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Message no. 1
From: Anjo Verde <Chant_Obscur@*******.FR>
Subject: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 15:48:15 +0200
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Michael vanHulst <Schizi@***.COM>
Date : mardi 22 septembre 1998 03:14
Objet : Re: Heavenherds

> Though I do not agree with who you think Sheila is (I still believe her
>to be Alachia), you state the rest well. To add also, there is a note about
>the Heavenherds in the Companion under Wakyambi.

No way Sheila is Alachia. Being a council prince of Tir Tairngire and
the power behind the Seelie Court's throne, she's already got enough
to have herself occupied. Besides, Sheila is said to be a diminutive
blonde, whereas Alachia is a spectacular redhair. As for the queen of
the heavenherds, she would never be so starved for magical data,
after all, she wrote the book.
My take is that Blatavska is a young IE or a lucky spike baby and that
she's trying to build a power base through the AF.

Anjo Verde
Message no. 2
From: Max Rible <slothman@*********.ORG>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 10:04:47 -0700
At 15:48 9/22/98 +0200, Anjo Verde wrote:
>-----Message d'origine-----
>De : Michael vanHulst <Schizi@***.COM>
>Date : mardi 22 septembre 1998 03:14
>Objet : Re: Heavenherds
>
>> Though I do not agree with who you think Sheila is (I still believe her
>>to be Alachia), you state the rest well. To add also, there is a note about
>>the Heavenherds in the Companion under Wakyambi.

> As for the queen of
>the heavenherds, she would never be so starved for magical data,
>after all, she wrote the book.

She's not looking for *data*... she's looking for *artifacts*.
Salvageable living crystal, True Elements, and things that are just
plain too difficult to enchant at the current mana level. And she
fits the accusations of blood magic in the Aztlan book to a T.

> My take is that Blatavska is a young IE or a lucky spike baby and that
>she's trying to build a power base through the AF.

If Blatavaska is indeed Hecate (from the Aztlan book), she's not a young IE...

--
%% Max Rible %%% max@********.com %%% http://www.amurgsval.org/~slothman/ %%
%% "Ham is good... Glowing *tattooed* ham is *bad*!" - the Tick %%
Message no. 3
From: Anjo Verde <Chant_Obscur@*******.FR>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 19:37:59 +0200
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Max Rible <slothman@*********.ORG>
Date : mardi 22 septembre 1998 19:10
Objet : Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)

>She's not looking for *data*... she's looking for *artifacts*.
>Salvageable living crystal, True Elements, and things that are just
>plain too difficult to enchant at the current mana level.

Read the DragonHeart trilogy, there's not enough mana around for
these things to work ... yet.

>And she fits the accusations of blood magic in the Aztlan book to a T.

So does someone else.

>> My take is that Blatavska is a young IE or a lucky spike baby and that
>>she's trying to build a power base through the AF.
>
>If Blatavaska is indeed Hecate (from the Aztlan book), she's not a young
IE...

Of course, Blatavska isn't Hecate! Everybody and his cat knows
Hecate is Aina. Read *worlds without end* and the Dragonheart saga.
Lone Gunman didn't have those to read or his guess would have been
more educated.

Anjo Verde
Message no. 4
From: Max Rible <slothman@*********.ORG>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 10:45:03 -0700
At 19:37 9/22/98 +0200, Anjo Verde wrote:
>>She's not looking for *data*... she's looking for *artifacts*.
>>Salvageable living crystal, True Elements, and things that are just
>>plain too difficult to enchant at the current mana level.

>Read the DragonHeart trilogy, there's not enough mana around for
>these things to work ... yet.

The impression I got was that there was enough mana for things to
*work*, just not enough to *create* the really impressive artifacts.
That's why Dunkelzahn did what he did to enchant the Dragon Heart.
There's no reason a supply of True Elements couldn't be a major
advance in magical resources in the 2050's.

>>> My take is that Blatavska is a young IE or a lucky spike baby and that
>>>she's trying to build a power base through the AF.

>>If Blatavaska is indeed Hecate (from the Aztlan book), she's not a young
>>IE...

>Of course, Blatavska isn't Hecate! Everybody and his cat knows
>Hecate is Aina. Read *worlds without end* and the Dragonheart saga.
>Lone Gunman didn't have those to read or his guess would have been
>more educated.

I didn't get the impression from those books that Aina was one of the
players that had been dragged in there by Dunkelzahn. She prefers to
be left alone. I need to look at the Aztlan book again, but the
"voice" in there seemed more arrogant than Aina's. (If you're reading
it in translation, though, that could be completely obscured...)

--
%% Max Rible %%% max@********.com %%% http://www.amurgsval.org/~slothman/ %%
%% "Ham is good... Glowing *tattooed* ham is *bad*!" - the Tick %%
Message no. 5
From: Anjo Verde <Chant_Obscur@*******.FR>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 20:14:19 +0200
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Max Rible <slothman@*********.ORG>
Date : mardi 22 septembre 1998 19:50
Objet : Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
>
>The impression I got was that there was enough mana for things to
>*work*, just not enough to *create* the really impressive artifacts.
>That's why Dunkelzahn did what he did to enchant the Dragon Heart.

From what I recall Harlequin said to Ryan, there's not even enough
mana for such artifacts to work.

>There's no reason a supply of True Elements couldn't be a major
>advance in magical resources in the 2050's.

Yes, these might be worth something, especially if you consider
the sprite shadowtalk in PA of E.

>I didn't get the impression from those books that Aina was one of the
>players that had been dragged in there by Dunkelzahn. She prefers to
>be left alone. I need to look at the Aztlan book again, but the
>"voice" in there seemed more arrogant than Aina's. (If you're reading
>it in translation, though, that could be completely obscured...)

I read worlds without end in english. Aina isn't arrogant, she's cranky.
She does prefer to be left alone and it's exactly why Dunkelzahn had
to drag her in it ... and why she was cranky. Read Aztlan again and
you'll see all the references make sense.

Anjo Verde
Message no. 6
From: Michael vanHulst <Schizi@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 20:54:02 EDT
In a message dated 9/22/98 6:52:08 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
Chant_Obscur@*******.FR writes:

> No way Sheila is Alachia. Being a council prince of Tir Tairngire and
Alachia's daughter is Jenna, Alachia herself is not ont he council (I think
Aithne may hold a grudge :-)

> the power behind the Seelie Court's throne,
She showed some influence over Brane Deigh, but that would (IMO) be more
becaus eof the age difference and her "legacy and legend"
>she's already got enough
> to have herself occupied. Besides, Sheila is said to be a diminutive
> blonde, whereas Alachia is a spectacular redhair. As for the queen of
> the heavenherds, she would never be so starved for magical data,
> after all, she wrote the book.
> My take is that Blatavska is a young IE or a lucky spike baby and that
> she's trying to build a power base through the AF.
Sheila and the Atlantean Foundation sacked THERA, they knew exactly where to
go as soon as the magic came back enough fore them to find any magioc they
might have missed during the down-time. (I am sure the obvious stuff was long
gone :-)
She is collecting magical POWER, not knowledge. She knows what she wants :-)
Message no. 7
From: Michael vanHulst <Schizi@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 21:36:26 EDT
In a message dated 9/22/98 10:34:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
Chant_Obscur@*******.FR writes:

> Of course, Blatavska isn't Hecate! Everybody and his cat knows
> Hecate is Aina. Read *worlds without end* and the Dragonheart saga.
> Lone Gunman didn't have those to read or his guess would have been
> more educated.
>
I read Worlds, and the Dragon Heart I found no reference to Hecate being Aina.
In point of fact, FASA basically admitted that Hecate was Sheila. The cover
of a matrix story was just their way to do so. IMO
Message no. 8
From: "Ratinac, Rand (NSW)" <RRatinac@*****.REDCROSS.ORG.AU>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:49:27 +1000
> In a message dated 9/22/98 10:34:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> Chant_Obscur@*******.FR writes:
>
> > Of course, Blatavska isn't Hecate! Everybody and his cat knows
> > Hecate is Aina. Read *worlds without end* and the Dragonheart saga.
> > Lone Gunman didn't have those to read or his guess would have been
> > more educated.
> >
> I read Worlds, and the Dragon Heart I found no reference to Hecate
> being Aina.
> In point of fact, FASA basically admitted that Hecate was Sheila. The
> cover
> of a matrix story was just their way to do so. IMO
>
What are you guys, crazy? It's bleeding obvious!

The Big D is Aithne Oakforest.
Laughing Man is Alachia.
Hecate is Dunkelzahn.
Wordsmyth is Lofwyr's publicist.
Jungle Cat is Harlequin after one of his benders.
Lady of the Court is a Swedish tennis player in a short skirt.
Brightlight is a 10 year old kid with a Radioshack and a finger up his
nose.
And Umsondo (the Watcher) is some pervert sitting in a Mid-Western adult
bookshop.

And, of course, Blatavska is really Ehran in drag.

*bada-boom*

Doc'

.sig Sauer
Message no. 9
From: Anjo Verde <Chant_Obscur@*******.FR>
Subject: Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:41:09 +0200
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Michael vanHulst <Schizi@***.COM>
Date : mercredi 23 septembre 1998 03:37
Objet : Re: Blatavska (was Re: Heavenherds)

>In a message dated 9/22/98 10:34:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
>I read Worlds, and the Dragon Heart I found no reference to Hecate being
>Aina. In point of fact, FASA basically admitted that Hecate was Sheila.
>The cover of a matrix story was just their way to do so. IMO

I'll be honest, I have no idea if FASA said anything, but let's get
practical : from a gamer's point of view, Aina is of no interest.
She doesn't deal with her peers, never plots to take over the world
and lives a quiet life in her isolated earldom in Scotland.
Hence, her possibilties of interaction with runners are nil (though
it may have changed now that she is the Draco Foundation's chairperson).
Much better to, under the guise of an all too understandable confusion,
reintroduce Ms Blatavska who hires runners to travel all over the world
to retrieve strange arcane artifacts and who had been somehow
forgotten since the Seattle sourcebook. IMO 8-)

But this proves one point, mainly that this topic is the source of
endless confusion. I must say that knowing how IE are one of his pet peeves,
I'm surprised that Mr Mulvihill never published one sourcebook, containing
all the relevant data about ED crossover and moved on to something else.
Relief for him and relief for the GMs who wouldn't have to go browsing
their Sr sourcebooks in search of tidbits of IE evidence and then wouldn't
get into deadlocks (*) trying to make them make sense.

One other thing is that we've got IE data everywhere, but nearly nothing
about dragons, when they are so much cooler! But it's kind of hard
to involve someone in a plot when you don't know what makes him tick.

An epic game is fun once in a while, but frankly, it's a pain in
the b*** for the GM. Which is why on the one occasion I had to
introduce immortal NPCs, they were quite highlander in style
and there was _no_ reference to ED.

As for immortal bad guys, vampires are so much simpler and fun. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I like ED, I really do, it's just that I'm playing
Sr!


Anjo Verde


(*) sometimes my english fails me, but I seem to remember deadlock is
the correct word.

P.S.: Be all, end all sounds cool, so if there is someone out there who,
be it through annoyingly high IQ or insider tips, actually
understands this mess, let me know : I could really use your help!

Further Reading

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Thwap!