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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Jul 2010 : 01:16:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Halruaa didn't have large conventional armies, because it didn't need them. They could magically use wind as a weapon (in addition to skyships, puissant battle-spells, and battle automatons [which can be be blown up from afar by their directors, and so can serve as "walking bombs"]).
Ooh, ooh, I wanna know more about the battle automata! 
Seconded. I also wouldn't mind hearing more about those battle-spells either. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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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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bladeinAmn
Learned Scribe
199 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2010 : 05:10:49
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi, Red Walker. I'd say that the loss of Halruaa is HUGE, but that the magnitude of the loss might well notr be fully appreciated across most of Faerun, because only those who visited Halruaa can truly appreciate it.
Halruaa wasn't just a "land with a lot of wizards, ruled by wizards" as most of the rest of the Realms would probably judge it, it was a land in which most of the small routines of daily life (washing, cooking, movement around the house of household sundries such as clothing, laundry, lighting, heating and cooling, even airflows) were "done by magic." Imagine the "automated house" of many sf stories; well, a fully-enchanted Halruaan domicile would work the same way, with "keyed" (attuned) inhabitants affecting the house around them with either command words or thoughts or both as they move about, live their domestic lives, etc. They also had spell-slates (iBook, anyone? Ed's slates were about the same size and shape) in most every household, onto which distant Halruaans could send brief written messages.
Halruaa didn't have large conventional armies, because it didn't need them. They could magically use wind as a weapon (in addition to skyships, puissant battle-spells, and battle automatons [which can be be blown up from afar by their directors, and so can serve as "walking bombs"]).
And yes, of COURSE they had weather control, and hence very abundant crop yields.
love,
THO
So (from a few questions back in this thread) the Red Wizards of Thay never had a prayer in a hypothetical war vs. Halruaa. Juss as I thought. Halruaa is still the main 'power' in my Realms. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2010 : 17:15:03
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Hi again, all.
Wooly and Sage, the automaton we Knights saw (about a dozen identical examples of, plus another three small but otherwise identical specimens), during play, were metal "rolling/walking spiders" consisting of five telescoping (limited-retractible due to successive overlapping metal rings), spider-kneed legs swivel-attached to a common platform 'body.' The legs had rolling spheres at the bottoms for locomotion, but also multiple "traction daggers" for walking on ice, etc, that could be thrust down "past" the ball to lift it out of contact with the ground and make the thing walk on the daggers (fiver per leg). Atop the platform could be multiple things, from a cabin with telefactoring magical gloves to move two fully-articulated, extendable "fighting arms" that could wield blades, spikes, nets, power-slings, and clubs . . . and upsized versions of all of those, plus carry-platforms with lashdown straps and cover-nets, for cargo moving, that lacked a cabin and operator, but could be spell-controlled from afar.
That's the short version. There was also at least one much taller and larger humanoid-form metal "walker," usage unknown, that we saw only from a great distance.
That's my campaign experience. i'm not sure what Ed will reveal, now that I've asked...
love,
THO |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 02 Jul 2010 17:16:37 |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2010 : 18:23:31
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With all this talk of Halruaa's battle magic, much of it descended from Netheril, I figure it's time for a Netheril follow-up: why was Netheril making so much of this battle magic in the first place?
From what I can recall from the Netheril box set, once Netheril dealt with the near-by orcs (in the March to Annhilation, among others), it wasn't really seriously threatened until the phaerimm, and even then most of the nation didn't realize what the problem was. It didn't have great relations with its elven neighbors, but neither was there ever any open warfare. And the only orcs around, the ones to the west, had to get past Delzoun/Eaerlann/Ammarindar before they could reach the Netheril heartlands.
Absent a major driving push like a looming external enemy, what was the motivation for all this experimentation in warfare? I get that some archwizards would be intrigued by it, the same way others were intrigued by the planes, or spelljamming, but the amount of "Netherese battle tech" for lack of a better term that's still lying around nearly two thousand years later points to Netheril having a truly staggering armory. What was the motivation behind its development, and why did the rather decentralized and independent-minded archwizards who ruled Netheril decide it was worth the time/money/magic to create it? |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2010 : 21:53:15
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Hi again, all.
Hoondatha, Ed will have to provide a proper answer, of course, but the short-short version of a reply to you would be: for some archwizards, as a deterrent to other archwizards attacking them, for others to keep up with the Joneses, for still others because their deep paranoia drove them to be ready for any challenge, and for others, just to prove they could...and could do it better than rival archwizards.
love,
THO |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 00:46:43
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There were at least two other powerful magical empires at the time - Imaskar and the Shoon Imperium. The Elves were a constant threat (and probably would have attacked if the Netherease weren't so well prepared.) Toward the end of their era they also the empires of Raumather, Narfell, and Jhaamdath (not to mention the 'new' empires of Mulhorand and Unther) to contend with.
They also picked a few fights in both Arcane Space, as well as in the Outer Planes (all canon).
It would seem to me that although they don't appear to have been very militaristic, they were very expansive, and the two go hand-in-hand; one must defend all the lands one takes.
Not to mention that they had a bit of a 'Thay thing' going on - the various Archmages weren't all 'cuddly' with one another (although they were much less fragmented when faced with an outside threat).
Hope that helps, and I will wait upon Ed to correct/clarify/add to that... bearing in mind his Realms did not have a Netheril, or at least not the TSR version of Netheril, IIRC (a lot of the lore associated with it, like Karsus - that all came from another game entirely). |
"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 03 Jul 2010 00:50:13 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 03:12:23
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Ed's original Realms certainly had Netheril (it's his creation, flying/floating cities and mighty archwizards, skyships, disaspora after its fall, and all), but the published TSR Netheril is different, yes.
love,
THO |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 08:46:20
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Thank You, THO, for that clarification - I wasn't really sure how much of it was Eds, and how much of it actually came from the plundering of the Dragonquest IP. I only own the rulebook to that old SPI game, and none of the modules, so I could never compare how much was lifted.
Since the story of Karsus does come from there (from what I've read), then might I ask what ended Ed's version of Netheril? Or is only a small part of the Karsus story from that other game, and Ed already had a Karsus-like character responsible for the fall?
Just intellectual curiosity, nothing more; I find it fascinating how many bits and pieces of other worlds wound up in the Realms, long before Abeir ever reared its head.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Joran Nobleheart
Senior Scribe
USA
495 Posts |
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Snowblood
Senior Scribe
Australia
388 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 16:23:21
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| Me three........ |
Aryvandaar, Ilythiir, Arnothoi, Orva, Sarphil, Anauria/Asram/Hlondath, Uvaeren, Braceldaur, Ilodhar, Lisenaar, Imaskar, Miyeritar, Orishaar, Shantel Othrieir, Keltormir, Eaerlann, Ammarindar, Siluvanede, Sharrven, Illefarn, Ardeep, Rystal Wood, Evereska are all available here for download:http://phasai.deviantart.com/gallery/
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
757 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 22:20:54
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Ed and/or THO,
Previously (June 3, 2010), I asked:quote:
Prompted by THO in another scroll, I bring my question(s) here. What follows is a list of well known...
Please consider that question mostly answered, except for the small revised list presented here. Ed, I "simply" require confirmations and/or additional definitions of the following 'Realmspeak':
“bladesharp” – Common:- a feeling of unease (Crown of Fire by Ed Greenwood)
“blurf” – Common:- “nonsense”
“crawhorn” – Common:- ?
“fielding” – Common:- something other than “fielding” an army or some such? apparently some sort of a vegetable (Dragon Magazine #277)
“low-coin” – Common:- the opposite of “high-coin”?
“painquench” – Common:- any substance with an analgesic effect (Hand of Fire by Ed Greenwood)
“seamaster” – Common:- a ship’s captain (Prayers from the Faithful by Ed Greenwood)
“short name” – Common:- a short form of a personal name, used as a nickname (The Temptation of Elminster by Ed Greenwood)
“slayknife” – Common:- a killer-for-hire
If any sages/scribes can help, I still ask that replies be directed at this scroll (or PM me) so as not to clutter up this scroll. |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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althen artren
Senior Scribe
USA
780 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2010 : 23:06:37
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Sorry about the old Netheril kids, but I chomped up
that tree and came up empty. It has something to do
about Ed's agreement with the IP holder about not
negating anything published or whatnot. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 00:12:46
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Well clearly, there are two separate continuities that exist in canon - the one that existed before The Sundering, and the one that existed after The Sundering, which changed the course of history. Entire races were, canonically, simply erased by the event, as if they never existed.
Ergo, the information I seek is about that other FR - the world in which the Sundering never occurred - a world that is both canon and completely open to Ed's interpretations.
Hows that for dancing around NDA's?
My mom was right... I should have been a lawyer. 
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"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 00:27:57
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I like Markustay's reasoning, and consider this a fourth request for some insight into Ed's Netheril, as much as can be shared.
Besides, if the "So Saith Ed" clause allows WotC to publish something different from what Ed has said later on, Ed should be allowed to say something regarding his Realms after the publication of something different for the canonical Realms... that, to me, is only fair... of course, this is a corporation we're dealing with, so fairness loses all meaning...
Just a thought...  |
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. |
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe
523 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 05:30:56
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Greetings Hooded Lady.
I have an odd question. Does the Cult of the Dragon consist mostly of male members? Are the Wears of Purple or other higher ups mostly or entirely male? I have never remembered reading of a female cultist and this seems like the kind of group that might be a boys club.
For now thank you kindly, till we can meet in person and I can really thank you. |
The party come to a town befallen by hysteria
Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good. |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 05:54:10
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| Wasn't the Shadowsil a Wearer of the Purple? I thought she was fairly high up in the Cult, at least, though I can't off the top of my head think of any other female Cultists. Oh, aside from that other female wizard on Tam during the Deep of the Depths novel; the other "only sane wizard." |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 05:55:23
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| Oh, and one other, more light-hearted question, since we are in the middle of the World Cup: Is Ed a soccer/football person? Has he beeen watching any of the games? |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Sill Alias
Senior Scribe
Kazakhstan
588 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 14:20:31
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| Dear Lady THO. I don't know if there was such a question, but I am interested by the facts of drow male priests of Lolth. I had been forced to remake the character for such roleplay once earlier and wanted to know any word of wisdom of the creator of the FR (Rest in peace, Gygax) about their existence. They exist, but under which conditions? What sources can claim it on 3.5 edition except for novels? |
You can hear many tales from many mouths. The most difficult is to know which of them are not lies. - Sill Alias
"May your harp be unstrung, your dreams die and all your songs be unsung." - curse of the harper, The Code of the Harpers 2 ed.
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Edited by - Sill Alias on 04 Jul 2010 14:21:26 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 16:55:08
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Hi again, all.
Ed's just back from a very enjoyable day of attending the wedding of a good friend (Stephen Helleiner, who for years ran the Phantasm convention in Peterborough and has recently been working on the HEROBITS card game; the owner of that game and many of the other good folks who worked on the game were also there).
Gelcur, I can tell you that there are a handful of female Wearers of the Purple, but yes, it is largely male in membership. In the past Ed has indicated he'd rather not say much about the identities of organization members, to allow a DM to really surprise players with who's a member in their campaign, if need be.
Hoondatha, Ed has played soccer and is a soccer fan, but he's not much of a fan of the current FIFA setup (playacting to draw foul calls, wretchedly bad officiating and refusal to look at television replay footage to determine doubtful calls, far too many games decided by penalty kicks, penalty kicks during a game from an impossibly close distance for the goalie to stop except by "guessing right" . . . and yet "modernization" of things that don't need modernizing, like the ball). Yes, he has been watching some of the games (reruns, late at night, not live [because he can't afford to travel anywhere, and has a day job that prevents watching during "live" telecasts]. He's not a supporter of any country, and reserves his snarls for the officiating. ). During one early round-robin game, Ed found the game so boring that he switched his television to a local pre-season football game (Canadian football, as in: the older, three-down variant of what Americans know as football), and despite the slow pace and experimental personnel juggling that goes with any pre-season game, found it far more exciting than that particular soccer match.
Sill Alias, I'm not sure about 3.5 sources, but there have always been male priests of Lolth, because not all drow cities are matriarchally dominated, or house dominated, the way Menzo is. Let's see what I can weaseXXX ahem, cajole out of Ed.
To everyone asking about Ed's Netheril: bear in mind that TSR requested and accepted Netherese lore. The fact that the designer doing the Netheril boxed set ignored most of it DOESN"T free Ed up to publish it. NDAs are NDAs.
love to all,
THO |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 17:08:44
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Hello again, all.
Ed just sent me an e-mail that contained a partial reply for Kyrene:
Hi. Re. your glossary queries: bladesharp, blurf, short name, and slayknife are all correct.
"low-coin" isn't an exact opposite of "high-coin" because low-coin can mean: cheap/tawdry, or poor, or priced inexpensively (sometimes with the inference that the goods are a bargain, and sometimes that they're spartan/bare basics/no frills
“painquench” isn't ANY substance with an analgesic effect; it formerly meant a specific spell applied to quell pain, and then to a particular enchanted herbal ointment that quelled pain, and then widened to mean a small handful of such ointments and unguents
a “seamaster” is indeed a ship’s captain, but it specifically means either an owner/operator (i.e. the captain owns his/her ship), or a part owner of the ship or of the shipping line (who is also captain of the vessel)
So saith Ed. Who didn't mention a few of the terms in your list, Kyrene, so I suppose he'll deal with them later; he was sending me a swift e-mail before dashing off to do something (a perennially busy boy, our Eddie).
love,
THO |
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Tazak Nymar
Acolyte
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 17:36:45
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To Ed and The Hooded One I bring forth the following questions.
As far as I know ( I could be wrong ) during medieval/renaissance times most inns where not the restaurants with rooms many associate with the modern concept, but rather a common room with one or two rooms apart and a common meal available through the day often a pot of soup or meat from a slaughtered pork. The kitchen as well as facilities where located outside the main building and servant wenches often doubling as trollops with the tacit support of the establishment's owner.
Does this pattern apply in the Forgotten Realms ? If so. Where ?
Foodwise in the same time period meat pies, bread and soup where the main staples with roots specially onions being considered peasant fare.
Does this pattern apply in the human nations of the Forgotten Realms ? If so. Which ?
Would a gnomish wizardess have too much trouble courting Quilue Veladorn ? How open would Quilue be to pranks and mischief ? What would her comfort zone be in regards to pranks ? Would the distinction of having put poison ivy powder in Piergeiron's underwear at night over a huge tax disagreement hinder or help in making an impression ?
Below is a scenario that happened while I was running an adventure. Though that part of the game passed. I'm curious as to what El and the seven sisters would thought of the situation. I ask because it is not the type of situation that comes up often and I would like to hear what they'd ( El and the girls ) would think of using these methods against the Zhentarim (The gnome wizardess above isn't part of the group mentioned below).
quote:
In a game set before the Spellplague. The group I'm currently mastering for made their way to Shadowdale.
They had earned Zhentarim animosity and an agent was ordered to kill them.
The agent in question was a mage and after failing to destroy the party with an ambush with a group of Ogres decided to enlist the help of nearby operatives that included another mage, two warriors and an assassin posing as a traveling show.
After a close call and after having captured most of the Zhentarim they managed find out that the assassin was in fact the troupe dancer from the show.
Tired of matching wits with the Zhentarim the group took the assassin's three year old son as hostage and threatened to kill the toddler publicly if she didn't give up, going as far cutting the infant, though without maiming him.
After the assassin gave up and was questioned under a "Detect Lie" spell she along with one of the warriors was send to prison (The others were killed by the PC's).
Little time has passed (less than twenty minutes in-game).
A couple of questions do come to mind and I would greatly appreciate any input you can give me.
Would Storm Silverhand be impressed positively or negatively with the PC's ? (I had Storm in mind as a contact for them but it isn't mandatory and I prefer to play her accurately)
What would the sentence be in Shadowdale for attempted murder and Zhentarim membership ? Death by hanging seemed appropriate at first but no one PC was killed on the other hand.
What would normally happen to the toddler ?
Would the populace or the authorities of Shadowdale have any strong opinion on this matter, negative or positive ?
The party has a dual class Priest of Azuth/Paladin subordinate to a higher level Priest of Azuth. Would the Paladin lose abilities for helping take the child hostage even if he did it under protest and specifically at the orders of his superior ?
Would Elminster or Lhaeo have any particular opinion on this matter if they hear of it ?
Thankful for any opinions you can provide.
Tazak
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
757 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2010 : 19:11:41
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hello again, all.
Ed just sent me an e-mail that contained a partial reply for Kyrene:
So saith Ed. Who didn't mention a few of the terms in your list, Kyrene, so I suppose he'll deal with them later; he was sending me a swift e-mail before dashing off to do something (a perennially busy boy, our Eddie).
love,
THO
It's days like this where I could just kiss the "busy boy"!  My thanks as always! |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 06:36:54
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi again, all.
<chop>
To everyone asking about Ed's Netheril: bear in mind that TSR requested and accepted Netherese lore. The fact that the designer doing the Netheril boxed set ignored most of it DOESN"T free Ed up to publish it. NDAs are NDAs.
love to all,
THO
 Sigh... so I guess this means that, even though TSR's Unther and Mulhorand no longer exist post-Spellplague, Ed still can't share details of his Unther and Mulhorand with us, either... I'm beginning to think that corporations have no business getting involved in the RPG industry at all...  |
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 05 Jul 2010 06:37:16 |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 11:32:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
Then where would you get any RPG stuff then?
Come on, let this thread at least be free from ever ending bickering, eh? Its nice to at least have one thread to read.
But, over to my question:
Good day Lady Hooded One.
With the things here being what they are here at Candlekeep I finally got to work on methodically reshaping the Realms more thoroughly ( looking back at what I have until now I probably shouldn't have combined it with going through every album that I own containing Grace Slick) to make it fit both me and Basic Role Playing better and one of the things I am working on is including the old idea that iron and magic don't work together. And that got me wondering about one thing:
Did Ed originally include ideas about a bronze age ( I seem to remember the Ancient Empires book having something, but I am thinking more about the pre-published Realms) and a development of metallurgy? Or were the Realms created by the gods as it is today where much of the technology is concerned.? If a bronze age(and then most likely an iron age) did take place were and in what form could it be found?
Again a kiss to you for bringing this question to Ed or answering it yourself.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 17:20:53
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Hi again, all.
Jorkens, I don't think much (if anything) of Ed's "distant dawn origins" of the Realms ever made it into the published version, because the TSR designers of the day, being veterans of designing the Dragonlance setting [and, in many cases, other game settings galore] were wary of saying too much that's definite about the past. Every word said restricts possible later stories, both from the publisher and from licensees.
I know Ed as DM (as opposed to Ed the designer) is wary of this, too. Hence the heavy use of unreliable narrators, folktales, hearsay, and so on.
However, I and many others have discussed this with Ed, over the years, and in general, Ed sees the Realms like this:
We don't know "who rose first" into civilized might, because it's lost in the distant past, but it's clear that dragons, giants, elves, and to a lesser extent dwarves and illithids and beholders and hobgoblins have all had powerful civilizations that dominated large areas of the world . . . and don't, today. Magic has been more powerful and widespread in the past than it is now, and there have been human civilizations (e.g. Netheril) in the past that surpass any human empires in existence today. Humans, halflings, orcs, gnomes, and others have been servitor or slave races in some of these former powerhouses, and "what came first" is impossible to now be certain of (for one thing, the gods themselves can't be trusted to tell the truth; some humans have always suspected - - correctly - - that some deities masqueraded as others, so that some of the "Watching Gods" were aspects of others).
Gates ("portals," if you prefer, but gates was Ed's original term, and see issue 37 of THE DRAGON for his lengthy article on the use of gates) between many parallel worlds were part of Ed's world-view from the beginning, including many gates linking "the Realms" with "our real world" and other quasi-medieval fantasy worlds (in which magic worked, in various forms).
So there have been migrations, invasions, cross-pollinations, trade, and so on through these gates, from world to world (the Realms very much included) for thousands upon thousands of years, and "waves" of elves and humans have departed and arrived in the Realms, bringing their technology with them.
As a result, we now can't tell very much about primitive human (and other racial) societies and development in the Realms. We don't even know if the Realms went through the same stages as the real world, given the presence of magic, abundance of metallic ores unknown on our "real" Earth, and so on. We can only guess, or extrapolate from the most "primitive" (and that, of course, is itself a value judgement) societies left in remote corners of the Realms these days.
Ed's method of game designing and worldbuilding has always involved leaving a maximum number of "loose ends" for DM or future Ed or designer development, while at the same time avoiding leaving all questors frustrated by lack of information. It's a delicate tightrope to walk, moves constantly, and there are instances of falling off it. Yet it's the dance that Ed continues with, decade after decade, come what may.
I'll see if Ed can be persuaded to add more, but I doubt he'll want to be much more specific about a Realmsian Bronze Age or anything else "way back then," for the design reasons I've outlined above.
love,
THO |
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe
Canada
161 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 17:31:31
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Hi. A page back in this thread, Kyrene asked:
Is there anything Ed can tell us about Wizbane Square in Suzail?
I missed this, until now. I've never heard of Wizbane Square, and I thought I had all the published stuff covering Suzail. Kyrene or anyone, where is this mentioned?  |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 17:43:37
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Hi again, all. I bring now Ed of the Greenwood's lore reply to Hoondatha, re. this: "One quick question for Ed, THO, or anyone else who might know the answer. I was trying to describe a ring-shape in play recently and kept wanting to call it a "donut." For my future reference, are there places in Faerun that make ring-shaped pastries of some form or another that would be widely enough know that a character could use them to describe what something else looks like? And if so, what are they called. Would it be something like "a Sembian donut," or do they have specific names? Many thanks."
Ed replies:
Hi, Hoondatha! The Realms does have sweet and sugared pastries of various sorts (mainly tarts), but "donuts" in the real-world North American sense are unknown there, and so is the term "donut." There ARE ring-shaped loaves of bread made in the Lake of Steam area and Lapaliiya, Estagund, and Murghom, that have been slowly spreading in popularity along trade-routes. They're basically round, coarse rye loaves (that harden to a gray crust, and keep well, though you can break a tooth on an old loaf that hasn't been softened in broth, wine, or water) that are baked in ring-shaped molds, and transported on, and sold from, sticks (that sit on rests in a wagon, to keep the ring-shaped loaves from damage by resting on the wagonbed).
They are known as "ring-loaves," because their shape resembles a ring from a coat of mail. (In Lapaliiya, some traders have taken to calling them "klarvels" (singular: "klarvel," but this hasn't yet caught on, outside that country.)
Some bakers in Estagund add molasses and walnuts to their ring-loaves, and they can approach the taste of a not-very-sweet real-world modern North American "walnut cruller," but that's as close as these loaves normally get to being sweet. They can be EATEN as a sweet, but this is usually done by soaking them overnight or longer in mead, or honey, or wine. In the Vilhon Reach, some nobles like to do this with strong spirits, for a month; the thoroughly-soaked ring-loaf is then put on a platter, and its "hole" filled up with cream, or with berries or sliced mangoes mixed with cream. Yum.
;} Hope this is of help.
So saith Ed. Who is "in like Flynn" when we're talking about food.
love,
THO |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 18:23:57
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| That's great, Ed, thanks. And since I actually have a party sailing around the southern Realms, looting and pillaging for all they're worth, I might actually have a chance to showcase them. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
757 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2010 : 21:04:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Baleful Avatar
Hi. A page back in this thread, Kyrene asked:
Is there anything Ed can tell us about Wizbane Square in Suzail?
I missed this, until now. I've never heard of Wizbane Square, and I thought I had all the published stuff covering Suzail. Kyrene or anyone, where is this mentioned?
It comes from a throwaway comment in Magic of Faerûn (page 42) I saw while researching "mystic maelstroms" for the Glossary.quote:
In Suzail’s Wizbane Square, signs warn of the danger, but many fools still enter blindly.
Therefore my ears perked up, and the reason for the query.  |
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 - 05 Jul 2010 : 22:51:43
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Hi again, all.
I have an addendum for Hoondatha, from Ed (with his apologies for omitting this from his first e-mail):
Ring-loaves vary widely in size, but most are about the size of a real-world dinner plate (i.e. 10-12 inches across), and about six inches thick. Some are MUCH larger, particularly those baked to be "communal" loaves in barracks and the like, set in the center of a dining table for diners to share, but they're rarely much smaller than the average I've given (i.e. very few, except perhaps from gnome and halfling bakers for household use in their own communities only, would be anything approaching the small size of rela-world donuts).
So saith Ed. Hmmm, getting hungry for some reason...
love,
THO |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2010)
Topic Locked
