Book Review: Discworld 3: 'Equal Rites' by Terry Pratchett

“...she was opposed to books on strict moral grounds, since she had heard that many of them were written by dead people and therefore it stood to reason reading them would be as bad as necromancy.”
― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

Eskarina Smith was gifted at birth with the magic of a wizard. The problem is that there's never been a female wizard before, and a lot of people won't hold with it.

Discworld Reviews

“...it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done.”
― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

I actually finished reading Equal Rites some time ago, but I fell into something of another bout of depression and was finding it hard to focus on actually writing up my review.

If you're just joining me, and haven't seen my other Discworld reviews, allow me to restate my goal: I am intending to read through the complete Discworld series (41 books) and review each of them here. 

My other reviews so far include:

1. The Color of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic

A book that's actually about something

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.”
― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

While The Color of Magic had a lot of fun moments and The Light Fantastic was a fun adventure, neither of them really seemed to

RPGs, Time, and an Unsolvable Problem

 This morning on Facebook, I saw it was the birthday of a friend who I haven't seen since I was in high school. I thought about the fact that I'd recently seen that he'd gotten married (and by recently, I mean at least a year and a half ago, because I remember it being at least a few months before the plague.) My brain reacted to me thinking of him being married with that's not right. 

And it got me thinking about how we see time when it comes to people we don't interact with very often.

For people we don't interact with, we expect time to remain stationary/we don't expect their lives to progress.

We know that this isn't the case, but it's a phenomenon that I've had multiple people mention to me. They (we) are surprised when a cousin who they have only seen at family gatherings is grown up, or when they find that major life events have

Last Legend 10: Inside the Box

The team finds out what's in the box and rushes to beat the Company of Midnight

Session Date (Real Life): 03/13/2021

Begin (Game Date): 10/21/520 3:00

End (Game Date): 10/29/520 14:00

Player Level: 2   

Total XP: 5

Previous Adventure: Last Legend 9: Bellum Speaks

At the bottom of this post is a list of characters and groups that you can reference in this post for keeping track of who people are.

Last Legend is a fantasy tabletop RPG campaign using the Open Legend RPG system. For more information on the setting of Last Legend, check the background post here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2021/01/Last Legend Overview.html

Or, go to the Last Legend Glossary, here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/p/last-legend-glossary.html

Tyosa Doska and Kesua both emerged in the group's room in the Broken Stein Tavern, where Arthur Grant, Aanso, and Balthazar had been staying. As they emerged, Balthazar vanished, and the Dochysh Jeq (the mysterious jewel-embedded metal spike which was now tied to their fates) glowed with a purple light.

The group caught up Tyosa and Kesua on what had been going on with the robots, Bellum, and Molly, as well as their plans to accompany Molly to Vanguard City. Tyosa revealed that, in the crystal space, he had had visions of a great shadow covering the land. He saw

Last Legend 9: Bellum Speaks

 

The team meets with members of the League of Arcanists and is asked for a favor

Session Date (Real Life): 02/27/2021

Begin (Game Date): 10/19/520 12:00

End (Game Date): 10/20/520 20:00

Player Level: 2   

Total XP: 3

Previous Adventure: Last Legend 8: The League of Arcanists

At the bottom of this post is a list of characters and groups that you can reference in this post for keeping track of who people are.

Last Legend is a fantasy tabletop RPG campaign using the Open Legend RPG system. For more information on the setting of Last Legend, check the background post here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2021/01/Last Legend Overview.html

Or, go to the Last Legend Glossary, here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/p/last-legend-glossary.html

The team (Aanso, Arthur Grant, Balthazar, and Kesua), along with Molly, an arcanist; and Kismo, a girl from Mūsūyya, had entered a high-tech ruin of the ancients as they searched for Lyatbi, a girl from Kismo's hometown. As they searched, they had encountered a Watcher, one of the robots which served as a scout for others. Aanso had just used his time magic to incapacitate a Watcher.

Kesua vanished in

Last Legend 8: The League of Arcanists

 

The team meets with members of the League of Arcanists and is asked for a favor

Session Date (Real Life): 02/13/2021

Begin (Game Date): 10/17/520 22:00

End (Game Date): 10/19/520 12:00

Player Level: 2

Total XP: 3

Previous Adventure: Last Legend 7: The Inventor

Next Adventure: Last Legend 9: Bellum Speaks

At the bottom of this post is a list of characters and groups that you can reference in this post for keeping track of who people are.

Last Legend is a fantasy tabletop RPG campaign using the Open Legend RPG system. For more information on the setting of Last Legend, check the background post here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2021/01/Last Legend Overview.html

As Aanso, Balthazar, and Tyosa are returning back from Imew's party (Last Legend 7: The Inventor), Kesua returns from her own exploits. Arthur returned in a flash of light as the crystal at the end of the Dochysh Jeq glowed with mysterious light.

Kesua said that she had been talking to her employers about the Mysterious Box that they had recovered in Last Legend 4: Abominations and Books, but that she could provide more information on that later.

Arthur explained that he had been taken to a crystal realm, similar to the one they had been in when they first met Feste in Last Legend 2: Crystal Caverns. He explained that

Last Legend 7: The Inventor

 

The team is goes to a party in hopes of acquiring something for Tyosa

Session Date (Real Life): 01/02/2021

Begin (Game Date): 10/13/520 05:00

End (Game Date): 10/17/520 22:00

Player Level: 2

Total XP: 3

Previous Adventure: Last Legend 6: Tsava Day Adventure

Next Adventure: Last Legend 8: The League of Arcanists

At the bottom of this post is a list of characters and groups that you can reference in this post for keeping track of who people are.

Last Legend is a fantasy tabletop RPG campaign using the Open Legend RPG system. For more information on the setting of Last Legend, check the background post here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2021/01/Last Legend Overview.html

The team returns to Datdūm, where they delivered the books they retrieved in Last Legend 5: The Pinnacle Library to Dyab', the bookseller. Using the largest volume the team had obtained, Dyab' was able to verify that the family of Tyosa Doska was, in fact, one of the ten original noble families.

Last Legend 6: Tsava Day Adventure (Special Holiday Themed Session)

The team is invited to a special celebration of a Lupwuian holiday

Session Date (Real Life): 12/19/2020

Begin (Game Date): 10/12/520 17:00

End (Game Date): 10/13/520 05:00

Player Level: 2

Total XP: 3

Previous Adventure: Last Legend 5: The Pinnacle Library

Next Adventure: Last Legend 7: The Inventor

At the bottom of this post is a list of characters and groups that you can reference in this post for keeping track of who people are.

Last Legend is a fantasy tabletop RPG campaign using the Open Legend RPG system. For more information on the setting of Last Legend, check the background post here: https://goalworlds.blogspot.com/2021/01/Last Legend Overview.html

The team set off back towards Datdūm, but as night fell they decided to make camp for the evening. Their sleep was disrupted by the arrival of a large arcane powered train. The conductor called them aboard, saying that they had been invited to a Tsava Day celebration. Balthazar was able to recognize that Tsava day was a Lupwuian holiday in which parents hide gifts from their children who have to find them in order to