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First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:16 am
by Irennan
Thanks for sharing your story with us, @Orin; as I said in our email exchange, I really enjoyed it, especially the scene with the prostitute, or Nelgred's reaction, and Eilistraee's empathizing with Orin.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:42 pm
by Orin
Thanks, Irennen. I appreciate your feedback, as always. I started writing this thing like almost six months ago now and it frankly got away from me, becoming WAY longer than I'd intended, but I that's apparently just something I do. lol. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:58 pm
by Bhaern Quel
I enjoyed your story, Thank you.

One comment in the intro you said you found some Greyhawk cards as an introduction to Drow.

Greyhawk is a different game world then Forgotten Realms. Ed Greenwood developed Forgotten Realms and Gary Gygax (One of D&D founders) developed Greyhawk campaign world. This just for your information.

Thank you again for the story.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:34 pm
by Orin
Thanks for the clarification. I'd always thought Greyhawk was the world before FR, but I guess it's the precursor to Oerth? Anyway, thanks. Either way, the cards were really cool and I wish I'd never lost them. Glad you enjoyed the story too and thanks for the comment.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:37 pm
by Orin
I should say too, that I pretty much wrote this for you all here on the forum and I suppose for myself. I'd thought that I might be able to adapt it to one of my own fantasy worlds, but after talking it over with my lady and a some others, I feel that this story belongs to the Forgotten Realms, just like a little part of me does as well. I hope everyone enjoys it and I thank anyone who reads it. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 5:00 am
by Irennan
Orin wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:37 pm I should say too, that I pretty much wrote this for you all here on the forum and I suppose for myself. I'd thought that I might be able to adapt it to one of my own fantasy worlds, but after talking it over with my lady and a some others, I feel that this story belongs to the Forgotten Realms, just like a little part of me does as well. I hope everyone enjoys it and I thank anyone who reads it. Hope you all have a wonderful day.
It's definitely Forgotten Realms, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to other worlds with drow.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:07 pm
by Orin
I agree, it would be simple to adapt it to another world with drow. I was honestly thinking of adapting it to the world that the series of love stories I am writing takes place in, as it would fit easily. That being said, I don't think that I want to when I think about it. I like that this story takes place in FR. I like how it played out and I kind of like how it's something that I only share with you guys on here. I might write some additional supplements to it some time as well. Orin will go to Ten Towns and help to break the siege of Targos. He'll also find his way into the Underdark where he'll have to decide whether to heed Nalgred's advice or not...lol. Spoiler alert, he won't. He'll also eventually...finally, meet with some of the followers of Eilistraee that live in the north. I could use some help with that, honestly. My Faerunian geography is not as good as I'd like and I'm not sure what shrines and temples lay in the North. I know of the one in Raven's Bluff, but that's a bit farther south, not to mention that THIS story takes place in 1310 and I think that the Shrine in that city wasn't founded until a few decades later. Then again, he could find them when he's a content old man, I suppose. Haha! Wouldn't that be something? Or maybe I could do time travel? Anyway, yeah...I think I want THIS story to stay with you guys on the Chosen forums. I'm very grateful to have found this small, but kind community.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 3:49 am
by Irennan
From the top of my mind, in the North (1310 DR), Eilistraee has shrines in Ardeep, near Waterdeep (he could meet Qilué herself there), in the High Forest (Wildwinds coven, a large community), and near Silverymoon.

And yeah, I'm grateful that you joined us!

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:34 am
by Orin
The High forest sounds like it will be the closest to where he'd be. I originally thought that one day he'd wind up near The Promenade, helping free slaves from Skullport, but I think that I eventually want Orin to find his way to Raven's Bluff, as I believe that the timing would allow for him to be a part of the founding of the Shrine there. I need to get the book about the city though, it's in my Amazon cart, but I haven't swung that sword yet.

Meeting Qilue sounds cool. When I am writing in someone else's world, I do my best to use their characters sparingly, so perhaps just a meeting. I was reading about the Shrine you mentioned near the High Forest and the leader of that Wildwinds coven is her daughter, I believe. That could be interesting.

One of the most important things for me about this character, and the part of him that I enjoy expressing in my own real life, is that of being a completely unexpected element within even his own story and, more importantly, always being a kind stranger. When Orin shows up in the middle of something and winds up inevitably getting himself involved, every party associated with said situation, good guys, bad guys, bystanders and even the gods that watch are all taking notice of his successes and his failures and asking just one question.

Who in the Hells was that?

A meeting with Qilue, or any Eilistraeean priestess really, that expressed that aspect of Orin would not only be entertaining and hilarious, it would be deeply pleasing to me. So I may just have to go that direction with it, if for no other reason than to make Priestess Veladorn go "Dafuq?"

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:45 am
by Irennan
Orin wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:34 am The High forest sounds like it will be the closest to where he'd be. I originally thought that one day he'd wind up near The Promenade, helping free slaves from Skullport, but I think that I eventually want Orin to find his way to Raven's Bluff, as I believe that the timing would allow for him to be a part of the founding of the Shrine there. I need to get the book about the city though, it's in my Amazon cart, but I haven't swung that sword yet.

Meeting Qilue sounds cool. When I am writing in someone else's world, I do my best to use their characters sparingly, so perhaps just a meeting. I was reading about the Shrine you mentioned near the High Forest and the leader of that Wildwinds coven is her daughter, I believe. That could be interesting.

One of the most important things for me about this character, and the part of him that I enjoy expressing in my own real life, is that of being a completely unexpected element within even his own story and, more importantly, always being a kind stranger. When Orin shows up in the middle of something and winds up inevitably getting himself involved, every party associated with said situation, good guys, bad guys, bystanders and even the gods that watch are all taking notice of his successes and his failures and asking just one question.

Who in the Hells was that?

A meeting with Qilue, or any Eilistraeean priestess really, that expressed that aspect of Orin would not only be entertaining and hilarious, it would be deeply pleasing to me. So I may just have to go that direction with it, if for no other reason than to make Priestess Veladorn go "Dafuq?"
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dark_Dancer
This article includes all you need to know about the shrine. My pdf about Eilistraee also summarizes all the events surrounding it (if you're in 1310, though, the shrine has yet to be founded).

Qilué is not a pompous or overly serious person; far from it. She's affable and kind; she is really relaxed and understanding, and is known to be able to accept and appreciate everyone for whom they are. She can be wild, impish, and irreverent too, and has done her fair share of mischief. She has seen a lot and understands a lot, I doubt that she would really go wtf about Orin; rather she would appreciate and welcome him just for how he is. I think that writing this encounter would be really fun (as one of the many, many examples of her eccentricities, I'll always remember the scene in Silverfall in which she kisses Elaith just for the pleasure of pissing him off while internally confusing him at the same time--since he despises drow). If what little of Smedman's writing makes up your experience with Qilué, then erase it from your mind; Smedman really doesn't get her character. Then again, Smedman's book about the drow are trash from a the perspective of representing characters that she didn't create truthfully; she doesn't get Eilistraee&her people AT ALL (or rather, she intentionally refuses to write them as they actually are, and shoves her shitty headcanon in place of the actual lore).

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 1:18 am
by Orin
Thanks for the article and yeah, I still have your PDF and need to reference it more. Darn about the timeline though. Maybe I'll age him a few decades, or use time travel, that's always novel, right? lol

Oh I wasn't trying to adhere to an understanding of Qilue one way or another, and I know that how she is in the now infamous Smedman books is not at all accurate to her character. Also, the wtf aspect is more in surprise than anything else, at least for those Orin is aiding lol. It's not that she'd be upset or angry at his presence, but that his presence and help would be so unexpected that she'd be floored, or taken aback. I'm sure she'd be very happy to see him. Then again, I might be off a bit with respect to how any Eilistraeean priestess might react to him. They are all about freedom and flow and so random unexpected things don't throw them as much as they might other folks. Maybe to clarify the line should be;

"Who in the Hells was that?" "I dunno, but I like him already."

It's kind of like how no one on the Bitch Queen expected Orin to show up. He was an unknown quantity for all aboard, slaver, slave, drow and madman.
Some were happy to see him, some were not at all, but all were completely taken by surprise by the Kind Luskanite.

It would also probably make more sense with context, but unfortunately that context doesn't exist yet. lol!

You know, I believe I own Silverfall, but I never finished reading that. Got to get on that too.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 1:54 pm
by Irennan
Ahh, I misunderstood you, then. Yeah, I believe many priestesses of Eilistraee would appreciate Orin's presence--granted, some are converts and probably still stuck up with the baggage of coming from a Lolthite, but many would enjoy his crazyness and the kind of good chaos (not the strife that priestesses of Lolth mistake for chaos) that he brings.

Np about the article. When I and others (mostly me and BadCatMan) worked on the Eilistraee page on the Wiki, the amount of info about her was so large that the article had to be split in many smaller ones (about specific orders, shrines, characters, etc...), so all the lore that you can find in books (and in Ed Greenwood's answers), you'll probabaly find on the wiki as well (fully updated to the current era).

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 7:24 am
by Orin
Damn...I didn't know you'd worked on the actual wiki. You've devoted a significant amount of time and energy to the preservation of all this lore. I hope Ed appreciates it. I know I do.

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:50 pm
by Irennan
Thank you!

Re: First Time I Ever Saw a Drow (comments)

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 7:01 am
by Orin
Hey guys, I almost forgot and I can't believe I did, because this piece of music got me through writing it, but this is sort of the unofficial soundtrack to the story. I listened to it pretty much non stop while I was writing and the fast pace and energetic musician make for great listening while writing action. It is called The Song of the Golden Dragon, by Estas Tonne. I hope you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gphiFVVtUI