User talk:Artemaz

Welcome!
Well met, Artemas Entreri, and welcome to the Forgotten Realms Wiki! Thank you for your edit to the Sheirtalar page. We hope you like the place and decide to stay and explore the Forgotten Realms with us.

Here are some pages that you might find helpful, that explain who we are and what we do and how we do it. You should find these a useful reference, or maybe they could give you some ideas for something to do.

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We hope you enjoy editing here. Please sign your messages on Talk and Forum pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, please leave a message on my talk page or ask any of the administrators about things.

Again, welcome! Happy scribing!

— Darkwynters (talk) 21:06, March 9, 2015 (UTC)

Welcome fellow Scribe
Hello Artemas, I've seen you around the halls of Candlekeep and it is good to have another helper over here. If you have any trouble you can ask me or one of the Admins and we'll come and see what we can do. Best bet is to look at other articles to see how things work. The task is tall but so is our ambition!--Eli the Tanner (talk) 23:48, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

Plagiarism Warning
Hi. Your Al-Badia article was obviously copied direct from the sourcebook. Please note that as per Plagiarism policy, we do not accept copied material that will infringe on copyright. Thus the Al-Badia article is up for deletion. Please rewrite it in your own words, using standard wiki style. — BadCatMan (talk) 03:54, March 14, 2015 (UTC)

Templates
Art, admin Movie just wrote an excellent help paragraph, so I am posting it for you and changing a few words to fit your needs :)


 * Thanks for your Alyana al-Azzazi article, it's a good start :) You chose to write an article about a person, so the next step would be to add the Person infobox to your page, and fill it out as best you can. You can copy and paste it from the "Usage" section. If you follow that link and scroll down, you'll see the "Standardized Sections". These are the general guidelines we use for articles about locations. Copy and paste them into your page, add your info (and anything else that the headings might suggest to you) and delete the ones you don't use. Take a look at other person articles to see how they are put together. Don't worry about getting it perfect, one of the other editors or admins will come along and tidy up if it needs it. Just remember to write everything in your own words (with few exceptions, we cannot accept passages copied directly from the source), and put it in past tense (see the Past Tense Policy and Plagiarism policy). And most of all, have fun! &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 22:04, March 23, 2015 (UTC)

This is awesome advice from Movie... If you have any questions, please ask and keep up the good work :) - Darkwynters (talk) 22:50, March 23, 2015 (UTC)

Categorization
I reverted your category adds to Alhoon lich because only named individuals are considered "Inhabitants". See the discussion at Forum:Categorization system for creatures. Creatures are categorized by one or more subcategories of Category:Creatures, so take a look at Category:Creatures by alignment, Category:Creatures by type, Category:Creatures by climate, Category:Creatures by terrain, etc. In this case the Alhoon lich would be added to types Category:Aberrations and Category:Undead, alignment Category:Creatures of lawful evil alignment, and terrain Category:Creatures found in underground locations. Underground locations generally don't have a climate, so no need for that category. There are probably others, but that gives you an idea where to start. User:Darkwynters is our category expert, so I'm sure he'll tweak the categories as needed. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 20:11, March 24, 2015 (UTC)

Editing
Hey, Art, excellent work on helping out the wiki... have look at your Asgetrion page and please just copy and paste the infobox and page setup... it makes editing the pages easier... thanks and if you have any questions, please ask :) - Darkwynters (talk) 02:31, April 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * I see you are having trouble with infoboxes, like on the Shambarin page. Here's how you do it: First, go to the Template page for the infobox you want. In this case it is Person, so click that link and you should see the documentation for the Person template, which explains what all the fields mean and gives an example. It also has a Usage section, which should look like a blue box with the template code in it. Do not go into edit mode, just highlight all the text in the blue box and CTRL-C, then go to your new page and, in edit mode, click at the top of the edit box and CTRL-V. This should copy the template code into your new page, then just fill in the values after the equal signs.


 * For a new page, you should also copy and paste the Standardized Sections to give you guidelines on what info to put where. This is another blue box further down on the Person page. Just highlight everything in the box and cut and paste as usual. Sometime before you are done with the page, you should delete any headings that you don't use. I hope that helps. Oh, and one more thing. Please sign your posts to Talk pages with four tildes ( ~ ) so it will record your user name and the time stamp. Like this &rarr; Moviesign (talk) 23:56, April 4, 2015 (UTC)

Silver Marches
So you know, the "Silver Marches" are also called Luruar, and that is the term used on this wiki. Most of your categories don't need to be added. ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:35, April 21, 2015 (UTC)

Ahh wow, I'd never heard of that term before.Artemas Entreri (talk) 19:03, April 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I only know because I made the same mistake before. :) ~ Lhynard (talk) 19:51, April 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * All fixed... no need for multiple categories... no worries, Art, I ran into the same problem a few years ago... keep up the good work :) HAHA! I posted this at the same time as Lhyn - Darkwynters (talk) 19:54, April 21, 2015 (UTC)

Rivers
Hello! Thanks a lot for taking the time to change the Zakharan cities' articles to past tense! I have one question about your links for the respective rivers: These are redirects that only refer back to the city articles. As there is little more information about those rivers, I also do not expect them become real articles in the future - I mainly created them to have them appear in Category:Rivers. So do you see any specific reasons to have those links in the articles? Thanks for letting me know. Daranios (talk) 21:39, May 6, 2015 (UTC)

I plan on adding a ton of stuff for anything related to Zakhara ... but not sure how far in the future it will be. I guess we don't need a page for each specific river if none of the Al-Qadim supplements mention anything beyond stating that XXXX was just a river. (Artemas Entreri (talk) 02:39, May 7, 2015 (UTC))


 * I am looking forward to Zakharan additions, whenever in the future! I would remove the river links for the time being.Daranios (talk) 08:22, May 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * I am quite amazed about what did in such a short time. Great work! Daranios (talk) 12:40, May 15, 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! As I learn more about the proper way to setup new pages and make corrections to existing ones I'm finding myself becoming even more addicted to the Forgotten Realms Wiki. :) I've got PLENTY more to add so please don't hesitate to send me a message if I'm doing anything wrong. Artemas Entreri (talk) 13:14, May 15, 2015 (UTC)

New Zakharan Categories
Thanks for expanding the categories for Zakhara. Great job! I love seeing this setting getting more attention. Artemas Entreri (talk) 22:40, May 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks...still trying to figure out a few things on the directional borders of West, Northwest, and North Zakhara...also, what if the difference between the Corsair Domains and the Genie's Turban? - Darkwynters (talk) 23:09, May 15, 2015 (UTC)

The Corsair Domains encompass the Genie's Turban, The Desert's Virtues, and all of the smaller islands in the surrounding area. Artemas Entreri (talk) 23:12, May 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hi! I couldn't resist to raise a few questions here to more clearly define how we want to use the new "geographical" categories for Zakhara. Maybe you want to join in there? Daranios (talk) 20:46, May 18, 2015 (UTC)

Lead Sentence Format
You've probably already noticed some of my recent changes to your (excellent) articles regarding the first sentence, but just to be sure, I'm leaving you a note here.

The policy on this wiki is that the article title (or an expansion of it) should be the subject of the sentence. This is for consistency's sake. Honestly, I think a lot of your more creative intro. sentences sound better, but in this case, we prioritize consistency over good/flexible writing style. (I had a bunch of my sentences "corrected" in this manner when I first started writing.)

Keep up the good work!

~ Lhynard (talk) 02:02, May 18, 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. I figured that was the case after seeing some of your corrections to my articles. ;) Is it ok to get a bit more creative in the subsections (description, price, possessions, etc)with sentences? Sometimes I feel like what I'm writing there get's a bit boring/repetitive. (Bob was tall. Bob owned a magical sword. Bob used to live in Waterdeep) Artemas Entreri (talk) 02:17, May 18, 2015 (UTC)


 * By all means, yes, be more creative in the rest of the article! I'm with you. ~ Lhynard (talk) 02:19, May 18, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do! Artemas Entreri (talk) 02:22, May 18, 2015 (UTC)

I was changing those intro lines around, and yeah, it's for consistency and wiki format (as widely used on Wikipedia itself). I feel an article should begin with the subject of that article for immediate ease of understanding, followed by specific necessary information ("Browntown is a village in...", "Joe is a human male fighter from Browntown"). A reader shouldn't have to read through a long sentence or small paragraph to get to the point. Then again, I don't want to be so rigid and my-way-or-the-highway prescriptivist as some other admins I've seen.

But I agree, it is an interesting, conversational, sourcebook-like style, absorbing a reader into the article from the opening. When you were persisting, I began to wonder if maybe people liked it the other way. There are some special topics where a reverse order is preferable as well.

And yes, I love to see creative, well-written text in the rest of the article. User:Moviesign's Blood of Morueme has some great turns of phrase. — BadCatMan (talk) 02:54, May 18, 2015 (UTC)


 * I totally agree with the direct lead sentence format that you guys are talking about. Regarding the lead sentence: for every person who enjoys a more creative style, I bet you'll have 100 who get confused. Artemas Entreri (talk) 13:03, May 18, 2015 (UTC)

ASS???? I no understand!?!? What happened???
 * Sorry about that! I saw on the edit history that you added categories to a page and saw weird categories listed. Turns out it was a mistake I made when I tried to add the Askar kit right next to Fighter in the infobox. Artemas Entreri (talk) 15:09, May 21, 2015 (UTC)

Ah, ok now I understand, good was all okay (Unknown user 11 (talk) 15:33, May 21, 2015 (UTC))

Rename
Hmmm, I changed your name... maybe I should not have left a redirect... it appears your User:Artemas Entreri page has all your edits... sorry :( hmmm, BadCat!! - Darkwynters (talk) 16:58, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ha ha yeah I saw and just left another message about that on Hash's page. If I can't keep all of my edits/stats with the new "Artemas" name then I'd prefer to keep the old "Artemas Entreri" name. Artemas Entreri (talk) 17:52, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm pretty certain that you can't change your user name because it is a Wikia account that is used across all Wikias and you'd have to ask Wikia management. You can, however, change your signature to Artemas, or whatever you want by editing your preferences. Other than that, I think you are stuck with your original account name. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 18:41, May 25, 2015 (UTC)

Sorry, Art... I am not sure how to change you back... caused enough damage... let us see if Movie or BadCat can help - Darkwynters (talk) 21:16, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I think you are back to normal. I would log out and back in to be sure. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 22:04, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I think it's back to normal. Thanks guys, and sorry for the headache!Artemas (talk) 22:24, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Usernames can be changed once (and only once!) by asking a wikia staffer at Special:Contact. If a staffer agrees to do it then all edits are transferred over to the new name. -hashtalk 23:06, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the link. Looks like "Artemas" is taken using the method Wiki suggested to check username availability. If this is the same "Artemas" that I was (briefly) is there a way to remove it so I can claim it for real this time (with all of my stats transferred, pending wiki approval of the new name)? Artemas (talk) 23:20, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately not. Wikia is not set up to delete accounts. They can only be disabled (they still exist but aren't usable) or renamed. -hashtalk 23:46, May 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I was able to rename myself to "Artemaz." Thanks for all of the help! Artemas (talk) 16:32, May 26, 2015 (UTC)

You are an Al-Qadim expert
Anyone can have one but you'll have to make the image yourself if you want one specifically for Zakhara. Mine is -hashtalk 22:54, May 26, 2015 (UTC)

Please pause on the Midani word articles.
Hey, I love language info on the wiki, but this is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary. Word articles break the 3-sentence rule. The way we want to handle words from languages is with dictionary articles like Elven dictionary or Alzhedo dictionary. I'll go create a Midani dictionary article now, and I'll move these new articles into that one.

~ Lhynard (talk) 13:27, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Gotcha, thanks. After adding the first few words I figured something like this would be better. Artemas (talk) 13:48, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ok, go to town adding words to the Midani dictionary! ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:10, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Shukran Lhyn! :) Artemas (talk) 14:12, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Afwan, es salam alekum. ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:13, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Also, if you have a dictionary entry that could be expanded into an article, that's ok too. It can both be in the dictionary and have its own article. Just make the dictionary entry a link. See Alzhedo dictionary, where I link to Pasha, for example. ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:16, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do, but most of the words I plan on adding are just one sentence entries. Artemas (talk) 14:18, June 5, 2015 (UTC)

Links to Land of Fate
Please be careful not to link to Land of Fate unless you are specifically talking about the sourcebook. If you are going for variety, use.

Keep up the good work! ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:35, June 6, 2015 (UTC)

Ah, I see you've already stopped. :) Thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:37, June 6, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ha, ha yeah I saw you removing those links and caught on. :) Artemas (talk) 14:07, June 6, 2015 (UTC)

Just a moment
Hey, Art, just felt like leaving a small note... nice work on adding the sorts for characters and all your recent creature pages from Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix! Keep up the good work :) - Darkwynters (talk) 17:35, June 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * (Wow, you beat me to thanking him by two minutes. :) ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:41, June 11, 2015 (UTC))


 * Thanks guys! I try to tackle at least a few small sort projects a day. I've been uploading the Al-Qadim creatures after typing them up on Word and it feels much smoother that way. Looks like another user started going through the Al-Qadim creatures alphabetically but quit halfway, so I'm starting from Z and meeting him in the middle. Fun stuff! :) Artemas (talk) 17:46, June 11, 2015 (UTC)

Hehe... actually, you are also doing a great job too, Lhyn... though, I am glad your 150 - 200 edits per day has slowed down :) - Darkwynters (talk) 17:48, June 11, 2015 (UTC)

Default Sorting Project
First, thank you for taking this project on!

Just a minor point: please check the bottom of articles to see if they have  already at the bottom and move it to the top. Articles should not have one at both top and bottom, just the top. Thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:37, June 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do! I've noticed that some articles have the def sort on the bottom worded correctly, yet the page name does not show up correctly when sorted. Any idea why? Artemas (talk) 17:49, June 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * This happens when there are automatically generated categories on a page, like those created by Class table. For some reason, the auto-cats do not pick up the DEFAULTSORT when it occurs after (that is, farther down on the page) they are generated. But if you move the DEFAULTSORT to the top of the page, then the auto-cats take on the sortkey in proper fashion. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 19:46, June 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the info. I figured it was something simple like that.Artemas (talk) 19:55, June 11, 2015 (UTC)

Descriptors for Spells
I noticed you are adding descriptors to some of your Zakharan spells. As far as I know, descriptors were introduced in 3rd edition and do not apply to 2nd edition spells. They started putting things like [Fire] after the school in the spell description in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition sourcebook. If your Zakharan spells are actually organized by some sort of descriptor, then it's probably okay to use the Desc templates (note that they automatically generate a category like Category:Fire spells). Otherwise, I wouldn't waste your time adding them. If 2nd edition descriptors are a real thing, then please update the documentation page or give me a list of all possible 2nd edition descriptors and I'll do it. Thanks! &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 15:22, June 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ahh thanks, I didn't realize it was only for 3E. For these 2E spells should I just add Fire, Air, etc under the "type" section? Artemas (talk) 15:52, June 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * 2nd Edition Al-Qadim has "provinces" (instead of descriptors), which work very similar to the usual schools. (By the way, if I recall correctly, the Tome of Magic 2nd edition has elementalists, which work as "specialists" in an element. The Tome accordingly should give an "elemental school" for its spells and those from the Player's Handbook 2nd edition. But maybe no such elementalists appear in Realms canon.) So we could just add the province under schools, or keep using the descriptor. The fact that it adds Category:Fire spells and things like that seems to be fitting to me. Or we could expand the template to include provinces, but I am not to keen on expanding the template too much. (As far as I understand, the "type" section is a more basic distinction for the kind of magic, like Vancian, instead of the kind of spell.) Daranios (talk) 18:27, June 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * The type parameter is always Vancian for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and now 5th edition. It only has a different meaning for 4th edition powers. The Tome of Magic 2nd edition does list "Elemental Air" (and Earth, Fire, and Water) as "schools", so if Zakharan sources give this as the school, let's use it that way. For example, fireball is in the evocation school and the school of "Elemental Fire". I recommend setting school2e to "Evocation (Elemental Fire)" and then adding the categories Category:Evocation spells and Category:Elemental Fire spells (2e) (not to be confused with Category:Elemental fire sphere spells (2e) which already exists for priest spells). Make sense? &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 04:31, June 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * The Zakharan spells still have the same schools as other 2E spells but are also listed as one of the following: Universal, Flame, Sand, Wind, Sea. Artemas (talk) 12:45, June 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * So we could treat them as (full) schools of an alternate system of schools. I have made a suggestion in Banish dazzle. I am not quite sure where to link, but maybe in the future we can have a Fire page (like the Negative energy page), where we can describe fire as an energy, element, spell descriptor and school. We could also one day add the Al-Qadim system of "provinces" and the Tome's system of "elemental schools" under Magic. What do you think? Daranios (talk) 18:48, June 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks Daranios. I think your suggestion for Banish dazzle works fine and I agree the provinces and Tome additions would be nice in the future. I'll edit the spells I've already added to appear like Banish dazzle and make sure the new ones appear the same way. Artemas (talk) 19:03, June 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * Since these are unique to, or at least strongly associated with Zakhara, can we use the Zakharan names Flame, Wind, Sand, and Sea? I don't want to get them mixed up with Category:Fire spells et.al. which are already a jumble of 3rd and 4th edition spells, unless we actually want to do so. Keep the "old school" name too, of course. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 19:42, June 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * Absolutely! I'll change them to reflect the unique Al-Qadim elemental names instead of the other stand ones. Artemas (talk) 19:59, June 22, 2015 (UTC)

Kits
Art, why are you changing all the class tables... the kits are suppose to be in parentheses... that way all the level by classes are correct... - Darkwynters (talk) 19:17, July 9, 2015 (UTC)

I saw a bunch my earlier pages were changed to show only the kit as the class and figured that was the way it was done. Is it ok to leave them appearing in the infobox as Kit (Class)? That way someone who has no idea was an Askar, Faris, etc is will still know it's a fighter. Just let me know if it needs to get changed back to Class (Kit) and I can change them back. Artemas (talk) 19:22, July 9, 2015 (UTC)

Personally, I think you should change them back... only Al-Qadim uses kits in the stat blocks for the most part and you have created a ton of new categories... I know there was a discussion about this a while back with User:Daranios... or wait to see what BadCat or Movie think... or just ask on their talk pages... yeah, better idea, I vote you change them back, but see what they think FIRST :) - Darkwynters (talk) 19:26, July 9, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hello! I stick to Darkwynters on this point. I lost a bit track of the details of our discussion, but I think we basically agreed on the Class (Kit) format like in Aban al-Hadhar, which gives us classes by level, but not kits by level, and thus seems a bit more streamlined and with the proper emphasis to me. Daranios (talk) 19:52, July 9, 2015 (UTC)

Congrats
Congrats on 5,000 edits today! ~ Lhynard (talk) 04:22, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ha ha, thanks! Not too bad for my first 4 months! :) Artemas (talk) 11:33, July 12, 2015 (UTC)

Good work! You really racked them up updating the defaultsorts. :) — BadCatMan (talk) 11:49, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Definitely true! That has slowed down a bit now since it's getting harder and harder to find more pages to "def sort" ... which is, of course, a great thing. ;) Artemas (talk) 11:52, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Congrats also from my side. I can just repeat: It's just amazing what you did since joining here - from my side of course especially for the Al-Qadim material! Daranios (talk) 12:01, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks Daranios! I have a mountain of Al-Qadim stuff yet to be added and am taking things one step at a time. I wish I started using the Forgotten Realms Wiki much sooner, but better late than never! :) Artemas (talk) 12:05, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Excellent job, Art... ye have slowed down on your edits and have found a nice niche in Al-Qadim... keep up the great work :) - Darkwynters (talk) 15:26, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do! Artemas (talk) 15:49, July 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Oh, Art, congrats on 11,285 edits... continue to "keep up the great work" :) - Darkwynters (talk) 19:34, November 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks Darkwynters! I'm not going anywhere. I'm just mad I didn't find the wiki sooner. Artemaz (talk) 20:07, November 25, 2015 (UTC)

Bey Gumushtekin
Possibly I mistake but for what I know about arabic and islamic history the bey was a title, like sultan or caliph, but with minor power, so probably, because Al Qadim materials were based from arab lore, the name of this guy was simply Gumushtekin (Unknown user 11 (talk) 16:51, July 17, 2015 (UTC))


 * You are probably right, thanks for pointing it out. I'll change it on that page and the other "Noble Genie" pages I just made. Artemas (talk) 17:01, July 17, 2015 (UTC)

Category Hierarchy
Hey, A,

You undid some of my undoing of your edits. Let me explain something about how categories are supposed to work. For articles, we put every category that applies, both specific and general. For category pages themselves, we only put categories that are one higher in the hierarchy tree. So Category:Noble marids should only have Category:Noble genies and Category:Marids, because it is redundant to include Category:Genies, since all Noble genies and all marids are genies.

Make sense?

~ Lhynard (talk) 19:02, July 17, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ah, gotcha. I was treating the cats like articles as far as categorization goes. Artemas (talk) 19:16, July 17, 2015 (UTC)


 * Categories are like ladders... so Category:Inhabitants of the Sword Coast North is the child of Category:Inhabitants of Northwest Faerûn... who then falls under Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn, and so on and so forth getting more broad as you go :) - Darkwynters (talk) 21:45, July 17, 2015 (UTC)

Tome of Magic page numbers
Hello! As you own the Tome of Magic 2nd edition, could I ask you a favour? The Tome contains a list of which spells are in the four Elemental schools (for wizards) in the end. Could you maybe let me know the page numbers where these spells are listed in the English version (I only have the German one), and including which spell is the last of each page? Thank you very much! Daranios (talk) 08:55, July 25, 2015 (UTC)

Of course! I'm out of town this week and don't have access to my AD&D books, but will do it as soon as I return next Saturday. Artemas (talk) 22:22, July 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * heh, I also own the book, but I'm also out of town for a week. What are the odds? Make a list of pages that need references from this book and we'll clean them up at the first opportunity. :b &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 04:58, July 26, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks! It's not urgent :-). At the moment the page number is missing in Earth (element) (for all spells listed in Elemental Earth) and Transmute rock to mud, but if you let me know the page numbers (and with which spell the page ends) I could use this in the future. Daranios (talk) 13:15, July 26, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for all the page numbers! In the German version, the list of elemental spells in the appendix stretches over two pages. Daranios (talk) 19:42, August 2, 2015 (UTC)

Sandman
An elemental man-shaped creature made of sand, the sandman is one of the monsters featured in Assassin Mountain. Daranios (talk) 20:30, August 14, 2015 (UTC)


 * Beautiful, thanks! Artemas (talk) 20:34, August 14, 2015 (UTC)

Catalogue
Hey, Art, just a little note... adding items from Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue is awesome! That book is so cool, I even use it in my 5e games... good show! - Darkwynters (talk) 22:01, August 17, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ha, ha thanks! Aurora's is definitely one of my favorite books. I would use it to buy fun stuff for every character I made back in the day. :) Artemas (talk) 22:20, August 17, 2015 (UTC)

Ethnicities Project
Can you give me a list of human ethnicities for Zakhara? Is there only one? Or are there several? ~ Lhynard (talk) 21:44, August 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * Zakharan is the only ethnicity, though some might split that into the Al-Badia (nomads) and Al-Hadhar (urban) since their cultures have developed differently over the years. However, "Zakharan" refers to all of the races (human, dwarf, elf, halfling, goblin, ogre, giants, etc) collectively since they live in harmony not seen elsewhere on Toril.Artemaz (talk) 22:58, August 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:44, August 26, 2015 (UTC)

Categories for New Items
Hey, Art,

Please be careful with the categorization pages you are creating to go along with the new items you are adding. Make sure you do a little bit of research to confirm that you are putting them in the right hierarchy. (I noticed the couple in the Lands of Intrigue, because that's one of my favored areas.)

As always, keep up the great work you are doing!

~ Lhynard (talk) 14:02, August 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do! The Empires of the Sands thing was a complete brain fart on my part. Artemaz (talk) 14:26, August 27, 2015 (UTC)

Category Sorting
I think it's great that you added a bunch more Categories to Category:Chosen. However, could you go back and make them sort properly? For each one, you need to set the cat like this:

Or you can use the category editor to do this. ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:26, September 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * Of course! Artemaz (talk) 15:33, September 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * sweet; thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:50, September 11, 2015 (UTC)

Okay I'll restrain myself (fictional characters).71.38.153.34 17:36, October 2, 2015 (UTC)
Hi there! I have tried to clear up what I think was a misunderstanding about Category:Fictional characters (in-universe) at the talk page. Daranios (talk) 17:56, October 2, 2015 (UTC)

Project Request
Saheeda! As part of my Ethnicity Project, I just created the Zakharan (ethnicity) page. However, I only had access to two 3e sourcebooks, which were both Faerûn-focused. Would it be possible for you to help expand the article?

Also, are there not any pictures of a typical Zakharan anywhere?

Shukran in advance.

~ Lhynard (talk) 23:02, October 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * Of course I'd love to help. I have tomorrow off for Leif Erikson day so I'll rummage through my Al-Qadim books and see what I can add to help expand the page. :) Artemaz (talk) 23:26, October 11, 2015 (UTC)

Map Cropping
First, I love that you are adding map images to so many of my location pages. Thanks!

However, you seem to be very inconsistent with cropping and zoom. Sometimes your images are oriented as portraits; other times as landscape. Portrait orientation means that many of your images don't fill the infobox, which looks bad. Sometimes you are zoomed in so far that it is hard to see context. For example, the text of Koyoss mentions the Lugalpgotak Sea, but you've zoomed in too far to see it. As a comparison, I think the map for Jukum looks great, but the one for Koyoss not.

I'd like to suggest that you only crop as landscape or square orientation, and make sure that any reference points mentioned in the body of the article can be seen in the zoom.

Thanks! And keep up the good work.

~ Lhynard (talk) 19:45, November 24, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do! The only reason I zoom so far on some of these is because the text for the main focus of the image (Koyoss for example) is unreadable unless you zoom. Artemaz (talk) 19:59, November 24, 2015 (UTC)


 * Another reason to zoom out a bit is to make use of the map on more than one page. Consider File:IronRoad.png is used on 7 different pages, for example. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 21:47, November 24, 2015 (UTC)

Minor Thing
When you tag pages with a template that takes a date parameter, use five tildes, not four.


 * = your name
 * ~ = both
 * = the date

~ Lhynard (talk) 02:49, November 28, 2015 (UTC)

Map edition?
Handsome Rob's maps belong to what edition, would you say? &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 04:02, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hmm, good question. I know they are pre-Spellplague because Chult is not separated and Luiren, Haluraa, the Shaar, etc have not been blasted or destroyed. I'd guess they are 3E maps. Artemaz (talk) 13:57, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * Okay, I'm going to run the bot over all his images and put them in Category:3rd edition maps. Thanks! &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 14:23, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * I thought I had read that he was trying to make them include multiple editions. They are definitely pre-Spellplague, as Artemaz said, but they have more 2e information than 3e information, from what I've noticed. ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:49, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * Are there physical differences between 2E and 3E maps? 2E is my Realms of choice so I'm a little ignorant on the subject. Artemaz (talk) 19:47, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * Nothing major that I can think of right now. The return of Shade to the skies above Anauroch started to change the climate/terrain of the area, but it's not until 4th edition that it all turns green (correct me if I'm wrong). I can add the maps to both categories if you think it is appropriate. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 21:07, November 30, 2015 (UTC)


 * There were some major geological differences, actually. The 3e maps removed some mountain ranges&mdash;like the Kuldin Peaks&mdash;shifted others&mdash;like the Snowflake Mountains&mdash;changed the courses of some rivers and drastically changed the scale of some regions&mdash;such as the Great Glacier. No attempt was made to "explain" these changes. (Honestly, I think most of it was just sloppiness on the part of the 3e cartographer(s).)


 * Rob seems to "correct" the 3e maps.


 * But he's the best one to ask. I think he can be tracked down on the Candlekeep Forums.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 06:02, December 2, 2015 (UTC)

Map Categorization
You have added back some categories that I removed. Please read Forum:Categorizing maps and join the discussion so we don't continue to undo each other's work. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 03:33, December 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Which cats on which page(s) did I add back?Artemaz (talk) 03:51, December 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hehe, look at the edit history for File:Al-Zira.PNG and you'll see a few examples. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 04:17, December 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ugh, Images/Maps are quickly becoming my least favorite thing on the wiki. So for a map page like the pic of File:Al-Zira.PNG (which is a section of the greater Djinni's Claws in this case), I am NOT supposed to add the category "Maps of the Djinni's Claws?"

Also, on this page is it ok to have it labeled "Maps of islands" and "Maps of seas and oceans?"Artemaz (talk) 12:45, December 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Using the guidelines proposed in Forum:Categorizing maps, here is what I would do:

And I think we can stop there. Does that make sense? Please comment on the Forum if you want to suggest changes to the guidelines. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 15:49, December 19, 2015 (UTC)
 * 1) Starting with File:Al-Zira.PNG, add Category:Maps.
 * 2) Look at the image and add categories for each named feature. Obviously we need Category:Maps of Al-Zira, but since there are enough visible letters of two other names to figure out what they are, it would be okay to also add Category:Maps of Kalb Bahriy Sahr and Category:Maps of the Djinni's Claws. This is a judgment call because it is not a map of all of the Djinni's Claws, nor a map of all of Kalb Bahriy Sahr, and its about how easy or obvious it is to figure out the whole name from the part that shows up on the map.
 * 3) This is a map of islands, so add Category:Maps of islands. The name of a sea or ocean does not appear on this map, so I would NOT add Category:Maps of seas and oceans or Category:Maps of the Crowded Sea.
 * 4) Now categorize the categories:
 * 5) * Category:Maps of Al-Zira &rarr; Category:Maps of the Djinni's Claws, also add Category:Maps of islands so that it contains an alphabetical list of all islands by name.
 * 6) * Category:Maps of Kalb Bahriy Sahr &rarr; Category:Maps of the Djinni's Claws and Category:Maps of islands.
 * 7) * Category:Maps of the Djinni's Claws &rarr; Category:Maps of the Crowded Sea, Category:Maps of Southwest Zakhara, and Category:Maps of islands.
 * 8) * Category:Maps of the Crowded Sea &rarr; Category:Maps of Southwest Zakhara and Category:Maps of seas and oceans.


 * Thanks Movie. That makes sense but I was a little confused because the MovieBot had removed the Maps of the Djinni's Claws category for the Al-Zira image. I'll upload a new picture today and get you to double check my categories for it.Artemaz (talk) 16:26, December 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Adding Category:Maps of the Djinni's Claws and Category:Maps of Kalb Bahriy Sahr was a judgement call, so I can go either way. I guess I have changed my mind since then :) &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 16:52, December 19, 2015 (UTC)

Congrats!
Congrats on finishing the kits project! ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:18, April 3, 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks Lhyn! It feels great. 1 down ... hundreds to go. ;) Artemaz (talk) 15:19, April 3, 2016 (UTC)

Mountain Ranges
Locations are in mountain ranges, not on them. Please go back and undo your recent changes to such cases. They were correct the way they were. (Locations are on an individual mountain.) ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:57, April 7, 2016 (UTC)


 * Great, what a waste of time. Artemaz (talk) 15:19, April 7, 2016 (UTC)


 * Sorry, man. I went through every mountain and mountain range on this wiki as part of my mountain project, which is why I care. I already deleted the new categories and unmarked the old ones for deletion; it's just the cats. on the individual articles that need to be restored. Thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:22, April 7, 2016 (UTC)


 * It's all good. Quick question about categories though: For instances like this were a preposition change in the title is needed (In vs On, etc) is there a way to simply change the category title instead of needing to make a new category and delete the old one? Artemaz (talk) 15:38, April 7, 2016 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, not that I know of. ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:40, April 7, 2016 (UTC)

Last Al-Qadim wizard spells
Hello! Going through core spells suitable for Al-Qadim I have noticed that after all the specifically Zakharan spells you have already created, that a few are still missing: The ones from Secrets of the Lamp. Just saying... :-). Daranios (talk) 17:00, May 15, 2016 (UTC)


 * Oops, good catch! Our work is never done, huh? :) Artemaz (talk) 18:14, May 15, 2016 (UTC)


 * Looks like it :-)! Just found that there are also four priest spells from Ruined Kingdoms remaining. And I will go about Create crypt servant, which is in City of Delights' Monstrous Compendium pages. Daranios (talk) 18:39, May 15, 2016 (UTC)

Ulgarth?
Are you doing Ulgarth? I took a bunch of notes on the place, and had half a mind to write them up, but obviously I have too many projects as it is. :) I look forward to seeing your work, and I might have a bit more to add. — BadCatMan (talk) 14:20, May 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't want to "steal" Ulgarth from you if you really wanted to jump on it, but I'd be more than happy to flesh it out more so you can add your notes in later if your project list is nice and full. :) As it is, the Ulgarth page looks pretty good so far, but it looks like most of it is unreferenced. I'll see what my The Shining South (1993) book has to add.Artemaz (talk) 14:23, May 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * No worries, as far as my realm projects go, the last of the Vast, Koryo, and the Utter East quite fill up my plate and will take precedence. And you do such good and swift work anyway. :)


 * Thanks! I guess I will see you in Ulgarth where the Shining South and Utter East collide. ;) Artemaz (talk) 14:41, May 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * Considering the potential warfare and barbarian hordes, that may be literal. :) Anyway, your work here would make mine easier, and a developed Ulgarth supports my Utter East project nicely. I may do a few things I've found interesting, like Sinveri Trollkin, or especially obscure, like Thommar (which I did a while ago when I started the Utter East; it's not exactly in Ulgarth or Durpar, but sits unmapped in the middle). I should also do the very nebulous barbarians east of Ulgarth, which also threaten the Utter East, when I decide how. A tribe? A land? They're viking-like Northmen who've taken to horse-riding tribalism, it seems. — BadCatMan (talk) 09:11, May 27, 2016 (UTC)


 * It's great seeing these obscure lands being populated with pages and lore. Keep up the great work! Artemaz (talk) 12:47, May 27, 2016 (UTC)


 * You too! I have to admit, these obscure lands tend to be much easier than those that have had a half-dozen sourcebooks and are dense with lore. I can spend as much time on a sparsely detailed land like Koryo as I did on just a dense western city like Procampur. — BadCatMan (talk) 12:55, May 27, 2016 (UTC)


 * I agree completely. Those big pages can be a bit overwhelming even when just deciding where to start. As with my Huzuz project, I find it easiest to attack it in chunks, take a break with something else, and return revitalized. Artemaz (talk) 13:14, May 27, 2016 (UTC)

Section breaks
Hi Artemaz. I noticed you've started using smaller === section breaks in your articles. Is there a reason for that, or is just an error? The larger == section break is kind of the universal standard now.

Also, please make sure you catch the curly or slanted apostrophes in your writing. — BadCatMan (talk) 07:36, June 5, 2016 (UTC)


 * The smaller section breaks was a copy/paste error on my part from the Winged cat page. Sorry about those. I'll watch for those apostrophes. When making my monster pages I do them in Word and then just upload them to the wiki, but Word uses the wrong apostrophe, so I'll edit those when I copy the content here. Artemaz (talk) 13:10, June 5, 2016 (UTC)


 * I do the same. There's an option in Word to set it so the apostrophes come out plain, which is very useful. — BadCatMan (talk) 14:12, June 5, 2016 (UTC)

A Few Points Re: Creature Articles

 * Please use the full infobox with creature articles.
 * Please do not use the deprecated, non-edition-specific,  , and   fields. Use the edition-specific ones.
 * Please do not give 2e monsters a type or use type categories for such monsters. Type is not really a thing until 3e. For example, an island giant is not a monstrous humanoid as far as categories are concerned. An island giant is not even a giant as far as types are concerned, unless the monster was updated to 3e rules or later.
 * Please use the  and   fields in the infobox instead of manually adding the categories yourself.

Thanks! And keep up the always good work!

~ Lhynard (talk) 15:50, June 8, 2016 (UTC)


 * Oops, I didn't even realize I was using a shortened creature infobox. Sorry about that one! Using the full infobox will address most of those other issues you mentioned, and I'll do the others as well. Artemaz (talk) 16:06, June 8, 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks! FWIW, I just edited the template doc. to simplify the standard infobox fields a bit. I removed type2e and subtype2e as standard options. ~ Lhynard (talk) 16:13, June 8, 2016 (UTC)

"Unique"
Hey, Art,

I've noticed that a lot of your articles start with a sort of "form letter" feel that states something like "Foo was a unique bar from Zakhara." I'd like to see fewer such opening statements for several reasons.

A) Rarely ever is something truly unique to a particular region. Your articles, while always very well-done as is, (thank you!) are often incomplete, because you tend to use a single sourcebook initially, (which is fine.) This means that you are often unaware that a topic is also covered in non-Al-Qadim sourcebooks.

B) An opening/lead sentence is supposed to define a topic. That statement does not define the topic; instead, it tells us (sometimes erroneously) about the region where the topic is relevant.

C) The "form letter" feel. I know that you can write some really creative sentences; it would be great for that creativity to shine in the first sentence that one reads when they look at an article.

As usual, I am only being picky because you are such a great article-writer as a whole.

~ Lhynard (talk) 16:09, June 17, 2016 (UTC)


 * Wow, picky-pickerson. Kidding of course. :)


 * A/B) I'll watch for those "unique" sentences unless it's something I know is truly unique ... such as a building found only in Huzuz for example.


 * C) I can definitely get more creative with the opening sentence. If I remember correctly I started out doing that, but I was a little messed up on my actual subject placement within the sentence (which I have since gotten the hang of), so I began making simple sentences and it became a habit.


 * Thanks for the tips! Artemaz (talk) 16:44, June 17, 2016 (UTC)


 * I see that you've stopped using the word "unique", which is a plus, but your spell article lead sentences still don't tell me anything about the spells themselves and all read almost exactly the same. :p ~ Lhynard (talk) 05:26, July 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * I know. A lot of those spells had literally 2 paragraphs on info and little else to distinguish themselves. I spiced up my latest entry though: Summon sha'ir. Artemaz (talk) 13:27, July 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * Nice. Great spell, too. I wish I could figure out a way to slip that one into my campaign.&hellip; ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:38, July 26, 2016 (UTC)

20,000
congrats! ~ Lhynard (talk) 03:08, June 22, 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks! What is the difference between the edit counts? The number by my avatar image says 19968, but the number within my userbox says 20064. Artemaz (talk) 12:57, June 22, 2016 (UTC)


 * That is an unsolved mystery. Congrats! :) &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 14:22, June 22, 2016 (UTC)


 * Hmm, now that you mention it, I do remember Robert Stack doing an episode about this. :D Artemaz (talk) 14:24, June 22, 2016 (UTC)

Hello
Thank you for a warm welcome! It's nice to find someone with simlar interests, both D&D and TES.The Lusty Dovahkiin (talk) 11:46, July 17, 2016 (UTC)

Creature Infobox Updates
Three things:
 * 1) Thanks for working on infobox updates!
 * 2) Consider using this page to track your progress: Creature Infobox and Categorization Updates
 * 3) Please do not add categories for creature environments. Instead, use the   and   fields within the infobox. Thanks!

~ Lhynard (talk) 11:46, September 16, 2016 (UTC)


 * Will do. I think on one of the pages it did not automatically add the category when I added "underground" to the terrain type. Any idea why? Artemaz (talk) 13:04, September 16, 2016 (UTC)


 * I'd need to see the specific case to figure that out, I think. ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:39, September 16, 2016 (UTC)


 * Hmm I thought it was aboleth but it looks like I was mistaken from looking at the edit history.Artemaz (talk) 14:02, September 16, 2016 (UTC)


 * Aboleth was missing the terrain parameter, so I added it and deleted the superfluous category. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 14:28, September 16, 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks Movie! Artemaz (talk) 14:59, September 16, 2016 (UTC)

Thumbs Up!
Just wanted to let you know that I like the Zakharan instruments, magical sands and especially Land of the Yak-Men articles a lot. I am very happy to see this Dragon material covered here! Daranios (talk) 19:44, October 20, 2016 (UTC)


 * I'm glad you are enjoying them. Those Dragon articles add some nice bits of spice to the Al-Qadim setting. More coming! :) Artemaz (talk) 21:14, October 20, 2016 (UTC)

2e Creature Edits
Please note the fixes I made to your 2e creature edits. If you are going through 2e monsters, please make sure to add their activity cycle, diet, climate, and terrain. Put their height in the proper field. Thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:00, December 25, 2016 (UTC)


 * Absolutely! Artemaz (talk) 15:16, December 25, 2016 (UTC)

Duchy Naming
So, bad news, but we decided when I was adding duchies for Tethyr that we would not have titles for articles like Duchy of Foo, but rather simply Foo. ~ Lhynard (talk) 20:23, March 20, 2017 (UTC)


 * Argh. I'll rename/recategorize what I've done for the Bloodstone Lands. Artemaz (talk) 20:45, March 20, 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes. Sorry! ~ Lhynard (talk) 20:54, March 20, 2017 (UTC)

Slack
Hey, not sure if you're interested, but I'm hoping to set up a bit more of a community feel around the wiki moving forwards, so I've set up a Slack group. Unfortunately it needs email addresses to invite people, so I've set up a form to anonymously collect them. If you are interested, would be great if you can fill out https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoVCqUNSPCKTp77IxhwMDyIQ4UGVoB1AP0MM15agNUZsU94Q/viewform and leave your email so that I can send an invite! Fw190a8 (talk &middot; contr) 09:46, July 8, 2017 (UTC)


 * Joooiiin uusss... &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 00:38, July 11, 2017 (UTC)


 * I submitted my email from the link above but haven't seen anything yet. Artemaz (talk) 01:08, July 11, 2017 (UTC)


 * Check your Spam folder, it says FW sent you an invite on the 8th of July. If nothing, ask here for another invite.&mdash;Moviesign (talk) 02:16, July 11, 2017 (UTC)


 * Just joined Slack, but honestly I'm not sure how much I'm going to use it. Seems more convenient just to post messages here. Artemaz (talk) 11:32, July 11, 2017 (UTC)

Efreetikin
Hello there! I just had another look at the efreetikin and have seen that, breaking with the magic tradition, it is called fire gen, not flame gen in Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix. I have changed that accordingly. Do you know if the "Return of the Sha'ir" article from Dragon magazine 315 or any other source calls it flame gen? Then I would put that name back in. Thanks for your help! Daranios (talk) 20:20, February 9, 2018 (UTC)


 * Looks like the last page of the "Return of the Sha'ir" article refers to them as fire gen. Artemaz (talk) 12:34, February 10, 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I could have found myself that the Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix itself uses both terms (though I suspect more through sloppyness than intention), but with your input I had one more source. I have added both names to the article now. Daranios (talk) 19:17, February 11, 2018 (UTC)

Welcome Back
I've been excited to see you making edits again here. ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:13, November 24, 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks buddy! Feels great to be back. Hey quick question: I noticed that it appears that by default the source edit pages are adding spaces usually between the DEFSORT/Infobox sections and sometimes between the Infobox and main text body. I've deleted the spaces a few times but they seem to reappear. Any idea what's going on? Artemaz (talk) 18:46, November 24, 2018 (UTC)


 * No idea; sorry! ~ Lhynard (talk) 19:40, November 27, 2018 (UTC)


 * Also a belated welcome back from my side! Great to see more light shed on Zakhara and more. Daranios (talk) 20:57, November 29, 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks Daranios! I'm prepping to dive deep into the Ruined Kingdoms. :) Artemaz (talk) 22:09, November 29, 2018 (UTC)