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Icelander
Master of Realmslore
1873 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Feb 2012 : 17:31:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Barastir
The point is that this disruption can come through "natural disasters", or can be the result of human action, that is usually considered "artificial". If you see the development of humankind and exploration of the environment as the natural course of things, that's another story*. 
These are profoundly anthropocentric terms. In reality, changes, even large-scale changes, are not 'disasters' or 'artificial' except from the perspective of humans. A meteor is natural. So is a human. So is anything the meteor does or anything the human does.
quote:
Originally posted by Barastir
And the druids of the Realms can see it in a different way, they can even disagree about this matter; while some would want to preserve animal and plant life (and fungus, etc.) regardless of human - and humanoids - existence and influence, others would see that full resistence is a foil and that resources could be explored consciently. And yes, maybe the gods could guide in one way or another, depending on the ways of the deity. I think Chauntea's druids could work differently from Silvanus', and maybe there could be factions between different groups following the same deity. Lots of roleplaying possibilities...
*Of course, this is the way I see it after studying this issue for some years. People are totally free to disagree. 
I very much agree with you here. The druids of the Realms all claim to serve 'The Balance' but given that they each serve their own god, they aren't serving the same Balance at all. Each god has an ideal of how they would like nature to work and these can violently conflict. From an objective, out-of-universe standpoint, carefully maintained corn fields, windblown wastelands and verdant forests are all equally natural. However, Chauntea's worshippers will often claim that the Balance calls for the first while Talos favours the second and Silvanus the third. Let's not forget Eldath, Nobanion and a host of others.
Druids probably clash with other druids on a fairly regular basis. The duelling for supremacy might have a lot to do with different views on how to guide the development of nature. |
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1607 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2012 : 09:36:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
quote:
Originally posted by Barastir
The point is that this disruption can come through "natural disasters", or can be the result of human action, that is usually considered "artificial". If you see the development of humankind and exploration of the environment as the natural course of things, that's another story*.
These are profoundly anthropocentric terms. In reality, changes, even large-scale changes, are not 'disasters' or 'artificial' except from the perspective of humans. A meteor is natural. So is a human. So is anything the meteor does or anything the human does. (...)
That's why I used the quotation marks, and considered that you could see human influence as a possible "natural course". Human being can (possibly) affect nature in a way too fast for the environment to recover, right. And so do meteors, falling trees, beaver or human-build dams... |
"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."
The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood) |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2530 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2012 : 13:01:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
However, the majority opinion among druids, certainly among the Emerald Enclave, does not appear to allow for any logging. I would not find it inconsistent if they were wholly against whaling, as well.
Hmm...
quote:
While this value may imply that the Enclave is against logging interests in the Reach, that conclusion is not necessarily
true. The Enclave demands that anyone who cuts down trees to make a living does so in a responsible manner. Planting new trees is not the only step necessary to avoid their wrath. The 'business' of logging must also take into consideration the best place
to cut down trees.
This philosophy has caused some problems in Chondath and Turmish. The Enclave demands that tree cutters harvest from where it would do the forest the most good, not necessarily where harvesting is most convenient. This demand makes the jobs of lumberjacks more expensive and cumbersome, which is bad for business albeit good for the environment.
- "Vilhon Reach", available in Previous Edition Downloads
So practically they only require that logging should be checked with them first, and expenses tend to grow unpredictably, but not prohibitively. And that's Emerald Enclave where they have enough power to affect large-scale affairs.
Did something change or we shall write off too jumpy druids as "weird fanon is weird"? |
People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore
1873 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2012 : 15:51:13
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quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder
So practically they only require that logging should be checked with them first, and expenses tend to grow unpredictably, but not prohibitively. And that's Emerald Enclave where they have enough power to affect large-scale affairs.
Did something change or we shall write off too jumpy druids as "weird fanon is weird"?
Scions of Arrabar.
The most moderate faction among the druids merely dislikes logging (and views cities as abominations). The younger or more extreme druids pretty see any human daring to rise above Stone Age technology as the enemy. |
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2012 : 21:03:34
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| Aren't at least some FR whales sapient? I seem to recall something like that from the Threat From The Sea trilogy. Wouldn't whaling be far too risky if that's the case? Half a dozen pissed off sperm whales could probably sink most ships. |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore
1873 Posts |
Posted - 25 Feb 2012 : 21:20:38
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quote:
Originally posted by khorne
Aren't at least some FR whales sapient? I seem to recall something like that from the Threat From The Sea trilogy. Wouldn't whaling be far too risky if that's the case? Half a dozen pissed off sperm whales could probably sink most ships.
Some of the whales in the Inner Sea appear to be sapient, but it is not stated if it applies to all of them or just a part. The evidence suggests that at least some of the carnivorous species are not sapient, even in the Inner Sea.
In the outer oceans of Toril, the degree of whale sapience is more mysterious. No doubt some of them are, but whether these are a tiny minority or the vast majority, we don't know. We also don't know whether sapience goes by species, i.e. all members of a given species are either sapient or not, or whether sapient and non-sapient populations of each species co-exist.
Whaling is going to be much more hazardous where whales are sapient, yes. On the other hand, the massive profits involved will argue that much the same applies with whaling as dungeon-crawling. It's a high-risk, high-reward career, where magic-users and other 'heroic'* people with abilities far beyond what Earth-humans are capable of can earn enough in a few short weeks or months to join the ranks of nobility somewhere.
*In the old sense of 'heroic', i.e. refering to prowess, not a value-judgment on morality. Adventurers have no pressing reason to necessarily be altruistic or self-sacrificing and, in fact, I imagine that personalities much like those of pirates, bandit lords and tomb robbers outnumber those fitting a modern definition of the word 'hero'. |
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Whaling in the Realms
