Ask Arkanis

[Cowbot]

I apologize if this has come up in a previous question in the thread. There are a lot of pages. If it has, just say "answered already" and I'll go combing through all the pages.


In the current timeline for the server, how well known is Ao? Specifically, how well would the average person know him, if at all? How about more knowledgeable people, such as priests of the various gods?

What resources would be commonly, uncommonly, and rarely available about the overgod?

I ask because I was handed an IC book that mentions Ao by name, and I am wondering what sorts of books I would be able to find about him, if any, and where I would be most likely to find them. (For example, the public library in Baldur's Gate versus the tomes kept by the Halls of Inner Light versus Candlekeep.)

[Cowbot]

I have a lore question. If it has been answered before just say so and I'll find it. There's a lot of pages to flip through.

How much is known about Ao among various groups? Average peasant in BG? Well educated priests? Typical adventurer?

How much information is available on him in libraries? The public library in BG? Tomes in religious temples, such as the Halls of Inner Light? Or how about Candlekeep?

Thanks!

[DM Arkanis]

Big shout out tonight to Richard Lee Byers, author of some FR novels you may have read. I sent him a message on behalf of one of our players in terms of clarification on some lore, and he got back to me right away with a very cool answer.

[aaron22]

Big shout out tonight to Richard Lee Byers, author of some FR novels you may have read. I sent him a message on behalf of one of our players in terms of clarification on some lore, and he got back to me right away with a very cool answer.

that is very cool

[Nachti]

And that was?

Iam a fan of his books

[Cowbot]

Hello! Sorry if this has been answered before. If it has, just let me know and I'll dig it up myself. 55 pages is too much to read all at once!

How well known is Ao, and what is known about him by various groups? Say, the average peasant in Baldur's Gate? A relatively well-educated priest? Serious theologians?

What books would be available about him, if any? I know he will sometimes remove any mention of himself from texts, but I don't know how frequent that is prior to the Time of Troubles.

Again, I know books are relative, so specifically I mean: in the public library in BG? In a typical temple archive? (Not a temple to Ao, but say, the Halls of Inner Light, with Selune, who was directly created by Ao.) How about in Candlekeep?

[DM Arkanis]

And that was?

I am a fan of his books

I am a fan of his books too - Dissolution is one of my favourites (Love War of the Spider Queen all around)

I had a player ask for some lore-history for Red Wizards. Beyer didn't have too much to add outside of what is generally known, but it was cool that he replied at all. +1 to him.

Ark

[DM Arkanis]

Hello! Sorry if this has been answered before. If it has, just let me know and I'll dig it up myself. 55 pages is too much to read all at once!

How well known is Ao, and what is known about him by various groups? Say, the average peasant in Baldur's Gate? A relatively well-educated priest? Serious theologians?

What books would be available about him, if any? I know he will sometimes remove any mention of himself from texts, but I don't know how frequent that is prior to the Time of Troubles.

Again, I know books are relative, so specifically I mean: in the public library in BG? In a typical temple archive? (Not a temple to Ao, but say, the Halls of Inner Light, with Selune, who was directly created by Ao.) How about in Candlekeep?

DR 720 The Age of Humanity: With the elven and dwarven empires in decline, this era marks a dramatic increase in human expansion on Toril. The High God Ao opens Realmspace to races from other worlds. With these immigrants, came their faith in new gods. This era started and concluded on two prominant events involving the Faerûnian pantheon of gods, The Dawn Cataclysm and The Time of Troubles.

Ao is really not spoken about in FR lore though until the Time of Troubles (DR 1358 - books on it are, The "Avatar Trilogy" ("Shadowdale", "Tantras" and "Waterdeep"). "Ao's voice is heard by many in Waterdeep, and his temple is established on the ruins in the market." Before this time, there was speculation of an over-god but only a race of deep gnomes worshiped him - one of the things they do is sing/chant/pray continually, and even then Ao was very non-responsive to them.

"How well known is Ao, and what is known about him by various groups? Say, the average peasant in Baldur's Gate? A relatively well-educated priest? Serious theologians?"

In DR 1353 there would be little known about Ao. The Time of Troubles is really when we start looking at FR gods in more details, but at the time our server is in now, the average peasant would know nothing about an over-god. Those highly educated in theology would also not know much, if anything - Ao hides his existence until he casts the gods from the proverbial heavens and tasks Helm to guard the celestial stair.

"What books would be available about him, if any? I know he will sometimes remove any mention of himself from texts, but I don't know how frequent that is prior to the Time of Troubles."

There could be made an argument that there would be old/rare/Elven even tomes containing snippets of information about Ao, but in terms of something like, "The Big Book of Ao - Overlord for All of Us!" I would say there would be nothing.

"Again, I know books are relative, so specifically I mean: in the public library in BG? In a typical temple archive? (Not a temple to Ao, but say, the Halls of Inner Light, with Selune, who was directly created by Ao.) How about in Candlekeep?"

Again, the average library would have nothing. Someone/group who collected ancient elvish texts MIGHT have something with some mention in it. Remember too in this time the gods are fairly egoistic and self centered and to have anything in their own dogma acknowledging a more supreme being than themselves would be counted productive, so I would say there would again be little, if anything as far as information goes - even Selune's faithful might only make passing mention of Ao.

As for our game, if you wanted to do some research and looking into Ao more you would have to have a foundation to do so - i.e. you would have to have heard about him from somewhere, or you would have to have had several experiences leading you to believe there was more than just the FR pantheon of gods (I am thinking about travelling to other planes of existence/worlds, etc. to broaden your ontological views of eschatology.) Your character might even be viewed as "crazy" to suggest that there was a god that no one else seemed to know about, and with Ao being non responsive to a whole race of gnomes who are extremely devoted to him, chances of him appearing and/or making himself otherwise known are slim.

Hope this helps.

Old Ark

[DM Soulcatcher]

Challenge!



Who is this character, his name and is he in DM Creator? <_< >_>

[DM Arkanis]

Challenge!



Who is this character, his name and is he in DM Creator? <_< >_>

I haven't found him yet. I did find a small needle in a big haystack though, which IMHO was easier... I'm still looking...

[DM Arkanis]

I'm back from holiday. Cuba is fantastic - beaches are like talcum powder. Weather was a steady 25-28C (77-83F) and sunny. People like to complain about the food, but I had a fresh omelet made in front of me every morning for breakfast, fresh pasta and pizza custom made for lunch, and suppers consisted of chicken, pork, and beef (again all cooked to order right in front of me) so I couldn't complain. In Holguin they do not know me as DM Arkanis... there I am simply El Guapo; a large, white guy, in a skin-tight pink Speedo with a flowing cape and Mexican wrestling mask. Some of the locals also call me, "The Great White Ape" after an incident in 2013 when my mask fell off... but we don't talk about that...

I'll be in game supporting my peers with events and doing some solo RP too. Hope to see you there.

Ark

[mrm3ntalist]

test

[DM Arkanis]

test

Think we've gotten it figured out now.

[mrm3ntalist]

We were discussing some matter ( refugees, economical crisis etc ) with some friends over - a lot of - wine and lamp chops and the discussion turned very philosophical. The question was what each one of us can do. One said
"If you can do good do it, but do no harm"

and most of us agreed on it. One though said

"(do-me) you. If you can do good, you must do good. Otherwise you are letting the problem get worse"

So I am asking Arkanis ( ), is doing nothing for a problem around us, actually the same as doing harm?

[DM Arkanis]

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

I think that in modern times, in "western" culture we have taking a firm position on not getting involved. We don't get involved in our neighbours' business. We don't get involved when we see someone doing something questionable, and more often than not stand there and watch a crime being committed rather than even calling the authorities. "None of my business" has become a catch phrase that tries to absolve otherwise good people from "interfering" in some situation. Now, we are all also aware of the phrase, "let no good deed go unpunished" which is the root of the "none of my business" and basically means that if you stick your nose in somewhere, even for the right reasons, you might be the one on the hook for something that otherwise you could just have walked past. Unfortunately this has taken good people and made them apathetic. The Christian Bible states in Revelations 3:16 to be hot or cold, but not lukewarm. This passage is encouraging people to take a stand - believe, or don't believe, but don't be wishy-washy. There is also the NIMBY principle (not in my back yard) where we think an idea (like a half-way house) is a great idea, just not in MY neighbourhood, where we can agree with the sentiment (half-way houses are good, and necessary), but find reasons not to be a part of the solution, i.e. just don't build one near my home. SO, 1) we have people saying they don't want to get involved, 2) We have people who won't take a stand on things one way or another (usually for fear of offending someone), and 3) we have people who do agree that something needs to be done, they just feel that other people should do it, and not themselves. Add to this, that when we see/hear of people we know taking a firm stand on something, we immediately rush in to judge them - "OMG I cannot believe they voted for X!" (for example_ Not wanting to be judged, we back away from them because we don't want to be involved, we don't want to take a stand with or against them, or we feel that THEY can take on the issue while we remain morally neutral (at least in public.)
I had a great conversation with good friends (similar to yours) where I said that if we took the same amount of money spent on major sporting events (even only just championship games) that things like child poverty could be wiped out. Everyone watching the sporting event would say there is nothing that they can do about child poverty, everyone would agree child poverty is bad, everyone would also hope that someone else would do something about it, and then they would go back to watching the game.
What they don't realize is that solving big, world-wide problems, isn't about one person, or a small group taking on the challenge, it's about a world-wide mind-set change. On some small levels there are changes: micro-loans for developing countries where people can get $100 to buy a sewing machine, to make clothes to sell and earn a living; crowd-funding where it isn't one large donation that makes an event happen, but hundreds or small donations. Things like this show that there are changes in attitudes where people are actually able to see how their small donation (in this case of money) makes a difference, but we have a long way to go before we see an end to wars, poverty, oppression, and hatred.
The short answer to your question, is doing nothing the same as doing harm, is that when good people see a situation that could be resolved and act, through giving of their time, money, and talent to solving the issue, and when they would work with other people who have the same goals, that being a resolution to the problem, in a loving and dialogical way, anything can happen. I think any good person who ask themselves if their inability, or indecision, or absolution of responsibility in getting involved makes them a bad person who is contributing to the problem has already taken the first, and biggest step - acknowledging that they need to be involved.
Do good people do harm because of their inaction/involvement? The answer, unequivocally has to be, yes.

Old Ark the Preacher

We were discussing some matter ( refugees, economical crisis etc ) with some friends over - a lot of - wine and lamp chops and the discussion turned very philosophical. The question was what each one of us can do. One said
"If you can do good do it, but do no harm"

and most of us agreed on it. One though said

"(do-me) you. If you can do good, you must do good. Otherwise you are letting the problem get worse"

So I am asking Arkanis ( ), is doing nothing for a problem around us, actually the same as doing harm?