| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Jan 2019 : 16:19:25
It occurs to me that Ed has been posting Realmslore on the Twitter, and not everyone has the Twitter.
So I thought a single place where such lore could be collected would be a good thing. 
Ed is a frequent poster there, adding all sorts of Stormtalons and Epic Fantasy stuff, but for the purposes of this thread, I'd like to keep it focused on his Realmslore.
(I'm also stickying this thread, to make it easier to find)
Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) on Twitter
The #Realmslore hashtag on Twitter |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 Jan 2026 : 06:04:41
On known black dragon names
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2008237688668016770
Jan 6, 2026
@TheEdVerse
And of course, when a new Lost Lore shows up, a Little Lore is coming along right behind it! Behold:
Q: You recently posted “Known Black Dragon Names of the Realms” in a lore drop here. Are those meant to be the names of specific individual black dragons, or are they examples of names commonly used among black dragons in general?
A: They are all names of specific black dragons currently alive and flourishing in the Realms (circa 1500 DR).
They are also “popular” black dragon given names, but...among that sub-race, it’s the custom not to use a name a dragon is currently enjoying until it comes to the great-grandsons and daughters of the current “elder generation” of wyrms.
In other words, little confusion arises because few dragons alive at the same time will be bearing the same names (and when they do, nicknames like “The Flying Terror” will often be appended).
Sample Black Dragon Names:
Masculine: Aerammarglas, Glazalarlam, 5) Imrylgloth, Ralaglaud, Voarulglammandar
Feminine: Aerammarglarya or Aerammarglazya; Glazalarlorra; Imrylglamra; Ralaglaudra; and Voarulglammandra |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:50:13
On how a Matron or another powerful Lolthian drow legitimately visits a city on the surface
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2003665871148056871
Dec 24, 2025
@Michael75535436
@TheEdVerse if a Matron or another power/influential Lolthian drow was going to visit a Major city in the realms, on the surface, how could they legally/ legitimately do so (assuming the city would allow it given the right circumstances)?
@TheEdVerse
By far the easiest way of doing this is for the Lolthite drow to pose (or even legitimately arrange such a title and position) as the trade envoy of a distant surface realm or city-state, and make the visit “working” travel to negotiate and sign agreements about goods, taxes and tariffs, and limits of imports and exports for the surface realm or city-state.
They could of course quietly also represent their own and/or other Underdark communities for the same things during the same visit.
Such a ploy will allow them to bring bodyguards and unusual wares (or even magic items for their own defense or offense) as “samples.” |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:44:08
On other names of Silverymoon
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2003167989848506708
Dec 23, 2025
@seeminglyclever
A quick Q for @TheEdVerse: any other names that Silverymoon (the city) is called by? Poetic, informal, etc.? I really enjoyed “The Great Silver Hearth”, from My Slice of Silverymoon, and got emotional about what an amazing a city it is. Any others that the wiki hasn’t covered?
@TheEdVerse
Sure!
The Shining Towers, Silvertowers, Homehaven (an elven name for the city), and The Welcoming City. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:37:57
On new fiction (and sourcebook?)
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2003167331271492045 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2003660670404034618
Dec 23, 2025
@TheEdVerse
I've had so much fun spinning this tale with Rhys and Wayne and the gang! A new tale of the Realms begins!
Realms fans, don't miss out on this! quote:
@visionarypnd
SOULS FOR THE TAKING is coming soon to @dms_guild #DMsGuild! This 147 page #dungesonanddragons book is full of lore, NPCs, secrets, and a brand new story by @TheEdVerse (creator of the #ForgottenRealms) and @rhysayorke!
Download a sneak preview https://forms.gle/pttoZq9LxCfeBTj78 today!
@franknsimmons
Is this an adventure, or a sourcebook? Always excited for more Realms content!
@TheEdVerse
It's part fiction, and part Realmslore (of characters, places, and things featured in the fiction). Set in 1501 DR. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:31:04
On storing Cormyrean Mint Wine and Neverwinter black icewine
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2002792466475532647 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2003170138292650495
Dec 22, 2025
@LecterRed
@TheEdVerse Hello Mr. Greenwood, what kind of bottle does Cormyrean Mint Wine get stored in? if it gets stored in a bottle at all? i love your setting so much <3
@TheEdVerse
That depends on who buys it from the vintner. Most wine of this sort is consumed locally; it's poured into skins (sealed leather sacks) for travel, and decanted into stoppered decanters for home use.
Bottles are of course hand-blown in a glassworks, which can be located anywhere a forge can be set up (so Suzail, Immersea, Waymoot, and other locales where there's a demand, and the right sort of sand is handy). Sometimes shape and hue of bottles are used to identify contents; mint wine is not a "haughty" wine, and so will often be put into "handrounds" (think of the sort of bottle real-world Mateus wine is often sold in, only Realms versions of this bottle shape tend to have "shoulder grooves" so a user can grip them more securely with thumb and forefingers) rather than the tall, thin "spearhead" bottle shapes (think of real-world ice wine bottles for tall-thin-ness, but tapering to a point rather than having shoulders, and having flared bases so they don't tip over as easily) used for expensive, highly-regarded vintages.
@XynRaven
What about Neverwinter black icewine?
... What even is icewine? I can't imagine putting wine on ice is either easy or expensive, especially without magic.
@TheEdVerse
Heh. Icewine is made from frozen grapes; the water freezes into ice, so it concentrates the grape juice. Icewine/ice wine is expensive because relatively rare, because conditions have to be just right to yield the necessary grapes. It's a sweet dessert wine.
Neverwinter black icewine is sold in small handkegs (about the size of a cylindrical mid-sized watermelon) for distance transport, and in adult-human-male-forearm-sized, tall cylindrical bottles within Neverwinter. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:25:02
On Alorglauvenemaus and Elminster's animosity
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001890248339705863
Dec 19, 2025
@HeraldoftheSnek
@TheEdVerse Sorry bother you but I just learned about the dragon Alorglauvenemaus but I can't seem to find what turned him and El is enemies to the point where El would kill him and in Enraged they seem like they are on bad terms already
I hope this isn't too much of a bother, I just am really interested in him. Thank you for your time.
@TheEdVerse
Right, I've checked through the NDAs, and here we go...
The dragon Alorglauvenemaus long maintained a Zhentarim wizard alter ego, Hesperdan. Elminster mind-melded with him to show him what the Chosen of Mystra did, and why, so he’d be informed enough to temper both his own draconic ambitions and the overbold excesses of the Zhentarim, to prevent open and widespread war from flaring up on dozens of occasions (Hesperdan thwarted, distracted, convinced, or in some cases outright slew amibitious Zhentarim who would have sacrificed much of the Realms to rise within the ranks of the Zhentarim).
After centuries, their silent partnership, which extended to aiding each other in confrontations against foes, and even “swapping bodies” (altering their outward shapes to impersonate each other, not really exchanging bodies) to stand in for each other, ended when Alorglauvenemaus gave in to his own ambitions and took advantage of Fzoul’s hubris and “defeat” of Manshoon (not knowing Manshoon was playing a ruse of his own to step aside from the target-on-his-back leadership role) to try to grasp his own lordship within the Zhentarim; he was seeking a role that can best be described as “behind the scenes office manager, holding a lot of real daily power but almost no official authority.”
As Hesperdan, Alorglauvenemaus slew a lot of senior Zhents (especially priests of Bane) to carve out his chosen role, and that was fine with Elminster (who once described this to Ed of the Greenwood as “playing Bane like a fiddle,” as Alorglauvenemaus intended to substitute rule by fear for official authority, a style that delighted Bane the Lord of Tyranny, so Bane lifted no finger against him), but the dragon then went on to try to exterminate every loyal servant of Mystra and Azuth whom he thought might have any inkling that he was Hesperdan, and had worked with Elminster—and that was NOT acceptable to Elminster. That’s the “treachery” El refers to when ending Alorglauvenemaus with silver fire. (Mystra and Azuth were fine with El slaying Alorglauvenemaus due to the body count the dragon had already wrought, though they are normally reluctant to indulge in open slaughter because of the “tit for tat” feuds it can cause; in this case, Alorglauvenemaus was piling death upon death, beyond his original targets.)
Elminster still respected Alorglauvenemaus for the entire “being Hesperdan” thing and the work they’d done together. He was saddened that the dragon had given in to his hunger for power and control, rather than “rising above himself” farther (his Hesperdan persona was already a measure of rising above himself).
El wanted to go on liking the dragon. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:17:52
On Sarrukh falling and running from the Khaasta
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001886020871352598
Dec 19, 2025
@vengeful_jarl
@TheEdVerse something I have never grasped. How or why did the Sarrukh fall and run from the Khaasta? As I recall they didn't have any abilities. Just demonic allies? Even in defeat why does the Sarrukh fear the Khaasta?
@TheEdVerse
The Sarrukh fear the Khaasta because Sess'innek had a scheme to physically transform Sarrukh (the only Sarrukh not destined to die as sacrifices to him!) into servitor lizards (some into the lizard equivalent of hounds or war wolves, some into a “pack lizard”/wagon-pulling-beast role). The transformation made the mind of the transformed Sarrukh unable to resist mental commands from any Khaasta—so no Sarrukh wanted to be anywhere near a Khaasta, for any reason, for fear of being instantly mind-controlled. (There was so much fearful misinformation among Sarrukh about this, that they didn’t know the mind control only “worked” after they’d been transformed; a belief spread that Sess'innek was altering Khaasta to be able to pre-emptively control the minds of nearby Sarrukh.) Hence the “running and hiding.” |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:11:08
On dragons and dragonborn
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001697452315816368 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001698134888731036 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001703628588073221 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001704303304806749 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001706007895171408 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001707754193297554 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001708482261848529
Dec 19, 2025
@TheEdVerse
Just when you thought it was safe: another Lost Lore of the Realms!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/little-lore-4-146156269
@XynRaven
Speaking of dragons, two questions.
1- If a chromatic dragon egg were given to a metallic dragon to raise, would the chromatic dragon grow up with the same personality traits (even if struggling with bad impulses), or are chromatic dragons evil by nature, cursed as such forever?
And is the reverse the same?
@TheEdVerse
They are born with the personality traits of their blood heritage (chromatic type), but nurture often trumps nature, and when out on their own, dragons are intelligent and long-lived enough to make their own decisions, have time to change their world-views often.
@TheEdVerse
This holds true in both directions. And is one of the things that makes dragons so interesting as characters (not just antagonists) in the setting.
@XynRaven
To that end, how likely is it that a grown dragon would change alignment?
@TheEdVerse
"Likely" is an "it depends" answer for each dragon (in this case, depends foremost on how the dragon is treated by kin/and friends (if any), then by other dragons, then by other creatures, in their unfolding life as a dragon. It tends to be rare rather than common.
@XynRaven
2- Are dragonborn a race of live births or egg hatching? And what if they bred with half-dragons or dragons?
@TheEdVerse
MOST dragonborn births are live, but the baby emerges in a porous, rubbery caul (membrane), which is what the egg of dragons has morphed into for dragonborn (it can readily be broken from inside or outside). Dragonborn interbred offspring usually "favor" one parent or the other so much that the baby effectively IS a half-dragon or dragon (but with hidden traits/"wild talents" from their dragonborn side). Note that babies being dragons is VERY rare, and often involves a transformation from dragonborn form later in life. This can often come as a surprise to the partially-grown-up dragonborn baby, and may be triggered by traumatic events or direct personal threats. (E.g. dragonborn makes a battlefield last stand and is astonished to become a dragon while doing so.)
@XynRaven
Makes it hard to distinguish between half-dragons and dragonborn.
Which makes me wonder, what if half-dragons and dragonborn were to breed with humanoids, and how would the future descendants fare further down the line?
@TheEdVerse
Over time, species lines become more blurred, everything tending towards the individual and not groups. As I recall, somewhere in past TSR lore are some scribbled design thots on half-dragons, saurials, and (Krynn) dragonborn... |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Dec 2025 : 15:05:00
On antibiotics in the Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1998132562322186536 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001701549152833755 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001884615125143588 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2001883524312531226
Dec 9, 2025
@TheEdVerse
And to go with that Lost Lore, here's another Little Lore! Free for all to see!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/little-lore-3-145385101?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
@isatweetter
Ed, will antibiotics ever be a thing in the realms? Or the existence of magical healing will stunt medicine forever?
@TheEdVerse
They already are, but not under that name. Elves and dwarves understand well the effects of copper and silver on wound care/bacteria, elves & many woodland races know the effects of wild plants ("herbs") on infections, and so on.
Local terms, not organized lore.
@Gormogons
Rx What about magically resistant bacteria?
0.000001% magic resistance might require 5 cure diseases instead of one, for example....
@TheEdVerse
In the Realms, magically resistant bacteria are only going to come into being in a living organism that tarries (or is caught) inside a magically-strong area (e.g. within a mythal), or feels the effects of a powerful (7th level or higher) spell.
So they will exist, but be rare. A cure disease will always initially work on them 100% (that is, removing all effects/making the disease latent so it seems to have “ended,” but then will come back, far more mildly, later (how long, up to the DM; how severe, depends on all sorts of factors, including overall health of the afflicted…but as a DM, I would never rule on anything needing more than three cure diseases: the third casting should end a disease for good.
@XynRaven
Can a wizard, or other individual academically inclined towards alchemy, be reasonably expected to be capable of brewing potions or other items that could aid recovery, be they antiseptics, antidotes, or outright healing wounds, given the right ingredients and tools?
@TheEdVerse
Capable, yes. Whether a particular wizard can do it depends on what training they’ve received or books/scrolls/tutoring they have access to. Any mage who has studied alchemy at all can understand how to try for purity, and how to intensify or dilute a result but knowing techniques is just the beginning. Alchemy is a process of experimentation, refining, adjusting, and experimenting again to get closer and closer.
However, given the right ingredients and tools, someone used to precision, who has studied alchemy sufficiently, should be able to concoct, their first time out, a reasonably powerful antiseptic, and an antidote that can treat symptoms (such as seizures, swellings, impaired vision or other senses).
Better antiseptics and antidotes that work on root conditions can be produced through additional experimentation. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 01 Dec 2025 : 12:00:53
On purity of Waterdhavian currency
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1995272313722622220 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1997757560699449735 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1997766947623039262 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1998129192853238119 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1995531900526755949 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1998130573051904244 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1998130573051904244 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1998131161240060402
Dec 1, 2025
@RpgMatch
Hey @TheEdVerse, what’s the level of gold purity for Waterdhavian dragons? And the same question for shards and nibs…
@TheEdVerse
There have been times (under the warlords, in particular) when Waterdhavian coins were debased to as low as 60 percent purity, but from Piergeiron becoming Open Lord to “now” (1501 DR), all Waterdhavian coins are minted at over 90 percent pure (usually 95 percent).
@XynRaven
Do they use magic to refine those coins or is it pure technique?
@TheEdVerse
It's technique. Magic is expensive, time-consuming, and used far less than the general populace in the Realms thinks.
@RpgMatch
This is excellent. I’m going to crunch these numbers (and the attached size chart) to calculate revise proportions. Am I correct in assuming a somewhat standard ratio of raw copper:silver:gold exchange rates throughout the Realms?
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G7izrCIacAANlBx?format=jpg&name=large>
@TheEdVerse
Most popular "lawful" trading centers (Silverymoon, Baldur's Gate, Athkatla, Zazesspur, the Sembian coastal cities, etc.) have coins about 80% pure. Places like Scornubel and Westgate are 60% pure; everywhere else is in the range between.
@XynRaven
Is this a recent development, or is it safe to assume this was the case in the years before the Spellplague?
@TheEdVerse
This was the same in the latter half of the 1300s DR, before the Spellplague.
@AJPickett1
*Looks sideways at Ed and whispers* "Athkatla?"
@TheEdVerse
Shhh, I'm talking about the face they try to present to the world to attract trade and investment, not the truth. ;}
@DoodlePoodle_X
Mind if I piggyback on this question a little? Somewhat related, haha.
If a devil was to "conjure up" tangible, non-illusory coins out of nowhere for dramatic effect over a party of adventurers like in this scene, would those coins be:
1 - magically created, and therefore theoretically could be of greater purity (and potentially value) than traditionally minted ones
2 - regular ol' pre-existing coins summoned from a secret stash hoarded just for such occasions.
Option 2 is what I imagined when I wrote this scene... I wrote Alexander as a Cambion with sorcerer levels, certainly not all-powerful, but REALLY good with theatrics... and with a hefty Charisma stat. Did I get it right? #128517;
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G7l6u_GXUAAQR84?format=jpg&name=4096x4096>
@TheEdVerse
I would go with Option 2 IF the devil had no access to (their own personal, as that's what it would be) stash of coins. If they had a stash big enough to do things with, Option 1, because it increases their long-term influence wherever they're handing out the coins.
@XynRaven
Is creating gold out of (practically) nothing that easy for fiends?
If it were accessible to humanoids, I imagine the economy of the Realms would be as messy as the death toll in Westeros.
@TheEdVerse
The fiend is transforming (in shape) and transporting (from elsewhere) gold, NOT creating it, or transmuting it from another metal.
- Edited on 10/12/2025 to add new tweets |
| questing gm |
Posted - 25 Nov 2025 : 10:32:38
On half-dragons having children
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1993106565721956495
Nov 25, 2025
@MACAlves0ficial
Hi @TheEdVerse! I'm Max. I've been playing D&D with the same character for 7 years: Draco, a half-dragon, son of an elf and a metallic dragon. I've also been a DM for RPGs and I have a question: can half-dragons have children? It's a question asked by the character himself.
The Monster Manual states that:half-dragons are incapable of naturally producing offspring. But if they cannot have children, how could a wizard of draconic origin exist? Could he be the son of a half-dragon? Or only of a pure dragon? Or is it only possible through magic/rituals?
So, to reproduce, would that only be possible through magical or ritual means? Or even through adoption? In a stable union, could a half-dragon like my character have a child? Thank you for your attention, Ed!
@TheEdVerse
Many half-dragons are sterile, hence what the MM says, but they CAN have children with the right mate. What USUALLY happens is that the resulting offspring are visually human, with some draconic hidden traits, or blood heritage that comes out later on, in THEIR offspring (or a generation on). It can be something as simple as resistance or even immunity to a particular sort of breath weapon (or natural or magical equivalent).
However, the great majority of half-dragons can't give birth to "new" half-dragons. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 25 Nov 2025 : 08:50:39
On germ theory in the Forgotten Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1993104860980621624 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1993108296765718917
Nov 25, 2025
@SomeYappingDork
@TheEdVerse A bit of a weird question that I need an answer to for a dumb joke in a campaign: Does the Forgotten Realms have Germ Theory? Are there even germs, or does something else cause illness?
@TheEdVerse
Yes, there are germs. As for germ theory, most healers, sages, and priesthoods know about cleanliness and infections, and* what they call "contagion" (you can catch things from other afflicted beings).
*=thanks to plagues
For a brief overview, see my EGPEl'sFR book.
@Mark_Moonfang
I'm taking this and assuming the top people at every major institution that studies this, like Candlekeep, have microscopes so they can see it themselves. But the manufacturing of them is so expensive that instead of trying to get everyone else to see it, they just said, "Look, trust us. This is what you need to do."
@TheEdVerse
The typical Torilian microscope is a vertical metal pole (on a tabletop) with various lenses clamped to it (think hand-held magnifying glasses but with clamp-handles) and the user peers through a combination of lenses, adjusting their heights, distances apart, and what combination of lenses on hand they're using.
I think one of these snuck into the background of some FR art, years ago, partially obscured.
Such arrangements are used in surgery and some delicate carving-crafting. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 Nov 2025 : 06:49:39
On detailed Ironnfang Keep
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1988829133791518807
Nov 13, 2025
@NathanSaylor20
@TheEdVerse Have you (or anyone else) ever detailed/mapped out Ironfang Keep?
@TheEdVerse
No, because TSR very early on (1986) declared it off-limits, for use in a third-party licensed computer game. Which so far as I know either never happened, or used Ironfang not at all, or only peripherally. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 Nov 2025 : 06:45:58
On Damascus forging of mithril and adamantine
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1988828807487242309
Nov 13, 2025
@raschura
@TheEdVerse My character would like to craft a weapon as a gift for his deity through the campaign. Is it possible to perform a Damascus forging process with Mithril?
Could other metals like Adamantine be used in this process?
@TheEdVerse
Sorry for the delay! Life has been BUSY.
Here we go (this lore reply applies only to the Realms)...
Adamantine is the flexible/durable alloy made from the brittle, super-hard pure metal adamant (derived from the ore adamantite). Neither adamant, in any of its forms, or mithril can serve well in the Damascus forging process/pattern welding/layering and hammering; the extensive reworking involved destroys both adamantine and mithril. On the other hand, both adamantine and mithril can be cast, and “worked thrice,” and dwarves who know how can make adamantine and mithril items have edges that can be hammered and ground repeatedly to keep them sharp and true. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 11 Nov 2025 : 03:49:13
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
On cannabis in the Realms:
@FnordKyuss
Hello Ed. I have a few questions about flora in the realms. Since many plants from earth grow on Toril, I wonder, does Cannabis grow there? Is it smoked recreational or is it a religious sacrament? What places/churches cultivate it and where does it grow naturally?
@TheEdVerse
Heh. This was actually officially decided back in the early TSR days. They wanted it not to be in Toril, but I pointed out we already had printed lore of "hempen" ropes, woven bags, etc. Sooooo...various plants exist, their uses and prep are jealously-guarded herbalist/temple "secrets," cannabis has almost no effect on dwarves and gnomes, none at all on halflings, is nothing more than a painkiller for orcs, and makes elves violently ill (cramps, vomiting, feels like their blood is on fire). So most folk in the Realms employ other (fantastical/invented; see the Amarune's Almanacs on DM's Guild for a LOT of invented flora of the Realms) plants for recreational or even soothing purposes. Cannabis and several invented plants slow blood-flow, clear the head, and quell nausea. Most of my invented plants require the presence in a concoction (drink or poultice) or mix (line a pipe bowl with one, then smoke the other in the pipe) to derive hallucinations, or euphoria, or pain-free bliss.
[Of course, none of this was published.]
Whoops! Almost forgot your last question: almost all of these plants grow wild everywhere in the temperate zone of Faerûn (= the Heartlands), but there are a few (e.g. Quilaeya/"the Desert Flower") that grow in Raurin and other southern and eastern arid regions.
Oh, just one more thing (channeling my inner Columbo): the various creatures known as "hags" know all about the many uses of various plants, and make extensive use of this. My hag lairs are full of trap-bladders that release gases on intruders.
#Realmslore
@FnordKyuss
Was their reluctantance based on the illegal status of the plant? Who at TSR back in the day was a cannabis user, and did that have any impact on the decision?
@TheEdVerse
This was during the "Satanic panic" days, when TSR was mindful of preachers thundering about "witchcraft" and "demons and devils" being in the game, and Angry Mothers From Heck forbidding their kids buying or playing D&D. So having DRUG USE in the game was, yes, a red flag of illegality that could legitimately have been used to ban/suppress the game.
Much easier to just sidestep all that trouble by leaving it out.
Gamers are creative enough; they always morph the game to fit their own play styles and interests, if including it is wanted.
#Realmslore
@Smol_Bear69
Pls kind sir i have been searching for the answers for ages, what is the reason for the elves becoming so terribly ill by the plant?
@TheEdVerse
An inherent ingredient, THC laulaera ("Lawl-LAIR-rah") in the Realms, reacts chemically with the blood of elves, "searing" them (hence their "blood on fire" sensation). As a result, elves regard the plant as poisonous. All with part elven heritage MAY feel this. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 30 Oct 2025 : 02:43:04
On Dalamar and Ed
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1981534571456835588 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1981570265726533751
Oct 24, 2025
@TheEdVerse
Realms fans trying to reach me: hopefully temporary computer difficulties have left me unable to access, let alone post to, Discord and Patreon. So I'm neither dead nor ignoring you; I'm battling the Tech Dragon! More Lost Lore posts as soon as I can!
@PeterRHann1
Dalamar getting revenge on you for spying on his meetings with Mordy and the old mage?
@TheEdVerse
Can't be. Dalamar and I are close friends now. Ever since I introduced him to certain ladies of my neighbourhood. (Not kidding!) He smiles a LOT, these days. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 27 Oct 2025 : 15:56:59
On canon character from GameholeCon
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1981538969943933063
Oct 24, 2025
@YoDanno
My first @GameholeCon event, D&D with Ed Greenwood!
I’m the party tank!!!!
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G3Y-CxnWYAAXZd-?format=jpg&name=small>
@Artie_Pavlov
The main question @TheEdVerse is that character canon?!
@TheEdVerse
Of course! She's one of the Baron's Blades, a 12-strong adventuring band used in my TSR playtests for years (the original character sheets even have TSR copyright statements along their tops). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 27 Oct 2025 : 08:10:16
On state of maths in the Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1981533797150593129
Oct 24, 2025
@RpgMatch
Hey @TheEdVerse I have a bizarre Realmslore question: what’s the state of math across the realms? Are states using “Roman” numerals or have they discovered the place system? Any 10-base number sets? Has calculus been discovered and/or is it a closely guarded secret.
Finally, a question more esoteric than whether there are toilets in Waterdeep.
@TheEdVerse
Thorass (written Common Tongue) records numbers thus: draw a box, and fill it with vertical strokes for each ten in a number. Encircle the box with dots for each of the leftover values in a numerical total. So 81 is a box holding 8 strokes, with a dot above it, and 87 is a box of 8 strokes with a ring of 7 dots around it. For hundreds, use horizontal strokes floating atop the box, so 349 is a box of 4 strokes with three lines atop it, all encircled by 9 dots. Most calculus is a Waukeen temple secret. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 05 Oct 2025 : 02:44:01
On regions half-drow frequent in the 3.5e and earlier rulesets, not including Dambrath
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1969968810770968784
Sep 22, 2025
@V_For_Vall
And - Can you elaborate on the regions half-drow frequent in the 3.5e and earlier rulesets, not including Dambrath? Would you consider them an underdark or surface race?
@TheEdVerse
They are both, because sunlight harms them not and increasingly they dwell on the surface of Toril, in remote areas (as Lolth-worshipping drow tend to persecute them). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 05 Oct 2025 : 02:24:03
On native tropical fruits in Baldur's Gate
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1967741443151454654 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1967795729344368661
Sep 16, 2025
@ItalianKarsus
@mikemearls Hello, Mr. Mearls! I know you're not Sage Advice any more, but might as well try - any chance you remember the question to this answer?
quote:
@TheEdVerse
@nlghty @DPennyway @mikemearls The monks grow some tropical fruits in building-south-wall-shed giant growing frames they call "warmbreaths."
@TheEdVerse
This was a question from Larian designers regarding the availability of locally-grown fruit in Baldur's Gate (for lore, as BG3 was being designed). #realmslore
quote:
Critical #Dragonspear lore question: are pears native to the Sword Coast? @mikemearls
— Dee Pennyway (@DPennyway) September 1, 2015
@DPennyway that's a great question for @TheEdVerse
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) September 1, 2015
@mikemearls @DPennyway Hi! Pears are native to the Lake of Steam and Border Kingdoms areas, but were long ago farmed into Tethyr. Wine expt.
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 1, 2015
@TheEdVerse @mikemearls That was very enlightening. Thanks, Ed!
— Dee Pennyway (@DPennyway) September 1, 2015
@DPennyway @mikemearls A pleasure! Pears don't travel well, so exported as pear wine. Most pears grown inland in Tethyr; vineyards seaside.
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 1, 2015
@TheBadCatMan
We've worked out it was for the development of Siege of Dragonspear, an expansion for Baldur's Gate 2, and that it was probably pears (but seems to have been cut from the game). Now we're just trying to work out which monks where, and if you were describing greenhouses? Thanks!
@TheEdVerse
They would be monks of Chauntea, and they are using greenhouse equivalents: against the south, sunbaked stone walls of grain-barns, one builds growing frames (house-sized lean-to growing frames of timbers and enchanted "spellglass") to raise crops that really need a warmer climate. Just as real-world gardeners do in northern cold climates, to extend growing seasons or preserve magnolias, lime trees, and other growing things that would otherwise perish over winters.
The "spellglass" is a clerical spell that creates large sheets of clear, strong, durable glass (without many small leaded panes, or use of mica sheets, or anything else that would mar the reach of the sun's rays). Quite a few priesthoods now know and use variant spells (also for grand temple windows). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 09 Sep 2025 : 11:23:54
On Manshoon as Chosen of Mystra
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1964476466168811596
Sep 7, 2025
@DecryptedTech
@TheEdVerse Something I have always wondered. How does Manshoon (and his seemingly endless supply of clones) remain a chosen of Mystra? How does each clone keep that, especially the one that became a Vampire?
@TheEdVerse
He's not a Chosen. He rejected Mystra (see the relevant scenes in my Sage of Shadowdale trilogy). He is an (unwitting and unwilling) Weave anchor. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 09 Sep 2025 : 11:04:13
On traveling by land from Daggerford to Waterdeep during the month of Hammer
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1964152987430883730
Sep 6, 2025
@rwgs76
Dear @TheEdVerse, given the harsh Winters in the Sword Coast, would it be possible to travel by land from Daggerford to Waterdeep during the month of Hammer? Is the Trade Way open during Hammer, or the snow prevents any travel between them? Thanks in advance.
@TheEdVerse
In most winters, large armed parties (because of wolves) can almost always make this trip trudging on snowshoes. What can't happen is caravan travel: i.e. bringing lots of stuff. Bringing personal gear is done by each person towing the equivalent of a loaded toboggan. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 11:30:03
On Lyonsbane Keep's location
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1959788457036849333
Aug 25, 2025
@RadicalRollo
Hi @TheEdVerse, do you know roughly where Lyonsbane Keep, the long since abandoned keep where Kelemvor's clan once resided, is located? I've found forums asking about it since 2004, but no one's ever gotten an answer. Thanks in advance!
@TheEdVerse
Yes. It stood in westernmost Chessenta, due south of the southern end of the Akanapeaks, in a verdant valley within sight of the river that drains from them into the Akanamere.
Today, Lyonsbane Keep no longer exists, as it was shattered in warfare and rebuilt several times, but ultimately its stones were “robbed” from its site to make many new stone buildings.
The trouble is that the map of Chessenta changed constantly throughout the 1200s and 1300s DR, as petty baronies and self-styled dukedoms rose and fell. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 11:08:20
On order of clerics or a group that would respond to disasters like the salvation army or red cross
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1959663308874658167
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1962627743301931478
Aug 25, 2025
@armrdporcupine
@TheEdVerse sorry to bother you, however since you are the learned wizard perhaps you know, in the d&d universe is there an order of clerics or a group that would respond to disasters like the salvation army or red cross would do in our world?
@TheEdVerse
In the Realms, temples of every faith will respond with aid to local disasters.
Priests of Tempus follow armies on the march to tend wounded combatants and harmed civilians.
The priests of Ilmater rush everywhere, a la the Red Cross, to deliver humanitarian aid.
@armrdporcupine
How well do you think Ilmater would work with this cleric domain?
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GzmuXsCb0AAm4EY?format=jpg&name=large>
@TheEdVerse
Very well. :}
As long as the feast and abundant food is for other people, not the cleric themselves (Ilmater embraces personal suffering).
-Edited on 9/9/2025 to add new tweets |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 25 Aug 2025 : 19:22:55
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm
On dualism in AD&D 2nd edition
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1953887003264921811
Aug 9, 2025
@AstralMangudai
Hey @TheEdVerse how does dualism work in aD&D 2e mechanics? We know elves are barred from most of specialist wizard classes. Is dualism a kit or W/W multiclass or a special class like Alunakkar, Dijakkar, Encikkar, Nelluonkkar? Would they need requirements of both base classes?
@TheEdVerse
As a never-TSR-staffer, I can't give you any "official" rules answers, but I did design a lot of 2e via Realms products, and I handle it thus: most players ran generalist all-in wizards.
Anyone can dual class, but yes, must meet requirements of both base classes. #realmslore
Dual classes
So, any bets?
- The elven dualist was a curious experiment, but did not go anywhere and was quite forgettable.
- Alas, "memoria fractalia est".
- These answers are typed and sometimes "helpfully" given by a press-secretary who knows FR as deep as the blurbs and "cannot into" search engines. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:52:10
On tiefling skin in the sun
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957307467081154720
Aug 18, 2025
@AngryMaulLady
@TheEdVerse This one is a somewhat random question, bit with the various skin tones tieflings come in, including those outside the normal range of human tones, how well do tieflings handle the sun? Can they get sunburn, and if so, how susceptible are they? Does lineage or color play any discernible factor? What does a blue-skinned tiefling look like with sunburn? I think you get the general picture. Many thanks for your creativity, and I quite enjoyed your last reply to me. #realmslore
@TheEdVerse
Hi! Tieflings handle the sun very well, but they can get sunburnt (the less crimson or scarlet their skin hue is, the more easily, so heritage does play a part). A sunburnt blue tiefling freckles brown, then goes brown in irregular patches (like a black & white cow). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:48:34
On faking accent and personality in Zone of Truth
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957306348439240735
Aug 18, 2025
@_skyjessi_
@TheEdVerse Hey, I have a question about a spell that came up in one of my games. We have two characters that act differently than they actually are in order to impress the other (one faking her whole personality, the other speaking with a fake accent). Would they still be able to do that while under the effect of zone of truth? Would speaking with a fake accent or acting like your personality is completely different be considered as 'lying'?
@TheEdVerse
Both are deception, but they would only be revealed with the right questioning. "What are your true feelings about X?" and "Is that your real voice?" would uncover right away, but an accent is an affectation, not strictly a lie. (This comes from Sage Advice rulings.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:45:55
On elven (and drow) menstrual cycle
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957302998738096131
Aug 18, 2025
@WizardPony
@TheEdVerse play has backed us into a corner. What is the elven menstrual cycle like in Faerun, and how do Drow differ? I know book of elves touches fertility in general and says Drow breed human fast instead, but players need cycle info specifically.
@TheEdVerse
It depends on the elves; star elves can control their cycle, whereas moon elves are firmly tied to the larger moon of Toril. MOST elves have a period of four to six days (both “shoulder” days being “spotting), but these days occur every three months, not every month. Most drow, like most humans, cycle monthly. With elves as with humans, diet and other factors (being parched in drought or desert conditions, for example) can cause cycles to fade away. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:43:40
On Order of Heroes
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957301539053199606
Aug 18, 2025
@EricPatton4774
Some questions only @TheEdVerse can answer… This little bit of TSR advertising came to me in a 1987 Forgotten Realms boxed set. Was there really an Order of Heroes? Did the pen of Elminster actually send these heroes parchments highlighting new material? And who was the TSR mind behind this “1960’s comic book style” marketing research plan?
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GyglnQEXIAA4xxd?format=jpg&name=large>
@TheEdVerse
It was a TSR executive's ploy to build a mailing list of potential buyers for stuff. However, not being an employee then or ever, I never learned which executive.
David Martin was editor of The Secrets of the Sages newsletter (3 issues assembled, only 1 put out). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:37:22
On Queen Filfaeril's last meal
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957300619032645707
Aug 18, 2025
@Artie_Pavlov
The tenday's recipe is Queen Filfaeril Selazair Obarskyr's last meal, featured in "Farewell to Fee" by @TheEdVerse Cooking in the #ForgottenRealms #DnD . More recipes in Juniper's Companion to Venturesome Cookery, now available on DMsGuild!
Recipe here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/User:Artyom.pavlov/Characters/Juniper_Churlgo/Juniper%27s_Companion_to_Venturesome_Cookery#Queen_Fee's_Last_Meal
@TheEdVerse
I love this cookbook SO MUCH!!!
Essential Realmslore...and if you're like me, your tummy will love it, too. ;} |
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