Below is the complete Forgotten Realms FAQ of the REALMS-L Mailing List. The text below contains many in-depth questions and answers on the Forgotten Realms setting but mainly focuses on issues of the REALMS-L Mailing List, its functions and standards of use. This FAQ is maintained by Tom Cullen and not by Candlekeep who are one of a few hosts of the FAQ on the Net.

The Forgotten Realms Mailing List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Last Updated: August 2, 2002

Maintainers:

Tom Cullen (cullen@enteract.com)

Jason Hatter (towonder@concentric.net)

Past Maintainers:

Andrew Hackard (hackard@IO.COM)

Craig Sefton (craig@tradepage.co.za)

Original maintainer:

Bobby Nichols (catdrag@vnet.net)

Thanks goes out to the entire FRML for keeping the Realms alive!

Special thanks to Bobby Nichols, who wrote the first iteration of this FAQ, and to the following list members (in no particular order) for their contributions: Ami-Ben Ezra, Toby Mekelburg, Craig Sefton, Jason Hatter, Jeffrey David Bray, Nick Meredith, Bobby Nichols, Niels Handest, Martin Brabander, Kain "CullA" Whitehouse, Ken Sexe, Simon Gibbs, xman, Timothy Scott Maddalena, Jay Fisher, Stephen Campey u, Paul Hoyak, David Cordy, Jenn "Kethry" Millington, "Cyric", Mike Mateer, Larry Hepker, Thomas Costa, Thomas Cullen, Steve Allen, Eric Boyd, Steven Schend, Tavis King, Andrew Phelps, Elaine Cunningham, Mark Oliva, DM Celtic, Trent Raley, Bryon Wischstadt, Tom Rinschler, Thor, Lord Emm, George Krashos, Renshai, Ed Greenwood, John Scott, Robert Thomson, John Harbord, Jay A. Johnson, Chris Garner, J.R. Farley, Jim Butler, David W. Lemburg, Rian McMurtry.  Apologies are due to those whose contributions were included but who were omitted from this listing.

Super-special thanks to AJ Asbury (aja@taverntales.com) and Jason Redfern (webmaster@candlekeep.com) for hosting the FAQ on their web sites

This FAQ may be found on the following web pages:

  http://www.candlekeep.com/fr_faq.htm

  http://www.taverntales.com/Realms-L/realms-l_faq.htm

All trademarks referenced in this document are the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used here without permission.

Table of Contents
(* for new or updated topics)

*1.1.   I keep seeing a reference to "FRA". What is it, what's in it, and why can't I find it anywhere?

*2.1.   What are the best sources for information on Realms deities?
*2.2.   Who are the major deities and what do you call their followers?

2.3. Chosen

2.3.1. I keep seeing references to "Chosen" of various deities. What do you mean by "Chosen"?
*2.3.2.  What special powers do Mystra's chosen have?
*2.3.3.  Why do other powers choose to not have a 'Chosen' since it is evident that any power can appoint a mortal as a 'Chosen'?

*2.4.   OK, who or what is the Magister? I'm hopelessly confused.
2.5. What’s the deal with the different pantheons? Can my character in the dales worship a god from Chult?
2.6.  Is Tiamat in the Realms the same as Takhisis in Dragonlance?
2.7. Whom is Ao talking to at the end of "Waterdeep"?

2.8. Where can I get more information about the Dawn Cataclysm?

2.8.1. What gods existed at the time of the Dawn Cataclysm?

2.9. On page 37 of F&A there is a mention of the '...Seven Lost Gods...' Does anyone know who they were/are?
2.10. Can humans worship demihuman gods? What about the reverse?
2.11. Does AO also take power over all the other deities in FR besides the human ones in the normal pantheon?
*2.12.  During the ToT was it only human gods who were cast down, or were demihuman gods similarly affected?
2.13. What happens if an other-spheric priest comes over to the Realms, bringing his worship of god with him?
2.14. Who are the five patron goddesses of Silverymoon? Oghma is male, but isn't he one of them?
2.15. Is there a Grand Druid in the Realms?
*2.16. What happened to specialty priests in third edition?

3.1. What game settings comprise the Realms?
3.2. What and where is Anchorome?
3.3. I thought the Realms were on the same planet as Greyhawk; does that mean Maztica is really part of Greyhawk? (Also known as "I heard it on the net so it must be true.")

3.4. Where can I put [Insert generic module here] in the Realms?

3.4.1. How to place T1-4 in the Realms:
3.4.2. How to place A1-4 in the Realms:
3.4.3. How to place G1-3 in the Realms:
3.4.4. How to place U1-U3 in the Realms:
3.4.5. How to place "B1: In Search of the Unknown" in the Realms:
3.4.6. How to place "L1: Bone Hill" in the Realms:
3.4.7. How to place the whole L1-L3 series (the Lendore Isles modules) in the Realms:
3.4.8.  L3? I've only seen L1 & L2!
3.4.9. How to place the "Keep on the Borderlands" and the return to same in the Realms:
3.4.10. How to place " The Shattered Circle" in the Realms:
3.4.11. How to place  "The Night Below" super-module in the Realms:
3.4.12. How to place  "Forge of Fury" in the Realms:
3.4.13. How to place  "The Sunless Citadel " in the Realms:
3.4.14. How to place  "The Silver Key" in the Realms:

3.5. . How large is Toril/Faerun/the Heartlands?
3.6. Where is Toril's equator?
3.7.  How long does it take to travel in the Underdark?
3.8.  What was the origin of the High Moor?
3.9.   What is the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas?
3.10.   What/where are the "Burning Lands"?
3.11.   Is there a list of all of the mythal cities?

3.11.1.   What are exactly the functions or use of the Mythals? I always thought they were centers of magic energy or dweomers?

3.12. . Is the Moonsea salt or fresh water?
3.13. Does Toril have time zones?

3.14.  What's Luruar? It's not on my map...

3.14.1. Where are the Silver Marches? What happened to Luruar?
3.14.2. What the heck is a march anyway? Isn't it like a moor?

3.15. Where can I get information on the Dwarven complex in the Laughing Hollow?  I see it on my FR Atlas. Where or what is/was Illefarn?
3.16. Where's Mount Melairbode? Is it near Waterdeep?
3.17. Where's Freedale?
3.18. On page 99 of the Realms Atlas is a place called Neiroon's Hut. It's on the eastern coast of the Dales where the River Lis joins TSOFS. Any info on the place and/or who Neiroon is/was??? (have wanted to know since 1990).
3.19. Apart from the obvious does EVER as in Evermeet & Evereska mean anything??? Maybe a corruption of Elven, or perhaps 'land of elves'?
3.20. What's known about the Moonshaes? Are they volcanic in nature? Are they separated bits of the continent? What about their culture as originally conceived by Ed Greenwood?
3.21. What's the Pool of Radiance?
*3.22. Where do  the names "Toril" and "Faerun" come from?
*3.23. What happened to the map?!? It changed when third edition came out!

4.1. Who'd win: Elminster or Drizzt?

4.2. . Elminster

4.2.1.  Don't you think Elminster is too powerful? No, he has to be to give the PCs a challenge! Yes, he's a munchkin! We killed him off five times! etc.
4.2.2. Aren’t the Chosen overpowered? If they can do everything, what’s left for the PCs?
4.2.3. So… What’s the real scoop on Mystra’s chosen? How can they stay sane for all those centuries? And why are they all goody-two-shoes?
4.2.4. It takes a 41^st level mage to cast "Create Mythal". Elminster helped lay Myth Drannor's Mythal. That was long ago, and he's not even 41^st level now. What's up? Did he lose levels?

4.3. Zhents and the Zhentarim

*4.3.1.  Whats the difference between saying "Zhents" or Zhentarim?
4.3.2. What's up with the Zhents coming back from the dead?

4.4. Are Marco Volo and Volo from the Volo's Guides the same person?
*4.5. Who/what are the Malaugrym?
*4.6. Shandril is a *babe*. Where can I find rules to give my PC spellfire?
4.7. My player wants to play a half-dragon. Where can I find rules for this?
4.8. Who are/were the Witch lords?
4.9. Who are/were the Twisted Rune?
4.10. Who are/were the D'Tarig? What races of dwarven halfbreeds exist in the Realms?
4.11. Who/what is/was Wulgreth?
4.12. Who/what is/was Larloch?
4.13. What ever happened to Lashan?

4.14. The elves

4.14.1. What’s the status of Evermeet’s royal family? What happened to the children of Zaor and Amlaruil?
4.14.2. What elven subraces exist in the Realms?
4.14.3. What's the population breakdown of the elven subraces in the Realms? Which are most common?
4.14.4. What's known about Avariel in the Realms?

4.15. Cormyr

4.15.1. What is the rank structure of the Purple Dragons?
*4.15.2.  Who are the nobles of Cormyr?

4.16. Who are the Emerald Enclave?

4.17. The seven sisters

4.17.1. Does anyone know in what order the Seven Sisters were born?
*4.17.2. When did the seven sisters first appear in Realms canon?

4.18. Khelben

4.18.1. It says in the Shadow Thieves' write up that Khelben's mother had something to do with running them out of Waterdeep not so many years ago (13xx DR). Isn't he older than that?
4.18.2. Huh? Khelben confuses me!
4.18.3. Does anyone in Faerun know that Khelben's not who everyone thinks he is?

4.19. Who are the hin?
4.20. Any thoughts as to which Twisted Rune member is a phaerimm?
4.21. Who's Ilserv? Is he stone? Is he dead? Is he smashed?
*4.22. Who's wrote the Nether Scrolls, the elves or the Creator races?
*4.23. What's a Waterdhavian?
*4.24. What about the Phaerimm?
*4.25. Who are the Shades?
*4.26. Why's Halaster so powerful? In third edition you can't progress above 20^th level, so how's he more powerful than any other 20^th level mage? The same applies to lots of other NPCs, too?

5.1. When were the Time of Troubles??
5.2. On what years does Shieldmeet fall?5.3. What were The Spawn Wars?5.4. Is there a list of the official Roll of Years?

5.4.1. Are there errors in the Roll of Years?
5.4.2. How were the beginning (-700 DR) and ending (1600 DR) years for the Roll of Years chosen?
5.4.3. Some groups of years seem connected- namely 1468 (the First Circle), 1470 (the Second Circle), 1472 (the Third Circle), 1474 (the Fourth Circle), 1476 (the Fifth Circle) and 1478 (the Dark Circle). Is there a method to the madness?

5.5.      When was the Horde?

6.1. Any chance of a Realms movie?
6.2. What are the names of the days in the Realms?
6.3. Is there gunpowder in the Realms?
6.4. Was there really a Forgotten Realms Comic?
6.5.  Have "official game" versions of the artifacts from the FR comic books (the hand of Vaprak, etc.) been published? I thought they might be included in "Volo's Guide to All Things Magical" but I don't think they were.
6.6. Is there a particular order in which the Realms novels (particularly the Harpers series) should be read?
6.7. What's up with the runes used on the top of the FR logo? Are they Dethek?
6.8. I heard that Ed Greenwood has a hotmail email address and that he posted some top-secret info on an Amazon.com webpage. Is it true?
6.9. Is there any information on heraldry in the Realms?*6.10. Who wrote what in Cloak and Dagger?

*7.1. In what year is the new Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting set?
7.2. Where can I find more info about the future of the Realms?

8.1. What spell levels do Realms priests get?
8.2. How fast do Realms specialty priests advance?
8.3. Do Realms clerics have major access to the sun sphere, and minor access to elemental fire and air, traveler, and war spheres?
8.4. How can so many magical items exist in the realms, given standard AD&D enchanting rules?

*9.1.   Keyword Introduction

*9.1.1.       What are the keywords?9.1.2. How do you use the keywords?

9.2. Netiquette

9.2.1. Why isn't this topic OK?
9.2.2. What's a flame and why is it bad? (Or, This isn't a flame, you moron!)
9.2.3. Why can't I post in persona?
9.2.4. How much can I quote?
9.2.5. What's wrong with my signature?
9.2.6. WHAT'S WRONG WITH WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS?
9.2.7. What's up with the "plain text only" rule?
9.2.8. Why does my text look so funky?

9.3. Generosity and the list

9.3.1. How should I offer a file? How should I respond to an offer?
9.3.2. Why are attached files such bad things? I get/send them all the time, and I never have problems.

9.4. Copyright and the list.

9.4.1. What's a "me too"?
9.4.2. Why doesn't anyone ever comment on my posts?

9.5. Matters of terminology

9.5.1. What does this abbreviation mean?
9.5.2. What does "canon" mean?
9.5.3. So, are novels canon or aren't they?
9.5.4. What's a spoiler?
9.5.5. What's wrong with saying "T$R"?
9.5.6. What's a munchkin?
9.5.7. How can I post a review to the list?

*9.6.   How many users are there, anyway?
9.7. Who are the Realms List moderator and monitors?

9.8. LISTSERV commands

9.8.1. How do I switch to/from digest mode?
9.8.2. The Digest is too big!  Is there anything else I can do?
9.8.3. Can I switch my list subscription to a new email account?
9.8.4. What other LISTSERV commands are there?

9.9. How can I tell if the List is experiencing a temporary downage?

10.1. Official sites

10.1.1. Wizards of the Coast
10.1.2. How can I keep up with the changes at the Wizards web site?
10.1.3. MPGN10.1.4. Where are the archives of Realms-L?

10.2. Other web sites of interest

10.2.1. Where's the "best of FR-L" web page?
10.2.2. What else is out there (WWW)?
*10.2.3. What else is out there (mailing lists)?
10.2.4. What happened to the Realms-Projects list?
10.2.5. Where can I downloadable info on the Wizards site?
10.2.6. Where can I locate out of print products?
10.2.7. What if I want a paper copy of an out of print product?
10.2.8. Where can I download the Espruar/Dethek/Thorass/Common Tongue fonts?

* = new or updated in this version

1. What *are* the Forgotten Realms, and why are they Forgotten?

This question is outside the scope of this document.  However, another person, Tommi Ojanperä <tojan@st.jyu.fi>, has created a "FR FAQ for beginners" which he is hosting on his web page:

<http://www.jyu.fi/~tojan/fore/forefaq.htm>

If you're not sure what we are even talking about, you might want to head there first.

If you want information on D&D in general, try the rec.games.frp.dnd FAQ at http://www.enteract.com/~aardy/faq/rgfdfaq.html

It's quite long (9 parts), and includes things such as questions about Stoneskin, Alignment, music to game by, and lots, lots more.  I'd recommend perusing it if you've got any general questions...you might find an answer (or three!) in it.

*1.1 I keep seeing a reference to "FRA". What is it, what's in it, and why can't I find it anywhere?

FRA stands for "Forgotten Realms Adventures", a hardback compendium of Realmslore that updated many rules for AD&D Second Edition. (There were also volumes called "Greyhawk Adventures" and "Dragonlance Adventures", those being the three main game worlds at the time.) FRA sold out quickly and is devilishly hard to find these days at anything approximating a reasonable price. (So, if you DO see one, grab it!)

Luckily for us gamers, most of the information in FRA has been reprinted or supplanted by later products. The main sections of FRA were:

• “The Forgotten Realms, Post-Avatar" -- provided conversions from first ed. to second ed.; now mostly irrelevant
• "Gods and Their Specialty Priests" -- supplanted and updated by "Faiths & Avatars", "Powers & Pantheons" and "Demihuman Deities"
• "Magic and Mages in the Realms" -- some useful tidbits that haven't seen print elsewhere, but the vast majority of this information has been reprinted in "Pages From the Mages" and/or "Volo's Guide to All Things Magical" (with a few unique spells slipping into "The Seven Sisters")
• "Cities of the Heartlands" -- the only major section NOT to be wholly reprinted, although some specific cities have been updated elsewhere
• "Secret Societies of the Realms" -- the Harpers and the Cult of the Dragon have their own sourcebooks ("Code of the Harpers" (OOP) and "Cult of the Dragon"); the Zhentarim got a boxed set ("Ruins of Zhentil Keep"), and the Red Wizards got part of a boxed set ("Spellbound"). "Cloak and Dagger contains the latest updates of all of this information.
• "Treasure" -- available for free download from the TSR web site
• "Treasure Tables" -- pretty much copies of the ones from the DMG
• "Wizard Spells by School/Level" -- the "Wizard's Spell Compendium" series has such lists in the final volume
• "Random Spell Lists" -- the "Wizard's Spell Compendium" series has such tables in the final volume (they aren't quite as useful, but they are all we're likely to get)
• FRA is available as a free download from the WotC online store.  The direct URL is: http://store.wizards.com/product.asp?ProductID=4044

Of course, most of this has also been revised in the 3^rd edition Forgotten Realms Hardcover.

*2.1. What are the best sources for information on Realms deities?

All of your questions are answered in the three-volume series, "Faiths & Avatars", "Powers & Pantheons", and "Demihuman Deities". While these are second edition books, much of the information is general and can be applied to a third edition game as well.

F&A details the major deities worshipped in most of the lands of the Realms, and P&P gives the demipowers, as well as some more obscure pantheons.  DD details the elven, drow, dwarven, halfling, and gnomish pantheons.

*2.2. Who are the major deities and what do you call their followers?

The following is a list of the human greater, intermediate and lesser powers (from F&A); it includes adjectives used to refer to the religions and titles of worshipers (thanks to Steve Allen). Note that some of these do not adhere to the recent Wizards effort to eliminate irregular plurals.

Akadi Akadian Akadians
Amaunator Amaunatori Amaunatori
Auril Aurilian Aurilians ?
Azuth Azuthan Azuthans ?
Bane Banite Banites
Beshaba Beshaban Beshabans ?
Bhaal Bhaalist Bhaalists
Chauntea Chauntean Chaunteans
Cyric Cyricist Cyricists
Deneir Deneirrath Deneirrath
Eldath Eldathyn Eldathyn
Gond Gondar Gondar
Grumbar Grumbarryn Grumbarryn
Helm Helmite Helmites
Ibrandul Ibrandulin Ibrandulin
Ilmater Ilmatari Ilmatari
Istishia Istishian Istishian
Iyachtu Xvim Xvimlar Xvimlar
Kelemvor Kelemvorite Kelemvorites
Kossuth Kossuthan Kossuthans
Lathander Lathanderian Lathanderites
Leira Leiran Leirans
Lliira Lliiran Lliirans
Loviatar Loviatan Loviatans
Malar Malarite Malarites
Mask Maskarran Maskarran
Mielikki Mielikkian Mielikkians
Milil
Moander Moanderite Moanderites ?
Myrkul Myrkulyte Myrkulytes
Mystra Mystran Mystrans
Oghma Oghmanyte Oghmanytes ?
Selune Selunite Selunites
Shar Sharran Sharrans
Shaundakul Shaundakun Shaundakuns ?
Silvanus Silvanite Silvanites
Sune Sunite Sunites
Talona Talonite Talonites
Talos Talassan Talassans
Tempus Tempuran Tempurans ?
Torm Tormish Tormish Torm clerics are called Tormtar's.
Tymora Tymoran Tymorans ?
Tyr Tyrran Tyrrans
Umberlee Umberlant Umberlants
Waukeen Waukeenar Waukeenar

2.3. Chosen

2.3.1. I keep seeing references to "Chosen" of various deities. What do you mean by "Chosen"?

Some deities, most notably Mystra, have given one or a small group of their dedicated followers special powers; these are called Chosen. The Chosen of Mystra are most well known, and derive some special benefits because they actually hold a portion of Mystra's essence within them. They are Elminster, Khelben, the Seven Sisters, and perhaps others yet unrevealed. (Azuth may or may not currently be a Chosen, although it's virtually certain he was before he became a god. The founder of the Cult of the Dragon, Sammaster, was a Chosen who went bad.) Mystra's Magister is NOT a chosen (at least not while holding the office of Magister). Noumea Drathchuld, a recent Magister, is now a chosen, as is Alvaerele Tasundrym, a Magister who held the office from 576-592 DR).

Other known Chosen: Cadderly, Chosen of Deneir (from the Cleric Quintet by R. A. Salvatore); Qilue Veladorn, Chosen of Eilistraee (as well as Mystra...it's a complicated story); Jeryth Phaulkon, the Chosen Star of Mielikki. We should also take care not to forget Fzoul Chembryl, chosen of Xvim.

The Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave are also chosen - the Chosen of Silvanus.  The names of the three chosen are:

Shinthala Deepcrest
Lady Shadowmoon
Ashenford Torinbow

Source: The Vilhon Reach - Dungeon Master's Reference pp 27-31

*2.3.2. What special powers do Mystra's chosen have?

The powers granted to Mystra's chosen in third edition are given in the Forgotten Realms Hardcover.

The standard granted powers of the Chosen of Mystra in second edition are (from pp. 10-11  Seven Sisters):

1. Effective constitution 25 (system shock rolls + regeneration)
2. Immunity to disease & afflictions (as per elixir of health)
3. Death from natural causes impossible
4. Immunity to disintegration magic
5. +5 saving throws vs. spells
6. +3 save vs. dragon breath
7. Detect magic at will with a range of 90 ft, or w/n their line-of-sight (whichever is greater)
8. Hear own names spoken anywhere on Toril (& next 9 words spoken by that person)
9. Lose all need for sleep
10. Function without food & water for up to seven days at a time (as per potion of vitality)
11. Have one of the following effects active at any given time as per the item: ring of warmth, ring of mind shielding, potion of water breathing, protection from gas scroll
12. Immune to one specific spell of each level (own chioice)
13. One bonus spell at each level the Chosen can cast that can be cast by act of will alone and re-appears in the Chosen's memory 24 hours later
14. Unleash the silver fire (beam 5ft wide, up to 70ft long; pierces *all* barriers; 4d12 dmg, no save)
15. Cloud of silver fire (cone 5ft wide at base, up to 70ft long, up to 70ft wide at end) - banishes dead magic areas.
16. Banish all external magical or psionic compulsions with silver fire.
17. Teleport w/t error 1/day to last location where they used silver fire.

Note: some of the Chosen have additional personal granted powers from Mystra that vary with each individual and reference is made that the Chosen may well have additional powers that even they are unaware of (p. 12, Seven Sisters)

Lorm Emm cautioned:

It should be noted however that this only goes for Chosen of Mystra... Chosen of other deities should have quite different abilities.

*2.3.3. Why do other powers choose to not have a 'Chosen' since it is evident that any power can appoint a mortal as a 'Chosen'?

Paul Hoyak answered:

Oh, easy answers here.

The second answer is just as easy. Most powers do not make Chosen simply because it is both a waste of power and sometimes even a waste of time (notably for evil deities and their evil followers). Why make a Chosen (which requires the individual to be imbued with the god's essence AS WELL as the fact that they are not controlled by the deity) when you can make seraph and proxies?

Here's how it works (evidence from a variety of sources, including Code of the Harpers, Seven Sisters, FRE1 Shadowdale, Shadow of the Avatar trilogy, Planescape box set, On Hallowed Ground, Crucible, Dragon Magazine)

Chosen: most powerful of the three. Requires some of the god's essence. Not controlled by the deity.

Seraph: powerful proxies. Created as a proxy. Has a fair amount of free will.

Proxy: standard deity servant. Does not require any of the god's  essence. Can be tightly "reined in" by the deity at any time.

A deity would normally have a VERY good reason to create a Chosen over a proxy. Mystra is a notably example (read Code of the Harpers, Seven Sisters, and FRE1 Shadowdale for insight).

*2.4.OK, who or what is the Magister? I'm hopelessly confused.

I don't blame you. "The Magister" (product code FR4) was an early Realms sourcebook, which gave many new spells and magic items found in the Realms. It's at least as hard to find as FRA, so snap up any copies you see.  FR4 is available as a pay download from the WotC Online Store ESD site.

The Magister, the person, is a mage selected by Mystra to spread the Art (magic) throughout the Realms. A mage may become the Magister by defeating the current Magister in spell combat; this combat need not (but may) be to the death. The Magister is supposed to be a shadowy, secretive figure.

The sourcebook "Secrets of the Magister" details the powers and history of the position (including info on many past Magisters). The current Magister (as of 1370 DR) is Talatha Vaerovree of Innarlith, a female human 16^th level wizard. 

The following is a mostly accurate discussion of the magister by Bobby Nichols <catdrag@vnet.net> and by Mike Mateer <mateer@midwest.net>. This discussion occurred before the publishing of "Secrets of the Magister", and gross errors in speculation have been edited out.

"The Magister is a high-level (usually) mage whom Mystra elevates to show the glory of magic. In other words, the magister is a punching bag for high-level wizards who want to show how good they are. This keeps all those glory-minded mages from ruling/conquering countries and the like. The Magister is a series of people. You see, the reward for beating the Magister is usually (if you survive) becoming the Magister. If neither combatant survives, then Azuth chooses the next Magister. I would guess that what the duel is, depends on the mage who is currently the Magister. I mean, would you want to be known as the archmage who was once the Magister? Also, at high level there are lots of spells for magical combat: anti-magic shell, prismatic spells, etc. etc. Generally I would say that most combats go until the death - either by accident or design. [Editor's note: this is confirmed in SotM- good reasoning, Bobby!) As for duties, the Magister is what mages show their apprentices and say: "This is what you'll be one day-if you study hard enough." I would say that the magister has a glamorous job but no real duties or income. [Editor's note: not quite true; the magister is charged with promoting the spread and advancement of magic, though some shirked this duty horribly).

Some mentions of Magisters in other products:

   1. Jhesiyra Kestellharp. One of Halaster's apprentices, she gave up after Halaster's Test, and went to Myth Drannor and eventually became the Magister... (Campaign Guide to Undermountain, page 5)

   2. The Magister that appears in the novel Elminster, the Making of a Mage (pages 84-89), who answers a challenge to his powers and destroys a bunch of powerful magelords.

   3. A recent Magister, Noumea (referenced in FR4 The Magister and appears in the novel Cloak of Shadows).

   4. Two Magisters are referenced in Polyhedron #72 (page 29): Inhil Lauthdryn "Hurler-of-Stars", who went alone into the Vast in search of a rogue Archmage in order to bring him to justice, and Aralagath Tarsil who succeeded him.

   5. A Magister spoke directly with Mystra in a knoll in Shadowdale that nowadays is a holy place (Shandril's mother, Dammasae is buried there; she was an Incantatrix and also had Spellfire). See the 3E Campaign Setting for 3E spellfire rules. For 2E info, see the novel Spellfire, pages 356-357, and Poly #117 or Cult of the Dragon for Incantatrix courtesy of Eric Boyd." Also see Dragon #90 (which contains Ed Greenwood's original Incantrix article).

Eric Boyd explains:

Think of it this way.

Ao allows gods to extend their influence where they are worshiped by a large segment of the population.

In the "old days", when the various races and peoples were geographically isolated, the pantheons appear to be geographically divided. If, however, the entire population of Mulhorand had woken up one day and decided to walk to Calimshan, then the Mulhorandi's 'geographic sphere of influence' would have moved with them.

Given the "interconnectedness" of the Realms today, it's no suprise that the old pantheon system (Netherese, Uthgardt, Calishite, Jhaamdaathan, Untheric, Chultan, Mulhorandi, etc.) is breaking down. In fact, the existence of a geographically distinct pantheon is indicative that there is very little cross-border flow between that region and the rest of the Realms.

According to published materials for both settings (as well as Planescape), the best answer is "yes and no".  Most DMs seem to think that they are separate but strangely similar deities; however, quite a few people play them as the same power in different aspects.

(The above answer also applies to Bahamut and Paladine.)

There are all kinds of theories, but the one that seems to make the most sense is that he was talking to the Supreme God, the DM.  In other words, the reader.

Nowhere, at present. It's one of the abiding mysteries of the Realms. Sorry we can't be more help with this one.  :-)

[Steven Schend, in a post to Realms-L, said that to his knowledge, there are no plans to expand on the Dawn Cataclysm in any further Realms products.]

Many list members have speculated, though.

Simon Gibbs does a good job of summarizing what’s known:

A quick note on the date of the Dawn Cataclysm: it's a perennial thorn for those interested in Realms Timelines. Perhaps the most definitive stuff I have seen on this topic came from Steven Schend in response to a request for a timeline of the Dawn Cataclysm, including the birth dates and locations of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, and related material.

To soothe the debate, Steve Schend wrote: <quote>

Not to disappoint, but this will probably never happen, simply because it's irrelevant to mortal Realms history. The Dawn Cataclysm occurs only among the gods and has no impact whatsoever on the mortal plane of the Realms save one: A schism forms in the faith of Tyche and the church splits into the faiths of Beshaba and Tymora. This happens somewhere between the height of the Netheril Empire and the beginning of Dalereckoning. 

I'm not narrowing it down further than that right now, and frankly, I've no desire to do so, as it should be a vague time at best. As for the births of Bane/Bhaal/Myrkul, I've even less interest in dredging those topics up; suffice it to say that they may have existed long ago as mortals and at some point in the dim and misty past they became the gods they were.

They all died or/and lost their divinity in the Time of Troubles, and no matter how many schemes may be hatched to try and bring them back to godhood, they will forever canonically remain dead issues.

</end quote>

[Note well that Steven prefaces this posting (which included much stuff on future products on Netheril) with: "I'll start out with a disclaimer that states that none of these ideas discussed are officially part of any product idea or schedule at this point. It's more of a peek inside my head as to opinions, musings, and some of the stories and lore I'd like to layer onto Netheril. These may become products, plot hooks or ideas in other products, magazine articles, or even short stories at some point. Who knows? They're just ideas & pinions as of right now...."]

As a final comment, to quote Tom Costa of the list: "The date is uncertain and TSR has said they will not date godly FR events that took place out of mortal eyes, _which I think is fine_." Good words to heed, perhaps.

Paul Hoyak added:

For those with some interest in the Dawn Cataclysm (though I am not one of them) there WAS an official date(s) given for the Dawn Cataclysm; however, since it was found on the Forgotten Realms Conspectus (this is the first published mention of the Dawn Cataclysm) the date is definitely questionable:  c. 161 DR: The Dawn Cataclysm.

Jason Hatter rebutted:

Something for the Dawn Cataclysm portion: it definitely happened before 134DR, since at that time Azuth was no longer Magister, and he either was a Magister at the time of the DC, or became one after it....either of which is before the date mentioned in SotM....

Answer: We don’t know for sure:

Tavis King compiled a partial list:

Amaunator, Jannath, Jergal, Kozah, Moander, Mystryl(Mystra), Selune, Shar, Targus, and Tyche are listed in the Netheril Boxed set.  Lathander must also have existed if he started the cataclysm.

George Krashos and Eric Boyd have both opined on the matter:

George:

The matter of the Seven Lost Gods has always been one of Eric's pet FR conundrums, and without pre-empting his inevitable contribution to this thread, I believe the Seven Lost Gods should include the following:

1. Jergal
2. Garagos
3. Moander
4. Shaundakul
5. Ghaunadar

 Note that this leaves two slots free, and I have some idea as to which gods I'd put in, but the fact is that there is no 'canon' answer to this question. Put in any "old" gods you like - heck, make up some gods that have been slain or have died due to loss of worship/neglect. Also in Off-List discussion, the tie between Westgate and the Seven Lost Gods has been discussed. We know little of the history of Westgate and we don't even know who or what first colonised the area. Suggestions in regard to the nation that first founded Westgate have centered mostly on Jhaamdath (sp?) - the nation first discussed in LOI and EotSS. What gods did the nation of Jhaamdath worship? It seems that FR conundrums never go away.... :)

Eric:

First a bit of background:

The novel "Azure Bonds" revealed that there were seven hills with rings of stone plinths south and west of Westgate. One of these hills, the Hill of Fangs, was firmly associated with Moander.

In an off-hand reference in one of Ed's novels, there is a reference to the "Seven Lost Gods." I can no longer find this reference, but I know its out there somewhere. (If you find this reference, please let me know the source and page number.)

When I was working on the Major Centers of Worship write-up in Moander's write-up in F&A, I linked the two, and now the "Seven Lost Gods" are firmly tied to the seven hills outside of Westgate.

In "Ruins of Myth Drannor", just before the discussion of Shaundakul, there is a discussion of "old" gods whose worship is faded. This discussion mentions that the cult of Garagos was once strong in Westgate and that Savras was once venerated as the god of worshipers in the South.

In "Prayers from the Faithful," we learn that Silvanus was once venerated in a vanished woodland south and west of the city of Westgate.

I recently learned about five heretofore-unknown names of gods who "bowed down before Bane." This is mentioned in the book that accompanied the old "Pools of Radiance" computer game.

So, who are the Seven Lost Gods?

Only Moander is an absolute given, as noted above.

Garagos, and to a lesser extent, Savras, seem like likely candidates given their geographic centers of interest.

Given that "Lost" seems to imply "gods whose worship has declined significantly and who may or may not be dead", I might add the following deities to the list:

Jergal and Ghaunadaur. (Jergal, while not dead, has certainly vanished from the perspective of most humans of Faerun. Ghaunadaur seems like a good candidate because he attracts only a few cultists, and he's dark, sinister, and evil.)

Other possibilities include Silvanus (because of that PftF reference) and Shaundakul (although the latter's base was farther north, around Myth Drannor.)

The five names from the computer game "Pool of Radiance" are interesting candidates as well. One theory I'm considering is that the "current" Seven Lost Gods were venerated outside of Westgate several centuries ago. However, their temples were built atop the ruins of an earlier civilization, and that realm's temples were dedicated to seven truly lost and forgotten deities. Maybe the five names mentioned in "Pool of Radiance" were of that civilization, and their "bowing down to Bane" occurred when the Father of Xvim was in his ascendance long, long ago.

Alfred Hailey added:

It's not a given that the five names mentioned in "Pool of Radiance"  were actually gods - Tyranthraxus was a special daemon who appeared in two adventures. Properly though, they were:

Maram of the Great Spear
Haask, Voice of Hargut
Tyranthraxus the Flamed One
Borem of the Lake of Boiling Mud
Camnod the Unseen

 

Eric Boyd clarified:

Demihumans can and do worship human gods. Such practices have been depicted time and time again in Forgotten Realms products, particularly the novels.

My personal impression is that this is caused out-of-game in large part because the two boxed sets, Forgotten Realms Adventures, and all the Time of Troubles products promoted the human gods at the expense of the

demihuman gods. Perhaps some of the authors mistakenly thought the Realms were akin to Dragonlance, i.e. one pantheon for all races?

In any event, it is my opinion (and nothing more than that), that while demihumans of the Realms on occasion do choose to venerate human gods, it is far, far less common than commonly depicted in FR products, with a few notable exceptions. Those exceptions are primarily cases where a "human" god is in fact a major part of a demihuman pantheon as well. Examples of such are limited to Gond (gnomes), Mielikki (elves), and Tymora (halflings) if I recall correctly.

Eric Boyd:

Yes, but ONLY with regards to their connection with Realmspace. Think of him like a local traffic cop. He doesn't care what those out-of-towners do elsewhere, except when they're in his jurisdiction. When they are in his jurisdiction, he's got absolute authority, but exercises it only when absolutely necessary.

*2.12. During the ToT was it only human gods who were cast down, or were demihuman gods similarly affected?

All of the gods descended.  In the FR Comics, Clangeddin Silverbeard and Labelas Enoreth are cast down, and Labelas defeats Clangeddin's avatar.

Tom Rinschler has compiled the following list of human and non-human powers whose locations during the TOT are known:

Faerunian Powers:

Akadi:  Not seen in the Realms (F&A) (see Note 1)
Ao: Elminster's Safehold, Mt. Waterdeep (Cloak of Shadows, Waterdeep)
Auril:  Unknown (see Note 2)
Azuth:  Pool of Yeven (FRE2)
Bane:  Zhentil Keep, Castle Kilgrave, Shadowdale, Scardale, Tantras (FRE1,2; Av. Tril.)
Beshaba:  Unknown
Bhaal: Eveningstar, High Horn, Boareskyr Bridge (FRE2, Av. Tril.)
Chauntea:  Unknown
Cyric: Not yet a god.  Arabel to Shadowdale to Tantras to Waterdeep (Av. Tril.)
Deneir: Unknown
Eldath:  The Misty Forest (Cloak of Shadows)
Gond:  Lantan (FRA, F&A)
Grumbar:  Not seen in the Realms (F&A) (see Note 1)
Helm:  Guarded the Outer Planes (Av. Tril.)
Ibrandul:  Underdark below Waterdeep (F&A)
Ilmater:  Unknown (See Note 2)
Istishia:  Not seen in the Realms (F&A) (see Note 1)
Iyachtu Xvim:  Trapped below Zhentil Keep (Ruins of Zhentil Keep, F&A)
Kelemvor:  Not yet a god.  Arabel to Shadowdale to Tantras to Waterdeep (Av. Tril.)
Kossuth:  Not seen in the Realms (F&A) (see Note 1)
Lathander:  Unknown
Leira:  Unknown (see Note 2)
Lliira: Shadowdale, Cormanthor (F&A (under Waukeen))
Loviatar:  Unknown (see Note 2)
Malar:  Gulthmere Forest, the North (F&A, P&P(under Nobanion))
Mask:  Disguised as Godsbane, Cyric's sword; Cormyr to Waterdeep (Prince of Lies)
Mielikki:  The Misty Forest (Cloak of Shadows)
Milil:  Athkatla (F&A)
Moander:  Never specifically revealed, but presumably the Lost Vale (Song of the Saurials) (see Note 3)
Myrkul:  Waterdeep (FRE3)
Mystra:  Castle Kilgrave (FRE1)
Oghma:  Unknown
Selune:  Waterdeep (FR Comic)
Shar: Calimport, Underdark under Waterdeep, Waterdeep (P&P (under Sharess), F&A, FR Comic)
Shaundakul:  Myth Drannor (F&A)
Silvanus:  Winterwood and Chondalwood (F&A)
Sune:  Calimport, Teziir (P&P (under Sharess), Waterdeep)
Talona:  Castle Trinity (Canticle)
Talos:  Tsurlagol  (Waterdeep)
Tempus:  Battledale, Mistledale (F&A, All Shadows Fled)
Torm:  Tantras (FRE2)
Tymora:  Arabel (Shadowdale)
Tyr:  Unknown
Umberlee:  Sea of Fallen Stars (FRA), Trackless Sea near the Purple Rocks (C&D)
Waukeen:  Shadowdale, Cormanthor, Astral Plane, the Abyss (F&A)

Faerunian Demipowers:

Finder:  Imprisoned in Shadowdale (Song of the Saurials) (see Note 3)
Garagos:  Westgate Harbor, Sea of Fallen Stars (C&D web supplement)
Gargauth:  Unknown
Gwaeron Windstrom:  the North (P&P)
Hoar:  Akanax, Thay, Unther (P&P, Cloak of Shadows)
Jergal:  Unknown ("Played no part in the Time of Troubles" P&P)
Lurue:  Unknown
Nobanion:  Gulthmere Forest, Shining Plains (P&P)
Red Knight:  Northeastern Tethyr (P&P)
Savras:  Imprisoned in the Scepter of Savras (P&P)
Sharess:  Calimport (P&P)
Shiallia:  the North (P&P)
Siamorphe:  Waterdeep (P&P)
Ulutiu:  Asleep under the Great Glacier (FR14, P&P)
Uthgar:  Unknown
Valkur:  Unknown
Velsharoon:  Unknown.  Not yet a god (P&P)

Chultan powers:

Eshowdow:  Unknown
Sseth:  Black Jungles, Chult (P&P)
Ubtao:  Chult (P&P)

Mulhorandi powers:

Anhur:  Mulhorand, Alamber Sea (P&P)
Geb:  Ship of the Gods (P&P)
Hathor:  Unknown
Horus-Re Unknown, but likely in Skuld as Pharaoh Horusep III (implied in P&P)
Isis:  Unknown
Nephthys:  Unknown
Osiris:  Unknown
Sebek:  Unknown
Set:  Unknown
Thoth:  Unknown

Untheric powers:

Gilgeam:  Unthalass (P&P)
Ramman:  Unther (P&P (under Hoar))
Tiamat:  Unther, Unthalass (P&P)

Demihuman Powers:

(as most demihuman avatars' locations haven't been revealed, having been mostly ignored in the core ToT products, only those with known locations are listed.  There is plenty of room for speculation here)

Lolth:  Menzoberranzan (Seige of Darkness)
Selvertarm:  Eryndlyn (Underdark below the High Moor) (DD)
Clangeddin Silverbeard:  Rauthym (FR Comic)
Deep Duerra:  Underspires, Southern Underdark (DD)
Labelas Enorath:  Rauthym (FR Comic)
Segojan Earthcaller:  Hardbuckler (DD)
Urdlen:  Hardbuckler (DD)

Monstrous powers:

(same deal as with the demihuman powers)

Sekolah:  Alamber Sea (P&P (under Anhur))
Ilsensine:  Oryndoll (Underdark under the Shining Plains) (Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark)

(While the demihuman powers have been only lightly covered, the dozens of  monstrous deities have been truly passed over.  While in some cases this is understandable, surely the draconic and giant avatars should have been VERY noticeable!  There's even more room for speculation than with the demihumans)

Notes:

1.  The elemental powers (Akadi, Grumbar, Ishtishia, and Kossuth) weren't seen in the Realms according to F&A.  In the first three cases, it may just be that they weren't noticed, being basically invisible in their elements (an avatar made of water would be unnoticeable in a large ocean after all).  Unfortunately, Kossuth messes this theory up, as  a huge flame would be rather noticeable.

2.  Four powers had locations listed in the current list on the "Best" web page that are incorrect.  Auril's avatar isn't mentioned in FR14, Ilmater is mentioned on page 23 of FR9, but only as one of the gods revered in Damara, not as an avatar, and neither Leira's or Loviatar's locations are mentioned in FRA.  I think I checked pretty thoroughly, but if anyone does discover if these are correct references, don't hesitate to mention it.

Note 3:   Although Finder's and Moander's locations during the Time of Troubles have never been specifically revealed, much information can be gleaned from Song of the Saurials, which takes place immediately after the ToT.  The Godswar ended on 15 Marpenoth 1359 DR, and Song of Saurials takes place during 18 - 21 Marpenoth (the date of Finder's destruction of Moander is given in P&P as 20 Marpenoth) - presumably the start of Finder's trial had been delayed due to the chaos of the ToT and was begun as soon as possible after its end.  From the novel, it is obvious that Finder had been imprisoned in the Twisted Tower for quite some time, presumably including the entire ToT.  Although it is never specifically stated in the novel that Moander's avatar had been in the Lost Vale, it certainly would be the logical conclusion.  However, the fact that the saurials were being forced to create huge pile of rotting vegetation to be the avatar's host makes it appear that Moander's avatar during the ToT must have been quite weak; a result, presumably, of the disastrous events in Azure Bonds.

From F&A:

It depends. :)

If the priest's god's portfolios are similar to those held by a member of the pantheon of the land in which the priest finds himself, one of three things happens.

1. The priest converts to worship of the native deity.
2. The native deity grants the priest's spells and wins him over gradually.
3. The priest loses power.
4. The priest's deity arrives to contest the portfolio.

 

Steven Schend answers:

While it's true that Oghma has a big temple in the city, he's not one of the principal powers that have nurtured this tiny town and nation from its start.

Here are the few references I've hidden into Cormanthyr and The North and other products re: the Five Goddesses of Silverymoon. Thought I'd answered this question only a few months ago, but couldn't find my answer in my files.... Here's the hard-sought info.

627 --Year of the Bloodcrystals

Ecamane Truesilver and his nine apprentices arrive in Silverymoon. Claiming five goddesses (Eldath, Mielikki, Lurue, Mystra, and Sehanine) drew them here, the mages create a school of magic patterned on elven teachings.

In short: Eldath, Mielikki, Lurue, Mystra, and Sehanine are the 5 goddesses of Silverymoon/Luruar. Strangely enough, the latter two have always taken an active interest in the doings and life of a certain archmage currently of Waterdeep as well.... Food for thought...... ;)

Rian McMurtry opined:

Each faith having druids theoretically has its own druidic hierarchy, so there would be grand druids of Silvanus, Eldath, Chauntea, and Earthmother (though an aspect of Chauntea, the Earthmother religion seems to qualify as a seperate faith to me), as well (theoretically) as a grand druid of Mielikki (considering that druids were only recently reintroduced to Mielikki's faith, I doubt she has one yet).

*2.16. What happened to specialty priests in third edition?

Specialty priests as such don't exist at low levels in 3rd ed. Instead, the "common" cleric gets a certain amount of inherent customization (through the domains), and there's always multiclassing for other abilities (a cleric of Tempus would probably be expected to have some Fighter levels, and one of Azuth should know some Wizardry). Some abilities could be taken as feats as well.

True specialty priests can exist at higher levels through the use of prestige classes.

3.1. What game settings comprise the Realms?

Well, there's the Forgotten Realms product line, but I'm betting you'd figured that part out. :-)

Some settings have been set in the Realms, but otherwise have only the most tenuous of connections. Others were meant as limited-release lines and were meant to flesh out the line. Here's the most current list of what Realms product lines there are (or were):

o Forgotten Realms

o Kara-Tur (Oriental Adventures, currently defunct): Kara-Tur is at the other end of the continent from Faerun, which is what we usually think of as "the Realms".  It's a fairly homogeneous blend of Japanese, Chinese, and other East Asian societies.

o Al-Qadim (Arabian Adventures, a limited-release line): Zakhara, the Land of Fate, is a southern subcontinent with a generic Arabian feel (lots of genies, sand, and camels).  It was meant as a two-year product line, but was extended for a third year by gamer request.  Recently, TSR published a new Al-Qadim adventure, "Reunion", previously available only through the RPGA.

o The Hordelands: These lands lie between Faerun and Kara-Tur, and present a pretty standard barbarian culture.  Apart from one boxed set, a trilogy of novels, FR12, and a trilogy of modules, nothing has been released for the Hordelands.

o Maztica: For everyone who's ever wanted to play a "colonize the New World" game, complete with strange feathered serpents, gold, and human sacrifice.  Like the Horde, there was only one boxed set, one trilogy of modules, and one trilogy of novels released.

o Arcane Age (including Cormanthyr and Netheril): This line has been discontinued.

 

In Ed Greenwood's original conception, Anchorome was a joke archipelago; each island was a dungeon, and at the bottom of the dungeon were just enough supplies and a map to the next one. With the release of the Maztica mini-setting, Anchorome became the northern end of the new continent. It has not been detailed in any fashion apart from a couple of brief mentions here and there.

[BTW, it's pronounced AN-chor-oh-MAY.]

It's not true.

For one thing, Spelljammer products clearly indicate that FR and GH are in different crystal spheres. For another, neither the FR team nor the GH team had ever indicated so (although, to be fair, we should admit that at one time, a joke article appeared on the TSR web page claiming it was true).

But, if it makes you happy, run with it.

These questions are often posed to the list and get many replies.  The best tends to be "wherever you want".

Eric Boyd posted some ideas on how to incorporate the Greyhawk "super-modules" to the list a few years ago:

    My suggestion - replace Iuz with Iyachtu Xvim. Replace Zuggtmoy with Moander. (As noted in Faiths & Avatars, Moander is dead. His cult has been resurrected with the backing of Lolth as a way to corrupt a new wave of surface elves, like she did with the drow so long ago.)

Place the entire complex in the Flooded Forest, and expand Hommlet into the town of Ylraphon.

     Make the Iron Throne a front for the slave lords. Change the humanoids to hobgoblins driven out of Impiltur. Replace Highport with Spandelyion and change the Altumbel peninsula into the Pomarj. Place the actual Slave Lord city, Suderham, in a volcano on the Isle of Earthspur in the center of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

3.4.3. How to place G1-3 in the Realms:

Buy "Giantcraft". Send the PCs up to the Ice Spires as the number of giant raids increase. Replace the giant steadings of Hartvale with G1, G2, and G3.

Eric Boyd's ideas for setting G1-3 in the South:

a) There are known hill giants in the Tejarn Hills of Amn and the eastern Small Teeth. I would place G1 there.

b) Frost Giants are unlikely to come this far south. However, if they do, they probably live in the Snowflake Mts., the Cloud Peaks, or the Giant's Run Mts. I would probably pick a remote part of the Cloud Peaks or skip this part altogether.

c) Fire giants probably live in the vicinity of a volcano. That suggests the twin peaks known as Kossuth's Eyes in the Small Teeth might harbor a fire giant hold.

If you do all this, I would suggest linking G1-3 to the Sythillusian Empire troubles. The hill giants are already part of this, simply have the frost and fire giants be part of the monster armies besieging Amn.

If you decide to add D1-3 to this as well, I would have the drow be from Guallidurth (under the Calim Desert, mentioned in DDGttU) or from Karsoluthiyl (off the coast of Baldur's Gate, under the sea floor, mentioned in DDGttU). I would probably pick Guallidurth, and tie its actions back to the Night Wars (see the history section of LoI and EoSS).

Paul Westermeyer had an idea about U1-U3

 I had a lot of luck setting U1-3 near the Town of Daggerford.  There's a swamp w/ lizardmen nearby, and the smugglers operation makes a bit of sense as well.  It worked especially well when I added Under Illefarn (N2?) to the mix.  The North Boxed set has a pretty detailed set up for Daggerford, most of which is straight from Under Illefarn.

Steve Allen placed B1: In Search of the Unknown near the source of the Esmei River in the Troll Mountains in Amn.

Jeffrey David Bray placed L1: Bone Hill just below the Misty Forest in the little nook created by the forest and the High Moor, with Restenford being almost hard against the Moor

John Scott opined:

A while back someone asked about placing the Lendore Isles modules in the Realms. Off the top of my head, I would recommend placing them in the Korrin Archipelago (I have placed C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir among those islands. The Korrin Archipelago is a great place to adventure, but I am hesitant to give more advice since I don't have the original modules before me. It's at a higher latitude than the Lendore Isles are in Greyhawk, and you have to keep in mind the size of the island as well, depending on how closely you're trying to follow canon.

Robert Thomson clarified:

As for L3, that is Deep Dwarven Delve, the final module in the L-series that lay unpublished until 1999 when it was finally published in the TSR 25^th Anniversary box set.

I put it in eastern Cormyr; along the East Way just on the east edge of the Hullack Forest. I explained the absence of the garrison as a result of the Crusade (the Lord and most of his troops rode off the battle the Horde -- and did not return).

Jay A. Johnson's ideas on the Keep on the Borderlands:

Given the dominance of low-level undead used by the Hidden Temple (especially in the original version of Keep) I'd use Velsharoon, the Demipower of Necromancy as one of the temple's patrons.  Perhaps the temple was originally dedicated to Myrkul and now that Velsharoon has taken over the portfolio of necromancy, his priests have re-opened the temple and re-activated the coalition of nonhuman tribes. However, I like the possibility of a joint temple with Shar - that would be a frightening and wicked combination.

Michael Austin says, "The Shattered Circle was one of the first adventures I ran for my group in the Realms.  I placed it in Shadowdale, within the Druid's Grove.  This worked great for me.  I didn't run into any problems incorporating it into my campaign."

Barry Smith ran The Shattered Circle in northeast Turmish, around the small village of Sword Lake Creek.

Jeremy Worst says " I placed The Shattered Circle roughly 60 miles northeast of Secomber, about 30 miles east of the Unicorn Run, and about 20 or so miles south of the edge of the High Forest.  I placed a small abbey to Lathander a day's journey northwest of the Circle (a paladin of Lathander was the nominal leader of the party) and that is where they began the module.  I had been placing some rumors of missing shepherds and such beforehand, so when the abbot asked them to investigate the strange disappearances, the party was more than willing to help--with some encouragement from the LG paladin.  The abbot suggested they might want to investigate those strange stones lying in a circle to the southeast, as that fit the general area of the missing folk.

And here are several ideas for The Night Below super-module:

David Dodge--

I put it just north of the shining plains near the Orsraun Mountains (this area is south of Westgate and the Guithmere, north of Assam and Ormath (these are in the Northwest part of the Vilhon Reach Map)). This area was relatively undetailed at the time I ran my game, but even with the publication of the Vilhon Reach game I think you can use the area without disturbing too much. I liked the location.  The geography meshed well (explanation follows) and the location was fairly close to my core campaign area of Cormyr.  I put the valley of Haranshire just west of the Orsraun Mountains.  This worked out well, as the Flooded Forest area became one of the wetland/marsh areas on the southwest corner of the Haranshire area map.  The hills on the west side of the Haranshire map became the foothills of the Orsraun Mtns. I had the north-south road parallel the river (name escapes me) that runs north to south through the shining plains.  The Haranshire rivers merely flowed into it.  I started the game in Westgate with the young adventurers assigned to deliver the package.

Chris Perry--

   Try Delimyir Vale. Eliminate most of the surface sub-adventures and set up a keep taken by Cyricists somewhere northwest of Llorkh. Perhaps the Zhentarim in Llorkh are concerned about mage kidnappings, or perhaps a cell within their organization has been taken over by the aboleth (or whoever). Put the goblins near the High Moor or on the western edge of the Greypeak Mountains. The magical stone was placed in some part of Southwood. If one has to start in a small village, they can start in Zelbross (west of Loudwater).

Jeremy Patrick--

I placed the Night Below in the North, with the Garlstone Mines in the hills southeast of Beliard and the two villages east of the River Dessarin.  This way the PCs had Waterdeep accessible.

N. Todd Antill--

I placed The Night Below south of Raven's Bluff around Sevenecho... It fits in pretty well there, and you can always make use of the New Raven's Bluff info.

Daniel Meyer--

I placed NB just south of the Cloven Mountains and High Peaks. A close look at the maps shows that the water systems match perfectly. And the name of the woods in NB is the same also. Stretch out some light forest from the Thornwood to the south and the similarity is uncanny. Besides taking advantage of the new material like EotSS, Calimport, the Erlkazar area from LoI, and Vilhon Reach, it makes sense for the story line in other aspects related to the Realms.   [some spoilers followed which I have deleted--AH]

And here are several ideas for the Forge of Fury:

Renshai --

Personally, I placed the Forge of Fury in my Erlkazar campaign. It fit in with the strong dwarven history of the south. I put it in the foothills of the High Peaks near Rivenshield. IMC, it served as one of Tathtar's ancient outposts. The dungeon could easily be located in the High Forest or any mountainous region in the Realms. Faerun is full of ancient dwarven kingdoms...

Nigel Pope --

If you wanted to tie the Forge of Fury into a Realms campaign the Forlorn Hills would also be a suitable area to use. The dungeons would then be a legacy of the Fallen Kingdom.

Nigel Pope --

If you wanted to tie the Sunless Citadel into a Realms campaign the the Ardeep Forest would be be a suitable area to use. The dungeons would then be a legacy of the Fallen Kingdom. Moanderite influences would be a nice explanation for some of the encounters in the Sunless Citadel.

3.4.14. How to place  "The Silver Key" in the Realms:

Jeff Bray--

I ran it a whiles back set in the North near Citadel Adbar.  This was pre-Felbarr, so the orcs were still really crawling over the region.  I loved Dming it and the players loved being orcs (well, except the elf). It worked very well and Orc Points were a big hit.  Everyone had at least 6 orc points and one players was down his last chance when the adventure was over. He got 3 points in the amount of time it took to burp and say 2 words, <BURP!> (realizing what he did), "S***! (realizing he did it again), "F***!".  By this time, we were in hysterics.  Another player got points for stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth and allowing them to fallout.  He argued it with his mouth full, getting a second;) You have to remember to pay attention and enforce the table points for this to sink in.

Bobby Nichols --

I ran it in my campaign.  The party of PCs was based in Archendale and I had the orcs invade while they were in Sessrendale exploring some old ruins. When they arrived back In Archendale the Dale was half taken over by orcs and the Swords were trying to force the orcs out. However, with the high magic of the realms I had to do a couple of things....

1) I created a preponderance of priests in the orcs ranks.  The priests were of Gruumsh and there were rumors that the avatar of Gruumsh was about leading the orcs.

2) All the priests were carrying these black rods.  The rods absorbed

area-effect spells rendering fireballs and lightning bolts and any other large area-effect spells useless.

3) The rods were psionic in nature and keyed to the use by the priests of Gruumsh.

4) Behind the scenes there was an avatar, or rather an illusion of an avatar.  There was a cabal of illithiliches using the orcs to thrust into Archendale.  the illithiliches thought there was a magical item in Archenbridge that they had to have (I never really decided what that magical item was, it wasn't that important).

5) The illithiliches were in turn being manipulated by the Sibilant Shadow, a shadow dracolich that lairs beneath the Storm Horns.  (I can never remember the true name of that dragon!)  Any how, the dracolich was causing chaos and weeding out his information network due to recent infiltration by the Cult of the Dragon.  Easiest way to do this was cause the massive political unrest that an orc invasion caused.

6) Both Cormyr and Sembia looked to increase their holding with the addition of Archendale.  However, Archendale leaned towards Sembia and Sembia managed to take over the leadership of the army fighting the orcs.  Eventually I planned to have Sembia annex Archendale.

7) Or course, Cormyr wouldn't be happy with this and Deepingdale would be seeing a lot more Cormyrian troops and people coming into it.  Which would make the elves and the Dalesmen of Deepingdale very unhappy.

8) Meanwhile, the Zhentarim would be using every resource they had to gain influence.  As would the iron Throne.  And the Red Wizards.  And the Cult of the Dragon....

It turned into a fairly epic campaign.

3.5. How large is Toril/Faerun/the Heartlands?

Let's get our terminology straight first.  Toril (Abeir-Toril) is the planet the Realms are found on.  It's roughly Earth-sized, according to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Faerun is the continent on which most Realms adventures take place.  It stretches from Waterdeep and the Sword Coast in the west to the edge of the Hordelands in the east.  The map in the old Grey Box clearly shows that Faerun is larger than North America by quite a bit. A quick calculation using the FR ATLAS reveals that Faerun has an area of ~ 14 million square miles. The areas of North America, Africa, and Asia are 9, 12, and 17 million square miles, respectively.

The Heartlands (3.5 million square miles) are the central portion of Faerun, centered around Cormyr, the Dales, and the northern Sea of Fallen Stars.  They cover roughly the same area as the United States (3.6 million square miles).

Looking at the map in F&A, we can see that the equator runs through the southern part of Maztica (just below the published map), through the northern portion of Zakhara, and through the southern reaches of  Kara-Tur. It falls a little south of Nimbral (I think that's Nimbral) and well south of Chult.

Abeir-Toril, according to every published source, is roughly equivalent in size to Earth.  However, part of what determines the size of the tropics and the intensity of the seasons is whether or not it has the same axial tilt.  Since there are very definite summers and winters, I'd say the axial tilt is the same or perhaps even a little greater (23.5-25 degrees, as a ballpark guess).

Note also, from the same map, that even including Maztica we've only seen about a third of the surface area of Toril.  There's a LOT of room for more lands to explore, to the west of Maztica and/or the east of Kara-Tur (as well as to the south of everything).

3.7. How long does it take to travel in the Underdark?

Eric Boyd explains:

Here's a rough rule of thumb you can use for estimating Underdark travel times, assuming the travelers have sufficient magic & equipment to handle the terrain.

a) Locate the starting point and destination on a map of the surface Realms. Determine the distance in miles between the two points as the crow flies.

b) If there is a regular trade route between the two points, triple the distance.

c) If not, determine if either point is wholly cut off from the rest of the Underdark.

d) If not cut off, multiply the distance by 10.

e) If cut off, repeat the algorithm twice, but this time calculate the distance between the starting point and the nearest surface exit, the time to travel to the destination from the nearest surface entrance, and add those times to the time it takes to travel across the surface.

f) Once the distance is established, use the movement charts in the FR boxed set for rough terrain.

g) Don't forget to use the tables in the DMG for determining if the travelers have gotten lost.

The motivation for the multipliers is to account for the difficulty of terrain and for the tendency of Underdark tunnels to weave, twist, and double back. It's a three-dimensional labyrinth after all...

A poster on the realms list asked:

I have discovered two very different creation stories for the High Moor. The North box set talks about an incident that occurred during the Crown Wars. The text reads, "Perhaps the greatest calamity to befall the Fair Folk was the Dark Disaster, a killing magic that took the form of a dark, burning cloud.  It enshrouded the kingdom of Mieyritar, and when it faded away some months later, not an elf lived -nor were trees left; only an open blasted moor: the High Moor.

>An excellent, epic creation story.  However, it is directly contradicted by the information presented in the Elminster's Ecology on the High Moor.  In this book, a rather unpleasant local druid explains that, "The High Moor wasn't always a desolate moor.  Quite a lot of evidence suggests that the High Moor was once covered with rich woodlands.  However, early peoples cleared the forest for crops and to provide themselves with building materials.  These early peoples were mostly human tribes...In other words, the High Moor is an environment created by humans.  It is not a very pleasant place, and it clearly demonstrates the negative impact that humans can have on an environment."

Andrew Phelps responded:

I consider this misinformation from the druid.  This druid is probably not an historian, so doesn't know about the Crown Wars.  His explanation is typical of a bitter, cynical druid who has seen humans destroy large tracts of land and assumes the same happened here.  The fact that he begins his whole lecture with "quite a lot of evidence suggests that..." shows that he doesn't know for sure.  He can tell you that evidence points to the High Moor being covered in rich woodland in the distant past, but can only speculate as to what went wrong (like I said, he's a druid, not a historian).  As it turns out, the creation of the High Moor was caused by nothing so mundane as deforestation.  Humans can be blamed for a lot of things, but the High Moor isn't one of them.  This one falls to the elves.

If you read the history, you will find that events lead up to the Dark Disaster that make it rather less unbelievable that elves might do such a thing.  In any case, it's a WAR.  War ain't pretty.  It's a lot like in Vietnam, where Americans used a poison (agent orange?) that killed the trees.  Nobody thought about the implications, as everybody just wanted to win the war.

It is PC based software. The Atlas contains over 830 maps of the Realms. These include all published maps and many heretofore unpublished ones. For updates to the Atlas, see: http://www.wizards.com/electronic/downloads.asp

According to Steven Schend:

"The Burning Lands" was Jeff Grubb's original working title (from 1990 through 1992) for what became the lands of Zakhara, aka the AL-QADIM(R) setting. As I always liked the title and it was too generic for TSR to copyright, I still use it as an infrequent honorific subtitle when I make references to the far south. That's all there is to say about it---just another name for the land of the djinni...

Eric Boyd:

There are/were a lot more than three mythal cities, and there are many "near-mythals" as well. True mythals include those created by wizards and those created by elven High Mages. (I've often wondered if there's not a priestly variant as well.) I think Myth Drannor falls in the former camp and Myth Nantar in the latter camp, but I don't know for sure. "Near-mythals" are usually extensive magical wards, such as those created by the wizard spell "Wardmist" (detailed in various Volo's Guides). Of the true mythal cities, these are the ones we currently know about ...

Myth Drannor (detailed in Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Ruins of Myth Drannor)
Myth Nantar (mentioned in RoMD and detailed in Sea of Fallen Stars and (partially) in the Wyrmskull Throne)
Myth Lharest (mentioned in RoMD, briefly described in Lands of Intrigue: Amn and Faiths & Avatars (Selune write-up))
Myth Glauroch (mentioned in RoMD)
Myth Dyraalis (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr
Myth Rhynn (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr)
Myth Unnohyr (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr)
Myth Ondeth (mentioned in VGtATM and Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves)
Myth Iiscar, a flying city which as fallen onto the isle of Lantan (discussed in Cormanthyr)
Myth Adofhaer, last city of Siluvanede in the High Forest, placed, along with its inhabitants, into stasis and removed from Faerun until certain conditions are met to restore it and its people to the Realms. (discussed in Cormanthyr)
Ascalhorn (the mythal is mentioned in The North and Hellgate Keep)

Of course, one wonders why Ascalhorn wasn't called "Myth Ascalhorn" or something like that ... ;-)

Although it's not a city, I seem to recall that Herald's Holdfast is protected by a mythal as well. I don't have my references handy to check.

Also, for info on Myth Ondeth, see Eric Boyd's Mintiper's Chapbooks at: http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/FR_Features.asp

The function of mythals is to provide defense and a pleasant environment for those who dwell within. Some also serve as a common meeting ground for races that cannot normally survive in the same environment. The powers of Myth Drannor and Myth Nantar are best known, so you might want to check the appropriate references (RoMD and C:EoE in the former case and SoFS in the latter case) for details. No two mythals are alike, but all have a wide range of major and minor powers. I often think of them as the "climate controlled utopia" of Disney's 1950's version of the future.

Mythals are essentially living things and can become corrupted, such as happened to Myth Drannor, and then their powers can get wild and/or dangerous. One way of destroying them is the Gatekeeper's Crystal (mentioned in The North and detailed in VGtATM).

The Moonsea is freshwater, as is the River Lis. The Sea of Fallen Stars is generally saltwater, although both the Lake of Dragons (Dragonmere) and the Vilhon Reach might be considered "brackish", i.e. somewhere in between. The latter in particular is uncomfortable for many aquatic saltwater dwellers.

From: Trent Raley

Toril

• Circumference = 23,400 approx
• 24 time zones
• Axial tilt is ~ 19-25 degrees
• Prime Meridian is Myth Drannor
• Other time zones are based on meridian lines of globe function in Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas (two per square).
• Time zones are 975 miles wide.

Nit-pick -- that is 975 miles wide at the equator of course.  This will dwindle down to zero as you approach the poles.

 And Bryon Wischstadt added:

You should have been a Luka's Bar during GenCon when we worked this out! (I took notes) :) Something Trent didn't mention (we're co-DMs) is that with gates transporting the user instantly (as ::ahem:: *most* do) we got to thinking about adding another bit of realism to the game. We wanted to know what time of day it was when the party arrived in their new destination halfway across Faerun. From the player's perspective, they step through a gate mid-morning and arrive at a place that is still dark... this is a nice cue to the players that they have moved quite a distance. (They don't know the destinations of the gates) As you can see it's quick and relatively simple--add 2 hrs per grid on the atlas--and you'll end up with something kinda cool from both the DM and players' perspectives.  As Trent said "Hope this helps"... Enjoy!

Luruar is the new confederation in the North, formed and headed by Alustriel of Silverymoon. It debuted, unnamed, in the North boxed set, and was named by a vote of gamers at Gen Con 1997. The first appearance of Luruar in print was in an article by Steven Schend in the DRAGON Annual #1. Luruar is now known as the Silver Marches.

Steven Schend explained:

The name chosen at GenCon 95 was Luruar, in honor of Lurue, the patron goddess of the area and the city (well, one of five but the most prominent in worship).

It was decided that Luruar was too hard to pronounce and thus the change to The Silver Marches. Personally, that's okay for a political name; I still call the general area/terrain the Moonlands myself....

3.14.2. What the heck is a march anyway? Isn't it like a moor?

Tom Rinschler explained:

Well, your impression of marches being swampy wildernesses is not entirely wrong; lands bordering on untamed areas could well be moors and swamps. To give some real-life historical background, many medieval European states had marches; England's Earl of March held lands near the border of Wales; Scotland's Earl of March lived along the English border.  The Holy Roman Empire had loads of marches ("mark" in German; the ruler was a "markgraf"; the title was marquis in France).  Austria was originally "Ostmark" or Eastern March; Brandenburg, around Berlin was a march, and the area along the Danish border was the Danish March; Denmark derives from that title.  A lot of these areas are indeed rather barren, isolated places, as borders are wont to be.

If the FR team is going to be feudally correct, the proper term in Englsh for a ruler of a march is marquess if male or marchioness if female.  It will be interesting to see if we will have Marchioness Alustriel or Bruenor Battlehammer, Marquis de Mithral Hall.  :-)

3.15. Where can I get information on the Dwarven complex in the Laughing Hollow?  I see it on my FR Atlas. Where or what is/was Illefarn?

George Krashos explained:

N5 Under Illefarn is the only source which details the dwarven holdings near the Laughing Hollow. Illefarn itself was originally an elf kingdom that lasted until c. 340 DR when the green elves left for Evermeet. A sizable number of moon elves (the ones from Ardeep) stayed on and struck an alliance with the dwarves of Dardath (a small dwarven realm under the Horn/Forlorn Hills) and formed the 'second' Illefarn. It was this alliance of elves and dwarves that built the House of Stone (detailed in a recent Volo's column in Dragon). In 523 DR, Illefarn ceased to exist as a sovereign entity as it allied with the humans, gnomes and halflings of the Delimbiyr to form Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns (also more popularly known as the Fallen Kingdom). Phalorm disintegrated in 614 DR and saw Delimbiyran, the Kingdom of Man arise in its wake.

The Seatower of Ilinyth was around during the time of Phalorm. It no longer exists save as ruins. Mentioned in FR11 Dwarves Deep. Orlumbor is detailed in The North boxed set and Volo's Guide to the North.

3.16. Where's Mount Melairbode? Is it near Waterdeep?

Steven Schend  revealed:

Yup. That's the contemporary title of the dungeon that would become known in modern times as Undermountain. By the by, the modern state of the Hall of Naturalists was the dungeon in the original grey box (and previously in an adventure in Dragon Magazine).

3.17. Where's Freedale?

John Harbord relates:

The Introduction to AD&D TSR released in a big black shiny box in  1995 is set in the town of Freedale. On page 29 of the DMs booklet they provide a map showing the location of the township: its on the northern bank of the Ashaba between the small forest that borders southern Shadowdale & Cormanthor Forest (the map also includes the location of the Shallain Freehold, the village of Shadowdale, Dagger Falls, Voonlar, & other locations that clearly marks it as FR)

Jay A. Johnson added:

Calling Freedale a town is a bit generous.  In fact, the Intro to AD&D box set calls it (at various times) both a town and a city.  However, at 13 buildings, it's really just a village - and a small one at that. The village has all of the cliche' sites needed to serve as a base for low-level adventurers: the obligatory general store, a tavern, an inn, a dwarven blacksmith's shop, and a reclusive sage/mage (named Netheril) who owns his own tower, sells a few low-powered magic items, and sends the occasional band of novice adventurers on various quests. On the other hand, it was reasonably tied into FR in places.  The priest at the temple of Lathander was only 4th or 5th level.  The text noted that many spells were beyond his level - but that he could draw on the resources of the Morninglord's Temple at Shadowdale with a couple of day's notice.

In addition to Freedale, the box set also had three adventures set in the Shadowdale area.  The Tomb of Damara is a typical dungeon crawl, set in the woods to the south of Shadowdale Village.  The Ghost of Harrow Hill is a haunted mansion, set in the Dagger Hills.  The final adventure is Mount Dread, a monster infested mountain in the  portion of the Thunder Peaks directly north of Tilver's Gap.

All in all, I would certainly say that this box set is not necessary for anyone's Realms collection.  It's not a bad box set though, and fitting it into a serious realms campaign is fairly easy.  Change the stupid sounding names (there are more than a few), give real backgrounds and motivations to the cardboard NPC's, and away you go.

3.18. On page 99 of the Realms Atlas is a place called Neiroon's Hut. It's on the eastern coast of the Dales where the River Lis joins TSOFS. Any info on the place and/or who Neiroon is/was??? (have wanted to know since 1990).

Ed Greenwood writes:

Neiroon 'the Schemer' was a hermit (retired adventurer) who was a tutor of one of the Knights of Myth Drannor. He was a character with several classes, including druid and illusionist, and he deliberately remains a mystery. (In other words, because of the 'home' Realms campaign, more won't be revealed at this time; sorry.)

3.19. Apart from the obvious does EVER as in Evermeet & Evereska mean anything??? Maybe a corruption of Elven, or perhaps 'land of elves'?

Ed Greenwood writes:

'Ever' comes from the ancient elven word 'everae' (which means 'of the People' = meaning 'elven').

Note also, though, that according to the 2nd edition boxed set, p 92, Evereska means "fortress home".

3.20. What's known about the Moonshaes? Are they volcanic in nature? Are they separated bits of the continent? What about their culture as originally conceived by Ed Greenwood?

Ed Greenwood writes:

The 'original' Moonshaes are akin to LeGuin's Earthsea: hundreds of little islands, long-extinct volcanic peaks that rise up out of the sea abruptly, are inhabited by fisherfolk (with a few larger islands that have forests, farms, etc.) nothing much above the rural village culture on most, with self-styled 'lords' on others...and like Earthsea, somewhat like the Celtic-era Hebrides...they occupy the same space as TSR's (Doug Niles's) Moonshaes, arcing from a 'wide spray' at the Sword Coast or eastward extent, curving and narrowing southwest and curving to south...in other words, a large area of 'perilous sea' with awash rocks, reefs, etc. and safe channels that only the locals know.

3.21. What's the Pool of Radiance?

David W. Lemburg answers:

The Pool of Radiance is a book: by James Word and Jane Cooper. "Humans battle humaniods to reclaim the ruined city of Phlan." It's also an older computer game based on the book. The game was put out by SSI in the late 80's or early 90's.

It's also a unique magical contruction. It is located [or was located] in the city of Phlan. The god Bane and a creature named Tyanthraxus the Great Possessor were heavily involved with the Pool of Radiance.  It was located in the Valjevo Castle in Old Phlan. 

*3.22. Where do  the names "Toril" and "Faerun" come from?

There are conflicting opinions:

Pat Werda dug up:

In Evermeet: IoE, it is revealed that Faerun is an elven word meaning "the one land" which is what the elves saw it as before the High Magic that created Evermeet cracked the end of the continent off and hauled it out to see, forming the Moonshaes et al as it went.

Pierre Godbout clarifies:

It doesn't mean anything really.  It was called Faerûn by prince Durothil, the first gold elf to have ever set foot on Toril.  He led his people out of Faerie, his home world, and upon feeling that the Weave was strong in this new world, he named it Faerûn, which is similar to Faerie in pronunciation but it didn't mean anything else in their language.  You could interpret it as something that sounded like their home world, but that could remind them gently that they were somewhere new and that they now had to move on.  This is all found in Evermeet, Island of Elves.

Jason Hatter adds:

IIRC, the grey box (or it might be the 2nd Ed box) states that abeir-toril is thought to be dwarven in etymology.  Abeir-toril is an translates loosely as meaning 'Cradle of Life'".

Faer is (again, iirc) a dwarven word indicating magic.

*3.23. What happened to the map?!? It changed when third edition came out!

Mr. Baker explains:

1. We started with the constraint that we had one standard-sized poster available in the FR Campaign Setting book, and a desire to show a good map of Faerun on that poster.

2. A marketing poster from a couple of years ago showed all of Faerun, as well as the ocean as far as Evermeet, on a single standard poster. However, the map scale was 180 miles to the inch, and great amounts of that poster were wasted space--the ocean between Evermeet and Faerun, plus an inordinate amount of the Great Glacier and the higher regions of Anauroch.

3. We examined it closely and realized that we could draw the same map at 120 miles to the inch, a 50% increase in detail and attractiveness, by choosing to leave Evermeet off the map. There was sufficient east- west room to do this without "changing" anything.

4. However, covering the exact same north-south area shown on that previous poster was impossible. In other words, we had lots of east-west room, but were "short" on north-south room. We had to find a way to not show several hundred miles of north-south on the map.

5. In order to get rid of north-south space, we started by "tilting" Faerun to the west, which makes the Sword Coast angle more sharply toward the northwest instead of pretty much due north, as it formerly had. This did a few things for us right off the bat -- it moved a lot of the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea right out of the desired image area and it lowered the North so that we could show a little more of the Spine of the World/Icewind Dale area. It also took that long Chultan coast and made it run more or less straight east-west, whereas it had previously run west-northwest to east-southeast.

6. Then we carefully deleted long east-west strips in various places in and around the interior of Faerun in order to bring the north and south map edges closer together. We identified the Sea of Fallen Stars and the lands around it as the most recognizable geographic feature in Faerun, and so made sure that we left it virtually untouched (that's why I'm a little surprised that Turmish looks different, since I know we really didn't touch it).

7. After we removed enough north-south distance to fit the map the way we wanted, we redrew the entire map from scratch based on the work we'd done so far, in order to "smooth" the places where we had introduced distortions. For example, the Deepwash came south a little bit, while the south coast (Dambrath, Luiren, etc.) curved much more sharply to the north in order to make up the missing space in the eastern Shaar.

Anyway, what you get for all this is Faerun at 120 miles to the inch, with over 600 map tags and many features that were never shown in detail before on a map of the whole continent. It's far and away the best map of the whole continent that we've done.

4.1. Who'd win: Elminster or Drizzt?

Depends on who's writing the book.

Seriously, this topic (or a variation with different characters) crops up all the time. The question's essentially unanswerable; it's always possible to set up a situation where one person can win and the other can't--and vice versa. The short answer is that the novelists are unlikely to ever set up a situation where there's serious conflict between two major heroes of the Realms, so the question is relatively moot.

If you're entertained by this kind of discussion, great--but please don't flood the list with it.

This question has been raised so many times at conventions that Ed Greenwood once jokingly suggested writing a novel where Drizzt and El would have a little battle in between chapters, keeping tally on who won the most (and of course losing count--which was even).

Elaine Cunningham also had a comment:

Say there's a soccer match going on.  The Dallas Cowboys crash through the stands, trampling several dozen spectators and inadvertently breaking up several vehement soccer-related arguments.  Their actions, naturally, go virtually unnoticed until they actually leap onto the playing field.  They are joined by the NY Yankees, who are fed up with such indignities as urban decay, blueberry bagels, and George Steinbrenner.  They are seriously pissed off and are wielding non-regulation metal bats.  So.  What happens to the soccer players?  Who wins the game?

The answer, if indeed there can be an answer, can only be phrased as another question:  What set of rules are they playing by?  Oh--and a followup question:  Who's telling the story?  That's the classic answer authors give to the perennial Someone-vs-Someone Else question, and it applies here well enough.

4.2. Elminster

4.2.1. Don't you think Elminster is too powerful? No, he has to be to give the PCs a challenge! Yes, he's a munchkin! We killed him off five times! etc.

The only resolution I've ever seen to this debate is when the monitors get fed up enough to ban the topic. Some people love El; some people loathe him. Usually for the same reasons. :-)

If you think Elminster doesn't need powers approximating most demigods, tone him down or don't use him at all. If you think your party will need to be humbled from time to time, keep him around. It's a matter of personal choice.

Ed Greenwood writes:

     Many on the list habitually comment that Elminster or other Chosen are "munchkins" or overpowered...but this often arises from ignoring the fact that they are divinely-powered servants of a goddess, and viewing them as "lucky former player characters who were given a superpower by Mystra...why can't my PCs have it, too?" is the wrong approach for good game refereeing. Those who find their powers undesirable can simply leave them 'offstage' in their campaigns. I've lost track of the number of times when guesting players believed their character, by virtue of being a PC, could march into a royal court, hurl insults and swordcuts in all directions, pillage, burn, and butcher a ruler on his or her own throne, and then say, "Ah, but it's okay by my alignment and nothing can stop me, hey? I'm a Player Character!" Teaching the lesson that leads to better roleplaying (and thus, continuing challenge and interest in the game, for that player) is best done within the game...such as by having the butchered king get up, blood and wounds vanishing in an instant, yawn, and say in the tones of Elminster, "Well, now that ye've gotten THAT out of thy guts, can we be introduced, perhaps? I've met thy SWORD already..." Heavy-handed, to be sure...but that's one way of using the overly powerful, and why they're there.

If one views the Chosen as "Ed's favorite super-powered characters," well of course they're overpowered anomalies best dropped from the setting. Yet I find on the list a paucity of posters who look around at the world they live in and say there should be no presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, or governing councils purely because "they're too powerful to be realistic"...they're part of the setting one finds oneself in. Now, if a player character thinks one or more should be removed or replaced by his or her actions, that's another matter...(driving force for a campaign, anyone?). We do all this to increase and enrich potential roleplaying possibilities, folks. The thousands of fans who love the Realms prove this must be the right approach, but we screw up o