Danilo Thann is a fictional character set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting. Danilo was created by author Elaine Cunningham in the Song and Swords series of novels. He is often portrayed as an inept dandy, bard and nobleman that blunders into the most inopportune situations. However, in reality, he is a skilled magician and a crafty adversary, trained by none other than Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun himself.
Appearance
Danilo is a young (below thirty winters, during the events of Elfsong) Waterdhavian nobleman, and aspiring bard. At six feet tall, he stands about three inches taller than Arilyn Moonblade, which is hinted heavily at during elfsong and silver shadows. He has wavy shoulder-length pale blond hair. However, even among the nobles, Danilo's choice of clothing is considered "extravagantly ridiculous." He commonly wears clothes that suit his theme as a dandy and dilletante - from suits of "walking grape" to the "Ruathym Adventurer garb." Whatever he wears, he can consistently be found wearing the height of fashion among the nobles of Waterdeep.
Personality
Danilo, when faced by the public, acts like a complete fool. There are moments of intelligence within his mask as a dandy, but very few notice the truth of the matter. Danilo, despite his canny intelligence and skill in subterfuge - is actually quite reckless, a fact brought to because of his alternate "dandy" ego (this is evidenced through his naughty pranks and reckless magical experiments). There are times when Danilo completely forgets his true self and fully reverts into the comfortable guise of the fool. However, when faced with the truly important, Danilo becomes a serious and calculating genius, and a very dangerous adversary.
Talents and Abilities
In 3.5 Edition Dungeons & Dragons game terms, Danilo is rated as a 3rd-level aristocrat/9th-level wizard/1st-level spellsinger.
Danilo is a very skilled magician, one whom Khelben had considered his probable heir and his apprentice with the most potential. His skill with magic is such that he mastered the art of Spellsong in just a few days, he was able to charm a magically-resistant dragon to slumber, and his illusionary pranks that get his uncle Khelben each time. His magical skills include prismatic displays of light, fireballs, spells of invisibility, scrying and various charm spells.
Aside from his magic, Danilo is also well versed with subterfuge, disguise, and manipulation. Although less of a pragmatist than his Uncle Khelben, Danilo is still skilled in manipulating the political and social threads in any given situation. His degree of expertise is as such that when he engaged the crimelord Elaith Craulnober in a verbal sparring match - it ended as a draw. His skill may arguably be even better than a drow's - since he once tricked the drow princess, Liriel Baenre (crafty even among her people) into revealing more than she wished to.
History
Danilo Thann was always considered the "young dandy" in the house of Thann - as such, even his mother and father never takes him seriously. Despite this reputation, Danilo has been trained by several bardic tutors around the world, one for each bardic tradition. He has also been secretly trained by his uncle, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun.
To the public, Danilo is a novice mage who never seemed to have progressed past some parlor tricks to amuse the nobility - and well-known for many unintentional magical mishaps. The truth of the matter, however, is he is an extremely capable wizard - enough to make Khelben consider him as his most promising apprentice. He maintains the facade as a court dandy as a means to let others underestimate his abilities - thus he hears more information, and becomes a greater agent/informant for the Harpers.
During the events of the Harper Assassin in the novel, Elfshadow, Danilo met the half-elven adventurer Arilyn Moonblade - inflicted by the unfortunate label of "assassin". Initially accepting the mission due to Arilyn's unsurpassed beauty - he soon grew more attached and involved in the events. He arranged to be kidnapped for his horses. The relationship that started as kidnapper (Arilyn) and captive (Danilo) soon fostered into true friendship, and later on, true love. It is also in this event that Danilo first met the rogue elf, and future enemy and friend, Elaith Craulnober.
Danilo was initially gifted the shared use of Arilyn's moonblade, but in the events following Silver Shadows - it was taken back by Arilyn, after realizing the gift would also curse Danilo to eternal servitude to the sword.
During the events of Elfsong, Danilo was forced to ally himself with his hated enemy, Elaith Craulnober - in order to answer a deadly riddle by the ancient green dragon, Grimnoshadrano. It is also here, that Danilo met and befriended Morgalla the Mirthful - one of those rare female dwarven bards, and Wyn Ashgrove, a powerful gold elven spellsinger who taught Danilo the sacred art of the Spellsong. The ragtag group, calling themselves Music and Mayhem, was from the very beginning a group with divided loyalties - split between Elaith's quest to reactivate his Moonblade, and Danilo's quest to save Waterdeep. However, in the very end, Elaith and Danilo worked together to finally defeat the deadly enchantment and saved Waterdeep from ruin.
Relationships
Danilo is foremost married to Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elven granddaughter of Queen Amlaruil of Evermeet. They have adventured together and Danilo has pushed and manipulated Arilyn considerably to reconcile with her elven family and come to terms with her roots.
Danilo's father, Lord Thann, is largely impotent in the family business dealings, and prefers to live quietly off the proceeds that the Lady Cassandra Thann makes. The Lady is a formidable person in any respect, and disapproves of Danilo's various exploits to some degree. She has elven blood, but has never mentioned it, as there is some animosity towards elves in the Waterdhavian nobility. Danilo has five brothers, at least one sister named Judith, as well as a deceased half-sister, Lilly Thann.
Danilo has been named an elf-friend by the rogue Elaith Craulnober, and befriended the drow wizard Liriel Baenre.
Thann, Danilo
Thann, Danilo
Appearance
Danilo is a young (below thirty winters, during the events of Elfsong) Waterdhavian nobleman, and aspiring bard. At six feet tall, he stands about three inches taller than Arilyn Moonblade, which is hinted heavily at during elfsong and silver shadows. He has wavy shoulder-length pale blond hair. However, even among the nobles, Danilo's choice of clothing is considered "extravagantly ridiculous." He commonly wears clothes that suit his theme as a dandy and dilletante - from suits of "walking grape" to the "Ruathym Adventurer garb." Whatever he wears, he can consistently be found wearing the height of fashion among the nobles of Waterdeep.
Personality
Danilo, when faced by the public, acts like a complete fool. There are moments of intelligence within his mask as a dandy, but very few notice the truth of the matter. Danilo, despite his canny intelligence and skill in subterfuge - is actually quite reckless, a fact brought to because of his alternate "dandy" ego (this is evidenced through his naughty pranks and reckless magical experiments). There are times when Danilo completely forgets his true self and fully reverts into the comfortable guise of the fool. However, when faced with the truly important, Danilo becomes a serious and calculating genius, and a very dangerous adversary.
Talents and Abilities
In 3.5 Edition Dungeons & Dragons game terms, Danilo is rated as a 3rd-level aristocrat/9th-level wizard/1st-level spellsinger.
Danilo is a very skilled magician, one whom Khelben had considered his probable heir and his apprentice with the most potential. His skill with magic is such that he mastered the art of Spellsong in just a few days, he was able to charm a magically-resistant dragon to slumber, and his illusionary pranks that get his uncle Khelben each time. His magical skills include prismatic displays of light, fireballs, spells of invisibility, scrying and various charm spells.
Aside from his magic, Danilo is also well versed with subterfuge, disguise, and manipulation. Although less of a pragmatist than his Uncle Khelben, Danilo is still skilled in manipulating the political and social threads in any given situation. His degree of expertise is as such that when he engaged the crimelord Elaith Craulnober in a verbal sparring match - it ended as a draw. His skill may arguably be even better than a drow's - since he once tricked the drow princess, Liriel Baenre (crafty even among her people) into revealing more than she wished to.
History
Danilo Thann was always considered the "young dandy" in the house of Thann - as such, even his mother and father never takes him seriously. Despite this reputation, Danilo has been trained by several bardic tutors around the world, one for each bardic tradition. He has also been secretly trained by his uncle, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun.
To the public, Danilo is a novice mage who never seemed to have progressed past some parlor tricks to amuse the nobility - and well-known for many unintentional magical mishaps. The truth of the matter, however, is he is an extremely capable wizard - enough to make Khelben consider him as his most promising apprentice. He maintains the facade as a court dandy as a means to let others underestimate his abilities - thus he hears more information, and becomes a greater agent/informant for the Harpers.
During the events of the Harper Assassin in the novel, Elfshadow, Danilo met the half-elven adventurer Arilyn Moonblade - inflicted by the unfortunate label of "assassin". Initially accepting the mission due to Arilyn's unsurpassed beauty - he soon grew more attached and involved in the events. He arranged to be kidnapped for his horses. The relationship that started as kidnapper (Arilyn) and captive (Danilo) soon fostered into true friendship, and later on, true love. It is also in this event that Danilo first met the rogue elf, and future enemy and friend, Elaith Craulnober.
Danilo was initially gifted the shared use of Arilyn's moonblade, but in the events following Silver Shadows - it was taken back by Arilyn, after realizing the gift would also curse Danilo to eternal servitude to the sword.
During the events of Elfsong, Danilo was forced to ally himself with his hated enemy, Elaith Craulnober - in order to answer a deadly riddle by the ancient green dragon, Grimnoshadrano. It is also here, that Danilo met and befriended Morgalla the Mirthful - one of those rare female dwarven bards, and Wyn Ashgrove, a powerful gold elven spellsinger who taught Danilo the sacred art of the Spellsong. The ragtag group, calling themselves Music and Mayhem, was from the very beginning a group with divided loyalties - split between Elaith's quest to reactivate his Moonblade, and Danilo's quest to save Waterdeep. However, in the very end, Elaith and Danilo worked together to finally defeat the deadly enchantment and saved Waterdeep from ruin.
Relationships
Danilo is foremost married to Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elven granddaughter of Queen Amlaruil of Evermeet. They have adventured together and Danilo has pushed and manipulated Arilyn considerably to reconcile with her elven family and come to terms with her roots.
Danilo's father, Lord Thann, is largely impotent in the family business dealings, and prefers to live quietly off the proceeds that the Lady Cassandra Thann makes. The Lady is a formidable person in any respect, and disapproves of Danilo's various exploits to some degree. She has elven blood, but has never mentioned it, as there is some animosity towards elves in the Waterdhavian nobility. Danilo has five brothers, at least one sister named Judith, as well as a deceased half-sister, Lilly Thann.
Danilo has been named an elf-friend by the rogue Elaith Craulnober, and befriended the drow wizard Liriel Baenre.
Thann, Danilo
Thann, Danilo
Gareth Dragonsbane is a fictional character from the Forgotten Realms fantasy world. He is a mighty paladin of the god Ilmater, and king of the Bloodstone Lands, the unification of his homeland, Damara, with the untamed territory of Vaasa.
Gareth was crowned King of Damara in 1359 DR when he succeeded in forging key alliances with many minor nobles throughout the land after Zhengyi the Witch-King of Vaasa, whose armies had conquered Damara, was defeated by a band of adventurers braving Castle Perilous, his stronghold. He has since then devoted his reign to rebuilding Damara's economy, forging alliances with other nations, and attracting adventurers to Damara while keeping an eye to the still-troubled enemy to the North, Vaasa.
During the events of the Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373 DR) Gareth Dragonsbane's soul had been imprisoned in the Plane of Shadow due to the treachery of some wizards who had been corrupted and were in reality Sammaster's agents. His absence left Damara briefly in disarray and prone to attack from orcs and goblinoids swarming from Vaasa. He was saved only thanks to the actions of dragonhunters Pavel Shermov and Will Turnstone, a handful of his trusted officers and companions, and (quite unbelievably) an ancient vampiric dragon by the name of Brimstone. Having recovered from his ordeal, he once more lead his troops to victory against the forces of Vaasa, apparently slaying the Witch-King (who had arisen again) in single combat. In reality, Brimstone had conjured the illusion of an undead riding on his back, and he and Dragonsbane had planned the fight all along. It had a demoralising effect for the Vaasans which made victory easier.
His wife and Queen of Damara is Christine Dragonsbane, a druidess. His mount is an intelligent warhorse named Glenden. His six best friends are his old adventuring companions: the extremely skilled and powerful monk Grandmaster Kane (who landed the killing blow on Zhengyi); the ranger Duke Olwen Forest-friend, the "thief"/spy Celedon Kierney; the bard Riordan Parnell; the wizard Emelyn the Gray; and the priest of Ilmater and disciple of St. Dionysus, Friar Dugald.
Gareth Dragonsbane was first published as a pre-generated player character in the 1985 module H1 Bloodstone Pass. Update stats for him continued to appear in the other modules of this series. Christine was a NPC in the same series.
He has recently appeared in Road of the Patriarch, where his friends captured the assassin Artemis Entreri for treasonous acts (actually a plan set up by Jarlaxle to help the king solidify his hold, without the king's knowledge). Entreri is less than impressed with Gareth's kingship, and classifies all the reasons Gareth and his friends give for Gareth's station as either a way of keeping commoners down or mere strength of arm. While Gareth's friends are furious at the disrespect the assassin shows, Gareth is uncomfortably aware there's more than a grain of truth to Entreri's reasoning, and resolves to deserve to rule by being a good king, rather than by dint of bloodline or force. He merely banishes the assassin from his realm rather than executing him (as many of Gareth's friends—even his wife—would prefer). Like Drizzt Do'Urden before him, Gareth saw Entreri as a mirror of himself, and strove to be above the reflection, making him a better man and a better king.
Gareth was crowned King of Damara in 1359 DR when he succeeded in forging key alliances with many minor nobles throughout the land after Zhengyi the Witch-King of Vaasa, whose armies had conquered Damara, was defeated by a band of adventurers braving Castle Perilous, his stronghold. He has since then devoted his reign to rebuilding Damara's economy, forging alliances with other nations, and attracting adventurers to Damara while keeping an eye to the still-troubled enemy to the North, Vaasa.
During the events of the Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373 DR) Gareth Dragonsbane's soul had been imprisoned in the Plane of Shadow due to the treachery of some wizards who had been corrupted and were in reality Sammaster's agents. His absence left Damara briefly in disarray and prone to attack from orcs and goblinoids swarming from Vaasa. He was saved only thanks to the actions of dragonhunters Pavel Shermov and Will Turnstone, a handful of his trusted officers and companions, and (quite unbelievably) an ancient vampiric dragon by the name of Brimstone. Having recovered from his ordeal, he once more lead his troops to victory against the forces of Vaasa, apparently slaying the Witch-King (who had arisen again) in single combat. In reality, Brimstone had conjured the illusion of an undead riding on his back, and he and Dragonsbane had planned the fight all along. It had a demoralising effect for the Vaasans which made victory easier.
His wife and Queen of Damara is Christine Dragonsbane, a druidess. His mount is an intelligent warhorse named Glenden. His six best friends are his old adventuring companions: the extremely skilled and powerful monk Grandmaster Kane (who landed the killing blow on Zhengyi); the ranger Duke Olwen Forest-friend, the "thief"/spy Celedon Kierney; the bard Riordan Parnell; the wizard Emelyn the Gray; and the priest of Ilmater and disciple of St. Dionysus, Friar Dugald.
Gareth Dragonsbane was first published as a pre-generated player character in the 1985 module H1 Bloodstone Pass. Update stats for him continued to appear in the other modules of this series. Christine was a NPC in the same series.
He has recently appeared in Road of the Patriarch, where his friends captured the assassin Artemis Entreri for treasonous acts (actually a plan set up by Jarlaxle to help the king solidify his hold, without the king's knowledge). Entreri is less than impressed with Gareth's kingship, and classifies all the reasons Gareth and his friends give for Gareth's station as either a way of keeping commoners down or mere strength of arm. While Gareth's friends are furious at the disrespect the assassin shows, Gareth is uncomfortably aware there's more than a grain of truth to Entreri's reasoning, and resolves to deserve to rule by being a good king, rather than by dint of bloodline or force. He merely banishes the assassin from his realm rather than executing him (as many of Gareth's friends—even his wife—would prefer). Like Drizzt Do'Urden before him, Gareth saw Entreri as a mirror of himself, and strove to be above the reflection, making him a better man and a better king.
Sage Weil is the creator of the webring concept. He came up with the concept in May 1994, using his own centralized cgi-script. This idea eventually became what is now known as Webring. It was later sold to GeoCities.
Meanwhile Sage continued his work at DreamHost. There he helped to develop tools such as DreamBook (a guestbook tool).
Presently he is working towards his PhD at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is working on scalable metadata management as part of Ceph, a petascale file system.
Meanwhile Sage continued his work at DreamHost. There he helped to develop tools such as DreamBook (a guestbook tool).
Presently he is working towards his PhD at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is working on scalable metadata management as part of Ceph, a petascale file system.
1632 Tech Manual, 1632 Slush, and 1632 Slush Comments are each specialized sub-forums of a specific sub-community of the general online community known as Baen's Bar which is a web site focused on the publishers works and forums to let fans interact with writers. The first sub-form, 1632 Tech Manual (from early 2000) is dedicated to developing the background for collaborative fiction in the first Assiti Shards type fictional universe — 1632 universe or "1632-verse" — that began in the novel 1632 by Eric Flint, and the second two are spin-offs related to the fact that the series generated a lot of unsolicited fan-fiction.
The later two forums were eventually created and set aside as a submission venue and talk forum about such submitted work for the initial anthology and the eventual series of serialized e-zines, The Grantville Gazettes all of which resulted from (originally) unsolicited manuscripts plus Flint's decision to make the milieu a Shared universe by inviting in other writers. About that time, Flint was contributing a short story and contracting for a novella to the Honorverse spin-off series "Crown of Slaves" and had become good friends with David Weber, who has opened that sub-series in similar fashion to other writers. Weber expressed an interest in writing within 1632-verse, and that discussion may have given Flint the idea of soliciting manuscripts from other writers on the huge infant canvas. It is certain, he had no plans for a sequel beyond the initial novel.
The 1632 Slushpile
"Slushpile" is publishing trade jargon referring to the pile(s) of unsolicited submissions to a periodical. In the "Continuing adventure" of the Grantville Gazettes According to Flint, the unsolicted stories began shaping the background thought in the series milieu, and the magazine "idea" was born whilst he tried to recoup some of the time costs involved in examining the fan-fiction. Also, he judged some of the tales to be professional quality, and indeed, incorporated many of them into about half of . The flag ship novel was written as a stand-alone literary work, an experiment with the new Assiti Shards story premise, and was but one of three such universes planned by Flint in 2000. However, the sensation and interest engendered by the novel's publication subsequently caused the other works to be temporarily shelved. The other long delayed books in the overall Assiti Shard series which are currently in production under contract are:
* Timespike, with Marilyn Kosmatka, first draft complete.
* 1776, a solo novel.
* By Any Other Name, with Sarah Hoyt, first draft complete.
According to Flint, "The above is the probably order in which the books will be published, because Jim Baen really wants the 1776 novel as soon as possible."
The "1632 Tech Manual" forum has had a large role in developing the overall series as its discussions revolve around the course of likely events, reactions and developments as the fictional town of 3,000 souls transplated into the middle of the religious based Thirty Years' War.
The later two forums were eventually created and set aside as a submission venue and talk forum about such submitted work for the initial anthology and the eventual series of serialized e-zines, The Grantville Gazettes all of which resulted from (originally) unsolicited manuscripts plus Flint's decision to make the milieu a Shared universe by inviting in other writers. About that time, Flint was contributing a short story and contracting for a novella to the Honorverse spin-off series "Crown of Slaves" and had become good friends with David Weber, who has opened that sub-series in similar fashion to other writers. Weber expressed an interest in writing within 1632-verse, and that discussion may have given Flint the idea of soliciting manuscripts from other writers on the huge infant canvas. It is certain, he had no plans for a sequel beyond the initial novel.
The 1632 Slushpile
"Slushpile" is publishing trade jargon referring to the pile(s) of unsolicited submissions to a periodical. In the "Continuing adventure" of the Grantville Gazettes According to Flint, the unsolicted stories began shaping the background thought in the series milieu, and the magazine "idea" was born whilst he tried to recoup some of the time costs involved in examining the fan-fiction. Also, he judged some of the tales to be professional quality, and indeed, incorporated many of them into about half of . The flag ship novel was written as a stand-alone literary work, an experiment with the new Assiti Shards story premise, and was but one of three such universes planned by Flint in 2000. However, the sensation and interest engendered by the novel's publication subsequently caused the other works to be temporarily shelved. The other long delayed books in the overall Assiti Shard series which are currently in production under contract are:
* Timespike, with Marilyn Kosmatka, first draft complete.
* 1776, a solo novel.
* By Any Other Name, with Sarah Hoyt, first draft complete.
According to Flint, "The above is the probably order in which the books will be published, because Jim Baen really wants the 1776 novel as soon as possible."
The "1632 Tech Manual" forum has had a large role in developing the overall series as its discussions revolve around the course of likely events, reactions and developments as the fictional town of 3,000 souls transplated into the middle of the religious based Thirty Years' War.