Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: 4th to 5th World
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 19:42:22 -0400
At 11:28 PM 4/21/98 +0100, you wrote:

>On a slightly different timescale I know, but if ritual bones were actually
>continuously used, they would probably maintain some kind of auric residue
>no matter what kind of physical treatment occured. Doesnt apply to those
>buried in the ground for millenia of course.

Ah, but what would that aura be? That of the original critter, or that of
the magic it was used for? Almost certainly that of the magic it was used
for...

>>PS: Here's an interesting question to those following this topic; what
>>happened at the transition from 4th age to 5th? We know what happened as
>>the world entered the 6th, with goblinization and magic and the like; what
>>happens when your neighbor the troll suddenly becomes human? Or the magic
>>you depended on to light your house at night is gone? Or those fantastic
>>warrior abilities you count on to keep you alive are gone and you aren't an
>>adept any more, just a common warrior?
>>
>>That would an interesting exercise in sociology and psychology.
>>
>
>>From 'Worlds Without End' I think, "They only need a certain level of mana
>to come through, not to survive" ie, the Horrors. Also, the IE's seemed to
>be able to do some magic in the down-cycle, though not much. So the troll
>would probably stay a troll, but have lots of little humies rather than more
>trolls.

Okay, so the trolls have human babies and so on. But what about their
societies? I should think that major portions of their economies,
religions, customs, etc., would simply collapse without the magic. The
collapse of a society is fascinating; look what's been going on in Germany,
with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent fall of communist
Eastern Germany (DDR, ja?) and the problems of the two very different
cultures clashing...or Russia, with the collapse of the USSR and it's
changes in culture.

The collapse of Thera would be a massive blow to the world of Earthdawn.
It would be like the lose of the Roman Empire, bringing with it a "dark ages."

Erik J.


"Ladies & Gentleman, the newest member of the band, the one and only Spice
Boy, GRUMPY SPICE!!!" <and the crowd goes wild!!!>
Message no. 2
From: Mark Ellis <mark@******.IDISCOVER.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: 4th to 5th World
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 23:34:02 +0100
Subject: 4th to 5th World


>At 11:28 PM 4/21/98 +0100, you wrote:
>
>>On a slightly different timescale I know, but if ritual bones were
actually
>>continuously used, they would probably maintain some kind of auric residue
>>no matter what kind of physical treatment occured. Doesnt apply to those
>>buried in the ground for millenia of course.
>
>Ah, but what would that aura be? That of the original critter, or that of
>the magic it was used for? Almost certainly that of the magic it was used
>for...

The aura would almost certainly not be that of the original critter, but the
point is there would be something through which a changing mana level could
influence the artifact.

>
>>>PS: Here's an interesting question to those following this topic; what
>>>happened at the transition from 4th age to 5th? We know what happened as
>>>the world entered the 6th, with goblinization and magic and the like;
what
>>>happens when your neighbor the troll suddenly becomes human? Or the
magic
>>>you depended on to light your house at night is gone? Or those fantastic
>>>warrior abilities you count on to keep you alive are gone and you aren't
an
>>>adept any more, just a common warrior?
>>>
>>>That would an interesting exercise in sociology and psychology.
>>>
>>
>>>From 'Worlds Without End' I think, "They only need a certain level of
mana
>>to come through, not to survive" ie, the Horrors. Also, the IE's seemed to
>>be able to do some magic in the down-cycle, though not much. So the troll
>>would probably stay a troll, but have lots of little humies rather than
more
>>trolls.
>
>Okay, so the trolls have human babies and so on. But what about their
>societies? I should think that major portions of their economies,
>religions, customs, etc., would simply collapse without the magic. The
>collapse of a society is fascinating; look what's been going on in Germany,
>with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent fall of communist
>Eastern Germany (DDR, ja?) and the problems of the two very different
>cultures clashing...or Russia, with the collapse of the USSR and it's
>changes in culture.
>
>The collapse of Thera would be a massive blow to the world of Earthdawn.
>It would be like the lose of the Roman Empire, bringing with it a "dark
ages."
>
>Erik J.


Depends how the use of magic actually changed on the downslope. Obviously
the change from 5th to 6th world was fairly drastic, from a cultural view
because magic was generally derided before the 'Awakening', and in
mainstream culture it just suddenly appeared.
Between the 4th and 5th worlds, I would think magic -dependent cultures
would continuously evolve away from magic towards the end of the slope, so
it wouldnt be a case of 'the Day the Earth Stood Still'.
Still be a pretty major impact of course.

>
>
>"Ladies & Gentleman, the newest member of the band, the one and only Spice
>Boy, GRUMPY SPICE!!!" <and the crowd goes wild!!!>
>

Now I'm getting REALLY worried.

Mark
Message no. 3
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: 4th to 5th World
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 19:39:53 -0400
At 11:34 PM 4/22/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Subject: 4th to 5th World

>Depends how the use of magic actually changed on the downslope. Obviously
>the change from 5th to 6th world was fairly drastic, from a cultural view
>because magic was generally derided before the 'Awakening', and in
>mainstream culture it just suddenly appeared.
>Between the 4th and 5th worlds, I would think magic -dependent cultures
>would continuously evolve away from magic towards the end of the slope, so
>it wouldnt be a case of 'the Day the Earth Stood Still'.
>Still be a pretty major impact of course.

That's entirely possible I suppose, and that seems to be the way the
responses are leaning. I guess in some things I'm just more of an
apocalpsist (I think I just made that word up) than a gradualist.

>>"Ladies & Gentleman, the newest member of the band, the one and only
Spice
>>Boy, GRUMPY SPICE!!!" <and the crowd goes wild!!!>
>
>Now I'm getting REALLY worried.

So what's the to be worried about? Just tell me what you want, what you
really really want?

<smirk>

Erik J.


"Oh my God, they killed Dunkelzahn! You bastards!!!"

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about 4th to 5th World, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.