| 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 - 07 May 2024 : 07:12:15
On wearing a hood up
Malarite — 12/19/2023 7:29 PM
In different locations of the realms including cormyr: How common is constantly wearing a hood up? What weather and situations would that behavior be suspicious to guards or the average tavern goer?
Ed Greenwood — 12/20/2023 6:27 AM
Not common, but not a red flag; it would lead most folk to conclude that the wearer was disfigured and sensitive about it, like someone who got their nose or an ear or both sliced off in battle, or someone with leprosy or another disfiguring disease. It is NOT the habit of some celebrity (like royalty) trying to go out in public in disguise, as it's hardly a subtle disguise. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 07:07:09
On a streamed Q&A specifically about the Forest Kingdom
Brian Cortijo — 12/16/2023 12:39 AM
So, @Ed Greenwood : what are the odds of us opening up the floor to some Cormyr questions in preparation for a streamed Q&A specifically about the Forest Kingdom (which questions submitted in advance so we can provide fulsome answers and screen for NDA topics)?
Ed Greenwood — 12/16/2023 3:25 PM
Really good, I'd say. ;} Or to put in another way, let's do it: bring on thy Cormyr questions, all, here and now. My personal availability is scant this weekend and the week to come, and given the holidays and family, many of us will be under similar constraints. I'm also busy at New Year's (Toronto-area public Realms event New Year's Eve, details to be announced soon), and then unavailable again from the 10-27th of January, filming. However, we should be able to schedule around those obstacles! I've been holding off on heavy Cormy content in my lore videos for a chance at something like this... |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 07:03:50
On when El gets to use his secret hideout on Coliar
stormer454 — 12/11/2023 5:08 PM
@Ed Greenwood How often does El get to use his secret hideout on Coliar and at this point what would he even use it for?
Ed Greenwood — 12/12/2023 2:48 AM
It's used these days mainly to hide relices and artifacts and particular magic items for a time, taking them "off the table" on Toril to prevent their misuse. So El doesn't visit it all that often. (He's the one being who makes me look lazy.) |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 07:00:09
On how various faiths go about proselytizing people
Melody — 12/10/2023 12:54 AM
Hey @Ed Greenwood! I've always been curious about how priests, divine champions, and the general faithful of various faiths go about proselytizing people. Since my understanding is they don't really have "Bibles" complete with various stories, wisdoms, etc, how do they convince people to join?
Is it simply word of mouth and personal experiences? Demonstrations of magic? Do they have any literature at all?
I'm particularly curious how, say, Milil's Harmonious Order might go about reaching people for the faith, or Tempus' Order of the Steel Fangs. Do they wander about the countryside simply doing heroic deeds? Do they even bother trying to convert people?
I'm trying to grapple with "First Principles" in the way the faiths get their points across and induct people.
This is mostly for my own edification, to be sure I'm roleplaying Melody correctly as a member of the Harmonious Order and a Mililan. But I'm curious writ large for various faiths!
Ed Greenwood — 12/10/2023 1:26 PM
Here’s a short version: all sane sentient beings in the Realms old enough to speak and understand speech around them “believe in” all the gods. No one needs to be proselytized. There’s no “joining” one faith at the expense of another.
What there is, is…competition among faiths for offerings, services to (or assistance for) a temple or shrine or traveling priest, and for attention. As in, listening to what mortal clergy preach, or tell you the deity wants, or what the church of that deity (i.e. them, the mortal clergy) want you to do, or sponsor, or participate in.
And for all of those, mortal clergy do tend to have holy books (of things the deity has said or done, or tales of how mortals were aided or guided by the god) that they read from, show, and sometimes hand out free chapbooks of extracts from.
Clergies do use magic to demonstrate the power or favour or disfavour of their deity, they do repeat holy sayings and wisdoms, they do travel and do both heroic and helpful deeds, and they do try to awe and inspire laity so the inspired will spread by word of mouth reverence of, and respect and awe for, “their” deity.
Members of the Harmonious Order will often play music, sing, and perform for entertainment, or at a funeral to soothe and comfort, or in a community in turmoil, to guide and uplift and placate, and they will often sing or chant “charms” to reassure parents that ill luck or disease/illness is being driven away from a sick child/infant, and so on.
For some folk in the Realms, they turn from one church to another on a “what have you done for me lately” fashion. Others remember lifelong—and even longer, within a family or clan, by tales told and retold and passed down—of when a particular deity “was there for us, in our moment of need.” |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 06:26:46
On free will in predetermined fate
gdallison — 11/29/2023 6:36 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood , a question about prophecies if you will.
One of my assumptions is that mortals have free will. It is the basis for the soul economy of the outer planes (mortals choose to believe and that generates power, also fiends bargain and corrupt souls which again provides power or currency and all requires free will and for fate to be undetermined).
Yet we have prophecies that predict certain events. Sometimes these prophecies are vague and could be met by any number of events, and yet sometimes (the bhaalspawn saga and the threat from the sea prophecies) the prophecy is quite specific.
How does free will work with an almost predetermined fate. And how do prophecies and a predetermined event work.
My own personal theory revolves around belief. If enough people believe something is going to happen then it is more likely to happen, although those key individuals involved in the event can choose not to take part in which case the prophecy / event has to change to include new people or occur later.
So as an example, in threat from the sea we have a lot of prophecies about iakhovas return (which I believe he created and spread to make events turn out a certain way). The belief in that prophecy caused things to turn out the way they did, especially because iakhovas was willing to take part. Jherek however also had a part in the prophecy and while he chose not to believe then iakhovas would survive. Once he used his free will to believe then the event changed to cause iakhovas death (I believe eldath and oghma and lathander spread this part of the prophecy and altered the original prophecy iakhovas spread).
Am I close? Do prophecies and free will work differently. Do certain mortals not have free will and their fates are predetermined. Or are we just not meant to think about these things too hard.
Ed Greenwood — 11/30/2023 12:07 AM
I've written about this many times. Prophecies (and curse warnings) in the Realms tend to be propaganda spread by clergies (or guilds, or wizards) to sway the behaviour of others, including well into the future. No Realms deity is infallible, all-seeing, and having absolute power, so prophecies CANNOT be iron-clad destiny for anyone. Clergy also "edit" the pronouncements they've heard (presumably from "their" deity) in altars and at prayer, to leave out lots of "unless this" branches (and this is where the deeds and decisions of free-willed mortals come in: they can, however unwittingly, "sort through the branches" to decide outcomes). So, yes, free will prevails, prophecies are more guidance than reliable prediction, and many prophecies are cryptic or more warning than prescription. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 06:11:08
On funerary rites of dwarves in Galena Mountains/Moonsea North
Black Rabbit (coinín dubh) — 11/29/2023 11:36 PM
@Ed Greenwood a somber request: in our last session, a young Shield Dwarf NPC bystander died and the Paladin in the group wants to make a side quest to return the young dwarf’s body to her family. I have looked online and briefly in the Candlekeep forums with no consensus answer. Would you know what the shield dwarves of the Galena Mountains/Moonsea North do for their funerary rites or point to a source to find this information?
Ed Greenwood — 11/30/2023 12:01 AM
See my sourcebook FR11 DWARVES DEEP (pages 11 and 29) for some details. When a body can't be recovered, a weapon or tool used by the fallen is interred, with a runestone marker briefly telling their tale (e.g. "Faelra, daughter of Jundra and Ilbromm, fair of hair and kind speech, slayer of orcs, staunch shieldmaiden, fell protecting her kin [date]. A good [clan] dwarf.") A body goes into a stone sarcophagus with the same sort of inscribed runestone set into a recess in the top (just resting there, it can be freely lifted out and put back). The funeral service itself varies with family wishes, the clan customs, and the officiating clergy (which deity), but always includes a mourners' chant as the body processes to its burial, and a presiding priest standing over the body telling of the death and of the importance of the dwarf in life, ere the body is put into the sarcophagus (by family members, if any are available and willing; they arrange the body with any funeral goods such as favourite weapons or tools or art objects the fallen made, e.g. paintings or statuettes). After the interment, clergy sing a dirge, then everyone goes to where the clan (or family, only if no clan is involved) has prepared a feast, which usually turns into a wake. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 06:07:33
On lycanthropes' black blood
Malarite — 11/27/2023 12:20 AM
Followers of Malar will sometimes refer to their lycanthrope kin/selves as 'Black Blooded' for example when huntmaster Rusk says in Black Wolf: "You cant hurt me with mortal weapons. Mine is the Black Blood." ... Is this literal? Do lycanthropes actually have black blood? If so, when would that start being the case? Are there any other ways a werewolf might know to confirm who is of their kind? (I imagine the public is absolutely filled with both true and false rumors about how to parse out a werewolf).
Ed Greenwood — 11/29/2023 2:34 AM
No, it refers to the (correct) belief that the blood of a lycanthrope shifts hue from reddish to black AS THEY ARE SHIFTING SHAPE, and then is red once more. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 06:05:02
On prime movers of the multiverse
cuddlypooface — 11/28/2023 8:43 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! I'm new here so apologies if this has been asked before... I recently read through the Avatar series and personally loved the characters and dynamics between Cyric, Mystra and Kelemvor in particular. At the end of the 5th book is the line from Cyric "You helped me see that I am not the Prime Mover of the Multiverse... But that can be changed". What is / are the Prime Mover(s) of the Multiverse? Is this a reference to Ao / more powerful beings in general or is this a term for actual beings that can control the fates beyond the gods / Ao / those in this crystal sphere?
Ed Greenwood — 11/29/2023 2:28 AM
This is in reference to a belief, popular among the ambitious/those who seek power, that there is a being or title/position of Prime Mover of the Multiverse. Various priesthoods have said that "their" god is secretly the Prime Mover, so this has been written down in many holy texts. However, if we can believe Ao (and it's "if" because EVERYONE is an unreliable narrator), there is no such being, or title/position, and never has been. Cyric is less than sane now, and was self-centered/a little delusional about his own capabilities and importance then, so he may have meant what he said literally. If, say, Mirt or Elminster or even Khelben had uttered those words, they would clearly have been speaking ironically. And would have meant the term to apply to uber-powerful beings beyond the constraints of Ao. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 04:21:22
On other surnames a traveling Minstrelwish might use
Sheepy — 11/20/2023 1:57 AM
Friend @Ed Greenwood, the Minstrelwish family continues to intrigue me. Are there any other surnames a traveling Minstrelwish might use, like perhaps the name of a lesser branch of the family?
Ed Greenwood — 11/26/2023 11:58 AM
Yes. The most popular surname used by Minstrelwishes who don't want to advertise their infamous lineage is "Ryvel." Another is "Tanornorn." Both are legit last names borne by branches of the vast Minstrelwish family tree. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 07 May 2024 : 04:18:37
On name given to the war in the Vast
Juniper Churlgo — 11/15/2023 1:45 AM
Hi Ed, is there an official flowery name given to the war in the Vast - Ravens Bluff vs Myrkissa Jalain? dry "war of ravens bluff" sounds too nondescript, especially compared to other conflicts in the realms with propper names.
Ed Greenwood — 11/26/2023 11:54 AM
I wouldn't say "flowery," and it's a local term in the city, not something embraced by sages, but folk of the Bluff call it "The Three Women War" (yes, they know all three were really one; the phrase is sardonic). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 06:55:13
On republics in the Realms
Aravalar Eveningfall — 11/26/2023 11:02 AM
Unto the High Master of the Realms @Ed Greenwood and all and sundry others unto whom these presents shall come, a question. Why are there so few republics in the realms? Other than Turmish and a few of the Dales, the concept seems mostly alien to the Realms, although I guess an arguement could be made that Myth Nantar is one. Is the influence of Siamorphe and Nobanion part of the reason?
Ed Greenwood — 11/26/2023 11:49 AM
The reason we see so few republics in Faerûn these days (above the city level; there are LOTS of cities that have openly-elected ruling councils composed of representatives of the people) is that the Realms has seen many that squabbled, making decisions slowly or not at all, because there was no "party" system, and if voting blocs are evenly matched or too small to obtain majorities, consensus can be hard to reach...and then someone with wealth and power, like a "big" merchant or a guild or "old money" (nobles, titled or not) gets impatient and starts assassinating or mounting coups...and away goes the republic. The Realms is not an analogue of the real world, and is not going to progress historically as the real world did, because the real world lacked widespread zap-bang magic, and has had a lot more chicanery in the name of faith (hard to manage in the Realms, where gods can step in to stop it). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 06:44:12
On tea leaves and flavors in Waterdeep
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 11/15/2023 2:44 PM
In the city of Waterdeep, I would imagine there's much more than just local infusions especially in the winter. Where are the primary sources of leaves coming from and do we have any flavor descriptions?
Ed Greenwood — 11/26/2023 11:41 AM
Teas have been covered in official Realmslore, and ibn my replies at Candlekeep. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 04:06:03
On Ed's Appendix N
Busy Bob — 10/14/2023 12:14 PM
My son and I attended Candlekeep Presents at GenCon 2023. My son asked if Ed had an equivalent to Appendix N he would like to share. Ed paused and asked Ivan to take a note that he needed to create one. Did that happen? Or will it happen? (First post-not sure I’m posting in correct channel)
George Krashos — 10/15/2023 11:58 AM
Appendix N?
Brian Cortijo — 10/15/2023 12:12 PM
Ed was asked if he had important/foundational books that he would recommend as part of his worldbuilding, similar to the Appendix N in the original Dungeon Master's Guide. He began to rattle off some books, before I warned everyone that Ed's day job is recommending books, and that we would be there the whole seminar just listing sources if we let him.
Busy Bob — 10/15/2023 2:50 PM
@Brian Cortijo forgive me for not knowing all the players in this arena, but I think you may have been the gentleman up front who shared some details about your two(?) kids. A detail my son shares. Of course we wouldn’t want to press over hard, he was just genuinely interested in how that appendix may have expanded over the years. He’s exhausted my physical library and my kindle collection. He went right out and read all of Erin’s books. He is currently burning through Moorcock. We all recognize that people are busy but a part of him is thinking “any day now.” So I was just curious.
Busy Bob — 11/16/2023 12:36 PM
Thought I’d give it another check in.
Ed Greenwood — 11/26/2023 11:38 AM
I remain CRAZY-busy, but when it comes to fantasy fiction classics, here are some foundational go-tos of mine, in no particular order (warning: these are all “adult” books), that show you worldbuilding:
The Face In The Frost by John Bellairs
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
A Song For Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Amber Saga (10 books: Nine Princes In Amber is the first) by Roger Zelazny
Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny
Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny
A Night In The Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
The Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May (4 books, the first being The Many-Colored Land) [sf]
The Well World series by Jack Chalker (the first one is all you need: Midnight At The Well of Souls) [sf]
The Boreal Moon Tale (trilogy) by Julian May (the first is Conqueror’s Moon)
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
The Fire’s Stone by Tanya Huff
A Riddle of Stars/The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy (the first one is The Riddlemaster of Hed) by Patricia McKillip
The Hero And The Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin S. McKinley
Showboat World by Jack Vance (prequel is a novel called “Big Planet”)
The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance (the first one is the short story collection The Dying Earth)
The (first) Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin (A Wizard Of Earthsea is the first)
The Fahrd & the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber (the first two, Swords And Deviltry and Swords Against Death, are the most useful in this context)
................................................................Part 2 follows...............
The Lord D’Arcy series by Randall Garrett (there’s one novel, Too Many Magicians, the rest are short stories that have been collected under various titles: the Baen “Lord Darcy” has them all in one book)
The Gossamer Mage by Julie E. Czerneda
The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust (part of a series, but start with just this one)
The Merovingen Nights series by C.J. Cherryh (the first is Angel With The Sword)
The Morgaine stories (4 books) by C. J. Cherryh (the first is The Gate of Ivrel)
The Witch World series by Andre Norton (long series: all you need in this context is the novel The Crystal Gryphon and the short story “The Toads of Grimmerdale”)
The Warlock In Spite Of Himself by Christopher Stasheff (first in the long Warlock series, but just this one will do as a start)
Brian was right: I can on for pages, so this list is by no means exhaustive. No Discworld books, for one thing, and no sampling of Conan, and no “stuff in all the essential classics” (yet ;} )
Busy Bob — 11/27/2023 1:56 AM
You’ve made a young man very happy. Though he is a bit impressed with himself for the ones he’s already read. You were very generous and patient when we attended the panel and here as well. Thank you.
Ed Greenwood — 11/27/2023 5:44 AM
You're very welcome! I wish him the joy of reading the ones that are new to him for the first time!!!! |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 04:01:45
On catching Elminster's Traveling Spellbook
Melody — 11/02/2023 8:21 AM
@Ed Greenwood Because I have to ask the important questions:
Did Alias and Dragonbait ever catch Elminster's Traveling Spellbook? :MelodyTeehee:
<https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1072136642162343986/1169431145985871972/Untitled.png?ex=655560a0&is=6542eba0&hm=b9e4420141eaebfff53f0ae528d8fa01620da85cef779868bc8737fa94565fc1&=&width=656&height=410>
Ed Greenwood — 11/02/2023 9:41 AM
Yes, and discovered it had a swapout defense: if you weren't Elminster, you found yourself in possession of a spellbook containing 17 first level spells, not the real thing. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 03:57:59
On the doppelganger in the Haunted Halls
rweston_DnD — 11/01/2023 4:44 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood ! Hope Halloween is treating you kindly,
Another Haunted Halls query- what is going on with the doppelganger? Is he alone? Working for whisper? Stumbled through a gate? Does he even know about Eveningstar?
Ed Greenwood — 11/01/2023 11:06 AM
You speak as if there’s only one doppelganger. ;} |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 03:51:29
On how Asmodeus is categorized in Ed's home Realms campaign
Zeph — 11/01/2023 7:58 AM
Hello @Ed Greenwood ! It's become a recurring question for me and my friends as of late so I was curious. In your home forgotten realms campaign or how you run him, what is Asmodeus currently categorized as. I've seen differing opinions ranging from Archdevil, to Lesser Deity, to Greater Deity. If you are at liberty to elaborate, roughly where is he as far as your concerned. Additionally is his true from the traditional devil avatar in Nessus?
Thanks for your time!
Sheepy — 11/01/2023 8:40 AM
My classification for him is "big bad evil guy you don't want to come anywhere near messing with."
Ed Greenwood — 11/01/2023 11:04 AM
Heh. I agree with Sheepy when it comes to a practical working classificiation for Asmodeus (whose name can be pronounced “Az-moe-DAY-us” or “Azz-MOE-dee-us,” BTW; either is correct and will be heard by him, though he prefers the latter). He is both “the” Archdevil (by far the most powerful archdevil) and a deity, his power magnified by the Nine Hells so that within the Hells, he’s a greater deity, but the moment he reaches or travels beyond them, he’s a Lesser Deity at best. His true form is a horned, faceless tall and gaunt satyr-like figure (goat’s legs with cloven hooves, and a goat’s tail), but he prefers to appear as a burlier, taller, long-neat-beard-adorned man with a face rather like that of the real-world actor Vincent Price (see the illustration in the original Monster Manual). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 06 May 2024 : 03:47:57
On tips for getting reinspired when you have to plan as a DM
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 10/24/2023 10:29 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood, as a forever DM (More than anyone else in the world probably), what are your tips for getting reinspired when you have to plan but you're not feeling it?
Ed Greenwood — 10/24/2023 11:55 PM
I put myself mentally into the head of, or over the shoulder of, one of the NPCs/monsters involved and think about what they're striving for, or most want out of what's going to be the next PC/them encounter. Or if clashing factions/cabals/guilds/authorities are involved, what might happen if various outcomes ensue. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 04:13:26
On percentage of the Realms worked out that is not yet published
Reedhalloran Duskfellow — 10/02/2023 11:22 AM
Hello dear @Ed Greenwood just a note to say thank you. But if I must ask a question I'll make it non-lore specific one:
If you had to estimate, What percentage of the realms do you have worked out that is not yet published? Feel free to tease us mercilessly and let our imaginations run wild.
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:34 PM
I do have outlines of the lands on several continents, an overview coming up as a video and Patreon writeup, and a lot more lore on places like Sossal than has been published thus far; my vids and Patreon efforts seek to fill in a lot of those gaps in a bare-bones manner. I’ve never worked out percentages, though: I’m just too busy. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 04:08:01
On petitioners merging with the god's home plane
Nameless801 — 10/02/2023 9:50 AM
@Ed Greenwood we were discussing the afterlife in the #8288;#128218;realmslore server, and some of us were wondering: do petitioners eventually merge with the god's home plane, or do they remain petitioners (or ascend to a higher being)? In the Planescape book On Hallowed Ground, petitioners that merge with the plane maintain a sense of consciousness/awareness. If petitioners merge in the Realms, is this true for them as well, or does the individual cease? I was always under the impression they either remained petitioners or ascended to a higher form.
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:33 PM
I would agree with that impression, though there will be a rare few who merge with the plane (but maintain a dim awareness). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 04:05:57
On what is it like for demi-humans living in Thay
Genghis Sean — 10/02/2023 7:13 AM
Hello @Ed Greenwood ! I was wondering what is it like for demi-humans living in Thay? I have read Thay, Land of the Red Wizards (wonderfully detailed book) and I understand that it is mostly human, with a sentence here or there explaining that the lower class consists of "thayan-tolerated races" and "races that are typically considered monstrous... may be able to establish homes in some of the tharches". What exactly is most people's stance on them and what would growing up in Thay be like for them? I have a player who is interested in playing a half-elf Red Wizard and I'm wondering what his experience becoming one might've looked like. I know Valindra Shadowmantle is a Zulkir and a moon-elf, so it's clearly possible, but her circumstance is far from usual.
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:33 PM
If you don’t mind being a working drudge, life for non-humans in Thay is easy enough in the poorer areas of most Thayan cities. Otherwise, it’s much easier (due to higher “oh, you’re one of us” local acceptance) in rural areas, especially in the southwestern, eastern, and southeastern “fringes” of the realm.
Thayan children will have to be well-hidden indeed (by parents able to often be on the move) to avoid being tested to see if they have the Gift—and if they do, they get scooped up for training to be Red Wizards (or killed off deliberately in the training if they exhibit rebellious and deceitful tendencies; the Thayan authorities want anyone with the Gift to be a Red Wizard or dead and gone from Thay.
There are unambitious, loyal ‘drudge’ Red Wizards, who choose bad treatment to gain relative safety rather than trying to advance. A demi-human Red Wizard is rather like a woman in our modern real world trying to break the “glass ceiling” in the 1990s and 2000s: they’ll be watched, gently harassed, and usually have to be really good at what they do to advance far—but they WILL be accepted as full Red Wizards, and trusted a little more than other Red Wizards, because superiors will think they can’t go elsewhere, so they will be diligent and work hard and can be relied upon. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 03:49:33
On 'riding the moon'
Malarite — 10/05/2023 6:10 AM
So in the novel Black Wolf, Sembia ~1370s, it is mentioned that many werewolves never learn to turn into hybrid form. And even among those devout to Malar or Selune, many never learn to change at will and for the rest it is a process that takes months to years to master.
In the moonshae AL modules, Moonshae Ilses ~1480s, there is an entire tribe of werewolves that are just casually walking around in hybrid form, including a newly innitiated member who doesnt even like their predicament.
I'm trying to mesh these two truths in my head.
Has 'riding the moon' (controlling the werewolf transformation) gotten easier over the years?
Are these two separate types of wolf lycanthropy, which have different details? One of which is easier to control?
Thank you, may your blood turn black~
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:32 PM
No, not separate types of lycanthropy. The differences reflect tribal bloodlines (marrying within the tribe, down the years) and training/support from fellow tribe members…and the relative lack of it for some werewolves outside that tribe. Most werewolves are “on their own” when dealing with their condition; that’s not the case in that tribe, or in some small, isolated wilderland communities elsewhere in Faerûn. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 03:40:34
On Immersea being a port
Joe Chang — 10/04/2023 10:11 PM
Hi @Ed Greenwood and @Brian Cortijo could Immersea be considered a port, with its docks frequently loading and unloading trading vessels?
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:31 PM
Immersea is a port (and the home port for a local fishing fleet) but not a seaport.
The Wyvernflow is too shallow-draft to take anything more than barges and a few of the smallest “coast boat” rakers (akin to real-world historical York Boats). What instead happens is that barges (in the case of cut timber, these are often rafts made of the timber itself) and scows (very like real-world historical “sturgeon-head” scows) that are beached at Blustich (and secured with cables to keep the tides and shore waves from carrying them away) when not in use are poled out to seagoing ships and lashed alongside, as the ships ride at “drag-anchor” off the mouth of the Wyvernflow in good weather, when the flow of the river will push at them to keep them from being driven onto the shore rocks, and cargo is offloaded to these barges and scows. They are they rowed and poled to the rivermouth, and then pulled by oxen walking riverside towpaths up the river, into the Wyvernwater. Slow, hard, and expensive work, but it does bypass the busy docks of Marsember and Suzail. Never done for bulk cargo, but sometimes done for small, portable, valuable cargoes like tools and furniture. A lot of timber goes down the Wyvernflow, as well as fresh fish destined for coastal markets (mainly in Sembia).
Immersea has a busy small-vessel shipyard and a fishpacking plant (salted or oiled, then kegged) that handles freshwater clams and eels as well as silverfin and whiteback from the Wyvernwater, as well as Tulver’s Finest Meats, which smokes and packs venison and rothé-meat for transport elsewhere (mainly to kitchens in Suzail, Arabel, and Marsember, but also for export). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 03:24:13
On Mililan sayings
Melody — 10/01/2023 12:58 PM
@Ed Greenwood Hi Ed! Do Mililans have particular sayings for things? Do they have particular greetings they use, farewells, colloquialisms or other rhetoric that's popular among the faith?
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:30 PM
Yes!
Good and desirable things, efforts, and events are “enriching the song” and “the song rises” (and what’s in accord with the teachings of Milil are collectively “songrise” or “that’s rising”).
“True and elegant” is a popular praise-phrase, with “eloquent” its more formal/less enthusiastic echo or equivalent.
“Let the spark lift you” can be used for both greetings and farewells, “give yourself into it” would be a heartfelt urging or applause, and a death is spoken of as (his/her) “song has ended.” (Someone who was raised from the dead is in their “coda,” whereas undeath is “the dark echo.”
When Mililans know/strongly suspect this is a final parting (they won’t see each other in this life again) they’ll sing a descending scale with the lyrics “So it goes, on without your face, so it has always gone on.” (And various encores of “On” may be added, as soft echoes.)
“Sunrise, songrise!” sung with ‘rise’ a note up from the beginng of each word is how a Mililan greets a day they feel/know/suspect will go well or be filled with achievements.
Approving praise is “harmonious” or “words and notes” (which is an abbreviated quotation of the god Milil, who said, “Your words and notes move me, for I can feel the love and the smile that graces it.”
Cacophony, discord, or openly violent dispute is said to “mar” and a war is “great mar” or “great marring.”
Where we might say “I’ll be five minutes” or “I’ll be a few minutes,” a Mililan would say, “I’ll be a melody,” and other colloquial timekeeping among Mililans is marked by such phrases as “Half a refrain, friend” or “It takes him an entire symphony to get dressed of a morning.”
And finally, among Mililans, speaking in rhyme (usually couplets), or amusing doggerel, even if it contains bad puns or outrageous lyrics, is encouraged, not just tolerated. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 03:21:20
On Umberlee temples that vanished into the sea
Lucio — 10/03/2023 7:37 PM
@Ed Greenwood keeping in the Umberlee theme of my previous question I was reading the great piece "Prayers from the Faithful" and it mentions so many Umberlee temples that vanished into the sea (Onthalasp, Ilyaport) . An event called Umberlee's displeasure in 1226 DR . My first question is to know more lore about those specific places if any of them were creation of yours or from your notes, but I'd also like to know if there are in your realms vanished Umberlee temples and if there is anything you can do about them or in general of any island that sunk due to Umberlee's fury in the past. Thanks in advance #128578;
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:29 PM
Yes, both of those places are from my lore notes. Onthalasp was a temple on an island that’s now broken up and submerged, but the temple itself “rode” the fragment it was built on, and survives, albeit cracked top to bottom, its stability restored by corals and entwined sea-trees planted and tended by Umberlant clergy.
Ilyaport was a coastal town, growing into a city, that had its own proud new temple, and it broke apart and collapsed entirely when inundated, so its temple consists of a few reassembled-by-aquatic Umberless-worshipping-beings grand rooms, sitting in a cluster on the undersea floor, usually enshrouded by schools of fish feeding on the rich bottom life growing up around the temple remnants.
Once a temple or shrine of Umberlee has ended up submerged for whatever reason, Umberlee regards it as hers forever, a sacred haven = (neutral ground = no hunting, lairing, or fighting) for those who venerate her (and those who do will drive away, punish, or even slay those who don’t, and so intrude). If someone despoils or demolishes such an underwater place, they are to be hunted down and destroyed.
So that’s their function and fate these days; they are gathering places for Umberlees’ aquatic clergy and worshippers, functioning as temples for her worship, and storehouses for edible and medicinal marine life and other items her clergy use, sell, and distribute to the faithful. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 02:36:36
On the greatest threat to the people of the Realms at its most current timeline
Ninjanurse29 — 09/28/2023 1:26 AM
At its most current time-line, whom do feel is the greatest threat to the people's of the Realms? Or whom would you like to make a focal point of villainy if you controlled the narrative?
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:28 PM
In the 1490s DR, my answer to that depends on where in the Realms you’re speaking of, but if it’s Faerûn, it would be all of the liches Larloch had assembled to serve him, who are now trying to contact him (and getting only silence), fighting among themselves for leadership of the assembly—and some of them are being co-opted by Shar, whispering in their minds while posing as Larloch, as they do so. Shar is too arrogant and impatient to (so far) do a good job of impersonating Larloch, so hasn’t convinced many, but she’s keeping at it, and offering them things they want (magical knowledge and power), so eventually some of them may succumb. Shar would be a LOT more effective = dangerous if Jergal wasn’t covertly undermining her, so subtly she hasn’t yet noticed it. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 02:32:50
On serpents that were worshipped by the humans in Unther, Thay, Mulhorand, Murghôm, Semphar, and Threskel
JadeDragon — 10/03/2023 5:59 PM
Hello @Ed Greenwood My question is about the serpents that were worshipped by the humans of your original Unther as explained in the video How TSR completely changed the original Unther. I saw hints at these serpents overlords in Thay: Land of the Red Wizards. I'm tempted to assume that they were present in the original Thay. Did these serpents had a presence in the original Mulhorand, Murghôm, Semphar, and Threskel? If they were present, did they engineer the climate like it was done in Unther?
Ed Greenwood — 10/06/2023 12:28 PM
Yes, and yes.
Envisage gigantic serpents like wingless dragons who had their own magic (way of harnessing natural forces, deep-buried volcanic in particular), ruling lesser snakes of all sorts, some of them winged, and some “weirdo” conglomerates, like flying living families of joined-at-midsections snakes, so heads and tails can move independently. All venomous, the poison paralyzing (to immobilize prey) but not affecting any reptiles (so, not each other).
Written of by some long-ago human sages as the Vrom or Oromm, so if you find those names, this is what’s being referred to.
One sage claims they were wiped out by brown dragons and some others, who fed on them and found some sorts of them to be delicious delicacies; their cranial fluids were part of early mind-related spells. One source—but only one—claims they were “farmed” by illithids to yield their cranial fluid and their ichor and their venom, for magical research and use. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 03 May 2024 : 02:28:56
On how many Chosens can a God have at one time
Ninjanurse29 — 10/05/2023 9:25 AM
Hello @Ed Greenwood! How many choose can a God have at one time? If it's unlimited what's the advantage to limiting the number of choosen they have?
Ed Greenwood — 10/05/2023 10:52 AM
Giving someone status as a Chosen, if it's anything more than a title (i.e. if you're granting them powers, including the ability to contact you), costs you the god divine energy. So you're limited in the amount of energy you can expend (i.e. you can create a few powerful Chosen, or more powerless Chosen). That's the limitation; it's never unlimited. If you want/need your Chosen to be capable, you need to limit them to one or a few, and you are limited by your divine power (greater gods can have more than lesser gods). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2024 : 04:41:07
On property taxes if an adventuring party built a house next to Old Meg's Hut just north of Eveningstar
rweston_DnD — 10/01/2023 8:36 AM
Hi @Ed Greenwood - what would property taxes come if an adventuring party built a house next to Old Meg's Hut just north of Eveningstar? 2nd level and they want to build a house as a base fore their "raids" on the Halls.
Oh - they pickaxed their way through the wall from the secret rooms next to the Lightning Doors rather then mess with them. So much joy!
Ed Greenwood — 10/04/2023 7:44 AM
To answer this, for the 1490s DR, I need to know two things: how much land, and "how much house"? Mansion or hut or something in between? Walled land (compound) or not?
rweston_DnD — 10/04/2023 8:27 AM
Year of the Prince, 1357 DR. 1000 square foot house, one story. Building is roughly 100 yards south of Meg's Hut, north of the Temple Fields, planning on clearing 100 yard out from the house. (Though the land there looks clear of trees for about 1000 yards).
No wall around the place ( but I expect that will come later if they stick around)
Ed Greenwood — 10/04/2023 8:39 AM
Okay, local taxes are based on the land footprint, and what’s built (including cesspit/outhouses, etc.) AND walls.
That’s a good-sized house, and in the 1490s DR would likely attract the “solid” base tax rate of 25 gp annually (a hovel would be 10-12 gp depending on size and height, something grander would vary with size and construction but would top out at around 60 gp for a beeeg mansion with stables and a guesthouse and a granary and other outbuildings, in a walled compound; no fortifications are allowed to be built).
To that base tax rate is added additional taxes due to the land footprint, but 100 yard all around would add nothing unless in the built-up center of Shadowdale (where you’d be preventing someone else building street frontage with that sort of land grab).
So, 25 gp total, annually, in the 1490s. Note that walling it in future will likely raise taxes to 30 gp, even if no tax increases over time have happened.
Back in 1357 DR, the solid-building annual base tax rate is 10-12 gp, with land footprint added only if it’s a large amount of cleared land (and has a stables or outhouse or storage shed or ANY other building on it), hovels are 5-6 gp annually, and grander houses go up to 30 gp tops (with fortifications forbidden). |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2024 : 04:36:48
On donning the armor or bearing the markings of a different family when attacking a family
Jace Walker, Planar Traveler — 10/04/2023 4:02 AM
Going back through the Drizzt books and was curious if you may have an answer about something from Menzoberranzan. The city "allows" families to eliminate each other in order to gain power and favor but they have to eliminate all members of the upper or nobility of the family because a witness from this part of the family can lead to retaliation by the leading families for failure. What would happen if an attacking family were to don the armor or bear the markings of a different family when they attacked?
Ed Greenwood — 10/04/2023 7:10 AM
If ANYONE in the city finds out that someone of one house impersonated another house in an attack, the laws of the city hold that the impersonating house MUST be wiped out, and all houses must take part in their elimination. Mind/memory-reading magics will be employed to avoid trickery like dressing bodies in the armor/livery/badges of a house to implicate them, and suchlike. It doesn't matter if the attack succeeded or not, the offending house (impersonators) must be obliterated. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 21 Apr 2024 : 04:32:40
On original players for Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul
Adam — 10/03/2023 8:16 AM
Were there ever original players for the characters of Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul? It was said they were adventurers and went on a great adventure to become gods, was this a creation of writers or was that ever in a actual game?
Ed Greenwood — 10/03/2023 1:34 PM
That was a creation of TSR staff writers. When I created the Realms, the Dead Three were already gods. And D&D the game was ten years in the future. |
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