Here is another random aside, (they're probably all going to be random asides now honestly) but the Circlet of Fire thread just made me remember, so I wanted to jot it down right quick. It would be cool if the game provided a pronunciation Guide for some of the proper names/terms that are unique to Faerun.
So like in the case of a Priest's Deity show that parenthetical right next to the written name, or better yet have the Avatar say it as a bark like a little invocation prayer. English is not a phonetic written language, and it's particularly unforgiving when fantasy writers get ahold of it and start just going to town, like was the case with Greenwood sometimes hehe.
When I first saw the name Sune, I pronounced it like Rune with one syllable lol. Quick anecdote - So before spending years learning Ancient Greek, I struggled mightily with pronouncing many Greek names in English translation. Ancient Greek actually is a phonetic language, and once you know it, it's pretty easy to tell how to pronounce everything, but if you don't it can be very tricky and intimidating. I used to get embarrassed as an undergrad, way back when, before I hit my stride with this stuff. I have a very distinct memory of not knowing how to say the name of the historian "Thucydides" and when I pronounced it the way I thought it was supposed to be pronounced in my little presentation in front of class, a lot of my peers just laughed out loud and made me feel like a complete dumbass. But then my teacher did something I will never forget. She complimented me on my report, corrected my pronunciation, and then said that the fact that I mispronounced the name indicated to her that I had actually read the material rather than just parroting something I'd heard someone else say about the subject. Suddenly my embarrassment was washed away, and the students who laughed kinda shut up on the spot lol. I share that now, just because D&D and FR has so many wild spellings and weird words, and when we get to those it'd be great if the game let us know how they're spoken. Hopefully everyone can pick a god at some point, instead of just the Clerics. It's a minor thing, but I'm into minor thing territory now, cause I think those do add up somehow hehe.
When we get to starting equipment I'll have to bump the other thread too, but just know I'm in full agreement there as well!
Best Elk
Last edited by Black_Elk; 17/09/22 01:15 AM.
