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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 10 Jun 2004 :  23:36:30  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Greetings, all. Thy scantily Hooded One gently returns, with a brief offering of Realmslore from Ed, this time for Capn Charlie:


Dice games: some, when I have time. The cuisines, too.
Let’s give you a glimpse of Turmish fare: olives and olive oil, roasted almonds, spiced greens [with both the spices and the greens derived locally, the former being mainly ground blackroot, which is like pepper, and mursinom, which has a rich, beef-gravy-like taste; and the latter being mainly broadpetal, a leaf-lettuce-like plant that grows wild in great abundance; and salaspers [fiddleheads of various ferns that develop continuously from early spring to first frost, not all reaching edibility in a brief spring unison], butter-fried small fowl and fish.
Most local meals consist of small, brown nutbread loaves served on a platter with cheeses (local cheeses are soft, crumbly white cheeses veined with chives and other herbs, and go by such names as “calmarr” and “ornsoelaun” -- but inns and wealthy homes pride themselves on serving small slivers of imported-from-afar cheeses, too); onion and chive soups; and a meat or fish dish surrounded by a ring of seasoned greens.
Simple meals tend to consist of bread, a stew, and boar sausage or slabfry (bacon), with figs and nuts as dessert. A farm wife dressing such a meal up would add garlic butter to accompany the bread, radishes, and a soup. In coastal areas, eel pie and fishhead soup are often found on cottage tables -- and almost every house has its stand of chives and its asparagus bed (steamed or boiled and served drenched in butter, with the woodier stalks finding their ways into stews, asparagus is known locally as “greenspears” or “orsauda”).
Beer and blackberry wine are the usual cheap, local daily quaffs (augmented by mintwater in the high hills, where clear spring water can readily be obtained), and desserts are usually sugar-preserved berries [sometimes doused in cream].
Grander main fare tends to be stewed venison and staghead platters (yes, the severed head of a stag, boiled clean and then stuffed with “sarvaer,” a jelly-like stew of diced, spiced and slow-cooked stag innards [all organs, from brains to tripes]. The skull is then covered with very thin slices of stagmeat, large cherries are placed in the eyesockets, and the whole assemblage is then heated in an oven before being served forth.
The folk of Turmish have a taste for the wines of the Vilhon, and love to devour great bowls of frothy, sugared whipped cream (studded with berries when available).


So saith Ed. Me, I’m going straight to the kitchen to devour a whole lot of SOMEthing after reading this.
Hmm; I guess my curves are going to become parabolas. Again.

THO
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Taelohn
Acolyte

36 Posts

Posted - 11 Jun 2004 :  00:07:09  Show Profile  Visit Taelohn's Homepage Send Taelohn a Private Message
quote:
... It may have already been asked in which case someone can just restate it for me.

... Also can Shar grant her followers corrupted versions of the same power Mystra gives hers? (spellfire, silver fire, etc.)


Though not on this board, I did ask him that very question some time ago. If it'll save him some time, I'll try to paraphrase Ed's explanation as best I remember - and if the Hooded One would be so kind as to pass this on as well, perhaps he can correct or expand on it?

Yes, Shar can bestow an equivalent to spellfire (hereafter called "darkfire", though I don't think that's an official term yet). However, she is not Mystra's equal. While Shar has the ability to replicate such things with the Shadow Weave, she rarely does so.

Mystra commands a great deal more power - at times, the Weave builds up too much. And every now and then, she must get rid of some of it. It's like a cow that really needs to be milked (his comparison, not mine). :)

So, she parcels some of it it out to mortals. Silver fire is a refined form of this, but available only to her Chosen - and that heaps all sorts of other responsibilities onto them, so she must select wisely (or make them from scratch, so to speak, as with the Seven Sisters). With spellfire, she is less precise - she'll pick a seemingly random person to be born with it. Generally, in a location that the person could use the gift to help spread magic... or in a location where the existance of a spellfire-weilder would cause a ruckus (ie. Thay). Once Mystra has given spellfire to a mortal, she will not (and perhaps cannot) remove it by any means short of sending one of her agents to slay the person in question, if it becomes necessary.

Shar, on the other hand, does not possess that much power. The Shadow Weave is an echo, a literal shadow of the Weave - by granting such abilities to mortals, Shar would be actually drawing from and lessening her own power, ever so slightly. And since she's a secretive and evil woman, she guards her power closely. Thus, on the rare ocassions Shar grants darkfire to someone, it is only to a being that she specifically selects, never a random choice. Unlike Mystra, who grants it for life, Shar can and will adjust how much of the power they have, or take it away on a whim.

If you please her, you might get a little more. If she's not impressed with you, she'll take some away. She espically likes to do that if the darkfire-wielder in question has displeased her and is just about to settle an old score. ("Take this! ... uh oh." "What are you going to do, wave your fingers at me?")

It also acts somewhat differently, due to it's nature. Silver fire is refined and precise - a Chosen could fire a thin beam from their finger, have it move in a perfectly straight line, turn around a corner, and burn a single leg off of a spider. Spellfire, on the other hand, can't do any fancy tricks... it's just BOOM! - no spider at all, and no wall, either.

So you could think of silver fire as a very precise and accurate weapon, like a rapier. Spellfire is akin to a big, heavy broadsword. Darkfire is more like a sword with dozens of spikes and claws and hooks sticking out every-which-way. You produce a blast of spellfire with the Weave, which is energy and magic... the Shadow Weave is just the space between the tapestry, so it's like a grid that's pulling and tugging and clawing, and trying to rend and slice it's foes.

So someone being granted darkfire is possible - but unlikely. It should be almost the same, power-wise, as spellfire... though less wieldly. The "average" darkfire-weilder would most likely have less power in it than the average spellfire-weilder, since Shar's not willing to give much up. In theory, Shar could spend more of her power to really pump them up and make it better, but that's highly unreliable at best. You'd best kept her happy if you want to keep it (and/or live).

As for an equivalent to silver fire ('Black fire?' 'Shadow fire?'), it may be *possible*, but for several reasons, not too likely... I'm not sure.

At any rate, that's about all I recall on that particular topic. Now, we must wait and see if I related it correctly. :)
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Valondil the Ranger
Learned Scribe

USA
109 Posts

Posted - 11 Jun 2004 :  03:47:40  Show Profile  Visit Valondil the Ranger's Homepage Send Valondil the Ranger a Private Message
Mr. Greenwood, I have three questions for you:

1. Why was the Pride of the Lion cancelled in the Sembia Series?
2. When will your website be finished?
3. Well, this is actually a few questions in one. How much control do you have over the Realms? Is it you who makes up what's gonna happen or others? Also, do you get to see the manuscripts and short stories submitted? Do the editors ever run-in the good ones with you to see if you approve?

Thank you for answering our questions. I know we all greatly appreciate you taking this kind of time off your hands to answer us. Thanks again.

--Your humble ranger,
Valondil

Check out my webpage at http://iankappos.blogspot.com/
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader

USA
5517 Posts

Posted - 11 Jun 2004 :  04:06:04  Show Profile  Visit SiriusBlack's Homepage Send SiriusBlack a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Valondil the Ranger

Mr. Greenwood, I have three questions for you:

1. Why was the Pride of the Lion cancelled in the Sembia Series?




Dave Gross answered this question in the following thread.

I hope that helps.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 11 Jun 2004 :  04:34:26  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Well met again, fellow scribes. Ed (who tells me he hasn’t forgotten the older requests, and is probably at work on Ulgoth’s Beard as you first read this post) returns with another note for Capn Charlie:


Coinage is a topic of perennial interest (Faraer’s been waiting patiently for this -- and George Krashos provided coinage of Impiltur earlier here at Candlekeep), and (when done properly) a BIG topic, too. So let me provide just two coins here, that are widely used in Chessenta, the Vilhon, Border Kingdoms, and Tashalar (primarily for trade convenience, among traveling merchants).
These are the authokh [pronounced “OTH-awk”] and the belbolt (usually known merely as the “bolt”), and they began as the coins of a single city of Chessenta (which one is now forgotten).
An authokh is a square coin stamped out of delmed silver (“delming” is an alloying process that stops silver from tarnishing by combining it with copper and certain white metals in precise proportions that have the side effects of turning the silver a translucent green, and making its surface incapable of taking a high shine, no matter how polished), with a small central hole to allow it to be strung onto a pay-thong or wire loop. On one face, it bears an engraved ring of twelve leaves encircling the hole, and on the other a ring of twelve radiating daggers. Although originally worth 12 gp in Chessenta, authokhs today are universally valued at 5 gp.
Belbolts are thicky, heavy gold coins of curious shape: a circle with two shallow, matching cut-outs in its edges, so the result looks like two axe-heads fused back-to-back with curved blades outermost. Bolts are worth 20 gp.
Authokhs and belbolts are accepted in Amn, Scornubel, and Westgate, but not in Cormyr, Sembia, the Dales, the Dragonreach, the Moonsea, the Sword Coast lands, or Tethyr. In Calimshan and Waterdeep, an authokh is considered simply a silver piece and a belbolt is classed as “a heavy” (a gold piece worth 2 gp rather than just one).


So saith Ed, tireless spinner of Realmslore. Fare thee well until next, gentles,
THO
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The Black Hand of Bane
Acolyte

USA
14 Posts

Posted - 11 Jun 2004 :  15:08:54  Show Profile  Visit The Black Hand of Bane's Homepage Send The Black Hand of Bane a Private Message
Thanks Phaed--uhmm..Taelohn.

That answers some of my question. Hopefully Ed will clarify it a bit more for us and also let us know Shar's focus at the moment. (I guess I just don't see her being as obsessed with the shadow weave as WotC makes it. I think she's still got her other things going on, specailly something with whatever she did in the Archwizards books and the Karsus stone.)

"Here we may reign secure; and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell:
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." John Milton, Paradise Lost

What lies beyond
The Gates of Hell?
Find out this summer at [url=http://community.dicefreaks.com/]Dicefreaks[/url]
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
152 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  03:22:23  Show Profile Send Gerath Hoan a Private Message
Hi Ed, thanks for my last answer about religion. I really appreciate the time you take to do all of this for us.

Here's another question, this one as deep and involved as any i've seen asked... and for that i apologise in advance, but hard and fast answers to some of the following would be prime Realmslore to be treasured.

I'm intrigued by the frequent mentions of Cormyr being a "feudal" nation, yet there are many individual facts of Cormyrean life that i'm aware of which seemingly contradict that view. In my games i've rationalised many of them but i'm interested to know what the "cannon" (or to be blunt, your) answers might be.

Firstly, land owning nobility vs local lords... it seems odd in a feudal realm that the major towns and cities aren't controlled by the feudal landowners but instead by a crown appointee (often of negligible aristocratic background)... my rationale was that it was to prevent these towns from being run in such a way as to politically favour any one noble faction over the other... but the smallest hamlets, flea-speck villages and farmers markets would all still be run by the noble upon whose lands they're built.

Secondly, the presence of a profesional army is unusual for a feudal realm and calls the purpose of Knighthood (though not necessarily the lesser local militias) into question... are the officers of the Purple Dragons granted Knighthoods? I presumed that the common soldier was just that, of common birth. Is it possible to be granted a Knighthood without serving in the Purple Dragons? Does a simple Knighthood (as opposed to being made a Baronet or higher) grant any lands? Are there Knightly Orders to join in Cormyr (other than the commerative Golden Way) like in Tethyr?

Thirdly, could you provide us some hard and fast information on the rankings of Purple Dragons and of the Nobility and how they work in practice? That'd be fantastic. I did find an amazing treatment of Cormyrean nobility in the Realms-L archives, but i don't know who authored it and whether or not it could be considered cannon (the piece is called "Peers of the Forest Kingdom"). If anyone could clear up the status of that article for me i'd be very grateful.

And finally, (though this is far less important) most depictions of Purple Dragons i've found show men in Breastplates with Halberds... is that the typical soldier or a ceramonial guard? What is the typical armament for both the cavalry and an infantryman?

Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005
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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore

USA
1105 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  03:50:27  Show Profile  Visit Garen Thal's Homepage Send Garen Thal a Private Message
Gareth:

There have been many discussions, among very many people, about just these issues, and (as Ed already knows) have compiled what I believe to be "correct" answers. To reply to your queries in the briefest manner possible:

1. Cormyr is not really a fedual monarchy. Most nobles hold lands, but not all do, nor are all the lands they hold owned as part of their title; land is free to be purchased outright, by noble and commoner alike. For a more appropriate example of "feudalism" in the Realms, one should look to Tethyr. The cities and towns of the kingdom do not fall within any one noble or family's rule, and so the Crown (which actually 'owns' the various cities of Cormyr) appoints lords. There is less land in Cormyr owned and controlled by noble houses than there is which is free to all or owned by the throne.

2. Again, Cormyr is not a feudal realm. The various noble houses do owe military servies to the Crown, but do not number nearly enough to populate an army. The standing army represents the career soldiers of the country, and its officers the elevated commoners and nobles' sons who wish to provide military service. The nobles provide support in times of war and crisis (see the Horde crusade and the war against Nalavara for two examples), which swell the ranks of the Purple Dragons well beyond their standing strength.

Knighthood can be granted on any individual that does the Crown service, and knighthood itself does not grant any lands. Most, but not all, Purple Dragon officers are at least knights, if not full nobles (born or elevated). Military and knightly orders are granted, not "joined" (the Order of the Golden Way is one example), but for significant detail, you'll have to ask Ed.

3. I wrote the Peers of the Forest Kingdom piece. It's currently undergoing revision, and will continue to do so, but as far as I'm concerned, the principles therein hold until Ed says otherwise.

4. There is no "standard issue" arms or armor for Purple Dragons, but most will be armored in at least chain (shirt or full mail, as they desire), and the majority of a given company will wield the same general category of weapon: swords, spears, etc. Units of cavalry, archers, and so forth will quite obviously all wield appropriate weapons to their task, and generally have a more uniform appearance than those of simple infantry.

Ceremonial guards almost always carry a halberd or some sort of polearm (hafted reach weapon), with a longsword or shortsword as a backup weapon. The exceptions are the Knights Royal, formerly known as the King's Blades, who wield whatever they damn well please.
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
152 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  04:02:40  Show Profile Send Gerath Hoan a Private Message
Thanks for that Garen, and especially for the original work done on the nobility, i very much enjoyed that piece.

If you could post your latest version of that work when its ready, please do, i'd be very grateful.

That just leaves some ranks of Purple Dragons then... i'm vaguely aware of several, but not at all certain how they fit together. I'm not interested in the precise nuts and bolts this rank leads that many men stuff... just what outranks what.

Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005
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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore

USA
1105 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  04:15:16  Show Profile  Visit Garen Thal's Homepage Send Garen Thal a Private Message
This is the rank structure I use, pulled from Ed's various posts and writings on the subject:

Blade (simple private or common soldier)
First Sword (a sort of sergeant; small unit leader)
Swordcaptain (low-ranked officer; commander of a company), called a "swordlord" if noble or knighted
Lionar
Ornrion
Constal
Oversword
Battlemaster

Note that oversword and battlemaster both roughly mean "general," but I take oversword to mean the high-ranking commander of a garrison or stationed force, and battlemaster to mean the commander of a more mobile army. The terms, that high in the rank structure, are vague, and it's usually not for someone with one or the other title to "pull rank" on his fellows. These are the commanders and war captains of the realm, and (for the most part) they are comrades, rather than the sort to command one another around.

Also note that the Lord High Warden of the Eastern Marches, Dauneth Marliir, automatically outranks anyone in his region of Cormyr (roughly the upper and eastern third or so), and that the Lord High Marshal of the Kingdom (currently a vacant post) outranks everyone but the royal family, who need no military rank to issue orders to officers of Purple Dragons.
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
152 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  11:15:49  Show Profile Send Gerath Hoan a Private Message
Thanks again Garen, i'll be making good use of that info.

Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005
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Capn Charlie
Senior Scribe

USA
418 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  11:20:49  Show Profile  Visit Capn Charlie's Homepage Send Capn Charlie a Private Message
Ahh, many thanks, Ed! The purses and palates of my players are already diversified from this bit of realmslore!

Coinage is a very interesting subject, to me anyway, because of the sheer volume of it that passes through the hands of both the average adventurer, and the average protagonist in a fantasy novel. I,also, am just not satisfied with speaking about generic "gold pieces", and even if they are of the generic size and metal, I like to know what designs are upon them.

But the food, this is where my interest is really piqued. I can only have so many meals that look like they came out of a fantasy movie from the eighties before what should be adding a lot of flavor(so to speak) to my game has become run of the mill.

Whenever you get the chance, I would love some dice games, especially any that might be played by chessentan mercenaries to gamble over spoils.

Shadows of War: Tales of a Mercenary

My first stab at realms fiction, here at candlekeep. Stop on by and tell me what you think.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  18:26:58  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
I have a simple question for Ed... I'm currently re-reading Spellfire. On page 271, when Fzoul is meeting with the head honchos of Zhentil Keep, Ashemmi is present -- as a guy with a beard, presumably human. But references to Ashemmi in other sources have said that that particular mage is a moon elf female.

This is kinda confusing... Either there's two Ashemmis with the Zhents (or there were), she was in disguise, or the human guy somewhere along the way became an elven girl. Can you clarify this one?

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Faraer
Great Reader

3308 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  19:16:37  Show Profile  Visit Faraer's Homepage Send Faraer a Private Message
Woolpert, Ed cleared that up here:
quote:
Yes, Ashemmi for years used a human male disguise in the Zhentarim (in part because the High Imperceptor wanted only human males, and tried to arrange "accidents" for all others). I did introduce a brief explanation for this into the rewritten Spellfire...but I'm afraid it vanished again when the MS was trimmed in length (not by me). Sorry for the confusion!
Before that, I'd guessed that Jeff Grubb's treatment of Ashemmi in FRA and Castles was a mistake.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  21:27:04  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer

Woolpert, Ed cleared that up here:
quote:
Yes, Ashemmi for years used a human male disguise in the Zhentarim (in part because the High Imperceptor wanted only human males, and tried to arrange "accidents" for all others). I did introduce a brief explanation for this into the rewritten Spellfire...but I'm afraid it vanished again when the MS was trimmed in length (not by me). Sorry for the confusion!
Before that, I'd guessed that Jeff Grubb's treatment of Ashemmi in FRA and Castles was a mistake.



Ah, thank you for that info.

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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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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
152 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2004 :  23:29:11  Show Profile Send Gerath Hoan a Private Message
Ok well here's one last Cormyr related question for Ed... although Garen Thal, you may be able to answer this as you seem to be very well informed...

What exactly is a "Highknight"? Is it merely a more honoured/senior form of Knight (but not yet reaching the baronet level of nobility)? Is it Cormyr's version of a Knight-Errant of Silverymoon type thing?

Thanks in advance for whatever information can be provided.

Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 13 Jun 2004 :  00:18:31  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Ah, this is one I can answer all by myself, being as one of my characters once spent an er, acrobatic night making love to one: a Purple Dragon Highknight is the Cormyrean version of a King's Messenger/James Bond-style agent. They're detailed as a 3.0 Edition Prestige Class in Ed's Dragon Annual article on Cormyr (referenced earlier in this thread), and several of them appear in Ed's Realms fiction, notably Glarasteer Rhauligan (whose most recent role was in ELMINSTER'S DAUGHTER). As for my tryst, I could tell you just which Highknight I sported with, but then I'd have to k--
I presume you know the rest.
THO

Edited by - The Hooded One on 13 Jun 2004 00:19:35
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Gerath Hoan
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
152 Posts

Posted - 13 Jun 2004 :  00:55:28  Show Profile Send Gerath Hoan a Private Message
Thanks for the info Lady Hooded One... and the interesting detail!!!

Keep up the good work

Knight of the Order of the Keen Eye - Granted by Ed Greenwood, 30th January 2005
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Faraer
Great Reader

3308 Posts

Posted - 13 Jun 2004 :  17:06:48  Show Profile  Visit Faraer's Homepage Send Faraer a Private Message
quote:
A highknight of Cormyr is a recently created rank of service to the crown. Trained in Court etiquette and realm law as well as in the use of weapons, highknights are regularly mind-read by War Wizards to guarantee their continued loyalty, as well as to guard against magical influences or impostors posing as real knights. Highknights usually draw difficult duties, such as investigating suspected traitors among the ranks of superior Purple Dragon officers or the nobility, or guarding royalty or unpopular visiting envoys.
The Highknights aren't more recent than 1357 DR, when we see them guarding King Azoun in Hand of Fire.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  00:55:05  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Well met, fellow scribes of Realmslore. Thy Lady Hooded returneth once more, to pass on the latest words of Ed. A question of mine own for Purple Dragon Knight, though: so, PDK, just what WOULD you do to meet the Picard?
And a word of explanation re, my character’s dalliance with the Highknight: it wasn’t mere personal pleasure, but an attempt to winkle certain information out of the man, and I had the er, pleasure of performing with both Torm and Illistyl eavesdropping on the entire affair.
But enough of such fancyplay. On to the words of Ed:


Dargoth, I’m afraid my latest brainwashing attempt re. a book on Bane has failed. Sorry.

lobotraxx, the matter of Shandril’s unborn girl-child must remain mysterious for now. Which is as good a way as any of saying (and as far as I dare go, for now) that you haven’t heard the last of this.

Capn Charlie, Faraer is correct in contending that many rights that might have led to various Realms “goodies” have been sold off over the years. Yet it’s true that the Realms has missed out on merchandising possibilities that other lines have had, sometimes for reasons of internal politics, sometimes because the core D&D line was being emphasized, and sometimes for reasons I just can’t puzzle out, no matter how hard I scratch my head. I STILL think Jim Lowder’s long-ago idea of Harper pins that Realms fans could buy and wear was a great one, and I’ve no idea why it was shot down (I think the logo I designed would look beautiful in silver, or chromed base metal, for that matter).
There have been baseball caps, because I’ve got one, but I think they were for internal company use only, and I got one as a “make Ed happy goodie.” Now, if there was ever a Realms garter belt, I’d HAVE to add it to my Elminster costume . . .

To The Black Hand of Bane, you’re quite right about Shar being interested in far more than the Shadow Weave. Like all deities, she’s trying to increase her followers, and the allure of the forbidden and illict meetings by night and being part of important little secret societies are her tried-and-true tools to winning the maximum numbers of followers. Only the most grasping and ambitious insist on magical rewards beyond what Shar can grant through her clergy, and before them she dangles the lure of the Shadow Weave.
Shar CAN grant her followers corrupted versions of the same powers Mystra gives, but darkfire and the like are mere shadows of Mystra’s boons, not equivalents. So, there’s no “dark” version of spellfire or the silver fire, despite the claims of Shar or her clergy to the contrary, just inferior unleashings. I know Realms fans love to argue about the natures and powers of the gods, and I promise that in time to come more will be revealed that will surprise many -- but there’s no way I can or will say more, right now. Just remember: if I say it, it’s canon until contradicted in print by a later WotC official Realms publication. Call now, for trained operators are standing by. :}

I promise everyone that I’ll dig right in to the more substantial Realmslore requests by July, once the Waterdeep book is through the first wall and my ALA trip is over and I’m safely back home (and packing for GenCon :} ).


So saith Ed, who is truly one of the most hard-working people I know. I know he does sleep occasionally, because I’ve heard him snoring during gaming weekends. Don’t miss his short story in the CHILDREN OF THE RUNE Malhavoc anthology (set in the Diamond Throne world setting), or his forthcoming “Stormsong” novella (hey, another entire NEW fantasy world of his, to go alongside the Realms and Aglirta and Castlemorn) in REALMS OF WONDER 1: SUMMONED TO DESTINY from FitzHenry & Whiteside, probably to be published in August. To say nothing of SERPENT KINGDOMS, of course, and a dozen or so other little projects.
The luckiest (and most patient!) Realms fans I know of, this year, are the three people with the top bids in the charity auction at Pentacon: one of them has received, and the other two will receive, Ed fantasy stories written just for them, starring their own characters (they get the copyrights, and own the tales outright, forever).
But enough drum-beating and trumpet-blowing for now. The man the secretary of the Crime Writers Association of Canada calls “My Big Huggly Bunny” rocks!

THO
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rumblebelly
Acolyte

Turkey
25 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  03:20:41  Show Profile  Visit rumblebelly's Homepage Send rumblebelly a Private Message
Phew !!!
read the first 5 pages of the thread yet
I knew this before (all those world creatin, game arrangin, book writin thing)but now I'm sure

ED's superhuman and his mind just does not stop !!!

this is the end of the world news: sponsored by god
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Lashan
Learned Scribe

USA
235 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  12:58:53  Show Profile  Visit Lashan's Homepage Send Lashan a Private Message
*patiently waits for Ed's mind to drop into the sewers....of Tantras, that is*
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Dargoth
Great Reader

Australia
4607 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  14:24:27  Show Profile  Visit Dargoth's Homepage Send Dargoth a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One



Dargoth, I’m afraid my latest brainwashing attempt re. a book on Bane has failed. Sorry.




Ed you need to take more ranks in Intimidate and Sense Motive!

“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”

Emperor Sigismund

"Its good to be the King!"

Mel Brooks
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  15:20:01  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Lashan – and everyone else, too! Ed thanks you for waiting patiently. He’s feeling bad that he hasn’t been able to contribute daily Realmslore replies here for the last few weeks, and that he won’t be able to for the rest of June, either, but says he’ll post through me whenever he can. Apropos of that, he concurs with the Dave Gross posting on PRIDE OF THE LION, and still regrets that he just couldn’t squeeze one more novel into the mix, that time. He also wants you all to know he’s having great fun with the first Knights of Myth Drannor novel, “on the side,” as it were.
His left side, I’m guessing…

THO
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Sarelle
Senior Scribe

United Kingdom
508 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  19:05:11  Show Profile Send Sarelle a Private Message
Lord Uthlain, his stone giant bodyguards and the rest of the Great Dale waits on tenterhooks for the advent of July!

Seriously, I'm happy to wait. Anything so that we keep Ed living, breathing and keeping the Realms alive along with him! Wish him the best in his endeavors from me (and, I'm sure the rest of Candlekeep), until he can post here again.

Chair of the The Rightful Return of Monster Deities to FR Society (RRMDFRS)

My character, drawn by Liodain: Sarelle / Sarelle (smaller)
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Metis
Acolyte

11 Posts

Posted - 14 Jun 2004 :  19:12:06  Show Profile  Visit Metis's Homepage Send Metis a Private Message
Greetings,

I was wondering if Ed might not be able to share anything about the city of Northkeep that was sunk beneath the Moonsea way back when. I am not interested in the citys current state of rest (or unrest, what with the ghosts and all), so much as what life was like in the city in those last days.

What did the buildings look like? The roads? Was it entirely inhabited by humans? What about the nearby shoreline? Was it dotted with villages of herders and mining camps?

Anything and everything you can share on this subject would be welcome. It has never been detailed fully as far as I can tell.

Thanks!
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2066 Posts

Posted - 15 Jun 2004 :  00:15:27  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message
Metis, you might wish to peruse "The Rage" by Richard Lee Byers.

--Eric

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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Lashan
Learned Scribe

USA
235 Posts

Posted - 15 Jun 2004 :  01:38:48  Show Profile  Visit Lashan's Homepage Send Lashan a Private Message
Metis, I do believe that it has been detailed some small amount in two products. The first is the free web supplement. It was in the Portals of the Moonsea web feature.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20030205a

There was another product that detailed it a small amount. Was that the Sea of Fallen Stars? Curses, I forgot.

Hooded One, I do appreciate all of Ed's answers and help. Please don't take my slight impatience too seriously. Many thanks.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 15 Jun 2004 :  03:11:53  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Lashan

Metis, I do believe that it has been detailed some small amount in two products. The first is the free web supplement. It was in the Portals of the Moonsea web feature.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20030205a

There was another product that detailed it a small amount. Was that the Sea of Fallen Stars? Curses, I forgot.

Hooded One, I do appreciate all of Ed's answers and help. Please don't take my slight impatience too seriously. Many thanks.



There was a couple blurbs about it in the Moonsea product -- not the Sea of Fallen Stars, which isn't in that general vicinity.

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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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6645 Posts

Posted - 15 Jun 2004 :  03:39:08  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message
Small mention of Northkeep in "Prayers From the Faithful" also.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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