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Capn Charlie
Senior Scribe
USA
418 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Nov 2004 : 04:12:44
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Many Thanks, once more, Ed, and THO.
And about the "Beer Can Chicken" recipe, I prefer to leave the can closed, that way the shrapnel tenderizes the bird. And because I like explosions. But, uh, mostly to tenderize the bird, yeah, that's it... |
Shadows of War: Tales of a Mercenary
My first stab at realms fiction, here at candlekeep. Stop on by and tell me what you think. |
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Torkwaret
Seeker
Poland
82 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2004 : 12:55:18
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Dear Lady Hooded One
Indeed, the merchant caravan guards in my campaigns wear clothes as utilitarian as possible. I need the liveries because sometimes the wagons are adorned with them but mostly for the guards and personnel in the guildhouses.
P.S what's with the badges ? I never seen them in any product (I have a knack for missing entire lines of text and illustrations however... ) |
...Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin... |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2004 : 17:57:43
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Hail and Well met!
quote:
In many communities, a local lord or local temple will roast whole beasts (oxen and large boars and stags are favourites) and prepare and serve a grand feast for the poorest folk
Folk after my own heathen heart!!!!
Pray tell, do they [i]ritually spill the animals blood before carving it up for the feast? Or is it all sanitized, divorced and alienated a la The Feast of Saints?
Also, are specific cuts reserved for specific people, eg. the lord and his kin get the loin, the community troublemakers get the rump, etc.? And what portion, if any, do the gods get? The head and hide? The loin?
Shield of the Geats |
"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2004 : 01:23:02
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Torkwaret,
In the very first Forgotten Realms boxed set (also known as the “Old Gray Box” or “FR0,” published in 1987), page 63 of the “Cyclopedia of the Realms” booklet displays an entire column filled with the banners and trailglyphs of six major trading organizations: the Seven Suns, Thousandheads, and Dragoneye Dealing costers, the Trueshield Trading and Six Coffers Market priakos, and the Iron Throne.
These were reprinted on pages 100 and 101 of the “A Grand Tour of the Realms” booklet in the 2nd Edition Realms boxed set, with updated and augmented information.
They are, of course, under WotC copyright, and in any case both Ed and I lack any means of transmitting images to Candlekeep.
My notes have turned up one instance of ‘colours’ being used. We Knights once observed several warriors standing guard over some wagons in Scornubel, and both the sides of the wagons and the cloaks of the guards displayed two adjoining vertical stripes of orange (on the left) and brown (on the right). We never followed this up, however, so of course Ed told us nothing more (Scornubel can be a place of wild distractions). 
THO
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2004 : 18:02:53
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| Something I've wondered about ever since reading Mister Greenwood's great _Volo's Guide_ series; Volo spends a lot of times writing about/visiting 'festhalls' in just about every place he visits. Just what is a festhall? They sound something like a cross between a private club, a casino, and a brothel from the write-ups, or am I reading them wrong? |
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2004 : 18:03:59
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Something I've wondered about ever since reading Mister Greenwood's great _Volo's Guide_ series; Volo spends a lot of times writing about/visiting 'festhalls' in just about every place he visits. Just what is a festhall? They sound something like a cross between a private club, a casino, and a brothel from the write-ups .
Or am I reading them wrong? |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2004 : 01:37:20
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They are in fact houses of ill repute - brothels to use the vernacular. Problem was that the old TSR Code of Ethics didn't allow sex or anything alluding to sex so Ed made up the term fest-halls. I acyually like the name because it implies an entertainment aspect - something like a Moulin Rouge/cabaret thing with the opportunity for a dalliance as well.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 28 Nov 2004 : 03:58:56
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Hello, all.
One correction to the above: Jeff Grubb applied the term “festhall” to Ed’s “brothels.”
Beowulf, I passed your question on to Ed, and his reply is as follows:
It depends on the place (everyone does it slightly differently). If lords preside over the ceremonies, blood is usually collected in a bowl and then sprinkled on the ailing, respected elders, and/or young seekers-of-adventure or hunters of whom great things are expected (or mixed into drinks they imbibe). If priests preside over the rituals, the blood is usually set afire with magic on an altar as part of a prayer to the god (in other words, it becomes an offering).
Again, parts of the animal to be devoured vary from place to place, with priests usually reserving the heart and/or the head of the animal for altar flames (again, offered to the god), and keeping choice cuts for themselves, then distributing the rest by strict order of social rank tempered by those they desire to show favour to (or keep/recruit the support of), such as local secular rulers or lawkeepers.
If secular folk ‘run’ the feast, body part edibles are usually distributed on the basis of gender (women get those associated with fertility), age (elders get the brain for wisdom, the very young get leg meat to give them growth . . . and so on), and profession (hunters get the eyes, and paws to aid them in tracking). As I said, the results of these various attempts at distribution are widely varied. In some places guests are very well treated; in others they are virtually excluded or ignored. The same goes for dead ancestors.
I’ve never viewed these gestures as community-splitting, roots-of-feuds affairs, but rather as subtle and more lightly taken (“No stag tongue this year? Ah, well, perhaps I’ll be given some next year”). Any community is more drawn together by the harvest home feasts than it is split apart.
So saith Ed. Who has (ah, such typecasting) just finished playing Santa Claus for HIS local community.
love to all,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2004 : 03:07:22
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Hello, all.
Dargoth, back on page 37 of this thread you suggested Ed could ‘introduce’ one new temple of the Realms a month, for the edification (oooh; sorry, that pun wasn’t intentional, truly) of all Realms scribes.
Not feasible, I’m afraid, but Ed did like your idea, and want to present a few of the more modest temples that might be of use or interest in play, so here’s a hitherto-unknown center of worship in Suzail:
Valkur’s Berth stands on Tholone Lane. On the map of Suzail (published on page 54 of the “A Grand Tour of the Realms” booklet, in the 2nd Edition FR Campaign Setting boxed set), Tholone is the short arc of street that bounds a block of buildings immediately to the north of the block that contains The Black Rat tavern (map feature 51). Tholone (pronounced ‘THOWE-loan’) begins at its western end in a moot with Nerester’s Run, and at its southern end in a moot with Silverscales Street (which the Black Rat fronts on).
The large cobbled area between Silverscales and the buildings fronting on it to the north is occupied by drying-frames for fishing-nets, that double from time to time (when catches are unusually large) as overflow vending space for fresh fish.
The block of buildings bounded by Nerester’s, Tholone, and Silverscales are all aging three-storey stone-and-timber tallhouses, in some disrepair. They house businesses in their cellars and street levels, and the floors above are divided into apartments wherein dwell dockworkers and ‘retired old salts’ who now eke out meagre livings as errand-bearers, spies, and small-illicit-item vendors. Most are owned by middle-class merchants of Suzail who seldom venture near their dockside possessions (sending around rent collectors each month, who are never accompanied by less than a quartet of bodyguards).
Around the midpoint of the buildings fronting on the south side of Tholone is a gap or ‘wagoncut’ allowing traffic to enter the block of buildings bounded by Nerester’s, Tholone, and Silverscales (there’s another wagoncut onto Nerester’s, just one building north of the Nerester’s/Silverscales corner).
The end building on the west side of the southfront-Tholone wagoncut is known as ‘the Black Rock’ because its dark stone is covered with soot from three serious fires. It’s a massively-built, beast-face-carving-adorned onetime headquarters of a long-defunct trading coster (the Tireless Eyes), and is now home to Murrock’s Fine Glass, a cellar glassworks with street-level shop above where sarcastic, scarred old Ildul Murrock and a dozen apprentices (including his three swift, efficient, fearless, sharp-tongued, and increasingly-restless-to-get-away teenaged daughters [who’ve attracted the attention of some young and restless noblemen, though nothing has yet come of this]) make and sell sturdy ‘everday’ glassware of stout construction rather than stylish beauty (glass net-floats, bowls, jugs, drip-tubes, and oil-lamps). The Murrock household and staff all dwell on the floors above, and make steady, comfortable coin.
(Murrock’s wife died over a dozen summers ago of an unknown sickness brought into port that claimed almost twenty victims before fading out. Ildul Murrock devised a way to shape glass into a magnifying lens four years ago, and since then has been unable to keep up with a stream of covert orders from nobles and wealthy merchants whose eyesight is failing them; he usually makes ‘handglasses’ consisting of a round eye lens on a pierced-for-a-lanyard glass handle, and sells them for 100 to 120 gp each.)
Unbeknownst to many in the neighbourhood, the Black Rock has a secret side-entrance (next to its garbage-heap) that leads down into a ‘second cellar’ south of the one occupied by the glassworks (another secret door connects the two cellars).
This second cellar, the Berth, underlies the center of the block of buildings, a place customarily crowded with dock-cargo-wagons. Its ceiling is about fifteen feet below ground level, making it much deeper than the glassworks (both secret doors leading into the Berth open onto steep ramps descending into it). Harbour water constantly seeps through its glistening walls, even during winter freezeup, and is pumped out by the temple staff when it becomes more than three feet deep (the floor of the Berth is always covered by at least ankle-deep water, because no one wants to pump constantly, and because the flooded conditions keep roaches, rats, and other vermin away).
Valkur’s Berth is furnished with several wooden benches that hang on chains from ceiling-rafters, walkways of raised stones (about a foot higher than the surrounding floor) connecting both entrance ramps with a central altar, and a floating raft of large, old logs lashed together in three layers to keep a railed uppermost platform dry (a storage-place for smuggled goods, temple offerings, and temple supplies). The altar is a square stone block graven on all four sides with the stormcloud-and-three-lightning-bolts symbol of Valkur, and a larger depiction of this device (a mosaic that employs gilded stones for the bolts) is on the south wall of the cellar. The south wall of the cellar has several secret doors opening into side-cellars used for goods storage and by the clergy as sleeping-quarters, and at least two of these are connected to buildings in the Nerester’s-Tholone-Silverscales block by crawl-passages that give into rooms inside those buildings, sometimes ascending through the walls to the back of a closet in an upper floor room.
Like many old sailors and senior merchants of the port, Murrock (who knows many safe shipping voyages provide not only his personal prosperity, but that of Cormyr beyond what mere subsistence farming and logging would bring) is a faithful worshipper of Valkur. He provides space for the temple for free, and contributes the meals and comfort of its clergy regularly.
Most clergy of Valkur in the Sea of Fallen Stars region believe they can only maintain their personal standing in the eyes of both the god and His lay worshippers if they go on voyages at least once a season. Many fall into the habit of exploring most of the Inner Sea ports, and often trade temple duties with fellow clergy of the Captain of the Waves.
As a result, the staff of the Berth (one of the quieter but wealthier and more pleasant, if less ornate and socially prominent, temples of The Mighty) change often. They are usually three to five in number, and diligently serve sailors who come into port, comforting the lonely and bereaved, and caring for the sick, the injured, and the penniless.
Although clergy of Valkur don’t advocate smuggling (especially frowning on trade in illicit goods, and being dead set against slavery), they see as part of their work aiding working sailors in avoiding port taxes and oppressive rules (such as any prohibition on visiting sailors entering certain areas of a city). Therefore, they often store (hide) smuggled goods, arrange ‘undercloak’ (undercover) trades, and provide refuge for sailors fleeing authorities. They never request payments for such services, but do accept them if offered, and captains who make regular use of the Berth’s help take care to reward its clergy well.
As a result, the clergy found here are usually diligent, loyal to sailors as well as professed worshippers of Valkur, and maintain a large network of coffers and chests with hidden compartments, and cellars, back rooms, and upper-floor closets about the port area where such items can be stored.
At least one Valkuran priest on staff at the Berth at any time (and usually as many as three) will know the secret passages, backrooms, cellars, and alleys of Suzail’s port intimately, and be able to signal (with whistles, patterns of tossed pebbles, and the like) for ropes to be let down in a dozen buildings, to enable fleeing sailors to get up and into rooms before pursuers catch them.
It’s understood by sailors that the Berth isn’t to be used as a long-term home, and its clergy are not homemakers for lazy sailors or sailing old salts; the Valkurans provide emergency or short-term aid, not ‘a living’ for anyone who’s tired of going to sea. (Priests of Valkur DO try to put retiring sailors in contact with folk who can find a place and work for them, and also help to trace relatives and former shipmates for folk.)
The wild-bearded, gray-haired old priest Amagar Warland, now quite elderly, came to the Berth three seasons ago and shows no sign of leaving. (The fact that two of Murrock’s daughters lionize him, feed him, and flirt with him outrageously might have something to do with that.) The flamboyant, full-of-tales old priest is now considered the head of the Berth, and is becoming known around Suzail. In the past, Berth clergy made the rounds of taverns trying to convince unhappy sailors to leave off drinking and come to the Berth for comfort; now, Warland need only thrust his head in and remind them of how many bells it is until the next service to get a roaring escort. Of course, Warland’s habit of spending his own coins on hiring low-coin lasses to ‘come around to the Berth’ to give kisses and cuddles to sailors probably influences more visiting salts than the still-vigorous old priest’s craggy, wildly-whiskered face.
Warland is said to have found a sunken treasure ship somewhere in the shallows of the Neck one year, and made a vast fortune from it (coins that are banked in Suzail, which is why he now tarries there). Whether this is true or not, the priest seems to own several buildings in Suzail, to have some friends in surprisingly high places, and to never personally run short of coin.
Another cleric of the Captain of the Waves who seems to like the Berth and serve in it often, though she always departs after two or three seasons, is the sharp-tongued ‘Storm Bird,’ the darkly beautiful Jalatharra Storn. Short-tempered, restless, and given to wild but short love affairs, she never talks about her past, but lovers report that her back and backside are a mass of deep, crisscrossing whip-scars. Jalatharra respects Warland and Murrock, but seems to think highly of few other men she meets, using them as lovers and then curtly telling them to begone. She does seem to yearn for something more than the stink of the docks, though, accepting almost every young nobleman’s invitation to a revel or a feast (and has sometimes even journeyed upcountry to various noble castles, to put on fine gowns and dance for a night or two).
Clergy of Valkur fight against all use of slaves and undead in ship crews, and against slavery and ‘kidnappings to the waves’ of all sorts. They frown on (and covertly work against) any one owner assembling a fleet large enough to dominate the shipping of any large port or country, and are especially alert for attempts by rulers or nobility to covertly control shipping or goods prices by arranging “shortages,” and the like. Otherwise, they don’t approve of sailors working with rebels to overthrow any but the most naval-unfriendly rulers, and will never themselves knowingly aid such conspirators (Valkuran priests never help the malcontents of Marsember against the Crown of Cormyr). Clergy of Valkur disapprove of piracy in direct relation to how violent the particular pirates are to other sailors: those who slay, burn ships at sea with folk aboard, or torture prisoners and defeated foes will receive poor welcomes from Valkurans, whereas those who do as little violence as possible will be treated with friendliness.
Some Valkuran oaths (with rough real-world equivalents given in parentheses):
“By the wheel!” (Son of a b*tch! or Holy sh*t!)
“Brokenkeel!” (Damn! or Sh*t!)
“Storm at the helm!” (Bloody hell! or G*ddamnit, no!)
“Drown!” (F*ck!) [thus: “Drown you!” means f*ck you or f*ck off]
“Safe harbour!” (Valkur aid you!)
So saith Ed. Who’s probably happily writing away at the Spin A Yarn tale as I post this.
love to all,
THO
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2004 : 04:00:40
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This is a good question for Ed from a poster on the WOTC boards:
Ovim Ironstar posted, "In one fo the older 2e player's sourcebooks (the brown ones) on wizards in the realms...there was a big section on the nimbralese illusionists and thier abilities/ quicksilver eyes/ etc....i didnt notice a reference to them in any of the 3e books with mentions of them, nor in the recent 8 artilce reference to them by Ed...any one try converting them to 3e or know where i happened to miss the reference to them? Thankx all." |
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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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2004 : 17:14:43
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
They are in fact houses of ill repute - brothels to use the vernacular. Problem was that the old TSR Code of Ethics didn't allow sex or anything alluding to sex so Ed made up the term fest-halls. I acyually like the name because it implies an entertainment aspect - something like a Moulin Rouge/cabaret thing with the opportunity for a dalliance as well.
-- George Krashos
Provided you don't enter the one run by dopplegangers, or antagonize anyone at the one run by the moldering archlich.
And I never minded the mildly ribald nature of many of the Realms stories Ed wrote. He always kept it tasteful, even if that old crust Elminster seemed to get more gals than James Bond. Didn't he even once almost get married to a drow?
(Then again, he does look an awful lot like Sean Connery in his latest incarnation.) |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2004 : 18:28:23
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Hail and Well met!
I have in the past asked about the relationship between Cormyr and the Tunlands. I was told that, while Cormyr officially claims the Tunlands as its own, this is done only to keep foreign powers from expanding into that area and that the Crown exercises little formal authority. Mostly, the Tunlands, along with the Farsea Marsh, Stonelands, etc. are just a headache.
It seems to me that the Crown's stance toward the Tunlanders has always been, "we're not going to help you, no matter your problems, and we're going to make sure that no one else does either, including yourself, ie. no Tunnish kingdom.
And I'm not talking "day-in-day-out" problems of living in the Tunlands. I know that the Lich-Queen was primarily a Sunset Vale affair, or at least was presented that way, but the Tunland Vale was right there too.
When Cormyr failed to intervene, this left the door open for the Zhents to move in and become heroes in the Tunlanders. They have since probably received training, intel. and weapons from the Zhents, who have directed them to raid Cormyr's true western border.
With that the Crown at last acknowledged the existence of the Tunlanders, but by sending out counter-raiders. This led to the death of Thaalim Torchtowers youngest son, and an all out war with the Tunlanders ... which the Tunlanders undoubtedly got the worst of.
I beleive the year for that was '65/'66 according ot the old FRCS.
In the Zhentil Keep boxed set we learn that, amongst the Tunlar barbarians, long since driven by the Cormyrean Crown into the embrace of the Zhentarim, there is one group called the Mir, who were betrayed by the Zhents, and now raid both Zhentarim and Cormyrean caravans.
I want to know more of the Tunlanders!!!!  Beyond, the raiders are the descendets of the Angardt barbarians, and there are also the Marsh Drovers who are peaceful.
I'm interested in their relationship with "civilized" folk. When did Cormyr first peak inot their lands? Was there early conflict? Wars? WEre they left alone, and vice versa until the Lich-queen? The Zhents?
Did a rogue Purple Dragon, one with a conscience, teach the Mir their horseman skills?
What about relations between the Mir and the other Tunlar? The Mir and the Marsh Drovers?
Whats going on in the Tunlands now that Azoun the Umpteenth has been reincarnated as a puppling, and the kingdom is nursing its wounds?
Unferth's muzzle |
"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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The Blind Ranger
Acolyte
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 00:59:18
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Lord Greenwood, what is there in the Realms in the way of dueling rules or a standard by which they are met? Do men of fine repute settle their differences on sword duels and such anywhere in the Realms? If so, how might this be carried out; are the taking-off-of-gloves-and-the-slapping-of-faces a common practice, or something similar? Are there ten-pace-smokepowder-pistol-affairs going on anywhere? What might prompt a duel such as these mentioned above? Once again, anything you can provide would be an early Christmas gift, I'm sure.
Many thanks, and until we speak again,
The Blind Ranger |
I see what I need when my sight is not enough. |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 01:13:22
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quote:
Originally posted by The Blind Ranger
Lord Greenwood, what is there in the Realms in the way of dueling rules or a standard by which they are met? Do men of fine repute settle their differences on sword duels and such anywhere in the Realms? If so, how might this be carried out; are the taking-off-of-gloves-and-the-slapping-of-faces a common practice, or something similar? Are there ten-pace-smokepowder-pistol-affairs going on anywhere? What might prompt a duel such as these mentioned above?
Sorry for butting in here, but traditionally, here in the real world, duels and trial by combats were fought over any matter that brought a man's honour, or the honour of his lady or ancestors, into question.
There are also numerous examples in Teutonic history and legend of rival kings, or their chosen champions, facing off with the fate of each respective tribe at stake. This is the way that the first Anglo-Saxons came to be, in the 4th century CE/AD, long before they ever invaded Britain.
In the case of rulers such duels were brought on by the apearance of excessive weakness, which brought instability and the chance of war into the inter-tribal community. Another example has a duel being fought over the possession of a holy area that produced salt. Another example has tribes competeing to live on the same patch of land. Another it was used to answer the question of which king should lead a couple of migrating tribes.
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"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 02:55:17
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Hello, fellow scribes. some housekeeping this time. To Sarelle, who’s long waited for details of Uthmere; to Metis, who hungers for lore about the Wizards’ Reach; and to Verghityax, who wants lore about no less than NINE locations: I want all of you to know that NDAs are preventing Ed from providing you with much. Yet.
(Hang in there, please!)
Verghityax, you are aware of Ed’s archived website columns covering some Great Rift city locations, right?
kuje31, Ed sends this brief reply to Ovim Ironstar:
There’s one big error in WIZARDS AND ROGUES OF THE REALMS, but it’s only a single word long: “All wizards of Nimbral are specialist illusionists.” should read: “Most wizards of Nimbral are specialist illusionists.”
All of the lore given in that 2e tome (quicksilver eyes, lack of weapon proficiency and stamina, etc.) applies only to the large numbers of Nimbrese wizards who ARE specialist illusionists trained in the ‘Way of Thaernd’ (sometimes called ‘the School of Thaernd,’ though all trace of Thaernd and his actual school vanished long ago). The restrictions and abilities don’t apply to any Nimbrese sorcerers, nor to the minority of Nimbrese mages who are ‘standard’ wizards or various 3e prestige classes related to wizardry.
So your campaign can include all sorts of ‘native Nimbrese’ who don’t have the abilities gained through the Way of Thaernd. So far as I know, the Thaerndar (also sometimes called ‘Wizards of the Way’) haven’t yet been updated into 3e format. As you know, in my Realmslore comments here, I avoid edition-specific hard-rules stats and detail as much as possible - - but only the most minimal rules changes are necessary to convert the 2e kit for these mages to a 3e prestige class.
Although there’s no stigma to becoming a Thaerndar, most of the Lords and really powerful mahes resident in Nimbral aren’t Wizards of the Way. One note about the 2e text concerning Thaerndar: entering a dead magic zone causes only temporary blindness (sight is regained in an instant upon leaving the zone, with no lingering vision impairment or susceptibility).
So saith Ed, Who will return in the fullness of time with yet more Realmslore to enfold weary scribes like a warm, comforting cloak by a fireside . . .
love to all,
your happily-glowing THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 03:08:23
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
So saith Ed, Who will return in the fullness of time with yet more Realmslore to enfold weary scribes like a warm, comforting cloak by a fireside . . .
love to all,
your happily-glowing THO
I've the fire if you've the cloak, my dear Lady Hooded One. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 03:37:26
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Thanks Ed and THO. :)
I hope you two don't mind fielding questions from the WOTC posters through me either...... |
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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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 20:03:54
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Dear Hooded One,
As a matter of fact, I didn't know about that archive website columns. Could You be that kind and give me the URL or something to this lore about the Great Rift? |
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Lashan
Learned Scribe
USA
235 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 21:01:31
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| Blind Ranger, I do recall a tidbit of info about Mulmaster. The Cloaks (as the mage guild there is called) act as judges for duels in that city. In fact, duels are a bit of a public sport there. There are no details as to how a duel is delivered or if there are a certain custom to types of weapons, but I thought I would offer up what I knew. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2004 : 22:51:41
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Verghityax, what you’re looking for is Ed’s Elminster Speaks articles on the WotC website. They are archived at:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/es
If you can easily unzip files, go for the “wrapup compilation” at the head (end) of the list, and get it all at once:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/es/20030514a
This will give you Elminster wandering from Voonlar to Delzimmer to Kholtar, and from 2nd Edition AD&D to 3e D&D. (Game stats added by Jim Butler and others along the way.)
Pure Realmslore from the Master’s quill, so to speak…
Ed of course wrote the classic Dwarves Deep Realms sourcebook, which is the definitive guide to Great Rift locales (even if a lot of text did get trimmed, to lurk on TSR hard drives somewhere to this day).
THO
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The Blind Ranger
Acolyte
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 00:34:33
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Much obliged, Lashan and Beowulf! Mehopes that Good Master Ed can illuminate a bit further, though what you have provided was kind indeed.
The Blind Ranger |
I see what I need when my sight is not enough. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 02:56:39
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Hello, all.
Nay, kuje31, Ed and I mind not in the slightest answering queries relayed here by you, from the WotC boards or elsewhere. “The Realms’ the thing,” to mangle a saying. :}
I bring a reply from Ed to a long-ago question on this thread by Lashan (back on Page 37, I believe), regarding sewers. Yes, sewers. ;} Herewith, the words of Ed:
Lashan, Tantras possesses fragments of a sewer system. That is, it has lots of center-gutter street runoff down into the harbor (in some cases passing through pipes laid under the wagon-ways right along the docks to prevent stormburst ‘rivers’ from sweeping wagons and all into the harbor), and it has various small and often-flooded sewer systems emptying into the harbor from various western parts of the city. The problem is seawater flooding back in (when winds blowing to the east augment the tides) and washing everything ‘back up whence it came,’ so to speak.
This problem has never been solved, but attempts were made to lessen the severity of the ‘backwash’ by hollowing out increasingly large water-chambers (rooms) along the network of sewer pipes, and by enlarging those pipes. Part of Tantras stands on solid rock, and part of it’s built on layers of ooze, so much of the sewers are lined with stone blocks or large sections of round tile (and extensive cellars are thankfully few). Gratings are fitted over most of harbor-mouth sewer outlets to prevent the tides bringing large objects (that can become wedged, and created blockages) into the sewers. However, the tidal back-and-forth flows do a fairly good job of sluicing out the sewers.
Some of the largest sewer water-chambers have been fitted with bucket-run chains (not pumps, but something akin to the way some primitive water-wheels work: literally, a string of buckets that dip out water and then are carried aloft when the circuit of chain is moved). These mulepower chains lift (filthy sewer, not drinkable) water into silo-like water-towers located in the eastern reaches of the city, which are from time to time drained in a ‘flushing rush’ (gravity-powered flood) through the easternmost sewers, to carry the reeking dung they contain out into the fields immediately east of the city (where, as you can imagine, there are some rather noisome marshes). The presence of these wetlands is one of the reasons Tantras has been slow to expand in that direction (with most new contruction outside the walls planned, if the current city-defense decrees forbidding unbridled building sprawl ever change, for the south).
Drinking-water enters Tantras through pipes (pumped by mules or oxen traveling around and around capstans) from springs well to the northeast of the city (building on or near these springs is forbiddem, and the city maintains guardposts over them).
So saith Ed. Next time, he’ll conclude with what happens to all of these flows in winter, and deal with the dead.
love to all,
THO
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 06:28:24
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A question for Ed: If you could write and publish ANYTHING for the Realms - - a book but your choice of length and format and graphics/maps - - what would it be?
P.S. I mean a game book, not fiction. |
Edited by - Blueblade on 01 Dec 2004 06:30:49 |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 06:46:24
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Got a question for Ed
Has there ever been a massive Volcanic erruption in the FRs history where so much volcanic ash has been thrown up into the air that its lowered the temprature of the lands around the erruption for a time? |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 06:54:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Blueblade
A question for Ed: If you could write and publish ANYTHING for the Realms - - a book but your choice of length and format and graphics/maps - - what would it be?
P.S. I mean a game book, not fiction.
Presuming (where of course I should not, but Ed will forgive me), I will say that the book would be Cormyr: The Forest Kingdom, covering the nation in its entirety, with maps and timelines and family histories for all the noble clans and illustrated guides to "Purple Dragons, War Wizards, and all the rest" and everything else necessary for the Realms--except for game statistics--weighing in at a light 2,472 pages.
This would, of course, be a leatherbound tome with several cloth bookmarks, and would also (of course!) be the first in a series of such books, each one covering a new corner of the Realms, until the centuries-old Ed could finish them all and start on his "volume II" set. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 08:53:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Got a question for Ed
Has there ever been a massive Volcanic erruption in the FRs history where so much volcanic ash has been thrown up into the air that its lowered the temprature of the lands around the erruption for a time?
Mount Ugruth near Turmish in c. 257 DR springs to mind. See the "Vilhon Reach" accessory by Jim Butler. Also, check the Citadel of Black Ash, temple to Gilgeam, in the "Powers & Pantheons" accessory by Eric Boyd.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 11:12:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Garen Thal
quote:
Originally posted by Blueblade
A question for Ed: If you could write and publish ANYTHING for the Realms - - a book but your choice of length and format and graphics/maps - - what would it be?
P.S. I mean a game book, not fiction.
Presuming (where of course I should not, but Ed will forgive me), I will say that the book would be Cormyr: The Forest Kingdom, covering the nation in its entirety, with maps and timelines and family histories for all the noble clans and illustrated guides to "Purple Dragons, War Wizards, and all the rest" and everything else necessary for the Realms--except for game statistics--weighing in at a light 2,472 pages.
This would, of course, be a leatherbound tome with several cloth bookmarks, and would also (of course!) be the first in a series of such books, each one covering a new corner of the Realms, until the centuries-old Ed could finish them all and start on his "volume II" set.
I'd buy that! |
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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Lashan
Learned Scribe
USA
235 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 15:45:51
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| Thank you Ed, for putting your mind firmly in the gutter. :) |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 17:16:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Lashan
Thank you Ed, for putting your mind firmly in the gutter. :)
That is a horrible pun. I salute you for a job well done! |
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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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2004 : 22:45:55
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| Speaking of Ned's "Elminster Speaks", the only published map of Voonlar (outside the Electronic Atlas) is in FRC2 Curse of the Azure Bonds -- maybe an overflow that didn't fit in the Cyclopedia of the Realms two years before... |
Edited by - Faraer on 01 Dec 2004 22:48:24 |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2004)
Topic Locked
