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 owlbears origins
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Asharak
Learned Scribe

France
270 Posts

Posted - 03 Feb 2014 :  20:32:22  Show Profile Send Asharak a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
I find this in "Netheril: Empire of Magic" p.8:

" ... owl bears, creatures given existence by the Creator Races
thousands of years ago."

Any mention anywhere else ?

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Sorry for my English... it's not my native tongue.

Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6361 Posts

Posted - 03 Feb 2014 :  21:16:35  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think they are mentioned in Serpent Kingdoms or Lost Empires of Faerun. Anything about the Old Owl Well or the enclave of Quesseer.

However with creatures that are magical in origin it is likely that they were created by many different people in different geographic regions at various times in history

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11829 Posts

Posted - 03 Feb 2014 :  22:26:00  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
there was this really really horny bear.... and this poor owl... and a spool of duct tape.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1152 Posts

Posted - 04 Feb 2014 :  12:10:27  Show Profile  Visit hashimashadoo's Homepage Send hashimashadoo a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Old Owl Well was named in honour of the Caravan War where scouts working for the Terraseer killed the local population of Owlbears.

I always thought that owlbears were the creations of mortal wizards...guess that's not the case in the FR.

When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.

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_Jarlaxle_
Senior Scribe

Germany
584 Posts

Posted - 04 Feb 2014 :  13:06:30  Show Profile Send _Jarlaxle_ a Private Message  Reply with Quote
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0322.html
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore

USA
1714 Posts

Posted - 04 Feb 2014 :  16:28:17  Show Profile  Visit BEAST's Homepage Send BEAST a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Back before Dr. Heiter's fascination with humans and centipedes, he looked into other lifeforms . . .

"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)

<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works">
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore

Brazil
1600 Posts

Posted - 04 Feb 2014 :  17:41:58  Show Profile Send Barastir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
As the sage Tony diTerlizzi reveals:

http://diterlizzi.com/home/owlbears-rust-monsters-and-bulettes-oh-my/

So owlbears were created by a wu jen from Kara-Tur (Hong Kong) who wanted to have dinosaurs that looked like beaked bears, or who wanted to develop bears with nightvision abilities!

On a more serious note, I think I read somewhere that one of the creator races - the batrach or the sarrukh, but I think the later - experimented with mixing animals, and were the creator of creatures like owlbears or pegasus. Is that right, fellow sages? I'm not sure if this information is canonized (in Serpent Kingdoms, maybe?) or not (in one of the Candlekeep tomes?).

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(by Ed Greenwood)

Edited by - Barastir on 05 Feb 2014 15:53:42
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Newt
Acolyte

Australia
2 Posts

Posted - 06 Feb 2014 :  06:42:04  Show Profile Send Newt a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Maybe they were created by the Aearee, the other creator race. If you wanted to create a powerful guard you would start with something like a bear as your base chassis. Those teeth were probably off-putting so they gave it a beak to give it a less hostile face.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31774 Posts

Posted - 06 Feb 2014 :  14:30:43  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'd imagine maybe Gray Richardson would have some thoughts on this...

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TBeholder
Great Reader

2428 Posts

Posted - 06 Feb 2014 :  16:28:05  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Newt

Maybe they were created by the Aearee, the other creator race. If you wanted to create a powerful guard you would start with something like a bear as your base chassis. Those teeth were probably off-putting so they gave it a beak to give it a less hostile face.
Or only the winged variant was their idea, and then someone said - "hey, those things are awfully overweight to fly far anyway, but low-light vision and somewhat better brains alone are useful traits for a guardian monster", and derived/repeated with the simplified common version.

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And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore

Brazil
1600 Posts

Posted - 07 Feb 2014 :  10:02:00  Show Profile Send Barastir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder
Or only the winged variant was their idea, (...) and derived/repeated with the simplified common version.

Or the commoner version was an earlier experiment that worked very well, or that escaped and for some reason did better than the winged version (maybe the winged ones were heavily eliminated by dragons, afterwards). But I don't remember the aearee being widely known as the ones that made experiments mixing animals. Not that they couldn't make one or two of their own experiments, of course!

EDIT: typos

"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."

The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood)

Edited by - Barastir on 07 Feb 2014 15:41:18
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 09 Feb 2014 :  22:54:34  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In the Cormyr series there is mention of a (now presumably extinct) 'giant owlbear'. I would assume you'd simply attach the Dire template to the normal one. They looked pretty-much like the regular ones, but were around 12' tall. The humans expanding into the area caused them to disappear (although in the novel, it was a group of elves fighting one).

There were also small 'forest roth' at that time, which also vanished. My assumption with those is that they still survive, but as an off-shot - those are the small underdark variants, taken in the Night below long ago. It may have even been a massive raiding pogrom by Drow that wiped the populations out.

When you do maps, you also get a feel for the flora and fauna that were part of Realms history.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone

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