Negative feedback on Almea?

[Dewrad]

also, how can you say "to our knowledge they cant transport people through space"??? clearly they did.

When?

Wat Porridgeton, perhaps? But surely that was inter-dimensional transport rather than space transport?

[brandrinn]

also, how can you say "to our knowledge they cant transport people through space"??? clearly they did.

When?

when the "Elenicoi" were transported to Erenat. the historical atlas doesnt specifically say this was done by a wizard, but in the Virtual Verduria section "getting there," it suggests you ask a wizard to send you from Earth to Verduria, citing the example of the Elenicoi. this gives the impression that a talented Verdurian wizard can (unreliably) transport people from Earth to Veruduria. if they can do this, i find it hard to believe that they cant do anything less fantastic but more historically important.

but i feel that this discussion is rather pointless and nit-picky, and i dont feel like being the "anal retentive" that everybody takes turns yelling at, so im just going to drop it. Almean magic is fine as far as i care. and as fantasy settings go, it was head and shoulders above the rest to begin with.

[Shm Jay]

Almean magic is fine as far as i care. and as fantasy settings go, it was head and shoulders above the rest to begin with.

And if you didn?t say that, you?d have suddenly found yourself in Leru Leru or Murtany-land.

I figure that teleportation and other magic is just so difficult and exhausting that it?s impractical, rather like the transmutation of elements is in our world, and so wizards would be unwilling to do it for anybody.

[zompist]

When?

when the "Elenicoi" were transported to Erenat. the historical atlas doesnt specifically say this was done by a wizard, but in the Virtual Verduria section "getting there," it suggests you ask a wizard to send you from Earth to Verduria, citing the example of the Elenicoi. this gives the impression that a talented Verdurian wizard can (unreliably) transport people from Earth to Veruduria.

Sigh... it says that the Elenicoi were transported by miracle, not by magic; the one example of magical transport is specifically pointed out as undesired and unreliable. This really isn't even nitpicking; it's drawing huge conclusions from something that isn't there.

[Glenn]

when the "Elenicoi" were transported to Erenat. the historical atlas doesnt specifically say this was done by a wizard, but in the Virtual Verduria section "getting there," it suggests you ask a wizard to send you from Earth to Verduria, citing the example of the Elenicoi.

I hate to be nit-picky again for a moment, but I actually drew the opposite conclusion from the "Getting There" section of the Visitor's Guide to Verduria. Mark lists three distinct ways of getting to Almea: (1) miracle, (2) magic, and (3) improbaballistics (kudos, perhaps to the Infinite Improbability Drive?), and makes it clear that the arrival of the Elenicoi (the "Miracle of the Translation") is considered to be an example of the first, and not the second. As far as the Elenicoi and the Avelans were concerned, their arrival was a miracle of God, caused by no wizard or other mortal, and not expected or explainable by either side.

The one concrete example of transportation by wizardry is the case of Wat Porridgeton, which is clearly what Mark is thinking of in the post above, plus "unreliable" reports of others. (This is definitely a joke, although more than one person has speculated half-seriously about what became of poor Wat afterward... ) A third example, also fairly jocular, is the Verdurian Embassy in Sweden, which is another case of miracle, rather than magic: according to the article in So Sanno Leb?, the (Eledhe) Patriarch of Verduria is praying for God's intercession to transport the ambassador to Earth.

[End of nitpicking--my apologies! EDIT: And Mark beat me to it, anyway... ]

I admit that while I, too, found the inclusion of the Elenicoi a bit incongruous, like ils, I'm not too bothered by it--partly, perhaps, because I find it interesting to see what kind of Christianity might emerge in such a setting, and partly because (as I've said before) I think that the tale of the Elenicoi and their role in the Avelan revolution, if handled well, might make the basis for an excellent novel. I will say that it's one aspect of Almea that's consistently attracted the most comments and criticisms over time.*

[Incidentally, there is "an Almean cult that resembles Christianity", in the form of Cuzeian monotheism, and more especially Arashei, the religion that evolved from it; Almean Christianity is actually the result of the merging of Arashei with the early Christianity brought by the Elenicoi, and uses the holy scriptures of both faiths (both the Cuzeian Count of Years and the Christian New Testament), as well as the Book of Mihel, recounting the tale of the Elenicoi and their followers. (I wonder about the Book of Mihel, actually; since the Elenicoi arrived only 700 years ago, it's a much more recent work than the other "scriptures", and possibly a far more "historical" one.) Mind you, having such a Christianity-compatible religion on another world (with a Holy Trinity of sorts, no less), is almost as uncanny a coincidence... I'll be curious to see once Mark gets around to adding the section on Arashei to Religions of Almea.]

[*Likewise, I admit that there is much that I do not understand about magic in Almea (although I tend to use the description in the Cadhinorian Paganism section as a guideline), and that, as someone who has studied both Russian and French, the borrowings from both languages in Verdurian bothered me at first--less so now that I've had a chance to see the extent to which Mark has reshaped the grammar and lexicon compared to the original Earthly antecedents. Of course, the borrowings themselves are a reflection once again of Verduria's long-ago (and half-serious) D&D roots.]

And if you didn?t say that, you?d have suddenly found yourself in Leru Leru or Murtany-land.

Given the choice, I would much prefer Leru Leru; apart from the obvious reason (read: the murtani), I've long wanted to visit a tropical region for a change. Assuming that the locals are reasonably friendly, of course...

p@,
Glenn

[Space Dracula]

Instead of complaining about #almea, let's all help Spack, Radius, and others create a conworld aimed at avoiding dumb mistakes!

[brandrinn]

Instead of complaining about #almea, let's all help Spack, Radius, and others create a conworld aimed at avoiding dumb mistakes!

certainly. i'd rather create something positive than continue this pointless negativity. where is your project located?

[Mornche Geddick]

wizards pop up only when they are relevant to politics

Wizards don't come up much in the Atlas because wizards aren't very important in Almean historical geography. [snip] If I were posting more stories, you'd see more of the magical and spiritual elements.

Suppose the story of Tivuran was true. Suppose the young wizard really did save Zeir from the barbarian Horselords. It wouldn't necessarily make it into the Historical Atlas, because the Atlas is on a large timescale. We'd want "The Illustrious History of Zeir" or the "Life and Letters of His Noble Majesty Prince Nounes".

[doctrellor]

Instead of complaining about #almea, let's all help Spack, Radius, and others create a conworld aimed at avoiding dumb mistakes!

surewe'd help.. what help do ya need spacey?

and why would anybody complain about what Zomp has created here, I think Almea is great...

[Drakes]

Instead of complaining about #almea

Spack. #almea is the IRC channel, Almea is the conworld. Obviously you spend too much time in the former place, as does yours truly...

[brandrinn]

Instead of complaining about #almea

Spack. #almea is the IRC channel, Almea is the conworld. Obviously you spend too much time in the former place, as does yours truly...

i had a similar problem when i nearly refered to a certain city in northern Ertald as "Virtual Verduria."