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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8002441" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>As others have alluded to, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nergal" target="_blank">Nergal</a> is from real-world mythology. I can only assume that Ed Greenwood had a chuckle using that character, and perhaps when writing most of this book (which I admit I haven't read), since one of his early claims to fame were the incredibly popular "Nine Hells" articles in <em>Dragon</em> magazine issues #75 and #76 (July and August, 1983). Nergal was among the devils that were named and given stats in those articles (issue #75). So this is really Ed dusting off some of his old notes.</p><p></p><p>I seem to recall some of the Planescape aficionados being rather upset at this novel, since they said (if I recall correctly) that [spoiler]Mystra herself shows up at one point, blasting her way through Hell to try and forcibly rescue Elminster[/spoiler] with no subsequent consequences for it. While the book apparently touches on this, the fact that there are no repercussions irked them, since the whole issue of "planar politics" is a big thing among their camp (which I'm sympathetic to); having a major power make such a blatant move against another major power (i.e. Hell) should have (to hear them tell it) resulted in some sort of infernal indemnity being demanded.</p><p></p><p>It's worth noting that Elminster ends up in Hell in the first place due to basically throwing himself into a planar rift in order to seal it. More specifically, we see this happen in the <em>Return of the Archwizards</em> trilogy (though I can't recall precisely which book). That's actually where the basis for this book comes from. Given how that trilogy was written by Troy Denning, I'm honestly curious how the real-world planning for this went. Did WotC mandate that Troy have that happen in his novels, and then told Ed "so we've figured out the premise for your next book"? Or did it happen more organically? I honestly don't know, but it's interesting to consider.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8002441, member: 8461"] As others have alluded to, [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nergal']Nergal[/URL] is from real-world mythology. I can only assume that Ed Greenwood had a chuckle using that character, and perhaps when writing most of this book (which I admit I haven't read), since one of his early claims to fame were the incredibly popular "Nine Hells" articles in [I]Dragon[/I] magazine issues #75 and #76 (July and August, 1983). Nergal was among the devils that were named and given stats in those articles (issue #75). So this is really Ed dusting off some of his old notes. I seem to recall some of the Planescape aficionados being rather upset at this novel, since they said (if I recall correctly) that [spoiler]Mystra herself shows up at one point, blasting her way through Hell to try and forcibly rescue Elminster[/spoiler] with no subsequent consequences for it. While the book apparently touches on this, the fact that there are no repercussions irked them, since the whole issue of "planar politics" is a big thing among their camp (which I'm sympathetic to); having a major power make such a blatant move against another major power (i.e. Hell) should have (to hear them tell it) resulted in some sort of infernal indemnity being demanded. It's worth noting that Elminster ends up in Hell in the first place due to basically throwing himself into a planar rift in order to seal it. More specifically, we see this happen in the [I]Return of the Archwizards[/I] trilogy (though I can't recall precisely which book). That's actually where the basis for this book comes from. Given how that trilogy was written by Troy Denning, I'm honestly curious how the real-world planning for this went. Did WotC mandate that Troy have that happen in his novels, and then told Ed "so we've figured out the premise for your next book"? Or did it happen more organically? I honestly don't know, but it's interesting to consider. [/QUOTE]
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