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Thangorn
Seeker
New Zealand
84 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Oct 2007 : 14:14:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Maybe. But you could also figure it's Llirra's job or even Talona depending on it.
Lol.. No Talona is only the Goddess of Hangovers I'm sure I've seen that written in her portfolio somewhere :)
And you can blame Beshaba when you wake up somewhere.. unsavoury after a night on the Dwarven Spirits..
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Ex-A Land Far Away (ALFA) DM/Builder
Faerunian Canon Despot |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2007 : 16:50:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Odd question from my players; Whose the God of Spirits and Liquor in the Realms?
It would be St.Dionysius, who serves Ilmater, so you are correct. 
Getting drunk is a traditional way of fending off pain and suffering. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 11 Oct 2007 16:51:43 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31792 Posts |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 02:51:07
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Well met! I apologize for the verbosity of the blather which follows, but it's "one of those questions," and please feel free, my good Lady of the Hood, to delete the first two paragraphs when posting Ed's eventual reply....
Last night, while probing around in "the things of the gods" (I know that Ed hates that almost as much as they do, what with socks and relics getting rearranged, and some misplaced or even nicked, but it's what I do -- it's my personal brand of hubris) ... ahem! ... while poking about in the things of the gods I discovered what may have long been apparent to others, but which came as a complete revelation to me: even though all deities are "Outsiders," some are more "outside" than others (specifically, more than mere ascended mortals).
Most deities are 20 HD Outsiders, and their hit point listing always begin with that stat: 20D8 + (20 x Con modifier). Ascended mortals, however, do not have those extra hit points, only hit points from their various character classes. This is true of the Forgotten Realms and (per Deities & Demigods) true of Olympus and Egypt as well. Even the reborn Bane, who may have more character classes than any other being in Realmspace, only gets character level hit points, while I suspect that even the lowliest and most inconsequential non-ascended demigod probably has 20D8 +20xConMod hit points on top of whatever character level hit points he or she has.
Which brings me to my question: how did those deities acquire those 20 Outsider hit dice, anyway? Were they created as 20 hit die beings who then acquired character levels, adventuring somewhere out in the planes (a good argument for Planescape 4.0!) or did they rise from lowly 1 HD (or possibly even less) Outsiders to 20 HD and then go adventuring, or did they spring forth full-blown from Whatever with 20 hit dice and character levels? (We all know what a precocious thief Hermes was, while the ascended hero Herakles had to earn every hit point he has.) Or is rising to godhood out on the Planes like a prestige class which simultaneously earns one Outsider levels along with character levels? None of the (current) ascended deities of Faerun were Outsiders prior to ascension, but if some hypothetical 20th level monk became an Outsider, then adventured on the Planes, and then came back to be elevated to Faerunian divinity, would he be earning Epic monk levels out on the Planes, or non-determinate Outsider levels?
I would love to here Ed's take on this, and begging his pardon, would also like to pose the query to Monte Cook, Eric L. Boyd, and possibly some others -- I'm sure that there are numerous explanations for this "Divine Outsider" phenomenon!
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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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Edited by - Jamallo Kreen on 12 Oct 2007 02:51:56 |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 02:56:22
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And this is an odd question here to Ed for when he gets back from his no doubt DECADENT Australian adventures! Yes, he could have a Kangaroo burger, how controversial!
Racial diversity in the Realms. Not so much whether it exists amongst humans but would anyone bat an eyelash at different ethnicities in Faerun? Say, perhaps if someone from Kara-Tur was wandering wound in his kimono and looking for trouble?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Daviot
Senior Scribe
USA
372 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 04:21:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Racial diversity in the Realms. Not so much whether it exists amongst humans but would anyone bat an eyelash at different ethnicities in Faerun? Say, perhaps if someone from Kara-Tur was wandering wound in his kimono and looking for trouble?
I can't tell you the Ed answer, but based on Races of Faerűn and my experiences, I can give you the Daviot answer:
Yes, but not so much as on Earth and it depends on where you are. If in Thesk, with its Shou expatriate population or a cultural melting pot like a metropolis, it's not going to matter much. In a rural area or monoculture, people will take notice. Even a fairly average Chondathan man is going be out of place in Rashemen (and more specifically, due to the culture, given extra suspicion) in much the same way that a Shou man is going to be out of place in the Silver Marches. |
One usually has far more to fear from the soft-spoken wizard with a blade and well-worn boots than from the boisterous one in the ivory tower.
My Tabletop Writing CV. |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 21:06:12
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Hehehe, good points Daviot.
Oh and one last question. Well, we all know Gondegal at TSR ended up in the Demiplane of Dread. However, I was curious what would have happened to The Lost King if he'd stayed in the Realms?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 21:29:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Hehehe, good points Daviot.
Oh and one last question. Well, we all know Gondegal at TSR ended up in the Demiplane of Dread. However, I was curious what would have happened to The Lost King if he'd stayed in the Realms?
Ed has discussed him more the once and I believe that Ed basically answered this before. Check the compiled logs..... |
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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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 21:59:32
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Sorry; all I found was Arabel after his disappearance, that he has a son claiming to be his heir running around, and that people fear the rise of another one.
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Edited by - Charles Phipps on 12 Oct 2007 22:06:39 |
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Zandilar
Learned Scribe
Australia
313 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2007 : 00:02:23
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Heya,
I have another question, not sure if it's been answered before (if so, could someone point me in the right direction? Yes I know I'm lazy)...
What is the origin of lycanthropes in the Forgotten Realms? Are all Lycanthropes cursed creatures)? If so, who cursed them?
Are there any exceptions to them being cursed? For example, both Werebears and Werecats are Good aligned (LG and CG respectively) - why would anyone curse a person to be Good? A Good deity? They pass along their "curse" by bite like all the other Lycanthropes, so I guess they must be - but their good alignment seems to be more a blessing to me... But perhaps that's because I'm biased towards good myself. |
Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~
As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.
The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again. |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2007 : 01:43:07
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Well met, all!
I just read "Volo's Guide to Lost Regalia of the North: the Toppled Thrones" (Dragon 351, Jan 2007) and had a question which I'm sure many here can answer in Ed's stead: tell me please, what was Uthtower and its relation to Phalorm, and where may I find info on the same? A character in our campaign has his eye on that area and I may run the "Mere of Dead Men" Dungeon adventure series. Thanks in advance!
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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 - 13 Oct 2007 : 01:46:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
And this is an odd question here to Ed for when he gets back from his no doubt DECADENT Australian adventures! Yes, he could have a Kangaroo burger, how controversial!
Racial diversity in the Realms. Not so much whether it exists amongst humans but would anyone bat an eyelash at different ethnicities in Faerun? Say, perhaps if someone from Kara-Tur was wandering wound in his kimono and looking for trouble?
I'm too pressed for time to look it up now, but in Crusade the leader of the Cormyrian infantry (whose name I can't recall) was described as a black-skinned and green-eyed human, but there was nary a reference to his ancestry.
Chultans and Mazticans are related and both races have entered northern and central Faerun in some numbers recently, with no one responding in any particularly negative manner that I've heard.
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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 - 13 Oct 2007 : 01:50:00
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Well met!
A question for Ed which I don't think has ever been addressed here: on Earth many cultures have traditionally regarded sneezing and/or coughing as a time when the soul can leave the body and/or evil spirits enter it. On Toril, what are the attitudes of various cultures towards coughing and sneezing (including Maztica and Shou Lung and their neighbor states, if you please, Ed)? Do people bless a sneezer, or ward that person's expelled evil spirit from themselves, or what? Inquiring scribes want to know!
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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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arry
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
317 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2007 : 18:50:21
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I have just finished going through all of Ed's threads. All I can say is thank you Ed for all the information you have given throughout the years. We are all deeply indebted to you and to the Hooded Lady. You have already answered most of my questions. Apologies if you have answered this before and I missed it, but are the major trading roads in the Realms (particularly Heartlands and The North), surfaced or not? If they are, with what?
Dear Hooded Lady, why do I get the impression that apart from your eponymous hood concealing your features (save for lips curved in an enigmatic smile), you don't wear a great deal |
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arry
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
317 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2007 : 20:42:44
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I would also say thank you to Ed for a very liberating moment (no, not that kind  ) when he revealed that in his Realms Maztica, The Horde, et.al don't exist.
That means I can make stuff up  I remember though that one of your continents was dominated by Giants. Is there anything more that you can say that isn't covered by [NDA]  |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 14 Oct 2007 : 06:20:19
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Geebus Ed, I'm sorry to ask you 3 questions in a row without giving you a chance to respond but I completely Torm-ing forgot to ask you this question when I finished City of Splendors.
Ed, could you tell us about Piergeiron's lusty daughter? Weirdly, she's who I wanted to hear most about in the book and we never even got to see her on camera.
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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bradc
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 14 Oct 2007 : 20:04:36
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Hi:
I have a couple questions I hope Ed can answer sometime in the next few days. If the Lady Hooded One could let him know about these, I would appreciate it.
I'm writing an article about Neverwinter Nights 2 for apple.com/games, and I want to do a sidebar about the Forgotten Realms. It will basically be a top-level history of the world's place in D&D and how it came about, so I have some top-level questions I'd like answered so I can quote him. I think his comments will help spice up the sidebar a bit.
Thanks!
- Brad
1. Why did you create the Forgotten Realms?
2. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be so popular with fans?
3. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be used so often in role-playing games that use D&D rules?
4. Who is your favorite Forgotten Realms character and why? |
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Bahgtru
Acolyte
29 Posts |
Posted - 14 Oct 2007 : 22:58:19
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Hi Ed,
I'm still hoping you get to tell that Madeiron Sunderstone story, even with the upcoming 4E. Is there still hope?
Thanks for everything and for staying on the horse. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31792 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 01:05:13
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quote:
Originally posted by bradc
I have a couple questions I hope Ed can answer sometime in the next few days. If the Lady Hooded One could let him know about these, I would appreciate it.
Unfortunately, Ed can only answer questions when he can, and there's usually a lengthy queue for most of the questions asked to him. Unless he decides to answer them immediately upon his return from Australia, you'll likely have to wait like the rest of us and remain patient that Ed will answer best, when he is able. 
quote:
I'm writing an article about Neverwinter Nights 2 for apple.com/games, and I want to do a sidebar about the Forgotten Realms. It will basically be a top-level history of the world's place in D&D and how it came about, so I have some top-level questions I'd like answered so I can quote him. I think his comments will help spice up the sidebar a bit.
Thanks!
- Brad
1. Why did you create the Forgotten Realms?
2. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be so popular with fans?
3. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be used so often in role-playing games that use D&D rules?
4. Who is your favorite Forgotten Realms character and why?
Since time is apparently a concern for you, Bradc, you may want to dig through the compiled reply files that contain all of Ed's replies made here at Candlekeep since Feb. '04. I'm suggesting this, because he's tackled several of these types of questions in the past, especially your 1. and 4. queries.
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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 15 Oct 2007 01:06:21 |
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bradc
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 01:23:28
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Where would I find those compiled reply files?
Thanks for the help, Sage. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36812 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 01:34:52
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quote:
Originally posted by bradc
Where would I find those compiled reply files?
Thanks for the help, Sage.
Scroll up and look for the link in Kuje's signature. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 01:35:44
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quote:
Originally posted by bradc
Where would I find those compiled reply files?
Thanks for the help, Sage.
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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bradc
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 02:03:06
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| Again, many thanks for all the help, everyone. I appreciate it. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 15 Oct 2007 : 20:19:07
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Hello, all! Ed hath returned!
And he begins by answering bradc's questions, thus:
1. Why did you create the Forgotten Realms?
I created the Realms purely for my own entertainment. As a young child reading through my father’s library, I wrote many stories about “what happened next” to my favourite fictional characters, then started inventing characters of my own, and telling tales about them. One was Mirt the Moneylender (a mix of Falstaff, Glencannon, Nicholas van Rijn, and others), a fat, wily old merchant swindling his way down the Sword Coast. By 1967, when I was seven years old, I knew that the Sword Coast was in “The Forgotten Realms,” and the world grew from there. I wasn’t trying to create a game setting or a bestselling fictional fantasy world; I was just entertaining myself.
2. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be so popular with fans?
In my opinion, the Realms is popular because it feels REAL; it’s full of a cast of colourful, well-developed characters with stories of their own, the places where they live are deeply detailed (so actions have consequences, and events affect nearby locales), and the setting offers a welcoming home for a wide variety of stories and styles of play; you can be a pirate, an arctic explorer, a scheming noble or merchant in a large and wealthy city, or explore vast subterranean “worlds” beneath the landscape. The Realms has it all, in great detail, and has built up a history that makes events and character achievements seem to matter.
3. Why do you think the Forgotten Realms continues to be used so often in role-playing games that use D&D rules?
I believe the depth and variety offered by the Realms makes it interesting to many gamers, and flexible enough to offer a home to all sorts of playing styles and interests. Game “worlds” offer time-pressured Dungeon Masters a ready-made setting (with coinage, politics, roads and trade flowing along them, fashion and faiths and all of the rest of “everyday life” already detailed), so players and DMs can focus on adventures, so as to best enjoy their all-too-scarce playing time. The Realms has all the detail anyone needs for a lasting “home” for any campaign.
4. Who is your favorite Forgotten Realms character and why?
Though this many disappoint you, I truly don’t have a favourite. I have some I like more than others, such as Mirt, Storm Silverhand, and the Knights of Myth Drannor (the characters portrayed by my longtime players), but I simply can’t pick any single character out of the literally thousands I’ve created, and the hundreds other creators have added to the Realms. I believe it has to be that way, for me to handle my creation properly as I continue to detail it. If I fell in love with, say, Elminster (as many who are unfamiliar with the Realms mistakenly believe I have), it would distort and stunt the growth and ongoing flexibility of the setting.
So saith Ed. Who tells me that his Realms-work remains as frantic as ever!
He'll return on the morrow, with a Realmslore reply, of course.
love to all,
THO
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 02:56:16
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THO,
I sent a private email to you, let me know if you receive.
Thanks. |
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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bradc
Acolyte
4 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 02:58:04
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| Wow! Thanks, THO! Much appreciated. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 04:05:13
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To THO and my Bearded Mentor, his Edness . . .
In Swords of Eveningstar, Tanalasta, when discussing what she would do if disaster befell her parents with Vangerdahast, said that she would summon the overpriests of Chauntea, Helm, Torm, and Tyr.
What I am wondering is where these overpriests might be found. I've looked through all of my Cormyr sources, and I can't find any major temples to these gods, but I am curious about this in part because I know these gods are fairly well known and worshiped in Cormyr.
I found a mention in Volo's Guide to Cormyr that Vangerdahast was reluctant to allow the Chaunteans to build a fortified abbey near Arabel to serve as a focal point for their faith, and the only references I can find to Helm are ruined temples and shrines.
So beyond where these faiths' overpriests might be found, are there any abbeys or temples out in the wilderness or off the beaten path in Cormyr of these gods? |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 04:24:44
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Sorry for the back to back questions, but this one is one that I wanted to ask for a while now.
In the FRCS it mentions that sorcerers and wizards can adopt a personal mage rune which is protected by Mystra herself. When there were only wizards, I would assume that they learned about crafting their own personal identifying rune as part of their training, but do sorcerers just intrinsically know that they can create their own rune once they manifest their powers, or do they have to learn how to craft their rune or learn at least that they can?
Also, on the same topic, do other arcane casters learn to craft personal runes? For example, warmages, beguilers, or dread necromancers (since they are kind of "specialized" sorcerers, I can see the same rules applying to these classes). What about "warrior type" arcane casters, like hexblades and duskblades? Finally, would a warlock have a mage's rune, or does the "borrowed" nature of his talent with the Art preclude his ability to craft his own mage rune?
Thank you once again THO and Ed. |
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Mkhaiwati
Learned Scribe
USA
252 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 04:34:10
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| while not Ed or the eternally-lovely Hooded One, in canon Chauntea has the Harvest Altar in Arabel, Helm had the Altar of Shields in Tilverton and Sentinel Rock near Espar, Torm has the Citadel of the Rampant Eagle at Eagle Peak and the House of Duty in Halfhap. There is a ruined temple to Tyr in the ruins of Darkenshield (Four from Cormyr) |
"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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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 16 Oct 2007 : 04:54:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Mkhaiwati
while not Ed or the eternally-lovely Hooded One, in canon Chauntea has the Harvest Altar in Arabel, Helm had the Altar of Shields in Tilverton and Sentinel Rock near Espar, Torm has the Citadel of the Rampant Eagle at Eagle Peak and the House of Duty in Halfhap. There is a ruined temple to Tyr in the ruins of Darkenshield (Four from Cormyr)
Yeah, I knew about the Altar of Shields, but that wasn't there in the timeframe of Swords of Eveningstar, because at that point in time, according to the old FRA, Tilverton only had a "shrine" to Helm. I also thought that the Harvest Altar was a shrine as well, at least at the time of VGTC. Thanks for the Eagle Rock reference, I missed that the first time around, but after you mentioned it I found it in Faiths and Avatars. |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2007)
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