Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2004 20:34:44	Well, i was wondering: what kind of appearance you give to dabus in your game? For me, they can appear as anything, doing the LoP job... k, thats all... Burger
#2 factol_rhys_dup Sep 01, 2004 21:13:39	Well, the dabus should be mysterious. They carry out their tasks and interact on an eerily seldom basis with most cutters. They follow their orders for who knows what purpose, and their ties to the Lady just add to their mystery. Their home is supposedly in UnderSigil, in strange caverns that have yet to be explored. Most unnerving of all, if asked about the Lady of Pain, their symbols become a floating image of their Dread Majesty. As for physical appearances, they are grey-green skinned humanoids with tufty white hair and small horns on their foreheads. They wear dull red robes and float a few inches off the ground, never touching the surface. They communicate only through symbols that float in the air over them, which, when pieced together rhebus-style, form words. On a personal note, I was never a huge fan of the rhebus riddles. I know it's mysterious and the "Planescape twist" and all, but it seems rather silly to me. I would be alright if it wasn't rhebus riddles. Why rhebus riddles? It's like having a race that can only speak pig-latin, or in limerick. Quirky communications means are fine, but just ask Jar-Jar Binks why silly communications means don't work.
#3 ripvanwormer Sep 01, 2004 21:30:18	I was never a huge fan of the rhebus riddles. I'm not a fan of them as presented, but the idea that they only speak in symbols (or sigils), is certainly cool and appropriate. It's very possible to have them use holographic symbols to speak in an elliptical, riddling way without it being cheesy or silly.
#4 voldenuit Sep 02, 2004 0:15:31	As for physical appearances, they are grey-green skinned humanoids with tufty white hair and small horns on their foreheads. They wear dull red robes and float a few inches off the ground, never touching the surface. They communicate only through symbols that float in the air over them, which, when pieced together rhebus-style, form words. In addition, I'd like to embellish Rhys' descriptions with the fact that they have 2 sets of horns - one pair straight as a goat's and another pair curved like a ram's. Also, something that is strongly hinted at in 2e is that the Dabus seem to be physically indistinguishable from one another. Only Fell is distinct, and even this only because he walks on the ground instead of floating. Oh, also a minor gripe of mine is that the correct spelling of "rebus" is "rebus", not "rhebus". Only the people at planewalker.com seem to spell it "rhebus" - in all the 2e material, and both Webster's Dictionary and the OED, the word is "rebus". Pedantically yours, V.
#5 ripvanwormer Sep 03, 2004 19:29:50	Well, i was wondering: what kind of appearance you give to dabus in your game? For me, they can appear as anything, doing the LoP job... I draw them so that their faces look a bit masklike, as the Lady's does (though some say the Lady of Pain is actually wearing a mask). I extend the sides of the dabus mask/face to become their primary pair of horns, curving upwards like the horns of a crescent moon turned sideways. Their rebuses appear above and between those major horns. Their lesser, ramlike horns curl downwards as a minor counterpoint. They wear robes, and you can sometimes see their feet dangling below, which are humanlike. Most of the time, they are gentle and a little sad as they go about their tasks, but they have little time for others. They are servants of the city itself, which is not made for dwelling in. That the City of Doors is nonetheless populated is due only to the Lady's sufferance. Of course, it's very possible that the rebus is their true form, the horned humanoid body only a projection.