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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:02:43
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On Gwaeron Windstrom's church:
Feb 8, 2020
@jayeedgecliff
Master Greenwood, on behalf of the GM and player (apparently I’m amusing #128530;) I was wondering if we might delve a little into the psyche of one G Windstrom, Troll-troller extraordinaire. Namely that in our references (1e/2e era) he has no church, no clergy
But has been elevated to godhood for quite some time now. Is it just that, for some reason nobody’s yet bothered or does he actively discourage worship in some fashion.
The only non clergy in our party is pretty dead set on becoming a cleric of Himself, you see …
Thank you
@TheEdVerse
From the first, Gwaeron Windstrom had loyal worshippers among the rangers of the North, and a clergy, but they wandered the wilderlands and forests, praying to Windstrom for their spells at dusk, and used the temples and shrines of Mielikki as gathering places, working with clergy of Mielikki as firm, trusted friends and allies. The entire faith and ethos of Gwaeron is to be out in the wilds, not building temples or tarrying in them.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:03:20
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On Halaster dealing with an apprentice:
@JWRosss
How would Halaster feel about an apprentice he's been attempting to groom, refusing to go with him into Undermountain and train under him? I want to do the character justice.
@TheEdVerse
That would depend on Halaster’s sanity, his mood, his relationship with the particular apprentice, and how the apprentice refuses.
Everything from unleash-violence murderous to icy courtesy with quests imposed to shrugging acceptance and “We’ll go our separate ways, then, and Mystra watch over you.”
In general, I would play Halaster as someone who would say softly, “That’s one.” to the apprentice.
:}
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:03:52
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On Halaster's Imaskari heritage:
Feb 22, 2020
@FrankMcCormick
A few questions about Halaster, if it please you, Lord Greenwood. 1) Having lived thousands of years in "exile" longer than he did as a loyal son of the Imaskari Empire, how much, if at all, does Halaster/Hilather still consider himself Imaskari?
2) In the theoretically possible but almost vanishingly unlikely event someone of just the right knowledge were to observe him and his habits, especially his magical style, could they recognize his Imaskari heritage, or has he all evolved beyond that?
Does he mutter in Rashoum or hum Imaskari ditties when he's distracted or in deep concentration on a new spell? Are the runes he uses of a certain style? Are the fundamental principles of his magic conceptualized in terms unknown outside to any now living?
3) Is there anything about his spells or the "style" as it were of Undermountain, in particular, that could provide clues?
The fascination with portals isn't totally distinctive to the Imaskari, though it make sense when you actually know his background, but he doesn't, for instance, seem to go for purple decor.
Thank you for your lore and time.
@TheEdVerse
In his sane moments, Halaster considers himself unique (hence his adoption of a new name, moving away from “Hilather”) rather than seeing himself as an Imaskari survivor. As a creator of many, many spells over the years and an ongoing, energetic experimentor with magic, he has evolved far beyond Imaskari spellcasting styles of his day, though if an observer was somehow familiar with long-ago Imaskari spellcasting ways, they would see the way he employs verbal, somatic, and material components as consistent with powerful Imaskari casters.
Halaster swears under his breath to himself in Rashoum when shocked or taken aback. He never hums except, on very rare occasions, consciously, to try to reproduce pitches as part of incantations. The fundamental principles of his magic are those of all “arcane magic” callings on the Weave, and so are easily conceptualized by living spellcasters today, though the spell effects may in some cases be beyond their personal mastery. Nothing about Undermountain would say ‘Imaskari’ to anyone, and portal use was a fascination shared by many elder cultures in the Realms, not just human ones, and not just the Imaskari.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:04:19
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On Helm during the ToT:
@JaSlaugy
I have been following you on here...and I wanted to ask a question. During the Time of Troubles Helm was the only Deity to remain in the heavens. Was he then able to still answer the prayers of all his clergy and did that increase his followers?
@TheEdVerse
No, all deities lost the ability to communicate directly with their clergy and lay worshippers, although some managed by sheer force of will to send confused visions for all to see, that swirled briefly in the air above some of their altars (cryptic images whose meanings clergy debated). The Weave echoes prayers for spells of third level and lower (including orisons), so priests can regain those (though for parts of the Time of Troubles, many could not), but no one could regain divine magic spells of fourth level or higher during the Time of Troubles. It was a time of widespread chaos and fear, with avatars of the gods stalking the Realms in person and warring, and although many fearful mortals turned to any deity they hoped could help them and keep them safe, no god truly gained followers, as mortals in the Realms believe in, and worship, all of the gods (unless they’re clerics, paladins, or zealots), and worship most of them, even if only to ward off their displeasure, all the time.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:04:55
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On hin and racial terms:
Feb 26, 2020
@jayeedgecliff
If I may? I take it ‘hin’ is what halflings call themselves? What of other races, have they words distinctly different for themselves than we commonly call them? Have the half-races ever had a preferred term for themselves? Is there much variation by game era Netherese thru 5e?
@TheEdVerse
Yes, but all races in the Realms have a variety of localized names they call themselves; it's rarely race-wide, and most half-races don't have a collective self-term; different individuals prefer different words. And these are all different from the terms other races use for them (no dwarf calls dwarves 'the Stout Folk'). Little change over time.
Metagame: I coined "hin" for halflings when writing THE FIVE SHIRES, as inventing a short collective word let me include THREE PAGES MORE of text when pouring words into the template.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:05:32
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On an eladrin returning to the Feywild:
@R0seOfStone
I’ve got a Feywild-native eladrin PC who seeks to find a way home.What kind of ritual might he need to perform to open a doorway between Faerun&theFeywild to supersede...that Titania’s locked him out?Where might this ritual need to be performed?Thanks!
@TheEdVerse
In the aftermath of the Spellplague and the Second Sundering, the Feywild and the Prime Material Plane (Toril) are closely linked once more, and arcane magic is wild and plentiful and active in the former, and once more stable and reliable in the latter. Any surviving fey crossroad could be used for your eladrin’s ritual, unless its guardian is loyal to Titania and knows she wants him kept out. As Myth Drannor is cleared of rubble and rebuilt, access to its hundreds of crossroads is restored. Many baelnorn can personally open a way (temporary gate/portal) between the Feywild and Prime…if they want to. If the eladrin PC performs a service for them (like going and fetching something they want for what they guard, that they can’t go and get without abandoning their sworn guard duty), most of them would happily open a way for him.
Failing that, there are locales in the Realms, like certain chambers in Silverymoon and Evereska, and ruins such as Spellgard (formerly Saharelgard), where the Feywild and the Prime are very close, and rituals involving as few as three spells, of levels fifth and lower, might succeed in safely opening a stable, if short-lived, way to walk from the Prime to the Feywild. Your eladrin PC would have to find such a ritual, and beings willing to perform it, which will usually involve paying them. Other places in the Realms would require more powerful and expensive rituals. Some able to perform them would be unwilling to cross Titania; others would delight in doing so, and might even reduce their price to little or even nothing if they become convinced the eladrin PC would be a thorn in her side.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 00:06:03
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On Jalanthar:
Feb 14, 2020
@XMR1MaifV8J2gWR
Hi @TheEdVerse! Thanks for the Realms – I've spent a lot of time reading Candlekeep posts… it's magical. I have a couple of questions: 1) Who were the founders of Jalanthar? 2) How does Jalanthar look in your 'home' campaign "at present"?
@TheEdVerse
My home campaign is back in the mid-1300s, and no Time of Troubles has befallen (my players vote on major matters, and that’s their decision) so Jalanthar has only been raided by orcs, hobgoblins, and bugbears a handful oftimes, and lightly.
Jalanthar was wiped out once in the past (the last orc horde), and no one clearly remembers who first founded it before then, but from the first it was a human hamlet, of subsistence farming and ranching that built up around a way-inn, the first Crowing Cockatrice. Local folklore says it was founded by Murthburt Jalanth, the innkeeper of the Cockatrice.
The inn was sited where it was because human prospectors kept camping there as they sought mineral wealth in nearby tors and crags. That activity has always continued as Jalanthar was refounded and began to flourish. The secret of Jalanthar’s survival is that all Jalanthans (or “Jalant,” either is correct, and both in use) aid each other when attacked or hungry or in need of medical aid, and traveling druids, clerics, peddlers, and adventurers all like the inn. The hamlet has springs of good drinking water and many edible plants flourish locally. Over time, Jalant spent their winters expanding their homes, underground, lining their diggings with stone and constructing many back ways out and sharp tunnel bends they could defend.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:08:17
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On laws concerning magic in Neverwinter:
@davespring
Dear @TheEdVerse, my DM (and I) are having trouble finding out what kind of criminal code Baldur's Gate has. I used the Code Legal for crimes my players committed in Neverwinter, but my DM is looking for what kind of laws surround magic in the Gate. Anything specific there?
@TheEdVerse
The legal system of Neverwinter in the 1490s DR is officially very close to the Code Legal, but in daily practise the Lord Protector (Dagult Neverember) sits in judgment on any case involving potential sentences above minor fines, and anything that may be part of a perceived (by him) threat to the rule of Neverwinter (his rule). So his decrees really form the active legal system of the city, and after the deeds of the Cloaked Ascendancy, wizards operating in the city must report to Lord Neverember and inform him fully of their activities (spell experimentation and castings for fees in particular, plus how they earn a living, any major debts or that others owe to them, and planned or ongoing investments. Dagult tries to keep this pleasant and collegial (holding private one-on-one dinners at which he’ll be heavily protected by magic items, but act the gracious host), but it’s VERY clear that wizards operating independently should work magic or engage in politics within the city walls without Neverember’s permission, or they’ll be exiled at best, and meet with unfortunately fatal ‘accidents’ (at the hands of adventurers hired by the Lord Protector through intermediaries, to give him plausible deniability) at worst. Local Ashmadai keep sponsoring such mages, to test and occupy Neverember, and his patience is growing short.
#Realmslore
@davespring
So, he's probably not going to take kindly to a barony growing out of Phandalin being supplied heavily from Neverwinter Wood and an iron mine in the Sword Mountains either...
As always, thank you immensely for humouring us.
@TheEdVerse
Er, no. Not unless it's given to him to rule. ;}
And you're very welcome!
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:09:03
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On magically linked journals:
Feb 29, 2020
@MissMartinsen
Great Graybeard, your advice, I beg.
If one desired to create a pair of journals, with which to exchange messages across the same Plane, would this be possible? And how would one go about creating such devices, akin to sending stones?
@TheEdVerse
This seems to be a magic the gods frown upon, or that works not well with the Weave; although in theory it should be fairly straightforward, attempts repeatedly fail, or the paired journals work only briefly ere ceasing to function or even crumbling away.
In the same way that a spellbook should be created of the finest (specific) materials, enchanted with purifying and preservation magics at every turn (see VOLO’S GUIDE TO ALL THINGS MAGICAL for some successful preparation processes), the journals must be prepared—and both of them must be prepared in EXACTLY the same way (some practitioners have even created one book, then split it into two, and enspelled it with the linking magics after doing so). One key to the magic working seems to be the enchanter using some of their own blood, or tears, or spittle on both books in one unbroken application (that is, the books being together andthe material introduced to both of them in a single, uninterrupted motion).
As with sending stones, if one of the journals is destroyed, the magic is destroyed too. If one journal is damaged (a page torn out, for instance), the same damage occurs to the other.
The monks of Candlekeep refused a gift of linked trading coster registers in the early 1300s DR for fear the magic would introduce a “way in” through the wards of Candlekeep.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:10:19
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On Mystra choosing her Chosen:
Feb 28, 2020
@LysbethRaven
Great wise one, a question if I might ask. When Mystra chooses someone as her chosen, what criteria, test, or quests does she use to prove someone's worth?
@TheEdVerse
"Worth" to Mystra is loyalty to her and to her aims (spreading magic to all who won't use it to keep magic from others), durability (the ability to withstand the horrible stresses of prolonged Weave-work, that have worn out several Chosen in the past), the Gift (that is, the ability to wield the Art = arcane magic), and incorruptibility (the ability to wield such power without succumbing to the temptation to misuse it, which was Sammaster's downfall and bars Manshoon from becoming a Chosen).
The Weave is a mighty and magnificent thing, but it's also incredibly powerful, and that sheer power is beyond some mortals to wield with any precision and without being mentally overwhelmed. So 'tough cookies' who can remain true to Mystra and themselves are what's needed. Mystra doesn't send individuals on formal quests when she needs new Chosen, and rarely needs or wants new Chosen (and so few measure up; that's why she took a direct hand, to put it delicately, in birthing the Seven), but she does covertly test her Chosen to make sure they aren't succumbing to temptation (in my novel THE TEMPTATION OF ELMINSTER, the temptation referred to is power, and the lure of using it to "fix" the world or do as the wielder pleases, when it should most often NOT be used).
#Realmslore
@LysbethRaven
So then, she would be heavily reluctant to elevate a candidate to replace the chosen she has already lost? Such as a candidate to replace Qilué Veladorn?
@TheEdVerse
It depends on whether or not she sees a need. Qilué, Syluné, and Dove are all still around, remember, as Voices in the Weave, serving Mystra. They can 'possess' bodies if need be, though there's a moral cost to this.
And Mystra is one of the few deities to think she herself incurs a moral cost by making a mortal into a Chosen, knowing what she's doing to them.
It doesn't mean she won't. It means she won't create a new Chosen lightly.
So, if in your campaign, Mystra feels she needs a new Chosen...
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:10:59
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On noble families in 1480s Neverwinter:
Feb 25, 2020
@ZeromaruX
Hi, @TheEdVerse how you been? Hope you're doing well.
I have a Neverwinter question: besides the Tschavarz (that are mentioned in the Cold Steel and Secrets novella) and the Neverembers, which other noble families live in Neverwinter around 1480 DR?
Did the Babrises (from the Drizzt Neverwinter novels) survive the destruction of the city?
I hope you can help me with this one!
@TheEdVerse
Yes, all of the Babrises survived what befell Neverwinter.
As of 1480 DR, no* noble families make their collective homes, or bases, in Neverwinter, but there are more than a dozen individual nobles (including some from Waterdhavian families) resident in the city. They keep low profiles, not ostentatiously spending or riding about in coaches with servants as outriders or hosting large public revels, and not even using their titles in public, for fear that Dagult Neverember will decide Neverwinter isn’t big enough to hold nobles aside from himself (potential rivals). In other words, these dozen-some nobles don’t publicly dip so much as a finger in matters political.
They include Eltarr Roaringhorn (of the Waterdeep AND Suzail Roaringhorns), Belthrond Thione (of the Tethyrian Thiones, or so he claims; some doubt his lineage), and of longtime families of Neverwinter considered noble: Ammacastur Thaland, Melarra Yysabroe (a widow) and her teenaged daughters Immeira and Daunchalace, and the patrician, dabbler-in-investments (and quite possibly as tough and devious a man as Neverember) Teladror Melvaeraghost.
* = not counting Neverember and the Tschavarz, as you said.
#Realmslore
@ZeromaruX
Thanks a lot. So, mostly Waterdhavian families. Are there any Neveren families from the time Neverwinter was a kingdom? Or is this NDA'd? (Sorry, my mind was in Spanish).
@TheEdVerse
Oh, yes, there are Neveren noble family INDIVIDUALS living low-profile in the city, but the main family mansions (with lots of family in residence) are elsewhere.
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Wooly Rupert
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36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:11:31
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On photography in the Realms:
Feb 22, 2020
@halfwhitebigode
are there some way do take some kind of photography in the realms? Like a gnomish invention, or a permanent illusion maybe even like the Moving pictures from the Harry Potter World.
@TheEdVerse
Quite a few practitioners in the Realms (such as senior War Wizards acting as spies) have seen the need for “capturing” images, both animated (short movies) and static images, and have developed their own variants of the Project Image spell and lesser cantrips and spells involving illusions, to be able to display the equivalent of a photograph or gif projected on a wall, table, floor, or even in midair, like a holograph. These spells tend to be carefully-guarded secrets, as those who wield them can make a good and fairly steady living casting them (income that would be endangered if they widely taught or sold scrolls of the spells). As a result, none of them is yet widely known (and on published spell lists).
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:12:03
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On pistols:
Feb 22, 2020
@TimeBust
Could the pistols used by members of Bregan D'aerthe in Dragon Heist accurately be called starwheel pistols (as in 1990's Forgotten Realms Adventures) of Lantanna make, or are they another model inspired by the starwheel? Do they have a name beyond "Lantanese pistol"?
@TheEdVerse
Neither. We would call them doglocks (primitive flintlocks), and in Lantan they are known as “hurlshots” (or “crackspits” for the sound they make). The Lantanna make better pistols, but don’t sell them to outlanders. |
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Wooly Rupert
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36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:12:24
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On Port Kir:
Feb 9, 2020
@TommyHanusa
Hey is anything happening in Port Kir(akaSeacity)in Firedrake Bay,Tethyr? I'm not sure there has been any mention of it since 2e (1390 DR). Has anything been suggested or is it a place ready for a little adventure?
@TheEdVerse
Port Kir’s star lobster fishery fell on hard times in the 1440s DR (almost certainly due to overfishing), but resourceful locals turned to the mounds of long-discarded lobster shells along the docks and started grinding them up in combination with clay and rotted herbs and grasses to make fertilizer that was sold in bulk throughout Tethyr (lobster shells have a certain reek, but their chitin holds moisture and deters insects, and they impart calcium and magnesium (calcium helps plants develop cell walls and inhibits blossom end rot and other vegetable afflictions and diseases).
So Port Kir, thanks to the smell, is little favoured as a stop for visitors, but its folk make a good living, and locals are used to the everpresent stench. This reek keeps it off the rolls of places to visit and explore, so fugitives from various feuds and justice in other places have gravitated to Port Kir as they do to the Border Kingdoms. Which means some surprising individuals can be found living quietly under assumed names in Port Kir. Some of them are extremely wealthy, and put their coins to use sponsoring adventurers, shipbuilding (so Port Kir now has a bustling shipyard, turning out new cogs and caravels for shipping and for pirate clientele desiring fast new ships; in return, pirates never raid Port Kir), and city properties (rental and building anew) in Saradush and Darromar.
Port Kir still looks like a small, modest backwater (except for the bustling shipyard and the obvious digging away at the hills of lobster shells), but many of its simple homes hide extensive traps, defensive inner rooms, and stone-lined cellars with escape tunnels to other homes and to warehouses.
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Wooly Rupert
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36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:13:19
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On posing as a member of a Mirabarran merchant house:
Feb 14, 2020
@TimeBust
Hi, for a campaign in 1360's Luskan, one of the player characters is a dwarf who I suggested should masquerade as a member of one of the local Mirabarran merchant houses. What are these houses like (they're only namedropped AFAIK) and could she get away w/ doing this?
@TheEdVerse
It’s impossible for her to pose as a member of a Mirabarran merchant house IN Mirabar, as everyone’s on the lookout for spies (in the pay of the Zhents, Luskan, or Hellgate Keep), but in the Mirabar District of Luskan, she might get away (for a short time) with posing as a hireling of a Mirabarran trade company (such as the Anvilfist Banner, Belgor’s Cofferwatch, the Golden Hand, the Red Forge, Sargur’s Hoard, or Thalorin’s Manymetals).
Much will depend on three factors: her behavior, how much tumult is going on (i.e. losses in the alleys of Luskan among trading company personnel, so she could convincingly have been hired on in desperation), and her clan (i.e. her dwarven heritage). If she’s from afar, NOT Mirabar, it might work. Otherwise, she couldn’t “masquerade” as a merchant house member: she’d either really be one, of long standing, or she’d be an obvious liar.
And if she’s judged to be false, most will consider her a spy for someone who should at best be eliminated at the earliest convenient opportunity, unless she can be fed false information for some short-term benefit.
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Wooly Rupert
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36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:13:59
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On post-Sundering Calimshan:
Feb 14, 2020
@SteveReasonable
Quick Calimshan question: what's the status of the war between the air and fire genesai post-Second Sundering? Have they signed some sort of cease-fire (or cease-air, as it were)?
@TheEdVerse
Genies are far rarer in Calimshan today than they once were, and so are genasi. Humans broke the power of genasi warlords in the mid-1400s DR and regained their freedom (so today, Calimshan isn’t ruled by genies or genasi), and the war (so far as mortals in Faerûn are concerned) has faded away. Which doesn’t mean that skirmishes between particular air and fire genasi (who share not just a genie blood heritage, but volatile moods and temperaments) don’t flare up often. Calimshan’s great wealth and earning power, combined with the strivings of now-free humans, have brought a new golden age to this oldest of Faerûnian human realms in the later 1400s DR.
For Calishite-set Realmsplay in the current era, see M.T. Black’s CALIMSHAN ADVENTURER’S GUIDE, available at the DM’s Guild.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:14:31
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On post-Sundering Lantan:
@zdbarnett
In the next few weeks, my players will be heading to Anchoril in Lantan. I have been able to find very little about the Lantanna online (because those followers of Gond are so insular!)
Can you offer any information about what might be found on Lantan? Thank you!
@TheEdVerse
Lantan was left in physical chaos by the Spellplague, but Lantanese humans and gnomes both survived the devastation, a few in lifeboats of their own prior devising (enclosed rafts with foodstores, gardens, drinking water, and solar-powered ovens, heat-sinks, and water-purifiers) and more because they were away from the islands on matters of trade and resource procurement.
When what was left of Lantan reappeared in Toril in 1487 DR, as the Second Sundering drew to a close, these survivors were ready to repopulate and rebuild. And they devoted themselves with vigor and determination to restoring the islands to the way they’d been before the floods—only better (with breakwaters and floodwalls, better harbors, and optimized soils, and the submerged island rebuilt and raised above the waves.)
Orlil will take time to recover wholly, though it’s been cleansed of sea-salt much faster than the natural cycle of precipitation and storms would function, but lush jungles have already returned to the rest of Lantan, Suj is one island once more, and Lantan is now a gnome-dominated (with a scattering of humans), Gond-worshipping land of small, simple homes that make use of “green” (growing roofs, solar power, and many gadgets; Lantanese kitchens are as filled with gadgets like our modern real-world kitchens) tech, and larger, busy workshops and warehouses (for raw materials in, many of them now coming by ship from Laerakond, and finished products out; the Lantanese are selling everything from doglock pistols to improved lanterns and handcarts to mainland Faerûn, not to mention clever shipping and storage coffers large and small, with the accent being on useful, well-made, lasting goods that will brighten Lantan’s reputation for reliability and worth-the-coin).
Lantanese don’t speak in any detail of conditions on Lantan, or its rebuilding, to outsiders, saying simply that they have had “much rebuilding to do after great storms and floods, and the work continues.” If pressed, they will say such things as “We live very much as before” and “Gond provides enlightenment and we provide the labor” and “The jungles flourish, as they have for thousands of years.”
Aside from small footprint, well-built homes and gadgets therein, a major focus of Lantanese innovation has been improved pumps and piping, for moving liquids in bulk from place to place. The former ‘race’ to improve flying machines to be ever larger, more stable, more easily navigable, and with backup systems to keep them operable aloft when damaged is more or less on hold for now, as the Lantanese rebuild Lantan.
The priests of Gond govern Lantan, individual Lantanese decide what they will personally work on (criminals and those in debt doing the undesirable ‘drudge’ jobs), and barter has largely replaced coin for internal commerce in Lantan. Lantanese have the printing press, they have automated stamping mills and molding assembly lines, and they’re perfecting braising and welding, and devising new alloys.
Lantanese don’t have to contend with monsters on Lantan; there are none (and they don’t import live beasts for food or or sport or menageries; there are no horses or oxen, there’s people-power, augmented by pulleys and the like). They are suspicious of visitors “stealing their secrets,” and obvious outlanders will be prevented from closely inspecting fabricating or alloy-making or experiments and prototypes, and steered instead to artisans creating paintings, sculptures, and windows (the Lantanese don’t mind at all if everyone sees how they make glass windows with crank-open casements, and screens), or to warehouses where goods about to be shipped to mainland Faerûn are being packaged for shipment, so samples of those goods can be inspected (perhaps the outlanders would like to order something?).
The “old” settlements of Lantan, with the same names, have been refounded, but better roads and bridges constructed; the Lantanna/Lantanese are trying to live more lightly on the land, so there are far fewer cleared and cobbled (“paved”) areas, though the realm has concrete, reinforced and otherwise, and even some crude plastics. (Gnome families of Lantan keep the recipes for such things as closely-guarded secrets, even from other Lantanese, though the priests will pay compensation for revealing crucial weaknesses, properties, or dangers of specific materials to wider Lantan—and order such revelations.)
Some of the foremost gnome families of Lantan—and these families have been encouraged to settle all over Lantan, not concentrate in specific settlements, so as to minimize place-based rivalries in Lantanese society—include the Blaestones, the Caeleths, the Dwontors, the Eleglym, the Fornyl, the Handars, the Klavnors, the Muryndars, the Ninestones, the Paunthorls, the Redjynd, the Sabeirynds, the Torroasks, and the Velvaunters.
#Realmslore
@gkrashos
Hi Ed. Were there any remnants of Abeir left on the island, friendly and/or unfriendly, that the returnees needed to deal with/interact with?
@TheEdVerse
Nothing bar mud and wrack; the islands were sea-flooded.
UNLESS something Abeiran was washed into deep crevices in the rock, or caverns, and remained there. It would not, however, have gone undiscovered by the Lantanna, who are nothing if not thorough.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:15:00
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On post-Sundering Mulhorand:
Feb 17, 2020
@Artie_Pavlov
Question @TheEdVerse , looks like Mulhorand is back after spellplague in 5e. Does that mean the country is no longer destroyed? Did the inhabitants come back to life? Did just the land became uncorrupted? Are the cities back restored and are just empty now?
@TheEdVerse
As related in the (4e) Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, Mulhorand (which had conquered Unther six years earlier) was destroyed in the Spellplague: the landscape torn and much altered, the cities ruined in the process, and many of the Mulhorandi killed or transported to Abeir. Hungry monsters roamed shattered Mulhorand, devouring humans, so the few survivors fled (mainly to Chessenta).
The Deep Imaskari wizard Ususi Manaallin promptly founded High Imaskar in what had been Mulhorand, resettling it with the folk of Deep Imaskar.
But as the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide tells us, at the Second Sundering, when the gods of Faerûn selected Chosen to enact their wills, several mortal descendants of the Mulhorandi gods were possessed by their divine ancestors to wage war against the Imaskari. With the help of Nezram the World-Walker, they defeated the Imaskari and drove them east into the Plains of Purple Dust—and then began the long process of rebuilding Mulhorand.
So in the decade since the Imaskari were driven into the desert, the Mulhorandi have tilled the land and struggled to restore its irrigation, replant its orchards, and rebuild its roads and bridges.
Very few new buildings have been erected, though many of the Imaskari villas have been repaired and new walls (mainly to keep in sheep and goats) built around them.
There’s almost no central government, with priests relaying guidance from the gods after praying for visions at altars, and hired adventurers and armed Mulhorandi keeping the peace in between working the land and fighting off marauding monsters and Imaskari raids from the desert.
The cities still lie in ruins (some inhabited by a hardy few, though opportunistic monsters also dwell there) and tales of buried treasure under the fallen buildings are many—but most folk are too busy staying alive to indulge. Treasure-seekers coming east from Chessenta are increasingly resented, unless they pay local inhabitants with oxen or edible beasts or tools and weapons and food.
In short, Mulhorand is a land ripe for adventuring.
#Realmslore
@Artie_Pavlov
This is great, thank you. What about the gods and the avatars that ruled the country? Gone? Or back in 5e?
@TheEdVerse
The Mulhorandi pantheon of gods has returned, but are distant (that is, no avatars striding around, no direct rule, but answering priests with above-altar visions). Their pride seems have taken a collective beating.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:15:31
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On pre-Tearfall humans:
Feb 18, 2020
@vengeful_jarl
So I am researching for a different type of FR game. I'm considering running a game set during the days if thunder. No time travel just Conan type adventures just as humanity is starting out.
I'll be using it to also test out some of my own stuff for 5e, blood magic, rites (similar to 4th Ed rituals), etc that might appear on dmsguild in the future. My question is about how long would humanity be around close to the tear fall that saw dragons come to Toril?
@TheEdVerse
Humans existed on Toril before any recorded history, so they were around before the Tearfall, though they seem to have been a keep-to-the-forests race far overshadowed in might, technology, and social level by the elves, the batrachi, the giants, then the dragons, and so on. So no one knows how long, but a long time, even then. Conanesque savagery seems right for many humans of the time.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:16:29
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On priests of Myrkul:
@TLMayesing
Thank you very much for your time and information sir. As a follow up, and you tell me anything about the followers of Myrkul and how they operate?
@TheEdVerse
The Gray Ones (or disparagingly, “the Fingerbones”) are back, like the deity they serve, though so far they are as rare as they were before Myrkul was first supplanted as Lord of Death: black-robed priests who bear scythes and wear skull half-masks or helms (their robes are always cowled and ankle-length, tied at the waist with a white sash or cord, and in public they often wear full armor beneath them—whereas in temples, they may bare their faces and go barefoot).
Although they spread fear of death, they are dedicated to the care of the dying and deceased. They tend folk on deathbeds to make them as comfortable as possible, will communicate their wishes to others, and (in return for a “skull fee”) act as an agent for a dead person after death, carrying out provisions of a will and doing deeds the deceased couldn’t complete in life (even when these involve adventuring, long journeys, expense or danger).
They travel the Realms to do this, offering burial and funeral services (for modest fees) to the bereaved of the recently-deceased. When assisting the dying, they nurse them, putting comfort and freedom from pain first, and treatment to prevent death a close second, but reassuring the dying and their loved ones that death is a natural inevitable, and desirable transition from life to the arms of the gods, and other existence, beyond.
Myrkulyte priests preside over funerals, serve as undertakers (preparing bodies for burial), and tend all-faith cemeteries across the Realms (as burial-ground caretakers). They hunt down and take vengeance on anyone who vandalizes a cemetery, so such descecrations are very rare.
As before, the Lord of Bones charges his clergy to spread two views of themselves among other mortals: that they are holy servants of utter patience and trustworthiness, and that touching a priest of Myrkul will bring certain death. (This isn’t literally true, but there are a handful of Doombringers once more, whose actions spread real fear; they are champions of Myrkul who travel the Realms slaying those who mock Myrkul or do violence to Myrkul’s priests.)
Priests of Myrkul are experts about matters of undeath, and often animate skeletons as bearers, aides, and temple guardians. They have very few temples, as before, and most of these are reoccupied former temples: crematoriums or mausoleums above dungeon-like subterranean catacombs (burial tunnels and chambers) that are generously supplied with stone statues (of dead and decaying humans), gargoyles, and roaming undead.
Kelemvor remains the Lord of the Dead; Myrkul is the Lord of Death, and Undeath, and his priests concern themselves with dying, death, and undeath.
#Realmslore
@TLMayesing
If Myrkul is the lord of death, than is Bhaal confined to the act of murder and assassination?
@TheEdVerse
Yes, you have that exactly right. The acts and their planning.
#Realmslore
@Greysil_Tassyr
I'm not understanding something... They take care of the dying, ease the transition, assure loved ones that death is nature -- and go out of their way to make people fear death.
These things seem to be at cross-purposes.
@TheEdVerse
They are. The Church of Myrkul has been ever thus. He wants his clergy not to be attacked and exterminated (he has few enough, as it is), so he wants people to fear what can happen if you attack a priest of Myrkul, and fear HIM. Fear=respect. But if they were just seen as deathbringers, and not useful or comforting or helpful in some way, they would be attacked on sight. So they have a practical role.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:16:53
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On scramble-squirrels:
Feb 29, 2020
@jvcparry
What's a scramble-squirrel?
@TheEdVerse
A scramble-squirrel is a small, furry rodent that scurries and scrambles about in small packs or family groups of a dozen or a dozen-and-a-half strong; in behavior, curiosity, boldness, and persistence it’s akin to a real-world red squirrel. However, unlike real-world and Torilian squirrels, scramble-squirrels don’t “chitter” (scold) or make any loud noises unless shrieking in pain, and have hairless, prehensile tails that resemble rat-tails more than the bushy tails of squirrels. Known as ruloan to the elves, they are thieves and opportunists who love to snatch food, and are quite capable of luring humans and other sentients with a feinted theft while the real thieving goes on elsewhere, or distracting sentients with carried coins, gems, and other ‘gleaming things.’
They have very sharp seven-toed claws and a great sense of balance, and typically race along high tree branches and leap from one to another, sometimes to other trees, not minding if they land head-downwards or even clutching the undersides of branches. They tend to be plump, have large compound eyes like flies that can see in many directions and at many angles at once, and so have superb depth perception, and very seldom “miss” their landings, or not notice precisely what prey or some creature that’s after them or fellow family members are doing, or located (which is how they can work so well together as a hunting team).
Scramble-squirrels are prey for many things, and throughout the 1300s and 1400s DR have been growing less and less common across the woodlands of Faerûn. They are edible, and quite tasty roasted over an open fire, as they eat berries and green growing shoots and nuts and leaves when not able to pilfer meat, cheese, and bread from sentient wayfarers.
It’s not unusual in a wooded area, or farmland/ranchland with woodlots and hedge-lines of trees, to look out of a window and see a scramble-squirrel clinging to a precarious perch looking in at you (likely seeing if there’s a way in, and any food to be easily had, by the ‘snatch and race away again’ method).
Rathan of the Knights of Myth Drannor once described them as “Infuriatingly persistent little furballs,” but is known to have evened the odds on one occasion with an accurately-hurled mace, that stunned four scramble-squirrels and knocked them off a tree-limb; he promptly pounced, wrung their necks, and popped them in a stewpot. When he and Torm were eating the results, they had to guard their meal against other scramble-squirrels, who seemed eager to eat their boiled and seasoned fellows.
There’s just one known instance of scramble-squirrels being found in a city: the halfling thief Baerandle Borthcrown had a small family of trained scramblers he worked with, in Athkatla in the 1340s to 1380s DR; they stole small, valuable items like gems and jewelry via open upper windows for him, and he fed them well as a reward.
Oh, and they do make huffing and hissing noises, and snorts (but not loudly).
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:17:18
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On Shaundakul's following:
Feb 9, 2020
@Jon_4L
What ever happened to Shaundakul's following?
@TheEdVerse
Alive, well, and flourishing, last time I looked.
The deity stepped through a portal and went worldwalking during the onset of the Spellplague, to avoid the worst of its ravages, and find and gather scattered sentients of Toril and lead them back to the world as the spell-chaos subsided. Then Shaundakul appeared frequently, all over Faerûn, in various mortal guises, to guide lost travelers to safety, revealing his true nature only to his clergy and the most devoted of his lay worshippers.
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:17:41
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On surnames:
@Glasstastrophy
On Faerun, what is the custom concerning married couples' surnames? Does the wife take the husband's? Does the husband take the wife's? Do they keep their own? What about children? Whose surname do they take?
@TheEdVerse
Most ‘just plain folk’ in the Realms don’t have surnames. They have honorifics (“Garth the Baker” or “Garth the Sly” when a community has more than two Garths; if they have two, they’ll likely be “Garth The Old” and “Garth The Younger”).
Unless they have clan names. Or are noble or royal, where inheritance is VERY important.
And even then, the answer is: it will vary. A lower-ranking noble, or a commoner, marrying into nobility or royalty will adopt the higher-rank surname. A widow or widower trying to hold onto a farm or other property of a deceased spouse will take their surname, even if they didn’t use it when the spouse was alive.
Most marrying couples decide among themselves if they will take a spouse’s surname (if they have one) or keep their own. They may legally adopt a spouse’s surname, but continue to use their own when working (in their own shop, or in a time or place when their spouse’s name is unpopular/has a bad reputation). Children usually decide for themselves when coming of age/striking out on their own/starting their first job; until then, they’re usually “Garth of the end cottage” or “Garth son of Mul and Drace” or “Garth son of Redhair.”
Which is a very long way of saying: except among particular families, in particular places and times, there is no one custom. There are a lot of customs.
A dwarf may be proud of her heritage and call herself “Ardra ‘Redhands’ Durth, of the South Forge Durths, of Clan Battlehammer” or she may not be proud of her heritage, and travel and adventure as just Ardra Redhands, using only the honorific she personally earned.
A young noble, sent out into the world expecting never to inherit, may decide to hide their lineage for personal safety, and adopt a surname that married into the family generations back (or that of their favourite married-in aunt or uncle) so that instead of being known as Aldus Roaringhorn, they may call themselves Aldus Crownar, because an Amnian merchant from Crimmor settled in Elversult and after four generations “from Crimmor” got corrupted into “Crownar,” and a Crownar married a Roaringhorn and was the favourite aunt of Aldus.
In the case of PCs, I’d have the players roleplay the deciding on surnames. For NPCs, you the DM should think on the above and then decide; many folk in the Realms dismiss custom and decide for themselves, even inventing new surnames or adopting those of others they admire. (If your surname happens to be “Ugtusk,” you might prefer to be “Tusksword” or “Tusklance” instead.)
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Wooly Rupert
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36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:17:42
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On surnames:
@Glasstastrophy
On Faerun, what is the custom concerning married couples' surnames? Does the wife take the husband's? Does the husband take the wife's? Do they keep their own? What about children? Whose surname do they take?
@TheEdVerse
Most ‘just plain folk’ in the Realms don’t have surnames. They have honorifics (“Garth the Baker” or “Garth the Sly” when a community has more than two Garths; if they have two, they’ll likely be “Garth The Old” and “Garth The Younger”).
Unless they have clan names. Or are noble or royal, where inheritance is VERY important.
And even then, the answer is: it will vary. A lower-ranking noble, or a commoner, marrying into nobility or royalty will adopt the higher-rank surname. A widow or widower trying to hold onto a farm or other property of a deceased spouse will take their surname, even if they didn’t use it when the spouse was alive.
Most marrying couples decide among themselves if they will take a spouse’s surname (if they have one) or keep their own. They may legally adopt a spouse’s surname, but continue to use their own when working (in their own shop, or in a time or place when their spouse’s name is unpopular/has a bad reputation). Children usually decide for themselves when coming of age/striking out on their own/starting their first job; until then, they’re usually “Garth of the end cottage” or “Garth son of Mul and Drace” or “Garth son of Redhair.”
Which is a very long way of saying: except among particular families, in particular places and times, there is no one custom. There are a lot of customs.
A dwarf may be proud of her heritage and call herself “Ardra ‘Redhands’ Durth, of the South Forge Durths, of Clan Battlehammer” or she may not be proud of her heritage, and travel and adventure as just Ardra Redhands, using only the honorific she personally earned.
A young noble, sent out into the world expecting never to inherit, may decide to hide their lineage for personal safety, and adopt a surname that married into the family generations back (or that of their favourite married-in aunt or uncle) so that instead of being known as Aldus Roaringhorn, they may call themselves Aldus Crownar, because an Amnian merchant from Crimmor settled in Elversult and after four generations “from Crimmor” got corrupted into “Crownar,” and a Crownar married a Roaringhorn and was the favourite aunt of Aldus.
In the case of PCs, I’d have the players roleplay the deciding on surnames. For NPCs, you the DM should think on the above and then decide; many folk in the Realms dismiss custom and decide for themselves, even inventing new surnames or adopting those of others they admire. (If your surname happens to be “Ugtusk,” you might prefer to be “Tusksword” or “Tusklance” instead.)
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:18:17
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On temples providing body changes:
Feb 9, 2020
@icequeenerika
How is what we would consider the medical component of gender transitioning (hormones, genitals, secondary sex characteristics) accomplished in the Realms? I’ve thought it might be done from the gods, as they intervene in the health of their faithful and their wellbeing.
@TheEdVerse
Oh, yes. The gods respond to prayers at inner temple altars from priests for body transformations (including lesser things like “remove my excess weight” or “change my hair color” or even “I’ll pay you a LOT to change my appearance completely so I can escape a deadly fate at the hands of my foes”) in return for sufficient offerings (and for most faiths, it would be a sliding scale of offerings depending on how devout the worshipper has been, or what services they’ve provided for the temple in the past).
Folk in the Realms look to the gods for such aid (it would be a desperate or foolish person who turned first to a wizard, warlock, or hag, unless they just wanted a body-cloaking illusion, and not a physical transformation).
#Realmslore
@jayeedgecliff
Follow up?
Are some gods more sought for such than others? Healing seems to be the open purview of all divines, but would something like this possibly be more up the sleeves of Lliira (freedom from feeling trapped, maybe … it’s rather apt, tbh) or Sune (does other alterations)
Or at least some who are avoided? Like someone *might* be nervous asking for transformation magic from Selûne...
@TheEdVerse
(Also replying to @cali_keftiu as you're asking about the same thing)...
Yes, Lliira and Sune are favored choices, and deities like Bane, Malar, Shar, and Selûne are not, but first and foremost comes the relationship (closeness) of the individual person with a god.
#Realmslore
@cali_keftiu
Wait, why is Selune a poor choice? I would've assumed the shifting faces of the moon would make an easy in there, but she's admittedly a weak point in my lore knowhow.
@TheEdVerse
Seen as everchanging, transitory, unreliable (to some, fickle). Unless you WANT to shapeshift constantly. In other words, transition again and again, often. (More than most bodies, and certainly psyches, can take.)
#Realmslore
@icequeenerika
Thank you Ed! As a trans woman I’ve been wondering about this for YEARS in the Realms.
@TheEdVerse
Temples do a lot of service-related things in the Realms. Here's a far more mundane one: they act as a mail and parcel delivery system (small package/letter given to sender's local temple or traveling priest with an offering, and taken to the next temple, then a priest on church business traveling to the next temple takes it to that temple, and so on, temple-hopping, until a "last" temple priest delivers to the recipient, all for the cost of that initial offering). Temple earns a little coin, and a lot of good will.
#Realmslore
@oldbastard
Interesting. Being a 2e grognard, I'd put all my coins in a wizard, as polymorph or shapechange with permanency seems the logical choice. Are we talking Miracles?
@TheEdVerse
"Miracles" are major, not personal, and this is one of the real-world-sensitive terms TSR wanted avoided in print. Though in game rule terms I agree with you (wizards over priests in effectiveness), most 'just plain folk' in the Realms fear wizards and think they can't afford their services, whereas everyone believes in all the gods, and temples, shrines, and traveling clergy are nigh-everpresent "establishment institutions" they tend to trust AND know where to find. WE use metagame knowledge; Realms folk lack it.
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:18:45
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On terms for trans individuals:
@cali_keftiu
Found an old Candlekeep post with some queer terminology in the Realms from your table, and wanted to ask; is there a particular term for trans individuals? There’s a few for various orientations and one for crossdressers...
@TheEdVerse
Transitioning individuals are referred to as ‘poised’ in the later 1400s DR, along the Sword Coast and Heartlands trade routes to Sembia and Chessenta, though others may never have heard the term.
Beings who’ve settled into a gender other than their birth gender (or finished transitioning) sometimes call themselves “sildur” (from an Elven word for ‘at rest after changing,’ originally used for animals, insects, and that have reached maturity after passing through life-cycle transformations. So far as I know, there are no pejorative terms in the Realms beyond “ul-faced” (the equivalent of our real-world “two-faced”), and that is used almost exclusively to refer to individuals whose loyalties, friendship, or attitude shifts markedly from moment to moment or audience to audience, though those wanting models or actors of a particular appearance have taken to using it to speak of individuals whose appearance suddenly changes (and in some cases, a gender shift would be the major reason for this).
#Realmslore
@Final_Dorkness
Heh. I always assumed that people born with the unmatching body just hired transmuters to change them into fitting ones so having common names for them was pointless.
What about places where magic is more common? Like Thay or Halruaa?
How would the Wychlaran act if one of the Rashemi asked for help?
@TheEdVerse
Like any other interaction, that depends on the situation and the relationships between the individuals involved. In places where many folk work magic, like Thay and Halruaa, access to magical means is increased, but spellcasting still has value/price; it's currency within the local society. You may want a certain magic worked, but not want to deal with a particular spellcaster, or end up in debt to a particular family. During the casting, you are making yourself vulnerable to someone else, unless casting on yourself, and you may not want to do that (there's no one you trust sufficiently, and even if the caster is you, you may worry about the effects on your own body). The point is that our gameplay and writings may convey the impression that using magic is everyday and casual, with easy access, and it almost never is, on the ground, in the Realms, for most individuals. It's always something to be thought over, and its price versus benefits versus pitfalls and perils weighed.
Or to put it another way, even among wizards in Halruaa and Thay, someone who says, "I fireball it, whatever it is! I ALWAYS fireball things!" and means it, is going to be treated warily.
Treating magic lightly is ALWAYS playing with fire.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:19:15
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On the children of Inselm Hhune and Lucia Thione:
Feb 4, 2020
@TommyHanusa
Wait hold up, did the Duke of Kamlann (Tethyr) Inselm Hhune and Lucia (Thione) Hhune have any kids?
Does Isabeau Thione or her descendants have any Tethyrian (and likely other) claims?
I know its been 120ish years but these are some serious succession disputes.
Like this maybe could open up Waterdhavian into Tethyr and even other lands.
This isn't some minor family either, they are known to scheme. There has got to be something going on here.
@TheEdVerse
Inselm Hhune had at least six illegitimate children (four sons and two daughters) that I know of. At least three mothers were involved, one from his time as “just another successful merchant” before the Interregnum.
Lucia had at least two children after Isabeau, and Inselm was likely the father of one: a boy by the name of Sardorn. The younger child was a girl, Luethaune. Both of these children used the Hhune surname, not Thione, both married and had offspring, and their grandchildren are alive in the Realms today. From eldest to youngest, they are: Cladreth Hhune, LN hm; Oldamar Hhune, NE hm; Sameira Hhune, CG hf; and Yalantra Hhune, NG hf, all descended from Sardorn, and Beltreth Alaume, CN hm; Aunstrel Barfeather, CE hm; and Belaerbra Vothphel, CE hf, descended from Luethaune. All would have trouble claiming anything in Tethyr, those lacking the Hhune surname in particular.
Isabeau Thione married thrice, and had two children, at least one (her eldest, daughter Maerlra) in wedlock (so Maerlra used the surname of her father, who was the Waterdhavian noble Zarorn Maerklos). Her son, Eldred, used Thione as his surname. They both married and had issue, so their grandchildren (in birth order: Anadath Maerklos, NE hm; Belrard Maerklos, CE hm; Lilaedra Maerklos CN hf; Nynueeme Maerklos, CE hf; and Adrelbaer Thione, LE hm; Indivvur Thione, NE hm; Jathyndra Thione, CN hf) might also see themselves as deserving of land and titles in Tethyr.
So you have indeed hit upon something.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:20:12
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On the Civilars of Waterdeep's Watch:
@gallantgoblin
Sorry if this has been asked... can't find anything about it. Who are the current leaders of the Waterdeep City Watch? Can't seem to find any recent names for the commander or the ward civilars. Thank you!
@TheEdVerse
Following the events of DEATH MASKS, the Watch was reformed (to remove any corrupt members loyal to Neverember, Cazondur, the Xanathar, or other ‘independent interests,’ though these reasons were never made public, the Lords merely announcing they were “seeking efficiencies” to keep costs down so taxes would not have to be raised) with some ranks disappearing and others being transferred (with their incumbents) into the split-off-again City Guard.
When the dust settled, some veteran Watch members had been promoted, some were gone (in a few cases, into prison; in others, into permanent exile), and a handful had been demoted.
So now, the holders of the offices you asked about in the Watch are:
Commander of the Watch: Sharindra Havalondur (hard-bitten longtime veteran of the Watch, a Chondathan female of several scars, a flat gruff voice, and infinite cynicism)
Civilar for Sea Ward: Andramras Tethcalant (tall, thin, miss-nothing, carefully courteous Calishite male who keeps meticulous notes and has a memory to match)
Civilar for North Ward: Melro Darathmrand (burly, short, handsome, raven-haired, goateed gourmand and fashionplate who’s no fool, and knows every noble and tries to attend all of their revels, though he’s now kept away from some conversations and most trysts)
Civilar for Castle Ward: Jharath Meiruk (darkly handsome, longbearded gold dwarf who pretends to be a curt, no-nonsense male but is actually a ‘clanless’ [rejected her kin] female [Laeral and all senior Watch officers know this; she specializes in keeping track of merchant traders who visit the city often, who they do business with, and in what goods)
Civilar for Trades Ward: Barandrel Helvarth (wall-eyed, perpetually grinning, frequently jesting halfling male; Jharath’s only close friend)
Civilar for South Ward: Mamrator Dreskyn (a tall, broad-shouldered and large-jawed, muscular ‘lummox’ of a Tethyrian male, who isn’t half as stone-witted as he looks or acts)
Civilar for Dock Ward: Salark Hamandro (a sharp-tongued, sardonic, handsome playboy of a Damaran male, who carries on a friendly running feud-of-words with Mirt; delights in bluntly speaking truth to power, which makes Laeral his champion)
Civilar for Field Ward: Sarelra Druin (a small, slender half-elf female who can pass for a human and even a human youth if she dresses, acts, and disguises herself appropriately; apt to keep silent but ‘see all,’ and to forget no name or face; can explode into action if need be, and is deft at hurling knives or batons [naval belaying-pins used to stun or knock cold])
Civilar for Undercliff Ward: Mratchan “Mratch” Krovond (a nondescript, fringe-bearded, tired-looking middle-aged Illuskan man who can be a superb actor when he wants to be)
Civilar for Mistshore Ward: Nelcathra “Nails” Thrundsummer (a raven-haired, large-dark-eyed, pouting Rashemi female whose nickname comes from the metal sheaths she wears over her fingers, which look like long metal nails, and can be used to rake like talons—or what she usually uses them for, which is to impale dozens of small written reminder notes on them, that she carries around and refers to; a cunning combat veteran and former adventurer).
Note: Mistshore burned, and was reduced to a tiny remnant, but it retains a civilar, who now functions as head of spies and the strike force/‘troubles reinforcements’ for the Watch (we would call it the SWAT team).
Civilars are now expected to keep discipline and see to training for Watch officers active in their wards, and to be the experts on their wards for any other Watch officers who may need their knowledge, regardless of rank; they aren’t expected to be detectives (a few senior Watch officers hold special titles/offices, and their work is to solve murders, trace conspiracies and complex criminal gang plots, and investigate Watch officers).
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:20:45
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On the differences between Amn and Tethyr:
Feb 9, 2020
@clackclickbang
Well met again! Perhaps you could illuminate for me the main political and cultural differences between Amn and Tethyr, and perhaps regale us with a tale or two of personages who capitalised on or died because of differences between the two nations.
@TheEdVerse
Amn is a mercantile powerhouse, likely still the wealthiest country in all of Faerûn, and is ruled by a Council of the heads of five noble houses: Alibakkar, Dannihyr, Nashivaar, Ophal, and Selemchant, but dominated, as it has always been, by merchant companies and the investments and schemes of individual merchants; “money flows into and out of Amn like the tireless winds and tides,” in the words of the (contemporary) sage Arthlond Laumiir of Athkatla. And all of this wealth and the goods underpinning it require guards and bodyguards, so Amn hires many adventurers.
Tied to Amn by a border (still, at their eastern ends) and mutual prosperity, Tethyr is an uneasy ally of Amn. A monarchy with a strong nobility, Tethyr has grown steadily in population and wealth and standard of living for the lower classes since its violent civil war, which erupted a century and a half ago and is now over but for its population’s deep-seated suspicion of all “meddling outlanders” and just as strong belief that nobles will seize all power if they’re not stubbornly resisted and vigilantly watched.
Amnians fear monsters (due to the monster realm of Muranndin) and any strife that hampers mercantile activity and therefore enrichment; Tethyrians know that the worst monsters are untrustworthy neighbors (fellow humans), and fear any threat to their new status quo. Amnians see humans or halflings in a hurry, or dwarves or gnomes hard at work in a workshop or forge, and think “citizens vital to prosperity for all,” whereas Tethyrians seeing the same folk will wonder “What are THEY up to, to be in such a hurry, or working so hard?”
Coin is king in Amn; Tethyr has a literal king or queen, and sees royalty and nobility as the familiar “least evil of all necessary evils.”
Several rich merchants of Amn, notably Ladrelas Tranth of Purskul and Jonstal Halavur of Athkatla (both dark-skinned men hailing from Var the Golden, who moved to Amn to make coin), enriched themselves and enabled Tethyr’s swift rise to stability and prosperity by quietly bankrolling the most sensible and farsighted Tethyrian nobles, making possible local rebuilding of inns, bridges, roads, and the building of new workshops and warehouses — whereas the mercenary Oadro Skorlapras of Amn, who sought great wealth by hiring himself and his mercenary company out as a strike force for interested Tethyrian nobles to settle disputes with the crown, other nobles, and “uppity” commoners, found instead death when he and his blades were overwhelmed by said commoners as a “butcher of an invader.”
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2020 : 16:21:45
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On the distance between the Farsea Marshes and the Marsh of Tun:
Feb 15, 2020
@PastorGall
@TheEdVerse would you happen to know the distance between the farsea marsh and the marsh of tun from each other? I am looking for an estimate :P also, are there other marshes/swamps around that dont pop up on the maps? I didnt see too many of them.
@TheEdVerse
Most small “bogs” (marshes and swamps) are too small to appear on Realms maps, just like the countless little lakes and ponds.
The Farsea Marshes and the Marsh of Tun are 120 miles apart (closest point to closest point), but this as the falcon flies; there’s a lot of rugged, rocky country between them.
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