Candlekeep Forum
Candlekeep Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Active Polls | Members | Private Messages | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Forgotten Realms Journals
 General Forgotten Realms Chat
 Drowcraft & Kevlar
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 11 May 2012 :  03:48:10  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
A random thought occurred to me earlier tonight. I was web-shopping through some military gear catalogs, and I was reminded of the fact that the super-strong fiber/fabric known as Kevlar is susceptible to damage from sunlight. I looked up the details about that, and apparently it's the UV part of solar light that does the damage.

And that got me to thinking about how drowcraft items used to be susceptible to solar damage as well. I thought that a funny little parallel.

Now, Kevlar garments don't become obsolete overnight. It takes years for them to lose significant amounts of strength and integrity due to UV degradation. They don't just wither away into dust in a matter of months like Drizzt's greater piwafwi cloak of yore (Sojourn).

But I still thought it kinda interesting that both in our fantasy world and in the real one, uber-kewl materials still have a similar Achilles heel, so to speak.

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">

Edited by - BEAST on 11 May 2012 03:50:52

Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3738 Posts

Posted - 11 May 2012 :  04:18:53  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-Jesus, you just reminded me of this debacle of a thread: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19776142/So_about_those_S.E.A.Ls_vs._Drow?pg=1

(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)

Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium
Go to Top of Page

Kris the Grey
Senior Scribe

USA
422 Posts

Posted - 11 May 2012 :  04:44:39  Show Profile Send Kris the Grey a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That's actually a very interesting thread! I run a Realms campaign (circa 1370 DR) with a heavy Earth to Realms cross over element and one of my 'Big Bads' is a small unit of highly trained ex-military types imported to the Realms from Earth. I'd never seen that actually discussed before (I'd been running these baddies since Y2K). Ha.

I'll note that my bad guys have overcome an assortment of issues like the one described above by allying themselves with the forces of Shar. Nothing like darkness to protect you from sunlight and nothing like the Shadow Weave to route around the classic Weave based prohibitions against the use of gunpowder/modern firearms and electronics...resupply is more of an issue of course...

Kris the Grey - Member in Good Standing of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, the Arcane Guild of Silverymoon, and the Connecticut Bar Association

Edited by - Kris the Grey on 11 May 2012 04:45:13
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 11 May 2012 :  15:30:48  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
So what you are saying is that the American Gov't captured a drow and backwards-engineered his Piwafwi* into Kevlar over at Area-51?



MANY things technological are susceptible to extremes in the electromagnetic spectrum, not just Kevlar. Thats why likening magic to electricity works so damn well.



*Am I the only one that thinks Piwafwi is a ridiculous sounding word?

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 11 May 2012 15:32:23
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 12 May 2012 :  12:02:07  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Piwafwi isn't any more or less ridiculous-sounding than banana - let alone hornswaggle, balderdash, or propinquity.

Incidentally, Kevlar is a brand name for a family of synthetics, what normal people just generically refer to as "plastic", and it's used in numerous non-military applications - you probably have a few Kevlar items in your home. Armored weaves made from Kevlar - while light in comparison with metal weaves of comparable bulk - are still very dense and heavy stuff, and terms like "strength" and "toughness" have very technical and specific meanings in material science, Kevlar is not always better than metal alloys, it's only a better choice for certain applications.

Similar (and similarly patented) materials are Nomex (heat-/flame-resistant suits), Technora (solvent-resistant hazmat suits), Vectran (cut-/tear-resistant; aerospace, ropes, sharksuits), Innegra (flexible armored weaves), Zylon ("super Kevlar"), and many grades of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) ("heavier" version of thermoplastic used in milk-jugs) ... most people have heard names of comparable materials like Teflon, Nylon, ABS, carbon weave, and glass (silicon) weave. Any material which can be extruded into fibers can then be woven into cloth-like textiles, and can serve as an effective armor against certain things if sufficient fineness and denier (weave-mass-density). It should be noted that Kevlar is not at all the "strongest" or "toughest" material on this list (quite far from it), but it is the "best" for certain armors in terms of tradeoffs involving costs and productivity. As always, objects (such as body armor) engineered from composite materials (including metals, ceramics, gelatins, and other synthetics) can synergize the best of many worlds; ie: they can offer the optimum balance of protection, weight, and cost for their intended application.

Note that some natural protein-fibers (like spider silk) are "better" and "stronger" in many ways than the "best" synthetics we can produce. I can't imagine a drow chemical plant mass-producing thermoplastic resins, but I don't have any difficulty imagining drow farms which produce extraordinary silks from exotic spider breeds.

Also note that "plastics" are really a fair-sized variety of (mostly synthetic) materials ... and there are countless "blends" and "alloys" just as there are with metals. Most people cannot easily identify synthetic types and lump them together because 1) chemical nonenclature can be confusing, and 2) the plastics themselves can have all manner of dyes, texturizers, and additives which alter their apparent physical properties across a wide range.

Almost all "plastics" are prone to degradation from exposure to UV radiation, oxidation, solvents, and corrosives. Kevlar is noted for "yellowing" and becoming brittle over the long term, just like so many other plastics. UV stabilizers and other agents are mixed into the Kevlar formula during production (just like they're added to plastic detergent containers), along with layers and surfacing of other materials, and the service-life of Kevlar products are constantly being improved and increased. The "decay" of modern Kevlar vests might now take years or even decades, while older ones might only last a few seasons at most. The decay of drow weaves is triggered instantaneously and is remarkably rapid; to me this suggests that sunlight acts like a chemical (alchemical?) catalyst upon a substance which can only remain stable in the Underdarkness.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

Ozreth
Learned Scribe

188 Posts

Posted - 12 May 2012 :  14:31:40  Show Profile  Visit Ozreth's Homepage Send Ozreth a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus

-Jesus, you just reminded me of this debacle of a thread: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19776142/So_about_those_S.E.A.Ls_vs._Drow?pg=1



Read the first post, saw that the damned thing was 104 pages long, skipped to page 104 and read the first post, wanted to cry.

Some of us really argue about these things?
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 12 May 2012 :  14:45:13  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm pretty sure that bulletproof glass also breaks down with extended exposure to direct sunlight.

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!
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 12 May 2012 :  16:05:07  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thus proving no argument is 'bullet-proof'.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone

Go to Top of Page

BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  05:41:30  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

The decay of drow weaves is triggered instantaneously and is remarkably rapid; to me this suggests that sunlight acts like a chemical (alchemical?) catalyst upon a substance which can only remain stable in the Underdarkness.

Since drowcraft was primarily powered by faerzress radiation, and drowcraft items were so dramatically damaged by solar exposure, it would appear that faerzress and UV do not get along. Is UV known to react poorly with other types of radiation? That might help us to possibly identify exactly what kind of radiation faezress actually is.

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">
Go to Top of Page

BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  05:55:15  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

So what you are saying is that the American Gov't captured a drow and backwards-engineered his Piwafwi* into Kevlar over at Area-51?



Yep.

And remember all those dorky little headpieces that drow used to be shown wearing on old book covers?

What you didn't know is that they were made of tin foil!

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">
Go to Top of Page

_Jarlaxle_
Senior Scribe

Germany
584 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  10:02:40  Show Profile Send _Jarlaxle_ a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus

-Jesus, you just reminded me of this debacle of a thread: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19776142/So_about_those_S.E.A.Ls_vs._Drow?pg=1


Was this the thread that argued atomic missiles could kill gods?
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  13:27:48  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
BEAST

Since drowcraft was primarily powered by faerzress radiation, and drowcraft items were so dramatically damaged by solar exposure, it would appear that faerzress and UV do not get along. Is UV known to react poorly with other types of radiation? That might help us to possibly identify exactly what kind of radiation faezress actually is.

I'm not sure I follow. Radiation doesn't react with anything, including other radiation. UV is just particular spectral bandwidth, defined by frequency/wavelength like any infrared or microwaves or whatever.

For all we know, solar and lunar energy output in Realmspace might carry "radiant" or "silvery" components instead of "electromagnetic" components. Underdark radiations could emanate from strange ore deposits or be infused with lower-planar energies or whatever ... remember that the Drow were cursed by Corellon and that the Underdark is not (strictly speaking) confined to just Toril. Elven steel is light, flexible, and silvery, associated with lunar mithril ... drowcrafted adamantine is dense, impervious, and associated with moving through darkness ... these sorts of symbolic parallels and resonances seem like strong magical signatures. Drowstuff probably decays in sunlight because drow are dark evil corrupted creatures cursed to dwell in eternal darkness, not unlike vampires.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  14:13:46  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
This was my thinking as well - that Radiant energy is just another band in the electromagnetic spectrum, either thus undiscovered (by us), or we call it something else (I was leaning toward UV, but now I'm not so sure... its a vampire thing).

Also, in the rather excellent (scify) Well of Souls series, magic was just another aspect of physics. All things in the universe are composed of 'primal energy', and some races are able to directly manipulate this energy without technological help. So if someone (mostly humans in the books) used technology to manipulate primal energy, they could literally accomplish anything - it could even be used to subtly change the past (this required a moon-sized computer to do even on a local level to handle all the variables involved). When some races did this directly through there own natural abilities, it was simply called magic. However, it was all the same thing - manipulating the energies of creation itself.

Anyhow, my point is that magic and tech do not have to be mutually exclusive, and there is no reason why the energies involved in magic couldn't be harnessed on some worlds by machines (they use this in Warmachine/Iron Kingdoms). It could be something we haven't discovered yet, have forgotten about, or something that the gov't (and/or clandestine groups) know about, and keep it under wraps. I use this last one myself, in my D&D version of earth (the Torchwood approach).

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 13 May 2012 14:15:05
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 13 May 2012 :  23:37:53  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Nanotechnology, transporters, and warp engines are "magic" too. They are impossible, nobody understands how these things would really work, they break the normal rules and allow anything to happen. "Clarke's Third Law" made this observation back in the early 60s.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3738 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  02:00:37  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by _Jarlaxle_

Was this the thread that argued atomic missiles could kill gods?


-Not that I recall.

(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)

Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  06:37:01  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No, that particular scroll (or at least one very much like it) can be found among Candlekeep's dusty shelves.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  06:47:12  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

I'm not sure I follow. Radiation doesn't react with anything, including other radiation. UV is just particular spectral bandwidth, defined by frequency/wavelength like any infrared or microwaves or whatever.

But what about EMR waves combining and building each other up, increasing amplitudes? That's the light-amplification part of the acronym "LASER", right? (I think it's also called constructive interference in some cases.)

And can't EMR waves cancel each other out, by subtracting from one's amplitude, as well? That's destructive interference, or just plain interference, right?

Recall all the Star Trek eps where a form of energy was whipped up in the last minute that was "in phase" or "out of phase" with the baddy's incoming energy, which either strengthened or weakened the effects as desired, just in the nick of time.

I'm envisioning UV and faerzress somehow being coherently related to one another. Possibly one is a harmonic of the other.



Solid matter absorbs incoming light and often converts it into infrared energy and re-radiates it outward. And certain materials can take incoming UV radiation and convert it into visible light (fluorescence).

Perhaps there are materials on the surface that similarly absorb faerzress radiation and convert it into something inert?

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  08:38:48  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST

[quote]Originally posted by Ayrik

I'm not sure I follow. Radiation doesn't react with anything, including other radiation. UV is just particular spectral bandwidth, defined by frequency/wavelength like any infrared or microwaves or whatever.

But what about EMR waves combining and building each other up, increasing amplitudes? That's the light-amplification part of the acronym "LASER", right? (I think it's also called constructive interference in some cases.)

And can't EMR waves cancel each other out, by subtracting from one's amplitude, as well? That's destructive interference, or just plain interference, right?

Recall all the Star Trek eps where a form of energy was whipped up in the last minute that was "in phase" or "out of phase" with the baddy's incoming energy, which either strengthened or weakened the effects as desired, just in the nick of time.

I'm envisioning UV and faerzress somehow being coherently related to one another. Possibly one is a harmonic of the other.



Solid matter absorbs incoming light and often converts it into infrared energy and re-radiates it outward. And certain materials can take incoming UV radiation and convert it into visible light (fluorescence).

Perhaps there are materials on the surface that similarly absorb faerzress radiation and convert it into something inert?

Well, marble for one. Blue-green, has shown to be quite good at it. certain types of seramics for another, and oh yes, vaolcanic glass. although the last isn't at as good at as the others. These three are mentioned in the third chapter of Kents (2009), interesting facts about our world. It's one of the few books I spent a week scanning. I have permission to do that under ADA, but only for personal reading, not for sharing. Well, in any form other than the one I just used that is.

Hope that it was useful, Ah, the joys of science.

And now a mechanics question for you all. Spider silk clothing, what should it be like? AC, spell fail, etc.

We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  10:17:57  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Haha, I'll avoid digressing into physics - most especially since drowcrafted items and Underdark energy fields do not actually exist, they are magical and fantastic, they are unprovable fictions incompatible with proven science. If an author dictates they glow blue or cancel red then so be it, no rational explanation need be provided or supported.

Spider silk clothing exists in our world, some is of the finest grade and some is not. Of course, drow spider silk might be superior to any varieties we have. It might be superior or inferior to our synthetics.
quote:
Wikipedia

Genghis Khan was once said to have issued all his horsemen with silk vests, as an arrow hitting silk does not break it but ends up embedded in the flesh wrapped in silk, allowing the arrow to be removed by gently teasing the silk open, as opposed to the usual method of removing barbed arrows, cutting them out or pushing them right through and injured limb and out of the other side. These silk vests functioned much like the padded armour used by European and Byzantine soldiers of the era, such as the gambeson.

I have read similar accounts of "silk armor" from other sources, although attributed to Turks or Middle-Eastern troops during early Crusades. In addition to helping reduce injury from barbed or serrated weaponry, it is also said to be able to deflect weak blows, most especially in unarmed combat. Bear in mind that these aren't just silk shirts, they are many-layered and fairly thick garments not unlike a winter parka.

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 14 May 2012 10:20:25
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  21:39:32  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
This is a case where what the word sounds like and what the word are, are two*add emphasis* entirely different things.

So... the jokes on me.

As for the historical value of silk, I'm well versed, trying and bring it into the relms, not so much. Any suggestions?

We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page

Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3738 Posts

Posted - 14 May 2012 :  22:41:10  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

Spider silk clothing exists in our world, some is of the finest grade and some is not. Of course, drow spider silk might be superior to any varieties we have. It might be superior or inferior to our synthetics.
quote:
Wikipedia

Genghis Khan was once said to have issued all his horsemen with silk vests, as an arrow hitting silk does not break it but ends up embedded in the flesh wrapped in silk, allowing the arrow to be removed by gently teasing the silk open, as opposed to the usual method of removing barbed arrows, cutting them out or pushing them right through and injured limb and out of the other side. These silk vests functioned much like the padded armour used by European and Byzantine soldiers of the era, such as the gambeson.




-That's amazingly intuitive.

(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)

Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  01:06:09  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
All right, mechanics wise spider silk armor, have fun with it.

Armor/Shield Bonus Maximum Dex Bonus Armor Check Penalty Arcane Spell Failure Chance Speed Weight1 (30 ft.) (20 ft.)
1 8 0 0% 30 ft. 20 ft.

Or perhaps

Armor/Shield Bonus Maximum Dex Bonus Armor Check Penalty Arcane Spell Failure Chance Speed Weight1 (30 ft.) (20 ft.)
2 6 0 5% 30 ft. 20 ft.


Its a start, thoughts?

We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  06:07:20  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Historically, those groups who used silk armour tended to lack the resources or technology to sustain metalworking on large scales. Leaders and better troops would be equipped with proper metal gear, while the bulk of the soldiery would receive cheap and common silk armor, perhaps also a helm made of laminated metal, leather, or bone. Silk armour would require frequent cleaning but no other real maintenance, it could be easily mended and made heavier or lighter as needed by simply changing how many layers were worn. Such silk armours are evidently suitable for desert warfare, and I'd expect Mongolian horse-archers wouldn't wear inflexible armour suits which restricted their high-mobility horsemanship and archery.

[/Ayrik]
Go to Top of Page

Eilserus
Master of Realmslore

USA
1446 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  08:41:50  Show Profile Send Eilserus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

Nanotechnology, transporters, and warp engines are "magic" too. They are impossible, nobody understands how these things would really work, they break the normal rules and allow anything to happen. "Clarke's Third Law" made this observation back in the early 60s.



I was actually reading something about warp engines tonite. Here's some of it: "The Alcubierre drive, as it's known, involves expanding the fabric of space behind a ship into a bubble and shrinking space-time in front of the ship. The ship would rest in between the expanding and shrinking space-time, essentially surfing down the side of the bubble.

The tricky part is that the ship wouldn't actually move; space itself would move underneath the stationary spacecraft. A beam of light next to the ship would still zoom away, same as it always does, but a beam of light far from the ship would be left behind.

That means that the ship would arrive at its destination faster than a beam of light traveling the same distance, but without violating Einstein's relativity, which says that it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object with mass to the speed of light, since the ship itself isn't actually moving.

The fabric of space has moved faster than light before, says Cleaver, right after the Big Bang, when the universe expanded faster than the speed of light."

The article goes on to say that the energy required for something like this is 10^45 joules...which is about the same as converting the entire mass of Jupiter into pure energy.

There's my geek contribution for the evening. ;) Read another one that talks about all of us under 40 years of age will probably see the aging gene turned off too. I've always wondered what it'd be like to roll around for a good thousand years.
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  13:47:23  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There’s an entire series of journals out on the subject, on Nanotechnology, were already riding the cutting edge between microtechnologies and Nanotechnology, in fact, Stanford has been developed a few some systems, still extremely close that are experimental. The real reason we aren’t there yet, is more to lack of founding than anything else.

There’s a lot of debate over warp, since the whole space/ time theory has been called into question ever sinceneutronos were clocked at faster than the speed of light.

And turning of a gene for aging wont matter ree raticles, which aren’t genetic, will still brake down the DNA and you’ll still eventually pass from old age.





We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  16:45:19  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And we can now perhaps return to something approaching the topic?

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!
Go to Top of Page

Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3738 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  16:46:56  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Sightless

All right, mechanics wise spider silk armor, have fun with it.

-Isn't there a 3e book with Spider Silk armor?

(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)

Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium
Go to Top of Page

Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  17:00:35  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Is the topic the corlation between real world and fantasy, or a discussion on make Drow equivlent body armor?

The first post doesn't make that point entirely clear. I initially assumed the former, but hadn't checked the first post at that point.


We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
Go to Top of Page

Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  20:40:47  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I assume that drow are well aware of the fact that their special drowcrafted items lose potency after removal from the Underdark, and even disintegrate after exposure to sunlight. So why would they even bring these items to the surface?

The manufacture of drowcrafted items could, for the drow, be cheap and trivial ... and consequently, using or losing these items could be an insignificant consideration. I expect that drowcrafted items are not cheap and trivial (they are usually described as being comparable to finery and magics crafted by surface elves) and that it can't be too hard for drow to manufacture (or capture) equivalent/substitute items which remain unaffected by sunlight. So I'm inclined to think that the drow prefer their items because no proper equivalent actually exists - perhaps only drowcrafted items do not interfere with their skills and magics or preening pride, perhaps the drow are willing to dedicate extraordinary resources and efforts to the simple idea of denying their enemies any captured drow tools or weapons. Perhaps the limited surface-life of these items is a deliberate method of ensuring drow task forces accomplish their missions and return to their Underdark commanders (priestesses) in a timely manner. Perhaps faerzress just saturates everything mundane and magical so much that it is tremendously difficult (and generally not worth the effort) for drow to manufacture items which might last "permanently" outside the Underdark.

I still favour the notion that sunlight is anathema to drow (and all they have wrought) just as it is for vampires and orcs and many fiends, due to the "curse of evil" that their races suffer as punishment for offending divine powers with their foulness, treachery, or fundamental existence. This is the Realms after all, where gods and faiths and magics are far more real and potent in shaping their world than any technology we can understand in ours.

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 15 May 2012 20:52:42
Go to Top of Page

BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 15 May 2012 :  23:36:51  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

I assume that drow are well aware of the fact that their special drowcrafted items lose potency after removal from the Underdark, and even disintegrate after exposure to sunlight. So why would they even bring these items to the surface?

I think they would probably only do so for nighttime raids. If braving the sun, they would probably keep their drowcraft items shielded.

In Homeland, Drizzt's patrol group surfaced at night, and they only spent a few moments greeting the sunrise before returning into the cave.

quote:
The manufacture of drowcrafted items could, for the drow, be cheap and trivial ... and consequently, using or losing these items could be an insignificant consideration. I expect that drowcrafted items are not cheap and trivial (they are usually described as being comparable to finery and magics crafted by surface elves) and that it can't be too hard for drow to manufacture (or capture) equivalent/substitute items which remain unaffected by sunlight.

The Drow of the Underdark (2E) said that only about 10%of drow are skilled enough to make permanently magical or irradiated items. The drowcraft process takes a long time, typically over a year, so not just every drow wields drowcraft items; it tends to be restricted to adventuring souls. It also tends to be expensive.

Underdark (3.5) said that drowcraft arms and armor had fallen out of everyday use. (Presumably, the faerzress sunlight restrictions were crimping their style.)

TDOTU also said that drow do not hesitate to capture other races' weapons--especially the lightweight, graceful, elven kind.

quote:
I still favour the notion that sunlight is anathema to drow (and all they have wrought) just as it is for vampires and orcs and many fiends, due to the "curse of evil" that their races suffer as punishment for offending divine powers with their foulness, treachery, or fundamental existence.

I like that idea.

But methinks that the drow began disfavoring drowcraft items because they probably wanted to come to the surface more often, and that would probably mean risking solar exposure more often, and they wanted to be better prepared.

Whether this downplaying of drowcraft continues to hold true into 4E and beyond remains to be seen in the new Menzo sourcebook. I'd like to finally get a definitive, canonical confirmation that Elaine's/Liriel's Windwalker artifact did indeed terminate the drowcraft sunlight restriction once and for all, instead of that just being common wisdom or whatever.

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">

Edited by - BEAST on 15 May 2012 23:37:37
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
Candlekeep Forum © 1999-2024 Candlekeep.com Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000