Ask Arkanis

[Rasael]

Enforcement of the anti-magic law in Amnish territories is also largely an affair of the Cowled Wizards. A semi-official guild of mages that Amn pretends doesn't exist, but who they normally send all magical criminals to, to be 'pacified'.

Crossing the law is the least of your problems if you also manage to catch the attention of the Cowled Wizards. For that reason buying a licence is the best thing to do. They're generally only interested in arcane magic though. Unless you're going about calling down thunderstorms of vengeance as a cleric or druid they'll just ignore you as a benign problem. But ofcourse that's not reason to do it, they just might make an exception and actually enforce the law. They do that once in a while to get everyone back in line.

[DM Arkanis]

Is there any animal cuter than this?
Dik-dik antelope
They only grow to be about 16 inches tall and weigh 15lb. Much like a cat!

Very cute, but deadly. Much like the Vorpal Bunny, these small antelopes are more than they appear...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmu5sRIizdw

[DM Arkanis]

Enforcement of the anti-magic law in Amnish territories is also largely an affair of the Cowled Wizards. A semi-official guild of mages that Amn pretends doesn't exist, but who they normally send all magical criminals to, to be 'pacified'.

Crossing the law is the least of your problems if you also manage to catch the attention of the Cowled Wizards. For that reason buying a licence is the best thing to do. They're generally only interested in arcane magic though. Unless you're going about calling down thunderstorms of vengeance as a cleric or druid they'll just ignore you as a benign problem. But ofcourse that's not reason to do it, they just might make an exception and actually enforce the law. They do that once in a while to get everyone back in line.

Ok this is a very good reply. I didn't want to talk about the Cowled Wizards just in case I got a lot of follow up, "who are they?" questions, but it is what I was going for. Stay off-the-radar magic-wise and you will be left alone. Draw attention and, well, it may not be pretty...

[DM Arkanis]

Hello DM Arkanis

1.) How many characters have become "Saints" on this PW?
2.) How did they become saints?
3.) What does it mean to be a saint?

You know that this is a loaded question, right...

1. To my knowledge there are no current, active characters with the designation of "saint." In my books veneration to saint-hood would intone some kind of demi-god status and we just don't do that IC/IG. There may be retired characters whose bio may include their post script as becoming a saint, but that is generally up to the player to create and if the toon is never coming back, you could pretty much say anything.

2. First I think we should clear up what the word "saint" means. I see it as someone who has performed some act/acts/lived a certain lifestyle in the name of their god. Generally we take the word "saint" to mean a good person (in our game, good aligned) who lives an exemplary life in the service of their god. The god recognizes this and grants them special "status" but usually posthumously. I believe in terms of our game that there are evil-aligned "saints" as well although I don't think they would call themselves that - Favoured of <insert gods name here> perhaps would be better. Again, due to the nature of this elevation in divine status the character would either have to be very powerful (to fend off opponents/rivals/jealous followers) or very selective on who they would disclose the status to. Let's face it, the Chosen of Mask for example wouldn't walk down the street proclaiming this or open a shop and invite people in for tea...
2 & 3. The act of becomming a saint, in the FR/fantasy RP setting IMHO would be something driven by the god worshipped themselves. Followers/leaders in that gods church may be directed to perform a ceremony of some type symbolizing the chosen/saint's elevation to that status. Depending on the god, there may be some divine powers given, or maybe a quest, or maybe the post would be ceremonial. There also would be the question of the saint being able to perform extraordinary feats/magics and for what purpose that would be. Generally speaking, the various church hierarchies confer titles other than that of saint/chosen on its membership to avoid the demi-god status that saints might be ascribed due to the title.
A saint would be expected to exemplify the beliefs of their god, have a purpose, i.e. be a patron of something in their gods portfolio, and help those faithful who needed it. As a mortal being, the saint would be limited in terms of their abilitiy to "help" due to geography, and time, but their focus would be aimed at completing/starting/carrying on a certain task or mission of the church. Again this is not limited to good-aligned characters - evil characters can sow strife, misery, etc. inasmuch as good characters can heal, feed the hungry, etc etc.

Just to try and give a FR/BG-specific example that doesnt subscribe to a really good or really evil position: a hardened warrior who always called out to Tempus in battle and lived to fight many battles is granted a divine favour by Tempus and given a status-title. Let's say for the sake of argument his title is, "General" instead of saint. The new "General" would be given a task of insuring he found battles/wars to fight in, side he is on is not important, but to revel in and glorify battle, and find others to act as his lieutennants who enjoyed fighting as well. This task may take him all over Faerun or just last for one glorious war in a certain area. The General would lead troops, rally soldiers to fight, perhaps heal them in order for them to continue fighting, and find other ways to make the battle last as long as possible, always glorifying the god of battle and looking for ways to inspire others to worship Tempus as well.

[Nomster]

Second question : Not sure if this has been asked before. But the anti magic law in Beregost and Nashkel and the requirement for a license. Do these extend to all casters or only the arcane type? Since Amn seems to loathe mages mainly and not at all clerics.

The spirit of this law is that no magic is cast in these places without a license. This would include divine magics. That said, the intent is not to punish someone from say, casting vigor on themselves to heal, but rather prevent spell battles from taking place in town. It is like the old west when you were asked to hand your guns over to the sheriff before entering the town, or in ancient times, tying a peace knot around your sword. The law really is warning, if you are going to use magic, you'd better have a good reason.

Enforcement of the anti-magic law in Amnish territories is also largely an affair of the Cowled Wizards. A semi-official guild of mages that Amn pretends doesn't exist, but who they normally send all magical criminals to, to be 'pacified'.

Crossing the law is the least of your problems if you also manage to catch the attention of the Cowled Wizards. For that reason buying a licence is the best thing to do. They're generally only interested in arcane magic though. Unless you're going about calling down thunderstorms of vengeance as a cleric or druid they'll just ignore you as a benign problem. But ofcourse that's not reason to do it, they just might make an exception and actually enforce the law. They do that once in a while to get everyone back in line.

When you buy the license, it says Arcane magic. I tried to get a clarification on it some time ago and the best answer I could get, especially from reading the license itself, was that the license is only required if you are an Arcanist. My Morninglord in Beregost thus never bought it, seeing how he was a priest.

Common folk would likely have a difficult time to distinguish between the Art and the Power. So even as a divine servant, it would not be a good idea to cast spells in plain view unless you wear holy regalia or something which makes it obvious.

Amn specifically has something against mages, after numerous incidents in the past with crazy wizards. Being an open mage in Amn itself is likely to lead to persecution or at the least strong distrust. Beregost is not quite Amn though so travelling mages (and the RP level of the serves) makes them get away with it more easily. Divine servants are a whole different thing. Amn is one of those places where they do not really care about who you worship as long as you do not bring too much trouble.

[Hitman Hard]

So how much of a nail-biter would it be to start a modest not so impressive bar? (Cost alot of money and RP i'm gathering.) Must it be created through a guild or through multiple guilds cooperating/finance backing it or with no guild relation entirely? More or less, is this goal possible. . .

[The_Gruff_Stout]

I was wondering about languages...

Recently in game my character greeted a dwarf using the dwarven language. The dwarf replied with saying my character's (human) accent was wrong and he took offense to my character using it. That's all well and good, if that's his RP but saying that my characters accent was wrong comes across to me like god modding.

Would it be possible for a human to speak the dwarven language with the right inflections and accent? Or do dwarves have some special throat that only allows dwarves to speak it perfectly? My character has the INT to gain the language, so who is this dwarf to say whether or not my character speaks it correctly?

It would be different if he said that he took offense to my human character speaking it, but to force his RP on my character by saying he doesn't speak it correctly doesn't sit well with me at all.

So I guess my question is... If a character is granted a language does that mean that the character can speak it fluently? Or does it mean that only the race in which the language originated can speak it fluently and all others fall short?

[DM Arkanis]

I was wondering about languages...

Recently in game my character greeted a dwarf using the dwarven language. The dwarf replied with saying my character's (human) accent was wrong and he took offense to my character using it. That's all well and good, if that's his RP but saying that my characters accent was wrong comes across to me like god modding.

Would it be possible for a human to speak the dwarven language with the right inflections and accent? Or do dwarves have some special throat that only allows dwarves to speak it perfectly? My character has the INT to gain the language, so who is this dwarf to say whether or not my character speaks it correctly?

It would be different if he said that he took offense to my human character speaking it, but to force his RP on my character by saying he doesn't speak it correctly doesn't sit well with me at all.

So I guess my question is... If a character is granted a language does that mean that the character can speak it fluently? Or does it mean that only the race in which the language originated can speak it fluently and all others fall short?

First, thanks for posting this - this is a great question.

Much like the Drow characters, the Dwarven players on the server have their own sense of culture. There is a Dwarven language outside of the Dwarven language translator, and the Dwarven chatacters for a tight knit, if not a wee bit xenophobic community. Dwarves, as characters value loyalty, honour, and kinship as core vaules. A human, no matter how well intended, how well spoken, or how honourable will still and always be viewed as a bit of an outsider. That said, from FR lore we know that humans have been loved and accepted by equals by Dwarves (Wulfgar and Cattie-brie) to be two good examples. Remember that Dwarves are distrustful by nature, and RPed correctly they would be suspicious of a human who had any grasp of their language; this is not an issue of INT but rather one of trust. You are a new person to them, earn their trust, and they will be more agreeable. At least, that is how I have seen Dwarves IG...

Ark

[mireigi]

I was wondering about languages...

Recently in game my character greeted a dwarf using the dwarven language. The dwarf replied with saying my character's (human) accent was wrong and he took offense to my character using it. That's all well and good, if that's his RP but saying that my characters accent was wrong comes across to me like god modding.

Would it be possible for a human to speak the dwarven language with the right inflections and accent? Or do dwarves have some special throat that only allows dwarves to speak it perfectly? My character has the INT to gain the language, so who is this dwarf to say whether or not my character speaks it correctly?

It would be different if he said that he took offense to my human character speaking it, but to force his RP on my character by saying he doesn't speak it correctly doesn't sit well with me at all.

So I guess my question is... If a character is granted a language does that mean that the character can speak it fluently? Or does it mean that only the race in which the language originated can speak it fluently and all others fall short?

First, thanks for posting this - this is a great question.

Much like the Drow characters, the Dwarven players on the server have their own sense of culture. There is a Dwarven language outside of the Dwarven language translator, and the Dwarven chatacters for a tight knit, if not a wee bit xenophobic community. Dwarves, as characters value loyalty, honour, and kinship as core vaules. A human, no matter how well intended, how well spoken, or how honourable will still and always be viewed as a bit of an outsider. That said, from FR lore we know that humans have been loved and accepted by equals by Dwarves (Wulfgar and Cattie-brie) to be two good examples. Remember that Dwarves are distrustful by nature, and RPed correctly they would be suspicious of a human who had any grasp of their language; this is not an issue of INT but rather one of trust. You are a new person to them, earn their trust, and they will be more agreeable. At least, that is how I have seen Dwarves IG...

Ark

I would add that all spoken languages, both in fantasy and the real world, have subtleties to them that it takes years, if not decades, to learn. It can be something as simple as a slight twitch of the lip or turn of the left hand during or after speaking. You can learn to speak the language, yes, but these subleties are gained through experience. I'd say that unless your character is a skilled translator, you're not going to be able to incorporate these subleties in his/her speech unless it's the native language for your race or one that you've learned and spoken since childhood. Real world languages are even easier to learn than fantasy languages since we're all the same race - humans.

One of the best examples of the above is Ayla from the Earth's Children series. Born as one race, but raised by another, she learn the language of her foster family, a language mostly comprised of subtle body movements and movement of the hands. When she later teaches this language to others of her own race, even over the course of several years, the racial difference in the languages forces her to teach only the basics as the rest cannot be tought, but only gained through experience.

So in short, your character can learn what to speak and how to speak it, but will most likely not know the finer details unless it is a native racial language or one learned from childhood.

[Deathgrowl]

Enforcement of the anti-magic law in Amnish territories is also largely an affair of the Cowled Wizards. A semi-official guild of mages that Amn pretends doesn't exist, but who they normally send all magical criminals to, to be 'pacified'.

Crossing the law is the least of your problems if you also manage to catch the attention of the Cowled Wizards. For that reason buying a licence is the best thing to do. They're generally only interested in arcane magic though. Unless you're going about calling down thunderstorms of vengeance as a cleric or druid they'll just ignore you as a benign problem. But ofcourse that's not reason to do it, they just might make an exception and actually enforce the law. They do that once in a while to get everyone back in line.

Ok this is a very good reply. I didn't want to talk about the Cowled Wizards just in case I got a lot of follow up, "who are they?" questions, but it is what I was going for. Stay off-the-radar magic-wise and you will be left alone. Draw attention and, well, it may not be pretty...

This is inaccurate. The cowled wizards are flat out outlawed in Amn. The government kills them when they find them. One of the founding members of the Cowled Wizards was a member of the council of six. When the others on the council found out, they killed him.

The Baldur's Gate games deviates from lore in this. As does this server, it seems.

[Lockonnow]

in the FR lore is the socerer more powerfull then the wizard or in the Neverwinter nigh t2?

[Xndar]

Hi there! So here's my question:

Do the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate currently own or lay claim to the island off the coast of Ulgoth's Beard (in spite of it being de facto owned by the Sahuagin)?

[DM Narshe]

So how much of a nail-biter would it be to start a modest not so impressive bar? (Cost alot of money and RP i'm gathering.) Must it be created through a guild or through multiple guilds cooperating/finance backing it or with no guild relation entirely? More or less, is this goal possible. . .

Usually done through a guild or collection of players. Either way, additions to the server come from dedicated roleplay over a period of time. In the case of guilds, it's 3 months before they even have private forums created for them and at least that long before talk about guildhalls.

The more players interested, the likelier it is to happen. But it will take time and RP.

[DM Arkanis]

OK Comiccon here was great but wiped me out. Lord Arkanis and his Lady outdid themselves this year in our Steampunk gear (100's of pics taken... ) but left Old Ark to sleep for a day or two... more like two... after a week of volunteering/backstage stuff I need a holiday.
I see our Head Dm is now helping out with answers - thanks! Ill get to others shortly.

[DM Arkanis]

Enforcement of the anti-magic law in Amnish territories is also largely an affair of the Cowled Wizards. A semi-official guild of mages that Amn pretends doesn't exist, but who they normally send all magical criminals to, to be 'pacified'.

Crossing the law is the least of your problems if you also manage to catch the attention of the Cowled Wizards. For that reason buying a licence is the best thing to do. They're generally only interested in arcane magic though. Unless you're going about calling down thunderstorms of vengeance as a cleric or druid they'll just ignore you as a benign problem. But ofcourse that's not reason to do it, they just might make an exception and actually enforce the law. They do that once in a while to get everyone back in line.

Ok this is a very good reply. I didn't want to talk about the Cowled Wizards just in case I got a lot of follow up, "who are they?" questions, but it is what I was going for. Stay off-the-radar magic-wise and you will be left alone. Draw attention and, well, it may not be pretty...

This is inaccurate. The cowled wizards are flat out outlawed in Amn. The government kills them when they find them. One of the founding members of the Cowled Wizards was a member of the council of six. When the others on the council found out, they killed him.

The Baldur's Gate games deviates from lore in this. As does this server, it seems.

Well known that there are some areas where BG deviates from FR-core-lore for sure.

Player driven events/ideas/plans/plots/schemes may indeed deviate from lore but it doesn't mean that they are necessarily banned. In the case of Cowled Wizards, Amn may have outlawed them but it doesn't mean they know anything about them being in/around their protectorate of Beregost. "Found out" I believe is the key, and server lore is server lore and we move with it in ebbs and flows as it happens. Ark