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Originally posted by Marco Volo

Hello folks !

I have a question. I just read "The ring of Winter" wrote by James Lowder.

When the story starts, Artus Cimber explore a ruin in Cormyr, not far of The Stonelands. We are told that it is a Mulhorand ruin.

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Originally posted by JamesLowder

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Originally posted by Marco Volo

Hello folks !

I have a question. I just read "The ring of Winter" wrote by James Lowder.

When the story starts, Artus Cimber explore a ruin in Cormyr, not far of The Stonelands. We are told that it is a Mulhorand ruin.

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Artus finds an artifact from Mulhorand in the ruined keep in the Stonelands, but the keep itself was not built by Mulhorand.

Cheers,
James Lowder

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Originally posted by Captain Grafalcon

Artus EASILY could have had a book series, the character build was pretty solid. I know this is off topic, but there is so much to this book that has the potential to unfold into more adventures.

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Originally posted by Captain Grafalcon

Artus EASILY could have had a book series, the character build was pretty solid. I know this is off topic, but there is so much to this book that has the potential to unfold into more adventures.

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Originally posted by Athreeren

I'm reading the book and I have another question, so I thought I'd necro this post. Kwee Chan Sen, Theron Silvermace's butler, is said to have left Shou Lung four years before the events of the book, following the execution of his uncle for treason. Said uncle was the Minister of War, so this is a clear reference to Kwan Chan Sen who was executed in the novel Dragonwall; his death occurs before the end of 1359, probably in late summer or fall. So Kwee Chan Sen left Shou Lung in 1359, which means The Ring of Winter cannot take place before 1363. Yet Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction claims that that year is 1362, so which date should we consider correct?

[EDIT]

I skipped ahead to try to solve the discrepancy, and found this:

"Marpenoth 5, Year of the Prince [1357 DR]
[...] It's been two years since I stormed out of the meeting in Shadowdale"

And elsewhere: "His contact with the Harpers had ended five years past, with the young explorer storming out of a council meeting in Shadowdale."

So taken at face value, this would set the book in 1360 DR, which definitely doesn't work. I guess not everything in the book should be taken at face value, despite the otherwise very good lore work by James Lowder. I don't know which year makes the most sense.

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Originally posted by JamesLowder

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Originally posted by Athreeren

I'm reading the book and I have another question, so I thought I'd necro this post. Kwee Chan Sen, Theron Silvermace's butler, is said to have left Shou Lung four years before the events of the book, following the execution of his uncle for treason. Said uncle was the Minister of War, so this is a clear reference to Kwan Chan Sen who was executed in the novel Dragonwall; his death occurs before the end of 1359, probably in late summer or fall. So Kwee Chan Sen left Shou Lung in 1359, which means The Ring of Winter cannot take place before 1363. Yet Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction claims that that year is 1362, so which date should we consider correct?

[EDIT]

I skipped ahead to try to solve the discrepancy, and found this:

"Marpenoth 5, Year of the Prince [1357 DR]
[...] It's been two years since I stormed out of the meeting in Shadowdale"

And elsewhere: "His contact with the Harpers had ended five years past, with the young explorer storming out of a council meeting in Shadowdale."

So taken at face value, this would set the book in 1360 DR, which definitely doesn't work. I guess not everything in the book should be taken at face value, despite the otherwise very good lore work by James Lowder. I don't know which year makes the most sense.

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In my original notes, Artus storms out of the meeting in 1355. Ring takes place in 1363, beginning in winter.

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Originally posted by JamesLowder
Sorry. Should have been more specific, From my original notes:

1355: Artus meets Elminster, storms out of Harpers meeting in Shadowdale.

1357: Theron Silvermace coaxes Artus back to Harpers.

1358: AVATAR. Artus quits Harpers (storms out of second meeting in Shadowdale). Argument over enemy Harpers will not touch, who he tracks to Zhentil Keep. Artus captured and tortured. Rescued by Pontifax.

So he actually quit the Harpers twice, both time storming out of meetings in Shadowdale. (I wrote this character timeline before I quit TSR, twice, though it's pretty amusing in retrospect. I did not storm out of any meetings.)

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Originally posted by Athreeren
Thank you! I will edit the wiki to make sure the book is set in 1363 then!

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Originally posted by JamesLowder

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Originally posted by Captain Grafalcon

Artus EASILY could have had a book series, the character build was pretty solid. I know this is off topic, but there is so much to this book that has the potential to unfold into more adventures.

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I had assumed at the time I wrote Ring that I would get the chance to do more novels with Artus. He was designed as a potential series character. I proposed more Artus fiction to Wizards back around 2000 or so, both a prequel and a sequel to Ring of Winter. Short fiction, as well. There are definitely more stories to tell.

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Originally posted by Seravin

Only explanation I can think of is that there was another Minister of War who was executed for treason a few years before Dragonwall, with a similar name... which yeah, that's stretching things unless you believe that they have a lot of treasonous Mandarins and a lot of people with similar names. Actually not that implausible but I get your point...

Or maybe the butler had left for the Heartlands 4 years earlier, but turned that sojourn into an exile due to/following the events in Dragonwall where he knew he wouldn't be welcomed back due to his Uncle's actions.

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Originally posted by redking

Around 20 years ago, Mr. Lowder was kind enough to answer the emails of an enjoyer of his writing (me) and told me that he could write a follow up to the Ring of Winter, given the opportunity. I don't know if we will ever see that, as WotC does not seem to be interested in novels set in the past - or any novels not by Salvatore, for that matter.

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