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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 31 Aug 2008 :  10:28:37  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
Not yet. I just haven't had the time to compile an "Index" for the '08 reply files that have been uploaded already.

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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 31 Aug 2008 :  15:24:23  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello again, all. This time I bring swift and simple Realmslore from Ed in response to arry’s question: “I would like to ask Ed and Lady Hooded if there is a word in any Realmsian language that is the equivalent of safari?”
Ed replies:



“Safari” originally meant “about or pertaining to a journey” (“safar” is journey), but in ‘Western’ English, these days, usually means a journey that’s a big game hunt (with camera, if not always, as it almost exclusively meant not so long ago, with guns).
There are, of course, many words for both meanings in the wide variety of Realmsian languages, but only these I list here are often used by speakers employing the Common Tongue (because they’ve crept into Common):

• “starstride” (from a human bardic translation of an elven saying) means: “leave on a journey that one wants to make, or because one has the itch to travel.” It’s used somewhat as Australians say, “going [or: gone] walkabout.”

• “hardride” (old human word, retained into Common) is any longish journey in wild or lawless or unfamiliar to the speaker terrain, often for trade purposes (so no one in Cormyr would speak of “hardriding” to anywhere else in the realm, even the westernmost mountainous areas, but might use it for the Stonelands, and would definitely use it to describe a journey that went into backland Sembia or westwards into Tunland or “monster-haunted parts beyond”).

• “harhoon” (derived long ago from a misheard goblin word that’s curiously close to the gnomish word “larahoun”) means a kidnapping (or beast-capturing) expedition, and these days is used when one is expecting trouble and perfectly prepared to kill without hesitation, if need be, to achieve the goal of the trip. A “harhoon” is never a regular military patrol (which is, ahem, a “patrol” or a “sword-see”).

• “creak-saddle” is an abjective (of fairly recent Common-Tongue coining) used to describe any journey that involved harsh conditions or that tired or injured (or slew) mounts, pack animals, or riders/walkers. It is usually extended to describe bad routes, dangerous passes or trails, and so on (“proper creak-saddle way of getting there, if ye ask me”).

• “bloodlance” is the polite or formal term (of fairly recent Common-Tongue coining) for an extermination expedition or killing raid (either to “put down” enough predatory beasts to make a route safer, or to slay intelligent foes in a skirmish or as part of an ongoing war.

• “tarsark” (derived from the gnomish “tarsurk” or the halfling “tassark,” or both) is the more casual, less polite equivalent of “bloodlance.”

• “barellar” (derived from the gnomish “bellarra” [because gnomes dwell so much with humans, in human-dominated cities, many gnomish words influence the Common Tongue]) is a hunt to kill beasts, either for food or sport.



So saith Ed, creator of most of the Realms and most of its linguistics.
Love to all,
THO
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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1073 Posts

Posted - 31 Aug 2008 :  17:49:40  Show Profile  Visit crazedventurers's Homepage Send crazedventurers a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ed replies: “Safari” originally meant.....
<<SNIPPED FOR BREVITY>>


Just amazing, this has made my day

True Lore about the Realms that can be used whatever edition or game system you are playing.

My thanks to Ed and THO for this.

Can't wait for my next game to bring these words into play.

Cheers

Damian

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

Edited by - crazedventurers on 31 Aug 2008 22:17:41
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arry
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
317 Posts

Posted - 31 Aug 2008 :  21:31:58  Show Profile Send arry a Private Message
Thank you!
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Faraer
Great Reader

3308 Posts

Posted - 31 Aug 2008 :  22:34:45  Show Profile  Visit Faraer's Homepage Send Faraer a Private Message
Ed,

If one was to use the FRCG's 'Abeir' under another name and as part of another world from Toril, what might that name be, and what other advice would you give?
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  04:39:47  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Ah, Faraer, great question!
I have forwarded it to Ed, and I know a swift answer should be forthcoming (once his family has departed), because two close friends of Ed's have already asked him this very question, privately. I can't recall all of his answer off the top of my head, I'm afraid, but I CAN recall that he considered the two dragon empires (which Wizards asked him to include) too unbalanced if the continent sees "standalone" use, UNLESS they are even more "fallen" than they are presented as, in the FRCS (i.e. draconic rulers dead, or l-o-o-o-ng asleep and nigh-legendary [so PCs better not wake them or else!], or insane after being magically transformed into non-flying, trapped-in-their-lair forms.
I also know that Ed REALLY wanted to detail the Sword River settlements and the larger port cities more than he had space to, and will try to amend that in Realmslore web-columns.
love,
THO
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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe

Israel
352 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  07:10:35  Show Profile  Visit Menelvagor's Homepage Send Menelvagor a Private Message
Another qustion: What happened to Syrumstar Auglamyr? In Cormanthor, she is mentioned, nut did she survive the Fall of Myth Drannor and coninue on as a Chosen? Or did she fall defending the city?

"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.
How much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation in the dust, are crushed before the moth?" - Eliphaz the Temanite, Job IV, 17-19.

"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" - Ecclesiastes VI, 6.

"There are no stupid questions – just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."

"Let's not call it 'hijacking'. Let's call it 'Thread Drift'."
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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  08:18:18  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message
Steven has told us, over the years, that she is dead. More about her can be found in the Fall of Myth Drannor module and her chocker was updated for 3/3.5...... in Lost Empires maybe?

quote:
Originally posted by Menelvagor

Another qustion: What happened to Syrumstar Auglamyr? In Cormanthor, she is mentioned, nut did she survive the Fall of Myth Drannor and coninue on as a Chosen? Or did she fall defending the city?


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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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe

Israel
352 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  09:02:44  Show Profile  Visit Menelvagor's Homepage Send Menelvagor a Private Message
I'll check that.

"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.
How much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation in the dust, are crushed before the moth?" - Eliphaz the Temanite, Job IV, 17-19.

"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" - Ecclesiastes VI, 6.

"There are no stupid questions – just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."

"Let's not call it 'hijacking'. Let's call it 'Thread Drift'."
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  09:04:59  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje

Steven has told us, over the years, that she is dead. More about her can be found in the Fall of Myth Drannor module and her chocker was updated for 3/3.5...... in Lost Empires maybe?

quote:
Originally posted by Menelvagor

Another qustion: What happened to Syrumstar Auglamyr? In Cormanthor, she is mentioned, nut did she survive the Fall of Myth Drannor and coninue on as a Chosen? Or did she fall defending the city?



Aye. She's dead... according to Steven Schend. We don't know much beyond that. Elminster in Myth Drannor is another source for Symrustar too. And 'Symrustar's Choker' was detailed in the Player's Guide to Faerûn.

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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe

Israel
352 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  09:28:40  Show Profile  Visit Menelvagor's Homepage Send Menelvagor a Private Message
Forgot that question. I found in the Fall of Myth Drannor that she was last seen at the Battle of Shadusk's Glade, where she was last seen exploding with Malimshaer. Malimshaer's seared skull and ribcage fell at Captain's Selorn's feet. No remains of Syrumstar were ever found, but Captain Selorn found that he held her Choker in his hand at the end, and she had sworn it would leave her only at her death.
So my new question is, why were there no remains of Syrumstar? Was she totally consumed by the fire, leaving only ahes that were swept away in the wind? Or did she survive and go somewhere else? If so, why did she leave her Choker?

"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.
How much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation in the dust, are crushed before the moth?" - Eliphaz the Temanite, Job IV, 17-19.

"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" - Ecclesiastes VI, 6.

"There are no stupid questions – just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."

"Let's not call it 'hijacking'. Let's call it 'Thread Drift'."
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Marek
Seeker

Italy
52 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  11:43:50  Show Profile  Visit Marek's Homepage Send Marek a Private Message
Hello,
I'm back again with some question about Thay.
Why Mystra and Azuth, being the most important deities of magic, are not worshipped in Thay?
I know there's a secret temple of Mystra in Bezantur but it's more of a Harpists hideout.
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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  17:24:18  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message
Spells stilled, all:

Edward, I am in the middle of statting up Nezras the traitor Wiz23/Arch5/NethereseArcanist3.
3.0. Tell me if this is a combination close of what you had envisioned, and what types of magic schools and studies he concentrated on. Thanks ahead of time.

(I have also statted up The Nomad of Scars, and I think everbody will
like what I envisioned him as.)

Edited by - althen artren on 01 Sep 2008 17:25:35
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  17:37:16  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
THO and ED, thank you for all that lore. Its the little things like that that make the Realms come to life for many of us.

quote:
Originally posted by Marek

Hello,
I'm back again with some question about Thay.
Why Mystra and Azuth, being the most important deities of magic, are not worshipped in Thay?
I know there's a secret temple of Mystra in Bezantur but it's more of a Harpists hideout.


You answered your own question, you know.

There may have been a time when Mystra's worship was more prominent amongst the Red Wizards (probably right after they broke with Mulhorand and the Pharaonic Pantheon). However, with each 'revision', Mystryl/Mystra has been getting less and less 'neutal' in her outlook, and her obvious asociation with the Harpers (she had Elminster form them!) precludes any sort of large-scale devotion to her within Thay.

As you pointed out, Temples to Mystra would just all become 'safe-houses' for Harper spies.

As for Azuth - he's Halruaan. Its that simple; Thay and Halruaa are the two big, magical 'power-houses' of the Realms, so are natural rivals. The Thayans would be too paranoid that Azuthans were trying to steal their magic for Halruaa (which is ridiculous, but we are talking about a paranoid, insular people here).

Hope that helps, until Ed comes along with something more official.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 01 Sep 2008 17:39:42
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Faraer
Great Reader

3308 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  20:40:15  Show Profile  Visit Faraer's Homepage Send Faraer a Private Message
The picture in the Old Grey Box and in FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards is that Mystra and Azuth are worshipped in Thay but in lesser roles than Kossuth and other gods. In Spellbound, worship of Azuth and Mystra ('patron of the hated Harpers') has been banned. 'The Red Wizards jealously guard the secrets of magic and hate any being, mortal or immortal, who seeks to spread knowledge of sorcery to others.' That is a plausible reason for Mystra's lesser role there, but I think the idea of her getting less neutral is far more a matter of fan and (to an extent) designer perception than a fact in the Realms (viz. the unjustified attention given by some to one unlikely episode in one of the Avatar sequels). Manshoon worships Mystra; she is seen as the Weave first of all and Harper-involved much less, in any time period.
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Vangelor
Learned Scribe

USA
183 Posts

Posted - 01 Sep 2008 :  22:15:14  Show Profile Send Vangelor a Private Message
Greetings to the gracious Hooded One, and can Ed shed any light on the little-documented green elf Clan Moonglamer? The only reference I have (from [i]Cormanthyr, Empire of the Elves] is that they held a council seat among the nobles of Cormanthyr in the days of Coronal Eltagrim.

The name suggests that they were magical adepts of some kind, but that is guesswork from the general run of "moon" symbolism in the Realms, and a reading of the second element as the archaic English word, "glamer", meaning enchantment. Any Moonglamer lore waiting yet to be told? Thanks!

Edited by - Vangelor on 01 Sep 2008 22:16:32
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 02 Sep 2008 :  04:08:54  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer

That is a plausible reason for Mystra's lesser role there, but I think the idea of her getting less neutral is far more a matter of fan and (to an extent) designer perception than a fact in the Realms (viz. the unjustified attention given by some to one unlikely episode in one of the Avatar sequels).


I very much concur with this. I have become so frustrated with this mistaken viewpoint that I have begun to wish that novel had not been published. It's not a fault of the author, either. As I've pointed out so many times, it was only ever in that one book, only for part of that book, and never had an in-game effect. And yet that misperception still exists, for reasons I simply cannot fathom.

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Marek
Seeker

Italy
52 Posts

Posted - 02 Sep 2008 :  10:45:01  Show Profile  Visit Marek's Homepage Send Marek a Private Message
Thanks a lot Markustay and Faraer.
If Ed and THO wants to add something I'll be more than happy but I really like your explanations so I'm gonna stick to it
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 02 Sep 2008 :  21:19:27  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer

Ed,

If one was to use the FRCG's 'Abeir' under another name and as part of another world from Toril, what might that name be, and what other advice would you give?



This is a great question, and one I was wondering about myself. Count me as eager to see Ed's answer.

"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 - 03 Sep 2008 :  19:57:41  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello again, all. I bring you the words of Ed, in response to Faraer’s recent query: “Ed, If one was to use the FRCG's 'Abeir' under another name and as part of another world from Toril, what might that name be, and what other advice would you give?”
I know Rinonalyrna Fathomlin (and I suspect many of the rest of you) are eagerly awaiting these particular words of Ed, so here’s Ed’s reply:



Hi, Faraer! As it happens, the idea you raise is something I’d thought about a time or two during the whirlwind creation of Abeir, given my familiarity with the longtime situation of early D&D DMs (who all had to cobble together campaigns using this Judges Guild module here, that DRAGON article idea there, and so on; even if they wanted to “stick to canon Greyhawk,” they had to wait forever for new official material to appear, when they had players in their laps wanting to adventure RIGHT NOW).
I’d recently done the same thing with CASTLEMOURN, after all: here’s a continent you can use on its own or as part of a larger campaign world (or specifically a planet, or part of a plane of existence).
So, considering “Returned Abeir” as a continent all on its own, I’d first point to its unbalanced state. In short, as currently detailed, it shouldn’t be used “all on its own.”
All of the ports down in its southerly areas need other, offshore lands to trade with, to create the bustling shipping traffic (and piracy, plus waystop island harbors along the shipping lanes where ships can be repaired and take on fresh food and water, and outlaws can flee to) necessary to justify the implied or described wealth, population, and energy of these places.
So we need other continents, or at least an Earthsea-like band or cluster of thousands of inhabited islands (some of them quite large) that have mineral wealth and copious food to sell to the crowded Abeiran ports and Sword River settlements. I’d put these features about three-Abeir-continent-widths or more distant, to east or west (or east-southeast or west-southwest) of the lower third of continental Abeir.
(My original Abeir map, by the way, has been “slimmed down” a bit for publication. I had larger wilderness ‘backlands’ along the east coast of Abeir; more room for monsters, hideouts, lost and overgrown ruins, and bandit-ruled areas. And more mountains wherever there are mountains, too. :})
Just glancing over the published Returned Abeir area writeups, one can see that some basic layers of detail are missing: the general “look” and topography of the land (dominant flora and fauna); the tenor of local life (rural and sparse, or tightly-ruled and law-abiding, with popular interests—music? theater? books? Lots of smithies? Innovation, or reverence for tradition? Family-based, or guilds, or - -?) and details of local imports, exports, and current politics and government. Rorst and Ulark, for example, are barely more than names.
DM freedom is both desired and necessary, but all game users of the Realms need more “commonly known lore” about the current politics and overall nature of the Sword Lands and the major ports.
Even if one emphatically does not want detailed histories for every area (and many of us longtime Realm fans do, because those same histories let us more fully understand local feuds, intrigues, power groups, current power balances and political aims, and the seeds that will spur many future adventures), this lack of the basics I mentioned above is something I’ve got to try to address (and the Wizards website is an ideal venue because it doesn’t have to fit the severely limited wordcounts of trying to fit everything about a given land or area into one page, or a two-page spread, or some multiple thereof, in a printed book). So there’s work to do, no matter how one uses this continent of Abeir, or Returned Abeir, or whatever you prefer to call it.
If using it as part of a new, non-Faerûnian setting, I’d call it “Laerakond” [pronounced “L-AIR-ah-KON-d”].
I settled on the ‘sounds’ of that coined name because they are different from the softer, more Celtic-green-and-pleasant-fantasy-Sherwood ‘feel’ of much of the most loved areas of Faerûn; if you’d prefer to echo that look and feel, call it something like “Tarathdeon,” instead.
Right, let me refer to this newly revealed continent as Laerakond henceforth, to distinguish it from the published version, which works fine as part of a wider Realms where we need to have a place for the Primordials to come from or hold sway, a place where the dragonborn were once slaves to dragons, and a surviving dragon empire or two as an example of what the dragonborn rebelled against.
Separated from the Realms, we might not need Laerakond to perform any or all of those back-story functions, which leaves us facing an imbalance problem: unless those two surviving dragon empires are really on the verge of collapse for some reason (or firmly turned in on themselves, ignoring the rest of Laerakond), how have all of these bustling ports and the Sword Lands and Gontal had any chance at all to develop? If hungry dragons can swoop everywhere, marauding from the skies at any time, what keeps all of these southerly cities and smaller settlements in existence?
So, we need to take how I described those two empires and nudge them a little farther along the paths I hinted they were headed along. Let us have two insane dragon rulers, aging and with their bodies failing them, and make them obsessed with staying alive and as powerful as possible.
The western empire, with the jungles, becomes a realm of undead, with an undead dragon emperor (super-dracolich? unique powers, regardless, so adventurers daring to directly challenge the ruler don’t know precisely what they’re facing, and have to fall back into roleplaying (or at least “preparing for everything and then poking the Great Baddie, ready to flee and try better later, to see what we’re facing”).
This draconic ruler will be endlessly experimenting with creating new forms of undead and augmenting existing undead into warriors and guardians to protect itself and its domain (seeking to fight the ruler? wade through legions of skeletal titans and gigantic bone scorpions, plus flights of flying bone bats with stabbing stinger-tails, or out-and-out undead wyvern and dragon servitors). It will therefore coerce, induce, and otherwise hire necromancers of all sorts (NPC warlocks, illithids and neogi and driders and anything or anyone else the DM thinks fitting) to work for it in crafting such undead, and use dupes, hirelings, and controlled servitor-creatures to plant “treasures” and spread rumors of such riches through the various ports, to lure adventurers and even armed expeditions from human-ruled city-states into its jungles to serve as “fresh meat” for ongoing necromantic experimentations (oh, and bring your beasts of burden, mounts, and aerial steeds, too; they, too, are welcomed as necromantic fodder).
Across the Dragon Sea lies the more infamous dragon empire, with a gigantic living dragon empress seeking ever-greater magical powers rather than a lich-like undead existence. A tyrant, served by lesser dragons who tend herds of edible dragon food (being as the design direction of 4e at the time omitted mention of dragons drawing sustenance from sunlight, water, or anything else other than devoured meat). An empress who has ruled for a long time, and become paranoid yet bored during that time, and so both craves entertainment (watching intruders into her empire from afar, yet also closely watching over and controlling everything in her empire). She seeks a worthy mate, to birth an heir/heiress, yet fears trusting any creature powerful enough to be that worthy mate. She seeks to learn all about, and seize or control, all mighty secular magic (so it can’t be used against her, and so she can use it to make herself ever-more-powerful), and to reach agreements with major deities so their priests won’t work against her.
So fear keeps her within the boundaries of her empire, working through layer upon layer of servitors, and fear of, and obsession about, magic keeps her using such intermediaries (down to the level of well-paid human, tiefling, and orc-half-blood merchants and mercenaries) to reach out into the rest of Laerakond, and beyond, to gather ever more magic—or if she can’t gain it, to destroy it and those who wield it, so as to keep herself safe.
Note that these DM design foci remain the same if one is using Returned Abeir in a Realms D&D campaign or Laerakond/Tarathdeon by itself, in a homebrew FRP setting. There are “design gaps” to be filled somehow, by official lore, unofficial “here’s my alternative” offerings, or the creativity of individual DMs doing what they desire or need to do, for their own campaigns.
If one likes the concept of worlds linked by gates/portals, but not the effects of PCs and NPCs controlling and using gates hidden in castle closets and guild cellars, consider such worlds as Abeir-Toril, Golarion, or my own Darsar (setting of the Band of Four novels), Falconfar, and Castlemourn, all linked by gates that function only from time to time, when conditions are just right, to ships at sea (Moorcock’s “Seas of Fate” concept, from his Elric books). Or the same multiple worlds linked only by those who have the power to “shadow walk” (as in Zelazny’s Amber novels; the Amberites and other powerful beings, such as the nobility of Chaos, who can “add” and “subtract” elements of their surroundings so as to travel through an infinity of “shadows” or planes that echo each other).
However, the root needs remain the same: what sort of campaign do I, “DM Number 42,” want? Set or starting where? If it’s to be anything more than an endless dungeon crawl or Underdark exploration, and Returned Abeir/Laerakond/Tarathdeon is to be involved, I must make some decisions as to which rulers are going to be busy doing (or trying to do) what. Who’s making war on whom, or trying to do damage or effect change without going to war? What movements or social changes or priesthoods or innovations or fads/fashions are on the rise, or declining? Who are the “movers and shakers” (or wannabes) likely to force changes or dramatic events, or hire PC adventurers (or seek to dupe or exterminate PC adventurers who get in their way)?
That’s where I’d focus my design work first. If beginning in the upriver Sword Lands (keeping the large, rich ports as fabled destinations for later), I’d decide on nearby “here’s where I plop down commercial dungeons for my PCs to explore, there’s the place that’ll fit that commercial uber-adventure, here’s where I’ll have my rebel getting ready to attack a ruler, and there’s the ruler he’ll go after” locales. Give the PCs aims, day jobs, and backgrounds, throw in the matter-to-the-players mysteries that every campaign needs, and go for it!



So saith Ed. Who’s been doing this superbly for decades now, remember.
love to all,
THO

Edited by - The Hooded One on 03 Sep 2008 20:22:40
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The Red Walker
Great Reader

USA
3563 Posts

Posted - 03 Sep 2008 :  20:14:36  Show Profile Send The Red Walker a Private Message
Wow!!

That's good stuff!

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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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore

Finland
1564 Posts

Posted - 03 Sep 2008 :  22:12:18  Show Profile  Visit Asgetrion's Homepage Send Asgetrion a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by althen artren

Spells stilled, all:

Edward, I am in the middle of statting up Nezras the traitor Wiz23/Arch5/NethereseArcanist3.
3.0. Tell me if this is a combination close of what you had envisioned, and what types of magic schools and studies he concentrated on. Thanks ahead of time.

(I have also statted up The Nomad of Scars, and I think everbody will
like what I envisioned him as.)



Sorry to be nitpicking, Althen, but 'Spells stilled' (If I've understood that phrase correctly) is not actually a greeting -- rather, it roughly means "Don't fire!" in modern language ("Cease your spellcasting!" or "Do not cast spells!").

Also, Ed is just Ed, and not Edward.

"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm
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GoCeraf
Learned Scribe

147 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2008 :  00:15:15  Show Profile  Visit GoCeraf's Homepage Send GoCeraf a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion

quote:
Originally posted by althen artren

Spells stilled, all:

Edward, I am in the middle of statting up Nezras the traitor Wiz23/Arch5/NethereseArcanist3.
3.0. Tell me if this is a combination close of what you had envisioned, and what types of magic schools and studies he concentrated on. Thanks ahead of time.

(I have also statted up The Nomad of Scars, and I think everbody will
like what I envisioned him as.)



Sorry to be nitpicking, Althen, but 'Spells stilled' (If I've understood that phrase correctly) is not actually a greeting -- rather, it roughly means "Don't fire!" in modern language ("Cease your spellcasting!" or "Do not cast spells!").

Also, Ed is just Ed, and not Edward.



Althen uses spells stilled as a greeting due to several mock-battles that have happened recently. I seem to recall a water hose.

Mr. Greenwood, if one were to find (relatively) large numbers of planetouched folk not adhering to any racial constraints (that is, humans or elves or some other race that have planar ancestors and show some traits, but are not really separate races), where might they be?

In addition, where are mongrelfolk usually found in the Realms, and is there any appreciable intersection between these two obscure groups?

Edit: Gwammar pwobwems.

Being sarcastic can be more telling than simply telling.

Edited by - GoCeraf on 04 Sep 2008 16:14:15
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Kajehase
Great Reader

Sweden
2104 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2008 :  08:20:01  Show Profile Send Kajehase a Private Message
I'll echo the praise for Ed's Abeir-reply already expressed here by others. But I'll also offer an observation - I don't know if it's due to the phonetic differences between Swedish and English, but I actually find Laerakond to be a lot more softer-sounding than Tarathdeon. *shrugs*

There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett
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arry
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
317 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2008 :  12:02:58  Show Profile Send arry a Private Message
Thank you very much Ed, for what you have given us here, and for what you have not given, 'for those to read that can!'.

Is there any chance of your map of Laerakond ever seeing the light of day in all its glory?

Edited by - arry on 04 Sep 2008 12:06:13
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2008 :  15:47:26  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
I just got your email reply Ed. My thanks.

Expect a follow-up sometime tomorrow.

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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe

Canada
161 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2008 :  23:52:28  Show Profile  Visit Baleful Avatar's Homepage Send Baleful Avatar a Private Message
Dear Ed and Lady THO,
I'm sure (pre-ELMINSTER'S DAUGHTER) Vangerdahast and War Wizards he orders to do so spy on the royal family of Comryr almost continuously. Are there any "off limits" times (lovemaking, bathroom moments, private conversations with envoys?), and did this change with Caladnei stepping into Vangey's offices?
Thanks!
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 05 Sep 2008 :  17:38:33  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
More a commentary then a question:

Ed, I'm sorry to say that I found the 'Returned Abeir' material in the FRCG rather bland. I really don't think it is your fault, because I never had any problem with anything you created ever before. I think that it was perhaps "over-editting", to the point where much flavored was stripped out (and I think you alluded to as much above). I also didn't understand it's inclusion, since no other realms outside of Faerûn were included, and anything found in RA could be found elsewhere already (I believe Murghôm has the Dragon-ruler thing going on now as well).

Your above descriptions not only make Returned Abeir more palatable, but has also inspired me to do an "Abeir-as-Anchorme" map, with the changes you indicated above (with more wilderness and mountains). It now sounds much more like someplace I'd like to play in.

Thank You for fleshing it out better for us.

BTW, we have VERY simlar reading tastes, it seems.

--- Mark T.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 05 Sep 2008 17:41:42
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore

USA
1537 Posts

Posted - 05 Sep 2008 :  18:07:08  Show Profile  Visit Jamallo Kreen's Homepage Send Jamallo Kreen a Private Message
Well met.

Dear Lady Herald, since Ed has some interest in the vocal arts, I thought he might be interested in the KUSC broadcast of the Los Angeles Opera's US premiere of The Fly, which will be broadcast in L.A. on Sunday, September 7th from 2:00 PM (Pacific). Presumably he can pick it up in Canada on http://www.kusc.org -- I don't think they'll have an online "blackout" if they are broadcasting it on radio. David Cronenberg will direct.

And ... somewhere ... a tiny voice cries out, "Help me! Help me!" ...




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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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 05 Sep 2008 :  18:39:30  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message
Ed, thanks so much for telling us about some great ways to use Laerakond! I really appreciate it.

"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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