visigani
2013-10-28, 04:11 AM
The Enchanted World Series by Time Life Books. Go get them from your local library. They're the best D&D reference you can buy that has nothing to do with D&D.
The Enchanted World Series of books was a set of twenty-one books published in the 1980s. Each book focused on different aspects of mythology or folklore, and all were released by Time Life Books.[1] Their overall editor was Ellen Phillips and their primary consultant was Tristram Potter Coffin, a Guggenheim Fellowship Award winning University of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus of English.
The volumes in the series were known for their beautiful art and the extensive research used in their stories. The books often overlap; for example, while King Arthur and his knights only have one book completely devoted to them, Fall of Camelot, they often appear in other books. Half of Legends of Valor is about them and they appear in Wizards and Witches, Fairies and Elves, Dwarfs , Spells and Bindings, and Giants and Ogres.
A unique part of the series was that its books were written as stories, taking place from an "in the universe" perspective, presenting its subjects as real people, places, and things. Related to such things having once been real, a common thread through several of them was its documentation of the alleged decline of magical things from "when the world was young" to the modern day. The subjects—dragons, dwarfs, giants—are presented as being potent and strong at the dawn of time but magical creatures grow weaker and eventually disappear as humans spread and demystify the world, though there is always the promise that the magic will return once again.
Because yeah...
Note: Gold Dragons are Eastern Dragons, Red Dragons are Western Dragons...
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG84.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRbZuj9aVoA/Tdlfy_4mE-I/AAAAAAAAA0o/h4bHHbL7uDg/s1600/red-dragon.jpg
Also talks about the origin of the tarasque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque) and how it was conquered by a young woman...
The Enchanted World Series of books was a set of twenty-one books published in the 1980s. Each book focused on different aspects of mythology or folklore, and all were released by Time Life Books.[1] Their overall editor was Ellen Phillips and their primary consultant was Tristram Potter Coffin, a Guggenheim Fellowship Award winning University of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus of English.
The volumes in the series were known for their beautiful art and the extensive research used in their stories. The books often overlap; for example, while King Arthur and his knights only have one book completely devoted to them, Fall of Camelot, they often appear in other books. Half of Legends of Valor is about them and they appear in Wizards and Witches, Fairies and Elves, Dwarfs , Spells and Bindings, and Giants and Ogres.
A unique part of the series was that its books were written as stories, taking place from an "in the universe" perspective, presenting its subjects as real people, places, and things. Related to such things having once been real, a common thread through several of them was its documentation of the alleged decline of magical things from "when the world was young" to the modern day. The subjects—dragons, dwarfs, giants—are presented as being potent and strong at the dawn of time but magical creatures grow weaker and eventually disappear as humans spread and demystify the world, though there is always the promise that the magic will return once again.
Because yeah...
Note: Gold Dragons are Eastern Dragons, Red Dragons are Western Dragons...
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG84.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRbZuj9aVoA/Tdlfy_4mE-I/AAAAAAAAA0o/h4bHHbL7uDg/s1600/red-dragon.jpg
Also talks about the origin of the tarasque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque) and how it was conquered by a young woman...