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Duneth Despana
Learned Scribe
Belgium
273 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Jul 2015 : 20:29:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
In my mind (and in theirs), the Vyshaan truly believed they were the Seldarine's power on Faerun to keep elvenkind from going astray/corrupt....and doing things like teaching magic to lesser races (and that included the original dark elf race to them--one of the things that really honked them off about Miyeritaar) was a path away from elven purity.
Thus, they might still believe in their hearts they did what they did to the High Moor with the best of intentions--to save the rest of Faerun (or more directly, its elves) from the "corruptions and depradations of Miyeritaari propaganda and foul magics."
Steven
Can you expand upon this? Thank you in advance. |
« There is no overriding « epic » in the Realms, but rather a large number of stories, adventures, and encounters going on all the time. [...]. Each creative mind adds to the base, creating, defining, and making their contribution to the rich diversity of the Realms. [...]. But Ed built the stage upon which all the plays are presented. Thanks Ed. » -FR Comic no.1
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2015 : 22:21:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Duneth Despana
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
In my mind (and in theirs), the Vyshaan truly believed they were the Seldarine's power on Faerun to keep elvenkind from going astray/corrupt....and doing things like teaching magic to lesser races (and that included the original dark elf race to them--one of the things that really honked them off about Miyeritaar) was a path away from elven purity.
Thus, they might still believe in their hearts they did what they did to the High Moor with the best of intentions--to save the rest of Faerun (or more directly, its elves) from the "corruptions and depradations of Miyeritaari propaganda and foul magics."
Steven
Can you expand upon this? Thank you in advance.
I'm afraid I can't without violating at least three NDAs that still are in effect re: this topic, I'm afraid. Sorry about that. |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2015 : 22:24:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Moragion Selian
Hi Mr Schend,
I posted a question about Cormanthyr Empire of the Elves on the rpg products forum, but I was told to maybe best post the question directly to you.
I've been rereading my Ad&d books again, and on Cormanthyr page 8 says something about a chapter called Worlds Beyond Cormanthyr, where there should be descriptions of the other races other than elves that live on Myth Drannor, and I suppose descriptions of neighbouring realms, but I haven't found anything like that. Am i missing something? Is this an errata for a chapter planned and then not included?
Hope you can help, as I really want to do some campaigning on Cormanthyr.
May as well recopy the same [cut due to space from published Cormanthyr book] material herein that was in that other thread... make it easier for folks to compile info.
Worlds beyond Cormanthyr
Before my first visit to the City of Song, I had heard legends and tales in abundance about the elven capitol's beauty and power. However, I also found that many of the tales from my youth were as false as the cry of a leucrotta. In a like sense, the fair folk of Cormanthor were equally misinformed about the world and realms beyond the leafy boughs of their home, aside from those few with whom they had contact. And so, as I have taught ye many things wondrous and whimsical of the Realms, so I taught Eltargrim's people of some of the lands beyond their green empire as they taught me of elven lore and love.
—Elminster the Wanderer in the Year of Trials Arcane (523 DR)
The sprawling wilderness realm of Cormanthyr abutted many domains of other races, though it had little traffic with them aside from reports and contacts made by High Magic, wandering adventurers, or invading armies and wars that threatened the forest borders. With the rise of Myth Drannor, Cormanthyr has become more aware of the Realms around it. Through cooperation and diplomacy, peace and prosperity now spans across the wide variety of races and cultures in Faerun that benefit from Myth Drannor's largess.
Below is an overview of the many territories and realms (of allies and enemies) that have an impact on Cormanthyr, the Heartlands, and the elves in general. Here is the key to the entries and what information is available on these ancient domains:
Example Country's Name
Lifespan: –#### DR - #### DR
The Lifespan noted in each entry corresponds to the humanocentric Dalereckoning calendar for easy time reference. Much of the history can be cross–referenced in the "History" section from Book One of the Netheril: Empire of Magic Boxed Set and the "Elven Ages" of this book. Lifespans approximate the geographic or political entities in a timeline, noting rises and falls; whenever possible, exact year dates are given for historical context, or else there is only an approximate timeframe. While some links are tenuous, this section provides basic information on major contemporaries of Cormanthyr from its prehistory to the present Year of the Falling Tower (650 DR).
General Location: The geographic notes for these realms are given by their modern Realms equivalents for easy placement and reference against the majority of materials printed for the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaigns; if the ancient names for the geography is known, it will be mentioned within the text, not the Location notes.
Status: Ally/Neutral/Enemy—Elven Nation.
The Status refers to a realm's relations with elves as ally, neutral nation (or unaffiliated entirely), or organized enemy; status only refers to its current state in 650 DR and its geographic neighbors, while past status may be discussed within that realm's text paragraphs.
The secondary paragraphs note the origin, purpose, and/or motivation of the realm or geography in question. Other things of note are its connections with elves in general or Cormanthyr and Myth Drannor in particular.
A final paragraph for each realm is added only if the realm is still a contemporary of Myth Drannor (i.e. extant from 261-650 DR). It discusses adventure possibilities for the ARCANE AGE campaign.
Dwarven Nations
Like the elves, the origin of the dwarves and their civilizations are lost in the vague misty times before recorded histories, even among their own race. Rising to rule sectors of Faerûn during the Time of Dragons, the dwarves preceded the elves as major political powers, though not for long. Their earliest empires fell concurrent with the destruction of the Imaskari Empires, though correlation between the two is unkown.
The following nations and realms are all concurrent with the major empires of elves, though the dwarven realms are rarely as long-lived as the elven domains. Exact dates are known for many founding and ending years of dwarven realms simply by discovering rune stones recording the events and cross-checking the dates on dwarven rulers and interaction with the elves to find at least the year it occurred in Dalereckoning.
Ammarindar
Lifespan: –4100 DR - Present
General Location: Beneath the Upper Delimbiyr valley and the Greypeaks Mountains in the Savage North (west of the Great Desert)
Status: Ally—Cormanthyr, Eaerlann; Neutral—Illefarn, Siluvanede
Ammarindar's rose originally as a settlement of mithril and adamantine-miners and armorers, though this quickly changed a few centuries later. Netheril believed the Ammarindan dwarves to be from Delzoun, and King Garromm never sought to inform them otherwise, preferring the relative anonymity afforded him through his close alliance with Delzoun (a major trade ally of Netheril). The dwarves simply stockpiled many enchanted items traded from Netheril, and learned many new and now-distinctly dwarven methods to do the same to their own weapons and armor.
Today, this dwarven realm is the source of much of the present dwarven lore on enchanting items and fighting magical foes, though a number of dwarves have migrated to Myth Drannor in recent decades and are swiftly raising dwarven enchanting crafts to higher levels. A recent invention of great interest to elves and all magic-practitioners were the glow-stones, long crystal spindles aglow with magic that easily recharged magical items of elf, dwarf, and human alike.
Ammarindar provides one of the few sources where Cormanthan elves can gain adamantine or mithral ore or refined and crafted armor and weapons. Of late, the Coronal has sent a number of elven smiths and wizards to Ammarindar to learn more of their crafts and also to help them fight the infrequent phaerimm and duergar attacks within the deep tunnels. The current King Dalthinn, King Garrom's great-grandson, is being pressured by Eaerlanni noble elves to sever some of his ties with Cormanthyr for increased trade alliances more in Eaerlann's (and their) favor.
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For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2015 : 10:13:32
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| Thanks Steven, how do I get in touch with Snowblod? |
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Duneth Despana
Learned Scribe
Belgium
273 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2015 : 13:30:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
quote:
Originally posted by Duneth Despana
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
In my mind (and in theirs), the Vyshaan truly believed they were the Seldarine's power on Faerun to keep elvenkind from going astray/corrupt....and doing things like teaching magic to lesser races (and that included the original dark elf race to them--one of the things that really honked them off about Miyeritaar) was a path away from elven purity.
Thus, they might still believe in their hearts they did what they did to the High Moor with the best of intentions--to save the rest of Faerun (or more directly, its elves) from the "corruptions and depradations of Miyeritaari propaganda and foul magics."
Steven
Can you expand upon this? Thank you in advance.
I'm afraid I can't without violating at least three NDAs that still are in effect re: this topic, I'm afraid. Sorry about that.
Awww... that is truly a shame. I was really curious about this reason for Aryvandaar's invasion of Miyeritar beyond the alleged link between the Olrythii and Vyshaan. |
« There is no overriding « epic » in the Realms, but rather a large number of stories, adventures, and encounters going on all the time. [...]. Each creative mind adds to the base, creating, defining, and making their contribution to the rich diversity of the Realms. [...]. But Ed built the stage upon which all the plays are presented. Thanks Ed. » -FR Comic no.1
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2015 : 03:42:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Bruce Donohue
Thanks Steven, how do I get in touch with Snowblod?
Send him a message via this system, perhaps look at his profile to see if there's an attached email address, and lastly, I seem to recall he was on Deviantart with the same name/handle, but I could be misremembering here.
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For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3806 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2015 : 03:50:17
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| He goes by the name ''phasai'' on DA (http://phasai.deviantart.com/) |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2015 : 10:48:03
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| Ah ok and thanks. As a curiosity then Steven... Since in Cormanthyr Empire of Elves you talked about the Time Conduit spell and that Mystryl not only oversaw the weave but time, does the current Mystra over see time still, or is that another God's portfolio? Having said would it be possible to give a definition to what exactly is a Temporal Portal Nexus? Who was the creator of the history of the fallan Solar Malkizid or can we find information on such? |
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Duneth Despana
Learned Scribe
Belgium
273 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2015 : 21:10:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
quote:
Originally posted by Duneth Despana
Can you tell us more about T’karon, Hamra, and Alunor? What were their respective genders and elf subraces? did they have any house names to them? Thanks in advance ^_^
The Cor’Selu’Tarr’Miyeritaar triumverate, eh?
Well, all were former drow restored to dark elf status in BLACKSTAFF, so their house names are long lost to time and the confusion from millennia as sharn.
As for gender, Alunor and Hamra are female and T'karon is male.
Hope that helps somewhat....I'm still trying to recall where this info of mine re: Rhymanthiin saw publication......
SES
Sorry for only thanking you for the answer now: Thank you very much!
I was spot on in regards to the High Mages' genders ;-P (I DM'ed a one-shot set in the time of Miyeritar where Alunor bestowed a mission to one of the PCs (who I meant for to be the ancestor of that same player's character in our main campaign that she could then meet in sharn form... but she moved abroad so we never got to that point in the campaign :'-( .)
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« There is no overriding « epic » in the Realms, but rather a large number of stories, adventures, and encounters going on all the time. [...]. Each creative mind adds to the base, creating, defining, and making their contribution to the rich diversity of the Realms. [...]. But Ed built the stage upon which all the plays are presented. Thanks Ed. » -FR Comic no.1
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2015 : 14:01:00
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| I tried to a copy of Blackstaff in book format, and I can't get it anywhere. Lost my previous one to a fire. Chapters/Indigo says out of print and cannot get it. Be interesting with all the Dark Elves making their way to Rhymanthiin and how they are coping over the last 100 years and what influence they have had on the city, did they reconnect with all the Mieyiritarran history still intact. What's your thoughts Steven? |
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2015 : 03:48:50
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| I always thought that T’kaaron Ilbaereth, correct me since it has been a while since I read Blackstaff, but wasn't he a Green Elf Male and Hamra Moonglaemer, Alunor Olrythii where Green Elf Females? Though most references of the Olrythii family are Dark Elves. |
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 05 Sep 2015 : 09:53:26
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| Hello Steven where can we get references on the mage Nain, and how did Khelben manage to kill him twice? I finally re-read all of Blackstaff, since I managed to get a paperback copy from England. |
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Bruce Donohue
Learned Scribe
Canada
131 Posts |
Posted - 05 Sep 2015 : 10:01:44
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| I was always curious why Khelben passed on to Arvandor instead of going to Mystra's Realm? |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Sep 2015 : 18:34:24
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I'm not Mr. Schend, but I think the afterlife is supposed to be something you've 'earned' (whether reward or punishment), and thus, if you were really, REALLY good, you'd go to the afterlife YOU preferred.
'The Nameless Chosen' was never fully accepted by the other half of his heritage - the Elves. In his heart, that was the one thing he could never have - his own father's approval. Going to Arvandor represented - to HIM - being finally accepted by his father's kin as 'one of our own'. Its what HE always wanted (Mystra be damned).
Just my 2¢, anyway. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2015 : 04:23:10
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Hey Steve a few quick question (and hopefully a long answer) 
How do you think Rhymanthiin would look in the 5ed era?
Who would live their, and what would the city be like 120 years after its refounding and having been through the Spellplague and the Sundering?
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“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2016 : 16:22:02
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Hello Master Schend.
I would like to ask you a broad question about GHotR. The third of known history is made up by the age of First Flowering but sadly almost nothing happened in that period. Elves came, dwarves came and then Sundering happened... that is basicaly all during ten thousand years. Could you please tell us more about this design decision - why was this era dismissed and still is that long? I find it strange that Ed's original lore would miss such a long period so you will have nothing to build upon.
I understand that elves live in longer lifespan but still this period seems to me unnaturaly stretched and void. I would like to keep my Realms mostly in sinc with canon but currently I am thinking about cutting this period entirely and making crown wars directly after elves arrived to Faerun (it is still 3000 years). |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2016 : 00:42:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley
Hello Master Schend.
I would like to ask you a broad question about GHotR. The third of known history is made up by the age of First Flowering but sadly almost nothing happened in that period. Elves came, dwarves came and then Sundering happened... that is basicaly all during ten thousand years. Could you please tell us more about this design decision - why was this era dismissed and still is that long? I find it strange that Ed's original lore would miss such a long period so you will have nothing to build upon.
I understand that elves live in longer lifespan but still this period seems to me unnaturaly stretched and void. I would like to keep my Realms mostly in sinc with canon but currently I am thinking about cutting this period entirely and making crown wars directly after elves arrived to Faerun (it is still 3000 years).
I'm intrigued as to why this irks you so much that you want "cut" the period entirely. Other than the fact that you don't like the lack of detail (which you are free to flesh out yourself I might add), how can this chunk of history affect your game or campaign in any meaningful way? Just curious is all ...
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2016 : 04:29:35
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Because it doesn't make sense to me. Elves are not known to be peaceful race (quite the opposite) and this long period of nothingness doesn't fit them in the Realms in my perspective. Also I could understand less detail about Age of Thunder as no civilisation from that age is known today (directly). However elves are well around and I do not take that they are so ashamed about Crown Wars that they banned whole 10000 years period of written history.
As GHotR is brought together from different sources so I presume there is no elven sourcebook detailing this period that haven't got mentioned in there (Serpent kingdoms is later book if I am correct).
Reason to cut it entirely is that in my view now this period have no purpose and meaning - hence if removed nothing is changed. only relative impact for me is shorter span of known history but this actualy fits my down cycle theory better as there should be at least one more cycle that is not mentioned anyhow during this period. I have reviewed entire history including creation of Realms and I hope to write it down soon. This is one of the problematic spots I have encountered so I am looking for explanation. Hopefuly I will be able to post it here at Keep someday. |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2428 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2016 : 07:01:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley
However elves are well around and I do not take that they are so ashamed about Crown Wars that they banned whole 10000 years period of written history.
I'm not Steven, but you have missed a few points here.
1) Not all history is written. And it takes what is written to becomes dust much less time than two dozen millennia. Of what little was recorded in a form that could stick around this long (lore-gems), not all actually did, and not all of this is accessible.
So what's left are mostly copies of copies' copies... see two next points on how many of them are likely to be around and how good they can be.
Remember how the Trio Nefarious became a half-forgotten tale to scare children in Cormanthor? It was as "recently" as the late Netheril (after elves stole one set of Nether Scrolls).
2) Elven obsession with their Proud History belongs mostly to the time when their future became so dubious even the elves themselves could see it.
Just like with... almost everyone else, really. Go on, look around.
3) They don't need to "ban" it outright, just indulge in looking the other way, then whitewashing, then wishful thinking a lot, and have the original accounts of events (already biased and then taken out of context) reduced to a pile of stupid fairy tales of self-aggrandizement and lame excuses.
And again, all you need to see how this works is to take a good look around.
The elves were doing exactly this for millennia - resulting, again, in the little miscommunication that brought the Trio Nefarious on their heads the second time (after which more history was lost) - among the other things.
So... yes, practically there's no way of knowing what happened. |
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 |
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2016 : 16:26:38
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| With your argument there is no good reason to put ages before that into that book. I was asking mainly for design decision that led to this not pseudo-good explanation of why somebody lost that lore ingame. I have read such theories many times and it still do not hold any merit for scribes here at Candlekeep who are looking for those answers. I do agree that most of this old lore should not be readily available to actual heroes ingame by mere history skillcheck. |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1152 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2016 : 05:33:12
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Well, there were a couple of missed events, such as the founding of Selmalyr by the sea elves in -14,000 DR and the creation of the Vast Gate (which was never given even a circa date).
But mostly, I agree with TBeholder. Ancient history gets lost easily. England and Greece both have periods of history that are entirely lost because we can't find any records of the time period.
The Grand History mostly contains recorded lore that has already been published in other works. What wasn't already written was entirely original, never before published stuff - which wasn't, from what I've heard, part of the design brief. Even then, I've got a half a Mb basic .txt file full of published lore that the Grand History missed and/or got wrong and I know for a fact that it doesn't cover everything.
In short, I don't understand your complaint. There's very little missing from the book for that time period. If you expect ancient (even to the elves) history to be just as detailed as more modern history, then write your own lore - contribute to the zeitgeist so to speak. Complaining doesn't HELP anybody. If you think that there's a damn good reason why there should be more ancient lore, then offer constructive criticism rather than asking "why did you even bother?" |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
Edited by - hashimashadoo on 22 Jun 2016 05:36:56 |
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2016 : 21:17:44
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First: it was a design question for Steven Schend and I still hope he will answer someday.
Second: any "why even bother" was only continuation of TBeholders argument that it is old lore so why it should be there. You both remind me of real world history which entirely misses a point - I am asking creator of fantasy setting book about his decision during it's writing. You argue about age of that lore but for us players of RPG it is all the same age (maybe you could differentiate editions). |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1152 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2016 : 23:26:11
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| Real world history is any fantasy author's primary frame of reference. I'm going to leave it at that before the tone degrades any more. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2016 : 03:42:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley
With your argument there is no good reason to put ages before that into that book. I was asking mainly for design decision that led to this not pseudo-good explanation of why somebody lost that lore in game. I have read such theories many times and it still do not hold any merit for scribes here at Candlekeep who are looking for those answers. I do agree that most of this old lore should not be readily available to actual heroes ingame by mere history skillcheck.
The lore gaps you have an issue with first came to light in the "Cormanthyr" sourcebook. Unsurprisingly, the majority of that book was devoted to that region and its history. As that product focused on elves and elven society/culture, Steven being Steven provided back story and historical dates for the founding of the elven kingdoms that participated in the Crown Wars - which is where the detail was devoted.
The design decision wasn't to "not write" about the era you are interested in, it was to write about the era that the product was focused toward and provide as much back story and history as he could fit in about elves in general (and Steven used to cop a whole heap of flak for putting in all this type of material from the powers that were).
So in simple terms: many, many historical events occurred in that era you are interested in, but no sourcebook or product was ever devoted to that time. That's your cue to start filling that gap in the lore. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2016 : 14:02:30
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Thank you for this answer. I was not sure to which one of you authors to post this, Steven Schend seemed like to best choice.
So the gap was original from older books...however I have found that Mr Schend is also author of Cormanthor book :-) Which only rephrases my question to this older sourcebook - why 10000 years? was this from original Ed's notes? |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2016 : 19:47:15
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley
With your argument there is no good reason to put ages before that into that book. I was asking mainly for design decision that led to this not pseudo-good explanation of why somebody lost that lore in game. I have read such theories many times and it still do not hold any merit for scribes here at Candlekeep who are looking for those answers. I do agree that most of this old lore should not be readily available to actual heroes ingame by mere history skillcheck.
The lore gaps you have an issue with first came to light in the "Cormanthyr" sourcebook. Unsurprisingly, the majority of that book was devoted to that region and its history. As that product focused on elves and elven society/culture, Steven being Steven provided back story and historical dates for the founding of the elven kingdoms that participated in the Crown Wars - which is where the detail was devoted.
The design decision wasn't to "not write" about the era you are interested in, it was to write about the era that the product was focused toward and provide as much back story and history as he could fit in about elves in general (and Steven used to cop a whole heap of flak for putting in all this type of material from the powers that were).
So in simple terms: many, many historical events occurred in that era you are interested in, but no sourcebook or product was ever devoted to that time. That's your cue to start filling that gap in the lore. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
-- George Krashos
George nails the answer perfectly, as always. Thanks pal. :)
Wrigley, the primary reason to skip over large swathes of history comes from a few reasons:
1) Not every time period has events and activities that are either deemed important or apporpriate for future generations. This could be anything from the drudgery and boredom of "We explored from here to here this year." to "We learned how to eradicate this native race and we don't want folks to remember we did this so let's gloss over it."
2) I can't recall at this time, but it might have had something to do with Ed's original timelines and histories. He'd be the one to answer that definitively, but I'll admit that it was never my intent to fully flesh out every era of history--just those we needed that applied toward the games we were building then.
3) Much of the historical fleshing out I did (as George noted) was tailored toward what we needed a product to do. If an era is left untouched or undetailed, it's either for lack of interest, lack of need, or perhaps we're just leaving elbow room for the GMs to fill those gaps.
4) Specifically, why 10,000 years? I suspect it had more to do with working timelines out backward from FR present to whatever time frames had been previously set by lore and adding any logic or guesstimates as to how quickly things might have happened. I suspect I had to work with a set number of elven eras and a timeframe that had to fit previous lore, and that's why things worked out the way they did.
Hope that helped answer your query, Wrigley.
SES |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2016 : 19:52:42
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley
With your argument there is no good reason to put ages before that into that book. I was asking mainly for design decision that led to this not pseudo-good explanation of why somebody lost that lore in game. I have read such theories many times and it still do not hold any merit for scribes here at Candlekeep who are looking for those answers. I do agree that most of this old lore should not be readily available to actual heroes ingame by mere history skillcheck.
The lore gaps you have an issue with first came to light in the "Cormanthyr" sourcebook. Unsurprisingly, the majority of that book was devoted to that region and its history. As that product focused on elves and elven society/culture, Steven being Steven provided back story and historical dates for the founding of the elven kingdoms that participated in the Crown Wars - which is where the detail was devoted.
The design decision wasn't to "not write" about the era you are interested in, it was to write about the era that the product was focused toward and provide as much back story and history as he could fit in about elves in general (and Steven used to cop a whole heap of flak for putting in all this type of material from the powers that were).
So in simple terms: many, many historical events occurred in that era you are interested in, but no sourcebook or product was ever devoted to that time. That's your cue to start filling that gap in the lore. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
-- George Krashos
Damn system erased a longer response and I'm out of time, so here's the short and sweet:
10,000 years probably chosen because I usually built my histories backwards from present times to fit any previously pubbed lore and then adding some logic to ensure there's wiggle room for the proper development in terms of magic, tech, whatever.
George's response, as always, is spot on and if I disappear again for a while, know that I trust his responses and thoughts on lore more than my own. 
The timeframes and timelines MIGHT have been preset by Ed's histories or timelines, but I can't recall right now.
Large swathes of history are left blank for a few reasons:
Little of interest happened (exploring, farming, building civilizations, etc.)
Something happened that people wish to forget (eradicating native tribes or something)
Whomever's history you're reading applies only to what's important to said culture/person. Thus, Cormanthan histories will willfully ignore much of what southern elf tribes got up to, etc.
Steven |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2016 : 19:56:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Hey Steve a few quick question (and hopefully a long answer)
How do you think Rhymanthiin would look in the 5ed era?
Who would live their, and what would the city be like 120 years after its refounding and having been through the Spellplague and the Sundering?
Look won't have changed much in such a short span of time, but it would be populated a bit more by now, even if not exposed or revealed to the outer world.
The green zone of healthy vegetation would have expanded a bit, but I can't remember what speed I'd set its growth at--even after a century and perhaps an increase of a 10' radius per year, that's only expanding by the size of two football fields in a century, so the biggest visual changes notable by Rhymanthiin would most likely be the changes to the lake in which one of the sentry towers rests.
Alas, brain fried, so I can't think of much more right off hand. If more bubbles up, I'll let ye know.
Steven |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jun 2016 : 14:17:36
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thank you for your answers and to all others as well (especialy GK).
To the "nothing happened" theory - that is what I see as a problem - I can believe this with sarrukh or batrachi before them - they hybernate for looong time but elves do no such thing and it is obvious from later ages that they do not let time just flow - they are ambitious race. |
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Questions for Steven Schend
