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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Jun 2007 : 19:52:08
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Well met, Master Ed and Lady Herald!
I'll bet that you thought that you were over and done explaining the various forms of address for those whom I called "bedded, but not wedded." Far from it! As I have said before, every answer of Ed's generates at least one other question, and this one concerns lickhips, boldshakes, and coin-lasses and laddies. Aside from the vernacular English words which we all know (or which most of us know), what are specifically Realmsian terms for prostitutes? I don't mean the specialty ... ah ... ladies ... such as Calimport's bearded entertainers (whom you have already dealt with at length), but the everyday, run-of-the-mill sex professional. Also, are there specific "terms of art" to refer to the entertainers from Kara Tur and other such exotic locales who might be considered prostitutes by the undiscerning, but who really do "just" entertain in intimate situations without doing the wild thing?
(For those who have tender sensibilities, I remind readers of what Ed said in 2004:
quote:
For instance, Id never dream of deliberately making a homophobic person uncomfortable when I (a rather stout, pepper-and-salt-bearded man) roleplay a prostitute and go and sit in a male players lap caressing his chin and face and breathily making propositions in a feminine voice -- but I dont have to worry about that, because I know my players and they know me. We have warning words (we simply say: Steady! or Simmer!) for anyone to signal if theyre becoming uncomfortable or think an observer (i.e. someone whos not a regular player) might be misinterpreting or becoming uncomfortable.
I make so bold as to suggest that those of us who feel uncomfortable about how bawdy some of our banter gets here just use either of those "code words." I'm sure that they will convey much more meaning to Ed and The Hooded One than an angst-ridden, hand-wringing, moralizing post. Just a suggestion....)
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jun 2007 : 20:52:20
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| Don't forget lightskirts. |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 01:43:15
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Hello All,
Can you possibly shed light on different types of spellbooks, or objects to store spells on, I recall in Shadow stone novel that some kind of stick was the heroes spellbook. Do mages try to find different ways of writing their spells so they lower the chances of it being stolen? |
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ziresta
Acolyte
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 08:57:04
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Hello all.
I have a few questions and comments for Ed. None of this is urgent, so take your time responding.
1) Thank you for creating the Forgotten Realms. It's the only setting not of my creation that feels "real" to me.
2) Thank you for putting so much detail into the Realms that I don't feel like I'm a lunatic for putting maybe a quarter as much into my campaign/story settings. (My eventual goal is as much, but I've only been working at creating settings seriously for about three years so I'm still very far from it.)
3) In 1368 DR in Cormyr, what would the general reaction of nobles to the third (or fourth, can't recall) daughter of a lesser noble being part of an adventuring band be?
4) Any details/lore you can share on Lliira or Selune worship in the same time and area?
5) Really weird question, and backstory necessary so it makes sense: In another game I'm running, one of the PCs has invented a time/world hopping device (essentially the continua craft from The Number of the Beast by RAH) and is planning to use it to visit, among other fictons, the Realms. So, my question is how would the residents of Shadowdale (where she most wants to visit . . . she's enamored with Storm) respond (in the late 1360s, in case it matters) to the following characters landing in a strange craft in their midst:
a) A girl in her late teens with a platinum dragon tattooed on one arm and a chromatic dragon on the other. This is the inventor of the device, a brilliant, but highly eccentric, engineer and physicist.
b) A boy in his late teens in a kilt who has a tendency to say whatever he's thinking, regardless of how inappropriate it is. He's a musician and has come along with his friend to be exposed to different realities' music . . . and meet hot chicks. Protective of d, his wife, to the point of fool-hardiness.
c) A teenaged girl, very petite, with a habit of dying her hair random colors, who has come along because her fiancée (a) was so excited about the trip.
d) Another girl in her late teens, a xenoanthropology student, who is the only one of this group possessed of much common sense . . . which is why she insists on coming along, she'd rather her best friends didn't end up in jail in some weird reality. At the time they'll go there, she'll be just beginning to look pregnant.
They're from about 2391 AD and grew up on a planet about 200 light years from here thats guiding moral principles amount to "Don't harm others or their property without a very good reason."
(Yes, I'm assuming the Realms will survive that long . . . why not? Besides, even if it doesn't, they've already travelled to our real reality and visited a bookstore.) |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 19:37:50
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Hello All,
Ed I was rereading the sembia novel which you wrote with several others and I am trying to understand how UMD works in Faerun, I assume that if a noncaster with no UMD points is told exactly how to fire a wand or activate an item he/she is able to do so regardless of whether it's arcane or divine. If he/she isn't aware of how to activate an item then they must make a UMD check, yes?
I'm recalling Thamalon's father letting fly with the magic wands and items during the night attack. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 19:50:39
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Hello again, fellow scribes. This time Ed responds to Bladewind about this query: “Warm winds. I've been pondering on the life and looks of the dark elves before they got cursed for some time now. What was the main difference between the green elves and the dark elves in the regions around Illithiir? The dark elves build more groundlevel cities and lived in the deeper and darker parts of the jungles? Could Mr. Greenwood tell me about their architecture, military and symbolism?”
Ed replies:
Certainly, and with pleasure.
In all species discussions, please bear in mind that we’re always talking in generalizations (there will always be individual “exceptions to the rule”).
So, IN GENERAL, the green elves embraced the rain and open exposure to weather and the life cycles of green, growing things (especially trees), and sought to live high up in living trees (sometimes in natural hollows within trees, but never cutting or burning out trees so as to harm them). Green elves sought to live in harmony and balance with other benign woodland beings (such as treants), and to “garden” woodland plants so their harvestings, prunings, and meddlings always increased the health and growth of the forest.
The dark elves preferred caves and shadows and the gloom of the forest floor, avoiding bright sunlight and exposure to the elements. Over time, they took to building in stone, “fused with spells” stone (obsidian “black glass one-piece towers) in particular. In winter, they burrowed under snows, erecting hide-and-hoop (arched wooden beams) under-roof supports to make “snow-dens” (we might call them igloos) of sorts. Hiding from full sun and hunting by night were their habits.
Hunting by night brought them into conflict with the nocturnal predatory beasts of the forests, such as the great cats, so the dark elves took to hunting in well-armed bands, and over time shifted into a “we must conquer and rule” mindset: competing predators were to be slain (or enslaved as half-starved guardians). This led the dark elves to be increasingly martial, and brought them into increasing conflict with green elves (why go to the trouble of husbanding and gathering edible plant blossoms and leaves, when you can just forcibly take them from those who’ve done all the work for you?). These escalating conflicts caused the dark elves to develop the handbow (dart gun), so as to have a “second shot” capability at close quarters in the dark (where use of the green elf longbow could be hampered).
Green elves came to be regarded as foes, more and more atrocities were done to them by the increasingly aggressive dark elves, and we all know the eventual result.
Green elves used sunlight, reflected sunlight, falling water (cascades and fountains), and many greens in their decoration and symbolism. Growing (rather than picked) flowering plants were abundant in green elf living spaces (your “room” was shared with living plants), and the symbolism of the natural seasonal cycles were embraced.
Dark elves revered moonlight, magical radiances, light reflected so as to cast artful shadows, and lights colored (ruby red, ale-brown, and so on) by magic and thin sheets of polished rock. Living areas were dimly-lit, with curved, cave-like encircling walls and roofs, often with furniture (lounge chairs, sleeping platforms) “built in” as part of the walls; these living areas were often, of course, actual caverns or earth burrows whose dirt walls had been sealed and concealed behind magically-melted silica rock (glass). Revered symbols were concerned with power: magical radiances in the shape of (or actually emanating from actual) weapons or helms or gauntlets or house heraldry; hunting trophies such as horns and skulls and teeth, mounted in staves or on helms or on dwelling walls; wells of water (for underground control of drinkable water was a prized thing) were given pride of place in rooms, and often enspelled to glow, or sited so that moonlight brought down glass-sealed shafts would shine upon the waters.
And so on. :}
So saith Ed. Whose reply should, of course, be taken as applying only to the Realms.
love to all,
THO
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 20:01:44
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Quick note of breaking news: Ed just received his advance copies of EXPEDITION TO UNDERMOUNTAIN, and tells me it's "gorgeous." 
love to all,
THO |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 02:29:23
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I can't wait for Expedition!   |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 16:16:35
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Hi again, everyone. This time I bring Ed of the Greenwood’s reply to RodOdom, regarding this: “Oh great Master Ed and Mistress THO,
Where can one find a sight like this on Faerun:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Armenia_Khorvirap.jpg/758px-Armenia_Khorvirap.jpg”
Ed replies:
Right, then, we have tilled fields in the foreground with wheat (or another tall grain crop) ready to harvest beyond, green hills that have been cleared and used for grazing, a walled stone home, verdant uplands in the distance, rising to snow-capped mountains.
This could be one of literally hundreds of places in the Realms. To list just a few:
• Murghom, looking north to the Mountains of Copper
• Durpar, the mountains then being the Giant’s Belt range
• east of Innarlith, looking south to the Firesteap Mountains
• on the shores of the Deepwash, looking towards the Snowflake Mountains
• the Dragon Coast, looking towards the Giant’s Run Mountains
• the Greenfields, looking towards the Cloud Peaks
• Semphar
• Estagund
• Amn
• Tethyr
and so on, and on, and on. :} Anywhere temperate near mountains, where the woods have been cleared, and humans have settled to grow crops and graze beasts. Nice picture (not that I have time to jaunt off to Armenia to get a better look, just now :} ).
So saith Ed. Who can tourist-tour the Realms in his head, whenever he wants. He tells me he’s spent some happy hours in boring meetings, in the past, doing just that. 
love to all,
THO
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 16:22:49
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
So saith Ed. Who can tourist-tour the Realms in his head, whenever he wants. He tells me he’s spent some happy hours in boring meetings, in the past, doing just that.
love to all,
THO
That's an interesting idea. I'll have to try that the next time I find myself in a similar situation. 
Thank you my Lady. 
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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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AlorinDawn
Learned Scribe
USA
313 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 16:24:07
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ED & THO,
Can you share any information on marriage rituals in the Realms? |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 16:42:11
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Ed did share with us partly detailed marriage ceremonies involving the faiths of Sharess and Lliira. They're in his compiled reply files for '05. And there is a Tymoran ceremony in Ed's Spellfire.
And here's another bit from Ed, taken from the FR Mailing List in Oct. '03 -
"[I]t depends on the faith and the individual church. Formal marriages (i.e. with written contracts and witnesses, as opposed to a simple private ceremony followed by a party if the couple want it/can afford it) are rare among those who don’t have significant wealth or land to pass on. Some faiths assume a marriage is forever (most of these have been amended to “until death,” to prevent undead terrorizing the living by insisting on returning to the house and climbing into bed with them), but most ARE, as you speculate, based on “for as long as love lasts.” In some places and faiths, this leads to a swinging lifestyle, but in most places, the public disapproves of those who abandon spouses without good moral reason (the only difference I see between most of the Heartlands of the Realms and the prevalent real-world modern Western society view is that in the Realms, short-term or seldom-consummated affairs aren’t seen as sufficient “moral reason” to end a marriage). Spouse-beating, however, IS. One is expected to remain with a spouse, and tend them in illness or dying. (And yes, there are a fair number of caravan merchants who have wives in various cities, usually without one knowing about the others, though a few even write back and forth, or journey with the merchant from time to time, to visit each other.)
Formal marriages always have SIMPLE clauses outlining what happens to lands and goods when a union ends, and many weddings involving nobility insist on both parties formally and in writing (with priests using magic to make sure the participants aren’t being magically compelled to act in a certain way, blackmailed, or coerced by drugs or other means) ending the marriage, not just one—so spouses who hate each other can keep each other bound in marriage (unless one manages to have the other killed, a risky proceeding because in Cormyr, Sembia, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, and most other “civilized” places, the slayer of a spouse forfeits all property to the government).
Again, there are faiths (those closely tied to nature in particular) who conduct and recognize both “forever” and “short-term” marriages (usually “two summers,” “three summers” or “ten summers”), which may of course be renewed. The clergy of Siamorphe from time to time conduct “overnight” marriages, allowing one-night stands to be legal and divinely approved, but always publicly renounce this practise when angry kin complain to governing authorities . . . only to quietly resume it again, elsewhen."
'Twas also included in the '04 compiled replies from Ed.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 16 Jun 2007 16:52:03 |
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AlorinDawn
Learned Scribe
USA
313 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 18:01:32
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| Thanks O' Sagey one! |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 18:39:36
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quote:
Originally posted by createvmind
Hello All,
Can you possibly shed light on different types of spellbooks, or objects to store spells on, I recall in Shadow stone novel that some kind of stick was the heroes spellbook. Do mages try to find different ways of writing their spells so they lower the chances of it being stolen?
Ed's 2nd edition book, Pages From the Mages is a superb reference for spellbooks of all shapes and sizes. You may also want to check out the Scarred Lands book on "Wizards & Bards," which has a significant section on spellbooks.
One of my own characters (a survivor of the Arduin "Spellweaver" class -- not the race) uses the equivalent of a quipo (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quipo), a string with shorter, intricately knotted strings descending from it. It's completely incomprehensible to those not trained in its use. I wonder (perhaps Ed would tender an opinion) if Read Magic would even be able to decipher it, since it explains spells cast in a system totally different than normal spellcasting. (For one thing, all spells are considered "silent," and there are no material components, just intricate somatic gestures.)
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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RodOdom
Senior Scribe
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 19:24:42
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quote:
So saith Ed. Who can tourist-tour the Realms in his head, whenever he wants. He tells me he’s spent some happy hours in boring meetings, in the past, doing just that.
Thank you so much ! It's times like these I thank Tymora that I'm one of the undeserving so-and-so's who own a copy of the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas.
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Edited by - RodOdom on 16 Jun 2007 19:28:24 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jun 2007 : 01:14:09
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Hail and well met again, fellow scribes. This time Ed makes answer to Reefy, in the matter of this query: “Greetings to Ed and the Lady Hooded One, I have two questions.
What can you tell me about the famed Agannazar? I'm interested in his appearance, personality, mannerisms etc.
The same goes for the mysterious Mistmaster.
I have mined what little printed sources on the subjects I can find.”
Ed replies:
I’m afraid the Mistmaster is and remains under NDA. Sorry.
As for Agannazar: shoulder-length blond hair, with “daggerboard” sideburns (“the Elvis look”) and a high forehead. Beaky nose, bushy blond eyebrows, piercing emerald eyes (and I mean PIERCING: glare like laser beams, and had a habit of whirling around to fix people with stares), testy manner, sharp voice. Tended to be restlessly alert (“hyper” is how many modern real-world folk would describe him), but not a gabbler: usually silent unless spoken to. Strode forward purposefully, head forward (the “vulture stalk,” some who saw him at MageFairs called it).
Tended to dress in deep red cloaks, over red or purple silk shirts, breeches and boots (NEVER robes unless “dressed up” to attend a nobles’ revel or attend a royal court). Body covered with a thick pelt of fine yellow hair, but face always clean-shaven.
Frowned all the time; when thinking, often spread the fingers of one hand out like a spider, planted them on a tabletop or windowsill, and bent over to stare down at them, standing or sitting immobile for long periods. Tended to hum (and say “umm-hmm” deep in his throat) when contented, never whistled. Tuneless singer and knew it, so avoided singing. Vain; didn’t like to be embarrassed.
When I called him “testy,” I meant: didn’t suffer fools gladly, didn’t like to have folk disagree with his opinions or judgements, or question his decisions or deeds (however, he held opinions only on matters he’d seen and thought about, mainly magical; he wasn’t a windbag or know-it-all, and detested mages and priests who were).
A loner, whose dealings with the opposite gender were few and of this manner: liked to watch nude dancers (usually in clubs or “higher-class” taverns where patrons were not encouraged to call out comments, throw coins, or otherwise intrude on performances). If the dancers were beautiful elves or half-elves, Agannazar could watch for long periods, and “watching was enough.” If the dancers were human, he usually, after watching for some time, paid for a room and a lass to share it with, but insisted the room be utterly dark and the woman blindfolded and a passive participant; he would tip handsomely and make love vigorously, but never utter a word.
Agannazar traveled widely, created about two dozen spells (most of them concerned with fire effects, and most of them refinements of other, older enchantments), often “hired on” for short periods as a guard-mage with costers or wealthy merchant families, avoided shady dealings and seldom went adventuring, and liked to cook exotic dishes, doodle swift caricatures (from memory, later, not as taunting “performance art” face-to-face) of persons he met and disliked. He was intensely interested in what other wizards were up to, and often paid informants (such as the apprentices of other mages, out drinking) to “tell him the latest.”
That do?
So saith Ed. Who spun this up in about two minutes from what he remembered of Agannazar when he roleplayed that mage (and described him to we Knights) when we “saw” Agannazar in a spell that had “recorded” three-dimensional images, with sound, of persons who in the past had cast magic in the room the spell was in. In other words, the room now held a series of short “movies” that could be played back repeatedly for viewing by someone who knew how to call on this spell.
Ed did, of course, create Agannazar in the first place.
love to all,
THO
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jun 2007 : 01:42:50
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Math: 10 percent Drow are clergy devoted to Eilistraee, it stikes me as likely that only 25 percent of all Drow are directly devoted to a single diety, Lolth and Vhaeraun being those that might have more in total.
At best I can figure the math that Lolth has 25 percent of females devoted only to her.
Vhaeraun it is harder to guess but 5 percent of males strikes me as a good number. Perhaps we should increase it above the 10 percent that Eilistrae has.
Eiether way it appears Drow are mostly clergy, we are looking at something like 45 percent of all Drow being so (Whith others that might duel serve or have as patrons).
The math does not make senese to me at all. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6646 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jun 2007 : 07:09:11
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hail and well met again, fellow scribes. This time Ed makes answer to Reefy, in the matter of this query: “Greetings to Ed and the Lady Hooded One, I have two questions.
What can you tell me about the famed Agannazar? I'm interested in his appearance, personality, mannerisms etc.
The same goes for the mysterious Mistmaster.
I have mined what little printed sources on the subjects I can find.”
Ed replies:
<SNIP>
Awesome. And thank-you.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 03:38:42
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Hello again, all. George, you're very welcome!
This time Ed answers KnightErrantJR about this: “Here is a question in commemoration of the impending end of Dungeon Magazine. Since Iggwilv is about to be statted, for the first time, in the final few adventures of the Savage Tide adventure path, and since we've already gotten a bit of a glimpse of Elminster's meeting with Mordenkainen, as well as a few bits of info regarding Vangerdahast and Khelben's experiences with some of Oerth's more powerful wizards (in the Forgotten Realms Adventures harcover back in 2nd edition) . . . well, here goes:
Has Elminster (or any other famous Realmsian wizard) met with the dastardly Iggwilv, and if so, under what circumstances?
Thanks in advance.”
Ed replies:
So far as I know (meaning: Elminster, Storm, and Laeral insist not, and they’re the only sources who ever drop into my study aside from one brief and highly uncomfortable visit by The Simbul), the answer to that one is: No. At least, not knowingly; I have to keep reminding myself that The Simbul isn’t the only wizard who wears other shapes than her own more than she strolls about as herself. (An aside: she has a wardrobe full of tattered black gowns, not just one, so it’s not a single filthy rag she never changes but rather a “look.” Most of her gowns are little better than peek-a-boo “skeletons” of fabric, but she doesn’t mind a whit. Barefoot and wild-haired, she simply doesn’t care what she looks like or if she’s showing skin. She does NOT pose provocatively, slink about alluringly, or care what anyone else thinks of her.
Iggwilv probably dresses and behaves rather differently. :}
So saith Ed. Creator of The Simbul but not Iggwilv (Gary Gygax, I think, but I’ve only chatted with the elder TSR folks twice or thrice; Gygax, Arneson, Brian Blume, Len Lakofka . . . and Greyhawk was never as enthralling to me as Ed’s Realms, so not as many details of “old Greyhawk stories” stuck in my memories, I’m afraid.
love to all,
THO
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 03:47:37
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| Thank you rather kindly THO and please extend my thanks to Ed as well. The Realms have always been much more enthralling to me as well, but its always fun to know how the cross planar traffic happens to cut, one way or the other! |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 00:39:42
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Hello Ed. :) I have two questions, but they can be answered at your leisure (one at a time if you'd like), and if either of them have been touched on before, I'd appreciate it if someone would point out the year and month.
My first question is about "paladin love"--what is appropriate behavior for a paladin regarding relationships and love-making? I frequent the forums for the Neverwinter Nights 2 CRPG, and not surprisingly, one of the topics that players love to discuss all the time is the subject of the in-game romances. The romance option for female player characters happens to be a paladin, and there is a particular group of players (mostly female) who love to talk about him (and the other male characters in the game), and a recent topic that came up is how paladins are "supposed" to act in matters of love? Although I'm fully aware that Faerun has very different sexual mores than the real world, I have to admit that I--and many of the other ladies--tend to have an old-fashioned, idealistic view about how paladins form relationships and how they behave towards the people they are in love with. My rationale for this is that since paladins aren't supposed to act like the "average joe" in all the other aspects of their life, they probably shouldn't behave in all the same ways many other people do when it comes to love. I also am sort of a sucker for the idea of "courtly love". I was wondering what your opinion is about this topic: for example, do you think most paladins would be comfortable with the idea of being "friends with benefits" with someone? Or, having a one-night stand if both parties agreed ahead of time that that was all there was to it--just one night of enjoyment in each other's company, but no further obligations besides that? How would most paladins approach the subject? I, and several other ladies, look forward to hearing your opinion.
My next question is solely my own, and something I've been wondering about for a long time. Is Faerun much like the real world (the Western world, at least) in the sense that there's a lot of anxiety about aging and the way growing older affects one's appearance? I know that some old characters, like Elminster, don't seem to be uncomfortable with looking old as well as being old, but this doesn't seem to be the case with many others! It's very common, as far as I can tell, to come across characters who look younger than they actually are. I was wondering why that might be the case--it definitely seems to suggest that some people in the Realms, as in the real world, think that a person hits their peak at a very young age, and after that one needs to struggle to erase all signs that one is not a spring chicken. I was also wondering if there are human cultures in the Realms that actually see growing older (and even perhaps looking old) as a good thing, and that people hit their peak in their later years as opposed to when they are young and untried (and kind of stupid).
Thanks once again,
Rinonalyrna |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 19 Jun 2007 00:42:23 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 00:47:03
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Ahhh, LOVELY questions, RF!
I have sent them off to Ed for replies (though I'm not sure whether he'll be able to get to them before he flits off to Michigan in a few days time), but I can provide a partial answer to the second one: many of the characters who seek to appear younger are either adventurers or vulnerable females; they don't want others to get any idea that they are less than vigorous and formidable, so avoid being robbed, raped, murdered, etc.
love,
THO |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 00:49:21
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| About the paladins, I'm going to say that it would vary from faith to faith also. I mean, Sune's paladins are going to see it a lot different then say, Helm's. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 00:55:15
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I agree, Kuje. I'm SURE Ed will say so (watch for this my prediction to ring true), yet I can't wait to hear what his answer will be, because I recall him arguing years and years ago with a certain TSR designer about making paladins MEAN something, not just have them be "fighters who can heal and stand in judgement over other PCs."
love,
THO |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 01:30:43
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| Thanks, I can't wait to see the answers myself. And yes, a lot of girls at this particular forum think it probably varies by faith (and by the way, they are quite excited for Ed's answer). |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 01:34:21
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
I can provide a partial answer to the second one: many of the characters who seek to appear younger are either adventurers or vulnerable females; they don't want others to get any idea that they are less than vigorous and formidable, so avoid being robbed, raped, murdered, etc.
love,
THO
Ah, that definitely makes practical sense. Thanks for answer. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 01:38:55
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
I agree, Kuje. I'm SURE Ed will say so (watch for this my prediction to ring true), yet I can't wait to hear what his answer will be, because I recall him arguing years and years ago with a certain TSR designer about making paladins MEAN something, not just have them be "fighters who can heal and stand in judgement over other PCs."
love,
THO
I would be inclined to agree.
I can see some of the various faiths having completely different doctrines involving love and paladins. It may be that groups of deities with similar portfolios even adopt similar attitudes towards their paladins and love. Certainly, as Kuje indicated above, Sune's beliefs would likely encourage her paladins to pursue romantic involvement with others in an attempt to foster their goddess's portfolio -- the activities of the Sisters and Brothers of the Ruby Rose would seem to support this -- when compared to the clergy of Helm. Helmite paladins, on the other hand, may have very strict guidelines to follow when becoming involved in romantic affairs... simply because love is such a powerful force that could potentially lead to Helmites violating their duties in order to protect their loved ones who may also be at risk, consequently putting others in jeopardy. Thus, a certain amount of 'romantic detachment' may be encouraged in most paladin orders connected with the faith of Helm.
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 19 Jun 2007 01:39:59 |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 04:21:48
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Hi again, fellow scribes. This time I bring Ed’s response to Adrix, re. this: “Hail Ed and the Hooded One; I have what may seem a trivial question to pose, and one I hope has not yet been covered in your volumes of answers here at Candlekeep. What makes up traveling rations, specifically, is there anything unique to the realms or various regions contained within? Also, does popcorn exist in the Realms, and if not or so, what snacks do exist?
Sorry, I’m hungry...”
Ed replies:
No need to be sorry you’re hungry, Adrix. I’m almost ALWAYS hungry. :}
Just as in our real world, the Realms holds a great variety of snacks, including those our Lady Hooded gave you.
Let me run through a quick (and far from complete) list. Where places are listed, they are locales where said “handfoods” (munchies) are especially popular:
hand pies (meat-and-gravy-filled, savoury palm-sized pastries of an astonishing variety of ingredients and tastes, from curries, to leek-with-bacon, to minted lamb): the Heartlands, the Dales, Savage Coast North
salted, roasted seeds (especially pumpkin and loalurr [pistachios]): the Tashalar
handwheels of sharp yellow cheeses (some with ground nuts or diced olives inside, or laced with zzar or various other “cordials” [liqueurs]): the Heartlands, the Dales, Savage Coast North
raisins: the Heartlands, coasts of the Sea of Fallen Stars
date cakes (pressed flat ovals): Calimshan, the Tashalar
fig cakes (pressed flat ovals): Calimshan
cranberry cakes (pressed flat ovals): Sembia, the Vilhon, Turmish
dried apricots: the Tashalar, Luiren, Var, Estagund
dried sausages: the Shaar, the Tashalar
quince sticks (cakes of dried quince pressed together with various beetles, around edible klooer roots [licorice-like roots of a parched wilderland bush]): Vilhon, Shaar, Var, Estagund
honeydrops (thumb-sized candies of honey mixed with an edible gum and spices to give flavours and stop the honey from melting and running in hot conditions): Calimshan, the Vilhon, Mulhorand, Raurin, Chessenta
sugar cakes (like real-world petit-fours: sugar icing-drenched confections of baked cake that have been laced with jams or chocolate or herbal distillates, for flavour): everywhere (but tend to be paltry in supply, and expensive)
cherrybread (like real-world “Christmas cake” or fruitcake: various diced fruits, marinated in spirits, cooked in a molasses-cake and sold as small whole loaves or slices wrapped in leaves): the Border Kingdoms, the Vilhon, coasts of the Sea of Fallen Stars
blood-drops (beets, sliced very thinly, fried in oil, and then dusted with salt and various spices, from sugar, cinammon, and nutmeg to the various hot spices; we might call these “vegetable crisps”)
potato cakes (like real-world Irish “wedge”-shaped griddle cakes)
There are lots more, but most large markets during summer and autumn, across most of Faerûn, should have most of these for sale. Yum.
So saith Ed. Who loves his snacks.
love,
THO
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AlorinDawn
Learned Scribe
USA
313 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 05:03:33
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Ed & THO,
Can you tell us of a time someone from a world with technology on par with our modern day earth or better visited the Realms and what the outcome was? Did the visitors overpower the Realms folk and rule them, or were they unprepared for a world full of magic and get overwhelmed and ruled themselves?
Thanks
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Edited by - AlorinDawn on 19 Jun 2007 05:04:31 |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2007 : 05:23:07
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quote:
Originally posted by AlorinDawn
Ed & THO,
Can you tell us of a time someone from a world with technology on par with our modern day earth or better visited the Realms and what the outcome was? Did the visitors overpower the Realms folk and rule them, or were they unprepared for a world full of magic and get overwhelmed and ruled themselves?
Thanks
Well, modern tech doesn't work in FR since the physics of FR is different. So, I doubt anyone using modern tech could take over. Note: I'm referencing the 1e and 2e box sets where it clearly says that modern earth tech doesn't work in Realmspace. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2007)
Topic Locked
