Celluloid Vampires and Then Some - Part 2

Ah... It HAS been a while, has it not? The first part of this post was waaaaay back here and even now I am skipping much-needed work hours to complete this but it was about bleedin' time!

Last time, we had left off with an introduction - well, rather a simple mention - to the TV series, "True Blood". In the interim, I have learned a few interesting things about the source material and have had time to digest my initial thoughts. But I digress...

"True Blood"'s first season premiered on September 7th, 2008 in the U.S. and the second on June 14th, 2009 . A third season has been scheduled and shooting is due to begin in early December 2009. The series kicks off by canceling a basic premise of most, if not all Vampire fiction: the element of secrecy. Our story takes place in a world where Vampires have made their presence officially known to humanity, on which they no longer need feed thanks to an artificial blood product created by Japanese scientists. Expectedly, some Vampires have embraced this change, others not, the textbook Catholic Right-Wingers have created the Church of Light in order to oppose acceptance of the Vampire existence, while the Vampires have created their own political party. Meanwhile, the first mixed marriages take place and homosexual weddings rapidly seem so "yesterday".


Interestingly enough, the series obviously takes place some time AFTER the initial global shock, so Vampires are semi-integrated into society, no more outcasts than other fringe minorities (are they one?) were in the 90s or still are today. Ergo, useless drama avoided. However, all that is just background.

Our story actually begins in Bon Temps ("Good Weather" or "Good Times" depending on how you translate), a small fictional Louisiana town, bearing all the distinctive marks of the "beautiful South" of novels of yore: those who stand for segregation, those who are well past concepts of the Civil War, Cajun, creole language, humidity, the bayous, time passing by in slow motion and drawn-out vowels. Incidentally, this most telling linguistic characteristic is one of the cultural strengths and marketing flaws (well, outside the U.S. as far as I know, but still) of the series. Many people have told me how much they hate the Southern American pronunciation and accent, as well as that, English not being their native language, they have to make use of subtitles to understand the characters at all, at times.


Truth be told, it's not really that bad, although even I had to go a bit back at times and replay a dialog scene. However, it doesn't annoy me: although both inside and outside the U.S. it's habitually called "the hillbilly accent", I believe it adds excellent color to the feel of the setting. Of course, that opinion may be biased, seeing as Poppy Z. Brite's "Lost Souls" is one of my favorite Vampire books and the American South one of my favorite settings for horror and/or detective stories ("Call of Cthulhu: Guide to New Orleans" is one of my priceless books).


At any rate, at the beginning and for most of the first season the story revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin (who also portrayed southern belle Rogue, of the X-Men), who is a waitress at Sam Merlotte's (pronounced "mur-low" and played by Sam Trammel) diner and is different from everyone else in only one significant way : she is telepathic and can hear everyone's thoughts in the vicinity, unless she closes her mind with great effort. Things are about to get a lot weirder for her when she falls for Vampire newcomer William Compton (played by Stephen Moyer), whose family had roots in Bon Temps since before the Civil War. As soon as Sookie decides that Bill is the one for her (firstly, because she cannot hear his thoughts, since he has no biological brain activity), she is dragged in a world of supernatural horror, intrigue, romance and lots and lots of sex.

Tara, both naive...

...and sexy!

I do not want to dwell on the story that much, since it is very well plotted and it would be a shame to spoil it, even by accident: season one is centered around a series of murders in and around Bon Temps, as well as Sookie's and the town's relationship with Bill Compton, while the second focuses much more on Tara, Sookie's best friend and one of the most gorgeous black women I have ever seen (portrayed excellently by Rutina Weasley), as well as the intrigues and politics between Vampires themselves and between them and the Church of Light. However, the people who steal the show in the second season are the mysterious Mary-Ann, Godrick who is a Vampire from before the time of Christ, as well as a the whole of Bon Temps having gone a bit wild.

Vampire Sherriff Eric Northman.

Mary-Ann.

Now, there are a number of things that place this series very near the top of my list of Vampire interpretations ever: first off, the Vampire mythos is preserved - silver harms a Vampire and may immobilize them, a stake through the heart and sunlight can kill them, although what exactly happens to their bodies depends on age. Interestingly enough and to my delight, they have also kept the restriction whereby a Vampire has to be welcomed into a domicile before entering, something almost always forgotten in modern portrayals. Many other Vampire legends are shown as being misdirection for the humans.

An element often mentioned in discussions about "True Blood", is the sex: make no mistake, anyone who has seen even 2-3 episodes of the series can testify that there is a lot of sex in it. Not particularly explicit, mind you but still, quite a bit of it, especially for an American series. However, the thing considered peculiarly prevalent only goes to show how audiences have come to perceive the "reality" of series they watch: people have sex. Lovers, even more so. Lovers famished for sexual activity, well, you can guess. The series is being realistic about that, contrary to stupid bubblegum sitcoms that only hint at it, or present it under a comedic light.

Furthermore, it has been a staple of Vampire legendry that the Children of the Night are more animalistic than humans, in every aspect, hence blurring the line between blood prey and sexual prey, as well as that a mortal tasting of the Vampire's blood develops a strong attraction and eventual sexual desire for the "donor". All that, coupled with the fact that sexual activity is - well, duh! - something natural, accounts for the multiple such portrayals in the series.


One other thing very carefully planned and played in "True Blood" is not just the portrayal, but the reference to and existence of the supernatural in general. Vampires aren't the only ones around: there' s also Shifters (people able to assume any form they can study thoroughly), frequent mention (although not appearance, as of yet) of Werewolves, Spirits, Voodoon and of course, the small matter of what exactly makes Sookie telepathic. However, all that is not just shoved into the viewer's face, like some bad RPG crossover: instead there' s hints and nuances and things you can second-guess, until appropriate build-up leads to the climax and revelation. Things DO go bump in the night but that does not mean they are too keen to enter the spotlight: they are mysterious and scary and love their privacy... mostly. Coupled with the whole southern atmosphere, that makes for an enticing, shadowy and extremely interesting setting.

Godrick.

Finally, there's the matter of the source material, "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" by Charlaine Harris. I am sorry to say, those are actually pretty bad: apart form the cast of characters (which has also been tinkered as to some characteristics and back-story), it's safe to say that if Alan Ball (of "American Beauty" and "Six Feet Under" fame) had not helmed the production, this series would have sunk like so much junk. Although Charlaine Harris is at the origin of an interesting take on the interaction between Vampires and mortal society, her original character and story development are rather shallow and her writing not up to the ambitious task of all I have described in the previous paragraphs. I do not want to get into detail, because it may have an adverse effect on your watching the series, but if you are indeed that curious, you can always pick the first two novels (on which the last two seasons were based) and make the comparison. I believe you will find the novels lacking appalingly.

Godrick's First Appearance.

That said, "True Blood" as a TV series is the most refreshing experience of the Vampire legend in a loooong time and I believe that there is not much (if anything) that can hold a candle to it in the past 10 years. Possible exceptions include "Let the Right One In" and I am holding my breath for "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant".

Enjoy the bayous,

Speedgrapher

Literary Section XV - Odd and the Frost Giants

It's time for another book review, since I finally managed to get yet another off the ever-growing pile and man, was it a much needed distraction during the current phase of my life! This book, Neil Gaiman' s "Odd and the Frost Giants" (Bloomsburry) was not part of my oft-described book raids, nor the prize of some literary quest: sometimes, good things just lie in front of you and I noticed the single copy of it on a shelf at the Solaris book store, where I often buy comics.

To begin with, the book is nothing fancy, nor does it need to be: it is a small, almost pocket-size hardbound, the way libraries tend to do old (but not very old) books, when their original paperback covers breathe their last due to wear and tear. The cover and back-cover are essentially stickers. There is however, one major bonus: Brett Helquists's illustrations (of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" fame), which are really top grade and give a great feel to the reading.


The story is rather simple: Odd, a boy who accidentally crushed his leg and remained lame, has to contend both with the fact that his constant smiling face irritates his countrymen, as well as the heavy winter which doesn't seem eager to give way to Spring. The days at the Great Hall draw long, the men get restless and aggressive and Odd has had enough of being a burden to his mother after she remarried when her husband died, enough of being invisible in a village where nothing changes.

Therefore, he takes to the woods and stays at his father's old wood cabin, until a strange fox comes calling: the fox will initially lead him to an eagle and a bear, which meeting will in turn take him to Asgard, home of the Gods, in order to lift the Frost Giant occupation and end the long winter of Midgard. His only weapons: an irritating, unflinching smile, an unfinished wood carving his father left behind and the icy waters of a strange lake...

The book is written much like a traditional fable, where things happen because they are bound to, with a sense of inevitability towards resolution, but also with the unmistakable Gaiman-touch.

It is light reading, pleasant and comforting to the eye, a thing that smells of fireplace and old carpets, where children squat to listen to grandfather's near-hypnotic voice.

Jouni Koponen's first page of
Chapter 2.

On some other interesting notes, Gaiman wrote it for UK's World Comic Book Day (you can read Gaiman's explanation about all that here) and it seems to have sparked a number of artistic interpretations all over the net, such as Hethe Srodawa's designs and Finnish illustrator Jouni Koponen's gradual transfer to comic book form (you MUST check it out: it begins here and she posts updates every now and then, so keep clicking that "Uudempi teksti").

Cheers,

Speedgrapher

Dogtooth

At the time this is being written, I am still processing the things I saw in George Lanthimos's Movie, "Dogtooth" ("Kynodontas" in Greek). This movie can be watched on many levels: as a darkly humorous take on the traditional Greek family, as a psychological experiment conducted on the big screen "for our eyes only", but which experiment easily draws us in and in fact, experiments on our reactions to the contrasting imagery, or even as a collection of very disturbed and disturbing images which, in fact, show that a small measure of madness and misguided love of ideals, principles and the concept of family, can go a long way towards going down in the annals of human atrocity.

I may be getting ahead of myself here, but I really needed to get the movie's aforementioned analysis - being the ONLY analysis you will get on it from me - out of my head, so that I may leave it behind me and not be tempted to get into specifics, which would only ruin the viewing for you. I was given the opportunity to see this movie during Athens's Premiere Nights thanks to Kyoshiro who, being among the people who worked on it, was sent an invitation and took me along.

Left to right: Chris Passalis, Mary Tsoni, Chris Stergioglou
Angelica Pappoulia, George Lanthimos.

I have not gone to many movie premieres in my life, much less any of Greek movies, but what was taking place at DANAOS cinema was a complete first in my experience: a veritable sea of people were waiting inside and out of the cinema, filling its lobby and the sidewalk outside, to a degree that if you got caught somewhere in the middle, you simply stayed put until other people decided to move. I think the screening was actually delayed around an hour until every name and invitation had been sorted out, but it kind of reminded me of queues in Japan, where you wait leisurely around, talking and laughing, until something budges. I even saw a couple of people from my old schoolbus (!), whom I had not met with for around 10 years (I don't think they recognized me, but oh well...).

The siblings during a family celebration.

At any rate, as any of you who watch international cinema news (or simply, Greek news) know, "Dogtooth" won the award for the category "Un Certain Regard" in Cannes, the Special Jury Award in Sarajevo, and lead actress Angelica Pappoulia the "Heart of Sarajevo" for Best Actress. The reason is very simple: it's a good movie and by Greek standards over the last decade, a phenomenal one. Actors Chris Passlis, Angelica Pappoulia and Mary Tsoni play the role of three siblings, children of the eccentric parents portrayed by Chris Stergioglou and Michelle Valley.

Angelica Pappoulia.

Chris Passalis.

Mary Tsoni.

The father has decided to restrict his children within the boundaries of his estate, home-school them and raise them with the moral principles and linguistic predilections he deems appropriate. Their only contact with the outside world is the periodic visits by a security guard, Christina, portrayed by Anna Kalaitzidou. They are to remain within the boundaries of the estate, cut-off from all external stimuli, "until such time as they are ready to leave". What time is that? Well, suffice to say that it has something to do with the movie's title but this is as far as I am willing to venture...

Michelle Valley as the mother, reposing.

Although I believe that it's a movie really worth watching (when it premieres, around the last week of October), I must warn you that it is not for the faint of heart. No - and let me stress this - it is NOT a splatter movie, but the things it depicts and the way it depicts them will gut the soft underbelly of your sensitivity (unless of course you are clinically insane) and that WILL hurt. It's not a one-rail psychological abuse either: it is also funny at the most opportune moment, with the mood alternating until the climax is reached. That way it manages to draw you in and devour you, all but defenseless. In the end, above and beyond all the things this movie is and does, it demands that you think, that you process and digest it, rather than just consume it as is.

The Unknown beyond the hedge.

If you prefer more conventional terms, the movie has great acting in extremely difficult roles, great direction and alluring photography. It is a treat for the thinking person and poison to the mindless movie-goer. That is not to say that you are not allowed to not like it, but that the verdict is not to be issued lightly.

I hope you enjoy it,

Speedgrapher

P.S. I am being intentionally vague as to any details and have posted no links to reviews and such for a good reason, so I advise you to go and see the movie without having watched even a single trailer or teaser. Trust me, small as they are, they DO spoil important things that should take you by surprise.

Literary Section XII - Little Arithmetics

Life, as they say, is stranger than fiction - how much weirder then when, the absolute weirdness of life becomes itself fiction. "My sincerest contrafibularities", as Lewis Carroll would say. I have often found very queer the fact that most (if not all) things seem connected and that no one you meet is really a stranger: "a silver thread, connecting all people", as those of a romantic predisposition would say.

At any rate, there has been a series of mostly unrelated events (my father getting an e-mail from the British Council, a presentation involving an overlarge green marble, a group of people doing weird and funny stuff with science, a team, some friendships, a violent break, some new decisions, a return and a new team) that led me to read "Little Arithmetics", a book by a young woman named Anna Varsamou.

As the flap of her book says, "within these pages are contained many wedding gowns, but no wedding, a house filled with powdery sugar (or something that resembles it), valuable manuscripts left to dry, Morissey giving advice, a strange, bloodless murder, the collapse of a mathematical axiom and a few other uncanny things we have all lived through. For even the strangest stories are different facets of a reality which is irrevocable and intolerably normal." I must admit, among the many things stated above, those that initially caught my eye were "bloodless murder", "mathematical axiom" and finally, "Morissey" (duly corrected), in that order, all contained and somehow interconnected, inside the small book I was holding in my hands.

The Cover of "Little Arithmetics".
[If interested, you can find it at
Perizitito.gr]

I do not know Anna all that well: in all fairness, I do not know her very much at all. We first met as members of the science communication team, SciCo, on the 24th of January, 2009. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss upcoming projects, one of which was "The Science of Love". Ever since, we have mainly rehearsed as part of the team, we have exchanged a (very) few stories and have shared in the stress accompanying any form of theatrical performance, moreso one executed by people who are not actors (well, we had to share her own stress, since I am an insenitive bastard). No, I cannot really say I know Anna and am, therefore, unable to confirm whether "appearances are deceiving", when it comes to her as a person; not so for her book. Having read it, I can now say, with absolute certainty, that "Little Arithmetics" did not turn out to be what I expected at all. Yet, it delivers all it promises, not having said a single lie to its prospective reader.

"Little Arithmetics" is not about numbers - not really - nor is any fabled scientific axiom deconstructed. In this book, no one dies and yet, there is death aplenty and mourning and a little happiness, in these small, surreal doses: like LSD drops that make you soar under their influence, leaving you broken and wondering what it was that you fleetingly dreamed of, in the harsh light of reality. It is a book about people, about their dramas and neuroses and false hopes, insignificant on a cosmic scale and yet vaster than any universe. They say "no man is an island", no man (or woman, for that matter) is completely alone and yet this book states a simple truth, that most like to deny: we are not just islands - we, in and of ourselves, are whole worlds and worlds apart from each other.

We spin around our center, ignoring all that may orbit, or even approach us and in the off chance that our respective gravities bring us close, we crash into each other, hurting and cracking and hoping that we may end up as twin stars; and this we call love. This is a book about all these things, without fanfare, raw and honest. It is, above and beyond, a book about hedgehogs, past present and future, whether they walk on two legs or not.

When I found out Anna had published this book, I tried to track it down, due to one of my most integral flaws: curiosity. However, I could find it nowhere (it came out in 2000), so I asked her if she had a copy. When she gave it to me, she told me: "don't pay too much heed to it - it's just the ramblings of a girl at a messed-up age". I had no answer to that then, but now that I have read it, I concur: indeed they are and that is what makes the book important. A good book does not need to have complex, multi-layered mysteries or elaborate on the underlying fabric of reality. Putting into paper, in an understandable way, the everyday madness, delusion, pain and happiness of being human, is achievement enough.

One might plausibly ask, why did I like this book so much? You must have gathered by now, even by my choice of language, that I am not a great fan of Greek literature (at least, not modern): there are exceptions of course, but a good deal of it bores me to death, because many writers try to "dress up" their subject, to make it seem something different, more sophisticated than it actually is (and then there are those for which I simply have no frame of reference). This is a book that strikes me as having been written from the heart and it is a book I understand implicitly, as it touches at some sensitive chords of the past. I do not know if we are really all connected, but this book connects.

In closing off, here's a video of dEUS's (one of the author's most favorite bands) "Little Arithmetics", which inspired the title of the book.



Incidentally, I did not know dEUS before Anna and the following is a song of theirs ,which I really like.



Cheerio, dear readers

Speedgrapher

Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Del Toro and Loving it!

Hello again dear readers. With all the new Japanese event-related stuff moved to Otaku Lens, there is finally room here to write about OTHER media consumption and what better way to start the new season, than the new Hellboy movie?

The story of how I got to see it on the 22th of August (journalists' premiere) is rather long and colorful, so I will stick to the main points: I do PR for the publishing house that publishes the Hellboy and BPRD comics in Greek (Jemma Press), so it fell to me to arrange some joint publicity projects with United International Pictures (UIP), among which, producing the leaflet to be distributed at movie theaters in Greece. I will not go into detail about this but suffice to say, if you thought red tape was labyrinthine in Greece, you should check out the USA. However, the end result looks cool and I am proud of it (mind you, the comic book related text is mine and I have just- ahem - suggested some touches here and there; the rest is the graphic artist's work).

Well, the movie opened just the day before yesterday to the public, so I will not be saying much about the story proper, for spoiler-prevention. Though I also enjoyed the first movie, it seems very likely that the purpose of the first was to fund the second, which was left completely into del Toro's hands, allowing for the creative freedom to deliver his trademark stunning visuals and very "Toro-esque" special effects and make-up.

Angel of Death.

The story begins with a scene from Hellboy's past, around 1947 (with young Hellboy created by Montse Ribe, del Toro's Special Effects Make-Up Artist and voiced by Colin Ford), on Christmas Night, when Trevor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom") reluctantly agrees to tell the young demon boy a bedtime story. The bedtime story comes from a book apparently relating the tales of an amalgam of ancient Lemuria, the Celtic Elfland and a spot of Norwegian mythology . The story goes that at the Dawn of Man, who had been created with a hole in his heart, mortals and the magical races found themselves at odds and humans started expanding by way of bloody war (the reason why the humans had so much success in their warfare, though left unspoken in the movie, is the fact that they bred faster than the ancient races and wielded cold iron weapons, the absolute anathema to magical beings, as related in many mythologies).The story continues with the Goblin Mastersmith offering the Elf King Balor to build an indestructible army, 4900 (70 times 70 soldiers) strong, in order to defeat the humans (this is decisively Norwegian in origin, seeing as Goblins, Dwarves and Trolls are related to metallurgy in those mythological circles). Prince Nuada implored his father to accept and hence the Golden Army was made: powerful, ruthless, unstoppable, controled by those of royal blood, if unchallenged. The Magical Races won the war and all but eradicated the humans. However, seeing as the Elf King was benign at heart and hated the loss of any life, he made a pact with the humans and split the Crown of Power into three pieces, that it may not be used again, thus ending the war and making way for the Age of Man.

This is the background of the movie and I will restrict myself from saying who, of these characters mentioned, play any role in the events unfolding therein. However, it might be interesting to know that these are not you proverbial father's (or Professor Tolkien's) Elves. They are a mix of the Tuatha de Danaan, the godlike race to rule Ireland after the Fir Bolg and the Daoine Sidhe, "The People Under the Hill". Prince Nuada was one of the Tuatha de Danaan, also called Nuada Argatlam, "Nuada of the Silver Hand" (a theme found also in the Norwegian sagas with Tyr), whose legendary sword was certain death to anyone and a Danaan treasure. Interestingly enough, in del Toro's version, Balor is the one-handed King, whereas in Celtic legends, Nuada was the one to step down from the throne, when he lost his hand, since a king could not be lacking in any way.

Prince Nuada.

This whole sequence about the war of Men and the Mythic Races is done in 3D-modeled wooden marionettes (on second thought, they could be actual marionettes and if that is the case, the value of this movie has just soared to the next level), with John Hurt's voice narrating in its most singular fashion. The rest of the movie is a visual and acting roller-coaster, with, if you ask me, merely one low point and that's at the very beginning: Hellboy's and Liz Sherman's relationship problems. Nobody cares, it's not really that funny and Director Manning whining doesn't actually add anything to the funny element. Other than that, from the Goblin Market to Manning being replaced by Johann Kraus (more steampunked than in the comic books and freaking AMAZINGLY voiced by Seth "Family Guy" McFarlane), the movie is one cool surprise after another. Seriously, I may not like "Family Guy" but McFarlane is the whole essence of Johann in the movie ("Herr Manning, you can suck my ectoplasmic Schwannstucker!").

The BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and
Defense). Left to right: Johann Kraus, Abe Sapien
Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Prince Nuada with Princess
Nuala in the background.

The general outline of the story, as you may have read elsewhere, is Prince Nuada wanting to awaken the Golden Army and wage war on Humanity, for their many crimes against the planet and the Old Races and the BPRD's effort (here's hoping we see Roger the Hommonculus in the next movie) to thwart him. Other than all the major coolness so far, as well as del Toro's personal brand of monsters (the Angel of death simply ROCKS!), there are a number of issues addressed, like the characters' feeling of belonging (note: they are all supernatural creatures), the whole "protecting those who may hate you" seen in everything from X-Men to Spider-Man to the Dark Knight but with the whole new perspective of: the Mythic World is in fact dying and Hellboy is one of Humanity's primordial fears, a Demon incarnate, so there will be quite a bit of soul searching, very moving moments for those who have a soft spot for the Fey and some well-placed heartache for the characters.

All in all, it is a movie I would readily rate with an 8 out of 10, always from the perspective that it is addressed to a fantasy-loving audience. The news that del Toro is taking on "The Hobbit", as well as a movie concerning the 60 years between "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy", are rapidly making him my favorite director. If the animatronics of "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy" are any indication, we are in for a treat!

Signing off,

Speedgrapher

Literary Section IX - D&D 4th Edition

This post has been a bit long in coming but hey, one must take into account their available time, in order to write decently and effectively. Now then... As, pretty much anyone involved with Role-Playing Games knows that the 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons has hit the shelves, I will not dwell too much on that. Frankly, I was expecting that they would launch it in October or November and I was caught somewhat off-guard. Regardless: In late May / early June, Darkside_Blues informed me that a local gaming shop would playtest the new edition and since it was quite near where I live, I told him I would join him.

D&D 4th Edition - Player's Handbook.

As an odd fun factoid, I would like to mention that Darkside_Blues was the one who first introduced me to RPG, way back in 1996: as a wet-behind-the-ears and rather green 13-year-old kid, I first tried to cross the threshold of my school's RPG club (during the School Fair) and found some rather weird-looking people (to my young eyes, remember) poring over a miniature battlefield, filled with metallic, painted models of fantasy creatures I had often encountered in my Hero Quest days. However, they were not playing Hero Quest or Dragon Game System and they were waaay too old (I thought) and I just turned tail and ran. A year (to the day) later, I crossed the threshold again and this time, the people looked a bit younger and one of them, caught your eye immediately: he was large, with even larger, bushy hair and yelling at the top of his lungs, about some (at the time) incomprehensible things. That was Darkside_Blues (Celroth, "Running Horse" back in the day) and he was DMing the newbies. There did I create my first ever, 1st-Level Wizard, who managed to survive his first battle with the party, against a couple of wolves, by using Light and Magic Missile. once each. It was the first encounter from The Sword of the Dales, as I learned much later.

AD&D 2nd Edition - The Sword of the Dales.

Fast-forward to 12 years later, when I find myself among the old geezers of RPG, who still miss the AD&D 2nd Edition: despite a slight mess-up with the registrations, on the part of Darkside_Blues (yes, yes I have forgiven you but I take every opportunity to take a jab at you, heh), I still ended up at the gaming store on the day of the playtesting, with the intention of participating as a player. As it so often happens with the best-laid plans of mice and men, I ended up DMing... again!

D&D 4th Edition - Dungeon Master's Guide.

So, here we have reached the reason for this post: my impression from playing the new edition for the first time. Lurking and / or talking in forums, I most often came across a number of more or less funny aphorisms, some of which have their fair share of reasoning. To name a few: "there are no consecutive editions of D&D, only degrees of WoW", "right, pen & paper Dungeon Siege", "what does this remind me of... aah! Hero Quest!" and so on and so forth. To tell you the truth, they are not entirely wrong, if a bit over the top. First things first: the only thing D&D 4th Edition shares with its predecessors, is the name - nearly everything else has changed. In my opinion, it is a completely different game. For instance, you can forget about the concept "Fighter with Long Sword and Short Sword Specialization" or the Wizard poring over a tome of a bazillion spells, visitign vast and endless libraries with tomes of arcane catalogs" and so on and so forth. In this game, everything takes the form of "Powers". There has been a unification of the class system, whereby all characters gain powers or have the option of changing powers at set levelsand from set lists for each class. Multiclassing? Gone with the wind as , if you wish to have a Fighter with Priestly Powers, you just play a Warlord. If you opt more for one of the oldest combos in the history of gaming, Fighter / Mage (the Elf in Hero Quest, much coveted), you just play a Warlock or Sword Mage. Alternatively, if the combo you wish to play does not exist, there is the option of purchasing Powers from different Class Lists, in order to end up with the desirable customization. Most people who read this system, especially long-time World of Warcraft fans, immediately recognized and tagged the game as a pen & paper version of WoW. As for me, while I cannot disagree that there are elements very suggestive of such similarities, I think the specific aphorism is a bit shallow and exaggerated.

Races and Classes of the 4th Edition D&D.

For instance, reading the 4th Edition Player's Handbook, I was left with the impression that the writers turned to the Far East for inspiration, concerning both the rules and setting. For one, the book elaborates on the rules and the concept, at the same time setting the mood of an Age where the previous, mighty Empire of Humans has fallen and now the world is a dangerous, dark and uncertain place. Secondly, they have made some radical changes on the standard D&D races, which are pretty indicative of their source material: they have taken out Gnomes, something which saddens me because, contrary to popular belief, no, they are not "smaller Dwarves". On the other hands, they have added Eladrin, Dragonborn and Tieflings into the mix. Now, the Eladrin, along with the description of "the last great Human Empire", are a dead giveaway of one source material: the Record of the Lodoss War. Lodoss was a cursed island setting, created by Ryo Mizuno, initially within the boundaries of the Japanese RPG, Sword World and the Campaign Setting of Forceria. In it, the story of the manga begins some centuries after the fall of Kastoll, the Human Empire of great Warrior-Wizards.

Sword World RPG - Lodoss Island
Supplement (Japanese).

On the other hand, the Elves are divided into two distinct categories: Wood Elves and High Elves. The following, is an excerpt from the new Player Handbook's entry on Eladrin: "Graceful warriors and wizards at home in the eldritch twilight of the Feywild". Now, this is a description of the High Elves of the Forest of No Return, if I ever saw one. Further, their physical description could well have been Deedlit's and Estas's portraits form the Lodoss setting. On the other hand, Elves are described as "quick, wary archers who freely roam the forests and wilds", which in Tolkien-speak or older D&D editions, would pretty much translate into "Wood Elves". However, these are the typical (not High) Elves of Lodoss. Furthermore, the addition of Tieflings and Dragonborn, as well the use of the word "Eladrin" for what is, essentially, a different race than in any other edition, points to drawing source material from Planescape (where Eladrin and Tieflings first appeared) as well as Dragonlance (the Dragonborn are a "cousins" of the Draconians of Dragonlance, conceptually speaking, hands down).

Deedlit, a High Elf from Record of the
Lodoss War...

...and her cousins! (Eladrin
from the 4th Edition D&D).

This is what an original Firre
Eladrin looked like in the 2nd
Edition AD&D Setting, Planescape
(by Tony DiTerlizzi).

Rules-wise, the whole concept of everything being "Powers", instead of Spells, Maneuvers, Proficiencies, styles or what-have-you, points directly at the BESM 2nd Edition, by the Guardians of Order. The setting used a unified D6 system (much like the whole D20 affair) and the characters were built over time, by buying new powers, better versions of the old powers or upgrading the existing ones. So, in all these respects, I cannot say that the new edition is scrap material, in an off manner.

Manual of the Planes, a curious staple

of almost every edition of the game,
from 1st through 4th, with the exception
of 2.2, which had the Planescape Setting.

However, there are a few elements that bother me... a lot! For one, I do not see why anyone would have to include "party roles" in the whole class system. In effect, the game gives you a set strategic platform and educates you on how you may substitute one class for the other in order to maintain "party balance". Now, in older versions of the game, it was obvious that it helped having a Fighter, a Rogue and a Priest, to take care of Damage, Traps and Healing / Magic respectively. There were other views and versions of this mix but nowhere did you receive "party building instructions". THIS is WoW or perhaps, Throne of Blood material and yes, it takes something out of the imagination and the improvisation of completely impromptu (and yes, unbalanced) parties. Secondly and this I find inexcusable, all movement and distance is given in "squares". I already find it annoying enough that you now HAVE to use tiles and miniatures (which the company kindly sells to you), but giving movement rates outside of combat in squares??? That is totally unacceptable and insults the brain capacity of anyone having finished grade school.

Figure Starter Pack.

Of the rules, I have little else to say and it's mainly details that pertain to personal preferences and such. Having played the game with (rather) experienced players, two of whom have played the 2nd Edition extensively and at least one of whom had touched the 1st (that would be Darkside_Blues), my conclusions are these: if you want to make the 4th Edition into a real Role-Playing experience, it is entirely up to you and your players to use the tools provided as you see fit. Secondly, when the rules have been thoroughly read and understood, combat is rather simple and quick business, with built-in descriptions that can be used to make the game more impressive and descriptive. Thirdly, the game has a heavy marketing character, trying to launch many products simultaneously (books, figures, software) and that has taken a toll on the realism one could otherwise include (e.g. the "squares" business). Sadly, I believe that anyone who begins Role-Playing with this edition for the first time, will only reach the limits of a good, story-involved MMORPG player, unless the DM has a solid background from the older editions. However, for older players, this game could be an opportunity to play something completely different and if they are anime / manga aficionados, it is the ideal system for such settings.

Parn and Deedlit from Record of
the Lodoss War.

Other than that, the books are extremely well written, the material in a proper, functional order and the artists for the interior designs carefully chosen, very much unlike Editions 3 and 3.5.

Bottomline: this is NOT D&D but, with proper attitude and guidance could still be a good fantasy game.

Moradin guide us,

Speedgrapher

P.S. As it has become obvious that this blog alone cannot accommodate ALL of the events taking place around Japanese culture (I already owe you X tribute Revisited and now, the night with Unshin from the day before yesterday), we will be opening a new blogspace very, very soon, which will be entirely dedicated to J-culture. The link and url will be posted as soon as we are ready to begin. Thanks to all of you who have become part of our regular readership and we hope that you will continue to support us as we continue to entertain you!

Literary Section VIII - Part 2 - Eberron Review

Here we are then, with the second part of today's update, a review that has been long in coming. Our subject matter is the world of Eberron, created by Keith Baker for the 3.5 edition of D&D (now how silly does THAT read? It's a bloody pen and paper RPG, not a Microsoft software!) and more specifically, said author's novel trilogy, The Dreaming Dark, consisting of Vol. 1: The City of Towers, Vol. 2: The Shattered Land and Vol. 3: The Gates of Night.

Vol.1: The City of Towers.

A little background first: both Ergo Proxy and I have been ardent pen & paper RPG players, for over 10 years and, as can be expected, we started with what was known at the time as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) or, in recent terminology, D&D 2.1 and moved to 2.2, which really only expanded on some matters, corrected some glitches and generally offered more options for the innovative gaming group. At some point, in 2000, with the parent company of TSR having been sold to Wizards of the Coast (the guys who created Magic: The Gathering) and then Wizards, in turn, becoming property of Hasbro, some "bright" product manager decided it was time for closure on the old edition and a complete makeover. As much as people who started gaming with the 3rd Edition can probably not see it, it was a disaster, both in rules complexity and sterilization of content. It is a very long discussion but let us say that, suddenly, even die-hard Barbarian Class fans found themselves trying out Wizards, because "the spellcasters did more damage". Never mind the old settings they took out of circulation: gems like Planescape, Ravenloft and Dark Sun were "too complicated" until, by popular demand, their publishing was effectively leased to other companies, via the notorious Open Gaming License (OGL). Essentially, people wanted the old settings, so the companies re-published them with worse rules.

Now, the OGL was not bad in and of itself but it gave a leeway for people to publish any and every junk imaginable, cluttering the market with useless compendiums, upon supplements, upon accessories, some of which were not only an RPG disgrace but also a linguistic one. At some point, the people high-up took the hint and published Edition 3.5, which put some of the things in their proper order but still, no edition later than the 2nd can possibly reach the same quality, by continuing along the 3rd edition lines. Yes, we ARE being called old geezers in the RPG world but that doesn't mean we are wrong. Now, among the stuff that was published under the 3.5 flag, there is this amazing setting by "who-the-hell-is-this-cool-thinking-dude" Keith Baker, called Eberron.

Reasonably, one would wonder: "what makes Eberron so cool if it's being published under the rules you so despise?" Fair enough and the answer, forthcoming: to begin with, Eberron has its own systems for nearly everything, from magic to combat, to even races and a totally different outlook at the setting, than any other Campaign World. It was something I had tired (and failed miserably) to adapt to my own campaign: Steampunk. In effect, magic is regarded more as a science and as something to be combined with technology, rather than "an arcane mystery for the few initiates". Magic, other than its usual fantastic effects (Fireballs, Lightning Bolts, Necromancy, you know the drill), is very much utilitarian and mostly based on the knowledge and control one has over the 4 cornerstones of creation: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. In that respect, magic has an almost Platonic or Alchemical (in terms of philosophy) character in Eberron.

In a world where mechanical science and magic mingle so freely, it is evident that you end up with what is probably Eberron's most defining characteristic: Artifice. Artifice being the art of binding energy patterns into objects, in order to serve a particular function or produce a specific effect, it was only a matter of time until the creation of animated mechanical constructs became a reality. However, sentience itself and free will are nothing more than concepts, therefore can also be expressed with another sort of pattern or combination of patterns, albeit more complex. Someone either managed to specify, uncover or discover these patterns, leading to the creation of the living constructs, the Warforged. This in fact, is probably the most interesting axis along which the Eberron stories evolve, as well as a central theme of Keith Baker's trilogy.

The writer introduces us to his characters at the end of the bloody conflict that shortly thereafter becomes known as the Last War. Like both actual World Wars, it rages across an entire continent, called Khorvaire and again, is very similar in cause, scope, length and form, to our historical 100 Year War, with the difference of including Wizards, Warforged, Undead, Air Ships and what-have-you of the Epic Fantasy Steampunk genre. The central characters are introduced to us as members of the Cyran army, in one form or the other (Cyre is one of the nations of Khorvaire). We have the human Captain Daine, formerly of House Deneith, Jode, the Halfling healer of House Jorasco, Lei, artificer and young noble of House Cannith and last but not least, Pierce, the Warforged scout and archer of Daine's unit. In fact, the characters survive the event that causes the end of the Last War, simply known as the Mourning. The nation of Cyre, in its entirety, is destroyed by a cataclysm which leaves very few survivors and then again horribly deformed into mad and hideous monsters. Not only that but anyone entering Cyre post-Mourning (whereby it becomes known as the Mournland), is also horribly transformed.

This disaster, of unknown origin and purpose, stays the armed hands of all the rulers of Khorvaire and makes them pause and think, in a most superstitious manner, that this is a sign heralding the war's end. Thereby, they decide to end it by signing the treaty of Thronehold, among whose conditions is that no more Warforged will be created and those already created will be set free from their military masters, that they may choose their own fates. Hence, our heroes, devoid of country, army and pretty much anything to defend, make their way to Sharn, the City of Towers, in order to start anew. There start their troubles and their adventures.

Keith Baker has an interesting mix of themes and characters: generally, a prominent theme are the Dragonmarked Houses (noble houses of ancient bloodlines, supposedly blessed by the Elder Race of Dragons, especially Siberys, Khyber and Eberron himself and whose members may possibly exhibit an innate power of specific orientation)) and the specialties of each: House Deneith or House of Sentinels, is militaristic and does mercenary work. Its Dragonmarked are brilliant strategists and tacticians, whether it comes to hand-to-hand combat or regiment command. Daine is a self-exiled outcast of his house, not Dragonmarked, who decided to honorably serve his country, rather than monetary interests. After the destruction of Cyre, he is a bitter and very self-conscious person with huge guilt issues, but also a very capable and reliable commander and warrior. Jode, of House Jorasco or House of Healers, is Dragonmarked but has no further dealings with his House, though the reasons are unknown. He is the lighthearted element of the group, much like Tasselhof was for the Companions of the Lance, in the Dragonlance novels. Lei is a Dragonmarked member of House Cannith, the House of Artificers, though she is "excoriated" (the equivalent of excommunicated or declared outcast) upon return to Sharn, for reasons unknown. Pierce was created by House Cannith some 30 years ago and by none other than Lei's parents. Built and bred to be a perfect soldier, in a world where a sort of "universal peace" has been declared (never mind that conflict is constant, outside of the paperwork), he is the most interesting character to consider, as he tries to come to terms with being his own master, having to decide for himself or be idle and have some sort of "pass-time".

The plot is quite intricate and manages to blend elements of the characters' personal histories and dramas, with the greater goal of averting the destructive plans of an other-planar race for their world. Really, this is as much as can be said about the plot itself, without giving away key points. In the first book, we are presented with an urban adventure, in the City of Towers, where our heroes must find their new niche in the world and keep bumping into obstacle after obstacle, especially when it comes to the ordinary-day stuff. During the war, they were a highly trained combat unit and have lived much of their respective lives as one, so when push come to shove, they shove pretty hard. However, when it comes to reassessing their place in a non-military world, where their homeland has been destroyed overnight, they make blunder upon blunder and let themselves be manipulated by shadowy forces. However, by the end of the first book, they manage to establish sort of a new life.


The trail of clues they followed in the first book, leads them to travel to the mysterious, exotic and deadly continent of Xen'Drik, in the second. Rumors, legends, secret histories and obscure writings abound as to the secrets of this peculiar land, including the first race to master magic, the Giants, their destruction by the Dragons and perhaps, the origin of the Warforged. This is more a tale of exploration than intrigue, of coming in contact with peculiar cultures and digging through the archaeological remnants of Eberron. High marks for the originality concerning Dark Elves (or Drow), who are divided mainly into two factions: the Fire-Worshipers and the animistic Scorpion-Followers. It is a fresh deviation from the standard theme of uber-feminist spider-licking and Lolth-worshiping bitches and the tales of distraught males (though Drizzt Do'Urden still remains one of my few favorite Forgotten Realms characters, at least until the Sea of Swords novel; the Orc Trilogy was utter crap and it follows that anything thereafter will be too). During the second book, we learn much about the rich planar geography of Baker's world, which brings to mind past glories of Planescape, though in a perhaps more limited scope. Caution is advised, as this book ends in a cliffhanger.


The third book contains the actual planar travel (or plane-hopping, you ignorant youngster) of the heroes, which not only leads to the big face-off but also to the revelation of the truth behind the heroes' nagging, mysterious pasts. This is where Baker, perhaps in an effort to keep some things under wraps in the interests of the game setting's sales or perhaps from lack of proper editing, makes a few blunders. This whole story began with the Mourning, which is not explained in any way. Jode, though in many ways developed over the course of the books, remains a character whose past is left in the dark, under circumstances when he would have actually shared it with his companions. The rather amazing changes that affect Daine during the course of the trilogy, receive only token explanations, in a way that does not seem mysterious, but inadequately plotted. Finally, Lei's and Pierce's pasts, a main focus of the story, though explored in depth and quite some detail, by the end of the book one would expect an aftermath, perhaps a three-page epilogue to show how these revelations affected the characters, whom we have seen bleed, experience terrible loss and doubt themselves along the twisted path of revelation.


At the end of the day, the Dreaming Dark Trilogy is a good read. It experiences some of the inadequacies of an emerging writer, with an excellent sense of background but still working on his pacing and structure. There are no contested points, no real mess-ups where at one point a thing is "A" and later on mentioned as "B". No, in fact the books are pretty consistent and not easily so, if one takes into account the sheer number of story elements that need to be accounted for. I believe that those seeking to read a good story in a fresh RPG setting, completely free of things pointing to recognizable game rules, with the added Steampunk element, will be very satisfied. Those who measure books in comparison to, say, Robbin Hobb's impeccable epics, should probably leave it be.

As a final note, a multitude of writers has contributed novels to the world of Eberron, with a theme for every taste, since the setting has provided space for detective, horror, action or plain old epic stories.

Enjoy reading,

Speedgrapher

P.S. The artwork here, except for the first book's cover, is by the amazing Wayne Reynolds and you can see more here.