The best servants Tenebrous had in Dead Gods, returned from the Astral Plane to once more do Orcus' bidding in the upcoming Libris Mortis.
Aaah, we fade to grey, fade to grey...
Do you use that one on every board you visit? ;)
And I think I preferred the 2E pictures of the Visages in Dead Gods. They had more of a creepy feel to it - more misty, more ethereal. This one looks almost comical.
Do you use that one on every board you visit? ;)
I visit more than two boards.
And come on! A joke that good, you don't eat all at once!
And I think I preferred the 2E pictures of the Visages in Dead Gods. They had more of a creepy feel to it - more misty, more ethereal.
Yeah, no one can beat rk post in that.
According to some people who've already got the book, they did translate it "correctly" somewhere within, stating it meant "From the Books of the Dead" and then going on about Celestial and Latin. I'll believe it when I see it.
Proofs:
And if that's the correction translation for the book, it was almost as dumb of a decision as 2E's naming them "Monstrous Manuals" instead of "Monster Manuals."
Here's a refresher
Hence me saying that the old one looked creepier and more ethereal? Sheer definition is not always the way to go in art if you're looking for mood. Diterlizzi demonstrates that.
It's not about the definition. It's the way it reminds me of the "spray can" tool in KidPix. Looks almost exactly like it, just a little less regular. Those globules in it look clearly defined to me,too.
I'd much rather see watercolor, pen & ink than the big toddler crayolas.
Think about it. Old art: mask and clawed arms, issuing from a nebulous, ethereal form.
New Art: metal face (notably NOT a traditional mask, and not as emphasized in that respect), and mechanical claws issuing from a robe.
They're as different as chalk and cheese. I can't imagine why anyone would want to illustrate art B for concept A.
And I knew that it wasn't TD. I was making the point that art didn't have to have distinct lines and strong strokes to make it wonderful, and TD was a perfect example of that. RK Post picked up on the feel he had for the setting better than any other artists after him, I believe, and did a wonderful job with the 2E Visage.
GothicDan:
According to some people who've already got the book, they did translate it "correctly" somewhere within, stating it meant "From the Books of the Dead" and then going on about Celestial and Latin. I'll believe it when I see it.
Libris Mortis
"This book takes its name from a set of tomes penned in a dialect of Celestial by an aasimar cleric of Pelor named Acrinus, who collected the information from a variety of other sources over the course of decades. Roughly translated, it means From the Books of Dead, though some sages claim that the current name is a bastardization of Acrinus's original title. Since he's long dead, and the dialect of Celestial is no longer used by living creatures, this is impossible to confirm."
Personally, I like to translate it as "From the Dead-book", as in "Where do the undead come from? Why, from the Dead-book". ;)
Planescape all the way, baby!
Since when did Celestial simply become a dialect of Latin? Excuse me while I make the Archons stop chanting like Gregorian monks. Hey, put down that holy waifer... NO, you are NOT Jesus!
Alternatively they never said the language was Latin. It could be the two words "Libris Mortis" are not Latin at all and just happen to coincidentally appear similar to Latin words.
A third alternative might be that Latin itself is a derivative of Celestial. Not sure if I remember my Roman myths but if I recall the Titan Prometheus created mankind and taught them language. Perhaps he taught them Celestial or a bastardized version of it.
Lastly we do not know if that Cleric of Pelor is a reliable source of information about where the name came from. He could have used Latin texts from a prime material world where Latin is spoken as his source material. He might have just told people it was a dialect of celestial rather than try to explain where the source language came from.
Sometimes, the more you explain silly things, the sillier they seem, you know.
From The Planeswalker's Handbook:
No doubt about it, the most frequently represented world among the primes on the planes is Toril. Numerous gates and portals dot this world, and many Torilians study the magics that can take them to other planes. Only the fact that they're incredibly self-involved and caught up in their own affairs keeps Realms-folk from becoming a more integral part of the planes as a whole. They can become quite astonishingly skilled planar travellers, but they never quite lose the conviction that Toril stands at the center of it all, and that the planes just exist as extensions of their own world.
He can do correct work when he tries (see Gimble in revised PHB or Hathor in D&DG), but most usually... He should stick to golems.
While WAR is a talented artist, I don't like his tendency to draw people with feet shaped like the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, arms wider than both legs together, and fists in which they could clench their own heads -- all the while posing in a shambling, crounching, posture.
He can do correct work when he tries (see Gimble in revised PHB or Hathor in D&DG), but most usually... He should stick to golems.
Sadly true. And he's an amazing artist compared to some of the people that have worked for WotC recently...
WAR isn't responsible for the visage fiasco above, tho, and judging by his voidwraith, he would've done a much better job than that Hunter person:
I remember when the 3.5 MM art gallery had a "wooden door" caption under the picture of a blink dog
...
Not bad? The first thing I thought was, "WTF?"
Since when did Celestial simply become a dialect of Latin? Excuse me while I make the Archons stop chanting like Gregorian monks. Hey, put down that holy waifer... NO, you are NOT Jesus!
You might as well highlight the positive aspects of this whole CeLatinestial mess: WotC apparently took notice of people complaining about the title in every forum from Alaska to South Africa :D, and thus saw fit to print an explanation in their books. It's good enough for me, after all Latin has become diluted over the centuries, too ;).
Check out Posts work at www.rkpost.net
I'm a sucker for watercolors. And if anybody can identify who drew the eidolon, I'll give you a cookie. If anyone cares, the undead martyr and spirit tree are drawn by Emily Fiegenschuh.
No no, rather Xanxost is appreciative of the work of Jonathon Wayshak. Mmmm...Sorrowsworn Demon, Gloom Golem, Lurking Strangler, Splinterwaif...all so good, Xanxost likes those pictures.
It's good enough for me, after all Latin has become diluted over the centuries, too .
See, if it was merely the bad Latin, I wouldn't have had a problem with it (beyond just a bit of laughter). But the fact that they're trying to explain it way in character, after the fact that everyone has complained about it, makes it seem like a cop out. You would think that if it was truly something that flavorful, then they would have put it in Libiris Mortis itself - like the little blurb in the beginning of the Book of Vile Darkness. And the fact that they claim it's a form of Celestial just seems like a way to try to cover up their cover up, so to speak.
We might as well make Elven into Gaelic, Dwarven into Swedish, and Gnomish into Romanian while we're at it.
It was the method, not the fact, see.
If you mean the last pic I believe it's Vinod Rams...
Thanks, hon. I owe you a baked good.
You would think that if it was truly something that flavorful, then they would have put it in Libiris Mortis itself - like the little blurb in the beginning of the Book of Vile Darkness.
You mean that thing about the infamous demon lord Baalzebul?
And the picture, although not poorly done, makes them look too evil, and not disturbing and surreal enough.
My theory is that the illustration depicts a visilight who recently drained the charisma from an ultroloth.