Saturday, November 14, 2009

Re: The Isles of Woe

Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] The Isles of Woe
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 21:35:46 -0400
From: "d.k. tetreault"
Reply-To: The GREYtalk Discussion List

On Mon, 21 Jun 1999, Scott Casper wrote:

> Denis "Maldin" Treteault wrote us a lovely story about the Isles of Woe this morning.

Why, thank you. ;-)

> It is quite clear that both the Isles,

For those not on the "other" GH list, my post was in reply to a query for information on the subject from Sir Clarence, and not spontaneous.

> and Keldreth's safety, are important to him.

Not really. ;-) I just used Roger's mention of Keldreth in GH:TAB as a way to poke a little fun at all the flamewars that Kel seems to be invariably embroiled in. ;-)

> Why does it necessarily follow that Yagrax couldn't have constructed something that led to the destruction of his kingdom? This seems entirely consistent with how powerful magic works, as anyone who's had their flesh or clay golems turn on them can attest.

The 1st Edition DMG states clearly that Yagrax "discovered" the tome, and hence it existed prior to that time. I was just searching for a story-telling way to say it, rather than "the DMG says....bla bla". I DO agree with you that arcane creations do get away from their creators in a variety of possible ways... its just not the case in this example. As a wizard himself, perhaps Maldin "chooses" to believe that this almost never happens. ;-) [Yes... Maldin has had "accidents" before! ;-)]

> And when will you reveal your reasoning for this? Do you assume Vecna's tower must be further west to be closer to Tovag-Baragu (sp?)? Perhaps you underestimate the size of Vecna's empire.

Ah, well.... That would not be me. Tovag was a tool he used in Vecna Lives, but as far as I am concerned he has no birthright to or natural affinity with Tovag. Its my own personal belief (from the majority of info available from Vecna Lives) that his empire was centered in, and should be limited to, the Sheldomar Valley. Your mileage may vary. And please...people DON'T have to point out that all the info can be taken different ways depending on which conflicting lines you choose to believe. One thing IS certain.... there is nothing (other than GH:TAB) that even suggests Vecna had ANY relationship to the Isles of Woe.

As for the line about "other research", I had a two-fold purpose. One was to poke a little fun at the numerous lively discussions we've all had in the past about Vecna's details. The other is something that I (Denis) REALLY can't reveal just at this time because of other promises. But stay tuned! Suffice it to say that some mysteries will be resolved once and for all. ;-) Ok... I'm teasing just a bit. ;-)

> You also curiously failed to mention that the Isle of Woe sank because it lacked proper canals...

Strange, that. ;-) Don't know HOW that could have happened.

> Yak-Men -- building the canals to a better future.

Everyone knows that if the Yakmen were to be given stewardship of the canals, they would quickly fill them up with yakturds.

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