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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1073 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  01:27:47  Show Profile  Visit crazedventurers's Homepage Send crazedventurers a Private Message
Well Again Ed (and the lovely THO)

In the first of the avatar modules FRE1 Shadowdale, you introduced a lovely young lass called Beluane 'Brighteyes' Alkath to us, a 1st level wizard out looking for adventure. She was being watched by Azuth as a potential future Magister. Do Azuth and Mystra keep track of many novice spellcasters hoping to find a special one or two that might just be able to attain a greater understanding of the Art than others? and at what point would they (The Gods) stop taking interest in someone? What would you need to do to be 'picked' or 'unpicked' by them?.

As an aside, how well might Brighteyes have done in the following 15-20 years? Would she have become a sorceress* of good serving Mystra and Azuth, or would she 'fall' to personal ambition and aggrandizment instead?

Her tutor was Anthagar 'the Blind' from Hillsfar, do I take it that he wasn't completely blind as he could still tutor young magic-users by (presumably) reading and casting spells, or was he actually blind and had another way of reading spells and casting instead? Is sight required to be able to cast magic or does Read Magic let you 'see' the words you need to form to cast spells?

Thanks Ed

Damian
* to clear up any potential misunderstanding, I use the term sorceress as a title not the 3.xE character class (I am old and lady wizards were always called sorceresses 'back in the day' )

So saith Ed. I've never said he was sane, have I?
Gods, all this writing and he's running a constant fantasy version of Coronation Street in his head, too. .
shudder,
love to all,
THO
Candlekeep Forum 7 May 2005
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore

USA
1537 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  01:42:05  Show Profile  Visit Jamallo Kreen's Homepage Send Jamallo Kreen a Private Message
Unfortunately, George Krashos has the right of it vis-a-vis time conduit. Ed has answered a few questions of mine about time travel; searching for his answers to those will clarify much.

Fortunately, my campaign's year is the Tankard (DR 1360), so the Arcane Age supplements work just fine!





I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.


Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.

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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  01:47:46  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message
Spells stilled, George:

Ed has also stated that there are other sytems of magic on Faerun that are separate
from the Weave. I was assuming that whatever new system of magic in 1475 DR would
have to be "allowed" in 1375 DR, by default magics without the Weave should be
able to function beside the Weave (I would be the DM and would allow it, I'm just trying to get my head around all this metagaming, my players might someday, well no, maybe not.)
I was not aware of the Mystra declaration of time travel was no longer
available. I do know that WOTC put in Teleport Through Time in the Forgotten Realms archives. I have never seen this post where time travel was killed, and I have printed off a large percentage of Ed's words.
(Anybody know which month and year this was posted?)
Finally, regarding Ao, it seems to me that he is in no way interested in the dealing with
mortals, being the Overgod of the Faerun's Pantheons. All I have seen with him and mortals was with Elminster in the Shadow series Ed wrote, and unless he "WANTED" all this chaos to happen it makes absolutely no sense that he allows this. Isn't it stated in some of our discussion that he is no longer around after 1375DR.
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore

USA
1537 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  01:50:27  Show Profile  Visit Jamallo Kreen's Homepage Send Jamallo Kreen a Private Message
Here's one which you, Lady Herald, may be able to answer.

I happened to notice that Alaundo's post at the beginning of this scroll used the phrase "well met" with a period at the end; I always write it with an exclamation mark. Are there any salutations or stock phrase in Common or any of the languages of Faerun which require that they be spoken in a certain tone of voice (excluding profanities and curses)? For instance, is a phrase like "well met" even comprehensible to a listener if it is spoken somberly or angrily?





I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.


Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.

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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  02:17:05  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all! Yes, Jamallo, I can answer this one, because there have been many, many instances in our Realmsplay (with Ed as DM) where various NPCs played by him have uttered "Well met" sarcastically, or as a soft, menacing "You're in my hands now, and you're going to die!" greeting.
As the Common Tongue is just that: a commonly-used trading tongue employed by various races and therefore spoken with a wide variety of "accents," cadences, and habitual vocabularies, it can't make use of tonal inflection to alter meaning (only to reveal the speaker's intent, state of mind, or whether or not his/her words are to be taken literally or if he/she intends to signal exaggeration, untruth, sarcasm, etc.) [I have in the past discussed this specifically with Ed.] So it follows that NO salutations or stock phrases in Common require a specific tone of delivery. This may not hold for other languages of Faerun; I believe Ed postulated that the treant, thri-kreen, and pixie tongues ARE tonal.
love to all,
THO
P.S. Ed will send me more Realmslore as soon as he can. He's snowed-under-busy right noe, but I'm ferrying all lore posts to him pronto to fill up his platter.
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createvmind
Senior Scribe

490 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  02:22:39  Show Profile  Visit createvmind's Homepage Send createvmind a Private Message
Hey Althen:

Ao took interest in a certain Orog who desired to be a paladin of Torm, Ao answered the orcs prayers and granted him a powerful spell as well.

War in Tethyr if you're interested.
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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  03:38:39  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message
Spells stilled, createvmind:

Thank you for the info, and not
getting me wet.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  03:48:20  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
There is a way around Mystra's ban on time travel: don't do it in Realmspace. There's an astronomical feature in Greyspace that can (not necessarily will) hurl a ship to a random point in time. That could be used as a way to go back into the past, but it's not reliable.

There's also the methods available on Krynn...

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

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-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
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TheHermit
Seeker

USA
60 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  07:06:35  Show Profile  Visit TheHermit's Homepage Send TheHermit a Private Message
Ed,

My latest group will be getting their start in Battledale's Ghost Holds (circa Mirtul, 1357 DR). If you could, could you tell me a bit of some of the folk of note that might still live in the forests in the Holds' area, and any of the ruins you might find particularly interesting? Also, where did the folk who built the various Holds get the materials for their construction - is there a local source for building stone or is that shipped in from abroad?

Yours,
Joe Littrell

- "Glitz & Klax's Potions & Elixirs"/"The Sandmen", Inside Ravens Bluff, The Living City; 1990; TSR, Inc.
- "The Far Guardians' Traveler's Mission", Port of Ravens Bluff; 1991, TSR, Inc.
- "Signs Painted", Polyhedron #70; April, 1992; TSR, Inc.
- Communications Director, Coliseum of Comics, Orlando, FL - http://coliseumofcomics.com/
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The Red Walker
Great Reader

USA
3563 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  13:35:50  Show Profile Send The Red Walker a Private Message
Ed and THO,

With a third book in the Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep being announced(Downshadow by Erik Scott de Bie) is it known how big that series will be? Just the three books or is it intended to be open ended pending sales?

A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka

"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -

John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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createvmind
Senior Scribe

490 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  15:07:05  Show Profile  Visit createvmind's Homepage Send createvmind a Private Message
Hello All,

Ed how do Medusa procreate? What deities did the original faerunian orcs worship before the orcgates were opened and do any still worship those gods?
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capnvan
Senior Scribe

USA
592 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  15:13:34  Show Profile  Visit capnvan's Homepage Send capnvan a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by createvmind

Ed how do Medusa procreate?



In Dragon #106, Ed wrote the Ecology of the Maedar, in which he posited the existence of a male counterpart to the medusa. As far as I know, this was not picked up for later editions of the game. But...

"Saving a life, though regrettable, is a small price to pay for a whole lifetime of unfettered killing."
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AlorinDawn
Learned Scribe

USA
313 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  17:40:28  Show Profile  Visit AlorinDawn's Homepage Send AlorinDawn a Private Message
Ed,

Out of all the adventures modules(modules, Dragon or Dungeon, etc.)you've read over the years, which are your favorites?
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  19:32:36  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by capnvan

quote:
Originally posted by createvmind

Ed how do Medusa procreate?



In Dragon #106, Ed wrote the Ecology of the Maedar, in which he posited the existence of a male counterpart to the medusa. As far as I know, this was not picked up for later editions of the game. But...



The 4E MM has a male medusa in it. Don't remember off the top of my head if it was called a "maedar" or not.

"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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  19:40:44  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all. A few swift lore replies and comments, this time.

createvmind, capnvan is correct. Ed created the maedar, it wasn’t picked up for subsequent editions of the game, but it remains “canon” lore for the Realms (only, perhaps). Or so Ed was once told by a head of design for the company, who loved the maedar. Thanks for the right-up-to-date lore, Rino (I haven't really had more than a peek at Ed's new 4e MM yet)!

AlorinDawn, modesty forbids Ed including any of his own work in any “his best” adventures over the years. He really enjoyed the various adventures that were collected and updated as QUEEN OF THE SPIDERS (and duly voted for that, in the DRAGON poll), I recall that he liked Len Lakofka’s long-unfinished trilogy (Bone Hill, The Assassin’s Knot, and the third one that saw print only in the 25th Anniversary box) for its roleplaying opportunities, and liked such things as the Slavelords module where PCs start naked in a cell, and Expedition To the Barrier Peaks, for the same reasons. I will, of course, forward your query to him for a proper reply, but he may decline (out of professional politeness) to be specific about the work of others. I know he believes that it’s the DM who makes or breaks the adventuring experience, and also that he was mightily impressed with Wolfgang Baur’s approach to custom-designing adventures for subscribers. I know he disliked White Plume Mountain because it was “unfinished” (at the bottom of the inverted ziggurat) and because it gave no plausible, logical history or reason for the various traps and magic items being there. Ed likes well-done murder mysteries and other “roleplaying first” situations.

Ergdusch, I believe your “John Smith equivalent” query has been asked of Ed before, and answered, but I’ll have to search. Was it dealt with here at the Keep, moderators or senior sages?

althen artren, just at first blush, I think George Krashos has pretty much given you the same answer Ed would give, but of course we’ll see . . .

Damian, Ed tends to use “sorceresses” just the same way as you do. And the mage known as ‘the Blind’ wasn’t literally blind; it was a nickname born from his deliberately choosing to ignore something (i.e. his behaviour). What he was ignoring, I can’t recall, but Ed will remember and enlighten.

The Hermit, there are rock quarries (mostly disused and heavily overgrown by the forest) west of the Ghost Holds; aside from some ornamental cladding, all of the stone used in building what are now known as the Ghost holds would have been local. Ed will elaborate.

Whew. Things are piling up. Keep it coming, scribes!
love to all,
THO

Edited by - The Hooded One on 18 Jul 2008 02:45:26
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  19:43:00  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
Your command, Hooded Lady, is my wish (he said masochistically).
Cormyr again.
Do you or Ed know of any instance in which a family in Suzail could have dead relatives interred in a family crypt in their own cellar?
Thanks!
BB
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  19:44:33  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
YES. We Knights blundered into at least two such cellar crypts, over the years. Stone coffins in both. As for the "why," I'll pass this on to Ed.
love,
THO
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe

242 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  20:20:04  Show Profile  Visit Malcolm's Homepage Send Malcolm a Private Message
Okay, I'll do my bit to keep things coming. Kites!
Do they exist as anything more than a toy, in the Realms? If so, where and how used? If not, where and among whom are they used as toys?
Thanks!
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capnvan
Senior Scribe

USA
592 Posts

Posted - 17 Jul 2008 :  22:53:32  Show Profile  Visit capnvan's Homepage Send capnvan a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

createvmind, capnvan is correct. Ed created the maedar, it wasn’t picked up for subsequent editions of the game, but it remains “canon” lore for the Realms (only, perhaps). Or so Ed was once told by a head of design for the company who loved the maedar. Thanks for the right-up-to-date lore, Rino (I haven't really had more than a peek at Ed's new 4e MM yet)!


By the way, if you have never read the article, it's well worth it. Not only is it classic "Ed" (and it is - I confess I've never loved his long fiction, but his short pieces are terrific - don't be annoyed, I feel the same way about Harlan Ellison), but the way that the maedar complements the medusa is just wonderful. Among other things, the maedar uses his stone to flesh ability to transmute shattered pieces of "statuary" (as in petrified beings) back to raw flesh for "supper".

"Saving a life, though regrettable, is a small price to pay for a whole lifetime of unfettered killing."
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  02:34:21  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Thanks for the right-up-to-date lore, Rino (I haven't really had more than a peek at Ed's new 4e MM yet)!



You're welcome. Hope you get more time to look at it later.

"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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  02:44:47  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello again, all. Herewith, an Ed of the Greenwood Realmslore reply for Zandilar, about the Women of the Wood. Specifically, these queries: “Heya, My campaign recently jumped from my current home brewed world to Faerun (through the backlash of a portal being destroyed), and as such I've been doing a bit of reading up on certain places and people... Unsurprisingly, they're headed for Cormyr next.
I was just reading the Dhedluk entry in Volo's Guide to Cormyr where I came across the Women of the Woods. What additional information can you reveal about them? I'm also curious about whether or not they ever butt heads with the High Hunt (for example, if the current victim being hunted is a woman). Volo suggests that the leader of the Women of the Woods, Vandara "the Vixen" Thulont, is one of Azoun's many bastards, and Elminster in a footnote acknowledges this with a wink - can you reveal if it is actually true? Or have I found yet another NDA?
This organisation is likely to come up in the campaign very soon (within a fortnight at this point!) - the group is going to end up in Dhedluk following clues regarding the High Hunt (the party is a bunch of meddlers, who usually get into things over their heads but somehow still manage to land on their feet. I think they'll give the Harpers a run for their money by the time they're through with Faerun!). Anyway, the plan is that the victim is a female noble from Immersea (I'm thinking one of the Thunderswords?) - so maybe they might run across the Women of the Woods.
Speaking of which, anyone know where I might find more detailed information about the Thunderswords and the Wyvernspurs? Also, the entire Cormaeril family was exiled, right? So they no longer have holdings in Immersea?
Edit: I just realized how incredibly broad and unspecific I was in my questions just now, so here are a few I would mind getting answers for in regards to the Women of the Wood...
1) What role, if any, did they play in the war with the Devil Dragon? How much attrition did they suffer, if at all? And did the Ghazneth decide to feast on their highly magical headquarters (according to Volo, they made their home in the ruins of Meliyekur's Magical Museum - which I would imagine would have provided the Ghazneth with magical nourishment)?
2) If the Women of the Wood still survive in the current pre-spellplague timeline, what do they think of the current arrangement of the Crown - do they approve of Alusair as Steel Regent, or do they think she should be Queen? If so, what steps are they likely to take to ensure this comes to be (if any)?
3) What does Alusair think of the Women of the Woods, if she knows of them? Vangerdahast was watching and harrying the Women of the Wood, does Caladnei continue this policy?
4) What kind of numbers do the Women of the Wood have? Do they regularly get new women joining? If so, do the Women just accept any girl or woman who comes to them, or must they meet some criteria?
5) What kind of policy do they have regarding male children of members? Are members likely to leave the Women in order to raise their sons?
6) How likely is it that the organization will survive the 100 year jump into the 4th Ed time line?
I could probably come up with more questions, and plainly some of them are just questions that interest me rather than anything that is going to come up in my campaign - particularly the last two.
Zandilar”

Ed replies:



Hi, Zandilar! It’s great to hear you’re moving into the Realms. I’ll try to keep it as happy a home for your campaign as I can, starting with these lore replies, and I’ll begin with your numbered questions. By all means ask followup questions; I’m happy to reply when I can.

1. During the Devil Dragon War, the Women of the Wood fought many bitter skirmishes against hobgoblins and goblins who tried to pass through the King’s Forest to outflank Crown forces (after several of these frays, the goblins realized they could goad the Women into appearing to give battle by setting fire to the woods). As a result, the Women suffered heavy losses.
No ghazneths bothered them, because there’s something (as yet unknown) about the magic of the ruin they dwelt in that made the ghazneths shun it.

2. A handful (perhaps nine at most) Women of the Wood survived to see Alusair’s Regency begin. They approve of her, and think she’d probably make a great Queen, but have little desire to get involved in the politics of Cormyr outside the Forest, and most of them think Alusair will get heartily sick of the Dragon Throne before long (they were right about this, as you’ll see in time soon to come); if she remains Regent for a good decade, until the boy Azoun V is old enough to be king, they’ll be content with that.
If they hear of any monarch, courtier, faction, or force that threatens the Forest (e.g. by allowing unfettered woodcutting, or clearing roads through it or establishing settlements), they’ll fight to prevent that, no matter who their perceived foe is.
They aren’t interested in going down in glorious battle; they’re interested in winning, so they will strike as stealthily as they think their survival demands, make alliances with the Harpers and anyone else who’ll aid them against such threats, try diplomatic trickery and manipulation of nobles and fostering uprisings (to keep the Crown busy and its attention elsewhere) and anything else they think will work.

3. Alusair knew many of the Women, and regarded some of them as friends; she knows they took heavy casualties during the Devil Dragon War, and that “a bare handful” are left. She will doing nothing to harm or harry them, and instead will give orders about the Forest that should result in them being left alone as much as possible. Vangerdahast is STILL watching (but not harrying) the Women of the Wood in his altered state (I’m trying to go light on spoilers here for those who haven’t read ELMINSTER’S DAUGHTER), as much as he can, but Caladnei has NOT continued his policy of regarding the Women as “not-so-sleeping perils to be watched.”

4. From those nine scarred survivors, the Women of the Wood have rapidly grown in numbers to around twenty, by taking in runaways, women hiding from family pressures or cruel husbands, escaped slaves (from the slavetakers and kidnappers in Sembia and Marsember), outlaws, fugitives from Suzail accused of crimes who are fleeing royal justice (either because they are innocent but don’t expect to be found so, or because they are ‘no contest’ [my term, not an in-Realms term] guilty and know what fate awaits them), and women who just don’t know where to go after all their kin die.
So although they certainly don’t “regularly” get new women joining, they have had many joiners in the last few seasons, arriving often. The Women have no formal criteria for accepting or rejecting (driving away) anyone who comes to them, but they are suspicious of werecreatures, more powerful shapechangers, Crown spies, Harper spies, and spies from every other sort of group, and newcomers will be watched VERY closely (no “slipping away unobserved whilst others sleep;” if this is tried, Women will be watching and spying) to make sure no information is being passed to outside contacts, War Wizards, and the like. The Women are sympathetic enough to dazed, forest-unsavvy newcomers, but have little use for those unwilling to work with others, show loyalty to the team, and “rough it” in the woods.

5. The Women welcome young males born to their members, but make it clear (teaching this from an early age) they must leave the Forest to seek lives in the city when they start showing signs of puberty (growing dark body hair, et al). Until then, they serve as the scouts, fighters, cave explorers, and grunt workers among the Women (who, by the way, don’t exclude them from discussions or bother to cover themselves so “the lads” won’t see their bodies or witness them performing bodily functions or while bathing).
A rare few adult males (mostly former “lads” among the Women) are tolerated as “friends” to meet with the Women in a few select spots on the fringes of the Forest, and exchange news. Friends serve to find out things for the Women in the cities of Cormyr, deliver items and messages, and “fetch back” (to the Women) items and messages. It’s very rare for Women to leave the forest to raise their sons, or to get them to medical aid, but it has happened (it most such cases, the Woman returns to the Forest eventually, to live out her days there).

6. I have no idea if the Women will survive (speaking as a game designer). In terms of in-Realms conditions: they are one of the groups least likely to be harmed much by the Spellplague and its chaos, so there’s no reason why not.

On to your other questions.
Vandara "the Vixen" Thulont is indeed one of Azoun's many bastards, and she survived the Devil Dragon War (but has no means of magically prolonging her life, so she’ll be long gone by the time 4th Edition is set (probably buried under the roots of a young tree deep in the Forest, as the Women like to do with their fallen, when they can). She is merry but sharp-tongued, and will age into a sort of Katherine Hepburn I’m-still-hale-don’t-mess-with-ME warrior (if events in your campaign don’t get her killed, of course :} ).
By long-standing agreement, the Wyvernspurs are NDA’d (I created the family, but Jeff Grubb adopted it and Giogi is his creation, so I’ve stepped back to give him full freedom, if he ever wants to, to tell any Wyvernspur tales he wants to in the future).
The Cormaerils were stripped of their titles and holdings, so the Crown now owns their Immersea properties (and may well be renting them out, but NOT letting go ownership of them). Not all Cormaerils were exiled, and some of them even retain or have been granted new knighthoods and Court offices, but it’s to reward their performance and loyalty as individuals, not their family name. Beliard Cormaeril, for instance, one of Azoun IV’s bastards, has long been a prominent and trusted knight and envoy of the Crown, and may soon be named a Highknight.
The ranks of the Thunderswords also include at least two bastards of Azoun IV (more on the offspring of this most lusty of kings can be gleaned from my “Realmslore” articles on the Wizards website), and there is unpublished (but WotC-owned) lore about the family. I’m quite willing, if you ask specific-scope questions like your numbered queries, above, to try to do the “dance around the NDA” and answer which specific things I can without violating the NDA, okay?
The Women of the Wood customarily hide from, and avoid, the High Hunt (they have sentinels, and so usually receive good warning about the approach of the Hunt), but on rare occasions (yes, almost always when the victim being hunted is a woman), they have tangled with the Hunt, using snares, concealed pits, and arrows to - - thus far, on every occasion - - win the day.
Members of the Hunt will slay Women if they can catch them during such skirmishes, but have abandoned all attempts to gather in strength to go and scour the Women out the Forest (the War Wizards watch for this, and attack the Hunt, not the Women, whenever it is tried, seeking to send them fleeing, not slay them [though they’ll kill if they have to, and will be brutal if anyone tries to set fire to the Forest]).
The Women have deep caves they can hide in, and hole up in when the depths of winter grow harsh. They ‘live rough’ in the forest, tend to dress in hides and not much else (though they will snitch good boots whenever they can), and enjoy simple pleasures like swimming in the forest streams. There’s not a lot more about them in my notes, because in my campagign, as in the published Realms, they remain as yet one of the “largely unused tools” I built into the Realms.
Keep me posted about your campaign, okay? I’m interested in hearing how things unfold.



So saith Ed. Creator of Cormyr, the Women in the Woods, and of course the Forest they dwell in, too. Not to mention the Cormaerils, Thunderswords, Wyvernspurs, and dang near everyone else mentioned in this reply, too (except Caladnei and Giogi).
love to all,
THO
P.S. capnvan, Ed sent me this response to your last post:

Hey, I'm not annoyed. Harlan Ellison is great company to be linked with. :}
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  02:53:10  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
Hmmm...this might sound silly, but could someone give me a brief summation of exactly who the Women of the Woods are? I have to admit, I've never heard of them before now. Ed's answer gives me an idea of what they are like, but I'd love a clearer picture.

Thanks in advance.

"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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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  03:19:39  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
Concerning Medusa:
I have a 2e Monstrous Compendium sheet with the Maedar (and Glyptar) on it, and I had thought it came from MC11... but I just checked and it didn't, so now I'm not sure where I got it from.

I put all of mine together years ago into three huge binders (the two official Ones and a 3rd), and the only identifying mark on that page is the "Forgotten Realms" logo at the top.

It must of come in a boxed set, but I'll be damned if I know which one.

If anyone wants to figure it out, the Meazel is on the other side of that page.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone


Edited by - Markustay on 18 Jul 2008 03:20:39
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  03:21:37  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin

Hmmm...this might sound silly, but could someone give me a brief summation of exactly who the Women of the Woods are? I have to admit, I've never heard of them before now. Ed's answer gives me an idea of what they are like, but I'd love a clearer picture.

Thanks in advance.



Check out Volo's Guide to Cormyr, the Dhedluk section. The book is available for free from the Wizards downloads page.

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  03:24:18  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Concerning Medusa:
I have a 2e Monstrous Compendium sheet with the Maedar (and Glyptar) on it, and I had thought it came from MC11... but I just checked and it didn't, so now I'm not sure where I got it from.

I put all of mine together years ago into three huge binders (the two official Ones and a 3rd), and the only identifying mark on that page is the "Forgotten Realms" logo at the top.

It must of come in a boxed set, but I'll be damned if I know which one.

If anyone wants to figure it out, the Meazel is on the other side of that page.



There were two Forgotten Realms appendices to the Monstrous Compendium -- 3 and 11. Maedar and Meazels were in MC3.

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Talwyn
Learned Scribe

Australia
222 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  03:53:44  Show Profile  Visit Talwyn's Homepage Send Talwyn a Private Message
Greetings THO & Ed,

my question to Ed is this:

in a campaign I am involved in, I play a paladin of Torm. Now one of the duties of the faithful of Torm is that they help out all goodly faiths as best they can. My paladin has come across a small shrine of Eilistraee's and it's small number of priestesses and faithful. Of course he didn't detect evil in the shrines residents but it took him a bit of time to overcome his racial prejudice towards drow. He has now installed himself as a defender of the temple and its members as part of the 3 duties as he interprets them.
How would the clergy of the main temple in Tantras, and Torm himself react to this and would they support his decision to defend and aid a non human god and her followers?

I realise that Torm is more often than not set on battling Bane and other great evil deities however I'd have thought he may have taken an interest in seeing one of Faeruns more evil races being turned away from their path of darkness and would at least give some support to Eilistraee.
Also is there any examples of deities of differing races lending their help to each other in recent realms history?

Once again thanks to THO for that piece of lore in repect to Tymora's splendid mammories

Best wishes

Talwyn

Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil...prayer, fasting, good works and so on.
Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun.
EAT LEADEN DEATH DEMON!
Terry Pratchett


Edited by - Talwyn on 18 Jul 2008 04:13:14
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore

USA
1537 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  04:08:31  Show Profile  Visit Jamallo Kreen's Homepage Send Jamallo Kreen a Private Message
Well met, Lady Hooded One!

Thank you for the quick answer.

Now I only need to figute out how to say "well met" with just the right intonation (perhaps down half an octave and with a bit of breathiness) to persuade you to divulge more about the Dungeon of Swords!






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Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.

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RodOdom
Senior Scribe

USA
509 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  08:45:32  Show Profile  Visit RodOdom's Homepage Send RodOdom a Private Message
Dear Ed and Lady THO,

With all the attention on 4e, I haven't been paying attention to what Ed has been up to. What projects of his can we look forward to in these remaining months of 2008? What is coming in 2009? Thank you.
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Thromdor
Acolyte

4 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  16:44:54  Show Profile  Visit Thromdor's Homepage Send Thromdor a Private Message
Dear Ed of All the Answers,
I'm a dwarf trapped in a human’s body, obsessed with everything Dwarven. I'm having trouble though figuring out how the economics would work for a dwarven clan stronghold.

I’ve read “The Complete Book of Dwarves” and “Dwarves Deep” and I’ve asked about this in the ‘Running the Realms’ forum and received some good advice/hints, but haven’t yet found a satisfactory (to me) answer, perhaps you could clue me in on how it officially works in the Realms.

A dwarven clan stronghold is usually run by a king or equivalent, perhaps with a different title, but they are also clannish and communal. How do the aspects of daily dwarven life such as the mines or food operate? Who owns the mines, the king? The clan? Who gets the product (and profit)? Are the miners just working for a wage? Do they work for ‘free’ as their duty to the clan? Do they work for themselves, keeping what they individually mine?

Does it all go into a communal kitty for the betterment of the clan? Are the individual dwarves in a clan ‘capitalist’? Do they work for themselves and sell their wares to the other dwarves in the clan, or is it more of a ‘communist’ system, where everyone works for the betterment of the clan and wealth, food, clothing, etc. are doled out to whomever needs it? Where do individual dwarves get their personal wealth, especially gems and finely crafted jewelry, weapons, etc.

The above are the burning questions I have, but any other information you might like to pass on about the stout folk would also be as greedily coveted as the largest most sparkling gemstone as well! ;)
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 18 Jul 2008 :  17:32:38  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Check out Volo's Guide to Cormyr, the Dhedluk section. The book is available for free from the Wizards downloads page.




Will do. Thanks.

"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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