Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Content

Greetings, Inner Circle Patrons!

Because of the release of Exploring Eberron, I'm a little behind on the Nobility of Khorvaire article, but I should have that completed by (next) Monday. In the meantime, I'd like to get a new round of IFAQ topics for August. As a reminder...

With IFAQs I want questions I can answer in one to two paragraphs. So you need a clear, concise topic with a specific answer, not something abstract or broad. 

Narrow in scope is better ("How could I use the Argentum" as opposed to "How could I use the Demon Wastes"), but I'll usually choose a topic that I think has broad value in many campaigns over a hyper-specific topic that may only interest two people. 

I will NOT have time to answer all questions, but feel free to repost a question next moth if it doesn't make it this month!

I also have a second questions, which is what do you want from this blog? I need the support of patrons like you if I'm going to keep devoting time to the blog, and the more patrons I have the more I can do here. The question is how I can add value for patrons. At the moment, I look to you to help determine the topics of articles and IFAQs. I'm leaning towards having at least one patron-exclusive post each month, to have something that's entirely concrete. But is there something else I'm not doing that would add value for you? What do YOU want from the blog? 

Thanks for your support!

-Keith

Comments

Anthony J. Turco

What would Jaela Daran's official position, as Keeper of the Flame, be concerning the tier of evil that the Daughters of Sora Kell are classified under? (ie, Alien Evil, Unnatural Evil, Innate Evil, or chosen Evil?) For your second question, longer articles like your Riedran provinces one was VERY satisfying. For a pie-in-the-sky suggestion, perhaps a higher tier of patron could be entered into a monthly/quarterly/whatever drawing to win a seat playing in a web-based one-shot DMed by you?

Philip Hodder

What do I want from this blog? Hmm... Exploring Eberron Volumes II to X please! Right now, just keep doing what you're doing! There's a lot of good suggestions from the rest of the Inner Circle so I'm happy!

Eric Christian Berg

My wife has a question about youth culture in Sharn. She finds the soarsleds a bit too clunky for kids to tool around on and wondered about something more skateboard sized that fearless young people could use to navigate the towers.

Baron Breakfast

What games are popular in different countries in Khorvaire?

Eric Christian Berg

Also, I'd love to heard more about gnomish binding magic. It is oft referenced but with few details to date.

Sierra

How does discrimination/prejudice manifest about the aberrant marked in society? We are consistently told that this a general fear of this exists, but how far does that go in terms of laws / societal norms / and the like in your Eberron?

Omnificer

For a possible IFAQ: What is the path to citizenship in the Five Nations? I ask because the "monstrous" races of Droaam are technically born within Brelish borders but it does seem like that is not a guarantee of citizenship rights by itself, yet the giant owls of Sharn are able to run for public office. So, in my mind, there's a mechanism for citizenship that doesn't legally discriminate based on race but also isn't taken advantage of by all intelligent races within a country's borders, whether through de facto discrimination or a lack of interest by the non-citizens.

C.K.

How do Dhakaani goblinoid families work? I wonder how their concept of Duty to the Empire affects attraction.

DGlover

I've no idea what I'm talking about, but I'll just throw out an idea for the value thing: Would it be feasible to create PDF versions of your articles for release on Patreon? I'm thinking of something like the Eye on Eberron articles you did for Dragon Magazine back in 4th Edition. A fancier format only released here might help.

SerGooch

Video blogs! Or if you run games let us get a glimpse or watch the whole thing? I really enjoyed watching you DM both times with magic sword recently.

Jeff H

I’m always looking for adventure ideas. Just about every article gives me some campaign inspiration, but the more specific the better. Maybe something along the lines of d6 ways (organization/monster/location/patron) can draw the party in to trouble. Though... if you are looking for the next big project, if not ExE 2, I’d love to see a big campaign-style adventure similar the official storylines.

Jordan Ellzey

How much does nationalism affect Khorvaire?

Michael

As far as patron-only ideas, what about a one-page-dungeon style adventures? I'm a big fan of any adventure hooks and ideas that I can take an integrate into my campaign.

Paul Blank

What are the key differences between the Quorforged and the modern Warforged? Also, would it be possible for another entity like one of the Daelkyr or an Overlord to create their own kind of 'forged'?

Matt Brady

1) What are the Marchers trading for on their ship route from Zarash'ak to eastern Tashana's port towns (Secrets of Sarlona pg. 10)? Is it the lichen and scrimshaw of the shifters, the metal work of the Dorann Hold dwarves? More forbidden things from Ohr Kaluun (noted on same page as a destination for westbound ships)? Do these goods show up in Zarash'ak's markets or are they carried on to Stormreach and Sharn? As it's not Lyrander licensed is this an undertaking of the Zil who handle a lot of the Marches trade or of the humans, orcs and half-orcs of the Marches sailing out themselves? 2) (A friend of mine asks) Is there a significant difference for the children of the Five Nations in how they're raised? Education and apprenticeship is fairly universal in Central Khorvaire, but are the younger generation of Karrns spending more time drilling and exercising while Aundairans would study arcane chants and Brelish would be memorizing their law books? As to what this blog should be doing, honestly the patron-exclusive content was a surprise but a highly welcome one. If it drives patronage up, that's a good thing! Honestly I got my value from participating in the polls and getting to ask questions like this, I'm not going to complain about more!

Serpen Thrope

Some older versions of D&D had Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic as languages, but didn't fully expand on their role. How would you make them distinct from Infernal, Abysmal, and/or Celestial for Eberron?

Drew Calderone

1: What’s the climate/environment like in the Demon Wastes? I’ve always envisioned it as a desert wasteland like Dark Sun. 2: You’ve explained the iconography of the dragonmarked houses before, but what’s the story behind the symbolism of the Five Nations? 3: What are the symbols/crests/heraldry of the other Thronehold Accord nations, if any? Those last two are probably too big for an iFAQ...

Clio M

The blog as it already is has been is serving as a wonderful resource for my campaign, so mostly I'd just love for you to keep doing what you're doing! (Well, maybe some more information on the Cold Sun would be lovely, but I can just be patient until that wins a poll) For IFAQs, I hope adding two isn't breaking any rules, but I think both of these would have fairly simple answers? - In your Eberron, do you have photography—or at least, an arcane equivalent? (You've called out before that House Phiarlan uses magic to project plays in other parts of the world. Could it be something akin to this technology?) - I've noticed, with twelve 28 day months, Eberron's years are significantly shorter than Earth's. To my mind, this messes with our perceptions of ages (especially in adolescence), so my Eberron has longer days to compensate. I'd be very interested to learn how you handle this in your Eberron—or at least would, if it came up at the table.

Asmuz

So, any of these answers would be helpful for a campaign that I am making and will start after corona pandemic. 1. What's Kaius I Been Doing For Almost a Century? (this is a funny version of a old forum topic that I found yours haha, but about Vol) 2. What are the themes of all feyspires? (I know that near half them have one, but idea here would be a table with all themes and just that, something as “Shae Joridal is about optimism even in dark times”) 3. Do you have some notes about names of Sovereign in Shadow Marches? Some have in the books, but not all (Traveller would be great) 4. As Droaam in ExE, Shadow Marches is legally of Breland or does it have a different status? 5. Jorasco and Karnathi Culture (It is easy understand how Deneith was influece by Karrnath culture, but can you talk about how House Jorasco was and is? This is my perception that a House having a main enclave in some place will make it more cultural attached and influenced by it) These ones are not so useful, but are some that a like: 6. Code of Kaius and the Treaty of Thronehold (Why a country maintain slavery would be against Treaty of Thronehold, but Code of Kaius is not? What is exacly the principle that allow a country make more harsh law, but slavery not. In some way, this question is what exacly is Code of Galifar. If it limit things as a constitution general does, it is strange Code of Kaius be allowed after Treat of Thronehold. If it just give some “ideas” that can have superior legislation, why slavery in Darguun would be a issue? Probably too long for here) 7. How Dhakaani heirs see orcs? (Do you think that after fighting together with orcs, Dhakaani heirs have a better vision of them? At least about Gatekeepers) 8. How would you use a Deep Gnome in a campaign? (this one is more for if you have a new cool idea, if not don’t bother, i’m anoying, I know).

Wandering Mage

How would you use Ran Iishiv the Unmaker in a campaign? This seems like it would make a interesting campaign framing with the Riedra-Adar conflict with some possibility for some Dreaming Dark activity. But I feel like I know so little about the Overlord, more just they have a really cool prison in this Adaran super-mountain/volcano.

Wandering Mage

As far as the Patreon question, I don't need exclusive content, I'm just happy to get more content. I love little small details on things. The Shavarath table you posted and more stuff like that are wonderful. Little lists of things would be nice too. Like I've seen mention of the names of Khorvairian culinary dishes, and I'd live to have a list of things like that I can reference to help flesh out cultures in games, and it's bot something I'd be good at improvising personally.

Jarrod Taylor

IFAQ: Have the Marchers always called themselves Marchers, did they ever consider themselves Brelish (or Wroatish)? With the release of ExE, are there any manifest zone properties you would tie to any of the other major cities; What planes might Fairhaven be nestled in zones of, for example.

FalseRhubarb

Hey Keith, congratulations on EE. Could you tell us more about the four families that lead the Venomous Demense? Specifically, I'd like to understand their role in the society, the arcane traditions/patrons they are associated with, who leads them, and possibly their current agendas. Many thanks!

FalseRhubarb

How do denizens of the planes react to dreams of the kar'lassa? Are they even noticeable? Would there be something like an inverse-manifest zone on a plane/layer where they are projecting?

John Stookey

How do you see how the everyday governance of the biggest principalities in Lhazaar (Seadragons, Diresharks, etc.) working? Do you see there being some sort of police force to enforce the law, or is it more just like pirate anarchy over there? Are the Princes important for day-to-day governance, or do they deal more exclusively with piracy? Seeing as piracy is a (presumably) a decent-sized portion of the economy over there, do you think they impose taxes on pirate raids, or is it more of a "you keep what you take" situation?

Constantine

Patreon: I'd suggest a few things. A: Add a 1-2$ outer circle tier that's basically a no frills I just want to Support you tier. Then, for the inner circle patrons: A once a month deep dive artical on something voted on by the Patreons, just for them. IFAQ: What fictional role do you see Argonnessen filling from a fictial point of view? Frex. Sarlona is the Exotic Far East Civilization, Xen'drik is every Central American and Darkest Africa jungle trope, The Five Kingdoms are The European Kingdoms, and Q'barra and the like are the American Frontier. What's Argonnessen ?

Asmuz

About the second topic, almost all ideas stop in DM Guild agreements or rules. But here is somethings that maybe can add (not that I really want these things, but I really think that can make you made more money): 1. Something as UA Arcane for mechanics of future books. If you present a preview version of items, subclasses, races and etc... I can see a lot of people interesting about it. And you gain feedback and thoughts of a more broader group than just a smaller group of playtest . If you make a good system, I can really see you engaging a lot the people and the community around Eberron on this. And as a first version of something that will be future launch in DM Guild, I think that it will not be a legal issue. 2. If there is others countries that it would be worth, translate your articles for other languages. But here I really don’t know if you know about what languages would be a good try and if the price would be not too expansive, but maybe it is a good idea. You could try make a group of fans that would make for free or for something else (give me a article about Deep Gnomes and I will translate all articles to portuguese hahahahaha, it is a joke, but I would be interesting in help for free, besides I am not a profissional). But here the point is if you know about where Eberron is popular and if there is some language that would be worth. 3. Votation about some content of future books. As I think, would be something as a final chapter, where you work in something as ten pages of a content vote here. In the introdution of it, you would talk about here and explain that chapter theme wins a votation here and for this reason exist. It would make a great markenting of here in all your future books. And doesn’t need be a major content of the book. 4. Some kind of kickstarted for art of Eberron. You know, I saw that a lot of people in community loves art and wants more about the world, what if you start I don’t know each two months a votation here with some options of art and after a kickstarted about it. Or you can make some tier of ten dolars for who can vote and have rights of personal use. If 100 of all your patrons pass to this tier, with one dolar of extra money is possible have 100 dolars for month to pay a art voted here. Of course, this can be manage in other ways, but it is a idea that can be devoleped. I don’t know if you understand my point or the essence of all my ideas. You have two major points as profissional: you are a brillant writter and you like democratic ways. Just use it more. I really think your approach is singular and can make you gain more money if you find other ways to use this. People love the idea that the excelent writter and creator of a world talk and listen than. This make all feels part of the world. It is because of it that there is Exploring Eberron and not Exploring Dark Sun (ok, there is other factors, but this is one of them) If not with exacly my ideas, just catch the essence of them. You don’t need make all huge democratic votation, sometimes people have bad ideas as put deep gnomes in Eberron, but find more spaces that people can talk with you, vote, give ideas, without become a slave that cannot write about what you want. I really thing that playtest, art and small parts of future books can be something nice. Maybe not in the way that I talk, but in the spirit certainly. PS: I not talked about all ideas that could have problems with DM Guild, as pdfs. But think about maybe catch together some parts and put there could be a good plain. But I really would think after ExE numbers try talk with someone there or from wizards.But probably you already did, right?

Zed Bundershot

What do the of crew an airship and a train of lightning cars do to assist their respective pilots? More specifically, what are the most interesting things you have the respective crews do in your games? What's your take on the Library of Korranberg? Is it one big Tardis of a building, a collection of structures that cover a campus, a borough of books? Are certain places within the library subject to smaller manifest zones or planar connections?

Sunev

(iFAQ) Seeing as the Mournland effects warforged less than other humanoids, how does this translate for the various warforged bands and societies within the Mourning? (Patreon) I think having a $1 or $2 tier for people who just want to give support (or maybe the option to vote in polls), whereas the $5 tier can be for the iFAQs and exclusive posts.

Jeremy Tollefson

IFAQ: How did the Baker's Dozen (the 12+1, not necesaarily the name) come to be? Why 13? Was it an inside joke from the beginning, or did someone realize the 12+1 halfway through, and purposefully put more in?

Michael Mitchell

(iFAQ) This may be too broad, but I'd like to know more about Karrnathi Knightly Orders (other than the Emerald Claw). Where do they fit in Karrnathi society and politics? Are they all classic knights or bone knights, or are there orders focused on wandslingers or even subterfuge? (Patreon) Honestly I'm not here for exclusives, just because I like the blog and want to support you. Of course you need money, and whatever you need to do you should do.

Jeremy Tollefson

Patron content: exclusive content is good, potentially at (multiple) higher tiers. Extra articles, though, are tough - I feel like everyone should benefit from your excellent writings. Vlogs of any kind work (I especially like the meta behind-the-scenes commentary for your process or how you flesh out ideas). Setting up a camera to upload sessions from your campaigns. At a very high tier, I like the idea of joining a one-shot or ongoing campaign, in some fashion.

Thomas Brøgger

Who can vote for the brelish parlaments commons chamber? Do you have to have a certain income, gender or age to vote?

Chris H. | End Days Engine

(Patreon) I think one exclusive article a month is reasonable as a benefit. Big thing is that whatever you do has to be sustainable for you (not that you don't know this, but important for us to say). If you want to add more, something I see often from other RPG creatives is early access and rough drafts. Maybe patrons get some IFAQs as week or two early if the questions are drawn form here (as opposed to questions from FB, Twitter, or Discord. I'd also be okay if exclusive articles did make their way out to the public after a few months, but obviously that is your call. As for rough/beta drafts, I know lots of people are interested in design process, so sharing small WIP snippets could be an interesting bonus for whatever follows ExE. Alternatively, a writer's commentary on ExE could fill a similar niche. There are pros an cons to each of course, so I'll leave it there. Honestly, I can think of lots of reasons NOT to follow each of my suggestions, so I won't be bummed if they aren't used. Like I said, I think the article is enough. (IFAQs) The battle between Sarmondelaryx and Prince Thrane got added to ExE's timeline. Above and beyond this being a shout-out to the Thorn of Breland trilogy, why did you feel it important to include this event? Shaarat, Korth, Thaliost, Wroat, Metrol, and Daskara have popped up a couple of times now as the precursors to Galifar. Why do these six nation-states matter and how are their legacies felt modern Khorvaire? Karrn the Conquerer obviously had a big impact on Karrnath, but now is his legacy still felt in the other Five Nations today? Did Galifer's son Karrn have his own honorific (or have historians assign him one) to distinguish him from Karrn the Conquerer? Why does Galifer II have "the Dark" as his honorific?

Jenna Spitale

Would a creature with blindsight be able to tell a changeling was a changeling? I have one player that wants to play as blind with a limited blindsense and another who wants to be a changeling pretending to be a normal human. Disagreements about whether that disception could be kept.

David Mitchell

For the second part I followed t he blog for years and that's really what got me hooked so I think diverting too much away from the blog risks losing some who won't or can't pay. What convinced me to was the Riedra article. So a model wher e you explore a topic on the Blog with a deep d ive into the topic on here. The patrons deciding topic works well. Perhaps here would also be the place for more meta debate. Process, Q&A, previews, small design commissions (ie patrons submit ideas for NPCs, monsters, hyper local adventure settings for you to create and weave into the setting.

Graf

Patreon Just to expand on other points. Many Patreons are really interested in increasing the "reach" of Eberron. They want to play more Eberron; they want more Eberron excitement in the community, etc. Having great Eberron content gated is a bit sad; roleplaying games are an inclusive hobby with (what I think is) low financial barriers to entry. I would suggest something like 1) patreons get articles 6 months early but they're eventually released elsewhere 2) things like previews of new products... exploring eberron is hopefully the first of many products... seeing "exclusive content" or even getting a chance to comment on "draft material" would probably contribute equally to the sense of involvement. (Edit: the little bit of cut text on Shavrath earlier this month is another great example... like b-reel) As for the kinds of things - I'd go for more gamable items Savage Worlds is famous for their "plot point" campaigns; 1-2 page campaign draft summaries. The recent Reaches podcast touched on a lot of possible elements; turning that into a summary would probably be exciting for a lot of people. It would be especially interesting to look at Eberron elements that aren't 100% trad-fantasy. Most people could do “the lord asks you to go in a quest” but some other elements would be the kind of thing where guideposts help. E.g. A Zilargo focused campaign where the party is working for the trust and goes on missions around the globe. A campaign around an attempted re-annexation of the Reaches by Anudair. A campaign around a land grab (colonies) in Xen'drik by several different kingdoms related to a huge cache of dragon shards with a mysterious secret. It wouldn’t need to be official content, you could be creative and play fast and loose but still generate things that excite super fans and pull people toward the table.

Will Thibault

For a quick IFAQ; My family loves playing Illimat. If I wanted to reference its existence in Eberron, do you have some ideas for how to do that? Clearly it'd be tied to Thelanis in some way, but do you have ideas for things like in-setting events or stories the Luminaries might reference, what nations play it most frequently (a la Karrns and Conquerer), what variants are most common throughout the Five Nations, that sort of thing? Things like "A subset of the Aurum play Illimat religiously and incorporate its imagery into their secret rites".

Alex Perez

What is it about doppelgangers that make them a corruption of Dyrrn and not a stronger creature of Kythri?

Asmuz

So, I woke today with a new patron idea. I really like this one, but I think that a lot of details and how to do it maybe need change. The idea is make a list with all themes that lost for article of the month since your blog begining. And put a price of “half article”, “article” and “size Riedra oh god how it is big article”. Together with it, the time that you would take to do it (thinking here about all texts that you do montly, your work, etc...). Why do it? Well, my point is that sometimes we have topics that are not loved for the majority, but are really loved for some part of fans. Or sometimes there is someone that wants make a adventure for DM Guild in a place that don’t have so much information and would pay for some thoughts. Or there is some huge fan of, I don’t know, Wroat that would pay alone for a article about it. Advantages of this: 1. Only patrons could pay for it. This could give more motivation to be one. 2. Only patrons send request of topics to article of the month. This give more value to it. 3. As you would use topics that you ALREADY would be willing to do, after all already be part of vote for article of the month, you don’t have fear of some crazy person appears and pay for something that would be very hard or really not interesting to do (sadly, this stop me of paying for a full deep gnome articles after sell my kidney). 4. This could be excelente for the comunity talk and try together pay for some article that they think is miss in Eberron. For instance, there is some people on discord that are frustrade for not have all Dark Six article. This could let people work together to resolve this kind of thing. Maybe we never have all Dark Six in other way, because seems that people wants other topics for the last votations. Things that need be thought: 1. Price. I think for size, because seems to me the filter of be part of votations here and not any topic is good enough. But maybe you would prefer give value in other ways. I really don’t have idea of how much would be a good price, but I think that for work would have to be something that ten people can pay together without so much pain. Maybe you can make a smaller price for “half article” and put a major prices in the other, because “hey, if you want something so big, well is expensive”. This details depend of how much is worth too. 2. Time. I don’t know if you have for it. But still, you can make this kind of work have a broader timeline. Something as “you can pay and in three months will be done”. Or more. 3. How to pay. Would be easier and nice if there is a place that someone can easily start a Kickstarter and put money. Do you understand? If I want a article about Traveller, I can start paying 50 dolars and send the link in the groups to see if more people want this. Would be great some kind of easier way to do ti. But still, can be something done in other ways. Maybe a monthly topic in patron, I don’t know. 4. Communication. This important. People are weird in Internet and if you not explain well that this is some possibility for topics without so much love, can be people understand wrongly. Would be necessary explain that still would have IFAQ, article of month, etc... I think that this could work. I don’t know how much persons would pay, but seems to me even if this would not be a huge sucess, really can add more value here.

Wandering Mage

Another IFAQ thought: you've hinted at celestials native to Eberron (material plane) other than couatls, what are they?

Steve

I'm relatively new to Eberron and new to this Patreon. Although I love creating my own content, I'm finding I lack the time to properly prepare a game. This leads me to the published adventures. I would like (for me, and perhaps others that want to get into Eberron) is some guidance and assistance on how to adapt stories from the official adventures to Eberron. For example, Lost Mines of Phandelver can really be set anywhere, but for me, i'm starting to build this out in Q'Barra, replacing Neverwinter with NewThrone. I'm finding it challenging to find a replacement for the various NPCs backgrounds and motives. I've made Sildar a member of the Kings Dark Lantern, after Blackstaff (who is a renegage Dark Lantern). but this took me some time to think through. I would personally love some other guidance and suggestions that can help adopt pre-written adventures to Eberron. Thanks for all the work you've done. My Exploring Eberron book is on the way :)

Gaëtan Perrault

> how I can add value for patrons So the reason I'm here at all is so that the blog keeps going and the world keeps going. I treat this the same way I do my monthly donation to Public Radio or the EFF. I want to see this exist and I have the $5, so it's yours. 🙂 I know what happens to things that aren't funded. I want more Eberron, so I'm going to fund it. I don't need anything extra to keep sending you money. The ability to drive conversations and see things early is enough.

Gaëtan Perrault

> what do you want from this blog? One challenge with the blog as it stands today is that it's a lot of "Keith is building a World and we're all watching". Obviously we're all happy enough to pay for this, so we're not too disappointed. At some point though, it would be nice to see some existence within the world. - Short Fiction in a region - Drop-in content: a stat block or two for significant NPCs, "shopkeepers of Sharn" with some sample "lists of wares", "people you'll meet in Droaam". Stuff like this both contributes to building the world and helps us DMs build out our own campaigns.

Thursday Garreau

Topic request: a deep dive on any/some of the individual Principalities, who I feel have never gotten enough love! I don’t think I can name any other than Farlnen.

David Kenet

IFAQ Request: I really like the idea of the Trust as an organization and I have a decent sense of how people in Zilargo view the trust, but less of a sense of how people outside Zilargo view the Trust. So my question is how do the citizens of other nations on Khorvaire view the Trust, how much would an average person, or as a contrast a person in power, know about the organization, and what are some potential region specific rumors that people believe about the trust (say in the Mror Holds and in Thrane). In general I'm just curious about how the mythos of the trust extends beyond Zilargo. Thanks so much Keith - Exploring Eberron is so very good!

David Kenet

Content to add to the Blog/Patreon: You've mentioned before that you often play games in Eberron yourself, both as a GM and PC. I would be very interested in seeing descriptions of some of the characters you create, or some of the sessions you run just as a more concrete example of Eberron content translating into play.

Joseph Meehan

Is Arcanix the name of the floating towers or the village? (could be expanded into a paragraph outlining the whole "the towers moved in" idea)

Ben

Would dromites live in demiplanes of Khyber that connect to Sarlona, corresponding geographical areas under the continent of Sarlona like the dwarves once did in Sol Udar, both, or something different?

Spike Hemphill

I am new to Patreon and nervous to ask questions but in the Emerald Claw article you mentioned there could be other Seeker chivalric orders besides the Emerald Claw and Ebon Skull. If you were to make new seeker orders in what ways could they be different? Like could there be orders more focused on healing or fighting cults of dragon below ?( Maybe one led by Alhoon, a undead Mindflayer?)