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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
1456 Posts

Posted - 19 Mar 2024 :  08:22:53  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On who would have created the Gates you had in the Haunted Halls

rweston_DnD — 07/19/2023 4:52 AM

#128512; Hi @Ed Greenwood , hope you had a great time at the Convention! Question - who would have created the Gates you had in the Haunted Halls? Were they created when the dwarves were delving out the halls? added after Rivior fell? There already in natural caverns that the Dwarves expanded to "build" the Halls proper? Thank you in advance!


Ed Greenwood — 08/17/2023 8:09 AM

The dwarves who constructed the Haunted Halls began by ascending from the Underdark to certain natural rifts (see #26 on the original HH map for one of them) and from these delving out horizontally-level passages and rooms. Once they had a large enough chamber emptied, they constructed a gate to shift tools and materials in, and rubble out (the rubble being piled at an outside location, in this case one of the ravines in the Stonelands, for use in later “hardflow” [=concrete] work elsewhere). Then a second such gate was established, as work proceeded.

Such gates are customarily used to cut down on the otherwise time-consuming and backbreaking labour of transporting “mined out” bedrock out of the workings, which to dwarves who lack the means of making gates sometimes results in such laborious and time-consuming sidework as breeding, feeding, and training giant slugs to act as moving rubble-wagons.

After the work is done, these gates are dismantled.

New gates are created only where a client wants them (and is willing to pay for them), and are customarily far smaller than the larger-than-heaped-wagon-size construction gates, and are crafted to fit within frames and spaces constructed for them. The gates currently found in the Haunted Halls are of this second sort.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
1456 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  05:30:28  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Dwarven words for Reptile, snake, lizard, lizardmen, and dragon

rweston_DnD — 08/05/2023 3:42 AM

More dwarven lexicon word queries @Ed Greenwood . Dwarven words for Reptile, snake, lizard, lizardmen, and dragon - which I find odd we have not seen before (Aside from SK Reynolds dwarven lexicon article, but it contradicts a number of words you introduced, so I'm hesitant to use it as a source.) Hope GenCon is/was great for you!


Ed Greenwood — 08/17/2023 11:08 AM

GenCon was exhausting, but wonderful: back among my tribe, the annual gathering I sorely missed, and this time around I got to enjoy it with great friends Joaquin and Ivan, and drive down and back with a new great friend, Brandon. I can’t wait for the next one!

Dwarvish words:
arnothog: lizard (large: pack-lizard or larger)
aug: dragon
jlug: scaly
jlugluk: reptile
lothlaug: wyvern
nothnia: lizardfolk-she
nothnig: lizard-folk-he
nothlim: lizardfolk (collective: both the race and any group of lizardfolk aside from a presumed family unit, which is “nothlar”)
nothog: lizard (small)
phulk: venom
zarzulk: naga
zur: snake (small)
zurphul: snake (deadly poisonous)
zurzulk: snake (giant)
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  09:56:50  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On dwarven currency

rweston_DnD — 08/16/2023 5:27 PM

Hi @Ed Greenwood it occurs to me that we've not seen any dwarven currency described anywhere - one would think Dragons and Orcs would have heaps of Dwarven coinage from the Mines of Tethyamar, the Kindom of Rolidar, Sarphail, and the Dwarven of the Great Rift surely have coins (or trade bars or something). Could this perhaps be added to a Patreon entry?


Ed Greenwood — 08/17/2023 11:09 AM

Yes, I’ll eventually put together some Dwarf Basics Patreon writeups that will cover such matters (and the reverences of Moradin that Lukas JP asked about), but in the meantime, here you go…

Among themselves, dwarves chiefly trade by barter (direct goods exchanges), and whenever they buy and sell in large amounts, they use trade bars (shaped, clan-mark-stamped ingots of smelted metal, usually copper or gold or an electrum alloy that won’t rust; the much rarer iron and silver trade-bars are always everbright-enchanted to prevent oxidation).

However, dwarves mint all sorts of coins for others (today, they are the chief source of counterfeit coins of long-fallen human kingdoms, trusted among merchants as better-than-genuine because dwarves make them as pure metal as practical, and maintain consistent weights, with knurled-edge [or other dressed edges] to prevent shaving or excessive wear. Dwarves use these currencies for their inherent metal values among themselves.

When making their own coins, modern dwarves usually use the denominations and forms established by the gold dwarves of the Great Rift. The gold coins (equivalent to gold pieces) are “axes” (thick, flat coins that take the shape of double-bladed/back-to-back axeblades, that are often valued at 5 gp each because of their weight and volume in purer-than-most-coins gold). For other metals (blueshine- and everbright-treated silver and copper, or more often the alloys collectively known as electrum), “coins” usually take the form of thin, flat rectangular plaques (rather like the smallest “gold bars” of the real world today: a rounded-corners, thin sheet rather like a really thick, undersized playing card) known among dwarves as “tuth” (plural) or “that” (singular). They are worth less than axes (so, amounts represented among humans by copper and silver pieces).


George Krashos — Yesterday at 8:05 PM

@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed. Just checking the dwarven words in this response: "tuth" is the plural, while "that" is the singular? They don't appear to have much correlation. Is "that" an autocorrect or is it in fact the write word for a single dwarven coin plaque?


Ed Greenwood — Today at 8:57 AM

It's an autocorrect, all right. G-D Microsoft!!!! "that" should be: tath
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:08:14  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On how many and what kinds of lycanthropes are there in the Realms

Kim Kimera Kimes — 08/20/2023 2:29 AM

Hi @Ed Greenwood. I know you have said that there are lycanthropes like wereslugs and werehorses. Werewyverns/-pegasi are also mentioned, and the odd werestag(like a purely male lycanthrope?). So my question is; how many and what kinds of lycanthropes are there in the realms that we have not seen written properly about? And could you divulge some info of them?

Also, do you have an explanation why a werehyena has a second mouth at the base of their neck? Does it function properly in any way?


Ed Greenwood — 08/21/2023 10:35 PM

There are at least forty rare, “odd” sorts of lycanthropes that have been statted up and used in various adventures set in the Realms over the years, that aren’t in the current edition of the game rules. I’ll feature some of them in lore to come, but most of them are far down the “do soonest” list.

And that extra mouth for a werehyena is functional. It’s a “bite and hold” maw; the beast then uses its main mouth to rip and tear great chunks of flesh off a kill (or carrion) by biting and rearing its head back, while the extra mouth holds on (hyenas usually feed in packs, and “go at” a kill in a frenzy, so if you can’t rip and tear a big piece off and then take it away, you often get nipped from behind by fellow pack members who want a turn at the meal source).


Kim Kimera Kimes — 08/24/2023 4:17 PM

So would that mean that there are about forty to fifty types of lycanthropes on Toril, or are there more? Like for every general type of animal(such as wolf, ferret, otter, hawk, rabbit…)?


Ed Greenwood — 08/24/2023 11:29 PM

There are more, likely around 120. Lycanthropy CAN infect every sort of mammal and avian, but in practise rarely does for "prey" creatures because they get devoured or at least fatally bitten, not usually "bitten but get away."


GDallison — 08/25/2023 2:09 AM

Just to be clear. Does this mean a werewolf can bite a rabbit, and if it miraculously survives the attack there is a possibility it can then infect humanoids with a were rabbit style lycanthropy (as an example, substitute any animal with any other animal)


Ed Greenwood — 08/25/2023 11:45 PM

Yes. That's what I mean. It's very rare for a prey animal to survive a lycanthrope attack, it's very rare for it to have a chance to pass the lycanthropy on (eating its meat doesn't do it), and then the bitten being must succumb to the lycanthropy (it's not automatic). So, rare indeed.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:11:13  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Myrkul and Kelemvor existing as gods of death simultaneously

Faust — 08/23/2023 12:21 PM

@Ed Greenwood How do Myrkul and Kelemvor exist as gods of death simultaneously? Myrkul once held the position that Kelemvor now occupies. So, Myrkul should not be able to coexist as a god of death with Kelemvor without the two becoming one as per Lord Ao’s new laws, right? This bit has always kinda confused me.


Ed Greenwood — 08/23/2023 12:59 PM

Portfolios are something gods fight over, and the power of a god is determined by their influence over worshippers. Nothing is absolute, and nothing is static. You can have eight or nine gods of war at the same time, and you can simultaneously have gods of death, the dead, murder, undead, rebirth, and so on. It's messy, not clear-cut, and deliberately so, because the friction and infighting and confusion is where adventures happen.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:13:52  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On individuals who would be willing to collect one's waste for a small fee then distill said wastewater into saltpeter

coinín dubh — 08/24/2023 2:32 PM

@Ed Greenwood Sorry in advance for the weirdness of this inquiry. As a follow up to your recent post on sanitation in the Realms, I've read in a few sources that saltpeter (potassium nitrate) was sometimes distilled from uric acid (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/from-gunpowder-to-teeth-whitener-the-science-behind-historic-uses-of-urine-442390/) and there are recipes to create gunpowder using water from "liquid manure, such as urine, dung-water, water of privies, cess-pools, drains, &c." Though it been stated that gunpowder is inert in terms of as an explosive in the Realms, saltpeter is still a material component found in more than a few spells. The reason for this question is this: in large cities, there might be individuals who would be willing to collect one's waste out their cisterns, privies, cesspools, etc. for a small fee then distill said wastewater into saltpeter and then sell to an alchemist (or where an alchemist themselves)? Again, sorry if this comes off as a bizarre question, but it came to mind in case one had to do a deep dive into some of the other economies one might encounter in a city.


Ed Greenwood — 08/24/2023 11:26 PM

Yes, the conversion of "nightsoil" into fertilizer and other gleanings (items that fall into privies for whatever reason, saltpeter, etc.) is an established business in the Realms, but it falls to whatever guild the nightsoil wagon operators belong to, locally, or to whoever runs the local "Rat Hills" equivalent (the dunghills) if there's no guild. It's impractical to try to get saltpeter from a single family's production, or a lone cesspool; you need a bigger supply. (Believe me; I researched all of this stuff back in the early 1960s.)
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:16:30  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On where is Shar's divine realm in 5e?

Genghis Sean — 08/25/2023 1:55 AM

Hello @Ed Greenwood! I've been wondering about the current location of divine realms in 5e. I'll start with the goddess I'm going to cover in a lore video soon. Where is Shar's divine realm in 5e? I know her realm in the Great Wheel (Palace of Loss) was destroyed, and her realm in the World Axis (Towers of Night) was an astral dominion and those don't really exist anymore. I would assume it would be in the Shadowfell but I can't find anything to confirm that.


Ed Greenwood — 08/25/2023 11:46 PM

If you wait until Planescape comes out, all will be much clearer.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:19:11  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On anything similar to the Seals in the Realms either on the Sword Coast or the Sea of Fallen Stars

stormer454 — 08/27/2023 7:18 AM

Howdy again @Ed Greenwood I just signed with the Navy and I'm trying for Special Warfare and on the ride home I wondered if there's anything similar to the Seals in the realms either on the sword coast or the Sea of fallen stars?


Ed Greenwood — 08/27/2023 9:01 AM

Officially (as in, a military unit with a name and badges etc.) no, but the Highknights serving the Crown of Cormyr have always had a “wet commando” unit to deal with smugglers (and worse) in Marsember, and operating out of Westgate all along Cormyr’s Dragon Coast.

Tantras has something similar to deal with Calaunt’s aggressions, as does Aglarond to tackle the organized thieving out of Telflamm. And of old (1300s DR), there was a Seals-like mercenary organization based in Iljak (but originally formed in Turmish, and composed of folk of Turmish heritage) who hired themselves out to various Vilhon rulers, to act against smugglers in their own cities, and foes in the cities of others (as an alternative to going to war against those cities).
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 07 Apr 2024 :  10:23:33  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On most fabled sword, Osse, 'evil women', Umberlee before ascension, Candlekeep and Thay's alignment, and Penumbra

Gahbreeil — 08/26/2023 4:01 AM

@Ed Greenwood

1. The sword most fabled and famous in the Forgotten Realms?
2. Any information about Osse and the Osslanders that you can disclose?
3. Is there a word for "evil woman" in elven?
4. Was Umberlee a human before ascension? Was she a tavern wench or a full-fledged pirate?
5. Is Candlekeep the opposite of Thay on the alignment spectrum, if not, what is?
6. Where exactly in the Underdark lay Penumbra, the ancient civilization of the mind flayers?


Ed Greenwood — 08/27/2023 9:02 AM

1. That depends on where and when you are in the Realms, but if you’re on Faerûn after the Time of Troubles, the answer is likely Godsbane, the sword form adopted by Mask in 1358 DR. Cyric named the sword “Godsbane” because, while he was a mortal, he used it to slay the god Bhaal (then Lord of Murder), and after becoming a deity, he used it to kill Leira, Lady of Deception.

2. Not at this time. And it’s Ossrim, not “Osslanders.”

3. Evil is “vaarn,” an evil entity (sentient being, not divine) is “vaarnar,” and an evil female is a “vaarnelle” (an evil adult elven female would be “luvaarnele,” and an evil adult human woman would be “lurvaarnkess”).

4. No mortal alive today can be certain about the origins of Umberlee, though her many human forms suggest a human origin. The most common tales among her clergy of old (1200s DR and earlier) are that she was a pearl-diver or other habitually-swimming woman who drowned willingly for some reason (the tales vary), or who mated with a wereshark (no tale says how), or that she nursed a drowned-nigh-to-death pirate washed ashore who turned out to be a merman, fell in love with him, and willingly drowned to be with him “forever,” but was made divine by Ao, who tore divine essence from Blibdoolpoolp, who was driven insane by the sudden violence of losing half her divinity. Elminster either doesn’t know the truth, or prefers not to say. When asked about all of these conflicting tales, he shook his head and said merely, “Sailors drink far too much.”

5. Thay has no alignment; it’s a place powerful in magic due to the presence of the Athora, inhabited by a slave-taking nobility, a lot of downtrodden workers of various alignments, legions of undead, and an evil (but of various alignments) military bureaucracy and the Red Wizards. Candlekeep’s official alignment, if it can be said to have one, is Neutral (Oghma) or Neutral Good (Deneir), but its Avowed are of many alignments (though more good and neutral than evil, and more lawful than chaotic).

6. Penumbra is a world around a sun somewhere in the vast void of the multiverse, not a location in the Underdark. Sages disagree on where in the void it lies; in the Astral Sea? In Doomspace? Elminster merely said firmly, “No. DON’T go looking.”
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questing gm
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Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  11:47:12  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On a tournament module titled "The Ring of Death"

Ir'revrykal — 08/27/2023 8:52 PM

I've just stumbled across an auction listing for a tournament module titled "The Ring of Death" by one Ed "Elminster" Greenwood. Do you remember what this was about? Any chance of seeing it on the Patreon, perhaps?


Ed Greenwood — 08/28/2023 1:17 AM

Heh. The ring is a floating ring of beholders, death tyrants, and undead beholders, put in place as guardians. It would a b&w photocopy of the adventure, given away to all players at the end of play, for a Milwaukee-era GenCon. Patreon? Maybe, a year or more from now. So much else to get through first.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  11:51:42  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On King Azoun exploring the Hidden House

JoeChang — 08/27/2023 2:22 PM

Hi @Ed Greenwood When King Azoun went to relax in his favorite town of Eveningstar, was he also exploring the Hidden House?


Ed Greenwood — 08/28/2023 1:19 AM

On rare occasions he might go to the Hidden House, but not exploring: Tessaril would have done the exploring earlier, and would be his guide to something interesting she'd found.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  11:54:58  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Simon from the movie having the surname Aumar

Madd The Pink — 08/28/2023 1:19 AM

@Ed Greenwood What's your opinion of Simon from the movie having the surname Aumar? Lore-consistent or nah?

Also how are you? I hope you're having a good day.


Ed Greenwood — 08/28/2023 1:21 AM

Can very well be. Elminster has MANY descendants, and some of them might use that surname. Simon would be several generations down from a direct son or daughter of Elminster. And I'm doing okay; slept in because up til 5am writing.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  11:58:27  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On "nut-marrows"

Ir'revrykal — 09/06/2023 1:45 PM

What're "nut-marrows"? Mirt has two warehouses full of the things in Hand of Fire...

Ed Greenwood — 09/07/2023 9:20 AM

So a marrow is a fruit eaten as a vegetable (think zucchini/courgette). Most in our real world are large, long green vine-fruit with a waxy green skin and softer lighter-hued insides.

Nut-marrows, in the Realms, are marrows that have a beige inside flesh that tastes like roast almonds, and rots far more slowly than zucchini, so it can be stored far longer (in, yes, warehouses) to serve as food through the winter months, usually sliced thin and fried, or diced and cooked in various ways, from cold “lubbath” (the equivalent of potato salad) to various fried hashes or stews. Popular because it lasts in storage, so grown by many, which keeps prices low but demand steady. So, an agricultural fixture.
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:01:31  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On the different hunting lodges in the Realms

Malarite — 09/07/2023 9:51 AM

@Ed Greenwood Id love to hear about some of the different hunting lodges in the realms~

Theyre internal structure, what their members are like, regular and hidden functions... So on.

Ed Greenwood — 09/07/2023 9:59 AM

Heh. I just wrote some lore on this very topic for a certain secret use, so you'll have to wait until it plays out. I WILL provide you with side tidbits on this topic when I can, but September and October are crushingly real-world busy for me this year...
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questing gm
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Malaysia
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:06:26  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On famous or named phoenixes in the Forgotten Realms

Melody — 09/08/2023 3:41 AM

@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! Are there any famous or named phoenixes in the Forgotten Realms? Any particular myths regarding them outside of the norm? Do any actually live in the Realms, or only in the Plane of Fire/Elysium?

Ed Greenwood — 09/09/2023 3:38 AM

Daeryx (“DARE-icks”) and Imber “IMM-bur”) are the two names given to phoenixes who appear in folktales of Durpar, Var, Eastagund, Veldorn, Semphar, Raurin, Murghôm, the Tashalar, and Lapaliiya. Several of these stories firmly claim these phoenixes were real, and dwelt in the Realms of old.

A warrior family of Murghôm, the Indriths, used the Phoenix Rampant on their war shields, thanks to a year in the early 900s DR in which an Indirth warrior found and protected a phoenix egg from a dragon, and months later was beset in battle only to receive aid unlooked-for from a diving phoenix who routed the warrior’s foes.

It’s well-known among alchemists and smiths in the Realms that contact with as much as a single drop of phoenix blood, or one brief contact with the passing (or engulfing) flame of a phoenix may, if the item survives it (however scorched or half-melted, render any metal (alloy or pure) item highly resistant to later fire damage from other sources, short of full-on, sustained dragon breath.

No less than three minor noble families of Cormyr (the houses of Axehand, Lionsyn, and Scoril) have family traditions that “the blood of the phoenix” runs through their veins, though this seems to be based only on inherited genetic traits/magical “wild talents” that give some members of these families fire resistance (no damage from flame or heat, so they can walk or reach into forgefires, stroll through forest fires or building fires, and pick up burning brands, or something that’s fallen into a cooking fire, without harm) and glowing amber eyes (in rare cases, bright enough to read by, or to illuminate something they’re peering closely at, like a lock or heraldic blazon), not any attested or demonstrated connection to phoenixes.
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questing gm
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:12:46  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Waterdeep in the last 150 years

Maq "Dethjezter" MacPherson — 09/10/2023 12:17 AM

Hi @Ed Greenwood , was wondering if you could do a video on Waterdeep in the last, say, 150yrs or so, including dragons in and about the city

Ed Greenwood — 09/12/2023 5:22 AM

I've already recorded one, focusing on just one ward of the city. It should appear in the next few months.
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questing gm
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:15:42  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Abeir's something close to Toril's common

Gustavo Tortato — 09/15/2023 9:45 AM

Hey Ed!

Do people over at Abeir have something close to Toril's common?

Is Aklave used widely by everyone there, or only the draconic races?

Ed Greenwood — 09/16/2023 11:15 AM

Folk of Abeir speak Thorass (Old Common) due to previous contacts with Toril, and Aklave is used widely among most Abeirans, as well. (Also: more lore on Abeir is on the way...)
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questing gm
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:18:49  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On coming up with the time system for the Realms

Jace Walker, Planar Traveler — 09/15/2023 7:12 PM

Fully understand everyone is busy and some are likely still recovering, but how did you come up with the time system for the realms? Like the months, the tenday, seasons, etc.

Ed Greenwood — 09/16/2023 11:18 AM

I made it up. I wanted to have festivals around the year, to reflect the daily lives of rural, agricultural "common folk," and to do that, I needed a calendar, so I created one.
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questing gm
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Posted - 08 Apr 2024 :  12:23:32  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On name of these bays

Juniper Churlgo — 09/16/2023 5:31 AM

Ed or anyone familiar, do these bays have names?

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1072136642162343986/1152356027870740531/Screenshot_2023-09-15_at_5.30.29_PM.png?width=1440&height=562

Ed Greenwood — 09/18/2023 2:56 AM

To humans in the modern Realms, the bay Delthuntle fronts on is the Bay of the Mer-she, thanks to a local mer ruler of a century ago, who often rose out of the water to police ships dumping refuse or emptying their bilges in her home waters. The big bay east of that is Netharn Bay, the jagged shore leading out of it (still heading eastwards) are the Gull Cliffs, and the shallow bay east of Gull Cape is Temezzer’s End, named for the wizard lord of a minor Chessentan land who drowned here when his ship, the Bright Faring, ran aground on rocks (in 1286 DR).

The larger bay east of that (directly south of the “U” of the Yuirwood label on your map) is Rathgarl’s Bay, named for a jovial, Mirt-like rotund adventurer who retired to a beach-wood hut he built there in the 1320s, and ultimately died there (but not before befriending and sharing his bed with many elven ladies dissatisfied with their lives in the Yuirwood).

The shallow bay east of that is the Wash, so named for the rhythmic sound waves make when rolling ashore in succession to break upon its tumbled rocks and shingle beach. Beyond that is a cape called the Stormsnout, that shelters Laothkund, in Laothlan Bay.

The shallow bay east of that, facing Laothkund, is named Aryll Bay, because a small clearwater stream (not shown on that map), Aryllswater (itself named for a half-elf sorceress of note who lived on its banks until her death in 127a DR), empties into the sea in it.

The cape beyond that is Laspar Rock, and the shore beyond that, all the way to the mouth of the River Lapendrar at Escalant, is known as the Bright Shore (or Bright Bay).

And lastly, the Lapendrar mouth is known as Grayseas, because silt from the Lapendrar is inky black due to the hue of the rock particles suspended in it.

Sheepy — 09/18/2023 4:45 AM

127a DR?

Ed Greenwood — 09/19/2023 1:51 AM

Sorry, that should be 1278 DR. ;}
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TBeholder
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Posted - 09 Apr 2024 :  01:32:10  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm


6. Penumbra is a world around a sun somewhere in the vast void of the multiverse, not a location in the Underdark. Sages disagree on where in the void it lies;

For those interested, Penumbra was described in Monstrous Arcana module Dawn of the Overmind. Of course, it's a Ringworld on steroids, so not much point to map all this. And everything of value that could be found and looted or destroyed, probably was, back in the Gith revolt. They would not wander off to the planes until they believed there are no more illithids to kill nor more weapons to grab.

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch

Edited by - TBeholder on 09 Apr 2024 01:33:32
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  10:56:31  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On "Mensel" in the Chondatha and Thorass launguages

Jeremy G. — 09/19/2023 11:01 AM

Hi @Ed Greenwood and greetings from sunny California. #127774; #128526;

When you think about the Chondatha and Thorass launguages, is there a word or words in either language that sound close to the name "Mensel?"

Thank you, as always, for all you do. And thanks also for the latest Mindflayer lore drop on the Patreon. It got me out of writing jam.

Ed Greenwood — 09/19/2023 1:20 PM

In Thorass, “murensul” was a nutbrown stain for cloth made by boiling three abundant marsh-plant roots together. Its making and use were widespread, as it was used to rescue scorched or otherwise badly soiled (marks that wouldn’t come out) garments or linens of lighter hues, by “covering it all over” to give them a new life. It also worked for darkening lighter wood, though it reacted oddly with certain oils (if they’d been worked into, or spilled on, the wood earlier). A sort of “oh, well” mending-make-do.
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  11:56:50  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On the realm ruled over by the Witch-Lords of Wyvernwater

JoeChang — 09/19/2023 4:35 PM

Hi @Ed Greenwood In Volo's Guide to All Things Magical we got the only reference to the Witch-Lords of Wyvernwater. What was the name of the realm they ruled over (which was not revealed)?

Ed Greenwood — 09/20/2023 4:11 AM

A video is coming (not right away; give me a few months) on this very topic. :}
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:00:06  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On questions for worldbuilder Ed

Marco Volo — 09/20/2023 1:48 PM

Hi! I have 2 questions for worldbuilder Ed:

1. When you first incorporated D&D into the Realms, did try to include all the monsters somewhere (as in: "lets put much of the korred in that forest" monster after monster) or did you picked the ones you prefered and ignore others?

2. Were Semphar and Murggôm the place for some particular monsters?

Thanks for reading me!

Ed Greenwood — 09/20/2023 11:23 PM

Hi! 1. Everything was included, as I wanted the sentient monsters to have societies, and the "wild predator" ones had to survive in logical places. 2. Yes. Semphar was a place for lots of leucrotta, manticores, doppelgangers, and "oddities," whereas Murghôm was always home to dragons, wyverns, perytons, and lots of wild herd beasts they could all feed upon.
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:03:34  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On city/area to set a Forgotten Realms video game

Ninjanurse29 — 09/20/2023 6:46 AM

If you made a Forgotten Realms video game today, which city/area would you have it take place in?

Ed Greenwood — 09/20/2023 11:31 PM

That would depend very much on the scope and focus of the game. Waterdeep for urban/many interwoven intrigues (or a city in rebuilding Sembia); the Dales for Zhents vs. Dalefolk vs. Dragon Cultists vs. Red Wizards vs. resident dragons for a Myth Drannan treasure hunt; Suzail for nobles battling for Court influence...and so on.
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:07:19  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On draconic word for "master"

Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 09/21/2023 11:31 PM

@Ed Greenwood what is the draconic word for "master" as in a groveling Kobold saying "yes, my master"

Ed Greenwood — 09/22/2023 7:25 AM

Erkour (pronounced “Err-COO-or”), which is the prefix “er” for my, plus kour for master
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:12:18  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On original concept about Halruaa

Marco Volo — 09/23/2023 12:25 AM

Hi Ed! Would you give us a gift and write an article for Patreon about your original concept about Halruaa, etiquette and all?

I think we all would love this #128578;

Ed Greenwood — 09/23/2023 1:46 AM

Heh. I've already recorded a Halruaa piece, but down the road I do plan to cover "daily life" in Halruaa circa the early 1300s.
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:19:36  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On the predominance of human PCs

George Krashos — 09/22/2023 8:54 PM

Hi Ed!#10084;#65039; So, I’m thinking about the “famous” NPCs of Gary’s GH campaign, I noted that it was humanocentric: Mordenkainen, Robilar, Tenser, et. al. So, looking at the roster of the Company of Crazed Venturers and the Knights of Myth Drannor, the same phenomenon appears. Is there a reason for that? Why the predominance of human PCs? Were the 1E demihuman level limits a turn off in that regard?

Ed Greenwood — 09/23/2023 1:47 AM

The reason is the choices of my players re. what to play: they chose race, gender, and class, and I wrote up possible characters (names and backgrounds) and then they picked from those on offer. So we got Merith, an elf, but most party members human.
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questing gm
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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:27:05  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On Cormyrean nobility and last names

BlissfulSavant — 09/22/2023 2:26 PM

Question to @Brian Cortijo or Ed about cormyrean nobility and last names

On marrying, does a wife have to take the husband's last name? Or is there freedom, e.g. husband can take wife's, they can hyphenate them together etc. (I ask this for both nobles and commoners)

If one of the people marrying was a noble with certain noble titles, Id imagine the titles wouldn't normally be lost if they change their last names, yeah? Even if they were house leaders? But if so, will the name of the house change when children inherit the core title, with their parents' new name? I strongly suspect the nobility wouldn't love it if any of this happens haha

Brian Cortijo — 09/23/2023 5:49 AM

Currently in transit, so I’ll give some brief responses, with a more fulsome reply to follow:

-No. Neither spouse is required to take a name.
-Any courtesy titles for the spouse that include a name will be based on the titled spouse’s name (Duke Dunderhead’s wife, if untitled herself, is only ever Lady/Duchess Dunderhead, not her own family name)
-Hyphenation is not a thing in Cormyr
-Untitled spouses may and often do choose a combination name when marrying to represent their union; especially true among adventurers
-House leaders and direct heirs apparent almost never change names. However, this sometimes happens when multiple titles wind up entangled in the same small family unit.

returnip — 09/23/2023 7:01 AM

What's a combination name?

Brian Cortijo — 09/24/2023 7:35 AM

It’s a name that uses elements of two disparate names to form a new one, either for a married couple or for their offspring.

For example, the child of Merith Strongbow and and Jurassic* Silvertree, both of the Knights of Myth Drannor, goes by the surname Silverbow.

Ed Greenwood — 09/25/2023 10:55 AM

Heh. Jhessail Silvertree. ;}

rweston_DnD — 09/25/2023 11:06 AM

I wondered when I read her name, she's from Cormyr, and a lot of Noble families start with "Silver", so one of her parents/ancestors is of Noble stock? Very sneaky Ed!

Ed Greenwood — 09/25/2023 11:14 AM

Indeed. Jhessail was initially played by my wife, and I wanted her to have a secret in her past. She was DELIGHTED when she figured it out. ;}
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

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Posted - 16 Apr 2024 :  12:46:14  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On leeway to lesser gods/demigods when it comes to meddling in the affairs of mortals

Ninjanurse29 — 09/23/2023 7:00 AM

Does Ao give more leeway to lesser gods/demigods when it comes to meddling in the affairs of mortals than he would for greater beings?

Ed Greenwood — 09/25/2023 10:56 AM

Yes.
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questing gm
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Posted - 20 Apr 2024 :  11:48:53  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
On common methods nobles use to hunt common game for sport

Malarite — 09/24/2023 12:38 PM

What are common methods nobles use to hunt common game for sport? If it varies widely, Im particularly interested in forests in the Moonshae, Cormyr, and Sembia

Ed Greenwood — 09/25/2023 11:02 AM

Bow and arrow (crossbows only for elderly/wounded/infirm nobility who lack strength or two arms for "bending"/pulling a bow) and spear (afoot usually, but also hurled).
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