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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
    
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 03:40:26
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Wizards have posted an excerpt from the 'Introduction' of Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms. You can find it here.
Of particular interest, to me at least, is Ed's early breakdowns for the various parts of the continent. This is neat stuff!
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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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Brimstone
Great Reader
    
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 04:19:16
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I am REALLY looking forward to this book. |
"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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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
    
Australia
6680 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 05:40:31
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Cannot wait.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
    
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 05:55:21
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I pre-ordered it on Amazon |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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Tarlyn
Learned Scribe
 
USA
315 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 11:47:29
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This one is going to make for a nice quite weekend. |
Tarlyn Embersun |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
   
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 12:49:51
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Interesting. I will buy it as long as it is not a book set up full of notes taped to pages like in the excerpt. I am looking forward to seeing the final product though.
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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore
   
United Kingdom
1073 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2012 : 14:20:12
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I can't wait to get it, its already ordered unseen as this will be the best FR book for a long long time (well until Vol II turns up, then Vol III, then Vol IV..... )
What I like most about the article is the sandbox nature of the Home Campaign rather than over-arching plots that drive the game forward. They are simply adventurers trying to make their way in the world rather than saving the world. Unfortunately TSR/WoTC changed that focus of the original Realms on the head and made everything world shattering and story focussed and less player focussed.
Nice to get back to what the Realms is really about.
Cheers
Damian |
So saith Ed. I've never said he was sane, have I? Gods, all this writing and he's running a constant fantasy version of Coronation Street in his head, too. . shudder, love to all, THO Candlekeep Forum 7 May 2005 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
    
Australia
31799 Posts |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
   
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2012 : 04:13:53
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Now that is more like I am expecting. Great paper background and graphics. Nice type set. Good use of space with good information provided. Nice picture as well.
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
  
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2012 : 21:08:39
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Given WotC's past offerings over the last few years, I was hesitant about even this. However, the abundant excerpts helped clarify the apparent tone and direction of this book. I like the "taped-in" notes from the original packages Ed sent in to TSR. If only shown every now and then, they're not overused. They offer a glimpse at early documents about the Realms pre-publication and cut to the heart of what the setting was originally about.
As elaborated by the actual (new) content of the book shown thus far, the early Realms had an old school, 'dangerously exciting' vibe to it while still possessing its characteristic cadence. A combination I feel is imminently more likeable than trying to view that perilousness and liveliness primarily through the lens of epic events and disasters as in the later and recent Realms.
This is the first FR sourcebook I've pre-ordered since Grand History, and probably since City of Splendors: Waterdeep before that. |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
    
USA
4215 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 00:25:18
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I'm damned excited about the book...more than I should be; but I can't help it.
I've always wanted a solid book showing me how Ed runs his homegames; and while I may have no hope of improving to the point that I can dream of running a game like he does...this book WILL give me information and such that I can use to make my own home Forgotten Realms games a blast! |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
    
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 01:51:57
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Just TWO pages? 
I must have tried a full dozen times to 'scroll down' from page 2, before I realized it was over that quickly.
I NEED more! I NEEEEEEEDS it!
{my preciousssssssss} |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
   
Canada
1301 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 02:11:16
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Only one of the excerpts worked for me, but what I read was amazing. Can't WAIT to get this book. Will order two just to give them the idea (also one to dog ear and read and the other for posterity!) |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
    
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 03:12:36
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Just a Typical Night in an Inn
Also found in this scroll |
"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 |
Edited by - Brimstone on 22 Sep 2012 03:14:43 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
    
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 04:27:19
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quote: Originally posted by Brimstone
Just a Typical Night in an Inn
Also found in this scroll
Just to be clear for other scribes, those two are great, but they are articles from Ed's new weekly column(which is a brilliant move by wotc and long overdue!).....Forging the realms and not excerpts from "Elminster's Forgotten Realms" |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Brimstone
Great Reader
    
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 10:48:22
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quote: Originally posted by The Red Walker
quote: Originally posted by Brimstone
Just a Typical Night in an Inn
Also found in this scroll
Just to be clear for other scribes, those two are great, but they are articles from Ed's new weekly column(which is a brilliant move by wotc and long overdue!).....Forging the realms and not excerpts from "Elminster's Forgotten Realms"
Duh. |
"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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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
    
USA
12089 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 12:28:07
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Interesting, I'd always felt his original view of Thay was oriental (especially after dreams of the red wizards named them "Mulan"), but I'd never seen it in writing from him. That being said, I like the idea that they appear less oriental in facial features, as I could never picture Sleyvas as oriental looking (in my mind, he looks a lot like Clint Eastwood in the good, the bad, and the Ugly... yeah, I know, he's not shave headed.... my other main Thayan NPC's (Targuth Agneh, the Daeronness Shenandra Tarsorek of Talos (who would be a mystic theurge in 3e), Tallus the Black, and Flarik Calroegen) all look like proper Thayans. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
    
Australia
31799 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
    
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2012 : 06:36:45
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I plan to buy this book (who among us doesn't?), so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering with the excerpts.
If anything, they are taking a bit of wind out my enthusiasm - isn't really much there I can use, so far (going by the excerpts). I thought the book was going to be more along the lines of a campaign guide. I hope there are some crunchy bits (not as in rules, but as in 'plots, rumors, and intrigues', and also some more geographic info).
In other words, I need a little meat with my potatoes. |
"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 26 Sep 2012 06:37:49 |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
   
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2012 : 15:39:04
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quote: Originally posted by Markustay
I plan to buy this book (who among us doesn't?), so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering with the excerpts.
I was also really excited with the announcement, but those excerpts are really disappointing, I won't pre-order and I'll wait for some reviews before considering buying it. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief

    
USA
36910 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2012 : 17:05:40
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quote: Originally posted by Markustay
I plan to buy this book (who among us doesn't?), so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering with the excerpts.
They're like movie trailers, for me. If there's a movie I really want to see, I'll happily watch multiple trailers for it. It stokes my enthusiasm. |
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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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
    
USA
4215 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2012 : 17:39:01
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Did anyone catch this snippet on page 47 concerning serfdom:
"...duchies of Tethyr, and the border baronies of Amn, such as Cormyr, are feudal in nature..."
Ummm...this implies (to me anyway) that Cormyr would be a border barony of Amn??? 
I'm sure that isn't the intent...but should someone say something?  |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
    
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 27 Sep 2012 : 08:12:47
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Its just bad wording - Ed is the master of the run-on sentence (and mass-parenthesis usage... a habit we seem to share). It may have also been bad editing.
I think when I read through it, I probably read it as "much of Cormyr".
It might be too late and to go back and fix it at this point.
EDIT: Interestingly (to me, at any rate), I was just researching something else and discovered that the region around Yarthrain (just NW of the Hill of Lost Souls) is consider the 'Backlands Barony' and is part of Amn (an unprotected, hollow claim, but a claim none the less). This Barony is not too far west of Cormyr's most eastern border - the Sunrise Mountains (bcause Cormyr claims the Tunlands - another fairly hollow claim).
Not that that proves anything either way, but I find it interesting that their 'claimed' borders are actually fairly close. |
"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 27 Sep 2012 20:51:33 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
    
Australia
31799 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
    
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2012 : 05:09:47
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Once again I found myself trying to turn the page repeatedly. I really, REALLY need this book. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
    
USA
4215 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2012 : 17:38:05
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I'm actually waiting for this book to come out for me to read before I finish my Five Shires project.
I just want to have a similar feel to my shires in the FR. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
   
USA
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03 Oct 2012 : 00:51:58
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Saw the table of contents for the book. Very excited. :) |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
    
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Oct 2012 : 22:13:54
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Where was that?  |
"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
31799 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief

    
USA
36910 Posts |
Posted - 04 Oct 2012 : 03:56:20
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quote: Originally posted by Markustay
Where was that? 
It's usually on the second or third page.  |
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 - 04 Oct 2012 : 20:16:36
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The 'current clack' part interest me, but sadly, its a mere two pages.
I'd like it better if it were longer... MUCH longer. Like, the entire book. 
'The Art' section also looks to be useful - Sage should especially enjoy that. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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