assault Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Because DEMON wasn't one of the books I gave priority to, I only bought my copy yesterday. It's very well-written. But, there is one oddity that I have noticed. On Page 20, Mulraven House is described as being in Canberra, Australia. A paragraph down it says: "They sat around the long table in the dining hall at Mulraven House - a mansion built by Elisha Mulraven, the Beggar King of London, after he fled England in 1843." Unfortunately, this doesn't fit in well with Canberra's history: http://www.tomw.net.au/cnbst3.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! Well... oops? Took me a minute to figure out what you were getting at. Won't be a problem for anyone outside Australia, unless they're sticklers for dates and such. I know I just wouldn't point it out to my players and they'll never know the difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! Is it possible Canberra existed as a small settlement prior to the 20th century? Las Vegas was once a small watering hole town until Bugsy got to it. Perhaps Canberra was the same. I don't know. It also doesn't say the mansion was built in 1843, only that he fled London then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted November 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! Is it possible Canberra existed as a small settlement prior to the 20th century? Las Vegas was once a small watering hole town until Bugsy got to it. Perhaps Canberra was the same. I don't know. It also doesn't say the mansion was built in 1843, only that he fled London then. Canberra didn't exist at all until the 20th century. There were some grazing properties in the area, so that's one possibility for a pre-existing building. The other possibility is that Mulraven had an unusually extended lifespan. This is not at all improbable, given that we are dealing with a site associated with the Mystic World. We can certainly rationalise the situation. The main point, however, is that such rationalisation is necessary. It's such a fine example how little details can slip past. It's most glaring because of "the writer writing about another country" effect, but, to be honest, similar mistakes are probably just as likely anytime a writer writes about an area they are not all that familiar with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhammeWhamme Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! Checking the article, it looks to me like Canberra did already exist when it was chosen, as it was part of a list. And that could explain why it became, well, Canberra - he was there, and so it drew things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted November 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! Checking the article, it looks to me like Canberra did already exist when it was chosen, as it was part of a list. And that could explain why it became, well, Canberra - he was there, and so it drew things. It didn't exist as a town. The area was what was on the list. And yes, the fact that he was there could have been part of the reason why it was chosen. And the fact that it was destined to be chosen could have been part of the reason he was there. Magic is "interesting" like that. Destiny happens. I mentioned that there were grazing properties in the area. It's quite likely that Mulraven House could have been associated with one of them. In fact, this seems like the easiest rationalisation, and the one I would go with. But it's still an after the fact rationalisation of what was originally a glitch. Stuff happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philnicau Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! I suspect the writer of the DEMON sourcebook simply decided he wanted a demonhame in Australia, didn't know much aqbout the country and picked Canberra as it is the nations capital, unfortunately at that time 1843, Canberra wasn't a city, probably wasn't even settled by europeans. The only city of note would have been Sydney (founded in 1788), a better time and locale would have been Melbourne in the gold rush time (1850s-1880s), when it was the richest city (outside of London) in the British Empire. Canberra was founded in the early 1920 from a sheep station which had been aquired by the Federal Government as the National Capital after federation in 1901, and the capital was moved from Melbourne in 1927. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted November 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Re: DEMON: A nitpick! I suspect the writer of the DEMON sourcebook simply decided he wanted a demonhame in Australia' date=' didn't know much aqbout the country and picked Canberra as it is the nations capital, unfortunately at that time 1843, Canberra wasn't a city, probably wasn't even settled by europeans.[/quote'] Precisely. You are correct that Melbourne would have been a better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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