Dragon #338

[MKMcArtor]

It won't be alphabetical.

 

[BOZ]

woohoo! alphabetical would be boring.

 

[Jdvn1]

for as long as they feel like doing it.

I'll certainly be buying those Dragons, that's for sure.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm looking forward to them doing this for the evil deities more than anything (Vecna!). Though I have to admit, SKR had no problem with a neutral one. This article made Boccob go from being one of the most boring gos (IMO) to one of the most interesting ones. It finally lets you know why the Uncaring doesn't care.

 

[davidschwartznz]

Imps of Ill-Humor

It's always cool to see one's stuff in print (Don't you just want to give the Melancholy Imp a hug?), but they cut the joke out of my article (talk about ill-humor). Now, admittedly, it was a throw-away line, but I liked it (and so did my flatmate who convinced me to leave it in), so as a treat to you ENWorlders, I'd like to reprint the opening paragrah in its original form (lost sentence in bold):

Early in the 6th century B.C.E. Greek iatros (physicians) began to associate disease with base elements. This line of reasoning culminated in the system of four humors attributed to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine. (Pythagoras later proposed a system of five humors, but it didn’t become popular until recently, when it was re-invigorated by another noted mathematician, Dr. Richard Garfield.) Understanding of the four humors became the basis of medicine in Europe for over two millennia. In the middle ages, the classical world was seen as a golden age, and the writings of Hippocrates and those who followed him became sacrosanct. Only in the 18th century, when empirical science began to take hold, did diagnosis by humors fall out of favor.

Oh, and one other thing: In my original manuscript in reference to symptoms of corruption of the sanguis, I used the word 'veininess', which somewhere along the line became 'vanity'. The word I was looking for was 'varicosis'. Consider this an errata.

 

[Alzrius]

Hm, I'm apparently not up on the reasoning behind the joke. Would you mind explaining it?

 

[Kelleris]

Hm, I'm apparently not up on the reasoning behind the joke. Would you mind explaining it?

Richard Garfield is the creator of Magic: the Gathering, which of course has five colors that amount to humors - they're elemental forces associated with certain bodily and emotional traits.

See, that's an example of a joke that's just a bit too clever. Wish I had thought of it.

By the way, Alzrius, I noticed you have a copy of my book. Congratulations again on winning it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. (So does taking the opportunity to mention my book constitute a shameless plug? I'm not sure...)