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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 13:49:35
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On dragons since the dawn of time
Lucio — 02/20/2023 4:56 AM
@Ed Greenwood Since Dawn of Time have dragons always been the same? I mean are there extinct types of dragons? Did connection between dragons and the Weave and magic in general change over the eras?
Ed Greenwood — 02/20/2023 5:00 AM
No, yes, and yes. Patreon post coming, eventually. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 13:53:32
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On Uthgrael Aumar as the Stag King
Sheepy — 02/21/2023 12:46 PM
Friend @Ed Greenwood, why was Uthgrael Aumar known as the Stag King?
Ed Greenwood — 02/21/2023 1:23 PM
Athalantar was the Realm of the Stag. I keep forgetting that the DRAGON editors never published its heraldry along with the Athalantar article. As to why it was called the Realm of the Stag...werestagmumblemumblestagheadedsorcerermumblemumbleuntoldsecretoftheRealmsmumblemumble... |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 14:03:56
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On having a say in the novels
DaBroni (actually a CR 0 spider) — 02/18/2023 9:29 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! I was wondering if you had a say regarding the stories developed in the novels you did not write.
Ed Greenwood — 02/21/2023 1:28 PM
It depends on the novel. I contributed many ideas and setups in the early days that got picked up and used for novels, I got to lore-edit most of the early novels (like THE CRYSTAL SHARD), I worked with some authors extensively behind the scenes on their novels, I participated officially in editing the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep novel line (Susan Morris did the REAL editing), and I contributed literally dozens of characters and lore details to in-house editors who were editing novels, and to some writers who wanted to pitch novels. So…it depends. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 14:06:58
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On how drow music would sound like
DaBroni (actually a CR 0 spider) — 02/21/2023 1:15 AM
Hello Sir @Ed Greenwood ! Do you know how drow music would sound like? Any real life example that comes close to it? How about music from other races?
Ed Greenwood — 02/21/2023 1:35 PM
I’ve answered this a time or two before, over the years, and drow music has a lot of piping (the Realms equivalent of pan pipes and flutes) to carry syncopated and deliberately dischordant harmonies while wailing and keening singers provide the melody.
Percussion is rare, and when present is provided by small hand drums (like a bodhran) or hollowed wooden block instruments struck with sticks (like muyu), not by any larger or louder/deeper drums, because these echo in the Underdark (and are used by some other subterranean races for signalling).
“Eerie” is a good word for most drow music. “Haunting” is another. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 14:09:40
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On name for the region between the Serpent Hills and the Marsh of Chelimber
ericlboyd — 02/22/2023 12:08 AM
Is there a name for the region between the Serpent Hills and the Marsh of Chelimber? Basically open land between the Winding Water and the Serpent's Tail Stream?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:07 AM
Yes. That strip of very-gently-rolling hills, scrub-forest and open wilderland is traditionally known to humans (and other merchants and wayfarers using the Common Tongue) as Skuldervar, after a long-dead adventurer, Antros Skulder, who retired there in 1322 DR (after making his fortune in Amn and Tethyr) to found his own steading, later “barony,” with him as the first Baron Skuldervar. He died in the torn-open top of his tower in a dragon’s jaws and claws in 1346 DR, and no trace at all of his unfinished keep and his steading-farm remains today.
Najarrans call the same area Sussith (“Our Open Land”). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 22 Nov 2023 : 14:12:46
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On a white wyrm called Arkhenthus
Lucio — 02/21/2023 10:00 PM
@Ed Greenwood Just reading Volo in the Dales and it's mentioned a white wyrm called Arkhenthus could you tell us anything about this gigantic white wyrm? Edit: Also...what is a spellsword as meant as a blade?
ericlboyd — 02/21/2023 11:26 PM
As noted in Grand History of the Realms, page 68, in 290 DR: The first dragon-hunt in Cormanthyr involving non-elves takes places, as six flying elves and humans slay the ancient white wyrm Arkhenthus the Mage-Devourer. He's also mentioned in Dragons of Faerun, page 146.
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:08 AM
So Eric has filled you in on Arkhenthus, leaving me spellswords. Wherefore, hearken:
Spellswords were once widely made in Silverymoon, and popular with Harpers (and certain Highknights). They are usually longswords, but can be any ferrous metal or alloy bladed weapon, and are always treated with blueshine and everbright enchantments. They are also enspelled to store spells that can be “fired” out of the sword by any wielder (who needn’t be of any spellcasting class; the wielder can mentally ‘see’ what spells are stored, and unleash one per round, by silent act of will). Each spellsword has a particular capacity for storing spells (typically 2d4, with two of this total being “open storage” for any spell cast into them that’s desired, and the rest dedicated to particular “set” spells (often magic missile or lightning bolt)—and when any of these set spells is cast at a spellsword or its wielder, the sword intercepts (“drinks in”) the incoming hostile spell and (even if this results in over-capacity) adds it as an extra stored spell that can be unleashed from the sword later. It does this with partials, so a lightning bolt that hits several targets and then the sword wielder, but gets sucked into the sword (not harming the wielder or the sword in the slightest), will count as a “full” lightning bolt, for unleashing later on.
Elminster and all of the Seven are known to own spellswords that they made for each other, as a lark, and Elminster’s blade stores seven spells: magic missile x3, teleport, and three open storage slots that he usually fills with chain dispel, constricting chains, and freezing glance. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 00:13:34
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On how do less sophisticated locales in the realms (not Waterdeep) deal with pee & poop
RPGMatch — 02/22/2023 3:29 AM
@Ed Greenwood how do less sophisticated locales in the realms (not Waterdeep) deal with pee & poop? Chamber pots out the window? outhouses? Thank you in advance for answering this important question. #128169;
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:12 AM
Strangely enough, an upcoming Patreon post will deal with this topic in, ah, vital detail. But the short answer is: assuming it's a dwelling and not wayfarers on the road, chamberpots by night and outhouses by day (and the former gets emptied into the latter in the morning, and lime and dirt go down the hole after the chamberpots have been rinsed clean). Slightly larger places (roadside inns, villages) have chamberpots and outhouses emptied by shovel and bucket into nightsoil wagons and carted away, DOWNWIND, to where the dung can be dumped underwater (usually a bog) or spread on fallow fields.
RPGMatch — 02/22/2023 10:26 AM
Are there no “chamber pot out the window” slovenly villages anywhere in the realms? If not, I’m impressed.
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:30 AM
There are, but they tend to be om the edge of disused quarries and mines. Where tossing something out the back window doesn't leave its contents sitting just under your back window. Keeps the flies down, for one thing. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 00:17:06
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On "The Seven Drunken Swordswingers of Silverymoon"
Juniper Churlgo — 02/21/2023 1:38 PM
Returning to my 2-year-old question about operas. we learned about the haunted bedpan, but Ed, what id "The Seven Drunken Swordswingers of Silverymoon" is about?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:13 AM
The Seven Drunken Swordswingers of Silverymoon is a comic farce of mistaken identity and misunderstandings between lovers-to-be. There’s no sex, but plenty of flirtation, and characters assuming wild sex is happening between others (think a real-world Noel Coward play, like Present Laughter). There are seven male main characters (tenors, baritones, and basses), all roistering buffoons but expert swordsmen, and friendly rivals, who come to Silverymoon trying to elevate themselves from mercenaries to well-to-do gentlemen by marrying wealthy half-elven ladies of high society. Who are vastly amused by the seven bumbling suitors, and arrange all sorts of pratfalls for them—which they plough through, not seeing how they’re being set up, and in the end capture the hearts of seven ladies (all altos) by passing little tests of steadfastness, being good sports, and endless entertaining the women. (The closest Shakespeare equivalents would be Much Ado About Nothing or All’s Well That Ends Well.) There’s lots of brief singing, but no arias or huge cast numbers, and there’s lots of running around and “just missing seeing” someone else, who hides behind a pillar, or in an adjoining room that others keep threatening to enter. A great favourite with audiences, that would be staged more often if it didn’t require such a large cast of good actors/singers.
It’s usually billed as being written by Hurlastro Brendril, a mellifluent and large-bellied actor who led his own troupe of players up and down the Sword Coast from 1312 DR to his death in 1368DR, but others say Hurlastro cobbled it together from the “best bits” of three older plays, and most of what we laugh at in the play was written circa 246 DR by “Valuentam” (a pseudonym), who was a high-ranking male elf of Myth Drannor poking fun at humans. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 00:54:17
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On Realmsian “quarterlings”
5eForechecker (Ruf) — 02/20/2023 11:22 PM
Good morning Ed! Thank you as always for answering our lore queries
One of my favorite home brew races is the “quarterling”, the offspring of a half-elf and a halfling. Have you ever wrote about these folks in the Realms? Can you share any thing about Realmsian “quarterlings”?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:14 AM
I have written two quarterlings into novels, but not said what they were in game terms, so spotting them can be a fun game. Quarterlings in the Realms are almost always (94%) half-elves, only of gnome height; i.e. not as small as halflings, but their halfling blood makes them noticeably shorter than the half-elf average. In build and features, they are half-elven. Most want to be treated as half-elves, socially. One famous quarterling was the swordsman Ruelven of Saerloon, a longsword and daggers-wielding duelist and bodyguard-for-hire socially prominent in the 1340s DR, who lived as a man but was revealed as a woman during a fight against a wizard (who’d himself been hired by a mercenary band for the attack) in the mansion of Ruelven’s employer at the time, the wealthy Sembian merchant family who styled themselves House Vhaurren. Ruelven fled to Cormyr after this debacle (the Vhaurrens were slaughtered and their mansion set afire), and retired into rural seclusion in Eveningstar, where she lived with a Harper agent and bladesinger, Chavarrante Davanter, who was herself a retired courtier (human female W9). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 00:59:58
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On dragons eating chocolate
The Entire State of NJ — 02/21/2023 7:45 AM
@Ed Greenwood so a bit of a change of pace from most of the questions here but it's become a heated debate in my group, involving my Drakewarden PC, and it's a bit silly, but we'd like you to weigh in on this.
Can dragons eat chocolate? One of us is arguing that they can since they are fantasy creatures and inherently magical, while another is arguing that they can't because of them being like lizards and reptiles, which can't eat chocolate.
Thanks for taking the time to answer!
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:15 AM
Dragons shared characteristics with reptiles, but aren’t reptiles, and they can definitely eat chocolate (source: a hilarious Gary Gygax adventure at a Parkside-era GenCon, and following that, I’ve DM’d quite a few instances of shapeshifted silver, steel, and song dragons eating chocolate (and drinking chocolate drinks and chocolate-laced ice cream floats) in Waterdeep). Torm of the Knights of Myth Drannor once slyly fed a dragon a laxative hidden in chocolate, and it had his intended effect (a certain noble family of Cormyr will never be the same). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 01:02:55
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On Ahghairon's surname/other name/any aliases
Agneus — 02/18/2023 6:45 PM
@Ed Greenwood does Ahghairon have a surname/other name/any aliases? I searched around, but couldn't find anything official anywhere.
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:16 AM
Ahghairon was born Ahghairon Belnoth Undrur, but once he left home never used anything other than his first name (which was also his great-grandfather’s given name). He acquired or went by other names in his early life, but by the time he was resident in Waterdeep, he was only “Ahghairon” to the world. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 01:09:56
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On what 5e subclass wizard would Elminster be
Ben Battersby — 02/21/2023 8:34 AM
@Ed Greenwood if we were gonna stat Elminster for 5e what subclass of wizard would he be?
Also is it safe to say 29 levels wizard, 3-8 levels of knowledge cleric, 2-9 levels of arcane trickster rogue, 1-9 levels of Eldritch Knight?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:17 AM
As a Weavemaster, Elminster can basically take power form the Weave to power any spell he wants. He also has psionics, spellfire, and the silver fire. If using the 5e subclasses, I’d say he’s a wizard of the School of Evocation and of the Order of Scribes. (And I’d add School of Conjuration if we’re buffing like I see a lot of 5e players do, not that El needs more power. ;} )
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:37 AM
It's definitely safe. As I'd say that's "a good beginning." ;}
Ben Battersby — 02/22/2023 10:38 AM
I'd love to get him a fully loaded (and super busted) 5e statblock with items, spells, soecial abilities, maybe like 50 piety points from the optional piety system to Mystra, just the absolute works.
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:47 AM
This could be a great project for fans here in this Discord server: suggest and discuss the right stats, based on all of our playing experience and the details we remember of published elminster lore to arrive at "the best" stats we can (more or less) agree on. What say? Are we in?? |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 01:12:18
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On would Mystra prevent her Chosen from interfering with Daurgothoth's plan of creating his race of dracoliches
Gustavo Tortato — 02/18/2023 9:22 PM
@Ed Greenwood I have a question about Daurgothoth. I've been thinking of a campaign where The Creeping Doom is closing to, or even already have, completed the plan of creating his race of dracoliches. If this was the case, would Mystra still prevent her Chosen from interfering with Daurgothoth because of his great magic research? Or this would be so dangerous that she would be worried with the consequences and let El and the others to take action?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:18 AM
Mystra is dedicated to making arcane magic widely used by, and available to, all. Daurgothoth has already demonstrated an ongoing and repeated tendency to seize magic from others, and kill others who have magic to get their magic. So, to Mystra, Daurgothoth is still to be thwarted—just as any baron or merchant mogul would be who tried to hoard magic to themselves, or keep it just for their family or loyal forces or servants, AND acted against other spellcasters. The moment they take that next step, it’s not just “collecting,” it’s “restricting others from having magic,” and Mystra frowns. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 02:25:18
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On Baalzebul's current form
The Entire State of NJ — 02/20/2023 4:32 AM
@Ed Greenwood According to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes Baalzebul has apparently worked off his debt and been freed from his slug form, and has returned to his prior humanoid form, which from what I found on the wiki was described as "His new form was that of a 12#8239;ft (3.7#8239;m) tall humanoid with shimmering, sable skin and the jittering, compound eyes of a fly". Is that currently the form he is in at the moment and is the reversal permanent assuming that he doesn't run afoul of his punishment or Asmodeus again?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:19 AM
Yes, and yes. Baalzebul has other forms he can turn into, like a giant fly and a swarm of human-fist-sized flies, but Asmodeus frowns in archdevils using such alternate forms in the Nine Hells but outside of the planes they rule (or as he sees it, reign over, for him). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 02:31:16
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On Sharburg in the Dalelands
Juniper Churlgo — 02/15/2023 9:47 AM
Found one more un-lored and un-known location - Sharburg in the Dalelands – the home of a decadent Beef Sharburg dish. Ed, do you have any idea where it is? I hate when writers and designers drop a name and say naught bout it #128550; dalelands
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:21 AM
Sharburg is one of the Ghost Holds west of Essembra (ruined and abandoned mansions, mainly built by Sembians, that many bandits and monsters lair in, temporarily or until ousted). Sharburg is almost a mile southwest of the next most southerwesterly mansion, so “on its own,” and from 1441 DR onwards has been the home of a small colony of “artistic” (creatives, but eccentrics) retirees from Sembia, who tired of the ‘rat race’ of Sembian society and money, money, money, and all live together in an odd extended family in Sharburg and are fixing it up, piecemeal, as they dwell there. Some of them sculpt, some fire pottery both decorative and everyday-useful, some of them farm herbs large-scale, and some of them make stools and wooden bowls and the like for sale. Hidden among them are at least two wizards who can swiftly destroy marauding monsters or bandits who foolishly threaten the Sharburgans, but don’t advertise that they have the Gift or any mastery of the Art. It’s always wise to beware fat old ladies at the pottery wheel. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 23 Nov 2023 : 02:34:55
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On Athkatlan clarry
Juniper Churlgo — 02/16/2023 10:48 PM
@Ed Greenwood , you mentioned Athkatlan clarry before, how is it different from regular pik or spiced? or red and white blend from daggerford? Does it have a brand name? and how is it exported if at all?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:21 AM
Athkatlans like their wines sweet or tart, not dry or sour, and they have the opportunity to buy ruby-red Calishite wines in bulk (sour wines, not very good, hence available for bulk export). So in Athkatla, certain families have always made their own mixes of honey, spices, and these Calishite reds. One of them, to which a lot of vanilla has been added (which dominates the flavour) has become popular in the city, in wider Amn, and even for export, and is now known as “Athkatlan clarry.” It’s a rich, ruby red in hue, is sweet but “herb-y,” and tastes more like vanilla ice cream than anything else. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 11:29:21
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On the Crystal Chain of Binding
Lucio — 02/14/2023 9:23 PM
Hi Ed, can you tell me something more about the Crystal Chain of Binding? I mean...what makes it so unique, I'd think that in a massive magocracy like Netheril was...such items as the Crystal Chain were quite common ways to restrain a criminal wizard. What makes it so unique? And kinda related if items to prevent mages spellcasting weren't the most used option to entrap rogue wizards.... Can you describe me how a Netherese prison would be?
Ed Greenwood — 02/22/2023 10:22 AM
The Crystal Chain was unique in that it contained the sentiences of many elderly wizards whose bodies were failing them, or who were under magical curses. Entering into a link of the chain was one way of staying alive and aware without becoming undead (an indefinite “waiting room,” if you prefer). Some of the Mages of the Chain are irritable, crotchety or on their way to being insane, and all of them are very wise in the uses and misuses of wizardry, so they can anticipate and foil many wizardly attempts to escape. Most Netherese prisons were of two sorts: to punish a wizard severely, you trapped them in a gem or item (they were essentially powerless, and could go insane out of sheer frustration and boredom). To punish less severely, you transformed a wizard into a small, powerless creature that couldn’t talk, like a frog or a bug, so just surviving engaged their minds. If you wanted them to suffer, you might make them a vulture or something else that had to liv or eat in a manner distasteful to humans. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 11:43:32
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On Cyric's design inspiration
DMHFzoulf — 02/22/2023 9:17 AM
@Ed Greenwood Well again Great Master of the Realms... I wondered if you could comment on the design aspects/inspiration that factored into Cyric's journey? I'm talking behind the scenes as his path to godhood has been tumultuous and some (in the Realms) would say lacklustre. He's certainly a polarising character, I'm just wondering what led to his creation and how much of his journey was 'intentional' from a narrative perspective. Thanks!
Ed Greenwood — 02/23/2023 8:48 AM
Sorry, Cyric was entirely a TSR in-house creation, so I really have no idea as to the inspiration for him, or the design decisions. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 13:24:45
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On why Zhentil Keep didn’t begin rebuilding efforts for so long after the Shadovar decimation
DMHWolf_Fzoul's my spirit animal — 02/15/2023 7:41 PM
This is fantastic to be filling all these blanks in. Thanks so much Ed. I’ve finally got around to a question.
I’m wondering why Zhentil Keep didn’t begin rebuilding efforts for so long after the Shadovar decimation. If Shade invaded in 1383DR, why are they only just rebuilding in 1491DR? Is Fzoul in command of the rebuilding efforts? If not, who would be in charge?
Ed Greenwood — 02/23/2023 8:55 AM
The ruins of both Zhentil Keep and the Citadel of the Raven got used as lairs by a lot of creatures, from bandit and brigand gangs to beholders, and these include some still-NDA antagonists, some powerful liches who surrounded themselves with flying rings of controlled death tyrants, and some creatures raiding upwards from the Underdark.
All of these nuisances took quite a bit of time to clear out, once the beholders supporting the priests of Bane who were in the Zhentarim decided it was time to re-found Zhentil Keep and return to dominance over the metals trade from the mines north of the Moonsea down to the wider Realms (which is the primary way the Zhents bankrolled themselves from the beginning).
The beholders are firmly in charge right now, playing various puppet priests off against each other to make sure no human rises to challenge them. Fzoul is (right now) out of this picture. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 13:59:15
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On titles in Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep
Palant — 02/23/2023 10:19 AM
i have a little question about titles in BG and Waterdeep/
Shieldrar, Civilar, Vigilar - it is obvious that those titles made by adding english part Shield / Civil / Vigil(ant) + - sr.
So question is - -ar is "borrowed' from some real language and has own meaning?
also about terms - one of ranks in Church of Helm is bishou - as i understand bishou is equivavelnt to bishop but in some French manner?
Ed Greenwood — 02/23/2023 11:45 AM
I can speak to the Waterdhavian titles, as I created them, and the answer is no. I can't speak to "bishou" as it isn't my creation. However, as a general rule: trying to equate elements of the Realms with real-world elements and then extrapolating or drawing conclusions is the wrong approach. Doesn't work. Some TSR and WotC designers have put real-world analogues into the Realms, yes, but that isn't how I design the setting. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 14:08:14
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On Tyr leaving the Norse pantheon
Emmissary — 02/23/2023 12:33 PM
@Ed Greenwood Tyr is an interloper god, coming from what I can only think of as Earth Prime? So when Tyr came to Faerun, did he leave the Norse pantheon? If so, what happened that caused him to bounce? Why didn't others come with him? (A tangent question, if Tyr came from Norse pantheon aka our realm, does Dungeons and Dragons exist there? If so does that cause some sort of paradoxical phenonema where it affects Faerun and other worlds in Realmspace?)
Augustoc, Femboy Warlock — 02/23/2023 12:33 PM
Deities can exist in multiple crystal spheres, coming to the Realms doesn't mean they stop existing elsewhere
Ed Greenwood — 02/23/2023 12:50 PM
Augustoc is correct. Tyr didn't leave the Norse pantheon and is in fact still venerated by some in our real world today. What he did was expand his presence into the Realms, because some worshippers came through gates (portals) into the Realms and brought their belief and active veneration with them. To Tyr in our world, the Realms is like a dream he visits for moments, sometimes. To folk in the Realms, he's real and he grants prayers and boons. However, it's a deity already in the Realms, wearing Tyr like a mask, that's doing the granting and gaining the influence. (Why? Well, there will be times when they "as themselves" are less popular than one of their guides. Everyone sane and sentient in the Realms "believes in" ALL of the gods, but gods gain power from active worship and obedience. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 14:41:38
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On opinion on Psioinics
Jenzar El — 02/24/2023 9:00 AM
@Ed Greenwood just a random question, whats your opinion on Psioinics? It's my favorite thing in the realms. I feel 2E was tough to understand but I love it in 3.5E. Was Psionics in your early version of the realms or was this something added in later?
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2023 2:28 AM
The game rules of psionics (which kept changing, and which at one time TSR even wanted to pull out into its own game that could be played alongside D&D) were added into the Realms later, but it was in the Realms from the beginning (before D&D existed), as "amauna" or "mind-magic."
5eForechecker (Ruf) — 02/25/2023 3:31 AM
Okay, it CANT be a coincidence that word “amauna” is the same as the beginning of Amaunator, can it?
Friend Ed, can you speak to the connection there?
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2023 11:26 AM
You're right, it can't. ;} Ahem, NDA mumble mumble Second NDA mumble mumble elevenses mumble...
George Krashos — 02/25/2023 7:07 AM
Realmswise, would this be a Jhaamdathi/Thorass word that has now moved into Common territory? Also, would a psionicist be an “amaunor”?
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2023 11:29 AM
Yes, and yes to "amaunor." |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 14:48:44
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On how much lore does Candlekeep hold about other worlds like Athas, Krynn and the Domains of Dread
Bhaal — 02/25/2023 4:55 AM
hey @Ed Greenwood can you tell us how much lore does candlekeep hold about other worlds like athas, krynn and the domains of dread and and if does the sages discuss a lot about those subjects?
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2023 11:34 AM
Candlekeep holds very little lore about athas and krynn, and the tomes it does hold are in those hidden rooms one must use ward tokens to teleport into and out of. However, there were many accounts written of unintentional forays into the mists by those who found their ways back into Toril, down the centuries, so there are quite a few books on the Domains of Dread, and they are more accessible (i.e. in "open" rooms). However, the sages don't CURRENTLY discuss the Domains a lot. They're more interested in arguing about exactly what happened in the Second Sundering, and the Spellplague, and who can be blamed for it all...
Smokey — 02/25/2023 11:48 AM
Does the clergy of Mystra or her Chosen know what caused the Spellplague ?
Ed Greenwood — 02/25/2023 11:58 AM
Yes. At first it was a "temple secret" (a "sacred mystery") and now it's Mystra sacrificed herself to Save Us All. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 24 Nov 2023 : 16:24:45
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On mana in the Realms
BadCatMan — 02/24/2023 11:40 AM
For my first question... Hearing Elminster deal with mana in Imaria: Destiny of Worlds yesterday reminded me of this old project of mine: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mana
Mana has been mentioned in some of the tie-in video games (Blood & Magic, Baldur's Gate) and appears to be a form of raw magic, but I could find no other Realms connections and could only speculate. So, does mana exist in the Realms, and if so, what is it and how does it relate to more conventional forms of magic (the Weave, raw magic, etc.)?
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:33 AM
Yes, mana is a human term for the stuff of raw magic, and when used, almost always really refers to other ways of harnessing raw magic (alternatives to the Weave, like the blood forges). Mystra’s silver fire is a form of raw magic, and spellfire is another; whenever sentients speak of “forms” of raw magic, they’re really talking about (whether they realize or admit it or not) of a way of accessing raw magic. “Mana” is the most abstract word, like saying something is “powered” without understanding or investigating what its powering it. So “mana work” is magical experimentation, and “harnessing mana” is studying ways of drawing on magic, of which arcane and divine magic are two. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 01:41:13
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On Spell Fire/Silver Fire that isn't well known or in published play?
Kamuai — 02/24/2023 8:10 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood I was wondering if you have anything interesting on Spell Fire/Silver Fire that isn't well known or in published play? Perhaps special properties or abilities of it?
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:35 AM
Wielding silver fire is skin-tingling exciting (what some real-world moderns might call a “power rush”), and feels cool and cleansing. Some individuals momentarily see the world around them tinged with a hue we might call ‘electric blue,’ which is the same colour glimpsed momentarily (accompanied by a falling sensation) when teleporting or traversing a gate/portal. With spellfire, the sensation is warming, and the tinge-hue is red-orange and flickering like flame. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 02:09:03
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On any other places where someone could reasonably become an artificer
Augustoc, Femboy Warlock — 02/24/2023 2:19 AM
Ed, I've had a player want to create an Artificer when we're playing in the Realms in 1488 DR, but I said he could only do it if his character came from Lantan because that's what seemed to make sense to me, but are there any other places you can think of where someone could reasonably become an artificer?
The actual artificer class, not an imaskari wizard calling themselves Artificer as a title, that is.
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:41 AM
Sure. There are several artificers dwelling in Baldur’s Gate, supported by local priests of Gond, who tutor apprentices. There’s also a small colony of Netherese (and opportunistic, inspired supporters from all over the Sword Coast, that include some undercover Zhentarim and Red Wizard agents) living in Neverwinter Wood and rebuilding the crashed “first enclave” of Xinlenal discovered there. These Netherese include some artificers who are tutoring because they need more skilled spellcasters to defend themselves, to earn coin, and to help with the rebuilding (right now, lots of plumbing and santitation systems work), and these Netherese are noticeably less arrogant and “we are always right, we aren’t savages like everyone else” than, say, the Thultanthans were. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 02:15:02
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On connection to Faerun from Mystara
Cdawg — 02/24/2023 10:31 AM
For my question of the day, is there a connection to Faerun from "Mystara"? Has Elminster (or other names we'd recognize) ever visited there? Do the Immortals there have any truck with Toril?
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:42 AM
I don’t know of any direct connection beyond a lone gate linking northeastern Luiren with the northwesternmost Five Shires, and that gate is well-hidden and may even have been destroyed. Otherwise, it’s planeswalking to get between the two settings. Elminster has visited briefly (Glantri, on a successful but violent “snatch back something magical taken, that shouldn’t have been” mission), but few travel between the two worlds who aren’t halfling merchants, and the Immortals ignore Toril as “one more benighted otherwhere of no concern to us.”
Sheepy — 02/26/2023 10:45 AM
You'd previously hinted that someone may have intended the Five Shires book to be usable for Luiren... Now that you mention a gate betwixt them, this makes me wonder if one land was settled by hin from the other. Anything you can say about that, or why this gate may no longer exist?
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 10:46 AM
I would love to, but there's a specific TSR-era NDA about that. The existence of which should (ahem) tell you something. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 03:01:58
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On how much gold would it cost for someone to purchase a carriage or dray in Waterdeep
Drewsef4 — 02/23/2023 11:45 AM
@Ed Greenwood how much gold would it cost for someone to purchase a carriage or dray in Waterdeep? Not rent, but outright own. Or maybe pay off one they accidentally destroyed.
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:43 AM
It depends on the size, finish, and condition of the carriage (capacity, open or closed, heavy-duty, was it carrying spare wheels or not, and how padded/luxurious was its seating, if any). There’s a huge difference between a badly-battered small, light “rattletrap” wagon meant to be pulled by two mules (120 gp and up) and a lamplit-at-night “soft-ride” luxury carriage for six passengers, that one can pull down seats to sleep in (1200 gp and up, new, 900 gp used). An open passenger dray of average appointments and used but not “weathered” condition might go for 700 to 750 gp, not including draft beasts. If the harness needs to be replaced entirely, that’s another 40 (used) to 260 (brand new) gp. 1490s DR prices. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 03:24:13
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On what would the other large spelljamming ports of Faerûn or Toril be
The Entire State of NJ — 02/25/2023 12:25 PM
@Ed Greenwood So the Wiki states that on Waterdeep that"The city was also the largest spelljamming port of Faerûn. Although welcoming to most spacefaring races, Waterdeep's laws required that all ships landed on the ocean several miles from the city and made their final approach by sea. ". What would the other large spelljamming ports of Faerûn or Toril be, and generally how do the people of Waterdeep and those cities tend to react to some of the more exotic vessels, or less common races?
Thanks as always for taking the time to Answer!
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:46 AM
Here’s a PARTIAL list of spelljamming ports. “Large” can be measured in four ways: size of landing field and warehouses, amount of facilities, and frequency of use, and tonnage shipped through. All of those I’ve listed are “large” in at least one of those senses, but not necessarily in all.
Most urban inhabitants are “used to” flying ships, but will look with interest at something unusual (for example, a ship that appears to be on fire, or that’s dangling lots of people on lines, or looks like a giant dragon or beholder). Waterdeep is very tolerant/cosmopolitan (in general, it’s behavior that gets hostile reactions or aversion, not looks), but other places will be more wary. Which is why there are usually local “trade agents” who act as intermediaries for, say, illithids or giff or neogi.
Havilamn’s Dock (it has other names; to the elves, including drow, it’s “Nyndaun”), the spelljamming port Augustoc has located for you, is used by those wanting to arrive and depart Toril unseen, usually with small, portable valuable cargoes (such as gems, perfumes, and medicinal ointments). Almost always, they have access to teleport spells to traverse the Yehimals, if they aren’t from, or “going below” into, the Underdark.
There are other spelljamming ports east of Evereska (on the edge of Anauroch), just north of the White Peaks,
In Evermeet, the major spelljamming port was just north of Ruith, with smaller ports inland of Nimlith, and northwest of Leuthilspar.
In Laerakond, there are spelljamming ports at the edge of the hills southeast of Tarmalune, between the mountains and the forest northwest of the city of Gontal, and northwest of Pelandar.
In Amn, the spelljamming port of Zulla is located north of Keczulla, and there’s a small, hidden port in the Tejarn Hills.
In the Sea of Swords northwest of Amn, there’s a spelljamming port on the island of Toaridge-At-The-Sun’s-Setting, north of the Nelanther.
(Part 2 follows)
(Part 2): In the Pirate Isles in the Sea of Fallen Stars, there’s a spelljamming port on Mirg Isle.
Near Gulthmere, there’s a spelljamming port west-southwest of Starmantle.
In Turmish, there’s a port west of Tarnring, nigh the mountains, and another south of Karthoon.
Again, this is a partial list. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1449 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2023 : 03:27:24
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On books that would be in the library of a Netherese wizard, very devoted to Kozah, that lived during the Age of Discovery
Lucio — 02/23/2023 9:54 PM
My party is about to reach and explore the library of a netherese wizard, very devoted to Kozah, that lived during the Age of Discovery. Can you tell me some of the books that would be in his library. We have so much lore about Netheril but I'd have no clue on how to fill the library ^ ^
Ed Greenwood — 02/26/2023 9:49 AM
Most of the books in his library would be the bound workbooks of dead-and-gone arcanists: their records of their spell experimentations, with diagrams, notes as to the efficacy of various material components and their combinations, and the finished spells with notes on casting particulars, warnings, and reminders. These are generally small, slim tomes (akin to a modern “trade paperback” of 100 pages or less), bound in preservation-enchanted hides that have been dyed maroon, very dark green, navy blue, or deep bronze colour before being “water-sealed” by the enchantments, and are usually named things like “Arkoon’s Librum” (to Netherese, a “librum” means a spell workbook) or “The Third Librum of Nemurressor.” These are unique, irreplaceable tomes. There are also five “standard” works (the equivalents of bestsellers or course textbooks) that every library will have:
Haerro’s Veltanabula: Being The Triumphal Battle Spells of Vultivar Haerro, Monsterslayer, which is just what its title suggests. Full of early versions of forcecage, wall of force, cloud of daggers (moveable), mindworm spells (that lash back at illithids who’ve thrust tentacles into your brain), various tentacle-melting ray spells, and spells that shoot cones of beads of force like live grenades.
Sarturl’s Study of Magical Fields, a dry-as-dust, exhaustive examination and comparison of various volume-filling magical effects. Sarturl was THOROUGH. Want to know what the active area of an antimagic field smells like? Sarturl’s there for you, for an entire precise-of-detail page.
(Part 2 follows)
Oloam’s On Serpentine Matters, an examination of enchantments that confer reptilian forms (or specific features, such as scales and nictating membranes) on human casters, how to vary and tweak them, warnings and pitfalls associated with them, and Oloam’s experimentations on improving and combining them; his chief aim was to retain human hands and speech to keep unfettered access to “spellcasting norms” while in serpent form. His secondary aim was to make assumed serpent forms as powerful as possible (precise prehensile control, crushing strength for coils, and puissant venom, often with skin-contact delivery so biting wouldn’t be necessary).
Skouloond’s Spell Studies is an exploration of the particulars of verbal, somatic, and material components, and varying them in combination to alter known spells, and to craft new ones. It remains very useful to this day, for the same reasons a “substitution guide” is invaluable to a novice chef (if you don’t have any parsnips, or any salt, here’s what you can use instead).
Ivrynxra’s Exploration of Enchantments is a chatty, funny first-person account of unusual castings, in which the lusty, jovial adventuress-mage Ivrynxra Hoond relates what happened when she cast this spell on an invisible beholder while falling in the heart of a waterfall, or when she sliced a ghost with a conjuration intended for something else entirely (yet it worked!). Her writings even discuss a neglected but vital field of magecraft: what actually happens when hostile spells intersect, or affect the same area, or actively clash. |
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Ed Greenwood from Greenwood's Grotto
