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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
 Posted - 02 Apr 2008 : 15:42:03
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| I'd also like to hear Ed's answer to that. I ran Night Below some years ago, and it had the highest PC body count of any campaign of mine by a wide margin. Of course, I was using 2e psionics in all their glory... |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2008 : 19:52:08
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Hi again, all. tauster and Hoondatha, Ed and I discussed THE NIGHT BELOW extensively when it came out, as it happens (a friend of mine, whom Ed had never met, was trying to launch a game designing career and wanted to hear Ed's take on Carl Sargent's adventure), and at the time Ed said the aboleth would stay hidden from the PCs for as long as possible (as in: years, if they could swing it), and in the meantime goad and lure the PCs by means of unwitting intermediaries, arranged events, etc. to "aim" the PC party at all aboleth foes and other rulers/trading networks/power groups/etc. the aboleths wanted destroyed or weakened. In other words, treat the adventuring party as a tool, then dispose of them (by sending other adventuring parties or handy Underdark foes) when they became superfluous or too dangerous or had Learned Too Much. Aboleth really work best as long-term Prime Mover Villains, Ed and I agree . . .
love,
THO |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2008 : 21:58:53
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That sounds like a "believable" aboleth strategy. Or, in one word: Scary.  The only problem I see is that it will, after a while, frustrate the players (not only their characters!) to no end instead of having fun.
The difficult part (or one of the difficult parts...) of Night Below is what happens after the PC get through the city of the glass pool, most likely by dragging the Kuo Toa settlement into madness. Carl Sargent simply lets them stumble over the tunnel leading down into the lowerdark, ending on the shore of the sunless sea. There they find, after some exploring, the Aboleth city that rose from beneath the waves. They intrude (at that time they are around level 15, I guesstimate, so they have lots of magic at their hands...), explore the city, figure out what goes on and how to end the Aboleth's plot. But how in all hells do they achieve that against the Aboleth's opposition, or even under their radar???
Some difficult questions, there...I guess I should open a new Night Below thread, or better ressurect Hoondatha's old thread (http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4515), lest I clutter this scroll overly much! |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 00:30:14
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Hello All,
Ed, any lore on Soubar, anything of note within town or surrounding area? |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 01:50:33
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tauster, THE NIGHT BELOW is presenting a super-adventure, so X leads to Y in a way that it simply doesn't have to, when the adventure is inserted into your ongoing campaign. There's no need for the PCs to stumble on the aboleths at that point. Just go on with Underdark or even PCs-return-to-the-surface adventuring, secure in the knowledge that the aboleths have noticed the PCs and will begin to manipulate them from then on. It may be years of both campaign and real time before the PCs even realize there's a background villain group to get frustrated AT. :}
love,
THO |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 01:51:44
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Hello again, everyone. This time I bring Ed’s response to this sizzling query from Charles Phipps: “Who’s the most depraved and villainous noble family in Cormyr and/or Waterdeep? Who and how?”
Upon a query from me, Charles refined this to: “To narrow the group a bit; let's keep it to currently in existence, entitled, and still maintaining power families. Though I welcome any particular infamous or exiled extras that Ed wants to point in. If you can describe the nature of the crimes for the living empowered ones, it'd be a treat too.”
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin then quite rightly assumed this: “I'd assume there aren't many human families where every single member is evil.”
Ed agrees, and replies to Charles as follows:
To begin with, everyone’s campaign may vary from this, due to differing unfolding events, and let me place a further caveat: different moral codes judge “amount” or “degrees” of evil differently, so we can end up with: more numerous evil acts, more family members engaged in evildoing, “worse” evil versus milder evils, and reputation; as in, what the wider world knows of villainies, and therefore judges evildoing (the not-yet-caught seeming better or even good and innocent, as opposed to the widely-known-to-be-dastardly).
So this time I’m going to wear my omniscient Realms Creator hat, balance all of these value judgements and so on in my own way (for instance, I happen to think deliberately-begun open war is more villainous than treason with an intended coup, because more folk are likely to, or can be expected to, suffer), and tell you what I KNOW to be the truth (various folk in the Realms may not agree with what I say here because they know less than I do).
So with all of that said, here we go:
The most depraved and villainous still existing, still titled, and still in power noble family in Cormyr are the Illances.
Although a large number of Illances are fine, upstanding citizens guilty of no more than a certain sneering pride, a belief that most laws should apply rather lightly to them, and frequent drawling observances that the Obarskyrs are hopeless at ruling Cormyr and really should step aside, or at least rethink their crazed tax system and do away with the tiresome War Wizards (which, BTW, makes them no different than most of the long-established noble families), there are some REAL darkhearts in the Illance family, who have managed to keep most of their villainies secret even from their own kin.
Foremost among these is Faerndol, an aging, grossly fat uncle of the clan who delights in the rape and torture of young boys and girls, but is careful to undertake his elaborate journeys of kidnappings and “pleasures” in Sembia, Turmish, and Chessenta rather than at home (he owns and rents numerous properties in all three lands, for these and other nefarious purposes). His particular delight, however, centers on kidnapping the newborn babes of other Cormyrean nobles (other kidnapped babies are substituted), so he can rear them in secret, in a trio of small backland keeps near Starmantle, for his eventual “enjoyment.”
Faerndol keeps his lusty side very secret, but involves some of his evil Illance kin in his other pursuits, which include land and city property procurements through usury and foreclosures, after arranging “accidents” to befall his debtors so they can’t pay him back in a timely manner (to hamper War Wizard scrutiny, he always works through layers of intermediaries, along with his kin Orthil, Klarndarl, and Maethmar). All of them regularly use poison, drugs, and disease-inducing potions purchased in the Old Empires as weapons in these latter pursuits - - and in “silencing” the various evil mages they secretly hire to work for them, for short periods (removing such persons before the War Wizards can track them down and learn too much from them, and before any of them can get ideas about manipulating or blackmailing any Illances).
So energetic are the villainies of these relatively few aging but still magically-made-handsome Illance males that they win their family the “most depraved and villainous.” Matters aren’t helped by the young Illance aunts Naobrae and Zarele indulging rich sadistic urges by founding a secret temple to Loviatar, and using acid, fingernail-splints, and whippings of salted bare flesh daily on “willing supplicants,” most of whom are unwilling, gagged and bound kidnapped Sembians. They hire Sembian “snatch gangs” to take street orphans, young errand lads, and other not-likely-to-be-missed younglings for these pursuits, but aren’t above kidnapping the entire female staff of a Selgauntan bakery after setting it afire, caring nothing for damage to the neighborhood but merely pleased that they can spirit away all of the bakers as “burned to nothing in the raging flames.” Naobrae and Zarele are beginning to investigate necromancy, using these secret slaves to experiment upon, and with an eye to eventually augmenting and renewing their own bodies.
Most Illances think Naobrae and Zarele are “weird” and that Uncle Faerndol is a hard man who can “fix” problems (or knows who to contact to take care of shady little problems), and have no idea just what is going on behind their backs. Before the events of ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER, Vangerdahast had an increasingly good idea of the true villainy of certain Illances, and was beginning to dare to occasionally have War Wizards “just blast things” by “accident” to see if he could provoke Faerndol into too open a response. Faerndol was too cunning for that, and Vangey warned Caladnei (and Azoun and Filfaeril) just what certain Illances were capable of, and warned them to back off and just watch the Illances “like hungry hawks.” Which is what they’re doing right now. (Cue sinister organ chords as this is handed over to DMs everywhere.)
The most depraved and villainous still existing, still titled, and still in power noble family in Waterdeep are the Sultlues.
Long ago (and, secretly, still!) among the largest Waterdhavian slavers, they regularly dabble in cannibalism (eating cooked slaves secretly prepared in various ways, and delighting in serving cuts of roast slave to unwitting dinner guests, such as other nobles and Lords of the city) and in magical transformations of slaves into all manner of beasts, including beasts of burden that they use or sell, food and breeding stock animals that they sell to others, “body doubles” of hated rivals or lusted-after persons that they torture or make love to, beings with exaggerated physical body parts that they use for sexual purposes or as objects of fun, for private feast-time “entertainment,” and as “spare parts” for their own aging or wounded bodies. They experiment with drugs, poisons, and scents on slaves so as to refine ever-stronger concoctions for sale up and down the Sword Coast, and (through intermediaries) sell “body double” slaves to others who want to frame particular persons for crimes, accomplish kidnappings without getting caught (by substituting the slave for the snatched person), and have recently dabbled in sending slaves to foes that they can cause to explode (and in the blast emit deadly bags of nails that have earlier been sewn into the slaves’ bodies, etc.).
In short, they are thoroughly depraved, consider themselves above all laws, and take great care to amass all manner of magic items, hired wizards, and caged monsters so that they can escape if the Lords’ justice ever “comes for them.”
The most energetic of these darkhearts are the elder Sultlue uncles Darrambur and Pelmaer, and their sister Jaszmaeril.
It should be noted that certain family members (including the patriarch Asbrior, his wife Pera, and their young daughter, Taszeana, plus two of their five sons) are largely ignorant of the activities of their kin. These “innocents” also consider themselves above all laws, but know they shouldn’t get caught, and are themselves guilty only of small cruelties and swindles (and the secret keeping of personal bed-pleasure slaves). They know that some of their kin are up to “wildnesses” and “shady little pursuits,” and take care never to find out much about such matters - - which suits the darkhearts just fine.
Of course, ultimately, the published “official” Realms may vary from this. (Obviously, the 4e Realms, with nearly a century elapsing from “now,” will have brought changes, too.) Yet as of right now, seeing things with the keen eye of the man behind the curtain, here are your two “winning” families. :}
So saith Ed. Who has met truly evil people a time or two, and knows whereof he speaks.
love to all,
THO
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 02:54:05
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quote:
Originally posted by createvmind
Hello All,
Ed, any lore on Soubar, anything of note within town or surrounding area?
Did you see the info in the Volo's Guide... uh to the Sword Coast I think it is. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
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chance87
Seeker
50 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 03:26:44
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| I've a query to toss on the pile: the recent questions about the pantheistic Realms practices got me to thinking. How slow are non-"in-the-know" folk of the Realms in accepting a new diety into the fold for veneration or propitiation? Over time, the various ethnic pantheons appear to have been folded into the Faerunian pantheon, and presumably, this still occurs to an extent in certain areas...the Shou expatriates in the East, as well as the Mulhorandi border with Faerun proper spring to mind. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 14:31:24
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Of course, ultimately, the published “official” Realms may vary from this. (Obviously, the 4e Realms, with nearly a century elapsing from “now,” will have brought changes, too.) Yet as of right now, seeing things with the keen eye of the man behind the curtain, here are your two “winning” families. :}
Wow.
And to think, certain people like to assert that the Realms are "too good" and there isn't enough evil in the setting... |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 16:15:26
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Wow, what juicy Realmslore!
Thank you VERY much to Ed and THO and Charles Phipps for asking this . . . my mind is full of campaign possibilities. I mean, full! Yesssssss (and so on  )
BB |
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe
Canada
161 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 23:00:27
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Interesting Realmslore!
So would the rumored noble sponsor of Kathgar, the legendary kidnapper of noble babes Ed talked about once at a GenCon seminar, be a Sultlue? Or is that whole legend a cover for them? Or unrelated?
Ed campaigns must be intrigues within intrigues piled atop intrigues, and dusted from time to time with gentle showers of . . . intrigues.  |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2008 : 23:03:41
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Baleful Avatar, I think I can safely answer your description of Ed campaigns with a decided: Yes.
love,
THO
P.S. As for your Kathgar's sponsor query, I've sent that one off to Ed for a definitive Realmslore answer. |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 03 Apr 2008 23:06:28 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 01:41:14
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Hi again, fellow scribes. This time I bring you the words of Ed in response to Kajehase’s late January (08) query: “In one of the "deity-books" (can't remember which one, but I think Faiths & Pantheons) it says that dancing is a common artform among the clergy of Sune. Would it, based on that statement, be wrong to assume that, in at least some of the Sunite congregations, dancing have become part of some or maybe even all religious ceremonies? (For anyone interested in what I'm getting at, the thing that got me thinking about this was a TV-program about Balinese temple-dancers.)”
Ed replies:
It would indeed.
Joyous, swift-beat dancing (done barefoot, in warm surroundings or around a fire or brazier and within a ring of fires or braziers) involving non-raucous music (often a hand-drum and a female singer keening a rather erotic wordless melody) and hip-on-hip body contact between passing dancers, is a feature of most formal rituals to Sune. It often culminates in a joined-hands line dance, where the line snakes out of the ring and circles the interior wall of the worship chamber, before everyone flings themselves down to lie on their backs and regain their breath, and priests begin a prayer-chant.
And, yes, most temples have dancers who are beautiful, graceful, and accomplished mimes, so as to wordlessly tell stories or take the parts of beasts and monsters, as priests narrate holy tales of Sune.
So saith Ed. Who is still (very slowly) adding more and more detail to the churches of the Realms.
love to all,
THO
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe
242 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 15:26:31
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Ed, I have heard a rumor (several times in the last few days) that you're hard at work on scripts for a Realms TV series. One of my sources said "like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - - the current one, not the crappy old one."
Care to comment? Able to comment?
My own suspicion, that I have voiced to said rumor-carriers, is that this is JUST a rumor, but I'd love to be proven wrong.
? |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 17:35:59
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| The original Battlestar Galactica was far from crappy, how old were you in 1978? |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 17:47:49
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I was six...and glued to the TV!
I would really enjoy a Realms TV show...I mean, Hercules did well with Keven Sorbo (sp?) |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 19:05:02
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Don't want to pull this thread off-course, especially since we're being treated to a plethora of wonderful new Realms lore the last few days.
However, it is very easy to look through your 'rose-colored' memories of something from the past, and think it was wonderful, even if it wasn't nearly as good as you think it was.
One of the reasons why I stopped watching ST:tOS re-runs - I'd rather remember it fondly. 
Back in the 70's, anything even closely resembling 'special effects' made us drool, so keep that in mind.
The original Battlestar Galactica reminds me of how I look at Spelljammer - all 'campy' and fun. The new one is dark and grimey, like 4e FR. I like them both, but for entirely different reasons (Battlestar, not 4e FR). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 05 Apr 2008 00:31:16 |
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe
242 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 19:21:49
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Hey, createvmind, I wasn't venturing ANY opinion on BATTLESTAR, either vintage.
I was quoting one of my sources verbatim. It's his opinion, relayed because he was making a clear distinction between the two series, that I wanted kept distinct when asking.
As for the original series, I found it campy but fun. Horrible lighting, low budget interiors, great music, stupid "cute dog" and too much "oooh, Starbuck!" contrast with "noble Adama," but I loved the overall plot and the acting (esp. Lorne Greene and John Colicos). The series started to wander (are we Star Trek? Are we Pearl Harbor in Space? What ARE we?) as it went on, but that's a minor cavil. The newer version has the benefit of looking at the old one and building on it.
Yet I don't want to drag this thread astray, either. Just see if I can winkle anything out of Ed. A definite "No" will of course kill this entirely, and at least have the benefit of laying some rumors to rest (because unlike with certain game company commentators down the years, I have a tendency to believe Ed when he says something). Though he does, just like THO, choose his words carefully.
My Realmslore query, this time: Ed and THO, which non-exiled nobles or noble family do citizens of Suzail, right now (pre-Spellplague), THINK is most dastardly? Or dangerous?
Thanks! |
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe
Canada
161 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 19:28:40
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Yeah, I like the new series but sorta miss those chrome-helmet Cylons with the red laser back-and-forth sweep. I used to think of Zhentarim guards at Zhentil Keep and the Citadel of the Raven looking like that.
I have another Realmslore question, too: if a noble daughter is "seeing" someone non-noble in Suzail (not meeting in secret but not deliberately ever showing up together at revels or court gatherings) does it quickly become common gossip across the city? Or only among catty nobles? Or do these sort of meetings go on all the time, involving young noblewomen, so it wouldn't necessarily be seen as romantic at all, but just part of her getting educated or representing the family in business dealings or trying out new hobbies (not using a euphemism here, I mean that the guy [or girl, for that matter] she's seeing is an avid falconer, or collector of gowns, or wine snob, or something)?
Thanks!
P.S. Yes, Markustay, this has always been THE place for me, anywhere on the Net, for new Realmslore. Ed's generous pen and candor here beat even the Wizards website (and even HIS offerings there) in frequency, amount, and utility (he answers this DM, at least, far more usefully when he doesn't have to be "for publication formal" all the time). I hold out the hope that if ever the Realms does fade in WotC's plans, this will be the place to come for Ed-lore, to keep going . . . |
Edited by - Baleful Avatar on 04 Apr 2008 19:31:10 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 22:12:23
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Wholehearted agreement, Baleful Avatar!
Now, another new question from me: Ed and THO, how "stinky" is the average Realms city (okay, Suzail if we have to pick one)? I don't mean how strong-smelling do its citizens think it is, because whatever it is, they'll be used to it, and I don't care how we real-world modern urban North Americans might judge it, I literally mean: are the smells strong enough that if I were a human longtime citizen walking down a street, I couldn't smell subtle perfume worn by someone a dozen strides ahead? How about reeking, heavily-applied perfume? A particular scented oil? The smell of blood?
Thanks.
P.S. I mean an "average" street, if there is such a thing, not right next to an open cesspool or just outside a working bakery, butcher's shop, opened door of a working smokehouse, street-booth roasting spit, or any local source of "really strong smell," okay? |
Edited by - Blueblade on 04 Apr 2008 22:15:45 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 00:24:51
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Hi again, scribes. This time I come bearing the words of Ed in answer to this interesting exchange:
Blueblade recently posted: “A fairly simple question from me this time, Ed and THO: if I get up high in Cormyr and look across the city, what are most of the "common buildings" that make up the city roofed with? The material, please, and configuration: steep pitched roofs? Lots of dormers? Lots of chimneys? Any spires and turrets on modest buildings? Downspouts? Thanks! BB”
Baleful Avatar then added: “Okay, I'd like to augment Blueblade's question!
Looking across "downtown" Suzail (I'm assuming Blueblade meant to say "Suzail" instead of Cormyr), at all of these roofs you're going to describe for him, my question is this: how easily can an agile, fit human, who's done this before but is in a bit of a hurry (*cough* perhaps being chased *cough*), travel from roof to roof? How easy is it to find and use long "chains" of roofs to cross large parts of the city? And when you run out of roof, how easy is it to climb down a typical building? Are there lots of wagons or stables one can leap partway down, onto? Thanks!”
Blueblade then responded: “Heh. Sorry. I did mean Suzail, yes.
An addendum? How well lit are the city roofs, at night? And how often are things hidden by shore fogs, rolling in from the harbor? Both from people staring up from below, and people running around on the rooftops?
Hmm. For that matter, how many people in Suzail use their rooftops for sleeping on really hot summer nights, roof gardens, laundry, etc.? Are there many level areas on roofs, even if small, for such purposes? Trapdoors? BB”
Whereupon yours truly (The Hooded One) posted: “Okay, MY turn, fellas. Off these all go to Ed. In the interim, here's what I recall from play in the "home" Realms campaign: fogs are surprisingly rare in Suzail; the breezes tend to blow from the shore out to sea, as far as I can best recall. I also remember lots of steeply-pitched roofs, and a lot of slate and tile roofs. Spires, not so much.
And I ALSO recall more than one rooftop chase, and a lot of falling off roofs. Damp, slippery roofs. One chase in a wild lightning storm, with blinding rain. I fell through a skylight and dropped in uninvited on a supper revel during that one (Ed does hilarious pratfall DMing VERY well ) love, THO”
Well, after all of this, Ed now replies:
THO’s recollections are indeed correct: fogs are rarer in Suzail than in many port cities, because of the prevailing breezes (strong winds are rare locally, except during out-and-out lashing storms), though they DO occur - - particularly if DMs see a plot need for them. ;}
Most of the buildings in the central city of Suzail (so I’m excluding the docks with their warehouses, the military bases, the closet-to-slum-like westernmost buildings, and everything north of the Promenade) now rise three to four floors above the street, are of stone or brick (or older stone patched and expanded with newer brick), and have steeply pitched roofs to shed snow and rain. (Rain IS frequent in Suzail, though local weather tends to brief, vigorous downpours followed by clearing, not “gray day after gray day” weather. In winter, wet snowfalls are frequent.) Balconies are found on upper floors, not within easy reach of thieves’ ladders from the street, spires are relatively rare, and there’s a new fashion for installing glass skylights (of three-overlapping-pane thickness, for strength). Most buildings have tile or slate roofs (wooden shingles are still found, but rot swiftly and tend to leak and offer rooftop clamberers very “spongy” footing), an along-the-roofpeak decoration (repeating ironwork pattern) of stout iron that can be used to anchor safety ropes while doing roof repairs, and corner downspouts. Climbers should NOT depend on the latter to support much weight as climbing ladders, nor swing from them (unless they want to come crashing down with the spout tearing away and coming down with them). In a storm, beware this, too: lightning rods are increasingly popular, and are found at both ends of a peaked roof - - connected directly to the downspouts!
Dormers are increasingly common, and rooftop window-box gardens for herbs and “pipeleaf” with them. Dormers with the windows open are used for hot-weather sleeping, not “lying out on the open roof” (just because level areas on roofs are too rare and too small for this practice to be safe or popular). Trapdoors are found on almost all roofs, but these are sealed from below with gums or pitch to prevent leaking, and securedly barred shut; rooftop clamberers should not expect to easily (and NEVER stealthily) force entrance into the building below by means of them. Laundry does often get strung from balconies or high-windowsill spars to adjacent balconies or high-windowsill spars, but is rarely “above” roofs (except in the aforementioned westernmost hovels), and very few roofs are well lit at night, or overlooked by higher lights that provide any rooftop illumination.
And finally: yes, a daring and agile being can use long sequences of rooftops as a “highway” of sorts; as the Suzail map shows, the distances between buildings allows for such travel in many routes across the city.
Climbing down buildings when you “run out of roof” can be deadly difficult in wet weather; in hot weather, open window-shutters and the like often aid in breaking a fall or jump into stages, or slowing it down by “snatch-grabs” (snatch on way past, then let go before dislocating arm, but the grab still slows the fall somewhat). Leaping down into wagontops is all too popular a practice, but usually ends in severe injury for the jumper (and, of course, damages the wagon and/or its contents, too). Handy stable roofs are not common in Suzail, but many buildings that back onto alleys have sloping roofs on their additions or to cover exterior doorways from the rain, that can (again, suffering damage in the process) lessen a fall or leap from above by providing a “partway down” surface to slam into, and bounce off of.
The “classical” descent method used by thieves in Suzail was to carry coils of oiled cord; one end went around a chimney (yes, chimneys ARE abundant) or the roofpeak decoration, the thief used a “body belay” (around their own body) to unwind the coil as slowly as possible to break the rate of fall, and then the cord either broke under the thief’s weight so as to result in a fall from far less a height than just leaping off the top of the building, or the thief touched down, cut the cord, and vanished into the night with the remainder of the cord (so it could be used in the NEXT descent).
BTW: don’t try any of this stuff in real life (and I’ll not be responsible for the broken necks or pelvises of those who do). There’s a reason we call the Realms “fantasy,” folks.
So saith Ed. Builder of Suzail. And its weather, too.
(By the way, when he warns all scribes not to try any of this: HE did, when much younger and slimmer. In his cave-exploring phase, he also did a lot of roof climbing on the mansions of Don Mills. He used to retreat from the noise of his sisters (when they were very young things) by quietly going up onto the roof, with a good book.
love to all,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 00:56:10
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That doesn't sound like a good market for our favorite dealer of turret-tops!  |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 03:10:10
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Heh-heh. True enough, Wooly dearest.
However, Rhauligan made most of his sales north of the Promenade, where rich nobles live, and particularly northwest of it, where it hooks northwards, and the rich but non-noble "wannabe nobles" dwell. To quote Ed's notes:
There he has been kept quite busy, over the years, festooning already ostentatious mansions with new turrets, new tops for existing turrets, and soaring little outlying towers linked to the original fabric by flying buttresses galore.
So saith Ed. Architect of the Realms, creator of Suzail and Rhauligan and the Promenade, and, in the "real" world, the owner of the most magnificent beard in his village.
love to all,
THO |
Edited by - The Hooded One on 05 Apr 2008 19:16:56 |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 19:22:21
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Hello again, Lovely Lady THO and Esteemed Ed.
Last year, or maybe even earlier, you were asked here at the Keep what you were reading that week, and told us all. I heard about some very good books in your reply, and I'd love it if you could give us an update.
So, what books have you been reading THIS week?
Ed?
THO? (I'd love to hear about yours, too.)
Also, Ed, I know that everything you read, see, and hear is grist for the creative mill, but when writing straight fiction (as opposed to game stuff), do you ever do "research" by reading someone else's novel about, say, a siege or abduction or battle (when you're going to do a siege, abduction, or battle), just to see how they handled it?
Thanks! |
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sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 21:39:50
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I have a question.
Does Mr. Greenwood have plans to free Elminster's mind from whatever in 4E?? |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 23:59:18
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quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
I have a question.
Does Mr. Greenwood have plans to free Elminster's mind from whatever in 4E??
You know that Ed won't be able to answer this except with a large NDA! |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2008 : 01:26:22
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Hi again, everybody! This time I set before you the wisdom of Ed on a query posed by A Gavel back in February of this year: “In Cormyr, to what extent do the War Wizards (or Highknights, or for that matter local Watch officers) actively keep a watch on known or suspected criminals?
Or to put it more clearly, is someone who was charged with a crime but not convicted ("suspected") or convicted, served sentence, and then was released ("known") subsequently spied upon by "the authorities"? I'm not speaking of traitors to the Crown (nobles plotting coups) here, but petty criminals (thieves, swindlers who replace goods with inferior copies or "doctor" wine or other valuables to increase volume and therefore sales, and fraudsters). Thank you for any answer you may furnish.”
Ed replies:
You’re very welcome. The answer is: local Watch officers and individual War Wizards keep as much of a watch as they can on known criminals, but their scrutiny is rarely heavy or frequent. These “authorities” are just too busy, and they have too many “waries” (the current Cormyrean civil authority term for ‘suspicious characters’) to watch. Just as in real life, the system is overloaded - - so unless Vangerdahast/Caladnei, Laspeera, or another senior War Wizard takes a notion to watch Character X like the proverbial hungry hawk, Character X is probably NOT going to get watched unless personally recognized by a Watch officer, courtier, or War Wizard at the scene of a crime or doing something suspicious (like openly exchanging a weapon or vial of something in return for coin, in a dark corner of a tavern, in a secretive manner). Of course, for campaign purposes, YMMV.
So saith Ed. Whose smile REALLY makes Vangerdahast tremble.
(And Filfaeril purr, but that’s a matter for another day. )
love to all,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2008 : 01:39:26
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Hello again, all. Soon after posting Ed’s most recent Realmslore reply, I received ANOTHER reply from him, this one less “lore” and more “real world Realms news.” Specifically, he’s addressing this very recent query from Malcolm: “Ed, I have heard a rumor (several times in the last few days) that you're hard at work on scripts for a Realms TV series. One of my sources said "like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - - the current one, not the crappy old one."
Care to comment? Able to comment? My own suspicion, that I have voiced to said rumor-carriers, is that this is JUST a rumor, but I'd love to be proven wrong. ?”
and this one, even more recent, from sfdragon: “Does Mr. Greenwood have plans to free Elminster's mind from whatever in 4E??” (About which Kuje quite rightly commented: “You know that Ed won't be able to answer this except with a large NDA!” and The Sage added, also correctly: “And there's also the possibility that it may not even be up to Ed to decide whether Elminster's current state in 4e FR, will be resolved.”)
Ed replies:
Malcolm, your question is easy: No. I am not hard at work on scripts for a Realms TV series, one shot, or film. Nor, so far as I know, is anyone else. This is, as far as I know, JUST a rumour.
sfdragon, I have all sorts of plans for Elminster’s future, including both his mind and his body, but they are just that: plans. Kuje is right to say 4e matters like this are covered by NDAs, and The Sage is right to say that Elminster’s fate may well not be up to me. What I can tell everyone, honestly, is this: as of right now, with me busy with taxes, a non-Wizards project, and three non-Elminster-related Wizards projects that should really all be completed before I can ethically turn to any discussion of Elminster, NOTHING has been decided. There have been lots of suggestions, notions, ideas, and even plans advanced, tossed back and forth, mulled over, chuckled at, and so forth . . . but nothing has been formally agreed-upon. Nada. Zip. And if I know Elminster, HE’LL have something to say about things before anything GETS decided.
So saith Ed. Who is, one must remember, the Realms - - not Elminster.
love to all,
THO
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2008)
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