Showing posts with label Jack Vance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Vance. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Still missing you, Jack

Since the passing of the irreplaceable Jack Vance (May 26th, 2013), I've been re-reading some of his stories of the Dying Earth. I tell myself it is part of my research into the origins of the D&D game.

It has been pointed out time and time again that one of the great attractions of my own campaign settings lies in the extent and proliferation of memorable details which enhance and solidify the gaming experience. I do detail without noticeable effort. It's just how I am.

So, while I was reading Rhialto the Marvellous, I was immediately struck by the Foreword, which lists a great number of 21st Aeon magicians, often with a brief description of each worthy. The idea tickled me to the core. Of course, my feverish brain began to concoct similar characters for my own game world.

As this is intended to be but a brief sojourn into quasi-Dying Earth arcanology, I will offer the alphabetical listing of those magicians which came to mind as I jotted as quick as possible in the notebook found at my bedside.

The brief descriptions will have to wait for another time. It may also be worth mentioning that I am a great fan of Fritz Leiber's Nehwon, Lankhmar, and the various mad wizards that occupy certain parts.



Magicians: Much like the Dying Earth milieu, the setting is greatly influenced by powerful arcane spellcasters. Throughout history, there have been a number of these puissant men and women...and, other - things. Their names and titles are often ostentatious or downright inscrutable - but they are very, very rarely those of their birth. The following is an incompleat listing.

·         Alaq of the Burning Robe
·         Blue Whisper
·         Bornewine the Collector
·         Cacophonous
·         Carrion
·         Certitude Glim
·         Crethe the Lesser
·         Darl Writhing
·         Diaphon Azor
·         Dim Cunac
·         Dread Unstromm
·         Eye of Impunity
·         Fatan Morganthe
·         Foreshadow
·         Glaomaer the Unmortal
·         Glizzar Half-Glyph
·         Gryphon Azor
·         Haero of the Inverted Labyrinth
·         Irunor Five-Shadow
·         Javelin IV
·         Kailu Wandwright
·         Kalumvar Whence
·         Kestrel Synn
·         Khafac the Importune
·         Logom Sporefane
·         Lord Ratbite
·         Meduin Dawndance
·         Mounce-In-Iron
·         Mulfescance Coil
·         Muntorboq Aun
·         N'roth of Onkse
·         Peculiar Wuel
·         Phoenix Prowl
·         Piper Fray
·         Polemus Lightbane
·         Porcelain Howl
·         Scintillic Briemel
·         Seil-Vartha
·         Shuel of the Final Rune
·         Shunned Topola
·         Sulaes the Impressar
·         Tainoimin
·         Tirithion
·         Uboc Cloudmonger
·         Veil Ephemeral
·         Wayfarer, The
·         Xibrun Eille
                                                                                         


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Dying Earth

Jack Vance (August 28, 1916 - May 26, 2013) did not prefer the title, but I use it here with sadness and affection. He founded an entire genre of fiction and deserves to be remembered for it. Plus, it echoes my own feelings at this time.

I found the works of Jack Vance through my love of Dungeons & Dragons. In the back of the Moldvay Basic Rules book, on page B62, there was a bibliography of "Inspirational Source Material." Jack Vance was one of many that caught my eye. The stories were wild, wondrous, and witty. Far from the typical sword-and-sorcery fare I was used to. They made me think. They made me re-read to see if I had missed anything.

I miss Vance already.

I would thank him for the magic and the wonder of reading about a world so out of reach, yet so tantalizingly near. Full of sheer myth and legend. Echoing with enchantment and the booming presence of so many larger-than-life characters. Shimmering with charm and color even as the star giving it life gutters and dies.

I wish him well on his next journey.

http://foreverness.jackvance.com/