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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 11:37:34
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On traditions in the Realms for celebrating new jobs or career prospects
Spellslamzer [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 30/3/2026 2:21 PM
Hello, @Ed Greenwood. I just got a new job and I was wondering if there any traditions in the Realms for celebrating new jobs or career prospects?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:12 AM
Yes. There are prayers to Lathander for success in anew job or in a job search, and clergy of the Morninglord try to hold at least one feast a tenday (and sometimes two or three, when many new jobs are taken in a locale) in celebration of the newly employed, at which they are fed royally, offered fine wine and desserts, and freely provided—if needed and if possible—at least one new tool and one new garment that will be useful in their new profession. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 12:42:22
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On the taste of mimics
Lord of Eat [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 22/3/2026 4:56 AM
@Ed Greenwood We had a spark of curiosity just now...
Mimics. Usually they eat foolhardy adventurers (or attempt to do so, at any rate).
But if an adventurer were to turn the tables around and try to eat the mimic... What would it taste like? Would it be perfectly safe to eat, or would it have some less than desirable effect upon the consumer?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:13 AM
In the Forgotten Realms, mimics have a rubbery outer consistency, and an inner consistency that’s akin to gooey (rather than watery) mac & cheese. Mimic tastes a little like crab and a little like lobster, and its flesh looks like an English muffin: full of small chambers of different sizes that present as “holes” when the flesh is sliced. This is one of the ways in which a mimic is able to shift its shape so quickly. When alive, these holes are full of a broth-like fluid that carries nutrients, and mimic flesh can be boiled in this broth for thorough cooking without an unpleasant taste or result; its presence makes seasoning very easy, as a cook just adds the herbs and spices to the fluid and turns the meat from time to time to make sure these seasonings circulate.
However, some human and elven digestive tracts react badly to the mutable, shapeshifting chemistry of mimic, raw or cooked, and the result can be cramps or explosive “runs.” (Cooking tends to slow the onset of this and reduce its severity.) Dwarf, gnome, and halfling digestions are reportedly almost never so affected—and thri-kreen thrive on mimic-flesh and grow visibly in size and vigor on a frequent diet of mimic. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 13:20:31
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On varieties of brined or pickled cheeses in the Realms
Zonesylvania [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 28/11/2025 10:29 PM
Dear saer @Ed Greenwood , are there any varieties of brined or pickled cheeses known to the Realms? thankee!
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:13 AM
Many; almost all soft-rind cheeses are brined, and the Realms has literally scores of varieties, from place to place. If you’re striving for something very close to real-world Brie, look for Nunchal in Zazesspur and the nearest areas in Calimshan, a beige with green-white soft rind cheese made in two-adult-human-hands-thickness circular wheels about a foot across; or Zanchan cheese in the Tashalar, a reddish-orange cheese made in smaller wheels that are thrice as thick, and are sealed in red wax for transport and sale.
If you’re looking for something more akin to real-world Limburger (a washed-rind, “stinky” cheese), the currently-most-popular variety comes from fiercely-competing makers in the Vilhon Reach and Chessenta, but travels well, and so is sold by caravan merchants everywhere: Skurra or Skurrla, a yellow cheese with a brown, parallel-ridged outer surface (rind) that looks a little like tree bark. If it seems a little moldy, dry-salt it and put it in a dark container with extra salt, and its taste and “crispness” will revive. This cheese is all the rage these last few years, and tastes almost like salt and pepper potato chips but rich and creamy—and smells like a cross between bread-and-butter pickles and sardines. (Some haughty eateries serve it with lit incense sticks to “cut” the stink.) |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 14:23:11
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On the punishment for horse theft in Cormyr
Joe ChangRole icon, Legend of the Realms — 18/2/2026 12:26 PM
Dear @Ed Greenwood what's the punishment for horse theft in Cormyr?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:14 AM
Usually, a fine to the Crown, and a fine used to purchase an equal or better replacement for the stolen animal, if it’s gone or mistreated (and “mistreated” includes a mare bred without permission of the owner). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 14:33:08
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On gods 'riding' avatars silently or unknowingly
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 9/4/2026 6:34 AM
Dear @Ed Greenwood, a question:
Are there cases in Realmslore of a deity possessing (“riding”) a mortal or a formed avatar that is unaware of being a vessel for the deity’s essence? I don’t mean this in the sense of Mystra with Elué Shundar, where an eventual time-share understanding was reached, but a genuine case of a seeming-mortal being fully unaware that they are possessed of—or actually are—a portion of a divine being?
Or, to put it another way: does every avatar know it’s an avatar?
Assuming the affirmative, have any thought-dead deities found themselves alive following a divine shakeup like the Second Sundering due to such a hidden investment?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/4/2026 10:46 AM
Oh, yes, it's possible, and happens, but aside from cases of brain-damaged mortals, a ridden mortal is seldom unaware of the presence of the deity; most are just too "mentally noisy and weighty," and too self-important, to hide their presence (Eldath and Mielikki and Leira being examples of deities who ARE quiet and self-effacing, or sly, and can remain "hidden while riding"). Almost all avatars do know they're avatars, or at least "special to this particular deity." And yes, the Second Sundering was one occasion when such investments did indeed result in a deity "coming back" from seeming permanent death. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 15:18:19
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On Padangan, King of Innarlith
Bragi [WOOD], Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 29/3/2026 11:16 PM
@Ed Greenwood On the first page of The Seven Sisters sourcebook, there is a reference to an individual known as Padangan, King of Innarlith. Is there anything more that can be said of this individual?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 8:10 AM
Certainly. In the late 900s DR, Relve Padangan was a charismatic fighter with an air of authority and command whom most folk who met him assumed was a paladin—of the non-haughty, genuine servant-of-the-people sort. That didn’t stop him from being a successful adventurer, and sometime mercenary in Chessenta and the Vilhon, hiring on with one petty lordling after another to wage war on rivals.
In 997 DR he tired of being asked to butcher or poison prisoners, took his trusted adventurers who’d done mercenary service with him and set out to assassinate the worst of the Chessentan lordlings (the power-hungry empire builders, three in number, the worst being Arth Varangha of Cimbar). He knew nothing he did would stop self-styled rulers from making war on each other, but he was determined to eliminate those with the drive, ruthlessness, and competence to succeed in conquest after conquest.
He succeeded, but instead of taking power in their various baronies and dukedoms, he retired south to Innarlith, a port that seemed the right size to him, and cleansed it of the bandits and Calishite smugglers who’d been ruling it through fear, poisonings, and assassinations, proclaiming himself “King” in 999 DR and setting up a road-paving, sanitation, and water tank-and-pumping system that so delighted the local populace that they accepted his authority with little more than a few drunken mutterings.
When he set himself as a font of local justice, judging openly and explaining his reasonings in a way that struck most as fair, and used his trusted adventurers as a light-handed, reasonable local Watch, the mutterings subsided. And when he began a program of sponsoring local crafters to be roofing-tile makers, stonemasons, brickmakers, carpenters, and smiths, the folk of Innarlith became loyal—and raids began from the envious petty Border Kingdoms rulers nearby.
Padangan crushed those invaders, then went to their home bases and looted them for wealth he then turned around and spent on sponsorships and improving Innarlith. And all of this time, he lived simply, as the adventurer he’d always been, his one touch of luxury being good eating: he hired cooks to lay large feasts on his table, at which all passersby were welcome—and the hungry of Innarlith flocked to dine, and were made welcome.
He became known as “the Good King,” and during his reign, with his support and guidance, his citizens became important regional dyers and inkmakers, ox-breeders and wagonmakers, and gemcutters and jewel-traders.
Padangan was assassinated in 1026 DR by Calishite slavers who wanted Innarlith as their trading center a safe distance from Calimshan itself, and were determined to rule it so as to set local laws and customs to suit themselves. They got their way, soon establishing the associated businesses of making and selling poisons and drugs that Innarlith is known for to this day; these were founded by the families of the slavers, the houses of Klathlarrl (“Cath-LAR-rul”), Malthlykh (“Moll-thLICK”), and Tabhrar (“Tab-RARR”).
Padangan’s body was spirited away by grieving citizens, and his burial-place is now forgotten, but for all the centuries since his death, it’s been a local warning to “Behave, or the Good King will come for you! He walks yet, you know!” (There have been no reliable reports of Padangan coming back to life or being seen in active undeath, yet the belief lingers.) |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 16:22:41
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On encountering the phaerimm outside Anauroch in the 1500s DR
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 26/3/2026 11:45 PM
@Ed Greenwood In the 1500s DR, how possible is it to encounter phaerimm outside of Anauroch?
I understand the Sharn Wall was successfully mended after 1487 DR, and that most phaerimm who escaped earlier were destroyed, leaving only a small number potentially still at large.
Specifically: is there any possibility of a few escaping where the sharn wall is thinner and bulging on the edge of the stonelands
Are there known or suspected phaerimm still free elsewhere on Toril (outside Anauroch)?
Could phaerimm plausibly be found near Netherese ruins outside the desert?
Or are they now effectively confined again to the Buried Realms beneath Anauroch?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 8:32 AM
The Sharn Wall holds, and the War Wizards of Cormyr are vigilant; no phaerimm have escaped into Toril by that way. At least yet.
However, there are at least two, possibly three, phaerimm lurking “loose” on Toril, but they are paranoid about being discovered by the Chosen or Mystra or Larloch or other really powerful individuals, so they tend to work through mortal agents who don’t know their “master” is a phaerimm, and tend to stay hidden near dragon lairs no one dares to go near…
Their names, according to Elminster, are Cakkahaol (“Cack-ah-HAY-oal”) and Trothkrael (“Truth [but pronounced like “truss” without the ‘s’ sound]-yul-CRAY-yel”). He doesn’t know the name of the third, or even if it remains on Toril.
Cakkahaol is—or was—lurking in one of the backup lairs of the infamous red wyrm Klauth, Riven Mountain, a cracked and split peak due east of Hellgate Keep, across the River Delimbiyr. Trothkrael is believed to be hiding somewhere in—or under—the Marching Mountains. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2026 : 18:21:34
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On entrances or passages connecting the Stonelands to the Underdark
kageura necromancer wizard [D&D], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 10/4/2026 9:04 AM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed, thank you as always for your hard work and amazing lore.
A quick question if you don’t mind: Are there known or suspected entrances or passages connecting the Stonelands to the Underdark?
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:32 AM
Oh, yes. Many of them. The Haunted Halls is connected to Whisper's Crypt, north of the Halls in the Stonelands, and the steep-sided ravines of the Stonelands contain many caves, some of them dead ends but many of them (we're talking hundreds) going deeper, down into the Underdark. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 09:23:45
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On gods losing their power while away from home for too long
YukonauRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 21/6/2025 6:13 PM
In your view of the Forgotten Realms cosmology, what happens to gods who spend too much time outside their home crystal sphere or plane—do they risk losing power, influence, or even identity if they remain away too long
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:35 AM
No, they only risk losing influence and therefore worshippers and therefore power if they fail to grant spells or otherwise respond to their clergies and their lay worshippers…their location usually has little to no bearing on this, unless they stray into a place where their access to elsewhere is controlled by a foe. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 10:42:33
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On salath plant
gandalfthe28th [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 3/12/2025 11:48 PM
Hiya Ed! I've got a deepcut here. In your 2003 article 'Small Presses of Waterdeep, Part Two', you mention in a sample passage of 'Engelvaer's Poison and Sickness Remedies' something called a 'salath plant'. Looks like it's not mentioned anywhere else on the internet, so I was wondering if you had any information on what this plant is? I do love me some fantasy botany
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/4/2026 11:55 AM
Salath is a very common weed or growing-without-cultivation grassland wild plant. It’s ground-hugging and has light green (almost “chocolate mint ice cream” in hue) leaves, eight or more growing outwards in a star at ground level: think of a dandelion whose stalk-and-flower has been plucked, but leaving the still-rooted leaves behind. But whereas a dandelion has jagged, deeply-lobed leaves, salath leaves are shaped like the leaves of a lemon tree. Salath can easily be found along the Sword Coast, Heartlands, and Sea of Fallen Stars regions, from the latitudes of Neverwinter south to Calimshan, and is easily harvested, so most folk have it for kitchen herb use and for ‘physics’ (medicines) and it commands almost nothing in the marketplace (1 copper piece for a full arm-basket). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 12:20:05
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On the game spellcircles
Moon On The Horizon Etherdell [D&D], Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 3/9/2025 3:43 PM
Hail and well met once more, Saer @Ed Greenwood.
Listening to the audiobook of Elminster in Myth Drannor for the first time just now, I came across the game spellcircles being played by Riluaneth. Intrigued, I tried to find it in the wiki, but was disappointed to find no more information. Would you be willing to please share some more information on such a game?
Also, I have no idea how I hadn't heard of the Magefairs until a few days ago. As someone who almost exclusively plays wizards I would love to have more information about this event (I have to wait 15 days for my next Audible audiobook, sadly, and so cannot listen or read the story I know you wrote until then).
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 11/4/2026 2:56 AM
Spellcircles is a board game (in Elminster In Myth Drannor, we see it being played on a gleaming-polished black marble tiled floor, inset with white tiles to outline the “play array”).
Picture two overlapping chevrons, one pointing “up” (towards your opponent) and one pointing “down” (towards you). Each chevron has a point, and then five “squares” running away in a diagonal from each side of the point. The third square of each chevron “leg” is shared with the leg of the other chevron. On each “square” is a circle divided into three arcs. The game is played by winning spell-battles by cantrips cast by the two players magically “wrestling” each other to affect these arcs, which are (randomly) enspelled by a neutral third party before play begins, so the two players don’t know the enchantments on each arc (which can more easily be affected by particular cantrips; the contesting players are “casting blind” against each other to win a specific arc, in a battle that typically expends at least three cantrips per side.
A player who “wins” all three arcs of a circle “wins” that square. The object of the game is to win the point of the opposing player’s chevron (the point facing away from that opposing player).
Play begins with a coin toss (or agreement between players) to determine where the starting battle will take place. It must be one of the arcs of the endmost/outermost right-hand (of one or the other player) square of a chevron leg.
After that battle is resolved, the second battle must take place in one of the arcs of the endmost right-hand (of the other player) chevron leg square.
The winner of that second battle chooses the next arc, anywhere on the board EXCEPT either of the chevron points, to be contested. The winner of the third battle chooses the next arc battlefield, and this rule continues: the winner of a battle picks the next arc to be fought over.
No chevron-point arc can be selected until all of the other squares of a chevron have been won by a player who can trace an unbroken path of wholly-won (all three arcs in a square) squares from the end of one chevron leg to that point, either along their own chevron’s leg or “switching chevrons” at one of the shared squares.
If (and only if) both players agree to continue to a “clean sweep,” or in the event of neither player being able to trace an unbroken line to reach a chevron point, arcs within a square can be “refought.” However, if this is done, ALL THREE arcs must be contested again, not just the “odd arc out.” So if Player A has won two arcs but lost the third to Player B, not just the third arc will be re-fought; all of the arcs in that square must be fought anew, and this will continue in a series of battles until all three arcs are in the hands of one player.
And that’s the game of spellcircles. It can be varied by restricting the cantrips used to specific ones, or replacing them with specific spells, or even by the players finger-touching or embracing while standing on a specific arc (if, of course, the board is big enough) and casting pain-inducing or mind-influencing or shapeshifting cantrips on each other to fight the battle for that arc.
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 13/4/2026 4:39 AM
So... which one of these is the correct approximation of the tile array at the outset of a match (no arcs claimed)?
<https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1072136642162343986/1492987625680928950/image.png?ex=69e9dad4&is=69e88954&hm=0d6cbe3cda65ff332c9c6a2c0fb273ddb5b42c66b777d3585ac4bc90880c9bb5&>
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 13/4/2026 11:53 PM
Sorry, none of them. If you're on a Windows computer, down on the menu bar is a simple carat or arrow symbol (when you hovee over it, it says "Show hidden icons." Take two of those symbols. Put one of them in front of you, just as it looks on the computer screen, and take the second, flip it upside down, and overlap it (point pointing "down") over the first carat symbol, so in their five-swuare-long "legs" they share the third square.
Brian CortijoRole icon, Icon of the Realms — 14/4/2026 1:49 AM
Thanks! The mapping system I was using has a four-in-one tiling, so it made things a bit obscure, but your answer clarified what I was asking:
-Are the tiles oriented so that their sides make step pattern, or a single, smooth line? It's the latter (so we'd use the second pairing)
-Are the "points" counted among the five tiles of each leg of each chevron? From your description, yes.
A quick attempt to clarify:
<https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1072136642162343986/1493307108718936255/Spellcircles_numbered.jpg?ex=69e9b2df&is=69e8615f&hm=411c0252414c63ae624fc76b2e4883d4fff3ebb6f7a17b21b056eaf62e3fcd9f&>
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 15/4/2026 12:09 AM
Yes, that's the "board"! Thumbs up! |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 12:44:52
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On elf activity in the Border Kingdoms
MorwelRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/9/2025 1:03 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood !
I am researching various areas of the realms for campaign ideas, and regions I tend to love locations such as Tethyr and the Border Kingdoms since having local lords / small regions for PCs to be influential or even rule is of interest to me for PCs as they reach higher levels and can expand their power beyond just personal heroics, but as leaders.
However, for the Border Kingdoms, I am having a hard time finding plot hooks or interest within it for non-human races such as elves. I have seen the video on eilistraeens in the western portion of the region, but for forests like Duskwood or others as well, is there any elven activity of note within the region or even small tribes trying to survive or have minor influence or politics with the various kingdoms around? If able to expand further, also knowing more of other races influence, settlements and more for players to hook them into why their kin would have personal investment to the region would be wonderful.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 11/4/2026 10:27 AM
Elves have usually chosen to keep low profiles in the Border Kingdoms, and so have been somewhat neglected in published Realmslore.
However, elves (notably of the Maruthqel moon elf and Aravvan wood elf families; moon elves and wood/copper elves dwell together in tree-homes in this area) living in the northernmost fringes of the Qurth Forest west of the port of Derlusk have made common cause with halflings and certain human and half-elven mages of that city to sell large quantities of spell inks and forest-plant-based paper they make via shopkeepers in Derlusk.
The moon elves of easternmost Duskwood have long made and sold arrows in bulk to caravans traversing the Golden Road (doing so to ensure the arrows are transported and sold elsewhere, not falling into the hands of Borderers who might well go elf-hunting locally with them). Halflings, gnomes, and dwarves flourish in most of the Border Kingdoms cities, but avoid trying to rule or otherwise holding high political profiles. Rather, they make good livings as crafters and menders for their fellow citizens.
Dwarves tend to be watched warily in Innarlith due to old (and utterly unfounded) fears that the gold dwarves of the Great Rift might try to conquer it as a first step towards a surface empire, and as a result, they have made common cause with gnomes and halflings of Alamontyr in the Border Kingdoms to smuggle goods into and out of Innarlith.
The exception to this widespread aversion to making bids for leadership in the Border Kingdoms is all along its southern edge, where “maverick” adventurers of all races from thri-keen and loxo to, yes, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings have often conquered this or that village or thorp and set themselves up as barons or “grand dukes” or “high scepters” to rule—but they rarely hold on to their thrones (or their lives) for long, as the next ambitious would-be ruler rides into town with a stronger military force and sets about slaughtering to win their own short-lived rule.
In this lore reply, I am assuming you are familiar with the contents of the official canon book THE BORDER KINGDOMS that Alex Kammer and I published on the DM's Guild. There's plenty of "who's up to what in the Borders" lore therein. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:29:55
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On Scornubel in 1501 DR
Eilistraee's WarriorRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 11/4/2026 1:21 PM
@Ed Greenwood I'm starting an adventure in Scornubel 1501 DR. What can you tell me about the settlement currently. Is it relatively more tolerant of outsiders, outlaws, and "undesirables"? I was getting a little bit of a wild west vibes from what I've read about it. Would it be crazy if I had a few drow outcasts living/working there? Please correct me if I got anything wrong. Thank you for your attention.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/4/2026 5:46 AM
Have you read its lore coverage in SOULS FOR THE TAKING? |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:39:56
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On Elminster's favorite spell and his name
BrunoRush [WOOD], Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/4/2026 4:52 AM
Good afternoon, @Ed Greenwood . Questions from my ten-year-old son Alex, a big fan:
“What is Elminster’s favorite spell, and where did he get his name?”
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/4/2026 5:52 AM
Although there are those who will say Disintegrate or Meteor Swarm are Elminster’s favorite spell (based on the glee and frequency with which he seems to hurl them), the Old Mage’s own preference is for The Simbul's Synostodweomer, a transmutation spell that converts other spells into healing magic, because he’s used it to save folks dear to him on several occasions. The spell Turtle Soup is his second most favorite.
Elminster got his name from his parents, who named him in long-ago Athalantar (El was a son of its Aumar ruling family). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 14:57:01
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On using other languages to cast spells
VelaRole icon, Artisan of the Realms — 13/4/2026 4:08 AM
@Ed Greenwood In your video showcasing some combat spells (Magic Missile, Fireball and Lightning Bolt more specifically), you say spellcasters usually incant in common after saying the draconic "Oloarcan" or "Varthae", while you mentioned Thorass and Loross on Patreon for different spells.
Are some languages favored for some spells while others are used as the verbal component of different ones, or could someone substitute them for a language with which they're more familiar without reducing the spell's efficiency ? Thank you for replying to our questions !
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 13/4/2026 11:49 PM
The incantation in a casting serves to concentrate the caster's mind on a particular effect with precise timing and location. Any language can be substituted by a caster who experiments and practices doing so; attempts to do it "on the fly" in real battle conditions are apt to be disastrous for anyone but a veteran archmage (and higher). Particular languages are favored out of custom (i.e. in the real world, we adopted a method of classifying life scientifically that uses Latin) and in the case of arcane spellcasters, to make what they do seem more difficult (literally, hard to pronounce) and mysterious (the same reason real-world professions adopt jargon and then repeatedly change it). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1994 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2026 : 15:07:32
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On ways to deactivate a devil's pact for a time
mAc ChaosRole icon, Patron of The Realms — 13/4/2026 2:40 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! A question about devil pacts. Is there some way for a church or other method (magic item, spell, ritual) to "mute" an infernal pact so that it can't be accessed? Not break the pact, or end it, but simply deactivate it for a time.
Ed Greenwood [WRIT], Role icon, Father of the Realms — 14/4/2026 12:00 AM
The short answer is YES, though it's not safe nor easy and only a few senior clergy of some churches know how. The longer answer: that very thing is something I've had to explore in detail at the gaming table recently, so there's an upcoming (not soon; I'm about a dozen articles "ahead" right now) Lost Lore of the Realms that describes this in some detail. |
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Ed Greenwood from Greenwood's Grotto
