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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  03:46:18  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all.
Elaine, thank you very much for providing more for us all about CITY OF SPLENDORS. Which Ed still wishes could have been 200,000 words long, even if it had to be split into two fat volumes.
As he put it to me once: "Elaine spun this marvellous plot, and as the writing unfolded we didn't have space to show more of the nobles, or the Amalgamation (and the man who headed it for so long), or the Warrens. Still, we sure tried, and at least went down fighting to put more and more and more in. I still wish we hadn't had to chop - - and that last edit I did REALLY hurt. Sigh."
Though as I've told him more than once, even the slimmed-down published version is a great read and a fascinating one. It has an expansive FEEL, that spurs you to wondering about this or that place or character or back story that the reader gets hints of, and knows there was more about. In short, it feels "real." As if we got a fast run and glimpse through a city that has a lot of depth we can tell is there, but didn't get to see.
The two of you really did make Waterdeep come alive.
(This new series of "Eddie Presents Waterdeep" standalones does too, but only through the cumulative effect of reading several different novels by different writers looking at different characters, each taking its own viewpoint.)
love,
THO
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Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore

Denmark
1093 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  15:51:40  Show Profile Send Nicolai Withander a Private Message
ok... thats was very cool reading. But Elminster is he a former player character or has he always been a NPC?
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  16:21:34  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Elminster has always been a Non Player Character. Who actually appears in our Realmsplay, with Ed as DM, very seldom. He's more "someone you're aware of the existence of" (like the head of state of a distant country) than he is someone onstage, directly interacting with PCs.
love,
THO
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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe

Israel
352 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  16:47:57  Show Profile  Visit Menelvagor's Homepage Send Menelvagor a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Blueblade:
the nine stars represent Mystra (magic).

I suspected this, but Mystra is represented by seven stars, no?

"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 Red Walker
Great Reader

USA
3563 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  20:23:05  Show Profile Send The Red Walker a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert


And another relevant bit:
[quote]Wooly Rupert, Elminster and the Seven Sisters were ALWAYS Chosen of Mystra as they came into personal focus (in other words, by about 1972 I knew what a Chosen of Mystra was, some of the identities of the Chosen, and a lot about Mystra herself; I hadn’t figured out who the Seventh Sister was, and in fact left that for Steven Schend to deal with, much later, but before there ever was a D&D game, I knew that a select circle of powerful folk, many of the ladies being sisters who had silver hair and were ‘almost’ daughters to Mystra, were ‘special’ servants of hers, called the Chosen).



Wow! I never new that Wooly Rupert was a Chosen of Mystra........but if Ed says so....

I don't know if I should congratulate him or offer condolences

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

Edited by - The Red Walker on 23 Jan 2010 20:24:10
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  21:13:50  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.
Ahem.
Menelvagor, Blueblade was quite right, and so are you. Mystra was more recently associated with seven stars, but in more ancient times, by nine stars (and the reasons behind that are yet another of the as-yet-unrevealed mysteries of Realmslore; Ed has written about this but his writings are in the hands of Wizards/TSR, and not yet shared with the rest of us).
love,
THO
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader

USA
3240 Posts

Posted - 23 Jan 2010 :  21:37:57  Show Profile Send Ashe Ravenheart a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.
Ahem.
Menelvagor, Blueblade was quite right, and so are you. Mystra was more recently associated with seven stars, but in more ancient times, by nine stars (and the reasons behind that are yet another of the as-yet-unrevealed mysteries of Realmslore; Ed has written about this but his writings are in the hands of Wizards/TSR, and not yet shared with the rest of us).
love,
THO



OOoooooo....

Maybe each star represented a "life"? Does Mystra like cats?

I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.

Ashe's Character Sheet

Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs
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sfdragon
Great Reader

2285 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  00:06:40  Show Profile Send sfdragon a Private Message
or the numbers of her chosen..... or favored mages

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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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  04:04:49  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.


Do I get to pick one (or more! ) of the Seven Sisters for my initiation?

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!

Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 24 Jan 2010 04:05:35
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  04:49:37  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.


Do I get to pick one (or more! ) of the Seven Sisters for my initiation?

Bah! Leave some for the rest of us, Wooly. My own initiation is among one of the many things on the famed "To-Do" list after all.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

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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Joran Nobleheart
Senior Scribe

USA
495 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  05:15:10  Show Profile  Visit Joran Nobleheart's Homepage Send Joran Nobleheart a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.


Do I get to pick one (or more! ) of the Seven Sisters for my initiation?

Bah! Leave some for the rest of us, Wooly. My own initiation is among one of the many things on the famed "To-Do" list after all.

I feel I should help in this, and as a paladin of Torm, feel it's my duty to take Laeral out for dinner. It's ok, I'll accept my fate, gentlemen.

Paladinic Ethos
Saint Joran Nobleheart
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sfdragon
Great Reader

2285 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  06:40:21  Show Profile Send sfdragon a Private Message
speak for yourself, I got blackmailed into taking Storm Silverhand out to dinner... let me tell you, she did a good job on the blackmail....
hahahahahahahahhaahahhahahah
I'm so fool of it

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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Zandilar
Learned Scribe

Australia
313 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  06:44:48  Show Profile  Visit Zandilar's Homepage Send Zandilar a Private Message
Heya,

Happy new year, everyone! (Belated, I know...)

If I were to go looking for a library in the palace in Suzail, would there be one? What kinds of things would I need to do to get in there if I didn't have permission to be there? Also, what kinds of books would I find there? Does it have any secret or secure area for books that the Royal family don't want in the wrong hands?

I'd also like to repeat the same process for Myrmeen Lhal's palace in Arabel.

Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~

As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.

The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again.
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Joran Nobleheart
Senior Scribe

USA
495 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  07:28:29  Show Profile  Visit Joran Nobleheart's Homepage Send Joran Nobleheart a Private Message
Nice one dragon. I always liked Storm, but my favorite of the Seven Sisters was Laeral. She's just... great.

And a Happy Belated New Year back to you also, Zandilar.

Actually, this could lead to an interesting question. I've never read anywhere that tells us anything about the father of Laeral's daughter, Maura. Was that intentionally left open, or is his identity known? Also, is it possible that Maura's father could be a paladin from Cormyr named Joran? Please keep in mind that Joran's actual age is 42, and a miracle was cast to bring him back to the age of 23.

Paladinic Ethos
Saint Joran Nobleheart

Edited by - Joran Nobleheart on 24 Jan 2010 07:30:21
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Sandro
Learned Scribe

New Zealand
266 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  07:44:02  Show Profile Send Sandro a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.


Do I get to pick one (or more! ) of the Seven Sisters for my initiation?

Bah! Leave some for the rest of us, Wooly. My own initiation is among one of the many things on the famed "To-Do" list after all.

Well, if that's the case, by the time you're initiated we'll all have died of old age.

And that's including the Seven!

"Gods, little fishes, and spells to turn the one to the other," Mordenkainen sighed. "It's started already..."
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  12:40:34  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Sandro

quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Har har. Wait'll Wooly sees the intiation ritual...it'll turn his hair silver.


Do I get to pick one (or more! ) of the Seven Sisters for my initiation?

Bah! Leave some for the rest of us, Wooly. My own initiation is among one of the many things on the famed "To-Do" list after all.

Well, if that's the case, by the time you're initiated we'll all have died of old age.

And that's including the Seven!




Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  12:43:59  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
Wow. Considering the unique aging-traits the Seven are said to possess, that's an intriguing claim. And a challenge worthy of the Sage.

What do you think, milady? Can I outlast the Seven Sisters?

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

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

Edited by - The Sage on 24 Jan 2010 12:45:01
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Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore

Denmark
1093 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  12:45:53  Show Profile Send Nicolai Withander a Private Message
That leaves me with another question. Before the infamous spellplague, was it possible for someone to become a chosen of Mystra. I know that everything is up to the DM, but wass it ever an intention by the great Ed, that this should be an option, or was there only ever to be the 9 or 10 which we know of? Or are there many more "secret" chosen, that us mortals who does not play with Ed have never heard of or have been able to read about???
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Menelvagor
Senior Scribe

Israel
352 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  13:45:08  Show Profile  Visit Menelvagor's Homepage Send Menelvagor a Private Message
Another question: What is the content of the play 'Riding the Purple Dragon'? The real content, not what we can all guess from the title. Also, how does this content tie in with its' being banned in Cormyr (that is, what was so treasonous/seditious about it)?

"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 Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  16:33:37  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all - - and a happy 2010 to you, Zandilar!
Nicolai, it was always Ed's intention that MYSTRA ALONE "chooses" her Chosen; it's not something any mortal can become, unless she wants them to. We players in Ed's campaign have no idea how many "hidden Chosen" there may be, but we have all gained the distinct impression that if there are any, they are probably very few. There are some ex-Chosen, and not just because they "fell from favor with the goddess" like Sammaster. Some elves just couldn't physically take the pounding of the Weave-flows, begged to stand back from their service before their bodies were entirely destroyed . . . and these desires were granted.
(Yes, I know the published rules have included various ways of PCs advancing into the ranks of the Chosen by their own achievements, but it doesn't work like that in Ed's campaign.)
love,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  16:35:10  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Re. initiations: that's all right, Sage. All of the Seven like things to proceed very slowly, most of the time. Ask any woman.
love,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  16:56:16  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all! Ed has emerged from his lair to pen a lore-reply, this time to Zandilar, and her very recent query: "If I were to go looking for a library in the palace in Suzail, would there be one? What kinds of things would I need to do to get in there if I didn't have permission to be there? Also, what kinds of books would I find there? Does it have any secret or secure area for books that the Royal family don't want in the wrong hands?
I'd also like to repeat the same process for Myrmeen Lhal's palace in Arabel."
Ed replies:


Arabel next time, okay? In Suzail, two vast and sprawling buildings stand facing each other, across a courtyard: the Royal Court and the Royal Palace. The former is crammed full of courtiers and their offices, and is like, well, most of the state buildings in Canberra. It's where most of the day-to-day, boring parchment-pushing goes on.
The Royal Palace, on the other hand, is the home of the royal family, and the seat of ceremonial government; the place where there are many great rooms of state and smaller audience chambers, and almost every room on the main floors has a name and history (see many of many books). It has extensive dungeons below, the Royal Stables immediately behind (north of) it, and, yes, has seven libraries (not including the private bookshelves in the royal apartments, the documents kept in the Royal Crypt and the adjacent vaults, whatever the servants are reading and have lying around their quarters, and so on. Unlike the dozen-some libraries of the Royal Court, which are no-nonsense storage areas for meticulously-ordered records and government documents and ledgers, the libraries of the Palace are for reading.
They contain fiction (in the form of collected folktales, fanciful accounts of the doings of long-ago kings, and collections of family anecdotes from noble families and less-than-noble-but-OLD families, too), plus heralds' registers of Cormyrean arms, atlases, and accounts of travels throughout the rest of the world. There are also a few "translation books," that set forth written phrases in various alphabets and explain their meanings in Common, and compare phrases directly (in a variety of languages) on the same page.
Secret libraries (and books) tend to be separate, and kept behind sliding bookcases or secret doors, often opening off secret passages linking royal bedchambers with "back ways out," rather than being part of any library at all.
No one who is a visitor to the Palace (and no servant or courtier who isn't a Highknight, Wizard of War, Purple Dragon assigned to guard duty, or Palace servant whose habitual work involves the library) can expect to visit any Palace library unescorted; books are valuable things, and good places to hide clandestine messages in the form of little notes, for others to pick up later.
If you're not one of those persons, or a member of the royal family or in the willing company of a royal, a War Wizard, a Highknight, or certain senior courtiers like the Steward or Understeward, you would need to obtain permission to gain access to any of the Palace libraries.
Or you would need to overcome a guard very quietly and without using magic (which would be detected by the Palace wards, raising an alarm), and get the guard's body inside the library quickly so it can't be spotted down the passage outside, and then work very quickly; a guard not at his post will soon be noticed, and guards are inspected every few minutes, on a random rotation, by superior officers walking past to make sure they aren't asleep, distracted, or that there's nothing amiss.
That's the short answer; by all means ask followups if you'd like to explore this further. (Oh, of the Palace libraries: the Blue Library has the most fiction and best lounging facilities, and food is served there upon request; the Red Library has the most atlases and impressive tomes, and is the most visually spectacular and formal; Othrar's Library has the most atlases; and Standrar's Reading Room is the least formal, and has a huge central table always littered with books, and usually has someone reading for pleasure, with their feet up, at all hours.) Hope this is of help.


So saith Ed. Who is, after all, a librarian (well, library board chair AND library clerk in a different library system) by day, in our real world.
love,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  17:07:29  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
And hello to everyone, yet again!
Ed just came through with another reply for us, this one to gomez's query, back on page 4 of this year's thread, about the title of the anonymous chapbook that contained the quotation about Amnian men and gold. According to Ed:


That chapbook is still in circulation (there are many, many copies to be had, up and down the Sword Coast, usually in states of well-worn disrepair), and is entitled:
"KNOW THY LANDS And the Trails That Traverse Them/A Treatise of Worldly Wisdom By A Veteran Wayfarer"
(The originally-beige-hued chapbook cover bears no illustration, but only this title, in large characters at the top and then smaller with each succeeding line, on down to the bottom.)

So saith Ed, who produces books at a great rate (including at least three chapbooks I know of, that have been given away at conventions: One Comes, Unheralded, To Zirta; A Dance In Storm's Garden; and his Aglirta prequel Where Only Madmen Hide; I know there have been more, but I don't recall their titles or contents).
love to all,
THO
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Nicolai Withander
Master of Realmslore

Denmark
1093 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  17:18:16  Show Profile Send Nicolai Withander a Private Message
Dammit... I could spent hour upon hpur talking and just aking questions... Hope That all of you are patient ppl.

As far as I have read, there are no ways of achieving status of chosen! What is this way you talk about. I namely thought also that it was only by the grace of the Lady one became chosen?? hmmm...

And if one were to meet say Alustriel... How easy is it to befriend her or any other of the chosen. They seem like nice ppl... but they might meet a lot of ppl. And might not have the energy to get new friends all the time.
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khorne
Master of Realmslore

Finland
1073 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  17:19:37  Show Profile  Visit khorne's Homepage Send khorne a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One


Or you would need to overcome a guard very quietly and without using magic (which would be detected by the Palace wards, raising an alarm), and get the guard's body inside the library quickly so it can't be spotted down the passage outside, and then work very quickly; a guard not at his post will soon be noticed, and guards are inspected every few minutes, on a random rotation, by superior officers walking past to make sure they aren't asleep, distracted, or that there's nothing amiss.

Hmm. What kind of stuff is there in the Palace libraries that would make it worth it to murder a guard in order to get in unnoticed?

If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader

USA
3240 Posts

Posted - 24 Jan 2010 :  22:56:39  Show Profile Send Ashe Ravenheart a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolai Withander

Dammit... I could spent hour upon hpur talking and just aking questions... Hope That all of you are patient ppl.

As far as I have read, there are no ways of achieving status of chosen! What is this way you talk about. I namely thought also that it was only by the grace of the Lady one became chosen?? hmmm...

And if one were to meet say Alustriel... How easy is it to befriend her or any other of the chosen. They seem like nice ppl... but they might meet a lot of ppl. And might not have the energy to get new friends all the time.



In 4th Edition, Chosen (of any god/goddess) is a Epic Tier path that players can choose for their characers.

I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.

Ashe's Character Sheet

Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs
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Zandilar
Learned Scribe

Australia
313 Posts

Posted - 25 Jan 2010 :  00:49:10  Show Profile  Visit Zandilar's Homepage Send Zandilar a Private Message
Heya,

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Arabel next time, okay? In Suzail, two vast and sprawling buildings stand facing each other, across a courtyard: the Royal Court and the Royal Palace. The former is crammed full of courtiers and their offices, and is like, well, most of the state buildings in Canberra. It's where most of the day-to-day, boring parchment-pushing goes on.
<snip!>


Wow, that was fast! Thanks! Wonderful information, makes wish I actually had a plot so I could write a story based around the libraries! I was mostly asking because libraries (in the palace in Arabel) came up recently in a game I'm playing in, and had my curiosity piqued. (The GM in question had a secret library (attached to the main library in the palace via a secret door) used by the War Wizards in Arabel, and had several very interesting and dangerous tomes there, including one with a half-fey succubus trapped inside!)

Are there any magical tomes in the libraries in Suzail? Are there any trapped books (books that are trapped, or books that are traps for something within)? Are the books actually formally catalogued at all, and if they are, who catalogues them? Are these people the same ones who buy books for the libraries? I'd assume at least some books have been gifts to the royal family by those hoping to curry favour, but that the vast majority would have been acquired by the family itself.

Similar questions for the library in Arabel too...

Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~

As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.

The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again.

Edited by - Zandilar on 25 Jan 2010 00:56:42
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Daviot
Senior Scribe

USA
372 Posts

Posted - 25 Jan 2010 :  00:50:23  Show Profile  Visit Daviot's Homepage Send Daviot a Private Message
Well met again, Ed, THO.

I managed to weave both the Arcantlet and the Bryarn families into my game, and would still love to hear about the Sorndrake family whenever it becomes possible.

That said, a quickie came up in my game recently. Tressyms are mentioned as being native to Eveningstar, and Volo's Guide to the Dalelands mentions them being sold in the High Market in Highmoon. What would the going rate for a pet tressym be, circa 1370? What would the going rate be for less exotic imported pets and some examples thereof?
Thanks in advance.

One usually has far more to fear from the soft-spoken wizard with a blade and well-worn boots than from the boisterous one in the ivory tower.
My Tabletop Writing CV.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 25 Jan 2010 :  01:11:30  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot

That said, a quickie came up in my game recently. Tressyms are mentioned as being native to Eveningstar, and Volo's Guide to the Dalelands mentions them being sold in the High Market in Highmoon. What would the going rate for a pet tressym be, circa 1370? What would the going rate be for less exotic imported pets and some examples thereof?
While Ed will likely have something to add, I'll note that the 'Tressym' entry in Haunted Halls of Eveningstar mentions that tressym are, on occasion, kept as "loose" pets -- villagers do in fact tend toward feeding them, and sometimes seek to prevent much of the damage they cause to the local surroundings.

Maybe an alternative source for "free" pet tressym in your game?

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The Hooded One
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Posted - 25 Jan 2010 :  02:04:49  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all.
khorne, there are some valuable atlases (cut them apart, sell the maps separately) and some other valuable tomes, too, though no magical ones that Ed's told me about (though he did say that many have protective/preservative enchantments on them that will make them radiate magic) in various of the libraries, but in general, I'd say there's nothing in any of the libraries to make it worh the consequences of killing a guard.
The warning about not using magic is a general one, extending to most of the "great rooms of state" of the Palace (ground floor and floor immediately above), because wards built up over the centuries by various Royal Magicians and Wizards of War raise alarms when magic is used, everywhere on these floors (i.e. it's not a "special protection" for the libraries). Nor are "doorjacks" (servants stationed at doors) or Purple Dragon guards unusual at any room of state. Yes, you should expect to see guards ranged along passages in front of most doors, as a general rule, all the time, in the Royal Palace.
How do I know all this? Well, we Knights have trudged through that Palace scores of times. Usually with heavy escorts, and watchful Dragons and War Wizards "following up behind," too.
love,
THO


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