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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 00:20:04
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Greetings fellow Sages,
Currently I am constructing a little realmslore (by little, I want it to be everything you could possibly want to know) on the city of Arabel. Now I've been able to do this for smaller Cormyrian cities such as Eveningstar and Dhedluk since they are small, and in the grand scheme of things, are, lore-wise, less of a grand-scale project. But before I innovate some non-canon information, I'd like to here some canon info first. So far my resources are the FRCS, and the article it has on this city. Otherwise, I was wondering if any of you, my superiors ^takes a bow^ would know a thing or three about this city. Some background information would be nice before I undergo my...how does one put it...Investigation. And why would a gnome such as myself would be so interested in mapping the realms? Well, to tell that would be down right unprofessional of me.
Thank you in advance my fellow sages for your lore, and know that I do appreciate it. Even if it turns out to be "there is nothing else on Arabel" (which I sincerely doubt).
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"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
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Foxhelm
Senior Scribe
Canada
592 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 00:26:04
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Volo's Guide to Cormyr is on the Wiz site under downloads, I believe. I has a small section on Arbel and the rest of the Country including the small towns.
The 2ed Box set had a map of that City and the Immersea, plus Suzil I think.
Does that help? |
Ed Greenwood! The Solution... and Cause of all the Realms Problems! |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 00:37:16
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The old 2E hardcover "Forgotten Realms Adventures" had a detailed write-up of the city.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 00:57:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Foxhelm
Volo's Guide to Cormyr is on the Wiz site under downloads, I believe. I has a small section on Arbel and the rest of the Country
You are correct. Volo's Guide to Cormyr can be found on the WotC downloads page. |
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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 01:05:09
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Wow.
Ok, now I feel like a fool. Some of the Material I wrote for Dhedluk and Eveningstar in the Traveler's Notebook is different from Volo's guide (not to mention, Eveningstar already has its own map). Now by all means, a lot changes in the time between the present day in the realms and the time of Azoun the fifth. But damn, 2e had a huge amount of information. I kind of feel like a mouse climbing up the leg of a tiger.
Now I simply ask myself: do I continue, and would alaundo mind if I made some changes to my original material. |
"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
Edited by - Sir Luther Cromwell on 15 Sep 2005 01:08:17 |
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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 01:11:12
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Well, thank you everyone for your help. I honestly didn't know that there were already detailed guides about all the different places in Cormyr. I kind of feel like my other stuff is now irrelavent.
But either way, good day to ye all. |
"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 03:37:31
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No, not irrelevant at all. Just make your material enhance and be true to the pre-existing stuff. Arabel hasn't been detailed to the point where fans and DMs have no leg room - especially given the changes wrought by the Devil Dragon: Arabel was occupied by the goblins for a while before they were dislodged. Keep creating, but pay due to what has gone before.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2005 : 18:02:41
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
No, not irrelevant at all. Just make your material enhance and be true to the pre-existing stuff. Arabel hasn't been detailed to the point where fans and DMs have no leg room - especially given the changes wrought by the Devil Dragon: Arabel was occupied by the goblins for a while before they were dislodged. Keep creating, but pay due to what has gone before.
-- George Krashos
And to underscore what George says above, consider that everything you wrote and TSR wrote is correct. Then figure out a way for that to happen. And yes, the changes wrought by the dragon attack leaves you lots of wiggle room to adjust to fit.
And now you're finding out one of my favorite tasks I once had as the Realms traffic cop--Asking "How can ALL OF IT be right?" and then making it so....  |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 16 Sep 2005 : 03:39:45
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quote:
No, not irrelevant at all. Just make your material enhance and be true to the pre-existing stuff. Arabel hasn't been detailed to the point where fans and DMs have no leg room - especially given the changes wrought by the Devil Dragon: Arabel was occupied by the goblins for a while before they were dislodged. Keep creating, but pay due to what has gone before.
quote:
And to underscore what George says above, consider that everything you wrote and TSR wrote is correct. Then figure out a way for that to happen. And yes, the changes wrought by the dragon attack leaves you lots of wiggle room to adjust to fit.
And now you're finding out one of my favorite tasks I once had as the Realms traffic cop--Asking "How can ALL OF IT be right?" and then making it so....
Good points, and thank you for the reassurance. I'm pretty sure I was just intimidated more than anything. But then again, the gap between 3e and 2e is big enough for a lot of changes. |
"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
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Mkhaiwati
Learned Scribe
USA
252 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2005 : 01:48:02
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hello.
You might also read the last two books of RotA. They cover Arabel some. The land around it was all screwed u, so don't put farms or trees next to the walls. Also, many new buildings sport Shade overtones due to the constructors being from Shade. There is a Pauper Town near the gates, of displaced people.
I just recently started working on Arabel for my own campaign, I took the old map and have properly destroyed it as I like.
Arabel is mentioned in the module The Dragon's Lair, but not much info is given there about it, even though the module begins there and has an encouter or two right in the streets.
Hope this helps or confuses you enough
Mkhaiwati |
"Behold the work of the old... let your heritage not be lost but bequeath it as a memory, treasure and blessing... Gather the lost and the hidden and preserve it for thy children."
"not nale. not-nale. thog help nail not-nale, not nale. and thog knot not-nale while nale nail not-nale. nale, not not-nale, now nail not-nale by leaving not-nale, not nale, in jail." OotS #367 |
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DestroyYouAlot
Seeker
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2005 : 17:32:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Mkhaiwati
You might also read the last two books of RotA. They cover Arabel some. The land around it was all screwed u, so don't put farms or trees next to the walls. Also, many new buildings sport Shade overtones due to the constructors being from Shade. There is a Pauper Town near the gates, of displaced people.
I'm gonna have to check out RotA, even though the response seems to be lukewarm.
I'm running Cormyr in 1372, and I haven't really touched on the Shades stuff, yet, but I have Arabel still in chaos a year after the Dragon War, due to a) the difficulty in clearing out a buttload of orcs and goblins from a huge city, and b) lots of magical chaos and beasties - think how many mages lived in Arabel. Now, think how many different summoned and/or captured creatures probably reside there, and what happens when their captors flee in a hurry? Monster-infested city time, that's what. I also posited the existence of the tent/shanty town outside the High Horn Gate, and lots of refugees traipsing about trying to find somewhere to start over again - along with Zhentarim slavers preying on them.
In my campaign, just getting access to Arabel is a project, as the nobles and merchant houses don't want all kinds of sellswords traipsing about while their holdings are still unsecured. Also, the head of the temple of Tymora is vigorously opposing the re-construction of the various shrines in the city - asserting his belief that worship of Tymora should be the city's official religion. (This is going to create a major headache for one of my PCs, whose main goal at the moment is to re-establish the shrine of Tempus in Arabel.) |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2005 : 20:44:51
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| The leader of Arabel also had a book written about her. It mentioned some about the city. It was the Night Parade. It was based primarily in Calimshan. At one time though there was also a Dungeon magazine module based around Arabel and the night parade coming back to seek revenge or somesuch. Not that these things affect much what with the severe changes wrought during the war against the dragon. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2005 : 21:03:55
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
The leader of Arabel also had a book written about her. It mentioned some about the city. It was the Night Parade. It was based primarily in Calimshan.
The Night Parade was the fourth Harpers novel. It was written by Scott Ciencin, and was set just after the ToT.
It's not one of my fave novels, even among the Harpers books. I can't recall the last time I read it, but I'm sure it's been close to 10 years. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 25 Oct 2005 : 01:33:41
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I don't know, I think it was the conflicting portrayal of Myrmeen Lhal that bothered me about the Night Parade (and Shadowdale for that matter). In all the (brief) descriptions of her, we get the idea that she is a pretty down to earth, "get your hands dirty" former adventurer and a no nonsense ruler, and in those books we see a self centered noble surrounded by wealth and the trappings of power, who begins to dimly remember her adventuring days when a horror from her past shows up.
Didn't seem like the same person described in the sourcebooks, or the one in Elminster's Daughter for that matter. |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 25 Oct 2005 : 15:24:36
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sorry if thatīs a bit off topic, but does anybody know a timeline of the events in cormyr 1370-1372 (i.e. all that happened during the cormyr- triology), where all events are listed with their respective dates (at least the months)?
I tried google but couldnīt find anything thats detailed enough to be used. atm our campaign-time is early 1371, and I need a workable outline of this years events. |
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DestroyYouAlot
Seeker
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2005 : 14:57:35
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I don't know, I think it was the conflicting portrayal of Myrmeen Lhal that bothered me about the Night Parade (and Shadowdale for that matter). In all the (brief) descriptions of her, we get the idea that she is a pretty down to earth, "get your hands dirty" former adventurer and a no nonsense ruler, and in those books we see a self centered noble surrounded by wealth and the trappings of power, who begins to dimly remember her adventuring days when a horror from her past shows up.
Well, the one word that stands out from the rest in the Volo's Guide entry, from what I remember, is "imperious". And, at least from her appearance in Shadowdale, she seems to have a sense of humor about her little abuses of power - but, especially for a woman ruling a frontier city, keeping up an appearance of power and not being afraid to use it would be a must. |
Edited by - DestroyYouAlot on 26 Oct 2005 14:58:35 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2005 : 15:17:06
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quote:
Originally posted by tauster
sorry if thatīs a bit off topic, but does anybody know a timeline of the events in cormyr 1370-1372 (i.e. all that happened during the cormyr- triology), where all events are listed with their respective dates (at least the months)?
I tried google but couldnīt find anything thats detailed enough to be used. atm our campaign-time is early 1371, and I need a workable outline of this years events.
The only source I can think of at the moment, is A Grand History of the Realms, by Brian James:- http://www.candlekeep.com/downloads/grandhistory.zip
But it mentions only a few dates and events.
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On Arabel
