Eilistraee LIVES!

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Irennan
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

I'm more underwhelmed by the lack of substantial lore about anything that isn't a SC region or a human deity. But then, given the title, I should have expected that. It's just that, reading their descriptive article, I expected something closer to a full 5e FRCS.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Bhaern Quel »

[quote="Irennan":f5b8zhqs]I'm more underwhelmed by the lack of substantial lore about anything that isn't a SC region or a human deity. But then, given the title, I should have expected that. It's just that, reading their descriptive article, I expected something closer to a full 5e FRCS.[/quote:f5b8zhqs]

WotC did not over promise this time. They said they would provide some lore. They met that goal.

I do wonder about how much budget they allocated for the project. Also it might be that after 4th, they just do the least because of not trying to upset more people. We will not know soon, if ever. It took something like 15 years to discover the truth about TSR's "problems with the printers" and even that is likely not the full story.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

Yeah, technically they didn't, but when the description says ''discover the state of the FR and its deities post Second Sundering'', one tends to expect a bit more than just ''that's how things are, period''.

Next time I will treat their advertising campaigns as a *very* generous description of what's in their books.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

A very interesting post by Ed, even if most part of it is not official (basically everything but the post-1489 DR info).

[quote:2k0kx1im]Hi again, all. It's timely you've been discussing drow here, because Ed just handed me a reply for Zoe Bragg-Carbajales, regarding Eilistraee's "stats" as The Masked Lady.
Heeeere's Ed:

Hi, Zoe. First off, this is all unofficial. Yes, it comes from me, the creator of the Realms (including Eilistraee, Vhaeraun, and Mystra), but the first sentence below is there for good reasons…

Mortals in the Realms can rarely know the doings and specifics of the gods with certainty, because clergies and even the gods themselves sometimes avoid the truth, or the whole truth, or slant what they say so much. So it is with the “deaths” of Eilistraee and Vhaeraun. Vhaeraun entered Eilistraee’s realm and sought to destroy her, but perished there by her hand, and she subsumed his portfolios—or so the story spread among drow. Most assumed that meant she became the drow deity of thievery, but in truth, Eilistraee (who pronounces her own name “AISLE-iss-try-ee,” by the way) defeated Vhaeraun with Mystra’s indirect aid [Mystra IS the Weave, and it was the Weave that frustrated and drank Vhaeraun’s magics, but augmented those of Eilistraee] but did not slay her brother. Rather, she trapped his sentience within the Weave, leaving him in an “endless dream” engineered by Mystra, who enfolded him. In this dream, Mystra slowly convinced Vhaeraun to cooperate in a pact with herself and Eilistraee so that they could all survive what was to come: the Sundering, wherein both Eilistraee and Mystra would be “slain,” magic would go wild, and the worlds of Abeir and Toril would pass through each other and then be sundered.

Eilistraee emerged from her battle with her brother as The Masked Lady, and fulfilled her own portfolios of song, beauty, dance, swordwork, hunting, moonlight, and those of her brother, too: thievery, trickery, drow poisoners and poisons, drow males, and evil doings in the surface world. The death of Qilué Veladorn robbed her of some of her divine essence for a time (it leaked into the Weave, and only returned to her when Mystra herself recovered and could direct it back to its rightful home), but Eilistraee wasn’t slain, merely reduced to manifestations.

So from the end of 1375 to the summer of 1379, The Masked Lady has her “full” powers, and from late Flamerule of 1379 to the same month in 1489 DR, she is much reduced, being seen by mortals almost exclusively as her manifestation of a moving black mask outlined in a silver radiance and with two eyes of silver flame, that appears and silently guides (by pointing and touching and by imparting visions). After Flamerule 1489, Vhaeraun and Eilistraee are separate deities with the same powers and portfolios they had before 1375, but a new understanding, respect, and even friendship for each other. Some of their followers still war with each other, but the two deities do not. Thus far, Eilistraee’s teachings after the Sundering are the same as before the Sundering.

The Masked Lady: a 9-foot-tall long-legged, graceful, and dancing drow female surrounded by her constantly-swirling long tresses and a swirling black ankle-length cloak, her face always covered by a full-face mask. She has all the abilities, powers, and avatar specifics given in the 3e sourcebook FAITHS AND PANTHEONS, except that what she’s borrowed from Vhaeraun means her avatar does not lose her Extra Domain salient ability, and so retains all the things listed as being lost to her avatar on p25 of F&P. She carries the Moonsword, as noted, and the black cloak she gained from Vhaeraun acts as a second Moonsword (it can transform itself into one, and fly about to attack or aid her or others, as she wills, with her own movement rate and the best possible maneuverability) and can emit magical darkness as she wills, in extent and specifics, up to 90-foot-sphere about itself limits.

The Mask: an always-silent black full-face (brow to chin) mask that can absorb the energy of all spells into itself (including dispel magic) and be augmented thereby, and can heal or impart spells to mortals by touch. The mask can vary in size from as large as an adult drow’s fingernail to as large as huge castle gates, but is usually about double the size of a full-face mask a mortal adult drow might wear. It varies in visibility as Eilistraee wills, its silver radiance waxing or waning as she wills, and also in tangibility, from “not there” to velvety-soft to as hard as adamantine. As the Mask, Eilistraee never speaks, but can write words of fire in the mind of a mortal within 90 feet, and impart vivid and detailed mental visions (still images or “movies”) with the same range.

And there you have it. I hope this is of help in your campaign. As for the future, and Eilistraee? Well, I Do Have Plans...but we'll see. ;}


So saith Ed. Still spinning Realmslore daily, scribes!
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

And I'm wondering (rather, hoping) if the lore that Ed has put in his upcoming novel has anything to do with this.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Leema Har'gachi »

[quote="Irennan":33a1xgkd]A very interesting post by Ed, even if most part of it is not official (basically everything but the post-1489 DR info).

[quote:33a1xgkd] Most assumed that meant she became the drow deity of thievery, but in truth, Eilistraee (who pronounces her own name “AISLE-iss-try-ee,” by the way) defeated Vhaeraun with Mystra’s indirect aid [Mystra IS the Weave, and it was the Weave that frustrated and drank Vhaeraun’s magics, but augmented those of Eilistraee] but did not slay her brother.

And there you have it. I hope this is of help in your campaign. As for the future, and Eilistraee? Well, I Do Have Plans...but we'll see. ;}


So saith Ed. Still spinning Realmslore daily, scribes!
love to all,
THO[/quote:33a1xgkd][/quote:33a1xgkd]

Ok first of all, the whole weave trapping Vhaeraun is a pretty ingenuous way to deal with Vhae and it helps to explain his heel-face turn that was mentioned earlier this month. Second... umm... What does "AISLE" sound like when said.... Um, I am not sure how to say that.... and Thirdly, I can't wait to hear what ed's plans are for our darling Lady Silverhair.
CODENAME:Leema
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

Well, Vhaeraun didn't really have a heel-face turn, to me it looks like both Eilistraee and her brother learned from each other and learned that it makes no sense for them to be at each other's throat, especially not for something that happened like 30k+ years before the current era.

Ed expanded on it, and said that (and this is canon) ''Vhaeraun is back to being himself, with the same portfolios. His ethos is SUBTLY changed; he is now advocating drow dwelling in the World Above (the surface world) be good citizens where doing so will enhance their chances of staying alive and being accepted, and do their evil deeds as covertly as possible. In other words, do good when and where it profits them to do so.''

and

''Vhaeraun and Eilistraee are separate deities with the same powers and portfolios they had before 1375, but a new understanding, respect, and even friendship for each other'' (that is also canon).

So, Vhaeraun changed a bit, but the change and opening is reciprocal, rather than one-sided.

As for how ''AISLE'' sounds, I honestly have no idea. In my language we pronunciate words exactly like they are written: to me, finding out the pronounciation of some english words, is rather difficult. However Ed also said that ''the fact that Eilistraee herself pronounces her name that way doesn't mean that others across the Realms don't say it differently, and she still answers to all the variants. Qilué and the Seven and El always pronounced it "Isle-ISS-tree", even when addressing the goddess face to face, in the "home" Realms campaign.''

So, at this point, we have tons of pronounciations for Eilistraee's name:

AISLE-iss-try-ee, Isle-ISS-tree, EEL-iss-TRAY-yee, eel-ISS-tray-ee, eel-iss-tray-yee and eil-iss-tray-yee. Just pick the one you like the most, Eilistraee doesn't seem to really care :p (it reminds me of some scenes in movies or books, where characters have names that no one ever spells or pronunciate correctly, and they have come to a point where they become used to that and don't really care anymore)
Last edited by Irennan on Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Leema Har'gachi »

[quote="Irennan":ulyt6mxy]Well, Vhaeraun didn't really have a heel-face turn, to me it looks like both Eilistraee and her brother learned from each other and learned that it makes no sense for them to be at each other's throat, especially not for something that happened like 30k+ years before the current era.

Ed expanded on it, and said that (and this is canon) ''Vhaeraun is back to being himself, with the same portfolios. His ethos is SUBTLY changed; he is now advocating drow dwelling in the World Above (the surface world) be good citizens where doing so will enhance their chances of staying alive and being accepted, and do their evil deeds as covertly as possible. In other words, do good when and where it profits them to do so.''

and

''Vhaeraun and Eilistraee are separate deities with the same powers and portfolios they had before 1375, but a new understanding, respect, and even friendship for each other'' (that is also canon).

So, Vhaeraun changed a bit, but the change and opening is reciprocal, rather than one-sided.

As for how ''AISLE'' sounds, I honestly have no idea. In my language we pronunciate words exactly like they are written: to me, finding out the pronounciation of some english words, is rather difficult. However Ed also said that ''the fact that Eilistraee herself pronounces her name that way doesn't mean that others across the Realms don't say it differently, and she still answers to all the variants. Qilué and the Seven and El always pronounced it "Isle-ISS-tree", even when addressing the goddess face to face, in the "home" Realms campaign.''

So, at this point, we have tons of pronounciations for Eilistraee's name:

AISLE-iss-try-ee, Isle-ISS-tree, EEL-iss-TRAY-yee, eel-ISS-tray-ee, eel-iss-tray-yee and eil-iss-tray-yee. Just pick the one you like the most, Eilistraee doesn't seem to really care :p[/quote:ulyt6mxy]

Ah, well at lest I know now that no matter how badly I botch her name she'll still listen to me... I did try google searching AISLE to see if I could find how that part would sound.. this is what I found. https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=AISLE

Then when I tried adding the rest of her name to it... it sounded.. well.... not something I'd like to say everyday. I think I'll just stay with eel-ISS-tray-ee for now..... Maybe, the Lady Silverhair will send me a dream to teach me how to say it like she does... She'd know that would help a lot.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

[quote="Leema Har'gachi":3f3cd2mw] Maybe, the Lady Silverhair will send me a dream to teach me how to say it like she does... She'd know that would help a lot.[/quote:3f3cd2mw]

It would be welcome indeed :p
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Leema Har'gachi »

:P
agreed
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Slightly late reply from me (sorry, was on vacation).

But that's some very interesting stuff from Mr. Greenwood. I like it. And it makes a lot of sense (particularly them having a better understanding of each other now).

As for the pronunciation of her name, it does seem that there's now yet another new way to pronounce it with various sources conflicting with each other. But then what Mr. Greenwood says goes, so that makes "AISLE-iss-try-ee" the officially correct version now.

To that end, this might or might not be helpful: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRM5qpqaJes:1fvt72gf]How to Pronounce Aisle[/url:1fvt72gf]

So basically the English word "eye" followed by an "l" sound (though that sounds a bit like "eye-uhl" I'm guessing it's concatenated into a single sound that's closer to something like "eyl" or such). Also interesting is that the emphasis seems to be on that first syllable, where I'd always put it on the third. But then I'd used to say "tray" more than "try" (i tended to lean more towards "eye-liss-[i:1fvt72gf]tray[/i:1fvt72gf]-yee" so it'll take some getting used to the new pronunciation).

Anyway, interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. :)


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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

My pleasure, I was just happy to see that LP brought something good in the end, at least. I also think that Eilistraee must be happy, despite all the crappy stuff that happened: after all, she gained back the friendship of her brother.

And thanks for the pronunciation guide. Yes, the way Eilistraee pronounces her own name would be the ''official'' one, but according to what Ed said, people prononuce her name in different ways, and she seems to be totally ok with it. He said that the Sisters and Elminster pronounce it Isle-ISS-tree, when talking directly to the goddess, for example.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

I've looked up previews of ''Death Masks'', by Ed Greenwood, over google books, looking to see if the passages about Eilistraee had made in. Idk what was editied out, but there is some interesting stuf about her (minor spoilers).

Basically, from what I've understood, she's leading some of her followers, drow and not, to Waterdeep, in order to build a shrine/glade there. They have already approached the Heaventree family, asking for a sponsor to build the glade-shrine in what remains of the Field Ward of Waterdeep (although, they also seem to be aiming to obtain a presence in the North Ward); and the answer was positive. So, the Eilistraeean presence in Waterdeep could be soon restored.

The fact that Eilistraee has personally appeared and danced with her people over the Sword Coast after the Sundering is also stated again. It's something that we already know, but it's nice to see it in a published book.
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Irennan »

Google's preview is incomplete, btw. There are some more mentions popping out (and some disappearing) when I search. I'll update the thread on the 7th, when I get the book.

For example, Eilistraee has been seen dancing under the walls of Waterdeep by the whole city, the news spread and many of her followers are now there. They want to build some buildings, destroy them and create a forest-glade in its place. And all of this makes me just so happy :D
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Re: Eilistraee LIVES!

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

That's wonderful to hear. :)


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