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Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3737 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2018 :  01:00:54  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-Sentinelspire, that was one based on the Ismalaii "Old Man of the Mountain", right? Really good book, one of the best of the last 3e era.

-The Orc in question was a Malarite.

(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

Edited by - Lord Karsus on 02 Mar 2018 01:02:11
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2018 :  07:52:33  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah, I re-read the first chapter or so, and that wasn't even the main character. Weird how I didn't remember the main character AT ALL (who worshiped Silvanus), but I remembered the orc (he was the more interesting character).

So I suppose that means the temple of assassins became a temple of Silvanus.... assassins? I hope that was one of those 'instant retcon' moments (few novels were like that - everything tat was changed by the novel was 'reset' soon after in canon). On the other hand, a really weird cult that had worshipers like Poison Ivy would be kind of cool ('Murder Druids' LOL).

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

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Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3737 Posts

Posted - 03 Mar 2018 :  02:28:12  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-Berun was the main character. All I really remember about him was that his familiar/animal companion was a lizard, and there was a silly battle in the middle/end of the book with the lizard and the Orc's tiger familiar/animal companion.

-I really am only vaguely remember the ending, but it was something like the Old Man of the Mountain opened an Imaskari portal to the Plane of Fire or something because the mountain was actually a sealed volcano. The assassins, at that point, I would think were all dealt with, but I don't actually remember how that all resolved itself.

-I must've had like...twenty? thirty? book reviews on the WotC website, one of which must've been this one. I wrote a few on Candlekeep, but Sentinielspire didn't make it over. I was going back to check if I wrote one that had more detail about that above stuff, but it's interesting to reread the ones that still exist.

(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

Edited by - Lord Karsus on 03 Mar 2018 02:33:49
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 03 Mar 2018 :  21:33:25  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah, when I was going back through it, I made it as far as the lizard/tiger fight and was like NOPE.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 03 Mar 2018 21:34:15
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3737 Posts

Posted - 04 Mar 2018 :  07:00:14  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-All in all, it is one of my favorite Forgotten Realms books.

(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
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

1864 Posts

Posted - 30 Jul 2018 :  03:50:05  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Markustay was wondering what to call Greater Rakshasa and (jokingly?) suggested ARCH-rakshasa. By Sanskrit grammar grammar, of course, the apprpriate term would be Maharakshasa.

Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!

Forgotten Realms fans, please sign a petition to re-release the FR Interactive Atlas
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2442 Posts

Posted - 30 Jul 2018 :  14:02:08  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In Eberron there are some rakshasa named Rakshasa Raja. I guess they are the equivalent to greater rakshasa in that setting.

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

1864 Posts

Posted - 30 Jul 2018 :  16:18:07  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

In Eberron there are some rakshasa named Rakshasa Raja. I guess they are the equivalent to greater rakshasa in that setting.


Rakshasa raja/rajah* means 'rakshasa who is lord [king]'. Maharakshasa means 'Great rakshasa'. Rakshasa maharaja/maharajah means 'rakshasa who is Great Lord [King]'.

It's entirely possible that Markustay was referring to a form of rakshasa who was much more powerful than 'ordinary' rakshasa, regardless of whether they were actually in a position of political power among rakshasa or anyone else, as the rajah and maharajah titles signify for rakshasa (and many other speakers of Devic languages).

If the take the example of a hypothetical family of rakshasa related to Ravana, their divine king, only one of them would be the Maharajah of their polity. That would be Ravana himself. He might have brothers, cousins and nephews who were, in turn, lords/kings of lands of their own, so they would be rajahs, subordinate lords/kings under Maharajah Ravana, Ravana the Great King. However, there might be younger males and females who had not inherited title or lands, and these would not be rajahs of anything (or rani, which would be the female title). They would be be Rajanyas, i.e. of a caste related to lords and kings, but they would not hold these titles.

However, if we decided that all the family of the rakshasa deity Ravana had powers far in excess of normal rakshasa, then all of these family members, regardless of exact title, land-holding or political influence, would be Maharakshasa, or Great Rakshasa.

This is simply adding a common prefix to the type name, as one may speak of a 'Great Hero [Charioteer]' by adding the same prefix to the word 'rathi' ('Hero [Charioteer]', making the word 'Maharathi'. It's perfectly acceptable and ordinary usage in Sanskrit and most other Devic languages.

*Technically, 'Raja' or 'Maharaja' is right, if we are using most Devic languages, but in English (due to a misunderstood etymology), the forms became 'Rajah' and 'Maharajah'. The latter are wrong and irritate scholars of the languages of India, but they are considered correct English and I admit that I grew so used to them before I learned of the incorrect etymology behind the extra 'h' that I am usually tempted to use the English forms.

Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!

Forgotten Realms fans, please sign a petition to re-release the FR Interactive Atlas

Edited by - Icelander on 30 Jul 2018 16:31:52
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2442 Posts

Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  07:40:50  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Oh, I see. That's really interesting to know.

But I'm saying that in D&D (or at least, in Eberron) the Rakshasa Raja are considered to be the "greater" rakshasa. They are even of higher level (CR) than the normal ones.

Dunno how the would fit in an FR campaign, though.


Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

1864 Posts

Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  08:00:24  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

Oh, I see. That's really interesting to know.

But I'm saying that in D&D (or at least, in Eberron) the Rakshasa Raja are considered to be the "greater" rakshasa. They are even of higher level (CR) than the normal ones.

Dunno how the would fit in an FR campaign, though.


If you go through the version history of rakshasa, you'll find that Greater Rakshasa existed as a term before the Rakshasa Rajah was defined. Basically, one type of Greater Rakshasa was a Rakshasa Rajah, who actually ruled over some 50 rakshasa and their slaves, servants and other impedamenta.

Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!

Forgotten Realms fans, please sign a petition to re-release the FR Interactive Atlas
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