#dnd etymology

[yeetmeoutthewindowdaddy]

The intricacies of elven naming conventions, and contemplating the possible meanings of Halsin's name:

This post was directly inspired by a Halstarion fanfiction on AO3, but I lost the link to the fic and can't remember its name. 😭 If anyone recognizes the example name I used here (which was Halsin's childhood name in the fic) and can send me the name of the fic so I can link it in this post, I would greatly appreciate it. It's a really good fic!)

When an elf turns 100 they take an "adult name", which is a name that they chose for themselves instead of the name chosen for them by their parents.

(AN: Elves mature at approximately the same rate that humans do until they're around 25. An elf not being considered an adult in elven society until their 100th birthday is essentially a ceremonial rite of passage— showing that the elf has lived long enough, and gained enough life experience, to be taken seriously by older elves. [i.e.: An 18 year old and 38 year old are both legal adults, but I'd take the 38 year old's advise more seriously than the 18 year old's.])

Elven naming traditions are complex. How a name is pronounced changes the meaning of the name— even if two names are spelled same way they could be pronounced differently, and thus have different meanings. Prefixes and suffixes seem to be interchangeable. Not only that, (AFAIK) some letters can be interchanged, combined, or dropped to make the name flow better and/ or sound prettier.

"According to The Complete Book of Elves, the elven language is so full of subtlety and nuance that only native speakers fully understand it. Two names may sound the same to a human, but an elf would know the difference."

As an example of how intricate elven names are; the name "Arith" could mean "gold child" or "child of gold" if read as "ar-ith". But if the name is read as "ari-th" it could mean "silver healer"— if the "a" is removed from the suffix "-tha". Or it could mean "silver wing" if the "i" is removed from the suffix "-thi".

The name "Arith" could also mean "silver child" if read as "ari-ith", if the meanings of "ari" and "ith" are combined. Complicating matters, combining the "i"'s can elongate the vowel, changing the pronunciation to "aree-th". From what I can tell combining the "i"'s could lead to the vowel either being elongated or not, depending on the preference of the person who is doing the naming.

Hell, combining the "i"'s could lead to the name meaning "Gold-silver child" or "Child of gold and silver" or "Silver-gold child" or "Child of silver and gold" or other variations. The meaning of the name could also be used to represent an idea— so instead of a direct/ literal translation of "Arith" we'd get a name that means "Valued child" or "Treasured child" or "Little treasure" etc.

{11} Ar : gold, golden {12} Arì : silver {42} -ith (-lath; -lith; -lyth) : child, young {81} -thal /-tha (-ethal / -etha) : heal, healer, healing {84} -thi (-ethil; -thil) : wing

To say that elven names are complicated is a bit of an understatement.

Continuing to use angle fire's elven names charts to decipher what Halsin's name could mean is frustrating— as it seems as though his name isn't elven in origin. I don't even want to think about Astarion's name. [alt]

{39} Ha : free, freedom

Which makes sense, as he values freedom/ being free. But "Ha" is the only direct translation available off the elf name charts— which compelled me to add/ drop letters in prefixes/ suffixes in order to determine the meaning of Halsin's name.

If we add an "l" to "Ha" and remove the "a" in "san" and replace it with an "i" then the name "Halsin" means "Free drink". However using the suffix "-hal" as a prefix gives us a name with the meaning:

{39} Ha : free, freedom {31} -hal (-ahal; -ihal) : pale, weak {73} -san : drink, wine

"Pale drink", "pale wine", "weak drink", "weak wine", etc. Which doesn't really fit the Halsin we know. Though an argument could be made that Halsin chose this name/ its meaning because he was too weak to stop the Shadow Curse, and as an acknowledgement of how he turned to drinking to cope. But he would've been 250 years old when he chose this name. Ostensibly, he would've already changed his name upon reaching age 100— though he could('ve) change(d) his name multiple times.

Or if we drop the "a" in "La" and add an "n" to "Si", the meaning changes to:

{39} Ha : free, freedom {52} La : night {80} Si : cat, feline

"Free(d) night cat." Which fits Halsin in the same way that a foot does in a shoe that's a size to small— it fits, but not really.

If we combine the "Ha" and "-hal" we'd get a name that means "free weak drink". Which would be a nod to his escape from slavery in the Underdark, and how he drank to cope with his failures in the Shadow Cursed Lands. (And how he might've also drank to cope with what happened to him during his enslavement.)

There's many other combinations/ meanings, but none of them really feel like something Halsin would choose as a name for himself.

However! Looking at the (surface) drow names lead me to some interesting theories.

{33} Hal/Sol : Deft, nimble, spider {79} Sin/Szin : Festival, joy, pleasure

So his name would be: "Nimble pleasure" or something along those lines. But why would he use a drow name?

May I present to you the angsty idea that "Halsin" was his slave name and that for whatever reason he chose to keep it once he was freed.

He could've also used a combination of drow and elven name meanings, as by adding an "l" to the end of "Ha", "Halsin" means:

{39} Ha : free, freedom {79} Sin/Szin : Festival, joy, pleasure

"Free joy" or "Joy in freedom"— which could possibly be a nod to his joy at being freed, with the drow portion acting as a reminder of his youthful folly. We could also get the meaning "Free pleasure" which, uh, could be taken as 'he is free to pursue his pleasure', or 'it is a pleasure to be free' or 'it is pleasurable to be free', etc.

Or for more angst, "Free pleasure" which come from his drow captors combining the elf prefix "Ha" with the drow prefix "Sin" as both a mockery of his lost freedom and a reminder that he was to pleasure the matron of the house, or anyone who she gave permission to*, at any time (noncon free use).

(*AN: Drow society is staunchly matriarchal. The least powerful woman ranks above the most powerful man. However, a non-noble woman couldn't give orders to a patron; if she did then his powerful matron would most likely react with violence for using her "possession" without her permission— so in this way powerful drow men are protected, to an extent. However drow men, whatever their status, are above surface slaves, especially elves. (I think they hold dominion over female slaves, but I am not sure. Drow men are definitely higher up on the food chain than a male surface elf slave.) Which is why the patron got to 'enjoy' Halsin (and because the matron allowed him to). Honestly, Halsin is damn lucky to have survived as a slave instead of being sacrificed to Lolth or outright killed— most drow hate surface elves.)

I wonder if Halsin went to the Underdark before he turned 100. He was given into the care of a druid grove when the last of his family died, which implies he was very young at the time. <100 year old elves are full of wanderlust, and without an elven community/ family to help guide him Halsin would've taken risks that older elves could have warned him against.

And it would make sense for Halsin to use the name that means "free joy" if he was in the Underdark before he turned 100. It would also make sense for him to change his name to mean "weak drink" or "free(d) weak drink". The change would've been subtle enough that most wouldn't notice. And it would be in character for Halsin to change his name to be a constant reminder to himself of his failures and mistakes.

Of course he could've chosen the name "Halsin" because it has no meaning, and thus no expectations attached to it.

**(Please note that I am by no means a DND lore expert, this analysis is amateur at best. Angelfire seems to be a 3rd party website, so their translations are by no means official or correct, and idk how old the webpage is.)

[asteroidtroglodyte]

A Magical Taxonomy

Warlock: from wær (old English, “pact/oath”) + loga (proto-Germanic, “liar”) + hard “-ck” (Scottish English); Oathbreaker (contextually; breaker of Baptismal Oaths; hence also Apostate)

Wizard: from Wis (old English, “knowledgeable”) + -ard (same, “too much of”); Possessor of too much knowledge

Witch: from weyk (proto-indo-European, “apart, separated, different”)[connotations akin to Latin’s “Sacre”]; Sacred Outsider

Sorcerer: from Sors (Latin, “Fate”) and Ser (same,“to bind”); Fate Manipulator

Druid: from dru (proto-Celtic, “Oak”) + weyd (same, “to see”); Oak-Seer, or Tree-Knower

Cleric: from kleros (Ancient Greek, “lots/ casting lots/ drawing lots”) [contextually; public servants were selected by drawing lots, as opposed to, say, voting]; Public Servant / Clerk

Bard: from bard (proto-Celtic, “Bard”); Bard

[blujaydoodles]

I have no particular explanation as their player for why they view sexuality more or less the same way but have different labels except 'vibes, idk', but I do imagine it'd be less ambiguous in Gnomish

[thepringlesofblood]

An Incomplete Collection of Calorum Etymology Shenanigans

A Crown of Candy has a LOT of food puns, and with more presumably on the way with The Ravening War, I don’t think it’s possible to catalogue them all.

However, if we take the ones in plain English as given, (e.g. Oliver Onionpatch is an onion, Primsy Coldbottle is a bottle), that lightens the load significantly enough that a catalogue of Calorum wordplay becomes possible.

This will be a (non-comprehensive) list of characters, place names, and more that have hidden meanings or food-related etymology. If I don’t list who came up with it, it’s the GM of that campaign (Brennan for ACOC, Matt Mercer for TRW)

spoilers for ACOC and TRW, naturally. 

disclaimer: I am not an expert on words, but I do know a lot of weird nerd shit, as well as a decent chunk of ancient Greek and Latin as I’m majoring in classics (the study of the ancient Mediterranean). I might not get everything right, but I’m doing my best. verify your sources, kids

I actually made a post like this before, but it was mostly place names, so I’m sorting this one into categories

Locations

A Crown of Candy

PCs 

NPCs

Etc.

The Ravening War

PCs

NPCs

Etc.

LOCATIONS

Ceresia - this is the one that genuinely impresses me the most. Ceres is the Roman goddess of wheat, the harvest, and agriculture. English has her to thank for the word “cereal”. Each nation is clearly themed for a specific real-world country, with Ceresia being Italy. So, Brennan used the Roman version of the goddess (w the Greek version being Demeter). That’s dope as hell. 


Calorum - you probably can associate this with the word “calorie” but it goes deeper. The word “calorie” refers to the unit of energy, and derives from the Latin calor, caloris meaning “heat” or “warmth”

-orum is the genitive plural in latin - so, calorum lit. translates to “of heat [calories]”, but you could totally translate it as an adjective meaning “made of heat [calories]”

TLDR: the name of the food land is “made of calories” in Latin, that’s AWESOME

Fructera - kind of obvious, but if you want to know the Latin, this is from fructus, fructus which can mean many things, including “produce” “crops” and “fruit”

Dulcington - dulce, dulcis is a word for sweets/a sweet drink in Latin

Sucrosi - sucrose is a main chemical compound in sugar, w the word deriving from the French word for sugar, sucre.

Glucian Road - from glucose, a simple sugar that’s in most living things statistically.

Frucian Road - from fructose, a very similar simple sugar present mostly in fruit. I think it’s kind of cool that the crossroads of the road to Fructera and the road to Candia emphasize the thing they have in common - sugar.

Pangranos - “pan” is bread in several languages, and the “gran” part likely alludes to words derived from “grain,” like “granary.”

then the -os ending recalls ancient Greek naming conventions and grammar (think “Alexandros” or “Mykonos”) many of which carried over into Roman times (though many were also changed to -us for alphabet reasons, hence why we normally see “Patroclus” “Dionysus” and “Hephaestus” instead of the more literal spellings “Patroklos” “Dionysos” and “Hephaistos” it’s a big ol fuckin controversy in ancient Greek translation)

Lacramor - here’s the thing. we all know lactose is in milk (coming from the Latin lac, lactis for milk). but lacrimal means tears, or related to tears (coming from the Latin lacrima, lacrimae for tears).

(update: I went DEEP in the paint on this one, and there’s a protein called lactoferrin that exists in all human secretions (gross) including milk, tears, and saliva. intriguing…)


(updatier update: fuck. he probably just meant amor like Spanish & Latin for “love” so the milk city is called “love of milk.”)

Carn - a more obvious one, especially if you speak Spanish or any of the other romance languages that use this word - carnis, carnis in Latin and carne in Spanish mean “meat”

Uvano - they’re. they’re grapes. and. uva is grape. both in Latin and Spanish. nice one

Comida - the Spanish word for food. it will forever irritate me that they pronounce it like it’s an English word (COM-ih-duh) not the Spanish word that it is (coh-MEE-da) but it makes sense - Brennan mentioned in a

n interview that it’s an allusion to how colonizers (specifically the English) would bastardize local place names until the original pronunciation is lost.

The Verduran Forest - straight up a location from pathfinder. also, “verdure” is an English word meaning “growing vegetation”, or the color of it, or the condition of health and liveliness it implies. comes from old French verd (green) by way of Latin viridis (green). Spanish also has a hand on this ball with verde (green).

The Sangre - Blood! sangre is blood. In Spanish. And French.

Gristlemar - “mar” is a Latin root used in a lot of things to mean the ocean (deriving from mare, maris = sea/ocean), so it’s a sea of gristle. gross! I love it!

Saprophus - likely either from “saprophyte”, something that feeds off the dead, or “saprophagus”, an adjective meaning “feeding on decaying matter”

Greek roots!

sapros- = rotten, putrid

-phyton = plant/“that which is grown”

-phagos = eat/consume 

A CROWN OF CANDY

PCs

The Rocks Family - One thing that’s not Latin exactly but is really cool is that almost everyone in the Rocks family is named after an actual rock - like, a gemstone - and most of them are rock candy (or of course poprocks in Amethar’s case)

Archmage Lazuli - pretty obvious, lapis lazuli is a beautiful blue gemstone

Sister Citrina - citrine is a yellow gemstone

Princess Sapphria - sapphires are usually blue but can come in a bunch of other colors which i didn’t know! fun fact

King Jadain - jade - a lovely green gemstone

King Amethar - amethyst - p obvious, he’s purple and all (credit to Lou!)

Princess/Bastard Ruby - i don’t have to explain this one to you (credit to Siobhan!)

Princess/Bastard Jet - I was surprised to find out that Jet is actually a type of lignite - it’s like coal, but so compressed it becomes a gemstone. hence the phrase “jet-black” (credit to Emily!)

the exceptions to this are Cumulous (which like, that’s a cloud and he’s a cotton candy man, makes total sense) and General Rococoa - I can’t fault Brennan for the pun there, and technically Rococo is a style of jewelry (among other things) that can include a lot of different gemstones so there’s a loose connection there.

Queen Pamelia Rocks was Fructeran and from House Pomegrana originally so like. she gets a pass from the rock puns.

however...you ever wondered why its “Pamelia” instead of the way more common “Pamela”? they actually changed it in TRW so that “Pamela” is one of her nicknames bc straight up no one calls her Pamelia at the table.

2 thoughts, one more likely than the other

1. this is Brennan making fun of George RR Martin for minutely altering a common name to make a Fantasy Name, which he’s done before, e.g. Belizabeth, Bonathan.

2. the ancient Greek μέλι, μέλιτος (meli, melitos) and the Latin mel, mellis both mean “honey” or, when used as an adjective, “sweet”, usually translated as “honey-sweet”, famously the adjective used to describe the pomegranate seed that Hades gives Persephone. hehe pomegranate

so. th.there’s strength in sweetness amiright fellas?

update: thank you to @trans-leek-cookie for the info that "pomegranate” and “garnet” share a few root words! in fact, it’s possible that the gemstone was named because of its resemblance to the fruit!

pomegranate etymology

Latin granatus, granata, granatum = an adjective meaning “containing many seeds”, used in conjunction with pomum (fruit) to mean ��pomegranate”, which later leads to:

Medieval Latin granatum, granati = pomegranate (a fruit with many seeds in it)

garnet etymology

Old French grenate, gernatte, granate = garnet/of a dark red color

which comes from the same Medieval Latin granatum used as an adjective to describe something dark red like a pomegranate seed

conclusion: you are not immune to rock puns just bc you’re a fruit

Chancellor Lapin Cadbury - bet you didn’t think this was anything, right? Lapin is the French word for rabbit. Hence, why it’s pronounced la-PAN not LAP-in. And of course Cadbury, like the chocolate brand that is primarily famous for its eggs & rabbits & easter stuff. (credit to Zac!)

Sir Theobald Gumbar - as far as I can tell, the only funny bit here is the whole gummy bear = gumbar bit. I will say that he is a knight of North Gumbia, which is likely a reference to Northumbria, a medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. (credit to Murph!)

update: thank you to @sanguidge​ for pointing out the Theo - Theodore - Teddy - teddy bear connection! to borrow Gooey’s words, Sir Theo is in fact a big soft squishy bear. 

Liam Wilhemina - Wilhemina is a brand of peppermint from the Netherlands ^v^ (credit to Ally!)

Queen Saccharina Frostwhip - references the word “saccharine” meaning “overly sweet” from the Latin saccharum meaning “sugar” (credit to Emily!)

Cumulous Rocks - we mentioned it earlier, but “cumulous” refers to a kind of cloud that is very puffy and fluffy and white and looks, tbh, like white cotton candy. hell yeah. (credit to Zac!)

NPCs

Commander Constano Grissini - grissini is literally the Italian word for breadsticks (not the big soft olive garden ones, the thin crispy ones). Constano is a very ancient Roman name, which fits.

Pontifex Belizabeth Brassica - refers to the genus (Brassica oleracera) that broccoli belongs to
, and “Pontifex” is a Roman title, given to basically a high priest who is the political and religious power and representation of the gods will - they’re the ones who make sure everyone’s worshipping the right way, sort of like the pope but for ancient Rome.

Basha Myaso - myaso is Russian for meat, though the Meatlands are supposedly based off of ancient Celts. Much like with Belizabeth & Bonathan, Brennan likes to change one letter of a common name to make fun of George RR Martin. This could easily be him changing “Sasha” to “Basha”

Sir Keradin Deeproot- that fuckin carrot. so you’re probably thinking huh that sounds like keratin, the stuff our hair and fingernails are made out of, right? guess what. “keratin” and “carrot” share a common root word - keras, the Greek word for “horn” that’s a DEEP cut, brennan. 


Dracoria Azucar (aka Cinnamon) - azúcar is Spanish for “sugar” which is cool bc Cinnamon is inspired by Mexican hot chocolate. then draco = dragon in Latin, like the constellation

Spearia Mentha - its spearmint. mentha = the genus for the mint plant.

this one’s a stretch and probably not intended but just for funsies: mentha is from the Greek μίνθα, which comes from an interesting not very well-known myth about a nymph/naiad named Minthe.

nymphs and naiads are representations of nature, naiads being spirits of water and other nymphs represent trees, plants, and other organisms in nature, which to me really evokes Spearia’s whole vibe. there’s other stuff with Minthe and non-monogamy but not in a particularly positive way :/

ETC.

“Senator” and “Imperator” being used for Ceresia parallel the Roman system of government - as does the country swinging b/w ineffective democracy and destructive imperatorship lol.

Plus Senator Ciabatta being a war hero turned senator who then got popular enough to make himself emperor/tyrant/imperator is extremely Roman - that shit happens ALL THE TIME in ancient Roman history.

This might be nothing, but I think it’s funny that the Concord was founded by a grape. You know, like Concord grapes?

update: like a year after posting this I finally figured out what the Ramsian Doctrine and the Prophidian Heresy are from. 

“Ramsian” is a reference to Gordon Ramsey, a popular TV chef who famously promotes the use of fresh, farm-to-table ingredients.

“Prophidian” is a shortening of “pro-ophidian”, with “ophidian” meaning “snake-like” or “relating to snakes”. The Christian devil is often represented as a snake, due to the myth of the Garden of Eden, and the Hungry One is Calorum’s version of the devil, so it’s basically “pro-Hungry One” because the Prophidian Heresy states that the Hungry One is as powerful as the bulb.

(personally I’ve always thought snakes got the short end of the stick here, they’re very chill and interesting creatures and the whole devil iconography thing kind of ruined their reputation. I am personally Prophidian in that I am pro-snakes. snake rights!)

update: forgot about the unused backup PCs lol

Sir Amanda Maillard - the Maillard reaction is the name for the reaction food does when in contact with heat where it gets crispy and good - like smores, like she is. 10/10 (credit to Ally!)

Bitternight Darknibs - since her thing is she sold her sugar for power and is thus unsweetened cacao, the “darkness” theming alludes to how we rate chocolate according to how “dark” it is based on how much sugar and milk is added.

chocolate with 0 sugar (aka baking chocolate) is “100% dark” and is not good to eat with your mouth, being very bitter. hence, “bitter” “night” and “dark”

“nibs” alludes to chocolate in an less processed form - cocoa beans get roasted and cracked open to create “nibs”, which get ground up and melted and separated and recombined and things are added to make chocolate (this is where it makes a difference how much sugar you add). (credit to Siobhan!)

Murdo Brer - our molasses necromancer has “Brer” most likely as a reference to the brand Brer Rabbit Molasses. the fact that he’s a necromancer who lives in a swamp is also interesting to me. (credit to Lou!)

cw: discussion of dead bodies, enbalming, & mummies in the links

swamps are extremely good at preserving dead things, which is a little like necromancy, which I think is cool.

for some reason I had it in my head that putting a dead body in molasses preserves it really well, but when I went to get sources I couldn’t find shit. maybe I was conflating the great molasses flood with how honey has historically been used in enbalming? lmk if you know what I’m thinking of, I was like fully convinced of this fact until I went to find info on it.

murph’s bubblegum monster wasn’t named sadly :/

THE RAVENING WAR

PCs (I went through some of this in another post but that was in reaction to the trailer before episodes started actually coming out lol)

Colin Provolone - Provolone is a kind of cheese. Colin is a name of Irish/Scottish origin. It’s nice to have one simple one. I will say I’ve seen several people point out that provolone goes really well on a pastrami rueben (which our boy below is!) so that’s fun! (credit to Zac!)

Thane Delissandro Katzon - Thank you @blueaerin (among many others) for your post about how this is most likely a reference to Katz’s Delicatessan, a famous deli in NYC! I never would’ve know that. I’m also told they specialize in pastrami rueben on rye, which we now know is what Deli is, since Lou’s description in the first episode! Then we have “thane”, which in Anglo-Saxon culture, is a title of a landowner, specifically someone who was gifted land by a king. y’all who read Macbeth know this one! (credit to Lou!)

Bishop Raphaniel Charlock - the scientific name for wild radish is Raphanus raphanistrum, so that’s probably where Raphaniel came from. wild radish has two other names - “jointed charlock” and “white charlock”. So there we go. Your typical red radish (as Brennan described his character to look like) is a subspecies of Raphanus raphanistrum called sativus. but! even MORE interesting! you know what order and family radishes are in? the order Brassicales in the family Brassicaceae! This could be 100% unintentional, there’s a LOT of vegetables in the family Brassicaceae, but I remain optimistic. also thanks to @tenoroutoften for the info that Raphael Warnock is a senator & religious leader in Georgia rn! (credit to Brennan!)

Lady Amangeaux Epiceé du Peche - She is a mango! French for mango = la mangue. Amangeaux  = sounds like “a mango”, and does contain the French word for “I eat” (mange). Epiceé  = spicy (can be used as slang for y’know. spICY) and du Peche = of peach (her house prior to marrying King Cardoon) (credit to Anjali!)

Karna Solara - we know now (thanks @quiddie!) that “Karna” refers to her being a Carolina Reaper pepper! For her last name, chili peppers do come from the order Solanales in the family Solanaceae. there’s also solar -> sun, which makes for some interesting implications, given that generally The Bulb = the sun and her power is extremely not Bulbian. lots of fun sun imagery this campaign! (credit to Aabria!)

NPCs

King Arthur Cardoon - Cynara cardunculus, also known as the artichoke thistle or the cardoon, is a flowering plant from which the artichoke is cultivated. people eat cardoons too though.

also, his name being Arthur could be an allusion to his wife being unfaithful (see: the whole Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle of Arthurian legend), as well as being alliterative with the word “artichoke” itself.

Ja’Crudite/Jacques Crudites - it’s spelled both ways in the subtitles in different episodes. Crudités = French appetizers that are mostly raw vegetables, sometimes sliced or cut, usually with dip. Carrots feature prominently, but usually as carrot sticks, not the whole carrot, in an interesting departure from other carrot-based characters in Calorum. Also interesting since carrots are traditionally Vegetanian and his French name implies that he’s Fructeran.

if it is “Ja’Crudite”, it’s probably a pun off of the phrase “J’accuse!” which is French for “I accuse!”

Dammit, now I’m curious - does Ja’Crudite have “hair” (leaves) like Keradin and the infamous zealot from TRW e5, if he’s a carrot stick rather than a full carrot?

Senator Enzo Carbano, Tribune of the Fusilli

Enzo - Italian name

at first I was like ‘wait is that a pasta?’ nope I was thinking of orzo

Carbano - likely derived from pasta carbonara, or from “carbohydrates” in general.

Fusili - a twisty noodle. Not famous for carbonara but you can very much use it that way

Tribune - another ancient Roman government title. typically, a tribune is a representative of the plebeians, sometimes from a specific area. It’s usually a way lower ranking role than senator, mostly bc it was one of the only ways a plebeian could get into goverment. seems like they combined it so each senator gets a little area to rule over represent - v cool!

Senator Ariana Gemelli, Tribune of Triscutia

Ariana - Greco-Roman name

Gemelli - another fun twisty pasta

Triscutia - could be referring to Triscuits. if you’re wondering about the Latin, a scutum is a kind of shield, so with the tri- bit, maybe thrice-shielded? I think it’s the Triscuits.

Sir Allium Goldring, Knight of the Burning Basket - I included the burning basket bit bc it implies an order of deep-fried veggie knights, which is hilarious. “Allium” is the name for a genus of plants including onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives, etc.

If you’re thinking “but wait, isn’t that a flower?” you are correct, another name for the allium flower is “ornamental onion”. it’s one of those classifications that applies to a bajillion things, like Brassica.

ETC.

they don’t mention “Pontifex” as a religious title in the ravening war.

The highest ranking Bulbian church official we run into is the Archbishop Camille Colliflour. Which is interesting, considering that we run into a whole bunch of Archbishops in ACOC (Alfredi, Onionpatch, Radicca Rutabaga who you probably forgot about), all of who seem to be high-ranking but nowhere near the level of the Pontifex

But what’s interesting about that, is. “Pontifex” is a very Roman title. and the church doesn’t start using until a. they grow more powerful and b. Vegetania allies with Ceresia under Imperator Focaccia during the war. So it’s a Roman loan-word bc Ceresia = Rome = Empire. fuck dude.

update: thank you to @trans-leek-cookie for pointing out a brief mention of the Pontifex in ep 1!

Colliflour mentions consulting the Pontifex about Tomaté’s claim to the throne, and Tomaté himself mentions the “plight of the Pontifex and his followers” earlier on in the episode while talking to Raphaniel.

so there is a Pontifex, but we know extremely little about him, except that he is a him, and doesn’t seem to be very involved in the goings-on of the Ravening War. it probably became a more important position post-war as the Bulbian church rose to power.

update: forgot about backup PCs lol 

Lady Melys of House Manuka - like I said before, the ancient Greek μέλι, μέλιτος (meli, melitos) and the Latin mel, mellis both mean “honey”, and manuka honey is a special type of honey from the manuka (or mānuka) tree in New Zealand. mānuka is a Māori word, hell yeah, break the chokehold that romance languages have on food puns! (credit to Aabria!)

Zhyr Kaban - another rebel against romance languages, in the BTS Brennan mentions that this means ‘boar fat’ in Ukrainian (жир кабан), and as far as I can tell, he’s right! dope. Also more evidence for the Meatlands being based in Eastern European & Russian culture as well as the ancient Celtic and Anglo-Saxon tribes Brennan ususally lists as inspiration - an interesting combo. (credit to Brennan!)

Kahfeer Activian Balfour - “kefir” is a kind of probiotic yogurt drink (though pronounced like keh-FEER), and he a yogurt man. in the BTS Lou mentions they weren’t sure if he could be named Activia like the yogurt brand, so they had a backup last name “Balfour”, which may allude to Balfour farm dairy in Maine, which sells yogurt and cheeses (though not kefir). (credit to Lou!)

Granny Pom and Flaky Smuthers are pretty straightforward etymologically speaking, though excellent names in their own right of course. (credit to Anjali and Zac!)

hmu if you can think of any other fun ones or if i fucked up anything or if any of the links are busted on this monster of a post lol

[jdandress]

Hey, GM's of TTRPG's, what's the fact that lives in your head just waiting to be relevant in a campaign?

Mine is the origin of the word "sarcophagus."

[runewriter-norko]

,,Hmm.. Who should I play.. Why yes, a troll. I like trolls. Better keep it simple though...."

Me, creating a new DnD character for an upcoming campaign:

,,Heh. How funny would that be if I played as a troll warrior who wears a stereotypical - and quite frankly inauthentical - horned viking helmet except the horns aren't actually on the helmet but growing from his head? Ha haa, brilliant.. And I'll also make him a mere peasant who worked the fields until.. until.... That's it! Until the simple, small settlement he'll have lived in by that point will receive an invitation to the knight tournament where all the PCs are meant to meet. And he will be elected as the best candidate because there are no capable warriors by trade in the village. So all of the inhabitants put every 'noble-looking' piece of armoury and such together and-"

Me - an amateur historian, anthropologist and linguist - creating JUST the said DnD character AND NOTHING ELSE for the upcoming campaign:

,,So his name will be Grœnbjǫrn Erðason - which should simply mean 'Green-bear son of Œrði in Old Norse - or just 'Grenn' for my co-players, the DM and so for some other characters. But he'll be specifically told by the village's elders, the brothers Hárolfr and Hrœhyrn, to use the more noble name of 'Roþgeirr Rauðareiðr Rauðaskjaldarson' they made up for him since Rauðaskjǫldr is a famous hero of Northwest or 'Norðvestrœnn' lands known even in their little town of Sauðsskítstaðr. That reminds me.. Do I have the names of the people who lent Grenn their heirlooms?"

Me - an amateur historian, anthropologist and linguist PERFECTIONIST - creating JUST the said DnD character AND NOTHING ELSE for the upcoming campaign:

,,Let's see....

So we have the great axe of Knustafr Ulvarsson - who had fought side by side with Rauðaskjǫldr, yes - with a runic inscription that confirms the past ownership that Grenn receives from Hrœhyrn - Knustafr's son - as his main weapon (check), a silvery shining sax covered in sea motifs from the wide, ginger and freckled fisherman with just as wide, ginger and feckled family, Jǫrm Jǫrmsson (check), a case for the fishy knife decorated with golden scenes of wild hog hunts from the twins Svenn and Svína whose father - the boars-befriending Svínabani, disgrace of his swines-slaying family - had been gutted by one in his naive attempt of reckless pacifism (check), a big sword sheet covered in crude images of exotic and highly stylised horned figures from Dreiða or 'Trütta', a robust troll originally foreign to the village and girlfriend of the smaller but still strong Bróga who's the one to lend the nigh ancient shortsword that her father Øski received through his marriage to.. to.. Hm.

Eh, this is more than enough for now. From Bróga shall too be the iron helm modified by the smithy Ægnir (triple check). His round, red shield then would be the work of the whole Sauðsskítstaðr as everyone would try to help out with the recreation of Rauðaskjǫldr's legendary namegiver - and especially the children (check) - his ornamented clothes will be mostly bought or fresh sawn (check), and the chainmail.. together with many other trinkets it would be from Hoddr 'Samnandi' - the Collector' (check). Wellp.. Guess, I'm all set now.

Wait.

What if Grenn.. had a wife.."

Me - an amateur historian, anthropologist and linguist PERFECTIONIST - creating JUST the said DnD character AND NOTHING ELSE for the upcoming campaign - a masochist:

,,HOW THE BLOODY HELL DOES THE BYZANTINE GREEK NAMING SYSTEM FOCKEN WORK!? HRNNNNN, ok, ok, there we go, it's just a simple matter of family names and patronymic names acompanied by occasional nicknames, everything's fine. So the proper name of Grenn's second wife therefore is Eugenía (Εὐγενῐ́ᾱ) Prasinoarktos (Πράσῐνοᾰρκτος) born Hierologína (Ίερολογίνα) but the folks will still call her either Augéni (as a sort of adaptation of her original given name into their language) or 'Valfríðr' in the sense of 'Foreign beauty' but Grenn's first wife Særsýn does try to call her Eugenía as to make her feel more at home because SHE is the one who persuaded her into staying after she escaped from the norse pirates - being almost sold into slavery - and somehow got to Sauðsskístaðr where they (Grenn and Sær) took her under their wings. And aye, there is a lot of sparks and chemistry between the two of them even though Eugenía is an actual human while Sær is a notably tall troll with long, luscious locks of pure gingerness, face covered with freckles and YES SHE'S PART OF THE JǪRMKYN FAMILY. Because those bastards - AND ESPECIALLY THE FIRSTBORN JǪRMS (except maybe for Jǫrm son of Jǫrm Feiti and we'll see about his own son Jǫrm Gulli) - breed like damn rabbits. No wonder they practically own the docks! But aye, Grenn was quite lucky - the way his peers see it at least - that Œrði was one of Fat Jǫrm's best mates otherwise he'd promise Sær to someone completely different. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON-

A campaign? What focken campaign?"

[tarriecat]

So I spend way too much time googling the etymology of D&D terms to make sure they're not religious words someone used inappropriately several decades ago (lookin at you, phylacteries...) and I'm delighted to inform you that "lich" just means "corpse."

That's it. It just means dead guy.

I love it.

I will now be referring to all dead bodies as liches no matter the context. (That is a joke. Probably do not call someone a lich at their funeral please.)

[vinyls-and-valentines]

I am a very serious storyteller. I definitely did not call one of the largest and oldest cities in my story setting "tall sheep hill". My brain definitely doesn't go "hehe...tall sheep :]" every time I have to figure out something relating to it

[21st-century-minutiae]

Dungeons and Dragons is a popular twentieth century, early twenty-first century fantasy tabletop roleplaying game. Players play characters of a certain "classes" (which are essentially jobsets). There are a great deal of classes in D&D which focus on magical abilities in distinct manners. Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks are all magic using classes, but they all play in different ways and have different explanations for their magic use, based off of different fantasy tropes.

Wizards in D&D are people who study magic, who put their time and education into mastering the arcane through scholastic achievement and direct experimentation.

Sorcerers in D&D are people with a magical bloodline, who have an inborn talent for the arcane. There is often an element of random chance involved, and lack of full control over their power.

Warlocks in D&D are people who have made a pinding pact with some magical being (like a demon, a devil, or an archfae), and in exchange for some contractual requirements, they are empowered with magic.

Because of the cultural dominance of D&D, these particular tropes and definitions have been codified in the popular mindset, even though there is no explicit definitional link between these particular words and these particular usages except in the game.

Wizard is an English word coming from "Wise" and the suffix "ard" (seen in Drunkard and Coward). It means a magic individual.

Sorcerer is an English word coming for the Latin "Sors" meaning "lot" (in the gambling sense, such as drawing lots) or "something determined by chance." It is a synonym for Wizard.

Warlock is an English word coming from the old English Waerloga, meaning traitor, scoundrel, or someone who works for the Devil. Waerloga, in turn, comes from "covenant" and "breaker" as in, a person who cheats on contracts. It has come to be a synonym for Wizard.

D&D differentiation is based on these etymological roots and has helped to codify the words in the language.

People who treat D&D's classes as like being in any way representative of fiction outside of D&D are my nemesis, I just saw a post that was like "remember the difference between a Sorcerer a Warlock and a Wizard is this" and treating like those words as if their very D&D specific meanings were like universally accepted I'm going to start taking hostages

[anew-jackson]

once i spent hours inventing etymology for a dnd characters family name from old english words and invented the last name “Walbirin” which i’ve never heard of am am pretty sure i made up and is a combination of the old english words for well(water kind) and barren/to make barren

[neb-art-zeke]

hiiiiii! Please tell us more about Relonoth if you don't mind 👀

How old is he?

What is his DnD alignment?

What's his tent in the camp like?

Does he have a partner(s)?

Hey @razrogue! Thanks for your interest in my TAV!

So fore warning, I'm not as knowledgeable about the larger DnD/Forgotten Realms lore and I've never played the previous Baldur's Gates so a lot of my knowledge comes from just playing Baldur's Gate 3. Also like many of my OCs, he goes through constant change as my knowledge of the lore expands and new ideas in my mind surface. With that being said:

Background: Relonoth is the son of a Seldarine Drow father and a Human Druid Mother. Relonoth lived with his mother and father in his mother's tribe for the first 12 years of his life where he learned the basics of living in the wild before she was killed fighting alongside his father during an attempt of his father’s life by Lolth's Drow. Not wanting to endanger the tribe further, Relonoth's father would take him far away from the tribe where they traveled aimlessly for several months. One day, they managed to stumble upon some helpful monks who were on their way back to their monastery. Sensing the torment inside both Relonoth and his father, the monks invited the two to journey with them back to the monastery to find inner peace. Relonoth and his father spent 7 years learning the ways of the monks and spent one more year traveling with each other after before deciding to continue on separate journeys. Before departing, they promised each other they would reunite for a single week at the place they left every 7 years to share with each other their monastic journeys. BG3 takes place 2 years before another reunion. Some of Relonoth’s experiences and adventures include finding his mother's old tribe, fighting in an underground martial arts tournament, mentoring other young monks, learning the way of the four elements from ancient beings, and putting stops to deadly conspiracies, but his greatest adventure takes place during BG3.

Name Origin: I found a Drow etymology naming convention sheet online and the name roughly translates to "Wind's Path" which I thought sounded cool. The in-lore reason I developed after was that his father named him that name because he wanted his son to have the freedom to become anyone he wanted in his life (Free like the Wind).

Age: 67 (as of BG3 - looks about 33 because of half elf aging)

DnD Aligment: Neutral Good (as a nomadic monk, he'll find himself helping the less fortunate and oppressed and generally respects the rules of the lands he comes across but still has his principles of freedom and choice which sometimes clash with more strict rules of some kingdoms. His nature of helping people and quickly disappearing in a gust of wind after earned him the title of The Wind Walker.)

Tent: His tent is very simple. Being nomadic, he likes to carry light but he's known to collect a few things from his travels and keeps them in his tent space (i.e. small gifts from his friends, rocks and feathers of birds from the different lands he visits and small things he thinks his father would like to see during their next reunion)

Romance: Karlach (I like to imagine that after finding a solution to her infernal engine problem, the two escape Avernus and continue traveling the world with Karlach wanting to experience the grander world after spending years in Avernus and Relonoth wanting to continue his monastic journey with one he loves. She even gets to meet Relonoth's father during the reunion. Really want to get a comic commission of this lol.

[olderthannetfic]

A hanfu isn't just a robe, though. It's a specific type of traditional outfit that has even more specific variations, and while you could describe it more specifically (e.g. she put on her red ruqun, with a pleated horse-face skirt), it isn't always relevant. I've never seen anyone bring this up for, say, kimonos, and I don't think the GOT comparison is fair, either. It'd be more like "he puts on his armour". What type of armour—lamellar, chainmail, heavy, leather? It doesn't always matter. 1/2

--

2/2. Putting down a category of traditional clothing as "meta terminology" also rather irritates me. Again, looking at kimonos. Perhaps it's unfamiliar because CN fashion isn't as widespread as JP, but it's literally just what the broad category of clothing is called, and within the context of danmei fandoms, it shouldn't be unfamiliar knowledge. Trying to Americanize everything by simply calling everything a 'robe' loses the point entirely and is the equivalent of really terrible translation. Sorry, one more thing. When I picture a "robe", I think of wizards. DND. Bathrobes. None of which bear any similarity to a hanfu, and unless you want to describe "a parted robe made of flowing Yun brocade with loose sleeves that wraps around the body, with a wide collar that has its right lapel crossed over its left, tied at the waist with a belt, with a jade pendant weighing down the long skirt" every single time it's brought up, I'm pretty sure "hanfu" is a more accurate descriptor by far.

Uh... anon...

1.

'Robe' is an extremely vague term that absolutely is used for all sorts of garments from all over the world.

The fact that you associate it with a tiny fraction of its conventional meanings isn't going to change how other people use it.

2.

I am indeed more familiar with kimono than hanfu, but I thought the other people did make explicit what their issue is, and it exists for Japan too.

Depending on when your canon is set (or its vague, handwave-y apparent time period for more fantasy canons), the word may not have been in use yet.

'Kimono' as a word is possibly as recent as the 19th Century, though I see one etymological dictionary saying 1630s. Prior to the 19thC, a lot of things we would now call 'kimono' were known as 'kosode'. The further back you go, the more other terms there are and the more the distinctions matter.

I'm personally a fan of fiction set in the Heian period, and they would absolutely not have been calling anything a "kimono" then, nor do the robes look like modern kimono.

Furthermore, a generic-ass word like 'wear on upper body'+'thing' doesn't get its modern interpretation until it has significant competition from Western clothing. Today, it has a relatively narrow range of interpretations based on the calcified form of traditional Japanese clothing that still hangs on.

It's an absurd affectation to insist on calling all ancient Japanese clothing 'kimono'.

That wouldn't be de-Americanizing your writing.

That would be "According to keikaku".

--

From what I've seen in other people's meta posts about Chinese fandoms, the reason people object to 'hanfu' in fic is that this word has gained a lot of popularity in very recent history as part of the hanfu revival movement.

While it existed before that, it wasn't used so consistently, and it mainly turned up in contexts talking about Chinese as opposed to foreign clothing. It doesn't seem to have been a general term used like "So-and-so put on his completely normal outfit to get ready for the day".

People are using it (outside of fic) to talk about a specific range of historically accurate Chinese clothing. It doesn't cover everything, and in the modern and highly gatekept usage, it specifically doesn't cover historically-inspired fantasy costumes like those on The Untamed.

If you're Chinese and you feel it should cover those, fair enough, but that isn't what a lot of the hanfu education blogs have been saying.

People aren't pulling this out of their asses out of a desire to be American. They're getting it from hanfu blogs asking them not to use the word like that.

If you think those blogs are wrong, please say that.

[revenant-coining]

Dndpocelestial

[pt: Dndpocelestial /end pt]

[id: a rectangular flag with 7 equally-sized horizontal lines. colors in this order from top to bottom: brown, orange, dull yellow, white, dull yellow, purple, dark purple. /end id]

Dndpocelestial; a gender connected to crystal DnD dice, bottles of potion, celestial cakes, distant galaxies, clowns, & Crispin from Bee and Puppycat.

etymology; dnd, po(tion), celest, “ial” meaning resembling or pertaining to

for anon!

tagging; @radiomogai, @thecoffeecrew404

[id: a blue-to-light blue-to blue rounded line divider with a break in the center, with a "blue raindrop" magikarp from magikarp jump in said break. /end id]

[ultramaga]

https://www.etymonline.com/word/lich lich (n.)also litch, lych, "body, corpse," a southern England dialectal survival of Old English lic "body, dead body, corpse," from Proto-Germanic *likow (source also of Old Frisian lik, Dutch lijk, Old High German lih, German Leiche "corpse, dead body," Old Norse lik, Danish lig, Swedish lik, Gothic leik), probably originally "form, shape," and identical with like (adj.). Also in Old English in an expanded form lichama (Middle English licham), with hama "shape, garment, covering." This is etymologically pleonastic, but the image perhaps is of the body as the garment of the soul. The compound has a cognate in Old High German lihhinamo. A litch-gate (also lych-gate) was a roofed gate to a churchyard under which a corpse was set down at a burial to await the arrival of the minister; lich-owl "screech-owl" was so called because it was supposed to forebode death. Old English also had licburg "cemetery," lichhaemleas "incorporeal." “ Gary Gygax couldn’t go five minutes without being racist “ A Leftist cannot utter a sentence without lying. If every single one perished the world would be so much better, apart from the fading stink of the liches.  A world without Leftists. We can only dream ....

Hey uh, if you're running/in any dnd/pathfinder/whatever games with liches, maybe don't use this term. I don't THINK liches themselves are antisemetic outside this term, their name comes from an old english term for corpse and theyre based on old sword and sorcery villains. But Gary Gygax couldn't go five minutes without being racist so uh...yeah.

[kulay-ng-banaag]

HWS SEA but make it HetaDND

Enjoy these rough sketches because I will literally not come back to them until December. 🥲

(From Back —> Front, L —> R)

VN: Bumped into a couple of Quora answers that discussed archery practice, which got me thinking about Viet as a mounted archer, and I immediately thought of the elephants that the Trung sisters & Ba Trieu rode on. So Ranger: Beastmaster — also what if the elephant was from Thai? 🫣💘 Easily a tank through her mount, but can fight well as a DPS (think OW D.Va). ID: The thing is he has the fighting style of a Warlock(: Genie?) but the character of a Paladin(: Oath of the Ancients). He’s giving CR Fjord. 😭💞 For sure, TANK. TH: He’s just a Monk. Debated on his subclass for a long time because he’s a war freak charge-into-the-frontline kind of fighter. Way of Mercy is ironic but I love the imagery of the Merciful Masks (except he gets the khon styles). Way of Shadow — it’s on one possible etymology of Siam (Sanskrit, “dark”). Easily a DPS type. MY: Druid: Circle of the Moon for the Wild Shape into a Tiger, and as of typing this I just realized the moon motif. Mostly support, but upset him just enough and he’ll easily switch gears. PH: Bard: College of Swords for the two-weapon fighting style aka arnis/kali/eskrima. Personally, he’s more DPS than support, though as a latter Dirge Singer & Siday fit the bill. SG: See, the first thing that came to mind was the RO Alchemist class for the Homonculus feature — hence, his companion Fishball. Obviously there’s Artificer: Alchemist for that, but also it would be cool if Fishball is just a “chibi” form of his patron of a water dragon— Warlock: Fathomless. Not to mention Singa would have both high INT and CHA — alas, he’s a Support guy.

(more notes under the cut)

I jokingly called this AU as Dungeons & Drawing Circles, but truth be told I’m not restricting it to being after DND, let alone 5e. Now I’m just throwing hands and calling it a fantasy RPG AU, although out of familiarity, I do refer to DND 5e often. The classes I highlighted above are just there for where I got the inspiration.

I’ve had the occasional “oooh I think [character] would be a [class/es]” hc over the years, but I ended up expanding on the AU as a means of coping with the early months of ECQ. Now there’s so many plot bunnies that I’d summarize as: your og main 8 unwittingly team up for a quest and, over time, they hit a point where they realize that they cannot fight the BBEG alone (or at least just the 8 of them), so they travel around the world recruiting allies a la Suikoden 108 Stars of Destiny.

It’s even got a literal history timeline where preceding events (and characters!!!) are involved with the BBEG and ultimately why the main 8 came together. Think playing a later game in a series where you not only get to meet the playable characters from earlier games, but you get to recruit them.

And I just wanted to draw cool fantasy looks, haha! Nevertheless, nothing is final — especially when I've clearly taken inspiration from some indigenous groups. It's why I shelved this for so long because I need to do more research and it's just not something I have a lot of free time for.

[yeetmeoutthewindowdaddy]

I'm over 21 and my blog isn't blank, please just let me devour your headcanons for my current fandom hyperfixation.

THIS BLOG IS NSFW/ 18+

This whole blog needs a spoiler warning.

I post almost exclusively about BG3.

I decided to throw some of my own ideas at the wall, if you would like to see what sticks my master list is under the cut. (It's a mix of shitposts, fanfictions, character analyses, lore breakdowns, headcanons, simping, and horny posting.)

I have a memory worse than a goldfish. I will reblog the same posts multiple times. Sometimes multiple times a day an hour. 😥

If I've spammed your notifications by mass liking your posts.

(I don't really understand how tumblr works, and most of the time I'm using it through a web browser on my old/kind of shitty new and confusing phone.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Master list:

Characters are indexed in the order that I made posts about them in; with their respective posts listed from oldest to newest, top down.

A link with a * at the end is a link which has multiple instances on this list, but is under a (slightly) different name.

A link with a ^ at the end is a link which has multiple instances on this list under the same name.

DND:

Homebrew:

Homebrew tabaxi ability

Lore:

Elven naming conventions (ft. Halsin's name etymology)*

Everybody hates tieflings (ft. Zevlor)

Elturel's history and culture, the Hellriders (ft. Zevlor)

BG3:

Gale:

Playboy Gale

Gale has daddy issues updated

Gale cucked Gortash*

Gale has a large... vocabulary

A Rose by any other name

Zevlor:

Psychoanalyzing the characters I simp for

Shopping bags

"Cat" dad Zevlor

Science rat

Vein thirst post

Caging Zevlor during his rut

A deep dive into Zevlor's devotion series master list (incomplete)

Using Zevlor as a chew toy

Love is an open wound^

Grandpa is too strong

Zevlor's breeding kink, horse girl edition (NOT bestiality or pony play)

What Zevlor once was

Scent glands

Gortash:

Monster fucker Gortash

The dark urge to simp for Gortash

Psychoanalyzing the characters I simp for (2)

Durgetash Daddy Issues

Gortash cucked by Gale*

Durgetash is drowning

How in the hell you spell chauffeur? (comic request)

Monster fucker lover Gortash ft. Ketheric

Astarion:

Worm love

NSFW fluffy Astarion HC

A cursed thought that should've stayed in my head

Rolan:

Sibling bonding time

Rolan's name etymology

Tsundere Rolan master list (ongoing)

Sub Rolan

Rolan's performance issues (Part 1)

Love is an open wound^

Rolan's Tav^

Rolan's puppy dog eyes

Rolan's nickname

Angst potential

Rolan's performance issues (Part 2)

Rolan's lisp

Rolan's lisp headcanons

Rolan and sorcerer Tav imagine

Wholesome Rolan lisp idea

Rolan mod request

Halsin:

Halsin's name etymology, and Elven naming conventions*

Halsin can't catch a break

Halsin's in-game stats, how Larian did Halsin dirty

Multiple characters:

Ranking camp companions on their childrearing abilities (Astarion, Wyll, Halsin, Gale, Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Karlach, Minthara, Mizora, Withers, Volo, Jaheira, Minsc and Boo)

Troubleshooting a PC (Zevlor, Dammon, Rolan)

Tav:

Rolan's Tav^