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Originally posted by RodOdom

Ed, any tips for reading faster? I have a ceiling-high stack of fiction and non-fiction books but cannot manage finishing a chapter or two every night. Help !

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Originally posted by Kajehase

Try to move your eyes as little as possible while you read.

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Originally posted by Markustay

I didn't get an answer on my "Halfling midgets" question, but thats Okay, I realize the man is busier then a Moonsea Harper.

Anyhow, I have a new question - one that will help make a painful decision I am considering.

With all the stuff Ed has going on, including his new commitments to the 4e FRCS, does he plan on continuiing work on Castlemourn?

I want to pick-up the setting, but not if its going to be a dead-end.

Thanks in Advance - Mark

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

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Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen

I, too, have a query unrelated to the Realms, Ed: based upon your recommendation I checked out Michael A. Stackpole's Secret Atlas series

(snip)

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You may have the wrong website... The only Stackpole site I know of is http://www.stormwolf.com
The glossary is here:
http://www.michaelastackpole.com/?p=36

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Originally posted by Skeptic

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Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen

Well met! If it's not NDA, will Ed please tell us what specific type of undead the Skulls are (demiliches, perhaps), or are they sui generis?

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You mean in his "home" campaign ?

3.5E Skulls can be found in ELB's CoS. (and an unofficial version in ELB and TC monsters guide)

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Originally posted by Kuje

For those who are still waiting for answers, give Ed some time. So please don't bump them and have patience, a lot of patience. Do remember, some of us are waiting for answers from questions we posted one to three years ago. :)

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Originally posted by Kuje

For those who are still waiting for answers, give Ed some time. So please don't bump them and have patience, a lot of patience. Do remember, some of us are waiting for answers from questions we posted one to three years ago. :)

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Originally posted by Penknight

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Originally posted by Kuje

For those who are still waiting for answers, give Ed some time. So please don't bump them and have patience, a lot of patience. Do remember, some of us are waiting for answers from questions we posted one to three years ago. :)

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I have a strong feeling that this is directed towards me, friend Kuje. My deepest apologies.

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Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight

Lady Hooded,

Please pass along my most sincere apologies to Ed. I intended to attend his reading in Port Hope tonight but alas, my pregnant wife required my assistance as she has caught a nasty cold yesterday (and being pregnant cannot take any drugs to help with the symptoms).

I will promise this though: I will meet him one day, with a wheelbarrow full of paperbacks for him to sign! (i.e. see the GENCON 2008 scroll...)

It may be a blessing in disguise in fact: now I have no excuses to miss GENCON 2008! I must attend!

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Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight

Lady Hooded,

Please pass along my most sincere apologies to Ed. I intended to attend his reading in Port Hope tonight but alas, my pregnant wife required my assistance as she has caught a nasty cold yesterday (and being pregnant cannot take any drugs to help with the symptoms).

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Originally posted by Kuje

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Originally posted by Penknight

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Originally posted by Kuje

For those who are still waiting for answers, give Ed some time. So please don't bump them and have patience, a lot of patience. Do remember, some of us are waiting for answers from questions we posted one to three years ago. :)

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I have a strong feeling that this is directed towards me, friend Kuje. My deepest apologies.

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Nay, it was a general statement to everyone because I've seen a few people, lately, express interest in their waiting replies or reasking the questions.

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Originally posted by Kuje

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Originally posted by Penknight

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Originally posted by Kuje

For those who are still waiting for answers, give Ed some time. So please don't bump them and have patience, a lot of patience. Do remember, some of us are waiting for answers from questions we posted one to three years ago. :)

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I have a strong feeling that this is directed towards me, friend Kuje. My deepest apologies.

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Nay, it was a general statement to everyone because I've seen a few people, lately, express interest in their waiting replies or reasking the questions.

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Originally posted by The Sage

Hmmm... Kuje's query relates a little to something I've been thinking about asking as well. So Ed, I'm tacking my next question onto his, since it also concerns philosophy in the Realms.

(snip)
Also, I'd like to know a little about two or three philosophers of note in the Realms. We've learned a little in the past, from NPCs who've been referenced as having specific interests in philosophy. But they're largely students of particular philosophical schools -- not the founders or creators of individual schools of philosophical thought.
(snip)

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Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen

I think that the difficulty in the notion of philosophers having "schools of philosophy" derived from their thought is that there have been enormous discontinuities in Faerun's past; few states have endured more than a couple of hundred years, and when they went down, they went down with a bang.

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There are probably enormous quantities of old writings in Faerun, but they are mostly buried or in a form not recognizable to current residents (Elven tree "writing," for example). There are probably some philosophers of Calimshan and the Utter East whose writings have endured, but they may not be readily available to anyone in Faerun who might care enough to actually read them and develop their philosophies.

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Let's not forget, either, that Faerun's one "human" deity of philosophy was killed centuries ago (oops!) and the only other noted deities of philosophy (Annam and, to a much lesser extent, Chronepsis) don't ordinarily respond to their own kind, let alone to bothersome humans, elves, and other such creatures.

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Originally posted by The Sage

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Let's not forget, either, that Faerun's one "human" deity of philosophy was killed centuries ago (oops!) and the only other noted deities of philosophy (Annam and, to a much lesser extent, Chronepsis) don't ordinarily respond to their own kind, let alone to bothersome humans, elves, and other such creatures.

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Which is probably why the faith of Oghma is such an important consideration when thinking about the survival of philosophical history in Faer�n. Essential elements of the Ogmanyte dogma are both the "spread of knowledge" and the "recording of information of import to prevent it from being lost." It is in the interests of the Church of Oghma to ensure that such philosophical thinking is not only maintained from previous societies/peoples, but properly understood, and made available to those who would seek to make the most beneficial use of such "ancient" knowledge.

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Originally posted by The Sage

Hmmm... Kuje's query relates a little to something I've been thinking about asking as well. So Ed, I'm tacking my next question onto his, since it also concerns philosophy in the Realms.

Basically, and expaning on Kuje's initial query, I'd like to know more about specific philosophical schools of thought at play in the Realms today, and perhaps even in the past as well. Maybe a few tidbits on current theories, old and largely ignored theories, and even some bits on old schools of thought that, while they may seem ridiculous now, were given significant prominence at times in the past.

Also, I'd like to know a little about two or three philosophers of note in the Realms. We've learned a little in the past, from NPCs who've been referenced as having specific interests in philosophy. But they're largely students of particular philosophical schools -- not the founders or creators of individual schools of philosophical thought.

And Ed, if you feel like this is simply too large a topic to tackle sufficiently here, let me know and I'll attempt to narrow it's focus somewhat.

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Originally posted by Steven Schend

Not to horn in on Ed's territory (or Sage's for that matter), but I've a thought on Oghma from my old designing days.

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For me, the church of Oghma's importance was in preserving the lore, the knowledge, the actual information of history and the present day. They abhor (or at least the most dogmatic of them) predictions and oracular prophecies. Too vague and inconsistent.

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That's where Deneir's church came in. While they're as interested in lore, they're equally if not more interested in the form of that lore and recording/keeping that. Thus, books matter to them as much as what the books hold. Same goes for Imaskari clay tablets, coral carvings from Seros, etc. It's not just knowledge but how it's presented and preserved. That's why bards work more with Deneir's than Oghma's church.

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Of course, that's just my uncaffeinated opinion. Thought I'd mention it here to see how far off the beam I am with Ed's (or the Lady Hooded's) opinions. <shrug>

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Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hello again, all! Well met, and hearken ye to Ed of the Greenwood’s latest serving of Realmslore, in response to Penknight’s query: “I would like to ask a few paladin questions, if I may. When a paladin passes on, what happens to his belongings exactly? Do they get interred with him, (armor, shield, holy avenger, etc.), or do they go to his surviving family? If one of the paladin's children became a paladin, would they receive their father's holy weapon? What if that person already had a holy weapon? Would it go then to the church? How exactly are these decisions reached, also?”
Ed replies:



This is one of those “it depends” answers. In this case, it depends on the faith the paladin belongs to, the manner of his death, and so on.
In general: specifically “holy” weapons tend to be recovered by the church (who may well compensate kin and even creditors of the paladin, and will definitely take care of the burial or compensate others who took care of the remains [any may well also recover those remains for reinterment “in the bosom of the church,” i.e. in holy ground or a temple crypt under control of the faith). Relics of the faith worn or used by the fallen paladin, ditto. A token is always passed on to the family, if possible (usually, it’s a dagger and/or helm, if these are not specifically holy or magical).
Every faith has developed its own policies, down the years; the churches of Helm, Tyr, and Torm value passing on material to younger kin (and seeking to recruit said kin to “full dedication to” the faith at the right time), whereas Tempus and the other warlike faiths (aside from these three aforementioned) tend to recover such material for the church.
Here, I would roleplay it however you’d like it to work in your campaign, because local temples have often “done their own thing” over the years, citing “inspiration from the god” that came to their senior clergy in dreams, altar prayer-visions, and the like.



So saith Ed, reiterating the “wiggle room” he has used in the “home” Realms campaign.
love to all,
THO

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