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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 03:00:34
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Oh, and while I'm being naughty, Wooly: I used to look really hot dressed as a school girl (that is, the sort that wears glasses and a school uniform). Now, I'm sufficiently matured/decayed that I look like a school teacher - - or perhaps like an aging porn star dressed up a school girl. Not so much hot as . . . lewd.
Which is (ahem) so out of character for me, and for this thread, that I think we'd better say no more about it.
So to bring this back to Realmslore, and to tease Baleful Avatar a little more, here's a sentence of Realmslore from Ed's pre-1986, never published notes (not covered by TSR/WotC's copyright, because it was never submitted to them, after they expressly said 'don't send any more, that's more than enough"), a sentence that should also be of great interest to Markustay and others interested in the Chosen:
Among the most seldom-seen of the Chosen were the sorceresses Taerele and Jalathleena, the first because she dwelt far to the east of Faerun and had little to do with humankind or other civilizations, being primarily concerned with repairing the Weave and learning to master its manipulation, and the second because she loved walking the multiverse, and pleaded with Mystra to take on the role of Mystra's 'procurer,' bringing back items, magic, enchanted items, plants, and even sentient creatures from myriad planes to Faerun and the lands around it.
So saith Ed. I'm thinking these notes date from around 1982, judging by what they're written in and Ed's handwriting (which deteriorated over his years of schooling, as he was forced to take notes faster and faster by various teachers who filled blackboards full of notes before class, all around the classroom, and slid them aside to reveal a second layer of note-filled blackboards, then started erasing the earliest boards in the sequence and continuing the notes . . . and their classes, writing hard and cramping as they did so, silently cursed. And sometimes not so silently, too.)
I've never shared this before because I thought it was too Tolkien-like (shades of the "blue" Istari who went east and right out of the story, never to be heard from again). Once TSR got hold of the Chosen and started treating them as comic book superheroes, I think Ed wanted to keep very quiet about various "other Chosen," too, to put the brakes on what was fast becoming an arms race - - but that's just my take on it; we've never actually discussed this, he and I.
So enjoy, scribes!
love to all,
THO
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 04:26:59
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| Can we get any lore on anything of interest that you would have had Jalathleena bring back to Toril and where it would have been kept in your home game, creatures, plants, items, anything? |
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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe
Israel
352 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 08:04:56
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| You say that they were among 'the most seldom seen'. But do the Chosen we know of know them? Or is it that some (Elminster) know and others don't? |
"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.
How much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation in the dust, are crushed before the moth?" - Eliphaz the Temanite, Job IV, 17-19.
"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" - Ecclesiastes VI, 6.
"There are no stupid questions – just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."
"Let's not call it 'hijacking'. Let's call it 'Thread Drift'." |
Edited by - Menelvagor on 08 Jul 2009 08:05:25 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 14:48:29
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Good question, Menelvagor, and thanks for that tidbit, THO. I'm sure I'll use it somewhere.
And lewd can be... interesting... under the right circumstances. 
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I'd probably expand the scope of El's reach when evaluating other mages of power. We know he's a semi-frequent planewalker, and that the Old Mage likes to visit other worlds/planes, to explore, battle threats beyond, and such. So I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that he's often evaluated the many other wizards of considerable power that he encounters during his extra-planar travels.
In fact, given the wide planar scope my Realms actually has, through the background lore I've written for my own PLANESCAPE games, I've already established this particular piece of lore for my own interpretation of Elminster.
I stated multiple times on these forums how I used to run Greyhawk, until 'forced' to run FR for my brother-in-law and his friends (a group of teens wanting to learn the game). Since I was a proficient GH DM but knew very little about the Realms, I 'ported' over quite a bit, and my Elminster was one of those things I stole from my GH games.
You see, Tenser didn't die, son, he just went home...* 
I married my two campaigns in other ways, like the fact that Mordenkainen is the real Khelbun Arunsun. I had a lot of fun putting all the things I loved about GH into FR, and looking back, I think it was kind of fitting that El was a member of the Circle of Eight (although I'd probably make him Serten now, if I were to revisit that storyline). Considering Mystra was Wee Jas' BFF, its not all that far-fetched.
I've also played with the idea of Elminster having been Merlin. Since that figure from folklore was known to "come and go as he pleased" and was often not to be found I thought it would work, and when I read that Ed's version of Elminster was very similar to the Merlin character in Excalibur, I thought it was an even better fit. I never used that plothook, though - I could never figure-out a way of using it without sending a party to medieval Earth... and that I wouldn't do.
*with apologies to Tommy Lee Jones for stealing his Elvis line. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 08 Jul 2009 14:49:12 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 15:45:46
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Hi again, all.
Menelvagor, re. this: "Or is it that some (Elminster) know and others don't?"
Yes. That's it, exactly. As Ed put it to me:
Most Chosen know most of the other Chosen, but usually only work with a few of them, or work alone. Some Chosen aren't aware of certain other Chosen at all.
I'm thinking Ed will give us a few more hints about these Chosen, in the days ahead.
love,
THO |
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edappel
Learned Scribe
Brazil
211 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 18:41:49
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Hello again THO.
With the wish to Alan's message from Elminster, I asked Ed if he could send a greeting message to all FR Brazilians fans. I know that probably I'm asking too much, but even so I should try..
I already have Lee Byers, Erik and Rosemary's messages, they are kind of making some promotions to their books, but I think Ed could tell something more about the world itself and the distinguished value of the novels to the lore of the Realms.
I'm kind of making a "marketing" for all novels, after receiving some more messages, I'll compile them all and send to many comunitys and blogs around my country. (I feel so lonely being a FR novels reader around here... I'm even making a blog to put my reviews, trying to find another addicted reader like me)
Thanks again, and I don't wanna spend Ed's time with something unused.. But I really think it could help even him indirectly. |
--- Ed Appel
*** I'm a brazilian FR fan. So, feel free to correct my writing mistakes to improve my english. |
Edited by - edappel on 08 Jul 2009 18:43:17 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 18:49:05
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Ed's a great guy. I'm sure he'll do that even if it didn't earn him a penny in book sales.
I suspect he was just angling for some more soft, sweet THO "persuasion."
Ahem, speaking of which: Dear Ed and THO, in Cormyr circa 1370s, how socially acceptable is it among the common folk for seduction (or the withholding of intimacy, even among wedded couples) to be used to get someone to do something or not do something. Is it frowned upon? Or . . .?
(This is for campaign purposes.) Thanks!
BB |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2009 : 15:21:12
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@Blueblade - you're poking a stick into the core of human nature - using whatever you have available to get what you want.
And we all know what the "oldest profession" is... |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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rjfras
Learned Scribe
261 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2009 : 21:20:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
@Blueblade - you're poking a stick into the core of human nature - using whatever you have available to get what you want.
And we all know what the "oldest profession" is...
now what did the hunters and farmers ever do to you? |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2009 : 22:26:11
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Aside from food, there was other... stuff... they were 'hunting' and 'gathering'.
How does that old saying go? "The mightiest hunter gets the most tail"? 
And the best tail gets the mightiest hunter. Using ones... assets... has always been a way to get something you wanted but were unable to obtain on your own. A cavewoman had to do what a cavewoman had to do, and all that. 
Applying this to the Realms, someone like The Shadowsil managed to recieve training by both Elminster and Manshoon... obviously she had some mighty fine assets.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 09 Jul 2009 22:26:56 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 01:53:29
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Ahem.
Some of which are what you were thinking about, yes, but more importantly (as Ed revealed in play with the Knights, long ago) because The Shadowsil had a natural "wild talent" to pluck energy from the Weave and use it to briefly (as, in, one or two spells a day, tops) "boost" her spells (not give her extra spells, but increase the power of the spells she was casting). So Elminster didn't want her wandering the world without training . . . and Manshoon wanted to exploit her powers. She in turn wanted power, importance, and respect, so she went to one wizard after the other to get it.
With ultimately tragic results, as you know...
Ed has built thousands of little "life tales" like that into the Realms.
love,
THO |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 03:26:34
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ahem.
Some of which are what you were thinking about, yes, but more importantly (as Ed revealed in play with the Knights, long ago) because The Shadowsil had a natural "wild talent" to pluck energy from the Weave and use it to briefly (as, in, one or two spells a day, tops) "boost" her spells (not give her extra spells, but increase the power of the spells she was casting). So Elminster didn't want her wandering the world without training . . . and Manshoon wanted to exploit her powers. She in turn wanted power, importance, and respect, so she went to one wizard after the other to get it.
With ultimately tragic results, as you know...
Ed has built thousands of little "life tales" like that into the Realms.
love,
THO
That's a nifty ability...
It also brings to mind some of the innate talents mentioned in Volo's Guide to All Things Magical (formerly a suppressed work , now available from the Wizards downloads page), or Naoni Dyre's ability to weave anything into cloth...
All of which of course begs the question, O Lovely Lady Hooded One, can you or Ed share some more of these interesting wild/innate talents?  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 03:44:40
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| Which means Ed invented meta-magical Feats before WotC did. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 06:03:24
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ed has built thousands of little "life tales" like that into the Realms.
Indeed. And this Shadowsil tidbit has me hungry for more.
Any chance, Ed, that you can share a few more little "life tales" for other NPCs, even if only briefly?
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 16:19:03
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Hi.
"Which means Ed invented meta-magical Feats before WotC did."
But of course.  Ed has invented or created SO much for the D&D game. . .
love,
THO |
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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe
Israel
352 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 17:00:20
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| The recent mention of the Shadowsil raises in me this question: Is there a place with a complete story of the Shadowsil (or at least as complete as written in published books)? Or a list of books she sppears in? |
"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.
How much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation in the dust, are crushed before the moth?" - Eliphaz the Temanite, Job IV, 17-19.
"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" - Ecclesiastes VI, 6.
"There are no stupid questions – just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."
"Let's not call it 'hijacking'. Let's call it 'Thread Drift'." |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2009 : 18:45:03
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Hi, all.
No, Menelvagor, I'm afraid there isn't. I DO think there are some short glimpses not yet published in official Realmslore, plus what was seen in THE SWORD NEVER SLEEPS and SPELLFIRE and one other book that I'm blanking on at the moment. Sorry.
love,
THO |
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Zandilar
Learned Scribe
Australia
313 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 00:31:34
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Heya,
When I was casting around for ideas for names for my Death Knights in WoW, I decided on Shadowsil and Ashemmi. Shadowsil has since gone on to become my main character (before Death Knights I was a die hard Hunter player). I know, how unimaginative of me.
Buuuuut I did actually have two (multi-part) questions...
Question the first: A centaur arrives in Neverwinter in the company of a pair of adventurers. Where would said centaur find accommodation, and what form would it take? How would she be received by the watch and by the townsfolk?
Question two: The centaur wishes to be trained by an itinerant priestess of Sharess who is currently residing in the city. One of the adventurers is this priestess's protege. The church doesn't have a formal presence in the city, nor a building of its own (which is why the centaur needs to find her own accommodations) - but I suspect that the protege is planning to establish one at some point when she has enough money to do so. What hoops would the protege (who is well regarded by some amongst the powers that be, and has a small amount of fame in the city itself for spoiling a plot by Aurilites to bring winter to Neverwinter) have to jump through in order to gain permission to set up a temple to Sharess within the city limits? What part of the city would the temple be permitted to be built and/or set up in?
Yes, this does concern an on-going game, but there's no real rush for answers. I'm sure we can make it up as we go along, so I ask more out of curiosity than anything else. |
Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~
As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.
The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again. |
Edited by - Zandilar on 11 Jul 2009 00:33:24 |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 02:41:04
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Reviving two old topics here...
1) Has the identity of the mysterious Cormyte author been guessed and/or revealed? (I hope I'm using the correct adjectival form here.)
2) Has that equally mysterious and long-delayed announcement pending from Back East been made yet?
That's all; any other questions I have, I suspect I've already asked them, and either way the answers are all bound up in NDA red tape. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 11 Jul 2009 03:00:39 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 03:19:33
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Hi again, all.
Well, this from Ed just popped up lightning-swift in my inbox. A response to Zandilar's questions: "Question the first: A centaur arrives in Neverwinter in the company of a pair of adventurers. Where would said centaur find accommodation, and what form would it take? How would she be received by the watch and by the townsfolk?
Question two: The centaur wishes to be trained by an itinerant priestess of Sharess who is currently residing in the city. One of the adventurers is this priestess's protege. The church doesn't have a formal presence in the city, nor a building of its own (which is why the centaur needs to find her own accommodations) - but I suspect that the protege is planning to establish one at some point when she has enough money to do so. What hoops would the protege (who is well regarded by some amongst the powers that be, and has a small amount of fame in the city itself for spoiling a plot by Aurilites to bring winter to Neverwinter) have to jump through in order to gain permission to set up a temple to Sharess within the city limits? What part of the city would the temple be permitted to be built and/or set up in?"
Ed replies:
Hi, Zandilar. I have always seen and depicted Neverwinter as the tolerant counterbalance to Luskan. Loose, gentle government, a lot more "keeping of the peace" by neighbours standing and acting together than by jackbooted authority. A lot more "live and let live" attitude, so long as that's not exploited to "I get to punch your face because I feel like it" extremes.
Neverwinter has both inns and rental lodgings that cater to shapeshifters, centaurs, wemics, and other four-footed, intelligent speaking guests. So a centaur would be calmly received by the Watch and most inhabitants. Some shops will simply be too crowded for a centaur to navigate through, but a good two-thirds of the proprietors of such places will be eager, not just grudging, at fetching selections of wares and bringing them out to where a centaur can look them over and purchase (or not).
As for Sharess: no problem at all. I'd say Neverwinter already has shrines to Sharess and most other non-evil deities, so establishing a temple is a simple manner of applying to the "city courtiers" so they can tax said temple. Presto: end of hoops. :}
Most of the rental lodgings mentioned above, and the best temple sites, are in the lightly-wooded inland or northeastern parts of Neverwinter; the near-the-shore "downtown" is already crowded and built up - - but then, it's also the least hospitable local terrain for hooved creatures and those who want room to do things in (like worship, dance or flirt or more to the greater glory of Sharess, and so on). Neverwinter and Everlund are the only large centers in the northern Sword Coast region that have substantial "forested park" -like conditions within their dwelling and patrolled areas, and those very conditions would be enticing to both a temple to Sharess and any centaur who doesn't mind sharing with other sylvan folk.
Now, that's not to say that Neverwinter doesn't have some inwardly-unfriendly-to-Sharess folk who will take advantage of the open, tolerant nature of the city to come and spy on who worships at the temple and what they get up to (and even some non-Sharess-haters who are just looking for an orgy to enjoy).
Neverwinter is yet ANOTHER of the too-neglected cities I wish we could have done a lot more with, in the published Realms. It can make for a great campaign setting, and I regret that the scenes set in it in SILVERFALL are such a brief glimpse of the place.
So saith Ed. Who will return with more Realmslore in the fullness of time, folks. Yes, he's still in the saddle; he's just very busy right now, particularly at his library day job, which has shifted to full-time this week so some of his co-workers can take some well-deserved holidays.
One Ed, amongst so many weary women; now THERE'S a vision to conjure with . . .
love to all,
THO |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 03:24:19
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Jakk, no to both of your questions: the identity of the Cormyrean author hasn't been revealed (correctly guessed) by anyone yet, and no, the Big Announcement hasn't been made. I'll nudge Ed to see if he can find out anything about the second one . . . and the first one is of course up to the guesses of the scribes of Candlekeep.
love,
THO |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 03:28:31
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Oh, and a reply to Wooly:
I can recall off the top of my head at least one innate talent a NPC demonstrated in the Realms (quite an otherwise normal, young, non-adventuring, low-ranking, "ordinary" mundane boy of a NPC, too): deadly accurate mimicry of someone he'd just heard speak. I mean, DEAD ON, extending their voice, including singing voice and/or sound of breathing or wheezing, to a full vocabulary even if he'd only heard a few words. He got hired by lots of shady characters to work small, short-lived impersonations to deceive various people.
Ed will of course provide more, when he gets around to that query in the huge and ever-growing heap of queries.
love,
THO
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 08:55:19
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Ed and THO,
I was just perusing the scroll with the help of Google Advanced Search, updating my lore-notes for Cormyr, and I noticed that the forthcoming details of House Sorndrake were last mentioned on March 25... I have enjoyed the lore on the other houses so much that this forthcoming lore has become just as eagerly anticipated by me as by my fellow scribe Daviot. Hearing that Ed is in fact even *busier* than usual (how is that even possible?) reassures me somewhat. Exactly *how* huge is that heap of queries at this time, just out of curiosity?
On a related note, hopefully Ed is next in line for those well-deserved holidays; I'm about to start a week off from my day job myself, and spending most of that week visiting my mom and packing up my collection of 1E/2E publications, including a hard-copy collection of Dragon magazine from #52* up, as I try to orchestrate a way to move it all to my current residence four hours' highway drive away without a vehicle of my own.
* - I'm looking for a cover-and-pages-intact copy of #51, if Ed happens to have an extra one or know someone who does; no special reason, except that it's Volume VI, Number 1, and I like my collections to be complete that way if possible.
By way of a Realmslore question: regarding one earlier asked, and answered with my favourite three letters: is there anything at all other than "NDA" that you *can* tell me about those thirteen pyramids under Ascore? George Krashos mentioned (in a tease elsewhere in CK) that there was something regarding the pyramids that was planned for LEoF, but that piece didn't make it into the final product. That being said, is there any chance of that material ever being released in any form, or of the NDA being revoked if not?
Apologies for the long-windedness of this inquiry. I meant what I said about Ed deserving some vacation time from his day job, even if he spends it all writing novels and Realmslore. Many thanks in advance,
Jakk |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 11 Jul 2009 08:56:14 |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 10:33:12
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I am interested if ED can tell me about the imaskarcana that hasnt been released and if he can share anything about old imaskar.
( 10 to 1 that atleast one of them is nda...) |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 16:28:37
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Hi again, all.
Yes, Ed is busier than the wind and the tides at the moment, and I'm sorry, sfdragon, Imaskar and everything about it is NDA right now (but look on the bright side: that means SOMEONE is at work on SOMETHING involving it).
Jakk, Ed is acutely aware that he's left the very patient and polite Daviot hanging, waiting far too long for the Sorndrake lore. He'll get to it, he promises.
Ascore is another "partially NDA'd" matter; Ed will have to check to see what he's allowed to reveal, if anything. I'm suspecting "nothing" will be the reply he gets, but we'll see . . .
Unfortunately, Jakk, Ed doesn't have any spare DRAGONS, any more; he gave some of them to friends replenishing a damaged-in-fire (actually by the firemens' water hoses) collection, signed a few more for charity give-aways, and is down to the bare bones.
Apropos of Ed's reply to Zandilar about Neverwinter, I unearthed this from my Ed campaign notes about the city:
To the north and east, the city becomes a series of irregular "blocks" formed by wandering streets that abandon any semblance of a grid pattern. This is largely due to the prevalence of small rills (brooks or tiny streams) that rise as springs in this area, and then tumble and meander gently down into pools and even a larger pond or two. As a result, there's a light forest covering much of the area, and mansions with gardens, walled and otherwise, have been built in plenty. Sinkholes and the many thirsty roots have prevented open bogs or swampland for the most part, creating an entire third or so of the city that looks more like forest than built-up area. Small arch bridges are common, only a few lanterns provide any lighting on the roads at night, and well-trained guardian dogs (and other creatures, including panthers and golems) guard some estates against brigands and raiding bands (of orcs, half-orcs, and sometimes hobgoblins, gnolls, and flind) from the surrounding wilderlands (miles of wooded, gently-rolling hills). The custom in Neverwinter is to have SILENT guardians, not barking, howling alarm-raisers, and to pin or surround or drive out intruders rather than savage them, but monsters of decidedly non-human form are generally exceptions to this; their presence will evoke alarm-raising and battle.
So saith Ed, with another tidbit of Neverwinter lore from the past (I believe he wrote that lore from which my notes are derived during or before 1988).
love to all,
THO |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 22:38:21
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hate NDAs dealing with the extremely distant past......
so someone is doing someinthing with the resturned imaskar.... interesting, as long as its a novel and not some dumb living FR module...
how many novels are in the Ed Greenwood presents: waterdeep?? |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
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Zandilar
Learned Scribe
Australia
313 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 23:33:08
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Heya,
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
To the north and east, the city becomes a series of irregular "blocks" formed by wandering streets that abandon any semblance of a grid pattern. This is largely due to the prevalence of small rills (brooks or tiny streams) that rise as springs in this area, and then tumble and meander gently down into pools and even a larger pond or two. As a result, there's a light forest covering much of the area, and mansions with gardens, walled and otherwise, have been built in plenty. Sinkholes and the many thirsty roots have prevented open bogs or swampland for the most part, creating an entire third or so of the city that looks more like forest than built-up area. Small arch bridges are common, only a few lanterns provide any lighting on the roads at night, and well-trained guardian dogs (and other creatures, including panthers and golems) guard some estates against brigands and raiding bands (of orcs, half-orcs, and sometimes hobgoblins, gnolls, and flind) from the surrounding wilderlands (miles of wooded, gently-rolling hills). The custom in Neverwinter is to have SILENT guardians, not barking, howling alarm-raisers, and to pin or surround or drive out intruders rather than savage them, but monsters of decidedly non-human form are generally exceptions to this; their presence will evoke alarm-raising and battle.
Sounds just like the kind of place I'd like to live in.
The vision of Neverwinter I had in my head was largely shaped by the Neverwinter Nights game by Bioware, but I'm beginning to see that Bioware's designers were fairly obviously limited to what would work well in a computer game (or else they didn't really have that much information on Neverwinter and made it up as they went along).
From this, it sounds like Neverwinter doesn't actually have a wall. Am I right in guessing that?
Thanks to you, THO, and to Ed for some more superb Neverwinter lore, it will definitely come in handy. |
Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~
As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.
The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2009 : 23:59:22
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Hi again, all.
A pleasure, Zandilar.
That's right, Neverwinter doesn't have a city wall.
It does, of course, have many walled "compounds" around caravan coster bases (paddocks plus wagon repair sheds, warehouses, and bunkhouses), walls around various mansions and gardens, and a small walled area at the older, southern end of the docks (from the days when goblinkin raids on the dockside warehouses were a nightly problem).
Yet no city wall, no.
Of course, from the beginning TSR latched on to Neverwinter as a place to license for a computer games BECAUSE it had a prohibition on published city maps to hamper raiders (TSR figured that gave any computer company who picked up the license "free reign" to develop the city as they pleased).
"Neverwinter Nights" itself was originally the name of the local Neverwinter city newpaper (Ed actually published some issues of it, just for fun for his players), until the name was "given" to BioWare. So Ed named the game before it was a game - - and before there was a BioWare, too!
love,
THO |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jul 2009 : 03:31:40
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
"Neverwinter Nights" itself was originally the name of the local Neverwinter city newpaper (Ed actually published some issues of it, just for fun for his players), until the name was "given" to BioWare. So Ed named the game before it was a game - - and before there was a BioWare, too!
love,
THO
Showing my age here but actually, AOL had Neverwinter Nights before Bioware. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2009)
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