From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Date: Sat 02 Jul 1994 - 13:26:38 EEST
G'day Everyone!
Just finished off term two of the school year (with the "Chez MOB Exclusive Restaurant" day, where my kids made lunch and invited the teacher of their choice to join them at their tables). I've now got almost a fortnight before I go to the UK for Convulsion, and plan to kick Soldiers of the Red Moon back into top gear; an end-of-the-year release is planned, so there ain't all that much time when you think about it. I already have some fairly solid material to work from, but anyone who wants to put their oar in about the Lunar Army is invited to contact me via e-mail sharpish.
Sandy wrote:
>It's a time-honored tradition
>to name Gloranthan places and names after people.
And somebody replied:
According to my sources, Nochet was not named after anybody, but instead came about in the following manner (quoting from a sidebox in my first "Notes from Nochet" article in TALES #4):
#A NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION: # #Nochet. Seems to slip off the tongue as 'No-shit' in Dave's and my #reckoning; however, we stand corrected. According to Greg: #"...actually, the 'No-shit' prnunciation is wrong, despite my #normally scatalogical sense of humour. It is actually 'Not-yet', #pronounced 'Not-Chet' around here. Rudy Kraft pointed to the map #and said, 'Does this city have a name?' and I said 'Not yet', and he said, #'then we are going to Nochet', and so it was named". So be it.
I have no idea where Corflu came from, though it sounds suspiciously like the Greek island. I didn't consciously name any of the places in Sun County after people, but given that it is a "time-honoured" tradition, I now retrospectively claim that the recalcitrant village of Sandy Lot was named after you-know-who. "Queenscliff" is actually a very nice seaside town down the bay from the city I live. One of the Lunar Coders is based very much on a very good friend of mine (one of the co-writers of Sun County), and his name shares a vague assonance.
Jim Chapin (hey, did you play Leonidas at Convulsion?) reminds:
>Still haven't heard about my errata questions. To make them specific:
>Ken Rolston what are the right stats for the third Thanatari head? And
>why can't Woroshi enter the temple, since he is an Atyar initiate, unless we
>are to take MOB's Atyar steak knives suggestion?
Complimentary sets of cutlery aside, I think my suggestion (only Thanatar cultists get the safe-passage blemish; Atyar cultists don't, so they need the talisman to safely enter a Thanatar temple) is a reasonable one. I must admit when I first read it, I too thought he shouldn't have any trouble as being an initiate he should have the blemish. But if you accept that Woroshi is only an Atyar initate, then the explanation can work.
By the way, in my opinion the illustration of the Thanatar initiates in Shadows on the Borderlands is quite off-beam. Thanatari should look like disreputable scholar-types (think of a philosophy student into the 8th year of his 3 year bachelor of arts degree), not mighty-thewed Arnold Schwartznegger look-alikes.
>(By the way, MOB, if Leonidas' appeal to the Court works, Gordius
>should be IMPALED! Good riddance to bad trash!).
I have every reason to feel confident that Gordius's explanation of his actions at Boldhome and the aftermath will be accepted by the Inquisitorial Commission, particularly as the only priest with Truth spells was unfortunately confined to his tent with a severe bout of Uleria's Measles while Gordius was giving his testimony! In fact, I'm sure if anything he'll end up with a commendation and promotion! Gordius will then not hesitate to recommend that a certain troublesome Yelm Priest take up the Lunar government's generous "Early Retirement" package, in which the recipient is bricked up in the retirement tower of his own choice...
Hey Jim, where you the guy who played Leonidas at Convulsion?
David Cake, a fellow Aussie, writes:
>Well, I think all these things (freedom, barbarism) are true of all
>three nations, differeing only in degree. I just think that it is
>silly to generalise about cultures as similar as UK, USA, AUstralia.
I can't resist noting that one big difference between Australia and the US and UK is that Australia is, to quote the alleged words of our Prime Minister, at the 'arse-end' of the world. (To which it could be said, "It takes one to know one"). I would guess that Australians in general would know more about what's going in both Britain and the USA than the reverse. This not only because we are so far away (if Australia is the arse-end, it's not hard to work out what my city is), but also because political and economic events happening in Britain and US are more likely to have impact on Australia than the reverse (though this doesn't explain why I know more than I want to about OJ Simpson, et al.) We are saturated with US television (the latest import being that infuriatingly purile purple dinosaur, yechh!) and receive quite a bit of Brit stuff too, whereas Brits probably get most of their notions of what Down Under is like from that healthy dose of gritty social realism, "Neighbours".
Dragging out issue #4 to find the No-shit quote also uncovered the "I'm so tough I..." cartoons that featured in that issue (and also the Mark Baldwin p.3 dryad pic that prompted Tale's long-standing "No Nipples" ban!).
Here are several of the "I'm so Toughs" for those of you unlucky to have not gotten on to the Tales bandwagon early enough. It's a shame that I can't reproduce Mark B's accompanying cartoons - you'll just to wait for the "Best of Tales #1 - #4 + #6" compilation, due out later this year..
"I'M SO TOUGH I...
...take my Thanatar Major Head into exams with me"
Sophos the Glib One,
Lhankor Mhy apprentice, Nochet.
...gargle Styx water"
Coldblood, Vampire Lord of the Elder Wilds (great MB pic of vampire
brushing his teeth here!)
...volunteer as the ball in Trollball"
Cazaly,
Jonstown Under (SIZ) 19's.
...put my Thanatar blemish on the end of my nose."
Yarr Killfast,
Thanatar initiate, Occupied Sartar.
How's about some more? I might use the best ones in the Early Tales compilation!
Cheers
MOB
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