Regarding the Sentinel Titans: the Boros try to activate them in the Dissention novel but are unsuccessful. IIRC, the guildmages speculate that the loss of one of the Titans (during the Golgari rampage in the first Ravnica novel) prevented the rest of them from working.
1) Was that a correct theory? Or was something else more sinister afoot?
2) What was the point of the Sentinel Titans? For getting talked about a bit, they ended up being pretty...worthless...
3) If they had been activated, could the Sentinel Titans have stopped the Nephilim? Or Kraj?
4) Was the destruction of the titan in the first Ravnica book coincidental or part of Szadek's giant scheme?
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So: the Parhelion exists in several dimensions at once, it takes the energy from each of those dimensions, and pits them against each other to generate enormous amounts of energy through some sort of clash - which it can then use to punch through more fully into alternate dimensions?
Yes. YES. IT! COULD! WORK!
That's pretty close to what I was clumsily trying to describe, but you got it across much better.
Cory: Considering the prevalence of cytoplasts in the Simic Combine during the timeline of the Ravnica novels, I was wondering what the guild was like before they were invented - how long ago was that and what was the guild like then?
I figured this, which is trumped by anything official that contradicts it (natch):
The Simic were always a guild of medicine, whether medicine men or (much, much later) medical doctors and researchers. In the pre-Guildpact days, they mingled with philosophers of Selesnya, cultivators of Golgari, and even the colleges that would eventually form the Izzet.
Ravnica has no real equivalent to the Hippocratic oath, and never did, but in the guild's earliest days the majority of Simic were focused on the healing arts and how carefully cultivated life forms could facilitate their efforts to cure the world. A few hundred outcasts had conducted horrible experiments here and there over the millennia, but nothing to alarm the earnest Simic healers, who had handed the culprits over to the Boros upon the discovery of their horrid doings. The Simic projected at least one percent of their guild's population would be driven mad by the pressures of the Guildpact, and that was about right.
Some of those mads, however, had already learned how to create synthetic copies of themselves so close to the real thing that they were able to stand in for the Simic scientist at the execution. A few centuries – or maybe millennia, I get those mixed up – later, they formed their own faction within the guild and used armies of homebrewed creatures (including thousands of cannon-fodder virusoids memorialized in one of the least-visited monuments in Central Ravnica). They took charge, in short, and have been in power in the guild ever since.
The Guildpact literally prevented the Simic from ending their duties as the medical providers of Ravnica, and the medical corps remained more or less untouched, except where certain manabiological and fungolectric enhancements that made these guildmembers more efficient were concerned.
The "modern" cytoplasts themselves are a relatively recent advance from the Simic, but they've been manipulating life since long before that.
Now for my own question; What happened to Ushanti's prophecy? It was all correct except for the part where she says "Only a power older than this world can stop him". All through 5D, I was waiting for Karn, Jeska, or even Kamahl to kill Memnarch. So did you forget, was ushanti lying, or in league with Memnarch? Why wasn't she a card? Or being the cliched "wronged one" in 5D, harrying Glissa right before the battle with Memnarch? Kind of like Pontifex in Darksteel Eye. I wanted Raksha to kill Ushanti sooooo much...
If memory serves, this was a reference to Karn, but did not necessarily imply Karn "killed" or would kill Memnarch -- just that Karn could stop him. She was not in league with K or M. (But I admit it's been a long time since I thought about it – that's just off the top of my head.)
As for Raksha killing her, I figure your heroic types don't usually go around whacking old ladies, no matter how mislead those old ladies might be or how half-crazy the heroic type is.
1) When the shadewalkers and Capobar meet Momir Vig, Vig mentions that the Rakdos were allowed a portion of the dragon cerebral fluid. Did the Rakdos know they were apart of this conspiracy, or did Vig just mastermind it?
I had in mind that the Rakdos knew they weren't getting all of it, but either didn't realize the scope of Vig's (or Augustin's) plan(s), or figured Rakdos would make all of those plans moot. Their main goal was using the fluid to make Rakdos not just awaken, but awaken in mega-super-doubleplus-powerful form.
2) Does Vig's race of elves have a name, by any chance? And are the ledev a race of elves, or just a name?
I could have sworn I wrote somewhere that he was originally Vedalken (I say "originally" because he's replaced a lot of the original parts), but if in the cards and elsewhere he's identified as an elf, then no, I didn't name that race of elves.
The Ledev are guardians of the roads and the Selesnya guild – many of them are Silhana elves, but not all of them.
3) When Feather reflects upon visiting Razia in the Agyrem, Razia constantly blames her for breaking the Guildpact and handing Szadek great power. But Feather repeatedly responds something along the lines of "I don't understand. (p. 135)" I don't understand, either. Is this related to the paradox of the arrest of Szadek? Was this the original reason that Feather was punished and sent to work with the 'jeks? (That can't be so because Feather was punished before the arrest, unless Razia predicted the future.) If not, then what? I believe I heard something about disobeying an order. Care to clarify?
I believe what I was going for here was that Feather had been 'demoted' in large part to prevent Szadek from ever gaining the power he wanted, but she had spent so much time among the humans, she was no longer thinking like an angel.
The ostensible reason for Feather's original demotion has yet to be explored, but I'd figured it was largely trumped-up with the sole goal of getting her stationed on the ground.
4) If Razia cloned all the angels, as Szadek implied, then how would you account for the Angel of Despairs and the Firemane Angel, which don't look anything like her.
The Angel of Despair is more or less explained in Guildpact (plug plug). The Firemane Angel looks to me like an angel in full battle dress – as far as I'm concerned, under the helmet that angel is the spitting image of the late Razia.
Also, monkeys.
5) Are Sunhome and Centerfort one and the same?
No – Sunhome is the Boros guildhall, Centerfort is the Wojek HQ. The Parhelion was once a detachable part of Sunhome.
I hope I didn't just contradict something I already wrote in the books or on this board. If anyone's got a better memory than me and I've already said otherwise, let me know.
6) Were Razia's remains ever found?
Not during the Ravnica trilogy, I believe.
7) Feather mentions that Agyrem remaining here has something to do with the quietmen coming back (p.312) Weren't the quietmen always around? And aren't the quietmen like any other guild's priests?
The quietmen are not like the other guild's priests – they're more like an all-purpose army of last resort for the Selesnya. They have more in common with a swarm of killer bees than with priests. When not called upon to fight, they served as personal guards, envoys, messengers, and servants to the Conclave.
You read DC Comics? Did you read the OMAC miniseries? Kind of like that.
Read Ravnica for more on why the quietmen were "shut down" for a while.
Fine stories all, but all they share with the stuff I wrote is the setting – those were done in-house at Wizards, far as I know. I don't believe they tie in directly.
[QUOTE] I think I noticed "cold snap" mentioned somewhere in the beginning of the novel. Cheap advertising?
That wasn't really my intention – at the time I wrote it I had no idea about Cold Snap. But if I had, yeah, that sure would have been cheap.
Regarding the Sentinel Titans: the Boros try to activate them in the Dissention novel but are unsuccessful. IIRC, the guildmages speculate that the loss of one of the Titans (during the Golgari rampage in the first Ravnica novel) prevented the rest of them from working.
1) Was that a correct theory? Or was something else more sinister afoot?
2) What was the point of the Sentinel Titans? For getting talked about a bit, they ended up being pretty...worthless...
3) If they had been activated, could the Sentinel Titans have stopped the Nephilim? Or Kraj?
4) Was the destruction of the titan in the first Ravnica book coincidental or part of Szadek's giant scheme?
1)The theory was close, what I had in mind was that the titans were also tied to the power of the angels in some mystical way, and with most of the angels dead or gone, the titans went on the fritz.
2)Indeed. A cautionary tale about relying on your flashy, overwhelming military might instead of dealing directly with a problem. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
3)Perhaps.
4)It was a lucky break Szadek was hoping to achieve, but wasn't taking as a given.
Cory, did you have any more background on how Fonn and Jarad's marriage fell apart? As two of my favourite characters from the story, I would have liked to see more of them - though it wouldn't have worked with time and space restraints, but I'm selfish that way :).
I could have (and, perhaps, should have) written an entire novel about just Fonn and Jarad. Their marriage was the victim of their divergent responsibilities and interests, for the most part. They improbably fell in love during an apocalyptic event, and when the menace and adventure was replaced with administration and return to duties, things turned a little sour over time. It wasn't just one thing, or infidelity or anything like that. I was trying to go more realistic here – that these two people had a relationship born out of danger, and it just slowly fell apart when the danger subsided. If Jarad had managed to escape his fate, they might even have rekindled things with the benefit of maturity and experience, but the living/undead thing might ultimately be too wide a river to cross.
Now that I think about it, that probably would have been a pretty depressing novel.
Ive got a question about ravnia cyle book 1. for the 1st chapter or so the book, isnt grabbing my attention. You explains so many things i realy cant grasp the concept, and because of this i realy ahvnt wanted to read the book. Does it get less confusing or does it stay like that? Cause if it simmers down ill definitly read it
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Upon taking up the sleeping habits of Keith Richards (Which involves sleeping upside down like a bat to gain immortality),the only people left after the apocalypse will be Me, Keith, cockroaches, and goths and emo's. Man, its going to be a long eternity.
Ive got a question about ravnia cyle book 1. for the 1st chapter or so the book, isnt grabbing my attention. You explains so many things i realy cant grasp the concept, and because of this i realy ahvnt wanted to read the book. Does it get less confusing or does it stay like that? Cause if it simmers down ill definitly read it
I can't guarantee it gets less confusing, though I would hope that it does and you'll give the rest of the book a go. If you still have specific questions after reading it - or if there's currently something I can help clarify about the opening without spoiling the rest of the book(s) for you - then ask away!
Yeah, when Fonn kissed Jarad I got the flash that one of them wasn't going to make it, but stubbornly went ahead in the hope they'd avoid fate. Ah, well. Oh, and I'd read that book, even if nobody else would. Out of all the characters aside from Kos, they seemed the most well-rounded - in that they didn't fit so tightly within the guild structure as many of the others, even someone like Teysa.
And on a side note, thanks for the kind words in the short story contest :).
You're welcome.
Fonn and Jarad and the way they didn't quite fit in the guild structure was intentional--it was a way to show the way the fracturing of the guildpact was freeing people (subconsciously) to pursue goals and interests outside their own guilds. Fonn pursuing her pop's legacy as a part-time Wojek, for example.
I have a question for you:
when you where creating the azorious senate did you drew any inspiration from The Celestial Hierarchy? i resently researched it and its similarities with the senate made me wonder if you had read this prior to writting the book and if you took any inspiration from it.
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Nice question. Do you think that if you could download them somewhere for free, they would bother to sell them in the shops, for money?
I do know where there are three Magic short stories that are online and have the blessing of the WotC book dept.
My first three Magic short stories, printed in the Guides to Urza's (Saga, Legacy, and Destiny) are downloadable in PDF versions from my website (www.willmcdermott.com).
Just go to my fiction page. I got permission from WotC to reprint them there as the original books are out of print.
I recently bought the Ravnica trilogy, and started reading the first book yesterday. I've been skimming through your responses and found this:
Quote from Cory_Herndon »
4. Ravnican humans age much more slowly...average life expectancy is about 130. So yeah, Kos looks about 50 or 55, but he's quite a bit older. The guy on the cover of the book *does* have gray hair.
I was kinda disappointed, because, while reading, I came to a very obvious conclusion: the size of the Ravnica planet and its orbit are simply smaller/shorter, respectively, than that of the Earth's, making the years there about half as big as our years. So in my mind I see Kos as a 50-something if he lived in Earth. Did that reasoning ever cross your mind?
I dont think Ravnica is even in an orbital plane though, is it? I thought most of the planes we we're visiting were too small to have anything orbiting anything else?
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Cyme we inne frið, fram the grip of deaþ to lif inne ðis smylte land.
This is a question from the Scott McGough thread, because like the last one you answered, this applies to professional authors in general. Thanks for your input on the last one though.
Another one, how do you come up with names for a Fantasy setting? I can't seem to do it.. I can try, but I haven't come up with many very good ones. Not enough good ones, at least.
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Getting the last word does not mean that you win the argument.
I have a question for you:
when you where creating the azorious senate did you drew any inspiration from The Celestial Hierarchy? i resently researched it and its similarities with the senate made me wonder if you had read this prior to writting the book and if you took any inspiration from it.
I suspect any direct links can be attributed to the divinely inspired names I got from Brady and the Magic folks. As for the structure of the hierarchy, I think it's more of a coincidence due to the fact that the Celestial Hierarchy itself was probably inspired by human organizations.
I recently bought the Ravnica trilogy, and started reading the first book yesterday. I've been skimming through your responses and found this:
Originally Posted by Cory_Herndon 4. Ravnican humans age much more slowly...average life expectancy is about 130. So yeah, Kos looks about 50 or 55, but he's quite a bit older. The guy on the cover of the book *does* have gray hair.
I was kinda disappointed, because, while reading, I came to a very obvious conclusion: the size of the Ravnica planet and its orbit are simply smaller/shorter, respectively, than that of the Earth's, making the years there about half as big as our years. So in my mind I see Kos as a 50-something if he lived in Earth. Did that reasoning ever cross your mind?
In fact it did, but that felt like a cop-out. Humans lived longer on Ravnica because of its many unique properties, not the least of which is the way it appears to be sealed off from the rest of the multiverse. The shorthand explanation I settled on, basically, was "there's a bunch of mana sealed in there with 'em. Makes you live longer. Next!"
I dont think Ravnica is even in an orbital plane though, is it? I thought most of the planes we we're visiting were too small to have anything orbiting anything else?
From the surface of Ravnica, one can see a sun, moon, stars, etc, so there appears to be a universe out there, but no one from Ravnica--with the possible exception of the angels or ancient beings lost to history--has ever zipped out there to see for sure.
This is a question from the Scott McGough thread, because like the last one you answered, this applies to professional authors in general. Thanks for your input on the last one though.
Originally Posted by Zyrakris Another one, how do you come up with names for a Fantasy setting? I can't seem to do it.. I can try, but I haven't come up with many very good ones. Not enough good ones, at least.
A good question, and one I've learned a lot of tricks for, both writing these books and working on video games. You can use other names from other languages that mean or evoke the name you want, and then tweak them slightly. There are a bazillion baby name websites out there with suggestions, and at least a half-bazillion sites that also cover surnames (which can also be good sources). There are name generators, too, though even when using those I stick like to tinker with them a bit. I did that kind of thing is all over Ravnica: I had a bunch of foreign language websites I would frequently use to concoct new names, but I didn't just stick with one language or the other.
Sometimes, though, you just keep sounding it out until you hit on something you like. That's how I ended up with Kos. The first name was the same for all versions of him--"Agrus" was inspired by the "Albus" in "Albus Dumbledore," to tell you the truth, and I just got attached to it--but his last name was going to be "Kozimervi" and he was going to go by "Merv." Then I tried Koz, but that was just too Quiet Riot somehow. Then Koss, and finally I hacked off the last S. My editor helped a lot with that.
I just assumed that Kos somewhat stood for Koz the Minotaur in the Dragonlance series in a lot of ways. In fact, that's often how I pictured him.
I really enjoyed all 3 books, Cory, and I can't wait to hear more about your next project. Your characters are eminently likable, and that is difficult to accomplish.
I just assumed that Kos somewhat stood for Koz the Minotaur in the Dragonlance series in a lot of ways. In fact, that's often how I pictured him.
I really enjoyed all 3 books, Cory, and I can't wait to hear more about your next project. Your characters are eminently likable, and that is difficult to accomplish.
Heh. I toyed with the name "Koz" for a bit, but I admit I haven't read any Dragonlance. My younger brother Rick is crazy about 'em. Good to know there's a similar-sounding name out there.
And thank you very much. You just made my morning.
First of all, allow me to wish you luck with writing the Lorwyn books.
Second: I am pretty active in the MTGS wiki, filling it with loads of data from the Ravnica and Kamigawa block. By rereading the books, a few questions about some things sprang up in my mind.
1) The fate of Obez Murzeddi. Considering that almost the whole ruling body of the Azorius Senate was completely obliterated by the Parhelion's explosion, and that Obez played a crucial role in the whole "saving-the-world" thing, combined with the fact that the new Azorius guildmaster gave Kos a permanent body as a gift , and a peculiar formulation of the words "he has chosen the name Leonos II" ... is it just me, or have you intended to hint slightly that the new Azorius guildmaster was in fact the heroic-against-own-will ectomancer?
The second one was about Helligan, but I have reread the books and found that Jarad helped to exterminate the lupul infiltration BEFORE Helligan was eaten by the lupul, not after. That explains why he is still working in the Tenth in 10012.
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First of all, allow me to wish you luck with writing the Lorwyn books.
Thanks! Allow me to wish you and several hundred thousand of your friends read them. Most of our royalties are going to pay for McGough's "Rolling Funk Machine of Funk" which is, I hear, quite pimped out. I wouldn't know for sure, he doesn't let me aboard when there's music playing, the swimming pool to be skimmed, and cocktails to be served to the guests. These li'l smokies don't put themselves on the toothpicks, know what I'm saying?
1) The fate of Obez Murzeddi. Considering that almost the whole ruling body of the Azorius Senate was completely obliterated by the Parhelion's explosion, and that Obez played a crucial role in the whole "saving-the-world" thing, combined with the fact that the new Azorius guildmaster gave Kos a permanent body as a gift , and a peculiar formulation of the words "he has chosen the name Leonos II" ... is it just me, or have you intended to hint slightly that the new Azorius guildmaster was in fact the heroic-against-own-will ectomancer?
Obez's fate is uncertain, but that's an interesting hypothesis.
The second one was about Helligan, but I have reread the books and found that Jarad helped to exterminate the lupul infiltration BEFORE Helligan was eaten by the lupul, not after. That explains why he is still working in the Tenth in 10012.
Btw, I have found another hidden gem for me (linguistically speaking), that eluded my attention during previous readings - Pivlic's fav drink is served with cibuli onion. Thanks for it, just like for the numerous others :).
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Btw, I have found another hidden gem for me (linguistically speaking), that eluded my attention during previous readings - Pivlic's fav drink is served with cibuli onion. Thanks for it, just like for the numerous others :).
Hey, you're welcome. And thanks for not pointing out that it's pretty much an "onion onion.":D
Hey man just wanted to ask, are you and Scott mcGough really going to be the authors of the Lorwyn books?
Anyway, which ones will be yours and which ones will be scott's? or will it be like the PC and the FS books which the authors work together writing one book?
Thanks man, great work during the ravnica block books. Loved Ravnica!
Amazon lists the first novel as being written by McGough and Herndon. I wonder if they get in pillow fights, of if their is a lot of diva-hating between the two.
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Hey man just wanted to ask, are you and Scott mcGough really going to be the authors of the Lorwyn books?
Anyway, which ones will be yours and which ones will be scott's? or will it be like the PC and the FS books which the authors work together writing one book?
Thanks man, great work during the ravnica block books. Loved Ravnica!
Thank you for the kind words. Lorwyn is going to be completely collaborative, from start to finish. We've just finished book 1 (it's in with the editor as I type this) and we're currently working on book 2. Without going into too much boring process stuff, we've been hashing out the entire story, then an outline, then we've been alternating chapters and revising each other's material. It seems to have resulted in a pretty seamless integration, but I'll let y'all be the judges of that.
It's fantastic working on a book with Scott--he and I have worked together in many different capacities over the years (mostly day jobs) but this is the first time we've collaborated on fiction, and with any luck, each of us is making the other write better. Again, you can judge for yourself in late August/early September.
Amazon lists the first novel as being written by McGough and Herndon. I wonder if they get in pillow fights, of if their is a lot of diva-hating between the two.
The thing is that I saw a thread which concerns Niv-mizzet's dissapearance in the rav novels.
I wanted to know, what did happen to him? Where the hell did he come from anyway? Did not see any dragon like beings in Ravnica block except for him. So how come this solitary Dragon aquired so many followers and had even made a guild all by his lonesome?
Just curious... if it really is a plotline of sorts then you can leave this question be....*Wink*
Regarding the Sentinel Titans: the Boros try to activate them in the Dissention novel but are unsuccessful. IIRC, the guildmages speculate that the loss of one of the Titans (during the Golgari rampage in the first Ravnica novel) prevented the rest of them from working.
1) Was that a correct theory? Or was something else more sinister afoot?
2) What was the point of the Sentinel Titans? For getting talked about a bit, they ended up being pretty...worthless...
3) If they had been activated, could the Sentinel Titans have stopped the Nephilim? Or Kraj?
4) Was the destruction of the titan in the first Ravnica book coincidental or part of Szadek's giant scheme?
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Nice question. Do you think that if you could download them somewhere for free, they would bother to sell them in the shops, for money?
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Yes. YES. IT! COULD! WORK!
That's pretty close to what I was clumsily trying to describe, but you got it across much better.
Also, magic.
I figured this, which is trumped by anything official that contradicts it (natch):
The Simic were always a guild of medicine, whether medicine men or (much, much later) medical doctors and researchers. In the pre-Guildpact days, they mingled with philosophers of Selesnya, cultivators of Golgari, and even the colleges that would eventually form the Izzet.
Ravnica has no real equivalent to the Hippocratic oath, and never did, but in the guild's earliest days the majority of Simic were focused on the healing arts and how carefully cultivated life forms could facilitate their efforts to cure the world. A few hundred outcasts had conducted horrible experiments here and there over the millennia, but nothing to alarm the earnest Simic healers, who had handed the culprits over to the Boros upon the discovery of their horrid doings. The Simic projected at least one percent of their guild's population would be driven mad by the pressures of the Guildpact, and that was about right.
Some of those mads, however, had already learned how to create synthetic copies of themselves so close to the real thing that they were able to stand in for the Simic scientist at the execution. A few centuries – or maybe millennia, I get those mixed up – later, they formed their own faction within the guild and used armies of homebrewed creatures (including thousands of cannon-fodder virusoids memorialized in one of the least-visited monuments in Central Ravnica). They took charge, in short, and have been in power in the guild ever since.
The Guildpact literally prevented the Simic from ending their duties as the medical providers of Ravnica, and the medical corps remained more or less untouched, except where certain manabiological and fungolectric enhancements that made these guildmembers more efficient were concerned.
The "modern" cytoplasts themselves are a relatively recent advance from the Simic, but they've been manipulating life since long before that.
If memory serves, this was a reference to Karn, but did not necessarily imply Karn "killed" or would kill Memnarch -- just that Karn could stop him. She was not in league with K or M. (But I admit it's been a long time since I thought about it – that's just off the top of my head.)
As for Raksha killing her, I figure your heroic types don't usually go around whacking old ladies, no matter how mislead those old ladies might be or how half-crazy the heroic type is.
Not that she wouldn't have had it coming.
Nope, I've just been lazy . . . lazy like a fox!
I had in mind that the Rakdos knew they weren't getting all of it, but either didn't realize the scope of Vig's (or Augustin's) plan(s), or figured Rakdos would make all of those plans moot. Their main goal was using the fluid to make Rakdos not just awaken, but awaken in mega-super-doubleplus-powerful form.
I could have sworn I wrote somewhere that he was originally Vedalken (I say "originally" because he's replaced a lot of the original parts), but if in the cards and elsewhere he's identified as an elf, then no, I didn't name that race of elves.
The Ledev are guardians of the roads and the Selesnya guild – many of them are Silhana elves, but not all of them.
I believe what I was going for here was that Feather had been 'demoted' in large part to prevent Szadek from ever gaining the power he wanted, but she had spent so much time among the humans, she was no longer thinking like an angel.
The ostensible reason for Feather's original demotion has yet to be explored, but I'd figured it was largely trumped-up with the sole goal of getting her stationed on the ground.
The Angel of Despair is more or less explained in Guildpact (plug plug). The Firemane Angel looks to me like an angel in full battle dress – as far as I'm concerned, under the helmet that angel is the spitting image of the late Razia.
Also, monkeys.
No – Sunhome is the Boros guildhall, Centerfort is the Wojek HQ. The Parhelion was once a detachable part of Sunhome.
I hope I didn't just contradict something I already wrote in the books or on this board. If anyone's got a better memory than me and I've already said otherwise, let me know.
Not during the Ravnica trilogy, I believe.
The quietmen are not like the other guild's priests – they're more like an all-purpose army of last resort for the Selesnya. They have more in common with a swarm of killer bees than with priests. When not called upon to fight, they served as personal guards, envoys, messengers, and servants to the Conclave.
You read DC Comics? Did you read the OMAC miniseries? Kind of like that.
Read Ravnica for more on why the quietmen were "shut down" for a while.
That wasn't really my intention – at the time I wrote it I had no idea about Cold Snap. But if I had, yeah, that sure would have been cheap.
1) The theory was close, what I had in mind was that the titans were also tied to the power of the angels in some mystical way, and with most of the angels dead or gone, the titans went on the fritz.
2) Indeed. A cautionary tale about relying on your flashy, overwhelming military might instead of dealing directly with a problem. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
3) Perhaps.
4) It was a lucky break Szadek was hoping to achieve, but wasn't taking as a given.
I could have (and, perhaps, should have) written an entire novel about just Fonn and Jarad. Their marriage was the victim of their divergent responsibilities and interests, for the most part. They improbably fell in love during an apocalyptic event, and when the menace and adventure was replaced with administration and return to duties, things turned a little sour over time. It wasn't just one thing, or infidelity or anything like that. I was trying to go more realistic here – that these two people had a relationship born out of danger, and it just slowly fell apart when the danger subsided. If Jarad had managed to escape his fate, they might even have rekindled things with the benefit of maturity and experience, but the living/undead thing might ultimately be too wide a river to cross.
Now that I think about it, that probably would have been a pretty depressing novel.
CJH
I can't guarantee it gets less confusing, though I would hope that it does and you'll give the rest of the book a go. If you still have specific questions after reading it - or if there's currently something I can help clarify about the opening without spoiling the rest of the book(s) for you - then ask away!
CJH
You're welcome.
Fonn and Jarad and the way they didn't quite fit in the guild structure was intentional--it was a way to show the way the fracturing of the guildpact was freeing people (subconsciously) to pursue goals and interests outside their own guilds. Fonn pursuing her pop's legacy as a part-time Wojek, for example.
CJH
when you where creating the azorious senate did you drew any inspiration from The Celestial Hierarchy? i resently researched it and its similarities with the senate made me wonder if you had read this prior to writting the book and if you took any inspiration from it.
I do know where there are three Magic short stories that are online and have the blessing of the WotC book dept.
My first three Magic short stories, printed in the Guides to Urza's (Saga, Legacy, and Destiny) are downloadable in PDF versions from my website (www.willmcdermott.com).
Just go to my fiction page. I got permission from WotC to reprint them there as the original books are out of print.
Enjoy.
Will
I recently bought the Ravnica trilogy, and started reading the first book yesterday. I've been skimming through your responses and found this:
I was kinda disappointed, because, while reading, I came to a very obvious conclusion: the size of the Ravnica planet and its orbit are simply smaller/shorter, respectively, than that of the Earth's, making the years there about half as big as our years. So in my mind I see Kos as a 50-something if he lived in Earth. Did that reasoning ever cross your mind?
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It's a rather fun toy to play with. Good luck and have fun!
I suspect any direct links can be attributed to the divinely inspired names I got from Brady and the Magic folks. As for the structure of the hierarchy, I think it's more of a coincidence due to the fact that the Celestial Hierarchy itself was probably inspired by human organizations.
In fact it did, but that felt like a cop-out. Humans lived longer on Ravnica because of its many unique properties, not the least of which is the way it appears to be sealed off from the rest of the multiverse. The shorthand explanation I settled on, basically, was "there's a bunch of mana sealed in there with 'em. Makes you live longer. Next!"
From the surface of Ravnica, one can see a sun, moon, stars, etc, so there appears to be a universe out there, but no one from Ravnica--with the possible exception of the angels or ancient beings lost to history--has ever zipped out there to see for sure.
A good question, and one I've learned a lot of tricks for, both writing these books and working on video games. You can use other names from other languages that mean or evoke the name you want, and then tweak them slightly. There are a bazillion baby name websites out there with suggestions, and at least a half-bazillion sites that also cover surnames (which can also be good sources). There are name generators, too, though even when using those I stick like to tinker with them a bit. I did that kind of thing is all over Ravnica: I had a bunch of foreign language websites I would frequently use to concoct new names, but I didn't just stick with one language or the other.
Sometimes, though, you just keep sounding it out until you hit on something you like. That's how I ended up with Kos. The first name was the same for all versions of him--"Agrus" was inspired by the "Albus" in "Albus Dumbledore," to tell you the truth, and I just got attached to it--but his last name was going to be "Kozimervi" and he was going to go by "Merv." Then I tried Koz, but that was just too Quiet Riot somehow. Then Koss, and finally I hacked off the last S. My editor helped a lot with that.
Good thing no one else has ever used that name.
Ah, well, I like it anyway. There's enough "Kos" to go around for everyone, I figure.
CJH
I really enjoyed all 3 books, Cory, and I can't wait to hear more about your next project. Your characters are eminently likable, and that is difficult to accomplish.
Heh. I toyed with the name "Koz" for a bit, but I admit I haven't read any Dragonlance. My younger brother Rick is crazy about 'em. Good to know there's a similar-sounding name out there.
And thank you very much. You just made my morning.
CJH
First of all, allow me to wish you luck with writing the Lorwyn books.
Second: I am pretty active in the MTGS wiki, filling it with loads of data from the Ravnica and Kamigawa block. By rereading the books, a few questions about some things sprang up in my mind.
1) The fate of Obez Murzeddi. Considering that almost the whole ruling body of the Azorius Senate was completely obliterated by the Parhelion's explosion, and that Obez played a crucial role in the whole "saving-the-world" thing, combined with the fact that the new Azorius guildmaster gave Kos a permanent body as a gift , and a peculiar formulation of the words "he has chosen the name Leonos II" ... is it just me, or have you intended to hint slightly that the new Azorius guildmaster was in fact the heroic-against-own-will ectomancer?
The second one was about Helligan, but I have reread the books and found that Jarad helped to exterminate the lupul infiltration BEFORE Helligan was eaten by the lupul, not after. That explains why he is still working in the Tenth in 10012.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
As someone who also contributes regularly to the wiki, allow me to say that your work is not going unnoticed and under appreciated.
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Thanks! Allow me to wish you and several hundred thousand of your friends read them. Most of our royalties are going to pay for McGough's "Rolling Funk Machine of Funk" which is, I hear, quite pimped out. I wouldn't know for sure, he doesn't let me aboard when there's music playing, the swimming pool to be skimmed, and cocktails to be served to the guests. These li'l smokies don't put themselves on the toothpicks, know what I'm saying?
Obez's fate is uncertain, but that's an interesting hypothesis.
Yeah, Helligan's slippery. And wriggly.
CJH
Btw, I have found another hidden gem for me (linguistically speaking), that eluded my attention during previous readings - Pivlic's fav drink is served with cibuli onion. Thanks for it, just like for the numerous others :).
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Hey, you're welcome. And thanks for not pointing out that it's pretty much an "onion onion.":D
CJH
Anyway, which ones will be yours and which ones will be scott's? or will it be like the PC and the FS books which the authors work together writing one book?
Thanks man, great work during the ravnica block books. Loved Ravnica!
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Thank you for the kind words. Lorwyn is going to be completely collaborative, from start to finish. We've just finished book 1 (it's in with the editor as I type this) and we're currently working on book 2. Without going into too much boring process stuff, we've been hashing out the entire story, then an outline, then we've been alternating chapters and revising each other's material. It seems to have resulted in a pretty seamless integration, but I'll let y'all be the judges of that.
It's fantastic working on a book with Scott--he and I have worked together in many different capacities over the years (mostly day jobs) but this is the first time we've collaborated on fiction, and with any luck, each of us is making the other write better. Again, you can judge for yourself in late August/early September.
Did you see Borat?
'Nuff said.
CJH
I wanted to know, what did happen to him? Where the hell did he come from anyway? Did not see any dragon like beings in Ravnica block except for him. So how come this solitary Dragon aquired so many followers and had even made a guild all by his lonesome?
Just curious... if it really is a plotline of sorts then you can leave this question be....*Wink*
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