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Caladan Brood
Senior Scribe
Norway
410 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Feb 2013 : 19:39:10
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Hello. As I mentioned in the section for recently arrived scribes at Candlekeep I have just started out a new campaign using AD&D and the Campaign Setting boxed set. The characters are traveling the Coast Way, most likely going north from Beregost to Candlekeep (!) and Baldur's Gate. I have access to basically everything 2nd Edition FR but I am still stumped about a few things. I realize that I can make up whatever I want but maybe there are suggestions to be read here...so here are a few questions:
1. Are there any settlements between Beregost and Baldur's Gate?
2. What is the Coast Way made of? Rock, trampled earth?
3. What does one see when walking this road? Farmlands? Plains?
4. Are there any encounter tables for this stretch?
5. What's at the junction between Coast Way and Way of the Lion?
6. Who, if any, patrols these roads? Lots of merchant traffic here.
7. What kind of vegetation is there in the area?
I like to envision these details, if only for my own satisfaction :)
Oh, one last question (for now...):
I am bit confused because info on the Internet is "current"- I am aware there's a Spellplague and stuff, and so I am confused about the firmament: Is there one moon with a "tail" of glittering rocks in the sky or two moons? In 1366 DR, that is.
Thank you for perusing.
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7970 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2013 : 20:14:02
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Toril has only the one moon, Selūne, eponymous with the moon Goddess, and it is trailed by an "asteroid/debris cluster" of sparkling/dancing magical motes which varies in length but by some accounts can arc across almost one-third of the celestial hemisphere during high moon. Selūne itself is often described in a way which suggests it appears larger in Toril's sky than our moon does from Earth. FR fiction sometimes alludes that different colours of the moon indicate moods and portents of the goddess.
I'd asked Ed about satellites around Abeir (Toril's cognate planet, as of 4E) ... back in early 2011 ... no reply as yet. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 04 Feb 2013 20:16:49 |
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Caladan Brood
Senior Scribe
Norway
410 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2013 : 21:05:48
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Thanks for the answer :) Seems there's not much info on the Coast Way, then. A completely unrelated question (don't feel like scribing a new scroll for this) ..
What can be seen directly outside the walls of Waterdeep, to the east? The maps are just empty kind of. |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2013 : 00:52:30
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Untamed wilderness with tended farmlands near villages and towns lies to both sides of the Coast Way. The mostly clay and sandy basin area, formed by the combined rivers flowing from Graypeak Mountains (northeast), the Far Hills (west), the Troll Mountians (southwest) and the Cloudtop Peaks (south), is littered with the ruins of failed dreams - abandoned villages, empty towers and dungeons. Some remains of even old Ilefarn, a dwarven and elven kingdom that neighbored Netheril, are sometimes (re)discovered. Trade routes here are often over 12 000 years old, so well worn and packed clayen routes carve into the landscape.
To the East of the Coast Way near Baldurs Gate, North of the Chiantor river lies a grassy landscape called the Fields of the Dead, which is sometimes broken up by small woods. The remains of the ancient Calimshan battlefields are occasionally unearthed by the plows of Baldurian farmers. The areas near Baldurs Gate are tended by cattle (lots of sheep) or farmed.
To the east of the Coast Way near Bereghost a grassy hilly landscape that is dominated by the Wood of Sharp Teeth (the Spider wood, Larswood and Pelvale). The occasional ruined manors, bandit inhabited huts and towers or ogre infested hilltop villages can be found of the beaten path. The Way of the Lion lies perpendicular to one such hilltops.
To the south of Bereghost's coastway (where the Coast Way goes into the Trade Way) the landscape is dominated by the descending scree (rock rubble) from the Cloudpeak mountains, so a wooded rocky hillland (crags) can be found here. Bandits, Gibberlings and Gnolls prey from mountain top camps on the caravans that pendel from the mines to Amn and Baldurs Gate. The forified hilltop town Nashkell keeps them from descending too low into the valleys.
To the west of the Coast Way a sandy clay estuary, formed by all the small (underground) streams and rivers coming down from the Cloudtop mountains and Beregosts higher lying farmlands flowing into the Sea of Swords, holds a vegetation of wet grasslands and coastal forests. The Seawatchers ruins lies along a less traveled seaside route between Candlekeep and Nashkell, on a small peninsula of grasslands. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
Edited by - Bladewind on 10 Feb 2013 02:24:06 |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2013 : 04:32:25
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1. A few locations appear on the Interactive Atlas. Friendly Arm, a keep just east of Cloak Wood, has been renovated by a gnome named Bentley Mirrorshade, and provides a happy rest stop for travelers. Ulgoth's Beard is just west of Baldur's Gate, and Cragmyr Keep is just south of Beregost. Also, the tiny island just off the coast at the mouth of the Chionthar is called Skarn's Rock. Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast briefly describes The Friendly Arm (p39) and Ulgoth's Beard (p61-62).
Sorry, I don't have any official answers to your other questions. Have fun with it!  |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2013 : 15:32:15
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THIS is everything 'canon'. However, the assumption here should be there are probably dozens of tiny little settlements all along that route, just insignificant and unnamed (thus-far).
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
Toril has only the one moon... <snip>
That we know of and as of right now. 
I only felt a need to point that out because I have a sneaking suspicion that statement wasn't always the case. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Caladan Brood
Senior Scribe
Norway
410 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2013 : 08:28:11
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I found a good look at the environment just outside Waterdeep's east wall in an old issue of DRAGON Magazine. Made me happy as a beetle.
I'm still pondering the crossroads Way of the Lion/The Coast Way, I'm thinking a large obelisk indicating the distance to Beregost and Candlekeep, and maybe a small watchtower for road patrols. Other suggestions? I'm thinking that there are no taverns or inns here as it's close to Beregost, but maybe there are ideas for how to "build" this crossroads? |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2013 : 16:15:37
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Funny - I always thought an Inn (Waystop) should be at that crossroads as well. The intersection is still a good days travel from Beregost.
Some of the terrain on my map was adapted from the BG video game, as best as I could fit it (some things fit amazingly well, others... not so much). You may want to check some of those maps out for inspiration. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Caladan Brood
Senior Scribe
Norway
410 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2013 : 20:55:20
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Hey, that's a beautiful map! Thanks for posting to it. I think I've actually accidentally googled it up but thought it was "just" a map based on the game what did I know. Now that I am giving it a thorough look I see there's been a lot of work done. Well I've already made a map of Beregost itself (which doesn't resemble Baldur's Gate that much as I based it on the description in Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast) but it still helpful - thanks a lot. Incidentally I have the ruins of Ulcaster much closer to town so that the characters, as they came close to town (from the south) they actually saw the hill with the ruins in the distance to the east. Not that any of it *really* matters, it's just that I've become obsessed over the last month or so with getting the Realms "right". I guess I'm not the only one .. :)
Edit:
Also, why have I always thought of Baldur's Gate as being directly on the coast with the harbors facing the Sea of Swords? I have played the game several times and I've seen the maps and still I have trouble envisioning the city on the river :) I wonder what's directly outside the city walls - farmland? |
Edited by - Caladan Brood on 13 Feb 2013 20:57:01 |
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Marco Volo
Learned Scribe
France
201 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2013 : 07:28:09
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| As we can see in the PC game, outside the walls of Baldur's Gate, there's some grassy plains and isolated farms with agricultural crop. Along the river, why not setting a little hamlet (50-100 farmers and peasants) for a little local adventure ? |
Edited by - Marco Volo on 14 Feb 2013 07:28:59 |
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The Coast Way
