| 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 - 20 May 2024 : 15:54:57
On the history of the Blackstaff
mark630 — 02/28/2024 8:51 AM
Hey, can we possibly get a video on the history of the Blackstaff (both the personage and the magic item)? I just watched the water deep video and it made me interested in some of the gaps in my information
Ed Greenwood — 02/29/2024 1:34 AM
It's on the list!
George Krashos — 02/28/2024 3:54 PM
He’d need about a dozen YouTube clips.
Ed Greenwood — 02/29/2024 1:34 AM
True! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 15:25:12
On common expletives heard in Cormyr or the Sword Coast
Chris L — 03/12/2024 8:19 AM
@Ed Greenwood We need a list of common expletives! my players figured out that saying "Jesus Christ!" with intensity wouldn't mean a thing in the FR! What are some common expletives heard in Cormyr or the Sword Coast? I suggested "Ilmater's balls!" as one but then again, I might have stolen it from BG3...
Ed Greenwood — 03/13/2024 1:00 AM
Check Candlekeep (the site, online, Questions For Ed Greenwood) and "Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms" (the hardcover sourcebook) for literally pages of them. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 15:22:08
On dumplings
Juniper Churlgo — 03/06/2024 2:57 AM
a quick food Q for Ed. Seeing how im making dumplings this weekend and how very few types of dumplings actually appeared in print, what are some regional varieties? There are kozakuran, amn's boar dumplings, cormyr's sweet, and occasional pork, as well as some dough dumplings. What else? in the real world, there are hundreds of types from all over the world, i'm sure FR is the same.
Ed Greenwood — 03/06/2024 3:23 AM
Indeed.
In the Tashalar and all around the Shining Sea coasts, there are water-boiled dumplings (like real world shui jiao), usually filled with leek-dominated vegetable and herb mixes (dill, peas, waterchestnuts and other edible shoots), but also with lamb and braised goat, ox-meat (they are THE best method of eating “old ox,” the toughest meat, after it’s been marinated in wine vinegar for a tenday or a month), and rothé.
Pan-fried dough dumplings (like guo tie or “pot stickers”) in the Realms are eaten everywhere the caravan roads run, having spread from Murghôm and Durpar centuries ago, and can now be found in all Sword Coast and Sea of Fallen Stars port eateries (usually cheap/lower class, sailors’ and laborers’). They tend to be filled with ground meat (all the meat sources I just listed, above) mixed with diced pickled vegetables, and cooked in a rich gravy that’s drained off (for other cooking purposes) but of course leaves its flavor behind).
What the real world calls “wonton dumplings” are typically found up and down the Sword Coast and all along the Great Sea coasts, and are filled with fried and sauce-seasoned diced shrimp, prawns, scallops, and clams. Note: real world “heavy-salt” sauces like soy, and fermented hot sauces like Thai fish sauces, aren’t popular in the Realms and are found only rarely (as this or that cook experiments). The Realms alternative is to fry fillings with various spices and pork belly. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 15:18:21
On an alliance between Eilistraee and Vhaeraun posing a threat for Lolth
Ninjanurse29 — 03/01/2024 1:11 AM
@Ed Greenwood In current DR would an alliance between Eilistraee and Vhaeraun pose a legitimate threat for Lolth?
Ed Greenwood — 03/01/2024 1:24 AM
So it's another "it depends" answer from me. For drow on the surface, very much yes. For drow of the Upperdark who trade with the surface regularly, yes. For some Lolth-venerating drow cities, isolated from drow who openly worship anyone other than the Queen of Spiders, not at all. And so on. But if you're really asking if such an alliance affects Lolth's personal power and reach worldwide, yes. Lolth, like Shar, has had great luck in her divine career despite loss and setback after loss and setback, but she's made many divine and mortal foes and nigh no friends, so she's outnumbered and overextended (ripe for an overreach fall). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 15:15:47
On Azoun IV's adventuring party The King's Men
Joe Chang — 02/28/2024 3:02 PM
Another video suggestion: how about Azoun IV's adventuring party The King's Men? I mean, their story must have been EPIC for Azoun to have leveled to 20 as a fighter.
Ed Greenwood — 02/29/2024 1:35 AM
I have to dance around some NDAs, but that's already on the list. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 15:12:54
On Ed's favorite drow
Ninjanurse29 — 02/28/2024 11:51 PM
@Ed Greenwood who is your favorite drow character you created and why?
Ed Greenwood — 02/29/2024 1:34 AM
Eilistraee, because I got to step aside from Lolth's attitudes. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 10:13:47
On Szithlin
Melody — 02/23/2024 7:47 AM
@Ed Greenwood Is there anything you could tell us about the drow city of Szithlin? It's one in a list of drow cities mentioned in the 2E book Drow of the Underdark but I haven't been able to find anything else about it!
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2024 1:44 PM
Sure.
Szithlin was a drow city ruled by rival noble houses who were a lot friendlier to each other than the vicious infighting we see in, say, Menzoberranzan. They worshipped ancestors (the individuals who’d led them in their earliest days in the Underdark), not Lolth, and Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, granted their clerics spells in the names of the Venerated, but the worship remained ancestor cults and not “revering Vhaeraun and/or Eilistraee.”
Szithlin was dedicated to progress in drow living standards by increasing mastery of alchemy, magic, farming of Underdark fungi for food and medicine, and hunting and capturing Underdark “monsters” for study and exploitation (both using body parts in alchemy and medicine, and as food).
It was this last field of endeavour that eventually led to Szithlin’s doom, and made it the abandoned city/many-monsters lair it is today: monsters they captured that were “lures” sent to them by aboleths erupted and overwhelmed the folk of Szithlin, who frantically fled (literally dropping everything and running, with no time for fighting or salvage) or perished. This befell in 1385 DR (yes, the same time as the Spellplague).
The aboleths were annoyed by the presence and increasingly wide-ranging explorative forays of Szithlar drow seeking Underdark flora and fauna—and occasionally harvesting or blundering into flora and fauna that were aboleth experiments, and wanted Szithlin eradicated. They succeeded.
What’s left of Szithlin may be found by going deep, below even ...the Lowerdark city colloquially known as Earth’s End. Locate Earth’s End on this map: https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/underdark/geography.shtml …and imagine it as the center of a clock dial. Head away from Earth’s End along the 8 o’clock line.
Find the tag (label of written words) that reads “The Darkgulf” on the same map, not far away from Earth’s End, and draw a horizontal, east-west (3 o’clock to 9 o’clock) line from the “T” of “The” due west until it intersects the diagonal line from Earth’s End. Where they meet is where abandoned Szithlin lies, now a labyrinth of chambers and passages inhabited by all manner of Underdark monsters, but dominated by fungi colonies that daze, feed on, paralyze, or otherwise entrap those creatures.
The descendants of the few Szithlin survivors mostly made their ways to the surface, and dwelt in the most mountainous areas of the Tashtan Coast, SW of Procalith, and in the Wyvernwatch Mountains west of the Forest of Amtar (and east of the Bandit Wastes). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 07:39:22
On taste of drow breastmilk
Goose Bolton — 02/24/2024 9:39 AM
Hello @Ed Greenwood big fan! I have specific lore I seek to ask you. It's very important to me on a personal level that this is answered for me: Since elven breastmilk tastes minty, does drow breastmilk also taste minty? If not, what would it taste like? Thank you for your consideration on my lore questions
Ed Greenwood — 02/24/2024 2:05 PM
Drow breastmilk, thanks to those who produce it having centuries of exposure to cave fungi and molds and the faezress, tastes a little more mushroomy than minty elven breastmilk. To any humans who sample it, the result is a little more chalky, and ever so slightly tart/hot (the same way those tiny cinammon heart Valentine's Day hard candies have heat), but to elves who sample drow breast milk, it tastes sweeter than it seems to humans (and far less minty than their own breast milk). Interestingly, to dwarves, both elven and drow breast milk taste a lot like (original, unsweetened) licorice. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 07:36:11
On title shift of Open Lord of Waterdeep according to holder's gender
Kannonball — 02/20/2024 10:28 AM
@Ed Greenwood a quick question
When giving formal address the Open Lord of Waterdeep, does the title shift according to holder's gender (i.e. would Laeral be addessed "Lord Silverhand" or "Lady Silverhand")?
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2024 10:42 AM
She is "Lady Lord of Waterdeep" in verbal address. Formally, written, it would be:
To Laeral Silverhand, Open Lord of Waterdeep, these: ...and then separated below,: From XXXX YYYY, title if any...[and then the text of the letter, ending with something like "May all the gods smile upon thee, yours under their watchful eyes" followed by [[monogram, signature, or sigil]] and then the name of the sender. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 07:31:32
On singularly unique instruments that were never reproduced
Melody — 02/20/2024 5:49 AM
@Ed Greenwood Ed! I'd love to know more about some of the instruments of the Realms. Have there ever been any singularly unique instruments that were never reproduced? Any particularly intriguing ones not yet covered in lore?
Eric L. Boyd — 02/20/2024 5:54 AM
Not Ed, but I assume you mean in addition to the article in Dragon #123?
Melody — 02/20/2024 5:55 AM
Yes! Anything new beyond that. I'm always intrigued by new possibilities for instruments, the stories behind them, the plot hooks, etc! I use them in my campaigns and love knowing more.
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2024 7:17 AM
Well, there is the roster (a sidebar) in the 2e Realms boxed set, and I've scattered some lore over the years at Candlekeep. And then there are the more mundane everyday ones, like the "janglepoles" used in many villages (festivals) and by clergy: wooden staff to which are affixed, via cords, old scraps of (usually rusty and bent) metal, so that when the staff is thumped on the ground (keeping a beat in music), all of these metal pieces clash and make a jangling sound, as if windchimes were acting as percussion in instrumental music. And there are also (everyday mundane) various curved animal horns that get their points cut off and sung through (humming but keeping tunes), and tend to get called "garands." As for unique instruments, there are enchanted handchimes that do things (akin to a Chime of Opening) but my notes for those are out in a container in the snowy forest right now. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 05:54:49
On proper term of venery for beholders
Eric L. Boyd — 02/20/2024 12:31 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood. Critical question here, as I can't seem to find it in any of the sources I scoured (including the unpublished ones): What is the proper term of venery for beholders?
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2024 4:28 AM
It's "a gaze of beholders," and 'always has been,' as in: lore from one of my 1986 Realms turnovers. But I LIKE "glare of." |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 05:51:24
On current gods of the Realms that were once player characters in D&D games
DMHWolf — 02/19/2024 1:26 PM
Hola @Ed Greenwood . Hope all's well. Quick question: how many of the current gods of the realms were once player characters in D&D games? If any, are you able to say which ones and who played them? I'm raising a tankard to your health while I ponder the faerunian gods... #128578;
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2024 4:23 AM
Zero. No player characters have ascended. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 03:53:53
On marking the start of season in the Dales/Cormyr
rweston_DnD — 02/19/2024 3:49 AM
Hi Ed, hope you are doing well! #128578;
I was wondering when folks in the reals mark the start of season in the Dales/Cormyr. The Greengrass festival has been noted as the start of Spring, with Midsummer 3 month later... are Spring/fall short seasons, or is "Midsummer" the first day of summer, or are the festivals disconnected from the seasons?
Thanks!
Ed Greenwood — 02/19/2024 6:18 AM
Spring and fall are indeed short seasons in most of Faerûn. In the Dales, Flamerule and Elesias are the hot heart of summer. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 03:47:55
On Realms terms for “snacks and appetizers” and for “desserts”
Juniper Churlgo — 02/19/2024 3:27 AM
I think I’ll need to add categories to my recipes. Ed, what are realms terms for “snacks and appetizers” and for “desserts?”
Ed Greenwood — 02/19/2024 3:33 AM
There are several, but "smallbites" is a widespread one for appetitzers, and "last kiss" is the haughty-menu term for desserts. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 May 2024 : 03:37:02
On variety of small settlements, buildings and villages that are connected economically to the City of Splendors
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 02/17/2024 5:07 AM
@Ed Greenwood as I understand it there's a variety of small settlements, buildings and villages that surround the area of Waterdeep that are connected economically to the City of Splendors. Would you happen to have any info on these various hamlets and their inhabitants? Or if nothing specific just generally how should we think about these areas?
Ed Greenwood — 02/17/2024 8:36 AM
See my "Environs of Waterdeep" DRAGON article and the later Eric Boyd-penned "Environs of Waterdeep" web enhancement (that went with the 3e City of Splendors sourcebook). The latter is easily found online, the former with a few steps of digging.
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 02/20/2024 4:03 AM
Thank you Ed! These are very helpful resources that flesh out a lot of what I'm looking for. It is quite helpful to think about the Dessarin Valley as connected to Waterdeep agriculturally/economically. If I was a citizen of the valley but not living in Waterdeep proper and were traveling to say Baldur's Gate...how far north could I get away with saying I'm "from Waterdeep" before Waterdhavians would take issue? Akin to the I'm "from SF Bay" when really I'm from Modesto as opposed to Fremont (yeah still technically SF bay but not what people generally think of SF Bay when you SF). Rassalanter, Amphail, Red Larch?
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2024 4:25 AM
The answer to that is: it depends. On the Waterdhavian, in this case. Some don't even consider Field Ward to be "Waterdeep proper," and many distinguish between living within the walls and living in the environs. Most folk of Red Larch would answer, "I'm from Red Larch. Within sight of the walls of Waterdeep" (despite that NOT being literally true). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 19 May 2024 : 05:04:34
On psychedelics in the Realms
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 02/09/2024 1:03 AM
@Ed Greenwood could you share any information about mind altering substances in the vein of psychedelics in the realms? Particularly plant medicines that might be available in Waterdeep (illicit or otherwise).
Ed Greenwood — 02/09/2024 3:39 AM
This may take a while, as there are NDAs (yes, this was a TSR-suppressed topic). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 19 May 2024 : 04:59:28
On appropriate terms of venery for silver dragons and bronze dragons
Eric L. Boyd — 02/06/2024 1:51 AM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! In some long-buried lore, you worked out terms of venery for 8 of the 10 common species of dragons. What are the appropriate terms of venery for silver dragons and bronze dragons? Any other terms of venery you care to share for other species of dragons (brown? deep? fang? song? steel? rattelyr?)
Ed Greenwood — 02/06/2024 9:05 AM
A shield of silver dragons
A curiosity of bronze dragons
A sandburst of brown dragons
A lurk of deep dragons
A fury of fang dragons
A harmony of song dragons
A spark of steel dragons
A liveliness of rattelyr dragons |
| questing gm |
Posted - 19 May 2024 : 04:34:09
On three questions about bombards
Sundered_Ant — 02/04/2024 12:20 AM
Hey there Ed, long time editor on the Forgotten Realms Wiki here. During the last two to three years I wrote the wiki's articles on the Church of Gond, gunpowder, firearms, including individual articles for all of the firearms presented in 2nd edition's Forgotten Realms Adventures, and the "gunpowder wand" that was only mentioned in Volo's Guide to Cormyr (to which I once asked you about on Twitter).
As we speak, I am in the process of writing a much needed article on "bombards" and have three questions regarding them. Technically I could ask more, but these seem the most pressing.
#1. The book The Code of the Harpers states that light bombards are also known as "firesticks", so what is the Realmsian term for heavy bombards?
#2. We know the exact (recorded) year that the Lantanna first used bombards, 1246 DR, but what year did the Red Wizards develop their Thayan/Thayvian Bombard? The accompanying prose in Grand History of the Realms has Elminster and Storm Silverhand both concerned by their development, which leads me to believe the Red Wizards developed theirs later.
#3. If they in fact were developed later, were the Thayan bombards inspired by the Lantanna developments or were their inspirations more from the stars above (spelljammers).
Oh and I guess a 4th question, if you choose not to answer the 3rd one, as it really is the least important of the three -
When did the Thayans move on from their simple "huge hollow stone balls filled with [fire]-fluid", as described in the first Campaign Setting box-set and later almost verbatim in Pirates of the Fallen Stars, and onto the wide variety of glass bombs described in Unapproachable East that mimic various spell effects? That's a period of 1359 DR and 1372 DR between the two books.
Ed Greenwood — 02/06/2024 8:57 AM
1. Heavy bombards are colloquially “hurlpits,” because they hurl things (often rounded stones) that create pits when they (crushingly) land. A little more formally, they are “farhurlers.”
2. First experiments were in 1312 DR and were disastrous (explosions that made shredded bits of Red Wizards fly far), and first successful ones were in 1314 DR. First “in anger” uses were in 1316 DR, against targets that the Red Wizards had surrounded and were confident they could exterminate so no word could get out of their “new secret.” The same “there must be NO survivors of any deployment” thinking kept their battlefield uses sparse until the 1360s DR.
3. Thayan bombards were inspired by Thayan spies seeing bombards of Lantan in action (far from Thay), and reporting back what they did to Red Wizards who determined that Thay must command such armaments.
4. That would be two decades of experiments (on inanimate internal Thayan targets and later on targets, such as brigands, along Thay’s border with Mulhorand) beginning in 1349 DR that culminated in the closest thing to assembly-line manufacture that Thay could manage (on the plateau of Thaymount, where outlanders could not reach) of the wide variety of enchanted-effects glass projectiles. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 19 May 2024 : 03:33:46
On lore about these three individuals
Juniper Churlgo — 02/02/2024 9:32 PM
Hi Ed. I have some old lore-less cards from Spellfire. Do you have some lore about these three handsome named individuals?
Arden Glimrock
Malleyahl
Borin Moradinson
Ed Greenwood — 02/03/2024 9:07 AM
Arden Glimrock: This was the “professional name” (pseudonym, as a mercenary for hire) for a berserker war-leader dwarf by the name of Thult Oldstone, who flourished in the 1200s and 1300s DR in the Underdark beneath Sembia, the Dragonreach, and the Vast. The “Oldstones” were a traveling band of outcast dwarves from many clans who won acceptance by other dwarves by showing up when dwarves were beset by drow attacks, and attacking the drow savagely, striking tirelessly and using explosives of their own making to collapse caverns atop any drow whose magic they couldn’t handle. Thult was their spearhead, the dwarf who led every charge, and his long career is a testament to his toughness, his swift healing, and his skill in battle. He defied the odds for two centuries, but then vanished in 1377 DR, fate unknown. The Oldstones dwindled, with battle-losses outstripping new outcasts joining them for the second half of the 1300s DR, and were heard of no more after 1420 DR.
Malleyahl: I have no lore on her (not my creation), so I’ll defer to Eric.
Ed Greenwood — 02/03/2024 9:07 AM
Borin Moradinson: Borin is not a son (or any sort of direct descendant) of Moradin, but believes he is, because of what he misunderstood of what a Hammer of Moradin (a fighting cleric of that elite order) told him. However, he’s one of seven dwarves (widely scattered, and not knowing their own status or the status of any of their fellows) whom Moradin favors, and works through (by subtly feeding them power) when the Soul Forger thinks neither a manifestation nor a personal avatar are “right” for a particular situation. As one of these seven champions (or “pets,” as the deity Gruumsh once sneeringly called them), Borin is watched over by Moradin, who will rescue him from death but not defeat (which is why he seems to live on through lost battles where all other dwarves fall, or return from certain death. Borin is a loner, is shy around she-dwarves, and considers himself unworthy of family life or fatherhood, as he “belongs to Moradin” and must, he believes, inevitably sadden any mate he takes by his own death—so he seeks no mate. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 14:37:17
On current attitude of the svirfneblin of Blingdenstone toward drow in general
Dudeling — 01/31/2024 9:49 AM
@Ed Greenwood I'm very interested to better understand the current attitude of the svirfneblin of Blingdenstone toward drow in general. Given the current trending towards there not being any "any completely evil races", I would personally see the deep gnomes of Blingdenstone, not having really had any experience with any drow other than those of Menzoberranzan, and the horrors the drow of that city have enacted upon them, would very possibly have a borderline racist attitude towards drow from anywhere, excepting, possible, one singular drow, that the currently-living gnomes of Blingdenstone would only have potentially legends about.
Ed Greenwood — 02/02/2024 2:11 AM
Pretty much "yes." To Blingdenstone, drow are THE enemy (aside from illithids who have locally in the Underdark far more been lurking in the background/attention elsewhere, as opposed to the expansionist, far-patrolling drow). The sight of a drow means "war" to most of those deep gnomes, the exceptions being the trade envoys who travel far and see much.
Dudeling — 02/02/2024 3:02 AM
And I take it they would likely not even get into the possibilty that "this drow might be from Callidae" or anything. Stab first, ask questions later?
Ed Greenwood — 02/02/2024 3:02 AM
War footing first; they'll be READY to stab, but wary of provoking a trap (drow magic). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 14:30:26
On Cyric's first course of action if madness left him
Ninjanurse29 — 01/29/2024 1:15 AM
@Ed Greenwood If Cyric's madness left him and he was freed, what would his first corse of action be?
Ed Greenwood — 01/29/2024 6:19 AM
To run (through the planes, to some "relatively safe" place with conditions that would hamper anyone seeking to trace him, even if the seeker is a deity) and hide (in an assumed form), to buy himself time to think. He would be assessing whatever he could recall of his own actions, and interactions with other deities and their senior servitors, to consider what their views on him would be. He doesn't want to be seen as an out-and-out villain, mistrusted/hated/feared, as it would hamper all of his future activities, so he'd be thinking of diplomatic strategies to salvage his reputation/give himself a new one.
Cdawg — 01/29/2024 7:45 AM
I see him as too malignant a narcissist to take such reasonable measures.
Ed Greenwood — 01/30/2024 2:34 AM
Yes, but how much of that is his "madness"? |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 14:25:00
On how to pronounce 'Malaugrym'
cuddlypooface — 01/17/2024 10:30 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood how do you pronounce 'Malaugrym' ? In my head its 'Mal-aw-grim' or 'Mal-ow-grim'?
Ed Greenwood — 01/28/2024 4:15 PM
"Muh-LAW-grim" ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 14:21:07
On "Harpstars War" or "Harpstar Wars"
ericlboyd — 01/13/2024 7:26 AM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! Is it supposed to be "Harpstars War" (as used in Code of the Harpers) or "Harpstar Wars" (as used in FRCS - 2e, FRCS - 3e, and GHotR)?
Ed Greenwood — 01/13/2024 7:56 AM
Harpstars War. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 14:18:41
On resolving Elminster's and Sammaster's relationship in Cult of the Dragon
ericlboyd — 01/08/2024 7:53 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood! Missed in the hasty rewriting I did in Cult of the Dragon is a passage detailing the cantankerous relationship between Elminster and Sammaster. (See Cult of the Dragon, page 9.) Unfortunately, it refers to Sammaster visiting Elminster in his tower in Shadowdale. This apparent error is continued in Grand History of the Realms, page 105, where the date of that Elminster/Sammaster collaboration is given as 851 DR and Elminster is called "The Sage of Shadowdale." On the face of it, this can't be true, as Elminster doesn't move to Shadowdale and build his tower until 1350 DR. (GHotR, page 140.)
However, it is possible this still works if the tower in question was a different tower in Shadowdale. This is complicated by the fact that the drow rule Shadowdale in 851 DR, and have since 194 DR and do until 906 DR. One idea is that Elminster and Sammaster were actually hanging out in Castle Grimstead (not necessarily a tower) along with the Glittering Band. Another idea is that Elminster and Sammaster were hanging out in the Twisted Tower in the guise of drow. There are almost certainly other explanations as well.
Any thoughts on resolving this conundrum?
Ed Greenwood — 01/09/2024 1:53 AM
Hanging out in the Twisted Tower as drow. As Castle Grimstead was also a drow stronghold, guarding the main wagon-caravan entrance to their part of the Underdark. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 09:47:03
On how well seasoned adventurers stay warm and keep their trails hidden
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 01/07/2024 5:40 AM
Well met @Ed Greenwood, I hope your holiday break was restful and you got some lovely presents (perhaps some mead?).
I was wondering about how folks of varying levels of ability manage their trails in the wilderness. With so much danger in forests, plains, etc... Your average traveler that leaves a footprint but more importantly a campfire smoke trail is very likely to be targeted. Just coming back from the mountains myself, I know that if there's enough people with fires the smoke kind of blends in and sits there but with the right conditions it can act like a beacon letting everyone know exactly where you are.
I imagine well seasoned adventurers know better and of course of magic to help them but for average folk of the realms... What kind of adaptations have they come up with to stay warm and keep their trails hidden from orcs, goblins, trolls and all manners of flying monstrosities?
Ed Greenwood — 01/08/2024 4:09 AM
Most folk, and game, follow game trails (mingling their prints witg everyone else). For one thing, if you keep alert for ambushes, established trails usually follow the best footing/gradients. If you know you’re being followed and the water or its temperature aren’t dangerous, step into a stream and backtrack for a bit to discourage pursuit. Most fires, warmth or cooking, are banked with turf or rocks in the wild so they won’t be beacons (and the hot rocks can share sleeping-cloaks for warmth). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 09:26:04
On flavor of Shoodra sauce
Juniper Churlgo — 01/07/2024 2:09 PM
Hi Ed. Finishing up Shoodra sauce tonight. Any recommendatiosn on the flavor?
Ed Greenwood — 01/08/2024 4:01 AM
Pears to the fore, but ALMOST roast almond or cinammon base flavor, without the excessive sweetness (i.e. NOT like vanilla). It’s a chutney. Hint of mixed spices (of the nutmeg and cloves mix sort). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 09:21:24
On how wealthy are Waterdivian nobles
Xeroe — 01/08/2024 12:59 AM
@Ed Greenwood How wealthy are Waterdivian nobles, when looking at their total fortune? The city of splendors book mentions "resource limits" in the range up to 60k but i guess thats not their actual wealth but rather "spendable income"?
Ed Greenwood — 01/08/2024 3:35 AM
That is indeed "spendable income" (liquid assets). The wealthy of Waterdhavian nobility varies VERY widely, from struggling to feed selves and servants to stupendous; most own very valuable city property and extensive "upcountry" holdings (mainly country places up the Amphail road) that they usually don't rent out through hauteur...but starvation tends to overcome pride in a hurry. Many nobles who must be "careful" with their daily coins are worth scores of millions if you liquidate all their property judiciously, over time, not in a "fire sale." The city at large does tend to equate nobility with wealth. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 09:09:10
On how purple is the Plains of Purple Dust and Raurin
The Director — 01/05/2024 9:51 AM
@Ed Greenwood If I were to stand on one of Selune's Tears and look down on Toril how purple would the Plains of Purple Dust and Raurin actually be?
Ed Greenwood — 01/05/2024 2:10 PM
Very. As in, royal purple. Temporarily lightening to ruby-red in full "high" sun. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 09:02:32
On a god of half-elves
stormer454 — 01/05/2024 4:30 AM
hey howdy hey@Ed Greenwood sir, is there a god of half-elves in the realms? if there is, I'd find it rather funny if they got along with the would be god of half-orcs (if there exist one of them too)
Ed Greenwood — 01/05/2024 2:07 PM
No. Half-elves, like nigh everyone sentient and sane in the Realms, actively worship many deities, and no one deity is "theirs." The same goes for half-orcs. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 13 May 2024 : 08:27:51
On Elminster becoming aware of Qilue's existence
ericlboyd — 01/04/2024 12:29 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood! When did Elminster become aware of Qilue's existence? Birth? 1350s or 1360s? Somewhere in between? Specifically, I'm trying to figure out if he knew she existed prior to 1171 DR. (Hoping he did, but I'll make it work either way.)
Ed Greenwood — 01/05/2024 2:05 PM
Within moments of her birth. :} |
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