Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Oni_Kiri 01-19-07, 04:47 PM	I remember a couple of references were a baboon seems to be a sacred beast for the Aerenal. Is there any background information or rules that cover this?
The White Sorcerer 01-19-07, 04:54 PM	According to legends it was baboons that led the Aereni to the Irian manifest zones that allowed the creation of the deathless. Races of Eberron has the Aerenal Beastmaster feat.
The_Robot 01-19-07, 07:00 PM	According to legends it was baboons that led the Aereni to the Irian manifest zones that allowed the creation of the deathless. Races of Eberron has the Aerenal Beastmaster feat. is that in Races, or another book?
The White Sorcerer 01-19-07, 11:01 PM	is that in Races, or another book? The bit about the manifest zones? Can't say that I remember where I read it. Player's Guide to Eberron, Races of Eberron, and the Aerenal Dragonshard are propably good places to look.
Darth Syntax 01-19-07, 11:18 PM	Oddly enough, for all the talk of baboons, all the pictures in the books are quite clearly of mandrills . . .
The_Robot 01-20-07, 09:31 AM	Oddly enough, for all the talk of baboons, all the pictures in the books are quite clearly of mandrills . . . most of the pictures i've seen are dark. the color of the said ape's face is always brown or grey...mandrills have those bright faces don't they? i can't say i remember that. although to be honest, i haven't been to the zoo in a few years. i also can't say that it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that Wizards just got their animals wrong.
Alex_ 01-20-07, 12:16 PM	http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82129.jpg Clearly a Mandrill. They are related to baboons, but are of the genus Mandrillus rather than Papio, which is what Baboons belong to. They share similar facial structure, but Mandrills are the ones that have the bright red nose and blue facial features. Mandrills also lack a tail. Some male Baboons have hairless faces that are bright pink in color, most notably the Hamadryas Baboon, which was the animal sacred to the Egyptians- a culture from which the Arenal draw much influence. Baboons, however, don't have the characteristic red/blue pattern of the Mandrill, and have tails. Baboons prefer grasslands and scrubland, while Mandrills live almost exclusively in rainforests. Both Mandrills and Baboons have big red behinds. The 2 are commonly confused in popular media (see Lion King). In DnD crunch, the stats for a Baboon would be used for a Mandrill.
Edymnion 01-21-07, 05:49 PM	Yup. Mandrill: http://www.birminghamzoo.com/image_gallery/hi_res/mandrill.jpg Baboon: http://www.african-safari-pictures.com/image-files/baboon-pictures.jpg
Cifer 01-21-07, 06:07 PM	Maybe the first elves stumbling upon them couldn't tell the difference either. Since they became the first deathless, noone ever corrected them - would you tell someone who is thousand years older than you that he is wrong? And thus, the sacred animal of Aerenal is known as a baboon - although most ignorant outsiders would consider it a mandrill...
Subtle Knife 01-21-07, 06:22 PM	Three words. Big. Red. Bum. SK
DragoonDarkfire 01-21-07, 06:51 PM	I doubt zooiligical distinctions between Manndrils and baboons even exist on Eberron... and while it's a dark image I'm pretty sure that THIS (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/roe_gallery/88227.jpg) is a baboon in the traditional sense.
The_Robot 01-22-07, 09:13 AM	I doubt zooiligical distinctions between Manndrils and baboons even exist on Eberron... and while it's a dark image I'm pretty sure that THIS (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/roe_gallery/88227.jpg) is a baboon in the traditional sense. exactly what i was thinking. that image is the one that was sticking out the most in my mind...i'm guessing this is just a classic case Wizard's not doing their homework...i'd go with baboons instead of mandrills personally...
Flack Jack 01-26-07, 06:23 PM	They um, painted its face to look like a mandrill. Yeah its all just a buch of paint. None of the players in my Eberron group would no the difference so ignorance is bliss.
Ront Iron-Roar 01-30-07, 08:35 AM	I like the idea of an Aerenal Ranger with a Magebred Baboon companion. He uses the vicious little primate to interrogate the people he captures. Nothing like having one PC think he's beaten or cornered the guy and then suddenly a baboon jumps down onto his face.
The White Sorcerer 01-30-07, 08:50 AM	I like the idea of an Aerenal Ranger with a Magebred Baboon companion. Very unlikely, since magebred animals can't become animal companions.
Darakhoranon 01-30-07, 08:51 AM	Canīt we just say those tree-huggers on Aerenal love "furry animals related to apes"? Does it really matter WHAT these animals are? As Subtle Knife said: Three words. Big. Red. Bum. SK
Alex_ 01-30-07, 11:23 AM	Very unlikely, since magebred animals can't become animal companions. What, really?
Cifer 01-30-07, 02:46 PM	Plus, I couldn't really see an Aerenal wizard bonding to a sacred animal that is essentially the result of some genetic experiments.
The White Sorcerer 01-31-07, 12:20 AM	What, really? Really really. It's in the Animal Companions section of Chapter 2 in the ECS.
Darakhoranon 01-31-07, 10:13 AM	Well, you might be able to cast "Awaken" on the animal in question and take it as a cohort (with Leadership feat). Iīm not really sure this would work - or if it SHOULD work...
Yakman 01-31-07, 12:23 PM	Demogorgon.
Rowan_Whispercloak 02-17-07, 07:39 AM	I think that Alex pretty much nailed it with the Egyptian based reference. Off topic Really really. It's in the Animal Companions section of Chapter 2 in the ECS. They made a few exception in The Five Nations book
The White Sorcerer 02-17-07, 09:45 AM	They made a few exception in The Five Nations book Luckily, by a strict reading, the exeptions don't actually add magebred animals to the Brelish druids' choices.:D
tallric_kruush 02-17-07, 11:53 AM	Luckily, by a strict reading, the exeptions don't actually add magebred animals to the Brelish druids' choices.:D This, much like the mandrill/baboon issue, is an example of Wizards not doing their homework. The mandrill/baboon issue is less important since statistically we may use the same stats. But this constant rules-ignorance in the supplements gets a little annoying. I think you've commited to write or edit a supplement, you should make sure your understanding of the setting and rules is airtight. Thematically, a magebred animal will usually not make sense for a Druid/Ranger. Maybe if he runs into a wild magebred creature, such as the Ghost Tiger in the King's Forest... but this should be an exception, not the rule. They could at least note it as such. I just hate that I have to sift through half the info in the supplements to strain the useless/contradictory from the legitimate. Ok, rant over. By the way, good catch on the mandrill, Alex. I had noticed, too, long ago, but never felt the need to point it out. I'm glad this thread gave you a chance to share your obvious knowledge.
Romulus LoneWolf 02-19-07, 07:20 PM	Aerenal seems to have both jungles and grasslands, so it's highly plausible that both baboons and mandrills exist there, and that the Aereni basically consider them all baboons of different types: Jungle Baboons and Plains Baboons.
Melvin the Mediocre 02-21-07, 12:10 PM	Aerenal seems to have both jungles and grasslands, so it's highly plausible that both baboons and mandrills exist there, and that the Aereni basically consider them all baboons of different types: Jungle Baboons and Plains Baboons. Or baboons with the spell like ability to change self at will.
Cifer 02-21-07, 12:52 PM	Or baboons with the spell like ability to change self at will. With the limitation that it works only if they want to change into mandrills...
Cabral 02-24-07, 01:26 AM	Don't baboons have a +2 disguise bonus to disguise themselves as mandrills?
goblin_pride 02-26-07, 04:28 AM	Or baboons with the spell like ability to change self at will. Great, small changelings with red backsides.
Euangelion 02-26-07, 08:33 AM	The whole "magebred animal companions" thing is just one example of the half-baked nature of Five Nations. I'll just throw out another phrase from 5N to show what I mean: "mindless quori." I remember Hellcow mentioning that there was supposed to be a feat in 5N to allow druids and rangers to take magebred animals as companions, but they wisely threw it out and then forgot to take out the other references. Keep in mind that Rafiki does say to Simba in The Lion King "You are a baboon, and I am not." Guess he was half-right after all! The reference to Aerenal baboons leading the elves to the Irian manifest zones should be in Players Guide to Eberron.
tallric_kruush 02-27-07, 05:27 PM	The whole "magebred animal companions" thing is just one example of the half-baked nature of Five Nations. Unfortunately, this half-baked nature seems to be a common feature of many supplements. I just sigh, suck it up, and try to ignore the half-baked material while enjoying the rest. It is most annoying when it's a rules flub (like this one) or a piece of info that shoud've been placed in a sidebar where it won't confuse the uninitiated. I particularly hate the references in the main text to the various non-core races and subraces that live on such-and-such island, or in Khyber, or where the heck ever.:banghead: A good old-fashioned rant will begin in 5,4,3,2,1..... :rant: I understand Wizards is going to place these not-so-subtle sales pitches for alternate products within the books I buy; I would prefer to see them in sidebars, though. I don't even own a Races of... book, with the exception of RoE, and I don't intend to buy any of them. Placing references in the main text to the alternate races in those books (one of my biggest peeves) implies to my players that these races even exist in Eberron. In my Eberron they don't; and I don't believe they did in the Eberron originally envisioned by Mr. K. Baker, either (presumptuous of me to say, but I think the record supports such a statement). These later additions, along with all the "half-baked" suggestions, belong in sidebars. There in the sidebars they may be considered as the non-core-Eberron suggestions that they are, and players and DMs will be free to choose whether these various tidbits will appear in their games. The DMs who choose not to use the info will be spared the tediom of extricating this "stuff" from the core text and from their players' overtaxed (and oft-underused) brains. The players of these DMs will be spared the disappointment of learning that Kapaerian Island in fact does not serve as home to a winged folk from which to fashion his PC. Now I feel so much better. :)