| 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 - 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. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Aug 2025 : 13:34:42
On when legally bound to Beshaba
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1957300078399676913
Aug 18, 2025
@_Sedori
Hi @TheEdVerse! Quick lore question: In my FR game, Tymora told my PCs they’re legally bound to Beshaba via cosmic bureaucracy. She showed court summaries (Savras witness, Jergal notary) & tried asking Ao ("Blue"), who shrugged & stayed hands-off. Is this canon-friendly? Thanks!
@TheEdVerse
Heh. The Ao "Hands off" certainly is. Tymora being Tymora, she should have said to the PCs that there's "always a chance" for a way out for them (that's her nature). And there is, if they do the right things. And what are those? Up to you...
(Or if they exist at all.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Aug 2025 : 07:39:50
On correct pronunciation of Drone Wyvernspur's first name
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1955420013248028778
Aug 13, 2025
@SolarisWesson
@TheEdVerse not sure if you can help but what is the correct pronunciation of Drone Wyvernspur's first name. Is it simply like the modern drone or a Dro-nay?
@TheEdVerse
It is properly "DOR-own" but due to his habit of sharing lore on and on and his deep, one-note voice, all of Redstone Castle took to calling him "Drone" (as in: "drone on") before "Uncle" was added to that. ;} The man didn't mind. Dorath, however, stuck with DOR-own. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Aug 2025 : 07:31:52
On writing compelling characters
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1955042868231541022
Aug 12, 2025
@RexfelisCatlord
Writing compelling NPCs is one of your strong suits. Truly!
I recently re-read FRE1: Shadowdale, and was impressed by the many NPC-based random encounters you included. Enough to work as a campaign-starter, quite independent of the rest of the contents of the adventure module.
@TheEdVerse
A compelling fantasy setting, to me, is people, not geography. You need the landscape, yes, and the people need not be human, but spending time with interesting minds is the core of memorable stories, both at the gaming table and on the page.
FRE1 was a sandbox by necessity as I had to submit it months before the novel it had to match was finished, and the plot for the trilogy kept changing, so all I could do was pour lore into the areas the novel characters would traverse). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 09 Aug 2025 : 16:23:51
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 do NOT get to cast a spell from each class in the same combat round/turn/move (the internal design terminology changed over the life of 2e), but you CAN ready items and spell components as well as cast a lone spell (DM fiat prevents elaborate setups). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 Aug 2025 : 04:14:48
On odds of a sword coaster meeting a super hot tabaxi wife in Chult
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1952773609920819245 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1952912374857384071 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1953888838147092908
Aug 6, 2025
@TheEdVerse
What is it like, to live in the Forgotten Realms? Well...
https://t.co/rwDUSTsIj6
@Salm_O_Nish
*raises hand* what the the odds of a sword coaster meeting a super hot tabaxi wife and making her a wife.
@TheEdVerse
If that Sword Coaster sails to Chult, quite high. If not, pretty low. Few tabaxi travel unless they're strong-minded adventurers, and such individuals have usually chosen mates "already."
@Heimdayl
Is there not a small tabaxi colony located near Mornbryn’s Shield?
I seem to recall rumors about one protected by a strange paladin.
@TheEdVerse
Shhh! That settlement's a SECRET. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 30 Jul 2025 : 06:05:09
On union of a fey eladrin father and a human mother
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1949919997460934754 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1949920803945894003
Jul 29, 2025
@AngryMaulLady
@TheEdVerse I've an interesting question for you, if you happen to have the time. Fey eladrin, as I understand, are high elves that have spent such time in the Feywild that they become themselves both fey and elves. Now, we already know elf + human = half-elf. What might the union of a fey eladrin father and a human mother be, conceived and born on the Material Plane? Are they also a half-elf, or are they something else?
@TheEdVerse
The offspring will vary with individual genes, favoring either parent, but will usually grow up to have some sort of "elfin" look (large eyes, pointed ears, delicate features, better low-light vision than humans) AND innate fey traits not visible to other eyes.
@TheEdVerse
So, yes: half-elves, but variants (in life specifics) individual to individual. "Wild talents," to use my Realms term from before D&D. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 30 Jul 2025 : 04:45:15
On dragons having any specific smell
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1949919208281669804 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1953884754702426257
Jul 29, 2025
@JustATotalFreak
Hi, Mr Greenwood, I have a question, my fiancee and I have been discussing this for quite some time about a half dragon character we have, do dragons have any specific smell? Or do they smell like where they live ie a red dragon smelling like sulfur because they live in a volcano
@TheEdVerse
Different dragon types have different smells, that intensify when a dragon is angry or has other strong emotions right now, is horny, or is unwashed, and also increase with age and size. Blue dragons smell like ozone, copper like heated copper, green dragons like red wine vinegar, black dragons like iodine, and so on. The scent is innate; where they live (e.g. stinking swamp waters, mud, volcanic ash) adds smells atop their innate smell, mingling with it.
@_skyjessi_
What do bronze dragons smell like? Asking for my wizard.
@TheEdVerse
Ever heated old (copper) pennies? Or done "old" ("acid core") soldering? Combine those smells: the tang and the scorching, richer, oilier and higher in the nose than heated copper alone: that's the smell of a bronze dragon. When angry or wounded, add iron-blood odour. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 30 Jul 2025 : 04:32:52
Races on the Talis cards
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1949912338234241206
Jul 29, 2025
@RenMasaoAnkoku
@TheEdVerse This is the oldest and most random question, surely, but for the original Talis cards - do the races depicted have significance or can the cards depict any race and hold the same meanings? Ex: changing the Flames suit from Dwarves to Tieflings
@TheEdVerse
In the Realms, you CAN change them (rarely done, though; tradition). I'm not sure if that holds true for Krynn, where Talis decks originated; you'd have to ask Margaret Weis or Tracy Hickman about that. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 28 Jul 2025 : 10:33:00
On Souls for the Taking, The Return of Larloch Book One
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948904679435632824
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1949917583081144406
Jul 26, 2025
@visionarypnd
Sneak preview for a new #dungeonsanddragons #ForgottenRealms title on @dms_guild #DMsGuild this fall, by @TheEdVerse @RhysYorke @chutneychiller @AdventuringZone produced by Visionary!
<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GwhbEwqW0AEG9xa?format=png&name=900x900>
@TheEdVerse
Oho, looky here! Realms fans, miss this not! And... @RpgMatch, we got a quote from Szass Tam!!!
@_Flameborne Parody account
So glad he could take time out of his busy day of evil scheming to give a quote.
Are we sure the interviewer survived?
@TheEdVerse
Oh, yes. He had to survive, or we wouldn't have received that quote. I don't think he'll be all that welcome in Thay in the future, though. ;}
@_Flameborne Parody account
Pour one out for his bravery, either way!
@TheEdVerse
Indeed! The man is a Visionary. And the guiding hand behind some VERY handsome bestselling game books. I'll be filming with him tomorrow...
@RhysYorke
The secret project I’ve been working on! “Souls for the Taking” is the first in a series of books set in the Forgotten Realms that I’m co-authoring with the legendary @TheEdVerse ! Our sneak preview will be out at #GenCon! #dungeonsanddragons
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@TheEdVerse
Oooh, look... #realmslore #Larloch #Scornubel |
| questing gm |
Posted - 28 Jul 2025 : 09:09:08
On Kelemvor judging all souls
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948902465329594767 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948903597179118038 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948907278444495230 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948909636528038217
Jul 26, 2025
@timemarry
@TheEdVerse Hey Ed! I've got a question for you. I really like Kelemvor, as a character and as a god. He and Jergal are by far my favorite DnD gods. I always wondered, does the souls of every being in the multiverse pass the divine judgment of Kelemvor? +
And, does the soul of an elf go through Kelemvor's divine judgment before being reborn as a new elf?
Thanks in advance for your response and sorry if a question like this was already answered!
@TheEdVerse
No. Kelemvor judges the souls of humans and sentient beings whose souls aren’t consumed (by hags or beings hags sell souls to, for instance) or claimed for judgment by other deities (such as goblin or kobold deities judging the souls of goblins or kobolds, respectively). Elves are among those mortals that Kelemvor would normally not judge, though almost all half-elves do experience his judgment.
@TheEdVerse
And Maro, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'm falling farther and farther behind, as the lore queries rush in! Plus tard il sera trop tard. Notre vie c'est maintenant. Sigh.
@RpgMatch
Woah!
Are you saying that being eaten by a hag means the SOUL is eaten too?! Permanent, forever death with no afterlife?
What other perils in the world of Faerûn carries this same level of danger? Becoming a vampire or lich, etc?
@TheEdVerse
Ah! Here's the thing: if a hag steals a soul in her soul bag, the body it belongs to can't be resurrected. It CAN be animated. If the soul is consumed by a hag or a being the hag sells/barters the soul to, it, er, passes out the other end diminished. So the soul survives, but lessened. So the soul likely cannot come back as whatever being it formerly was, but something lesser (lemures, etc.). And if the hag sells/barters the soul to a devil who's not outcast, the soul WILL be put into a devil to live a "new life."
Hags rarely dine on souls they capture, because they're "ruining goods" they can sell or barter. However, if they desperately want a talent the being had (spellfire wielding, for instance) and think they can get it by eating the soul, or if they are themselves 4) very weak or wounded, and need the life-essence, they will devour a soul they catch. Looking at the title of what we've just heralded, soul taking MIGHT just feature in some small way in its contents...
@TheEdVerse
And yes, trying to become a lich by one of the popular methods is VERY dangerous. Most of those ways involve imbibing a potion of lichdom which is essentially a poison. Some who do drink, die irrevocably. See Minsc and Boo's Guide and several other canon sources... |
| questing gm |
Posted - 28 Jul 2025 : 08:53:34
On purchasing the Forgotten Realms for $5000
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1948901420251369843
Jul 26, 2025
@DungeonNoir
The Forgotten Realms were purchased from Ed Greenwood for $5,000
@SJNB_Poesy
Weirdly, that low sale price probably means he'll go down in history as a legend of transmedia fantasy production, whereas if he'd asked a lot more nobody would likely know who he is. Strange conundrum.
@DungeonNoir
Man at the time I wonder if he could have asked for more. It probably seemed like a lot
@SJNB_Poesy
It was a pure passion project for the guy. It's like being a garage band and you're offered to open for some big name band and being offered some small sum... You're probably not going to refuse unless they pay you more money - you're just happy to get the big audience and recognition.
Ed did the type of creative work that almost never gets recognized despite its depth, scope, and quality - but for every Ed who does get recognized, there are probably dozens who don't... Heck, how many long-term homebrew campaigns could be fantasy settings fit to make movies, comics, video games, and write novels in - but nobody will ever hear of them? Probably quite a few.
Glad Ed got recognized in any case... It's a win for the passion project going big - even if they payday wasn't huge!
@TheEdVerse
That's it exactly. Mike Dobson later told me I could have asked for a LOT more...but I didn't care: I just wanted TSR to say "yes" so I could get colour maps of the Realms that didn't have my pencil crayon strokes visibly in all the seas. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 28 Jul 2025 : 08:48:50
On Juniper's Companion to Venturesome Cookery
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1947353071937327570
Jul 22, 2025
@FRWiki
Realmslore!
The Forgotten Realms Wiki Presents Juniper's Companion to Venturesome Cookery features a foreword from Elminster by setting creator Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) and an article on halflings by fellow luminary Steven E. Schend!
@TheEdVerse
Miss this NOT! Not just essential Realmslore, but recipes that work in the real world and will make your tummy HAPPY! |
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