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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 04 Sep 2020 : 00:23:34
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Galraun Owns a stall in the Market, Galraun's Legendary Finefeasts ("hearty helpings of savory sea enchantments as will entice any man or demi-man"), near the Cynosure. Serves up sauteed seafood, fresh from the Docks scallops, shrimps and brightfin, all mixed with minced spice berries and then blanketed under a layer of hot melted cheese and served up to go in a bowl of thick-crusted bread. Has upon both arms a series of tattoos identifying his former life as a senior seaman and member of the Master Mariner's Guild, including; Right Arm, in succession; from upper-right shoulder to lower-right forearm; billowed red sail, bisected with white diagonal plume (the latter colored with injections of either of the inked argents silver or mithril, depending on how much money one has to spend silver, in this case); the triple-thunderbolts upon the outer right elbow, for having weathered an officially-recognized godstorm of Talos (as opposed to the triple-waves of Umberlee on the upper stomach for having lived through either tropical tempest or Perfect Storm); and a hangman's rope, inner forearm, upon successful passage through the Pirate Isles off the Tethyr Coast. Left Arm, in succession; three stright red daggers, lower outside forearm, comemmorating the three pirate raids upon his vessel he managed to survive. And also, a styilized jagged dagger, dripping one red tear, in the 'web' between his left pointer finger and thumb indicating that he killed a man in disagreement when in a foreign port; and, finally (and far more common for such things), a three-jags lightning bolt between the back of his left hand and first knuckle on his pointer finger, denoting his recieving a sexual disease from a coin-comforter while in a foreign port. In addition to those common identifiers, Galraun also has tattooed upon his body a prominent, multi-tentacled octopi upon his bared upper chest, which can still writhe and wiggle quite convincingly, as he flexes what remains of his not-so-youthful pecs (not because he had to, or was shamed into, but because he desired it....at the time...); and also, finally, a Tashlutan-witch-tattoo upon his inner left thigh, an unspoken sailor's supersition, which he reveals to no one (except to the warmflanks in port, repeatedly, which cause him venereal discomfort, apparently), which he paid his best coin for, and as promised him succor from both incidental drowning and unfortunate shanking. He has tested the veracity of neither, but believes fervently in both
Gamandar "The Basilisk" Named for his fierce gaze and icy demeanor. One of the city's numerous mercenary recruiters. Fought for many years as an initiated member of the Uthgardt Griffon tribe, and still bears many of their ritual branding and scarrings. Why he left is unknown, although many whisper that the parting was acrimonial.
Garskul Local cutpurse and bullyblade. Known as "Golden Garsk" for his boyish appearance and wide, disarming smile. Can talk his way out of difficult situations. Enjoys the company of both sexes, especially in numbers. A member of the Hobgoblins street gang.
"Giant" Gurghryn (N ½OgM Bar6) A fan-favorite martialist at the Field of Triumph. Not the most subtle or flamboyant of digladiates, but he makes up for his lack of skill with sheer strength and enthusiasm. When not entertaining crowds at the Field, he can be found spending coin at a number of Trades Ward tankard houses and festhalls (where his appetites for wine, women and brawling are legendary), or at his lodgings at The Bright Wood-Fires, paid for by the Sultlue family, his noble patrons.
Glak and Gurgle A common stage sight as a pair of "gargoyle" observers perched on the battlements or balconies of many a backdrop, offering sarcasm, jeers, heckling, or straight-man commentary to the ongoing contents of a play. Originated from the Waterdhavian slang "glak, clack and gurgle" (the answer to an old joke about a cat coughing a hairball, a bard with a scandalous snippet, and an adventurer spit on a spearpoint). From that followed a familiar shorthand for any type of babbling, nonsense, or flowery run-on, often shortened to just "glak and gurgle."
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Garlatha Nightcowl [ Source: A 05/22/11 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood[/i]. Name/Description given ]
Garleth Khalastym [ Source: A 01/02/14 Post to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood[/i]. Name/Occupation given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 07 Sep 2023 07:09:00 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2020 : 00:31:59
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quote: Originally posted by George Krashos When you are done in about another 10 years AJA, can you send me the master list? This cutting and pasting and alphabetising is killing me!
So, apologies in advance to Krash and his poor c/p buttons, but as we are now much nearer to the end than the beginning of this project the usual 'five-in-a-relative-row' entries are become increasingly infeasible, which means that 'scattershot' entries like the one below will be the norm going forward. Prepare your alphabetizations accordingly.
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Enavrun Var The elder brother of Ammathan Var. More commonly known as "The Smiling Swordsman." The Swordsman was once the terror of the upper Wards, a dashing, witty rogue always concealed by a smiling mask and a well-swashed cloak. Known for crashing the balls and parties of many noble clans and absconding with their brightest jewels and prettiest maidens. He met his doom in 1359DR, when he was run through by the noble Daramaer Hawkwinter after quite a lengthy bout of fencing and "table-dueling" during a Midsummer ball.
Mūrth Thongolyr (CN HM War3) Younger brother of Estrar. Jovial and quick to make friends, though he has a fiery temper when crossed. Loves to laugh and loves a good contest or test of strength. Given to fighting, makes a contest out of the simplest disputes. Mūrth's forefathers divorced themselves from the noble house Thongolir (and resumed the ancient Chondathan spelling of the family name) in disgust at house members interbreeding with dragonkind. Since that time they have served faithfully in the watch and guard of the city, and regard their noble cousins as weak and debased.
Phendalm Quenrune Author of A Handful of Glitterdust: The Life and Living Memories of an Illuskan Illusionist (1341DR). "Everything is only what we think about it what we think or feel, however, is not necessarily true or rational."
Tymander Seasblood (N water genasiM P4 of Istishia) The Ever-Rimed. A sun-bronzed, eldery, still-spry seasman. A long-time and fairly well-known shipsmage (quells weather and pirates, repairs sails and leaks) on the merchant caravels of the Sea of Swords. Has a luxuriant head of silver-blue hair and a matching "down-dagger" moustache. Noticeably hard of hearing, an impairment that he variously denies or claims as a professional hazard ("too much salt water in m'ears!"). His genasi heritage (and his sobriquet) manifest in the visible sheen of salt that habitually coats his exposed extremities every time he nears the sea.
Tyrvald Rozmeer Owner of Rozmeer Harbor Rowings, a fleet of ship-to-shore ferries consisting of the Lee-Plough, the Stout Llendra, the Harbor-Cheer and the Gallant Storm-Bird, all easily identifiable by the colorful silken tassels strung across both gunnels (tassels replicated on the sea-caps his hired rowers uniformly wear).
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Elender Tanturho [ Source: A 04/08/20 Twitter reply to @TheEdVerse by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
Emmurgan [ Source: Ed Greenwood's Spin-A-Yarn 2004: The Night Tymora Sneezed. Name/Description given ]
Emurra Scaradath [ Source: Prayers From The Faithful, p.64. Name/Description given ]
Engelvaer [ Source: Small Presses of Waterdeep II: Titles of Note, Part One. Name/Description given ]
Phelorna and Teirist Taurntyrith [ Source: Realmslore: Dawntree, Part Two <wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rl/20040107a>. Name/Description given ]
Tymos (NE HM T1) [ Source: "The Reports From Undermountain," Steven Schend, Dragon Magazine #227, p.15. Name/Description/Stats given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 07 Sep 2020 00:32:40 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2020 : 00:34:52
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TANRALANRA'S TRESSES
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On the journey of the Aluskathra, (the Lucent Dancer of the elves, or the Silverspill of later dwarven prospectors out of Besilmer), not far from its' origin in the southern Star Mounts of the High Forest, lies a forested ridge down which the young 'Skath falls. The dark hardstone cliff here forces the stream into two sprightly, energetic cascades, divided by an upthrust knob or outcropping topped by a healthy thicket of fluttering elm and, halfway down the rough slope, a small, irregularly-sided altar carved into the stone. This altar was rough-carved, and has since been weathered by long years, but the remnants of faces and figures can still be discerned upon its sides. It is reached by a series of steady footholds climbing up from below, accessible by wading though the rocky, waist-high pool here. This pool then exits to the south, as the shining Aluskathra continues on its' merry way, roughly parallel to the Unicorn Run, before turning and merging with that larger watercourse some ways south of the elven settlement of Nordahaeril (just upstream from the ruins of Daurlask and the Brown Oak Bridge).
"Tanralanra" is the name the elves gave to an ancient place-spirit they claim once inhabited the falls and clear pool; they have songs and ancient writings that speak of it, but those all date to what human bards refer to as "the age before Netheril," i.e., in a time of legend before the men of the North began keeping written chronicle. No such spirit has been known to have manifested itself here in all the subsequent generations of Man; the most common claim for this absence is that this spirit was captured at some point by the early humans of the region and subsequently bound into the carving of the altar.
There is a greatly-weathered inscription carved into the altar here, written not in elvish, but in the oldest of the druidic scripts (of the faith of Auld Chauntea, the Wild-Mother, from the ancient days when she walked untamed through the forested cathedrals of Silvanus, before leaving to cast her grace and her mantle down upon the furrowed fields of Man). Roughly translated into modern Common, it reads;
through a thousand streams fierce winter, idle summer shined sharpened and cleansed
Sages are divided on both the meaning of the inscription and the identity of those who built the altar. The sage Nanglorn, in his tome Dark Moss and Maidenhair, put forth the theory that this place-spirit was not bound into the altar, but instead bound upon it, and slain in ritual, in ceremony designed to harness its energies to defeat some deadly enemy (what he opines was a great thunderbeast, of the type that used to roam the expanse of the North). The sage Malraunna of Everlund is most famous for agreeing with this interpretation, but further adds that the essence of this spirit was bound instead into a weapon fashioned to slay the enemy specifically what is today the sword known as Frost-Glimmer (her theory being that this sword was first brought to the attention of Man after being brought out of the High Forest from a burial cairn not far from the Tresses (the tomb, a great barrow whose sole occupant was guarded by the bones of something dragon-sized, but not quite dragon-shaped, was said to be of great antiquity and obvious importance to those who constructed it).
Whatever the truth of the matter, it would seem destined to remain forever a mystery. Not even the stone-singer Dammarthan Whisp-White, Weird Eye of Dugmaren, of the Society of Stone-Tongues, who held long conversation through the Dalereckoning years of 1328 and 1329 with the altar and the cliff and the most ancient and weathered of the boulders ringing the pool below, could divine the truth. The rocks spoke to him of freeze and thaw, and the pleasure of sun-warmth, and the passing of ages, and of the fleeting touch of man and beast and wyrm, and other such things as are tended to be noted by rocks, but of the spirit once known as Tanralanra or its fate, there was no word or acknowledgement.
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 13 Sep 2020 00:31:26 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2020 : 00:30:39
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The Goblin of Gorl Street Merry Hob, Bluster-Breeze. Minor haunting or phantasmal apparition, middle Gorl Street, Sea Ward. A scampering goblinkin of indeterminate race. Mottled gray-green hue. Often responds to passers-by by twirling his head round and round, rolling his great luminous eyes, shrugging his shoulders, and grinning a razored grin from ear to ear. Appears on the site of the now-vanished Goblin's Paradise festhall. Was once a programmed illusion designed to lure patrons into the hall. Why and how it has outlasted the edifice that spawned it is unknown.
The Goblin-Growlers A Dock Ward street gang of minor importance. The Growlers recently ran afoul of a trio of Harper operatives and lost several of their number as a result. Led by Qurulghest One-Eye.
Jostryn Wolfspell (CN HM War3/P2 of Tempus) A strongarm (hiresword) and frequent patron of the Yawning Portal. Weathered face framed by a mop of thick, greasy black hair and a well-trimmed goatee. Rather stocky and overweight, but moves with a grace that belies his physical appearance. Hands and lower arms heavily scarred. Carries a battleaxe, mace, and heavy crossbow. Known to be a friend of the Red Sashes.
Ondar A native of Turmish. Dark skin, golden eyes. Long dark hair kept wrapt under spectacularly-plumed hat and ornate, begemmed hair-net. Clean-shaven, immaculate fingernails. Can be found in the Market, peddling his Ondar's Outstanding Preparations, either as oily, foul-smelling ointment ("Cures all malign forms of long-standing throat and lung afflictions. Relief is immediate and certain") or fiery, licorice-tasting tonic ("A quick and complete cure for all Urinary, Kidney, Bladder and Genital Diseases, in male, female, or elf. Festhall guaranteed!").
Oralantyr Merelarn Gondsman and native of Lantan. Seamaster (captain) of the merchantman Queldor Vhul. Banished from the city in Kythorn 1369DR after being found guilty of importing and trading in the illegal alchemical substance known as smokepowder. Well-spoken and well-educated. Pale Lantanna skin and squinted green eyes, dark brown hair and bushy eyebrows, full beard that looks to have been dipped in molten gold. His unusual facial hair reflects his high rank in the Gondar society of The Inexplicit Order of The Full Flame (The Brothers of the Arquebus, the Star-Wheel, the Brightspear, and the Divinely-Granted Holy Gond-Gunne), the senior members of which, without exception, bear gilt beards of the finest golden color.
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Godolphin Nandar [ Source: Ed Greenwood's Spin-a-Yarn 2007: The Weaver of Dreams. Name/Description given ]
The Golden Watchful [ Source: A 01/05/19 Twitter reply to @TheEdVerse by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 17 Sep 2020 19:52:17 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2020 : 00:43:30
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Aubertha the Well-Arrayed, Archimposer of Azuth A prominent lay-member of the Azuthan church, active in spreading the tenets of the faith across the North in the 1100's DR. Tall, stout, brunette. Skin forever flushed from emotion and excitement. Energetic, animated when in conversation. Spoke authoritaitively and intractably on the matters that interested her most. Spent her adult life frail through a series of extended respiratory illnesses, a result of the Silverymoon plague of 1150. Seemed to take great delight in the opportunity to unleash her spells and the arcane energies of her favored staff against the orcs of the Black Horde who besieged the Gem of the North in 1235, though such exertion left her obviously drained and in failing health; died bedridden soon thereafter of winterchill (pneumonia).
Author of the 1200DR tome [1], On The Matter of Stability in Lasting Arcane Enchantments: Being a Treatise on the Conflicting Desires of Certain Fascinations Bound in the Same Vessel, Including and Alongside Proper Notes on the Warring Energies of Opposing Schools of The Art and the Differing Viewpoints of The Six Elemental Forms [2]; Steps Towards Choosing the Proper Durable Vessel, Innate Properties of Notable Woods and Metals, Their Commonly Accepted Values in Safely Holding Such Enchantments, and the Most Common Methods of Binding Chosen Magics Onto Such a Ready Canvas. [3]
[1] Vast sections of which, wholesale and uncredited, later imp'd the quill of the scandalous Volothamp Geddarm, in his notorious Volo's Guide to All Things Magical. [2] Of The Six Elemental Forms: While the Four Elementals of Wind, Fire, Water and Earth are long-established and unarguable, there have long been additional claimants to their ranks: well-written mystics from the far east of Faerūn have waxed eloquent of the quality of "Wood"; those rare sky-sailors with their ships of strange and colorful shape would have you believe in "Void"; and of course, the School of Necromancy has long held "Flesh" as a fundamental form of reality. Further, the written works of scattered archmages and scholars undoubtably steeped too long in their aromatic incenses make outlandish claims about "Time" as a form as malleable and elemental in nature as water or flame. [3] The bidding for which, at a Watchful Order auction, Midsummer 1366DR, was run up to unprecedented amounts by fierce competition between a number of arcane scholars and repositories of knowledge (agents of the Hosttower of the Arcane foremost among them) in attendance. In the end, it was won by factors believed to be in the employ of Pasha Eli yn Adnan, the Caleph Arcane of Calimport.
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 15 Sep 2020 00:45:02 |
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shoonvii
Acolyte
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2020 : 16:36:22
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So relieved to find you're still active! I used to use your Waterdeep Herald for background flavor in my old Waterdeep campaign and it's good to find it again using the Wayback Machine! I'm running a 5e campaign featuring descendants of our old characters, so I'm piecing things together! Cheers! |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 16 Sep 2020 : 21:10:25
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quote: Originally posted by shoonvii So relieved to find you're still active! I used to use your Waterdeep Herald for background flavor in my old Waterdeep campaign and it's good to find it again using the Wayback Machine! I'm running a 5e campaign featuring descendants of our old characters, so I'm piecing things together! Cheers!
Yep, still here. I've gone off and done other things, invested in other hobbies, but I always find myself wandering back to the Realms, sooner or later. I'm glad you got use out of the stuff I've written, that's always really cool to hear. Cheers to you as well!
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AJA YAFRP
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cpthero2
Great Reader
USA
2286 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2020 : 00:01:16
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Senior Scribe AJA,
Do you know of a way to compile the list into one list so that a scribe doesn't have to go through (21) pages of responses to ensure they are not repeating something that was done before?
Best regards,
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Higher Atlar Spirit Soaring |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11847 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2020 : 13:03:09
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quote: Originally posted by AJA
The Goblin of Gorl Street Merry Hob, Bluster-Breeze. Minor haunting or phantasmal apparition. A scampering goblinkin of indeterminate race. Mottled gray-green hue. Often responds to passers-by by twirling his head round and round, rolling his great luminous eyes, shrugging his shoulders, and grinning a razored grin from ear to ear. Appears on the site of the now-vanished Goblin's Paradise festhall. Was once a programmed illusion designed to lure patrons into the hall. Why and how it has outlasted the edifice that spawned it is unknown.
Ondar A native of Turmish. Dark skin, long dark hair kept wrapt under spectacularly-plumed hat and ornate, begemmed hair-net, golden eyes. Clean-shaven, immaculate fingernails. Can be found in the Market, peddling his Ondar's Outstanding Preparations, either as oily, foul-smelling ointment ("Cures all malign forms of long-standing throat and lung afflictions. Relief is immediate and certain") or fiery, licorice-tasting tonic ("A quick and complete cure for all Urinary, Kidney, Bladder and Genital Diseases, in male, female, or elf. Festhall guaranteed!").
Phendalm Quenrune Author of A Handful of Glitterdust: The Life and Living Memories of an Illuskan Illusionist (1341DR). "Everything is only what we think about it what we think or feel, however, is not necessarily true or rational."
Male, Female, OR ELF you say? AND Festhall Guaranteed? Well that must very much be some good stuff. I can get a whole bottle for a mere 2 coppers? Sign me up goodsir!!
I do believe that I can provide a questionable answer to your little mystery with the goblin-kin. I do believe it can be related back to Goodsir Phendalm and his experiments with "living memories". Few knew it, but Phendalm was not only an illusionist, but also a mind mage, and he was a master of both arts, referring to himself as a "Cerebremancer". He was attempting to make an Awaken Illusion spell that gave intelligence and life to a spell. He got the idea after visiting the Ring of Gray Flames in Rashemen, a place of great magical radiations that is roamed by spell wards, or spells that seemed to possess intelligence and guidance of their own volition. There are those who say that he met an illusion of a giant violet dragon there and that the two became close friends. However, his curiosity gained the better of him, and its said he sought to touch the mind of the illusion. 'Twas rumored that he tapped into some mental component that tunneled itself to the Far Realm and he himself became a medium for the traversal of horrors great and small from that world to this one in the form of living illusions in the days leading up to and following the Time of Troubles. The illusions were indeed intelligent, but also insane. Furthermore, the more they believed in themselves, the more visceral they became. Its also said that many of Phendalm's previously cast illusions seemingly gained awareness and life, and thus the antics of this capering goblin-kin. Exactly what happened to Phendalm Quenrune in the end is not well known, but its rumored that he was taken captive by the wychlaran and that he was said to be imprisoned amongst the vremyonni as nothing more than a drooling mess. Some whispered though that his body didn't age.
In more recent stories, the scampering goblin-kin is said to occasionally possess seeming intelligence. On one such incident during the time of the Second Sundering, its said by a drunken sailor who was relieving himself upon the remnants of the Goblin's Paradise Festhall that the gray-green Merry Hob, who appears to be some form of mutated goblinkin, did appear in a burst of gray flames and begin muttering to himself about "The Hidden One". It then did jump into the man's yellowy stream and scream "The water of life is mine!" and begin moving its hands in what appeared to be mystical passes. The drunken sailor then said what appeared to be a human whose description COULD match that of Phendalm Quenrune did appear from thin air, though it could also match hundreds if not thousands of other humans as well. This human, at least according to the besot sailor, was also semi-transparent.
Naturally, this story made the rounds of Waterdeep's lowest bars, as any good story will, and within a month numerous "sightings" of this semi-transparent being began popping up. One such sighting seemed to be more truthful however, for it came from a mage of the watchful order, who reported that the man's semi-transparent nature must be due to wards surrounding his person, for he sensed a most powerful dweomer of illusion magic surrounding the man. Another later story came to Waterdeep from Skullport, where the man was said to be roaming in search of a yuan-ti by the name of Nhyris D'Hothek.
Some months after that the man was said to have appeared in a magic shop said to have once been a temple to Leira in the dead of night wearing a strange horned silver circlet with a large black diamond., The man woke the owner of the shop and had him and his wife gather up numerous components and minor wands, scrolls, and other trinkets. He then set about creating a ritual circle right there in the shop and began casting a spell, which according to the shopkeep "seemed to call upon the memories within the crown to awaken them in some form of strange illusion spell that was unlike anything I've ever seen. It consumed nearly all the magic in my shop, leaving me near penniless, but the results were the most spectactular thing. Right there, I saw the Open Lord herself form, in some sort of odd burst of gray flames." This story of course gained much notoriety, for the penniless mage appeared at Castle Waterdeep, demanding that Open Lord Laeral "have the city pay just recompense for ruining his shop" . The man seemed clear of mind and steadfastly accused Lady Laeral, though the Chosen of Mystra seemed to lack all knowledge of the occurrence. She did however privately have Elminster agree to pay the man, from her own coffers no less, if the man would simply deign to let Elminster purchase the edifice for the city and agree to provide more details about the occurrence in privacy.
Shortly after this occurrence, harper agents within Rashemen reported to Storm via Sylune of some reports of strangeness coming from the Running Rocks. Apparently the body of some prisoner had suddenly awoke, claiming to be a god, and heading himself in the direction of Narfell. Reports from the Narfellian Chieftain Abordabe that a being surrounded in gray flames appeared at Hark's Finger and proceeded into the ruins found there. What became of this being, little is known. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 17 Sep 2020 14:47:08 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2020 : 19:50:51
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quote: Originally posted by cpthero2 Do you know of a way to compile the list into one list so that a scribe doesn't have to go through (21) pages of responses to ensure they are not repeating something that was done before?
No, not at the moment. There is intent to compile it as some sort of .pdf when I have finished, but there is currently no timetable on that.
quote: Originally posted by sleyvas Male, Female, OR ELF you say? AND Festhall Guaranteed? Well that must very much be some good stuff. I can get a whole bottle for a mere 2 coppers? Sign me up goodsir!!
Aha! A man wise in the ways of the festhall and of his own ways within them! A roaring-boy of the taverns to be sure, a true swaggerer of the dancing-tables! Such virility, a magnificent thing to look upon, by Sune! But quickly, quickly goodsaer, let us talk honestly now surely one bottle, even of such immaculate alchemy as this I have before you, must still prove insufficient for a man of such inspired appetites as yourself? No no no, for you saer would suit nothing less than my entire stock, this generous satchel here, for a mere....say, five gold dragons. Robbery by half, 'tis true, but e'en so I must admit to finding myself unexpectedly staggered by your charms! Already, your first victim! So then, a grand bargain fit for even Golden Waukeen herself! Hesitate not now lad, act swiftly and rest assured of being preserved, now and forever, from the dark and poxy whims of the Maid of Misfortune!
Ah! and there we have it, a bargain well struck, well-struck indeed! Blessings upon you and your newly-fortified constitution my savvy lad! May all of Waterdeep well remember this day! Ho, my fellow 'dhavians, mind my words! 'Ware your wives and weird your elves! A true Lion of Lathander walks amongst us this morn! *disappears into the Market crowd in a well-practiced nonchalant-yet-curiously-swift-saunter*
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AJA YAFRP
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11847 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2020 : 21:55:54
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quote: Originally posted by AJA
quote:
[quote]Originally posted by sleyvas Male, Female, OR ELF you say? AND Festhall Guaranteed? Well that must very much be some good stuff. I can get a whole bottle for a mere 2 coppers? Sign me up goodsir!!
Aha! A man wise in the ways of the festhall and of his own ways within them! A roaring-boy of the taverns to be sure, a true swaggerer of the dancing-tables! Such virility, a magnificent thing to look upon, by Sune! But quickly, quickly goodsaer, let us talk honestly now surely one bottle, even of such immaculate alchemy as this I have before you, must still prove insufficient for a man of such inspired appetites as yourself? No no no, for you saer would suit nothing less than my entire stock, this generous satchel here, for a mere....say, five gold dragons. Robbery by half, 'tis true, but e'en so I must admit to finding myself unexpectedly staggered by your charms! Already, your first victim! So then, a grand bargain fit for even Golden Waukeen herself! Hesitate not now lad, act swiftly and rest assured of being preserved, now and forever, from the dark and poxy whims of the Maid of Misfortune!
Ah! and there we have it, a bargain well struck, well-struck indeed! Blessings upon you and your newly-fortified constitution my savvy lad! May all of Waterdeep well remember this day! Ho, my fellow 'dhavians, mind my words! 'Ware your wives and weird your elves! A true Lion of Lathander walks amongst us this morn! *disappears into the Market crowd in a well-practiced nonchalant-yet-curiously-swift-saunter*
Aye Lassies, gird your corsets, for I've an invasion formin' in me pants and a potion of invulnerability ta protect me!! Sharess has surely smiled upon me this day for delivering me to Goodsir Ondar, and I be meaning to give her a wink and a nod in return! <takes a swig of the licorice tasting concoction HOOOO!!! But that puts a fire in me belly, I can already feel >it going to work. <stomach let's forth a querulous noise> Hmmm, what's that now... |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 17 Sep 2020 22:15:04 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2020 : 00:26:07
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Arshal Abardan A cleric of Gond and semi-successful inventor (the various metallic inks and cleaning solutions he developed are widely used in the North by scribes and metal-armored warriors, respectively). Found murdered in his home in Hammer of 1370DR, with one of the Six Secret Names of Gond ritually carved into his chest.
Asmura Darthaun Local artist. Began her career doing excellent reproductions of the works of the master painter Eglarth of Silverymoon (a variety of beautiful men or women, clad or unclad, popular with Suneites and Lathanderites). Gained noteriety with The Flames of the West Wall, an original piece depicting the defense against the hordes of sea-creatures; this was quickly followed by a commissioned painting showing Lord Marlus Eirontalar in full battle-dress defending the doors of the Palace, a pile of slain fish-men underfoot. While the subject matter was laughable the quality was undeniable, and has led to a flood of highcoin patrons clamoring for their own personal rendition of battle glory.
Astleon Lorastaff The Wandering Seed of the Goddess. Highest ranking travelling priest of the Chauntean faith. Rarely seen in the City of Splendors; when in the North, his visits commonly take him to Silverymoon, Goldenfields and Neverwinter.
Aszundar Zul A noted Neveren diplomat and long-time envoy (ambassador) to Waterdeep and the Lord's Alliance. Passed away in his sleep in Elesias of 1369DR. Said Lord Piergerion upon his passing, "Aszundar was a rare soul; a man who could discuss troop strengths, harvest quotas, and fine poetry all with expert knowledge. Both Waterdeep and Neverwinter are poorer for his absence." Replaced by his assistant, Mhaurin Geldaunt, as interim (and later official) Neverwintian envoy. [ Source: FR1 Waterdeep and the North, p.14. Name/Description given. Additional detail by me. ]
Aulavvan of the Swords (CN HM) Strong, slender build. Dark, thick, curly hair, deep, rich voice. Bored and jaded, but deadly calm and effective when mocked or pressed in combat. One of the city's best swordmasters. Does not attempt to gild his coin-cry ("a master sword-arm in the vulgar arts of wounds-giving and maimery, and other common manner of grievous bloodshed") to sooth the delicate sensibilities of potential noble patrons. Has expensive weaknesses for gambling, women, and horses (the debts from which lead him to hire out for dungeon delving and honor-dueling-for-hire from time to time).
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Asmurar Kormallis [ Source: A 09/21/05 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
Asohs the Daring (CG HaM T5) [ Source: "I Sing A Song By The Deep-Water Bay," Steven Schend, Dragon Magazine #211, p.34. Name/Description/Stats given ]
Astel Turjan [ Source: Broadcryers of Waterdeep III: Know Thy Sources <archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rl/20031001a>. Name/Description given ]
Aszyra Thunderstaff [ Source: "Wyrms of the North: The Sunset Flame," Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #239, p.32. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2020 : 00:39:36
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Divers & Sundry Feyfancy, Sage-Lore and God-Saga "When Sune held court in gardens green And Milil harped all thru the 'een along the blossomed aisles of Kythorn" Excerpted from The Laughter of the Elves Various Fair Folk Legend and Prose Faithfully Collected and Translated by Nlaskra Aummelweave Most Delicate Desire, Lady Foremost of the Firehaired Year of the Spouting Fish, 922 DR
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THE FIREBRIGHT TRIO In the western heavens, a tight triangular cluster which glows most brightly in the night-time sky, dancing in time to the flicker of trail-fires.
Sage Knowledge Once the foremost servants of the god Lathander; the Anneth Awnnatar, three planar devas interchangeably described as swanmaiden and swordsman, who kindled the Fires of Dawn after that terrible day When Auril Was All, and the Hissing Garlanth and Great Mugtooth and Red-Spined Willerwamp froze in their dens and crawled upon the face of Faerûn nevermore. Met what is considered the end for their kind during the intercine godly strife of the Dawn Cataclysm, after which they were granted a place of honor in the celestial heavens overlooking Faerûn below.
Popular Lore In popular lore they are named Ëost, Azrubeh, and Nelimbrar, originating from the Talfir. Their bards-names (presented in parenthesis) are long believed to have come first, common translations (and re-translations) from an elder, unknown tongue.
Ëost (The Golden Glimmer In The Darkness) with throat of gold from having swallowed the darkly burning, red-brownish-black, dravite tourmaline that was the cinder of the fire arch-elemental Azozuz of the Red Angularities;
Azrubeh (The Sword That Stalks The Gloom) whose beak was like deadly, curved mithril, and whose feathered breast was as of rose-colored satin, a stained phylactery of all the lifesblood spilled by his silvered snicker-snack;
Nelimbrar (The Weaver of Bright Bindings), who danced with nimble purpose and great precision, a head-pivot here, a leg-lifting there, a slow dip of one wing before the other, drawing out runes of power whose names were unutterable in the tongues of Men, but before whose enchantments all were awed and felled.
Arcane Whisperings There is evidence that the Firebright Trio did not always follow Lathander and in fact, may even predate him as some sort of divine or celestial presence. Several gatherings of swanmays (elder mysteries, or "beast cults," to use the vulgar Common term) think so, as they say that the lifting of The Day When Auril Was All came not at the break of any common dawn, but when the first green shoots poked their heads above the frost, after having been roosted on and nurtured by the body-warmth of the three. Lathander's involvement only came about later as he attempted his great Cataclysmic re-ordering of the divine host, absconding with and co-opting the myth and legend (and veneration that came with) of a host of gods and godlings that predated him, including the Trio. Some brazen few even whisper that the Trio led the charge against Lathander during that time and were not rewarded as such, but rather imprisoned in the stars for all eternity as punishment for their effrontery.
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WARRAGH BRIGHT-SPRING (or 'Aenroon' in older tales)
An impossibly ancient korred, a messenger between the houses of Silvanus and Chauntea. Clever, humming, deft of touch and agile of step. Has a distinctive blue-green shock of hair and matching beard. Escorted on his travels by rippling lark-song and murmurous bees. Spends his evenings gently puffing on his pipe and singing the deep, sonorous songs of spriggan and hybsil, bedded down in a spacious stand of purple elm, sun-riddled, carpeted with green, a faerie bower which disperses with the first coming of the morn.
His implements are four in number, foremost among them his long knife with its broad flat blade, with which he is equally practiced in spreading butter on his bread, spading a hole for the crocus seedlings that are his hallmark, and flaying long strips of skin off of an enemy. These strips he does not give back until the creature performs a geas in the service of forest or field; he writes upon them in the language of the celestials, and keeps them rolled up and placed in his satchel for safekeeping until such time as the commanded task is complete (in some tales he ties them to the top of his staff, where they twirl and flutter in the wind).
Second, as just mentioned, is his powerful staff, a length of entwined ash and holly, sacred to Silvanus, grown around the bones of that white which is not of the moon, but of the silvered sheen of the elves, called mithril by the dwarves, buried deep beneath the loam of Faerûn long ago.
Third is the colorful leather satchel round his waist, from which he is known to draw forth substances mysterious and potent and cast his fist downwards, making golden splashes upon the ground, which then quiver and rise with rich, deep growth and questing green shoots.
And last is a great winnowing basket woven of spruce branches and braids of his own hair, carried strapped to his back. It has proven as solid as any shield could ever hope to be, but that is not its true purpose. This basket he uses to sift pollen and dew, and needle and sunshine from the passing breezes, and from these mixtures he creates his bread and mead, as well as potions of various manner, which he may distribute to those in need.
Perhaps the most well-known tale of Warragh comes from folkore originating around the Chionthar Valley, passed down across waves of Tethyrian and Chondathan settlement. It is said that many ages ago (when Warragh was Aenroon), the great fiend Azabluu 'The Red Rowel' was menacing the druids of the High Forest where Warragh had come to parlay. The korred beat the demon with his staff and then trapped it in his winnowing basket and shook vigorously, singing and hopping from hoof to hoof, until all the malign influences of the Lower Planes fell into the bottom of his basket as a fetid, incandescent lump. Taking this evil mass, Warragh then called forth a little sky-lark and gave it to this winged messenger to carry far eastwards in great haste, over hills and fields and rivers, and the star-shaped Inner Sea itself, away to the sealed barrows east of Thay, where the Sun prepares his daily charge and where the great Wall of Dragons separates The World of the West from The World of the East, where the remains of that horrid fiend remain sealed away to this day.
(There is also a later part of this story where some of Warragh's accompanying bees got into his fiendish threshing right at this moment, and were consumed by the miasma of Azabluu and therefore corrupted, and from this misadventure sprung forth the creature known today as the stirge, turned upside-down and rightside-out so that their stinger is in the front and their lust is for blood and not pollen, but sages and storytellers and naturalists all differ greatly on the truth of this latter claim.)
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 23 Oct 2022 16:32:02 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2020 : 00:41:15
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Giltrude "Gilly-Merry" Merryminstrel Proprietor of Merryminstrel's Wander-Round (more commonly called "The Merry-Min"), a Trades Ward Hin-house whose provender consists solely of the traditional halfling "cakes and ales" (the small midday repasts otherwise known as, in rough order, brunch, noon-tea, highsunfeast, after-lunch, secondscones, and Brando's why-not). Giltrude bakes every one of her cakes, but her own personal favorite is the lavender Hin-bread (Hin-bread being a sweet-bread, as the real-world English tea-bread), of a recipe she learned from the smallfolk of the Turmish foothills. During high holidays the Merry-Min also serves sweet-apples (roasted over the flame and then dropped into a bowl of spiced ale to stew for a time before enjoying). Has a husband, Emmas, who tends tankards, and four young daughters Cowslip, Buttercup, Meadowsweet, and Agrimony ("Cara," "Bettsy," "Mera," and "Aggie"), who are constantly underfoot. When business at the Wander-Round is slow she sends them all out into the street en masse to call in customers using a well-practiced sales-pitch ("Flour and meal, lard and flame. Fresh from the hearth! Beaten-biscuit, salted bread, root-bread, egg loaf. Get them hot! Mush-bread, crackling bread. Batter cakes, ash cakes, Hin-cakes, gnomekin cakes! Old-style, elf-style, all styles! Fresh from the hearth!").
Glanthrûne Tyrshand Paladin of Tyr. Broad-shouldered, taciturn. Narrow grey eyes. Sacrificed his right hand in religious ritual to his god (hence his name). Has a great love for horses, displays great tenderness when caring for an ailing horse or handling a skittish one. Completed his squireship (to the paladin Hethleen of Elturel) in 1369DR. Currently preparing for a church mission to the Delimbyr backlands, to bring common law and justice to the scattered villages and frontier holds there. Willing to partner up with any adventuring groups headed that way seeking to clear out dangerous ruins or monster dens.
Ordagleth Artemel Heir to noble House Artemel (son of Bresnoss / Lydda). Suave and self-serving. Long and narrow face, with high cheekbones and a high "widow's peak" hairline. Brags of having "never bedded a woman from anywhere south of Waterdeep Way." He has in fact engaged in the services of a number of coin-lasses from the southern reaches of the city, but he doesn't include them because he doesn't consider them as women. And that should tell you all you need to know about him. Ordagleth owns one of a trio of plate-and-shield armors crafted by the master armorer Hilmer from the mottled blue-green shell of the dragon turtle Zlaurgash "The Old Brine," slain during the Battle of Waterdeep Harbor (non-magical +1 to AC and also saves as an item against destruction by fire or steam-based attacks at +4), for which his father laid down good coin (shell-hilted broadsword and matching brace of daggers are still on order from the legendary finesmith Jalathro Haraldheer). [ Source: City of Splendors: Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.10. Name (as "Ord")/ Description given. Additional detail by me. ]
Orem Blue-Sash A native of the Tashalar. Earns coin aboard the merchant ships of the Sea of Swords as a shipsmage (quells weather and pirates, repairs sails and leaks). A medium-sized man of wiry muscle, sea-weathered skin, and thin silvered hair pulled back into a short tail. Has sparkling blue eyes half-closed in a perpetual squint, a mouth full of bad teeth and gold replacements, and a faded blue tattoo of a spiral of stars over his right eye and brow. Has a taste for both blackroot chew-weed (which he spits in copious quantities when on deck) and Tashlutan pipeweed (smoked from a simple long-stemmed scrimshaw pipe when conditions permit).
Worlûne "Lynx-Eye" Uthgardt sellsword. Soft-spoken, grim-faced. So named for his dark grey eyes, the left one of which sometimes (usually when vexed or in the presence of great magic) "flashes" green like the sheen of the gemstone of the same name. Has the psionic wild talents all-round vision and radial navigation, both of which he believes are favors from the Great Griffon, the beast-god of his clan.
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Glaerth Homblestaum [ Source: City of Splendors: Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.92. Name/Description given ]
Orgaz the Boar [ Source: "Nothing But Trouble," Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #238, p.65. Name/Description given ]
Wotav the Curious [ Source: Realms By Night, Part Seven: Kahla the Ghost of Heroes' Garden <archive.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/DnD_RBN_007.asp>. Name/Description Given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 23 Nov 2024 02:23:44 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2020 : 00:20:07
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"Hurlhammer" Bambruck (CN DM F7) Dwarven sellsword. Burly, scarred, blustering. An incurable braggart; he takes pride in his martial prowess but has the compulsive need to exaggerate his deeds. A veteran of a dozen forth-farings into the Undermountain (and claims some half-a-hundred more). Well-known to Durnan and the regulars of the Yawning Portal.
Hurondryn "Two-Boots" (CG HM Ra) An expert tracker and mercenary crossbowman. Soft-spoken, always-alert. Trimmed gray mustache, deeply tanned face furrowed with large straight wrinkles the whole length of his cheeks, and a square chin. Hurondryn knows much of the terrain between the coast and the High Forest intimately. He is rumored to be descended from the Ice Hunters, the mysterious peoples of the Utter North. Good friends with the ranger Aluar Zendos (who he served with in the Waterdhavian Guard), and the Ice Hunter mystic Rides-the-Steel-Breeze (LG HM F3/Div6). His magical panoply consists of a suit of elven chainmail, the blade Angtar (a longsword +2), ten arrows +2, and a ring of fire resistance.
The Hurried Hand A heretical cult of the Denierrath faith, largely active in Baldur's Gate and the Chionthar Valley cities. Believe that the act of putting ink to parchment draws from the same mystical energies that first created Faerūn and the multiverse, and that nay form of re-writing or spelling correction is an affront to Denier and the holy energies of creation ("to rewrite is to decieve and to lie, and is a betrayal of blessed thoughts. To try and correct the flow and the rhythm, the pre-ordained arrangement of the words, is an outrage against Deneir himself"), and that those who do so should be "put to the quill" (a variety of horrid mutilations to the fingers and hands and sensory organs which need not be further discussed here). Creators of the malignant artifact known as The Bespoken Doom (last seen in the possession of the sorcerer-thief Asūnea Dree, set upon in Baldur's Gate and slain by Night Mask assassins who claimed every object, jewelry, and article of clothing from her corpse; her rooms at the Inn of the Ready Respite were later discovered to have been plundered as well). Hand agents have been active in Waterdeep in the past as well, "avenging" the emendations and translations of historical works including Avamundine's Codex and The Hundred Vellums of Old Night.
Hüsthorn (HOOST-thorn) Stocky, short-bearded, hook-nosed. Severely balding, with the remnants of a once-lush mane now only serving to cover his ears and neck and shoulders. A freestave "most knowledgeable in the ways of wave and spray, and billow and brine" (shipsmage; quells weather and pirates, repairs sails and leaks). Surprisingly good at the riddles and wordplay games of the Smallfolk. Has as his familiar the ring-billed gull Oskorn (mischievous, blunt, ungentle; lost one of his best tail-feathers to Whistlewing, the seagull familiar of the Guard mage Hlannadar of High Street, and nurses a grudge about it to this day).
Hycis Gentilore (NG HF Exp8/W2) Hycis is a Sage of the Font, a member of the Council of Sages at the temple of Oghma. She hails from a minor noble family of Silverymoon, and is the product of several of the city's finest conservatoriums and schools. Her mentor, the elven sage Augathail "The Learned," was considered one of the foremost experts on the Tel'Quessir and their history and culture, and Hycis has followed in his path. When not at the Font of Knowledge, she can usually be found at the demihuman-centric library being assembled at the Maernos villa, where both Lord Maernos and the lady Cassala Thrundwick regard her as an old friend. [ Source: City of Splendors - Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.61. Name/Occupation given. Additional detail by me. ]
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Hyara Talmost I (NE HF [Chondathan] Aris12) [ Source: City of Splendors - Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.25 and City of Splendors 3E Web Enhancement Environs of Waterdeep, p.5. Name/Description/Stats given ]
Hyara Talmost II (LN HF [Chondathan] Aris3) [ Source: City of Splendors 3E Web Enhancement Environs of Waterdeep, p.5. Name/Description/Stats given ]
Hylla Eirontalar (NE HF Aris4/T12) [ Source: "Dungeon of the Crypt," Eric L. Boyd, Dungeon Magazine #127, p.74. Name/Description/Stats given ]
Hyrix Greentree [ Source: Wyrms of the North: Claugiyliamatar "Old Gnawbone" <archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/wn/20020227a>. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 02 Oct 2020 00:20:58 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 08 Oct 2020 : 00:24:06
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Ameathra Lhauralynn (CG HF P7 of Selūne) First Voice of the Moonmaiden (senior priestess of Selūne under Naneatha Suaril). A cheerful, rosy-cheeked woman of middling waistline and motherly instincts. Eschews the fanciful garments worn by her senior brethren, preferring instead plain outfits in black and white tones (the amount of each color in her outfit varying depending on the current phase of the moon). Although one might not guess to look at her now, Ameathra was a member of several adventuring groups in her younger days, and is quite familiar with distant lands (down the coast as far as Ormpur and Tharsult and east into Chondath and Sespech) and proficient in several of the languages spoken there. "Lhauralynn" is not her real last name, but the one she adopted in honor of her fallen mentor, confidant, and adventuring companion, the priestess Lhauralynn of Berdusk. Now married to her fellow moon-priest Mazambar the Ishaari (CG HM F2/P4 of Selūne), with whom she has six children two sons and four daughters.
Ammaras Annascorl Native of Tethyr. First Helm (captain) of the Bright Helms, one of the long-time hiresword bands kept on retainer by the city of Waterdeep. After his death in battle against the forces of the Ice Bear, his Second Helm (lieutenant) Littlefangs accepted a sizeable sum to fold the remaining Bright Helms into the larger Flaming Fists company of Baldur's Gate.
Barunklar (CN HM Bar/P of Oghma) A stout man of muscular arms and ample belly. Surly, sour-faced. Unkempt yellow moustache and beard stained with spit-weed. Advertises himself as "A learned Sage of Sword and Stone, steeped in the knowledge of the 'Deep and the Under (and quite unfearful of what lurks in nearest street or farthest cyst)." He is quite intelligent and well-versed in the sagely arts of history and lore, but he craves excitement and danger and prefers to uncover ancient truths firsthand, rather than researching them in dusty old tomes. To this end he is quite eager to hire himself on with adventuring companies promising stone-delves and ruin expeditions. Such employers will find him well-equipped with Windcanter, a similarly sulky old brute of a horse, a full set of trail-worthy cookery implements, the drinking horn he calls Galarsk (which is said to be always full, and never to run over), and a giant steel warhammer he is happy to swing about with lethal force.
Blūndagga Brommarth (LG DF Exp) A justisar of the Watch (the clerks and interrogators who collate information gleaned from prisoners). Thick-set, square-jawed. Stern-eyed, hook-nosed. Russet hair pierced by long fingers of grey.
The Ring of Swinging Swords Local adventuring fellowship. Led jointly by the sword-shes Arshandra of the Stars and Tesstantra Telfeather. Disappeared into the depths of the House of Stone in late 1363DR. Interestingly, one of the next bands to enter the ruin, boon drinking companions of the Swords, swear upon exiting to have seen their countenances gracing one of the great stone murals that line the walls within.
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Rivuryn [ Source: The novel Blackstaff and FOR13 Secrets of the Magister, p.75. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 14 Oct 2020 00:20:46 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2020 : 00:27:11
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Ajantha "Green-Eyes" el Mahardh (NG HF F) A civilar (captain) of the Waterdhavian Griffon Guard (North Wing). Of Calishite descent. Short, but stocky and powerful. Her flashing eyes and honey-streaked brown hair point to either elven or elemental heritage. Honed her aerial skills working with pegasi at the (Boareskyr) Bridge estate of Aluena Halacanter. Now rides the griffon named Bold Lion.
Glandananglar The "Jingle-Jangle-Wings," a long-ago nuisance and fixture in the urban legends of the city. Mischievous and personable, the young copper wyrm gained his nickname from the many baubles and metal piercings that adorned his wingspan. He is still famed for his habit of sticking his unusually long, slender neck down the chimneys of Waterdeep, peering into houses in search of folk to converse or riddle with. Such odd behavior eventually became his undoing, when he chanced upon a clandestine meeting of mages of power. The ensuing spellbattle tore apart the Evergold villa (currently the site of House Bladesemmer) as well as a number of nearby structures, and claimed the lives of Glandananglar and most of the assembled workers-of-Art. His hide (or what was left of it) was placed on display for a time in the central hall of the House of the Moon, before being discovered by Aralvantharast "Wings-of-Silver." The irate silver wyrm caused extensive damage to the interior of the Selūnite temple before flying off to parts unknown, the hide of Glandananglar clutched firmly in his talons.
Naelthan Thurss (NE HM) Broken Nael. A bent, balding, weathered old sea dog who has spent much of his life and vitality aboard the merchant ships of Kelvar Helmfast. Master of the Salt-Stains, a Dock Ward gang of street toughs and "between-sails" sailors allied with, and paid in coin and wine by, the Order of Master Shipwrights. They mainly busy themselves by keeping watch on the warehouses and dry-docks of the Order, but are sometimes hired out by members of the Order for arson or kidnapping jobs.
Nammarith Bylfar Halfhands. Once renowned as a master bowman of the Moonshaes. Had thumbs and index fingers of both hands amputated after angering Jhond Raelwolf, the Black Thane of southern Gwynneth. Never again wielded his famed bow Caelhardt (Nammarith's Harp), which after his death was dweomered as a longbow of accuracy +3 by the divine grace of the goddess Tymora and further immortalized by the bard Kelmur of Ilm as "the one-stringed harp, which sings of sudden death and nothing else."
Quas Thardest (CN HM Bar) The Beast of the North. A famed martialist at the Field of Triumph. All bulging muscles and angry, ill-healed scars. Dresses in crag-cat pelts and white dragon scales, and is never without the giant iron horned helm that conceals his visage. Popularly rumored to have been born of cloud giant parentage, and to have been raised in the northern wilds by a tribe of yeti. Sounds a giant iron-banded warhorn after each victory.
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Nain Keenwhistler [ Source: A 09/01/05 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by The Hooded One. Description given. See also City of Splendors: Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.78. ]
Naneatha Suaril (LG HF P16 of Selūne) or (CG HF [Illuskan] P6 of Selūne/silverstar10/divine disciple[Selūne]4) Her Most Radiant in the Moonlight, The Eternally Quiet Light, The Lucent Rapture, The Bedizened Majesty of the Vast and Moonless Sky, Selūnar Handmaiden-In-Waiting, Luminescent Sister of the Highest Moon. [ Source: City of Splendors: Who's Who In Waterdeep, p.61 and City of Splendors:Waterdeep, p.44 and Powers & Pantheons, p.157 and the novel The Summoning. Name/Description/Stats given. Additional detail by me. ]
'the Questmaster' [ Source: A 01/23/06 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 13 Oct 2020 00:27:56 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11847 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2020 : 14:02:13
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quote: Originally posted by AJA
Barunklar (CN HM Bar/P of Oghma) A stout man of muscular arms and ample belly. Surly, sour-faced. Unkempt yellow moustache and beard stained with spit-weed. Advertises himself as "A learned Sage of Sword and Stone, steeped in the knowledge of the 'Deep and the Under (and quite unfearful of what lurks in nearest street or farthest cyst)." He is quite intelligent and well-versed in the sagely arts of history and lore, but he craves excitement and danger and prefers to uncover ancient truths firsthand, rather than researching them in dusty old tomes. To this end he is quite eager to hire himself on with adventuring companies promising stone-delves and ruin expeditions. Such employers will find him well-equipped with Windcanter, a similarly sulky old brute of a horse, a full set of trail-worthy cookery implements, the drinking horn he calls Galgask (which is said to be always full, and never to run over), and a giant steel warhammer he is happy to swing about with lethal force.
I don't know whose "under cyst" yon fellow is "invading", but if its the same girls I know of over on Pleasure Way, I recently acquired several bottles of a fortifying tonic from a gentleman... and I feel it would be ungentlemanly of me to not offer to share a bit if this fellow needs some. I must warn you, it does seem to have some .... odd... side effects... |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 14 Oct 2020 : 00:19:37
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quote: Originally posted by sleyvas I don't know whose "under cyst" yon fellow is "invading", but if its the same girls I know of over on Pleasure Way, I recently acquired several bottles of a fortifying tonic from a gentleman... and I feel it would be ungentlemanly of me to not offer to share a bit if this fellow needs some. I must warn you, it does seem to have some .... odd... side effects...
Barunklar has been known to occasionally patronize festhalls that offer private chambers where you can recline and receive various body-rubs while listening to the reading of romances (in the classical sense) or to engage the service of a gold tigress, but he is not much for the indiscriminate charms of lowcoin girls or festhall downdancers, not since he almost lost a kidney after being treacherously stabbed by a thieving Dock Ward lass he took to his rented chambers during the 1364DR Fleetswake festivities (and I doubt your tonics would help with that!).
He also carries the greatest of torches for the masterful chanteuse (or agacerie of Sune) 'Glorious' Glaera (renowned as "The Moon-White Beauty" and "The Selūne of the Stage" for her beauty, pale alabaster skin and after-dusk festhall shows) and is, in fact, founder of her local Waterdhavian 'fan club' (members of whom send missives to other clubs in other northern cities, updating on her touring schedule, reporting on artistic commissions of her likeness, and breathlessly expounding on every detail of her stage shows). He has made her aware of his obsession (and amorous intent) and she, in turn, has amusedly if somewhat disinterestedly encouraged it, and challenged him to prove himself "worthy" of her, charging him with bringing forth from his delved ruins a gemstone or bauble whose magnificence is such "to cause the light of the moon to fall upside-down" (a not-so-subtle allusion to her, the Moon-White Beauty, swooning in his arms) in order to prove his devotion. Woe to any adventuring party who hired him on and thinks to claim that thousand-gold-piece gemstone as their share of the loot!
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 14 Oct 2020 00:35:41 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 19 Oct 2020 : 00:26:27
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Ëosklar of the Forest Half-elven ranger and huntsman. Lean, wiry, and surprisingly strong. Has perceptive grey eyes, shoulder-length black hair and a great full beard. Has a litany of scars across his body, reminders of encounters with the claws of big cat and bear, the blade slashes of orc and man, and, black and forever ill-healed upon his upper left arm, the imprint left by the embrace of a foul ghast. Rides Maelof ("Sweet-Hoof"), a bull walaskra* (caribou), with dark brown coat and distinctive shining white leggings. Maelof especially enjoys a treat of fermented mash of mlembar-berries (grown abundant across the northern forests, purplish-black in color, with a scent and taste halfway between juniper and rosemary), even though it leaves vibrant long-lasting stains on his muzzle and throat. Ëosklar proudly displays not only the two masterful long-knives at his hips, with hilts carved from Maelof's discarded antlers, but also the ornate charm around his neck formed of the same, enchanted by a friendly priest of Mielikki (provides continual resist cold, as the spell). He also has a spear of old Netherese make whose tip, of silver-edged ebon, marks and fixates on an enemy in combat (+2 to all "to hit" rolls against a single opponent after the first successful strike, until they are downed or fled; a similar -1 to all others for this duration). Ëosklar hunts and gathers in the north-eastern High Forest, and brings pelts and various forest herbs to the village of Jalanthar to trade. He is an agent of Those Who Harp, and his mission is to observe and report on the movements of the evils concentrated around Hellgate Keep. He is aided in this region by several fellow Harpers; the rangers Nlethra "Side-Saddle" (human female, named for her curious way of sitting and playing the yarting, not for her riding style) and Tulukh (orc male, named in orcish after the archmage Tulrun), and the halfling Arandwise Bramblebelt (a forest-wise cleric of Arvoreen), all of whom have a similar mandate.
Frulth Blackfaer Author of The Helm and The Sword (1352DR) and ensuing chapbook saga. Stirring adventurous fare, following the bloody and darkly humorous adventures of the warrior Theln and the barbarian Arsk (more commonly known as the titular Helm and Sword, after the title of their first adventure). "The desolation here was complete. All around them lay the mounds of the dead, grotesque as monstrous crimson leviathans."
Glaera Galarsk Glorious Glaera. A native of Silverymoon. In great demand among noble clientele and the better-known Waterdhavian festhalls. Called "The Moon-White Beauty" and "The Selûne of the Stage" for her beauty, pale skin and after-dark festhall shows. Claims to have slept with the head of every noble house from Adbar to Iriaebor (man and woman, but not lord regents she does have standards!). Has a high, haunting voice and a body flexible enough to contort herself into eight of the twelve recognizable "elven positions."
Harvendhas Drult (N HM War2) A retired member of the Watch, and a fellow of the Guild of Stonecutters and Masons. Sells his pottery wares in the Market. Round-faced and rotund, with twinkling eyes and a rather overgrown moustache. A good source for local gossip and "tavern-tattle." Harvendhas fought in the High Road War, and delivered a grevious wound to Halthos, Master of the Carpenters and Roofers Guild, one the latter has sworn to avenge.
Irk Darragar Proprietor of the Wauling Wassail, a Trades Ward tankard house catering to the working class. The Wassail (or the Waul, depending on your preference) is a real spirit, bound to the house. Mostly minor manifestations of blown-out candles or bubbling drinks, but on the rare occasions when the haunt feels like indulging in a round of tavern songs, everyone present is expected to join in (including Irk, who has a fine singing voice; not large, but flexible and very warm). There was also the time the drover Brulph drank a dark tankard of zzar and found himself geased to gather a lock of hair from the shining head of the Lady Laeral (how much of that was the Waul and how much was the zzar is still hotly debated to this day). Had Brulph asked politely the Lady may very well have been receptive, but he was the direct sort and his attempt, with both grasping hand and then clumsy knife, resulted in his transformation into the very plodding beast of burden that he oversaw. Irk had no use for such an animal, and ended up selling Brulph to his former associates. His fate after that is not recorded.
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Furjur the Flippant [ Source: Volo's Guide to the North, p.181 and "Pages From The Mages," Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #62, p.17 and a 03/31/09 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
Irritym Wonderstars [ Source: "Lone Wolves," Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #172, p.100. Name/Description given ]
* [ walaskra, the Uthgardt "forest-horn" caribou, for the mossy lichen that grows on their racks, and sometimes on their thick shaggy manes (as opposed to the ancient amber-eyed malundazaih, "mantle-horn" of the Low Netherese; or the athaktu, "snow-hoof" of the Ice Hunters; or the elven tolentar, "gold-horn," whose ancestral stock received a similarly intrusive "guiding hand of Faerie" as did the elven cat) ]
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 03 Jan 2021 00:28:24 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 23 Oct 2020 : 00:27:18
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THE OLD STUMPS
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From left to right, Andelgust the Red, Vost "Middlemount," and Tandbaran's Table. A trio of curiously truncated, flat-topped mounts in the middle Greypeaks, north of the gap of Dawn Pass. Common legend claims their peaks were severed and twisted into flying abodes by the terrible enchantments of ancient wizards (of Netheril, of course). Other accounts say the summits were brought low in a fit of pique by the goddess Auril, as they dared to block the path of her favorite wind, Helaukra, the bitter North wyrm, as it howled down cold out of the icy wastes; or aver that they were deliberately fashioned so as the tableau for the ancient peace-moots between the warring sides of dragon and giant, who met in agreement here to once-and-forever divide the lands of Faerûn between them a peace which held until the arrival of the elves from their Faerie strongholds, and the upsetting of the old orders that happened thereafter *. And there are even those who believe they were quarried flat by the early Men of the North to service the building of the grand tomb of the sorcerer-king Irshoon ("whose head lay heavy, crowned with all the awful swarms of the Hells"), ruler of the fabled kingdom of Sulvantar (one of the fantastical realms said by bards and nurse-maids to lie beneath the barren grounds of the Fallen Lands). And finally, Tyyran dogma gaining popularity in the north has it that this is where the Dread Chaos-Hound Kezef teethed when he was a pup, worrying the mounts down to nubs and practicing for that fated day of his encounter with the Evenhanded.
* these talks captained by Andalghorasturr, greatest of the great wyrms, and Tundallbryn, wisest of the giants. And it should be noted that 'vost' these days is indeed commonly assumed to mean 'Middlemount', but in the ancient and forgotten tongues of these lands, it was instead a reference to the middle tine of the common three-pronged pitchfork (along with 'endl' on the left and 'rynd' on the right)
The tops of the Stumps are curiously perhaps unnaturally flat, wind-scoured, and devoid of all dressing save scrub brush and small, stunted trees, yet they have been weathered and eroded enough over time to have formed small depressions or valleys sheltered from the elements, from which a greater variety of the usual vegetation thrives and serves as ideal roosts for the griffons that infest the range. From these high valleys gush a number of small springs, clear and sparkling, which drain from the plateaus over their precipitous sides and down towards the south. There are also dwarf-tunnels to be found here, some still cleverly disguised and some forced open by unknown hands, leading down to caverns once claimed (and since abandoned) by dwarvn clans named Asklar, Stoneshanter, and Frundyn.
At the base of the southern slopes are a series of sharp folds and ridgelines, commonly called The Roots (of the Old Stumps), for their familiar gnarled and twisted resemblence. Laying in between these lesser heights are a series of little ravines and larger swampy meadows where the streams from above and the frequent Spring and Autumn rains pool, dreary with sedge and tussock and clumps of black alder, occasionally brightened by witch-thimble (harebell), grave-sweeten (moss phlox), and bog-bell (bog-rosemary), and home to red grouse, red fox, swampstrider (web-footed, thickly-feathered lesser cousins of the axebeak); a few nests of swamp-dragon (alguduir), and great numbers of Haskur 'Brown-Coat' (musk-beaver) in their domed houses.
In the middle of one of those low marshes under the shadow of Andelgust the Red stands Meadowshiver, a squat, thick-walled lodge of packed mud and reed, the dry, humble abode of the druidess Fymrae Redraven. When the musk-beaver population grows too high she travels to the nearest settlements with cured pelts to trade; otherwise, she brings in the metal weapons and armor scraps taken from orc raiders or human bandits, from which she gains oatmeal and pipeweed and a bit of enjoyable human contact, but she prefers her own company otherwise. Those who attribute the flattening of the Stumps to the tale of Irshoon often say that the druid has been tasked with standing guard over the long-lost tomb, now buried somewhere nearby, sunk under the sedge and muck of the meadows here.
The springs welling up from the tops of the Stumps and trickling down into the watery lowlands beneath are the origins of the joyous Ripple Pike, which swiftly wends its' shallow and shining way down towards the larger Loagrann, only momentarily losing its' youthful vigor transversing the mirrored depths of the Colaunt (a deep lake named for an old elven word for a type of wash-basin) deep in the rolling Greypeak foothills, before regaining its' path and joining its' larger cousin north-west of the weathered, hook-shaped crag commonly called Old Nose (not to be mistaken for the smaller outcropping nearby called "Dwarf-Nose"), under which stands the twilight-shaded borders of Narmauth (the House of the Riven Oak), a ruined and defiled temple of Silvanus, now home to the gathering evils of the Flowing Horror.
This "Flowing Horror" much feared in these parts is Ilayuun (ILL-ayy-OON), The Green and Ghastly, a sentient, malevolent, billowing cloud of hideous yellowish-green vapors, followed alongside (and inside) by what look to be a gaggle of undead beholderkin (eyeball), rotting and pustulent, for it is said to have the ability to turn those slain within its' fetid embrace into shambling ghouls, coated with something that appears the color and consistency of a dark green moss. It is unknown where this creature or the name Ilayuun comes from, but most claim it to be a living spell (cloudkill) arisen, as was common, from the magical instability of the Time of Troubles. Faithful of Talona, however, say that it is instead the holy reincarnation of a long-ago priest of their goddess (one Ilayn of Prosthar, whose odoriferous emanations were said to make even the trog retch), while the sage Aumaedra of Waterdeep has recently declared to have found reference to it in her own translations of the ancient Netherese tome The High Pillars of Shiranku ('shiranku' being the Netherese term for the poisoner's arts), where it may be best described as a direct servant of Fetid Kiputytto. Regardless of what it is or was, Ilayuun seems to be gathering its' power in the Dawn Pass region, especially among ogre slug and orc worshipers of Yurtruus who currently flock to its' inscrutable banner. Traveller's beware.
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AJA YAFRP
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Edited by - AJA on 14 Jan 2023 19:11:10 |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2020 : 23:26:13
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Samtain "Sullenstaff" (LN HM Div7/Psi3) Old Thunderbrow. Balding pate, bushy black eyebrows, and the wispy remains of a once-masterful waist-length beard. Samtain is an elderly, proud man, whose youthful height now leans heavily on a stout length of ironwood. Despite his age and increasing infirmity, he can still gather up his robes and fix impudent young magelings with the piercing glare that has chilled many a wayward member of the Watchful Order. One of the senior investigators (mages practised in mind-magics, who adjudicate claims of cheating, theft, and deception) of the Order, and a close confidant of the Lady Master Mhair Szeltune.
Samtavyn Samtavarn (N HM F) A broad-shouldered, bald-headed man with watery blue eyes. A native of Chondath, where he served as a mercenary crossbowman and bodyguard to various nobles. Now the bondservant of the mage Ormithar. A hard-drinking, garrulous man. Sports a vicious scar down the left side of his face, from temple to cleft chin, the result of an altercation between himself and the mercenary Raveneyes.
Sarastul Elphrin Far-trader of various grains from Amn and the Greenfields. Died in spectacular fashion during The Night Tymora Sneezed, when wild magic caused his carriage to rise up into the air on Julthoon Street, spin about in mid-air and burst asunder into shards of twisted wood and metal, multicolored sparklers and roiling walls of bluish flames. Given that this was the most ostentatious (not to mention malevolent) occurrence of wild magic during the Night, most believe that Sarastul's doom was instead engineered by an opportunistic rival.
Sarshume "She-Wolf" (CN HF War2) A buxom, thrice-widowed woman with flaming red tresses and a temper to match her nickname. Sarshume is the proprietress of the Horned Pipe Tavern in Dock Ward (Shrimp Alley, south of Pressbow Lane; come for the impromptu sea chantey sing-a-longs, stay for "Three Horseshoes," a tavern game that seems to involve more knives and clubs than horseshoes. Has really good sausage with onion gravy as well). She keeps order with the help of the tankard-tender/bouncer Gamenos (N ½OM War4), a half-orc who makes a tidy side-profit betting on races and fights at the Field of Triumph.
The Seekers of Gleams and Shines Local adventuring fellowship. Recently returned from delving the Deeper Glooms under the eastern Starmetal Hills, down in a series of caverns so blue and frigid that their weapons broke against the very air. It is there that they claim to have fought numerous undead that shambled under heavy coats of hoarfrost and to have gained the great shining gemstone known as The Snowdrop of Qorsyl, which they are currently shopping around to interested buyers. The Seekers are led by the dwarf "Foambeard" (Dorn Goldglimmer, so named for the pale, ale-color of his hair and beard), but those interested in their prize are directed instead to the Turnback Court domicile of the sage Methos of Neverwinter, whose services they have engaged for this purpose.
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Sargrath's Folly [ Source: A 12/31/13 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
Sarintha Thann [ Source: City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel. Name/Description given ]
Sartrara Zool [ Source: Broadcryers of Waterdeep III: Know Thy Sources <archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rl/20031001a>. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2020 : 00:24:49
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FAERÛNIAN HAIKU
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Shining summertime Lost in forests old and green We dream of elf dreams
The stars tell a tale As Auril weaves her pattern Soon the stars grow dim
Sorrowful Autumn Fruit of field and Men wither As grim Myrkul laughs
Bugbear and Kobold Are such things really needed So many goblins
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2020 : 00:23:54
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Holsten Dwimmerlock Cormyrean adventurer and illusionist. Author of Dweomers Divers and Holsten's Hornbook. Met his doom roasting inside the Brazen Bull of Marhvost, in the halls of the Talfir-King Nodros. His half-orc henchman Hashknife escaped with both tomes, and later sold them to a mage of Delimbiyran. The tomes, and the burnished speaking-skull of Holsten, lay in the vaults of the Tower of the Watchful Order for a time, until they were stolen in the summer of 1364DR (by the Dragon Mage Maaril, some whisper).
Hombur Hlaemberhaul Master Far-Trader of the Tenwheels Trading Coster. Remembered today for the common merchant's quip "a decent boldness," popular among the traders and speculators of Waterdeep to express approval of, or to goad someone into, a risky or dangerous business proposition (from the full phrase, "A decent boldness ever meets with favor from the gods").
Rathan Hornshevver (LG HM Aris6/F4) A Wing Civilar (commander) of the Griffon Guard (Castle Wing). Tall, sun-bronzed, lanky. Rides the griffon named Ready Flight.
Redraven (N HM Adp3/War4) A mercenary warrior of Uthgardt descent. Close-shaven head, large unkempt black eyebrows and beard. His right eye and the right side of his mouth noticeably sag, the result of a childhood wasting disease. Longbow, shortsword and spear are his preferred weapons. Has some skill with tracking and herblore.
Tovryn "Hammer-Shanks" (LN HM F11) One of the "Three Old Lions" of Lord's Court (the other two being the retired guardscaptain Durnadrym Tyrfellow, and the noble Kelvar Helmsfast). A long-time hiresword and mercenary captain (now largely retired). Tall and gaunt. Piercing eyes, high cheekbones (the left side marred by severe battle scars). Observes much but says little. A native of the Moonshaes.
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Horingar Nandar (CE HM T3/R12) [ Source: "Dungeon of the Crypt," Eric L. Boyd, Dungeon Magazine #127, p.64. Name/Description/Stats given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11847 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2020 : 00:39:43
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quote: Originally posted by AJA
* [ walaskra, the Uthgardt "forest-horn" caribou, for the mossy lichen that grows on their racks, and sometimes on their thick shaggy manes (as opposed to the ancient amber-eyed malundazaih, "mantle-horn" of the Low Netherese; or the athaktu, "snow-hoof" of the Ice Hunters; or the elven tolentar, "gold-horn," whose ancestral stock received a similarly intrusive "guiding hand of Faerie" as did the elven cat) ]
Just wondering, your terms or canon? I almost feel like I recognize tolentar. If they're canon, I'm really interested, as I'm literally working right now on two races with relations to caribou/deer/elk, etc.... |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2020 : 21:35:48
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quote: Originally posted by sleyvas Just wondering, your terms or canon? I almost feel like I recognize tolentar. If they're canon, I'm really interested, as I'm literally working right now on two races with relations to caribou/deer/elk, etc....
The terms are mine, I made them up there as I was writing that entry. The general idea of elves-on-antlered-forest-animals is pretty standard fantasy, tho that one was specifically inspired for me by the visual of Thranduil riding an elk from The Hobbit movies. But it is entirely possible that the word 'tolentar' could already be in use for something else entirely. Perils of a shared universe, and all that.
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 05 Nov 2020 : 00:38:52
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Hey, two-year anniversary of this thread! Who knew there were so many people in Waterdeep? (personally, I've already killed half of them off) Well here, if you're still reading, have some pointless NPC-related addendum (navel-gazing, langniappe, you decide!) as a reward. Woo hoo!
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quote: Originally posted by AJA Lustral Blackalbane (NG GF F2/Exp3/Illu6) A late addition to (and now retired member of) the Knights Errant adventuring fellowship. The rare result of a mixed union between a gnomish mother and a halfling father, though her only noticeable halfling characteristics are a light dusting of downy hair on her feet, and a fairer complexion than most gnomes. Short, cheerful, and always bustling about on some project or other, her luminous green eyes sparkling with mirth. She now dwells in a simple third floor domicile in Trades Ward, above Ilstaryn's Alcove (a bookbinder, scribe-for-hire, and seller of used tomes and rare chapbooks), and the floor-level Merryminstrel's Wander-Round ("The Merry-Min," a Hin tankard house whose provender consists solely of the traditional halfling "cakes and ales" [the small midday repasts otherwise known as brunch, highsunfeast, noon-tea, secondscones and after-lunch]), and keeps a close eye on Shaerendylee, a scullery maid in the kitchens of New Olamn (the daughter of the deceased Knight Tcharess Brandeth, Lustral's former friend and confidant).
quote: Originally posted by AJA Asmura Darthaun Local artist. Began her career doing excellent reproductions of the works of the master painter Eglarth of Silverymoon (a variety of beautiful men or women, clad or unclad, popular with Suneites and Lathanderites). Gained noteriety with The Flames of the West Wall, an original piece depicting the defense against the hordes of sea-creatures; this was quickly followed by a commissioned painting showing Lord Marlus Eirontalar in full battle-dress defending the doors of the Palace, a pile of slain fish-men underfoot. While the subject matter was laughable the quality was undeniable, and has led to a flood of highcoin patrons clamoring for their own personal rendition of battle glory.
quote: Originally posted by AJA Giltrude "Gilly-Merry" Merryminstrel Proprietor of Merryminstrel's Wander-Round (more commonly called "The Merry-Min"), a Trades Ward Hin-house whose provender consists solely of the traditional halfling "cakes and ales" (the small midday repasts otherwise known as, in rough order, brunch, highsunfeast, noon-tea, secondscones and after-lunch). Giltrude bakes every one of her cakes, but her own personal favorite is the lavender Hin-bread (Hin-bread being a sweet-bread, as the real-world English tea-bread), of a recipe she learned from the smallfolk of the Turmish foothills. During high holidays the Merry-Min also serves sweet-apples (roasted over the flame and then dropped into a bowl of spiced ale to stew for a time before enjoying). Has a husband, Emmas, who tends tankards, and four young daughters Cowslip, Buttercup, Meadowsweet, and Agrimony ("Cara," "Bettsy," "Mera," and "Aggie"), who are constantly underfoot. When business at the Wander-Round is slow she sends them all out into the street en masse to call in customers using a well-practiced sales-pitch ("Flour and meal, lard and flame. Fresh from the hearth! Beaten-biscuit, salted bread, root-bread, egg loaf. Get them hot! Mush-bread, crackling bread. Batter cakes, ash cakes, Hin-cakes, gnomekin cakes! Old-style, elf-style, all styles! Fresh from the hearth!").
On the second floor is Ilstaryn's Alcove, a bookbinder, scribe-for-hire, and seller of used tomes and rare chapbooks, whose business is inexorably shifting towards that of book-lending, as his customers seem to prefer taking a tome down to the Merry-Min to peruse over a sweet-cake and a tankard of ale. Ilstaryn is a good scribe and a middling bookbinder, and unfortunately far too accommodating and unconfrontational to put his foot down over this behavior
.especially as he enjoys so much when his potential customer returns up the stairs and engages in lengthy conversation about the contents of the book they were just browsing.
The full floor above that is the bright and airy abode of the gnome Lustral Blackalbane, retired member of the Knights Errant fellowship. The focus of her home is her cluttered parlor and her study, now largely one and the same, where she spends her time following various whims and enthusiasms. Her current passion is her studies into the Sunurrenglathra (loosely translated, "where water trickles down a stony, shallow cleft"), a hereticly verbose school of scholarly svirfneblin thought which states that, while one word will suffice, twelve are hallowed, and therefore holier to Callarduran Smoothhands. She has made contact with some deep gnome followers of this doctrine, and hosts them on clandestine visits to the city, where they revel in the ability to speak so freely (and at such length!).
Over her is a floor of apartments divided into two Hin-holes (sized down to the tastes of the Small Folk, a modification done willingly by the owner who can now charge twice for what was formerly one regular flat) rented by the family of Laurelve Brightgirdle (an attendant at Mother Tamra's House of Graces; her father, an aging footman in service to the merchant house of Olmhazan, and her husband, an apprentice to the master baker Brûlth Thunderloaf) and a branch of Helmshighs (married shoe cobbler and peddler of rushes and floor-reeds, and two washerwoman sisters); and the studio of the painter (and current highcoin darling) Asmura Darthaun. Asmura's cat Neska, an enormous tabby decorated with brown coat, magnificent white ruff and black-ringed tail, is lazy, sun-loving, and purrs at the slightest provocation, and has learned quite painfully through an oft-bruised tail not to sleep on the busy floor-level stoop of the Merry-Min, and instead now spends much time roughly bedded down in Lustral's sun-facing window herb-boxes. The gnome quickly learned to close her door to the purring menace, but Neska soon figured out how to claw-climb her way up (or down) to the boxes along the outside of the tallhouse, instead.
And above them all is the cramped, steeply slant-sided abode of the aged "attic-witches" Gonda and Nulae, two spinsters whose sailor husbands (one brother to Gonda and one brother to Nulae; it's a small neighborhood) both died a'sea and who now spend their days weaving and sewing woollen cloth to sell for rent money. Lustral sends up poultices to help with their chills and arthritis, and Asmura often drops in to converse and do sketches of them; she claims the deep crags and lines of their faces and hands have a regal, "dwarven" quality. The pair also simmer a wonderful, thick, root-based stew as their primary daily meal, which the painter readily avails herself of whenever possible.
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2020 : 23:08:53
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quote: Originally posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King, 'The Last Debate' "If it is destroyed, then he will fall, and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed."
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
771 Posts |
Posted - 10 Nov 2020 : 00:50:20
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Anakar Moonblaze (CN ½EM F4/T5) A masterless rogue of mixed Amnian and moon-elven parentage. Cuts a dashing figure of flashing grins, ruddy cheeks, open-to-the-navel tunics (even in the depths of Waterdhavian winters), braided topknot, and gem-encrusted eyepatch (some notice that the glittering patch switches from one eye to the other, from time to time). Once a rather unenthusiastic henchman of the Knights Errant adventurers, now a rather successful sellsword and privateer, having seized control of the freebooter Death's Deliverer with the help of his menacing little compatriot, the gnome Redstone. Anakar and the Deliverer are most often found between the harbors of Waterdeep, Luskan, and the Moonshaen pirate-hold of Gullroosts.
Redstone (NE GM F4) A snorting, sneering, blackroot-spitting, dour little thug. Has prominent cheeks and stubbled jowls, and deep-set eyes usually concealed by the spike-crested warhelm pulled down over them. "Redstone" (not his given gnomish name) rarely speaks, preferring to let well-timed spits of chew-leaf punctuate any conversation. Little is known of his past, although it is believed that he was raised by a clan of madbeard dwarves and that he has worked for certain Skullport slaving operations. Extremely proficient with the huge iron-banded repeating crossbow habitually slung at his side. The compatriot of Anakar Moonblaze, and currently "Master of Morale and Crew Readiness" aboard the privateer Death's Deliverer.
Shandolphyn (NE greater doppelganger) "Many-Eyes." A paranoid and malicious mirrorkin. Abandoned their fellows among the Unseen in favor of their own personal quest for power. Before parting ways with Hlaavin and their fellow siblings (who still hunt them vigorously), Shandolphyn was known to have acquired the other-forms of Gornalgus (LN HM W15), the house-mage of noble House Brossfeather and Nueth Elfhavvan (LN HM T2/Exp4), a high-ranking herbalist of the Guild of Apothecaries and Physicians. Prefers to keep hidden in their lair in the City of the Dead and to travel about the city on the hip of a Watch officer or the stomacher of a noble courtier, courtesy of a stealsteel spell. In their natural form they still possesses the upper-body tattooing common to the doppelgangers of the Unseen, albeit in lesser amount.
Tabra "Flametongue" (LG HF T3/F4) Daughter of the former Ward Civilar of Dock Ward, Mane Avarast. Inherited both his appetite for wine and dice and his rather outspoken, abrasive nature. Lively blue eyes, great mane of honey-blonde hair. Fair skin, rosy cheeks. Strong chin. She currently serves as a civilar (captain) of the Griffon Guard (Blue Wing). Rides the griffon named Damara.
Taeladar Raungrim (CG ½EM Ra4/B2) A half-elf of flashing eyes, prominent cheekbones, wide grin, and cheerful disposition. He is a talented singer of songs and maker of jests. His father, Olovren the "Old Owl," is a prominent and influential member of Twilight Hall in Berdusk. A member of the Swords of the Lucky Lady adventuring fellowship.
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Reldra Wyntersar [ Source: Forging The Realms: I Gloat In Your General Direction!, <dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/i-gloat-your-general-direction>. Name/Description given ]
Taalmuth Chaadren [ Source: Character Profile: Tsarra Chaadren, <ww2.wizards.com/books/mirrorstone/Article.aspx?doc=fr_blackstaffcp>. Name/Description given ]
Taeril Mallowbridge [ Source: A 01/12/09 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
Taeros Hawkwinter (NG HM [Tethyrian] B3) [ Source: City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel and "New Olamn Bard College," Elaine Cunningham, Dragon Magazine #335, p.28. Name/Description/Stats given ]
Talag Ilvastarr [ Source: "The Eye of the Dragon," Ed Greenwood, Realms of Magic. Name/Description given ]
Talantra Malalkin [ Source: A 12/25/05 posting to the Candlekeep.com message boards by Ed Greenwood. Name/Description given ]
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AJA YAFRP
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
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Posted - 17 Nov 2020 : 00:36:06
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Gnarro Horvenhavvan (LG GM Aris3/Illu4) Speaker (ambassador) for the Lord of Ulversdeeping (the gnomish suzerain of the Forgotten Folk settlements north of Secomber). An aged, scarred gnome of heavy dignity. Appears as weathered and knotted as the sturdy length of oak he uses to walk with. Often accompanied by the gnomish knight Haramus "Greatsword."
Gosttever Hornstaff (LN HM Aris8/P2 of Siamorphe) The Voice of the Divine Right, Herald of the Temple. Slender, wiry build. Keeps his fine, noticeably-receeding black hair coiffed in all the latest fashions. Has intense blue eyes often hooded by a brow knotted in concentration or annoyance. Was once a master duelist and honor-sword in the courts of Tethyr, before the Ten Black Days. "Royal Gost" and his rapier (a thin length of everbright enchanted steel) are well-known in both the villas and gambling parlors of the Upper Wards.
Gwendalrûne Sashenscaleer (CN[G] HF F4/B9) The Defiant Word, Mother Sashen. Senior-most Harper operative active in the city. Stocky, broad-shouldered. A fiery, passionate, charismatic speaker. Wears her graying hair pulled back into a loose bun. Lost one husband to the horrors of Myrkul's Legion, and another to the depths of the Undermountain (to which he was sentenced for Crimes Against the Lords). A common sight in the streets and courts and tankard houses of the city. Loudly agitates against the Lords, the noble houses, and most wealthy merchants. Famed for backing her incendiary words with fists or naked steel (especially when confronted by the armsmen of insulted lordlings). Accompanied by an ever-changing group of utterly loyal street urchins, novice bardlings, and Harper aspirants. Wears a gold ring on her right big toe which allows her to heal rapidly from even the most egregious wounds.
Haralastra A lithe, acrobatic, flamboyant social climber of the first order. A recent darling of Waterdhavian society due to the play "Lastra 'Neath The Waves," based on her fanciful travelogue of the same name (a purportedly true tale of her abduction during the Sea Invasion of 1369DR, and travel to the Drowned City of Ngurgogoth and accompanying cruel fish-folk and dashing, lusty mermen bravos and such). The highlight of the play is a rather ribald underwater interspecies bacchanalia, which only the finest festhalls and noble patrons can afford to do justice to via aerial acrobats and hired glimspinners.
Haramus "Greatsword" (LG GM F9) A famed knight in the service of the Lord of Ulversdeeping (the gnomish suzerain of the Forgotten Folk settlements north of Secomber). His nickname is used in jest in human lands (relating to his small stature), but it is quite an honorific epithet among the gnomes of the region. He now serves his lord from a distance, as an unofficial ambassador and "martial envoy" to Lord Piergeiron. Accompanied by his squires, the gnomes Willby (LN GM War1/T2) and Ghardo Greyrock (LG GM F3).
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Gnossos Valmar (NG GM T4) [ Source: "The Reports From Undermountain," Steven Schend, Dragon Magazine #227, p.15. Name/Description/Stats given ]
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