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Joran Nobleheart
Senior Scribe
USA
495 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 02:40:51
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi again! Ed just surprised me with another missive, and this one contained a reply in passing to Joran Nobleheart, re. his query back on page 12 of this thread:
"Blade dancers" in this context means bladesingers, bladesingers in training, elves who follow the tradition of circle magic involving swords laid in a circle (points pointing inwards, to focus energies at the center of the circle, that are danced around by multiple dancers in a collective working), and elves who follow the tradition of recording and "playing back" the history of an elven family, community, or realm through dance and song, using drawn swords they hold as props.
In the setting described in that source, at the time covered by the source, these activities are usually practiced together.
So saith Ed, revealing more lore than I expected this morning!
love to all,
THO
Oh, thank you very much, Lady THO and Mr. Greenwood! I thought I knew a little of it, but that adds so much more to the subject.  |
Paladinic Ethos
Saint Joran Nobleheart |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 04:06:01
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Jakk, you won't find Gauntulgrym in the old print FR Atlas index or maps, because Karen Wynn Fonstad was asked by TSR to omit it.
You see, as one of his original turnover packages of the Realms, in 1986, Ed was asked to list available "dungeons" of the Realms (from little tomb "mini-dungeons" to entire subterranean cities, abandoned and otherwise) that could possibly be turned into adventures ("modules" in the parlance of the day) by TSR's staff designers. Ed generated a list (I'm not sure how long; I know Ed had over 30 completely keyed and detailed dungeons, from Undermountain to Irongard, and about another 40 partially-detailed or mentioned and located sites), and many of the places on it were kept "secret" for "soon" use. Not all of them got used, and Gauntulgrym is one of those.
Nevertheless, as a player in Ed's original Realms, who has studied Ed's original pencil maps many, many times and owns partial photocopies of them (this is all quite legal; I had them before TSR bought the Realms, and I signed my release form at the time of that purchase), I can attest to the clearly-marked location of Gauntulgrym, which George has stated correctly.
I strongly suspect Ed can't or won't say more, but I've sent your query on to him, just in case. (He is busily writing something Realmsian, as I type this.)
love,
THO
locations aside, is it possible to get ahold of this list??
or whats on it that isnt NDAs
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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 |
Edited by - sfdragon on 15 Mar 2010 04:07:06 |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
757 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 07:59:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
The location of Gauntlgrym isn't a long-lost secret at all. Well, not to the fans at least. It's located in the southern part of the Crags, east of Luskan.
-- George Krashos
Heh... I've just gone through my old poster maps, and I can't find it. I suspect that means that it's in the FR Atlas (my copy of which is several hours' highway travel away, along with most of my other 1E/2E sources and 80% of my hard-copy Dragon magazines). 
Jakk,
I compiled locations onto the 3E Realms map for a Sword Coast North map a while ago (in 2008 actually). For Gauntlgrym's location, I used The North as source. You may want to have a look, as it's both on the maps in the back of that and I seem to recall something written about it too. |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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arry
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
317 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 12:03:36
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| I would like to ask Ed if, on Lantan, there any major temples to other gods besides Gond? If so, could I ask to which gods and where? |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 18:25:52
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Hi again, all! I bring you the words of Ed of the Greenwood, this time in lore-reply to a recent query by Baleful Avatar: “Dear Ed and THO, I'm hoping Ed can provide the badge or blazon or non-heraldic identifying mark that a private carting company based in Suzail (and shuttling folk around Cormyr's southern and Dragon Coast places in coaches) might use, circa 1360-1370 DR. The symbol, if any, (or name or slogan or whatever) that might be painted on the side doors of a coach to identify who it belongs to. And in a slightly wider secondary question, how would such a company USUALLY advertise, beyond mere word of mouth? Thanks!”
Ed replies:
Certainly!
One of the largest and most successful carters that does coach runs (carries passengers) as well as swift small-cargo deliveries in the Dragon Coast region circa 1360s-1370s (the time setting of your campaign, if I recall correctly from earlier posts here) is Harnheer’s of Saerloon, founded and run by the portly, worldly, terse, wily, and keen-witted entrepreneur Astigal Harnheer. He pays well, and employs both many family members and all the competent, trustworthy drovers and hire-guards he can find, managing to keep between 60 and 80 wagons and coaches on the road at any one time (a typical coach can hold six passengers and their belongings, sheltered from the weather, and more—but in far less comfort and shelter—in emergencies).
Harnheer’s has offices in Suzail, Marsember, Arabel, Daerlun, Saerloon, Selgaunt, Ordulin, and Yhaunn, and the office staff in all of those places is responsible for placing ads in broadsheets, posting handbill notices wherever they can (and think the posting is in a place where it’ll garner any business), distributing handbills in taverns and inns, and “talking up” the company in regular rounds of inns, taverns, warehouses, and markets. (This is typical of all such “fastcoach” companies.)
Fastcoach companies tend to have more irregular/flexible schedules than regular caravan costers, and to charge higher rates (but provide more personal service by deviating from a fixed route to make pickups and drop-offs, whereas the typical coster runs from their offices/yards/paddocks in one city or waystop to another, and passengers or clients have to arrange their own transport from those “set termini” (to use a real-world term; in the Realms, they would say “house to house” meaning the coster’s home bases at both ends, NOT a client’s home).
Harnheer’s runs some unidentified coaches (often at the request of clients wishing to remain discreet/transact shady business/relocate without alerting authorities or creditors). However, most of their conveyances are painted with the company blazon and motto (a horizontal, forked-ends banner bearing the words in Common: “Faster And Safer”).
The Harnheer blazon is a white circle with a horizontal red arrow entering its left edge halfway down, that runs to the center of the circle and ends there with its point at the exact center of the circle. From that point, three smaller arrows radiate out (one horizontal like the arriving arrow, one 45 degrees above this horizontal arrow, and one 45 degrees below this horizontal arrow). All three begin at the center of the circle as very thin
lines, and broaden as they run to the right-hand edge of the circle, where they end in identical arrow-points.
On some of the Harnheer coaches, this circle isn’t just painted on the doors; on one or both sides of the coach, it’s an actual buckler or circular shield (removable if there’s a need for defense), with the blazon painted on it.
So saith Ed. Adding new Realmslore (yes, this is newly penned) for us all.
More lore coming soon, I'm told...
love,
THO
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Edited by - The Hooded One on 15 Mar 2010 18:27:46 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 18:30:26
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Oooh! Is this guy any relation to the Rardolphus Harnheer buffoon PCs had to rescue in three (I think; maybe more) of Ed's old GenCon charity D&D events?
Rardolphus of the many flagons and huge long nose?
Inquiring minds want to know!
BB |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 18:32:31
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Well spotted!
Yes, the coaching company owner is his younger brother. Rardolphus is still stumbling his way from noble household to handy Suzailan feast, around Cormyr. One of Ed's cozy comic NPCs. I'm quite fond of Rardolphus, actually.
love,
THO |
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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 19:40:32
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| Ah, many thanks for Crimmor's and Athkatla's blazon - a fantastic piece of Faerunian knowledge |
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Eye of Horus-Re
Acolyte
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 19:57:49
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| I dont know if this is necessarally an Ed question, maybe someone else has the answer. Are there any maps of Gauntlgrym in any available products past or present? |
Long live 1384 and that which came before....!!! |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 22:07:44
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Hi again, all.
I'm sorry, Eyes of Hores-Re, but the answer to that is: No.
Ed did provide TSR with some fragmentary maps (that is, a very small area of one level of the underground city), years ago, but they've never been published. (That is, so far as I know. My guess is that they didn't even survive the move from Lake Geneva to Renton.)
love,
THO |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 15 Mar 2010 22:11:24 |
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe
Canada
161 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2010 : 00:08:23
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Dear Ed and THO,
is there anything you can tell us about Furjur the Flippant, beyond the fragments in print already? Anything at all?
Thanks! |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2010 : 00:11:53
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Dear Ed and THO,
If a noble patriarch of Cormyr and his son and heir get into a furious argument over something major (like who the son is going to marry, or what families their family will or will not be friendly with) in public (i.e. a feast or revel held by someone else, and attended by lots of folk), will they "take it somewhere private"? Patch over their anger until later? What? I'm sure it'll vary with individuals, but I'm really looking for what's the "proper" or "respectable" thing to do, here.
Thanks!
BB |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
757 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2010 : 12:39:03
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Language in the Realms is varied and ever-changing (deliberately so, to make it seem more like the real world, and therefore more real).
This brings me neatly to my next "Realmspeak" query:
"Dalefolk" or "Dalesfolk"? I've seen both used in official sources, but cannot determine if the former is a more specific version (perhaps describing only the folk of Shadowdale), or if they are merely used interchangeably.
Thanks in advance for your replies.  |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2010 : 14:30:57
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Hi again, all.
Kyrene, they are used interchangeably. "Dalesfolk" is slightly more scholarly (sages, courtiers) and "Dalefolk" slightly more colloquial (a guy at an inn talking), but these are shades and tendencies rather than hard-and-fast.
As it happens, this is one of the terms (like the "Lolth/Lloth" matter) that Ed and the TSR designers, back in the day, specifically discussed and decided upon.
love,
THO |
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arry
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
317 Posts |
Posted - 17 Mar 2010 : 14:27:26
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| I would like to ask dear Lady Hooded, what humanoid races were there in Ed's campaign? |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 02:36:00
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arry, I presume (please correct me if I'm wrong) that you mean "humanoid" as opposed to "demi-human" (e.g. orcs, et al).
The answer is "are" rather than "were" and to put it simply: all of them. Onstage? The occasional orc, goblin, bugbear, hobgoblin, kobold, or flind band. Most of Ed's villains or challenges for our PCs are humans (sometimes undead or otherwise augmented/modified) who quite often use coerced, trained, or guardian monsters. Half-orcs are fairly common in less law-abiding cities, like Scornubel and Luskan.
Aside from one foray into the Save Coast North backcountry, when the wilderlands were simply CRAWLING with orcs, we Knights have tended to adventure in places where humanoids don't dominate.
If you mean the wider definition of "humanoid" (upright bipeds, so as to include gnomes, dwarves, elves (including drow), and humans - - well, my answer then changes to: Ed's campaign is DOMINATED by "humanoids."
love,
THO |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 18 Mar 2010 02:37:08 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 03:55:06
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quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
I have a question for THO....
while playing in one of Ed's games.
what was the most ammount of damamge that you can remember doing in one swing?
I think that what was hit would be the better question. |
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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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 04:32:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
I have a question for THO....
while playing in one of Ed's games.
what was the most ammount of damamge that you can remember doing in one swing?
I think that what was hit would be the better question.
And what she was wearing [or wasn't wearing] while executing the hit. |
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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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 05:45:52
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"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Elfinblade
Senior Scribe
Norway
377 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 09:27:33
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 14:15:40
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Ahem. Gallant scribes, I thank you for those warm and lascivious thoughts...
To answer sfdragon's question soberly and directly:
As a player, I can't be certain, because there's visible immediate damage, and then there are consequences (killing a rebel leader who was about to unleash civil war obviously does more "damage" to that cause than killing three wavering-loyalty rebels who were sitting in an isolated farmhouse drinking themselves into not taking part in the rebellion).
However, of the immediate visible damage done by single attacks I've landed, I BELIEVE the most impressive was a fight on the balcony of a mansion, wherein my (wounded) character's desperate hack sliced the hand off a foe on the stone balcony railing, as I shouldered him over the edge. His body fell through a skylight and onto a table below, doing much damage to a meeting of villains taking place around that table from the flying glass - - and his severed hand, gripping an enchanted sword, flew through the air and down into a chimney that descended to a lit hearth in a room where a fell wizard was awakening a dragon from stasis. The sword came into contact with both the hearth-fire and a spell that had just been cast, and the resulting blast took out the wizard, the dragon, and the building around them, causing a deadly rain of stone shards that slew or wounded many lesser villains who were restlessly roaming the mansion grounds, waiting for their leaders to wind up that meeting around the table. Fires were started, frightened survivors started swording each other in the smoke and confusion, and some of the villains' allies misinterpreted the turmoil at the mansion as meaning the authorities had uncovered the plot, and rushed to attack before they were properly organized and ready, allowing the outnumbered ruling forces to prevail.
No, I'm not going to be more specific about the place, the time, or the specific villain my character felled, because that could lead someone to easily identify my character.
Suffice it to say that with Ed as DM, players in an ongoing Realms campaign sometimes get to experience these glorious (or terrible) moments that reflect the interconnectedness of all things - - as one act precipitates consequence after unfolding consequence.
Ed remains THE Dungeon Master, in my mind.
love to all,
THO |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 14:18:19
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| Wow! |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 14:28:07
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Hi again, all.
One thing I'm moved to say after reading some recent threads here at the Keep: scribes who still have their campaigns set in the mid-1300s, and don't (yet or ever) want to uproot everything and jump ahead into the late 1400s (the time-setting for the 4e Realms) should feel free to quiz Ed about 1350s, 1360s, and 1370s Realmslore. (Ed is working with various LFR and other freelance designers - - and editors, writers, and designers working for Wizards, too - - on 4e-era Realmslore, but is much less free to share details of that "more modern" lore.) Candlekeep can still function just fine as it always has, at the level of providing lore for individual campaigns humming along.
In short, "edition wars" shouldn't matter. DMs have always been able to pick and choose what they want to use of the lore provided, twist and modify it, and listen to what others have done either as entertainment or to inform themselves of alternatives, possibilities, and object lessons.
Ed has always portrayed Candlekeep in his Realms fiction ("The Endless Chants of Alaundo" is just one of the unpublished pieces that concern the Keep) as a community of scribes that live and work together, yet often hold fiercely opposed opinions, from scribe to scribe. "Of one accord but not one mind," as he put it.
We can all still do that.
Or, instead, speculate about what I'm not wearing. 
love to all,
THO |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 14:41:23
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| Or, of course, we can do both... |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 16:49:52
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Good evening again. Time for another one of those outdated questions which I am unsure if Ed's allowed to answer.
The Uthgard never really felt "right" to me, so I wondered if it was possible for Ed to share any information on the Realms original barbarian tribes, such as the Snow Cat Nomads (p.52, Waterdeep and the North)? I am thinking before the Uthgard were added. What role did they play in the tapestry of peoples in the North and the Western Heartlands? The Grey Box give some minor details such as armament, but little about culture and general society of the different groups.
And as we are talking about barbarians and what The Hooded One is wearing, the mind does of course wander to fur bikinis and Raquel Welch.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 18:06:28
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Hi, Jorkens! Off to Ed your query goes. Yet by way of a beginning of an answer to it, here's what I know: the Uthgardt were substituted for Ed's barbarians (which he sent VERY little in to TSR about) by, I believe, Paul Jaquays. In play, we encountered individuals from Ed's Sword Coast barbarian tribes, and here's the skinny: they were hardy, black-haired, brown-skinned, burly nomads who had a culture centered on: place-spirits, moving around the landscape to stay near herds of "oroths" (musk oxen), "garauthae" (rothe) and "halagar" (stags, caribou, reindeer; the barbarians knew there were different sorts of hooved and antlered beasts, but didn't have different names for then) and to choose the times and places for fights with numerically-far-superior orcs (and hobgoblins, whom they hated especially and fought an ongoin war of extermination with), and whose clothing was, yes, hides and fur. Young males did "go wandering" down into warmer areas, often showing up in Silverymoon or Waterdeep, as part of their "coming of age" in barbarian culture, and Ed portrayed them as cunning, wary, tremendously strong and stubborn "Breckenridge Elkins" types (q.v. Robert E. Howard's A GENT FROM BEAR CREEK): innocent, amiable, sticking to a personal moral code, but easily duped by "city folk."
Centuries of warfare with the orcs, trolls, and hill giants of the North had pruned their numbers so that although Ed's barbarians did have rival tribes, they were far more apt to stand together against common foes than fight each other (barbarian-on-barbarian fights were unarmed and to first blood, not armed and to the death). Affairs were decided by elders, there were shamen but they advised and deferred to elders rather than trying to rule them, and all barbarians were omnivores skilled at living off the land. They were used to extreme cold, and would snowbathe naked in weather that left other humans, from warmer climes, huddling to keep warm inside shelter. They were used to long daily travels on foot, fighting with spears and rolled boulders and slung stones, and had stone daggers and axes if they hadn't won better (metal) weapons by scavenging them from the fallen. Dwarves often paid barbarians with metal weapons or tools in exchange for guiding across country on surface jaunts, and/or providing "large meat meals" for dwarves by hunting.
I've paraphrased most of this from Ed's "to his players" campaign notes.
love,
THO |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 18:08:35
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Oh, one addition:
One of the Sword Coast North barbarian tribes were known as the Dahareen (pronounced "Dah-har-EENE"). I know this was a name they themselves recognized and accepted without anger or demur, but I don't know if it began as a barbarian name, or a name by which non-barbarians called them.
love,
THO |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 18 Mar 2010 18:19:35 |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 18:37:34
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I have a question, but its from the Dead...
Would Ed ever consider Restoring the Wise Aluando to life??? |
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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Eye of Horus-Re
Acolyte
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 20:39:11
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| Just a quick comment. After reading your answer to the damage question, I have only become more jealous of your great fortune to be a part of his gaming group. His imagination is unmatched IMO. The chain reaction from cutting one persons hand off is incredible! And thank you for sharing these things with us. It also must feel really awesome to see your character in print. |
Long live 1384 and that which came before....!!! |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2010 : 22:42:01
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O Ed --
I was surprised to read in Swords of Dragonfire that, per Laspeera, 'all sufficiently gifted folk can craft portals' -- prior material being pretty clear that it's an art mostly lost to the modern Realms. The goods-vanishing phenomenon would have explained how Faerûnian trade looks as it does even with 3E easy-portal-crafting without writing into lore what seemed to me an obvious rules artefact. |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2010)
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