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P299- Interview with ED Greenwood
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奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城.v+e!x&o'i Y;X
This month, Dragon presents an interview with Ed Green?wood, creator of Watcrdeep and the Forgotten Realms.奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城$X7g o*o5j*f"w!x"h!V
How did you get your start in the writing business?
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I've always been "a writer," jotting down tales and scenes and fragments for my own amusement from the moment I could form the letters of the alphabet with a pencil, and writing (pretty awfully at first) stories of "what happened next" to favorite fictional characters bv the time I was six (which is why the Realms began when I was seven or eight).
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1 come from a family of writers and all through my youth worked on school yearbooks, "little" literary magazines, senior citizens' center newsletters, church bulletins, and magazine articles. I'm Canadian, and at that time the Canadian literary community was a small, cozy family; 1 had some books of mine published early on.奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画4k2m$w&P/a:i8M9B4c
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How I got started in the game writing business was simple: I started writing articles for Dragon magazine (or The Dragon, as it was then—a name I still vastly prefer). They started pub?lishing them (the "Curst" monster in issue #30 was my first), Kim Mohan was impressed by the use of footnotes in my Gates article (in Dragon #37) and that soon led lo a "Contrib?uting Editor" position (which meant they were interested in seeing all of the steady flood of articles 1 sent them) and lots of appearances in Dracon. 1 worked Forgotten Realms references into my articles to give my players some fun.
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These got noticed, and when TSR was looking for a new campaign world set?ting they contacted me, and the rest, as they say (ahem), is history.
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What was the most difficult part of designing the early Realms?≡奥德赛公会≡ r9E-L*@)Z9t
)Y0y&e3F9l7P0|5L≡奥德赛公会≡lf by "early Realms" you mean before TSR started publishing it (and the most difficult part became the "traf?fic cop" role of making sure Writer A didn't kill off Character X before the time of Writer B's novel that starred Character X, or destroy a kingdom that Writer B was going to use, and so on), it was finding time enough lo give every spot on the ever-increasing maps the same level of rich detail. Even now, the published Realms concentrate on the Heartlands and neglects more distant areas (although the third edition Realms sourcebooks are trying to paint in some of those forgotten corners). 1 not only had to give the tourist-guidebook details ("That spire on your left is the blah blah blah, and the field on your right is planted with barley"), 1 had to give the underlying reasons ("Barley sells well in the markets of Sembia, so of course the farmers here plant blah blah blah") and the life of ever)' locale (not just "the Hatfields hate the McCoys" stuff, but which merchant has a covert trade agreement with another merchant, local attitudes toward other villages or the distant ruler or strang?ers or all gnomes, and so on). I've had a busy life (yes, outside gaming! Imagine!) and have never had quite enough time to do a really satis tying job.
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Now, I'm not advocating that all gamers use or need that level of detail, or that folks should feel bound by any "canon" details in their own game. I'm saying that as a writer of imaginary fantasy settings gamers have to pay for, I believe 1 must provide such a level of detail (to give value for money, if nothing else).奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画5c!?,R"~5j.m3c;j
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With the advent of third edition and 3.5, what do you think of the direction that the Forgotten Realms are heading, taking into consideration your earlier vision of what you wanted it to become?
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+[-e"A*|!}.O*S,_www.odyguild.netI'm not a fan of endless prestige classes. My ideal Realms sourcebook would have no slat blocks and minimal class and "hard" game notations (it's enough to say that "Roldro is a pow?erful wizard (perhaps a wizard 12]"), because I want to use the space on the pages to give gamers the maximum amount of usable over-and-ovcr lore ("Roldro collects old maps, and will pay handsomely for any good ones of XXX, but he's not the prissv old collector he likes to pretend to be. A retired former herald, he's keenly aware of the gene?alogies of six kingdoms, and very qui?etly makes a good living identifying lost heirs and throne claimants for every cabal willing to pay for such informa?tion—evrn if it leads to coups and bloody civil wars and shattered thrones. Moreover, Roldro once received The Tome of Ineffable Magicks in payment of a debt, and has mastered..."). That sort of stuff is far more useful to DMs trying to spin plots and subplots in their own campaigns than stats for Orc Encoun?ter #36. After all, there are already tons of published stat blocks those DMs can use for such needs.
8R#V$M6T9Q1Q0T!}奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城$V#g7["r5X
With that said, I'm happy that Realms sourcebooks are continuing to lie pub?lished and are continuing to "paint in the map" of the Realms, covering the fuzzy areas and adding more detail. I'm also pleased that Realms novels go from strength to strength in the field, because the more stories going on in the Realms, the more gamers think about the Realms, the more it seems alive, and the more interesting it stays.奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画,E8l"X.k9r }.c
,Z$o$\!q/W,K5D6n-OIn what direction would you like to see Dungeon & Dragons go? Is there an area of the game that has not been explored that you would like to see fleshed out in a book or supple?ment or module?≡奥德赛公会≡)A3b4x(d$p,D*]6w
奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画(v3f)}"}+W6i
1 would love to see a sourcebook that deals with merchant shipping, cara?vans, banking (currency, trade flows, and commerce), heraldry, courts (laws and justice, not just enforcement and sentencing) and Court etiquette ("How do I ask to see the king?"), so that gamers could have a sample business contract in mock-medieval language that they could photocopy and "fill in the blanks," and so on. A book that cov?ers all the neglected stuff if you will.
0D8Z-y1V8c奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城
.R)A/}7s&s M*f5Y"K奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画Now, a gaming business person will tell you (as many have told me) that something like this would never sell, but I think it's a matter of dressing it up in the right attractive clothing. Stuffing in enough goodies, if you will. Give me photocopy-able handouts DMs can give to players (writs, proc?lamations of thanks for PC heroism, "Wanted" posters for fugitives, char?ters for adventuring companies and grants of arms for nobles and the just-knighted, and so on). To use a Realms example, sneak in a simplified Sword Coast "Pirate and Traveler" style board game that gives me a deck of cargo cards that I can draw from. To tell me very quickly "what's in this wagon" or "what's down in this ship's hold besides the slave girls we're rescuing— if they're chained to bombs, I'd like to know that before I go down there with my flaming torch in my hand."#k5Z!A;[5y1e7D!N
奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城2j,H*L1J$x$}7Y'A
That s just one idea off the top of my head, of course. Like any gamer, I have many others.
8J.v-K1H(w,L9k奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城What other games do you enjoy playing?
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Lots of games, from hoard games (like Arkham Horror, Awful Green Tilings From Outer Space, Empires of the Middle Ages, Kingmaker, and International Oil?man) to rolcplaying games (like Call of Cthulhu and Metamorphosis Alpha), I rarely have time to sit down and really enjoy games these days, but I like simple card games and board games with simple mechanics but strategic difficulties (especially if the board itself is beautiful to look at). Many of the Cheapass Games appeal to my sense of humor and desire for fast-playing, enjoyable games that don't appeal to rules lawyers or are likely to end in furious dis?agreements over how well they've accurately simulated this or (hat real-world military detail.
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/d5d7\)` B)U8f!G奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城You have said that your gaming group gets together about once or twice a year for a marathon gaming session lasting up to three days. Do you still have these marathon sessions?
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Whenever we can, which isn't nearly often enough. Yes, things are falling apart for the home Realms players, which isn't surprising when you consider that we're scat?tered all over the world now, with busy professional lives and young families of our own. (It's hard to get people to show up for a gaming session when they're on the other side of the world, backpacking alone from ancient monument to ancient monument. It's even harder when they're tenured professors teaching heavy class loads at a large univer?sity, trying to stay fit, AND juggling infants at home.)That's the problem with having a group of incredibly bright, imaginative, inquisitive, and handsome people: they can go far in life—and have.www.odyguild.net&?+?3M"G"y4]%a!q
!_:d;W#j&f"M&O0r奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城Who is the most underrated NPC bad-guy from your home realms cam?paign? How about from the merchan?dised Realms?奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画;j1C,z5Y7d$o
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Manshoon is the most underrated NPC villain in the published Realms, because the TSR Code of Ethics pre?vented me from showing the Zhentarim as really competent, early on, and I was never able to dwell on the extent and sophistication of Manshoon's Machia?vellian plotting and subtle spread of influence. For a man not directly supported by a deity (as, for instance, Elminstcr is), Manshoon achieved more than anyone else in the current Realms, in matters of acquiring information and in being able to influence others.+P4~/S:H!a*A7n
He was well on his way to having a Realms-wide network of informants and agents that could persuade a farm-wife in Halruaa to purchase this sort of cloth instead of that sort so subtly that she might not even be aware her decision was being influenced. Why does that matter? Well, if you do that to several thousand tarmwives, you change entire markets, profiting thereby and ruining rivals. (This is something modern-day multinational business concerns understand all too well.) Lar-loch could establish the same degree of influence, but isn't interested in doing so—and is far less "in touch and in tune" with daily life in the Realms than Manshoon is, and so could never match Manshoon's subtlety. So the "real" Manshoon is the master manipulator, not Fzoul's puppet. (In fact, this could just he his ploy: set Fzoul up to be the figurehead, er, target, while the sly and urbane Manshoon schemes unham?pered in the background... heh-heh.)≡奥德赛公会≡$Z&z1r#g)~!S+Y
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In the original "home" Realms cam?paign, the most neglected villain was a certain Lord of Waterdeep whose identity I'm going to keep secret because the Company of Crazed Ven?turers (the PCs) still haven't stumbled into understanding the depths of his villainy. He's been quietly in the back?ground of almost every guild scandal and important-NPC murder they've seen, and they've just never picked up on the clues. I think I may have him try to romance one of the Venturers with an eye to marrying her (and try?ing to slay most of the Venturers on their ways to or from her wedding least), acquiring her land and wealth, and then have her slowly poisoned, just to see if they notice this guy then. Perhaps if he put on a dragon suit and roared at them...
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Now that Eberron is here, what do you see for the future of Forgotten Realms? Do you think it will be over?shadowed and essentially phased out like Greyhawk was with the advent of second edition?6v1R!R+p(k*K%m7M1w(]
:h+P3r6`-^0F2?&r+\We've had a good, long run.
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The Realms could quite possibly end up as a fiction-only setting, as Dragonlance did for a time, or even be licensed out to another company. Those aren't my decisions—which is a good thing, because I'd probably be a terrible busincssperson.
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'J4L&d3I/V1{奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城Under the original Realms agree?ment, there are conditions under which the Realms "reverts" to me, so I doubt the current copyright holders will let those conditions happen.
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I am privy to the very good business reasons for the creation of Eberron, and agree with them, but the Realms novels are selling so well that it would seem foolish to make the Realms "go away." Thetre's also the proven track record of the Realms, which has been a profitable financial engine for far lon?ger than most settings in the fantasy gaming world have lasted (popular settings have been "brought back" repeatedly, but that's not the same thing). If you have a winning racehorse and you buy a new one (let's call it, er, Eberron), you'd better make sure it can win races before you send your proven winner to the glue factory.
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However, as a game designer, I'm interested in seeing what's done with Eberron (I view it as "another plat?ter on the buffet" for all gamers, not as a rival or enemy to the Realms), and the Realms has built up a fan-dom over the years that will not let the setting die (like Tolkien's Middle Earth and Star Wars and Star Trek and so on). Even if the published Realms ended tomorrow, the Realms will go on—something that pleases me very much. I have friends all over the world because of the Realms, I'm regularly asked what Realms char?acter names mean because people want to apply them to their babies, I get asked to perform marriages as Elminster... so the Realms has a life of its own, now, far larger than any one person or company. Elminster is probably the single most recognized NPC from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Selling. How did you create such a living personality?≡奥德赛公会≡%c1K3t9M&P
/k$x.f'N#m;n"}#T5I1?;iI needed someone too power?ful for lazy roleplayers to have their characters casually slay to shut him up (hence the "has powerful magic" part), who could be an unreliable and cantankerous source of advice (add the "old wise sage with major atti?tude" part). This gave me someone PC adventurers needed, but couldn't push around or always go running to (because he might be off saving the world somewhere else, so couldn't they handle their scraped knees them?selves for once, hmmm?).
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This gave me how he had to be. Mostly 1 wanted an old fart that could bluntly tell the emperor that he had no clothes and always get away with doing so. The guy who causes utter silence at a wild party by saying what everyone sus?pects but no one dares to say out loud.
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from that needed role, the rest of him developed, step-by-step. So he's not a Merlin clone (though that's the role he's mostly playing), or a Gandalf rip-off or a Belgarath parody, and he's NOT my alter ego. He's the guy so powerful that he can take your best shot, yawn, and then stand there without retaliating, and calmly say, "Ye seem more hostile than most adven?turers who come here seeking to slay me. Why. may I ask? Is thy codpiece loo tight? Crown on crooked, this morning? Bored with slaying helpless children? Or just seeking glory and too stupid to think there might be a reason for my reputation? Hmnim?"
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He's not a munchkin (too tall and too low a voice, for one thing), he's the lover and most trusted servant ofthe most powerful deity in the world he lives in, beyond all munchkinism. Which lets me use him to examine more important issues than merely chasing power, such as: What do you do with all that power once you've got it? Once you've had it for centuries, and outlived everyone you cared about, and most of their coun?tries, too? What's it like to go insane because you're just so tired of it all, but aren't allowed to just lie down and die? How do you read when you know that's the trap you live in? What keeps you going? What do you still believe in, and care about? And then, when you start the final fall-apart anyway, what do you rush to do in the dwindling time you have left? What does it really mean to love entities (gods, individual people, horrible scaly monsters)?To love ideas? Countries? A world?www.odyguild.net9e*T(m&L-R
9\"t,V0r+T8O≡奥德赛公会≡If you follow along watching what this Elminster guy does and says, and jot it all down, well—he creates him?self as he goes. Just like real people do.:O;f&{;r5h#M)H
7R,c6f%g5Z#u%};o奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城Did you expect Elminster to become so legendary?奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画2P,M8E Y*o:Z5c,S$U+c
5z/?5]5Y'yNo, 1 expected Elminster to be the Old Storyteller narrator of the Realms, who introduced us to other characters and their unfolding stories, and then faded away off the page as the harp strings thrummed, and the reader plunged into those stories, I expected him to be the old guy people went to consult (like the oracle at Delphi, whom the reader never directly sees in the old talcs), rather than onstage much. However, the books peo?ple at TSR thought differently, so I ended up writing a series of Elminster books. His tale isn't quite done yet, but the Old Mage's legendary status is a perfect illus?tration of the way commercial writing works; It's not about what you the writer want to say, it's about what your audience wants to hear. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle grew to hate Sherlock Holmes and killed him off—and his readers demanded his return and didn't want to buy anything else by Doyle.
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A lot of vocal gamers and readers hate Elminster and want to see him gone— but the sales figures tell the different opinion of the more silent majority.
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Was Elminster patterned after you or one of your original gaming group?奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城 a0M+c {0t1D i
奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城-p)U(N*n:E%i5t-Z
No, he isn't me, and was never an echo of any real person (or gaming character, PC or NPC). His speech and manner?isms and character have all developed on their own over the years, making him increasingly unique (despite what some believe). I'm often asked to pick actors I'd like to see portray El in a movie, and I can say that Nichol Wil?liamson's Merlin in the movie Excalibur (which came out well after Elminster's character was established, of course) is pretty close in manner of speech, tone of voice, and accent. Ditch the earring and skullcap, and change the red hair to flowing white, of course.
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Over the years I've often put on a costume and portrayed Elminster at conventions, but please understand that this is a fat fantasy author playing the Old Mage, not anything like the Old Mage himself.奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画0A @6a#X!A$s'}"B;I"W2t
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Is Waterdeep the greatest city in the Realms?奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城,Q-n![!A F"e2g5~
#H.A*X!a#@4g'L:w/@%j'd≡奥德赛公会≡Just as in the real world, the answer to that depends on whether the answerer is a fan ofWaterdeep or not. It's cur?rently one of the most important and best-known trading cities of Faerun. for two reasons: The lumber, mined metals, livestock, and other foodstuffs now flowing out of the Sword Coast North are greatly needed by the rest of the Realms (a trade Waterdeep dominates, for reasons of geography and climate more than anything else), and Waterdeep is a human-dominated cos?mopolitan trading city where coins rule, half the creatures of Faerun rub shoul?ders, and tolerance is legendary.
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That combination of tolerance, vari?ety of goods and skills, and freedom from daily oppression by a strong ruler is hard to match anywhere else in Faerun. So people keep coming, and the coins keep flowing.奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城0t6i0U7M9y#f
0`3D(]:V5f1]%w奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画How do all the nobles of Waterdeep get (or stay) so rich? They certainly seem to spend a lot!奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城.m#O;~.?#g9t-H'`;D!n
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The nobles ofWaterdeep got that way in part because they were very success?ful merchant families, usually long ago. In other words, because it's now so hard to become a noble in Waterdeep, the nobility you see now are "old money."
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So most of them have extensive crofts (farms) and ranches somewhere in Dessarin Vale or more southerly lands, and have made money from these for decades. All those people crowded inside the walls of Waterdeep have to eat and drink daily, and most nobles own breweries, wagons, and warehouses, so they provide the provender to the city, at city street prices.
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4e'_ Y0K9d ](C8QThe costs of running these country properties are often low because kin of the nobles and loyal servants live on the lands and receive most of their pay as "roof and platter" (room and board, which of course their own daily work provides). In other cases, nobles have far more land than they can work, and rent it out to tenant farmers.
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In addition to their primary busi?nesses (listed in various Waterdeep sources over the years), many Waterdha-vian noble families also own small—or not so small—fleets of ships carrying cargoes up and down the Sword Coast, and invest in caravan costers. They also invest in hundreds of small Waterd-h3vian businesses (supporting shop?keepers and craftsfolk who'd otherwise never have coin enough to get started or weather cash flow problems), and most importantly are landlords, getting rent from rooms and buildings in crowded Waterdeep, and from way-inns they own on the roads outside the city, too!
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1 louses maintained by most Watcr-dhavian noble families in Amn. Tcthyr. Silverymoon and elsewhere usually have a few "country cousin" kin living there—and working as factors (trade agents) for the family.奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城#o3u4~!`#C9t3O
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A few noble families of Waterdeep have fallen on hard times, but often replenish their coffers by allowing rich, ambitious "wannabe" nobles to marry into their ranks. Nobles also have a few legal rights, and a lot of social influence (including unwritten customs or rules that aren't actually laws) that other Waterdhavians lack, that help them prosper in competi?tion with visiting "outlander" mer?chants or commoners.
,n4v5D5h*R z奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画
9}8S+h-g!c/?奇幻论坛|无冬之夜|被遗忘的国度|奇幻文学|奇幻小说下载|龙与地下城资料|欧美漫画So if nobles wander the streets stagger?ing under the weight of so many coins, why don't they get robbed all the time?奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城!`4p3X,k!_!d6`5['^:B2] a
Well, there are such things as body?guards. More importantly, citizens of" Waterdeep know that most nobles don't carry much coin at all. They have their bills paid for them by their stewards (servants), who "come around" to places the nobles shop at, a day or so later, and settle up.
1w+L(s!_/i,n)[奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城
3t&S3Q+v%|"g8Y≡奥德赛公会≡Nobles are scrupulously honest about settling all accounts, by the way, because if word gets around that a par-ticular family is disputing or denying bills, their reputation is stained—and that ruins thru credit, meaning other traders won't deal with them or will demand harder bargains.
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So a "wild young blade" of a noble who spends lavishly, gambles, or goes on sprees of breaking things will have his costs covered. Even if the family patriarch or matriarch is enraged (and almost always they've established pro?cedures where they must approve large drafts on the family vaults, so nothing can be hidden from them), they'll pay.
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Family spendthrifts are often encouraged to make investments or start sideline businesses to earn their own spending money. Less wealthy nobles usually do this with their children. Wastrels "beyond rescuing" might be publicly disowned, quietly killed in "accidents," shipped off in virtual slavery (drugged or coerced) to far corners of the world to make their own fortunes, serve as hireswords (in hopes that battle will soon kill them), or even sent on family business far from Waterdeep and there poisoned by hired agents.
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So the heads of noble houses decide who gets lavish spending money, and even which family members get to live in the Iamily mansions. They dare not mistreat spouses or heirs in ways the watching city can detect, however, or the family status—and as I said, business opportunities, and therefore, wealth—will be permanently harmed.#V(Z,@%v(R.e
奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城)Y:t*d8m9H&~7o'v
So how docs the rest of Waterdeep handle, and think about, money?
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In lots of different ways, just as with any large group of people. After all, Waterdeep is home to: near-slaves (the 'prentices of cruel masters, lowly ser?vants of the most ill-behaved nobles, those too old or sick to work, and Dock Ward street urchins), a lot of "short-coin" laborers (non-guild workers paid by the day or by the task), "guilded" workers, independent (not guilded) shopkeepers, rising or successful mer?chants (who no longer have to work daily in their own shops, but have hired a staff; who also usually own more than one property; and are becoming landlords or part-owners of busi?nesses other than their own original one, sometimes little shops started by their sons and daughters), established merchants (born into a successful busi?ness or who've become a confident and settled landlord or multi-business owner, no longer grasping and clawing for coins), really rich wannabe-noble merchants (who spend coins like water to impress the city, and want to he socially important), and the nobles.
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)Q;R.t9L*q#K.u"fMost Waterdhavians don't want to reveal full details of their wealth, assets, debts, and prospects to any?one—and don't, often taking elabo?rate troubles to conceal things from tax collectors, business partners and fellow guild members, and even close kin (using trade agents and go-betweens in negotiations, setting up "dummy" companies, and so on).≡奥德赛公会≡2x ~+W,P8v2p$c
2m-r;L*|7U5?-^9c&g奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城Folk in Waterdeep love to discuss trade prospects,and "who will prob?ably do what—Just you watch!" Such conversations take the place of the weather tor casual daily discourse; other usual topics arc: "What's hot?" (meaning new products, processes, fads and fashions or "who's buying what?") and "What's the news?" (business feuds and announcements, and the usual city gossip about murders, trysts, weddings, breakups, robberies, scandals, fights and insults, and so on). Waterdhavians want to tell you all about their latest business venture (particularly if they want you to invest in it), but they usu?ally want to limit what they say to just that, and gloss over what else they own, are doing, or how their other business concerns arc performing.
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Waterdhavians are always looking for a deal, and love getting not just a low price but bargaining shrewdly. Someone who pays high prices for things without question is either a fool (usually in love), an outlander (ignorant of the proper current "street price"), or a noble or wannabe-noble with money to burn who wants everyone to know how much coin he can afford to waste. Of these, only nobles or wannabe-nobles impress most Waterdhavians, and observers judge if a big spender belongs in one of those two groups byjudging manner, speech, dress, and company kept, not just the amount of coins spent. If so judged, you impress, without anyone knowing exactly how much your complete holdings are (which allows con men to operate).奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城0\+},p-x2W!f
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Also, Waterdhavians aren't impressed by someone with large amounts of coin but no assets (property, ships or shares in ships, or goods owned) or investments. They regard such people suspiciously, as thieves, agents of foreign interests up to no good, or fools. So impressing a Water-dhavian always involves more than just a sum of money.奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城1Z2u1h;H8_3n2n.v)?#f#_'[
$E!N5r;s4C5].{奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城What's it like on the streets of Water-deep? Are there rush hours?奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城7\3m9w/U.B3m'y0D9v ?!b
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Crowded, with lots of people walking (many of them wheeling along delivery handcarts), and wagons and horse-riders trying to cleave through all the pedestrians. There are daily rush hours, when the city gates open (almost always at dawn) and before they close (almost always at dusk, though sometimes they're kept open a little later when caravans are assembling outside the city and there are lineups of wagons jammed inside the gates).0B0q&n*r$T2Q*[(]
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Traffic jams may happen due to goods-wagons moving to and from the docks when many large ships are loading or unloading, during festivals, guild parades, large contests at the Field ofTriumph, and extraordinary events like the first warm bathing days of a year (everyone heads to Sea Ward to get to the beach), market fairs outside the walls (when multiple caravans arrive and the City Guard keeps them from entering due to crowding, so street vendors and eager shoppers go out to them), or when the city's under attack.奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城"q$n3\&k*W%N
9D0r!p6J%D'K0I≡奥德赛公会≡Wagon traffic tends to disappear from Sea Ward and North Ward except during daylight hours, so as long as you're nimble enough to avoid nobles' galloping horses and coaches whizzing about, pedestrians can get around easily after dusk. That "easier after dark" rule holds true—if one dares to go out— everywhere in the city except around Caravan Court and right along the docks (though much of Dock Ward can be slow going for someone not large, ugly, obviously well-armed, and walking with a lot of friends).≡奥德赛公会≡/{0y'F&T7j1v*e9~(s3\
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The City Guard controls access to the city (the various gates, plus a harbor patrol) but the Watch commands the streets, calling in the Guard only when there's a riot or pitched battle. (Their horncalls can also summon Watchful Order "magical reinforcements" when necessary.) The Watch has wagons that trundle arrested persons off to dun?geon cells under Castle Waterdeep, where their release can be obtained the next day upon payment of a fine.≡奥德赛公会≡'h3l7x7N.f$h"J#q#S0k
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The City Guards at all city gates routinely inspect wagons (due to sheer volume of traffic, they can't do every one or search most crates and coffers thoroughly; instead, they spot-check when suspicious). 'Ihe Watch usually searches only to force someone into moving a wagon they seem unwill?ing to move ("All right then, Master Thorgund, I guess we'll just have to see what you consider so precious that it can't be moved one wheel-turn! Right, lads, let's have it all out and down onto the cobbles!"). Both the Guard and the Watch have the right to search any handcart or conveyance, at any lime. Anything suspicious will be seized, along with the wagon and its tenders, and "brought along" to Castle Waterdeep for a full inspection (under the eyes of grim City Guard types with loaded crossbows, and Watchful Order duty magists irritated at having their card and dice games interrupted).
/H6`'L+a/c3^7t9{奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城
$j+X7k)n&m"w&Z.k奇幻网站,奇幻小说下载,奇幻文学,无冬之夜,被遗忘的国度,欧美漫画,尼尔盖曼,碟形世界,龙与地下城By the way, few Guard or Watch offi?cers accept bribes, but they will report all attempts to offer such. Nobles get lenient treatment, but outlanders and known troublemakers receive "hard eye"attention. Familiar local carters and peddlers usually get a nod, a wave, and a quick inspection.
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