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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Jan 2026 : 14:26:37
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On Velaharoon's recent activity
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2011930393524478302
Jan 16, 2026
@Fablemaster
Speaking of which, what has Velaharoon been up to?
@TheEdVerse
Vaeza Velaharoon, the notorious festhall madam and pleasure-lady-for-hire of Saerloon, is back in business after her fourteenth hired adventuring band brought her an actual potion of longevity that worked, and a mage she hired (going only by the pseudonym Veiled One) worked a long and painful ritual involving potions of vitality. A younger, more energetic, and far less wrinkled Vaeza is helming Vaeza’s Bower once more, and is the talk of that city these last few months for her—
Oh, wait. Did you mean Velsharoon (sometimes known as Mellifleur), the Archmage of Necromancy, patron of liches?
Ah. Well, in that case…
Velsharoon was restored to divine life by Ao after the Second Sundering, but returned to the Realms much changed by his humbling at the hands of The Simbul.
His arrogance, selfishness, and vanity are almost entirely gone, and his flirtations with Shar are fewer and tempered with fear: he’s now tasted loss, despair, and annihilation, and is far less fascinated by them. His fickleness is gone, too; he now clings to far more loyal service to Azuth and to Mystra, ignores Talos and Sehanine Moonbow, regards his former enmity with Jergal as folly, and despises Myrkul but reserves his disgust and energetic hatred for Szass Tam, whose “misuse” of undead “makes all the rest of we liches look like dangerous, reckless fools.” (He works to warn and otherwise protect some of the rebel Red Wizards inside and outside Thay, to further thwart Szass Tam’s schemes and ambitions.)
Velsharoon retains his clever wits and creativity (devising new undead creatures, processes for bestowing and renewing undeath, and self-renewal among liches), and still acts as a whispering dream-guide for would-be liches. Much of his time is spent in magical experimentations into various aspects of undeath.
He was genuinely touched when Mystra kissed him, imparting a wisp of silver fire into him that both empowered him and made known to him the Simbul’s sorrow at what she’d done to him (for the fire had been hers, ere her destruction). It shattered his old hatreds and world-view.
In short, Velsharoon is changed. He still exults in undeath in all its variety, and extending it into new forms and having new abilities—but is no longer a traitor to every deity he “serves,” nor arrogant in the slightest. He once muttered to Azuth: “I wasn’t just such a fool. I was an insane fool, worthy of being utterly destroyed. I shall strive to do better henceforth.” (Whereupon Azuth replied: “That striving is all any of us can ever manage.”) |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jan 2026 : 14:33:36
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On c-sections in the Forgotten Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2012784346797576309
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2013683556745089257 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2014067251054297555
Jan 18, 2026
@marshmaru35
@TheEdVerse Hi Ed, do c-sections exist in the Forgotten Realms? Like if a mother is having a life-threatening birth, or having to push out a really big baby? And what's the survival rate for both mother and child?
@TheEdVerse
Yes. Clergy and midwives usually assist at births, as well as mothers, aunts, and grandmothers. Their familiarity with "sword-births" (as they're called on Toril) varies widely, as does their comfort level attempting them. However, having priests on hand who can use spells to bloodquench and heal makes for far less hesitation and trepidation. The Realms does understand cleanliness and why it's needed. The survival rate varies with conditions (hard winter? out in the wilds? in wartime?) and the health of the mother at and during pregnancy, but there's likely about a 35% mortality rate for mothers and 15% for newborns without access to timely priestly healing, down to about 7% and 4% with healing right away.
Aftercare matters a lot, too, in the first 3 weeks, especially.
@Mark_Moonfang
That healing has to be hard to come by in rural areas. Magic is a rare commodity already.
@TheEdVerse
Indeed. It's why some pregnant folk journey to temples, to try to give birth there.
@Sparky_6800
I had to see a specialist for a hand injury, had a month long wait time. That made me realize that healing magic would be akin to seeing a specialists, only so many, only so much time to give. So conventional "healers" would have to fill the gaps with practical medicine & cures.
@TheEdVerse
Exactly! Dressing wounds, herbs to cleanse and kill pain, splints and bed rest and special diets...most folk get far more of these than they ever see spells.
- Edited on 23/1/2026 to add new tweets |
Edited by - questing gm on 23 Jan 2026 07:52:53 |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2026 : 08:03:08
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On the worship of Cador
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2013690685531046207
Jan 21, 2026
@Justins4wd
Hey Ed! I’m planing on playing a dwarven vengeance paladin and I found a dwarf god of vengeance in dungeon magazine #2 page 43 named cador. I’d like to know if he’s worshiped in the realms (DM says I can use him if he is!) and how he would be worshiped.
I imagine most of it would be dwarves swearing generations long blood feuds in his name.
@TheEdVerse
He is indeed. Not with big temples or lots of clergy, but with shrines, paladins, a few traveling priests, and angry dwarves avenging in Cador’s name, e.g.: “Let the shed blood and ended life of dear Grawthorr guide my axe! Cador be with me! Cador help me strike true!” (preceding is muttered prayer) When the avenging blow is struck: “GRATHORR, BE AVENGED!” |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2026 : 15:59:57
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On public libraries in Toril
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2015551640175067522
Jan 26, 2026
@Purpleowl8
@TheEdVerse Are there public libraries around Toril? If so, are they public or privately funded, and/or regularly visited by Knowledge-domain deities!
@TheEdVerse
A belated lore reply to Rachel Winship @Purpleowl8
"Are there public libraries around Toril? If so, are they public or privately funded, and/or regularly visited by Knowledge-domain deities!"
Answer:
Most libraries in the Realms are private (i.e. the jealously guarded tomes of sages and noble hobbyists and others, some of whom derive livings in part by looking up information and imparting it, in return for fees) and fairly small (and specialized in scope). Shrines have no libraries beyond written copies of daily prayers, but almost all temples have libraries that anyone can consult, always in exchange for “offerings to the gods” (so, fees by another name) that may vary: the fee is nothing for visiting clergy of the deity, or in some cases of allied gods (such as Azuth and Mystra, or the Triad), low for a local, well-known faithful worshipper or member of the temple congregation, higher for an unknown supplicant who professes to venerate the deity, and higher still for someone the library-keeping clergy think has no strong ties to the deity, such as a dwarf asking for access to a library dedicated to the Seldarine. These sort of libraries have various rules about access, which usually involve a library staff member as chaperone: you can’t peruse tomes alone in private, but only when watched and supervised, but can rise to the level of “you can’t touch, we will turn the pages and guard the tome or even just read it ourselves, aloud to you, through a screen or over a barrier.” Guilds anywhere tend to have libraries, and clans or noble families have small “records” holdings. The High Heralds (and all local heralds) maintain similar genealogy and heraldry “registries.” Access fees usually apply to non-guild members, and attentive guarding always applies.
Large cities on trade routes tend to have some civic libraries (that you can consult in the aforementioned “hands off” methods, sometimes with fees involved), and they also tend to have “public” libraries—meaning, libraries that anyone can belong to, as long as they pay annual, or per visit, fees. Some of these, such as the older ones in Waterdeep, Athkatla, and Zazesspur, are akin to clubs: they are quiet mansions full of labyrinths of rooms with lamps, big wingback chairs, sidetables, and dozing readers.
Actually borrowing books from a library is very rare in Toril unless you’re the local ruler, or head of a wizard’s guild, or hold a similar position—because books lent out just don’t tend to come back. |
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TomCosta
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
1030 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2026 : 17:22:05
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I've thought of Cador as an aspect of/mask for Diinkarazan.
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm
On the worship of Cador
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2013690685531046207
Jan 21, 2026
@Justins4wd
Hey Ed! I’m planing on playing a dwarven vengeance paladin and I found a dwarf god of vengeance in dungeon magazine #2 page 43 named cador. I’d like to know if he’s worshiped in the realms (DM says I can use him if he is!) and how he would be worshiped.
I imagine most of it would be dwarves swearing generations long blood feuds in his name.
@TheEdVerse
He is indeed. Not with big temples or lots of clergy, but with shrines, paladins, a few traveling priests, and angry dwarves avenging in Cador’s name, e.g.: “Let the shed blood and ended life of dear Grawthorr guide my axe! Cador be with me! Cador help me strike true!” (preceding is muttered prayer) When the avenging blow is struck: “GRATHORR, BE AVENGED!”
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2026 : 17:41:07
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On documented Bugbear hero in the Forgotten Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2016026556070609207
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2016341539371266067
Jan 27, 2026
@Oreomage
@TheEdVerse Was there ever a documented Bugbear hero in the forgotten realms? A bugbear that would be remembered fondly by some people?
@TheEdVerse
Yes. The bugbear war-leader Sarrlagh, who hunted throughout the Nether Mountains, Tauvin Mountains, and Ice Mountains of the Sword Coast North is remembered with respect and gratitude by the dwarves of Citadel Adbar because in 810 DR he fought with his (in comparison) tiny war-band against an orc horde sweeping down out of the westernmost Ice Mountains, and broke its strength and turned it aside (so that the remnants marauded through The Cold Vale but were destroyed by two angry dragons they’d awakened and and slaughtered the “pet meat herds” of).
Sarrlagh regarded the bounty of the land as a farmer does: take as little as is needful, move your reaping around, leave certain populations alone to breed and renew their numbers, cause no fires and few avalanches, and in general “take care of” the land.
He thought the orcs should learn to breed in accordance with the available food, and not boil forth out of mountain caverns as world-damaging hordes every decade and a bit—and when this particular horde, led by Graulgin Longtusk of the Longtusk orc tribe, came rampaging through what Sarrlagh considered “his” hunting grounds, he made a stand against them—and decided to do so right in front of Citadel Adbar, to turn them back from its walls.
The dwarves have never forgotten that. Sarrlagh’s descendants are still taught by their elders to “Leave Adbar be.”
@XynRaven
Can such wise behavior be found in an orc - for instance, Obould Many-Arrows?
@TheEdVerse
Oh, yes.
The stereotype of orcs as brutes is just that: a stereotype.
However, solid wisdom for orc leaders lies in seeing more of the world than the region you were reared in, and seeing enough of other races, OUTSIDE of battle. That's unfortunately rare.
- Edited on 28/1/2026 to add new replies |
Edited by - questing gm on 28 Jan 2026 15:51:59 |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2026 : 16:22:51
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On temple charging for healing, birth and raising
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2016343349792297156
Jan 28, 2026
@XynRaven
Do temples tend to charge for birth services, or for healing in general?
And if an adventuring party came with a fallen comrade but didn't have the coin to compensate for the revival, is the body kept safe by the temple until then, or do they allow them to be indebted?
@TheEdVerse
Temples always charge for healing, in the form of “offerings we expect you to make.”
The same for births, but it’s a very nominal amount/value.
Raising from the dead is different, and the “price” varies with the nature of the dead: consecrated to the deity (clergy, paladins, on a mission for the temple or the priesthood) gets the lowest/best “price” (expected offering); a faithful worshipper of the deity (participates in rituals, gives offerings) gets the next lowest; and so on.
Adventurers are a special case: yes, wealthy adventurers can pay well (give big offerings) and “settle things clear and proper” for a fallen comrade, but if they can’t or won’t pay to go to the head of the line, they can instead perform a service for the temple, typically something 4) adventuring-related and dangerous (and temples never run out of a long list of desired services that need performing). The head of the temple will negotiate with them in a private audience about this. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4705 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2026 : 19:19:58
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quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm
On dualism in AD&D 2nd edition
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1953887003264921811
Aug 9, 2025
@AstralMangudai
Hey @TheEdVerse how does dualism work in aD&D 2e mechanics? We know elves are barred from most of specialist wizard classes. Is dualism a kit or W/W multiclass or a special class like Alunakkar, Dijakkar, Encikkar, Nelluonkkar? Would they need requirements of both base classes?
@TheEdVerse
As a never-TSR-staffer, I can't give you any "official" rules answers, but I did design a lot of 2e via Realms products, and I handle it thus: most players ran generalist all-in wizards.
Anyone can dual class, but yes, must meet requirements of both base classes. #realmslore
Dual classes
So, any bets?
- The elven dualist was a curious experiment, but did not go anywhere and was quite forgettable.
- Alas, "memoria fractalia est".
- These answers are typed and sometimes "helpfully" given by a press-secretary who knows FR as deep as the blurbs and "cannot into" search engines (seriously though, who? If His Edness uses a press secretary on a phpBB board, obviously he is not going to personally babysit Twitter and Discord).
Might be AI assisted?
Clearly appears the answer does not correctly match the question.
Only other thought I have is that Steven might have designed the dualist not Ed, so Ed might have misunderstood the question.
They appear in Cormanthyr Empire of The Elves |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 13:42:33
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On a teaser from Souls for the Taking
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2016637425531969748
Jan 29, 2026
@TheEdVerse
A teaser from the new Realms book SOULS FOR THE TAKING:
“Well, then! Well met, Lord—Tacer, was it? Your very good health, and may the gods smile up-ah-aha-hurk-gulup-gahh, what is this swill?”
“’Tis called elverquisst, m’lord. Much beloved by some, I assure you!
So, Lord Tacer, have you seen any wondrous sights in your tour thus far, hmm?”
Lady Delchalice’s deep, throaty purr made her polite words seem almost indecent, but she could have made no sound at all, as far as Lord Tacer was concerned. His gaze had plunged right where her gown was designed to make it plummet, and was now lost down her cleavage somewhere south of her navel. Lanterns and ropes might just possibly be necessary to rescue him...
“RORSTRAND, you old battleaxe! What do you MEAN by looking this hale?
Third wife agrees with you, hah? Well, you know what they say: third time’s the charm, ahahahaha!” |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 13:46:50
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On rituals the followers of Sune perform
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017010478380138713
Jan 30, 2026
@TheEdVerse
Lore query answer time #3:
Rachel Winship @Purpleowl8
@TheEdVerse What kind of regular/special rituals do the followers of Sune perform? Are there rituals for different aspects of domain of Love and Beauty?
Answer:
A BIG topic, so let me do a swift overview.
There are special rituals for cleansing after a worshipper has become really dirty or stinky, or is recovering from illness or a wound (especially if there have been infections). There are also special rituals for weddings, wedding nights, and “anticipated moments of seduction or intimacy.”
There’s also a special prayer for “taming and melding,” used when trying to deal with unfamiliar garments or hairdos or trying to make clashing hues of best-or-only-available garments work together or trying to reconcile clashing art by arrangement and lighting in the interior of a room, and another special prayer for settling one’s emotions/FEELING beautiful, so one can carry oneself with poise, grace, and confidence.
And finally, there’s a special ritual (two prayers and a process between that links them) to help “cure” and mask skin blemishes, from temporary rashes to dandruff and flaking to acne to skin tags and vitiligo and hyperpigmentation (age spots/liver spots/sun spots).
Some of the most accomplished clerics of Sune know prayers that can reshape pigmentation variations, so an unsightly blotch can be remade into a row or parabola of different-sized circles to accentuate a breast or brow-line or curve of a hip or belly.
The cleansing rituals all consist of a prayer, an application of something physical that itself has had a separate prayer said over it (by someone in contact with the something), and a brief “dance” (more a series of graceful movements and poses than anything acrobatic or in time with music) as yet another prayer is said.
The cleansing (of dirt and grime) ritual is Alavneire’s Touch, and the purgative (of infections, poisonings, and viruses or other communicable germs) is Reszellra’s Caress.
For both of them, the preferred application involves an unclad bath in water into which have been stirred rose petals that a specific prayer has been said over, unspoiled milk from any mammal, seven drops of holy water consecrated to Sune, and a clear, unflawed rock crystal or gemstone (of any sort). All of these are “consumed” by the magic of the ritual except the water.
The feeling good prayers are shrivings, and the two most popular of these shrivings are Firehair’s Hand (a lesser everyday “let’s go out and face the world” shriving) and Kiss Of The Lady (a greater or powerful shriving, which can be augmented and elevated with the assistance of clergy and the making of offerings).
These specials are added to “the regular round” of daily and nightly observances, which are collectively known as “The Lady’s Grace.”
The Grace consists of a whispered or silent personal prayer to Sune upon awakening, a second prayer of renewed dedication to her service that is performed only by her clergy (and novices wishing to join her clergy), a morning cleansing (bath) that is entered with a prayer, then hair care and cosmetic applications, each with a prayer of their own, followed by a morning meal that ends with a benediction.
After that, a faithful of Sune enjoys their day without need for further reverence to the goddess (beyond personal prayers for aid, or thanks, as they feel moved to give) until the evening meal, which begins with a prayer hoping Sune is also fed and sustained.
Prayers are then said upon removing any cosmetics, any hair care for retiring, and at the removal of garments for bed. If the faithful is not sleeping alone, a call to Sune prayer (with an offering of a kiss with either a tear or some spittle from the tip of the tongue onto the praying individual’s palm) is added, that the goddess smile upon everyone sleeping together and bless them with beauty (and freedom from snoring, farting, talking during sleep, and nightmares).
To this daily round is added the Caress, a special prayer of thanks uttered whenever a faithful worshipper is smitten with beauty (that is, when they see something beautiful, be it a sunset or the arc of a flying bird or a view—but especially when they see a beautiful body feature or movement on the part of a sentient creature).
Lay worshippers daily follow The Lady’s Grace, but clergy of Sune amplify every Caress they utter with a line or two of renewed devotion to the goddess.
It is important to note that both lay worshippers and clergy are taught by senior clergy to eschew vanity; no mortal is to take pride in their appearance. They should strive for an appearance of which they can be proud—but then refrain from preening or taking that pride. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 13:52:11
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On belief of blood moons for Selune/Shar
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017014520594543062
Jan 30, 2026
@OCassioJunior
Is there something special or a belief in a Blood moon when we think about Selune/Shar?
Selune Prayers would look at a Blood Moon and be happy, afraid, think Selune is angry or wouldnt be relevant at all
@TheEdVerse
Across Toril, most folk know that a blood moon (a deep red moon in the sky, due to an eclipse) means that Shar is active (her devout followers and clergy will be enacting her schemes to change things in the world).
There is an unfounded folk belief that during blood moons, lycanthropes can lose control or “go wild” (give in to the savage sides of their natures, and kill and maim in short but violent sprees).
Faithful of Selûne know that a blood moon is auspicious for seeking/enacting retribution, and for lycanthropes to mate if they want offspring to be bigger, stronger lycanthropes—or refrain from mating if they don’t want offspring to have lycanthropy.
Blue moons (the presence of airborne particles due to large wildfires or volcanic activity causing the moon in the sky to appear blue) signal an auspicious time for beginnings for both the faith of Selûne and the faith of Shar, so it’s a good time to meet and plan, or meet and make agreements/written pacts and contracts, or to mate with the hopes of having offspring. To faithful of Selûne, a blue moon means good luck (“the Lady Smiles upon us”).
To clergy of Selûne, a blue moon means the goddess is especially attentive: she will be eager to hear and answer prayers, both in the form of guidance: signs, portents, and direct speech in dream-visions or waking visions, and in the form of extra accuracy (to hit rolls), duration, or damage/efficacy of spells (an extra die on damage rolls). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 13:57:46
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On patron god of humans
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017017193255387442
Jan 30, 2026
@Archduke_bones
Hi Ed, is there a patron god of humans? I know the elves, dwarves, and halflings at least have patron/creator deities, but is there a god who created humans?
@TheEdVerse
The clergy of Chauntea will tell you She did, that humans rose like a crop from her tilled earth, but other clergies scoff at the claim, and Chauntea Herself isn't saying.
Elminster says Shar and Selûne are co-mothers (father? unknown). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 14:02:39
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On Hollow Mountain/Mount GrimmerFang
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017051748414701973
Jan 30, 2026
@TheEdVerse
Another Realmslore Answer:
Robert Baber @PeeperPoppins
Mr Greenwood, I wanted to ask about the Hollow Mountain, also known as Mount GrimmerFang has always fascinated me, what was the life of this kingdom like before it was abandoned? And are there any dwarves who still seek to find it again?
Answer:
Both Ologh and Grimmerfang were tyrants, smart but ruthless orcs who ruled through fear and oppression, and life inside the mountain during both of their reigns was very hierarchical and harshly-policed, with frequent patrols, female orcs coerced into being spies on their neighbours, and orc children bribed or tortured into being spies and informants on the females. Nasty, but efficiently run with an eye to keeping the community strong: the weak, the sick, and the malcontents were sacrificed as food to guardian monsters penned up outside (around the mountain), and the rest of the orc populace was equipped with ever-better weapons, trained in their use, drilled for battle-discipline, and both kings paid attention to supply chains and food caches and the like.
Under Tuir “Stonebeard,” the dwarf kingdom of Roldilar flourished (albeit for only four decades) on the surface and underground beneath the dwarf-held surface lands), and was a place of wise justice, fairness, cleanliness, sharing, and as a result, real dwarven prosperity. Tuir encouraged dwarves to weave textiles and blow glass and make wooden furniture and other craft-work beyond the usual smithywork (forging and casting), so his citizens had richer lives and more coin and a wider world-view than many dwarves. Roldilar is a “lost high point” to many dwarves, though some conservatives grimly begrudge its fall as proof that opening up to the wider world is “weakness that works not.” |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2026 : 14:06:06
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On Fist of Gond
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017074187676848449 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017389544618733838 https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017445463343944046
Jan 30, 2026
@TheEdVerse
Another Realmslore Answer! DM Mark Moonfang @Mark_Moonfang
Dear Mr. Greenwood.
What is a Fist of Gond (Doohicky)?
I'm about to drop my players into the High House of Wonders, so I want to let them see all kinds of wonders that the ones pushing the limits of technology in Faerun are creating. And I learned about this little item.
But I can't find out what it is!
If you don't know, let me know of some other ideas, features, or other aspects I should toss into the High House for them to gawk at.
Answer:
A Fist of Gond is a fighting drone, short range and operable only for a few rounds before it runs out of propulsive power and falls to earth (usually suffering minor damage). Consider it a whirligig that spits out darts. Fists are so-called because the early ones were about the size of a large adult human’s fist; some newer ones are almost the size of a human head.
They are useful mainly as distractions and to get in the way of ranged weapons directed at the person who unleashes a Fist.
There’s an entry for them on the FR Wiki, complete with illustration (from the computer game in which they first appeared).
Other High House items:
Spring traps, which are like real-world mousetraps except when they trip, they fire out long flat-band springy steel alloy “claws,” and can envelop cats, dogs, and smaller creatures, and hamper the movement of humans and smaller bipeds that they manage to close around a foot of.
Blast Doors: doors with patterns of buttons to press, levers to pull, and ring-handles: get the pattern wrong, and the door emits a one-shot explosive blast (3d4 hp damage to anyone touching it or within 5 feet, plus hurls any harmed target 5 feet backwards from the door).
Pressure Plates underfoot that make lighting “come on” ahead (actually, they cause ceiling panels to slide back, revealing the ongoing, steady radiance of glowing globes affixed above those panels).
Pressure Plates underfoot that ring gongs to signal an intruder is approaching. Pressure Plates that cause sliding double doors to part and roll back into wall-recesses, clearing the way onward.
Closets in which each of the four walls is a door, and the clothes stored within hang from rods suspended from the ceiling on chains; opening the front and back doors is a matter of obvious ring-pull handles (you pull to open, but turn the ring to unlatch before that, like expensive doors all over Toril), but the side doors seem to be solid walls, until you push on the correct end of the clothes rod to unlatch a particular side-wall.
And so on…the mechanical and clockwork features of the High House of Wonders are nigh-endless.
@XynRaven
Speaking of Gond, when he returned to godhood after the Godswar, did he enforce a version of Mystra's Ban on smokepowder and weapons that utilize it?
He asked, dearly hoping for a resounding yes, because he's too fond of swords and bows amplified by magic.
@TheEdVerse
Saer Raven, behold!
One "Resounding Yes," bright and shiny and thine very own.
@Mark_Moonfang
I was under the impression that Gond was actively trying to popularize the usage. I know he and his temples fiercely guard the production method.
@TheEdVerse
He's trying to popularize the usage by making it "forbidden fruit." The lure of the blasphemous.
Gond is one of the few deities to try various means of marketing deliberately, as opposed to doing it due to derangement (like Shar). |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2026 : 03:14:02
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On creating a hedge knight in the Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2017043230940864860
Jan 30, 2026
@Hood815
@TheEdVerse I’m creating a new hero set in the forgotten realms ! Which location should he come from & what class/race should he be ?
@TheEdVerse
That would depend very much on your intended use of him. PC? NPC? Hero in your own prose fiction? And story or gaming table, what sort of action do you prefer? Battle? Intrigue? Romance? Evil-Good-Neutral? Sly? Noble? ? Let me know, and I can try to give you an answer...
@Hood815
@TheEdVerse I’ve been watching. Knight of the seven kingdoms and now have the itch to play some sort of a hedge knight … are they a thing in the forgotten realms ?
@TheEdVerse
They were, in Chessenta. These days, the Border Kingdoms is where you'll find most of them. The Realms lacks the feudal system that such knights operated in. I loved George's original THE HEDGE KNIGHT tale from the moment it was first published. :} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2026 : 03:25:17
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On dragons mating for life
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2020187270448320819
Feb 8, 2026
@Seer_of_Sinners
@TheEdVerse Hello Mr.Greenwood :}
I am creating a gay dragon character based in your wonderful Forgotten Realms setting, and I was wondering if dragons marry/show long term affection, or if there is any credence to an obsidian dragon mating for life with a copper dragon.
Thx!
@TheEdVerse
Dragons are long-lived, intelligent creatures. Like all such, they exhibit a wide range of character traits and personalities, with two overriding tendencies: the natural aptitude and habit of “taking the long view” due to their lifespans (just as elves do), and an innate arrogance or at least self-centredness—how much, and how this affects their dealings with others, vary with the individual; at one extreme is narcissism and a fierce territoriality, tolerating no other dragons in the demesne they consider “theirs.”
At the other end of this scale are dragons who need the company of other dragons, or they feel lonely; when dragons “grow up” with three or four siblings, this is common among those siblings.
So, some dragons mate never, others mate once or twice in life, with brief courtships or just what we might call “horny one-night stands” ere they part again to resume their own lives, and about a third of all dragons show some sort of long-term affection. Faithful married pairs are rarer; perhaps a sixth of all dragons: partners who share a demesne, a lair, and a hoard; these usually hunt together and work together, so are particularly deadly to other dragons. Formal weddings are nigh-unknown, for lack of officiants or a desire to tell the world, but weddings of real personal performance (spending decades or centuries together) aren’t unusual at all. Published canon lore down the years, from RPGA adventures to Len Lakofka and Jim Ward DMing at tables I’ve played at, has given us quite a few instances of mixed-species dragon weddings/partnerships, though the norm is for reds to mate with reds, greens with greens. Dragons who can naturally shapeshift (as opposed to deliberately casting a spell) have a higher incidence of partnering and mating with non-dragons. So there’s nothing at all barring a partnership (lairing together, fighting together, flying together on food hunts) that isn’t based on laying eggs and having young (there are dragons who slay or even devour young, their own included). In other words, two male dragons could partner, or two females. Eggs can be bought, sold, or traded among dragonkind for same-gender partners who want to raise families. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2026 : 03:33:18
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On the Night Parade and the Quori in the Realms
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2020630213789622708
Feb 9, 2026
@SisterRose_
@TheEdVerse Hi Ed, we run a version of the realms with some Eberron influence - in particular my character follows a multiversal version of the Path of Light - in part because I noticed a striking similarity between the Night Parade and the Quori.
https://t.co/sSoHpJchCS
Obviously they're drawing from similar influences, but it does make me wonder how Dream/Nightmare creatures are created in general, and running with the Night Parade as a faction of the Dreaming Dark, originally from the Region of Dreams/Nightmares, in the realms seems to work?
Obviously our setting has been tweaked quite a bit from your vision, and similarly our version of the Path of Light from @hellcowkeith's, but I found a lot of fun areas like this where things slot in better than expected. Is there any more cool Dream/Nightmare lore in the realms?
The idea I'm running with was that the Jamdaath empire make contact with benevolent spirits from the Region of Dreams before it's collapse, which led to some version of Taratai ending up in the realms after she disappeared. We're based in Tethyr, so it fits with the star themes also probably out of your sphere of influence, but I'm taking some influence from Deltarune particularly the lore surrounding Titans, and Dark Worlds as Mindscapes.
Also taking influence from IRL Sufism(playing what I know to an extent), to things like Norse Seidr.
Cobbling together an equivalent "Dream Sufis with Dharmic & Sci Fi elements" religion out of Realms parts has been kind of fun, so looking for stuff we can use for world-within-world building with regards Dreams, Philosophy and the like(are there many named realms Philosophers?)
(unrelated, but part of my Deep Gnome Cleric's backstory is that her tribe are "Dragon Touched" being protected by a Dragon - I really liked the idea of a Serpentine Dragon like a Lindworm, but noticed most in the Realms are of the evil variety, any examples of the good ones?)
@TheEdVerse
To Sister Rose | Virtual Púca #127477;#127480; @SisterRose_ ...an apology for being so tardy in replying to your Aug 12 posts about the quori and Night Parade and Path of Light.
I've scripted a lore video that should appear before the end of 2026 that talks about all of those! |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2026 : 03:36:19
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On settlements east of the Sunrise Mountains
https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/2020953338339303827
Feb 10, 2026
@gentlefell
@TheEdVerse Great Sage, are there any settlements East of the Sunrise mountains where a party of escaped slaves from Thay might begin their adventures?
@TheEdVerse
Certainly. East of that mountain range (if your latitude is south of The Eastern Way trade-road that runs across central Thay, linking Amruthar, Tyraturos, and Pyarados) is the realm of Murghôm, with small settlements (mining towns) located on the banks of rivers rushing down the eastern flanks of the mountains. From west to east, these towns are Shendra, Imasq, and Luqor. Poled barges and small skiffs navigate these rivers between these settlements and larger places in Murghôm to the south and east, such as (again, Sessim, Volor, Anghyr, and Voiwan. All of the rivers wind through the vast Ganathwood to reach this second band of settlements, which lie on the northern fringes of the heavily-populated (with many cities and towns amid verdant farms and ranches, and good roads ) Fields of Ganath. The Dragon Princes rule in Murghôm, and anyone coming east out of Thay is going to be noticed, as the Princes are calmly awaiting Szass Tam’s anticipated foolish attempt at conquest. (The one fear they have is that someone will be sent out of Thay deliberately infected with plague, to harm the populace of Murghôm—so your slaves should beware.)
West and north of Shendra, Imasq, and Luqor are only mule-tracks used by prospectors, mountain hunters, and miners bringing “roughblock” smelted metals south to those three towns—and the smelters the miners use, each of which is encircled by woodcutters’ huts and heaps of slag and waste rock.
The escaped slaves would likely reach those three mining-towns if they fought their way through the mountains after following the River of the Dawn to its headwaters (east of Moszabbar and upstream of Relladir), or if they followed the river south of that from Machzena east to its rising. (All in Thazalhar.) And then discovered and followed the mule-tracks south and east.
If the slaves instead went north of the east-west line of The Eastern Way, following the eastern leg of that trade-road as it crosses the River Thazarim and heads towards that river’s headwaters (through the Thayan settlements of—again, west to east along the road—Malutham, Carmin, Solvalena, Nythdal, and Thandhumas), to pass south of Thazar Keep and through the Thazar Pass (a much easier journey but far more watched and patrolled on the Thayan side than the more southerly mountain crossing I mentioned first), they would emerge east of the mountain range (the border of Thay) in a sparsely populated area north of The High Valley, and could choose to go south (to the aforementioned Fields of Ganath, in Murghôm, and eventually to the bustling rivermoot city of Murghyr) by taking or following Ganath’s River south from this area through the Ganathwood (which would plunge them into the same scrutiny and likely detention as a more southerly mountain crossing, as aforementioned), or go north along the river (which runs for miles and miles north, these upper reaches being known as the River Murghol or River Murghom, and having an eastern branch called the Clearflow River; as that name suggests, the cold, clear waters of this river are safely drinkable) or cross it, heading on east to the Mountains of Copper (and beyond them, the Ejen Horo, or Valley of the God, farther east).
This is wilderness country, ruled by the law of the sword more than any ruler (unless one of the Dragon Princes is taking wing, a rare occurrence); most of the copper mines for which the Mountains of Copper range is named are on its far (eastern) side. So in these lands, the escaped slaves might meet with prospectors, mining mule-trains, monsters galore, and—the more east and north they went, away from Murghôm—Taan, aka the Endless Wastes, gently-rolling grasslands roamed by the Taangan or Tuigans, nomadic tribes of horse-riders collectively known in Faerûn as the Horde (to folk of the Sword Coast, this area is “the Hordelands”). The Khassidi (Cassidi) and the Commani tribes claim the westernmost plains, and your escaped slaves would likely encounter them first.
East of the Mountains of Copper is the vast forest called the Shalhoond (the Great Wild Wood), which runs north to the Khopet-Dag, or Spiderhaunt Peaks. South of the Shalhoond is the realm of Semphar, and the lands of all the other horse-tribes. If those escaped slaves traverse all of this, they will have walked farther than across the continent of North America, in our real world, so that should be a fair amount of “elbow room” territory to adventure in. I wish them good luck!!! |
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