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Originally posted by GoCeraf

I think there might be temple-like structures used by the Yuan-Ti in Chult that could qualify as ziggurats.

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Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani

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Originally posted by GoCeraf

I think there might be temple-like structures used by the Yuan-Ti in Chult that could qualify as ziggurats.

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Do you know where I might look to find reference to this?

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Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani

Hello, all

I was wondering if there are any ziggurats or pyramid type structures in Faerun? They exist in Maztica, of course, but are they part of the architectural heritage of any of Faerun´s cultures?

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Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani

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Originally posted by GoCeraf

I think there might be temple-like structures used by the Yuan-Ti in Chult that could qualify as ziggurats.

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Do you know where I might look to find reference to this?

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Originally posted by Ifthir

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Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani

Hello, all

I was wondering if there are any ziggurats or pyramid type structures in Faerun? They exist in Maztica, of course, but are they part of the architectural heritage of any of Faerun´s cultures?

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The pyramids of Ascore.

Some lore:

[Ascore]
Once a thriving port on the Narrow sea, Ascore served as the gateway to the dwarven nation of Delzoun. Here, humans, dwarves and elves conducted trade with nations like Eaerlann,Netheril, Nimbral and Myth Drannor. Now it is sand-swept ruins with mighty stone docks thrust proudly into the advancing desert. The empty hulks of colossal stone ships lie half-covered in the desert beyond, the remnants of lost Delzoun's dwarven navy. From the west, an ancient road leads to the cliffs above Ascore. Here, a pair of gigantic stone griffon statues crouches, grimly guarding the dark, yawning entrance to Ascore'a door in a hill that leads down into the rock before exiting into the ruins at the base of the cliff.

GAME INFORMATION: The ruins of Ascore are said to contain great treasure. Yet even the orcs avoid the city. It may have something to do with the circle of 13 tall, five-sided red pyramids in the heart of the ruins. Whatever, something evil lurks in Ascore, something that has been here for 2,000 years... waiting. Desert creatures like dunestalkers and pernicon are found here, as well as many kinds of undead.

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Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani


Ifthir, can you tell me where you found this info? Thanks.

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Originally posted by Thauramarth
Then, of course, there is also the pyramid tomb of Amun-Re featured in I3: Pharaoh, which was included in the Realms when it was bundled in the I 3-5 Desert of Desolation series.

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I´m not familiar with the I 3-5 Desert of Desolation series. Could you elaborate a bit on this source?

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Originally posted by Thauramarth

Then, of course, there is also the pyramid tomb of Amun-Re featured in I3: Pharaoh, which was included in the Realms when it was bundled in the I 3-5 Desert of Desolation series.

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Originally posted by ErskineF

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Originally posted by Thauramarth

Then, of course, there is also the pyramid tomb of Amun-Re featured in I3: Pharaoh, which was included in the Realms when it was bundled in the I 3-5 Desert of Desolation series.

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As I recall that was set in the Raurin Desert, correct? Was it fully integrated into Realms history? If so, where is that info?

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This time I bring unto your waiting eyes Ed’s response to scribe Thauramarth, specifically to this question: “Dear Ed, In (url="http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9569"]another thread[/url]) Markustay brought up the question as to which degree the I3-5 Desert of Desolation series was canon. I know that the module was basically a compilation module of modules which had been written before the Forgotten Realms became a TSR-published setting. Some additional material was written to fit the original modules into the Forgotten Realms (reference to Elminster, Durpar, etc.). Although I would never say that it seems a bit like a square peg and a round hole (I'd say the hole was hexagonal), it seemed a bit odd that the first module to be marketed as "Forgotten Realms" would be set in a very peripheral region, which since has not received all that much attention. Were you involved in the creation of the additional material, and if so, can you shed some light on how this interesting decision was reached?”

Ed replies:

No, unlike the “Realmsification” of Doug Niles’s Celtic setting into the Realms (swapping his prepared continent for my Moonshae Isles) I wasn’t involved at all in “fitting” those particular modules into the Realms.
I know that TSR was concerned that a swift and steady flow of material for the Realms should and indeed must appear to make sure the Realms “caught on.” The company had the existing example of Gary Gygax as a “creator bottleneck” (he was too busy running the company to write Greyhawk material as fast as it was needed to feed public demand, or as fast as he wanted to; longtime D&D gamers will remember how long we all waited for the promised Castle Greyhawk). They certainly didn’t want me to become another creator bottleneck, and were largely unaware of how much lore I had built up and how quickly I could work.
Starting in 1986, I hurled tons of material at TSR, and (largely through the hard work of Jeff Grubb) it became the original boxed set and FR1 in short order; Steve Perrin was handed my magic items and spells package (it became FR4), and Paul Jaquays was given the “North” stuff pruned out of FR1 (which became FR5).
My campaign had vast, sprawling old-style dungeons (e.g. Undermountain) and “mini-dungeons” (a tomb or cellars of a ruin consisting of a few rooms, that could be explored in one or two four-hour play sessions). I did not have a lot of written-up adventures to hand TSR, because my “home” players were used to a far different style of play (heavy roleplaying, many subplots, a huge cast of supporting characters, lots of “loose ends” that led to future adventures, the PCs choosing where to go and what to do, NPCs reacting to PC activities, and politics, trade, and “day jobs” playing a far larger role than dungeon-delving).
That “32-page dungeon crawl” lack was a hole TSR wanted swiftly plugged. As the sales of the Realms “took off,” that hole was filled by grabbing anything and everything (later example: The Great Khan Game), slapping the FR logo on it, and getting it out there.
I have never been a staff member of either TSR or WotC, though in some years of my freelancing I wrote as many SKUs as a staff designer, and I have been a behind-the-scenes consultant (paid and unpaid, at various times) from 1986 on. I have never had any direct say in what Realms products were published (when, how, format, who wrote) except to make copious suggestions, provide truckloads of lore beforehand so it can be “turned into” products, or creating or handing over lore when asked to by a designer or fiction writer who’s been handed a project and wants to know if I have anything already written that can be of use . . . and so on.
I happen to like those modules, as adventures (with some design reservations). I don’t like overtly real-world historical ties and “style” in the Realms, for reasons I’ve stated many times down the years, and “my” Realms would never have had pyramids, obvious Egyptian or Arabian references, and so on.
However, TSR bought the Realms as a “home” setting for the 2nd Edition of the game, with the deliberate intent that it accomodate all styles of play (pirate sea adventures, “Lost World” explore jungle ruins adventures, Arabian Nights adventures, cloud castles (and battling skyships) in the air adventures, knights battling the knights in the castle next door adventures, adventures in large cities with sewers and thieves’ guilds and haughty nobles - - and so on and on. Wherefore it’s not surprising that some real-world stuff appeared in the Realms. As some of the popularity of the Realms can be attributed to “hosting” these styles of play, I can’t complain.
After all, here we all are 20 years after TSR start publishing the Realms as a product line, and 40 years after I started creating it. Pull up a tankard, put your feet up, and watch the still-unfolding fun . . .

So saith Ed. Who now, with beard gone gray, finally LOOKS as old as Elminster.

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