Sunday, October 09, 2005
Reader Mail 6 - Wulfyna
10/09/2005
I must comend you on the page you have created. The critique of the Obsidian Tower was quite..humorous. I must say that your views echo my own. I have yet to meet someone that views the Dhe’nar as such. Thank you for speaking and bringing it to light. And on a side note, the E-Mail from.. the transformer was it? was very..enjoyable. Such idiocity is what truly makes me laugh about the Tower’s views..It is their way or you are a not a Dhe’nar. I do nae see how they can say what they do if the offical is so opposite. Again I thank you for speaking of what the Dhe’nar I know believe, it is a breath of fresh air to me.
Wulfyna’s player
Dhe’nar Rogue of SolHaven
Reader Mail 4
10/09/2005
Just read most of your website about the Dhe’nar and I must commend you for your wit and insight. Since I’d not much interacted with Dhe’nar players in the game I had little reason to read their history until it became official. I’m still a bit surprised by the melodrama presented in the Obsidian Tower history. It’s like every other dark elf history in existence…
It’s good that someone like you came along and pointed this out, without unnecessary crudeness.
Reader Mail 5 - Former Player
10/09/2005
Greetings.
As a former player of GemStone III and someone who played a role in the creation and promotion of the Dhe’nar race, I was surprised and overjoyed to read your contributions.
I have been out of touch with GemStone for many years now, but the fact that this element continues to live and grow is good to see.
I found your writing to be insightful and quite close to the orignal mark.
I might suggest that you consider the question of whether the Dhe’nar were conceived as a model of success or failure. Its a subject I haven’t yet seen answered, but I guess from your writings you have ideas.
Cheers,
An old thief.
Reader Mail 3 - Havelok
10/09/2005
I dont really have time to write all that i want to as i have a lecture to go to, but here goes.
Your critique was pretty much genious, i red the obsidian tower notes before i found your page and i wasnt much impressed with their poorly thought out history.
Two points really
1. I admire your critique for its comical value...never have i read such a witty set of comments.
2. Anyone familiar with Games Workshop and their race the dark eldar will know what im talkin about. The obsidian tower Dhe’nar seem to be moulded on these sadistic gits. The GW versions do have all these lethal rites and huge slave populations. I think what went wrong with that pile of crap the obsidian guys wrote is that they tried to mesh the GW Dark Eldar with the Simutronics Dhe’nar.
Hell that was never gonna happen. I may write a more coherent e-mail at a later date..gotta run to a lecture
Havelok’s player
Dhe’nar Dark Elf Ranger
Reader Mail 2 - Obsidian Tower Zealot
10/09/2005
Here’s an interesting email I received from a Mr. “Kaos Decepticons”. Now, I hadn’t received email from Transformers before, and the letter wasn’t particularly enthralling, but I felt there were some points buried in its tangled mass that I should respond to.
I present the original letter to you, the reader, in its original format, so that you may have the pleasure of reading it as I did, before I list my response.
“After reading you “Critique” on the Dhe’nar background i figured i would send you this cause i am not sure if you really know what you are talking about here. You go over all sorts of things that you call inconsistencies, which of course they may be. I am just wondering if you know that the majority of the documentation if not all, was created by the play Lord Celtic. And if you realize that he was the sole creator of the Dhe’nar race. And if you realize that he gave simutronics the rights for for the race. That being the case, how can you bash on it? It may be inconsistent, but it is the core, and only true documentation that defines the Dhe’nar race as what it is. If you want to argue against that you may as well just tell everyone that you believe that the Dhe’nar are nothing but a race and culture of a silly idea. And being a race and culture of a silly idea, i guess then even though we see them wandering around the lands that they don’t really exist? Just figments of our imagination perhaps. And any Dhe’nar who plays that way atleast is doing something somewhat right. As opposed to all the, and i mean this in the most literal way, morrons out there who pick the Dhe’nar culture upon character generation without first knowing anything about what they are choosing. And before you rule me out as some childish whiner because i stooped as low as to call somone a name, you should know that I use it cause i feel it is the only thing fitting for someone who makes a decision such as that. I have zero tolerance for people who make choices based on something they know absolutely nothing about. And as Lord Celtic put it himself, the Dhe’nar are not a race for everyone. It takes strong roleplaying to play one properly. And if you don’t like the way they are portrayed then you shouldn’t be playing one to begin with. And if your are anyway, then it is your fault for choosing to do so and the only person you have to blame is yourself.”
It is very unfortunate that all my correspondence with Obsidian Tower members has been of this tone. I had originally planned to approach them to propose some contributions for the Dhe’nar cultural writeup and a joint effort in making their version fit the new official writeup, but the unending hostility and “roleplay police” attitude butchered that idea before it even got off the ground.
Anyway, on to my response.
“You go over all sorts of things that you call inconsistencies, which of course they may be.”
The things I call inconsistencies are, in fact, inconsistencies. I explain why very clearly in my critique, if you would bother to read it.
“ I am just wondering if you know that the majority of the documentation if not all, was created by the play Lord Celtic.”
Yes. And? Since his is not the word of God, I don’t believe that makes his writings special in any way.
“And if you realize that he was the sole creator of the Dhe’nar race.”
The sole creator? Now, even assuming that nobody else has ever contributed to fleshing out the Dhe’nar culture (which isn’t true), being the only guy to do something doesn’t give that something any special significance.
“And if you realize that he gave simutronics the rights for for the race.”
How is this even relevant, aside from the fact that you shoot your argument in the foot right here. Since Simutronics has the rights to the Dhe’nar, it is their property, and therefore, only Dhe’nar information released in official Simutronics documentation is canon. Therefore, there is no obligation to toe the line of any unofficial source regarding Dhe’nar culture, and the Obsidian Tower is merely one of those unofficial sources now.
There are currently 4 versions of the Dhe’nar
1) The official one on the GemStone IV site
2) The Obsidian Tower one
3) The one on this site (which does not contradict anything in #1, and is merely an extrapolation on the official notes)
4) The one everyone else plays who either hasn’t read any of the official or unofficial versions, or doesn’t care about them.
“That being the case, how can you bash on it?”
Very easily. Heck, the Obsidian Tower Dhe’nar writeup doesn’t even mesh with the official documentation available on the official GemStone site.
Perhaps you should write to Simutronics to complain, rather than to me.
Oh, and since, as of this update, Lord Celtic has left the game and erased his Obsidian Tower website, your own logic demands that the Obsidian Tower be destroyed.
“It may be inconsistent, but it is the core, and only true documentation that defines the Dhe’nar race as what it is.”
Translation: Yeah, I know it doesn’t make sense, but we must obey it because it was first.
I guess we should reinstitute slavery in this country, too. Sure, it was a loathesome practice, but hey, it was traditional!
I realize that you are young, but eventually you will learn that just because a particular idea is “first”, does not mean that particular idea is “best.”
“If you want to argue against that you may as well just tell everyone that you believe that the Dhe’nar are nothing but a race and culture of a silly idea.”
Hey, you said it, not me.
“And being a race and culture of a silly idea, i guess then even though we see them wandering around the lands that they don’t really exist? Just figments of our imagination perhaps”
Umm… I suppose it would be a waste of time to ask if you honestly thought this sentence made any sense at all, because if you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t have written it. Let me try to piece together your logic here - You’re saying that by pointing out the inadequacies of the Obsidian Tower’s Dhe’nar writeup, I am also claiming that the Dhe’nar characters in the game also do not exist?
So, by your logic, if I claim that the movie “Starship Troopers” was an illogical pile of nonsense, then that is the same as claiming that the movie was never made?
Yeah. Oooookay…
“And any Dhe’nar who plays that way atleast is doing something somewhat right.”
You are aware that the whole point of my Dhe’nar site is a refutation of the notion that the Obsidian Tower way of roleplaying Dhe’nar is, in fact, NOT the ONE TRUE WAY© to roleplay Dhe’nar, correct?
“As opposed to all the, and i mean this in the most literal way, morrons”
If I may ask, what is the figurative usage of the term “morons”? Er, sorry, “morrons”.
“out there who pick the Dhe’nar culture upon character generation without first knowing anything about what they are choosing.”
That makes someone a moron? I’d say it makes them ignorant of the cultural specifics of their chosen race, but nothing else. And that problem is not limited to Dhe’nar - it happens with people who play every race available. Not everyone reads the official documentation before jumping in.
And just so you know, the official documentation is the stuff that is on this site: http://www.play.net/gs4/
If it’s not there, it’s not official.
“And before you rule me out as some childish whiner because i stooped as low as to call somone a name”
Oh, heaven forbid.
“you should know that I use it cause i feel it is the only thing fitting for someone who makes a decision such as that. I have zero tolerance for people who make choices based on something they know absolutely nothing about.”
I am deliberately choosing to not be very very mean right now.
“And as Lord Celtic put it himself, the Dhe’nar are not a race for everyone.”
Thank the gods. The game would be rather boring if everyone played the same race, wouldn’t it?
Actually, no it wouldn’t… The real world is only composed of one sentient race, and I find it much more interesting and complex than any game world I’ve ever played in. But, that’s a whole different subject.
“It takes strong roleplaying to play one properly.”
If by “properly” you mean “the Obsidian Tower way”, then no, you’re wrong. I roleplayed just like that when I made my first drow D&D character when I was 11. It wasn’t very hard. Honest.
“And if you don’t like the way they are portrayed then you shouldn’t be playing one to begin with. And if your are anyway, then it is your fault for choosing to do so and the only person you have to blame is yourself.”
You don’t really understand who you’re writing to, do you? Nor do you understand the point of my page, nor (as is obvious now) did you bother actually reading a single page of my site before emailing me. You looked long enough to see that I was making fun of your precious Obsidian Tower, and immediately fired out an email to cry foul, without bothering to look at my comments on the official cultural notes, my own cultural notes, and the detailed criticisms regarding the Obsidian Tower version. Well, here is my attempt to set you straight, young’n.
First of all, I do like the way they are portrayed - in the official documentation. That is why I am playing one.
I do not like the way they are portrayed by the Obsidian Tower, which is not represented in official documentation.
Therefore, I am not obligated to play the Dhe’nar like the Obsidian Tower does.
Of course it is my fault for choosing to play a Dhe’nar. Who else would be responsible for my decision? Are you trying to imply that I am unhappy with my Dhe’nar characters? Well, I’m not. I am quite fond of them. It’s just a certain little group of Dhe’nar that I have any problems with. It is unfortunate on the rare occasion that my character is tainted by an assumed association with that group, but such events are few and far between. I particularly enjoy seeing the ever increasing number of Dhe’nar characters who have no association with the Obsidian Tower whatsoever.
Honestly, it is primarily the OUT OF CHARACTER actions and attitudes of the Obsidian Tower Dhe’nar that I find reprehensible. In game, their antics are more easily ignored, the same way I ignore people who are talking about how cool The Matrix movies are in game, or are pretending they’re cat-people or little winged pixes, and other such encounters.
My Dhe’nar character’s background and personality contradicts absolutely NONE of the OFFICIAL documentation. Neither you nor any other Obsidian Tower member has any right whatsoever to claim jurisdiction over how Dhe’nar are roleplayed, until you begin to work for Simutronics and are given official control over Dhe’nar roleplay.
It is PRECISELY this insufferable attitude that prompted me to establish this site. Neither the founders of the Obsidian Tower, nor its members, have any authority to decide who is “true” Dhe’nar, and who isn’t. If you want to wield authority like that, squeeze out from behind your computer and join the military. Don’t try to power-trip over someone on the other side of a modem from you, because you have a roleplaying-game character who is “kewl”. That’s hardly an accomplishment of note.
Now don’t get me wrong - there’s nothing wrong with roleplaying. I’ve been roleplaying since I received the little red boxed Basic D&D set for my 10th birthday, over 20 years ago. But not once in all the time since did I try to wield authority amongst real people based on how kewl I thought my rpg characters were, or demand that my style of roleplaying a character be followed to the exclusion of all else. I imagine most roleplayers share with me that sense of perspective.
“Lord Celtic” and the rest of the Tower lost what little ability they had to determine “proper Dhe’nar roleplaying” when the Dhe’nar became an official Simutronics sub-race of Dark Elves and became a mechanical part of the character generation process, rather than just a tiny player-run group roleplaying with themselves. If you and the rest of your club don’t like it, buy Simutronics and change it.
Otherwise, too bad.
Oh, and good luck against the Autobots.
Reader Mail 1
10/09/2005
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 6:00
To:
Subject: Laugh, scream, stare in shock: additions to your Dhe’nar critique
After reading your critique, I noticed that there are a few more inconsistancies that weren’t mentioned. Anyway, Laugh, scream, stare in shock…
In the order of your own critique:
Dark Dwarves:
1. Yeah. Dhe’nar forced a bunch of dwarves to breed like rabbits. ::cue 70s electric keyboard:: I’d like to have seen that…
All I can say is… ew! From the movie Dungeon’s & Dragons: “What you got to do is get yourself a nice 250 pound dwarf with hair on her chin you can hang on to!”
2. The undercaverns of Sharath proved to be very fertile in not only stone but also a rare metallic substance called rolaren.
Dhe’nar get no credit for this. Rolaren is a metal created by the combination of vultite and mithril. Dwarves and Giantmen during their pact on Sunfist according to an NPC I once encountered created it. It was later made a little more vague and added to the play.net site
http://www.play.net/gs3/info/armory/materials.asp#Rolaren
3.A dark dwarf will play with its kill…
I suddenly think Cult of Andelas crossed with V’Tull butchery here…
Armor:
1. As with all things the Dhe’nar wear into battle, or use in a fight, their armor is constructed to be as inconspicuous as possible. No flashy ornamentation, no shining stones, simply runes and functionality.
Since when are runes functional and inconspicious? I would suggest enchanters marks would be more functional and inconspicuous, but that’s just me.
Headbands:
1. Dhe’nar are extremely proud of their headbands,
So’s Stallone. “Who are you?” “Your worst nightmare...”
Eh’lah:
1. As they walked, weary and ready to see their families again..
Wait, I thought they don’t know anything about family life, being yanked from their homes at an early age...Heck, I’d KEEP walking since they’d most likely kill me in the morning.
2. ..someone like Dhrakyn Ta’Nhilmon becomes Nhilmon, with the prefix dropped.
Or, just call him Lizard.
3. Priestesses begin keening, wailing with their voices pitched high in mourning, to sorrow again for the loss of Sharath.
Banshee practice.
4. Very similar to the real-life technique of rolfing
http://www.rolf.org/ Learn something new everyday..
5. Thus, they have no dark dwarf population, although their ratio of human and giantman slaves is higher.
There were no giants in the Southron Wastes until after the Battle at Maelshyve. The giants were only two clans then, and both were on the Dragonspine. It wasn’t until the Battle of Maelshyve that the Grot’Karesh formed, 30 THOUSAND years later and entered the Southron Wastes to create their fortress city. Humans on the other hand.. were everywhere.
6. (A common phrase used by Dhe’nar women advising another female on how to rid oneself of an unwanted suitor is, “Tell him to go kiss a nhil’mon.")
I bet Dhrakyn Ta’Nhilmon had a LOT of luck with the ladies..
7. The nhil’mon is respected and protected in Eh’lah.
Except when they’re being killed to prove half a dozen points to any number of people at any given time.
Skin Color:
1. Most commonly, Dhe’nar have dark to black skin complimented by silver or white hair.
FEAR ME, I am DROW!
2. The Dhe’nar village of Eh’lah is nearly filled with pale skinned, dark haired elves.
All those sylvan love slaves…
Terasian Craps:
1. What other games do they play? Castration Poker? Defenestration Tiddlywinks?
Wheel of Slavery… Spin the Wheel, serve the Tower. Let us trick you into playing this game so you can be a slave too!
Priesthood:
1. [What are the fake branches?] Bards, heh. Do YOU know any Dhe’nari bards?
2. That the Dhe’nar priesthood are masters of pain and pleasure, and that all priestess and priests are masters of seduction is no myth.
Lessons learned from Mularos and Ivas..
3. A sh’arom is an entirely magical creature. Rumor has them being bred by the Dhe’nar before the great cataclysm as a hunting beast.
So now that they don’t breed them, and while they refused to check on Sharath.. what did the priesthood test on in Eh’lah?
4. Perhaps the final cut for the Dhe’nar priesthood is made among the acolytes themselves as they betray and destroy each other in an attempt to accomplish what would well seem impossible.
Taken straight out of the Drow culture of the Underdark..Or a teenage highschool clique...soap opera maybe? Damn that political scheming!
5. Only the strongest and most dedicated make it through the conditioning, and even fewer survive with their sanity intact.
That certainly explains things.
6. Recited constantly in the minds of the students are the ancient phrases of the Warlock: “Power is Everything” “Emotion betrays Truth” “Truth is Knowledge” “Knowledge is Power” “Power creates Magic” “Magic creates Truth” “Truth is Knowledge” “Knowledge is Power” “Power is Everything”....
Now they sound like followers of Fash’lo’nae..
7. Written documentation is forbidden in Sharath, its practice taboo to all but the Priest and the Warlock.
So a culture of ignorant people is the key to ascending? Brilliant.
8. One must have knowledge to have power, and possess power before one can use magic;
Trigon apparently used magic to gain power, and didn’t have the knowledge to do the last ritual correctly. Interesting too, is that Noi’sho’rah condemned the power-hungry ways of Korthyr Faendryl and his desire to enslave which is why they left in the first place… Apparently the Dhe’nar revere him for giving them an excuse to leave the elves, but still ended up becoming what Noi’sho’rah despised…
Warriors:
1. Dhe’nar warriors tend to be touchy, cocky, aloof and vicious.
That’s a trait applied to all elves and Empire humans.
2. The number of weapons is usually half the number of children present. Far from being an absolute blood frenzy, as one might expect, the ritual usually results in the intended warriors learning quickly that to survive, they must be smart and immediately band together, selecting amongst themselves those whom they would stand beside in combat.
So the kids form one big clique and take out the ones they don’t like. Sounds like a bad inner city school. My, Noi’sho’rah would be SO proud.
3. Some retreat from the field to the safety of hiding (and obscurity and worthlessness forever in Dhe’nar society), and some emerge bloodied but victorious, weapons in hand and comrades around. These children move on to the next part of their training. The young warriors spend their next fifteen years as slaves.
So they fight to the death to be enslaved, ridiculed and tormented for fifteen years? Heck, I think the ones that LEFT are the smart ones!
4. From the age of six on, they are given daily instruction in hand-to-hand combat, but are never allowed to touch weapons. That is a privilege they have not yet earned, and by the age of twelve
they hunger for it.
Whoa, hold on here.. so these kids are pitted like gangs against each other before they’re SIX years old?? Six is young for a human, but these are ELVES at.. six.. They’ve *already* been tested with weaponry, forming nursery school cliques apparently and killing those yukky kids with cooties...so what is all this nonsense about? Either this section needs to be put in a different order or scrapped altogether.
5. Many have risen to become great champions, sometimes chosen by empaths as their personal warriors..
Actually, it’s because the empaths need to get that learning in.. and who better to get injured a lot than a dark elf warrior trying to wield a claid?
Council:
1. The accused is considered guilty unless proven innocent.
Logical to reverse our own code of justice to enhance the view that the Dhe’nari culture have warped morals. Can’t prove that you DIDN’T see the pink bunny.. KILL HIM!
2. the young BladeWed are also taught to love their weapons.
So THAT’s why they have those Vibration Chant scrolls saved up…
3. BladeWed are given their personal weapon very early on, and though not yet sanctified, they are taught to woo it as a lover
So THAT’S what a pommel is for!
I could likely think of more, but I’m tired. I love the candor of analyzing the holes in the Dhe’nari ‘accepted’ views. Keep it up!