#blackstaff

The queen. My goal is to draw more waterdeep stuff, sketching more moments from our game.

Baptized in Slugs [Weekly Mixtape 229]

Crowbar | MΛKE | Throes | Magnitudo | Destroy My Brains | Gout SLC | IRREVERSIBLE | Blue Heron | Yeti On Horseback | Blackstaff

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Music On This Mixtape:

Crowbar: "Her Evil Is Sacred" taken from the album "Zero And Below"

MΛKE: "The Judge" taken from the album "Exegesis at the End of Time"

Throes: "Basura" taken from the album "The Colorless Light of Emptiness"

Magnitudo: "Hummingbird" taken from the album "M A T E R I A L I S M"

Destroy My Brains: "OCI (Obsessive Compulsive Imploder)" taken from the album "Wilt"

Gout SLC: "Fatlas" taken from the album "Marijuana for Non-Medical Purposes"

IRREVERSIBLE: "Esus" [edit] taken from the album "Vessel"

Blue Heron: "Grey" [Fudge Tunnel cover] taken from the album "Emulations"

Yeti On Horseback: "Drug Addict" taken from the album "Traditional Addictions"

DnD March 2

(the rizzard at work + lunch with the spouse)

Chalk tapped against the chalkboard as he sipped gently at a mug of tea and cleared his throat continuing with his speech. His hair was thrown back into a loose half up and down messy bun, staticky hair poking and prodding out like new spring buds. He wore a new suit vest, a stripped pattern with an argyle tie, and a light blue button down, paired with the same-colored magenta slacks. His tie pin was one of a crescent moon, (he had been on a theming kick recently). Today was on magic in other areas, written on the board were a couple pooled questions by the students. Does music automatically equal magic? How do paladin oaths work? Is It possible for magic to be innate?

He finished off his mug tapping at pages to read on the board, waving off the students and their cloaks that looked way too large for them. A stream of bobbing heads, ears and horns followed out the door. You had to maneuver around the groups of students, slowly moving their way out, a few stragglers lounging around the professor’s desk.

“I hope I’m not too late-“you approach him, setting the tin of food wrapped in a handkerchief onto his desk.

He beamed when he laid eyes on you, cheeks flushed a rosy hue. “you’re right on time, ill see you in the office, I just need to help a student with a spell pronunciation- then ill be with you.” He caught a finger under your chin, kissing your brow. His breath smelt of an earthy green tea, sweetened with honey, and the zeal of lemon juice that followed. He turned his back to you, helping the student to write it out phonetically. You heard his bright praise as the thick office door closed behind you.

the thick office door closed behind you.

The office- you remembered dearly, you helped assemble. A room with high ceilings, decorated with diagrams of spells and sheet music. One wall was clad with photos of his family, a portrait of the both of you front and center. Small linocuts of your companions sat on a bookshelf nearby, as well as tomes discussing your previous acts, which he so proudly showed off. He had asked for a new cupboard to house all sorts of dried teas, which he unhinged the doors of and installed onto the walls, framing them with delicate laces. It mirrored a little alchemical shop. The walls were a cozy and warm purple with white and brown accents. He had a little hearth and big windows facing the bay, a window ajar, the new tressym kitten may have gone out exploring. Tara the second, Gale called her.

The door creaked open as you admired the wall of portraits, you jumped within your shoes tail swishing in a slight panic.

“im sorry little love, have I frightened you?” he kissed your shoulder, wrapping his arms around your waist and swaying gently. His lips found their way up to the shell of your ear, nipping it gently. He spun you around, taking in your new sundress, yellow with pops of white blooms, a pair of lacy socks and brown kitten heels to match.

“you look positively divine- are you sure there wasn’t other intentions behind this?” he cocked a brow, the settled in features of his face creasing with mirth.

You’ll be completely honest with your feelings, jobs, children, life in general as led you two apart. Intimately it seems-

This you had no problems with, as gale had all the love in the world for you. He made sure to show his affections readily and often- with you in turn.

Transcript:

February 8, 2023

illuminatirob — Hello @Ed Greenwood! I am so happy to be here. I've been a heavy user of Candlekeep's forums over the years, and I have some questions that have been argued extensively, and I'd love to have the ultimate input on then I might be so fortunate?  (Even though, I may get flak over this, haha) Is Khelben evil? I ask the question from the lens of normative ethics, regarding his having taken the Scepter of the Sorcerer King, and giving it to Fzoul. The ensuing carnage and problems were extensive, and in light of them, and the fact that Khelben is one of the Master Harper's that came up with the code of the Harper's, how can he say he lived by those tenets and doing the right thing, with everything that came of his actions in the end? I mean no disrespect: I just love analyzing characters, and I've run through this a million times in my head. Khelben is one of my favorite characters ever. So compelling!

Ed Greenwood — Khelben is an "end justifies the means" person, who (like, say, James T. Kirk of STAR TREK fame) won't hesitate to break laws or rules to "win." He can be harsh and arrogant, too, as he believes he KNOWS the right end goal, and will push for it against the "blindly ignorant." Whereas most of the Seven believe it's not just what you do, or why, but HOW you do it; if you run roughshod over "little people" to forge a better kingdom for them, how are you better than the next tyrant? So Khelben can certainly be seen as evil. That's the thing about the Realms: everyone is a shade of gray. We watch their moral journeys in the novels, and lore, and adventures, and none of them are static. Elminster is generally nicer and more whimsical than straight-shooter Khelben, but also more sly. It takes all sorts to make (and mar) a world.

illuminatirob — Hey @Ed Greenwood, Thank you so very much for that answer, and right away too! I'm honored. I figured Khelben was a consequentialist, and I've had long debates about it, but this is great: thee answer. That's the most amazing thing about ethics: you're "good" in someone's book, and "evil" in another's, simply by the fact that the rules set is different for evaluating morality. Thank you!

Ed Greenwood — You're very welcome! Steven Schend "adopted" Khelben and has penned novels starring him, and he and I have discussed Khelben's character extensively over the years. One other thing to bear in mind: Mystra's Chosen are all very old, and "play the long game," and have suffered much grief, as they outlive kin, friends, and even the realms they grew up in; they're not sane by how we judge things. My Realms tales look at how power corrupts, and how long life claws at psyches, and so on. Khelben became a "hardcase" because it worked for him, to serve Mystra best; the ruthless manipulator and negotiator. Others took different paths.

– From the Greenwood’s Grotto Discord server.