Tales of Wyre

[Justin]

I was just doing some weird Lovecraft-related Googling (I just get into a dark mood sometimes) and came across Cernunnos. I wonder if that is the root for Cerethumulos, the Nalfeshnee that Eadric killed and ended up on Graz'zts naughty list. Of further interest is a mention on that page that the name is cognate with the Germanic hurnaz, which I wonder if is related to Hummaz. Or maybe this vodka was just a bad idea, which of course it was (hence the dark mood).

Btw, anyone else think that Nehael was originally an Astral or perhaps Movanic Deva? Always wondered about that, she never did say.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I wouldn’t be surprised if those names were inspirations, albeit unconscious ones.

Nehael = neha (comfort, solace) + el (God), so “God’s solace” or similar. Interesting name!

Relatively early in the story, Nehael said she was a radiant being and that Grazzt was her master in the hosts. Someone more versed in D&D angelology might be able to parse out what that means!

 

[Justin]

I've always wondered what happend to Koilimilou after the Battle of Throile. I don't believe she was ever mentioned afterwards, so I'm assuming she died there.

On an unrelated note, besides Nehael, were there any NPCs on the good guys' side who wasn't a wizard? This story really needs a wiki.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I've always wondered what happend to Koilimilou after the Battle of Throile. I don't believe she was ever mentioned afterwards, so I'm assuming she died there.

On an unrelated note, besides Nehael, were there any NPCs on the good guys' side who wasn't a wizard? This story really needs a wiki.

Sure. Tons of churchmen and women.

 

[Justin]

Sure. Tons of churchmen and women.

I guess I was thinking of the "main" NPCs on the good guys' side, like Shomei, Mulissu, and the Academy. Tahl and Iua come to mind right now, and Tahl was always one of my favorites (my first WoW Paladin was named after him), though Iua seems to have disappeared at some point. That makes some sense, though, given Ortwine's final(?) reincarnation.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I guess I was thinking of the "main" NPCs on the good guys' side, like Shomei, Mulissu, and the Academy. Tahl and Iua come to mind right now, and Tahl was always one of my favorites (my first WoW Paladin was named after him), though Iua seems to have disappeared at some point. That makes some sense, though, given Ortwine's final(?) reincarnation.

I mean it’s not reaaly a surprise that a story based on a system that disproportionately rewards spellcasters would mostly feature spellcasters.

 

[Justin]

Of course. Epic levels would certainly favor spellcasters over martial types (look at the MCU), putting Eadric in an interesting middle-ground. But a good story such as this one deftly works around that, like Ed's limited but still significant magical ability (Holy Word is nothing to sneeze at) but also his plot armor with respect to his place in the Oronthonian cosmology as well as being Soneillon's boyfriend.

Personally, I'd find it fascinating to be transported into this world (remember the 1980s D&D cartoon?) as something like an ascetic half-shadow rogue/monk-like Void Incarnate (perma-mindblanked and immune to force-effects!) and see how well I could survive. (Note my avatar. I like Glooms and would very much like to know more about them!) So many beings could still probably wipe out such a with a word or two (Be Not!), making the story aspect that much more critical to this tale than just pure D&D mechanical crunch. That said, I also deeply sympathize with Nwm, Green Nehael, and Ueddi: just squash all extra-planar interlopers and go back to letting life do its thing.

(Vodka-sodas are reducing my Wisdom stat right now, so please bear that in mind when roasting my above ruminations.)

 

[Stephen Pasek]

Hello all, I've been compiling the Tales of Wyre threads into a document formatted for eventual printing. I've gathered all posts on the story as it currently stands into 4 tomes + the Rogue's Gallery. I'd like some feedback on the formatting of what I have so far. Formatting these posts was a challenge as there are frequently Q&As at the start of a thread, plus meta posts between story threads. I'm open to all suggestions on how best to convey the story. Looking specifically for thoughts on font and font size, paragraph and line spacing, what special formatting to use for specifying spells, magic items, communicating via telepathy, communicating via sending, how to title chapters, missing chapter titles, how to title meta sections, etc. Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks.

 

[Justin]

Hello all, I've been compiling the Tales of Wyre threads into a document formatted for eventual printing. I've gathered all posts on the story as it currently stands into 4 tomes + the Rogue's Gallery. I'd like some feedback on the formatting of what I have so far. Formatting these posts was a challenge as there are frequently Q&As at the start of a thread, plus meta posts between story threads. I'm open to all suggestions on how best to convey the story. Looking specifically for thoughts on font and font size, paragraph and line spacing, what special formatting to use for specifying spells, magic items, communicating via telepathy, communicating via sending, how to title chapters, missing chapter titles, how to title meta sections, etc. Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks.

Hi Stephen!

I know there is at least one set of PDFs around of the story, but I agree that the Tales of Wyre and Beyond that Jim, Jim's wife (I'm so sorry I don't know her name; was it ever mentioned?), Mark, Danny, Dave, Rob, and Helen, and any others of whom I may be unaware, have created over at least the past 20 years is some of the best fantasy writing in the history of humanity and, as such, deserves much wider recognition. That said, it's quite likely that a combination of burnout suffered by Jim et al. along with WotC's intellectual property could very well be limiting mainstream publication.

That all said, unless publication of a series of novels is actually theoretically and practically possible, I think a wiki would be the next most-likely reasonable platform for both the story and its "crunchy" bits. I manage several large fantasy-related MediaWiki wikis in my professional work (possibly the largest outside of Wikipedia and its related sites), so I'd be happy to help there if such help would be useful to you and/or anyone else willing to contribute time, effort, and/or resources to such a goal.

This is just my two cents and I hope others respond to your message as well. To be frank, in my opinion (for whatever little that may be worth), this story really raised the bar (to truly Celestial heights!) for fantasy writing, so it seriously deserves to be spread far and wide!

Justin

 

[Stephen Pasek]

Hi Stephen!

I know there is at least one set of PDFs around of the story, but I agree that the Tales of Wyre and Beyond that Jim, Jim's wife (I'm so sorry I don't know her name; was it ever mentioned?), Mark, Danny, Dave, Rob, and Helen, and any others of whom I may be unaware, have created over at least the past 20 years is some of the best fantasy writing in the history of humanity and, as such, deserves much wider recognition. That said, it's quite likely that a combination of burnout suffered by Jim et al. along with WotC's intellectual property could very well be limiting mainstream publication.

That all said, unless publication of a series of novels is actually theoretically and practically possible, I think a wiki would be the next most-likely reasonable platform for both the story and its "crunchy" bits. I manage several large fantasy-related MediaWiki wikis in my professional work (possibly the largest outside of Wikipedia and its related sites), so I'd be happy to help there if such help would be useful to you and/or anyone else willing to contribute time, effort, and/or resources to such a goal.

This is just my two cents and I hope others respond to your message as well. To be frank, in my opinion (for whatever little that may be worth), this story really raised the bar (to truly Celestial heights!) for fantasy writing, so it seriously deserves to be spread far and wide!

Justin

Hi Justin,
I used the PDF files of the posts to create these word files. The reason I'm doing this is to format it into a more printable document for people to print their own copy if they wish. I'd love to hold these in my had while reading them instead of just on a screen. I'm looking for input on how to make it look nice when printed and read. If new readers decide to pick it up by borrowing a physical copy, I want them to think this was professionally done. Something like this GitHub - t3db0t/unsong-printable-book: A completely ready-to-print copy of "Unsong" by Scott Alexander.