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Sightless
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 22 Oct 2012 :  12:56:10  Show Profile Send Sightless a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

I recall a long evening of discussion about that artifact, Eilserus, and as I recall (consulting notes I made, back then) it aided Red Wizards in at least three ways:
A Red Wizard could "blow" all the magic they had left, one spell or a dozen, to power a teleport of themselves (only; they could bring along non-living items they were wearing or holding or that were strapped to them, of a total less than their own body mass) back to the artifact. In other words, a "word of recall"-like escape.
A Red Wizard could call on the artifact to heal them; it would drain the Red Wizard's choice of his/her own memorized spells, instantly giving them hit points equal to twice spell level (so a fireball, 3rd level, gave a wounded Red Wizard back 6 hp). The involvement of the artifact made certain that healing was absolute (wounds and organs knit perfectly with no scars, severed digits that were held in place during healing would reattach, etc.).
A Red Wizard could when memorizing spells (in the usual 2nd edition manner) memorize an extra spell of each spell level they could use, from the roster of spells in their books, and "hang" this spell in the artifact, ready for them to cast later (by silent act of will, no V,S, or M components necessary but taking an entire round of concentration). So they could "go to war" confident they could use a full roster of memorized spells, plus one extra per level.
That's just what my notes have, along with this cryptic note: "powered by a Tharchioness who can channel its greater powers out through a remote Red Wizard but will burn that wizard internally doing so, fatally if too much channeled, or deny any Red Wizard access to the artifact, at will; zulkirs forbidden to go near" (that would be near the artifact). We'll have to wait for Ed to provide more, and it MIGHT still be NDA, being as it's part of the history of the Red Wizards (Ed's creation, along with Thay, the zulkirs, tharches and their rulers, and so on) that an author might try to resurrect and use.
love,
THO



A thousand thanks, I can use this, for my project on Thay.

We choose to live a lie, when we see with, & not through the eye.

Every decision, no matter the evidence, is a leap of faith; if it were not, then it wouldn't be a choice at all.
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 22 Oct 2012 :  23:09:07  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
Agreed, great catch! And thank you for the lore, THO.

My guesses are the 'Tharchioness' was safe-keeping a deific artifact (because only a god could keep all the Zulkirs at bay), and that that artifact was re-appropriated by the deity in-question during the ToT. So who's power-level went up (or ascended) as an after-effect of the Avatar Crisis? (aside, of course, from the major players involved in the stories.)

Lets see how close to the mark I get.

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

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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore

USA
1446 Posts

Posted - 22 Oct 2012 :  23:32:38  Show Profile Send Eilserus a Private Message
Sure thing, page 127.
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LadyRhian
Acolyte

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 22 Oct 2012 :  23:57:49  Show Profile  Visit LadyRhian's Homepage Send LadyRhian a Private Message
Does anyone know the Adjective form of Kara-Tur? Is it "Kara-Turian", "Kara-Turan"? I have been searching the game books, modules and boxed set and haven't found it. And what about those of the different nations making up Kara-Tur, like Wa?
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  01:52:10  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
It's not quite a question for Ed, but I'll take this one.

I've references in my own notebooks that states "Kara-Turan" as the most appropriate form. Sources indicated are Forgotten Realms Adventures pg. 11 and Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark pg. 93.

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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

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

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
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Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  02:24:17  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message

Indeed, great catch. And thanks, THO, for the lore. That should be used in any Thay-centric novels. Speaking of, I understand that Thay is Ed's creation, yet why hasn't he written any novels set (primarily) in it? Personal choice? WotC's dictate?

Every beginning has an end.
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LadyRhian
Acolyte

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  03:27:10  Show Profile  Visit LadyRhian's Homepage Send LadyRhian a Private Message
Thank you kindly, Sage!
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LadyRhian
Acolyte

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  06:24:16  Show Profile  Visit LadyRhian's Homepage Send LadyRhian a Private Message
Okay, some questions for Ed and THO. I'm wondering about the sex lives of monks in the Forgotten Realms. Being that their monks are not the monks we think of in Western culture, and aren't really Far Eastern monks, either (given that Danica Maupoissant married and had children with Cadderly Bonaduce). Are monks in the Forgotten Realms allowed to have relationships? And is this decision made by the monk him or herself, their superior at the Monastery they are raised at, or by the order the Monastery is a part of? And if Monks are allowed to marry and have children, where do these loved ones and offspring stay when the monk is at his or her monastery? I assume, that, like the children of clerics, these children are prime candidates to be future monks.

Secondly, on a related note, I noticed in one of the earlier year replies from Ed, it was implied that homosexuality and "other" sexuality is not considered with any great horror or interest in the Realms. Is there any sort of prejudice at all towards people whose sexualities are not the "Usual" ones (asexuals, polysexuals, bisexuals, etc.) in the Realms, and if so, who or what is this from? i.e. Religious, cultural, etc. Is there any specific religion which looks down on "Non-standard" sexual interests. (Shiallia, I noticed, thinks that all creatures should produce offspring- how does this work out in a day to day fashion?) I'm sorry if this "rustles anyone's jimmies" so to speak, but I love this aspect of the Realms, and I wondered how this plays out. Is any kind of attitude which looks down on these sexualities accepted if it comes out of a certain faith, or is it something that people would call the person expressing such an attitude out on? Do characters of an evil persuasion have more of a chance to be against such relations? And would such an attitude, if it exists, be more likely to occur in the smaller towns/hamlets or in big cities? Or is it just a non-issue entirely? Or am I completely wrong? I ask because with the release of the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, they are adding a character who is bisexual, and this has some people in an uproar about how such things don't exist in the Realms... which I know from reading this website, and these threads, just aren't true. But I was wondering about the attitude towards such things as a whole. And I apologize in advance if any of this has been asked before... there are so many threads, and I don't have much time to read them. I am going through them SLOWLY, but I did hope to get some kind of official or semi-official feedback. I apologize also about asking about such a hot-button topic. If only there was some way of searching these threads... Or did I just miss how to do so?

Another thing is... when it comes to festhalls, is there some way of knowing if a particular festhall caters to your, um, tastes? A long time ago, I read a fantasy novel where the houses had a system of colored lanterns hung outside to signal that they catered to :women for women (pink), Men for men (green), Men for women (gold/yellow) and women for men (white/clear). Is there something similar or analogous in the Realms?

Edited by - LadyRhian on 23 Oct 2012 13:58:56
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Brimstone
Great Reader

USA
3285 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  14:58:54  Show Profile Send Brimstone a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

I recall a long evening of discussion about that artifact, Eilserus, and as I recall (consulting notes I made, back then) it aided Red Wizards in at least three ways:
A Red Wizard could "blow" all the magic they had left, one spell or a dozen, to power a teleport of themselves (only; they could bring along non-living items they were wearing or holding or that were strapped to them, of a total less than their own body mass) back to the artifact. In other words, a "word of recall"-like escape.
A Red Wizard could call on the artifact to heal them; it would drain the Red Wizard's choice of his/her own memorized spells, instantly giving them hit points equal to twice spell level (so a fireball, 3rd level, gave a wounded Red Wizard back 6 hp). The involvement of the artifact made certain that healing was absolute (wounds and organs knit perfectly with no scars, severed digits that were held in place during healing would reattach, etc.).
A Red Wizard could when memorizing spells (in the usual 2nd edition manner) memorize an extra spell of each spell level they could use, from the roster of spells in their books, and "hang" this spell in the artifact, ready for them to cast later (by silent act of will, no V,S, or M components necessary but taking an entire round of concentration). So they could "go to war" confident they could use a full roster of memorized spells, plus one extra per level.
That's just what my notes have, along with this cryptic note: "powered by a Tharchioness who can channel its greater powers out through a remote Red Wizard but will burn that wizard internally doing so, fatally if too much channeled, or deny any Red Wizard access to the artifact, at will; zulkirs forbidden to go near" (that would be near the artifact). We'll have to wait for Ed to provide more, and it MIGHT still be NDA, being as it's part of the history of the Red Wizards (Ed's creation, along with Thay, the zulkirs, tharches and their rulers, and so on) that an author might try to resurrect and use.
love,
THO


Thats bad ass!

"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep
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The Red Walker
Great Reader

USA
3563 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  16:38:55  Show Profile Send The Red Walker a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

I recall a long evening of discussion about that artifact, Eilserus, and as I recall (consulting notes I made, back then) it aided Red Wizards in at least three ways:
A Red Wizard could "blow" all the magic they had left, one spell or a dozen, to power a teleport of themselves (only; they could bring along non-living items they were wearing or holding or that were strapped to them, of a total less than their own body mass) back to the artifact. In other words, a "word of recall"-like escape.
A Red Wizard could call on the artifact to heal them; it would drain the Red Wizard's choice of his/her own memorized spells, instantly giving them hit points equal to twice spell level (so a fireball, 3rd level, gave a wounded Red Wizard back 6 hp). The involvement of the artifact made certain that healing was absolute (wounds and organs knit perfectly with no scars, severed digits that were held in place during healing would reattach, etc.).
A Red Wizard could when memorizing spells (in the usual 2nd edition manner) memorize an extra spell of each spell level they could use, from the roster of spells in their books, and "hang" this spell in the artifact, ready for them to cast later (by silent act of will, no V,S, or M components necessary but taking an entire round of concentration). So they could "go to war" confident they could use a full roster of memorized spells, plus one extra per level.
That's just what my notes have, along with this cryptic note: "powered by a Tharchioness who can channel its greater powers out through a remote Red Wizard but will burn that wizard internally doing so, fatally if too much channeled, or deny any Red Wizard access to the artifact, at will; zulkirs forbidden to go near" (that would be near the artifact). We'll have to wait for Ed to provide more, and it MIGHT still be NDA, being as it's part of the history of the Red Wizards (Ed's creation, along with Thay, the zulkirs, tharches and their rulers, and so on) that an author might try to resurrect and use.
love,
THO


Thats bad ass!



Well Ed has been the creator of Realms Bad-Assery for the better part of half a century!

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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  18:56:23  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all.
LadyRhian, those are great questions, and deserve full-on answers (from Ed, as well as other interested scribes), but I can make a quick beginning at some of them.

"Are monks in the Forgotten Realms allowed to have relationships? And is this decision made by the monk him or herself, their superior at the Monastery they are raised at, or by the order the Monastery is a part of? And if Monks are allowed to marry and have children, where do these loved ones and offspring stay when the monk is at his or her monastery?"
The quickie answer is: it depends on the faith.

"I assume, that, like the children of clerics, these children are prime candidates to be future monks."
Quickie Answer: Very much yes.

"Another thing is... when it comes to festhalls, is there some way of knowing if a particular festhall caters to your, um, tastes? A long time ago, I read a fantasy novel where the houses had a system of colored lanterns hung outside to signal that they catered to :women for women (pink), Men for men (green), Men for women (gold/yellow) and women for men (white/clear). Is there something similar or analogous in the Realms?"
Quickie Answer: in some places, and with some festhalls. Other festhalls have "discreet" entrances and profiles, and still others pretend to be (or really, partly, are) something else (like an eatery/restaurant, themed club, etc.).

Real answers must wait for now. Ed continues to be furiously busy.
love,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 23 Oct 2012 :  20:22:58  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
I've another question or three, inspired by Elminster's Forgotten Realms.... In the section on The Watch, it mentions that the Waterdhavian watch has several high vantage points it uses to look over the city.

Is the Plinth one of these points?

On a related note, how is order maintained at the Plinth? Are there Watchmembers stationed there, is it just on a patrol route, do various temples put guards there, or is it only checked out in times of trouble?

On a related note, applying to both Waterdeep and other areas, how is it handled when a crime happens on temple grounds? Is it handled by civic authorities, the priesthood, or both?

And what if a worshipper of a deity commits a crime and tries to take sanctuary in a temple?

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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  02:21:55  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

On a related note, how is order maintained at the Plinth? Are there Watchmembers stationed there, is it just on a patrol route, do various temples put guards there, or is it only checked out in times of trouble?
It's not really a query, as such, but this has got me thinking about the period when the Cult of Ao briefly visited the Plinth. I can imagine that situation would've been difficult/disruptive for other worshippers to handle -- especially in the immediate aftermath of the Time of Troubles. Maybe to the point where the Watch was called in to help restore order.

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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  04:41:33  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Wooly and Sage,
Answers to your questions had better come from Ed, but re. these, I can comment a little:

". . .how is it handled when a crime happens on temple grounds? Is it handled by civic authorities, the priesthood, or both?"
I can speak only for Waterdeep, Suzail, and the Dales. For crimes only against the conduct of the faith (a priest doing something wrong vis-a-vis temple doctrine), the clergy usually tries to handle it internally. For anything else, they call in the local authorities - - and except in rare instances, can't keep them out if the crime is known outside the temple walls to have occurred (and the authorities don't want to leave it up to the clergy).

"And what if a worshipper of a deity commits a crime and tries to take sanctuary in a temple?"
Heh. EVERYONE'S a worshipper of multiple deities, remember. The concept of sanctuary in a temple applies only to some faiths and some places, not universally across the Realms. I'd say it doesn't hold sway in most places, rather than does.
But of course, Ed is the Voice and Master. I'm just Her Master's Voice.
love,
THO
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  05:39:11  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
Okay, this is a rough one. I've been researching Tethgard (and found several very interesting responses by Ed in former years), which of course lead to some interesting things about Mirt (suppositions about who or what he could be related to). I haven't read Elminster Enraged yet (I've read the 1st two), but I was just wondering if anything further has been revealed about Mirt's past (now that he is 'up and about' again) in that book?

Its pretty obvious he is an agent of Mystra, if not a Chosen (he was one of the ones contacted by Elminster while he was in hell), but I was wondering more about his... familial background. It seems whatever ancestor he was talking about (in regards to Duskreene) was around even before Elminster was born. Am I on the right track, here? Anything you could say without giving me any spoilers? (I've read the first two, so no worries on spoilers there - I know what happened to him up to that point).

In 2007, you said, "Just who and where Mirt’s immediate ancestors hailed from, I’m afraid I’m keeping NDA for now (future fiction plans, of course)." Was that fiction The Sage of Shadowdale series, and if so, can you now reveal more?

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


Edited by - Markustay on 24 Oct 2012 05:51:32
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  18:38:41  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi, all! Back near the end of June, createvmind posed this question: "Ed can you tell us of some plants or fungus in your realms that if ingested or skin contact cause hallucinations for minutes or longer periods and where they could be found? Thanks."
Well, Ed just sent me an e-mail that included this example:

Most Realmsfolk know not to ingest mushrooms or toadstools unless they are very, very certain of what sort they are. However, the Wealdath and the forests of Turmish and Starmantle (plus a scattering of woodlands in between, notably in southwesternmost Cormyr and south of Tunland) harbor a small brown mushroom that grows in clumps (about the size of long, slender human fingers, topped by narrow, pointed rust-brown caps), and is known, imaginatively enough, as "rustcaps." If ingested, these can induce comas, always bring on drowsiness accompanied by drunken-like imbalance, slurred speech, and blurred vision, and sometimes trigger already-carried illnesses. However, mere skin contact with healthy individuals, in brief passing, can cause sporadic hallucinations for about half a day thereafter, such images being drawn from the brain's memories rather than surroundings (so an afflicted might see someone loved or hated from their past, or someone who intrigued them or whom they fear, from a distant place). These hallucinations are vivid and prolonged (so a hallucinated person might appear to move through a landscape or the rooms of a building, rather than just being glimpsed briefly), but "wink out" abruptly when done.

So saith Ed. More Realmslore. Ed has said nothing about the harvesting or uses of rustcaps as a weapon,/poison, medicine, or anything else, so I'll pester him about that.
love,
THO
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire

USA
15724 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  18:53:24  Show Profile Send Markustay a Private Message
Nice.

I think you may have just revealed more then you meant to, noting the locations. Just more confirmation of some of my suspicions.

Starmantle, eh? {smirk}

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

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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  21:24:20  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
Dear Ed and THO,
I hope to be able to do a "drive by" at World Fantasy next week. Will you both be there, or just Ed, or...?
BB
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Sage of Stars
Seeker

USA
59 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  21:30:51  Show Profile  Visit Sage of Stars's Homepage Send Sage of Stars a Private Message
Heh. I'm certainly hoping Ed will be there. I want to put a business proposition to him. (I hope I won't have to take a number.)
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe

242 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  21:33:56  Show Profile  Visit Malcolm's Homepage Send Malcolm a Private Message
Well, if I ever manage to corner Ed at a convention again, be warned: I have a list of ten NDAs I most want to nudge Ed on removing or wangling a way around.
Yes, I know Wizards is the creator, instigator, and keeper of the NDAs, but I need Ed to keep nibbling away at them, so we can get more long-awaited Realmslore on particular things. LOTS of particular things.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2012 :  21:55:33  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Well, barring unforeseen mischance (to borrow one of Ed's favourite phrases), Ed will be at World Fantasy AND SfContario3, during the first two weekends of November. However, I won't be () thanks to being on assignment during that time. Sigh.
love to all,
THO
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 25 Oct 2012 :  03:13:53  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message
Greetings Ed,

I've been rereading some of the great lore-filled entries in Pages from the Mages, when I happened upon a little tidbit that might prove to be something of an interesting addition for my current campaign. So, to add yet-another-question to my growing eight-year's worth of queries pending for Ed's answer...

From the entry on "The Shadowtome," you make reference to a group of merchant-mages operating in Calimshan known as 'the Brothers Six.' What more can you share with me about them -- and, also, about their operations both in and around Calimport before they were slain by Khelben?

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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 25 Oct 2012 :  04:27:49  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all.
Sage, Ed is deep in a certain writing project right now, but I can share two things about the Brothers Six:
1. They were all Calishites, but they weren't real brothers, and one of them wasn't even male, though she kept this secret from everyone except the two fellow Brothers she'd had an affair with, and her closest maidservant.
2. They were involved in many legitimate and illicit (swindles, smuggling, and dealing in stolen goods) business dealings, and one of their most interesting legitimate ones was breeding larger and less bony edible fish, using magic to try to "shift the breed" (genetically modify) their fish stocks (they controlled saltwater pens of fish just offshore in the Lake of Steam near Yeshpek). They also, at one time, owned most of the brothels in Almraiven.

However, this is all I have (from things let slip by a talkative sage we interviewed, in-character), so for their doings around Calimport, we'll have to await Ed's wise counsel.
love,
THO
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LadyRhian
Acolyte

USA
6 Posts

Posted - 25 Oct 2012 :  12:07:44  Show Profile  Visit LadyRhian's Homepage Send LadyRhian a Private Message
Thank you very much for the quickie answer, THO! That's incredibly helpful. :) And whenever Ed gets a free moment to rub two braincells together. :) Tell him we all wish him the best on what he's occupied with.
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Infamous
Acolyte

42 Posts

Posted - 27 Oct 2012 :  09:03:49  Show Profile Send Infamous a Private Message
Hi everyone,


Here's a question for Ed and the Lady of the Hood:

When the Weave (and Mystra) was mostly gone during the Spellplague, how did Elminster, Storm and others avoid the effects of aging?

A related question is Elminster's relationship to his aging body (before certain events). Storm is supple and athletic, but El suffers with his old sack of bones. How so? She is roughly half his age; she feels like a supple girl of twenty; and neither one has been actually aging...

This could be quite useful information. If there are ways to keep people alive during the 100-year jump, maybe we can still use a few favorite NPCs — great characters taken away from our Realms by a century of natural aging, which is a major loss.


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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 27 Oct 2012 :  16:01:21  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all. Infamous, your questions ask about matters that have been extensive discussed among we Knights (Ed's players), with Ed, and even more extensively discussed by various Wizards staffers and Realms freelancers. Many of the answers are NDA, but in general: the Chosen carry some of Mystra's silver fire within them (part of her divine power). She cannot wrest it from them, nor can anyone else, directly, though a damaged/dying Chosen will "leak" it out, to return to the Weave (Mystra) if it isn't captured by someone else.
So the short, simplified, stickhandling around NDAs answer is that silver fire within them prevents Chosen from aging.

As for El feeling "on his last legs" while Storm doesn't: Storm casts very little magic, relative to all the other Chosen except Dove. So she "wears out" her body, and depletes her silver fire, FAR less than el, one of the most magically active of the Chosen. Storm is in such good shape at the time of ELMINSTER MUST DIE! that she can act as an "anchor" for El during spellcasting that would otherwise leave him raving-insane.

And as for favourite characters surviving the century of "skipped over" Realms time: Ed and others have already presented, in fiction and in articles, literally dozens of ways that characters can survive the time jump. Trapped in magic items, caught in stasis, "hung up" during a jaunt between gates/portals, magically transformed into something enduring for most of that time, and so on...
And yes, being in contact with silver fire (even if it's just in an item carried on the character's body or that is daily near to the character - - such as under their bed or on the mantel ) would enable even an entirely unwitting mortal to survive long years, beyond their normal lifespan...
[[This has been Ed's favourite way of having long-lived NPCs: wizards, sages, and others who possess rings or other items that trap tiny amounts of silver fire, and so keep them alive for decades longer than usual, because they age very, very slowly...]]

So there you have about as much as Ed can share, paraphrased by me (because it comes from my notes of what he said).
love,
THO
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Infamous
Acolyte

42 Posts

Posted - 27 Oct 2012 :  16:12:55  Show Profile Send Infamous a Private Message
Wow. Fascinating answer, Lady THO. Thank you so much.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 27 Oct 2012 :  17:46:10  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, everybody.
Sage, a postscript re. the Brothers Six: they controlled (but tried to keep secret their involvement in) a kidnapping-for-hire service operating in Calimshan and Tethyr, whose clients were mainly nobility and ambitious merchants seeking to "get rid of" rivals.
(Just found another note I made, from Realmsplay with Ed as DM.)
love,
THO
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 29 Oct 2012 :  03:19:14  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message
Hello THO and Ed,

Ed, could you please tell us more about Lythton wine (as mentioned in the recipe list on page 87 of Elminster's Forgotten Realms), assuming it's not a real-world wine, but one native to the Realms?

Thank you!

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Infamous
Acolyte

42 Posts

Posted - 29 Oct 2012 :  09:34:53  Show Profile Send Infamous a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all. Infamous, your questions ask about matters that have been extensive discussed among we Knights (Ed's players), with Ed, and even more extensively discussed by various Wizards staffers and Realms freelancers. Many of the answers are NDA ... the short, simplified, stickhandling around NDAs answer is that silver fire within them prevents Chosen from aging.




This is more revealing than I thought. If silver fire remains active even when the Weave is torn, even when the Goddess of Magic is gone, and it is still powerful enough to prevent aging... Then Mystra's energy is never really gone from the world, even in critically adverse conditions. This changes the way I see the Goddess.

The implicit idea is that her ancient blessings last through time. If Storm can still call upon silver fire even after the spellplague, a former Chosen of Mystryl could call upon it too, and in this way, still be faintly but intrinsically connected to She Who Is Magic.

It may be far-fatched, but I'm having fun.

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