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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
 Posted - 28 Jul 2007 : 02:26:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
Hiya Ed,
I was just glancing through the new issue of Dragon and was wondering if you have any comments in the Green Ronin sourcebook: Hobby Games: The 100 Best. I see that James Lowder is editing it and it says Gary Gygax, Steve Jackson, and others have supplied comments for it, so was curious if you had as well.
Hi:
Ed was one of the first people I asked to participate in Hobby Games: The 100 Best. I've asked the writers involved not to discuss the game they covered until the book is released, but I think everyone will be very interested in what people chose (Ed surprised me--his topic wasn't a game I would have expected him to select). The list of designers and authors who participated is top notch. Gary Gygax, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (founders of Games Workshop), Richard Garfield (creator of Magic), Larry Harris (creator of Axis & Allies). Reiner Knizia provides a foreword and James Dunnigan an afterword (if you don't know them, check out their database entries at www.boardgamegeek.com).
Among other writers familiar to Realms fans--Ed, of course, RA Salvatore, Jeff Grubb, Douglas Niles, Thomas Reid, Steven Schend, Zeb Cook, Steve Winter, James M. Ward....
If you know board games, there are a bunch of big-name designers from that part of the market. Miniatures people. RPG people. Card game people. The founders of many of the industry's most significant companies. The original designers for all sorts of groundbreaking and outright brilliant games of all kinds.
Everyone was asked to write about a hobby game from the last 50 years they consider to be among the best. Each author took on the task to champion that game. So the book is not a consensus list, but rather a collection of what 100 of the most influential people in hobby gaming individually consider the most important/best games.
The book is at the printer now and, if the printer gods continue to smile, some copies will be available at Gen Con at the Green Ronin booth. It should be in stores in September, right on schedule. The book is a 400-page trade paperback, about 140,000 words of content. Cover price is $24.95, I believe.
I've worked on little else for the last four months--about 16 hours a day for the past month--and the project has taken up most of my work time for the past year. It was worth it, and I don't say that lightly.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2007 : 04:59:39
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Cool Jim,
Thanks for the info! |
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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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2007 : 07:39:46
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Yes, thanks Jim.
I'll look out for it at GEN-CON.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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ddporter
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2007 : 18:58:34
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ed replies:
I will try to contact Ian for permission AND for a copy of the lyrics (which may take some time, as he's a very busy and roving fellow). My copy is literally buried in my upstairs study, and may well take years to find. As I recently discovered the hard way, whilst searching for vintage sketches for a forthcoming book, and finding all too few of them.
I implore Ed not to spend too much of his precious time on this minor matter.
Many thanks to both the Lady Hooded and the Realmsfather, who would surely make a smashing Major-General Stanley... and I would not be surprised if he already has. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 03:36:18
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Hi again, all!
ddporter, although Ed understudied for the role of Major-General Stanley, he has only actually played onstage the following roles in that particular operetta: the Pirate King and the Sergeant of Police. As far as I can recall, he has also played the Mikado in (surprise!) the Mikado, and, in Pinafore, the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. (First Lord of the Admiralty), Captain Corcoran (of the H.M.S. Pinafore), and (!) Little Buttercup. (In drag, obviously, beard and all; I remember the shrieks of laughter from the audience when he flirtatiously sat in the lap of one of the sailors and warbled provocatively, “Come! Of your Buttercup, buy!”
All of this fun befell before the surgeries to his throat and innards that left Ed’s voice a mere echo of what it once was (and like almost all deep basses, his voice has been rising into “just baritone” range as he ages, and fading at the top end, too; what he once sang “straight” is now often done in falsetto). His parents and one of his sisters remain active singers, often doing some “cathedral” tours (singing in one of the pickup ‘touring’ choirs that fills in for cathedral choirs across England during the summer). As Ed once put it to me: “They have perfect pitch. I am just a good mimic. I sure miss the days when I could perfectly mimic Paul Robeson.”
He could, too; I remember at a party once, someone was playing a scratchy Robeson record, and the record player (yes, children, that’s what they were called back then) died right at “river, stay away from my door.” Ed, who was standing talking in a corner with a drink in his hand, lifted his head and finished the song, causing an instant and awed hush. As one of the older folks in the room said, “It was as if Robeson was alive again and standing in the room with us.” Ed went on into “That Lucky Old Sun” and then “Lazy Bones.” Then everyone joined in (or tried to; he was of course singing at a pitch WAY too low for some of the ladies) on “Jacob’s Ladder.”
The man himself put in a full day at the library today and is now scrambling to write some promised short stories (a story a day), but he did have time to divulge this small bit of Realmslore:
The Steel Regent recently let slip (in a conversation with the sage Alaphondar that was overheard by several folk of Cormyr waiting to present matters to her, for judgement or aid) that she knows of no less than seven bastard children of her father who currently hold positions at Court. (Jobs, not royal ranks or titles.)
It is generally known that Auneth “Blackhair” Druin of the Royal Kitchens (a jovial, busty, curly-black-haired cook some three years younger than Alusair) is a daughter of Azoun IV, and that the shy and effeminate Tarleth Marlenspur, one of the Tailors of the Royal Wardrobe, is that same monarch’s son - - but tongues are now wagging “swift and sharp” in debate and speculation over the identities of the other five known-to-the-Regent bastards. It is widely believed that Azoun fathered literally scores of officially unacknowledged offspring outside the bounds of his royal marriage, and that Dowager Queen Filfaeril knows the identities of the great majority of these children, and has befriended (and from time to time assisted or sponsored) many of them.
So saith Ed. Who tells me this snippet “fell out of” his lore-notes for the current Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy. And that he might be able to find us something on a few of the ghosts who haunt the Palace, too.
love to all,
THO
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Edited by - The Hooded One on 29 Jul 2007 03:37:31 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 06:32:18
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I just found this question on the Lost Kingdom of Xonathanur floating in the ethers... I believe it was meant for Ed. 
quote:
Originally posted by KarenG
Gentlesir,
Would you have any information on the Dwarven kingdom of Xonathanur? I am trying to piece together lore on the dwarves, and find that reference in the players guide (I believe). It is not mentioned in Dwarves Deep, nor can I find it elsewhere. When was it founded, where was it located, what happened to it? Did it predate Bhaerynden? Did it predate (or was it one of) the settlements in Yehimal? Was it post Shanatar?
Also, are there any dwarven kingdoms (or fallen kingdowms)east of a line running from Chondath to Vassa?
And if I may get greedy, a final group of questions (relating to the wars between the Giant's and Dwarves of Shanatar) - Were the Giants of the Cloud Peaks and the Giant's Plain related to the Stone Giants who now live in the Giant's Run Mountains? Did they have allies of other kinds of Giants? How would the Dodkong and his people view dwarves at this point in time?
My current campaign was set in the area between Priapurl and the Giant's Plain, with side trips to Cairnheim, the Troll Mountains and the Snakewood. As we begin part two, I hope to work in parts of the Rage of Dragons, so my PCs will be researching ancient records in the southern ruins - Keltormir, Shanatar, Shantel Othreier, and such. At least one player is a dwarf, so I was hoping to provide him maps of the various dwarven kingdoms, to aid in his backstory, and to aid in mine. I will definately include a trip to the Wailing Dwarf, and the other players have already visited Cairnheim, so the info on the giants will help a great deal.
You have such a wonderful world - thank you.
Karen G.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 03:57:15
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Hi again, all. This time Ed replies to a recent query from Kajehase: “I saw something Katherine Kerr said about the differences between the human and elven physioloies on a mailing-list for fans of her Deverry books and thought it'd be interesting to hear how much of that holds true in the Realms, so:
quote (of KK):
The differences are based on their long lives. I was thinking, well, in folklore elves live for hundreds of years -- to say nothing of the immortal version as per Tolkien. Yet accidents happen to all of us, and to those who live out in the wilderness areas, they may happen even more frequently. Therefore elves must heal faster (this is brought out in DAGGERSPELL, present time section), fight infection better, and also bleed less from cuts than humans.
I'm postulating that organs like the kidneys and liver, which strain out impurities, must work a thousand times better than ours, too, which would explain the resistance to drink and to poisons (as in Book 4, when the Hawks try to poison Rhodry). Other internal organs, such as the heart, must "self-repair" faster than ours. Those tall if slender frames may have more room inside for a larger heart and lungs.
The liver-kidney function is probably central, though.
Kit”
Ed replies:
Katherine was the third Contributing Editor of DRAGON, as I recall (Roger E. Moore and I were the first two, and she replaced Roger when he became a full-time TSR staffer), and although I tempted to “second” everything she says for Deverry for the Realms, I can’t: the game rules say otherwise. Elves just don’t “heal faster.” However, I agree that their metabolisms must be far superior to those of humans, allowing them to, yes, be resistant to poisons, and to adapt to eating forest flora and faunt that have begun to rot (without sickness or harm), and most importantly: to keep body cells from deteriorating at the rate human cells do (hence: no cancers, fewer diseases, and those longer lifespans: all cells last longer, are cleansed better, and replacement spells are spawned on a better balance, so as to keep the elves functioning for centuries longer, barring violent injury, hostile magic, or death by misadventure). That would in turn suggest more robust organs (or the natural ability to regenerate organs internally, or both). It’s quite possible that (given the game rules about regeneration) ALL creatures of the Realms have the ability to store genetic code for all specialized body cells (organs) throughout the body, not just within the organs. Magical healing and the reluctance of living things to cut themselves open just to experiment in hopes of finding answers to such questions have kept the Realms in general from knowing more.
So saith Ed. Who has spent two days repairing and setting up no less than three iMacs to replace various older and finally dying Macs. As he told me: “It’s getting so I can field-strip the things to replace dead CMOS batteries without thinking at all, so I can go right on writing with my other hand.”
love to all,
THO
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GoCeraf
Learned Scribe
147 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 05:10:27
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Mr. Greenwood, if you please,
I've noticed, through my albeit limited experience with the Forgotten Realms novels and a response to a question you answered for me several months ago, that the entries into the FR mythos seem to be very much on the grand scale. Heroes and villains battle for the fate of cities, kingdoms, and populations. I don't mean, however, that these are flawed concepts, as we've seen countless times that they work quite well. Is there room, though, for more personal novels in the Forgotten Realms, that tell the stories of the few and separate? Much of the material for the campaign setting comes from those far-reaching entries, and more personal stories would have little-to-no effect on the larger scale Faerun. Does that mean that they're unwanted or unallowed?
Much thanks,
GoCeraf |
Being sarcastic can be more telling than simply telling. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 10:04:24
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quote:
Originally posted by GoCeraf
Is there room, though, for more personal novels in the Forgotten Realms, that tell the stories of the few and separate?
There used to be room for these tales... One of my fave FR novels, Azure Bonds, is about a woman trying to figure out the mysterious tatoos on her arms.
Sadly, the overall trend of the last few years seems to have focused more on "what can we blow up this time?" |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 16:20:30
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Then again, we've also had Frostfell - a woman trying to save her son; Ghostwalker - a man seeks revenge on those who did him in; and so far the Dungeon series seems to be based on smaller, more intimate stories. And Elaine is working on the sixth book in the Songs & Swords series, which at least shouldn't be an RSE.
So yes, I do think there's still room for such tales (only not as large a room as I personally would like there to be. |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 16:25:43
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hi again, all. This time Ed replies to a recent query from Kajehase:
My most pleased thank yous for the answer Ed. I figured those game rules would invalidate some of the things in there.
As a btw - Katherine Kerr's Deverry books should be high on the list for anyone wishing to branch away from the Realms for a bit. It's thirteen books so far, and she is working on the 14th and final installment of the series.
Any anyone planning to play a barbarian should take a look at an article she wrote for the early Dragon about barbarian cultures (if they can get hold of it - I think it was reprinted in volume 1 of The Best of Dragon Magazine). |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 20:04:43
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GoCeraf
The Realms stories feature just that, stories of various individuals in faerun.
Watercourse trilogy
Red Magic
Soldiers of Ice
The Priest books
Bloodwalk and a many others are all about individual struggles of both good and bad beings on varying scales,
Read some of those and welcome to the realms. |
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Bahgtru
Acolyte
29 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 22:52:12
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Hello Ed,
Last year you responded to a question of mine about Madeiron Sunderstone and indicated he is a character you would like to write about time permitting. Any chance he will find print in the near future? Thank you in advance! |
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darksongknight
Acolyte
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 02:02:46
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Hello everyone. First time posting.
First of all, I'd like to thank Ed and The Hooded One for all the wonderful information that is provided here. It has helped me immensly in bringing life to the campaign.
I have a question concerning Hanali Celanil and her faith. Are there any rituals that only clergy members are allowed to join in, and are males and females treated any differently, as Hanali's faith seems slightly feminine? Also, is there a certain high priest/priestess that is looked to as a leader of the faith?
Any information along these lines I would be most grateful for.
Although you may have covered this in an earlier post somewhere. |
Edited by - darksongknight on 31 Jul 2007 02:21:10 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 03:16:17
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Hello again, fellow Realms fans.
GoCeraf, to the tales already noted here by other scribes, I would add Ed's current Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy: Swords of Eveningstar, the forthcoming Swords of Dragonfire, and the still-being-written The Sword Never Sleeps. They feature guest appearances by some powerful Realms characters, but star the Knights as novice adventurers, bumbling and learning as they go. I will forward your query to Ed for his response, of course, but there obviously IS room for "small personal stories" in the Realms.
As far as Realmslore for us all, this time Ed makes reply to The Sage, re. this query from back in May: “Ed, this is regarding the divinatory practice of palmistry. What more can you tell me [other than the few tidbits we've learned about in previous Realmslore] about its notable practioners in the Realms? In which cities and countries may it still enjoy widespread use? Are there places where it must, unfortunately, be practiced in secret? And, also, are there locations in the Realms where palmistry may have come into conflict, either directly or in secret, with already established churches and/or state-religions?”
Ed replies:
Palmistry is widespread but not highly popular across the ‘civilized’ surface Realms. It is frowned upon by some individuals who dismiss it as a charlatan’s trick used to influence the gullible, and in some temples on the same grounds (and as “competition” to receiving proper divine guidance through prayer). In rare cases, this opposition has briefly gained official force as palmistry-dislikers achieve positions of rulership or bureaucratic administration, but there are no long-lasting or absolute prohibitions.
Palmistry is regarded as “part and parcel” of fortune telling, which in turn is generally regarded across the Realms as “a way of learning the will or inclination of the gods via untutored, ‘attuned’ beings, who have no stake in swaying clients as priests do, but who by the nature of their divinations are less precise than priests using the right spells can be.”
So individual heads-of-temples clergy may ban palmistry and/or other means of fortune telling, or punish its users or practitioners (either openly and legally, or covertly and through threats and scare tactics), but most clergy view it as either a poor but possibly beneficial or comforting aid in learning divine guidance, or worthless silliness that either wastes time or allows people to be misled and is therefore sinful, or worthless silliness that’s not worth getting upset about or reacting to.
Public for-hire fortune telling in general is more openly and daily practiced in Calimshan, the Tashalar, and the Vilhon than elsewhere; in more northerly climes it is more often done in private, or even as part of a secret or semi-secret gathering (either a closed-doors “brotherhood” that meets to arrange matters of law and “what shall be done” in rural communities, or as a ladies’ cooking or sewing session, with gossip - - palmistry being done as part of this, and hidden when strangers, children, or men-folk intrude).
Please be aware that the “witches” of Rashemen and many small “secret societies” down the years have devised magical means of placing simple messages or recognition marks on the palms of willing subjects, so some of what is thought by bystanders to be palmistry is actually a secret form of communication or identification (and that some “fortune tellers” perform their divinations entirely as a “cover” for such activities).
So saith Ed. Giving us all a “ho HO!” moment of revelation in that last paragraph, there. Great question, Sage.
love to all,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 03:16:27
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quote:
Originally posted by darksongknight
Hello everyone. First time posting.
First of all, I'd like to thank Ed and The Hooded One for all the wonderful information that is provided here. It has helped me immensly in bringing life to the campaign.
I have a question concerning Hanali Celanil and her faith. Are there any rituals that only clergy members are allowed to join in, and are males and females treated any differently, as Hanali's faith seems slightly feminine? Also, is there a certain high priest/priestess that is looked to as a leader of the faith?
Any information along these lines I would be most grateful for.
Although you may have covered this in an earlier post somewhere.
Are you familiar with the lore on Hanali Celanil in Demihuman Deities? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 03:21:27
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
The Steel Regent recently let slip (in a conversation with the sage Alaphondar that was overheard by several folk of Cormyr waiting to present matters to her, for judgement or aid) that she knows of no less than seven bastard children of her father who currently hold positions at Court. (Jobs, not royal ranks or titles.)
It is generally known that Auneth “Blackhair” Druin of the Royal Kitchens (a jovial, busty, curly-black-haired cook some three years younger than Alusair) is a daughter of Azoun IV, and that the shy and effeminate Tarleth Marlenspur, one of the Tailors of the Royal Wardrobe, is that same monarch’s son - - but tongues are now wagging “swift and sharp” in debate and speculation over the identities of the other five known-to-the-Regent bastards. It is widely believed that Azoun fathered literally scores of officially unacknowledged offspring outside the bounds of his royal marriage, and that Dowager Queen Filfaeril knows the identities of the great majority of these children, and has befriended (and from time to time assisted or sponsored) many of them.
Oooh, I always love hearing about the Bastards of Azoun. Thanks for the tidbit. I have to wonder what it's like to know that you have so many brothers and sisters...
I'd like to also add to the thoughts regarding personal stories in the Realms. While it's true that "personal stories" for the Realms are still being written (and in fact, Greenwood's novels tend to be among them), they are starting to seem...overshadowed by the "whiz-bang" RSE novels that have been coming out lately. Granted, I do think many RSE novels are well-written and fun to read, but I hope WotC doesn't think there is no longer a strong market for smaller-scale stories (which I generally prefer). |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 31 Jul 2007 03:21:55 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 03:47:49
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
So saith Ed. Giving us all a “ho HO!” moment of revelation in that last paragraph, there. Great question, Sage.
love to all,
THO
Neato! 
Thank you Ed, and you as well my lovely Lady.  These tidbits will work well with those earlier bits we discussed so long ago [over a year now, I think].
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
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
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 31 Jul 2007 03:48:55 |
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darksongknight
Acolyte
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 04:10:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Are you familiar with the lore on Hanali Celanil in Demihuman Deities?
I do not own the book, but I looked that information up recently. It provided a very good overview of her faith. Previously, I had only known what was stated in Faiths and Pantheons. Thanks for pointing that out to me.  |
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Uzzy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
618 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 16:22:48
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| Nice quick and easy question this time Ed. What's the name of Alusair's favourite horse? And, if it's not the same one, the name of the horse she would ride in battle? Thanks once again for the lore you share with us on this site. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 01:44:41
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Hi again, everyone. Ed’s last Realmslore answer leads rather logically to his dealing with a query from Rolindin: “So does Corymr have traveling minstrels’ shows, circus-type shows, or any other kind of musical traveling-type shows?
The second question would be: does Corymr have gypsies that travel around the country, maybe even between countries, keeping up their traveling routes every year?
I ask this because of the traveling entertainment troops in our own history, and because I made up such a traveling troop for my Realms that is called the Zeandril. Kind of based off the Barnum and Bailey early circus style.
With chance games, performers, singers, muscians, fortune telling, story telling, different kinds of monsters in cages, illusion shows, famous stories and tellings from the past with illusions, and clowns and the rest, but Realms style.
Does Corymr have such traveling entertainers, that may be gypsy-like in some ways?”
Ed replies:
The Realms has many, many traveling troupes of entertainers; most “mixed” caravans have at least one minstrel or juggler/peddler-of-toys/storyteller traveling with them, and such individuals - - if they aren’t “difficult loners” by character - - almost always gravitate to traveling about in small groups for mutual protection and assistance. In cases where a charismatic (and/or well-paying) “leader” sort gathers some of these small groups together, successful troupes may coalesce. Most last only temporarily, as egos pull them apart and the “weak reeds” fall away (both those who don’t like the traveling life or can’t hack it any longer for reasons of age, illness, or failing skills, and those who never wanted to be part of a larger show, and joined up only because it offered a way to get to, and perform in, large [and possibly scary or too distant, to the individual] venues such as Waterdeep, who depart once they’ve either tasted Waterdeep and want to go home, or because they like Waterdeep and want to stay).
The larger troupes, unless they specialize (in acting, or comedy, or musicianship), are very much like the troupe you created in terms of “the mix” of what they do. However, although there ARE Faerûnian families who enjoy the lives of traveling performers for generations, there is not a Rom or Romany or “Gypsy”-style culture, with the racial, religious, and prejudice-on-the-part-of-others attitudes that involves.
So saith Ed, who can certainly a few do song-and-dance routines of his own when the need arises.
love to all,
THO
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Rolindin
Acolyte
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 06:37:46
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Then thank you for the answer Mr. Greenwood.
The next question about such enterment travling troops is where do you think they would have a permint settlment?
I do remember that in Flordia there is a retirment circus town, where all the performers go on the off season and retire their. raise their children to follow in their crafts.
To me in the realms I would think that a small town in the north, maybe by Longsaddle somewhere, is a good place to put such town.
Maybe by the captial city of Corymer, a small town for the performers also. Far enough away but not too far.
Where do you think such traveling troop retirement and off season towns would be at? If you don't mind me asking.
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Athenon
Acolyte
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 19:12:28
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Hi Ed and THO,
I wanted to ask Ed if he has any insight into the hiccup in FR RPG products coming up. Also, any previews of what will be revealed at GenCon? He is going right? Any chance Ed will run a Forgotten Realms game there?
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Will Maranto
Representing the Realms in the Wilds of Northern Louisiana |
Edited by - Athenon on 01 Aug 2007 19:13:38 |
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Iliana N-letur
Acolyte
Netherlands
13 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 19:56:34
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I've got a question that is simple but probably lost in time, or the tome is in the keeping of the dreaded monster NonDA. Still I can hope:
What was the clan/family name of Ynloeth, the last Coronal of Shantel Othreier.
Are there any of this clan left?
It is so nice to know that after X years of playing, you still know just a tiny bit of Realms lore. |
A small (4'9") moon elf, with odd pale golden hair and startling violet eyes. See her for the first time, there's fair bit of Faerie 'fascinate' involved.
A slightly curved sword and pseudo dragon familiar are never far away. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2007 : 01:09:55
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Hi again, all. This time Ed makes a lightning-swift reply to Uzzy, re. this still-piping-hot query: “Nice quick and easy question this time Ed. What's the name of Alusair's favourite horse? And, if it's not the same one, the name of the horse she would ride in battle? Thanks once again for the lore you share with us on this site.”
Ed replies:
You’re always welcome, Uzzy; I love doing it. And answering your questions for “right now,” Realms-time (up to date, that is, answering for the Steel Regent and not the young teen Alusair seen in the Knights trilogy):
Alusair’s favourite mount is her hunter (jumper and cross-country “runner”), a large black stallion named Rorrel (named after the now-dead noble whose gift to her the stallion was; the princess is reputed to have enjoyed riding the noble as much as she likes riding his namesake.
Alusair’s usual and preferred battle mount (heavy war horse) is a HUGE dapple gray gelding named Thundersword. Her “remount” is a large chestnut gelding named Dracorus.
As a royal princess, Alusair of course has ready access to literally hundreds of training riding horses, from delicate palfreys to war horses almost as large as Thundersword. More then a score of horses have died under her in various battles, and she won’t willingly risk any of her favourites, except Thundersword, if she’s going into a fray that she expects to be dangerous (where her horse will face arrows or hostile spells).
So saith Ed. Who isn’t just pulling names out of hat, here, folks, because we Knights once skulked through a royal stables, and Ed knew the names of every horse whose stall we so much as peered at. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew their pedigrees, for that matter.
And as for riding nobles: I’ve not knowingly done so, but I HAVE had sex on horseback. In a word: bruising. (My male partner endured much greater pain than I did, and will undoubtedly describe his memories of the occasion in harsher terms.) 
Oh, and yes, barring some sort of disaster, Ed will be at GenCon. It’s a little hard to hold Spin A Yarn With Ed Greenwood without him.
love to all,
THO
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2007 : 01:21:58
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Hello All,
An add-on to my previous question on raising dead, Faerun has far more humanoid races than the spell 'Reincarnate' describes, would you have added some of these races to the possible choices the dead might return as?
And oh yeah, are Titans NDA? In terms of where they now dwell? |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2007 : 01:21:13
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Hello again, fellow scribes. This time I bring you Ed’s response to createvmind’s query: “What magic works within Candlekeep if that’s not NDA, If NPC has Rary's Telepathic Bond with someone and enters Candlekeep library can he speak via the magic?
Teleportation, divination and such that can be done, if this has been mentioned before then ignore please.”
Ed replies:
There are strong NDAs relating to this topic, though some hints can be gleaned by reading the Introduction to Candlekeep I wrote for Alaundo some years back. In general, however, all forms of translocation (teleportation), telepathic and mental communication and influence, and “spying,” are either prohibited or “clouded” (made weak and unreliable, either not functioning or working for very short distances or durations, or reaching the wrong destinations or conclusions) due to “something about” Candlekeep. Certain high-ranking individuals at Candlekeep seem to be able to “reach out” of Candlekeep to practice such things on a limited basis, and (secret and hidden, one-way-outbound) gates (portals) are known to exist linking Candlekeep with (undisclosed) locations outside Candlekeep, but no one not of divine status seems to be able to “reach in” from outside Candlekeep. Again, only higher-ranking persons of Candlekeep seem to be able to accomplish such magics within Candlekeep (from place to place within the walls, not reaching outside).
However, specifics (and exceptions) remain, regrettably, mysterious at this time. :}
So saith Ed. Creator of Candlekeep (the fictional original, not this splendid site), of course. He regrets not being able to properly bring it to life in fiction, yet, and hopes to someday publish his early short story, “The Endless Chants of Alaundo.”
love to all,
THO
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2007 : 03:14:55
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| Thank you, just trying to add to my knowledge with that question and be prepared for such a situation in gaming. |
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CorranH
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2007 : 07:21:35
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I know this is a bit late but I want to thank Ed for his extensive reply to my question about Skull Gorge et all.
Only today (and quite by accident) I found the answer in pdf 14.
So anyway, my thanks oh great creator.
(And the answer still is in time for me to use it; the players are only level 7 right now.) |
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe
Canada
161 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2007 : 16:00:21
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Hello, Ed and lovely Lady THO,
I just happened across a copy of SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE in a publishers' warehouse this morning (and am heading over to the relevant discussion thread to post my impressions, after shamefully neglecting all of my other work for 2 hours to devour it), but it prompted me to ask for an update to something that was asked of you (by Faraer? Or is my memory faulty?): what's your bedside reading, Ed, right now? Or in the last week or so? (What you're allowed to tell us without breaking any NDAs, at least.)
Thanks. |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2007)
Topic Locked
