| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| questing gm |
Posted - 05 Nov 2023 : 14:05:37
Since starting up his own Discord server (https://discord.onl/greenwoods-grotto/), Ed Greenwood has been answering Realms-related questions in the #q4ed channel. Although it's free to join the Discord and view his answers, but I believe it requires a subscription to Ed's Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/EdGreenwood) to be given access to ask him questions there.
So since his answers are free to view by anyone on his Discord and for the benefit of those who are not on Discord, I'm starting and updating my compilation of his answers in this scroll. I'll leave it to the wisdom of moderating scribes if anything should be changed or removed.
I won't be able to put down everything (I already have 300+ answered questions to put down), so consider updates here will be intermittent, and will take a while before it catches up to the latest questions answered. (Or just join the Discord if you want the latest  )
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| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:31:29
On creation of the ghazneths
Kokopelli Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/2/2026 11:52 AM
Another question, friend @Ed Greenwood: The ghazneths of Cormyr. Were those something you'd come up with, even if only as a rough concept, or were those the creation of another author?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/2/2026 2:32 PM
They are the creation of Troy Denning, longtime Realms author (and bestselling author in other shared settings, too!) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:27:45
On ruler of Red Larch
Razzelmire Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 10/2/2026 12:27 PM
Greetings @Ed Greenwood
My research into all things of Red Larch throughout every edition of the game has surprisingly led me to one dead-end;
Who rules the place? (My Realms games are set pre-Spellplague) Or what sort of government runs Red Larch if it isn't managed by a singular person?
Of all the information I have discovered on Red Larch, this important information was no where to be found.
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/2/2026 5:01 AM
Red Larch is a town like many small villages and hamlets across the Sword Coast and Heartlands that have no resident ruler. Nominally under the protection of Waterdeep, it gained this status through a meeting (at which “the burghers of the settlement” made a payment of 50 gp to Waterdeep) in 1349 DR. These “burghers” (not a locally-used title; this is the wording of Waterdeep’s agreement) were Barglun Blackbutter, the founder and owner of the Blackbutter Inn; the sisters Jhandlatha and Peieyrie Taskaloath, two sorceresses who owned and ran The Swinging Sword inn; Eldyn Tarasker, a manygoods merchant and former Waterdhavian who was the founder and owner of The Red Larch Rambler; and Skelvor Ironhand, a one-legged, retired dwarf adventurer who ran Ironhand Carting (known locally as “Dirt Cheap Hauling” because “Old Iornhand” so often carried loads of dirt dug out from foundations away, and inbound loads of dirt needed for firming up cart-tracks and making ramps).
Ironhand undertook to be the Town Seneschal, the officer who would call on Waterdeep for aid and report the town’s needs to Waterdeep. This office, paid 12 gp a year (by Piergeiron’s Palace), involved keeping the peace by any means the seneschal saw fit. Ironhand did it himself, with two nephews (much younger dwarves) as his deputies—and they were all slain in 1356 DR fighting bandits (later discovered to have been sponsored by the Zhentarim). The Taskaloath sisters were furious, and routed the bandits with their spells; Tarasker took over the duties of Seneschal until he was himself slain (by a Zhentarim agent, acting directly: casting a cloud of daggers) in 1359 DR.
In theory, the burghers (local townsfolk of some wealth, popularity, influence, and hopefully competence and something beyond self-interest) “rule” the town; in local Red Larch practice, neighbors help neighbors on a sort of barter system (owing favors), and if there’s a common problem, like goblin raids or one resident bullying others or doing something others “don’t hold with,” they meet face-to-face (Red Larch is that small, remember) and work it out.
And in theory, the armored, lance- and crossbow-bearing patrol riders from Waterdeep’s City guard (or increasingly, as the years passed, mercenaries they hired and trained to do these “wide patrols” in their manner and with their rules) defend the town, and patrol it often if need be.
“Today,” in 1501 DR, Red Larch has a different circle of burghers, who now call themselves Speakers for the town, and they elect one from their ranks (they are now nine strong) to be First Speaker, and that person “runs” a local constabulary (of six warriors), and can still call on Waterdeep for aid if need be, via resident local clerics (staffing the Allfaiths Shrine) and local mages. The First Speaker is Uldegund Marbarrow, a LG gnome male smith and Ftr (Champion) 5 who’s set up shop locally making and repairing all manner of ironmongery, tools, and simple weapons, his “Second” or stand-in is Alais Peldurr, a CG hf W2 who makes and sells herbs, spices, and simple “remedies” and “physics” (medicines), mainly in the form of ointments and polutices, and the head of the constabulary is Trusted Hand Orthar Feldrand, a LN hm Ftr4 (Banneret). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:24:37
On fabric for drow lingerie
Melody Role icon, Administrator — 10/2/2026 11:22 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood!
Do drow have specific fabric choices they use in lingerie? How is this lingerie made? I'm curious how they, for example, get the "stickiness" out of spider silk, and other methods of creation. As well as any other materials typically used!
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/2/2026 4:59 AM
Yes. Spider silk—from six different specific varieties of spiders—is what translucent fabric (as used in a lot of lingerie) is made from, and the silk is woven on fine hand-shuttle looms that resemble wide rectangular curry-combs of the old style (NOT the metal “sawblade” curry sombs so often seen today). Silk panels made in this way aren’t sewn together; they’re WOVEN together with narrow hand-looms of the same sort, and large panels, like see-through curtains or hangings, are stretched on wall-looms (rectangular frames leaned against a cavern wall) while being edge-bound and adorned with any ornaments.
The stickiness of webs is banished by immersing the raw spider silk in a distillate (literally: the stuff is boiled in water) of the cave-mold known as “grey freckle” (ouloovra in Drow) due to its natural appearance (it grows as fuzzy round and then oval “dots” of mold on stone cavern walls and ceilings, then spreads as new tiny dots around existing ones, with gaps between, so “freckles”).
What makes all drow garments involving spider silk resilient and durable—and gives them the ability to hang together when sewn to pack lizard skin and hide, for garments that aren’t lingerie—are soaking-baths in distillates of three sorts of fungi: one a purplish small shelf-fungus that grows in small, “wandering-vein”-shaped colonies on cavern walls (and is called “oorluh”), and the other two small brown cap mushrooms that are very poisonous (iliqsabrat and the larger, paler iliqmarr).
The other popular ingredient in drow clothing is thread-gilding, for lingerie and other garments, that gives clothing golden or silver highlights, as if gold thread or silver have been used. These are actually dyes applied to woven “ropes” (thicker threads made of intertwined strands, that end up still thinner than a knitting needle) of spider-silk, and the dyes are made by grinding pyrites (a natural iron and sulfur mix: “fool’s gold”) or galena or pyrrhotite (both of which yield “fool’s silver”) found in some Underdark rocks to a fine powder, and melting it with “glowstraw” fungus (which feeds on the rock its pipes adhere to, and over time build up within the straws a salt from their feeding that acts as a miscibility agent for the powdered rock to adhere to the ropes of spider silk. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:21:59
On Caribbean-like setting
The God of Alchemy Heydan Seegil Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 6/2/2026 7:23 AM
@Ed Greenwood I am down in the BVI doing my captain's certification and I was curious if there is a setting that is like the Caribbean? Would it be part of #8288;#127805;#65073;maztica or another setting like #8288;#128510;#65073;chultan-peninsula ?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/2/2026 4:58 AM
In terms of culture and politics, I deliberately don’t have any real-world analogues of the Caribbean (nothing against the Caribbean, but I don’t want any too-close models of the real world in the Realms).
In terms of climate, flora and fauna and ocean temperatures and conditions, including prevalent weather, the closest Torilian equivalents of the Caribbean are the Bay of Dancing Dolphins and the peninsula immediately south of it, in Dambrath (before the “4e tumult” that changed topographies), and latitudes in the Great Sea west of Koningheim (in the Utter East), clear across the length of the peninsula that ends in Chult, and beyond (and a fairly wide east-west band to the south of there).
I’m sure similar conditions would prevail on the far (western) side of the Trackless Sea, south of the latitude of Evermeet, but we need better official maps. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:17:41
On standard issue of guards in cities
mAc Chaos Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 12/2/2026 1:08 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood !
Are guards and soldiers in cities like Neverwinter or Waterdeep expected to buy their own weapons, armor, food and lodging? Or is that provided to them?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 12/2/2026 4:55 AM
All of that is provided for them (food in this case meaning meals in barracks, which is hearty and good but not spectacular...if they want that, and too much to drink, that comes from their purse and on their own time). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 15:12:05
On learning the Words of Creation
Hawakhuri Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 8/2/2026 10:26 AM
hello! Mr. @Ed Greenwood . I was reading manuals and found a feat called “words of creation” in one of the 3.5 editions. My question is whether it would be possible for high-level characters such as a chosen one of Mystra or a hierophant to learn this type of language? Or how common or difficult is it to learn or know about this? Thank you very much for your response.
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/2/2026 5:13 AM
The Words of Creation are all that remains of a forgotten language of the gods, a precursor tongue to Celestial. (So the language itself is gone; what remains is insufficient to frame complex thoughts: sentences with more than a single clause.)
The Words of Creation are the ‘power words’ of the language, words that awaken and activate, so they can Make Things Happen. However, unlike the “power word” spells of today, they are so long, drawn-out, and deep that they almost defy being uttered by mortals—and are certainly too slow to voice to be used in combat.
Those who explore ancient tombs, ruins, shrines, and temple records in the Realms may stumble upon fragments of the Words of Creation, often written down by monks or clerics who didn’t entirely understand what they heard, only that it was utter by one god to another and therefore must be “holy.” If a creature alive today speaks Abyssal, it has enough tonal (“word-sound” plus timbre and pitch) overlap with Supernal that they can properly pronounce Words of Creation—and so utter words that hold power (draw energy from the Weave within Realmspace, and so can work magical effects).
Most mortals who read out a Word of Creation that’s been written down, unless they speak Abyssal or have successfully read a Word of Creation before, will either cause nothing but the sound of their own voice, or will harm themselves physically or mentally, or will cause an unexpected and sometimes destructive magical effect (akin to a wand of wonder)—or both harm themselves and unleash a wild magical effect.
So, use with care. Wise adventurers sell written records of Words of Creation to sages and collectors (or give them to temples as offerings), and never, ever try to speak them aloud.
However, if you manage to utter a Word of Creation, it’s like gaining a “free” spell, usable once per round (as a bonus action, so in addition to any spell you can cast in the usual way) anywhere in Realmspace that isn’t within a magical silence. Note that an uttered Word of Creation breaks (instantly wipes out) both a Counterspell and an Antimagic Field or effect.
Melina from Dark Souls Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 10/2/2026 10:31 AM
Sir Greenwood, may you expand upon what effects Words of Creation can produce if used correctly? (Sorry if I’m asking a redundant question)
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 10/2/2026 2:16 PM
The magical effect someone can produce with a Word of Creation depends on what word(s) they have managed to find. Some of the spells individuals have been able to gain by uttering Words of Creation include:
Astral Projection
Blade of Disaster
Control Weather
Demiplane
Gate
Maze
Meteor Swarm
Mind Blank
Plane Shift
Power Word Kill
Prismatic Spray
Prismatic Wall
Shapechange
Time Stop
True Polymorph
Project Image
Reverse Gravity
Telepathy
Teleport |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 19:59:37
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm
On wereseals
Night Fang Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 2/2/2026 7:08 AM
@Ed Greenwood are Wereseals still around in the forgotten realms?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 9:01 AM
Oh, yes. Yet they are both rare, and keep a very low profile for obvious reasons.
Selkie? |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 16:14:55
On idol in the Weeping War
Juniper Churlgo Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 9/2/2026 5:46 AM
Ed, in Myth Drannor, who or what is this idol behind someone killed in the Weeping War? Judging by the textures, its in the Dwarven Dungeons under the city or in the Elven Catacombs under Castle Cormanthor. (extra points for the fallen person's lore too)
<https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1072136642162343986/1470174027720036616/1000.png?ex=6992e782&is=69919602&hm=c7155544523edb89bdfa18026396af66e706a6d2423d262d3e248ca9ea21ca30&>
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 9/2/2026 3:33 PM
See the original FIEND FOLIO (the book with the Githyanki on the cover, TSR 02012), page 32. That’s an idol of the Prince of Evil Earth Creatures, Ogrémoch (one of the Elemental Princes of Evil).
The skeletal adventurer sprawled in front of the idol was in life the fighter Roas (“ROE-az”) Perdralhund of Athkatla, an overbold man who wanted to forge his own life rather than take over his father’s rented-rooms cleaning business; he departed Athkatla in 1296 DR to seek his fortune. He was slain with a Longsword +2 of the Exultant Shriek (a cursed blade that lets out a very loud, long high-pitched “YES!” of triumph when it takes a life). Its wielder usually can’t get rid of it (it teleports back to them no matter what they do), but when it has taken seven lives in the hands of one bearer, it can be left behind—and that’s what happened here. Elminster always wondered what happened to him… |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 16:10:46
On the Brigadier of Skullport
abra Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 7/2/2026 6:01 AM
@Ed Greenwood Since I was reminded about him the other day, is The Brigadier of Skullport (the giff) still around after the collapse of the city, selling guns elsewhere? Figure you might have an answer since I remember you mentioning you and Grubb having to figure out the smokepowder thing for the giff.
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 8/2/2026 2:23 AM
Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: a lore video is coming! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 16:08:06
On numerology in the Realms
Mind Flayer #1 Fan Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 7/2/2026 9:09 PM
Dear Saer @Ed Greenwood, is numerology a practice in the Forgotten Realms? Are there writing systems that double as numerical systems?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 8/2/2026 12:58 AM
Yes, and yes. All of the language scripts I developed for the Realms before D&D existed have means of writing numerical amounts as part of them, and certain numbers have significance/meaning to particular deities (and therefore their mortal clergy). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 15:54:36
On savory elvish pies or tarts
Zonesylvania Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 16/11/2025 10:28 AM
dear saer @Ed Greenwood, can you give us a few examples of savory pies or tarts that elves might typically cook? thankee!
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/2/2026 4:07 PM
Sure. Elven cuisine is closely tied to woodland plants that grow wild locally; over time elven settlements “farm” these, transplanting and tending so they grow far more numerous.
Which is a long-winded preface to the fact that specific ingredients often shift from place to place, to match what’s locally available.
Perhaps the most widely popular favorite elven savory tart is made with fern-fronds, particular small browncap mushrooms (which closely resemble several poisonous varieties, so know thy mushrooms if harvesting yourself for this), and quail eggs that have had their whites “extended” with flax seed paste, water, and chickpea water (aquafaba). Elven families all have their own combinations of herbs and spices to season these fit-in-your-palm tarts, which are flexible and damp-ish in consistency rather than flaky and crumbly. So they can range from peppery to tart, with most tasting something like roasted almonds or chestnuts that have been roasted with fleshy mushrooms, in butter. These tarts are called velrae (singular and plural the same word-form), which means “fern-taste.”
Another popular elven savory tart is made with flour derived from beech nuts, and the right proportions of coarse-ground acorns, walnuts, hazelnuts, and diced figs, molded into patties and then fried in oil pressed from klael (avocados). The fried patties are cut into roundels that fit into the crusts: the flour is used to make what we might call soft tortillas, then gathered around a fried roundel in a miniature “open-topped treasure sack” that’s then doused in tree sap that tastes like VERY mild leeks (so the open sack has a layer of sap atop the patty, within it) and then fried again. These tarts are called ororth (“forest-eat”—and again, singular and plural have the same word-form).
Small (smaller around than an adult elf cook’s smallest finger) forest roots, of the blueleaf, duskwood, and felsul trees, are harvested in segments about as long as that smallest finger, then washed, then wrapped in wild forest mint leaves, then boiled until soft, then diced, mixed with the abundant forest vine known as winding-worm (because it looks like segmented earthworms wrapped around each other in slender bundles), and the mixture fried until sizzling, then removed from heat, allowed to cool, pressed into patties, and pressed into acorn-flour tart shells, which are gently heated until they stick to the patty-mix. These root-tarts are easily made, and so form the majority of tarts eaten by most elves; they taste like asparagus but with the texture of a fried hamburger patty, and are known as lahlurae (“named-root,” which really means noticed-root, real meaning: I can taste the roots in this; again, singular and plural word-forms are the same). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 15:13:11
On garrison labels of Silverymoon
GAMEtatron Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 6/2/2026 8:33 PM
Hi Ed!
In Volo's Guide to the North, page 171, we find a map of Silverymoon.
On the map, number 8 is labeled as "East Garrison Barracks", but those barracks are about as far West as one can get in the city.
Number 9 is labeled as "West Garrison Barracks", but they are actually about as far South as one can get in the city.
Are they just labeled wrong, or is there another reason for these names?
Thank you for your time
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/2/2026 4:11 AM
Heh. You’ve stumbled across a local security measure. As in, a member of the Spellguard thinking it was likely a bad idea to let someone with the reputation Volo er, “enjoyed” at the time to have accurate information about where members of the garrison slept, when off duty. (The truth? Some in discreetly-hidden rooms in several civic buildings, and others in rooming houses near the gates that also let rooms to genuine tenants.) So they misled him. Both of those so-called “Barracks” buildings are actually within-the-walls shared-good warehouses where shippers can rent space for cargoes just arrived in the city but not yet dispersed to clients, or cargoes being shipped out of the city, that are awaiting caravans. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 15:07:30
On taste of Wyvernwater
Joe Chang Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 6/2/2026 7:55 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood is the Wyvernwater drinkable, and how does it taste?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 7/2/2026 3:56 AM
Yes, but…folk everywhere in the Realms know that it’s best to get your drinking water from where springs rise, high up in the countryside, so it’s percolated through rock and hasn’t had flow time yet to gather in taints from rotting dead things. So stream water is preferred.
All of the small local fishing boats and private skiffs carry “dippers” (usually battered, dented old home water-ewers) for taking up water from over the side, and putting it into handkegs for household use. This is done out in the center of the Wyvernwater (or any lake), not near the shore where suspended sediments (mud) and rotting fish taint will be much stronger.
Water taken from the Wyvernwater well offshore will be light and clear, with a very faint earthy taste. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 15:02:17
On sunglasses in Silverymoon
KryptonianEradicator Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 5/2/2026 1:10 PM
Good day Sage @Ed Greenwood, hope all is groovy with you and yours. So, an easy one on behalf of my brother's Drow Warlock. Are there wearable, shaded lenses (sunglasses) available in the environs of Silverymoon?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 6/2/2026 4:05 AM
Yes, but they don’t look like our real-world ones. What you can get in Silverymoon is a leather skullcap with a metal “beak” that runs up the back, over the crown, and then juts out in front. Halfway between the front of the cap and the end of the jutting beak, the beak has a hinge welded to it, and clasped in the hinge (so, yes, it can fold flat) is a tinted (LITERALLY smoked, as in: held in the smoke of a fire until it’s covered with a deposit) horizontal oval visor (like the sort of thing that many modern real-world football or hockey helmets are fitted with). The design came from lizardfolk war-helms that already had this shape and construction; Gondite priests just added a hinged-to-fold-flat glass visor-piece. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 14:58:38
On creating and roleplaying Fzoul
LukasJP Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 4/2/2026 5:15 PM
Hey @Ed Greenwood, got sort of a twofold question for you regarding Fzoul - whose creation is he (I assume yours?), and how would you personally roleplay him?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 5/2/2026 3:10 AM
He is my creation, and I have always roleplayed him as a large, handsome man (scourge of the ladies and considers that merely his due) who is charismatic, overconfident, and blind to his own faults...so the likes of Manshoon can 'play' him and he doesn't see it until too late (and then seeks to blame someone else for it, rather than ever face his own shortcomings). Thinks nothing of changing allegiances back and forth many times, so as to be on the winning side...because morality and rules don't apply to him, he's SPECIAL. Bold but not reckless (will run away to fight another day), but firm and fearless until he realizes the true peril or that his bluff won't work. Privately thinks those who don't see things his way are fools. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 14:55:54
On good places to eat at or have fun in Tashluta
Vela Role icon, Artisan of the Realms — 2/2/2026 4:03 PM
Good day @Ed Greenwood, would you know of any good places to eat at or have fun in Tashluta ?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 4/2/2026 3:11 PM
Watch for an upcoming Lost Lore on this BIG topic. I can give you a few names faster but far more briefly if you let me know what you mean by “fun” and what you’re looking for in the way of a dining experience.
Vela Role icon, Artisan of the Realms — 4/2/2026 7:52 PM
Thank you for replying !
I'm thinking of what an artisan (in my specific case it would be a glassblower) could afford to do to relax on an evening after work; a real life equivalent could be going to the pub or a cheap restaurant, hanging out at the arcade with friends or just sitting in a public park before the sun sets. Of course people in the realms may spend their time very differently, so I'm open to seeing what else there is to do !
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 5/2/2026 6:53 AM
Got it!
So, a Tashlutan crafter who wants to dine in a relaxed, affordable way chatting with friends would likely frequent Altrel’s House or Sulvar’s Sealion (both are in the upper edge of the Bhuirl, the band or layer of the city running all around the caldera that’s home to most crafter’s shops and workshops; it’s the band immediately above the docks, which form the lowest band, the Arshallaera, better known by its nickname in Common: “Fishstink”).
Altrel’s is a dimly lit labyrinth of small interconnected rooms (archways between, no doors) with small tables for three or four diners fitted into its dark corners; it’s dominated by low-voiced talkers drinking and chatting for three or four bells at a stretch, and offers only basic “varulta” (we might say ‘finger food’) brought in baskets upon request. Varulta are always deep-fried savory pastry dumplings enclosing morsels of seasoned meat or fish, akin to real-world samosas or wontons. Altrel’s also serves teas and tisanes, kaeth, hard cider, mead, rather bad ale, and a small variety of wines.
The Sealion is a larger, noisier place that’s more brightly lit, more crowded, and has a faster pace, with servers briskly clearing tables for waiting would-be diners rather than letting diners linger to talk. It has deeper cellars (with zzar and many liqueurs as well as a good selection of all sorts of beers joining the basics on offer at Altrel’s), and a full menu of fish stew, beef stew, many sorts of varulta, and lamb, goat, and fowl tartaevurs (we would say curries: seasoned meat over rice and diced fried vegetables, with tart chutney-like sauces made from figs and local herbs, nuts, and fruits). The garlic eggbread buns are a standout.
Tashluta has no parkland within the caldera (land has long been too scarce and expensive for open space to survive within the city proper), and the closest thing it does have to publicly accessible parkland is a woodlot (of mainly oak trees, of all ages) that contains the Oak Grove of Silvanus (a local shrine to the god) on the high ground east of the city, outside the walls. The trees and shrubberies are carefully manicured, and a labyrinth of moss-paved narrow trails wind among them, connecting the central grove with ornamental gates (archways without actual gates) around the borders of the woodlot, and with rustic wooden benches (for three adults maximum) set at intervals along the trails. No staying in the woodlot after dark except by making substantial (50 gp or more) offerings to the shrinekeepers (five druids, one of whom commands powerful divine magic). If you’re outside Tashluta proper, the city gates are shut for the night two bells after sunset (so the actual time varies around the year, as sunset moves naturally); if you’re outside after then, you’re outside until dawn.
Tashluta has no arcades, but it does have gaming dens (gaming, and serious-stakes gambling, can also be had at city festhalls) that serve kaeth and teas, sell a small selection of varulta, and rent out seats at gaming tables for a copper piece per bell (hour). These dens are where friends show up to play dice, card, and board games together, and gossip; some patrons wager responsibilities (“you’re buying supper for us all, tomorrow”) on the outcomes of these games, or try to pass on messages or transact simple business or recruitments at gaming dens, but they’re essentially relaxed hangouts for busy, weary folk to spend time away from their workplaces and their homes (it’s not unknown for couples to go to separate gaming dens, each, with their own circle of friends).
Everyone has their own favorites among the two dozen or so gaming dens, usually based very much on who else frequents them, but most Tashlutans will agree that for quiet privacy, Cathtrellur’s and Thorla’s Flagon are among the foremost, and for “seeing and being seen” and stiff competition at the games, Tarshin’s Taps and the Wild Wyvern and Baerul’s Basiliskar are good bets.
If a wild, bawdy festhall is what one seeks, Tsarel’s Sepulcher, in the Zoeklo, is what most Tashlutans think of first (Tsarel isn’t dead, and it’s not actually a burial vault and never was; it bears that name because of the phantoms of shrouded dead that haunt it, appearing unbidden from time to time).
Vela Role icon, Artisan of the Realms — 8/2/2026 6:19 AM
Hello again @Ed Greenwood, you've mentioned the Arshallaera and the Bhuirl in the last question (thank you for your reply, by the way) about Tashluta; what other bands/layers are there in this city ?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 8/2/2026 10:50 AM
Tashluta rises up the steep slopes of the caldera in eight horizontal layers. Bottom to top:
Arshallaera = Fishstink = the docks
The Bhuirl = Glimmermarket = merchant offices, trading centers, and bulk trading
The Thaal = crafter’s warehouses and shops
The Yalaerl = high-end expensive shops and showrooms
The Meirtalal = where most of the middle class (crafters, shopowners, soldiers) lives
The Zoeklo = noisy, crowded lower and middle class shopping district
The Caul = lower class housing (parts are slums)
The Raharrital = Wallturrets = inns, stayhouses, and city guards barracks, along the city wall
This will all be detailed in Lost Lore Of The Realms 48 (when we get there), which should be a lore overview of Tashluta as of “right now” Realmstime. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:16:17
On Slow Cedric's Gallop
Juniper Churlgo Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 3/11/2025 8:06 AM
Ed, do you have any lore on Slow Cedric's Gallop, a long-razed village on the Spine of the World?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 4/2/2026 12:50 PM
Lore video coming in the fullness of time. Heh, heh. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:14:02
On formal drow "black-tie" occasions
Zonesylvania Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 4/2/2026 6:39 AM
I have a lore video suggestion: formal drow "black-tie" occasions and entertainments, and the arrangements made thereof, since while RAS mentioned the formal parties by name, he only went into detail on the informal one Liriel hosted before she went to Arach-Tinilith.
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 4/2/2026 12:38 PM
Good idea. Can't get to it for a little while down the road, and when I do, we'll all have to jaunt back to my drow feasts vid, to put the menu with the occasion. :} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:11:03
On the "Smiling Mask" secret club in Waterdeep
abra Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 1/2/2026 6:52 AM
You know what I'll shoot my shot on this one for @Ed Greenwood 's pile. Ed, do you have any more lore or details on the "Smiling Mask" secret club in Waterdeep you mentioned in the Susprina video?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 3/2/2026 6:44 AM
Heh. A Lore video is on the way.... |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:09:02
On sailors knowing how to swim
mAc Chaos Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 3/2/2026 1:44 AM
@Ed Greenwood hello! can sailors in FR swim or is it like the olden days when it was considered the mark of a bad sailor to need to swim
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 3/2/2026 6:08 AM
A majority of sailors in and operating out of Faerûn can swim. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:04:19
On Phantamos of the Purple Cloak
Zonesylvania Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 7/11/2025 3:38 AM
Good Saer @Ed Greenwood , can you share some information for us about the life and times of the archmage Phantamos of the Purple Cloak, who was mentioned in Volo's Guide to Waterdeep? thankee!
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 11:07 AM
Yes. A lore video is coming, because he's just too juicy to cover otherwise. :} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 17:01:47
On the Bridge of Fallen Men being the border of the Dragon Coast and Cormyr
Joe Chang Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 2/2/2026 10:23 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood is the Bridge of Fallen Men where folks think the Dragon Coast ends and Cormyr begins?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 11:00 AM
Most folks, yes. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:57:10
On wereseals
Night Fang Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 2/2/2026 7:08 AM
@Ed Greenwood are Wereseals still around in the forgotten realms?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 9:01 AM
Oh, yes. Yet they are both rare, and keep a very low profile for obvious reasons. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:53:56
On the Baron's Blades of Hawkhill
Ir'revrykal Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 1/2/2026 9:01 PM
Hello! A recent discussion about Thaldigar's Tower (which you ran at European Gen Con back in '97) had me wondering: what other modules feature the Baron's Blades of Hawkhill?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 2:17 AM
The Baron's Blades are an adventuring band of 12 Realms characters (originally 2e) that I created for TSR-requested playtests early on. I still use them as pregens today, at conventions. So if you're in one of my D&D games at GaryCon or GameholeCon that isn't Tower of Gygax, you can find yourself playing one of them. So they "go with" about a hundred adventures, over the years. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:50:24
On Ss’zuraass’nee
kageura necromancer wizard Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 20/12/2025 1:09 AM
@Ed Greenwood , Ss’zuraass’nee — the yuan-ti City of Abominations in the Underdark beneath the Serpent Hills — only has a brief description in Serpent Kingdoms and a mention in Tyrants of the Underdark. Could you share more about it? I’d especially love to know about its buildings (temples, halls, unique architecture), any inns or taverns, notable organizations, the everyday culture, and what the yuan-ti hierarchy looks like there — or anything else that may be needed or welcomed for lore depth, flavor, and campaign use.
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 1/2/2026 4:08 PM
Eventually, in the fullness of time, a new Realmslore video should come out with me jabbering a lot about the City of Abominations. Script done, awaiting a window of a few days to travel down to Ivan and record a big roster of new vids. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:30:26
On Lheo's fate after his reign
Plutonium Lord Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 31/1/2026 12:53 AM
Good morning @Ed Greenwood , hope the day finds you well!
What was Lhaeo's fate past his reign? I cannot seem to find anything about his retirement or death, but knowing that he and his wife were blessed by Siamorphe, it made me ponder if either by that blessing, or perhaps by adventures or antics with Elminster (or maybe even their own!), did the two rulers find some measure of immortality or eternal youth?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 1/2/2026 3:41 AM
You've hit upon a topic that I intend to do a lore video on, once I can sidle past the last hampering NDA; stay tuned!
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 5:54 AM
A lore video is coming about this. I don't know how soon; there's a backlog of vids to post. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:25:03
On Volo being over 150 years old in 1490s DR
Melina from Dark Souls Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 30/1/2026 5:02 PM
Quick question, sir @Ed Greenwood! Why does no one question how Volo is seemingly over 150 years old as of late 1490s DR?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 30/1/2026 11:38 PM
Wild tales have got around that Volo is "favored of the gods" and so may be effectively immortal–and if you try to slay him, you will incur the wrath of Mystra, magic will harm and never help you, and your own life will be short indeed from then on. Consult the "Volothamp Geddarm" entry on the FR Wiki for the truth: Volo is a Weave anchor and therefore Mystra has Elminster and the other Chosen watch over him, guardian-angel style. How he lasted that long was being both a Weave anchor and at the same time transformed into stone statues and the like, as decades passed. So folk who don't follow the wild versions often know something of this truth–because as the author of books sold in the Realms, Volo is sometimes asked how he's been alive so long, and sometimes retreats from "I'm so important to the gods" to some part of this truth. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:22:14
On the Moon and Stars Tavern in Waymoot
kageura necromancer wizard — 30/9/2025 7:49 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed,
I have a few questions regarding the Moon and Stars Tavern in Waymoot. i have not heard anything about it since volo's guide to cormyr. Could you share who currently runs it in the current Realms year, and whether its ownership, clientele, reputation, or physical layout has changed since Volo’s time? Have there been any notable events, visitors, or connections in recent years?
Ed Greenwood — 3/10/2025 3:32 AM
Reply coming; just tracking down some notes (there was an RPGA adventure set there...). Hang tight.
kageura necromancer wizard Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 21/1/2026 9:12 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed, I have a few questions regarding the Moon and Stars Tavern in Waymoot. i have not heard anything about it since volo's guide to cormyr. Could you share who currently runs it in the current Realms year, and whether its ownership, clientele, reputation, or physical layout has changed since Volo’s time? Have there been any notable events, visitors, or connections in recent years?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 30/1/2026 12:35 PM
Gladly!
Elminster tells me that in his opinions, Volo wouldn’t change his ratings for “the Moonstars.”
The Moon And Stars remains a large, rather ramshackle, rustic tavern. From the road, it looks (aside from sorely-needed cedar-shake reroofing) very much as it did in the 1300s DR, with long, long “wings” jutting out from the older, original core central taproom (with ground-level “cellars” behind). What has changed is that ongoing demands for more private drinking “back rooms” (for delicate negotiations) and more simple tavern fare (hot buttered biscuits, sweet-topped crackers, and smoked sausage slices—joining the pickles, liver-sausage-spread hot egg-bread buns, diced fruit, and cheese-stuffed fried mushroom caps that have always been served) drove three owners ago to purchase two homes behind the tavern (and beside its simple stableyard) and connect them to the old rear-cellars, to end up with bigger cellars, a kitchen with a pantry, and the remaining rooms of the two houses repurposed as rentable “private drinking rooms.”
Then, as now, the Moon And Stars serves ale, stout, a bitter beer, a fruity sour beer, sweet cider (non-alcoholic), hard cider, and zzar. A recent addition to the food is dark nutbread (we would call it pumpernickel), always served thin-sliced and spread with garlic butter.
The Moon And Stars remains dimly-lit, low-ceilinged, worn-carpeted underfoot, and cozy, with heavy, rustic dark wooden furniture. Two owners ago, a concerted effort was made to level the floors to avoid the all-too-frequent “drunkards tripping” problem, and as a result, floors throughout the ground floor are indeed level. (The same cannot be said for the two floors of drinking rooms in the repurposed connected houses, or the attics of those houses.)
The Moon And Stars remains a meeting-place for all manner of patrons, some of whom are local drinkers quietly gossiping or playing cards, some of whom are passing travelers, and some of whom are exotic personages who have deliberate chosen the Moon And Stars as a “neutral ground” meeting-place. It’s common knowledge in the Forest Kingdom that both undercover War Wizards (and other Crown agents) and Harpers frequent this establishment and will notice who’s showing up, and whom they’re meeting with.
As before, the veteran staff of former adventurers and rangers are allowed to go armed by royal decree, and there are War Wizards openly on duty to back them up if need be. (There are also firequench wards upon wards cast upon the place, so any sort of fire magic, arcane or divine, simply won’t work.)
The current owners and proprietors of the Moon And Stars are three business partners who all live in houses in Waymoot, near the tavern. They are fast, longtime, deeply-loyal friends who trust each other deeply, but not wedded to each other nor lovers.
These three are:
Jalanthaera “Jassa” Morrowstorm, a beautiful, still-graceful white-haired woman in her sixties who was once stunningly beautiful and is still strikingly beautiful. Elminster describes her as “an elegant lady who flirts with style but looks as dangerous with a hurled dagger as she happens to be.” She’s a dark-blue-eyed, thigh-length-haired tall and slender woman who dresses in leathers and has more daggers sheathed about her person at all times than your eye can readily spot, She’s a retired adventurer (CG hf Rog14 Arcane Trickster) and, it’s rumored (Elminster says correctly) a one time Highknight who reports to the Palace via visiting active Highknights. She greets everyone like an old friend, and a lot of the regulars are smitten with her. (She’s also the financial and logistical brains of the establishment.)
Mordrim Wyndlorn, a quietly smiling, impossible-to-read man from Athkatla who came to Cormyr three decades ago with enough coin to buy most of Waymoot. He bought the Moon And Stars cash-down for twice the asking price, and has spent the same amount again fixing it up and expanding it. He has green eyes, freckles, red hair, is short and has a boyish build, wears the most expensive of tailored clothes that are NEVER showy, and is rumored (correctly, Elminster says) to come from a noble Athkatlan family, but to be a bastard son who made himself very useful to the patriarch who sired him as a discreet envoy and undercover spy and agent, a career that ended abruptly when the patriarch died and a power struggle ensued; Mordrim announced he’d not be part of it and would depart Amn and change his name, which greatly pleased the warring sons fighting to run the family; El suspects they’d have been a lot less pleased if they’d known Mordrim was taking his dead father’s nine-million-gold-piece secret personal treasury with him. Mordrim is a LN hm Rog18 Thief who always wears a ring of evasion and bracers of flying daggers. He has a mated pair of bats that work with him and will fight for him (they’re not familiars as the game defines them but function much the same way). He also wears some sort of magical mind protection, likely a necklace of protection against charm (see the FR Wiki).
Gelgaert Thaunedorr, an (undercover) cleric of Helm (LN hm Cleric17 Light Domain) of nondescript looks and clothes, average height, brown hair (starting to go white behind the ears) and brown eyes, and an underlying mischievous streak that long ago led him to commission a gorget of disguise that he always wears, and that can make him look unerringly like a mind flayer, a nothic, a yuan-ti, or any human he has a chance to visually studyfor a minute or so. He keeps a hidden cache of healing potions and scrolls somewhere in the Moon And Stars (Elminster warns it’s not unguarded!) and has a harmless pet flying snake (bites for 1 hp damage, isn’t poisonous, and is timid) that lives on his body, under his clothes; he’s not above pretending it’s deadly poisonous and its venom has mentally affected him. Gelgaert keeps aloof from the running of the tavern, and many regulars don’t even know he’s an owner, but he’s always there, drinking (the Moon And Stars never closes, by the way) but never seeming drunk, and is the “muscle” of the establishment, able to unleash powerful combat or disabling-dangerous-patrons magic in an instant, if need be.
Elminster tells me he’s been trying to convince Jassa to stock “a nice little selection of” cheeses for patrons, and some elverquisst, but thus far she’s skeptical it’ll be financially worth it.
On her own, she did quietly sponsor a tiny local festhall, at the north end of Waymoot, for patrons who want “companionship,” or who are just too drunk to travel and need a bed to sleep off their current condition in. It’s called Baerra’s Wyvernhorn, after the proprietor, former Sembian pleasure-lady Baerra Wyvernhorn.
kageura necromancer wizard Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 31/1/2026 8:29 AM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! Thank you very much for all the wonderful detail about the Moon and Stars—especially its updates, atmosphere, and current proprietors. It’s incredibly helpful.
I had one small follow-up question: beyond what you mentioned, would the Moon and Stars also serve any other foods or drinks (such as milk, teas, wines, sweet foods, or other simple fare), or is the menu largely as you described?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 1/2/2026 3:49 AM
The Moon And Stars isn't a full-on eatery, but it can indeed run to these additionals: a very basic wine cellar (local vintages, not "aged and haughty" of any sort: reds, whites, and roses, all dry, sweet, and semi-sweet: good robust safe-to-drink wines); goat's milk, lamb's milk, cow's milk, all served cold or warmed, sweetened with vanilla and honey or not; all manner of local-ingredient teas (mainly tisanes such as rose hips, fruit peels, and various King's Forest leaves and berries); and when it comes to food, "cellar biscuits" (butter-biscuits akin to real-world Club for Americans, or Tuc for Canadians, only thicker, harder, and far less likely to snap) spread with butter or garlic butter; "thumb wedges" of local cheeses, both soft-rind (like real-world Brie) or hard (like real-world white, aged strong cheddar). Any meat in the Moon And Stars larder that is getting old and might decay is smoked in the smokehouse out back (separate structure) to preserve it, and may end up diced and put into the always-simmering kitchen stew, which tends to be dominated by barley, beef broth, and diced carrots, parsnips, leeks, and mushrooms). And one can always get chilled, mint-garnished spring water.
Kokopelli Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 1/2/2026 5:47 AM
On a related note, friend @Ed Greenwood, how oft is milk consumed in the Realms, and are there other types aside from the listed ones that are commonly consumed? (Let the record show that this is NOT a question about breastmilk from any PC-playable race!
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 11:05 AM
Milk is consumed VERY often in the Realms; by and large, drinkables go like this in places where milk is available: water consumed most, "small beer" (homebrewed) next, teas next after that, and then milk (and what isn't drunk, gets made into cheese). What sort of milk depends on where you are: camel milk and rothé milk and pack lizard milk rise to be "most popular" in particular locales (desert, cold northlands, and Underdark, respectively). Elminster says it seems to him that folk of Toril will try to milk ANYTHING. ;}
Melina from Dark Souls Role icon, Legend of the Realms — 2/2/2026 11:16 AM
Lich milk? #129371;
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 2/2/2026 11:41 AM
(Groan) LOL. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:18:45
On taste of voj-weed tea
Juniper Churlgo Role icon, Scribe of the Realms — 7/1/2026 11:51 PM
What does voj-weed or vauge plant taste like in tea form?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 30/1/2026 11:29 AM
It tastes somewhat like real-world “beef tea” (lean beef simmered in water for hours with salt and herbs; it was a restorative for sick folks in Victorian England), but “twisted” with a somewhat licorice/anise flavor. If you add lemon or lime peel or juice, it alters in flavor completely, tasting rather nutty (like hazelnuts or acorns) and semi-sweet.Voj-weed has been evolving over the recent centuries, but has always grown in profusion all over the Shaar, among the tall grasses. It has always been a short, almost woody brown plant that looks a little like a “jade plant” or “leggy” crassula succulent: oval flattish lobes growing from stalks. It turns green and soft in spring, flowers in summer, then dries back to brown woody state, and can be harvested and used in any time of year, but yields the best tea when brown and woody. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 16:15:34
On dwaves living outside trade infrastructure
Kaiden | The Gallant Goblin Role icon, Patron of The Realms — 30/1/2026 1:33 AM
Saer @Ed Greenwood, I've got something of a follow-up question regarding the trading industry of the dwarves of the Silver Marches: Outside of the full citadels trading infrastructure, are there any individuals, or even full clans who live there who have their own separate businesses "on the side", so to speak?
Ed Greenwood Role icon, Father of the Realms — 30/1/2026 9:16 AM
Oh, yes. A dozen or more based in every settlement who act as “roving traders” across the Sword Coast surface lands, for those who can’t or won’t travel to the dwarf settlements. These traders get the loftiest prices of all, showing up in Athkatla or Zazesspur or Riatavin or Crimmor with metal ingots and tradebars to trade or sell. |
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