From: Joerg Baumgartner (joe@toppoint.de)
Date: Mon 03 Nov 1997 - 20:22:00 EET
Frederic Ferro
>Joerg once mentioned in the Vol. 3 (the Vadeli Volume) of this List
>that the 1616 Tourney of Luck and Death was strange in its outcome
>*and its cause*.
>Is it because the body occupied by "John Carter" was not yet "worn out" ?
IMO yes. While I accept that the Pharaoh wore up his bodies more rapidly
than any other mortal, I doubt that the quests would regularly be held after
the Year King rites. Such a coincidence would somehow undermine his
credibility, IMO.
>Was the Pharoah "obliged" to do the Quest with the Red Guardians ?
It appears that they were a minor and irrelevant station in his "Return from
Death" quest until Jar-eel intervened.
>Was the date of the Tourney always in the Earth Season or the Sacred Times ?
IMO the quest was called whenever the Pharaoh's body had died. IMO no
priests or other agencies announced such a quest, but the simultaneous
transition of many of the inhabitants of the Holy Country into the magical
(i.e. heroplane) version of the country was part of the Pharaoh's spirit
waiting for the next body.
For this reason the 1616 "Tournament" seems like something artificial, a
>Could the "host" Avatar be sometimes a Dark Troll or a Ludoch ?
Good question. It seems that Belintar's precedessor, the Only Old One, could
While we're at it, could the avatar be female (and still perform the Year
summons made by overeager priests a couple of weeks after the disappearance
of the Pharaoh. Since there was no spirit to return, of course there could
be no real winner...
switch between troll mode and human mode.
King rites)? A newtling, or a wind child?
>Could anybody participate to the Tourney or were the candidates selected
>by the Godking ?
IMO selection of the participants was nothing organized by a priesthood or
electoral committee. People with the affinity to the magical Holy Country
got drawn into it. It is possible that this includes holders of offices by
default, but it surely cannot be restricted to them.
>If the Godking could have children, I suppose Thaumazopolis (the City of
>Wonders) was full of hybrid "Angelic Princes" with exotic magics.
Interesting idea. Too bad these princes could not hope to inherit, ever...
unless they took part in the tournament.
>Belintar could sire many generations in 300 years with the Queens
>of Esrolia. The Six Magic Bridges could be kept by Six Princes.
>Did anyone try a (RPG) visit to one of these magic places like the Loon
>Island before Harrek's raid (or Glamour)?
Not RPG, but I'm trying to make it a fiction visit, both before and during a
Tournament of the MoLaD.
>What kind of "tricks" could be used to suggest to the players
>the unearthly weirdness of such a plane ? I could put sylphs and undines
>everywhere but I don't want to describe a caricature of
>fantasy zoos.
I actually plan to have ordinary people live there, in not-so-magical parts
of the city. The weirdness can perhaps be more appreciated when one stumbles
out of an ordinary situation into a magical one...
I suppose that sound- and optical effects like in Biturian Varosh's exposure
A fantasy zoo is actually located in the Rightarm Isles.
to an Orlanth Wind Lord initiation can be quite common fare in parts of the
city. Strange topology - like there would be in the Puzzle Canal of the
Rubble - with parts of the city reachable only in north-south direction, but
not east-west (for example) would be perfectly "reasonable". In other words:
there would be short (heroquest) roads through certain quarters, or "hidden
castle"-like quarters of the city.
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