[Scoop?] Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead, from WotC

[frankthedm]

*It might be interesting to get a little info on what is actually supposed to be happening to a creature when it becomes undead (i.e. the soul, an anima, the concious mind).

Manual of the planes 3.0 indicates that the souls of those who become udead do not go to the afterlife at death, even when a DM customizes the cosmology.

In the petioniner entry it states the original souls MAY go to the afterlife.

 

[DM_Matt]

They should use an undead language, then. Maybe Hebrew -- wasn't it a dead language before the creation of the state of Israel, and its adoption as the official language?

Sort of. It was always preserved for use in prayer and in reading holy books, but until the 19th century is was (in Europe at least) considered a holy language only to be used for religious purposes, with Jews speaking Yiddish and/or the language of the country they lived in as their main spoken language. Then a Lithuanian named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda decided to update Hebrew for modern use and began a movement to speak it. His intent was to create a universal language that Jewsw throughought europe could speak. His actions came right on the heels of the early Zionist movement, and he moved to what would eventually be caled Israel, where his language was both needed (since Jews in Israel came from so many different places) and ideologically appropriate (Since the point of the Zionist movement was to return to their ancient homeland, why not their ancient language too?), it cought on and became one of the official languages there (Arabic is also an official language of Israel).

 

[tarchon]

They should use an undead language, then. Maybe Hebrew -- wasn't it a dead language before the creation of the state of Israel, and its adoption as the official language?

I was going to say that, but I thought better of it. "Cornish" is probably less likely to offend people .

 

[EricNoah]

Update:

The new issue of Dragon confirms that this book is coming out in October 2004, and it will be a Draconomicon-style book for undead.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Update:

The new issue of Dragon confirms that this book is coming out in October 2004, and it will be a Draconomicon-style book for undead.

I saw that, hopefully it will be as pretty as the Draco book, as pretty as the shambling dead can be.

 

[ivocaliban]

Could be the second best thing after the Necrotelecomnicon (which tells you how to call the dead)

What about the Necrotelemarketercomnicon? In which the dead call you offering a free haunting if you'll only invest in pristine ocean-front property conveniently located in the Fugue Plane?

 

[anointedshroud]

Okay, I don't know if this is way too late. It's been several years, but I stumbled upon this, and had to respond, having taken four years of Latin, and owning the book. I don't believe it's a typo or mistranslation at all, and if my memory serves me correct, the book addresses it. Anyway, it's definitely the ablative case with an understood "a / ab" or "e / ex" preposition. This is very common in Latin poetry, and it translates as "From the Books of the Dead." I hope this helps some people, and I wish I had been a member of the forums during the time of the discussion.

 

[GAAAHHH]

Thread Necromancy!!! How appropriate is that?

 

[Echohawk]

There's something delightfully ironic about this particular thread being brought back to life

 

[Le Noir Faineant]

I'd say it' still an error, especially since incorrect latin has been one of D&D'S trademarks since the very beginnings of gaming...

IF it makes sense, it's surely pure coincidence.