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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 03 Sep 2011 :  15:57:56  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
Thank you! I happily await Ed's eventual reply.
And (of course) I have ANOTHER query, this one about a "drinking club" get-together in Marsember where business owners/important citizens discussed and decided things, made deals, etc. (not a tavern or club, but a roving-location monthly meeting). What is it called, when did it start, and who dominates it and/or "fronts" for it (i.e. deciding where the next meeting will be, and telling members)? For that matter, is it a front for any group or cause or faction? Has the Crown infiltrated it? What else will Ed tell us about it?
BB
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe

Canada
161 Posts

Posted - 03 Sep 2011 :  16:00:58  Show Profile  Visit Baleful Avatar's Homepage Send Baleful Avatar a Private Message
If it's the same group I once literally fell into the midst of in an Ed-run game, it's called "the Drenched Elders" formally, and just "the Elders" most of the time Marsembans talk about it. They've all heard of it, but like the Lords of Waterdeep, no one in the streets of the city knows who the members are. They all have their strong suspicions about this fellow citizen or that one, but no certainty . . .
BA
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 03 Sep 2011 :  16:10:39  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Correct. Ed will of course add more.
I bring Toronto (Ontario, Canada)-area scribes a public service announcement: Ed is one of the contributors to TESSERACTS 15, the annual Canadian f and sf anthology (I understand the theme is YA/teens, for this volume), from EDGE/Hades publishing. There will be a public signing/launch party with co-editor Julie Czerneda and some of the authors on Saturday, September 17th, from 3 to 6 pm at Bakka-Phoenix bookstore, Canada's oldest and best fantasy and sf bookstore, recently relocated to Harbord Street (nigh Spadina, a block south of the Spadina subway stop on the Bloor-Danforth east-west subway line). So if you want to meet Ed and get something signed . . .
Ed will also be a Guest of Honour at this year's Phantasm convention in Peterborough (basement of the Peterborough Public Library on Aylmer Street, Saturday Sept 24th and Sunday the 25th; Ed won't be there until late afternoon Saturday because of his library day job). Ed gives a talk on Saturday night, and runs a 2nd edition D&D game Sunday afternoon.
Ed tells me he'll be very busy writing novels and game lore after that, and won't reappear at any public events until SFContario in Toronto (at the same hotel as last year, on Jarvis Street) in November, more details to follow . . .
love to all,
THO
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7966 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2011 :  06:47:59  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message
Ed needs to move to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, preferably not far from where I live. Just sayin'

[/Ayrik]
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elglanto
Acolyte

24 Posts

Posted - 04 Sep 2011 :  21:20:33  Show Profile  Visit elglanto's Homepage Send elglanto a Private Message
Hello,

In a new campain in the real that i'm going to play as a Lawful Neutral cleric of Mystra. He started to workship her before the time of troubles. As the godess was L/N instead of N/G, i guess her dogma and clergy was different before the avatar events. Thus, i'm looking for some informations about her faith and church at that time.

Thanks.

Edit : please excuse my english since i'm a foreign fan and english is not my native language.

Edited by - elglanto on 04 Sep 2011 21:21:57
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Farrel
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
239 Posts

Posted - 05 Sep 2011 :  15:55:21  Show Profile Send Farrel a Private Message
Hi again THO

I'm back with another question pertaining to Mistledale, if I may please?

Within Volo's Guide to the Dalelands it states that there are a number of small hamlets and communities within Mistledale, my question is in regards to their names and rough locations?

Any information on residents of note would be most useful.

Thankyou once again
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Baleful Avatar
Learned Scribe

Canada
161 Posts

Posted - 06 Sep 2011 :  18:32:44  Show Profile  Visit Baleful Avatar's Homepage Send Baleful Avatar a Private Message
Dear Ed and THO,
In rural Cormyr I've always assumed you can get something to eat or drink at any time of night in an inn . . . but elsewhere? (I'm talking about traveling strangers, not arriving where someone in your own family lives.) Are there other places that serve "the clock around" in hamlets, villages, and towns? (I'm assuming there are some in cities.) What about abbeys, temples, and monastic settlements/temple farms?
Thanks in advance!
BA
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Azuth
Senior Scribe

USA
404 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  00:44:35  Show Profile  Visit Azuth's Homepage Send Azuth a Private Message

Beloved THO,

I'm hoping (against hope, really) that Ed can answer this question. Will he address the statement of Mystra's about the error of "choosing one family" which, I assume, refered to the Seven Sisters. It seems a little strange, given there's no foundation to the comment. Of course, there needn't be a foundation, or it may be upcoming in a future novel, which of course means it's NDA, but I'd be interested in expounding on that statement if possible.

Cheers!


Azuth, the First Magister
Lord of All Spells

The greatest expression of creativity is through Art.
Offense can never be given, only taken.
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sfdragon
Great Reader

2285 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  03:27:32  Show Profile Send sfdragon a Private Message
I have the most foul stenchy question to ask Ed. its a drow question, do drow cities have sewers??

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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  17:17:35  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
. . . And Ed replies:

Hi, sfdragon. Some do, some don't; it depends on how much flowing water there is in/through/near the drow city. If water is abundant (large lake, fast-flowing river) AND there's fairly easy access to a lower level of the Underdark (for a sewer to drain away into), a drow city might simply take drinking/cooking/washing/daily life uses water out of the river upstream, and dump polluted water/sewage outflow back into the river downstream...handing the filth on to downstream creatures.
SMART drow communities plant fungus beds/forests that feed on offal/sewage, and either use nightsoil (dung) carts (often hoppers harnessed to the backs of pack lizards) to move the filth well outside the city to the fungus beds . . . or they have sewers flowing into fungus beds, or downriver riverbank fungus beds, tended (by slaves and drow being punished, or sometimes even driders). These strain/clean the water and turn the sewage into food for the fungi, which can be phosphorescent (light sources), edible (food for drow and their pets and workbeasts), and sources of fiber for weaving, various medicines, and oils (for lubrication/protective coatings), or some combination of these uses, depending on the type of fungi (there are literally thousands of different sorts).
Bear in mind that drow sewers are unlikely to be extensive unless they're simplt shafts down into the deeper Underdark (whereupon every drow residence might have its own), and also unlike to be large (as in, tunnels large enough for armed foes, such as enemy drow or human adventurers, to creep through. Drow are paranoid suspicious about such things, and are VERY unlikely to stupidly create large networks that can be traveled through to sidestep their defenses or allow easy escapes.


So saith Ed. Who has indeed thought all of this through, long, long ago.
love,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  17:40:52  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Back on Page 48 of this thread (August 17th), scribe Kno asked “What's the symbol and banner of Lantan?” and scribe Kajehase supplied and swift and creative answer (and I startled him by describing the “exploding steam engine” he mentioned). Here is Ed’s reply about the symbol and banner of Lantan:


Heh. The arms of Lantan have varied over the years, depending on the dominance of the faith of Gond at the time, but for a long time in the later 1300s, they were:
A steel-silver shield with a vertical row of three devices down its center line. The upper most device is a steam engine, represented by a complex knot of continuous pipes and valves overlying a circular boiler, and surrounded by a scalloped circle of orange, representing steam lit by the flames of the engine’s (unseen) firebox (that heats the boiler).
The center device is the symbol of Gond.
The lowest device is the exploding steam engine that THO described earlier (a fluffy ball of gray steam with a leaning smokestack protruding out of it on upper right, pistons and their linkages flying apart and out of the cloud lower left and center left, and a wild pinwheel of orange flames in the center of the cloud).
The banner of Lantan has three “endless” horizontal stripes: silver above, silver below, and white (representing steam) in the middle, with a symbol of Gond in gold “in its pride” (that is, nicely spaced away from the head of the banner, so it’s almost always visible when the banneris moving, and being affected by wind) superimposed atop the white stripe.


So saith Ed, creator of Lantan, Gond, and the Realms.
love,
THO
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  20:50:59  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Baleful Avatar

Dear Ed and THO,
In rural Cormyr I've always assumed you can get something to eat or drink at any time of night in an inn . . . but elsewhere? (I'm talking about traveling strangers, not arriving where someone in your own family lives.) Are there other places that serve "the clock around" in hamlets, villages, and towns? (I'm assuming there are some in cities.) What about abbeys, temples, and monastic settlements/temple farms?
Thanks in advance!
BA
Not Ed, of course....

But anyplace established along a well-traveled trade route, or even more prominently, at the terminus point of said trade routes (like a city/port) would have some accommodations for 'night-owls'. However, not every place at said locations would be very happy with someone banging on their door in the middle of the night (while others would thrive on such, especially the more notorious ones).

Any large town would have some sort of 'after hours' place, unless otherwise restricted by local curfews (and Gate-Closings), but if you travel off the beaten-path, as many of the smaller hamlets and villages in The North are, you will probably get answered with a crossbow in your face, rather then a hot meal. Most of the Dales fall into this category - be warned.

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


Edited by - Markustay on 07 Sep 2011 20:52:59
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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore

USA
1105 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  21:33:07  Show Profile  Visit Garen Thal's Homepage Send Garen Thal a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

. . . And Ed replies:

Hi, sfdragon. Some do, some don't; it depends on how much flowing water there is in/through/near the drow city. If water is abundant (large lake, fast-flowing river) AND there's fairly easy access to a lower level of the Underdark (for a sewer to drain away into), a drow city might simply take drinking/cooking/washing/daily life uses water out of the river upstream, and dump polluted water/sewage outflow back into the river downstream...handing the filth on to downstream creatures.
SMART drow communities plant fungus beds/forests that feed on offal/sewage, and either use nightsoil (dung) carts (often hoppers harnessed to the backs of pack lizards) to move the filth well outside the city to the fungus beds . . . or they have sewers flowing into fungus beds, or downriver riverbank fungus beds, tended (by slaves and drow being punished, or sometimes even driders). These strain/clean the water and turn the sewage into food for the fungi, which can be phosphorescent (light sources), edible (food for drow and their pets and workbeasts), and sources of fiber for weaving, various medicines, and oils (for lubrication/protective coatings), or some combination of these uses, depending on the type of fungi (there are literally thousands of different sorts).
Bear in mind that drow sewers are unlikely to be extensive unless they're simplt shafts down into the deeper Underdark (whereupon every drow residence might have its own), and also unlike to be large (as in, tunnels large enough for armed foes, such as enemy drow or human adventurers, to creep through. Drow are paranoid suspicious about such things, and are VERY unlikely to stupidly create large networks that can be traveled through to sidestep their defenses or allow easy escapes.


So saith Ed. Who has indeed thought all of this through, long, long ago.
love,
THO
Also, otyughs.
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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore

USA
1446 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2011 :  23:24:11  Show Profile Send Eilserus a Private Message
Hi Ed and THO,

I've been working on an underdark campaign centered around the survivors of destroyed Maerimydra. Any bits of lore you could share about cities or sites of interest in the Underdark of the dalelands area? Thank you. :)
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 08 Sep 2011 :  00:12:05  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
"Destroyed Maerimydra"? When did it get get destroyed?
BB
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Therise
Master of Realmslore

1272 Posts

Posted - 08 Sep 2011 :  01:45:41  Show Profile Send Therise a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Blueblade

"Destroyed Maerimydra"? When did it get get destroyed?
BB


During Lolth's silence, I think 1372-ish.

Female, 40-year DM of a homebrew-evolved 1E Realms, including a few added tidbits of 2E and 3E lore; played originally in AD&D, then in Rolemaster. Be a DM for your kids and grandkids, gaming is excellent for families!
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Thieran
Learned Scribe

Germany
293 Posts

Posted - 08 Sep 2011 :  15:30:52  Show Profile Send Thieran a Private Message
Immediately upon the beginning of Lolth's Silence on 28 Eleasias 1372, bloody battles erupt between the noble houses of Maerimydra. On 23 Eleint, the half-fiend fire giant Kurgoth Hellspawn attacks the city with his army and lays waste to it in the following tendays.
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Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  00:40:32  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message

Hi Ed and Tho!

Why is Larloch known as The Shadow King? Does he also dabble with shadow magic? Was he Telamont's apprentice before Netheril's Fall? Or is it simply because he works in the shadows [behind the scenes], pulling the strings of his puppet-servitors?

Who started calling him that? Adventurers? Enemies who learned their folly of messing with him?

Every beginning has an end.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  03:07:51  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Heh. Dennis, here are some replies from Ed:


Q: Why is Larloch known as The Shadow King?
A: Big Shiny NDA.

Q: Does he also dabble with shadow magic?
A: Smaller, quieter NDA.

Q: Was he Telamont's apprentice before Netheril's Fall?
A: No, not at all. Larloch was far less powerful then than he is now, but Telamont was much, much weaker and socially less important back then, too. (Trust me. I created both of them.)

Q: Or is it simply because he works in the shadows [behind the scenes], pulling the strings of his puppet-servitors?
A: No, but that habit has probably led to much later folk continuing to use/reviving the sobriquet.

Q: Who started calling him that? Adventurers? Enemies who learned their folly of messing with him?
A: NDA for now. Which means There Are Plans, But It's Way Too Early To Say Anything More. Because Plans Are Masterpieces Written On Sand, On A Stormy Beach, With The Tide Coming In. :}


Heh. So saith Ed. Who Knows Whereof He Speaks (and Writes).
love,
THO
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Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  03:22:12  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message

Perhaps we'll learn more in the next Elminster novel?

Every beginning has an end.
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7966 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  04:13:49  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message
Actually, I'm a bit surprised by part of that response. My understanding was that Larloch was more created by the collective TSR/WotC staff than by Ed, at least beyond name and perhaps the briefest rough character synopsis. Also, Telamont (then named Shadow) featured rather prominently in the published Netheril sourcebook, although certainly not as prominently as the Telamont we know from later D&D products.

I learn something new every day. The best laid plans are subject to windstorms and high tide, eh?

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 09 Sep 2011 04:15:01
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  04:23:09  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
No, the concept of Larloch lasting and lasting and pursuing magic for its own sake and compelling many liches to be his servitors is definitely Ed. I know that thanks to reading fiction snippets and participating in Realmsplay before TSR started publishing the Realms as a setting/line (as opposed to glimpses of it in Ed's early DRAGON articles).
Larloch with "hard" 3e game stats is largely the work of TSR/WotC staffers, yes, drawing on discussions with Ed . . . but the approach of leaving him "nebulous and more powerful than the PCs" was a TSR design decision, too (that Ed agreed with, willingly shelving the stats and details he had for Larloch).
love,
THO
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7966 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  04:43:38  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message
A short story about one of Elminster's youthful adventures, describing how he and Khelben infiltrated (and eventually escaped) Larloch's Lich Legion in the hopes of acquiring a glimpse of some ancient magical MacGuffin ... aha, the possibilities. Larloch (and his sandy stats, which I hope remain stored safely away from windstorms and high tides) could actually be the MacGuffin, remaining as indefinably unwritten as ever, even while all the while thwarting Elminster's efforts from behind the scenes.

[/Ayrik]
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Therise
Master of Realmslore

1272 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  05:39:51  Show Profile Send Therise a Private Message
It's said that if you talk too much about Larloch, he will hear you... and come to claim you.




Female, 40-year DM of a homebrew-evolved 1E Realms, including a few added tidbits of 2E and 3E lore; played originally in AD&D, then in Rolemaster. Be a DM for your kids and grandkids, gaming is excellent for families!

Edited by - Therise on 09 Sep 2011 05:42:34
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Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  06:41:18  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

A short story about one of Elminster's youthful adventures, describing how he and Khelben infiltrated (and eventually escaped) Larloch's Lich Legion in the hopes of acquiring a glimpse of some ancient magical MacGuffin ... aha, the possibilities. Larloch (and his sandy stats, which I hope remain stored safely away from windstorms and high tides) could actually be the MacGuffin, remaining as indefinably unwritten as ever, even while all the while thwarting Elminster's efforts from behind the scenes.

Mystra and Larloch have some kind of special relationship/agreement. I doubt if the returned Mystra would ever "allow" any of her Chosen to mess with the Great Lich.

Every beginning has an end.
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7966 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  06:49:08  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message
As if Mystra really knows what her mages are up to anyhow. No doubt such spells as Elminster's eschewed obfuscation, Khelben's combobulation shell, and Larloch's Weave-bounce would keep her distracted enough. Sometimes boys just wanna play without mommy knowing what they're really up to.

[/Ayrik]
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Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  06:56:10  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message

Don't forget that Mystra has been keeping an eye on her own Chosen... After what happened to Sammaster and to some other renegade Chosen, it just makes sense that she does so.

Every beginning has an end.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  20:25:56  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all.
Dennis, re. this: "Perhaps we'll learn more in the next Elminster novel?"
Ed responds:

Nope. Unless you're REALLY good at perceiving things behind what's shown up front, onstage, in the text.
However, the next El book, ELMINSTER ENRAGED, is only the third book of six, so . . .


So saith Ed. Who's always playing a long game. Using a very large cast, in a really big setting. Not following a simple lone-thread plot in the foreground. Trust me. In recent play, some of the Knights came across an answer to something that had been puzzling us since . . . 1979.
love,
THO
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Rhewtani
Senior Scribe

USA
508 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  21:33:55  Show Profile Send Rhewtani a Private Message
Wow. I was born in '79.
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 09 Sep 2011 :  22:07:14  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
Ed said Mystra was a "drooling retard?"
Citation, please. Because I sure don't remember that.

"Isn't that weird and gross?"
What? Feeling love for someone is weird and gross?
(Ed's novels say nothing about Storm wanting to have sex with Elminster, so far as I can find. Just wanting to let Elminster know how much she loves him.)

Oh, forget it. Casts "Begone, Troll!"
BB

Edited by - Blueblade on 09 Sep 2011 22:09:04
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