[BEGIN] TSR'S SAGA AND GLEN COOK'S BLACK COMPANY (PART I) Article (C) 1999-2000 Ricardo J. Méndez rmendez@sheertalent.com Saga, The Black Company and all the other stuff are the properties of their respective owners. -------------------------- A QUESTION OF NOMENCLATURE -------------------------- As you'll soon see, the term "Hero" would be something of a misnomer when applied to a character in the Black Company Universe. My first choice would have been Character, but on Saga the word is already used for an NPC. The third choice, and one more suited to the overall feeling of the setting, is Mug. So for now on whenever you see a Mug mentioned please try to think of it as the closest thing to a hero you'll find aroun here. ------------------------------- THE SPIRIT OF THE BLACK COMPANY ------------------------------- For those that haven't read the excellent books by Glenn Cook, exactly what differences the world from other fantasy universes may be a big question. What sets this almost unknown universe aside is exactly what makes it worthy of notice: it's gritty realism on how people deal with each other and how they backstab each other whenever they get the chance. Cook doesn't try to focus on the character's heroic deeds (if any). We never see a party go off to stop a war, or try to remove some Great Evil from the land with the help of Good But Absent Minded Gods. What we do get is plenty of having to choose which of two evils is the lesser one, being backstabbed by your employer and having to guard your back against those outside your group. With the only exception of "The Silver Spike", whether it is a small party of adventurers you're hanging with or a large scale outfit like the Black Company itself the maxim appears to be that you can trust your people. Once you have found yourself a group you can call home those in it become your family. They will cover your back almost inconditionally, will care if you live or die without mattering if you had only crossed a couple of words with them and if it ever comes to that they'll avenge your death. But you don't turn your back on your family and you don't leave them out in the cold, or it shall be you who will have to pay. ------------------------------ THE TOOLS OF THE BLACK COMPANY ------------------------------ "When you have the smaller army, you learn guile." - Croaker, Annalist. For some reason the main characters in the Black Company are always outnumbered or outpowered. Unlike those in other fantasy books they don't succeed through the help of the gods or their good will and nice intentions, but instead by skillfully wielding three deadly weapons: Disinformation: spreading disinformation is a favorite tool of the Black Company, whether it be to sowing discord among those that have rallied against them or to make the enemy expect a blow on th wrong place. Paranoia: if you think that you're being paranoid enough, you are not being paranoid enough. On a world where everyone is out to get you and it is a history proven fact that you can't trust your employer, paranoia may save your back. Surgically applied magic: of course the Black Company is not above using magic, but they magic is more of the make-them-fight-against-illusions or let's-find-out-which-servants-are-spies than the more dramatic fireballs or lightning falling from the sky. Instead, they use magic to learn more about their enemy and to keep the enemy from striking at them. -------------------- OF GODS AND MONSTERS -------------------- No orcs, trolls or goblins here. Nothing to see, move on. Those of you looking for them may move ahead towards Forgotten Realms or you favorite dungeon bashing universe. The Black Company Universe - a name is never given, so let's call it the Empire - does feature some inhuman races, mainly those from the Plain of Fear, but not one of them is as commonplace as the goblins in Dragonlance. Instead, Cooks populated the world with different human races, from the short, brown men of the south to the average blue-eyed, blond guy from the north. Gods are a strange thing in the Empire. As Lady says in one book, "the man who trust the gods deserves the help he doesn't get". They appear to be absent for most of the books but then one goddess - Kina The Destroyer - makes an appearance on the Books of the South. Since it has yet to be determined if Kina is a real goddess or just some extremely powerful being, Narrators are recommended to assume that there are no gods in this universe. --------------- A POOR UNIVERSE --------------- The Empire is a somewhat poor universe, with the wealth being kept on tightly held circles. This means that most Mugs will be of a poor station and that not even one in a thousand will get to wear full plate armor in their lives. ------------- CREATING MUGS ------------- More than in any other universe, characters in the Empire are encouraged to have some sort of hidden past: they may be running away from the army, maybe they are trying to forget a tragic love affair or maybe they don't want to be potato diggers like their parents. Whatever this background may be Mugs usually keep it to themselves. They also usually have a nickname, whether it is assigned by their partners or chosen to help hide their past. Croaker (a doctor), Goblin (who looks like the name) and Mercy (a particularly nasty bastard) are only a few. Anybody who choses a mean-sounding name like Raven might better be ready to live up to it or be made fun of by his friends. -------------------------------------- WHERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UNIVERSE -------------------------------------- A good place to start may be Ender's Black Company Home Page. From there you can jump to several other sites on the net dedicated to flesh out those sections of the world that Cook didn't. --------------------- THINGS YET TO BE DONE --------------------- This document will be followed by one sketching the magic in the Empire. However, a lot of work needs to be done regarding several aspects of the universe. Those that come to mind are: .- Rules for large-scale battles. .- Rules for Taking (you'll learn what Taking is soon enough). .- Documenting the several human and inhuman races mentioned in the books, as well as their ethnic and social differences. [END]