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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:12:11
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I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the various trading groups, routes and special passages that criss-cross the Realms, forming the backbone of the trade industry in FR, and I came to wonder...Why don't any of the trading groups make use of the Ethereal Plane...?
I mean I know that the plane has it's own set of special dangers, whether they be monstrous or planar, but even considering these potential obstacles, they're really not that much more dangerous than most of the potential risks that the Material Plane traders have to use contend with when shipping their wares either by land or sea. The Ethereal Plane offers exposure to more exotic markets, potentially faster travel times, and often provides the opportunity for traders to gather items which may have been lost by other groups who'd become lost on the plane. I could go on, but nearly everyone here understands what the Ethereal Plane is, and what it could mean for business, and more importantly, a merchants bottom line.
So, here's something I've been working on...
Well not here...the next post...
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:15:19
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Ethereal Commerce
Being a Treatise by one Atactect, a planar trader
Planar commerce is a funny thing to begin with, since so many planes can only produce certain widely varied items in certain specific areas. Even the most common sorts of planar goods, such as food or raw materials are extremely varied and difficult to get. For example, you might think that you could get stone or brick building materials almost anywhere, except that there are places on certain planes made entirely of metal, or of flesh. This sort of thing happens everywhere, but there is always need for such items. It is from these basic needs, even more than the prevalence of extremely useful exotic items that planar trade begins.
Now, I do not intend to discuss the greater mechanics of planar trade here, only how such dynamics relate to the ethereal. The Ethereal, as one of the two (potentially three) transition planes, is a great planar highway. The astral plane serves as the Ethereal's counterpart, but the nature of the Ethereal is actually better suited towards goods transport than the Astral. The Ethereal links the prime material plane and the inner planes, and also contains innumerable unique demiplanes and free-floating sites. There are also a number of portals from the Ethereal directly to the inner planes, the outer planes, and of course Sigil. Also notable is that many demiplanes contain their own portals to the outer planes or inner planes, and these can potentially be used for commerce as well. In this essay I will focus on three major aspects of Ethereal commerce. First, goods moved through the Ethereal, using it only as a highway. Second, goods both produced in the Ethereal or a Demiplane and transported elsewhere, or goods sold in the Ethereal. Third, the great markets and trade methods of the Ethereal, including the unique relationship between the Ethereal and the Prime for trade.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:16:42
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The Ether Road- Or moving goods through the Ethereal from one plane to another
The Ethereal Plane stands between the Inner Planes, an incredible source of raw materials, and even some completed goods, and the Prime Material Plane, a producer of both raw materials and finished goods, and a consumer of the same. The Ethereal also has portals to the Outer Planes, some of which are well positioned for trade. The Ethereal is also a relatively safe environment, and transit it through is comparatively quick, no Ethereal journey is likely to take much beyond 100 hours, and that includes having to spend a great amount of time reaching a demiplane and traverse portions of it. So goods can be moved through the Ethereal with comparative ease, as opposed to, say, the Paraelemental Plane of Magma.
So, what is the mechanism of moving goods through the Ethereal? Well, as is the case throughout the planes, all sorts of conveyances are used. I myself, for instance, have a clockwork Ethership with significant cargo space. Most bulk goods are carried in Etherships, often with large attached barges trailing them, whereas luxury or rare goods are carried in carts and on personal backpacks. Obviously, the less personnel the better, since food is one of the few things that must be brought to the ethereal.
Most bulk materials ex. construction items, foodstuffs, cheap furniture, etc. are moved directly from the inner planes to the prime and vice versa. Generally materials, such as stone or minerals, but also glass, obsidian, and more, are brought from the inner planes. Foodstuffs and cheap bulk products like cloth and furniture are brought from the prime.
Items are transitioned to the Ethereal from the inner planes with magic, or by the natural powers of certain of the traders. Items then pass to the prime either by magic, or by the use of established portals and border converges. One common method is for spelljamming vessels to fly into the ethereal, exchange goods with an inner planar trader, and then return to the prime, choosing a world of their choice on which to sell the materials. Materials shipped from the prime usually have set arrangements, ie. Such and such amount of goods every month or year, and are usually picked up by mysterious buyers.
The ideal method of conveyance is a ship such as my own, which is capable of withstanding inner planar conditions, moving in the ethereal, and also traveling to the prime. Like most of the more established traders I run regular routes from the inner planes through the ether to the prime, and occasionally the outer planes, and make specially commissioned runs elsewhere.
So, I suppose you wonder who runs this sort of trade, yes? Well, the trade to the outer planes is almost exclusively the province of the planar trade consortium, and they usually have their representatives approach other traders for their items in the ether, and they take the goods to the outer planes by their own routes.
Established traders include all kinds of beings, with humans and genies being the most common groups. Nathri also run a number of trade businesses, but these are mostly somewhat deluded types. A surprising amount of business is taken up by the Arcane, who run a wide variety of materials to Wildspace.
Small traders include all kinds of beings, many of who make trades on an opportunistic basis only, usually to an established trader or at one of the major markets. This group includes many Etherfarers, who often don't mind selling off their latest discovery to a rich basher. Many members of this group are also guides in the ethereal in addition to being traders, and may have standing arrangements with a more established merchant. Many powerful prime wizards and priests serve in this class, bringing rare items they need from the inner planes to their respective prime worlds.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:17:56
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Potential Bagged, Tagged, and Sold- Or, trade in items of Ethereal and Demiplanar origin
I've already explained briefly the trade that goes through the Ethereal Plane, now I will attempt to explain the trade that originates there. The Ethereal itself produces nothing of value, excepting chunks of stable ether, which some enterprising merchants harvest and sell. However, this is at best a minor item. Most Ethereal items come either from free-floating locations, where they are refined from imported material, or from demiplanes.
Free-floating locations are uncommon and rarely do anything more than serve as a site for trade. Some few locations (like the Believer's Forge) do produce certain rare items that are traded as luxuries or reserved for other purposes. Also many of these locations serve as repositories for the exchange of information, itself a valuable form of trade. The information trade is actually quite lucrative in its ways, but that is more a matter for spies than true merchants, so I will not speak of it any more here.
Demiplane, on the other hand, are a very lucrative source of trade. It is here that things become truly complicated. Demiplanar variation is almost infinite (if not completely infinite) and so each situation is different. I will give a few case studies to demonstrate this in a moment, but for now, suffice to say that there are many differences.
Now, all but the largest demiplanes can only produce a limited amount of goods for trade, and have only limited import wants. Usually, a single well-equipped trader is able to perform this sort of task, and does so. This is usually a demiplanar native, or the Etherfarer who discovered the demiplane. These sorts of arrangements work out well, and are usually not infringed upon.
However, a number of demiplanes are too small for regular trading, and they just don't see any such. Wizards' demiplanes commonly fall into this category, as do many other small and strange demiplanes. In this case, trade becomes a distinctively distance ordered operation. Those wishing a specific item will send out requests, and many merchants commonly just send out requests that they will buy exotica of all kinds. So, it then becomes a matter of acquiring the goods from the demiplane that has such things and bringing them back to the buyer. Here the Nathri exert an almost exclusive hold on trade.
Nathri know the locations of more demiplanes than almost any other planar group, and they will both trade and raid to gather items from them. Items that the Nathri themselves do not use, or they have surplus of, end up in the hands of Ethereal merchants. Said merchants rarely bother to ask how the goods were acquired. The Nathri simply don't make a distinction, and trade or raid, which ever is easier for them at the time. Other planars have attempted to get in on the Nathri side of the game, and while explorers often bring back and sell all sorts of exotica, no one can make a living of it quite the way the Nathri do, they simply have access to an almost limitless list of demiplanes.
With the largest demiplanes something that generally resembles normal trade often takes place. That is, if there is anyone worth trading with in the demiplane. Demiplanes like the Black Abyss or Wormscape can hardly be said to have any valuables. Unfortunately, while normal trade goes on with many demiplanes, a darker form of smuggling and raiding goes on as well. This normally occurs in what are called closed demiplanes, that is ones in which outsiders are not permitted.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:18:59
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Case Studies
One trader Demiplanes- The Bladeling Jerimok Ulet harvests enchanted weapons from the Bladestorm, a demiplane of swirling blades. He finds a decent market for the weapons, which are considered to be ethereal in nature. Jerimok is well suited, as a bladeling, to operate in this demiplane, but it is difficult to harvest anything more than a small number of blades from the plane at a time, and to find a market for the weapons, which display great variability. No one else is interested in trying to brave the Bladestorm to compete with Jerimok.
Nathri Exotica- From somewhere deep in the ethereal there are a series of wizardly demiplanes that contain miniature versions of notable prime material monsters. Nathri occasionally capture young of these strange species and bring them back for sale as pets. Miniature unicorns, displacer beasts, fire drakes and more have found a certain select audience at times.
Large Demiplanes- The Demiplane of Shadow is one of the largest of demiplanes (perhaps the largest), and hosts a certain unique slant to magic. Many magical items having to do with shadow have been made here, and the substance known as shadow cloth can easily be woven into concealing items. For this and many other reasons planar traders ply Shadow for magic and more. A steady market of primes and planars exists for this sort of thing, mostly thieves and wizards.
Closed Demiplanes- Thri-Kreen produce a crystalline substance called dasl, which can be made into fabulous weapons. The Kreen themselves also make impressive gladiators. Kreenplane is closed to outsiders, and the Thri-Kreen kill intruders on sight. However, this has not stopped unscrupulous merchants from sneaking into the demiplane and making off with dasl weapons. Even more disturbing is the secretive cabal that abducts the Kreen themselves as slaves. The Tohr-Kreen nation that rules the plane dispatches Zik-Trin to hunt down such offenders, but the lucrative trade goes on.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 07:20:13
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Markets of Floating Fog- Or, the great trade sites and methods of exchange in the Ethereal
The Ethereal is home to many sites for trade. The most famous is Farer's Freehold, headquarters of the Etherfarer society. The markets there are the greatest and busiest in the Ethereal. You can find almost anything here, with a specialization in mystic exotica and strange pets. Trade is brisk, the haggling tough, but the prices are decent if you can hold your own with the Etherfarers. Other significant sites include the Demiplane city of the Phirblas, with many markets within, the Jeweler's Shop, a small outpost in the border of the Quasielemental plane of Mineral, Markeck's Demiplane, the holding of a wizard who let's traders stop by freely, and the Organic Refuge, where many survivors of world's destroyed by Clockwork Horrors gather.
These markets are bounteous, but most cater primarily to Ethereal trade. The true strangeness is the places where the Border Ethereal and the Prime Material plane have been brought together, so that the planes overlap, creating the perfect market. These are extremely interesting places, and some of the few locations in the multiverse where primes and planars rub noses as equals, since everyone at them all is quite skilled at what they want most, making money. As far as I know, six of these sites exist. One opens to something that was once called "Netheril," but the site is now filled with nothing but tons of solid rock. Something bad happened in the prime I guess. Three of these locations open into wildspace. Neogi deathspiders and phase spiders preside over one, which is something a pity, unless the slave trade interests you. The Elven Imperial Navy controls another, and uses it to help supply its military forces. The third is kept open, and is run by a secretive cabal that I have been unable to discern. I believe the Planar Trade Consortium might be at least partially responsible, but I also suspect the arcane for being involved (Not least because of a large Dizantar attack three years ago). As for the final two, well they open into prime worlds that don't reveal their names, since merchant houses on those prime worlds are keeping the rights to themselves. Whatever, that doesn't matter in the slightest from this side.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 17:52:27
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Well, obviously our resident Master of Planelore has been very, very busy.  Where he finds the time for these things, I have no idea.
I wonder if this is a glimpse of a possible path for a certain PbeM . . . . |
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Shadowlord
Master of Realmslore
USA
1298 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2004 : 21:43:08
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Hmmm, Sage, are you sure you haven't used a Miracle spell to create a permanent time stop effect?
Seriously though, most people (the ones I've talked to ) don't make use of the Etheral Plane because there's basically nothing there. The only use for it in our campaigns have been spells such as etheralness. |
The Chosen of Vhaeraun
"Nature is governed by certain immutable rules. By virtue of claw and fang, the lion will always triumph over the goat.Given time, the pounding of the sea will wear away the stone. And when dark elves mingle with the lighter races, the offspring invariably take after the dark parent. It is all much the same. That which is greater shall prevail. Our numbers increase steadily, both through birth and conquest. The dark elves are the dominant race, so ordained by the gods." Ka'Narlist of the Ilythiiri. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2004 : 13:24:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Well, obviously our resident Master of Planelore has been very, very busy. Where he finds the time for these things, I have no idea.
I wonder if this is a glimpse of a possible path for a certain PbeM . . . .
Actually you are quite right. I've finally had some time to work out a few of the last lingering particulars for the PbeM. I'm hoping to have the rest finished before month's end so we can finally get started...it's been so long...
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2004 : 13:26:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Shadowlord
Hmmm, Sage, are you sure you haven't used a Miracle spell to create a permanent time stop effect?
Seriously though, most people (the ones I've talked to ) don't make use of the Etheral Plane because there's basically nothing there. The only use for it in our campaigns have been spells such as etheralness.
'there's basically nothing there'...? Obviously you've not read Guide to the Ethereal Plane... Just because the MotP 3e, and the DMG 3.5 says the Ethereal Plane is empty doesn't mean that it's like that in every setting...
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 23 Feb 2004 : 00:01:37
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Guide to the Ethereal Plane? Planescape Setting, right?
Why did I even bother to ask? |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 23 Feb 2004 : 00:05:36
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Just remember that when Jack goes through fantasical places, it still has to make some sort of sense -- unless it's not supposed to make any sense at all. The whole point of this character is to be a vehicle for exploring the D&D setting like it's the real world, so unless you ask me to fudge something in particular, Jack's going to be applying logic to everything.
And even if the Ethereal Plane were empty (and considering how many lifeforms are in D&D, that sounds naive), it still doesn't answer Sage's very good question on why it isn't used as a trade route more often. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 03:14:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Guide to the Ethereal Plane? Planescape Setting, right?
Why did I even bother to ask?
Yes it is, although the text is generalised enough so that it will work in nearly every setting which has an Ethereal Plane.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 03:21:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Just remember that when Jack goes through fantasical places, it still has to make some sort of sense -- unless it's not supposed to make any sense at all. The whole point of this character is to be a vehicle for exploring the D&D setting like it's the real world, so unless you ask me to fudge something in particular, Jack's going to be applying logic to everything.
And even if the Ethereal Plane were empty (and considering how many lifeforms are in D&D, that sounds naive), it still doesn't answer Sage's very good question on why it isn't used as a trade route more often.
I'll have to get back to you on that. Your 'Jack Archer' idea is very intriguing and as such I've tried to incorporate a similar exploring D&D in the real world setting into my adventure for the PbeM.
I've run with an idea similar to this before, so it's not really that difficult for me to make the attempt, although, given the inclusion of rational logic...and applying it to D&D mechanics...that's the hard part.
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The Cardinal
Senior Scribe
Canada
647 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 03:26:35
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Ok, we never thought too much about the ethereal, Although we figure it has stuff in it, just perhaps a bit blurry and insustantual ( with the exception of things in that realm which are solids).
Could any help us, by in a few words (explaining a bit) what is in 'their' ethereal realms... In otherwords, how they visualize the ethereal. Just so that we all can get a gerneralized same page here. |
It has to be Certain, the Gods Hate Me. For whatever irrevokable Fate, I have been made the walking Joke. Either that, or Beshaba is overlyfond Of Me.
-Unknown |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 03:36:36
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Are you sure you want me to answer that...?
I could definitely post some areas here, although I couldn't limit myself to 'just a few words'...
If you're still game, let me know... |
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The Cardinal
Senior Scribe
Canada
647 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 04:00:53
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| Well whatever you feel is required. You see, as we look at the ethereal, we see (let's use Faerun as a base Material Plane...oh... for no reason in particular). We figure we would see what we saw when we entered the ethereal, Trees, rocks, town set aflame by a dragon, etc, yet all of it would be hazy and when attempting to move it by physical force we would push through it, unaffecting it or ourselves... (well, if it be an animal we might loose our lunch but seeing the internal organs working an what not... This is our interpretation ( the bear bones of it anyways) but we know ours, we are curious about yours...and others ideas of the ehtereal plane |
It has to be Certain, the Gods Hate Me. For whatever irrevokable Fate, I have been made the walking Joke. Either that, or Beshaba is overlyfond Of Me.
-Unknown |
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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 08:05:21
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Are there any Forgotten Realms adventures that feature an option to take your party of adventurers to the Ethereal Plane, it really doesn't matter which edition?. I'd ask Sage, but he's at work at the moment
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"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
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The Cardinal
Senior Scribe
Canada
647 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2004 : 09:42:07
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| Eh? What's this then? We are afraid to say we are unsure... we suspect that there is but we, ourselves, have yet to find one. Mostly we go freelance, no already created modules.... Sage would know more about such things... Unless we totally misinterpreted what your saying... Such rare things happen from time to time... |
It has to be Certain, the Gods Hate Me. For whatever irrevokable Fate, I have been made the walking Joke. Either that, or Beshaba is overlyfond Of Me.
-Unknown |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 02:58:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Lady Kazandra
Are there any Forgotten Realms adventures that feature an option to take your party of adventurers to the Ethereal Plane, it really doesn't matter which edition?. I'd ask Sage, but he's at work at the moment
Lady, if you go into my bedroom and sit at my computer assigned to all things D&D, you'll notice a folder on the desktop called 'Planescape Fan-Based Archive'. If you look in that folder, there's a number of fan-created adventures (two of which are in the Realms) that take place, or at least involve the Ethereal Plane.
There's also a number of other files in that folder that detail the Ethereal Plane and it's relation to the Material Plane in some way. If you want, look over them...you may even find something that you can contribute here...
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The Cardinal
Senior Scribe
Canada
647 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 03:30:14
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| Ah, yes... We hate to be a bother but You were going to give us your veiw of the Ethereal, correct Sage? we are curious as to how it looks through your eyes. |
It has to be Certain, the Gods Hate Me. For whatever irrevokable Fate, I have been made the walking Joke. Either that, or Beshaba is overlyfond Of Me.
-Unknown |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 13:11:31
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Indeed I am...at least once I have finished bringing it into line with my 'revised cosmology project'. As I said in an earlier scroll, I'm still working on the Ordials at the moment. Next in line is the Astral and Ethereal Planes.
I was going to start with my interpretation of the Far Realm, but I haven't found anyone here willing to advance some of the theories I've already posted here regarding the Far Realm. Plus I want to bring some of your ideas into my thinking Cardinal, so when the time comes, I hope you'll be interested in helping me out...
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 16:18:50
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
[...] although, given the inclusion of rational logic...and applying it to D&D mechanics...that's the hard part.
Yes, it is, but it's the very reason I wanted to try it. After all, if it were easy, any berk could do it.
Perhaps I should organize my notes sometime and start posting on that subject. Like my in-character description of magic . . . I can't quite call it a "magical theory," but it's similar. |
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lowtech
Learned Scribe
USA
315 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 17:43:10
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[/quote]Actually you are quite right. I've finally had some time to work out a few of the last lingering particulars for the PbeM. I'm hoping to have the rest finished before month's end so we can finally get started...it's been so long...
[/quote]
Could you arrange things so that we can view the game as it proceeds (I'm not exactly clear on how PbeM's work)?
One reason (and probably the simplest outside of gross ignorance) that few merchants on Faerun use the ethereal could be that interested parties already have a monopoly on the safest trade routes and are willing to use any means necessary to prevent large-scale competition (such as sicking ethereal monsters on the Primes). These parties would likely work through intermediaries (such as the Arcanes working through Nathri tribes). |
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore
1338 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2004 : 19:49:06
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Lowtech, if you visit the Candlekeep library and look for Campaign Journals and Logs, you'll find a collection of several PbEM games, where the DMs have published the flow of the game in a story-like format.
<shameful plug>
My own Twilight Dawn campaign is one of the PbeMs out there.
</shameful plug>
And now back to the Ethereal Merchants... |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2004 : 12:00:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
[...] although, given the inclusion of rational logic...and applying it to D&D mechanics...that's the hard part.
Yes, it is, but it's the very reason I wanted to try it. After all, if it were easy, any berk could do it.
Oh yes...I agree with you one-hundred percent.... And, what do you mean by 'berk'...? Am I detecting a hint of the Bookwyrm's research into all things Planescape...?
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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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
31701 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2004 : 12:06:06
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quote:
Originally posted by lowtech
Actually you are quite right. I've finally had some time to work out a few of the last lingering particulars for the PbeM. I'm hoping to have the rest finished before month's end so we can finally get started...it's been so long...
[/quote]
Could you arrange things so that we can view the game as it proceeds (I'm not exactly clear on how PbeM's work)?
[/quote]Lowtech, my Gateway - Legends of Amasaria website will host the entire game. As well as this, full campaign logs (I'm hoping to have them up as they happen), background PDFs, and whatever else I can think of will all be available at the site once the PbeM begins. Of course, only files which detail aspects, characters, and adventure reports from parts of the PbeM that have already been completed will be available, but as new areas are explored, the rest of the material will become available.
I'll also be providing links to other online sites that further detail any official or fan-created elements used in my game.
I'll let you know when the pre-game site is ready.
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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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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2004 : 07:09:28
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Well, every so often I work on my not-yet-released website, which is partly in existance so I can have a links page for all of my bookmarks, wherever I go. I just put up two Planescape links, one of which was a cant glossary you'd directed me to a while back. So a few words were in my head.
Or, to put it another way, I was banging around my case, working on its gates. I put in two to some Planar cutters' cases, one of them being something you'd chanted at me back when. So there were some things rattling in my brain-box.
As for the PbeM, don't forget that I'll be collecting what's posted from Jack's POV and reworking it into the ongoing story. In fact, if the PbeM starts off as soon as Sage is suggesting, the rest of the prologue will be completed well after the first installment of the actual game. Which is, of course, why I've been trying to stress how what I'm posting elsewhere is the prologue to the actual story. |
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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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2004 : 14:28:30
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Hmmm...that's logical, and a great idea.
I'm trying to do something similar with the campaign logs that I'm writing up, leaving spaces for the general shape and direction of the actual game so that the logs can be read almost like a story, completely on their own.
Oh, and watch out for that links page. I'd had something similar operating on my website, but it eventually came to the point where 'link maintaince' was required nearly everyday due to some sites going down temporarily, or in the most severe case, disappearing completely.
I've been working on an alternative that has a sub-routine which automatically runs periodic checks to determine the integrity of the links itself. It then sends me a nice little email letting me know when such things occur. It's not that different I know, but at least I don't have to check through the links daily.
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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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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2004 : 19:25:22
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| Um . . . I'm just doing it as a convenient way to carry my bookmarks around. Offering it as a service to others is just a side-effect, and one that hasn't really happened yet. In fact, the only thing that won't be primarily for me, family, or immediate friends will be the sporatically-updated collection of my stories and essays. |
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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Economics, the Ethereal Plane, and the Realms
