Brimstone, FYI

[Dark presence]

This is partly inspired by a certain encounter yesterday, but shouldn't be taken as anything rejecting or disputing anything that happened.

Brimstone is in fact, a synonym for sulfur. Sulfur itself is actually odorless, but the scent of brimstone refers to hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide. These we have all certainly smelled before as rotting eggs, burning sulfur, flatulence, or even raw sewage.

See more here or google it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur

So, one thing to keep in mind when you encounter the "smell of brimstone" in the context of the game, is that it is not a dead giveaway that something fiendish is present. Of course if you're already a paranoid fiend, then its understandably the first thing you would think of.

[Elusa]

Granted, this is good to know, but in the future don't use the term unless you want to receive a response like that. 95% of players aren't going to know better, and the other 5% will assume you meant to indicate devilish activity. Don't depend on anyone to read the forums and understand what you meant.

[TheId]

"The "smell of sulfur" usually refers to either the odor of hydrogen sulfide, e.g. from rotten egg, or of burning sulfur, which produces sulfur dioxide, the smell associated with burnt matches."

The smell which is associated with demons, devils, the abyss and the hells is likely the latter, which could logically be associated with demons or devils. The smell of burning matches is very distinct, so unless something nearby is on fire... something might be amiss.

[Dark presence]

Matches aren't made from a single chemical though, and I'm sure the composition varies between companies. Theres certainly more than just sulfur burning when a match lights, which means you're not just smelling sulfur dioxide.

Regardless, the point remains its not supposed to be an uncommon or unfamiliar smell, its not something that someone can point to and say yes thats a devil as opposed to someone who stepped in rotting eggs, raw sewage, or has bad gas. And even 'brimstone' itself would be found all over Faerun, and likely would be a common alchemical ingredient.

[sharringtonm]

All 21st century real life scientific facts aside, I believe the Spirit of the idea is that if your RPing the brimstone smell on your PC, its just like catching a whiff of something burning when your around.
We can argue scientific facts all day long, but in the end, its the spirit of the game that's important.
Your not forced to smell like Brimstone you know. Its your PC, you can make her smell like a dog fart and nobody would really say anything against it.

[Dark presence]

Maybe I should just rephrase the post then. I thought it would be more useful to learn more about "brimstone" and its "smell" for general use.

But with that in mind when you read that Serena has a scent of brimstone, refer to the above, because thats what I had in mind when I wrote her description. Its not supposed to be something anyone can distinctly identify as the same smell from a fiend or the lower planes. Your character could say its the smell of brimstone and declare she is a fiend, but they could just as easily say she stepped in rotting eggs or raw sewage, or even imagine she was doing some alchemical or magical experiments with brimstone, considering sulfur is probably as common in Faerun as it is on Earth.

[sharringtonm]

But of course. No one should be calling you Demon Spawn based on brimstone smells, well unless you got your horns out *chuckles*. For all we know you could have just invaded baator and killed a demon prince and are having a problem getting the stink of that place off you.

[Ebannon]

Cutting to the chase, would you like us to react to Serena assuming she constantly smells like an open sewer or like burnt matches? I'd prefer the latter... but it your PC so its your call.