'm saying is, set it to whatever you think appropriate. The primary focus should be the voice . . . and really you need the full text in Elvish, which obviously I don't know.
The poem's actually a lot, lot longer than what's listed in Ghostwalker--not the Iliad, quite, but it would fill up a good chapbook on its own, if written out entirely. I just picked the best excerpt to end the book.
Downshadow originally contained an easter egg about the place of "The Nightingale's Song" in Faerun's artistic history. But then I wrote it out mostly to save space, so I don't see why I shouldn't mention it otherwise. If you like this lore, by all means, use away!
Arya's "Nightingale's Song" inspired a popular chapbook called "The Ghost and the Maiden" (originally published before the Spellplague and continually told during and after), which on the weight of its sort of hopeful theme and fairy-tale quality has been repeated in a number of different variations (including at least one stage play/opera). Boiled down to its basic fairy-tale roots (in the Grimm's Tales way), the story is pretty well known across the North and the Heartlands among children, features a very strong heroine called The Nightingale, a wayward boogey-man called the Ghostwalker who is ultimately redeemed by the warm light of her heart, and the tale generally ends happily. (There are variations, however, wherein the Ghostwalker is the misunderstood hero, but these are rare.)
Nowadays, it is a little known fact that "The Nightingale" is based on an actual person--Arya Venkyr, a general in the Knights of Silver.
quote:
The reason I'm asking is because I am in a "writing Realms music" frame of mind at the moment [having worked on a specific oboe-piece for an upcoming joint FR/RAVENLOFT campaign], mostly due to my efforts to set some of Danilo's more bawdy ballads [that Elaine generously provided] to music.
A tiny Downshadow teaser: Elaine provided a little bit of input on one fairly small but still very important moment. Just sayin'.
quote:
I hope to produce a workable result [either as sheet music, or an MP3] that [with your permission] scribes can download from Candlekeep as part of "Milil's Shrine."
Hey, cool!
(Not that you need my permission. WotC owns the rights, not me!)
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3743 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 01:57:25
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-Geeze...Now I feel a bit guilty having never picked up Ghostwalker, yet...
-I'll get right to it. I need to return something, and see if I can find Ed's new novel for a gift anyway, so...(Not that I'm going for his novel more than yours or anything...) |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 08 Nov 2008 01:58:39 |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 11:06:40
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Well I just feel old now.
Interesting discussions, Erik, but as I've been working in other people's worlds since you were 8 (sigh), I've a different viewpoint. I'm vastly more enjoying working in my own creator-owned material (more of which I'll be doing soon). After 18 years of being a Realms/most other TMs of TSR-WotC, I think the only setting of someone else's that I'd want to write in would be Marvel or DC--I'd love me a Doctor Strange or Doctor Fate mini-series with Charles Vess or someone like that on art.
I'll admit, though, your reminder above that Hyboria would be an interesting setting; I'm a big Conan fan, and there's a lot to mine in that setting for sure. Currently reading CL Moore's JIREL OF JOIRY stories and having fun there, though I don't know if there's enough to build ramp-off stories therein.
So here's another queston from an old hack, just to go a different direction--If you had the choice to take the reins of an established intellectual property (in any medium) and drive a new direction, which one do you choose and where do you go with it?
Steven
who's hoping to revamp his website and invite all and sundry to check out what he's up to |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 13:12:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
... I think the only setting of someone else's that I'd want to write in would be Marvel or DC--I'd love me a Doctor Strange...
Would you return to the older type Strange Tales for Dr. Strange, or continue with something a little more modern? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 13:22:38
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"A nightingale in a golden cage..." ... Sorry.
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
When I wrote it, I wasn't writing it as a "song," per se--but really a sort of epic verse/poem sort of thing. It's Arya relating her experience. I didn't originally envision musical accompaniment of any kind--Arya intended it to be acapella.
Hmmm... monophony or concertato style?
quote:
Which, of course, does not mean that music *isn't* ordinarily applied to it--history is rife with instances of originally non-musical poetry being set to music. When bards perform the Nightingale's Song [which has indeed been performed in my old Realms campaign as part of a bardic music activation], they supplement it with whatever music they think meet.
I'm thinking simple stringed instruments to start with. Woodwinds and the like may be a little too *heavy* for a piece with a theme like this.
quote:
So what I'm saying is, set it to whatever you think appropriate. The primary focus should be the voice . . . and really you need the full text in Elvish, which obviously I don't know.
The poem's actually a lot, lot longer than what's listed in Ghostwalker--not the Iliad, quite, but it would fill up a good chapbook on its own, if written out entirely. I just picked the best excerpt to end the book.
Any chance I could see the whole poem? It'd actually help me to set music to the excerpt if I can imagine how it relates to the rest of the work.
quote:
Downshadow originally contained an easter egg about the place of "The Nightingale's Song" in Faerun's artistic history. But then I wrote it out mostly to save space, so I don't see why I shouldn't mention it otherwise. If you like this lore, by all means, use away!
Indeed, I will.
quote:
Arya's "Nightingale's Song" inspired a popular chapbook called "The Ghost and the Maiden" (originally published before the Spellplague and continually told during and after), which on the weight of its sort of hopeful theme and fairy-tale quality has been repeated in a number of different variations (including at least one stage play/opera). Boiled down to its basic fairy-tale roots (in the Grimm's Tales way), the story is pretty well known across the North and the Heartlands among children, features a very strong heroine called The Nightingale, a wayward boogey-man called the Ghostwalker who is ultimately redeemed by the warm light of her heart, and the tale generally ends happily. (There are variations, however, wherein the Ghostwalker is the misunderstood hero, but these are rare.)
Nowadays, it is a little known fact that "The Nightingale" is based on an actual person--Arya Venkyr, a general in the Knights of Silver.
Good. This will help me work around the concept of how the poem should play out in musical terms.
I suppose I could even tinker with possible [and slight] tonal alterations to reflect variations in how the tale is told across the North and throughout the Heartlands.
quote:
A tiny Downshadow teaser: Elaine provided a little bit of input on one fairly small but still very important moment. Just sayin'.
As if I wasn't already eagerly anticipating this book. Thanks Erik! |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 08 Nov 2008 13:24:40 |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 17:47:24
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
... I think the only setting of someone else's that I'd want to write in would be Marvel or DC--I'd love me a Doctor Strange...
Would you return to the older type Strange Tales for Dr. Strange, or continue with something a little more modern?
I'd probably go old-school just to have the excuse to go back to the funky Ditkoverses.
And yes, I think the Dark Dimension could stand some exploration and expansion..... |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 17:53:37
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-Dr. Strange FTW!
-Now I understand why Khelben always reminded me of Dr. Strange.
BRIMSTONE  |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
Edited by - Brimstone on 08 Nov 2008 17:56:02 |
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Na-Gang
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
348 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2008 : 17:53:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
I'd probably go old-school just to have the excuse to go back to the funky Ditkoverses.
And yes, I think the Dark Dimension could stand some exploration and expansion.....
Dr Strange isn't getting as much love as he should. He needs his own title again. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 09 Nov 2008 : 00:01:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
... I think the only setting of someone else's that I'd want to write in would be Marvel or DC--I'd love me a Doctor Strange...
Would you return to the older type Strange Tales for Dr. Strange, or continue with something a little more modern?
I'd probably go old-school just to have the excuse to go back to the funky Ditkoverses.
Now you're on track. Ditko is a personal favorite of mine.
quote:
And yes, I think the Dark Dimension could stand some exploration and expansion.....
Don't forget Nightmare's realm too. You can't have a Ditko-inspired Dr. Strange tale without Nightmare!
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 09 Nov 2008 00:04:22 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
Posted - 09 Nov 2008 : 00:02:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Na-Gang
Dr Strange isn't getting as much love as he should. He needs his own title again.
There is *some* speculation that Strange will be receiving another limited series sometime next year, based on previous Illuminati events, and because of the outcome of the Skrulls attempted "Secret Invasion." But I've not heard anything more about that since March of this year.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Questions for Erik Scott de Bie
