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Originally posted by Markustay

If this has been asked before, forgive me (and someone point me to the answer).

Who is The One, and is there is a reason he choose the Star Mounts for his base of operations?

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all. I bring everyone another quick Ed reply, this one to The Red Walker, re. his Korvan question just above. Heeeere's Ed!:


Hi, Red Walker. I can, and your suspicions are correct. Here's the short version: Korvan is the sort of man who always wants what he can't have (what's beyond his reach). He's lusty, and beauty and sophistication (such as a well-dressed, "on public show" noblewoman) smite him hard.
As a lowly Palace cook in Cormyr, he "fell" for several noblewomen attending Palace functions and revels, that he glimpsed from afar. He wanted them. He HAD to have them. And he wanted to be seen with them, to make it into that small circle of laughing, chattering "favorites" among the Palace staff and commoners whom they kept brief social company with, in their busy social mostly-spent-with-other-nobles lives. That is, the favored fashion designers, hairdressers, wits and bon vivants, and so on. Roles he entirely lacked the looks, manners, and smarts to ever attain or keep.
So he sought to conquer them covertly, by working "love potions" into the food he was preparing, herbal concoctions and liquids he could introduce into particular servings, to affect the eaters thereof.
Unfortunately for Korvan, one of the backstreets sources he contacted for these illicit concoctions (in Cormyr, by caselaw and decree, neither food nor wine can be "doctored" with other substances that aren't "only" flavourings or part of standard food preparation, except by priests for holy reasons and herbalists working under the supervision of a recognized healer, or by courtiers obeying certain senior courtiers, like the Royal Magician, Royal Sage, etc.) was both a "trader in shadies" AND a paid informant of the Crown, with very firm instructions to rat out EVERY person, high or low, who so much as hinted at wanting to purchase poisons or mind-altering or harmful substances [[including tamer stuff that "only" induces nausea, poor balance, vomiting or the runs, because all of these can be employed to aid thieves, gamblers, and those seeking to win trade negotiations]]. Korvan was watched, and observed to try to taint some servings with what he later confessed (under War Wizard spell-aided questioning) were "love potions."
The substances he was sold didn't work for the purpose he thought they did, so he didn't actually affect anyone's feelings towards him, or do any harm except subtly alter the tastes of some food. However, the INTENT was there, and members of the Obarskyr family MIGHT have been affected secondhand (e.g. by kissing, or even sharing the food of, someone Korvan had targeted), so Korvan got "a thorough scare" from the War Wizards, plus exile.
Which is how he ended up in Sembia, at various short-lived cooking jobs (the man had a temper, plus a newfound paranoia: thinking undercover Cormyrean agents were watching him), and eventually made his way to Highmoon in Deepingdale.
An unlovely man (lazy, mean to cruel, rude and bullying, and unable to control his lusts), but a good all-around cook.


So saith Ed. Who believes you're the first to really ask about Korvan since a long-ago TSR editor, so the first time any of this has been publicly told.
love,
THO

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi, Markustay. Thauramarth has answered your "The One" queries very well. Paul told me Doc chose the Star Mounts because they are relatively inaccessible to raiding bands of goblinkin and/or humans, and have almost all sorts of resources (water and fast-flowing water = power, minerals, copious lumber and edible plants, high meadows where captured livestock can be grazed in hiding, etc.) readily at hand.

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

No, Filfaeril was never a Chosen. A great woman, a Harper ally, a noble and a very capable queen, who has secrets as yet unrevealed that may never be told - - but not a Chosen. Of Mystra or any other deity.

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

And as for the authorship of that naughty chapbook . . . now, now. :} We're looking for the name of an IN-REALMS character. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

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Originally posted by Bakra

I do believe the Scribes here would find this offer from Ed interesting.


This is a direct quote from the Wotc Novel Book Club from Oct. 4th :

All the Realms are a game table, and we are but PCs. What's your character like?

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): With the approval and connivance of certain TSR staffers, I wrote myself up as a character in the Realms back in 1979, and I’ve been in the Realms ever since. No, I’m not Elminster. (Or Mirt.) “I” live in Waterdeep (at least in the 1350s DR), am in published Realmslore but not at all prominent, and if someone guesses who I am, I’ll reveal more. As in, a tale or three.

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all.
Foxhelm, according to my notes taken during Realmsplay with Ed (because we Knights have met more than one of these individuals, over the years) such a headhunter/talent scout is called either a "wiseeye" or a "finding eye" in the Heartlands of the Realms.
Ed confirms this, and adds that the "wiseeye" term is older and Sword Coast-based, and the "finding eye" is newer and most popular in Amn, Westgate, and Sembia. More formally, when such a job description becomes a title (as in a "type" of courtier), the role of talent scout is known as a "lorntavar."


So saith Ed. Wheee, more fast-flowing Realmslore!
love,
THO

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all.
Foxhelm, according to my notes taken during Realmsplay with Ed (because we Knights have met more than one of these individuals, over the years) such a headhunter/talent scout is called either a "wiseeye" or a "finding eye" in the Heartlands of the Realms.
Ed confirms this, and adds that the "wiseeye" term is older and Sword Coast-based, and the "finding eye" is newer and most popular in Amn, Westgate, and Sembia. More formally, when such a job description becomes a title (as in a "type" of courtier), the role of talent scout is known as a "lorntavar."


So saith Ed. Wheee, more fast-flowing Realmslore!
love,
THO

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Wiseeye is close to wise guy, in pronunciation... Which makes me wonder what the Realms phrase/word for that would be. I speak of course of the smart aleck or smartass sense of the word, not the organized crime sense of the word.

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Originally posted by Asharak

1346: Naval Battle of Lisen Sands.

Does anyone know more about this?

That's occur on the River Lis, but what else?

Who are the fighters?

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would happen if...

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

It was suggested that I bring this idea to Ed...

Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would happen if a half-dragon descended from Thauglor popped up in Cormyr? If this half-dragon tried to make a claim on the throne, how would everyone (commoners, nobles, royals, Vangey) react? Even more, what if this half-dragon was descended from Thauglor on one side and Azoun IV on the other?

Or how about a descendant of Iliphar?

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Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would happen if...

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Would like to second these questions, as they are awesome (i.e., total fodder for campaign and story ideas).

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

It was suggested that I bring this idea to Ed...

Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would happen if a half-dragon descended from Thauglor popped up in Cormyr? If this half-dragon tried to make a claim on the throne, how would everyone (commoners, nobles, royals, Vangey) react? Even more, what if this half-dragon was descended from Thauglor on one side and Azoun IV on the other?

Or how about a descendant of Iliphar?

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Originally posted by The Sage

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Originally posted by dennis

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Originally posted by Arik

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dennis
[Elminster] nor Storm couldn't cast powerful spells to turn himself into a lich, a vampire, or whatever form or undeath to continue existing, while the "possession" required but a little magic Storm could readily cast. Not to mention, it would make him a little less conspicuous to his enemies.

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Okay, so now I've spoilered it all up, perhaps I'll forget this thread by the time the entire (first) trilogy is available for me to read.

But question:
El can't lich himself? Why not? He's eminently qualified. Is this some downside to being (ex-)Chosen? Don't answer if it's an explicit story component and some perfectly plausible story explanation is given.

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Casting a very simple spell alone (except from those ready-to-use wands) makes him mad. How much more a series of complicated spells required for liching?!

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Indeed. Though, it's important to note that just as there are different kinds of liches [Larloch and Druth Daern are examples] there are different kinds of lichnee processes. But there are many other practical and personal reasons stopping mages from turning themselves into animated corpses.

I'd actually pose this question to Ed. I'm very curious to hear what his response would be.

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Originally posted by The Sage

As for the baelnorn path... Hmmm. I would see baelnorns as "good elven undead" only with regard to the purpose of their creation.

As noted in Cormanthyr -- "Baelnorn, the willing undead elves, are the elven equivalent of liches, though they are hardly as disturbingly “wrong” as the corrupt undead and they do not project the fearsome aura of those wicked creatures."

...

They are the elven equivalent of a lich... but, at the same time, are also something more that is entirely, and specifically... elven.

So, maybe, El's status as a Chosen of Mystra [and being "super-human" for lack of a better term] would, ultimately, impact upon his baelnorn-like conversion. Maybe the powers of Mystra coursing through his veins would protect him from the harsher aspects involved in the lichnee process. Resulting in, perhaps, a super-human baelnorn-like entity.

Or it could simply be a case of the Mystra-derived immortality being extended in ways that only a Chosen can understand. So instead of considering the path of lichdom for El, we should think about how his existing element of immortality can be re-worked to allow a lichdom-like state -- both before and after the Spellplague.

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Originally posted by The Sage

Actually, thinking on this further [and after digesting a rather unhealthy lunch], I'm remembering back to something Ed said several years ago about Larloch possibly creating his own unique and "better" lichdom spells and processes.

I'm wondering, now, whether this isn't also something that Elminster could try -- only the process might involve transforming the former Sage of Shadowdale into something akin to a human-baelnorn.

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Oh, and my inbox also contained some brief passages in e-mails from Ed that permit me to say:
Red Walker, Ed hears your hint re. Ander loud and clear. Time is the treasure . . .
Mr_Miscellany, there are indeed "ghost stories" told among War Wizards about predecessors in their ranks. Again, it may take some time before Ed can get to imparting any of them . . .
love,
THO

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

And hello again, everyone.
Sage, Ed dropped me a quick e-mail in response to your lichdom queries, and here it is:


Hoo boy. Thick NDAs looming all around on this one, but I can go far enough to say: Elminster is well aware of (and possesses the notes, spells, and necessary "ingredients"/apparatus for) many methods of attaining lichnee status, that he's acquired and studied over the years. Thus far he has actively dabbled in none of them, and that's due in part to the silver fire and active Weave flows and use not mixing well with lichdom. Which is where I'd best stop spilling beans for now . . .


So saith Ed. Who has obviously worked all of this out and communicated it with designers working at TSR (and possibly, later, at WotC), but just as obviously isn't free to share much more.
Yet.
Heh-heh.
love,
THO

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all. I bring you Ed's response to Wooly Rupert, re. this: "It was suggested that I bring this idea to Ed...
Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would happen if a half-dragon descended from Thauglor popped up in Cormyr? If this half-dragon tried to make a claim on the throne, how would everyone (commoners, nobles, royals, Vangey) react? Even more, what if this half-dragon was descended from Thauglor on one side and Azoun IV on the other?
Or how about a descendant of Iliphar?"
Ed replies:


Hi, Wooly. I have to be careful what I say here, due to two outstanding NDAs (which, yes, should lead everyone to suspect that this is a topic that has already been considered amongst Realms creatives). The short answer to all four of these queries is that reactions would be 'all over the map,' so to speak.
Vangey (or his successors) are primarily concerned with the stability of the Dragon Throne. HOW they will guard the throne depends on who it is doing the guarding (Vangey or Caladnei or . . .), what the situation is in the kingdom, and what events unfold.
There will always be nobles who will fiercely oppose any non-pureblood-human vying for the throne, and fight one who seizes it. Then again, there will always be nobles who seize on any pretender, potential usurper, or rival claimant to the current holder of the throne, and advance this challenge to the reigning monarch or regent, for reasons of personal gain, or to "reform" the realm, or for other reasons specific to them.
Individual Obarskyrs will have a wide variety of reactions to any rival/newcomer (but will tend to resist "bastards" in favor of the kin they know, except as pawns/allies against specific kin they hate or fear, because there are SO many bastards around already, and they would rather support and work with bastards they know well, and personally like. War Wizards and many senior-in-years nobles will react in the same way, and for the same reasons . . . but it's important to remember that there are no "class-wide" reactions to claimants, half-dragon or otherwise.
Or to put it another way, not all commoners will think X, all nobles think X or Y, and all royals think X or Y or Z. Everyone will react individually.
If any stereotypes about Cormyreans can be advanced, there will be general prejudices like this: we prefer humans we know, and know to be Cormyrean born and bred and resident, over humans who "come out of nowhere" or are known to have been far away from Cormyr for some time. We will prefer humans over non-humans (such as elves; many oldblood families, noble or common, believe "Cormyr" is a human land wrested from elves who should never be allowed to return to anything resembling power, locally) and we will prefer human-like, "civilized" non-humans (elves, halflings, gnomes, dwarves) over known-to-be-dangerous races (half-orcs, orcs and goblins, etc.), and those "evil folk" over "monstrous half-breeds" (shapechangers, lizardfolk-like half-dragons with scales and tails and other obvious "this ain't a human" features.
That isn't to say that certain nobles and wizards of Cormyr (including War Wizards) won't be fascinated by a half-dragon, and their potential power, or with elves of the lineage of Iliphar (and more than one such individual is known to exist, in Cormyr, though the Royal Court isn't certain of all of their identities or whereabouts) . . . but the general bulk of the populace is going to want a human king or queen, preferably of the House of Obarskyr or failing that bastard offspring of the traceable blood of the Obarskyrs or perhaps Baerauble, and failing that of one of the oldblood families (and at this point, of course, the fierce struggle over WHICH ruling family would erupt, probably into open civil war).
Yet Cormyr will always be a place where bastards and other throne claimants wait in the wings, supported by this or that cabal of nobles and watched by the War Wizards and various Crown agents.
A half-dragon claimant who can claim AND PROVE (to most who care) descent from both Thauglor and Azoun IV would have a stronger claim (and public support) than any other half-dragon, but by no means more than the scores to hundreds of human Cormyreans who can claim and prove Azoun IV's involvement in their ancestry, or Obarskyr blood from other monarchs (or princes, who at the time of the dalliances hadn't yet come to the throne).
In fact, what keeps Cormyr from erupting in civil strife often is the counterbalance between SO MANY possible (weak) claimants. Eliminate all fullblood Obarskyrs, and all of those claimants come into play, yes, but then it becomes a game of "who can stay alive?" among the claimants.
And remember: a half-dragon would probably still have a claim that was weaker in public support than, say, a certain ghazneth with the last name Cormaeril . . .


So saith Ed. Who has talked at great length with TSR and later WotC designers about such matters, I happen to know (because I eavesdrop shamelessly when it suits me to do so).
love,
THO

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