Dialects and terminology

[Krotha]

Is there any campaign book on Kara Tur, such as the "Shimmering south"or "the unapproachable east"??

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[Psilax]

Dialects can be a tricky business. It's hard to find that balance between a good distinctive dialectic voice for a character as opposed to becoming repetitive, and even mundane. One has to step back sometimes and ask themselves, "is the portrayal of this character translating for everyone else the way it does in my mind?"<br>
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Oh, and about the use of cantrip from this thread, I'm also finding it confusing and at times inappropriate. Sun Elf haughtiness is one thing, but Faelar doesn't really seem to use it in that haughty kind of way. He tends to use it with the same generally benevolent flair that he interacts with others with, and in that light especially it just seems out of place. A powerful spell, is a powerful spell, and it seems to me that even the Elven high mages of the Crown Wars era would have acknowledged that. Calling a spell that can kill you three times over a cantrip seems silly.

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[goatte]

Thanks, folks, for the feedback on 'cantrip.' I sat and thought about how I could retain Faelar's use of technical (magical) jargon, while being comprehensible. 'Cantrip' is out to be replaced with another word having the same meaning as spell, but with more authority/dignity. I poked around in an online thesauraus and found a synonym with Latin roots that conveyed more of Faelar's sense of the beauty of magic. The word 'spell' just seems too plain, while also having multiple meanings. This sort of word doesn't convey his 'gravitas.'<br>
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Faelar as benevolent? *looks thoughtful* I'm going to have to slip 'condescension' on the end of that statement more often in my RP. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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goatte (faelar)

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[Saxjamm]

Other words for spell that might sound haughty?<br>
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Hm.<br>
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Enchantment<br>
Hex<br>
Charm<br>
Curse<br>
Sorcery<br>
Conjuration<br>
Incantation<br>
Mantle (spell mantle, but take out the "spell" part)<br>
Witchcraft<br>
Wizardry<br>
Bewitchment<br>
Necromancy<br>
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Basically, instead of saying spells, why not simply label Faelars magical incantations based on what school of magic he is pulling from. If it's an illusionary spell, just call it an illusion. While in modern day speech, an illusion is associated with magicians using physical tricks to fool the eye, back in the day it could very well be more readily associated with magical powers.<br>
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If it is a protective spell, a mantle could work, although I know a spell mantle is a very different kind of "spell." <br>
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If its necromancy, call it that. If it is the filthy, pitiful attempts at magicks used by the bandit witches, bewitchment would be appropriate, or witchery. That sounds scathing enough, as Faelar scoffs at their repugnant lack of magical finesse and prowess. They study awful, barbaric tomes of witchcraft.<br>
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But wizardry. The elite. The great. <br>
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I don't know. That's the most I could think up and or look up in the thesaurus off hand. <br>
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And who's this Psilax character? Didn't we ban him yet? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :b --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":b"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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[goatte]

Thanks, Saxjamm. The word I chose is in that list. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> I may slip and type 'cantrip' once in a while. Habits are hard to break.<br>
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One thing I've noticed about the different Bioware spell schools is that sometimes what seems evocation (summoning energy) is listed as conjuration (summoning objects and creatures) and vice versa. Case in point, 'Shelgarn's persistent blade' is listed as evocation, while 'flame arrow' is listed as conjuration. I think with that sort of oddness, I'll avoid using schools, except for divination, since that's pretty straight forward.<br>
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goatte (faelar)

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[Percivilius]

Not to derail the thread, but I think that's how those spells are in PnP also. The flame arrow is a little weird, but I think it was done basically to give someone who's given up the evocation school a bit a half-a**ed fireball. The Shelgarn's makes a bit more sense, since it is a force effect and not an actual summoned dagger.<br>
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As mentioned by Vincent above, Bop uses Draconic usually when talking about magic. I see it as sort of like Latin was used by monks in medieval Europe. An ancient tongue that can unite learned people of diverse backgrounds, but can also be used to keep the laymen in the dark. I'll throw it into the middle of a sentence like - "I've been researching the (Draconic) burning hands (Common) spell." It's sometimes a little awkward so I hope this comes across and makes sense to people. When using draconic to convey ordinary, non-magical ideas I try to use only elemental cocepts and words. "River Vesper Landing" becomes simply "the Human City to the South". I can't imagine dragons would have a specific word for inn (but I could be wrong since they are usually full of tasty humans), so I would refer to it only as "the Building there". <br>
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Feedback? <br>
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Percivilius

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[TheRingBearer]

I don't know why, but for some reason I have this... issue with using default spell names for spells. Perhaps it is Simply because I like Boppin's style of the true name of a spell being Draconic. Thus if I wanted to say "Lesser Dispel", I would do so in Draconic... although I hate to so blantently steal such a cool thing <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rolleyes --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> But If I wished to speak about it in Common, I invented my own words for the dispell series; "To Unweave That which has been Woven". Which certainly sounds far more interesting and mysterious than a simple dispel magic. I also know that if Vincent was forced to describe his Sheild spell... he would be grudingly forced to call it his "bubble" for lack of a better descriptive term.<br>
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Although this is becoming more of a langage thing now... but I would think if someone placed a "proper" name into the middle of a sentence in another langange, other people could pick it up. Example: (Hin1) That Mike dude is such a bore with his books! (hin2) *giggles*<br>
Obivously Mike wouldn't have a clue what they said about him, just that his name came up. Allowing him to draw his own conclusions... Or maybie Im just wrong... but somehow I would think Proper Nouns do not get translated... Or perhaps they might, if it was like (made up example) "(common) Hi Calamo" became "(*insert langage here*) Hello sir who travels alone on mountaintop" in the orginal langage. *shrugs* I don't know.

<p>The_Ring-Bearer (EST)<br>
(Vincent Ap'ren Dista, Mat Bastoni, and Barliz Starlow)</p><i></i>