| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Gelcur |
Posted - 14 Jan 2008 : 06:00:57
So my players might make it to Waterdeep some day soon and was thinking it would be interesting if some of Volo's work was available to them. So I set out to compile a list of Guides that I know of and here it is I'm sure I'm missing tons, never had a subscription to Dragon.
All penned by our favorite Volothamp Geddarm:
Volo's Guide to All Things Magical c. 1356 (Original text, suppressed by Elminster)
Volo's Guide to the Moonsea 1357-1358 unreleased and suppressed by Zhentarim agents
Volo's Guide to the Vast 1358-1360 unreleased (held by someone in Ravens Bluff)
Volo's Guide to the Bloodstone Lands 1360-1362 unreleased (held by peoples unknown)
Volo's Guide to Westgate & the Dragon Coast 1362-1363 commission work held by a noble of Yhaunn
Volo's Guide to Waterdeep 1363-1365
Volo's Guide to Calimport 1364-1365 notes & old draft; all final drafts destroyed by pashas and Rundeen agents
Volo's Guide to the North 1365-1366
Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast 1366-1367
Volo's Guide to Cormyr 1367-1368
Volo's Guide to the Dalelands 1368-1369
Volo’s Guide to the Lands of Intrigue 1369-1370 (excerpts and partial draft of which released by Elminster
to chroniclers as "Volo’s Guide to Baldur’s Gate II")
* Volo's Guide to All Things Magical 1370 (Rewrite with aid of Elminster)
I ordered them by date here since its their order is important to me, unfortunately in the year my campaign is set in none of his released ones have been penned yet.
I figured this might help others, also if people have more that I am missing please add them and try to date them. I can't take credit for the above I got them from here. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 02 Jan 2026 : 03:04:08
quote:
Originally posted by Athreeren
I am mostly interested in the description of Candlekeep: "Most Holy Mystra often whispers to Tethoril in his dreams, bidding him to do this or that—and in this way has led him to unearth key spells from forgotten tomes; kept Elminster, Khelben, and the Harpers welcomed or at least, tolerated in Candlekeep; and kept Ulraunt from being seduced by darker powers (most recently, Cyric)."
In Candlekeep, the most obvious explanation to Ulraunt's corruption would be the Cyrinishad, but that was written in 1368 DR. So is the commonly given year of the guide correct? What justifies it? What have been the ways Cyric has tried to corrupt Ulraunt?
My read of this is: Because of his position, certain powers would like to lead Ulraunt astray. Not that he's prone to being corrupted or anything, but because turning him would allow that power to have influence within Candlekeep. |
| Azar |
Posted - 01 Jan 2026 : 22:56:49
Why pair Ulraunt and the Cyrinishad? Hm? Why indirectly push for "Small World Syndrome"? |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 10:47:02
Either way, Cyrinishad is not something one can be merely "kept from being seduced" by. The only known defense is to be a Power and drop rank (presumably shed compromised essence).
Besides, "most recently, Cyric". So there were other (thwarted) attempts.
quote:
Originally posted by Athreeren
If this is Ulraunt being the kind of person who can easily get seduced by Cyric, then he should never have been put in charge of the library.
Well, presumably he is good at it.
It seems certain powers trying to compromise Ulraunt is a known and routinely fixed issue. They would try something anyway, and someone must handle security anyway, so why gamble more? |
| Athreeren |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 03:09:59
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
What corruption?
I meant Ulraunt (see quote above)[/b]"
quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder
As opposed to... what? Grabbing the treasury and teleporting away with a mad cackle?
Why change anything, when antics of a slightly crazy man encourage people to write off any inconsistencies and failures at impersonation?
He did change some things, for instance people are not being overtaxed anymore to to gather grain that no one will ever eat, now it's just that preventing famine is more of a priority than in other cities. Over ten years, he could have slowly changed his apparent personality so he doesn't have to pretend. Or simply hand over power to his court wizard and be done with this masquerade.
quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder
Why there needs to be an "explanation to Tethtoril's corruption"?
This is Cyric we're talking about. His values go completely against what Candlekeep stands for. If this is magical manipulation, then good that Tethtoril caught it. If this is Ulraunt being the kind of person who can easily get seduced by Cyric, then he should never have been put in charge of the library. Also, it's weird that Volo would just mention it with no explanation, as if it's common knowledge, so it sounds like he's referring to something we should already know about. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 01:27:18
What corruption? |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 00:22:17
quote:
Originally posted by Athreeren
Elvar the Grainlord of Triel being presented as he is at the beginning of Hands of Fire (1357) rather than as he becomes at the end, when he has been replaced by a Red Wizard. Of course, this is because Hands of Fire had not been written back then; and we can just say that the Red Wizard is much better at ruling than his predecessor, and is having fun cosplaying as him.
As opposed to... what? Grabbing the treasury and teleporting away with a mad cackle?
Why change anything, when antics of a slightly crazy man encourage people to write off any inconsistencies and failures at impersonation?
quote:
In Candlekeep, the most obvious explanation to Tethtorl's corruption would be the Cyrinishad, but that was written in 1368 DR. So is the commonly given year of the guide correct? What justifies it? What have been the ways Cyric has tried to corrupt Tethtoril?
Why there needs to be an "explanation to Tethtoril's corruption"? |
| Athreeren |
Posted - 26 Dec 2025 : 21:04:03
Seems like a good place to necro.
The wiki gives the same year for Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast: 1366/1367. This seems reasonable, but what are the arguments for this? Some things line up better than others; one problematic example is Elvar the Grainlord of Triel being presented as he is at the beginning of Hands of Fire (1357) rather than as he becomes at the end, when he has been replaced by a Red Wizard. Of course, this is because Hands of Fire had not been written back then; and we can just say that the Red Wizard is much better at ruling than his predecessor, and is having fun cosplaying as him.
I am mostly interested in the description of Candlekeep: "Most Holy Mystra often whispers to Tethoril in his dreams, bidding him to do this or that—and in this way has led him to unearth key spells from forgotten tomes; kept Elminster, Khelben, and the Harpers welcomed or at least, tolerated in Candlekeep; and kept Ulraunt from being seduced by darker powers (most recently, Cyric)."
In Candlekeep, the most obvious explanation to Ulraunt's corruption would be the Cyrinishad, but that was written in 1368 DR. So is the commonly given year of the guide correct? What justifies it? What have been the ways Cyric has tried to corrupt Ulraunt? |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 03 Jan 2015 : 07:56:39
On page 186 of "Volo's Guide to Cormyr", Volo promised to give a complete entry on the growing village of Redspring in a future edition of his Cormyr guide.
I'd love to see that book published. |
| Swordsage |
Posted - 03 Jan 2015 : 04:56:16
Sadly, I don't think I'd want any for the 5E Realms. They'd be a shining jewel of detail and realmslore in a vista of bland, generic setting that would just highlight how badly the Realms has been treated since the Spellplague. If Ed Greenwood was allowed to write them for the pre-Spellplague era, that would be amazing.
The Swordsage |
| Rymac |
Posted - 03 Jan 2015 : 04:20:15
quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
Volo's Guide to the Dragon Coast & Westgate? Bet that would be a fun ride and read!
If more had come, Westgate and the Dragon Coast, Lands of Intrigue, or the Shining South would have been the next Volo's Guides. To wish what might have been.. |
| Gustaveren |
Posted - 02 Jan 2015 : 18:34:22
quote:
Originally posted by Brunswick
The Volos guide series were my favourite Realms books - I only wish they made more of them...
+1 |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 27 Dec 2014 : 07:20:14
They sure were. Ahh, the good old days. I really hope they let Ed release Volo from that Imprisonment spell I know he's been under so he can continue his journeys! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Dec 2014 : 05:55:41
I'd rush right out to buy any new Volo's Guide, so long as it was written by Ed. Those were some of the best Realms books we ever got.
2026 edit: I hate that I now have to include that italicized qualifier. |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 27 Dec 2014 : 00:42:11
quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
Volo's Guide to the Dragon Coast & Westgate? Bet that would be a fun ride and read!
I would snatch up such a book in a heartbeat! |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 27 Dec 2014 : 00:11:39
Volo's Guide to the Dragon Coast & Westgate? Bet that would be a fun ride and read! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 26 Dec 2014 : 23:54:48
quote:
Originally posted by Faediira
Better yet are any of the volo's guides in red available anywhere as well and if so where can i find them
They were never written, so far as I know, and are thus unavailable to be read. Note that Volo's Guide to All Things Magical is listed in both red and black; the original version was suppressed (in canon), and then was later re-written and released. |
| Faediira |
Posted - 26 Dec 2014 : 21:17:51
Better yet are any of the volo's guides in red available anywhere as well and if so where can i find them |
| Faediira |
Posted - 26 Dec 2014 : 21:16:58
I'm actually interested in the volo's guide to the dragon coast and westgate is it available to read anywhere... |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 18 Jan 2013 : 01:00:02
Contracts with NDA restrictions often include CNC/NCC conditions. Besides: Ed signed on with Wizbro and has never jumped off their boat like many other authors/designers, perhaps he is compelled by personal or professional ethics, perhaps he's just happy where he is ... either way, he probably has a lot to lose and little to gain from going freelance. He is probably also kept chained to a desk, far too overworked to ever have time for such dangerous plots. |
| Seravin |
Posted - 18 Jan 2013 : 00:33:35
Ed should TOTALLY do a kickstarter anything...but he doesn't own the rights so I guess he couldn't do a Volo's guide on there sadly. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 17 Jan 2013 : 18:59:54
We could always launch a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising funds for a juicy fat bribe to offer the Wizbro executives. |
| Razz |
Posted - 17 Jan 2013 : 18:27:02
Everyone here at Candlekeep to send in dozens of letters to WotC requesting it. LOL Heck even beyond those here at Candlekeep.
Has that been attempted before actually? |
| Seravin |
Posted - 17 Jan 2013 : 02:04:14
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi, all.
"Partly because Ed apparently doesn't really want to write them."
Where did you hear this, Ayrik?
Ed would LOVE to write Volo's Guides, 2 or 3 a year, from now until the end of time. (or, you know, longer . . .  )
love,
THO
I would SO love a Volo's Guide to Sembia or the Moonsea. I can't even tell you how happy that would make me. It would be amazing. Who do we have to beg to make that a reality??
|
| Ayrik |
Posted - 17 Jan 2013 : 01:24:41
That is one of the issues I'm missing, so I can't confirm. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 17 Jan 2013 : 01:11:39
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
Sage:
I thought you yearned for Volo's Guide to the Border Kingdoms?
As an extension/expansion of the original POLYHEDRON articles? Yes please!
quote:
Gelcur:
I've seen a reference to Dragon #355, containing Volo's Guide to Demon Cults of the Realms.
They're among some of the finest articles to grace the pages of the final few issues of the printed DRAGON Magazine. Well worth tracking down the individual issues just for those articles, I'd say. |
| daarkknight |
Posted - 16 Jan 2013 : 23:56:55
If I had a top 3, in order they would be the Vilhon Reach, the Vast, and Rashemen. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 16 Jan 2013 : 20:04:59
Volo's Guide to Golden Huzuz.  |
| Razz |
Posted - 16 Jan 2013 : 18:12:57
I really would love for them to let him publish Guide to the Bloodstone Lands, then Dragoncoast, then the Vast in that order. The rest can be whenever. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 16 Jan 2013 : 04:04:26
I want to see the (censored) Volo's Guide to Festhalls, Coin-lasses, and Pleasure Queens of the Realms.
I believe Elminster stole the only known copy.  |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 16 Jan 2013 : 04:00:00
Lady THO:
I can't find the original (internet) source again, although I recall Ed specifically saying he doesn't really want to do more Volo, was getting a bit tired of doing Volo, would really rather write anything other than Volo (and game rules). Said half-humourously, yet also half-seriously. It may have been somewhere in REALMS-L, I will search again later from my faster computers.quote:
Grognardia Interview: Ed Greenwood (Part III)
On the other hand, I’ve had Realms writing assignments I liked less than writing about Elminster - - like writing about Volo!
(I know that's weak, but I distinctly recall a definitive anti-Volo declaration by Ed, long ago. On the other hand, of course, we are sometimes given hints that Ed still has some plans for Volo.)
Sage:
I thought you yearned for Volo's Guide to the Border Kingdoms?
Gelcur:
I've seen a reference to Dragon #355, containing Volo's Guide to Demon Cults of the Realms. |
