Candlekeep Forum

Candlekeep Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Realmslore

Chamber of Sages

Ed Greenwood on Twitter

Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!

Screensize:

UserName:

Password:

Format Mode:

Format:

Message:

* HTML is OFF
* Forum Code is ON

Smilies

[quote][i]Originally posted by Wooly Rupert[/i]
[br][b]On the fauna and flora between Ten-Towns and Luskan:[/b]

@TimeBust

Heya, Ed. What kinds of flora and (non-monster) fauna might one encounter travelling the Northern Means and then Ten Trail from Luskan to Ten Towns? If seasonality has bearing on it, the period would be Tarsakh going into Mirtul, though elsewhen'd be interesting, too.

@TheEdVerse

In a typical year, this would be the beginnings of snowmelt, with frequent ground-fogs at dawn and dusk, but with the ground still hard-frozen (little to no mud), below freezing at nights, and with frequent storms that are either sleet or light swirling snow, not rain. All of this dampness keeps the stinging insects down that at other times of year will make this leg of the journey very unpleasant.

The first leg of the journey (along the Northern Means) will be through frozen reeds and grasses, and bushes denuded of all berries and leaves by hungry beasts, many stands of leafless trees (the big �forest giants� all logged off years ago, so mainly old gnarl-trees and saplings), and rolling hills with rock outcrops (festooned here and there with edible lichens; an upcoming AMARUNE�S ALMANAC will have more to say about them and other cold-land plants). Every creature that doesn�t hibernate or go into torpor will be hungry and therefore out on the land in desperation, from rabbits, hares, and voles to deer and the packs of wolves looking to dine on them all. Bears aren�t yet emerging from their dens (they won�t be seen until late Mirtul in these areas). Hunting out of Luskan and Fireshear and the topography will make roth� rare sights, though they may be well back off the road in some of the most open areas; you�d see more of them had you been heading inland from Luskan, east. The birds that relocate south for winter will still be well south of here, so the land will be quiet of birdsong except the night hooting of owls (in between hunts).

Your route avoids muskeg (�saragh� in the Realms, �bogs� to many real-worlders) if you keep to the wagon-road. Live and standing dead timber is available in profusion for cook-fire cutting, though you�ll find that heavy cutting by wayfarers over the years has pushed the treeline back a good twenty paces from the road-ditches�and that wild raspberries and bracken have colonized this cleared area, often growing so thick and tangled that a path must be hewn just to move through. The land is very well-watered, with many tiny rills and brooks running down to fill the ditches (and run along them until the next bridge or culvert in the road lets a larger watercourse through; there tends to be at least a culvert between every rise of land the road curves around, and those rises tend to be at most half a mile apart).

This land has been glaciated, so drumlins (humplike hills, all running in the same general NNE to SSW direction) and eskers (gravel ridges) are everywhere, all overgrown with trees and bushes because the glaciers receded long, long ago.

There are frequent campgrounds (cleared solid-ground areas, with a stream nearby) along the trade-road, and even refuse like broken wagon-wheels strewn along the ditches, but everything will be useless-rotten; anything still usable will have already been salvaged by someone else.

And bands of hobgoblins, orcs, goblins, and gnolls are just as hungry as everyone else at this time of year, and may be bold enough to skulk along game-trails that overlook the wagon-road, waiting to pounce on lone peddlers with pack-mules or other weak-looking travelers (which is why these roads are traveled by almost everyone in caravans, with weapons out and visible, and sentinels are posted during the dark hours, when prudent folk camp just off the road rather than pressing on through the night). If you DO hear bird calls, take them for signals between raiders stealing up on you!

[2nd half of reply to follow tonight, thanks to power cut & Twitter�s tweet-string limits]
#Realmslore

@TheEdVerse

PART TWO OF REPLY:

This holds true for the second leg of the journey, too, via Ten Trail through the mountains. There�s less cover in the rising, rocky country for ambushers, but more access to stones they can fling down at wayfarers, though avalanches grow less and less likely as the years pass, and the loose rock that can readily fall has already done so, leaving the road in an increasingly-wide, relatively safer pass.

The Trail follows deep-cut stream gorges, and there�s always the danger of falling�and even, in spring or when the (very rare) earthquakes hit, of portions of the road breaking off and plunging down into the neighbouring gorge.

Hundelstone (which I gave some details about in tweets a few days back) is the supply center along the way, and armed �guides� (bodyguards) can be hired there to accompany you on your journey, typically for a 5 gp fee plus costs (generous patrons give costs plus a tip, bringing the total to 8 or 10 gp, upon safe arrival in Bryn Shander).

Ice that can be sucked on, or melted in a cauldron over a fire, is plentiful in the mountains, but food is scarce, as anything that can be reached from the road without perilous scrambling has typically already been harvested by this time of year. The Trail is busy, though the depths of winter is its time of lightest use, and veterans avoid �the fog times� as the most dangerous for ambushes and for traveler and beast to slip and fall; a broken leg can mean death in this country.

Stands of trees are almost entirely absent between Hundelstone and the north bank of the Shaengarne, with only stunted lone trees clinging to high ledges here and there. Mountain goats and snowcats inhabit these peaks, but are rarely seen from the Trail. Perytons, eagles, hawks, and vultures are more likely sightings, as none of them move south for winter, and all will be ravenous by this time of year save the vultures, who are usually well-fed by now, some years even approaching fat and lazy.

The saddle or high point on the Trail is Three Daggers Ridge, home to a windswept campground and little else, a dragon skeleton that used to festoon it having being entirely carried away, bone by bone, for sale to alchemists and noble collectors over the years (beware back-alley shops in Bryn Shander offering to sell you the dragon�s skull, fangs, or talons; they are passing off wyvern skulls and fake fangs and talons carved from the long-frozen bones of giant roth�).

No brigand could make a living on the Trail, but there are some who head out from Bryn Shander posing as legitimate travelers, only to turn and attack travelers who reach the Ridge just behind them.

The Trail emerges from the mountains between two peaks known as Hartooth and Marlaxe, after dwarves who perished under the jaws of wolves hereabouts in the late 1200s DR, then switchbacks down a steep slope to the rail-less bridge over the narrow but deep Shaengarne Gorge, known to folk of the Ten Towns as �the Sword Cleft� (to them, it�s where their country ends, and the dangerous and strange �rest of the Realms� begins).

Trees remain rarities from the Cleft on to Bryn Shander, but you�ll see countless drumlins and eskers, cloaked in snow and ice, on all sides. Many rills and brooks can be heard running under this �whitecloak� and the approach of any creature of size can be observed from some distance away�unless ground-fog or a blizzard rolls in, and brings a complete whiteout.

At other times of year, subtract the fog and add a little warmth, a lot of insects, and cover in the form of foliage to that part of your journey that lies south of Hundelstone, and you now know what you�ll see along your way. The gods grant you safe travels.
#Realmslore@TimeBust

@TheEdVerse

[2nd half of reply to follow tonight, thanks to power cut & Twitter�s tweet-string limits]
#Realmslore

@TheEdVerse

PART TWO OF REPLY:

No brigand could make a living on the Trail, but there are some who head out from Bryn Shander posing as legitimate travelers, only to turn and attack travelers who reach the Ridge just behind them.

Check here to include your profile signature.
Check here to subscribe to this topic.

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 - 06 Jan 2025 : 00:18:56 On Ed peeping at Elminster and Mordenkainen https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1876007200340254753 Jan 6, 2025 @FRWiki Elminster (left) and Mordenkainen (right) having snacks in @TheEdVerse 's living room, with Ed hiding inside a suit of armor. #dnd #forgottenrealms #Realmslore #128214;: The Wizards Three (Dragon #185) #127912;: Dan Burr https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/The_Wizards_Three <https://i.redd.it/u5nuh04u7sha1.jpg> @rhylthar Who is the woman in the painting? #129300; @AlbertoMagnus76 @TheEdVerse's alternative peeping spot when he is caught in the suit of armor @TheEdVerse Dang! Another secret sussed out! ;}
questing gm	Posted - 19 Dec 2024 : 01:22:09 On topography of Waterdeep https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1869266052829597741 Dec 18, 2024 @CourierCall @TheEdVerse this might seems a strange question but what is the topography of Waterdeep? Like what streets are actually hills you have to head up? Does the sea ward sit ON the coast or above it? Etc. Thanks! @TheEdVerse See the beautiful foldout Val Valusek color drawing included in the CITY SYSTEM boxed set (Fr Wiki, City System entry, "Full aerial-view poster map." near the bottom of the entry). Sea Ward rise from a beach outside the city walls as one heads east/landward.
questing gm	Posted - 19 Dec 2024 : 01:18:55 On how do people react to friendly monsters https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1869263578475491434 Dec 18, 2024 @CanyonGlac94388 @TheEdVerse In the Realms, how do people react to friendly monsters like, for instance, the famous kobold bard Deekin who lived in Neverwinter? Is he an outlier or is Faer�nian society (in general) welcoming or open to the concept of "good" monsters joining civilization? @TheEdVerse Tolerance varies from place to place and with individuals, but "everybody knows" there are "good" monsters. Of course, the first time Person X sees Monster Y, they're not necessarily sure they're looking at a "good" =safe to be near monster.
questing gm	Posted - 15 Dec 2024 : 09:35:34 On Juniper's Companion to Venturesome Cookery https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1867401117295911333 Dec 13, 2024 @FRWiki Announcing: The Forgotten Realms Wiki Presents Juniper's Companion to Venturesome Cookery, a #DungeonsandDragons saucebook of delectable dishes straight from the #ForgottenRealms, with #cooking tips, culinary spells and magic items, and #Realmslore, coming soon! <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GeHuC0PWUAAlfXu?format=jpg&name=medium> @TheEdVerse This is going to be AWESOME. Not to be missed!!!! Canon, canon, canon...
TBeholder	Posted - 28 Nov 2024 : 07:40:29 quote: Originally posted by sleyvas Loving this response for specifically the "Ao uses propaganda to overblow his supposed own power level", It is not. quote: and thus "the sages that know" may be talking out their hind ends. Always the case, wasn't it? Trusting in Lore (* *), etc.
questing gm	Posted - 28 Nov 2024 : 02:16:20 On taste of griffin milk https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1861843725992828998 Nov 28, 2024 @Th3FoxQu33n What does griffin milk taste like? Is griffin milk a thing? It's vital for my campaign @TheEdVerse Yes, griffin milk is a thing, and it tastes like cream cheese or mild Gouda (stronger flavor as the mother gets older).
questing gm	Posted - 22 Nov 2024 : 01:37:23 On lifespan of a child of a tiefling and an elf https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1859659956112457803 Nov 22, 2024 @Zanaji @TheEdVerse Question for a friend! What is the lifespan of a child of an elf and a tiefling? ln our flailing guesswork, my assumption would be that since a normal human decended tiefling lives a little longer than human, a half elf one might live to 190-200? @TheEdVerse I agree with your guesswork. ;} Barring disease or violent early death, likely around 200 summers.
sleyvas	Posted - 21 Nov 2024 : 15:01:00 quote: Originally posted by questing gm On Ao the god of Kyrnn and Athas https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856010807982567603 Nov 12, 2024 @RossDNear @TheEdVerse Ao is the creator of the multiverse, but I'm confused about his extent of power. is he also the god behind Kryn and Dark sun? It would help me to have a better perspective on multiverses this as I am working on something. @TheEdVerse Ao's not the creator of the multiverse; that's propaganda. Ao was installed as Realms overgod by a greater being after the Realms existed; he answers to a greater being, as seen in the published lore. He's not a creator deity or a guardian for either Athas or Krynn. Loving this response for specifically the "Ao uses propaganda to overblow his supposed own power level", and thus "the sages that know" may be talking out their hind ends.
questing gm	Posted - 16 Nov 2024 : 12:44:34 On peoples of the Realms actually know the events of the Time of Troubles https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1857282102292525373 Nov 15, 2024 @IsaacBooth19 @TheEdVerse , quick question, how much of the events of the Time of Troubles do the peoples of the Realms actually know? Thinking about sending my 5e players back in time to experience the Realms during the time covered by the Grey Box when I started playing. @TheEdVerse They know a lot, but much of it is spun/slanted or falsehoods, thanks to various clergies spotlighting their gods and decrying others, and wild runaway rumors. However, sages trying to be dispassionate can piece together a very good overall picture.
questing gm	Posted - 14 Nov 2024 : 11:37:47 On sonnets in the Faer�n https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856540178346553667 Nov 13, 2024 @AAxelington @TheEdVerse Hi, lm sorry this is a weird question but I wanted to ask about Faer�nian sonnets. In a game I�m playing that�s set in Faer�n, they mention Sonnets and I�m just wondering how they got there? Is that a Faer�nian version of Shakespeare? Are they structurally different? @TheEdVerse Sonnets got to the Realms through the gates (that are now largely "forgotten," hence the name Forgotten Realms. So, yes, they're structurally the same. I think I've written thirty-some sonnets that have been published, down the years.
questing gm	Posted - 12 Nov 2024 : 23:46:49 On Ao the god of Kyrnn and Athas https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856010807982567603 Nov 12, 2024 @RossDNear @TheEdVerse Ao is the creator of the multiverse, but I'm confused about his extent of power. is he also the god behind Kryn and Dark sun? It would help me to have a better perspective on multiverses this as I am working on something. @TheEdVerse Ao's not the creator of the multiverse; that's propaganda. Ao was installed as Realms overgod by a greater being after the Realms existed; he answers to a greater being, as seen in the published lore. He's not a creator deity or a guardian for either Athas or Krynn.
questing gm	Posted - 12 Nov 2024 : 23:40:06 On name of sentient mimic https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856006156008714747 Nov 12, 2024 @Buckbee_W @TheEdVerse Does the sentient Mimic have a name? My adventuring party named it Chester. What episode did you mention it? @TheEdVerse It calls itself �Melorurrumm,� which other mimics understand (to mean �Big One� or �Mess Not With This One� or �Formidable�), as many mimics that can�t speak can hear and understand a lot of Common. When talking with humans, elves, etc. it uses overheard human names it believes will lead them to treat it as harmless or eccentric rather than something to be instantly attacked, so it often calls itself �Humbert� or �Quilberforce� or �Jannatha.�
questing gm	Posted - 12 Nov 2024 : 23:33:21 On solars versus powerful mages https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856004745548153162 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1856539586429607958 Nov 12, 2024 @hgchujn1805 @TheEdVerse Greetings, Ed the Grand Sage! I don't know if others had come up with this before, but� I seem to recall that it was either someone else who definitely had a say on a fraction of matters happening in the Realms (perhaps with doubtful precision without access to those powerful mages and such), or the Grand Mage he himself (and that's you!), said something like "Among all the editions, the stats back in AD&D portray the inhabitants of the Realms to the most accurate extend." That set me off digging into materials concerning AD&D, and indeed, some of the settings were so different from those can be widely seen today. I saw in Dragon issue #91 El's stats for 1E, and in the boxed set lots of other interesting lores. However, what has shocked me about AD&D are some exceedingly powerful monsters back then that seem nigh invincible, so powerful that almost any attempt I can think of to translate these beings into later-edition versions would seem inappropriate as that would undoubtedly lead to a shrink in their capabilities. On top of my head, I recall solars, whose stats in 1E and 2E are, in a word, overpowered. Though I believe that, in the Realms, no one (or nothing) rivals great mages like Elminster in might, but these beings seem to stand a good chance. So my question is� getting rid of the divine aid accessible to some of the powerful mages, in terms of overall power, does a solar have a fighting chance against anyone of the most powerful mages in the Realms (yeah, I know they're good guys�)? Sincerely thanks. @TheEdVerse Certainly they have a chance. Solars are of course the D&D version of one tier of angels. I had no hand at all in designing them (they�re �outer planar,� not �Realms�), but the overpowered aspect is due to differing design philosophies among D&D game editions. In early editions of the game, there were beings who were supposed to be �too powerful� for PCs to defeat; just �out of mortal league.� Later game editions shifted to: gods have stats so your PCs can kill them and take their places. So some of my early monsters (and a lot of deities designed by many folks) are �gross� in power level. That was deliberate: DON�T mess with these beings through combat. Negotiate or die. Whereas later on it became: PCs can do anything. Just as Gary�s original D&D was: your PC is this one class, the class has strengths and grave weaknesses, too, so for success you MUST band together in a party and co-operate. Successive editions have moved towards min/max your character can have it all. @dmarcanist Have you ever collaborated in the creation of character classes? Could there be a class native to the Realms, in addition to the classic ones? @TheEdVerse Sure. Look at old DRAGON Magazines for my incantatrix, smith, beastmaster, etc. classes (billed as NPC classes as there was a rule against adding PC classes to the game without going through the rules committee). Some of these were supposed to be unique to the Realms.
questing gm	Posted - 06 Nov 2024 : 09:25:42 On the 'mess' in the Moonsea https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1853854862846443893 Nov 6, 2024 @YoDanno Behold! When the Realms were born� This beauty is Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) 's original hand-drawn map of the Forgotten Realms, sent to TSR in 1986. #128506;#65039; from @GHC_and_Tacos collection <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GbbRchAboAApWAH?format=jpg&name=900x900> @ectoterrestria1 What's that mess in the Moonsea? @TheEdVerse It's all of the Pirate Isles, individually named. Jeff Grubb added the blue marker to the photocopy I sent, to make it clear these particular lines are coasts, so it becomes a blue blob when seen from afar.
questing gm	Posted - 06 Nov 2024 : 09:15:12 On what a myconid would order in a bar https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1853854248854839528 Nov 6, 2024 @Walkinthewood7 @TheEdVerse What kind of drinks would a myconid consume at a bar if they were inclined to do so? @TheEdVerse "Ironwater" for choice (ground water percolated through iron-rich [orange] soil), and other mineral waters for variety. Tree saps for dessert.
Athreeren	Posted - 02 Nov 2024 : 16:02:51 quote: Originally posted by Delnyn Jander Sunstar schooled Strahd on the finer points of being a vampire. Concluding Jander is an older vampire than Strahd is extremely reasonable. It is said explicitly in the book: "Seven hundred?" He clearly thought Jander was speaking in jest. "Ah�I see. You are counting your years as a living being." "Well, yes," Jander admitted, "but that's only two centuries. I've been a vampire for five hundred years." Strahd was silent. "I cannot even conceive of such a thing," he said at last. "I am barely past my first century. You make me feel like a child again. What a great deal I have to learn from you!" Strahd is the First Vampire of Barovia
questing gm	Posted - 02 Nov 2024 : 15:20:19 On intention to connect Mystara with the Forgotten Realms https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1851778762469208079 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1852027072014668134 Oct 31, 2024 @McCarthy_JT @TheEdVerse I was looking over a copy of the old Principalities of Glantri gazateer earlier this year, and a peculiar idea sort of took up residence in the corners of my mind. Without putting it all out there, is there any chance that there was ever an intention or an idea of connecting Mystara and the Forgotten Realms in any sense through the Principalities? @TheEdVerse Yes. Unofficially, so DMs could run a high-level "across the worlds" campaign (like the later Planescape or the Spelljammer novels that involved travel from TSR world to TSR world), but the product lines remained distinct legally. (Magic wielders controlling portals.) @twitcher1979 Like the World Serpent Inn? Have one of the back rooms open up onto Mystara? Sure it isn't strictly mentioned that there's a portal there, but I've used it before as a connection. Between Mystara and Sigil and Mystara and Toril. @TheEdVerse Indeed. :} There are many "backdoor" connections between worlds. Knowing and controlling them (and fighting those who do) was the original Forgotten Realms high-level campaign.
questing gm	Posted - 02 Nov 2024 : 15:14:45 On githyanki lactation https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1852028746145943872 Nov 1, 2024 @GamingNekopark @TheEdVerse I was not able to find this question on the previous replies, but wanted to ask, given that Githyanki are hatched, do they lactate and what of the taste ? @TheEdVerse They do, the breast milk serving to nourish for rapid growth, building of muscle tissue, and healing of organs and sinews. I am told (no personal experience here) that the taste is akin to rich chicken broth.
questing gm	Posted - 02 Nov 2024 : 15:08:16 On Elminster knowing current lingo https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1852027968056389924 Nov 1, 2024 @JohanCarnisRex Cool, walk up to Elminster and start talking like a zoomer. @KremlinKOA I suspect @theEdVerse would write Elminster as getting that lingo.... Given Elminster does have a portal from Toril to Earth. @TheEdVerse I will just say that if anyone uses the word "drip" around Elminster, to him it refers to leaky human anatomy, and not its current slang usage. ;}
questing gm	Posted - 02 Nov 2024 : 15:04:41 On the world the gray orcs came from https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1852023130895917565 Nov 1, 2024 @dicheeto @TheEdVerse What was the world that the Gray orcs came out of like? was it similar to Toril except with orcs being the dominant species? or was it simply a world with only orcs? @TheEdVerse It was a diverse world (as Toril is), but generally colder and rockier (many mountain chains, verdant life in ravines and long valleys between the rock spurs). The orcs there "outbred" other races/ So, akin to the orc hordes of Toril, they went elsewhere in search of more food (instead of going on being ready food for the many hungry dragons of that world). So the dragons were the dominant species, whereas the orcs were the most numerous.
questing gm	Posted - 27 Oct 2024 : 12:45:05 On describing the position of the Endless Waste https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1850006663148773583 Oct 26, 2024 @GinnyLoveday @TheEdVerse How would you describe the position of the Endless Wastes on the entire continent of Faer�n? @TheEdVerse Hi, Ginny! It depends on the context (i.e. who�s describing). Most far-traveled wayfarers call it �the Bit Between� as it lies between �the known lands of Faer�n and the East (Kara-Tur). Some caravan merchants have been known to call it �a whole lot of nothing.� I call it �the Open Country� or �the Unexplored Country� because it�s never been visited properly in published Realmslore and because it�s a huge expanse of rolling, hilly grasslands.
questing gm	Posted - 27 Oct 2024 : 12:36:07 On the full version of Ever A Hero Be https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1850003788372808127 Oct 26, 2024 @ansavisuals can anyone who is left on the DnD Side of Twitter help me hunt down a full version of Ever A Hero Be from The Forgotten Realms?perhaps @TheEdVerse? @TheEdVerse Sure! Though the sun be hot and bright Every realm gets dark and cold by night Somewhere always knows need for more light To comfort and guide, and perils highlight And that glow comes from people like you and me So we need the right folk, to stand proud and strong To walk the brighter road, be it hard and long To sort what is right from all fair-seeming wrong To swell hearts and minds with a better song And be a hero for you and for me But deep in halls dark and haunted Even heroes bold, high-vaunted Twice and thrice, to end up daunted Think of loved ones deeply wanted And much safer places to be So the life is hard and too often dark And every battle leaves its mark Yet the world sore needs their special spark Their lack is all too clear and stark So we all yearn a hero for to see Wherefore if the chance should come to you To noble cause cleave right true And through all fell foes staunchly hew So we weaker sorts will look to you As you ever a hero be Hero be Hero be May you ever a hero be! (The last three lines are sung slow, loud, and emphatic/triumphal. Ever a Hero Be was a ballad penned by Thalloviir Vaundruth, Bard of Beregost, in 1344 DR.)
Delnyn	Posted - 26 Oct 2024 : 22:56:01 Jander Sunstar schooled Strahd on the finer points of being a vampire. Concluding Jander is an older vampire than Strahd is extremely reasonable.
The Sage	Posted - 24 Oct 2024 : 00:47:11 And besides� 4e�s The Shadowfell pretty much played fast and loose with time and temporalities when it came to the Dread Domains and their Darklords. I don�t think that�s really been tweaked all that much in the 5e RAVENLOFT material� so Strahd could, conceivably, be happening/happened ANY time and any when.
questing gm	Posted - 23 Oct 2024 : 02:07:03 On Strahd as the first vampire https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1848853369143562244 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1849996223337394359 Oct 23, 2024 @halfwhitebigode @TheEdVerse so I was doing a quick search and couldn't find a definitive answer. Is Strahd the first vampire ever? Or were the vampires created by Orcus before him? Ravenloft timeline is weird, because Strahd would be just a couple of centuries old and there are older vampires. @TheEdVerse No, there were and are thousands of vampires who are older than Strahd. @halfwhitebigode So they are indeed the creation of Orcus? @TheEdVerse Orcus is a destroyer and tyrant, not a creator. Believe no Orcus propaganda. Vampires are older than Orcus, too.
questing gm	Posted - 23 Oct 2024 : 01:36:43 On chubby elves https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1848852990435987508 Oct 23, 2024 @Escalith @TheEdVerse Can chubby elves exist if they don't exercise/eat lots of pastries? @TheEdVerse Of course. If they eat or imbibe or get subjected to anything that shifts their metabolic rate, they either get VERY "hyper" or they gain weight (depending on which way the metabolism gets shifted).
questing gm	Posted - 14 Oct 2024 : 04:13:09 On Lords of Waterdeep wearing masks https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1845656864874188995 Oct 14, 2024 @gopro_audio @TheEdVerse can you explain to non-gamers why the Lords of Waterdeep wear masks? @TheEdVerse Sure. They don't want to be recognized in public, and threatened or badgered to vote this way or that. Especially after DEATH MASKS, when Lords were being murdered so they could be replaced by a hand-picked roster of "vote my way" stooges.
questing gm	Posted - 12 Oct 2024 : 09:57:33 On description of Farl https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1844935628800020897 Oct 12, 2024 @galaxyfighter27 @TheEdVerse Hello Ed!! I�ve been infatuated with the forgotten realms since forever, and I�ve just recently started reading the Elminster books. I�ve noticed that Farl doesn�t seem to have a description. Does he have one that you know of? I�d love to draw him, he�s my favorite!! @TheEdVerse Farl was slim, wiry and strong, had very dark brown hair (looked nigh black), brown eyes, and tawny skin; he was Damaran. Thin-line moustache, close-cropped razor-edged "daggerboard" sideburns, and back-of-neck length hair. Handsome, lithe. Fast grin, likeable.
questing gm	Posted - 12 Oct 2024 : 09:46:47 On other families joining the cult of Asmodeus https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1844932441544245362 Oct 12, 2024 @TheAnonDM Good day to Saer @TheEdVerse (Steven E Schend appears to have vanished!). The Cassalanters reinvigorated Asmodeus worship in the early 1490�s. Are there any other families who featured prominently in their new cult? @TheEdVerse Not �prominently,� no. Behind closed doors and undercover, YES, but�they were ambitious wannabe-noble rising wealthy merchant families, like the Dzunborns and Ilindravvars of Sea Ward and the Jarandurs, Maendreths, and Sourntrils of North Ward. Among the ranks of Waterdeep�s nobles, aside from the Cassalanters, worshippers tended to be wastrel �black sheep� uncles and aunts, the disaffected and usually unwed and debauched elder brothers and sisters not in line to head their house. Such individuals included Gastorn Brokengulf (NE hm R3); Szelruena Agundar (CE hf Sor6); Ilmur Artemel (CE hm F4), and Naranta Sultlue (CE hf R7).
questing gm	Posted - 12 Oct 2024 : 09:40:36 On big tobacco growing regions in Faerun https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1844925306307592200 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1845651222033846474 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1845652592505831647 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1845652980793504169 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1845654684045881375 Oct 12, 2024 @Lyrewulf @TheEdVerse Hail and well met! I was very much a pipe tobacco nerd in college, knowing far too much about various varieties and blends. I know tobacco originates across the sea, but are there any big tobacco growing regions in Faerun? I can't imagine wizards without a pipe! @TheEdVerse �Big� is a relative term, but there are several small pipeweed growing areas in Faer�n. You need sandy (or gravel) soil and a temperate climate. Here are a few: coastal southern Ulgarth, Durpar on the west bank of the Heldar, the shores of the Great Sea in Konigheim (the Utter East), near the northern headwaters of the River of Spears in Mulhorand (north of Klondor), just south of the Firward Mountains in Ashanath, and just west of the Tsurlar Forest in the Vast (east of the Stormcrest Trail). There are many more small local �pockets� of pipeweed growing, as it�s now (in 1500 DR) a companion plant grown to protect some food crops. @McCarthy_JT Just to be clear, is Toril pipe weed more like tobacco or more like marijuana? @TheEdVerse Pipeweed grown on Toril is the equivalent of tobacco. Calming and SLIGHTLY deadens nausea and pain. NO hallucinogenic effects unless things have been added to it. So, tobacco, not marijuana. @DecryptedTech Didn't Elminster have a patch he grew near him home in Shadowdale? @TheEdVerse It wasn't Elminster's patch; the local old lady who grew it just let him harvest some, in return for occasional cantrips cast (mending, usually) when she needed them. But yes, there were several private patches around Shadowdale. @FarrarN57854 Ahhh, Konigheim, how many times did I lie & say I went there & got it there, instead of discussing my supply chain. @TheEdVerse Heh. Pipeweed is tobacco, not marijuana. ;} @FarrarN57854 Right, but historically, tobacco sources were a high conflict trade market, close to the big police corruption scandals, which would turn into poisoning farms -so confidential sources laws often started with tobacco industry. @TheEdVerse Pipeweed in the Realms isn't as addictive as real-world tobacco, and many rural folk smoke local leaves and shoots (not pipeweed), so the markets are different in volume and nature (not illicit in the Realms, not "sin" taxed) than in our historical real world. - Edited on 14/10/24 to add new tweets

Candlekeep Forum

Snitz Forums 2000