| 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 - 22 Apr 2026 : 15:07:32
On ways to deactivate a devil's pact for a time
mAc ChaosRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 13/4/2026 2:40 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! A question about devil pacts. Is there some way for a church or other method (magic item, spell, ritual) to "mute" an infernal pact so that it can't be accessed? Not break the pact, or end it, but simply deactivate it for a time.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 14/4/2026 12:00 AM
The short answer is YES, though it's not safe nor easy and only a few senior clergy of some churches know how. The longer answer: that very thing is something I've had to explore in detail at the gaming table recently, so there's an upcoming (not soon; I'm about a dozen articles "ahead" right now) Lost Lore of the Realms that describes this in some detail. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:57:01
On using other languages to cast spells
VelaRole icon, Artisan of the Realms — 13/4/2026 4:08 AM
@Ed Greenwood In your video showcasing some combat spells (Magic Missile, Fireball and Lightning Bolt more specifically), you say spellcasters usually incant in common after saying the draconic "Oloarcan" or "Varthae", while you mentioned Thorass and Loross on Patreon for different spells.
Are some languages favored for some spells while others are used as the verbal component of different ones, or could someone substitute them for a language with which they're more familiar without reducing the spell's efficiency ? Thank you for replying to our questions !
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 13/4/2026 11:49 PM
The incantation in a casting serves to concentrate the caster's mind on a particular effect with precise timing and location. Any language can be substituted by a caster who experiments and practices doing so; attempts to do it "on the fly" in real battle conditions are apt to be disastrous for anyone but a veteran archmage (and higher). Particular languages are favored out of custom (i.e. in the real world, we adopted a method of classifying life scientifically that uses Latin) and in the case of arcane spellcasters, to make what they do seem more difficult (literally, hard to pronounce) and mysterious (the same reason real-world professions adopt jargon and then repeatedly change it). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:39:56
On Elminster's favorite spell and his name
BrunoRush [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/4/2026 4:52 AM
Good afternoon, @Ed Greenwood . Questions from my ten-year-old son Alex, a big fan:
“What is Elminster’s favorite spell, and where did he get his name?”
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/4/2026 5:52 AM
Although there are those who will say Disintegrate or Meteor Swarm are Elminster’s favorite spell (based on the glee and frequency with which he seems to hurl them), the Old Mage’s own preference is for The Simbul's Synostodweomer, a transmutation spell that converts other spells into healing magic, because he’s used it to save folks dear to him on several occasions. The spell Turtle Soup is his second most favorite.
Elminster got his name from his parents, who named him in long-ago Athalantar (El was a son of its Aumar ruling family). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:29:55
On Scornubel in 1501 DR
Eilistraee's WarriorRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 11/4/2026 1:21 PM
@Ed Greenwood I'm starting an adventure in Scornubel 1501 DR. What can you tell me about the settlement currently. Is it relatively more tolerant of outsiders, outlaws, and "undesirables"? I was getting a little bit of a wild west vibes from what I've read about it. Would it be crazy if I had a few drow outcasts living/working there? Please correct me if I got anything wrong. Thank you for your attention.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/4/2026 5:46 AM
Have you read its lore coverage in SOULS FOR THE TAKING? |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 12:44:52
On elf activity in the Border Kingdoms
MorwelRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/9/2025 1:03 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood !
I am researching various areas of the realms for campaign ideas, and regions I tend to love locations such as Tethyr and the Border Kingdoms since having local lords / small regions for PCs to be influential or even rule is of interest to me for PCs as they reach higher levels and can expand their power beyond just personal heroics, but as leaders.
However, for the Border Kingdoms, I am having a hard time finding plot hooks or interest within it for non-human races such as elves. I have seen the video on eilistraeens in the western portion of the region, but for forests like Duskwood or others as well, is there any elven activity of note within the region or even small tribes trying to survive or have minor influence or politics with the various kingdoms around? If able to expand further, also knowing more of other races influence, settlements and more for players to hook them into why their kin would have personal investment to the region would be wonderful.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 11/4/2026 10:27 AM
Elves have usually chosen to keep low profiles in the Border Kingdoms, and so have been somewhat neglected in published Realmslore.
However, elves (notably of the Maruthqel moon elf and Aravvan wood elf families; moon elves and wood/copper elves dwell together in tree-homes in this area) living in the northernmost fringes of the Qurth Forest west of the port of Derlusk have made common cause with halflings and certain human and half-elven mages of that city to sell large quantities of spell inks and forest-plant-based paper they make via shopkeepers in Derlusk.
The moon elves of easternmost Duskwood have long made and sold arrows in bulk to caravans traversing the Golden Road (doing so to ensure the arrows are transported and sold elsewhere, not falling into the hands of Borderers who might well go elf-hunting locally with them). Halflings, gnomes, and dwarves flourish in most of the Border Kingdoms cities, but avoid trying to rule or otherwise holding high political profiles. Rather, they make good livings as crafters and menders for their fellow citizens.
Dwarves tend to be watched warily in Innarlith due to old (and utterly unfounded) fears that the gold dwarves of the Great Rift might try to conquer it as a first step towards a surface empire, and as a result, they have made common cause with gnomes and halflings of Alamontyr in the Border Kingdoms to smuggle goods into and out of Innarlith.
The exception to this widespread aversion to making bids for leadership in the Border Kingdoms is all along its southern edge, where “maverick” adventurers of all races from thri-keen and loxo to, yes, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings have often conquered this or that village or thorp and set themselves up as barons or “grand dukes” or “high scepters” to rule—but they rarely hold on to their thrones (or their lives) for long, as the next ambitious would-be ruler rides into town with a stronger military force and sets about slaughtering to win their own short-lived rule.
In this lore reply, I am assuming you are familiar with the contents of the official canon book THE BORDER KINGDOMS that Alex Kammer and I published on the DM's Guild. There's plenty of "who's up to what in the Borders" lore therein. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 12:20:05
On the game spellcircles
Moon On The Horizon Etherdell [D&D], Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 3/9/2025 3:43 PM
Hail and well met once more, Saer @Ed Greenwood.
Listening to the audiobook of Elminster in Myth Drannor for the first time just now, I came across the game spellcircles being played by Riluaneth. Intrigued, I tried to find it in the wiki, but was disappointed to find no more information. Would you be willing to please share some more information on such a game?
Also, I have no idea how I hadn't heard of the Magefairs until a few days ago. As someone who almost exclusively plays wizards I would love to have more information about this event (I have to wait 15 days for my next Audible audiobook, sadly, and so cannot listen or read the story I know you wrote until then).
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 11/4/2026 2:56 AM
Spellcircles is a board game (in Elminster In Myth Drannor, we see it being played on a gleaming-polished black marble tiled floor, inset with white tiles to outline the “play array”).
Picture two overlapping chevrons, one pointing “up” (towards your opponent) and one pointing “down” (towards you). Each chevron has a point, and then five “squares” running away in a diagonal from each side of the point. The third square of each chevron “leg” is shared with the leg of the other chevron. On each “square” is a circle divided into three arcs. The game is played by winning spell-battles by cantrips cast by the two players magically “wrestling” each other to affect these arcs, which are (randomly) enspelled by a neutral third party before play begins, so the two players don’t know the enchantments on each arc (which can more easily be affected by particular cantrips; the contesting players are “casting blind” against each other to win a specific arc, in a battle that typically expends at least three cantrips per side.
A player who “wins” all three arcs of a circle “wins” that square. The object of the game is to win the point of the opposing player’s chevron (the point facing away from that opposing player).
Play begins with a coin toss (or agreement between players) to determine where the starting battle will take place. It must be one of the arcs of the endmost/outermost right-hand (of one or the other player) square of a chevron leg.
After that battle is resolved, the second battle must take place in one of the arcs of the endmost right-hand (of the other player) chevron leg square.
The winner of that second battle chooses the next arc, anywhere on the board EXCEPT either of the chevron points, to be contested. The winner of the third battle chooses the next arc battlefield, and this rule continues: the winner of a battle picks the next arc to be fought over.
No chevron-point arc can be selected until all of the other squares of a chevron have been won by a player who can trace an unbroken path of wholly-won (all three arcs in a square) squares from the end of one chevron leg to that point, either along their own chevron’s leg or “switching chevrons” at one of the shared squares.
If (and only if) both players agree to continue to a “clean sweep,” or in the event of neither player being able to trace an unbroken line to reach a chevron point, arcs within a square can be “refought.” However, if this is done, ALL THREE arcs must be contested again, not just the “odd arc out.” So if Player A has won two arcs but lost the third to Player B, not just the third arc will be re-fought; all of the arcs in that square must be fought anew, and this will continue in a series of battles until all three arcs are in the hands of one player.
And that’s the game of spellcircles. It can be varied by restricting the cantrips used to specific ones, or replacing them with specific spells, or even by the players finger-touching or embracing while standing on a specific arc (if, of course, the board is big enough) and casting pain-inducing or mind-influencing or shapeshifting cantrips on each other to fight the battle for that arc.
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 13/4/2026 4:39 AM
So... which one of these is the correct approximation of the tile array at the outset of a match (no arcs claimed)?
<https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1072136642162343986/1492987625680928950/image.png?ex=69e9dad4&is=69e88954&hm=0d6cbe3cda65ff332c9c6a2c0fb273ddb5b42c66b777d3585ac4bc90880c9bb5&>
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 13/4/2026 11:53 PM
Sorry, none of them. If you're on a Windows computer, down on the menu bar is a simple carat or arrow symbol (when you hovee over it, it says "Show hidden icons." Take two of those symbols. Put one of them in front of you, just as it looks on the computer screen, and take the second, flip it upside down, and overlap it (point pointing "down") over the first carat symbol, so in their five-swuare-long "legs" they share the third square.
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 14/4/2026 1:49 AM
Thanks! The mapping system I was using has a four-in-one tiling, so it made things a bit obscure, but your answer clarified what I was asking:
-Are the tiles oriented so that their sides make step pattern, or a single, smooth line? It's the latter (so we'd use the second pairing)
-Are the "points" counted among the five tiles of each leg of each chevron? From your description, yes.
A quick attempt to clarify:
<https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1072136642162343986/1493307108718936255/Spellcircles_numbered.jpg?ex=69e9b2df&is=69e8615f&hm=411c0252414c63ae624fc76b2e4883d4fff3ebb6f7a17b21b056eaf62e3fcd9f&>
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 15/4/2026 12:09 AM
Yes, that's the "board"! Thumbs up! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 10:42:33
On salath plant
gandalfthe28th [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 3/12/2025 11:48 PM
Hiya Ed! I've got a deepcut here. In your 2003 article 'Small Presses of Waterdeep, Part Two', you mention in a sample passage of 'Engelvaer's Poison and Sickness Remedies' something called a 'salath plant'. Looks like it's not mentioned anywhere else on the internet, so I was wondering if you had any information on what this plant is? I do love me some fantasy botany
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:55 AM
Salath is a very common weed or growing-without-cultivation grassland wild plant. It’s ground-hugging and has light green (almost “chocolate mint ice cream” in hue) leaves, eight or more growing outwards in a star at ground level: think of a dandelion whose stalk-and-flower has been plucked, but leaving the still-rooted leaves behind. But whereas a dandelion has jagged, deeply-lobed leaves, salath leaves are shaped like the leaves of a lemon tree. Salath can easily be found along the Sword Coast, Heartlands, and Sea of Fallen Stars regions, from the latitudes of Neverwinter south to Calimshan, and is easily harvested, so most folk have it for kitchen herb use and for ‘physics’ (medicines) and it commands almost nothing in the marketplace (1 copper piece for a full arm-basket). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 09:23:45
On gods losing their power while away from home for too long
YukonauRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 21/6/2025 6:13 PM
In your view of the Forgotten Realms cosmology, what happens to gods who spend too much time outside their home crystal sphere or plane—do they risk losing power, influence, or even identity if they remain away too long
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:35 AM
No, they only risk losing influence and therefore worshippers and therefore power if they fail to grant spells or otherwise respond to their clergies and their lay worshippers…their location usually has little to no bearing on this, unless they stray into a place where their access to elsewhere is controlled by a foe. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 18:21:34
On entrances or passages connecting the Stonelands to the Underdark
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 10/4/2026 9:04 AM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed, thank you as always for your hard work and amazing lore.
A quick question if you don’t mind: Are there known or suspected entrances or passages connecting the Stonelands to the Underdark?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:32 AM
Oh, yes. Many of them. The Haunted Halls is connected to Whisper's Crypt, north of the Halls in the Stonelands, and the steep-sided ravines of the Stonelands contain many caves, some of them dead ends but many of them (we're talking hundreds) going deeper, down into the Underdark. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 16:22:41
On encountering the phaerimm outside Anauroch in the 1500s DR
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 26/3/2026 11:45 PM
@Ed Greenwood In the 1500s DR, how possible is it to encounter phaerimm outside of Anauroch?
I understand the Sharn Wall was successfully mended after 1487 DR, and that most phaerimm who escaped earlier were destroyed, leaving only a small number potentially still at large.
Specifically: is there any possibility of a few escaping where the sharn wall is thinner and bulging on the edge of the stonelands
Are there known or suspected phaerimm still free elsewhere on Toril (outside Anauroch)?
Could phaerimm plausibly be found near Netherese ruins outside the desert?
Or are they now effectively confined again to the Buried Realms beneath Anauroch?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 8:32 AM
The Sharn Wall holds, and the War Wizards of Cormyr are vigilant; no phaerimm have escaped into Toril by that way. At least yet.
However, there are at least two, possibly three, phaerimm lurking “loose” on Toril, but they are paranoid about being discovered by the Chosen or Mystra or Larloch or other really powerful individuals, so they tend to work through mortal agents who don’t know their “master” is a phaerimm, and tend to stay hidden near dragon lairs no one dares to go near…
Their names, according to Elminster, are Cakkahaol (“Cack-ah-HAY-oal”) and Trothkrael (“Truth [but pronounced like “truss” without the ‘s’ sound]-yul-CRAY-yel”). He doesn’t know the name of the third, or even if it remains on Toril.
Cakkahaol is—or was—lurking in one of the backup lairs of the infamous red wyrm Klauth, Riven Mountain, a cracked and split peak due east of Hellgate Keep, across the River Delimbiyr. Trothkrael is believed to be hiding somewhere in—or under—the Marching Mountains. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 15:18:19
On Padangan, King of Innarlith
Bragi [WOOD], Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 29/3/2026 11:16 PM
@Ed Greenwood On the first page of The Seven Sisters sourcebook, there is a reference to an individual known as Padangan, King of Innarlith. Is there anything more that can be said of this individual?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 8:10 AM
Certainly. In the late 900s DR, Relve Padangan was a charismatic fighter with an air of authority and command whom most folk who met him assumed was a paladin—of the non-haughty, genuine servant-of-the-people sort. That didn’t stop him from being a successful adventurer, and sometime mercenary in Chessenta and the Vilhon, hiring on with one petty lordling after another to wage war on rivals.
In 997 DR he tired of being asked to butcher or poison prisoners, took his trusted adventurers who’d done mercenary service with him and set out to assassinate the worst of the Chessentan lordlings (the power-hungry empire builders, three in number, the worst being Arth Varangha of Cimbar). He knew nothing he did would stop self-styled rulers from making war on each other, but he was determined to eliminate those with the drive, ruthlessness, and competence to succeed in conquest after conquest.
He succeeded, but instead of taking power in their various baronies and dukedoms, he retired south to Innarlith, a port that seemed the right size to him, and cleansed it of the bandits and Calishite smugglers who’d been ruling it through fear, poisonings, and assassinations, proclaiming himself “King” in 999 DR and setting up a road-paving, sanitation, and water tank-and-pumping system that so delighted the local populace that they accepted his authority with little more than a few drunken mutterings.
When he set himself as a font of local justice, judging openly and explaining his reasonings in a way that struck most as fair, and used his trusted adventurers as a light-handed, reasonable local Watch, the mutterings subsided. And when he began a program of sponsoring local crafters to be roofing-tile makers, stonemasons, brickmakers, carpenters, and smiths, the folk of Innarlith became loyal—and raids began from the envious petty Border Kingdoms rulers nearby.
Padangan crushed those invaders, then went to their home bases and looted them for wealth he then turned around and spent on sponsorships and improving Innarlith. And all of this time, he lived simply, as the adventurer he’d always been, his one touch of luxury being good eating: he hired cooks to lay large feasts on his table, at which all passersby were welcome—and the hungry of Innarlith flocked to dine, and were made welcome.
He became known as “the Good King,” and during his reign, with his support and guidance, his citizens became important regional dyers and inkmakers, ox-breeders and wagonmakers, and gemcutters and jewel-traders.
Padangan was assassinated in 1026 DR by Calishite slavers who wanted Innarlith as their trading center a safe distance from Calimshan itself, and were determined to rule it so as to set local laws and customs to suit themselves. They got their way, soon establishing the associated businesses of making and selling poisons and drugs that Innarlith is known for to this day; these were founded by the families of the slavers, the houses of Klathlarrl (“Cath-LAR-rul”), Malthlykh (“Moll-thLICK”), and Tabhrar (“Tab-RARR”).
Padangan’s body was spirited away by grieving citizens, and his burial-place is now forgotten, but for all the centuries since his death, it’s been a local warning to “Behave, or the Good King will come for you! He walks yet, you know!” (There have been no reliable reports of Padangan coming back to life or being seen in active undeath, yet the belief lingers.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 14:33:08
On gods 'riding' avatars silently or unknowingly
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:34 AM
Dear @Ed Greenwood, a question:
Are there cases in Realmslore of a deity possessing (“riding”) a mortal or a formed avatar that is unaware of being a vessel for the deity’s essence? I don’t mean this in the sense of Mystra with Elué Shundar, where an eventual time-share understanding was reached, but a genuine case of a seeming-mortal being fully unaware that they are possessed of—or actually are—a portion of a divine being?
Or, to put it another way: does every avatar know it’s an avatar?
Assuming the affirmative, have any thought-dead deities found themselves alive following a divine shakeup like the Second Sundering due to such a hidden investment?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 10:46 AM
Oh, yes, it's possible, and happens, but aside from cases of brain-damaged mortals, a ridden mortal is seldom unaware of the presence of the deity; most are just too "mentally noisy and weighty," and too self-important, to hide their presence (Eldath and Mielikki and Leira being examples of deities who ARE quiet and self-effacing, or sly, and can remain "hidden while riding"). Almost all avatars do know they're avatars, or at least "special to this particular deity." And yes, the Second Sundering was one occasion when such investments did indeed result in a deity "coming back" from seeming permanent death. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 14:23:11
On the punishment for horse theft in Cormyr
Joe ChangRole icon, Legend of the Realms — 18/2/2026 12:26 PM
Dear @Ed Greenwood what's the punishment for horse theft in Cormyr?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:14 AM
Usually, a fine to the Crown, and a fine used to purchase an equal or better replacement for the stolen animal, if it’s gone or mistreated (and “mistreated” includes a mare bred without permission of the owner). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 13:20:31
On varieties of brined or pickled cheeses in the Realms
Zonesylvania [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 28/11/2025 10:29 PM
Dear saer @Ed Greenwood , are there any varieties of brined or pickled cheeses known to the Realms? thankee!
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:13 AM
Many; almost all soft-rind cheeses are brined, and the Realms has literally scores of varieties, from place to place. If you’re striving for something very close to real-world Brie, look for Nunchal in Zazesspur and the nearest areas in Calimshan, a beige with green-white soft rind cheese made in two-adult-human-hands-thickness circular wheels about a foot across; or Zanchan cheese in the Tashalar, a reddish-orange cheese made in smaller wheels that are thrice as thick, and are sealed in red wax for transport and sale.
If you’re looking for something more akin to real-world Limburger (a washed-rind, “stinky” cheese), the currently-most-popular variety comes from fiercely-competing makers in the Vilhon Reach and Chessenta, but travels well, and so is sold by caravan merchants everywhere: Skurra or Skurrla, a yellow cheese with a brown, parallel-ridged outer surface (rind) that looks a little like tree bark. If it seems a little moldy, dry-salt it and put it in a dark container with extra salt, and its taste and “crispness” will revive. This cheese is all the rage these last few years, and tastes almost like salt and pepper potato chips but rich and creamy—and smells like a cross between bread-and-butter pickles and sardines. (Some haughty eateries serve it with lit incense sticks to “cut” the stink.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 12:42:22
On the taste of mimics
Lord of Eat [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 22/3/2026 4:56 AM
@Ed Greenwood We had a spark of curiosity just now...
Mimics. Usually they eat foolhardy adventurers (or attempt to do so, at any rate).
But if an adventurer were to turn the tables around and try to eat the mimic... What would it taste like? Would it be perfectly safe to eat, or would it have some less than desirable effect upon the consumer?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:13 AM
In the Forgotten Realms, mimics have a rubbery outer consistency, and an inner consistency that’s akin to gooey (rather than watery) mac & cheese. Mimic tastes a little like crab and a little like lobster, and its flesh looks like an English muffin: full of small chambers of different sizes that present as “holes” when the flesh is sliced. This is one of the ways in which a mimic is able to shift its shape so quickly. When alive, these holes are full of a broth-like fluid that carries nutrients, and mimic flesh can be boiled in this broth for thorough cooking without an unpleasant taste or result; its presence makes seasoning very easy, as a cook just adds the herbs and spices to the fluid and turns the meat from time to time to make sure these seasonings circulate.
However, some human and elven digestive tracts react badly to the mutable, shapeshifting chemistry of mimic, raw or cooked, and the result can be cramps or explosive “runs.” (Cooking tends to slow the onset of this and reduce its severity.) Dwarf, gnome, and halfling digestions are reportedly almost never so affected—and thri-kreen thrive on mimic-flesh and grow visibly in size and vigor on a frequent diet of mimic. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 11:37:34
On traditions in the Realms for celebrating new jobs or career prospects
Spellslamzer [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 30/3/2026 2:21 PM
Hello, @Ed Greenwood. I just got a new job and I was wondering if there any traditions in the Realms for celebrating new jobs or career prospects?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:12 AM
Yes. There are prayers to Lathander for success in anew job or in a job search, and clergy of the Morninglord try to hold at least one feast a tenday (and sometimes two or three, when many new jobs are taken in a locale) in celebration of the newly employed, at which they are fed royally, offered fine wine and desserts, and freely provided—if needed and if possible—at least one new tool and one new garment that will be useful in their new profession. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 11:23:44
On snails used to make Bluestars perfume
Sundered_AntRole icon, Scribe of the Realms — 30/3/2026 11:52 PM
A minor question for you @Ed Greenwood. Back in the book Ed Greenwood Presents you told us about a perfume, Bluestars, that was derived in part from "the powdered shells of a particular type of snail". I was wondering if you could give us the specific species of snail?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:25 AM
Certainly. Native to the Sea of Fallen Stars and prevalent in brackish shallows along its coasts, the turralaug snail is an adult-human-thumb-end-joint-sized snail with a “pebbled” or all-over-dimpled, non-glossy oak-brown shell that’s a “squat pointed cone” in shape. They cluster around bones of all sorts, for the calcium they consume, and so favor “boneyards” like seacoast battlefields and cemeteries crumbling into the sea. They are long-lived for snails (twenty years or more), and lay large clusters of eggs from which 50-70 will hatch, growing as quickly as calcium and greens (seaweed, reeds) supplies permit. If you see a turralaug snail with thin black stripes or bands around its shell, it’s diseased or living with a poison in its system, and should not be eaten. Turralaugs are edible, but have a flat, “woody” taste that makes them ‘just’ palatable, not any sort of delicacy. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 09:58:49
On the effects of the Second Sundering on the Dark Seldarine
Eilistraee's WarriorRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 1/4/2026 4:53 PM
@Ed Greenwood how has the Second Sundering affected the Dark Seldarine? Has it weakened Lolth's control over the other gods? Has it created any changes in the relationships between the gods within?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:25 AM
The Second Sundering brought back many “dead and destroyed” deities, and weakened Lolth’s control considerably—hence her recent goading of loyalists into military invasions of other drow settlements and “adjacent choice non-draw territories.” More importantly, it sewed doubt in Lolth’s mind; she no longer unquestionably assumes she’s right, and most mighty, and will “win” or succeed at anything she turns her attention to. It may even set her on a path out of narcissistic insanity into maturity. Perhaps. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 09:51:54
On forbidden foods for priests of gods
VelaRole icon, Artisan of the Realms — 2/4/2026 6:29 PM
Do some gods in Faerun forbid their priests from eating certain types of food ? For example, could Mystra forbid the consumption of magical creatures outside spell components or arcane experiments, or Aerdrie Faenya disapprove of eating birds ?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:24 AM
Oh, yes. The lists of favored foods, food and drink to be avoided, and banned food and drink are long and detailed. They were part of my original 1986 turnover to TSR. Resurrecting them will take some time… |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 09:37:02
On Vhaerun and Ellaniath
shrimp [ELF], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 5/4/2026 4:48 AM
@Ed Greenwood What is the church of vhaeraun doing for against the recent new Lolth invasion, according to the last video, or will that be clarified in the next lore video about vhaeraun?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:24 AM
Yes, you’ll have to wait for awhile, I’m afraid, for the next Vhaeraun video. There are a lot in the queue!
MystxmomoRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 7/4/2026 3:49 AM
Actually if you wouldnt mind me using this opportunity to pry a bit about the Masked Lord, just to steal a little treat....
Most of the information we've gotten regarding Ellaniath is largely unreliable, or left rather vague. I understand this is probably rather intentional given the nature of his character, but with your vision of Vhaeraun, do you have any ideas in mind regarding it and the kind of place that it is? Thank you for this sheer amount of answers youve given today #10084;#65039; excited to see all of whats to come in the future.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 6:56 AM
I'll get you an answer re, Ellaniath soon. As it happens, I'm so sick with con crud (picked up at GaryCon) that I can't safely visit family at Easter without endangering them, so I have time at home, off work, for a few days and although I have some writing projects I'm really digging into, I always try to find the time to answer lore queries, so am answering all I can in a hurry. ;}
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 12:42 PM
Okay, here we go....
Since the Second Sundering, Ellaniath is located in its own extra-dimensional bubble between the Ethereal Plane, the Shadowfell, and the Material Plane. It takes the form of a small, blue-moonlight-lit realm that takes the form of an endless castle (fortified palace) of chambers looking out onto overgrown “garden” walled courtyards, and ringed by a dark forest. There are no hallways or passages in Ellaniath, just room opening into room opening into room (more often by archways than through doors), and the palace is quiet: a heavy, “listening” silence prevails. Yeth hounds prowl the forest but howl only when beginning a chase or when in agony, shadow-creatures flit silently through the palace, and demodands stand guard outside, along the walls and ramparts, and in the courtyards. They communicate by blowing very brief blasts on deep-toned “shuddering” horns, never by shouts. An alarm call may be a brief whistle, but Vhaeraun can’t abide any sort of racket, and will destroy or exile creatures who make excessive noise.
The seemingly-endless rooms of his palace are richly wood-paneled, covered in deep-pile rugs, and luxuriously furnished with highbacked stuffed chairs, lounges, sidetables, and padded footstools. Hangings drape the walls, all of them tapestries depicting realistic scenes of events Vhaeraun desires to remember, often moments in which he bested his hated mother Lolth, or achieved success and mutual respect working with Eilistraee. Both the tapestries and all corners and edges of the furniture are inlaid with cabochon-cut (smooth-polished and curving) black gemstones of the sorts he favors (onyx, opals, pearls, sapphires, chalcedony, jasper, hematite, jet, obsidian, and so on).
Decanters of wine—Vhaeraun prefers the licorice-tinged elven blackwine—stand ready everywhere, on trays accompanied by “serpent-coil” design flagons. Food, however, is not to be found in the palace; bring thine own.
Many wall-panels are secret doors, opening into dark closets that are “ways” (permanent teleports to other such closets, elsewhere in the palace), and at least two of these ways serve to heal Vhaeraun as he traverses them.
When at home, he strolls idly through Ellaniath, lost in thought, for he is always scheming—or he rests, dreaming, levitating in midair stasis in certain hidden inner bedchambers that resemble warmly-swirling dark voids. At least one of them is the audience chamber from which he most often mind-speaks his sister Eilistraee; he floats horizontally on his back staring at the ceiling, which is sculpted into a larger than life-sized representation of her, looking down at him with smile, surrounded by her flowing unbound hair. Vhaeraun hates Eilistraee and resents her successes, but is hopelessly in love with her and fascinated by her; he studies her aims, utterances, and deeds closely, seeking the success and contentment she seems always to have, that always seems to elude him. Though they remain enemies, they have both mastered the art of being affectionate to each other, and this gentleness torments Vhaeraun, though he can’t resist it. He longs for more.
Conversely, there are no images of his sister Vandria Gilmadrith in his palace, and Vhaeraun never communicates with her or spies on her. He fears her and respects her as steadfast and able to resist his mother Lolth’s schemes and enticements, but his pride won’t let him return her coldness with anything but like iciness.
His son Selvetarm he tries to put from his mind always, and usually succeeds. Vhaeraun likes to consider him as “of no account,” a “wastrel,” though he knows that this is his own fantasy, not the truth.
Vhaeraun knows many “ways” that lead to and from his home, opening in Toril, the Shadowfell, and the Ghost Forest in the Ethereal Plane, but most non-shadow creatures can find and use them only by his will and favor. Deliberate intruders and lost wanderers most often reach Ellaniath by one of three always-open, unconcealed “ways.”
These are Dead Spider Door, the Whispering Waterfall, and the Whirling Way.
Dead Spider Door is a giant-height oval door made of a fused mat of dead spiders and driders of all sizes, slain by Vhaeraun, that can be found at the end of a trap-filled, long-abandoned thieves’ stronghold in the depths of the Seadeeps level in Undermountain. It ushers anyone traversing it into a high-ceilinged chamber in the very heart of Ellaniath.
The Whispering Waterfall is a glowing blue cascade, neither large nor loud, that streams from a spring that wells up to fill a well in the heart of a long-ruined black-spired fortress, called Shadowgard by some though its true name is long forgotten, though sages like Elminster say that some records indicate it was once the abode of loxo, to spill out of its twisted gates and plunge endlessly into the Black Rift; one steps “behind” the torrent just below the gates, and there finds a cavern that is the way—to the dark, yeth hound-prowled forest that rings Ellaniath.
The Whirling Way is so named because all who step into its lamprey-like black maw are spun head-over-heels for about a minute, during which they are whisked to a particular (guarded by demodands, of course) courtyard of Ellaniath.
The likes of Elminster and other learned planeswalkers have taken to calling Ellaniath “the Brooding Palace” because that’s what they see Vhaeraun using it for: a place to brood. The Masked Lord is not a happy or content entity.
Eilistraee's WarriorRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 8/4/2026 4:11 AM
When you say hopelessly in love, is that in a codependent or platonic way? Or something more taboo?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 8/4/2026 8:32 PM
There’s been no consummation, physical demonstration, nor even verbal admission of his feelings on Vhaeraun’s part, but both he and Eilistraee know. She often infuriates him, but he’s fascinated by her, and can’t help himself. Which is why they and the mortal clergies they direct sometimes work together. (For her part, Eilistraee finds her brother exasperating, stupid, far too self-centered, but worth trying to rescue and make common cause with.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 09:33:56
On the HBO adaptation of Baldur’s Gate
Night FangRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 4/4/2026 11:13 PM
Hail and Well met! Can you enlighten us on the HBO adaptation of Baldur’s Gate or are you under NDA?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:23 AM
Even if I knew anything, my lips are sealed. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Apr 2026 : 17:29:30
On Dallah Thaun's presence in the hin of Toril
Razzelmire [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 4/4/2026 12:04 AM
Greetings @Ed Greenwood
Curious as to whether Dallah Thaun has (or had ever) a presence on Toril, and if so, what’s her history in the lore of the hin on Toril along with any events that standout in history?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:23 AM
Yes, Dallah Thaun has a presence among halflings in the Realms, though most other beings (aside from sages and Mystra’s Chosen) have never heard of her, as hin keep mentions and worship of her very secret.
Those devoted to her avenge mistreatment of hin by acting against individual mistreaters, and throughout the 1300s DR, this led to slavers shunning the taking of halflings as “always unlucky,” thanks to the fates Thaunites visited upon the slavers.
Recognition gestures among hin regarding worship of Thaun include tossing and catching gold coins (also done while praying to her, with words like “Dallah smile” or “guide me, dark Thaun” or “be with us, Avenger!”). Often, when praying to Yondalla, a worshipper will kiss the back of their own hand and then touch it to their forehead, symbolizing faithfulness to Yondalla’s teachings—but if they also wish to celebrate her aspect of Dallah Thaun, they will do this with a hand that clutches a gold coin, and will open it to kiss the coin and then clap it closed again, after bringing their hand down from their forehead.
Priests and priestesses of Dallah Thaun always wear their hair long and unbound, as the goddess does, always wear dark soft-soled boots when out of doors, and wear cloaks with cowled hoods up whenever practical.
Meditation intended to seek guidance about what to do in life ahead is often done while playing solitaire card games, always with a gold piece wagered (win? Keep the gold. Lose” offer it on an altar of Dallah Thaun). Altars to the goddess may be any bowl, chalice, or stone that has a black cowled hood erected over it (on a frame, as if someone’s wearing it). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Apr 2026 : 17:26:59
On the Wizards Three an extension of the Order of the Eternals
Juniper Churlgo [WOOD], Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 3/4/2026 1:50 AM
A quick obscure lore question. The Order of the Eternals, a trans-dimensional planeswalking organization that appeared in "Impendant Symposium" adventure. Seein how El and Mordy are bith members (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Members_of_the_Order_of_the_Eternals), is it an extension of the Wizards Three? Are Wizards Three an extension of the Order? Ore are they simply overlapping in memberships?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 3:22 AM
They are simply overlapping in memberships, and members of the Wizards Three keep those meetings as private and unspoken-of as possible. They’re refuges from all else they do. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 20 Apr 2026 : 17:24:24
On magic affinity of black dragons in the Realms
Kokopelli [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 2/4/2026 8:28 PM
Friend @Ed Greenwood, I have another question for my pile... If I've asked this one before, I apologize. I've been wondering about black dragons. In core material, they don't seem all that different from other chromatics. In the Realms, however, I've noticed several prominent black dragons with an affinity for or association with magic. We have Thauglor as one of the most prominent examples of his breed; he was known to be powerful in magic.
As Hesperdan, Alorglauvenemaus was quite the accomplished spellcaster.
We have Constulgrael, the only dragon to become a Magister.
We have the Creeping Doom, Daurgothoth, a rather scary bugger.
The draconic twins Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor were both spellcasters.
There is also Manshoon's affinity for black dragons; though you didn't specify, I suspect his daughter's mother was a black dragon.
And there's the House of Orogoth... I have to wonder if some of the dragons I've listed are related to them.
Anyway, that's a lot of arcane might in a breed of dragons not known for such. Is there something different about black dragons in the Realms, compared to other worlds, or am I seeing a bunch of one-offs and reading too much into it?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 12:09 AM
You’ve spotted some things keenly, like Manshoon’s er, involvement with a certain black dragon. Yes, black dragons do have an affinity for arcane magic, in that they have the brain capacity and aptitude for intense concentration with a lot going on, so a few of them become highly skilled in the Art (all dragons have the Gift, but most don’t develop it beyond what’s given in the rulebooks as their magical powers and abilities). Blacks are also durable; they weather shapeshifts and magical damage well.
Kokopelli [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 7/4/2026 6:25 AM
Thankee for the response, friend Ed! A follow-up, if I may: how does the magic affinity of black dragons compare to other breeds? I'm guessing they are more magical than several other chromatic/metallic types, but I'm not going to assume they are the most magical. And as always, thank you for your time and all that you share! #129761;
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/4/2026 6:59 AM
Actually, I accidentally left off the end of my answer to you, and here it is: So do blue dragons, but fewer of them have mastered arcane magic to a high level. Beware any old blue dragon that’s laired somewhere that has good spellbooks within reach, however… [Adding to that, white dragons specialize in cold, water, and ice magics, with some wind spells, and red dragons largely disdain magic use beyond their fire breath, preferring personal physical combat...] |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 10:38:51
On a random trivia fact about Giftless people in the Realms
valethehowl — 17/9/2025 3:48 AM
Hello saer @Ed Greenwood ! I come today with a rather unusual question: could you give us a random trivia fact about Giftless people in the Realms? Possibly something that has not been revealed before. I always like to know more about the lives of non innately magically empowered people of the Realms!
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 17/3/2026 12:48 PM
Sure. Four to seven percent of Giftless individuals in the Realms have innate magic resistance (as in, advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects). No one knows why. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 10:26:29
On fey languages as dialect of Slyvan
Sundered_AntRole icon, Scribe of the Realms — 7/3/2026 4:29 AM
This is a linguistics question I have been wanting to ask you for a couple of years now. Are all the Fey racial languages, dialects of the Sylvan language, much like how Elvish has its own dialects? And if so, does the Hag language also fall within that?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 17/3/2026 12:53 AM
All of the various fey racial languages share about twenty core words (yes, no, trade? Accept/agree, You’re provoking me to violence, magic, unfriendly, old, new, human, unknown, danger), but they’re not dialects of each other; they don’t SEEM (to sages, looking back from “now”) to have developed from a common root, but rather acquired some common words as practical borrowings due to frequent contact and trade.
No, the tongue of hags is completely different. (I'll share more of these core words in an upcoming Lost Lore, a month or two into the future...) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 09:57:32
On gods associated with woman of the night and colorful Waterdhavian slangs
Koshka [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 16/3/2026 12:16 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! Something I've always loved in your work is sex positivity and many examples of those in the related profession who enjoy their work!
My current character is a Waterdeep singer, musician and popular woman-of-the-evening, so in that vein I'd like to ask are there any Gods commonly associated with the profession, and if you might have some slang phrases, exclamations, curses, all such things I could colour her performance with to bring her to the world that much more?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 17/3/2026 12:39 AM
The deities most commonly associated with pleasure-for-coin work are Sharess (seduction and allure), Loviatar (for BDSM), Sune (beauty), Lliira (shared joy), and Chauntea (mothering, and offerings to the Earthmother to prevent unwanted pregnancies).
I’ve shared truckloads of euphemisms for male and female body parts, working professionals, and coitus over the years, so let me just touch on some of the most popular and widespread, so commonly used that they are losing their naughtiness:
“Sword” for penis, “Bitebolds” and “nightlanterns” for female breasts, “breezetouched” for nudity or near-nudity done for allure (a striptease is: “busy getting breezy”), “kisscoin” for anyone associated with prostitution (literally giving pleasure for coin, so a foot massage that isn’t medical would qualify, or backscratching that’s to feel intimate rather than scratch an itch), and “god-caress” for orgasm (“she caressed the gods thrice that I felt, and perhaps more times that I didn’t”).
A dance, with or without disrobing, that’s done in private to arouse someone before sex, is a “joytwirl.” Dancing up on stage to arouse many, with or without a pole, or treetrunk (masturbating against a projecting tree-limb or its stub is a popular thing, and itself is known as “smoothing the bark”), is a “purrprance,” and dancers who do it for a living, or regularly to attract clients for later on at the same establishment, are “nightwisps” even if they never perform at night (only in Amn and Zazesspur are there establishments who officially hire dancers in shifts, and refer to them as “daywisps, “highwisps”—the midday shift, that has “highsun” [noon to us in the real world] anchoring it—and “nightwisps”).
Lapdances, and the associated hanky-panky, is simply “cozying” in the Realms.
I should also mention that there’s a strong and lasting tradition of women who for coin disrobe in private and use hands and mouths to pleasure a partner, without ever engaging in intercourse or being expected to (and there are bans for clients who “go too far” during such encounters, and priests on call to prevent pregnancies or infections). This is known as “riding the banner” for forgotten reasons, and is perfectly respectable; a woman known to engage in this in a small community is not going to be looked down upon by others.
Exclamations vary widely, with those who utter them, but common ones associated with pleasure-for-coin are “Bite me!” (context and tone of voice differentiate this exclamation of astonishment from the same words used as a command); “Talos forfend!” (meaning “Don’t lose control, now!” (and go on a rampage as some storms do); and “Frick!” which means “OH, no!” or “WTF?” or “THAT’S done it!”
Slang references to pleasure-for-coin tend to be things like “She’s down at XXX warming the crows” or “Busy herding snakes into iron bars again.” A professional pleasure-giver of either gender might be described formally (e.g. on a tax roll or census ledger) as a “coinsmiler.” A brothel, festhall, or local club devoted to, or dominated by, carnal activities can be referred to as a “kisshearth” even in the politest conversations.
Out-and-out curses used by pleasure-coin workers or those angered during pleasure-for-coin include such sayings as, “By the untasted loins of Leira!” (meaning the goddess of deception and illusions, untouched because no mortal can find her if she doesn’t want them to); “Sharess spurn!” or “Sharess spurn me!” (variants of “No pleasure for YOU, a*hole!” or “Guess here’ll be no pleasure for me!”); and “Riding the fence-rail again!” or “Go ride a fence-rail!” (referring to occurrences of painful mishaps or blunders during lovemaking, or the speaker’s desire for such a fate to befall the one they’re speaking to). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 09:42:06
On using Klauth or Imvaernarhro for a Year of the Rogue Dragon campaign
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 28/11/2025 10:24 PM
who is better to use for a dragon heavy trilogy campaign partially inspired by year of the rogue dragon. klauth or Imvaernarhro
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 16/3/2026 8:27 AM
That’s totally up to the sort of campaign you want to run. Klauth is a bruiser, an unsubtle “Hulk SMASH!” sort of dragon who considers himself the most powerful (he’s wrong, of course). ;}
Imvaernarhro is far better suited to be a longterm “behind the scenes” kingpin villain, employing underlings and indulging in intrigues. He has more treasure, spread out over many different hoard locations (all of them lairs you can “enjoy” as “dungeons”), and he watches events unfolding in the wider Realms constantly, meaning he’s already aware of the PCs before they come into contact with him, and has a far better chance of manipulating them to be his unwitting agents/tools from the outset. So Inferno’s the more versatile one who can potentially last longer. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 09:21:15
On other holidays celebrated in Cormyr
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 5/12/2025 8:24 AM
@Ed Greenwood aside from midwinter greengrass midsummer shieldmeet harvesttide feast of the moon. are there any other holiday's celebrated in cormyr? is there anything like our christmas
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 16/3/2026 8:03 AM
Hoo boy. There are many, many articles on the festivals of the Realms, and much lore on local observances (e.g. those celebrated in Waterdeep) included in official Realms products down the years. If you mean “holidays” in its literal sense of “holy days,” there are several truckloads more of religious celebrations in official Realms products and in articles by me and others, down the years. The closest thing to our Christmas is Simril, a holiday celebrated on the 20th of Nightal (the equivalent to our 21st of December and our Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere of our real world—as well as the solstice on Toril). Rhonda Parrish and I even wrote a short story, “Golden Simril Gifts,” set during the festivities. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 08:26:39
On goblin patron deity for collectors (of shiny things)
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 12/12/2025 12:45 AM
Dearest @Ed Greenwood ,
We all know the term "dice goblin" and surely there are other treasure obsessed goblinoids in the realms whose proclivities for intense behavior settles on collecting.
If I were playing such a goblin in the realms (collecting shiny things), who might my patron deity be?
Most of the goblinoid pantheon on the wiki is war related. Who is the deity of obsessively collecting?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 16/3/2026 7:37 AM
If you’re playing an actual goblin who’s hoarding-treasure-obsessed, and you had to pick a single patron deity for some reason, it would likely be Maglubiyet these days; you would have to be worshipping back in the 790s DR and earlier to instead venerate Khurgorbaeyag (he wasn’t just about collecting ever-more-slaves, he was the tyranny of goblin social order based on wealth—that is, the stuff you’d collected).
If you’re playing a dwarf who’s hoarding-treasure-obsessed, your patron deity would most likely be Abbathor.
If you’re playing a non-goblin-non-dwarf who’s hoarding-treasure-obsessed but dislike shady means of acquisition, Waukeen is your most likely patron these days.
For other possibilities, look up “Avarice domain” on the FR Wiki. Note that thievery and trickery are entirely different matters, and have many associated gods. |
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