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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 07:26:05
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There's a town/village named Bluestone somewhere around the Border Forest. It's mentioned on p73 of FR14.
Question: has this place been mentioned anywhere else, or has its location ever been marked on a canon map? Turns out there are a lot of bluestones on the internet so my searches are turning up no realmslore. Probably because there isn't any, but I wanted to make sure.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31727 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 15:29:40
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I don't immediately recall the town being mentioned in any other Realmslore source. Nor has it been marked on any official maps.
As for it's location, Bluestone is said to reside near the Frozen Forest [ ]. And that's pretty much all we know.
Maybe Markus has mapped the region? I can't check his archives at the moment. |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 17:13:39
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I knew there was a reason we kept you around. Thankya, I remember reading Frozen Forest but I kept thinking Border Forest, so that's what I typed. Derp.
There's a road leading from the Frozen Forest (actually north of it, interestingly) to Frozen Flindyke, in the FR Atlas. Until/unless Ed says differently, I'm going to tentatively place Bluestone on the southern edge of the Frozen Forest, east of the road, near the edge of the glacier. My thought is that bluestone is found in the glacial moraines here, pushed outward by the glacier from hills which once lay a little ways to the east. I should do more searching, but my scattermind curse has sent me in five other directions now.
But I wanted to see if there was more lore on Bluestone. Thank you for the clarification!  |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 17:38:24
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I don't think I ever placed it (I don't have my original maps anymore), but I would say that crossroads is a good spot - where the northern road you found (leading to Mount Gaethluntar) goes past that road traveling west off of the glacier (I like to put towns at crossroads, always - it makes sense). There doesn't seem to be much other reason for that road (the one leading from the Glacier to the northern road).
It must get pretty cold there - its above the southern lip of both The High Ice and the Great Glacier. Still a bit south of Icewind Dale, though, so obviously livable conditions. I believe the High Ice 'retreated' quite a bit in 3e, so the edge of that glacier may be at a higher latitude then Bluestone now. In fact, with what the Netherese were doing, that glacier could be pretty-much gone by 4e (The High Ice). The Great Glacier should have retreated as well (as long as the prevailing weather patterns stayed the same).
I'd love to see some official lore about that region, way up there around The Tortured Land. 
*Grammatical Corrections |
"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 02 Aug 2013 14:49:32 |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 18:26:13
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Good points. Initially I didn't put much stock in those dotted lines coming off the glacier because roads don't make any sense, but now that I think about it I suspect they're meant to be passes (or rather: the best possible entry points to the glacier, for those traveling on foot) because one of them leads northwest to the north/backside of the Taurax/Sunrise Mountains, and what's up there? Also, there's no real talk of trade between anyone on the glacier and anyone off the glacier. The most readily accessible path/pass leads to Ishe, and it's a backwater town that practically nobody in the Realms has heard of. The Snow Baby adventure in FR14 kinda makes it sound like Kahil is the only person who ever goes up onto the glacier and he's woefully uninformed about the glacier and its inhabitants. Which all says to me that the dotted lines aren't roads at all. But I've been known to be on a completely different page than WotC from time to time. 
However, I think we are on the same page. It makes good sense for Bluestone to be near a low point in the Tuutsaas Chain (which I always say "toot sass" and it makes me chuckle) because the sight of that potential access point could have been Palus Frohm's inspiration to go exploring up there in the first place.
I dunno about you, Markus, but I kinda want to draw up some maps that might have appeared in Blood and Ice. Because the map in FR14 is clearly a sort of omniscient view of the glacier... Palus didn't get around to exploring Nakvaligach, and he probably didn't get into the Ibelgrak Valley... because the Ulutiuns would have shunned and probably killed him afterwards and his notes would have been lost in the snow instead of being published. I'd also like to see more of the features named... the crevasses and fairy ice patches and little forests, etc. So I think it'd be cool to do a "Player's Map" of the glacier, representing what's "known" to sages and characters those who've read Blood and Ice.
But alas, I'll probably never get around to it. Maybe I'll put an Ulutiu chapter in my "Sarrukh Gone Wild" campaign. Then I'd be forced to get around to it.
Edit: I stand corrected, by Ed: the dotted lines are ancient roads. |
Edited by - xaeyruudh on 02 Aug 2013 21:10:31 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2013 : 15:02:03
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In Elves of Faerūn - a non-canon resource - I wrote a piece regarding the mythical Snow-Elves. In that article, there was one part that featured a tale told by famous explorer Dabron Sashenstar, with an account of things that happened on the Great Glacier during his travels.
As I said, its non-canon, but if you are interested in a bit of Glacier history (just for fun) there is that. It has nothing to do with Bluestone, but it does tie the Fairy ice to the Fey (Elves). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Location of Bluestone?
