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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6253039" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 356: June 2007part 4/6Core beliefs: Hextor. Since our last deity profiled was Heironious, it's only fair that his villainous half-brother is next on the list. It gives them a good chance to look over the same events, from a different perspective, see how the two different clergies relate and distort the same mythical events. Unsurprisingly, he'd like to present himself as equal, if not superior to his brother, and say that he chose evil from a position of strength. But since much of his power is granted by the mysterious "lords of evil", that claim seems a little specious. And that makes his Might makes Right doctrine seem slightly pathetic, and borne from inner insecurity. It'll be a pleasure to kick his ass. Evil is most competent when it isn't rooted in self-delusion, merely exploiting the delusions and desires of others. If he doesn't watch out, Vecna or Iuz may well take his place as the most proactive threats to good on Oerth. Still, he has managed to replace Erythnul and become lead god of a country, so he's hardly a slouch. But this does feel a little like one done out of obligation, and the most interesting parts have been my own ramblings. Just one more to go then. Let's hope it's a good one. Fiction: Confession by Paul S Kemp. It's been a full year since the last bit of fiction in the magazine, easily the longest gap in their history. While they have included more setting material in their articles in the past couple of years, it still doesn't make up for actual stories. Well, for the first time in far too long we have one which isn't tied into their existing settings, although the terminology feels very Realmsian. (which makes sense given the number of novels the author's written there. ) The story structure is quite nonstandard though, a collection of somewhat contradictory vignettes that represent the diary entries of someone with distorting memories and a serious case of demonic possession. It's the sheer uncertainty that makes this a better cautionary tale than any obvious PSA, because once they start messing with your mind, you can't trust anything at all. So it's far better not to start, as you never know if you've truly escaped, or hell is watching, whispering and waiting to drag you back in. So as a sendoff to their fiction department, this is actually a pretty decent one, showing the experimentalism of the old days. It's a definite shame that this is another thing that won't survive the transition to the electronic issues. Fare thee well, the many authors of the past. You'll have to get your start somewhere else in the future. The ecology of the linnorm: Hmm. Looks like dragon variants are just pulling ahead from beholder ones at last, thanks to another birthday appropriate ecology. Introduced in the magazine 15 years ago, our norse engines of destruction make the standard chromatic variants of dragons look decidedly like the lesser evil. Longer lived, poisonous, more randomly destructive, and decidedly less likely to negotiate in good faith for mutual benefit, It's the old conflict between tyranny and annihilation. Fun little business, having to hold your nose and deal with people who you've engaged in repeated life or death struggles with to save an entire world. Course, this is another ecology that tries to tackle a whole range of creatures, including some that haven't been converted to 3rd edition, so again, it splits it's focus a little too much. It does try to make up for that by converting the sea linnorm instead of giving an advanced statblock for a change, but like a few others, it's too busy reiterating the basics to really advance the creature much further. Even as 3rd edition is drawing to a close, there's still big chunks of the last two editions that have never really been converted. Such is the loss from releasing fewer books, and also not running for as long between changeovers.</blockquote>

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