Silly RL names

Nevermorrow · Post by **Nevermorrow** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:02 am

The islands in Rokushima Taiyoo is the most notorious example of the bad pun names in Ravenloft, but there are others. Since I speak only English, quite a number seem to have escaped me. (Dementlieu being an obvious exception, though S explained the origins of the name "mad place" in the Gaz.) And now I've heard that Lamordia is a bad name too.

So have any of these bad names had suggested replacements?

I can offer one of my own. I used the name Johann Wittgenstein to replace Victor Mordenheim. I didn't like the name Mordenheim myself, because it sounded, well, a bit silly, even though I don't speak German and am only a little familiar with German names.

Now, many people think Frankenstein was inspired by real-life alchemist Johann Dippel. (If you've ever read the book then you know that Frankenstein did not bring his creation to life with a lightning strike, but rather with chemicals.) Modern myths attempt to connect Dippel to Dr. Frakenstein, such as the story that Dippel experimented with cadavers, but these appear to be untrue. But there are two solid connections: one, as mentioned above, he was an alchemist, and two, he was born at Castle Frankenstein. Wittgenstein is the name of the castle where Johann Dipple died, hence I came up with the name Johann Wittgenstein to replace Mordenheim.

Ail · Post by **Ail** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:23 am

Please, could you give your own examples of silly names? I'm curious

Gonzoron of the FoS · Post by **Gonzoron of the FoS** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:32 am

Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.

NeoTiamat · Post by **NeoTiamat** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:37 am

*cough* Quite.

A few that I've noticed are usually the Domain names, which often seem to have either meanings or at least sound like ominous-words.

Tepest = Tempest
Darkon = Dark
Falkovnia = Falcon (this is likely IC-intentional, dunno)
Dementlieu = Demented
Lamordia = Mord = Dead
Chateaufaux = False Castle
Hazlan = Hazard
Forlorn = Forlorn, this one IC-intentional
Keening = Keening, also IC-intentional
Arak = Arachnid

Brandi · Post by **Brandi** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:13 am

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.

You've got to be fsckin' kidding me.

Ail · Post by **Ail** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:15 am

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.

OMG

Did that really appear in an official product? I could expect such a name coming from a teenage boy, but not from a woman (maybe I'm sexist, sorry, but I tend to associate such names with immature boys). How old was P. N. Elrod when she wrote that book?

Ail · Post by **Ail** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:20 am

Brandi wrote:
Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.
You've got to be fsckin' kidding me.

He isn't. I checked my catalogue files from 3 years ago. That name is there.
Unless someone mis-introduced that into the catalogue. Also, I've found references here:

http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ ... source=rss

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... 9d6451e061

and here

http://www.niftymessageboard.com/viewto ... start=1075

for example.

Ail · Post by **Ail** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:24 am

NeoTiamat wrote:*cough* Quite.

A few that I've noticed are usually the Domain names, which often seem to have either meanings or at least sound like ominous-words.

Tepest = Tempest
Darkon = Dark
Falkovnia = Falcon (this is likely IC-intentional, dunno)
Dementlieu = Demented
Lamordia = Mord = Dead
Chateaufaux = False Castle
Hazlan = Hazard
Forlorn = Forlorn, this one IC-intentional
Keening = Keening, also IC-intentional
Arak = Arachnid

I guess most of these are intentional and quite ok by my standards. In the old Kargatane website there was even an attempt at identifying the meaning of several domain and land names.

For example, I remember Timor = latin for Fear.

The Whistler · Post by **The Whistler** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:41 am

Aargh, this annoys me, too. It's fine if you're in a party full of experienced RL players who are in on the significance of it all, but if you're running a game for newbies who think they're in a perfectly normal campaign setting...calling every other town "New Slaughterburg" tends to give the game away.

And...um...I *am* running that game starting 4 days from now, so this is kind of weighing heavily on me right now. SpiritCaller, I'm definitely doing the Wittgenstein/Mordenheim swap (awesome research with the name's significance BTW), but I'm still looking for convincing-sounding substitutes for Lamordia and Dementlieu...so I guess add me to the list of people who are curious to see what others have come up with.

Gonzoron of the FoS · Mon May 04, 2009 11:42 am

Ail wrote:Did that really appear in an official product? I could expect such a name coming from a teenage boy, but not from a woman (maybe I'm sexist, sorry, but I tend to associate such names with immature boys). How old was P. N. Elrod when she wrote that book?

Yes, it's in the catalogue, and I'm the one who put it there. Because, yes, it's in the book.

When I asked her to sign my copy of the book, she gleefully volunteered the story: She didn't get along well with the TSR novel editors, for what she perceived as inexperienced non-writers meddling with her work, when she was an established and respected author. Things were reaching a breaking point toward the end of I, Strahd II, and in retaliation, she peppered the book with some unfortunate names, such as the aforementioned Mr. Yssup, and Yersinia Wachter (Yersinia is the genus of the bacteria that causes The Bubonic Plague.)

(BTW, A quick google and some subtraction says she was 44-ish when the book was released.

)

NeoTiamat · Post by **NeoTiamat** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:08 pm

I believe there's an interview somewhere on the FoS site where Ms. Elrod talks about writing for TSR, which was painful. Didn't know that was where the names came from though.

Gonzoron of the FoS · Post by **Gonzoron of the FoS** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:36 pm

NeoTiamat wrote:I believe there's an interview somewhere on the FoS site where Ms. Elrod talks about writing for TSR, which was painful. Didn't know that was where the names came from though.

Indeed. I'd forgotten we had that.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:43 pm

Well,

The iland "Todstein" in the domain "Nebligtode" ist quite redicolous.

Todstein = Deathstone
Nebligtode = Foggy Deaths

well thats uber ^^

that brings me to Falcofnia which has a lot of "Wolfenstein-German" in it. Like Falkfuhrer, Fuhrerking etc.

Rock of the Fraternity · Mon May 04, 2009 1:50 pm

Okay, I'm usually pretty good with English, but the joke behind 'tew yssup' escapes me. Would someone please explain it to me? ^^;

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:53 pm

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Well, it's not exactly what you're looking for, but for silly RL names, you can't beat Tew Yssup from I Strahd II: The War Against Azalin.

No way! You must be joking.........

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Silly RL names

Silly RL names