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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Sep 2007 : 18:05:04
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Thanks Alaundo. I would be most happy to answer any questions from my friends here at Candlekeep.
For those that may not have seen it yet, Wizards.com posted a Spotlight Interview which covers some of the events which led to the publication of the Grand History.
View it at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4spot/20070921a |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2007 : 19:06:31
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| Hey Brian, I'm looking forward to seeing your Realmslore columns that you have been talking about. I've always enjoyed your work, and it will be fun to see some of it become "official." |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2007 : 00:56:29
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There is certainly a level of satisfaction in knowing that your work will be deemed official or canon in the lore of the Realms. I also strive, however, to work just as diligently on other works of Realmslore such as the Candlekeep Compendium as I would a Realmslore column. In fact its a personal goal of mine that fans of the Forgotten Realms come to view resources such as Candlekeep Compendium as official or at least as well researched and useful to your campaign as anything Wizards produces.
Beyond the forthcoming Realmslore article on Ironfang Keep, I am currently in talks with Wizards to write at least one web enhancement for the Grand History. And Im particularly excited to begin work on Candlekeep Compendium X which will feature articles set in lands beyond Faerūn.  |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Uzzy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
618 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2007 : 01:34:18
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Hey Brian. Got the Grand History recently, and I love it!
After reading so much lore, I was wondering.. if you could expand one section of the timeline, which would it be? |
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Chosen of Moradin
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1120 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2007 : 13:57:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
There is certainly a level of satisfaction in knowing that your work will be deemed official or canon in the lore of the Realms. I also strive, however, to work just as diligently on other works of Realmslore such as the Candlekeep Compendium as I would a Realmslore column. In fact its a personal goal of mine that fans of the Forgotten Realms come to view resources such as Candlekeep Compendium as official or at least as well researched and useful to your campaign as anything Wizards produces.
And Candlekeep Compendium isn“t official?   
Hehehe, good news, Brian. I“m very interested in a "Toril“s explorer" article, detailing the news about Maztica e Zakhara.  |
Dwarf, DM, husband, and proud of this! :P
twitter: @yuripeixoto
Facebook: yuri.peixoto |
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freyar
Learned Scribe
Canada
220 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2007 : 16:59:36
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| If you're working on Compendium X, does that mean we get volume IX soon? :) |
My DnD Links and Creations |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2007 : 18:22:15
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quote:
Originally posted by freyar
If you're working on Compendium X, does that mean we get volume IX soon? :)
I'm almost done with my editing, so it will hopefully be quite soon. |
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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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 00:54:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Uzzy
Hey Brian. Got the Grand History recently, and I love it!
After reading so much lore, I was wondering.. if you could expand one section of the timeline, which would it be?
Thats a difficult question Uzzy. There are many regions of the Forgotten Realms that do not yet have detailed histories. Sembia springs to mind. The Moonshaes is another. Hell, Id love to see an entire sourcebook on Lantan or Nimbral. But then there are all these lands beyond Faerūn that Id love to see tied more closely into the lore of the greater Realms. So I guess I cannot really pick just one. I'd like to expand them all! |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 04:16:58
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A man after my own heart.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 10:16:50
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| How about some of those white terra incognita regions? ;) |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gęš a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerūn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 09:36:27
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| It might have been answered before, but why have the Ilythiiri been placed among the "green elves" in the entry about -27,000 DR (p. 8)? They have been dark elves all along, have they not? I'd doubt that they acquired their dark colour in those following years. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gęš a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerūn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 15:09:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
It might have been answered before, but why have the Ilythiiri been placed among the "green elves" in the entry about -27,000 DR (p. 8)? They have been dark elves all along, have they not? I'd doubt that they acquired their dark colour in those following years.
The Ilythiiri were but one tribe of the greater green elf population. Yes, they had darker skin than some of their green elf cousins but that is no different than various ethnic types of human found on Toril. From a D&D game point of view, dark elves did not become a statistically distinct race until the Descent of the Drow. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4688 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 15:41:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
The Ilythiiri were but one tribe of the greater green elf population. Yes, they had darker skin than some of their green elf cousins but that is no different than various ethnic types of human found on Toril. From a D&D game point of view, dark elves did not become a statistically distinct race until the Descent of the Drow.
How recent or past is Dark Elves were Green Elves expained in canon?
Of course this does help explain a little bit why the surviving Dark Elves of Miyeritar were forced to Desend as well. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
Edited by - Kentinal on 07 Oct 2007 15:42:56 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 16:02:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
Of course this does help explain a little bit why the surviving Dark Elves of Miyeritar were forced to Desend as well.
I actually kind of like George's take on this:-
"Seriously, my take on the dark elves into drow thing is that the Ilythiiri deserved it. Surviving Miyeritari on the whole deserved it too. Why? Well, it's likely that after the Dark Disaster, renegade Miyeritari dark elves turned to Ilythiir for aid - and likely were corrupted themselves in doing so.
My personal belief is that notwithstanding what the sources say, not every dark elf was transformed into drow in -10,000 DR. However, the ones that weren't were so few and scattered to the winds that their bloodlines played out with elven interbreeding over the years. That 50/50 chance for either sub-race rule is a bit like russian roulette when you are trying to maintain your race numbers."
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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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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 16:08:47
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Well, that was the very first time I heard and read of a racial non-destinction between the "green elves" and the "dark elves". Obviously, not all "greens" need to be "wilds" or tribish woodland folk, but honestly, I am a bit disappointed here. The "gold elves" get their own entry, while the "dark elves" are put under the green carpet. I wonder why - at the ascendance of 4E - we have still that unecessary double naming of two elven subraces, when the last FRCS essentially gave us the word code for the Realms' elves: Suns, Woods, Wilds, Moons and Dark elves? (Star elves aside for a moment.) Gold and green are just "subtitles".
NB: No need for any explanation that make the above dark elves are green elves point more feasible. It is acceptable, but IMHO quite strange. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gęš a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerūn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
Edited by - Zanan on 07 Oct 2007 16:12:22 |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 18:27:24
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| Something else to ponder: The intimation in the Grand History (under the entry c. -25400 DR) is that a group of gold elves and a single silver elf fled to Toril to escape the destruction of their island kingdom. This establishes that the terms gold elf and silver elf originate from the world of Faerie. As these refugees intermarried with the local green elf populations, they created two new species of elves native to Toril, sun elf and moon elf. In present-day Faerūn, only a small handful of elves could claim to be a true gold elf; a direct pureblood descendant of Prince Durothil of Tintageer. No pureblood silver elves exist unless they independently gated to Toril from Faerie in the intervening years. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 18:30:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
How recent or past is Dark Elves were Green Elves expained in canon?
The Grand History is the first sourcebook to establish this connection. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 19:45:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
No pureblood silver elves exist unless they independently gated to Toril from Faerie in the intervening years.
Actually, thinking of it this way, it tends to explain a little about the difference between silver and gold elf philosophies on things. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4688 Posts |
Posted - 08 Oct 2007 : 02:17:33
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Brian, I thank you fot the answer, not one I an a fan of but so be it.
Say hi to your brother for me the next time you contact him. He knows me a little from SKR message board.
Further comment at this time as to my question would likely get me bannned, so I exit this thread for now. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 09 Oct 2007 : 04:40:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
How recent or past is Dark Elves were Green Elves expained in canon?
The Grand History is the first sourcebook to establish this connection.
Count me among those who is a bit surprised at that, as well.
My question: Who the heck is Queen Rosalind of Evendale? Where and what is "Evendale"? This is regarding the entry (which I believe was public on the WotC site) about "bloodforges". This Queen Rosalind was mentioned, and I just have no clue as to who she is. |
"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) |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 09 Oct 2007 : 05:45:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
My question: Who the heck is Queen Rosalind of Evendale? Where and what is "Evendale"? This is regarding the entry (which I believe was public on the WotC site) about "bloodforges". This Queen Rosalind was mentioned, and I just have no clue as to who she is.
Edenvale (not Evendale, but you make me check!) is one of the Five Kingdoms of the Utter East. The kingdoms of the Utter East are located southeast of Ulgarth at the continental junction between Faerūn, Kara-Tur, and Zakhara. Queen Rosalind is mentioned in the novel Faces of Deception by Troy Denning. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2007 : 02:30:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
My question: Who the heck is Queen Rosalind of Evendale? Where and what is "Evendale"? This is regarding the entry (which I believe was public on the WotC site) about "bloodforges". This Queen Rosalind was mentioned, and I just have no clue as to who she is.
Edenvale (not Evendale, but you make me check!) is one of the Five Kingdoms of the Utter East. The kingdoms of the Utter East are located southeast of Ulgarth at the continental junction between Faerūn, Kara-Tur, and Zakhara. Queen Rosalind is mentioned in the novel Faces of Deception by Troy Denning.
Thank you!
EDENvale? Hmmm, strange name. |
"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) |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2007 : 18:26:06
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Check my Utter East Map here at the Keep.
I had a more 'canon' version up, but Alaundo saw fit to use the one from the Utter East campaign I'm working on. 
Anyhow, the Five Kingdoms are canon, as are MOST of the locations. The forests were my idea, and the Loxo nation of Sragadha was thought up by another campaign contributer (but the name is mine). The small peninsula it is located on I found on the FRIA map. Some locales were extrapolated from the video game (Blood & Magic) that came out about this region.
Note that there are only Four Kingdoms, even though they are referred to as the 'Five Kingdoms', the meaning of which is lost in the mists of time. Ulgarth is NOT one of the Five Kingdoms (nor is the now-defunct Thommar).
Anyhow, I do indeed have a question -
Brian, who worked on the timeline for most of the Eastern Bits? |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2007 : 20:37:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Check my Utter East Map here at the Keep.
Will do, thanks! |
"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) |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 23 Oct 2007 : 02:23:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-Hey, Brian, how did they convince you to include the incorrect date for The Sundering?
Wow, that's a loaded question. Basically others with more seniority than myself felt the other date was more correct. Click to this thread to see differing opinions including my own: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7985 |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 23 Oct 2007 : 22:04:40
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| were the giants in Grey a made up thing, or is there some resource that it came from. They just intrigue me. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2007 : 01:14:24
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
were the giants in Grey a made up thing, or is there some resource that it came from. They just intrigue me.
One of the Kara-Tur designers mentioned them in an Oriental Adventures module. I do not recall which one. I agree, they are very intriguing. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Questions for Brian R. James
