| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Arivia |
Posted - 22 May 2006 : 07:14:29
A group of mine has expressed interest in settling down their roots and creating a stronghold and settlement of their own. I'm now reading through Power of Faerun's appropriate sections, and I have a small list of local candidates --- including the Stonelands. Only problem is, I'm nowhere near familiar with Cormyr or the sources on the process of laying claim to the Stonelands. Help? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 18 Feb 2007 : 18:41:38
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
True. There are a lot of places that most people wouldn't see as ideal places to settle...but they get settled anyway.
Quite true, besides, where would the adventure be if it were easy to settle.  |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 17 Feb 2007 : 21:32:46
True. There are a lot of places that most people wouldn't see as ideal places to settle...but they get settled anyway. |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 17 Feb 2007 : 15:48:50
It may still be in Comyrs best interest to fortify some settlements there to provide a buffer against the Shades among other reasons.
quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
Thanks for all the info on resources in the Stonelands. Though it still sounds like "you have rock, scrub, and boulders. Ad thena few more rocks, just for variety."
Who in their right mind would want to settle in such a place anyway?
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| scererar |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 06:48:07
quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
Thanks for all the info on resources in the Stonelands. Though it still sounds like "you have rock, scrub, and boulders. Ad thena few more rocks, just for variety."
Who in their right mind would want to settle in such a place anyway?
It might just be the Ranger in me, but after reading the Cormyr series, I still see more to the stonelands, then what is presented in Elmister's Ecologies
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| Ardashir |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 00:33:51
Thanks for all the info on resources in the Stonelands. Though it still sounds like "you have rock, scrub, and boulders. Ad thena few more rocks, just for variety."
Who in their right mind would want to settle in such a place anyway? |
| Besshalar |
Posted - 06 Dec 2006 : 16:45:47
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Bakra
Also Volo's Guide to Cormyr.
Which, I am complelled to point out, is available as a free download from the Wizards downloads page. 
I am beginning to think that Woollys a victim of a Geas cast by Alaundo or Ed...  |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 06 Dec 2006 : 15:37:27
Shameless bump #2.  |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 21 Sep 2006 : 00:20:28
quote:
Originally posted by bitter thorn
Are there any hints of exploitable resources in the Stonlands?
Ed replies:
Kaysae, you’re very welcome! I hope you enjoy the Realms (upcoming surprises and all) for years to come!
As for the Stonelands: you’ve quite correctly identified the stemming-the-tide benefits of taming that region for the rulers of Cormyr. And, yes, the offer of a barony IS a ruse to give adventurers something useful to the kingdom (as opposed to mischief intended to line their own purses, that gives the realm headaches) to do, and of course to weaken the everpresent monsters, Zhents, and suchlike so as to minimize their raids down into “Cormyr proper.”
Yes, it IS an impossible task, given the “breakneck” terrain (endless knife-edged stone ridges, with precipitous-sided ravines between them) that prevents the building of roads and large settlements, the making of accurate maps and the movement of armies... and so on.
However, there ARE lots of resources in the Stonelands: veins of metal ores and gems, rare herbs and plants that are either succulently edible or that serve in the making of scents, cosmetics, drugs, and dyes, some timber (hard to get out, yes, but there nonetheless), and of course the aforementioned monster life (edible meats, eggs that have a market value, hides and other “body part” alchemical components, a market for live caged beasts, and so on, again). Not to mention large caches of well-hidden treasure (cut gems, coins, statuettes of ivory, jade, jet, and even solid sapphire, ruby, or emerald, and even magic items) stashed in various spots in the Stonelands (such as cavern strongholds that could serve ably as homes or hideouts for adventuring bands). So it’s territory worth venturing into for some adventurers, but land I’ll never expect to see truly tamed and added to “everyday rural Cormyr.”
So saith Ed, describing our old stomping grounds.
Ed forgot to mention one treasure we Knights found there: an extremely angry drow priestess (of Lolth) who’d been captured by the Zhents, flogged until she was raw, tied spreadeagled between two trees, and left hanging there in the sun, day after day, to die and serve as a warning and way-marker. Some day I’ll tell the tale of our rescue of her (Torm was VERY affectionate to her), and of her response (which led to one of the weirdest adventures we ever had).
We also had some quite different fun, once: we came upon a Zhent messenger resting, with his foulwing steed grounded. We overcame him, questioned him, relieved him of his magic items and coins, tied him into his saddle, enspelled his steed - - and made it fly full-tilt into a rock pinnacle (splat). Torm called it “our improved Zhent warning and way-marker.”
love to all,
THO
P.S. Yes, of course that led to some heated moral debates within the party. Penances were arranged, apologies made, and we agreed never to do such a thing again. (By "the next time," of course, Torm had thought up something far nastier.)
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| Asgetrion |
Posted - 15 Sep 2006 : 01:02:10
quote:
Originally posted by kalin agrivar
I didn't notice it in this thread but the 2E Four from Cormyr has a bit of info too to use...mostly between Arabal and Tilverton
I wish that module had never been made... it has too much content from the author's campaigns which contradicts with many Canon tidbits and lore.  |
| Kalin Agrivar |
Posted - 14 Sep 2006 : 18:36:13
I didn't notice it in this thread but the 2E Four from Cormyr has a bit of info too to use...mostly between Arabal and Tilverton |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 14 Sep 2006 : 18:25:19
Are there any hints of exploitable resources in the Stonlands? |
| scererar |
Posted - 09 Sep 2006 : 15:41:26
quote:
Originally posted by Wandering_mage
In reference to the early dinosaur comments, what do the dinosaurs eat if the stonelands are so.... bare? I mean elephants need a lot to eat and by the beginning remarks detailing the stonelands environment it would sound like a right good starvation fest for a dino.  That is just my take on things. 
Take a look at elminsters ecologies that covers the stonelands. Additionally, after reading the Cormyr trilogy, I no longer view the stonlands as desolate, maybe in places, but not everywhere. I do still see it as very wild, dangerous, and would be difficult to settle. |
| Wandering_mage |
Posted - 09 Sep 2006 : 12:43:06
In reference to the early dinosaur comments, what do the dinosaurs eat if the stonelands are so.... bare? I mean elephants need a lot to eat and by the beginning remarks detailing the stonelands environment it would sound like a right good starvation fest for a dino. That is just my take on things. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 04 Sep 2006 : 01:40:32
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
Check out Elminsters ecologies also.
'Tis in the "Stonelands and Goblin Marches" of the Elminster's Ecologies set.
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| Kuje |
Posted - 03 Sep 2006 : 17:56:53
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
Cormyr has offered land holdings and I believe titles for anyone who clears, holds and settles areas of the Stonelends. From reading the Cormyr Trilogy, the Stonelands appears more viable and sustainable than I originally thought. Check out Elminsters ecologies also.
And Ed has just commented, last week or the week before, about the royals giving those titles. :) Basically, it's only to get people there to try to clear them out but it's kind of a BS scheme by the royals to keep track of adventurers and to try to clear that part of Cormyr. :) |
| scererar |
Posted - 03 Sep 2006 : 17:52:40
Cormyr has offered land holdings and I believe titles for anyone who clears, holds and settles areas of the Stonelends. From reading the Cormyr Trilogy, the Stonelands appears more viable and sustainable than I originally thought. Check out Elminsters ecologies also. |
| bitter thorn |
Posted - 03 Sep 2006 : 12:21:14
Are there any suggestions on how to make a fort or settlement economically viabe or somewhat self sustaing in the Stonelands? Are there any expliotable natural resources such as rare minerals etc? In our game an abitious matrial commoner has his eye on the Title, but I'm juggling different plot tools for making such an endevor worth the effort from a political and economic standpoint especially considering the current state of affairs in Cormyr and the looming threat of the Shades to such a settlement.Pehaps a concentration of a mineral that disrupts magic would be an option. Is there such a material in canon? It would be highly sought after by Cormyr given the likelyhood of hostilities with the shadowvar.
Are there any known dead magic zones in the Stonelands?
Also any maps, current events, and political info relavent to the Stonelands would be a boon also.
Thanks! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Jul 2006 : 07:19:46
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
It occurs to me, now that I think about it, that I'm not recalling any other references to dinosaurs living there... I decided to take the question to Ed.
And, though I'd forgotten about this thread, Ed came thru with an answer!
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi again, fellow scribes. Ed felt he’d been neglecting Wooly Rupert, and so has tackled Wooly’s query: “A discussion in another thread has mentioned something from one of the Elminster's Ecologies books: the existence of dinosaurs in the Stonelands. To some of us, this seems to be an odd place to drop dinosaurs... And, now that I think about it, I'm not recalling any other references to dinosaurs being there. So, in your Realms, are there dinosaurs in the Stonelands? And either way, is there anything you could add about their official presence there?”
Ed replies:
The Sage is quite right to remind us of my Candle04Page38 reply: there once were many dinosaurs in the Realms, but the dragons flourished by dining on almost all of them, leaving only handfuls behind (usually in jungles or other “good cover from flying wyrms” terrain).
The Stonelands are just such terrain, with their knife-edged ridges, deep ravines, caverns and overhangs, and exposed horns and faces of stone. So, yes, there are a few dinosaurs lurking deep in the Stonelands. Almost all are ostrich-sized or smaller velociraptors (bird-like, darting and hopping predators, of the sort featured so prominently in JURASSIC PARK: see fleshraker and swindlesplitter under “Dinosaur” in the MM3), though there are a few deinonychus (MM). They hibernate in deep, “warmrock” rifts (near earth nodes and volcanic flows) and hunt in cover, never leaving the Stonelands or racing along heights of land (for fear of being devoured by dragons; the Zhent foulwings, dark horrors, and other aerial steeds remind the dim-witted dinosaurs of the “death from above” that they now instinctively fear).
So saith Ed, who will recall Torm trying to interest Jhessail in a skewer of dinosaur steaks that she said VERY rude things about. Even Rathan, with the aid of much wine, downed them only with difficulty, finding them “tough, and with a curious dead-mushrooms taste.”
love to all,
THO
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| BlackAce |
Posted - 25 May 2006 : 10:25:54
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
60% are considered herbivorous to include; anchisaurus, camptosaurus, trachodons, triceratops, stegosaurus, and ankylosaurus.
The 40% that are carnivorous include; allosaurus, compsognathus, and deinonychus.
Compies! Yes I can imagine those. In fact they're what sprang to my mind when martyn mentioned dinos.
Chicken-sized, lizard-like scavengers I can buy, but Stegs and Allosaurs? err no.
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| martynq |
Posted - 24 May 2006 : 10:17:28
quote:
I still think I will keep any dinosaurs that may appear in "my" campaigns, contained within Chult and other such "remote" areas of the realms.
Although personally I think of the Stonelands as a remote area. Otherwise, why would the Zhentarim try to find a route through Anauroch if it were not the case that the Stonelands where pretty impenetrable.
Martyn |
| scererar |
Posted - 24 May 2006 : 03:27:31
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
It occurs to me, now that I think about it, that I'm not recalling any other references to dinosaurs living there... I decided to take the question to Ed.
that would be great, and looking at the credits within Elminster's Ecologies, Ed is nowhere to be found. Let us know what you find Wooly. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 24 May 2006 : 03:17:22
It occurs to me, now that I think about it, that I'm not recalling any other references to dinosaurs living there... I decided to take the question to Ed. |
| scererar |
Posted - 24 May 2006 : 03:02:06
If we are looking at what is canon for dinosuar types encountered within the Stonelands, page 25 of the explore's manual of Elminster's ecologies states the following.
60% are considered herbivorous to include; anchisaurus, camptosaurus, trachodons, triceratops, stegosaurus, and ankylosaurus.
The 40% that are carnivorous include; allosaurus, compsognathus, and deinonychus.
Now what those all are and what their little lives would entail, is beyond me, but there it is.
I still think I will keep any dinosaurs that may appear in "my" campaigns, contained within Chult and other such "remote" areas of the realms. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 22:25:06
It's definately not T-rex or apatasaurous country... (though the image of a bronto rolling helplessly down one of the break-neck valleys is a funny one) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 14:05:52
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Dinosaur-derivatives... or distant relation reptiles perhaps... but not the type of dinosaurs made popular in regions like Chult for example. I can't really see how they could exist in the Stonelands -- what with it being relatively close to civilised lands.
Though, the Stormhorns, as they are, likely act as a partial natural barrier for most flightless dinosaur species moving down into Cormyr proper...
I think that smaller herbivores and scavengers like compies would work... |
| The Sage |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 13:01:51
Dinosaur-derivatives... or distant relation reptiles perhaps... but not the type of dinosaurs made popular in regions like Chult for example. I can't really see how they could exist in the Stonelands -- what with it being relatively close to civilised lands.
Though, the Stormhorns, as they are, likely act as a partial natural barrier for most flightless dinosaur species moving down into Cormyr proper...
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| warlockco |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 07:40:38
quote:
Originally posted by Arivia
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I can readily accept dinosaurs in a fantasy setting -- but not in a location like the Stonelands. It's not isolated enough. Still, it is in canon... Maybe there's a large portal connecting the Stonelands to Chult, or a couple of deepspawn that have been fed dinosaurs for some reason...
I'm likely going to just ignore it. It may be in canon, but it's very stylistically incongruent for that area, I feel.
Just depends on which Dinosaurs you use.
I could see Protosaurs in the area... |
| Arivia |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 06:24:22
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I can readily accept dinosaurs in a fantasy setting -- but not in a location like the Stonelands. It's not isolated enough. Still, it is in canon... Maybe there's a large portal connecting the Stonelands to Chult, or a couple of deepspawn that have been fed dinosaurs for some reason...
I'm likely going to just ignore it. It may be in canon, but it's very stylistically incongruent for that area, I feel. |
| scererar |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 06:02:10
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I can readily accept dinosaurs in a fantasy setting -- but not in a location like the Stonelands. It's not isolated enough. Still, it is in canon... Maybe there's a large portal connecting the Stonelands to Chult, or a couple of deepspawn that have been fed dinosaurs for some reason...
Oh, I agree, just not in the stonelands. Additionally, I like the portal theory, I have some ideas brewing as I type |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 03:44:28
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
it is indeed referenced in Elminster's ecologies, under the booklet covering the stonelands and the goblin marches. I would have never thought of placing a dinosaur in this area, and frankly will keep them to other locations in "my" realms.
The map on page 2 shows a loose territory of sorts, where it shows disosaurs inhabiting an area fairly close to the moonsea ride, just north and west of gnoll pass. The explorer's manual states that 60% of dinosaurs encountered are herbivorous while the other 40% are carnivorous.
Hmmm, still seems a little far fetched to me, even for a fantasy setting.
I can readily accept dinosaurs in a fantasy setting -- but not in a location like the Stonelands. It's not isolated enough. Still, it is in canon... Maybe there's a large portal connecting the Stonelands to Chult, or a couple of deepspawn that have been fed dinosaurs for some reason... |
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