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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2067 Posts |
 Posted - 25 May 2004 : 15:28:48
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I echo George's thanks from the depths of the midden! :-)
Ed, what can you tell us about "The Cold Fields"? I've always been curious about the battles that unfolded there. Who was fighting who and why? My interest was renewed after reading Extinction and Lisa's contribution to Realmslore in the area.
--Eric |
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http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2004 : 17:07:40
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| Whilst we're on the subject of Harrowdale, whatever happened to the schemes of Mulmaster in controlling the Council of the 7 Burghers? Did their agent who was already a member get found out? Or did the secret leadership change in Mulmaster mean that he got forgotten about or eliminated in some way? |
Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005 |
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Athenon
Acolyte
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2004 : 19:20:08
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Ed,
Thanks for the WONDERFUL write up. That was about 100 times more in depth than I expected. You've gone over and above the call of duty once again. Sincerely, thank you.
I might have to post my info on the crime syndicates/families of Sembia one of these days. They've been a fun addition to my Realms campaign.
Until Swords Part... |
Will Maranto
Representing the Realms in the Wilds of Northern Louisiana |
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2004 : 23:17:57
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Hi Ed,
Here's another question that came to me during my campaign planning... What background information could you provide for us on Thaalim Torchtower and his Tun-land bandits? They're a handy plot tool in that part of the world, but information on them seems a little slim to me (I've only seen it mentioned in the FRCS).
If any scribes can provide me more detailed information instead of wasting Ed's time (when he's got so much work to do), i'd be very grateful. |
Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005 |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 03:53:15
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Got another question for Ed
Was there a time in Faeruns history when Dinosaurs where more common and what event or events caused them to die out in most areas?
Did the elves kill most of the Dinosaurs when they Sundered the land when they created Evermeet?
Are there areas in Faerun where Dinosaur skeltons are common? |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 04:29:16
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Well met, fellow scribes. Ed will soon depart on the North Bay leg of his publicity tour and fall e-silent for a few days, but he wants to quickly reply to some things before he goes. If he only answers part of your questions here, don’t think he’s forgotten about the rest -- he’s just zipping through replies he can do in a hurry:
Athenon, you’re very welcome. I love delving into Realmslore, and it’s great to know it’s appreciated. So, thanks for your thanks! :}
And now I know who (George!) has been sleeping in my otyugh-riddled midden!
Myst, I’m not sure how much I should reveal about characters in the Waterdeep book without consulting Lady Elaine, but (whispering this, just between you and me) I wouldn’t count on seeing much of either Khelben or Danilo. I can say that both Mirt and Piergeiron make brief, supporting-character appearances. Check some of the older pages on this thread for the teasers I’ve already dropped about WHAT (rather than who) you will see.
And I agree with SiriusBlack: although knowing the history of Cormyr to date will make the scenes with Vangerdahast, Alusair, Filfaeril, Caladnei, and Alaphondar richer for you, I wrote ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER so that it can be read and enjoyed by a complete newcomer to the Realms. Elsewhere, I answered Crust as to what happened to Elminster between ELMINSTER IN HELL and ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER, but you don’t even have to read El in Hell first. Really.
What I would do if I were you is: charge right into El’s Daughter (because there won’t be a direct sequel to it for at least three years, whilst I’m busy with the Knights trilogy). Enjoy it, I hope, and then at your leisure read the Cormyr books and Elminster books -- and then go back and read ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER again. I’d also recommend reading my short stories in REALMS OF MYSTERY and REALMS OF SHADOW before that second read-through of ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER. I’m not trying to bankrupt you, here; sometimes libraries are brilliant and tasteful enough to actually stock Realms books. :}
Dargoth, when working on the FRCS my job was to write and send in gobs and gobs of background Realmslore. “Hard” rules stuff was rightly left to the on-staff designers at Wizards, who understood 3e far better than I did, and could express rules-specific stuff clearly and concisely. Your idea of sorcerers using the Shadow Weave and wizards using the Weave is an intriguing one, but of course wouldn’t have “fit” with the PLAYER’S HANDBOOK spell rosters and 3e design philosophy (limiting what players could do with their wizard or sorcerer characters). In any event, such ideas weren’t in my thoughts or design discussions at the time. I was more worried about trying to cover huge topics in only a few paragraphs (look at some of the sections in the FRCS, and think of them in this way: being asked to write the entire history of Australia, missing nothing of crucial importance, in no more than 350 words, deadline 3 days away...that’s what my mind was full of! :})
As for the other designers, I have no idea, but I think the Shadow Weave was just one more thing they were worrying about not having space to cover properly. I think the FRCS is a brilliant distillation, but I’d have been much happier if we’d covered the same topics in three books that size, instead of one, and been able to squeeze in just a little bit more on every topic. But then, I’m the lover and champion of the Realms, not a businessman. Very much NOT a businessman. :}
So saith Ed, running out of time for the moment (again). Ah, what a life he must lead, dashing from here to there. “There” is of course often the library, where he sometimes finds himself helping old ladies re-thread their knitting needles or find their car keys, and can relax in the momentary knowledge that some people get to live their lives at a far slower pace. Then, of course, he’s off back home to pound out another chapter.
THO
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 07:00:25
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Heya Ed,
I've been digging through my old sourcebooks again. Boy do I miss those sourcebooks, but that's for another time.
Anyhow, I noticed that some of the Knights had/have Wild Talents and also Myth Drannor had Psionic protections. So my question would be, how "rare" are psionics in FR?
Me and another poster are having a little discussion and he believes that Psionics do not "fit" the setting and that it ruins the flavor of FR. Are psionic items as wide spread as items that use the Art or Power?
Okay that's two questions, sorry! :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 26 May 2004 07:03:10 |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 07:06:50
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quote:
Originally posted by kuje31
Heya Ed,
I've been digging through my old sourcebooks again. Boy do I miss those sourcebooks, but that's for another time.
Anyhow, I noticed that some of the Knights had/have Wild Talents and also Myth Drannor had Psionic protections. So my question would be, how "rare" are psionics in FR?
Me and another poster are having a little discussion and he believes that Psionics do not "fit" the setting and that it ruins the flavor of FR. Are psionic items as wide spread as items that use the Art or Power?
Okay that's two questions, sorry! :)
I asked Ed this a while ago his response should be in your File somewhere |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 08:22:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
I asked Ed this a while ago his response should be in your File somewhere
Oh, boy now do I feel dumb. :) Checking! |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 08:31:24
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quote:
Originally posted by kuje31
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
I asked Ed this a while ago his response should be in your File somewhere
Oh, boy now do I feel dumb. :) Checking!
It was around the time PGTF came out because Ed said the PGTF web enhancement pretty much covered the extent of PSionics (They posted the section on the PSionic school in the LAnds of Intrigue) |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 08:42:35
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
It was around the time PGTF came out because Ed said the PGTF web enhancement pretty much covered the extent of PSionics (They posted the section on the PSionic school in the LAnds of Intrigue)
Yea found it. It only answered one of my questions sort of. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 15:26:07
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Hey people,
Ed's latest novel, The Silent House: A Chronicle of Aglirta, is out. If you haven't looked at his Tor-published Aglirta series yet, you should; the first few are fast-adventure books, among the best work of that kind he's done and somewhat reminiscent of the early pre-TSR Realms; this latest looks like it's one of the times when he's been allowed to try something with serious depth and complexity. Companies who own creative properties like people to respond to the brand, and the author only secondarily, but we know better, and Ed's Aglirta books are fully the equal of his Realms work.
And they have maps in the front and Dramatis Personae lists in the back. |
Edited by - Faraer on 26 May 2004 15:26:52 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 16:01:49
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So it's out? Great. Ed told me a lot about it when I sat with him at a convention recently, and I've been waiting impatiently.
He also told me something else: gamers looking for a detailed fantasy setting with "an interesting magic system that a DM can limit" should check out CONQUEROR'S MOON by Julian May, first of a series (only one published this far).
I got it just a few days ago, and it starts with detailed maps and kingdom histories!
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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 16:29:37
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Another question for Ed (and his lovely, lady-scribe!):
Is there an 'unspoken rule' against Mystra's Chosen haveing children together? I've racked my brain and cannot think of any. Not that there isn't, just that I can't remember any!
If not, is it possible that one or more of Alustriel's many children may have been fathered by Sammaster? Would the child know this?
Would a child born of such a union have any additional powers, or just higher affinity with the Weave?
Just curious.
Melfius - Pixie-Priest of Puck |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 17:25:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Melfius
Another question for Ed (and his lovely, lady-scribe!):
Is there an 'unspoken rule' against Mystra's Chosen haveing children together? I've racked my brain and cannot think of any. Not that there isn't, just that I can't remember any!
If not, is it possible that one or more of Alustriel's many children may have been fathered by Sammaster? Would the child know this?
Would a child born of such a union have any additional powers, or just higher affinity with the Weave?
Just curious.
Melfius - Pixie-Priest of Puck
According to Ed, in his reply to me back in Oct 03 on the mailing list, none of the Chosen can have children unless Mystra wills it. Alustriel seems to be the one who has the most and Mystra had/has a reason why this was so. Besides the twelve male children she has, she also has some female ones that have gone unmentioned.
If you want that reply from Ed, I have it in my file. I know this doesn't answer your question but I was just throwing out some random FR lore from Ed so he doesn't have to repeat himself if he doesn't want to. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Myst
Acolyte
34 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 18:37:46
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Hi all
I was just wondering (since I picked up the The Temptation of Elminster again) What happened in Myth Drannor since the Out break of Fiends I know that house Jarle are inhabitants But are there still Fiends all over like in that book? Because I have a Campaign right now where the Pc's aren't thinkin about heading into Cormanthyr. (I'm just getting started with them, I'm hoping to put them on the City of the Spider Queen adventure when they level a little more |
"The Cure to Ignorance is Knowledge"
-Aristotle- |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2004 : 21:12:23
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Dear scantily Hooded One,
Could you please ask Ed if he plans to meet Patrick Stuart when the latter comes over to play the part of Blackstaff for this upcoming videogame? (you can see a preview of the game here, which looks totally awesome IMO)
Oh, the things I would do to meet THE PICARD!  |
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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2004 : 02:06:08
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| Thanks, kuje31. Now that you mention that, I think I remember reading that. I am still curious, though, about the Alustriel/Sammaster question. I once posed it to Ed during an 'Elminster Speaks' seminar at GenCon, and El about bit my head off for daring to suggest such a thing! :) |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2004 : 04:16:43
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Well met, gentle scribes all! I come bearing a surprise e-mail from Ed, that appeared in my inbox when I thought he was scalp-deep in packing his chariot for the long trail-run to North Bay:
Snatched a few minutes for more Realmslore fun, so here goes, folks.
Time for Krash and Blueblade to get the first of their promised little glimpses of the Simbul, to whit: two things she likes and two things she hates.
First, she LOVES standing naked in the rain, preferably warm rains, and preferably somewhere up high, whilst lightning strikes are crashing around her (she can avoid all harm from lightning by ‘drinking’ it for her natural chain lightning ability, diverting excess energies to recharging magic items she’s in contact with, if she desires to, or letting it flow into the Weave). If she wants to retain clothing, for some reason, she’ll often stand barefoot in a storm in a black tattered gown (her favourite garb, it seems). Secondly, she loves backrubs -- probably because she can so seldom trust anyone enough to be intimate enough for long enough to receive such simple pleasures. This is why she’s been seen in the wilds, from time to time, to snatch off her clothes and rub her back against rough rocks or jagged ends of branches. She can shapechange into bird form and take ant baths and dust baths, of course, or scour herself with streambed sand, but as she confided to Elminster once, “’Tis just not the SAME.”
She once allowed a young, ambitious Red Wizard seduce her, and then let him escape alive, just because he did as she asked: he picked up a stables curry-comb, and did her back with it, from buttocks to back of neck, until it was red-raw.
To Proc and BobROE, more about the Watch. Salutes, specifically: to any superior rank within the Watch, a Watchman salutes by tapping his temple smartly with an upraised, vertical forefinger.
The reply (salute to an inferior) is identical only if the superior officer desires to convey profound respect or gratitude. Otherwise, the superior officer bends his left arm (at the elbow) up and across in front of him, turning that hand edgewise-on with fingers and thumb together (in the pose we real-world moderns might call “a karate chop”), and strikes it gently, down from above, with the outside of his right hand, similarly bent but formed into a fist. (The fist ‘bounces’ off the fingers of the other hand, after striking just once.)
You can see why this never made it into print in the official sourcebooks: it’s a very simple gesture, but VERY hard to describe quickly and easily. So the upshot has been that we haven’t described much in the way of Watch officers saluting, and that in turn leads to the inescapable conclusion that Watch officers seldom salute, in any circumstances. That sort of Napoleonic, British Sandhurst, and American West Point military “discipline” just isn’t the Waterdeep style.
Now, this is very different from members of the City Guard, or militia or hired mercenaries formally fighting for the city (for example, against an orc horde or the recent Threat from the Sea). They DO salute, typically by raising an upright, vertical sword towards the person being saluted, or even touching the fist gripping the swordblade to their own forehead (or fore-helm), then moving it outwards a few inches towards the person being saluted (who is almost always an officer of superior rank).
fourthmensch, time for another card game, this one MUCH simpler and typically played around campfires or between soldiers, just to pass the time. It’s called either “Strikedragon” or “Battles” (the former, older name arose around the Lake of Steam and the Vilhon, where the game first gained popularity, and “Battles” was probably a Dragonreach and Lake of Dragons variant, but both names can now be found in use all over Faerun; neither one can now properly be called a ‘regional’ term). Elminster calls it “time-wasting for two to four persons who lack the wits to spend their time doing something more useful.”
Take a normal card deck, plus one joker, or a tarot deck (modified to match a normal deck plus a joker) , and deal ten cards to each player, discarding the remainder face-down.
Card ranks, from lowest to highest, are 2 up through 10, then Jack, Queen, King, Ace, and Joker. In this game, the 2 through 10 cards are known as “the wyrmlings,” the Jacks as Young Drakes, the Queens as Mother Dragons, the Kings as Full Dragons, the Aces as Elder Wyrms, and the Joker as High Dragon. There are no trump suits: for every ‘trick’ (“battle”), each player plays a single card simultaneously, face down (the player examines his own cards and knows what he’s playing, but must play it with its value concealed). Then all three cards are turned over, and the highest wins that battle. If two, three, or even four players play cards of equal value, ALL who played “the highest card” are deemed winners of that battle. The cards are then shoved aside, and the next battle played, until all the cards held by the players are gone.
Some players bet on each battle, and some bet on who can win the most battles in a game (a game, of course, being ten battles). Others don’t bet at all, but play mechanically whilst trading gossip or concentrating on something else.
Bookwyrm, a few brief insect notes: well, centipedes of all sizes are common in Calimshan and Chult, and the westernmost Vilhon is the favoured above of a nasty thing called a “stingfly,” which resembles a thumb-sized housefly with a scorpion-tail, barbed stinger and all. It likes the ears, underchin, and neck of humans, striking to draw blood with its tail and then sucking at the gore with large, spongy mouthpiece—just for an instant, before springing away. The bites DON’T itch, and stingflies don’t strike at eyeballs or fly into mouths or nostrils, but they DO strike at genitalia and breasts, and the feel of a stingfly bite is like being firmly jabbed with a pin. Sleeping through stingfly bites is impossible for many folk, who when they must slumber in the open often roll in mud to stop stingflies from trying to bite. If one had to travel or labour all day amid clouds of stingflies, the blood loss would probably equal 1-2 hp damage, plus a chance of bloodborne disease as your DM determines.
Dargoth, the list probably doesn’t quite hit about 5 percent of all the temples, but includes almost all of the large, important ones.
Arivia, you don’t know what you’re volunteering for! My basement is about 5 feet high, and crisscrossed by old, VERY hard-on-the-skull lead pipes and dirty old cobwebs (at least the dead spiders covered in the glow-in-the-dark mold are gone), with bad lighting. It’s not too far removed from exploring caves, which I used to do a lot, so finding Realmslore in it involves long hours of real backbreaking drudgery: the only proper way is to carry each box upstairs onto tables erected in a properly-lit room, and then sorting. And sorting. And sorting. Faint, tiny pencil notes, mixed with all the callow fiction and school crap of my youth. Steven Schend (who visited me) and my players are the only people alive who have seen the true horror of my farmhouse basement (the whole house is held up on old cedar treetrunks! the floor is all uneven, concrete poured by hand over dirt, probably after dead things, possibly people, got buried under it . . . and so on).
Melfius, as far as I know, there are no plans right now to do another Arcane Age product for the Realms. That being said, I’m not privy to all the secret plans for future products -- but I’d not bet on any Arcane Age ones.
Dargoth, there were once (long, long ago) far more dinosaurs in the Realms than there are now -- before the dragons ate almost all of them. More later.
kuje31, psionic items should be much rarer than magic items in the Realms. More later.
So saith Ed, who must run (as, unfortunately, must I).
THO
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2004 : 04:31:30
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Arivia, you don’t know what you’re volunteering for! My basement is about 5 feet high, and crisscrossed by old, VERY hard-on-the-skull lead pipes and dirty old cobwebs (at least the dead spiders covered in the glow-in-the-dark mold are gone), with bad lighting. It’s not too far removed from exploring caves, which I used to do a lot, so finding Realmslore in it involves long hours of real backbreaking drudgery: the only proper way is to carry each box upstairs onto tables erected in a properly-lit room, and then sorting. And sorting. And sorting. Faint, tiny pencil notes, mixed with all the callow fiction and school crap of my youth. Steven Schend (who visited me) and my players are the only people alive who have seen the true horror of my farmhouse basement (the whole house is held up on old cedar treetrunks! the floor is all uneven, concrete poured by hand over dirt, probably after dead things, possibly people, got buried under it . . . and so on).
So your saying the door to your "basement" is actually a portal to Undermountain? |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2004 : 06:14:22
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Hi Ed,
Are you tired of me yet? 
Anyhow as I mentioned I've been rereading my old sourcebooks and I had a question. I know this goes back to the question about rituals, but I had to ask.
Can you expand on the Ritual of Remembrance that is preformed on The Feast of the Moon? Or has that ever been detailed somewhere in the vast realmslore that can be found in sourcebooks, Dragon, Polyhedron, etc? |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 27 May 2004 06:15:06 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2004 : 13:06:18
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Thank you for those Simbul details, Great Elminster.
More, please, I beseech you. More! |
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Karth
Seeker
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2004 : 15:02:15
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"Cormyrean jaws to drop", indeed. Several other sorts as well. That was evil, Ed. Just... wrong. ;)
-Karth |
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fourthmensch
Acolyte
USA
32 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2004 : 08:23:27
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Hey Ed! Olore!
I have a question for you that has more to do with statistics than actual lore. I know you're not really big on providing hard numbers for a lot of things, but this one would really help me out in my current campaign.
How many Purple Dragons are there in Cormyr? I know the pre-Nalavara numbers were something like 12,000, but since then (and Tilverton's destruction), I haven't seen any definite roster. Discussions on the various message boards provide wildly varying estimates. What with looming Shadovar conflict, Sembian intrigue, and those restless nobles that appear in El's Daughter, I feel it is somewhat important to know just what Cormyr's strength is.
Obviously, I can always decide on a number for myself based on what best fits my campaign. But, since you authored the books ( ), I was wondering if you had any thoughts you could share.
(PS. I know you're road tripping with the readings and such, so I'll be patient until you returen.) |
I want you to go home and ponder the meaning of the word subversive.
Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination. |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2004 : 17:37:13
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I have family in North Bay, and my sister just told me that not only did Ed do a signing at the local Coles, the next morning he put on his Elminster costume and went and told fantasy stories (!) for the Grade 1 and 2 kids at Pinewood School, then went on to do a writing workshop for the Grade 7 and 8s (teens), and THEN went to the local TV studios and did an interview show (called “Life Is”) to be aired in late June, early July, and at random times thereafter (he’s also been invited back to do more, whenever he visits again).
Then he dropped in to all the local gaming stores (the guys running them have become his friends over the years) to sign things for fans, shopped at the local book stores, took his family to ride the carousel and see Shrek 2, and then drove home to do laundry and get his car serviced before he left for Chicago – where he’ll be appearing at the Wizards booth on Friday at BookExpoAmerica (Margaret Weis will be there Saturday). Busy guy.
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Sarelle
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
508 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2004 : 17:38:00
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Mr. Greenwood,
I would have waited till you posted next for my queries, but I'm sure I'd have forgotten the questions by then, so:
1) Have Elminster and Khelben ever battled each other, mock-battled, or had a mageduel? I have this great picture in my mind of them readying for a friendly mageduel with smiles on their faces - Khelben's masking 'He'll not be grinning like that for long!'
2) Could you dispense some of your lovely Realmslore on Uthmere of the Great Dale? As part of a project on this site, I'd love to know more about the city.
Thank you. |
Chair of the The Rightful Return of Monster Deities to FR Society (RRMDFRS)
My character, drawn by Liodain: Sarelle / Sarelle (smaller) |
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Herr Doktor
Seeker
52 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2004 : 18:46:01
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Dear Hooded Madam, and Ed,
I've begun planning an interesting campaign set far into the past, it will be a campaign that covers a LARGE expanse of time, from generation to generation of PC. The setting? Zhentil Keep, or what used to be called Flostren's Hold, or even earlier a nameless mining and trading camp (or did it have a name?).
It'll be quite interesting when the the Hold finally changes name to Zhentil Keep. I'm sure it'll be a great suprise for any group of players not well-versed in the history of the Keep.
I'll be drawing mostly from the Ruins of Zhentil Keep campaign book, but I was wondering if Ed might be able to supply any info on what the Moonsea was like back then, or, any more on the development of the mining camp to Flostren's Hold to the Keep, and any info on important NPCs from the founding, important events, et cetera.
Also, anything else I should keep in mind when running a campaign way-back-when (640 DR)?
Thanks for answering our questions! |
Edited by - Herr Doktor on 01 Jun 2004 18:56:46 |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2004 : 20:51:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Sarelle
Mr. Greenwood,
I would have waited till you posted next for my queries, but I'm sure I'd have forgotten the questions by then, so:
1) Have Elminster and Khelben ever battled each other, mock-battled, or had a mageduel? I have this great picture in my mind of them readying for a friendly mageduel with smiles on their faces - Khelben's masking 'He'll not be grinning like that for long!'
I'm not Ed, but I do know a thing or two about Khelben, so this'll have to be from his perspective.
"Aye, the Old Goat and I have clashed in our days, but for posterity's sake, we choose not to air our sordid tales of youth to sully the reputations of Mystra's Chosen.
Nowadays, our battles can be for show, as we both take on other shapes to hoodwink our foes into revealing secrets at a Magefair.
They can be for fun, as it is vastly hard to truly test a new spell's effectiveness without tossing it about a time or three among friends before lobbing it at the latest creature wishing to conquer the known Realms.
Mind you, even an errant rude hand gesture is better received and returned by Elminster than me, but one knows when to tug on the beard and when to simply leave it be. Would that the Zhentarim would learn such restraint...
The one thing I have learned across the centuries with Elminster is to not allow him to choose the weapon of a duel, mock or otherwise. His stomach can handle far more disgusting drinks than mine, and thus his duel-feints tend to defeat mine by seven tankards or more. I can only best him not in breadth of knowledge about artifacts, though I do know more about those who have carried them over the years than he. Alas, rarified knowledge such as this makes for dull dueling, even over our cups."
Khelben the Blackstaff
Who counted many a mage as his mentor but fewer still friend, and the last Aumar accounts for both |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2004 : 00:56:30
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Well met again, fellow gentle scribes! Yes, ’tis Thy Scantily Hooded Lady, with a surprise e-mail from Ed, sent to me during his brief return to his lair betwixt North Bay and Chicago:
To Gerath Hoan, re. Manshoon: The Manshoon who’s part of the Zhentarim remains a soft-spoken, almost purring man who dislikes being dirty or appearing ridiculous, prefers close-fitting and fairly plain-of-hue garments to all others, and is constantly alert and careful of his words. He rarely betrays his true feelings or future plans or intentions, and delights in surprising people with deeds they’ve not suspected he was going to perform.
This Manshoon has convinced Fzoul that he’s a changed man, by the simple expedient of allowing Fzoul to magically probe his mind and see the truth -- because this particular clone of Manshoon IS a changed man. Relieved not to be heading the Zhentarim (and constantly having to watch others for treachery and deal with the constant stream of “they’ve screwed up again” headaches that running the Network has come to entail) any longer, this Manshoon has returned to his other love: magic.
Rather than enjoying the power of manipulating people, he’s turned to perfecting new spells and variants of existing magics, tinkering particularly with ways of linking spells to each other, so if Spell A is cast and then particular conditions are fulfilled (such as the caster of Spell A being wounded after casting Spell A, or new foes arriving and attacking that caster after Spell A is cast), Spell B will then be unleashed without anyone having to actually perform its casting).
The ‘new’ Manshoon keeps to spell-guarded chambers in a handful of Zhent strongholds, always informing Fzoul of his movements and whereabouts, and communicates only with Fzoul and Fzoul’s chosen go-betweens, and with agents Fzoul lends him to employ on magic- and intelligence-gathering and -casting expeditions (agents who are of course loyal spies of Fzoul, and who are changed regularly to keep Manshoon from corrupting them). Manshoon no longer deals directly with non-Zhents or travels the Realms; instead, his soft-spoken, sophisticated agents (mainly clerics of Bane who possess some personal sorcerous abilities) speak and act for him.
His most powerful current agents are the coldly sadistic Aumlar Thaelren (LE male human Clr11 of Bane, Sor5), known as “Glittergloat” behind his back amongst Zhentarim for the way his eyes brighten as he openly enjoys the pain and suffering of others; Yethtra Malander (LE female human Clr9 of Bane, Sor4), a 6-and-a-half-foot tall, very slender but cat-sleek and curvaceous woman with back-of-knee-length straight black hair sometimes worn in a mare’s tail and sometimes piled up around a tiara in that hairdo known in the Realms as a ‘crown,’ who’s rumored to be Manshoon’s lover and to bear tattoos he’s personally spell-seared into her skin (and believed by some Zhents to be a weapon Manshoon is forging against Fzoul, but by others to be Fzoul’s unshakably-loyal-to-the-Chosen-of-Bane way of controlling Manshoon); and Onselan Durkree (LE male human Clr7 of Bane, Sor2), a purring, very handsome young man who enjoys dressing up as either gender and manipulating people into betraying their secrets to him and doing his bidding.
This Manshoon knows of dozens of portals he can readily use to escape Fzoul’s spells and scrutiny, but has not yet shown any signs of doing so -- or of betraying Fzoul in any way.
He does seem amused by Fzoul’s struggles to deal with incompetence, corruption, and treachery within the Zhentarim, and to be enjoying the show. What he’s waiting for, or whom he might be in league with, remain mysteries to Fzoul and other Zhentarim as well as to the wider Realms.
On a recent occasion when he was attacked by several ambitious Zhent mages, several liches and half-illithid sorcerers appeared in this Manshoon’s chambers to hurl spells on his behalf, vanquishing all of his attackers save one . . . whom he spared to “spread wise words” to all Zhents not to waste their lives trying to best or bother him.
So saith Ed. Ah, yes, Manshoon. He once stopped a Zhent soldier from slashing my down-and-wounded character with the gentle command, “No. Never damage useful goods.”
Of course, that promptly gave said Zhent some ideas about how my defenseless body could be useful, but his hesitation about starting to ah, enjoy his train of thought until Manshoon had departed gave me time to muster strength enough to reward him properly. With the knife sheathed at the back of my neck, under my hair, attached to my black-ribbon choker. Eyeballs pop when pierced, did you know?
THO
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2004 : 01:32:41
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Ed Ive got a favour to ask
In the old FR Adventures book there was a table of the Heirarchy of the Zhentarim which tiered down 3-4 levels is there any chance you could do an updated version of this Heirarchy with how the Church of Bane, Manshoons supporters and the Cyricists in Darkhold fit into the Zhentarim Heiarchy.
I know theres one in Lords of Darkness buts not very large
Thanks in advance
Dargoth |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2004)
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