| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Naeryndam |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 03:30:01
So I just finished 'The Sundering' about 10 minutes ago and I'm still trying to process everything. I am very happy about some things and a little sad about others.
My main reason for starting this thread though, is that elves have always been my favorite characters for the most part, so I'm left wondering... what now? Myth Drannor is buried and really can't be resurrected... again  . Evereska STILL has never recovered, Evermeet is gone, and that rumored northern elf haven was destroyed by a dragon or something I think? Not that it really matters, since it's unlikely we'll hear from Lamruil or Araevin anytime soon. So that leaves... what? The forest of Tethyr? The High Forest? Aglarond? Semberholme? The Moonshaes?
My point is that none of these are particularly strong or have any great cities or fortresses (I suppose you could argue the Moonshaes and maybe Sildeyuir if you really want to go that route). Let's also not forget that presumably many elves and in particular their best mages and warriors were slaughtered in Myth Drannor, so founding a new realm of any strength seems unlikely. So what (if anything) is next for the elves? Is it possible we'll finally see Evermeet's return or rather are the elves now finally too few and scattered to be of any consequence in Faerun anymore?
I'd love to hear your thoughts fellow scribes! This was just my own 2-cents. |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Irennan |
Posted - 30 Aug 2014 : 16:45:59
It doesn't really matter to me. As archfey they can be closer to their people and even fight alongside them, which would fit their goal better IMO. Also, even if they had restored the two siblings as archfey, then the Sundering could have elevated them to deities anyway.
I have a feel that the discarded lore was the last chance we had to see something concrete and specific about them, the brown elves and Rymanthiin (rather than a trivial ''they may be there in your campaing, your choice!11!1!''), and it was wasted. |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 30 Aug 2014 : 16:33:04
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
quote:
Originally posted by Thauranil
Oh yeah. Whatever happened to that?
I mean weren't they supposed to hold the line for good and provide sanctuary or something but we basically never heard about them ever again.
4e Menzoberranzan sourcebook was supposed to have lore about dark (brown) elves and Rymanthiin, along with E&V as archfey. Alas they decided to discard that material...
Personally, I am glad they scratched them as archfey. I want E and V back too, but I want them back as deities. |
| Irennan |
Posted - 30 Aug 2014 : 14:18:42
quote:
Originally posted by Thauranil
Oh yeah. Whatever happened to that?
I mean weren't they supposed to hold the line for good and provide sanctuary or something but we basically never heard about them ever again.
4e Menzoberranzan sourcebook was supposed to have lore about dark (brown) elves and Rymanthiin, along with E&V as archfey. Alas they decided to discard that material... |
| Thauranil |
Posted - 30 Aug 2014 : 14:05:53
Oh yeah. Whatever happened to that?
I mean weren't they supposed to hold the line for good and provide sanctuary or something but we basically never heard about them ever again. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Aug 2014 : 02:46:39
There's also the hidden realm that Khelben helped restore |
| Barastir |
Posted - 28 Aug 2014 : 21:50:11
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Renin
All I know, is that I would love to see another Elf-centric lorebook/boxset (yeah, right), on the current day Elves, population centers, cities, movements, etc.
Better yet, get Elaine Cunningham to write me a trilogy on the new life that the Tel'Quessir live in 5th Ed Forgotten Realms.
That sounds like fun. 
Where's the "like" button when I need it?  |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 27 Aug 2014 : 02:15:55
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Renin
All I know, is that I would love to see another Elf-centric lorebook/boxset (yeah, right), on the current day Elves, population centers, cities, movements, etc.
Better yet, get Elaine Cunningham to write me a trilogy on the new life that the Tel'Quessir live in 5th Ed Forgotten Realms.
That sounds like fun.
Do it!
I too was upset when Myth Drannor was crushed again, but was comforted by Ed's words. I would like to see more 5e novels focusing on the elves. I love the elves, always have. |
| Naeryndam |
Posted - 26 Aug 2014 : 23:02:29
In all seriousness, I very much wish they would bring back Evermeet. I thought for sure that it was going to happen in 'The Herald', but it never did. Ah well, we'll see. |
| BenN |
Posted - 26 Aug 2014 : 15:51:04
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Renin
All I know, is that I would love to see another Elf-centric lorebook/boxset (yeah, right), on the current day Elves, population centers, cities, movements, etc.
Better yet, get Elaine Cunningham to write me a trilogy on the new life that the Tel'Quessir live in 5th Ed Forgotten Realms.
That sounds like fun.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0dyhaGQV41r9x0sdo1_500.gif
|
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 26 Aug 2014 : 14:09:35
quote:
Originally posted by Renin
All I know, is that I would love to see another Elf-centric lorebook/boxset (yeah, right), on the current day Elves, population centers, cities, movements, etc.
Better yet, get Elaine Cunningham to write me a trilogy on the new life that the Tel'Quessir live in 5th Ed Forgotten Realms.
That sounds like fun. |
| Renin |
Posted - 26 Aug 2014 : 04:38:10
All I know, is that I would love to see another Elf-centric lorebook/boxset (yeah, right), on the current day Elves, population centers, cities, movements, etc.
Better yet, get Elaine Cunningham to write me a trilogy on the new life that the Tel'Quessir live in 5th Ed Forgotten Realms.
I believe that Myth Drannor will be resurrected...but it won't be the huge, magical city it once was. That magic (and mythal) are gone...but that's not to say it won't be a center for the People. It was once 'fallen,' but it too was reclaimed from that. I say, once again! |
| Naeryndam |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 18:32:29
Reform Aryvandaar in the High Forest!
Just kidding... |
| BenN |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 13:32:39
Ed's words via THO were in response to a couple of my questions; I'm glad that Ed took the time to reply to them as comprehensively as he did.
Who knows what 5e holds for the elves of Faerun, but my own personal feeling is as follows:
First of all, if you look at the population stats for the various human-dominated cities & kingdoms, there seem to be a lot of elves living there. So the only questions are, in the new era, are the elves strong enough to continue with their own independent, isolationist realms, and perhaps more importantly, should they do so anyway? Will the elven character change after all the various disasters?
About the elven realms:
1) Myth Drannor
The Srinshee said in The Herald:
quote:
Buildings are just that - buildings. The community has already been lost turned from lives unfolding freely into waging constant war...but the people can be saved, some of them, to return and refound and rebuild once this threat is past.
So while Myth Drannor has been shattered, and many of its people killed (including its most able defenders), I think we can see Myth Drannor continue as an elven realm in 5e. Maybe the key difference vs. before will be that the elves will realize that they are too weak to defend their realm by themselves - i.e. they need to strengthen their bonds with nearby human neighbours - Cormyr, the Dales etc. Who knows, maybe the perennial elven flaw of over-weaning pride will decline? With leaders like Ilsevele and Fflar, one would think so.
2) Evereska
I get the impression that it was well on the way to recovery from the phaerimm assault of a hundred years before. The 4e FRCG says:
quote:
A century of relative peace has seen Evereska rebuilt
and according to 4e, the population is 22K.
3) Evermeet
Who knows? I hope it makes a comeback in 5e.
4) Synnoria in the Moonshaes.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Sarifal turns out in 5e. When/if Lady Ordalf dies in the mortal realm, will the fey realm retreat back to the Feywild? If so, what happens to the Llewyrr?
Edited for speeling |
| Thauranil |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 12:10:55
This is great news, I always a big fan of the elves and rejoiced when Myth Drannor was retaken and was quite bummed about its seeming destruction. Some of my friends took it even worse, with my brother boycotting 5e in its entirety so this should cheer them up as well. |
| Naeryndam |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 04:49:14
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
There's been a lot of discussion on this at the Keep. Myth Drannor isn't as destroyed as you may think, per Ed himself. Look around with search on this and you'll be happier :)
Ah thank you sir!
For those that are interested, I have copied Ed's words via THO below.
"1) Now that Shade has landed on top of Myth Drannor & destroyed it, what has become of the Tree of Souls?
Ed: Ah, yes. Over the years, I have been slowly trained to resist including every last game-relevant lore detail in my novels, in the interests of shaping a better narrative storyline. Guess I erred too far in pruning, this time around. Sorry; this should have made it into my final draft, but didn’t (in the interests of keeping the pacing and the “fog of war” feel up). My bad.
When the POSSIBLE danger of Thultanthar crashing became apparent (i.e. when the city started flying towards Myth Drannor, not when what El did became obvious) the Srinshee contacted all the Myth Drannan baelnorn she could and commanded them to get to the Tree of Souls and magically shield and defend it, warping the Weave to form a protective barrier around it (so when Thultanthar came crashing down, it would punch through the city like a spike, and protect the Tree). This was done, and the Tree has survived. There has been some consternation among certain readers about Myth Drannor being entirely in ruins, but not so. Like any city that’s been fought through, a big cleanup is in order, but Thultanthar is a pretty small city, and Myth Drannor, being “at one with the forest” [growing trees as dwellings, trees and moss and open forest terrain everywhere, not human-habit “pave over everything” architecture, is a very large (in footprint) city. So a relatively small area of Myth Drannor was pancaked under the shattered remnants of Shade.
2) Assuming that the 4e Campaign Guide info about Myth Drannor's population (10K) is correct, how many survived along with Ilsevele and Fflar?
Ed: The 4e population figures are ROUGHLY correct, but the siege took some time to develop (mercenary armies being mustered in Sembia and then marched north), so the elves had warning, so many of their skilled artisans, pregnant shes, young children and families with young children, ailing elderly, wounded, and so on, GOT OUT (to Semberholme first and foremost, and to Evereska and elsewhere, too). Anyone who wanted to relocate rather than fight was given that option, without shame or recrimination.
In other words, the city was down to 6,400 or so “determined and able defenders” before the siege started, and they took heavy losses in the fighting by being worn down under the weight of sheer numbers; although they were inflicting very heavy losses on the attacking mercenaries, they were slowly beaten back - - and the very “open” nature of the city made it very hard to defend. The Coronal sent some vital individuals out of the fighting by making them envoys that she sent to elven communities all over the Realms to try to get volunteer reinforcements (few of which arrived on time). So in that way she saved another hundred or so.
However, the defenders died rather than surrender or flee, so the elves still in the city were reduced to around 1000 when it became apparent that the city couldn’t be held, and the children, wounded, and elders still in the city were rushed out through the gates (as seen near the end of THE HERALD). The Coronal and Fflar were literally fighting back to back at the end, with a handful of defenders still standing, when Thultanthar came down - - and almost all of that last handful made it out to Semberholme.
So at the end of THE HERALD, a few blocks of central Myth Drannor are rubble, under the shattered remnants of Thultanthar. Scavengers (monsters) are roaming the corpse-littered vicinity, and there’s minor damage to the outlying city, which is abandoned - - probably not for long. The surviving mercenaries are foraging/pillaging/behaving like brigands, and Sembia is in such disarray that there’s no chance of Sembia (or for that matter, any other realm) “reaching in” to annex or occupy the ruins. Perhaps 5,000 elves perished defending Myth Drannor - - and yes, the Tree of Souls survives. All indications are that the Srinshee did not; she sacrificed herself to save her people and smash Larloch (did HE survive? Unknown, but my bet would be that he did). Did Dove? Doubtful; she was “out of” silver fire, and wanted to die (to be with her beloved Florin), but may end up surviving as “a voice in the Weave” (the same fate as some of the Tanthul princes, and possibly The Simbul).
Many things were left “up in the air” for later stories, or for DMs to decide for themselves, for their campaign. Certain matters will be revealed in my NEXT Realms novel.
Hope this helps. Sorry for causing upset to some Realms readers!
Ed
So saith Ed. And there you have it. Please convey this to Aldrick.
love,
THO" |
| Seravin |
Posted - 25 Aug 2014 : 04:04:46
There's been a lot of discussion on this at the Keep. Myth Drannor isn't as destroyed as you may think, per Ed himself. Look around with search on this and you'll be happier :) |
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