Bookstore names
literatures
2013.09.05 17:53 sushisushisushi literatures
Welcome to /Literatures, a community for deeper discussions of plays, poetry, short stories, and novels **in languages other than English, or English in translation**. This is a sister subreddit to /literature, focused on literatures from around the world originally written in any language other than English.
2018.04.04 09:09 trdollar Resources for the Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt
This community is focused on surfacing and storing resources, facts, insights, and key information about the Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt (a.k.a The Thrill of the Chase, The Chase). This is real info, and not speculation.
2008.01.25 08:07 So many books, so little time
This is a moderated subreddit. It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage in-depth discussion about all things related to books, authors, genres, or publishing in a safe, supportive environment. If you're looking for help with a personal book recommendation, consult our Weekly Recommendation Thread, Suggested Reading page, or ask in suggestmeabook.
2024.05.15 04:47 JustKneller Epilogues for every BG NPC
By popular demand, I guess...
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a newedition era where there would be no vocational barriers for adventurers based on their race. Soon, the world began to see roguish halflings that also venerated Helm, while tending to the wilds as a druid. Half-orc bards also studied as wizards while manifesting natural arcane abilities as sorcerers. Tiefling paladins took their crusades to the wilderness and served as rangers, while sidelining as clergy to Mystra. The world was now a liberated place, free to not make any goddamn sense in a myriad of new ways. At one point, Lady Mazzy Fentan of Trademeet (now formally a paladin) crossed paths with a dwarven shadowdancebard and in that moment she regretted everything. Seriously, just take a moment and picture that. It would look fucking ridiculous.”
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's Ward's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”
submitted by JustKneller to baldursgate [link] [comments]
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a new
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's Ward's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”
2024.05.14 20:16 cogitoergognome [PubQ] Advice/suggestions on topics to cover & questions to ask in marketing & publicity meeting
Hi! 2024 debut here (adult SFF at a Big 5), and my publishing team just reached out to schedule my marketing & publicity meeting for several weeks from now. Most of the folks I've interacted with over email already, though there are a few very senior people on the invite whose names I didn't recognize. I haven't seen a detailed marketing & publicity plan yet, but I know the team has been working hard because exciting things have been happening in the background that I imagine they helped bring about!
I've already started compiling a list of questions/topics, but thought I'd ask here in case any of the lovely Pubtips veterans might mention something that's not obvious to me.
Things I plan to ask about:
submitted by cogitoergognome to PubTips [link] [comments]
I've already started compiling a list of questions/topics, but thought I'd ask here in case any of the lovely Pubtips veterans might mention something that's not obvious to me.
Things I plan to ask about:
- Events, festivals/cons (NYCC?), book tour; any budget for travel? Hometown launch event (specific bookstore in mind) -- how to involve them?
- List of bookstores/reviewers they'll be reaching out to so I don't duplicate efforts - best timing if I were to do my own grassroots bookstore outreach via postcards/phone calls?
- Which publications they plan to submit to for reviews
- Any additional Goodreads giveaways planned & dates
- Any collateral they'll be providing? (Bookplates, sell-sheet/flyers, bookmarks, blurb graphics)
- Any preorder campaign planned? Any budget for goodies?
- Award submissions plan?
- Generally -- what are they doing vs. what should/can I be doing?
2024.05.14 20:03 PrincipleOfNegation A Touch Of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair is one of the worst books I have ever read.
The date? A week before posting this.
The year? The current one as of writing.
The mood? Kendrick Lamar inspired.
Long has this book taunted me in bookstores. I pass by the Books In English section and it taunts me. "Read me," the cover said. "You like Ancient Greece shit."
"That I do," I answer, to the confusion of the bookseller passing by. My plans of befriending her for future discounts go down the drain, as I whisper. "And yet, I know I'll hate you."
"Yes," this book answers. "But how long as it been since you felt hatred?"
"I mean I read «I want to die but I also want to eat tteokbokki» not long ago."
The book squints. I wonder how it can do that since it has no eyes.
"True hatred."
Close scene.
I feel like I should start this post by exposing the three main points of it, to all of those who read and perhaps are not interested in yet another "BookTok has to be fucking insane to have hyped this" rant:
My problems with it:
a) Persephone can't even classify as a Mary Sue because I genuinely do not feel like she is good at anything. I apologie for any Mary's or Sue's reading this for even associating yall's name with such a character. The character is so one dimensional that she is deserving of merely one name. To honor the incosistency in writing, I shall be inconsistent myself, and refuse to choose one. Sue is suffering from the greatest case of Mary, but in the direction of pure incompetency. Theresa so far flip-flops from cutesy, virginal goddess who's super shy and not like other girls, to a 2014 girl's interpretation of what a badass woman looks and acts like.
b) This one dimension-ness is shared by all characters so far.
c) I have stumbled upon fanfiction more eloquent and consistent in the "Crack" tag. Christ on a hike, is the writing bad.
I have not even reached one (1) page where la pieceh delah resistanceh* which are the "intimate" scenes of book but the scenes of "excitedness" from Persephone are so childishly written and baffling that I am DREADING them.
You may ask:
"Why keep reading then? Sounds like you hate it and will take nothing from it."
I shall borrow the points format from above.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the rant.
*No corrections, please. I have no respect for the french language.
submitted by PrincipleOfNegation to books [link] [comments]
The year? The current one as of writing.
The mood? Kendrick Lamar inspired.
Long has this book taunted me in bookstores. I pass by the Books In English section and it taunts me. "Read me," the cover said. "You like Ancient Greece shit."
"That I do," I answer, to the confusion of the bookseller passing by. My plans of befriending her for future discounts go down the drain, as I whisper. "And yet, I know I'll hate you."
"Yes," this book answers. "But how long as it been since you felt hatred?"
"I mean I read «I want to die but I also want to eat tteokbokki» not long ago."
The book squints. I wonder how it can do that since it has no eyes.
"True hatred."
Close scene.
I feel like I should start this post by exposing the three main points of it, to all of those who read and perhaps are not interested in yet another "BookTok has to be fucking insane to have hyped this" rant:
- I picked up this book knowing it was bad.
- I haven't finished it yet, because it is so bad.
- I am struggling to finish it, because it is so bad.
My problems with it:
a) Persephone can't even classify as a Mary Sue because I genuinely do not feel like she is good at anything. I apologie for any Mary's or Sue's reading this for even associating yall's name with such a character. The character is so one dimensional that she is deserving of merely one name. To honor the incosistency in writing, I shall be inconsistent myself, and refuse to choose one. Sue is suffering from the greatest case of Mary, but in the direction of pure incompetency. Theresa so far flip-flops from cutesy, virginal goddess who's super shy and not like other girls, to a 2014 girl's interpretation of what a badass woman looks and acts like.
b) This one dimension-ness is shared by all characters so far.
c) I have stumbled upon fanfiction more eloquent and consistent in the "Crack" tag. Christ on a hike, is the writing bad.
I have not even reached one (1) page where la pieceh delah resistanceh* which are the "intimate" scenes of book but the scenes of "excitedness" from Persephone are so childishly written and baffling that I am DREADING them.
You may ask:
"Why keep reading then? Sounds like you hate it and will take nothing from it."
I shall borrow the points format from above.
- My parents did not raise a coward (on purpose), but they did raise me stubborn.
- I hate the idea that a grouping of words is so bad that it overpowers me like so.
- I feel like it'll work like a vaccine and innoculate me from bad books here onwards. No more looking at the BookTok table, no matter the occasional pretty cover or much more accessible price point.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the rant.
*No corrections, please. I have no respect for the french language.
2024.05.14 16:47 thelovewitch069420 Local café/coffeeshop recommendations?
Hi, everyone!
I F/23 unexpectedly have Friday off of work and one of the things I want to do is explore/do some light work in a local café! I typically only go to the big corporate chains for coffee runs due to their convenience but also a lack of awareness about the coffeeshops in the area. I want to find a place where I can get good, original (preferably drip) coffee as well as an atmosphere that provides equal parts ambiance and a semi-decent light work/reading environment as I hope to spend a good chunk of my morning there. I also read in Cleveland magazine a few months back about some place either downtown or in Lakewood that is both a café and a bookstore but was unable to remember the name. All this to say, if anyone has any solid recommendations for cafés that fit these parameters, please comment below - thank you!
submitted by thelovewitch069420 to Cleveland [link] [comments]
I F/23 unexpectedly have Friday off of work and one of the things I want to do is explore/do some light work in a local café! I typically only go to the big corporate chains for coffee runs due to their convenience but also a lack of awareness about the coffeeshops in the area. I want to find a place where I can get good, original (preferably drip) coffee as well as an atmosphere that provides equal parts ambiance and a semi-decent light work/reading environment as I hope to spend a good chunk of my morning there. I also read in Cleveland magazine a few months back about some place either downtown or in Lakewood that is both a café and a bookstore but was unable to remember the name. All this to say, if anyone has any solid recommendations for cafés that fit these parameters, please comment below - thank you!
2024.05.14 15:04 Mikalros Trying to remember old kids play zone on Airport Blvd
I was reminiscing with my family and we are struggling to remember an old mom and pop kids play zone business that used to exist on Airport Blvd back in the 1990s. I recall it being near a school and a hospital and just down the road from the old Family Christian Bookstore. I've narrowed it to the area between Davis and 9th. I think it used to exist in Cordova Commons. If it was in Cordova Commons, it was likely where the Total Wine & More is now.
The business had an obstacle course area and a shoe storage rack right at the front with a check-in counter. It had birthday rooms on the back left of the space. The primary attraction was the Chuck E Cheese style raised tubes, nets, and slides that took up most of the right side of the building. Does anyone remember the business name? I can't find it via normal search methods.
Update: Looks like it was Discovery Zone! (I'm now aware this is/was a chain, not a mom & pop place)
submitted by Mikalros to Pensacola [link] [comments]
The business had an obstacle course area and a shoe storage rack right at the front with a check-in counter. It had birthday rooms on the back left of the space. The primary attraction was the Chuck E Cheese style raised tubes, nets, and slides that took up most of the right side of the building. Does anyone remember the business name? I can't find it via normal search methods.
Update: Looks like it was Discovery Zone! (I'm now aware this is/was a chain, not a mom & pop place)
2024.05.14 01:28 AWholeBeew Jumbo Substitutes!
 | Hey, all! submitted by AWholeBeew to CatsVsPickles [link] [comments] Do any of you ever buy "substitutes" for your Vs World collection when there aren't any real ones of a certain type, color, size, etc.? I live where Cornell University is, and today, I ran an errand that put me near their bookstore. Among many things, Cornell is known for its agricultural school and for the Dairy Bar, where you can go to get ice cream and other dairy products produced on campus. Thanks to the popularity of the Dairy Bar, I found an amazing substitute Jumbo for my Cows vs Aliens collection! Cornell's sports teams are the Big Red, with a bear somehow tied to that weird name as a sort-of mascot despite them not being the Cubs, Bears, Bruins, Grizzlies, etc. Anyhoo, they also had a Big Red bear who isn't the perfect Jumbo sub-in for Bears vs Donuts, but he was pretty insistent on coming home with me, and he's doing his best. :-P |
2024.05.14 00:56 MaximumMajestic What was that book store smell called?
I dunno what it was but I remember going into places like Barnes and Noble and borders and other stores that were dedicated to books all seem to have this smell. I never got a name for it but I used to call it bookstore for obvious reasons. Does anyone else out there remember this smell and maybe could let me know what it was called?
submitted by MaximumMajestic to RandomThoughts [link] [comments]
2024.05.13 17:21 dorkyromantic Romance books bringing people together
Had a wonderful encounter with a fellow romance novel enthusiast in the wild and thought I'd share!
Went to the Boston Bruins game last night and heard snippets of conversation from the row behind me. At some point I heard a guy say, "The Vancouver Agitators? That's not a real team." I immediately looked at my husband and said, "Correct, that's the fake team in a Meghan Quinn series. Wait, are they talking about this book?!" And then I heard the woman behind me say, "Oh, well that's just the name of the team in her book. The author is Meghan Quinn."
I turned around and asked if they were talking about hockey romance novels and she said yes. She was attending her first NHL game that night and only really knew hockey from books (and was sharing names of said books to the guy further down the row). She and I then spent the next 10min sharing book recs to each other and ultimately friended each other on GoodReads 😂 The guy goes, "Of all the things I could see at a Bruins game, I never would have thought 'making GoodReads friends' would be on the list!"
I think this was my first experience meeting and chatting with another romance reader in the wild, outside of a bookstore/book event. Do you have any fun in-the-wild encounters?
submitted by dorkyromantic to RomanceBooks [link] [comments]
Went to the Boston Bruins game last night and heard snippets of conversation from the row behind me. At some point I heard a guy say, "The Vancouver Agitators? That's not a real team." I immediately looked at my husband and said, "Correct, that's the fake team in a Meghan Quinn series. Wait, are they talking about this book?!" And then I heard the woman behind me say, "Oh, well that's just the name of the team in her book. The author is Meghan Quinn."
I turned around and asked if they were talking about hockey romance novels and she said yes. She was attending her first NHL game that night and only really knew hockey from books (and was sharing names of said books to the guy further down the row). She and I then spent the next 10min sharing book recs to each other and ultimately friended each other on GoodReads 😂 The guy goes, "Of all the things I could see at a Bruins game, I never would have thought 'making GoodReads friends' would be on the list!"
I think this was my first experience meeting and chatting with another romance reader in the wild, outside of a bookstore/book event. Do you have any fun in-the-wild encounters?
2024.05.13 11:34 allyegralyra 1970s Ichigo Shinbun
I'm looking for old bookstores where I can find 1970s editions of Sanrio's Ichigo Shinbun. (I know I could search on mercari and such, but I'd rather have fun going around specialised old bookstores). Any suggestions of places I could look for it?
In particular I'm looking for a Brazilian character named Horacio (オラーシオ), which used to feature in the magazine at that time. So if by any chance anyone has any other leads on this character, like old images or merchandise with it, I would be grateful.
submitted by allyegralyra to Osaka [link] [comments]
In particular I'm looking for a Brazilian character named Horacio (オラーシオ), which used to feature in the magazine at that time. So if by any chance anyone has any other leads on this character, like old images or merchandise with it, I would be grateful.
2024.05.13 11:33 allyegralyra 1970s Ichigo Shinbun
I'm looking for old bookstores where I can find 1970s editions of Sanrio's Ichigo Shinbun. (I know I could search on mercari and such, but I'd rather have fun going around specialised old bookstores). Any suggestions of places I could look for it?
In particular I'm looking for a Brazilian character named Horacio (オラーシオ), which used to feature in the magazine at that time. So if by any chance anyone has any other leads on this character, like old images or merchandise with it, I would be grateful.
submitted by allyegralyra to Nagoya [link] [comments]
In particular I'm looking for a Brazilian character named Horacio (オラーシオ), which used to feature in the magazine at that time. So if by any chance anyone has any other leads on this character, like old images or merchandise with it, I would be grateful.
2024.05.13 03:25 OkayDiscussion Self-Publishing with a Large Budget
I’ve been researching self-publishing for only a few months, but I feel as if I’ve only hit deadends on this one question. How does an author invest a significant amount to create the largest impact?
Whenever hiring a marketer or promoter comes up in indie publishing, everyone’s answer seems to be to do it yourself and that there are no viable outsourcing options if an author is looking to make a profit. I understand there are tools and instructions available to me.
Profit is not my primary goal.
Having written a completed trilogy over the past year, I’m looking for something that an author usually gains through traditional publishing: mainstream credibility. I’m willing to disregard profit on my first and second books in exchange for name recognition. I’ve had my books professionally edited and formatted, my cover designs are nearly complete, and all twenty-two people who’ve read the trilogy have given overwhelmingly positive reviews (That’s eight friends, ten paid beta readers, and four paid editors). I’m currently wrapping up another book to begin my second series and I've gone to dozens of free consultations at marketing firms, pr firms, and ecommerce promotors in the three nearest cities to me.
I’m self-publishing to retain the rights to my writing. I’m self-publishing to maintain control over the process. I’m self-publishing because of something a fellow writer once said to me, “Just because a publisher could spend a $100,000 marketing a book, doesn’t mean they will.”
But I’m willing. I’m looking to make a high risk investment via my work even though I’m not wealthy enough for this to be easy. I understand that I may never see the money again and that I could throw all of my financial stability into this endless money pit and never see results.
I want a million copies sold in the first year; my books translated to over twenty languages. I want my titles beside Andy Weir and E. L. James in Barnes and Nobles bookstores. I've made the price/budget projections, a fleshed out marketing plan; have a blog and website ready to go; I’ve narrowed down my SEO strategies, promotion scheduling, prelaunch checklists, etc. I've done my research. It's not that I couldn't try going in alone, but it's simply not my field of expertise. I want to give my books every chance to succeed.
I’m here to ask what would you do with the money? Who would you talk to? Hire? I know this isn’t the usual situation for a self-publisher. I know my ambitions are so high I’m more likely to burn than fly but I’m gambling on my dreams and I’m going to give it my goddamn all.
submitted by OkayDiscussion to selfpublish [link] [comments]
Whenever hiring a marketer or promoter comes up in indie publishing, everyone’s answer seems to be to do it yourself and that there are no viable outsourcing options if an author is looking to make a profit. I understand there are tools and instructions available to me.
Profit is not my primary goal.
Having written a completed trilogy over the past year, I’m looking for something that an author usually gains through traditional publishing: mainstream credibility. I’m willing to disregard profit on my first and second books in exchange for name recognition. I’ve had my books professionally edited and formatted, my cover designs are nearly complete, and all twenty-two people who’ve read the trilogy have given overwhelmingly positive reviews (That’s eight friends, ten paid beta readers, and four paid editors). I’m currently wrapping up another book to begin my second series and I've gone to dozens of free consultations at marketing firms, pr firms, and ecommerce promotors in the three nearest cities to me.
I’m self-publishing to retain the rights to my writing. I’m self-publishing to maintain control over the process. I’m self-publishing because of something a fellow writer once said to me, “Just because a publisher could spend a $100,000 marketing a book, doesn’t mean they will.”
But I’m willing. I’m looking to make a high risk investment via my work even though I’m not wealthy enough for this to be easy. I understand that I may never see the money again and that I could throw all of my financial stability into this endless money pit and never see results.
I want a million copies sold in the first year; my books translated to over twenty languages. I want my titles beside Andy Weir and E. L. James in Barnes and Nobles bookstores. I've made the price/budget projections, a fleshed out marketing plan; have a blog and website ready to go; I’ve narrowed down my SEO strategies, promotion scheduling, prelaunch checklists, etc. I've done my research. It's not that I couldn't try going in alone, but it's simply not my field of expertise. I want to give my books every chance to succeed.
I’m here to ask what would you do with the money? Who would you talk to? Hire? I know this isn’t the usual situation for a self-publisher. I know my ambitions are so high I’m more likely to burn than fly but I’m gambling on my dreams and I’m going to give it my goddamn all.
2024.05.13 03:14 jGatzB Why Call it The Arcade? (Archived from Discord)
Originally posted by jGatzB.
Why call it "The Arcade?"
Upon being rescued from nomadism by operators, newer normies occasionally balk at the name of their apparent prison. "Why Arcade? I've been wandering through an abandoned mall?" "I was trapped in a locked Toys R Us for weeks." "Ah it's not quite an Arcade. More like one of those Discovery Zone playplaces?"
While the Arcade does at first appear in different ways to different people, these spaces are both persistent and connected. The arcade is not changing shape, but it is a network of diverse biomes, sometimes blending together at the seams in imperceptible ways.
At the time of the foundation of the Board of Operations, most operatives had described the same initial experience--being trapped in an Arcade. The name stuck, in spite of earlier nomadic cadesmen describing entirely different experiences. Therefore, the Arcade may not have been an Arcade "first," as the testimonials of victims do seem to paint a consistent chronological picture. As time goes on, new biomes appear.
Gatsby loves to point out that this observation lends itself to Haunting House Theory, as if multiple dying places have coalesced in some afterlife, marbling together to create a sort of labyrinthine graveyard of dead and dying spaces--bookstores, local coffee shops, and even schools.
Older cadesmen occasionally reference "the circus" with a sort of horrified reverence, but no operator has yet reported of such a place.
submitted by jGatzB to cadelore [link] [comments]
Why call it "The Arcade?"
Upon being rescued from nomadism by operators, newer normies occasionally balk at the name of their apparent prison. "Why Arcade? I've been wandering through an abandoned mall?" "I was trapped in a locked Toys R Us for weeks." "Ah it's not quite an Arcade. More like one of those Discovery Zone playplaces?"
While the Arcade does at first appear in different ways to different people, these spaces are both persistent and connected. The arcade is not changing shape, but it is a network of diverse biomes, sometimes blending together at the seams in imperceptible ways.
At the time of the foundation of the Board of Operations, most operatives had described the same initial experience--being trapped in an Arcade. The name stuck, in spite of earlier nomadic cadesmen describing entirely different experiences. Therefore, the Arcade may not have been an Arcade "first," as the testimonials of victims do seem to paint a consistent chronological picture. As time goes on, new biomes appear.
Gatsby loves to point out that this observation lends itself to Haunting House Theory, as if multiple dying places have coalesced in some afterlife, marbling together to create a sort of labyrinthine graveyard of dead and dying spaces--bookstores, local coffee shops, and even schools.
Older cadesmen occasionally reference "the circus" with a sort of horrified reverence, but no operator has yet reported of such a place.
2024.05.13 00:43 SinesPi How common is the story of The Philosphers Stone outside of the US?
So a lot of people make fun of the American title of the first book. They always talk with a feel of "Of course kids would know that story!" But in the US, I don't think I've ever seen the Philosophers Stone used outside of something very nerdy (D&D stuff, for example). Maybe in some states it's widely known, but I can't think of a single popular entertainment that used it before (or even after) Harry Potter did.
Personally, I think the name change was a good one. Remember, this was the first book, it's sales weren't guaranteed just by the words "Harry Potter" yet. And when picking some unknown book out of the bookstore, especially one for kids, you really are going to have to judge the book by it's cover. So by putting "Sorcerer" in the title, it advertised itself a bit better as being about Wizard kids.
I'm less defensive of having two versions of the first movie, though. Heck, by calling the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone" people might have been tricked into thinking it's a new story and want to watch it even more. But it would have been sold simply by the name Harry Potter alone, so no harm in confusing people a little bit.
submitted by SinesPi to harrypotter [link] [comments]
Personally, I think the name change was a good one. Remember, this was the first book, it's sales weren't guaranteed just by the words "Harry Potter" yet. And when picking some unknown book out of the bookstore, especially one for kids, you really are going to have to judge the book by it's cover. So by putting "Sorcerer" in the title, it advertised itself a bit better as being about Wizard kids.
I'm less defensive of having two versions of the first movie, though. Heck, by calling the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone" people might have been tricked into thinking it's a new story and want to watch it even more. But it would have been sold simply by the name Harry Potter alone, so no harm in confusing people a little bit.
2024.05.13 00:37 Independent_Pen7176 I am a 29F who is at the end of her rope—A LIFE STORY. PART ONE
This is long and confusing, so I will try my best to keep things chronological and concise. I think I need to tell someone my story, because I hope it will help someone somehow. Maybe it will help me. Maybe it will help a stranger. Maybe it will die in the history of the internet and live on after I am gone. If anything, I have this saved on my computer so maybe if I am struck down with dementia someone can read this to me a la The Notebook (I think that was the plot…I don’t remember). This is assuming I make it to old age and want to remember my personal journey. I don’t know. If you get through this post and want to comment, okay. But if your comment is ‘go tell this to a therapist’, know that your concern is truly appreciated and think of this as me practicing what to say and how to say it.
This is not a “woe is me” story. I am realistic enough to look back and think I had somethings good, but I am also honest enough with myself to know I have seen some crazy shit.
NOTE: My memory of the following has a lot of holes, but I think I have most of the ages/years down, well enough. Hopefully you, the reader, can follow along well enough.
FOR REFERENCE:
I grew up poor, in a sense. We grew up in a rural “city” notorious for violence (drugs, prostitution, murders, etc.). My mom was a young, single parent and was a stripper up until I was 4yo (obviously I did not know that is what she was doing for work; I just knew she wasn’t home some nights and we would stay with my grandmother). I remember living with a constant fear that she would die. I had three siblings (an older sister, an older brother, and a younger brother—the older brother lived with his father most of the time).
Just before I turned four, my mom was arrested and I lived with my grandmother (maternal, obviously) for about four years, along with my older sister and younger brother. To this day it is still unclear why my mom was arrested, but I have 90% of the story. My mom’s older brother killed a man. (There is no disputing this; he called his mom [my grandma] and my mom and they met him after the murder.) Some people in the family said that my mom drove the victim’s car, hid it, and burned it; some people say my mom burned the getaway car my uncle drove. My mom said she refused to testify in court. (About what? I don’t know. No one in my family likes to talk about it.) Regardless, my mom was sentenced to eight years in prison (she would only serve 3 or 4 years), so I, along with my older sister and younger brother, would live with my grandma and step-grandfather (who was ~15 years younger than my grandma). My grandma would not take us to visit our mother until two years into her sentence. (My mom said that my grandma wanted her to confess to the murder because ‘a woman with children would get a lighter sentence’ and that my grandma ‘did not want to lose her only son’. I don’t know if this is true, but my grandmother wasted every last dime trying to get her son out, which would never happen.) My grandma’s house was a dilapidated trailer: there was no AC/heating, there were holes in the floor covered with plywood, and the walls in the shower were covered in duct tape. I was too little to be embarrassed by the squalor we lived in, but when I think back on it now, I understand why I never had friends over. (Our town was small, and my friends’ parents probably wouldn’t feel comfortable sending their children over, understandably.)
Despite everything, I had a happy few years there. I LOVED my grandma and grandpa, and being so young, I eventually forgot about my mom. My grandma read cheap paperbacks all the time, so I got into reading. We didn’t have money for books and at the time my county didn’t even have a bookstore, but I would save the fifty cents I got for snack money everyday and order books from the paper Scholastic magazines I got from school. (I didn’t even know to be embarrassed handing the teacher my order form and paying for $13 of books with a plastic bag of nickels and dimes.) To this day, I think reading saved my life. It gave me a world to escape into.
My grandma had a dark past. She was from a different state and one of five kids. (Two brothers died in a house fire when they were kids, one sister was hit and killed by a car as a teenager, and the other sister was sent to live in a mental institution as a teenager.) My grandma refused to talk about her family, and I had never met them. (All this information would come to light years after her death, and I would eventually meet her “crazy” sister once—I was nine and she came to my grandma’s house and showed me a dead baby bird she had in a coin wallet she kept in her purse, and I believe she is dead now.) My grandma was an alcoholic and homewrecker, by all accounts, and would disappear for months, sometimes years at a time, while her own children were growing up.. She had three children and the father of those children is debatable. My uncle (the one who killed a guy) would rape his sisters (this is confirmed), and when my grandma found out she sent him to a boy’s facility (think juvie). It has been hinted that after this my grandma would pimp out her preteen daughter at bars to older men (this is my aunt—-the middle child—who was pretty distant, understandably, in my younger years).
~~~~~~~~~~~Writing interrupted. My mom just called me to see what I was doing. I lied and said I was working on my book (isn’t this Reddit post a book, though? Where’s the lie?) in a ‘not now’ manner, and she quickly got off the phone. I refuse to tell her happy Mother’s Day. Now let’s get back to the story.
This backstory of my grandma’s was obviously unknown to me as a child. I had seen her drink twice in my years with her. I thought she was fucking Mother Theresa. She took us (her grandkids) to a Pentecostal church faithfully and had a seemingly good relationship with the ‘brothers and sisters’ of the church. I hated church as a kid and am the only one to have never been baptized. My grandma, however, was not Pentecostal. She wore pants, cussed, all that jazz, and she never enforced the religion on us. But we had to go to church, and if I spent the entire sermon reading a Junie B. Jones book, she would not correct me. She asked us if we wanted to be baptized and when I said ‘no’ it was no big deal. (To this day, I am not sure why we went to church. I think she wants a spiritual relationship with God and some type of exposure to the atmosphere for us. But sometimes we would go five times a week and I hated it.)
When I was about 7yo I started to feel ‘embarrassed’ about my home life. I wouldn’t say I was bullied, but no one wanted to play with me. I wasn’t the ‘stinky kid’ and I wasn’t the ‘weird kid’, but I was definitely the ‘smart kid’ and I still think that it alienated me. I had one friend, who I had made in Pre-K, but she even seemed to be gravitating towards the ‘popular crowd’. (Cliques start young, huh?) Luckily, when I was 8yo a new girl came to my school. She had been home-schooled and came from a Pentecostal family but had moved to town and was living with her mom and two brothers while her parents went through a nasty divorce (that would drag out for eight years.) Let’s call her ‘Ruth’. At the time, my only friend started hanging out with Ruth at recess. I was jealous that I was left alone and hate Ruth whole-heartedly. Ruth, as it turned out, was jealous of me and hated me too. Needless to say, after two months of mean-mugging each other we became the best of friends. If reading saved my life, Ruth was this reason I was alive in the first place.
INTERMISSION: ABOUT RUTH
Thinking back on it now, Ruth was the first love of my life. Her father was an extremely wealthy businessman who lived in a big city two hours away from our town (I would only meet him three times). Her mother was a teacher who was renting a house in our town and although there were financial struggles throughout the divorce, Ruth’s mom was solidly middle-class. (I remember going to her house for the first time, complete with a ‘breakfast room’, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a pool, a ‘dining room’ lined with encyclopedias, they had a COMPUTER with INTERNET, she even had a horse!—It was all so fancy for my hick brain.) Ruth could also say words like ‘slut’ and ‘ho’ and ‘freak (in place of FUCK)’, which were cuss words at my house. Her mom would just always say “Ruth MIDDLE-NAME, I rebuke that in the name of Jesus” and Ruth would laugh it off.
Needless to say, Ruth’s house was the tits and I would ride the school bus home with her every Friday afternoon and stay until her mom dropped me off after Sunday morning service. But Ruth definitely lacked a lot of things.
Ruth’s mom was weird. She was an ‘older mom’ and had a nice house that was never clean and she never cooked. Her kids lived off take-out, frozen pizzas, and TV dinners—-which was cool as hell to 8yo me. She was not there much, spending most of her time at Women’s Church Conferences or working. Her mother was a religious-nut. I say that with caution because she is a lovely and important figure in my life, but I would wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and her mother would always be convulsing on the living room floor, speaking in tongues, praying. This was typical behavior. I think her mom let me hang out with her because I, too, ‘grew up Pentecostal’....but we know that’s not really the case, huh? Obviously two 8yo girls don’t sit around and talk about God all day. Ruth believed in her faith, but she NEVER asked if I believed in it or tried to convert me. We were happy and accepting of one another.
Ruth had two older brothers, one who was ~6 years older and another that was ~3 years older. The oldest was mean, and Ruth and him fought like cats and dogs. And I am talking they would draw blood. Ruth’s oldest brother definitely gave off I-am-going-to-be-atheist-to-piss-off-my-mom and brooding-dark-may-grow-up-to-be-a-criminal-vibes. His mom constantly said he was possessed by a demon and needed to turn to God. I remember that, although I was not scared of him, he seemed uncomfortable around me from the beginning. He did not speak with me much and spent most of his time in his room playing video games. He was obsessed with guns and knives and the back of his bedroom door was obliterated from him getting angry and taking it out on the door with his knives. It was strange because his mom kept trophies from his younger years for all the statewide Bible Competitions he won. (He knew the bible better than anyone I have ever met.) It was all a big red flag, looking back. But, for the most part, when I was around he disappeared. He was in high school when I first started coming around and would move out in a couple of years. The other brother, the middle child who I will call ‘David’, was awesome. He spent most of his time building computers in his room, but would smile and say hi to me in the hall when I was over. He had a Mitch Hedberg sense of humor. He wasn’t super attractive, but he was cute and all the girls at church thought so too. (My grandma did not go to their church, but I attended Sunday morning service with Ruth thousands of times and knew their youth group pretty well.) In high school, he would have a lucrative side-hustle fixing people’s computers, iPods, and smartphones and would buy Ruth and I candy and snacks all the time. Remember, we are talking 2002-2010 era, and he had the ‘emo’ hair, skateboarded, and was a nerdy-comedian type who could build computers—he had it going on. He was my first childhood crush, but he definitely saw Ruth and I as adoring and annoying little sisters.
Ruth herself was not very interested when it came to schoolwork. She definitely was not the homeschool-child-prodigy stereotype. But she knew how to play multiple musical instruments and was an insanely talented artist. Over the course of our friendship I developed a love for art and music—she made me into a creative person when I had always been a very analytical person. (Today, I am a fairly skilled artist and I play guitar.) But I had an effect on her too. I was a very clean person and cleaning had always been a coping mechanism for me. (My grandma always said ‘Being poor is no excuse for being dirty’.) In the early days I would go to Ruth’s messy house and I would convince her we should clean her room ‘for fun’. I didn’t like messy places, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I would explain to her that cleaning was something I liked. I got her hooked on cleaning, because we would end up detailing the disgusting kitchen ‘for fun’ every weekend and she started keeping her room in meticulous order, although the rest of her family lived like slobs. (And yes, dear reader, cleaning and joking around with her are some of my favorite memories. I remember detailing the inside of the kitchen fridge with her in vivid memory.) I also got her hooked on reading and interested in schoolwork. Needless to say, she gave me the confidence to be more creative and I taught her how to put a little bit more structure in her artsy-chaotic world. I was feeling true happiness.
~~~~~Writing NOTE: There are some events/details in here which bleed into the next section but seemed best placed here. The next section will pick up when I am 8/9yo and my mom is released from prison.
submitted by Independent_Pen7176 to lifestory [link] [comments]
This is not a “woe is me” story. I am realistic enough to look back and think I had somethings good, but I am also honest enough with myself to know I have seen some crazy shit.
NOTE: My memory of the following has a lot of holes, but I think I have most of the ages/years down, well enough. Hopefully you, the reader, can follow along well enough.
FOR REFERENCE:
- My mom’s children from oldest to youngest: sister #1, brother #1, ME, brother #2 (eight years later would come sister #2 and brother #3)
- My grandma’s children from oldest to youngest: uncle, aunt, MY MOM
- Ruth: my best friend, the youngest of 3 kids (had two older brothers)
I grew up poor, in a sense. We grew up in a rural “city” notorious for violence (drugs, prostitution, murders, etc.). My mom was a young, single parent and was a stripper up until I was 4yo (obviously I did not know that is what she was doing for work; I just knew she wasn’t home some nights and we would stay with my grandmother). I remember living with a constant fear that she would die. I had three siblings (an older sister, an older brother, and a younger brother—the older brother lived with his father most of the time).
Just before I turned four, my mom was arrested and I lived with my grandmother (maternal, obviously) for about four years, along with my older sister and younger brother. To this day it is still unclear why my mom was arrested, but I have 90% of the story. My mom’s older brother killed a man. (There is no disputing this; he called his mom [my grandma] and my mom and they met him after the murder.) Some people in the family said that my mom drove the victim’s car, hid it, and burned it; some people say my mom burned the getaway car my uncle drove. My mom said she refused to testify in court. (About what? I don’t know. No one in my family likes to talk about it.) Regardless, my mom was sentenced to eight years in prison (she would only serve 3 or 4 years), so I, along with my older sister and younger brother, would live with my grandma and step-grandfather (who was ~15 years younger than my grandma). My grandma would not take us to visit our mother until two years into her sentence. (My mom said that my grandma wanted her to confess to the murder because ‘a woman with children would get a lighter sentence’ and that my grandma ‘did not want to lose her only son’. I don’t know if this is true, but my grandmother wasted every last dime trying to get her son out, which would never happen.) My grandma’s house was a dilapidated trailer: there was no AC/heating, there were holes in the floor covered with plywood, and the walls in the shower were covered in duct tape. I was too little to be embarrassed by the squalor we lived in, but when I think back on it now, I understand why I never had friends over. (Our town was small, and my friends’ parents probably wouldn’t feel comfortable sending their children over, understandably.)
Despite everything, I had a happy few years there. I LOVED my grandma and grandpa, and being so young, I eventually forgot about my mom. My grandma read cheap paperbacks all the time, so I got into reading. We didn’t have money for books and at the time my county didn’t even have a bookstore, but I would save the fifty cents I got for snack money everyday and order books from the paper Scholastic magazines I got from school. (I didn’t even know to be embarrassed handing the teacher my order form and paying for $13 of books with a plastic bag of nickels and dimes.) To this day, I think reading saved my life. It gave me a world to escape into.
My grandma had a dark past. She was from a different state and one of five kids. (Two brothers died in a house fire when they were kids, one sister was hit and killed by a car as a teenager, and the other sister was sent to live in a mental institution as a teenager.) My grandma refused to talk about her family, and I had never met them. (All this information would come to light years after her death, and I would eventually meet her “crazy” sister once—I was nine and she came to my grandma’s house and showed me a dead baby bird she had in a coin wallet she kept in her purse, and I believe she is dead now.) My grandma was an alcoholic and homewrecker, by all accounts, and would disappear for months, sometimes years at a time, while her own children were growing up.. She had three children and the father of those children is debatable. My uncle (the one who killed a guy) would rape his sisters (this is confirmed), and when my grandma found out she sent him to a boy’s facility (think juvie). It has been hinted that after this my grandma would pimp out her preteen daughter at bars to older men (this is my aunt—-the middle child—who was pretty distant, understandably, in my younger years).
~~~~~~~~~~~Writing interrupted. My mom just called me to see what I was doing. I lied and said I was working on my book (isn’t this Reddit post a book, though? Where’s the lie?) in a ‘not now’ manner, and she quickly got off the phone. I refuse to tell her happy Mother’s Day. Now let’s get back to the story.
This backstory of my grandma’s was obviously unknown to me as a child. I had seen her drink twice in my years with her. I thought she was fucking Mother Theresa. She took us (her grandkids) to a Pentecostal church faithfully and had a seemingly good relationship with the ‘brothers and sisters’ of the church. I hated church as a kid and am the only one to have never been baptized. My grandma, however, was not Pentecostal. She wore pants, cussed, all that jazz, and she never enforced the religion on us. But we had to go to church, and if I spent the entire sermon reading a Junie B. Jones book, she would not correct me. She asked us if we wanted to be baptized and when I said ‘no’ it was no big deal. (To this day, I am not sure why we went to church. I think she wants a spiritual relationship with God and some type of exposure to the atmosphere for us. But sometimes we would go five times a week and I hated it.)
When I was about 7yo I started to feel ‘embarrassed’ about my home life. I wouldn’t say I was bullied, but no one wanted to play with me. I wasn’t the ‘stinky kid’ and I wasn’t the ‘weird kid’, but I was definitely the ‘smart kid’ and I still think that it alienated me. I had one friend, who I had made in Pre-K, but she even seemed to be gravitating towards the ‘popular crowd’. (Cliques start young, huh?) Luckily, when I was 8yo a new girl came to my school. She had been home-schooled and came from a Pentecostal family but had moved to town and was living with her mom and two brothers while her parents went through a nasty divorce (that would drag out for eight years.) Let’s call her ‘Ruth’. At the time, my only friend started hanging out with Ruth at recess. I was jealous that I was left alone and hate Ruth whole-heartedly. Ruth, as it turned out, was jealous of me and hated me too. Needless to say, after two months of mean-mugging each other we became the best of friends. If reading saved my life, Ruth was this reason I was alive in the first place.
INTERMISSION: ABOUT RUTH
Thinking back on it now, Ruth was the first love of my life. Her father was an extremely wealthy businessman who lived in a big city two hours away from our town (I would only meet him three times). Her mother was a teacher who was renting a house in our town and although there were financial struggles throughout the divorce, Ruth’s mom was solidly middle-class. (I remember going to her house for the first time, complete with a ‘breakfast room’, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a pool, a ‘dining room’ lined with encyclopedias, they had a COMPUTER with INTERNET, she even had a horse!—It was all so fancy for my hick brain.) Ruth could also say words like ‘slut’ and ‘ho’ and ‘freak (in place of FUCK)’, which were cuss words at my house. Her mom would just always say “Ruth MIDDLE-NAME, I rebuke that in the name of Jesus” and Ruth would laugh it off.
Needless to say, Ruth’s house was the tits and I would ride the school bus home with her every Friday afternoon and stay until her mom dropped me off after Sunday morning service. But Ruth definitely lacked a lot of things.
Ruth’s mom was weird. She was an ‘older mom’ and had a nice house that was never clean and she never cooked. Her kids lived off take-out, frozen pizzas, and TV dinners—-which was cool as hell to 8yo me. She was not there much, spending most of her time at Women’s Church Conferences or working. Her mother was a religious-nut. I say that with caution because she is a lovely and important figure in my life, but I would wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and her mother would always be convulsing on the living room floor, speaking in tongues, praying. This was typical behavior. I think her mom let me hang out with her because I, too, ‘grew up Pentecostal’....but we know that’s not really the case, huh? Obviously two 8yo girls don’t sit around and talk about God all day. Ruth believed in her faith, but she NEVER asked if I believed in it or tried to convert me. We were happy and accepting of one another.
Ruth had two older brothers, one who was ~6 years older and another that was ~3 years older. The oldest was mean, and Ruth and him fought like cats and dogs. And I am talking they would draw blood. Ruth’s oldest brother definitely gave off I-am-going-to-be-atheist-to-piss-off-my-mom and brooding-dark-may-grow-up-to-be-a-criminal-vibes. His mom constantly said he was possessed by a demon and needed to turn to God. I remember that, although I was not scared of him, he seemed uncomfortable around me from the beginning. He did not speak with me much and spent most of his time in his room playing video games. He was obsessed with guns and knives and the back of his bedroom door was obliterated from him getting angry and taking it out on the door with his knives. It was strange because his mom kept trophies from his younger years for all the statewide Bible Competitions he won. (He knew the bible better than anyone I have ever met.) It was all a big red flag, looking back. But, for the most part, when I was around he disappeared. He was in high school when I first started coming around and would move out in a couple of years. The other brother, the middle child who I will call ‘David’, was awesome. He spent most of his time building computers in his room, but would smile and say hi to me in the hall when I was over. He had a Mitch Hedberg sense of humor. He wasn’t super attractive, but he was cute and all the girls at church thought so too. (My grandma did not go to their church, but I attended Sunday morning service with Ruth thousands of times and knew their youth group pretty well.) In high school, he would have a lucrative side-hustle fixing people’s computers, iPods, and smartphones and would buy Ruth and I candy and snacks all the time. Remember, we are talking 2002-2010 era, and he had the ‘emo’ hair, skateboarded, and was a nerdy-comedian type who could build computers—he had it going on. He was my first childhood crush, but he definitely saw Ruth and I as adoring and annoying little sisters.
Ruth herself was not very interested when it came to schoolwork. She definitely was not the homeschool-child-prodigy stereotype. But she knew how to play multiple musical instruments and was an insanely talented artist. Over the course of our friendship I developed a love for art and music—she made me into a creative person when I had always been a very analytical person. (Today, I am a fairly skilled artist and I play guitar.) But I had an effect on her too. I was a very clean person and cleaning had always been a coping mechanism for me. (My grandma always said ‘Being poor is no excuse for being dirty’.) In the early days I would go to Ruth’s messy house and I would convince her we should clean her room ‘for fun’. I didn’t like messy places, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I would explain to her that cleaning was something I liked. I got her hooked on cleaning, because we would end up detailing the disgusting kitchen ‘for fun’ every weekend and she started keeping her room in meticulous order, although the rest of her family lived like slobs. (And yes, dear reader, cleaning and joking around with her are some of my favorite memories. I remember detailing the inside of the kitchen fridge with her in vivid memory.) I also got her hooked on reading and interested in schoolwork. Needless to say, she gave me the confidence to be more creative and I taught her how to put a little bit more structure in her artsy-chaotic world. I was feeling true happiness.
~~~~~Writing NOTE: There are some events/details in here which bleed into the next section but seemed best placed here. The next section will pick up when I am 8/9yo and my mom is released from prison.
2024.05.12 15:01 ibid-11962 Murtagh and Murtagh: The book and the character [Post Murtagh Christopher Paolini Q&A Wrap Up #4]
As discussed in the first post, this is my ongoing compilation of the remaining questions Christopher has answered online between August 1st 2023 and April 30th 2024 which I've not already covered in other compilations.
As always, questions are sorted by topic, and each Q&A is annotated with a bracketed source number. Links to every source used and to the other parts of this compilation will be provided in a comment below.
The previous post focused on In-Universe Lore. We will now switch to out-of-universe questions, starting with Murtagh. This installment will cover the essence of Murtagh, both the book and the character. The next post will cover additional Murtagh-related questions.
submitted by ibid-11962 to Eragon [link] [comments]
As always, questions are sorted by topic, and each Q&A is annotated with a bracketed source number. Links to every source used and to the other parts of this compilation will be provided in a comment below.
The previous post focused on In-Universe Lore. We will now switch to out-of-universe questions, starting with Murtagh. This installment will cover the essence of Murtagh, both the book and the character. The next post will cover additional Murtagh-related questions.
Murtagh the Book
Idea for the bookWhat was your biggest inspiration to return to this universe and write Murtagh? Was it always in the works? Yeah, so, boy, it's a little convoluted. Ultimately, you can blame the existence of Murtagh on a couple of things. So, starting in 2017 or so, I was feeling a little frustrated in my life for various reasons. And so I decided that I was going to say yes to every appearance opportunity that came my way, just as a way of getting myself out of the house, living life, traveling, seeing stuff, meeting people, etc. So I said yes to going to a bunch of conventions and then sort of out of nowhere, Barnes and Noble asked if I would be their Author in Residence for 2019. They asked in 2018. And so I said yes. And what that meant was I was going to be traveling to a different B&N bookstore every month for the entire year of 2019. Now shortly after I said yes, my mom actually came to me and she said, "Christopher, you're going to be doing that, that's going to be a lot of work. Sure would be nice if you had something new published for 2019." And at this time, I was deep into revisions on To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, which was a massive, massive book. But I thought that hey, that's a great idea. So I took like a month or two and I wrote and revised what became The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm: Tales from Alagaësia, short stories set in the World of Eragon. The first story in there, The Fork story, was based off a tweet that a fan sent me. And again, I think it was 2016 or 2017. And they said, "Hey, Christopher, can you tell us anything about what Murtagh and Thorn are doing after the end of the Inheritance Cycle?" And it was way too late for me past my bedtime. And I said something like, "Murtagh just enchanted a fork to be more deadly than any sword and won a fight with it, and Thorn isn't very happy with him." And I couldn't stop thinking about that, so that became the basis for the Fork story. And then once I wrote it, I couldn't stop thinking about sort of where that story would lead for Murtagh and the world of Alagaësia. I finished To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I finished revising Fractal Noise. I actually delivered Fractal Noise to Tor all the way back end of 2021, or fairly in 2021. And then I was like, "Okay, it's time for dragons." And I was looking at writing the long awaited Book Five. Though the more I looked at it, because there's a time jump between Inheritance and Book Five, I realized that I was having to do too much explaining of all the things that had happened leading up to Book Five. It was just gonna be deadly dull. So then I went back to those thoughts I'd had of Murtagh and the Fork story and I was like, "well, wait a minute, what if I wrote a book about Murtagh? I've always wanted to. This might be a good reason and good time and a good opportunity." And so I took it. And that's ultimately how Murtagh came about. Books come about through many different ways. Also, on a very practical side of things, last year was the 20th anniversary of the release of Eragon. And so that was also an extra motivation. I was going to write Murtagh anyway, but it was like, okay, not just going to write it. Let's make sure that it's done in time so it could come out on the 20th anniversary, which of course it did. [34]Coming back
I was looking at Book Five and I was doing the groundwork for it. Then I realized because it's further down the timeline than Murtagh that I was having to do a huge amount of explaining and setting the groundwork for people to understand how we got to the point of where we were in that book. Then I thought well maybe it'd be a good idea to take a step back and tell one of these earlier stories so people understand what's going on. [28]
I was starting to do some plotting for the next book in the World of Eragon, and I realized that there was too much setup needed. There was too much explaining, too much exposition. So I thought, well, what if what if I took a step back and actually told the story that I'm trying to summarize. And I'd already dipped my toes in, and was already thinking along those lines of, "What are the implications of that short story? Does it lead to something larger?" And of course it does. [1]
How long did it take to write Murtagh? Three and a half months. And then another six months of editing. That's mainly because it takes a few weeks every time my editor looks at it, and then it comes back to me, and then it takes another few weeks. It takes time. But the reason I was able to write it so quickly was because I had a very clear outline, which I learned to create over time. If I don't have an outline, writing doesn't go so well. And if I do have it, it's easy and fast. I wrote that outline quickly, which took no more than two weeks. That's because I already had the beginning in my head – because that was the story of The Fork . And I already knew what the ending would be. So if you have that then you have 80%. And then you still have about 20% left to figure out the middle, and that was the hardest part. I refuse to write a book where I don't know the ending. [23]
How much of it was brand new ideas that came to you now, and how much did you pull from old notes, unused ideas, and pulling it all together? Well, it evolved. I've always had ideas for more full-size books set in the world of Eragon, and a book about Murtagh was one of those. I had a couple of general ideas that I wanted to play with, such as Murtagh and Thorn grappling with their past, grappling with other threats and developments in the world. But the specifics of that only really came about starting in, I want to say, 2018, and even a little bit earlier when I originally got the idea of the short story, The Fork in The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, which was from Murtagh’s point of view– Well, it was about Murtagh, not his point of view. But that served as the inciting incident and the key for the actual events of this book, and then everything in it drew from old notes, and then, also, I had new stuff as well. [6]
You'll see a lot in Murtagh that I'm drawing from what I've already established and then building off the feel of it. [12]
You talked about how act three was something that came to you early on in the process, and you wanted to reach that point. How do you work with your writing process? Do you start with that scene that comes to you first and then work backward? How do you play around with that? Every book is different, but I refuse to write a book unless I have the beginning and the end clearly in mind. And in this case, I already had the beginning because it was retelling the short story, “The Fork,” from Murtagh’s point of view now. That was the inciting incident in some ways. Technically, the inciting incident actually occurred at the end of Inheritance, but for this book, this is the beginning. Then, I knew where I wanted to end, like, last scene, last chapter. I had that right from the very beginning because I knew that would be emotional and affecting and all of that. Then, it was a question of what type of story I was trying to tell and how that would relate to Murtagh’s personal issues. So, my original conception was like an Edgar Rice Burroughs-style adventure into the unknown, and then the more I did on it, I was like, “Well, there's more to it than just simple adventure. A lot more. So, how do I serve that?” So, I work up a pretty detailed outline before I write the first draft, write the first draft, and then I sit back and say, “Okay, how well did I do in accomplishing what I was trying to accomplish and what do I need to change or focus on?” [6]
Why did you choose to write a story about Murtagh? Do you ask your readers which characters resonate with them, or do you make your own plans? I certainly like to know who is popular with my readers. This is how I know that Murtagh has been a real favorite for years. But that doesn't affect what I write. The fact that Murtagh is a favorite did not lead to the book of the same name. That was mainly because Murtagh's journey wasn't complete after Inheritance. [23]
We see the growth of Murtagh and Thorn's relationship in this book. How did you prepare yourself to explore the relationship between them? Before I start a book, I essentially do what I consider my homework. I take a notebook and I start writing by hand and I have a conversation with myself about who the characters are and what their stories are and what their journey is going to be. And I did that with Murtagh and Thorn specifically because it was very important to me that their relationship felt different than Eragon and Saphira's relationship. And I didn't get it perfectly the first draft. I'd say I got about 80% there. And then worked on it some more once I had a better understanding of what their dynamic was, and then I could go back to the beginning and it's like, okay, this is how they interact. Let's really focus on that. And that was just the core. It is Murtagh's story in a lot of ways, but it's also Thorn's. And that just was very, very important. But thinking about their different experiences, of course, was the key to figuring out how they were interacting. [32]
I’m not sure that if asked, I would have ever guessed your next Inheritance Cycle book would be about Murtagh. What inspired you to dig into this particular character as an author? In many ways, the Inheritance Cycle is the story of three (somewhat) brothers. Eragon, his cousin Roran, and Eragon’s half-brother, Murtagh. They’re each equally important to the story. However, since the series is primarily from Eragon’s point-of-view, readers never really got to experience Murtagh’s journey, which I think is a shame. [15]
Murtagh is one of the main characters of the Inheritance Cycle. There's Eragon, there's Arya, there's Roran, there's Nasuada, and there's Murtagh. But we really don't see a whole lot of Murtagh after the first book. He's taken away, he's imprisoned and we only see him appearing essentially as a villain. And I felt that there was a real missed opportunity there, or there was an opportunity to rectify that and show what actually was going on during that time. [34]
It's been so many years. What keeps you in the world of Eragon? I grew up with it. Yeah, but I grew up in Steinhagen. I'm okay with visiting every 10 years. Well, to be fair, it's been 12 years since the last big one came out. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah, that's a good point. But the main thing is I have stories that I want to tell and I'm passionate about those stories. And that's what drew me back to the world. I decided I had a story that I cared about and was passionate about and I wanted to devote the time and energy to make sure that readers got to experience it as well. [2]Evolving Scope and Writing Style
Even though it's been many years since it ended, what was it like for you getting back into that headspace and going back to that world? The world itself was very familiar. I had no difficulty diving right back into it. The biggest difference is that this isn't from Eragon’s point of view, so writing from Murtagh’s point of view introduces some differences to the experience. Which was nice for me and I think it will hopefully be nice for readers, as well. But it's an interesting mixture of intense nostalgia, intense familiarity, and yet a sense of newness, as well. Like if you've ever returned home after a long trip, college or wherever, and everything is super familiar, but maybe seems just a little different. [6]
Do you feel ownership of these characters still? The Inheritance Cycle has been with people for so many years. Do you think they belong to the people now? No they're mine because I can do what I want with them. But they have their own existence in the minds of the readers. I have a personal relationship with the books I read and the characters in those books. I'll just pick a book at random, Dune for example. My emotions and interactions with that book are probably very different than someone else's and different from Frank Herbert's when he wrote it. I know people have very deep emotional connections and experiences with Eragon and Saphira and the other characters, and that's out of my control. It is a wonderful thing at the end of the day that someone loves something that you've created so much. Absolutely. That's the goal, that's the dream, that's what you hope as a creator. But it makes me feel a sense of responsibility writing a new story. I definitely felt this with Murtagh, of wanting to do justice to those feelings that people have toward those characters. [28]
Did you always plan to tell more stories within the world of Eragon? Of course. In fact, I deliberately left a couple of dangling threads in Brisingr and Inheritance specifically to form the basis for future books. I love this world, and I hope to write many more stories in it over the years. Murtagh is the first of these. [8]
Did you always know you were gonna go back? Yes, and in fact, I started laying the groundwork in my third book for future stories, specifically so that later on, it didn't feel like I was pulling stuff out of a hat to extend work in the world. [33]
One of the fun things has been watching your writing go from Eragon: Very clean and it's a quick book about these characters end up on this journey and there's a fight at the end, and there's a really cool dragon. It's very clear what you're trying to do. And I think it was incredibly successful, or we wouldn't be here today. And then by Brisingr, it's a mess, and everybody's everywhere, and the world is this huge, complicated, lovable place with all these people that you adore. But watching the way you've grown from that, and then to take the steps into this very mature handling of Alagaësia in this book, it feels like I've read a career of writing enhancement. And it's been really exceptional. I actually wish I could read the books without being so familiar with them, for that very reason. I kind of want to see how they change over time. And it's interesting you mentioned Brisingr versus this one and even Inheritance, which is I kind of wanted to dial it back with this one. It's much more of a character study. It's much more focused on Murtagh and Thorn. We spend a lot of time alone with them, actually, over the course of the book. And there isn't any one character that's with them through the whole story. Which I think is reflective of Eragon, again, in his first book. And it's still a large book. It's still a 700-page book. And yet, for all of that, it is much more focused. I actually think, now some readers may disagree with me on this, but personally I think a lot more happens in this book than Eragon, and it's not actually that much longer in terms of word count, but it still feels to me like a lot more happens in this book than Eragon. [11]
[Terry Brooks:] I started out writing big books like you, I was writing 700-800 page books in the beginning. But I quickly shifted over when I realized that I could write the same book at half the size, and it would sell for the same amount. That's one thing I couldn't do with Murtagh, because I really needed to match the style of the series. [1]
How has your writing style evolved? I'm a much better writer than I was when I started and I also have more of an understanding of the difficulties of life, which was helpful when writing a character like Murtagh who has encountered a lot of difficulties. Also, I'm much more methodical in how I approach a book. I do a lot of planning and that allows me to write the book quickly and efficiently. [20]
I did not always succeed with the Inheritance Cycle because I learned as I went along, but there's a lot of words that I did not and would not use in the books because they were out of place. In fact, it's funny, I have a friend of mine who's Italian. A fellow author, and she read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in English, which was the first book of mine she'd read in English. She's also been reading Murtagh in English, and she's having more difficulty with Murtagh than with To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I was curious because there's a lot of technical terminology in To Sleep in the Sea of Stars and so I asked her about this, and we kind of burrowed down and figured out what the issue was, which is that technical words in English a lot of times tend to be of Latin origin, Latin or Greek. For an Italian reader and speaker, that's easy to understand. Whereas in Murtagh, the vocabulary is much more Germanic and Anglo-Saxon, and as a result, much more difficult for a native speaker of a Romance language. [28]
I really love the spruced up language throughout the book; Murtagh was brought up and educated in the capital, I think the book from his perspective having an excellent use of vocabulary is only fitting. That was the idea. Glad you liked it. [T]
A third of the way through Murtagh and I can’t stand th’ word short’n’ng in dialogue. Don't read Dolores Claiborne, then, lol. [R]
Murtagh the Character
Murtagh's ChildhoodThis series deals a lot with fathers and absent fathers and difficult fathers. And since you wrote the series, you've become a father yourself. And so looking back on that series, how has your fatherhood that you have now obtained changed the way that you look back on the way that you created the father figures of Alagaësia? That's a really interesting question. It didn't really change too much, but it did change one thing in particular. In Murtagh, without getting too spoilery, there's a moment that Murtagh is having a flashback recollection of his own father and his mother. I think you know the scene I'm talking about. And writing that I was really sort of drawing off of what I have seen with my children and how they behave and play and how they sort of view and interact with the adults around them. That helped me. But as far as like Murtagh's feelings toward his father or Eragon's feelings toward his father, those were already established. Those characters are already established. So I wouldn't say that being a father has necessarily changed at a huge amount. Because fortunately, I have a good relationship with my father. And so far, my kids have a good relationship with me, except when they're trying to stay up too late. So it's not reflecting what I have in my life. I'm just trying to follow the logic of who those characters are and what their relationships are. [11]Daddy Energy
This time you also deep dive into Murtagh's relationship with his biological father Morzan, and his true father and mentor Tornac. Being a father yourself now has changed the way you feel about their stories? Strangely enough, no. The only thing that changed is there is a scene I don't want to spoil but I'm sure you will remember. Those who've read the book will know. It's a flashback scene. To a moment when Murtagh was very young himself. And there were some things I've seen in my children and the way they behave that sort of guided how I wrote that scene and how I imagined young Murtagh would have perceived what was happening. But in general, no, the father-son relationship, if anything probably draws more from my experience with my father and myself versus myself with my children. So would you say that Tornac has a little bit of your father? Ehhh... I don't know about that. But I did like writing that relationship. Yeah, Tornac and Murtagh's relationship is very beautiful. And sad as well! Well that is the theme of Murtagh's life. [17]
I think also there's probably something to be said for the fact that you are older now, you're a father now, so how you experience Murtagh as a character is maybe different for you as well. Is that a fair characterization? I think so. I don't think I could have written this book 10 years ago. Not the way I did. [34]
One of the relationships that I feel like you didn't explore as much in the Eragon series but did become a little bit more important here in Murtagh is mothers. What was the process of exploring Selena and getting to bring a scene with her into the series for the first time? It was a lot of fun. It was great having Selena appear. Obviously it's a hazy memory on Murtagh's point point of view, but she sort of looms large over the story as a whole in the book. And rightly so, because he perhaps unfairly blames her for some of his circumstances, and he has to come to terms with that. And there's another character in the book who perhaps is forcing herself into a mothering position during the story and Murtagh has grapple with that as well. [11]
There are so many experiences that Eragon got through because either he was the first rider, and so people were treating him with a kindness that they wouldn't show a normal person, or we got that Eragon will persevere through anything and he just kind of shows up and gets it done. Murtagh experiences so many of the same situations and his approach is to replace like Eragon's perseverance with a kindness that was so unexpected from a character with his history. And so this book shows Murtagh's got like a really kind heart deep at the center of him. And he goes through some really awful stuff. But he keeps that kind heart. And I guess, how did you approach writing the soft interior of this man that you've really put through so much at the end of the day? But maintaining that really kind core that allows him to accomplish what he accomplished? That, again, was something that was a bit iterative. I wrote the book really thinking that the theme was him and Thorn grappling with their status in society? Are they going to remain outcasts, exiles? Are they going to reintegrate? What is their role in the world, and how do they feel about it? And after my editor read it, she said, "Yes, that's there. By the way, did you notice how he acts around children?" I said, "Well, yes?" She said, "Take another look at that." And it tied into so many important things for Murtagh that that really added a whole other layer. There's a certain innocence/naivete to Eragon that can sometimes lead him to be very successful at what he does, but also be a little bit, I don't want to say cruel, he's willing to kill and do things just like Murtagh is, but he's also innocent to a certain degree, at least to start with. And it leads to a different approach and a different outcome. Whereas Murtagh has had such dark experiences in his life, he approaches it very differently. [11]Asking for Help
Was the theme of inheritance in Murtagh intentional? Like with the relationships with the children and imparting either like a gift of a fork or wisdom on to or even a sense of caring on to a younger generation, was that intentional to bring over from the Inheritance Cycle or was that found kind of naturally? It was just what this particular story needed. Murtagh has already grown up. He's not an adolescent. He is a grown man. But this particular transformation that he needs to go through is not complete. And all the stuff with the children and the young people in the story. It's a nice tie-in, that theme of inheritance. But I wasn't aiming for that. [11]
I loved that each and every single one of those little side quests included younger people in a way that made Murtagh so protective of them. He has daddy energy. And the funny thing is, that's not because I'm now a dad. I do want to put that out there. In fact, the funny thing is I didn't intentionally make that a theme in the book. And I very much was focusing on the relationship that he and Thorn have with sort of a larger society. Do they belong, do they not belong? Do they rejoin society, do they not rejoin society? And after I sent the first draft to my editor, she came back to me and she said, "By the way, do you realize?" she pointed out the daddy energy, essentially. She didn't quite use those words, but it was the same thing. And she said, "you have this trend going through, think about it, think about how it relates to his character." And she was absolutely right. Just a few touches extra, really brought a lot to who he is. But I wouldn't say that was because I was a father. It was definitely an outgrowth of who Murtagh is as a character. [32]
[Murtagh's approach to life] actually gets him into deep trouble in this book, because he refuses to accept help when he should have looked for help and stays in a place he shouldn't stay in when he knows he shouldn't stay and thus ends up in deep trouble. [There's a] moment fairly late in the book when he finally thinks that he should have reached out to Eragon, and he knows Eragon would have helped him. And he hates it. He does, but even then, he would accept it. Like, he's in the most dire depths of despair. And at that point, he starts rebuilding and accepting help. Uvek, Alín, he starts actually accepting help. And that's why, by the very end of the book, he actually is willing to participate in society, so to speak, and Thorn as well. [11]Murtagh's Choices and Fate
Why does everyone kick Murtagh's ass throughout the book? Okay, I've seen a couple of people say that online, I'm actually going to take issue with that: he wins all of his fights. Except for when he is sort of tricked at one part of the book. But if you look at it, he really does win all of his fights. But with help Well, with some help here and there. Part of it too is he no longer has the help of Eldunarí that Galbatorix gave him. And so I think even though he knows that, subconsciously he goes into some of these fights thinking that he still has that power behind him and he has to kind of discover that "Oh, crap, I'm still stronger than a normal person and I do have a dragon with me, but I'm not invincible." And it takes him a little while to sort of get that beaten into his head. And I have to say at the beginning he's like too proud to ask for help. But then he evolves. Not just proud, I think resentful also. And that is kind of a large part of what the story is about. Will he and Thorn bend the knee enough of their ego to rejoin society and will society even accept them? [17]
Murtagh’s line of choice is “By my will, I make my way.” and I can see that reflected in your own journey from an outsider’s point of view. Is that something you would relate to? Yeah, I think that’s fair to say that’s a statement I relate to. But Murtagh is also a much more solitary person than I am. He doesn’t have the support structure that I do and so I’ve been very aware throughout my whole life, my whole career, how fortunate I am to have the support that I have had from my friends and family. My editor, my agent, my parents. I wouldn’t be where I am now. Aside from that, yes, I made certain decisions that started the ball rolling. But the fact that I was able to make those decisions and have the support to make those decisions is due to the environment, I would say. [28]Anti-Hero
What is your vision of fate? I go back and forth on that. I think as many of my characters do that it's important to believe that we have some agency in the world. Even if things are predestined, if you feel as if things are predestined, you'll give up. Whether that's predestined or not, I don't know. But I like to believe that I have a sense of control over my life and even if there is a destiny that can't be escaped, we at least have a choice of how to face it. But I don't think that our lives are written in stone or that things can't be improved or changed. If that were the case, humanity would never have bettered its lot over the centuries. And I think that there's a unfortunate thread in modern thinking that kind of says that the situation you're born in and the life circumstances you find yourself is completely out of your control and as a result you cannot rise above that and you should blame those who are supposedly to blame for that situation. And whether or not that's true, I just think it's a very unhelpful way to think about life, because then you feel helpless. You feel like someone else is responsible for your situation and therefore, they're the ones with the power in life. And I always feel that we are the ones in charge of our own thoughts and feelings. The only thing you can control is yourself, ideally at least. And we are the agents of change in our own lives, even in the smallest ways. So that sort of learned helplessness is just a deadly, deadly way of thinking. And it leads people to becoming very angry I think. And that's not good for them or society. Murtagh, of course chose to disregard Umaroth's advice and go where the land is brittle. But even if he puts himself, or even if you put him through so much, he still chose and decides what's the outcome of his ventures. That is the consequence of freedom. You have to let people make stupid decisions. Democracy, freedom, whatever, you have to trust that it's better in the long run for people to have the chance to make stupid decisions. That just because you know better, you shouldn't be the ones telling them ultimately what they can or can't do, as long as it's not harming other people. What do you think will be the most important of lessons Murtagh learned during his sojourn in Nal Gorgoth? I would rather not say. I think that that would be me preaching to the readers. I'll let readers decide what they think the most valuable lesson is from that experience. [19]
Each time Murtagh is confronted with reminders and challenges, his responses to them feel very true to his character. How did you stay true to the decisions that Murtagh would make when confronted with these things? And in what ways, if any, did that inform the arc you wanted him to follow throughout the book? Well, I appreciate that you felt that those choices were true to who Murtagh is. I think when writing a character, at least for me, I create a mental framework for who the person is and how they would react. And then the story, especially if they're the main character, is tailored around that. I tailored the encounters and the choices and what happened specifically to who Murtagh and Thorn are and what their issues are. And that is the story. At least the way I built the story. There is no other story. If I weren't addressing their issues, this story wouldn't even happen. [34]
Could tell us a little bit of what it was like to write Murtagh's point of view, and how that was different from your approach to writing Eragon, especially having stepped outside of the world for so long. He's a lot less open and much more damaged, of course, and a lot angrier and a lot more resentful. And his relationship with Thorn is a lot rockier, a lot pricklier, one might say. But being older myself and having gone through some ups and downs in life, as we all do, writing Murtagh was more interesting as a result. But Murtagh also has a hard time in the book, necessarily so, I would argue, since I wrote it. But that took quite a bit of emotional energy as well, writing that. So really enjoyed it. I would love to write Murtagh again, especially since I think that he is in a much better place by the end of the book, even though he still has a lot to work through, he's taken the first big step in a lot of ways. And that's what this book was about, was him and Thorn taking that step, or deciding to take the step. Or being forced into taking the step really at certain points. Yeah, but it is his choice ultimately, and as it always is. [32]
People have strong opinions on Murtagh across the Internets. We want to know whether or not you would describe Murtagh as an anti-hero or an antagonist Well, he's heading in that direction. I think he was definitely an anti-hero for most of the inheritance cycle, and he's now tipped over into, troubled, but a genuine protagonist by the end of Murtagh. [32]Murtagh and Eragon as Mirrors
Yes, you can call him an anti-hero. Murtagh is an outcast with a complex life history. He has been both friend and enemy to Eragon through circumstances largely beyond his control. And for the first time in this book we see the world through his eyes. [18]
Murtagh's character evolves from antagonist to a kind of complex anti-hero in the new book. What were your motivations behind this evolution? He's not a villain, in the sense that he didn't choose evil for the most part, although he's made some questionable choices at times. So that was interesting to evolve. And I didn't want to push him further down the road of villainy, so to speak, because that just feels obvious and lazy to me. So I wanted to give him and Thorn a chance to find a path to redemption. There's also something to be said about the person who has to do everything because they're being brainwashed. That's the other thing. A lot of it he was forced to do. He still did it, and he had some choices along the way, but for the most part he was coerced, and that has to be taken to taken into account. [34]
One of my favorite things about the book is that Murtagh, kind of like how Angela and Bachel are almost like evil twins, Murtagh goes through some of the same beats that Eragon gets in his book. I'm so glad you noticed, and I didn't even do it on purpose. When I was going through editing I started working up a whole list of things I was like these are mirrored experiences to some of the things that happened with Eragon. I didn't fight it, I actually embraced it. [11]
The problems that Murtagh and Thorn face seem to be mirrored of the problems that Eragon and Saphira had to face. Did you write it that way on purpose, and if so, why? Well, yes and no. Murtagh and Thorn could actually have been in the shoes of Eragon and Saphira. In another time, or if someone had made a different decision, it would have been Murtagh and Thorn who became famous Dragon Riders and Eragon and Saphira would have been cast out. They are very much the same and yet so different. It only makes sense that some of the problems they are now experiencing are the same ones Eragon and Saphira had to overcome. [23]
Murtagh is what Eragon would have been if he hadn't grown up in a loving environment. He has a much more difficult character than Eragon, much more prickly. Although he gets angry easily, he is a good person who hates injustice. Perhaps because he is a victim of it himself. He is much more aware than Eragon about how the world works. [4]
Murtagh and Thorn were once, albeit reluctantly, on the evil side of the force. Are these two characters negative incarnations of Eragon and Saphira? To a degree, but they're also very much their own people, given how different their life experiences have been compared to Eragon and Saphira. And they're aware of that difference. It's something Murtagh reflects on several times throughout the book. However, even if Murtagh and Thorn had been raised in the same circumstances as Eragon and Saphira, I think they would still be very different. Thorn has a much more trenchant sense of humor than Saphira, and even at the best of times, Murtagh would always have a greater tendency toward brooding than Eragon. [22]
I saw a parallel in Murtagh's life, a symmetry with his and that of Eragon. So we know that Eragon was raised as a humble farmer, whereas Murtagh was raised in court. But now Eragon plays a major role in the world, he has all the comfort he needs, he no longer lives in a thrifty environment. Whereas Murtagh is said to travel the world without a roof over his head, at the beginning of the book at least. And I was wondering regarding these circumstances, what does this exchange of places mean to you? I was thinking very carefully about the parallels between Murtagh's experience and Eragon's. And sometimes while I was writing the book, I found parallels emerging that I didn't originally expect. For example, when they leave Gil'ead, Thorn kind of grabs Murtagh and they have an involuntary flight where Murtagh is trying to get Thorn to land and Thorn won't listen to him. That's very similar to when the first time Eragon and Saphira flew together after leaving Palancar Valley right when the Ra'zac showed up. So there are lots of things over the course of the story that have sort of echoes with Eragon's experience. Some of that was intentional, some of that was purely coincidental, but I thought it made for an interesting contrast. [19]
Murtagh definitely has a harder lot in life than Eragon. His father didn't love him and even tried to kill him, leaving a scar. A painful life. And Eragon’s father took a blade to save his own son…. Eragon and Murtagh/Brom and Morzan are opposites in more ways than one. [T]
What was the hardest challenge in writing from the perspective of Murtagh after writing from the perspective of Eragon for so long? Figuring out how his voice differed from Eragon's, and how Thorn differed from Saphira, and their relationship differed from Eragon and Saphira's. And then also I went back and looked at Murtagh's dialogue from Eragon, and boy was I pretentious back then. And I didn't want to write him exactly the way I'd written him in the first book, and balancing that and also figuring out his relationship with Thorn, that was the challenge. [34]
Murtagh is not as easy to get along with as Eragon. He is angry with his situation and resentful. Both he and Thorn have all these different feelings going through them, which makes it interesting for a writer to write about them. [23]
2024.05.12 14:51 Agreeable_Cattle_404 How to only accept numbers in a input[type=text]
Hey guys, I am using react hook form and zod to manage forms. I want to know how to only accept numbers in a input[type=text]. Please Help
submitted by Agreeable_Cattle_404 to react [link] [comments]
2024.05.12 09:11 Key-Register-565 How do they know if I dropped off my gown?
Returned my gown to at the herff jones drop off near the bookstore. Didn’t ask for my name or anything, just the gown. How do they confirm I dropped it off?
submitted by Key-Register-565 to USC [link] [comments]
2024.05.11 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.05.11 18:10 SovietSniper69 I shoplifted some textbooks for school because I can't afford them and now I'm scared every single day
It's been about a week and a half since but a few courses I'm taking at uni requires me to purchase some expensive textbooks (around $400). I really don't have the money but need these books and I can't get them for free online either. I went to a bookstore (the one named after a color in the rainbow) and took 2 books I needed and now I'm scared and have trouble sleeping every night.
submitted by SovietSniper69 to confession [link] [comments]
2024.05.10 23:36 Various-Humor4093 I found design documents for an interesting game in my dream
Just found this sub, and it reminded me of a old dream I had Autumn of last year. I went into a used bookstore to find something to read. I proceed to find a old-looking book with design documents for a multiplayer game named “Sensarift (temp. title). I read some of it to find a really interesting game. I then woke up and wrote 5 pages of stuff into my notes app. The next morning I read through the stuff. Here’s the summary I wrote that day:
“The game revolves around 2 characters the "Sound Composer" and "Emotion Guide" who solve puzzles in a 3d environment. the emotion guide has abilities to affect the emotion of the stage and objects , while the sound composer manipulates the soundwaves produced by other objects and creates them themselves. Players communicate via gestures, the most vital being the map. This lets players mark certain parts of the stage.
There are also a few single and two player campaigns available.“
If anyone wants more I’ll fish it out from the pits of the notes app, though some of it I rewrote later as I found it hard to read/controls mentioned were insufferable.
submitted by Various-Humor4093 to Dreams [link] [comments]
“The game revolves around 2 characters the "Sound Composer" and "Emotion Guide" who solve puzzles in a 3d environment. the emotion guide has abilities to affect the emotion of the stage and objects , while the sound composer manipulates the soundwaves produced by other objects and creates them themselves. Players communicate via gestures, the most vital being the map. This lets players mark certain parts of the stage.
There are also a few single and two player campaigns available.“
If anyone wants more I’ll fish it out from the pits of the notes app, though some of it I rewrote later as I found it hard to read/controls mentioned were insufferable.
2024.05.10 22:20 CoolLibraries 27 M4F EST/CST Looking to find a long-term relationship
Hey 👋,
My name is Bram and I am from the Boston Area looking to find my other introverted half 😊. I would love to spend time at the library,bookstore, thrift store and other quiet places. Have the chance to cuddle on the couch and watch a bad movie. I have created a presentation to show my interests and preferences. Hope to hear from you 😊:
Bram’s Bio
submitted by CoolLibraries to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]
My name is Bram and I am from the Boston Area looking to find my other introverted half 😊. I would love to spend time at the library,bookstore, thrift store and other quiet places. Have the chance to cuddle on the couch and watch a bad movie. I have created a presentation to show my interests and preferences. Hope to hear from you 😊:
Bram’s Bio
2024.05.10 13:32 aceinchi List of best selling fiction titles in the city
In no particular order of ranking:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho;The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown;
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee;
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller;
The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger;
The Lord Of The Rings by JRR Tolkien;
One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez;
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak;
Kane And Abel by Jeffrey Archer;
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini;
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green;
The Godfather by Mario Puzo;
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand;
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe;
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie;
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami;
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald;
1984 by George Orwell;
Love Story by Erich Segal;
The Bridges Of Madison County by Robert James Waller;
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov;
Fifty Shades Of Grey by E L James;
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams;
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn;
The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway;
Animal Farm by George Orwell;
The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins;
Rebecca by Daphne-Du Maurier;
The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco;
Dune by Frank Herbert;
Lust For Life by Irving Stone;
Lord Of The Flies by William Golding;
Sourced from a leading bookstore in the city.