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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
 Posted - 17 May 2006 : 05:35:12
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Hey Ed,
I know plenty of ideas have been added to your world that you didn't approve of but do you think there is room for Asian or Asian themed characters in the Realms as you see them?
Does Faerun have any trade connections or visiting to the lands of Oriental Adventures I'm asking I guess?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3740 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 06:19:10
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Mr. Ed, I've got another question.
-Can you elaborate on some of the traditional Elven meals/drinks served in places like Evereska, Evermeet and, back in the day, Cormanthyr? You know, things like what the meals/drinks are called, what exactly they are...I would become even more indebted to you than I already am! |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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The Wanderer
Learned Scribe
USA
132 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 20:23:45
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Hello, fellow scholars. Having recently renewed my foray into the Realms, I was wondering whether the ever-eloquent Lady THO might convey a couple of question to Sage Greenwood on my behalf. (If they have been asked before, my apologies; 35 pages of posts is a daunting task)
The first (and most likely to be unanswerable due to NDA issues) concerns Rashemen. Having recently read "The Bladesingers", I began to wonder what made Rashemen the way it is, specifically its proliferation of "awoken" nature spirits (a.k.a telthors). I read a passage in "Unapproachable East" in which it was mentioned that the Durthan have plans to awaken spirits in other lands so as to make other them more like their own. This leads me to believe that Rashemen's condition might be man-made. Perhaps a result of the long-gone Narfell Empire's trafficking with demons? Or perhaps it is a uniquely, naturally-occurring event?
My second question (a bit easier to answer) concerns separation of a couple (i.e. divorce). While I would assume that cities such as Sembia and Waterdeep would be open-minded about such things, I was wondering about the rest of the Realms. Are there places in which divorce does not exist or is viewed negatively? Are there gods which forbid its practice? (Hmm... Two questions in one.)
My thanks for you time and patience.
-- The Wanderer |
The Wanderer |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 22:26:57
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quote:
Originally posted by The Wanderer
My second question (a bit easier to answer) concerns separation of a couple (i.e. divorce). While I would assume that cities such as Sembia and Waterdeep would be open-minded about such things, I was wondering about the rest of the Realms. Are there places in which divorce does not exist or is viewed negatively? Are there gods which forbid its practice? (Hmm... Two questions in one.)
My thanks for you time and patience.
-- The Wanderer
Ed has discussed marriage and divorce in past replies. Dig through the indexs/toc's that are in my sig. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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The Wanderer
Learned Scribe
USA
132 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 22:44:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
Ed has discussed marriage and divorce in past replies. Dig through the indexs/toc's that are in my sig. :)
Many thanks, Kuje. I will most certainly spend some time looking through your compilation as it is a very useful resource. 
-- The Wanderer |
The Wanderer |
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Akashayana
Acolyte
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 00:17:03
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quote:
Originally Posted by The Hooded One
Posted - 29 Apr 2006 : 01:09:41
...(so we’ll end up defending nude female “witches” to the Bible Belt, who already want every D&D book burned and its makers jailed? Riiiiight.)...
Hey all.
Just a friendly reminder... there are those of us trapped here in the bible belt (Oklahoma) who aren't bible-thumping book-burners.
There are avid Realms fans (a.k.a. "the little guys/gals in the trenches") here too; although probably not as many as in more populated areas.
Besides your average trooper defending our beloved hobby, there are also minorities like myself from non-protestant religions who are toughing it out double-hard for the rest of you.
I shall hold onto my game books in the face of any oppression, (aside from a gun at my head... wherein I shall set them down temporarily  ) and until the end in defense of my right to both read and possess an imagination. 
Long live the Forgotten Realms!! |
-America is the only country in history to go from barbarism to decadence without civilization inbetween. |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 04:28:15
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Hello again, all. As promised, Ed returns with more housekeeping replies:
To Jamallo Kreen, Ed saith: those Elminster-attacking “memory-devouring brain worms” haven’t been "written up" as official game monsters. Yet. There’s a good reason for that. No, I can’t say more right now. Other than to hint that you may soon see, in print, yet ANOTHER sort of “memory-devouring brain worms” in action, in the Realms.
To Kuje and The Sage, Ed says:
I honestly don’t know who provided the pronunciations in the Old Gray Box. The two most likely persons are of course Jeff Grubb and Karen Boomgaarden, but I’ve never asked.
And to Kajehase, Ed saith:
Kuje is right: Cylyria Dragonbreast is indeed a half-elf (and the FRCS is in error). I must tell more of her tale someday . . .
To VonRaventheDaring, Ed replies:
Yes, I do use psionics, but sparingly. Usually in the form of characters having ‘wild talents’ (minor personal powers). I’ve spoken before here at Candlekeep about my experiments in psionic combat. I don’t have any plans for adding any psionic-related elements to the Realms right now, because (bwuhahahaha) I have much bigger things on my plate, that I’m working on and that bid fair to keep me busy for years - - with more things being dumped onto that plate constantly! And yes, she does, and as for the sampling: take a number, sir, take a number. :} The end of the line is over the crest of yonder hill.
To Slime Lord, from back in September of 05, Ed adds this to his reply on the demonhandling debate:
Though the priests of the Morninglord might question your sorcerer of Lathander character pretty closely about this if the character made a practice (frequent habit) of it, otherwise it’d be morally fine, as you’re trying to bring about a “new beginning” for the demon.
To Asgetrion (also from back in September of 05), Ed says:
You’re very welcome re. the guilds reply, and glad you liked “Best of Eddie.” “Living Forever” is certainly ‘different’ and so helps to balance the collection, and the other two are personal favourites of mine, too. It will probably be years before any "The Best of Eddie, Part 2" (so save those neighbours for now) as the spotlight shifts to Elaine now. In the meantime, I’ll just have to devote myself to writing more worthy Realms short stories (in my spare time, of course :} ) and getting them out to scribes of the Realms in various venues. Ah, to have more time . . .
To Anticlion Son of Semnion, Ed says:
Well met, and the honour is mine. I trust the good sage Eric Boyd has answered your Hellfire Wyrm query adequately; consider his words definitive - - but don’t hesitate to ask on other matters here; I’m all ears and mouth, it seems. :} [No comments on this point, thanks, Lovely Lady Hooded!]
So saith Ed, Creator and Peerless Master of the Realms. And to Smyther, I can add a quick confirmation: Semphar and Murghôm were indeed part of Ed’s original Realms.
love to all,
THO
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 04:46:00
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| As far as the Hellfire Wyrm goes . . . read the Ruin . . . |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31768 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 05:18:08
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
To Kuje and The Sage, Ed says:
I honestly don’t know who provided the pronunciations in the Old Gray Box. The two most likely persons are of course Jeff Grubb and Karen Boomgaarden, but I’ve never asked.
Thanks Ed.
I've passed the question on to Jeff as well for a little discussion (he's yet to respond), and, the email I have for Karen may actually be an old one -- but I'll try it anyway...
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 18 May 2006 05:18:49 |
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Neriandal Freit
Senior Scribe
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 13:10:52
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quote:
To Slime Lord, from back in September of 05, Ed adds this to his reply on the demonhandling debate:
Though the priests of the Morninglord might question your sorcerer of Lathander character pretty closely about this if the character made a practice (frequent habit) of it, otherwise it�d be morally fine, as you�re trying to bring about a �new beginning� for the demon.
Ah, I'm very pleased to here it. I've had a name change here on Candlekeep, but none the less I'm still here and very pleased to hear about that. This is what I was believeing they (The Priests) would most certainly do and morally allow.
I appreicate it a great deal :D
 One Question Down, Five to Go - |
"Eating people is wrong...unless it's on the first date." - Ed Greenwood, GenCon Indy 2006 |
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Zsych
Acolyte
28 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 14:45:03
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My greetings to Ed and THO.
I have a question regarding the participants in the creation of the mythal on Myth Drannor.
I'm told that according to page 1089, vol 4, of the Wizards' Spell Compendium 1998(haven't read it myself):
"... the mythal that envelops the ruined city of Myth Drannor in the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting was created by nine wizards, of at least 41st level and casting 10th-level spells."
<cough> <cough> I'm finding this very hard to believe. Even the Srinshee was only 30th level last we heard.
Incidentally, why is Ioulaum sitting in the middle of nowhere as an elder brain lich? It would be nice to hear details about how he ever decided to follow such a path. And what benefits did he really get apart from the 20th level psionic ability?
Also, another question(more seem to keep popping into my mind). How long did it take Ioulaum to develop an epic version of his 10th level Ioulaum's longevity? Did he have trouble learning epic magic, or had he always known but never used it?
Hmm... it occurs to me that strong psionic powers might aid in the teaching of epic magic, so that it may be used on a society level again(unlike it's normally unteachable state, whereby it would not really grow with a society as a whole) |
Edited by - Zsych on 19 May 2006 16:22:15 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 03:42:06
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Hello again, fellow scribes. Back in July of 2005 The Sage posted: “As some at Candlekeep already know, I'm a classically trained musician with a passion for baroque music. As such, I have a question for Ed... which relates not only to my personal interests, but also to a project I'm working on for Candlekeep.
Although it is a mundane topic, I find music in fantasy settings to be an extremely rewarding topic to read about. There's been detailings on the music at play in the Realms through the years, however I'm now looking for something extra.
So, what can you tell me about the state of music in the Realms? Whether it be a common bard's song sung in the taverns of Luskan, or a seven-hour long opera about King Azoun's last days in the Royal Court of Cormyr... music touches the lives of all who live in the Realms.
I of course know of the few Dragon articles dedicated to the topic (which you've written in the past), so I've already put those aside for research. I recall the discussion of musical instruments in both the original and 2e boxed sets, as well as the FRCS. And I know also of the instruments and musical works that have been mentioned in some of the novels.
I have all that. What I'm looking for, is how you would visualise the musical scene in some of the more "cultured" regions of the Realms -- for example Sembia, Waterdeep... and perhaps even Thay. What's popular among the upper classes, the middle classes, and the low classes? Have you expanded on the core instruments that we know are already used widely in the Realms.
I realise this is a fairly heavy topic to discuss, so I can appreciate the fact that Ed may have to take his time with this. As always, my thanks to both yourself and the Lady Hooded One.”
Ed replies:
Yes, a vast topic indeed; akin to requesting “tell me about music in the world” in our real world. :}
So let’s leap on your narrowing of it and ride that hard, answering just about the current musical scene in Waterdeep, in Cormyr/Sembia/Westgate, and Thay.
I’ll tackle them one at a time, beginning with the City of Splendors:
Waterdeep: A very cosmopolitan, sophisticated ‘crossroads’ city with a wide tolerance for varied sorts of music (including theatrical music, “music hall”-style comical songs and parodies, and unseen-musicians background music).
With that said, here are the by-social-class generalizations:
The upper class (senior courtiers, nobles, the wealthiest wannabe-noble merchants, a few wealthy “landed individuals” [such as wizards] who’ve settled in Waterdeep and have both great wealth and the desire to maintain a public profile, and a handful of the wealthiest, most pretentious guildmasters) tend to sponsor musicians, and thereby help to introduce some avant-garde material - - but at the same time tend to share (as a group) the most conservative tastes in music: they most often want their hired (or in some cases staff) musicians (yes, the “minstrels in the gallery”) to play instrumentals, “the classics” (slow, stately dances [think the Baltimore Consort “O Mistris Mine” I mentioned back in 2005]; the more sedate or sadder traditional ballads arranged into what we might call symphonies [think Respighi’s “Ancient Airs & Dances” or Praetorius]; and short ‘mood’ pieces [think “Elspeth of Nottingham” by Focus]) with instrument solos but limited improvisation.
The middle class is governed more by fads than any of the other classes, and tirelessly hires local musicians to rework traditional ballads with updated topical lyrics (or even to craft advertising jingles out of them), or - - aping the upper class - - hires musicians to compose and perform tributes at funerals [think “Alexandra Leaving” by Leonard Cohen]). “New songs by new singers” are constantly welcomed, in an endless ‘hit parade’ (if Ravallo the Minstrel is a hit at Daunalethna’s evenfeast, he’ll be wanted by respectable matrons up and down the city for at least a tenday). As everyone also tries to keep “just the tunes they like” in the everchanging ferrago, the result is a wide variety of music centered on memorable melodies, from sad ballads [think such traditional standards as “Molly Malone” as done by the Limeliters or “She Moved Through the Fair” as done by Nana Mouskouri] through LOTS of narrative ballads [think “Lord Baker” as done by Sinead O’Connor and Christy Moore, “The Prickly Bush” as done by Steeleye Span, or “The Lady of Shalott” as done by Lorena McKennitt] and comic or satirical songs [the traditional “The Vicar of Braye,” or “The King” by Steeleye Span] to catchy little ditties [think “Cheerio” by Jethro Tull] and the occasional quieter ‘mood’ song [think “Love Itself” by Leonard Cohen]. The middle class is the group most accepting of truly new and different material - - but they want strong, memorable melodies.
Except for catchy dance tunes and simple “strike-the-tables and roar-the-chorus” protest songs (what are now sometimes called “anthems” in our real world for their popularity, though they’re not sacred choral music in any way), the lower class hates the new and unfamiliar. (Again, please remember that I’m generalizing and therefore stereotyping here; individuals of this class or the other classes may differ from what I say here.) They want traditional ballads with strong rhyme and rhythm, that they can dance to or at least sing along with. They’ll tolerate a few new lines of lyrics (topical social protest or society jokes) delivered by a popular singer leading the song, but otherwise, stray not from the familiar words and tune - - or else! Dock Ward holds dear many sea chanties and sailors’ songs [think “Three Fishers” by Stan Rogers], and loves either songs of sad rage [think “The Faith” as done by Leonard Cohen] or comic songs with bite [think “The Irish Ballad” by Tom Lehrer].
Beyond the human voice, instruments used in all of this include the birdpipe (pan pipes), glaur (fashioned like a saxophone, sounds like a serpent or a chanter depending on size and how played), hand drum, great drum (kettle drum), longhorn (flute), shawm (oboe), songhorn (recorder), tantan (tambourine), yarting (guitar), lute, harp, artang (dulcimer: bowed or plucked, NEVER hammered), straele (violin equivalent: is usually shaped like one of those tall, tapering wooden metronomes), cradled in one arm whilst rested in crotch or on chair one’s sitting on, and bowed), great straele (cello or bass viol equivalent: is stood on floor and plucked or bowed), and drone (a large, stationary double-reed instrument with a bladder and several mouthpieces, played by multiple musicians and sounding either like the drones of a bagpipe or an organ or synthesizer that’s being played like the background supporting tone in the aforementioned “Lord Baker”).
The “scene” (no Faerûnian would ever call it that, of course, or even think of “music” in a collective, overview manner: in Common, “minstrelsy” is all live music except “holy” music, and is either “song” [vocal], “allsong” (choir and orchestra or instrumental accompaniment), or “wordless” (instrumental, but may include wordless vocalizations; many musicians use their voices to extend or modify the sounds their instruments can make) is lively, profitable for musicians (even in winter, for although the population shrinks, there’s a lot less that can pleasantly be done outdoors, so more musicians are “hired in” for an evening, or paid to teach songs to children, elderly or infirm family members, and servants with good singing voices, for family entertainment later), and on the whole open to new talent, styles, and presentations.
So saith Ed. Who will do Cormyr/Sembia/Westgate next time.
love to all,
THO
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31768 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 05:39:22
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Oooh! I'm all tingling with anticipation.
And no, the Lady Herald is nowhere to be seen...  .
Thank you Ed... and to you as well, as usual, THO  . This fills in a couple of the "blanks" in previous details you've already told me about.
I've got a couple of points I want to raise with this... but I'll pursue them privately with you rather than post them here -- since they're largely focused around what I'm writing for Candlekeep and I don't want to spoil it by sharing these details here.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 19 May 2006 05:40:31 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 03:00:26
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Hello again, all. Ed continues his ‘music scene of the Realms’ replies to The Sage, by examining the Cormyr/Sembia/Westgate area. Heeeere’s Ed:
Cormyr/Sembia/Westgate: All of the ports are very similar in musical tastes, regardless of realm, and have different “scenes” than the uplands (northern Cormyr and Sembia).
Lilting “lover and his lass” and “brave knight bold against the dragon” traditional ballads were formerly THE music of both the ports and the uplands, augmented in the ports (only) by a few VERY rhythmic courtly dances (Tudor-style stuff; think Terry Tucker’s “Overture To The Sun” from the Clockwork Orange soundtrack).
The ballads are still popular, usually sung by a minstrel playing harp or yarting (guitar), but the dances are now favored only in Suzail and Westgate, and inside the halls of various Cormyrean nobles (and a few Sembian rich merchants who admire, and ape the fashions and lifestyles of, said nobility).
What’s come along to displace the dances are grand, feel powerful, important, uplifted, and wealthy “the future is a bright flame in our grasp” pieces of music performed by a dozen or more musicians and singers (split roughly half-and-half). The singers provide softly-harmonizing, “fading in and out” choruses (sometimes chanting, momentarily plainsong for emphasis at the climax or close of some pieces [think (Enya- or later-Clannad-style vocals]). What drives and dominates the songs, however, are intertwined, harmonizing, “proud” warhorns (trumpets), glaur, and gloon (single-note, valveless glaur) playing repeated motifs [think Terry Tucker’s “Overture To The Sun” again, but with no percussion at all]. In many of these tunes, the warhorns try to sound like hunting horns, with high signal calls answered by fainter (“distant”) responses. Multiple fast-plucked (with metal “talon” picks that fit over the musician’s fingers like false nails) yarting move the tunes along (quickly, always with warlike or galloping energy) between the trumpet motifs.
This new musical fashion has developed in the region, blossoming so swiftly that such pieces haven’t yet acquired a collective name, though the term “ardanthe” (from the Chondathan word for “strong heart” or “stirring spirit” [alert scribes will notice that this is also a feminine given name, that has appeared earlier in this thread]) is gaining popularity.
However, their emergence has been embraced only in the cities of Cormyr, Sembia (and Westgate itself); in the uplands, such sounds have been greeted with puzzlement and disgust, with traveling bards and minstrels expected to provide the traditional ballads - - and the rural folk themselves cleaving to simple (usually plaintive “everyday complaints”) songs that can be sung in what we real-world moderns would call a capella choruses of untrained voices [think of what one hears in the Kipper Family British folk parodies, or when singers are stronger: Steeleye Span vocals but without the electric instruments]. Thus far, the uplands folk scorn the new ardanthes.
So, too, do the lower classes (servants) in all of the cities. The urban Sembian middle and upper classes lead the way in embracing new “outland” sounds, and in Yhaunn a crude keyboard-and-wires instrument, the “jassaran” (after its creator, one Jassaran Dunglan), has just been invented, and is enjoying wild popularity in the dining clubs. The jassaran sounds like a simple spinet or harpsichord. Instrumental pieces galore are being improvised for it, but only the future will reveal if its popularity is lasting, or spreads beyond the cities of Sembia (if I was betting, I’d say yes and yes, but then I’m operating on what happened in our real world AND on a stereotypical view of the mercantile and social energy of Sembia, and of course both of those suppositions may lead me astray in this particular instance).
So saith Ed, adding fascinating detail that I hope is delighting The Sage (at least as much as it is me). Ed will cover Thay’s musical “scene” next time.
love to all,
THO
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31768 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 03:10:13
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Oh, very much so .
I'll even be adding a nice little dedication to both you and Ed on my project for Candlekeep once it's complete.
EDIT: Oh, and I've got a few points I want to raise with this bit too. But I'll take those up privately as well .
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 20 May 2006 03:13:10 |
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RodOdom
Senior Scribe
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 04:25:54
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| Thanks so much for the replies. The Realms is a place I haven't visited for over a decade and I'm very much pleased to find it as interesting and involving as when I first encountered it, if not more. |
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EytanBernstein
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
704 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 09:53:03
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| I can't wait for the Music of Thay! Makes me wonder if they can somehow blend their interesting amalgum of cruelty, perversion, and luxury into a form of music. |
http://eytanbernstein.com - the official website of Eytan Bernstein |
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Zsych
Acolyte
28 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 12:22:01
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| Something dark twisted, and with magically improved(from a certain PoV) slaves dancing. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31768 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 13:13:21
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quote:
Originally posted by EytanBernstein
Makes me wonder if they can somehow blend their interesting amalgum of cruelty, perversion, and luxury into a form of music.
Shame on you Eytan... you've been sneaking a peak at my notes!
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2006 : 14:54:25
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quote:
Originally posted by EytanBernstein
I can't wait for the Music of Thay! Makes me wonder if they can somehow blend their interesting amalgum of cruelty, perversion, and luxury into a form of music.
Well Cruel and Pervese are what Id call rap music! |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36802 Posts |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 00:21:01
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hello again, all. As promised, Ed returns with more housekeeping replies:
To Jamallo Kreen, Ed saith: those Elminster-attacking “memory-devouring brain worms” haven’t been "written up" as official game monsters. Yet. There’s a good reason for that. No, I can’t say more right now. Other than to hint that you may soon see, in print, yet ANOTHER sort of “memory-devouring brain worms” in action, in the Realms.
(snip)
Merci. I await the yuckiness!
I have a non-D&D question, for a change, which I hope will be easy to answer: how does Ed pronounce the last leter of our alphabet?
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 00:27:47
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quote:
Originally posted by EytanBernstein
I can't wait for the Music of Thay! Makes me wonder if they can somehow blend their interesting amalgum of cruelty, perversion, and luxury into a form of music.
Yes! Tell us more about Thay! Two of my players have renegade characters from there. Which prompts this question: how zealous would a tharcion and/or zulkir in hunting down a Thayan non-Red Wizard who had crossed them somehow and then fled to Waterdeep?
But do tell us about the music, too!
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 00:35:33
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I just saw the write-up for the "Elven Spell Lore" feat from PHB2 and I recalled a question about Elminster, of all people, which I have had for a while: would El be willing to teach a wizard of "today" Magelord techniques, and if so, under what circumstances?
Who else in the Realms has the knowledge to teach Magelord techniques? (In a sense, that is the answer to the DC 30 knowledge check about them, too, I suppose.)
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 01:14:09
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Hi again, all. Ed herewith brings us all the last of his trio of “music scenes of the Realms” replies to The Sage, this time describing Thay:
The zulkirs and most powerful Red Wizards immediately under them in ranking enjoy a great variety of music ‘picked up’ on travels all over Faerûn, and of course have both the “recording and playback” spells and enslaved musicians to privately enjoy music, which many of them use to mind-focus for meditation, spell memorization, and relaxation.
Thay also has a prevailing national style of music (the only sort likely to be heard outside the private quarters of its upper classes), and it has been shaped by slave-handling: it’s dominated by heavy drumbeats, providing a cadence for marching or rhythmic work. Usually large “walking drums” (tom-tom style drums, shaped like tops [the child’s toy] but half the height of a man) are strapped to the chests of musicians and played with the flat of the hand or paddles, a dozen or more drummers striking in unison to create a deep, rolling beat. Over this blare warhorns (trumpets), that play martial-sounding fanfares. A single horn will then play a long, wandering melodic line, give way to a counter-melody from a “second call” (another horn), return to briefly harmonize with that second horn, and then other horns will join in again for another fanfare-like resolution. On long marches or day-long work, this process is of course repeated (ad nauseam, most outlanders or slaves would judge).
Inside the private homes, taverns, and clubs of the middle and lower classes, another, more wanton style of music is danced to (usually by slave girls or staff “house shes”): drum-heavy tunes in which a lone female singer vocalizes above a deep drumbeat [think “Dilko Tamay Huay,” the ghazal heard in the Michael Danna soundtrack to the movie Exotica]. The melodic line in such compositions (and there are quiet ones, played for variety among the thundering-beat mainstays) is carried by wire-string yarting, piping glaur and orthunn (“deep shawms:” deep-voiced, floor-standing bass shawms), and usually consists of repeated musical phrases that sound almost like questions or challenges. These songs are known as “thaeraeden,” which means “life-laments,” and they tend to be melancholy complaints and then shrugging “but I’ll go on” acceptances of troubles in love, commerce, and reputation in the eyes of the “greatspells” (powerful Thayan wizards).
This musical “scene” in Thay is fairly static: there are no great breakthroughs in terms of new sounds, instruments, or styles (except on a private individual basis, among the tastes of the powerful wizards), only new compositions among the thaeraeden (and in a club or tavern, an essential conservatism of the populace is revealed: “new” thaeraeden are all very well, but give us some standards, and be sure to build to an ending of three or four “old favourites”).
So saith Ed. And there you have it: the musical “scenes” among the social classes in three areas of the Realms, complete with notes on instruments (and along the way, a partial, passing answer to Neriandal Freit’s question about music-recording magic, too). Great Realmslore.
Oh, and Jamallo Kreen: Ed’s a Canadian, so it’s “Zed.” Except when he’s talking to Americans (most of his publishing contacts and co-designers, at Wizards and elsewhere), whereupon out of courtesy he pronounces it “Zee.” (Remember, Americans usually only “sound out” letter names when they’re rhyming, so it’s a little pointless to wreck an American-penned rhyme or lyric.)
love to all,
THO
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 01:24:16
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| Many thanks, good Lady! |
I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Neriandal Freit
Senior Scribe
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 01:41:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Many thanks, good Lady!
Ah, much the same. I'll away my many months for the rest of the magical recording devices and spells ;) |
"Eating people is wrong...unless it's on the first date." - Ed Greenwood, GenCon Indy 2006 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31768 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2006 : 01:54:47
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi again, all. Ed herewith brings us all the last of his trio of “music scenes of the Realms” replies to The Sage, this time describing Thay:
Ed, and THO, there's no words in the english language that can even come close to describing how I feel right now in terms of this grand lore you've shared with me.
So, I will simply say, thank you -- again.
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2006)
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