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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
 Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 03:04:05
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Hello, all. First, to Mauricio: Ed is happy to report that he’s been given WotC permission for his postings here to be translated and put on the Brazilian website you mentioned. It’s also fine with Ed and with me, so given the tone of Alaundo’s posting here, earlier, I’d say you’re green to go. Alaundo?
Ah, and a another question for Alaundo: Ed doesn’t yet have clearance to provide regular articles for the Candlekeep newsletter you mentioned. If he did contribute, a WotC copyright statement would almost certainly have to accompany Ed’s words, of course, but the officials of Wizards who must consider this matter want to know these three things: the frequency of this newsletter, its format (only posted here, e-mailed to anyone, any print appearance), and whether any money is involved (does anyone have to pay to receive this newsletter, are any contributors paid, etc.). I assume the answer to that last matter is: no money involved, but Ed (who’s perfectly willing to provide these articles for free, of course) tells me the WotC folks need definite statements, not assumptions. :}
With real-world business matters dealt with, I return you to Ed’s rich Realmslore.
Faraer, you’re quite correct about the Voonlar map. There were others that didn’t appear for years, and a few that haven’t been published even yet.
Herewith, Ed concludes his Tantras reply to Lashan:
In severe winter weather, of course, most flowing liquid things freeze, and the sewers of Tantras are no exception. Human waste generates its own heat, but still: things get hard and won’t readily flow anywhere. The upside is, cold air cuts down on the smell, and insects that can carry diseases from dung to people are largely or wholly absent.
So in winter, Tantras does what a lot of places do: uses nightsoil-wagons (that ‘pick up’ along each street from residents shoveling middens and dumping chamberpots) to carry wastes away (unless heavy snowfalls prevent travel - - and all of the nightsoil-wagon owners have built huge, heavy, multi-runner sledges that can be slid under wagons to allow travel in deep snow). It’s during the winter months that wastes get spread over many farm fields all around Tantras (instead of getting dumped in the swamps).
Drinking-water gets brought in in large wagons (metal tanks sitting in trays in which small fires are built and tended, to keep the tanks warm, said trays resting on massive crosstimbers, on flatbed wagons) from the springs, and men use pickaxes and hammers to keep the springs and their plungepools free of ice. The pipes that bring water to the city in the warmer months are opened up in several places to allow for ice expansion (so the pipes won’t burst in other, much-harder-to-reach spots).
Catacombs: yes, there were many in the early days of the city, but almost all of the older subterranean ones got flooded repeatedly and have either been abandoned with their dead inside (ahem, quite possibly undead, by now) or emptied and the second sort of catacomb used: networks of narrow passages and burial niches within the thick walls of the largest, grandest buildings. There are only about a dozen of these networks known to still exist inside Tantras.
Above-ground crypts (“little stone houses for the dead”) were popular in the early days of the city’s expansion, but all were soon overtaken by the growing city and eventually destroyed, with the remains moved well outside the walls to, yes (as you surmised) a cemetery - - or rather, three burial-grounds: one, a little south of due northeast, is Rosestones, a tiny ‘village’ of stone crypts (now shunned and overgrown as a haunted place, but grand stonework under all the brambles and briars) where the wealthiest families interred their dead; another (a little south of due east from Tantras, and closest to the city of the three cemeteries), Raindance Hill, is a windswept hill on a sheep farm where paupers were buried in simple, unmarked graves; and the third, Auntar’s Rest (“Auntar” is pronounced “AWN-tar”), is a drystone-walled, rambling field of vine-choked trees and many, many leaning headstones, still in popular use today, where the bulk of dead folk of Tantras lie. The Rest has grown to take over six farms agood way southeast of Tantras, and will probably swallow more soon.
Most temples in Tantras inter priests under the floors and within the walls of their ‘holy stones’ (building walls); the temple of Torm is large and grand enough to have alcove-like side-chapels whose walls are entirely given over to filing-cabinet-drawer-like (all stone) burial niches filled with stone coffins. Lesser shrines may inter the bones of priests in stone coffins sunk into the shrine floor, but send their lay worshippers and staff for burial in the aforementioned public burial-grounds.
So if you’ve been envisaging a huge network of dungeon-like sewers linking every corner of Tantras underground: no. Not unless you’re a really small snail or amphibian. Flooded attempts at establishing such a large system, now: yes.
So saith Ed, THE tireless dispenser of Realmslore.
love to all,
THO
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 03:28:13
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
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
Hmmm thatnks George
The Vilhons reach has quite a few interesting and handy tibits for my Air Genasi article  |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 11:45:39
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No problems - we're all here to share the Realms, and if someone can help others out it frees up Ed to give us more and more realmslore. Was that a whip I heard cracking in the background ...?
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 12:32:50
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Well met, Hooded One.
Thank ye for the response. 
Indeed, the newsletter would carry any copyright and disclaimers necessary to cover Ed's work. On thine other point, ye are quite right, no money changes hands in any aspect of the newsletter. All here at Candlekeep is available free of charge. The newsletter is intended to be a quartly release. I will contact ye personally on this matter to discuss further. |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 13:30:24
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Was that a whip I heard cracking in the background ...?
-- George Krashos
If it was, then the question is whose whip was it? I'd be more likely to think it belonged to our dear Lady Hooded One. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 13:52:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Was that a whip I heard cracking in the background ...?
-- George Krashos
If it was, then the question is whose whip was it? I'd be more likely to think it belonged to our dear Lady Hooded One.
Nay, 'twas mine, Wooly Rupert!  Now back to thy desk! |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2004 : 14:31:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Alaundo
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Was that a whip I heard cracking in the background ...?
-- George Krashos
If it was, then the question is whose whip was it? I'd be more likely to think it belonged to our dear Lady Hooded One.
Nay, 'twas mine, Wooly Rupert! Now back to thy desk!
The whip was yours? Sorry, Big Al, but that's just nowhere near as much fun.
*ducks and runs* |
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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 02:30:33
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Hello, all. In the following reply to Ardashir, Ed speaks plainly about matters sexual (though not in what most people would call a ‘dirty’ manner), so if reading such things offend you, stop now and skip to the next post.
Myself, I find such things very interesting (as Wooly and SB and others might well suspect  ). But enough; I present the latest words of Ed:
Ardashir, “festhalls” (Jeff Grubb’s word, substituted for my “brothels” for TSR Code of Ethics reasons) vary in customs, but the more elaborate ones ARE “a cross between a private club, a casino, and a brothel.”
This is due to the fact that many folk in Faerûn can readily couple with someone (on a rooftop or behind a midden in crowded cities, and ‘out in the woods’ or in a nearby thicket or hollow in a distant pasture, in a rural setting) if mere sexual gratification is all they want. What they go to the brothels for (and yes, some of these establishments are private clubs, particularly those specializing in S&M, mate-swapping, or inter-species congress) is for ‘added fun.’
By this term, I mean: striptease performances, playacting and dressing up in outlandish costumes (“Hah, my pretty, I’m not merely Rorold the fat butcher from down the street - - I’m Ravagar Wanderglar, dread pirate of the Serpent Seas!”), the chance to gamble (betting one’s body, temporary freedom, or items of clothing) or gambol (yes, dance), make love to music, have access to situations visitors wouldn’t dare try outside a club (mock rape of a priest or priestess or ruler or other authority figure), making love on a tomb, crossdressing, eating food off the bodies of strangers, and so on), and the chance (particularly in masked revels) to enjoy someone else in a small community who’s married to someone else - - to ‘find’ each other in public, or even be seen heading off to a tryst, would cause a scandal, but going to the brothel separately and getting up to all manner of hijinx there, even (in some cases) if observed by fellow community members, is ‘okay’ (the brothel is accepted as ‘outside’ normal society, a safety valve in which folk can temporarily set aside their usual public manner and status).
I see the popularity of brothels in the Realms as based on the Faerûnian love of play: as in our real world, children lose many opportunities for playing as they grow up (unless they can shift into participation in a sport, or acting, or performing and use that as an outlet), but brothels offer a place to go on playing, lifelong.
Some people never engage in a sexual physical act at a brothel, but visit them often. Some of these go to watch the fun (ogling), some go for the chance to flirt or make lewd suggestions they’d never dare utter elsewhere, and some just like to chat or play cards or drink with others while naked, or while crossdressing, or while pretending to be of a race or profession (example: the pirate above) that they’re not. Some folks frequent festhalls to play tag, or blindfolded tag, or all sorts of other games that again, are play but not necessarily sexual.
(And then of course there are also brothels that are ‘simple whorehouses,’ particularly in ports where sailors make landing after long voyages without access to ‘fresh faces,’ or caravans disperse ditto.)
So saith Ed. Umm, I’m feeling rather warm. Wooly, you know your cues.
love to all,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 03:22:10
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
So saith Ed. Umm, I’m feeling rather warm. Wooly, you know your cues.
love to all,
THO
Indeed I do, my lady! And I conveniently have a couple of ice cubes handy... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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RevJest
Learned Scribe
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 06:12:43
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Isn't there a festhall in Shadowdale? Sounds kinda racy for a small farming community. :)
Does Ed want to tell us specifically about the Shadowdale festhall?
- S
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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 06:49:23
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Oh lovely Hooded One, might I be so bold as to implore you to ask Ed about Orc life in the Realms? Specifically I would like to know about Orcish art & architecture & commerce.
I am wondering how "civilized" orcs are with respect to art & architecture?
Are orcs strictly primitives or are they fine craftsmen? Would you say culturally they are on the level of cavemen or as skilled as medieval era carpenters & masons? Do they steal and pillage everything they own or do they actually create art and build? And if they do make weapons or furniture or every day items, do they adorn them, add embellishments? Do they carve or paint representations into their weapons or eating utensils or furniture?
In orc villages how advanced is their construction? Do they tend more to teepees, tents or yurts? Thatch huts? Log cabins? Or are they advanced enought to have Beam & Timber construction? Are they skilled carpenters or masons? Are they as advanced so far as to build stone buildings or even fortresses or cathedrals? Does their "style" compare to any real world cultures?
What about their religious architecture, what do their shrines and temples look like? Are they plain, crude, or are they elaborately painted, bejewled or carved?
And with regard to their art, do they make art? Is it more like cave painting, or are there talented orc painters? And sculpture--do they do primitive carving in wood or do they ever sculpt intricate stone statues? What about weaving or pottery? How do they decorate their homes, be it caves or buildings?
What about their smithing skills? Are they skilled weapon makers or armorers? Are their weapons ornate as well as practical? Are they good with other kinds of metal arts beyond weapon and armor making?
King Obould Many-Arrows--a very powerful and wealthy orc ruler--does he live in a palace? A cavern complex? Wooden fort? or a stone castle? And is it "nice" or opulent? Do the wealthiest orc leaders like to own fine things if they can get them or is their taste crude or ugly or macabre, or utilitarian?
Lastly, aside from all the raiding and pillaging do Orcs have any kind of "economy" or trade either internally with each other or ever maybe trade peacefully with outside communities of other races? And if they do engage in such commerce, what do they buy and sell?
I hope my question is not too wordy; Orcs seemed to be viewed as such savage and brutish villains in the Realms, I have been wondering for a long time what life is like from the Orcish perspective.
Thanks!
Grayson |
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mauricio
Acolyte
Brazil
15 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 07:29:45
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Dear Hooded One, I can say I'm a little beyond delighted with an official "okay" for the translations!
The aim is indeed to "promote" the Realms among Brazilian gamers, since our distributor seems to be lagging a LOT behind WotC. Just for you to have an idea, we only got "Silver Marches" last month.
So what I want to do is to reproduce the effect Candlekeep.com had on me, which was turning me into a real fan of the Realms and making me go after the import stuff, namely English books. I'll be happy enough if I can bring just one more person to "the Realms of light".
I'll let you all know the URL in case your interested.
Thanks so much to you and Ed for this!
And many thanks to Alaundo as well, you've helped me more than you know. |
"We can learn from the past, but those days are gone. We can hope for the future, but there might not be one."
- Dream Theater, "A Change of Seasons". |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 07:50:44
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quote:
Originally posted by mauricio
Dear Hooded One, I can say I'm a little beyond delighted with an official "okay" for the translations!
The aim is indeed to "promote" the Realms among Brazilian gamers, since our distributor seems to be lagging a LOT behind WotC. Just for you to have an idea, we only got "Silver Marches" last month.
So what I want to do is to reproduce the effect Candlekeep.com had on me, which was turning me into a real fan of the Realms and making me go after the import stuff, namely English books. I'll be happy enough if I can bring just one more person to "the Realms of light".
I'll let you all know the URL in case your interested.
Thanks so much to you and Ed for this!
And many thanks to Alaundo as well, you've helped me more than you know.
Well met, mauricio
I'm glad that this humble library has served ye well for the Realms  As I mentioned previously, I hope that we can help ye further in thy venture...which I will contact ye privately about forthwith. |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 07:57:28
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For those wanting abit more detail of "Feasthall/Brothel" in the FR I seem to recall that theres one detailed in Richard Lee Byers novel Disolution if memory serves Phaerun vists one to get infomation..
I also believe one of Elaine Cunninghams novels visits a "Feasthall" in Waterdeep where all the waitress dress up as Drow |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
Edited by - Dargoth on 03 Dec 2004 08:00:40 |
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Capn Charlie
Senior Scribe
USA
418 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 09:12:11
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Greetings once more, Ed and THO, I have come again, to beg a little help once more.
Today I bought a nifty little daily planner and have begun to line out notable events in my campaign for the coming year. Thus far there isn't much, aside from a few of the more widely known holidays.
I would like to know if you have any suggestions for events and dates to include(and perhaps some description of events if you have the time and inclination). No, I don't want the lowdown of what surprises are to come in faerun for the coming year, just the "expected" events, holidays, feast days and whatever other points of interest might be pertinent.
My campaign takes place in and about Cormyr, Turmish, and Thay(don't ask unless you really want to know...). Any events of the Wild Elves might also be helpful.
Thanks once more, in advance. |
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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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 11:41:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
I also believe one of Elaine Cunninghams novels visits a "Feasthall" in Waterdeep where all the waitress dress up as Drow
The place is called The Crawling Spider, and it's listed in Volo's Guide to Waterdeep as a tavern.
I believe it was in Dream Spheres that Elaine mentioned it -- as I recall, Elaith Craulnober had a contact that worked there as a waitress. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 15:08:54
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Mauricio, that’s just great. You’re welcome, and Thank YOU for promoting the Realms! The more Realms fans everywhere do this, the more the Realms “can never die.”
simontrinity, Shadowdale’s house of pleasure exists because of the many caravans that stop there. You’ll find modest cathouses (of the sort Ed referred to, at the end of his post, as ‘simple’) in most caravan stops throughout the Realms, no matter how small and rural they are (desert oases of course excepted). I’ll pass on your request for more info, but I understand Ed might be doing a ‘hands off’ on Shadowdale because of his needs when doing the not-yet-written second and third Knights novels.
Dargoth, a “feasthall” (as opposed to ‘festhall’) is a room or event of temporary dining and debauchery, situated in an establishment that doesn’t offer such amenities the rest of the time. (Real-world equivalent: “Friday Night Wings” offered at a drinking-spot where a patron can’t get ANY food on other nights.)
So when a tavern offers “something more” for a limited run engagement of travelling ‘professionals’ (an arrangement that usually means said ‘pros’ avoid paying full taxes because they ‘move on’ before a tax collector can ever get to them, and the establishment pays little taxes on the extra coin generated because they ‘forget’ as many nights as possible of the extra takings), they’re running a “feasthall.” The term of course is a contraction of “feasting hall,” a name applied to a large room whose purpose is allowing larger numbers of folk to sit down and dine together.
Gray Richardson, the truth is that orcs vary widely in sophistication, and that many of the younglings seen by others as part of invading orc hordes are those who have had the least food, supervision, and exposure to ‘culture.’ When aroused to bloodlust, their natural urge to destroy is stronger than most other desires. I’ll forward your request to Ed of course, to see how much he’ll post here of ‘orc culture’ details, but I can say as a player in the home Realms campaign that at least a few orcs are much more than simple brutes.
I expect another Realmslore post from Ed early tomorrow. He has to participate in a public reading of ‘A Christmas Carol’ tonight.
love to all,
THO
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2004 : 15:34:33
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| Many humble apologies Hooded One and Ed, but I just wondered if you have overlooked my previous request a few pages back regarding poisons of the Realms. I understand that Ed is extrememly busy but just wanted to mention this incase it had been missed. |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 04 Dec 2004 : 03:34:01
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| Oh, Swords of Eveningstar is a great title! How do thou in the hood like it? Everyone who likes the Realms should read the Knights' writeup in FR7 Hall of Heroes -- with its chronology that differs from the 1993 Shadowdale booklet, 'beginning to question the nature and aims of the Harpers', and fungus identification. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 04 Dec 2004 : 03:45:17
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Hello, all. Faraer, I like that title just fine. (One lore note: some of the Knights dating in FR7 is wrong.)
Lord Rad, Ed will get to those poisons; promise!
Herewith, however, Ed replies to Blueblade’s latest query:
Garen Thal (and thanks! Superbly done!) answered your question about my ‘dream Realms product’ bang-on. I’ve actually been debating whether or not a rigid ‘book box’ slipcase holding separate hardcover, stitched-cloth bindings (the very best, so the books can be opened flat and WILL STAY THAT WAY without cracking the bindings) volumes for Cormyr would be better, thus:
- - Volume 1/Gazetteer (travel guide, with complete entries about the prominent folk, history, industries, and ‘character’ of every known locale in Cormyr [including full inn and tavern entries, of course])
- - Volume 2/Atlas (detailed maps, including city and important buildings maps with full keys, designed to be used side-by-side with Volume 1)
- - Volume 3/The Crown of Cormyr (royal family, history of rulers with full family trees, laws, plus rights and responsibilites of all of the following, as part of full entries about joining, uniforms, pay, etc etc ‘all about ‘the Highknights, Purple Dragons [yes, org chart with ranks, uniforms and equipment], Blue Dragons [ditto], War Wizards [‘almost complete’ roster], the Royal Court and courtiers, court etiquette and daily ‘how things get done,’ Cormyr’s Heralds and heraldic rules [such as precedence])
- - Volume 4/The Fair Flowering (the noble houses of Cormyr, with founding and history to date, family trees, heraldic arms, investments, mansions and castles with floorplans, aims, alliances, and feuds, current members and dispositions, rules of taxation, inheritance, and legitimacy [with a ‘secret sage file’ identifying known and suspected royal bastards])
- - Volume 5/Life, Spiritual and Secular (how all religions are represented in the realm, with temples, temple rosters, festivals and observances, vestments, laws and special Crown treatment if any, capsule histories, and current aims and activities; then: festivals, customs, and folk beliefs of Cormyreans, with fashion and garb, sayings, cuisine [with some sample recipes], drinkables, and the ‘look’ of architecture, everyday item design [e.g. crockery, belt buckles, windows], how gossip spreads [and who embroiders it and why], how trade goods flow and are taxed and why, what’s imported and exported)
- - Volume 6/The Pursuit of Power (an examination of power groups in the Realms not covered in previous volumes, such as trading companies, covert cabals, guilds, the Mages Regal, the Sword Heralds, the Society of Stalwart Adventurers, and so on; the history of treason and revolts (including present-day activities), the laws governing adventuring bands [including sample charters] and a brief overview of currently prominent adventurers and historically important bands and their activities, coverage of important individuals who have influence but aren’t part of any organized power group, and an overview of foreign or larger-than-Cormyr’s borders influences [such as Sembia, the Red Wizards of Thay, the Harpers, merchant fleet owners active in the Lake of Dragons, and so on]
- - Volume 7/The Book of Purple Dragons (a collection of sample ballads [yes, with sheet music], fireside [ghost and ‘urban legend’] tales, love poems, jokes, childrens’ rhymes, folk tales, ‘quotable quotes’ from historically important Cormyreans [on places, Cormyr itself, the character of Cormyreans, and so on], games popular in Cormyr [with full rules, sample boards and cards or other tokens], popular pastimes and hobbies of Cormyr; then: a section on non-human inhabitants of Cormyr, from the dragons [including of course a history of ‘THE purple dragon’] and elves down through halflings and gnomes to the prevalence of monsters [include Cormyrean attitudes towards all such creatures])
As Garen said, I’d have to be centuries old to complete even this lone kingdom overview, and I’d probably drive any publishing company into penury trying to publish it. So it is indeed a dream, and must (sigh) remain so.
So saith Ed. Sigh from me, too. What a glorious thing that would be to have and to hold. Release one volume at a time, every six months, with the slipcase last (said slipcase coming with an extra volume: a FULL, exhaustive, cross-referenced index and errata/update).
Ohhhh . . . Wooly, tug my leash, will you?
mournfully wistful love to all,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 04 Dec 2004 : 04:50:33
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ohhhh . . . Wooly, tug my leash, will you?
Gladly done, my lady. |
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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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 04 Dec 2004 : 07:36:59
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Dear Ed,
I'm sorry for troubling You so often but there's one thing I need to know. I'm writing on behalf of official polish D&D website (www.dnd.polter.pl) which has been created by me and a bunch of my friends. I'm the boss of the Forgotten Realms section on our website and doing my best to promote the Realms in Poland. I'm pleading You for permission to use (not to translate) the info You have been stating in this topic for so long. I don't want any troubles and would like it all to be absolutely legal.
And besides that, there's one more thing that interested me recently. What kind of plagues and sicknesses may be encountered in the Realms? |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 04 Dec 2004 : 17:24:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Verghityax
Dear Ed,
I'm sorry for troubling You so often but there's one thing I need to know. I'm writing on behalf of official polish D&D website (www.dnd.polter.pl) which has been created by me and a bunch of my friends. I'm the boss of the Forgotten Realms section on our website and doing my best to promote the Realms in Poland. I'm pleading You for permission to use (not to translate) the info You have been stating in this topic for so long. I don't want any troubles and would like it all to be absolutely legal.
And besides that, there's one more thing that interested me recently. What kind of plagues and sicknesses may be encountered in the Realms?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Ed will allow you to use this info since he, many many many months ago, allowed me to take it all and cut and paste it into a word file to host on a site for others who want to download it as a .doc file.
Plagues and sicknesses were discussed awhile ago also.
"Known Afflictions:
Fevers: blacklung fever, blacktongue, marsh fever, shaking fever
Diseases: darkrot, sallar (typhus), whitewasting (leprosy)
Plagues: featherlung, Spotted Plague, the Shaking Plague (Scardale)
Magical diseases: lycanthropy, mummy rot (flesh rot), green rot/scaly death (Talona)
heartstop (heart attack)
‘winterchill fever’ (pneumonia)
Also, we see examples in published Realmslore, but so far haven’t gained Realms names for: various wasting and rotting diseases, cankers, and the mental illnesses of paranoia, kleptomania, nymphomania, pyromania, and delusions (hallucinations)." |
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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2004 : 02:00:43
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Hello, all. Continuing to catch up on ‘Elder Realmslore requests,’ Ed just e-handed me a few more tidbits about The Simbul for George Krashos and Blueblade:
The Queen of Aglarond personally dislikes on-the-ground (as opposed to aerial ballet, whilst employing flight magic) dancing (though she doesn’t mind watching other folk dance if they’re good at it), enjoys very little music (what she does prefer is soft, slow-paced gentle music of chords and fading notes and repeated motifs, NOT wild, loud, or up-tempo music of any sort), and prefers stormy weather to calm weather (lightning and windstorms preferred to drizzle or plain downpours), night, fog, and twilight to bright sun, and cool conditions to hot or warm (hence her enjoyment of feeling stormy weather on her bare skin). The Simbul is a very tactile person (the primary reason she likes to go barefoot), and prefers to keep her hands and feet uncovered, and her body unclad (or clad in loose-fitting, well-ventilated garments) whenever possible. In other words, she likes to feel contact with the world around her at all times, and not merely with garments that move and remain with her. She loves having itches scratched, and has a very high pain threshold (she feels a pinch sharp enough to draw blood, for example, only as discomfort). Her famous rages build far more swiftly (and boil over far more often) when she can’t ‘get away by herself to think,’ and when she can’t avoid or get away from loud noises, bright lights, glaring sunlight, and/or crowds of people (or just their chatter). As a result, the rooms she frequents in her palace tend to be kept as quiet and as deserted as possible by her courtiers.
So saith Ed. In support of this: my main character once calmed The Simbul, in the Twisted Tower in Shadowdale (she’d ALMOST burst into a rage when two Zhent envoys showed up and tried to convince Mourngrym to allow Thayan traders to establish an ‘office’ in Shadowdale, using a lot of what the Queen of Aglarond knew to be honeyed lies in their attempt, and was seething on the brink of fireworks), by drawing her into a dark, deserted bedchamber, suddenly whipping her gown up over her head (where my character left it, hooked up on high over a chandelier-chain), throwing open the windows to let strong night breezes blow in (because Elminster had once told me she always liked to ‘feel the breeze’), and then locking her in and fleeing.
Frankly, I expected her to blow the room apart the moment she got head and hands free from the imprisoning gown, but apparently The Simbul just let her knees sag until she’d determined that the gown and chain could take her weight, and when she found it could do so, just relaxed and dozed, enjoying the solitude and the feel of cold air on her skin.
The doze became a real sleep, and she didn’t awaken until the morning sun started to warm her - - whereupon she changed into raven form, flew out of the window, and before heading off elsewhere, sought out my character to pass on her THANKS. 
live and learn,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2004 : 18:27:14
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Hear ye, hear ye! Word is finally out, so I can talk about this now. ALL Realms scribes should read Faraer’s (sharp-eyed as always, sir!) thread here in the Novels forum, entitled: “Best of the Realm: The Stories of Ed Greenwood.”
You know the far-too-often-overused publicity phrase “The Publishing Event of the Season”? Well, this book truly is, for all Realms fans - - not just scribes who like Ed’s fiction writing.
Ed tells me that at least three stories in it have never been seen by anyone (aside from the editor of this book, of course) before, a fourth has only been seen by a “small handful” of olden-days TSR staffers, a fifth has only been read by a slightly larger handful of insiders plus one lucky Realms fan and whomever she may have shared it with, and just about everything else in the book has been at least tweaked (minor rewriting). In one case, a tale has been restored to its original size, i.e. more than doubled in length.
The contents of this book include close-up glimpses of many important Realms characters, so it will be of interest to long-time Realms fans, and people just discovering the Realms, alike. For one thing, it should provide “snapshots” of how important NPCs talk and think, for DMs running the Realms to refer to.
I think of it as a single precious tome of lore that’s somehow fallen off the shelves of the Secret Library of the Realms that Ed’s written and thus far not shared with us, and been carried out for us to peruse. I’m expecting to buy about a dozen copies (one for my home shelves, one for my keep-pristine Precious Realmslore collection, one for my cottage, and the rest to give away, over the years, to people wanting to know what the Realms is, or who’ve just discovered the Realms and know I’m a part of it and so can Tell Them More. As I said, this book is THE Publishing Event of this Season (in the field of Realms fiction, I mean - - and yes, I say that knowing of several superb titles coming up in 2005). I predict that this will become a ‘bedside comfort book’ for many Realms fans, to be kept within reach so they can enjoy a few favourite tales over and over.
Colour me happy, happy, happy. 
love to all,
THO
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2004 : 23:08:29
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Whilst not yet quite over the euphoria of THO's recent novel revelations, I was thinking about this wonderful and becoming ungainly thread of Ed's.
Mayhap we can close this one down and start a new "Questions for Ed Greenwood 2005" thread. THO has assiduously passed on all the questions, and the thread is all about Ed's answers anyway, so maybe a fresh start will make things easier for posting and allow a "2004 compilation" to be made.
Alaundo?
-- 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 - 06 Dec 2004 : 02:33:38
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Hello, all.
Back in June (Page 41 of this thread), Metis asked about the city of sunken Northkeep: not its present state, as the Bell of the Depths/Bell in the Deep, with cruel marels lurking around it, but what it was like before its sinking by shamans of the flind-led gnolls of Flindyke in 400 DR (when the city had been flourishing for over fifty years). The first part of Ed’s reply follows:
Today, the sunken ruins of Northkeep are about fifteen miles offshore (that is, north of the southern shore of the Moonsea) at a point about halfway between Elventree and Elmwood. In the days before its sinking, Northkeep was only about two miles offshore.
The great magic that sunk Northkeep was a divine act of titanic force, wherein the rock ceilings of a series of partially-water-filled Underdark caverns (a ‘sea beneath the Moonsea’) were blasted to rubble by humanoid deities answering the prayers of the shamans - - so the hilly island on which Northkeep stood collapsed down into the sudden hole, the Moonsea flooded the Underdark basin beneath it, and a cape that had formerly jutted out into the Moonsea, with Northkeep situated on an island off its tip, ceased to exist (also collapsing into the depths). The rolling surface of Northkeep Isle cracked in countless places as it fell, and most buildings were tumbled into rubble, but some still stand to this day on the seabed, albeit usually tilted crazily from the vertical. Extensive cellars and underground tunnels beneath the island’s surface, though cracked in countless places, largely survived their descent into the watery depths.
But enough of cataclym: back to earlier days, and the rise of what became Northkeep . . .
Northkeep was first settled continuously (as opposed to being a seasonal camp) in 348 DR. From the first, it was a supply base and defensible refuge for human traders from warmer, more southerly lands seeking the mineral wealth of Thar and the other cold lands north of the Moonsea (and in later years, as these things grew scarcer closer to home, the southerners sought bulk pelts and timber, too). From the beginning it was a citadel (hence its name), initially a timber palisade around a conical tower at the northeastern tip of the island, that swiftly grew larger.
The defensible nature of the island (separated from the mainland by a strait too wide for humanoid armies to hurl or fire things over, so would-be invaders were forced to make or seize boats or rafts to attempt invasions, and during such water-crossing assaults were easy pray for defenders using fire-arrows) was what made it attractive in the first place. The ‘Northkeep’ name was soon applied to both settlement and island, as the one grew to cover the other. (To the flind, gnolls, orcs, and hobgoblins, the island was “Haardhahr.”)
Even at its height, Northkeep lacked proper walls all around its shores, but had tall fortified towers at its northwesternmost point (Harl’s Gard), its northeasternmost point (Storm Gard), at its center (the legendary Tower of the Bells), and a row of towers linked by castle walls along its southern shore (the Battle Wall, more widely and informally known as ‘the Frowning Towers’). All of these soaring, massive keeps housed armories and were topped with huge catapults. These weapons usually hurled loads of great boulders, and were mostly used to swiftly break Moonsea ice in winter if invading armies threatened to cross it from the shore to the southern tip of the island (though in later years, Northkeep’s defenders exhaustively practised aiming and firing the catapults, and became skilled enough to readily sink vessels in surrounding waters).
Northkeep grew to entirely cover the island, which was roughly diamond-shaped, with its long axis running north-south and the ‘long narrow point’ southernmost (think of a geometrically-perfect diamond with a blocky outgrowth on the northeastern or “1 to 2 o’clock” quadrant of its narrow or northernmost end, that extended the diamond east another half of the width of a geometrically-perfect diamond). The long axis of Northkeep Isle was three miles in length, and before its transformation at the hands of the builders of the ever-expanding city, the island consisted of rolling, wooded hills of thick organic soil over clay, that in turn overlaid fissured, fractured rock, through which springs bubbled up. The island was windscoured (which kept fogs to a minimum), and the weather generally wet, but trees were everywhere and marshes few.
Until its last twenty or so years of existence, most of the middle of Northkeep Isle was occupied by farms (which grew food crops for the ever-growing city) and a steadily-dwindling ‘tall forest’ of shadowtops and duskwoods that were cut for building timbers. In the end, the city of Northkeep entirely swallowed these open lands, leaving only a few parks, many small stockyards and paddocks for grazing not-yet-butchered ‘food on the hoof’ and mounts and pack-beasts for sale to traders and explorers, and several open marketplaces.
Over time, the city-dwellers transformed this ‘crowd of cottages’ into cobbled streets lined by tall stone buildings crowded together, with extensive granary-cellars beneath (though these are often referred to as “dungeons” today, very few of them were ever intended for incarceration or as dwelling-places, but rather as armories and storage-spaces, used as easy highways only when heavy winter snows drove folk underground).
The illustration on the cover of my novel ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER is actually pretty close to the ‘look’ of the bell-towers that topped many of the city buildings from about 366 DR onwards (the bells were used to signal across the island, warning of all unfamiliar foreign vessel approaches and of other observed perils; in the early days of Northkeep, until adventurers hunted many of these menaces down, dragon and wyvern food-foraging raids were frequent). Before that date, tall stone towers were few, and most folk lived in increasingly-crowded-together thatched fieldstone cottages fronting on a maze of cobbled roads (the climate was wet, and frozen churned-up mud is no easier to traverse than soft, sucking mud).
So saith Ed. Not wanting to again cause that formatting (or perhaps just display, on some computers) problem that plagued us early in this thread when posts grew overlong, I’ll bring you the rest of his reply soon.
love to all,
THO
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2004 : 10:35:41
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Whilst not yet quite over the euphoria of THO's recent novel revelations, I was thinking about this wonderful and becoming ungainly thread of Ed's.
Mayhap we can close this one down and start a new "Questions for Ed Greenwood 2005" thread. THO has assiduously passed on all the questions, and the thread is all about Ed's answers anyway, so maybe a fresh start will make things easier for posting and allow a "2004 compilation" to be made.
Alaundo?
-- George Krashos
Well met
'tis indeed my intention to do this, George. Hast thou been peering at my private notes?!  |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Lashan
Learned Scribe
USA
235 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2004 : 14:22:38
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| Thank you for getting down and dirty in Tantras. I do appreciate it. |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2004 : 18:19:21
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Alaundo, if there’s not some terrible technical reason for not doing this, could you leave this 2004 thread here in Novels, in the Sticky category, but locked? That way we scribes can find stuff quickly as well as hunting down your compilation.
So, start a new one Jan 1st or so: yumm, 2005, ANOTHER 75 pages of building Realmslore! It’s like having Ed trapped inside my home computer! 
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2004)
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