Excellent, that's what I was thinking.


I have another! This one about potions, and it should be a cut and dry answer.
I asked before about adding potions to water or some sort of drink, but what of the actual container for the potions? Can you transfer the liquid to a flask, providing you make no change to potion's makeup/contents? Or perhaps have a potion prepared in something other than a vial?

Or are the potion bottles inherently magically (by whatever means) so that potions must be put into only them?

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

I want to know what you're planning first before I give an answer that will be taken as a general cure-all for any ridiculous plan.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

The only idea I had so far as pouring a potion into a flask of some sort. I'll tell you the reasoning behind it, and let me know if I'm bat*** crazy.

PvP situations. First off, take into assumption (since you would be assuming correctly) that all the server rules for PvP are going to be followed.

So, drinking a potion (aka buffing) during a potential PvP conflict is considered a threatening act. Makes sense, no argument there.
However, it came to mind that placing a potion into a container that was definitely not a potion bottle would be an interesting idea to make it look as if you were not indeed drinking a potion IC (remember, rule-wise we are counting this as a hostile act). The benefit that I would see is that you can gain a momentary upper hand to catch the other person off guard since they would not know you were taking a potion until the effects kicked in (and we are assuming that it's obvious that someone has taken a potion).

Specifically I was considering an invisibility potion. That's the one that readily comes to mind that would give a fair advantage against an opponent (that doesn't have Trueseeing cast on them, at least). So the benefit is that, unless they stopped you from taking a drink of what would presumably be alcohol, you drink and they do not know what is about to happen until you suddenly disappear.

Now, I know this might potentially be against server rules, and so in that case, a 'no' works for me.

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

Can anyone quote for me the actual fight scene from Tantras(the novel) between Torm and Bane? Any specific descriptions of Torm's monstrous lion-headed avatar as well. So far, I've been picturing him as something akin to the Hindu avatar Narasimha, which vibes well with my the cultural inspiration of my Tormite.

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"There is little time to waste this day," the God of Duty cried. "By now, all of you know that our city will soon face an attack by Zhentish forces. Lord Bane, God of Strife and Tyranny, conqueror of Scarsdale, approaches the harbor of our city in the form of a giant warrior." The fallen god paused and listened to the frightened, excited murmuring of the crowd. After a moment, he added, "I can stop Bane. But to do so, I need the power that only your belief... and your sacrifice can give to me."
The noise from the crowd grew louder, and Torm raised his gauntleted hand to silence them. "My avatar has volunteered to be the first to offer me his essence." A deep sadness filled the God of Duty's eyes. "You must follow his example, do your duty as followers of my word, if Tantras is to be saved from destruction."
With those words, Torm plunged his hands into his avatar's chest and pulled out his heart. A torrent of sky-blue energy swirled around the staggering body of Torm's avatar then engulfed not only the frail, human form, but also the golden lion that raced to protect its master. When the swirling lights faded, a golden man more than nine feet tall stood before the worshipers of Torm. His head was that of the mighty lion, and his body crackled with energy.

(In between this part and the battle, Torm's worshippers in Tantras sacrifice themselves to him, and he grows much taller and more powerful)




Across the city, Torm and Bane stood face-to-face on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Dragon Reach. Both avatars were now well over one hundred feet tall. As each god stood, silently studying his opponent's avatar, a cold smile formed on the Black Lord's face.
"Lord Torm," Bane murmured sweetly. "My spies told me that you were in Tantras, but I never expected such a showy reception."
"Is it true?" the God of Duty growled, the bestial features of his lion-headed avatar curling as he spoke.
"You'll have to be more specific," Bane sighed.
"Did you steal the Tablets of Fate?" Torm screamed. The god's voice echoed over the city. "Are you the one responsible for the chaos in the world?"
"I cannot take all the credit," Bane noted calmly. "I had a fair amount of assistance. I'm sure you know by now that the Lord of Bones aided me in the theft itself. And, of course, Ao's vast overreaction to that theft has played no small part in forging the unsettled state of the world."
The God of Duty curled his huge hands into fists and took a step toward Bane. "You're insane," he growled. "Don't you realize what you've done?"
Torm raised his right fist high over his head. There was a burst of light, and a metal gauntlet covered the hand. Next, the lion-headed giant waved his gauntleted fist and a huge, flaming sword flashed into existence, seemingly from the air itself. Finally, the God of Duty bent his left arm slightly, and a shield bearing his symbol appeared. Torm took another step forward and raised his sword to strike.
The God of Strife stood his ground and sighed. "You have no idea what you're doing, Torm. If you destroy me, your pitiful little encampment will be wiped from the face of Faerun."
Torm stopped for an instant then took another step forward. "You're lying."
Bane laughed, and the deep, bellowing noise shook the roofs on the houses near the city wall. "I saw Mystra destroyed in Cormyr, you fool. She tried to return to the Planes, and Helm simply murdered her." The obsidian avatar paused and smiled. "And when she died, bolts of energy swept the land and destroyed everything for miles around. It was actually rather pleasant."
Torm stood in shocked silence, so Bane continued. "I am here to retrieve something of mine that I left in Tantras a short time ago. Allow my soldiers to take my property to one of my ships, and I will leave," the Black Lord lied. "There need not be any violence between us."
"Something of yours?" Torm asked, shocked out of his silence. "You mean the Tablet of Fate that found its way to my temple."
Bane was genuinely surprised. If Torm had the tablet, why hadn't he simply returned it to Helm? the dark god wondered. Actually, it didn't matter, as long as the tablet was still in Faerun and not in Ao's hands. "I placed the Tablet of Fate in your temple myself, only a few hours before Ao cast us out of our homes," Bane said, trying to seem at ease. "I thought it was a rather amusing little joke, hiding something stolen by an unfaithful servant in a temple to the God of Duty."
Torm gripped his sword tightly. "Turn back, Bane. I will not let you take the tablet. It belongs to Ao and it's my sworn duty-"
Bane snorted. "Please spare me the lecture on duty, Torm. You should know me well enough by now to realize that an appeal to honor is the last thing that would impress me."
"Then we have nothing else to say, Lord Bane," Torm spat. "If you will not leave, prepare to defend yourself."
Bane took a step back as Torm's sword sliced the air in front of him. Bane willed a night-black shield to materialize on his arm, and he raised it just in time to block Torm's next blow. There was an explosion as the mystical sword and shield met. Both items shattered into fragments of energy and dissipated.
Bane surged forward and rammed into Torm. The God of Duty had raised his shield in time to protect himself from the deadly spikes jutting from the obsidian avatar, but the shield itself shattered from the blow. The God of Duty and the God of Strife stumbled together, back through the twenty-five-foot wall that surrounded Tantras. The giants crashed into Torm's temple, and part of the building collapsed.
Bane pushed Torm against the remains of the temple, and huge chunks of stone toppled to the ground. From somewhere close by, the God of Duty heard tiny screams. Panic seized Torm as he realized that the cries were coming from the few people left in his house of worship.
The God of Duty struck Bane in the throat. When the God of Strife fell back from the force of the blow, Torm struck him again and again in the same spot. The God of Strife felt a slight crack open in his neck, and he reached out in desperation to grab Torm's mailed fist.
At the same time, the God of Duty opened the massive jaws of his lion head and leaned toward the Black Lord's face. The God of Strife fell backward to avoid the rows of jagged, golden teeth, and Torm's mouth snapped shut in the air near Bane's neck. Seeing that the Black Lord was off balance, Torm drove his foot into the obsidian giant's chest and pushed him back outside the crumbled city wall. The God of Strife crashed to the ground, sending tremors throughout Tantras.
Torm stood over Bane and raised his mailed fist. The Black Lord struggled to rise, but the huge spikes in his armor had been pushed deep into the hard earth by his fall. Torm's fist crashed into Bane's throat again, and the tiny, almost imperceptible fissure there opened wider. A tiny flow of reddish amber light seeped into the air.
But Torm did not escape this attack unharmed either. As Bane thrashed about, trying to defend himself against the God of Duty, one of the spikes on the Black Lord's armor punctured Torm's lower arm. The lion-headed avatar wailed in pain, and he fell back, clutching his ragged wound.
As the God of Duty stumbled away from the Black Lord, toward the edge of the cliff, he felt a horrible weakness. Looking down to the wound Bane had inflicted, the god saw a steady flow of sky-blue light pouring into the air. He felt a morbid fascination as he watched the soul energies of his worshipers pass from the ragged hole. Torm looked away from the wound just in time to see the Black Lord's fist crash into his face.
Stunned by the ferocity of the attack, Torm was unprepared as the God of Strife struck him again. After the second blow, the God of Duty swung wildly at the Black Lord and hit him in the face with the back of his hand. Bane's head snapped back and a small chip flew from his face. The God of Strife instinctively raised his hand to the wound. In the shiny black of the avatar's hand, the fallen god glimpsed a reflection of the tiny jet of the greenish amber flame that escaped from the hole. With a scream, Bane leaped forward and tackled Torm.
Both avatars tumbled over the edge of the cliff. As the giants fell, they separated. Bane struck the mountainside twice before he landed on the rocky shore. Torm, another hole in his shoulder from the spikes on Bane's body, reached out and tore a tree from its roots in an effort to slow his descent. The effort was futile, of course, and he crashed to the beach several hundred yards from the Black Lord. For the avatars, though, this was a distance that could be crossed in seconds.
Torm rose first. As he stood up, he saw two ships that bore the Zhentish flag wallowing in the Dragon Reach, far from shore. A few small boats were rushing to shore, up the coast a little ways off. The God of Duty swore a silent oath that he would kill every Zhentish invader he could catch... as soon as he had slain their master.
The Black Lord was only now beginning to rise. As he lifted his head from the sand, Bane looked down and saw another crack in his chest. More reddish black vapors streamed from the opening. "You fool," the God of Strife hissed. He looked up and saw Torm standing over him.
The God of Duty held a boulder over his head. The chunk of stone was so large that the giant, lion-headed avatar was using both hands to hold it up. "You must pay for your sins," Torm said flatly, then smashed the boulder over Bane's head. The rock burst into pieces and more of the obsidian avatar's face cracked. In return, Bane impaled the God of Duty's leg with one of the spikes on his arm. Torm stumbled back, a geyser of soul energy rising from his wounds.
"I'm dying!" Bane cried as he staggered to his feet. He looked at his wounds, saw his energy draining away. The Black Lord's eyes blazed with crimson light as he lowered himself into a crouch. "Come, Torm. We will visit Myrkul's kingdom together."
Before the God of Duty could get away, the Black Lord charged to his side, grabbed his shoulders, and drew Torm into a deadly embrace. A dozen spikes pierced the lion-headed avatar, and Torm roared in pain.
The juggernauts teetered back and forth for a moment, standing only because they were supporting one another. Bane laughed, low and hollow, and the sound drifted out over the Dragon Reach. Torm looked into the Black Lord's eyes, then opened his sharp-toothed maw and slowly brought the rows of teeth down upon Bane's throat.
The God of Strife's laughter abruptly ceased.

Thanks!

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What spells exist to prevent Zone of Truth spells and similar ones?

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My first thought is some kind of immunity to mind affecting spells, since it's a will save and SRD says [Mind Affecting]. I was wondering this once before IG lol

_________________
Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

Here's a lore question: are all Forgotten Realms novels written so horribly? I've been debating cracking one open, but now, thanks to this, I find myself incredibly disappointed. It is bad fiction and the dialogue reads like it is intended for a 2nd grade reading level comic book. I mean, Bane quipping, "It was actually rather pleasant" in that mocking, cocksuckerish villain voice?

Holy crap.

Holy CRAP.

I am sorry, I am stunned by my own disappointment.

Well, I read the first book in the Avatar trilogy and it was so awful I never picked up the sequels. Bad English and awkward dialogue, not to mention the unfortunate situation of having to portray the gods as regular characters. The one Cloak quoted doesn't seem very good either. They're definetely from the worst end of the spectrum (though surely not unique).

I'm probably not the right person to judge because I don't read much fiction anyway, and I mostly read FR for the setting. But I think there are some very nice novels in the line, as long as you don't expect very deep themes or experimental literary techniques. At its best, it's well-written, entertaining conventional fantasy. I personally like Elaine Cunningham best. Ed Greenwood has a rather juvenile sense of humor and he does some annoying things, but I like the way he can immerse reader in the setting. And despite all the Mary-Sueisms and cheesiness of R.A.Salvatore, his first books about Drizzt and co. (the Icewind Dale trilogy, not the later prequel Dark Elf trilogy) are actually quite good, if I remember correctly. At least if you can get an early version without Drizzt's masturbatory musings inserted between chapters. It's been years since I read them, though. The rest of the Drizzt literature is garbage.

I recommend Cunningham's Elfshadow, Elfsong and maybe the rest of the Songs & Swords series, Greenwood & Cunningham's The City Of Splendors, Greenwood & Grubb's Cormyr - A Novel and maybe Schend's Blackstaff. Cunningham also did two other nice series, Starlight & Shadows (a drow princess and a Rashemi barbarian) and Councilors & Kings (political intrigue and conspiracies in Halruaa), but I don't think they're quite as good as Songs & Swords.

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Totally agree. Every time I see a FR novel at the local book store, I literally cringe and move away from it. The bits I've read from different FR novels.... good god it's horrid... Some of the worst fiction I've ever read. Although I will admit that I'm not real big on the heavy fantasy and heavy sci-fi stuff. But still, I do like FR lore so you'd think I'd like it... but it's all just so bad, in my experience... I don't see myself picking up an FR or any D&D novel any time soon.

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My Characters:
Yuilith Kethil Menaiivan Garadeth

Anyone have an answer for this?

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

It's not so much you drinking out of a potion bottle that is the hostile act. It's you creating a magical offensive/defensive effect around yourself.

Hell, you could drink it out of a sippy cup if you wanted. You could hide the liquid in a hidden compartment in a flute, to imbibe while playing. You could have a trained monkey spit it into your mouth like some furry little fountain. The moment it creates an effect around you, that's the moment it becomes a possibly hostile action. Which, in most cases, any person viewing would realize.

So maybe you could hide the liquid of a potion in a specially made pocket or some sort of trinket. But the moment you move it to your mouth and drink(a quite obvious action), I've reason to believe you're getting ready for battle.

Compare it to other things. Think about say, the Grandfather's Pocket Watch. ICly, that looks like you pressing a button or winding a spring or saying a command word on the watch. Everyone notices this as a possibly hostile action. There's little reason to think that anything involving putting something to your mouth and slurping wouldn't be easily seen and recognized as well. So my thoughts are, "Yes, you can do it, but it would offer you absolutely no advantages other than not using a potion bottle."

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Oh I know, I'm just referring to the possibility that it will catch someone off guard. I mean, if you pull a potion bottle out it's pretty obvious. If you are taking it by another means, there's that moment where they do not know what is going to happen. Also, this is why I was referring to an invisibility potion. Course, it'd also depend on if someone was to RP it off as being caught off guard. There's likely to be a moment's hesitation when someone suddenly disappears lol

But yeah, mostly just something that occurred to me that I wanted to check on.

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

If you want to RP *Drinks from a bowl" rather than a potion bottle, I don't see who would stop you. Just realize it's just as obvious as anything else, and isn't so much "catching someone off guard" as being different for the sake of being different.

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In my experience, FR novels on average are no different from other mass-produced fantasy literature. It's a very conventional genre. Most FR authors are freelancers who write for other settings too, so you can expect the same level of mediocrity across the board. As far as I've followed online discussions, FR novels aren't any more notorious for their cheesiness than other series. Mediocrity is just a problem of the entire genre.

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Which is partly why I dislike fantasy heavy novels. They're cheesy, boring, not creative at all, and just bleh. I speak in general of course. There are a handful of fantasy novels that I think have a great story and are creatively written. I typically avoid the fantasy section of the book store like I'll get the Black Plague if I got too close. There's just a whole lot of bad there, imo.

But then I'm the type of person that likes his fiction to have a heavy basis in reality, or at least some sort of alternate reality that's believable to me. Fantasy and sci-fi has to be reeeeally good to catch my eye. Most of the sci-fi I like is dystopian, and pretty much all the fantasy I like is old.

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My Characters:
Yuilith Kethil Menaiivan Garadeth

Bumping this. Seems it got lost

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Amia Minecraft Server Ip: vps1602.directvps.nl
NWN Damage Calculator: http://www.afterlifeguild.org/Thott/dnd/
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Doesn't Zone of Truth require a will save? Wouldn't it be countered by Protection from C/E/G/L, Mind Blank or similar magics?

(I'm only confused because NWN has weird mechanics )

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Mathus, Void Apostle of the New Moon

Not because of the Will save. Any spell can have a Will save. But Mind Blank will work because of the [Mind-Affecting] descriptor of Zone Of Truth. That's the relevant part.

I am not sure about PfA. The description is vague. It doesn't specifically state mind-affecting spells, but rather on-going mind control effects. However, it does mention the Enchantment (Compulsion) subschool, which is what ZoT belongs to.

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I believe there was an item called the ring of Shadow Tongue that makes you immune to such spells. Try DC requesting it.

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On Amia, Ruathym for the moment is represented as Careigh. I assume this only represents a part of the larger island(s). Canonwise, Ruathym is the home of fierce Northlanders, with a strong viking-esque culture.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Ruathym
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Northmen

I did notice Wiltun is ruled by a Jarl, but Careigh seems to be ruled by a foreign Baron -- I don't play B much at all, so I could be mistaken. Though Amia could represent a point where Ruathym has already changed from what is written in canon background, I would like to know:

Q: Are the 'canon' Northmen around, and if so, what is their relation with Careigh?

_________________
Aernoud Van Brabant: Heir of the House. Proprietor of the Beer Wagon.
"Go to the Mayfields, have a pint, and wait for this to blow over."
Aurelius: Sunmaster of Amaunator. Contemplative. Aspirant to Transcendance.
"Sol Invictus"

This is how big Caraigh is in comparison to the rest of Ruathym.

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Khaldun Menetnashte Khalfani
Victor Wilkinson

^totally not a lie or anything.

Caraigh is a part of Ruathym, but you actually have to understand a little something about Ruathym to comprehend its relationship with Caraigh...and with other areas, too.

Ruathym is a major island continent (and this is Amia canon, now, which is a mix of FR canon with our improvements) that was settled, ostensibly, by the Northmen a long time ago. You'll note that they settled a lot of these areas through the Trackless Sea and that the Uthgardt up in the Frozenfar area (I think) are their closest descendants.

The people of Ruathym have Northmen blood, but they are about as Northmen as, say, the Danish of the 18th century were Vikings. A herald like yourself could probably trace Jarl crests back to iconic Northmen imagery, and even to this day the people of Ruathym have a considerable mistrust of arcane magic. Not enough to go around killing or imprisoning magicians, but enough not to trust them, to sometimes turn them away at the door. This is at least partially an explanation for why, when Lord Wiltun's Knight, Avadon, was held captive in the Mystran Monolith, Lord Wiltun sent a handful of WARSHIPS with CANNONS trained on the Monolith as his diplomat, Master Parrico, peaceably arranged terms on the inside. It suggests an obvious mistrust and fear of what magicians are capable of, that you would bear down on them so heavily with long-range weaponry. (It also says a great deal about Lord Wiltun himself, of course.)

Ruathym is in an odd state of affairs at the time being, one that I rather like. Canon details about Ruathym are very, very sparse, so when Disco added the area I did what little research I could and invented quite a bit of other things.

Ruathym is primarily separated into (roughly) four jarldoms, though land borders have been prone to change over history. There is the southern jarldom, the naval capital with very inhospitable, rocky lands that makes for crappy agriculture and a very sparse and spread out population, which is the Wiltun Jarldom. There is the "eastern" jarldom, Ostland (which is actually northeastern, and has some very, very nice agricultural territory, if I do say so myself). There is an entirely defunct jarldom in the Caraigh area that is plagued by demons and the undead. And there is an unnamed "western" jarldom that is home to some dwarves and maybe a few other things, but they keep very isolationist.

Ruathym is vaguely like Vancouver Island, if you are familiar with it, only with a much taller, much scarier mountain range in the middle. The Capitol City of Ruathym is where the First Axe (sometimes called Chief Axe) resides, to whom all of the jarldoms have traditionally been subservient. The Capitol City is on a long, broad, wintry plateau in a valley high in those mountains in the dead center of the island.

There's a problem though.

For years, the individual jarldoms have not heard much of anything from the Capitol City. Some of them have even stopped sending tribute up the mountains, just to see what will happen. Nothing, it would seem. The rulers of the individual jarldoms almost all have their own reasons for not caring very much about the status of their Capitol City, because they have operated independently for a very long time, almost like their own little kingdoms. Communication is extremely poor.

Lord Wiltun has a hard-on to continue Ruathym's collective war with Luskan, and he does so primarily on the sea, having his jarldom's navy patrol the entire island on a course intended to keep them at bay and engage them wherever they see them. It seems that jarldom is very consumed with the notion of war with Luskan...even though Luskan doesn't appear to be much of a threat to them at all, for the time being...

Caraigh is having its own dire problems right now, which you should know about, unless you're living in Abeir.

Ostland's rulers are rumored to be a little on the decadent side and largely indifferent to a lot of things due to preoccupations with issues within the jarldom...

And the unnamed western jarldom? Nobody knows. (Mostly because it isn't important at this juncture).

But ultimately to answer your question, after this brief history and current events lesson complete with teasers? The people of Ruathym are descended from the Northmen. They're not your stereotypical wild barbaric sea peoples...but in a way, they are.

Yoss: Re the novels

Avoid Drizzt. Avoid him like the plague.

I'd avoid the Time of Troubles novels as well.

The Cleric Quintet was really good.

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Aly'dra Zau'ana: Priestessish Of Eilistraee
Danika Nefzen: Druid of the Earthmother
Delia Am'Anodel: Paladin of Torm

See, that's sad, because the Time of Troubles seems like such an incredibly interesting time to me.

The time of troubles sounds like a drunken brawl in a bar... except the drunk ones are GODS, who don't wield a chair's leg but instead use warheads and shit.
I Read part of the time of troubles and I was disappointed, too. Way to much of the GOD vs EVIL vs CHAOS vs LAW vs his mother. There wasn't much intrigue.

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The Time of Troubles is a little more then that, I fear. >.<;

Although out of morbid curiousity I'd wonder what a drunken brawl between gods would be like.

>.<;

The ToT could easily be seen as the Ragnarok that amazingly didn't end the world and mortal life. Seriously. Every god except for one comes down to earth, within arms reach of their enemies. Although the setting was always safe in the hands of the designers behind the scenes, from in IC standpoint, it's more or less the biggest miracle ever that the realms even exist after such a thing.

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I kind of disagree. There's nothing wrong with some early "Drizzt" novels. The Icewind Dale trilogy weren't even Drizzt novels, they were edited into such when RAS wrote the Dark Elf trilogy and added Drizzt's autobiographical musings between the chapters. If you ignore those and the preconceptions you get from reading the prequel trilogy, Drizzt doesn't actually seem as much of a main character but rather part of an adventuring band. They're not particularly excellent books, but there's nothing wrong with them unless one has a silly hate for Drizzt just because he's popular. RAS has many problems as an author, and while those problems are apparent through the rest of the Drizzt series, they're also present in The Cleric(al?) Quintet. Constant dramatic deaths that aren't permanent after all are my pet peeve, and I think that happens twice in those novels, for example. And more importantly, the lore is just messed up. RAS doesn't understand Deneir and seems to confuse him with Oghma, and Gond is quite mispresented. He cooks up some really strange lore about the Talonan society and ultimately writes in his own little bubble with no regard for the Realms at large. That's why I don't like him, and these are some problems that aren't quite as prevalent (IIRC) in Icewind Dale.

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Thank you, Yossarin!

_________________
Aernoud Van Brabant: Heir of the House. Proprietor of the Beer Wagon.
"Go to the Mayfields, have a pint, and wait for this to blow over."
Aurelius: Sunmaster of Amaunator. Contemplative. Aspirant to Transcendance.
"Sol Invictus"

Does anyone find the argument that undead are a natural byproduct of negative and positive energy imbalances present in the world convincing?

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Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven conscious of his fleeting time here.

Depends on how well-written and well-researched the argument is. And whether or not it is peer-reviewed and published.

I'm already on it, just give me some time to let the assassination wear off.

it comes under one of the five/six ways undead are 'created' so yea. negative energy is like the hidden key or something when it comes to undead.

ed: libris mortis explains it better than that. as will google no doubt.

Most followers of the "natural" way understand that Negative energy is a natural and needed part of the world. And it could be said that things such as Shadows "naturally" occur. But such an opinion can vary easily. It doesn't really matter what we think OoC, you know? You're still never likely to convince a follower of the natural world that any undead is natural. It's possible. And plausible IC. But IC theories and OoC theories need not match up.

My own question:

Does anyone have specific information on the Arcanamachs of Netheril and Imaskar. Specifically the history of the art and any specific milestones. I've already looked at FR wiki and Complete Arcane(though that mostly gives info specific for Greyhawk and only suggests FR), so you needn't bother quoting those. So ideally I'm asking if anyone has books or info on Netheril and Imaskar where they mention Arcanamachs.

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found this

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070829

but they also don't shut up about greyhawk so, i'm sorta confused.

That's pretty much the same as what was in Complete Arcane.

I'm looking for any specific instances of them in the history of Netheril and such. Thought it wouldn't surprise me if there aren't any, the class seems like it was based around Greyhawk's history and simply can be translated to FR, the DM wants. I had hoped someone had already done this, though, in like cannon lore about the realm's history.

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I can't find anything specific but what I gather from other forums is if its an FR one netheril is your best bet for some sort of backstory. they are magical knights somewhat for royal archmagi families at least they we're before their entire way of life was confined to a grimoire, the only source perhaps except learning from another arcanamach with the aid of one of those.

netheril archanamach in google returns a total of about two english sites >_> one of them candlekeep. as for the build idea's and possibilities there is a saul archanamach handbook with far too much talk of prc classes, but in esscence spellsword sums up the basics.

take another read of what happened after karsus folly and see what you can make of it, its sure got my brain ticking =) I have no doubt it can work.

ed: magic knight assassins I should have said, but i'm sure you know that from the fr wiki referances. (if not evil maybe rogue, or sd.)

There probably aren't any, but your guess of Netheril, Imaskar, and likely the Narfell are good choices for FR traditions which might have housed the Arcanamach archetype.

In today's Realms, it's likely that Halruaa would probably have an Arcanamach tradition, though not evil like the Greyhawk version and undoubtedly the Natherese or Imaskaran versions. I find it completely UN likely that Thay would have one. Other likely candidates for Arcanamach would be Cormyr and possibly Aglarond.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

Shadow dragons.
Basically, the only thing I know about them is that they live in the Underdark. Anywhere in specific I should look for more (like what they eat, and such..) info about them, like a book or such?

Dragons of Faerun. Though what you're thinking of probably more accurately corresponds to a Deep Dragon, which is oftne confused with Shadow Dragon by pure NWN players since NWN added a Shadow model and not the Deep model they probably should have for HotU.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

Ah, gotcha. Will check the book to ease my confusion. Thanks!

In Amias current timeline, how long ago was Waukeen freed?

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"Edwin do this, Edwin do that. Somebody get this jerk a banana!" - Edwin, BG II

Valygar 'Stonesnake' Stark -Human Ranger
Garret Smith - Archer and peddler of deity-statuettes
Dáin Saltbeard - Dwarven sailor and fencer. No, I'm not joking.

We are 1380 DR. Go back from there until you find where Waukeen was freed.

The time of troubles didn't happen as long ago as most people think . IT happened in 1358 DR, which means barely 20 years ago in our timeline. Any middleaged or older character, and certainly anything non human in adulthood, has probably lived through the time of troubles.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

So if we're in 1380, only ten years.

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My Characters:
Yuilith Kethil Menaiivan Garadeth

Are the Sanctuary of Sin and the other generally detestable environs and denizens underneath South Cordor generally known to the public? Is it like the meth lab down the street that the neighbors just don't talk about?

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Yes. It is the "worst kept secret in Cordor", quote. But for whatever reason, the place continues to be tolerated. No one is in deep enough to really understand why.

Am I correct in thinking that polymorph is not subject to true seeing and the like because it actually physically does an animorphs style change? I.E. your body actually becomes the body of a spider, or umber hulk?

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Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven conscious of his fleeting time here.

You are not.