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I'm sure this question has been answered about a thousand times over the years, but what is the relationship between GSIII and DR in Elanthian History?
I've asked around quite a bit, and of those that even know what GSIII is (always shocks me when folks ask, "GS what?"), none seem to understand where exactly DR picks up. Some rumors I've heard:
1) Different continents: DR is on Kermoria and GSIII is on (?)...
2) DR is set 500 years ahead of GSIII
Any of that true? If not, anyone know the official take on it?
Mrena
>>I'm sure this question has been answered about a thousand times over the years, but what is the relationship between GSIII and DR in Elanthian History?
The official response to this question is: "One of the game worlds is the ancient history of the other." When asked which is prior and which is later, the official response is: "How about those Rams? Nice weather we're having, eh? Ever hear the one about the pirate who walks into a bar with a steering wheel sticking out of his pants?"
- Shavay Silvamon, Heritage Monographs (freelance)
The official response to this question is: "One of the game worlds is the ancient history of the other." When asked which is prior and which is later, the official response is: "How about those Rams? Nice weather we're having, eh? Ever hear the one about the pirate who walks into a bar with a steering wheel sticking out of his pants?"
- Shavay Silvamon, Heritage Monographs (freelance)
I'd have to say GSIII is the older of the two. Not often you see a moon come from nothingness.(They have 4 moons, we have 3...one was destroyed when the world dragon hatched from it)
Of course...it's not often you see a moon reduced to nothingness, either...
In a more OOC sense...DR was originally going to be GemStone IV...but since the changes were so extreme they decided to run with a new product name.(Learned that from Simu Melissa on the GS3 boards quite a bit ago...I never heard of DR as anything other than 'Project X' and...well...DragonRealms. ::grins::)
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Of course...it's not often you see a moon reduced to nothingness, either...
In a more OOC sense...DR was originally going to be GemStone IV...but since the changes were so extreme they decided to run with a new product name.(Learned that from Simu Melissa on the GS3 boards quite a bit ago...I never heard of DR as anything other than 'Project X' and...well...DragonRealms. ::grins::)
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
> I'd have to say GSIII is the older of the two. Not often you see a moon come from nothingness
Actually, I've heard plenty of contradictory stories from the GMs themselves, most of which boil down to the fact that Dave likes the name Elanthia and has based all his fantasy games on Elanthia (including, according to rumor anyway, Heroes Journey). Whether or not they are in any way related seems to be one of those things the GMs either don't know, haven't decided, or just plain enjoy teasing us with.
I'm betting on the last possibility, myself.
Dash & the gang
Curious about DragonRealms Platinum? Find out more at http://members.tripod.com/cervanntes/DragonRealms/index.htm
Actually, I've heard plenty of contradictory stories from the GMs themselves, most of which boil down to the fact that Dave likes the name Elanthia and has based all his fantasy games on Elanthia (including, according to rumor anyway, Heroes Journey). Whether or not they are in any way related seems to be one of those things the GMs either don't know, haven't decided, or just plain enjoy teasing us with.
I'm betting on the last possibility, myself.
Dash & the gang
Curious about DragonRealms Platinum? Find out more at http://members.tripod.com/cervanntes/DragonRealms/index.htm
a friend of mine who played GS before coming to Dr used to regale me with theories based on information about the two worlds. It made lots of sense that GS was before DR....
Also, it seemed like many of the legendary (NPC) heroes of GS are now Gods in DR... but it was years ago when I was told all the reasons why...
I just thought it was interesting, whether they're substantiated or not because of how similarly the situations would track with the evolutionary theory of stories evolving over time and how our RL "mythical godly-like heroes" were probably just regular dudes who got lucky one day. :)
Pam
Also, it seemed like many of the legendary (NPC) heroes of GS are now Gods in DR... but it was years ago when I was told all the reasons why...
I just thought it was interesting, whether they're substantiated or not because of how similarly the situations would track with the evolutionary theory of stories evolving over time and how our RL "mythical godly-like heroes" were probably just regular dudes who got lucky one day. :)
Pam
At least one book in DR that describes Sorcery (the Crowther trial, prior to getting her seat on the Moon Mage Council, IIRC) describes the 'Disrupt Limbs' spell from GSIII. A few Moon Mage spells also seem to be taken out of the old Sorcery circle as well -- many by general concept, one directly ('Mind Jolt').
I'd like to think this is indicative of a shared past, and that old teaser, 'Maybe the Empire was afriad of lunar mages for a reason...'
Larcus' Player
I'd like to think this is indicative of a shared past, and that old teaser, 'Maybe the Empire was afriad of lunar mages for a reason...'
Larcus' Player
Since this discussion went on fairly recently in the GSIII boards, I thought I'd bring these two posts over.
(Category: Role-playing Topic: The World of Elanthia Author: Simu-Melissa Date: 8/25/2002):
>>>I was around in these days ...
DragonRealms was originally going to be set in a world called "Kermoria." Unfortunately, in a staff meeting a member of staff mentioned that it sounded like coffee creamer ... and that was the end of that name. We couldn't say it anymore without a giggle.
Someone came up with the bright idea to pay homage to GS2 and call the world "Elanthia." A couple weeks later news came down the pipeline about the necessary de-ICEing in GS3. In that process, GS3 decided to set themselves in Elanthia as well. (I can remember thinking to myself, in my silliness, "Hey! Get your own world!" :P)
I was hired on staff before DR went live, but well after they had decided not to replace GS3. Since SIMU was developing a SECOND fantasy game they encouraged the GMs to emphasize the differences in the games. Unfortunately, as a result the two staffs were very reluctant to loan each other anything ... lest they lose their uniqueness.
In fact, for a while we had some difficulty determining who DR was in relation to GS3. The PMs were really rather vague. As it turns out they had a plan for developing a storyline between GS3 and DR involving a hitch in time that confused the relation of one game to another (in terms of time.) In fact, the only thing we (as staff) knew is that they were about 50,000 years apart. Among GMs tho, the rumor was that GS3 came first ... since they had more moons, it seemed logical.
Actually, DR didn't have much of a history until just shortly before we went live. Fortunately, a very talented GM (who is now our webmistress) took the project under her wing, and detailed a charming storyline about how Elanthia came to be called the "Realms of the Dragon" based on the hero Lanival, who previously was just a placeholder in our time mechanics. She also wrote that little story about the moon falling (the birth of the world dragon) ... since we all figured Elanthia had to lose a moon as some point.
Of course, that DR GM (our current webmistress) had been a long time GemStone III player ... as all of us were in those days. So in writing a history that she enjoyed, she probably was writing something that would please all GS3 players.
In terms of that storyline with the time hitch and all that ... Bubba (DR's PM) and I considered doing something like that ... and determined it would be way too resource intensive. Instead we've been working to hammer out some of the inconsistencies between our games so that the timelines make some sort of sense. It's not very useable in terms of our games (GS3 players can't RP something that happens in the future, and it was too far in the past to be anything but vague myth to the DR characters) but it's helpful to understand the world you're dealing with when you're designing anything from documentation to rp events.
I tossed in some of the info we worked out with the moons onto that web doc because I thought people might find it interesting.
Anyhoo ... loooooong story. Hope it wasn't dull.
Melissa<<<
Yay Mel!
I'll save the next post for...well...the next post.
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
(Category: Role-playing Topic: The World of Elanthia Author: Simu-Melissa Date: 8/25/2002):
>>>I was around in these days ...
DragonRealms was originally going to be set in a world called "Kermoria." Unfortunately, in a staff meeting a member of staff mentioned that it sounded like coffee creamer ... and that was the end of that name. We couldn't say it anymore without a giggle.
Someone came up with the bright idea to pay homage to GS2 and call the world "Elanthia." A couple weeks later news came down the pipeline about the necessary de-ICEing in GS3. In that process, GS3 decided to set themselves in Elanthia as well. (I can remember thinking to myself, in my silliness, "Hey! Get your own world!" :P)
I was hired on staff before DR went live, but well after they had decided not to replace GS3. Since SIMU was developing a SECOND fantasy game they encouraged the GMs to emphasize the differences in the games. Unfortunately, as a result the two staffs were very reluctant to loan each other anything ... lest they lose their uniqueness.
In fact, for a while we had some difficulty determining who DR was in relation to GS3. The PMs were really rather vague. As it turns out they had a plan for developing a storyline between GS3 and DR involving a hitch in time that confused the relation of one game to another (in terms of time.) In fact, the only thing we (as staff) knew is that they were about 50,000 years apart. Among GMs tho, the rumor was that GS3 came first ... since they had more moons, it seemed logical.
Actually, DR didn't have much of a history until just shortly before we went live. Fortunately, a very talented GM (who is now our webmistress) took the project under her wing, and detailed a charming storyline about how Elanthia came to be called the "Realms of the Dragon" based on the hero Lanival, who previously was just a placeholder in our time mechanics. She also wrote that little story about the moon falling (the birth of the world dragon) ... since we all figured Elanthia had to lose a moon as some point.
Of course, that DR GM (our current webmistress) had been a long time GemStone III player ... as all of us were in those days. So in writing a history that she enjoyed, she probably was writing something that would please all GS3 players.
In terms of that storyline with the time hitch and all that ... Bubba (DR's PM) and I considered doing something like that ... and determined it would be way too resource intensive. Instead we've been working to hammer out some of the inconsistencies between our games so that the timelines make some sort of sense. It's not very useable in terms of our games (GS3 players can't RP something that happens in the future, and it was too far in the past to be anything but vague myth to the DR characters) but it's helpful to understand the world you're dealing with when you're designing anything from documentation to rp events.
I tossed in some of the info we worked out with the moons onto that web doc because I thought people might find it interesting.
Anyhoo ... loooooong story. Hope it wasn't dull.
Melissa<<<
Yay Mel!
I'll save the next post for...well...the next post.
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Here's a second one I found interesting..
(Category: Role-playing Topic: The World of Elanthia Author: Simu-Melissa Date: 9/8/2002)
>>>DR and GS3 are separated not only by 50,000 years, not only by a cataclism, but also by massive oceans.
I'm not up on my DR history as much as I should be any more ... but the way I imagine things, the cataclism hits their continent a lot harder than it does ours. Right now on the other side of the world, you would find pre-cataclismic DR. But they pretty much get whiped out sometime between today and 50,000 years from now.
Because they're the direct hit of the cataclism, GS3's continent only sees secondary results. (Which can be pretty significant.) Yet, many still survive.
So in DR right now, somewhere on the other side of the world, you'll find post-cataclismic GS3.
I wouldn't get too wrapped up in the things like the markings on that tree in DR. That was a staff of GS3 players paying homage to the game they'd played for many years.
Anyhoo. That's how I look at things ... and until we decide we need to document it, that can (and probably will) change.<<<
But like she's says...she's not entirely up on DR history...so...::grins::
For those wondering...Melissa is Solomon's GemStone III counterpart. She, too, rocks mightily. ::grins::
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
(Category: Role-playing Topic: The World of Elanthia Author: Simu-Melissa Date: 9/8/2002)
>>>DR and GS3 are separated not only by 50,000 years, not only by a cataclism, but also by massive oceans.
I'm not up on my DR history as much as I should be any more ... but the way I imagine things, the cataclism hits their continent a lot harder than it does ours. Right now on the other side of the world, you would find pre-cataclismic DR. But they pretty much get whiped out sometime between today and 50,000 years from now.
Because they're the direct hit of the cataclism, GS3's continent only sees secondary results. (Which can be pretty significant.) Yet, many still survive.
So in DR right now, somewhere on the other side of the world, you'll find post-cataclismic GS3.
I wouldn't get too wrapped up in the things like the markings on that tree in DR. That was a staff of GS3 players paying homage to the game they'd played for many years.
Anyhoo. That's how I look at things ... and until we decide we need to document it, that can (and probably will) change.<<<
But like she's says...she's not entirely up on DR history...so...::grins::
For those wondering...Melissa is Solomon's GemStone III counterpart. She, too, rocks mightily. ::grins::
-Chris
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Icemule or something like that is a City in GSIII right? Thee Mottl'd Tyxte, a Moon Mage enchanting book, uses it as a reference for one of our enchanting recipies. If I remember right it places it far north of Therenborough.
Here's the excerpt:
>Footswell to Redestone en fro Eycemool in crones thay lay,
Awayt Durgaulda's taech in straemes, taech, en wyth thee two,
Aet for all mona magick, en all mona magick fell awayt.
Thee Mottl'd Tyxte is ancient and uses wierd language...
>The first thing one notices when perusing the pages of Thee Mottl'd Tyxte is the unusual language used across the majority of its contents. Numerous words are apparently Old Gamgweth, but linguists will quickly notice that a wide variety of dialects are cobbled together in seemingly random placement. Elements of bastardized Gerenshuge, Elven and even Ancient Imperial are evident in many of the passages, oft times within the same sentence.
As we've figured out the words. Redestone actually translated to Darkstone which is today's Dirge and Eycemool would be Icemule. To sum things up it places the province of Therenborough between the two cities.
-Path
Here's the excerpt:
>Footswell to Redestone en fro Eycemool in crones thay lay,
Awayt Durgaulda's taech in straemes, taech, en wyth thee two,
Aet for all mona magick, en all mona magick fell awayt.
Thee Mottl'd Tyxte is ancient and uses wierd language...
>The first thing one notices when perusing the pages of Thee Mottl'd Tyxte is the unusual language used across the majority of its contents. Numerous words are apparently Old Gamgweth, but linguists will quickly notice that a wide variety of dialects are cobbled together in seemingly random placement. Elements of bastardized Gerenshuge, Elven and even Ancient Imperial are evident in many of the passages, oft times within the same sentence.
As we've figured out the words. Redestone actually translated to Darkstone which is today's Dirge and Eycemool would be Icemule. To sum things up it places the province of Therenborough between the two cities.
-Path
to the general DR population, icemule and other GS3 places would be sort of like the "atlantis" mythology--something so far back in pre-recorded history that it wouldn't really be remembered clearly.
After all, the events of 50,000 years ago on earth aren't readily remembered. And a catacysmic event such as the destruction of a moon with consequent effects on the planet would be an event that would fit that category.
I.e.--some species evolved or even changed--or may exist on the other side of the planet---some may have survived somehow <i.e. world-wide flood stories from our own history which may have been fact or precipitated by stories passed down by those of our ancestors who survived the melting of the last ice-age...etc.
After all, the events of 50,000 years ago on earth aren't readily remembered. And a catacysmic event such as the destruction of a moon with consequent effects on the planet would be an event that would fit that category.
I.e.--some species evolved or even changed--or may exist on the other side of the planet---some may have survived somehow <i.e. world-wide flood stories from our own history which may have been fact or precipitated by stories passed down by those of our ancestors who survived the melting of the last ice-age...etc.
One of the websites, sorry i forget which one, has a really nice timeline of events.
Many Myths and Ancient religions saw time as cyclic, in fact it was Judeo/Christian/Islamic monothiestic religons that is often credited with introducing a concept of time as being linear.
So maybe GSIII and DR can be the history of each other.
Many Myths and Ancient religions saw time as cyclic, in fact it was Judeo/Christian/Islamic monothiestic religons that is often credited with introducing a concept of time as being linear.
So maybe GSIII and DR can be the history of each other.
