| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| questing gm |
Posted - 05 Nov 2023 : 14:05:37
Since starting up his own Discord server (https://discord.onl/greenwoods-grotto/), Ed Greenwood has been answering Realms-related questions in the #q4ed channel. Although it's free to join the Discord and view his answers, but I believe it requires a subscription to Ed's Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/EdGreenwood) to be given access to ask him questions there.
So since his answers are free to view by anyone on his Discord and for the benefit of those who are not on Discord, I'm starting and updating my compilation of his answers in this scroll. I'll leave it to the wisdom of moderating scribes if anything should be changed or removed.
I won't be able to put down everything (I already have 300+ answered questions to put down), so consider updates here will be intermittent, and will take a while before it catches up to the latest questions answered. (Or just join the Discord if you want the latest  )
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| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Oct 2025 : 10:32:46
On portals in original Realms
returnip — 10/10/2025 6:18 PM
Hello again Ed. Another question that might be easy to answer:
Did your original realms already feature magical portals, or was it TSR's or someone else's addition?
Ed Greenwood — 12/10/2025 4:10 AM
"My" Realms was riddled with magical gates (portals) years before D&D existed. TSR downplayed them at first, except as a means of "jumping around" in the same continent. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Oct 2025 : 08:55:02
On Elminster taking Ed to Faerun
returnip — 5/10/2025 4:39 AM
Greetings Ed.
So we've heard (read) your stories about Elminster visiting you, but has he ever taken you with him to Faerûn? And if he did, where did you go and what did you experience? It would be interesting to hear such a story. #128578;
Ed Greenwood — 9/10/2025 4:44 AM
Heh. I wrote one, long ago, and TSR swallowed it. I was never paid for it, so I'll see if I can't find it and resurrect it. May take a while! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 05 Oct 2025 : 08:13:40
On the Moon and Stars Tavern in Waymoot
kageura necromancer wizard — 30/9/2025 7:49 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed,
I have a few questions regarding the Moon and Stars Tavern in Waymoot. i have not heard anything about it since volo's guide to cormyr. Could you share who currently runs it in the current Realms year, and whether its ownership, clientele, reputation, or physical layout has changed since Volo’s time? Have there been any notable events, visitors, or connections in recent years?
Ed Greenwood — 3/10/2025 3:32 AM
Reply coming; just tracking down some notes (there was an RPGA adventure set there...). Hang tight. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 18:15:23
On the nicest deities in the Realms
ChiefAffirmationOfficer — 1/10/2025 5:38 AM
@Ed Greenwood Who are the nicest deities in the Realms? Any Canadian-stereotype-level gods out there?
And by "nice," I suppose, I don't necessarily mean precisely "kind."
Ed Greenwood — 2/10/2025 12:27 AM
Eldath, Chauntea, Sharess, Lliira...and most of the halfling deities...just off the top of my head. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 18:11:07
On how do Sorcerer or Warlock level up and accesses new and greater spells
seemingly_clever — 21/6/2025 3:01 AM
To the wise Saer @Ed Greenwood! My fair and lovely ladyfriend has been delving into the Realms via “Baldur’s Gate III” (and we’ve enjoyed watching your playthrough so far), and I wanted to see if you could help me clarify an inquiry of hers.
That is, what does it look like, in-universe, when a Sorcerer or Warlock (particularly the latter) levels up and accesses new and greater spells? She understands that Wizards study, and so, greater experience lets them understand the deeper theories of the Art, but not the newer two spellcasters. Any insight would be much appreciated.
Ed Greenwood — 30/9/2025 10:16 AM
It varies.
To some but not all sorcerers, it’s as if new “windows” or “doors” have appeared in the “walls” of passages their minds traverse while casting spells they already know, revealing that “hey, there’s an entire ROOM here that wasn’t here before!” ... that when they step into it, they can see in the walls of this new room various windows that offer views of magical effects that haven’t seen “the business end of” before (or to put it another way: they may have seen, say, a landslide that’s natural, or caused by a giant creature falling on an unstable steep slope, or caused by a spell cast by someone else—but now, they can see the magical levers that will let them unleash a landslide themselves). So these new windows offer them access to new spells—or ways to “power up” existing magics, so a fireball or lightning bolt gains damage. (Part 2 follows, below...)
(Part 2, as promised...) To other sorcerers, they dream, and in their dreams “see” new magics, and something of how to unleash them, that they remember when they awaken—so if they try what they recall, it works, and for most, attempting these new things they try is the greatest thrill they can feel.
For warlocks, they gain the ability to see and use more of their magics their patrons wield, through the pacts they’ve made with those patrons. They may have seen other beings, perhaps even their patrons, cast specific magics before, but now they suddenly “see” how to cast those magics themselves, whereas before, if they watched another warlock unleash a particular magic and copied them exactly, nothing happened. Now, suddenly, it does.
It’s VERY rare for an otherworldly patron to appear to a warlock in person or in their dreams and say the equivalent of: “Hey, I’ll be needing you to cast THIS soon, and now it’s apparent to me that you can handle such castings, so here you go, this is how it’s done!”...but this HAS happened.
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 1/10/2025 11:24 PM
Speaking of patrons, I wonder if you have any named powerful Efreeti that might serve as good genie patrons? What would such a powerful patron want? It seems that the vast amount of wealth in the City of Brass makes gold and most magic items moot. Anything besides political intrigue and chasing down a macguffin?
Ed Greenwood — 2/10/2025 12:42 AM
Zarramakru is a monstrously-fat, often guffawing, jovial mountain of an efreet who craves loyalty: the diligent and unswerving service of humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings of exceptional skills. He wants the real doers and accomplishers, not the famous and high-ranking, and approves of low-profile “quiet experts.” He’s forever building a network of such folk, so he can use them to nudge world events and attitudes of rulers in small ways, to “steer” the world to be more as he wants it to be. The tasks he sets his Loyal to do can sometimes seem to be empty or trivial whimsies, but they’re always part of a grand tapestry he sees in his mind, of what he wants Toril to be, and become.
Hullaharu is an evil efreet, who seeks to steer the world in accordance with his own vision of what it should be through mortal servants who perform assassinations to “prune the weak and those of improper aims and vision.”
So, a patron only for evil characters, but I mention him here because of his sister, Aunululistar, who opposes him and can herself be a patron for good individuals. A curvaceous efreet who usually veils her lower face and wears a gown of flickering flames (illusory, not real flames, though her skin often gives off flames due to her efreet nature), she maintains a shadowy webwork of mortal spies and agents to try to prevent the assassinations Hullaharu orders. He hates her, and she fondly sneers at him. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 18:03:24
On food culture of giants
Spellslamzer — 20/6/2025 3:37 AM
@Ed Greenwood We’ve heard a lot about the various races and cultures of the Realms, but I’m curious if you could give us any food culture of giants? And how does their food culture vary between giant type and culture? And how can giants produce enough food to sustain themselves?
Ed Greenwood — 30/9/2025 10:05 AM
Giants long ago discovered what deep gnomes and drow did: that certain fungi can be grown in caverns (both in the Underdark and within mountains) that is not just edible, it can be flavoured to be very pleasant by adding various mixes of minerals (literally, adding rocks to the cavern walls and floor the fungi is in contact with), and under the right conditions it grows with astonishing speed: enough to keep up with the input needs of many large and active giant bodies.
Giant cuisine developing from this fungi base became a matter of preparation of the fungi (slicing and frying, rather than boiling, and fermenting in contact with just the right fluid mixtures) to achieve the right textures, so that the fungi on a dining platter resembled in texture the roasted rothé and other herd animals that giants had been used to hunting (or penning in alpine valleys and then rearing as captive food-herds) before discovering how much they could rely on the fungi.
Three sorts of fungi they dine on are most popular with Giants:
Bulavurr is a deep brown, heavy, “meaty” fungi that usually tastes like very well-done roast beef when enjoyed by giants.
Lawthoum is a light yellow-brown to amber, soft fungi that resembles lightly-roasted calf-liver in texture, but has a sharp taste like aged cheeses.
Royslarrve is a blue-purple-gray, very dense (and so, chewy) fungi that tastes like moose or venison or other “gamey” meat like antelope. If poached in wines, it can take on the taste of the wine almost exclusively.
Other fungi can be distilled into wines and stronger liquors, notably alazavvur, which can if imbibed too heavily cause long-lasting blindness in non-dwarves, non-gnomes, and non-giants.
Zonesylvania — 2/10/2025 2:26 AM
Can other races, especially surface-dwelling ones, eat these fungi to similar effect, or would they be inedible/poisonous? I saw that you mentioned other deep-dwelling races also use these as food sources/grow them in certain ways as gourmet comestibles, but a little clarification would be helpful.
Ed Greenwood — 3/10/2025 3:31 AM
Yes, other races can consume these fungi as beneficial edibles, IF properly prepared. They are "acquired tastes" (like highly spiced food is, to a palate accustomed to bland), some individuals are allergic to certain fungi, and note the warning about blindness: distillates of these fungi are particularly dangerous to some races unless diluted sufficiently (just as the real-world drink absinthe is a poison, and must be ingested with care for amounts and strength). So incautious consumption of raw fungi in particular, can end in disaster (agonizing cramps, uncontrolled vomiting and defecation, writhing and near-helplessness, or even long comas), but when properly prepared, the fungi can be a steady "staple" foodstuff.
- Edited on 5/10/2025 to add new replies |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:53:41
On Elminster and bubbles
Cdawg — 19/6/2025 10:11 PM
Hi Ed, in Ruins of Myth Drannor you detail a staff made by Elminster that made bubbles for transporting objects. Curiously Elminster's Effulgent Epuration also makes a ton of bubbles. Does or did Elminster have a thing for bubbles? (Bubble baths?) Coincidence? Was he working out how to do one when he crafted the other?
Ed Greenwood — 30/9/2025 9:45 AM
No, the truth is that when he was raising some of the Seven Sisters and they started experimenting with their own spells (in the same way everyone does, by modifying spells they’ve already learned), Storm and Laeral both hit upon magics that created bubbles and did things with them. Elminster had dabbled in passing with bubbles in his own spellcraft (Azuth did, and El saw and decided to try his hand at it), but seeing Storm and Laeral having so much fun, he delved into it again. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:46:22
On lesser known wines, spirits, or similar alcoholic beverages brewed by elves
Zonesylvania — 26/9/2025 1:59 AM
dear saer @Ed Greenwood , I was wondering if you could give us insight on any lesser known wines, spirits, or similar alcoholic beverages brewed by elves that so far haven't made an appearance in canon. Thankee!
Ed Greenwood — 30/9/2025 9:40 AM
I believe most of the elven “strong drinks” have been at least mentioned, down the five decades and counting of Realmslore, but here’s one we haven’t learned much about: moonwine.
It’s a minty (because, yes, it has mint in it, also the juice of crushed cherries) pale “frosty” green wine that is semi-sweet rather than dry, and gets its name because if touched by moonlight, it glows with exactly the same hue as the moonlight falling on it—a radiance that it retains, if not drunk (the radiance goes away instantly, inside someone) for almost an hour, so it can be used as a faint light source if carried in a clear vessel. Moonwine is attractive to palates that don’t like dry wines, and folk not used to it can all too easily easily overimbibe and become snoring drunk. Moonwine is easy to make, but not swift (it ferments in a month, but should then mature for at least a year, its taste growing better with each passing year until its sixth or seventh year). As a result, many elven households have a lot of it “cellared,” of varying ages. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:42:22
On Elonia's Glamour and Elonia's Bane
Moon On The Horizon Etherdell — 30/9/2025 12:13 AM
Hail and well met, @Ed Greenwood!
A little while ago I asked you on stream if Elonia's Glamour and Elonia's Bane were spells created by Elonia Starre of Elonia's Beauty Shoppe. You answered in the affirmative, along with "it's complicated". However, then your power went out and the stream was reschedueled, and the failed stream was deleted from youtube. As such, I was wondering if I could please get your answer in writing so I can add it to the wiki.
Thank you!
Ed Greenwood — 30/9/2025 9:31 AM
Elonia Roudragon was strikingly beautiful from an early age. She assisted her mother Thauva, who made and sold cosmetics and perfumes, and styled hair, in her shop, Thauva’s Bower in Hillsfar, and so learned and eventually mastered all her mother did. However, Elonia was a romantic who loved to hear minstrel’s tales of romance, and wild adventures, and the dashing adventurers who featured in those stories. So when Thauva, who’d been widowed at a young age thanks to a wyvern attack on a caravan, remarried an illusionist, Galadarr Halanthan, Elonia set about cozening her stepfather into teaching her spells. She proved to have not only the Gift, but a great aptitude for casting illusions and altering them subtly to be very convincing in various situations; “a natural” as Galadarr put it. Thauva feared that her daughter’s beauty would get her into trouble if she went adventuring, and that adventures would likely end up marring her beauty; she managed to frighten Elonia into “staying home” by talking repeatedly about all the scarred adventurers she’d seen. Unfortunately, staying home didn’t mean Elonia was content to work in the Bower—it meant she experimented with illusions whenever her father was busy, and started devising her own variants of “standard” illusion spells.
Spellcrafting, illusions in particular, became her chief love in life, and although she remained a dutiful daughter (and Bower assistant) to Thauva and hid her growing mastery of illusions as much as she could from both parents, she knew what she wanted to do when she was free to do so.
When two Zhentarim came calling to try to threaten Galadarr (who owed them much coin) into working for them, and he refused, they killed him on the spot. Thauva died trying to defend her husband—but a terrified and furious Elonia avenged them both by attacking the Zhents from behind. Taken entirely unawares, they perished, and Elonia fled—but not before seizing a good dagger, both their purses, and a traveling spellbook one of them was carrying. Reading its spells, she saw a way to improve an existing Zhent spell, Glowing Glamer, and the result was Elonia’s Glamer.
She perfected it after taking ship from Scardale to Raven’s Bluff, and experimented until she could reverse it, into what became Elonia’s Bane. She established her Beauty Shoppe because she saw it as the best way to earn a living without attracting too much Zhent attention, though she secretively made coin “on the side” by casting illusions for hire, mainly for fat and homely merchants of the Bluff.
Elonia took ship, and lived the rest of her life, under a new surname, Starre, that she borrowed from Raegul Starre, who was a neighbour her stepfather often drank with—and who was a Giftless importer of textiles and finished garments, and a handsome man Elonia happened to resemble in looks (so she thought someone might think she was kin to him, rather than anything at all to do with a dead man and woman of Hillsfar who somehow slew Zhents in their dying fray. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:35:04
On holy tomes of Lolth
The Book Rodent — 26/9/2025 9:01 AM
Hail @Ed Greenwood! I was wondering, are there any notable holy tomes of Lolth or any particular writings that establish the doctrine of Lolth?
Ed Greenwood — 27/9/2025 3:29 AM
Yes, there’s one recent publication that I may do a video on, eventually: THE BOOK OF THE SPIDER.
In the “good old days,” when Lolth dominated drow communities, and these settlements were exclusively in the Underdark, ruling through fear and domination (via matron mothers and house-versus-house and city-versus-city conflict) seemed sufficient to the Spider Queen.
However, as Eilistraee’s faith and Vhaeraun’s veneration have gathered strength and increasing numbers of drow either dwell on the surface or have increasing contact with the surface world, Lolth has become aware that she needs to do some of what we might call “public relations” or “marketing,” because rival drow deities are seen as VERY favorable alternatives to her fear-sewing, spiteful tyranny.
So she has spoken to several of her senior mortal clergy, in effect dictating the world-view she would like drow to hold and follow, overseen and edited the resulting writings into a slender, coherent time, and caused it to be published in the Common Tongue as well as the language of the drow. Entitled THE BOOK OF THE SPIDER, it is a guide to what Lolth deems “the True Clear” or truth about the multiverse, properly seen, and why she should be revered as guide by all sensible and sane sentient creatures.
Elminster has read it and judged it to be “prettily-worded tripe. When she was Araushnee, she was willful, proud, arrogant, and often mistaken. When she openly turned to evil, she lost her grip on reality, and screeds like these are the result. Taking these words as a guide is like selecting a particularly overblown adventure chapbook as an accurate history of the world.” |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:31:46
On how many rooms does the Crownsilver Castle in Suzail have
Joe Chang — 11/9/2025 11:01 AM
Sirs @Ed Greenwood and @Brian Cortijo, how many rooms does the Crownsilver Castle in Suzail have? And the former Bleth Estate, also in Suzail? I'm trying to get an idea how the top tier nobles live.
Ed Greenwood — 25/9/2025 7:03 AM
So, do closets count as rooms? What about dumbwaiters (elevators)? What about alcoves off large halls that are curtained off and furnished differently? In other words, how you count may result in different room totals, but for both main buildings you mention, we’re talking 220 to 240 room, each. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:27:07
On the floor of the Main Market in Silverymoon
GAMEtatron — 11/9/2025 1:23 PM
Hi again Ed and Steven! A follow-up about Silverymoon I hope you will answer:
Is the Main Market in Silverymoon a sort of hard-packed sand over dirt, or paved with paving stone, and if paving stone, then what sort of stone and paving stone pattern is used? Or something else?
Ed Greenwood — 25/9/2025 7:00 AM
The Main Market is paved with “everstone,” which is a treatment rather than a new type of stone: dwarf-cut medallions of basalt magically fused with particular mosses. So, think of the real-world Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, where geological conditions caused hexagonal columns to form. Now think of a cook slicing carrots or bananas crosswise into little medallions. A layer of basalt hexagons is laid down, interlocking, to form a pavement layer, moss is placed stop it and then magically fused, then it’s walked on and used, and over time, the result is a flexible, slightly spongy “astro-turf”-like terrain underfoot. A lot of Silverymoon that isn’t ramps or steps is surfaced with everstone. A bonus feature: flowers, herbs, and weeds can grow through the moss sponges in the joints between stones, and harvested. Silverymoon looks and feels alive underfoot, not just mud, dung, and stone. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:20:44
On Eilistraee and the Twilight Domain in 5e
Wispy — 14/9/2025 10:48 AM
Hello Mr. @Ed Greenwood,
I have a question regarding Eilistraee in 5th Edition. In 'Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes' (2018), her clerics are listed as having access to the Life, Nature, and Light Domains. However, two years later in 'Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything' (2020), the Twilight Domain was introduced, thematically it seems like a perfect fit for the Dark Maiden, given her overall portfolio and ties to moonlight, dancing beneath the stars, guiding her faithful through the darkness, and offering comfort in the night.
My question is: Can Eilistraee in 5e also draw from the Twilight Domain, even though it wasn’t available when her entry was published in Mordenkainen's?
Thank you for your time, and for continuing to share the Realms with us!
Ed Greenwood — 25/9/2025 6:51 AM
Yes, they can! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 17:10:46
On what gods do fossergrims worship
Naeberos the Wood Elf Mielikkian — 20/9/2025 6:53 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi sir! Just curious, what gods do fossergrims worship? I usually treat them as servants of Eldath because of their solitary nature and their bond with pools and waterfalls, but do they have their own deity in the Feywild?”
Ed Greenwood — 25/9/2025 6:49 AM
Fossergrim “believe in” all the known deities, and worship Eldath, Gwaeron Windstrom, Mielikki, Skerrit, and Tarsellis Meunniduin more than all other deities. Grumbar and Silvanus and (appeasement) Malar and Talos after that.
No, they don’t have their own deity. They do respect all of the gods of the giants, and place value on being “one with the land,” understanding and anticipating weather shifts and how climate and seasons affect everything around them; they strive to “live with it rather than battling against it.”
Certain Fossergrim elders have mastered magic that lets them take a wraithform-like body state and ride the icy waters of waterfalls, springs, streams, and rivers, or “ride the winds” (wraithform-like flying, very similar to the wind walk spell).
This closeness to the land allows some fossergrim to trace underground water (and so know where to dig, to get water, like “dowsing”), and mineral veins in rock, so they can mine effectively.
They murmur prayers to the wind, no matter which deity they’re praying to. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:58:36
On officially-recognized nobility in Netheril
Melody — 24/9/2025 4:37 AM
@Ed Greenwood Did Netheril have any kind of officially-recognized nobility? I know that "High Netheril" and "Low Netheril" existed, and Archmages wielded enormous power, but did nobility itself amongst the Netherese exist? If so, how was it codified or recognized? What were its associated benefits within each rank?
Ed Greenwood — 24/9/2025 10:01 AM
Formally, no. Informally, the most powerful arcanists were top of the heap and tried to stay there by claiming a "birthright" for their children (i.e. they were trying to establish a nobility without formally doing so. What kept this from "working" were all the maverick brilliant arcanists, who attracted personal fans/followers and struck out on their own to found their own new city whenever they had disagreements with anyone higher up...which of course, they inevitably did. Telamont and his ilk certainly thought of themselves as a "rightful" ruling family, but they'd have said it was on merit, not social acceptance.
valethehowl — 24/9/2025 7:13 PM
that's interesting! So Netheril was a magocracy that was ostensibly based on merit but with a sprinkling of nepotism! Though this does make a question arise in my mind: what about those heir of powerful arcanist families who were born Giftless? How were they treated by their families? Were they accepted or shunned?
Ed Greenwood — 25/9/2025 6:34 AM
Most of them were given roles as overseers/envoys to the "Low Netheril" food-growers. And yes, that meant they socially were "dropped down" from acceptance at the top, glam, leaders of cities. However, it meant they were also stepping out of the full influence of any arcanists who were power-mad, magic-mad, eccentric...which was almost all of them, over time, as they progressed in their magical experimentations. It's somewhat akin to: modern real-world guy in 3-piece suit in boardrooms might look down on a skilled plumber or electrician...but those tradesmen may well out-earn the suit, have way less pressure/tension/social backbiting, and be more self-reliant, so when things go wrong, they stand better chances of better outcomes. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:52:47
On uniform of chambermaids and ushers of Cormyr’s royal palace in Suzail
Jeremy Grenemyer — 19/9/2025 12:15 AM
Hi Ed #128075; and good morning from the cloudy valley in Central California.
I was wondering if the various chambermaids and ushers of Cormyr’s royal palace in Suzail have ever had to wear uniforms?
If yes, have the uniforms changed all that much over time? Are there common elements to the uniforms?
This seems like one way a PC could disguise themselves before skulking about the palace. #128521;
Ed Greenwood — 20/9/2025 8:15 AM
The doorwardens ("doorjacks" in daily parlance) are the ushers/guest escorts through the palace, and they wear matching coats, royal blue with purple dragon breast badges and much smaller shoulder "flashes" (same badge, purple dragon on white heater-shield-shaped field), of a cut and style that this modern real-world costume shop called a "Hastings Regency Coat" (photo attached). The maids wear their own practical clothing (knee-pads over leggings under just-above-the-knee skirts) with shoulder-yoke pull-ons of royal blue with the purple dragon shoulder-badges. (Think: two epaulettes with badges, joined by back strips and lace-up across the top-of-the-chest strips, worn atop the maid's skirt.)
<https://cdn.historicalemporium.com/store/media/009007/tn_300_009007.jpg> |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:47:38
On the Find Familiar spell in the Realms
kageura necromancer wizard — 19/9/2025 8:15 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! I had a question about the Find Familiar spell in the Realms. When a wizard summons, say, a cat or owl with this spell, is it always the same creature returning each time it’s summoned, or does the spell create a new familiar each time? In other words, is the familiar an actual creature called to serve, or an entity conjured anew with each casting? The spell description says familiars are spirits that can assume various animal forms—so is it the same spirit re-summoned each time, or a new spirit created with each casting?”
Ed Greenwood — 20/9/2025 8:20 AM
It is the same spirit, wearing the same form if the caster chooses the same form; that's how it becomes "familiar" rather than being a stranger met the first time, every time. Over time, the familiar learns and knows more and more about the summoner's preferences, views, aims and wants, and little secrets (like where a key is hidden, or culinary preferences or allergies). This may be unwritten, but it's definitely the way it's been played at the table by Gary Gygax, Jim Ward, Len Lakofka, et al from the beginning (of my in-person experiences, at least). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:42:10
On Mystra offering Elminster divinity when he dies
Craig (MAL & TIG) — 5/9/2025 4:55 AM
@Ed Greenwood when elminster someday shuffles off his mortal coil, would mystra offer him divinity in some fashion? Or would El prefer to enjoy his afterlife without the hassle?
Ed Greenwood — 11/9/2025 10:44 AM
Elminster will almost certainly become a “voice in the Weave” (ghost-like sentience riding the Weave, and so able to be almost anywhere in Realmspace), though I suspect his whimsical and meddling nature, coupled with his experience in “riding” host bodies, will mean that he will often “pop into a physical body” and inhabit it to do missions for Mystra, as a servitor demigod. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:37:59
On the true appearance of Bane
gdallison — 6/9/2025 2:11 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood
Would you be willing to divulge the true appearance of Bane.
As far as I know he is never seen outside of his armour, according to the sources.
Ed Greenwood — 11/9/2025 10:42 AM
Bane is a human male, tall and black-haired and dark-eyed (the irises are such a dark blue as to seem black). He stands six-foot-four, is broad-shouldered and of burly build, wears his straight black hair pectoral-length, and has handsome, high-cheekboned, “sharp” features. His gaze is direct and commanding, “smoldering” when he wants it to be, and he sneers and gloats from time to time.
I have found this online image (of origins unknown to me, though it may be someone’s attempt to depict Melkor from Tolkien’s tales) that captures his looks perfectly (though he’d never wear that spired crown, opting instead for something more like a heavy but plain black metal circlet).
<https://avatars.mds.yandex.net/get-shedevrum/11477113/img_07114595f6d111eeb708ced9e91a1749/orig> |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:33:45
On roof-tiles color of regular buildings in Silverymoon
GAMEtatron — 8/9/2025 6:15 AM
Hi Ed! I hope you can tell us what color most regular buildings in Silverymoon has for their roof-tiles. A regular orange-red hue like we are used to in our modern world, or a enchanting blue maybe, or dark like the Nether Mountains, a slight purple hue like the Rauvin Mountains, or some combination of different hues from building to building?
Ed Greenwood — 9/9/2025 12:46 PM
Rich royal blue tiles are slightly more numerous than dark green tiles (and many of both, if they're old, sport green tufts of moss). Terra cotta (brown) tiles of the sort common in Mediterranean areas of our real world are the third most prevalent hue...but there are also a lot of cedar shake roofs, many weathered silver. That's for "everyday" buildings; civic buildings and fortified buildings tend to have slate roofs, broken up by cast iron "ice fences" (curlicued vertical projections that break ice buildups into little slices, rather than roof-wide, deadly masses, in winter). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:28:43
On the original Knights of Myth Drannor as descendants of the lost kingdom of Esparin
Joe Chang — 7/9/2025 4:30 PM
Sir @Ed Greenwood the original Knights of Myth Drannor were born and raised in Espar. Are any of them descendants of the lost kingdom of Esparin?
Ed Greenwood — 8/9/2025 3:25 AM
That's NDA'd, I'm afraid. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:18:22
On Ed's rule of thumb for worldbuilding
Black Rabbit — 7/9/2025 11:47 AM
Saer Greenwood, a worldbuilding/writing question (that I hope I can somewhat articulate in understandable way): When writing and/or worldbuilding, do you have a rule of thumb about how many new questions a newly presented “answer” should spawn to balance making a world/story feel alive and evolving without bogging it down with too many outstanding questions so the world/story doesn’t come off as uninteresting chaos? Also, how to not to answer too many questions and completely make a story tied up & “done”, ie most reader still like a sprinkle of mystery/possibilities at the end?
AJA — 7/9/2025 1:00 PM
At least three, apparently (http://candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=0.966666666666667&TOPIC_ID=11313#234414)quote:
In the old days, Jeff Grubb and later Steven Schend and Eric Boyd always religiously followed Ed's guideline: "For every one of my loose ends you tie up or explain, create three new ones and weave them into the Realms, to keep it alive and interesting."
Pity that guideline somehow gotten forgotten or repudiated, since.
Sigh.
love to all,
THO
Ed Greenwood — 8/9/2025 3:25 AM
AJA hath put it right. :} Yes, leave loose ends. A recurring villain, new foes/rivals ere that villain goes down, and so on... |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 16:08:53
On unpublished punctuation marks, math symbols for languages of The Forgotten Realms
GAMEtatron — 5/9/2025 9:43 AM
Hi Ed!
I was wondering, did you ever make punctuation marks, math symbols and so on for Thorass and the other languages of The Forgotten Realms, that were never published?
Ed Greenwood — 5/9/2025 10:56 AM
Yes. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 04 Oct 2025 : 15:54:56
On a half-orc couple give birth to a full-blooded human or orc and names for mixed races
Joe Chang — 2/9/2025 10:55 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood, just to make you're exhausted enough here's another question: could a half-orc couple give birth to a full-blooded (or seemingly full-blooded) human or orc?
Ed Greenwood — 2/9/2025 12:02 PM
Yes, either way. The parents of half-orcs can be half-orcs, or (more rarely) "favor" one lineage or another.
Brian Cortijo — 3/9/2025 5:08 AM
Oh! This raises a question: Are there names, in the various tongues of the Realms, for the various more-common mixtures of heritages one might see?
I don't mean epithets or insulting names, but rather, people-names for groups like half-orcs, half-elves, the children of elf/dwarf pairings, and so forth..
Ed Greenwood — 4/9/2025 5:53 AM
In existing home Realmslore, "soum" are half-elves, "dethaer" are elf-dwarf mixes, and "korv" are half-orcs, in Common. Not pejorative.
Brian Cortijo — 5/9/2025 7:45 AM
Following up further:
Are "soum" (half-elves) "sowm" (like "sour") or "soe-oom" (like "home" or "loam")?
Are "dethaer" with a hard or soft "th"?
Is "korv" a curt, abbreviated syllable, or longer, more sonorous?
Ed Greenwood — 5/9/2025 10:55 AM
Pronunciations: SOO-mm, DEATH-air...and korv is long and drawn out, with the "OR" in the middle emphasized
George Krashos — 5/9/2025 11:20 PM
Hi Ed! Are these words in Common or other tongues?
Ed Greenwood — 6/9/2025 10:36 AM
Hi!!!! Common has adopted them from Elvish, the same way real-world English incorporates words from other tongues constantly. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:35:50
On Ed's best known language from the Realms
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D] — 5/6/2025 2:27 AM
@Ed Greenwood besides common, what language from the realms do you know best? elvish, dwarven, orcish, draconic, undercommon, etc...
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 10:07 AM
Elvish. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:30:41
On Saphia as Tchazzar's daughter
Juniper Churlgo — 2/6/2025 5:07 AM
Hey Ed. There is a bit of lore that i found that you might be able to expand on and clarify. "Saphia was a historic figure and a daughter of a ruler of Cimbar, who was instrumental in making the city the capital of Chessenta. Saphia was the daughter of a ruler of Cimbar who became the target of the mythic hero Cevalias's affections. The hero fell in love with the woman, who quickly learned to manipulate her paramour. With her father's guidance, Saphia made Cevalias into the Champion of Cimbar and a fearsome tool of destruction that took the lives of over a thousand warriors of other Chessentan cities." - the question: does this mean she is Tchazzar's daughter? or some other city ruler? This lore blurb is undated and this is all there is.
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 10:04 AM
No, it means Saphia was Tchazzar in human guise. ;} (After Tchazzar secretly devoured the real Saphia.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:23:07
On Kezef and Fenrir
Spellslamzer [LIPA] — 31/5/2025 6:07 AM
@Ed Greenwood In Norse Mythology, Tyr lost his hand to the wolf Fenrir, while in Realms religion, he is depicted as having lost it to Kezef the Chaos Hound. So, for those on worlds who worship him as part of the norse pantheon, how would Fenrir fit into this? Would they simply tell the original story and if so, would that make it simply incorrect? Or are they somehow both true, with Kezef and Fenrir actually being the same entity? Or would there be some grey area in the theology? Also, would these norse worshippers know that Tyr is now blind, or would they still depict him as having working eyes?
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 10:00 AM
Even in real-world Norse mythology, there’s confusion about the celestial wolves: their true natures and names. Yes, most Norse worshippers would conflate Fenrir and Kezef—and venerate Tyr as a good of war who still has his eyes. Yet even here, there’s confusion. As someone who’s done a lot of research for my Fate Of The Norns game design work, I can confirm that in Old Norse tests, Tyr is either the son of the jötunn Hymir (in Hymiskvida) or the son of the god Odin (in Skaldskaparmal).
So in any given place and time, worshippers could believe or claim almost anything regarding Tyr and the beast that took his hand. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:18:03
On the prophecy of Maglas and the Regalia of Karsus
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D] — 30/5/2025 7:13 AM
@Ed Greenwood in a post of your from a few years ago you responded to someones question regarding other prophecies of maglas from chronicle of years to come and one of the was "Black the crown, black the scepter, black the orb, and black the mask. Yet of these, one black is false, one is blind, one empty, and one the coldest kiss of all." i was reading in world books in dnd video games and found this "There is a Crown, an Orb, and a Sceptre, each night-alive and with its own power and purpose, and these I call the Regalia of Karsus." aside from the mask all of these corrospond to that prophecy you mentioned. is it coincidence or was the prophecy you posted related to the "regalia of karsus"?
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 9:48 AM
Trust not the speaker who called them the Regalia of Karsus. Their grouping as such is the work of sages looking back at them from a later time. (And for that matter, trust very little of what Gale Dekarios says about Mystra or Karsus or the Crown or other magic items or artifacts. The man seizes on small tidbits of information, builds them up into larger ones in his imagination—and then conveniently forgets the parts that he invented, taking it all as truth.) However, there are indeed “a Crown, an Orb, and a Sceptre, each night-alive and with its own power and purpose.” They just have very little to do with Karsus beyond his hunting them, and finding two of them and making use of them. Just as if your friend Manyspells the adventuring wizard found a wand of magic missiles in a dungeon, that doesn’t make it the Manyspells Wand of Magic Missiles unless he augments or alters it: it’s just a wand of magic missiles in the possession of Manyspells.
The prophecy I quoted is something different entirely, so yes, it is just a coincidence. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:13:04
On the golden dragons of Jorunhast's undersea tower
Joe Chang — 28/5/2025 3:18 PM
To @Ed Greenwood, @Brian Cortijo and @Steven E Schend, in the novel Queen of the Depths we got a few glances of the former High Wizard of Cormyr, Jorunhast. His undersea tower in Myth Nantar was described as such: "slender and black, covered with luminous mosaics of purple and golden wyrms winging over a benighted sea". The purple dragon motifs seem like Jorunhast's statement of loyalty to Cormyr. Is there a meaning behind the golden dragons? Does it symbolize the Dahast lineage?
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 9:38 AM
The golden dragons were two things: a symbol of Jorunhast’s hopes for a new direction (and renewal) of the Obarskyr dynasty and the kingdom of Cormyr, AND practical architecture within his tower: each golden dragon in the mosaic was real gold, and into the gold was fused protective enchantments that reflected back certain sorts of spells (so the walls couldn’t be bludgeoned/shattered/blasted or melted). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 29 Aug 2025 : 16:05:02
On the emperor from The Council of Blades
ChiefAffirmationOfficer — 28/5/2025 4:17 AM
@Ed Greenwood PATREON QUESTION: Do you have anything you can say about this "unaging, unliving emperor" mentioned in The Council of Blades?
quote:
Hacked from the heart of an unaging, unliving emperor in decades long gone by, the Sun Gem had come to symbolize the free spirit of the Blade Kingdoms.
...quote:
It was a diamond so large that it would scarcely fit inside a man’s clenched fist—a single flawless crystal of pure, unsullied hue.
(For quick reference, the novel takes place ~1217 DR and the mercenary companies which came to make up the Blade Kingdoms, abandoned their ties to Chondath in ~1017 DR.)
Ed Greenwood [GOO] — 25/8/2025 9:33 AM
Yes. That emperor was a golem-like automaton with a gem for a heart and a different gem (an emerald) for a brain, that was animated from afar by the (evil) elf mages who’d created it. They moved it and spoke through it. It was so lifelike in movements and shape, and their enchantments had preserved the giantkind body parts it was made from so well, that it seemed alive from a distance. The emperor was named Kaerane, and was an attempty by these elf mages to conquer and unify petty holdings in what would become the Blade Kingdoms, welding them into an ever-expanding empire—a plan shattered when their emperor-stooge was literally hacked apart. ( ...and yes, I'll say more in a video/Patreon post, eventually.) |
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