Re: Runedarspace-New Sphere

At 11:34 AM 6/4/97 -0400, Static wrote:
>Greetings all,
>
>	What follows is a possible view of the world.  It is not meant
>to go against what Toby has, just present ideas to anybody who's listening.
>Oh yeah, almost forgot the :).

I'll add one too :)

>>I decideded that there would be local Kings, Thanes, Dukes, barons, etc,
>>but they would be subservient to a central figure, the High Thane. They
>>mainly pledge fealty to the High Thane, and are pretty much left alone
>>until there is a need for troops to be levied, taxes raised, etc.
>
>	What about comunication?  Dwarves aren't known as a magical race,
>so they probably talk through "conventional" means (i.e. messangers).
>How do you handle it?

Communication of pronouncements from the High Thane are carried by Imperial
messenger on a spelljammer, or by magical communication. A few of the more
prominent nobles and local rulers may have access to a mage that has a
crystal ball, summoning pool, scrying equipment, etc. The major garrisons
usually have an Imperial Magi(half-elven or human), or a battle priest with
access to magical communication where major news of war, strife, change of
rulership may be carried. The space fleet has developed a device that
allows ship to ship communication, allowing better coordination during a
battle. In addition, gossip has a way of travelling among the planet bound
communities anyway.

Damn, I just wish I could clone myself so I'd be able to write up the
material and post it to my web site :)

>>I always thought that the idea of the EIN was a departure from the
>>stereotype of AD&D elves. You know, the flighty, insular and arrogant
>>elves. The spacefaring elves in SJ are arrogant, but to me they don't fit
>>the general elven view presented in AD&D material. Perhaps becoming
>>spelljamming-aware does this to normal groundlings, as you are forced to
>>realize that there are others out there who are just as powerful or moreso.
>
>	That's because everybody's got it all wrong. :)  The term "Imperial
>Elven Navy" was coined by some humans after the First Unhuman War.  The
>common tongue simply doesn't have words for the elven translation.
>
>	The purpose of the IEN (or EIN, whatever) is to make contact with
>"lost" elven colonies.  "Defending the space lanes" is a fairly new (in
>elven terms) idea that some megalomaniac elf got after being rejected as
>a painter one too many times.  (The elves have their [insert your favorite
>charismatic tyrant]s, just like everybody else.)  The IEN is just a "phase",
>but due to elven lifespans, this phase is measured in centuries.

Still, from all the published sources of elves in AD&D, they'd be the last
race you'd expect to take an active role in space. I guess my view of elves
is slightly colored, due to my first exposure of AD&D elves in the DL
Chronicles(highly insular and arrogant, hate humans at first), and the
Realms(oh woe is me we're in decline!). I could view a groundling empire of
elves, but to me the EIN or IEN(which the hell is it anyway??) doesn't hold
the traditional elven view, although they do think of themselves as the
"defenders" of the spheres. Of course, I have nothing against using the
elves as a major power in space(elves are my favorite race) as its a
welcome departure from the typical elven stereotype.

On another note, the dwarves of Runedarspace will be surprised once they
try to re-establish contact with the "young" dwarven realm of Delzoun on
Toril <g>.


Toby Mekelburg
toby@????.net	mekelbur@??????.edu
My Realms page at http://www.lava.net/~toby