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Mkhaiwati
Learned Scribe
USA
252 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 23:19:22
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alright, I have another question to throw on the pile of stuff. (Anyone ever get the mental picture of poor Ed chained to a wall or dungeon, with an amazingly tall pile of questions before him and the Lady Hooded with a whip behind him?) that wasn't the question, however.
My question concerns the family. In my view of medieval times, the man worked while the woman was in charge of the household. Best examples of this would be found in the Cadfael series, especially the very strong-willed women that populate the merchant class who are very shrew-ish in their household. The Sanctuary Sparrow and the Rose Rent are two books that come to mind.
With much more gender equality in the Realms, is there anything that correlates with the traditional role of controlling the household? How much variance between cultures in this regard is there?
Thanks |
"Behold the work of the old... let your heritage not be lost but bequeath it as a memory, treasure and blessing... Gather the lost and the hidden and preserve it for thy children."
"not nale. not-nale. thog help nail not-nale, not nale. and thog knot not-nale while nale nail not-nale. nale, not not-nale, now nail not-nale by leaving not-nale, not nale, in jail." OotS #367 |
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Zandilar
Learned Scribe
Australia
313 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2007 : 23:54:29
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Heya,
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Ok, my wife jumped all over the "Gandalf is Gay" thing when it was announced. Now, she's harping that "Dumbledoor is Gay". So, before she stumbles over the name Elminster... is there any chance that we could convince Mr. Greenwood into writing some gratuitous sex scenes for Elminster <g>? I know we'd have to twist his arm and all, but I think for the "good of the realms" its necessary <g>. Oh, and Long Live Old El
Be careful of what you wish for... A badly worded wish can oftentimes be twisted by the gods into something else...
Wishing for gratuitous sex scenes might end up with slash, you know. 
Seriously though (yes, I know the original post was tongue in cheek), I doubt El is straight (in the conventional sense of the word)... After all, he's lived over a thousand years, and spent at least some of that time (probably only a fraction of a fraction) as a woman. I'd be very disappointed if Ed saw the need to "prove" Elminster's "heterosexuality" just because J K Rowling's "Elminster-alike" (which he's really not) wizard, Dumbledore, turned out to be gay. (I personally think it's great, Rowling introduced the idea very subtly, to the point where people didn't realize (though smart people might have picked it up in Deathly Hallows). To the point where she had to politely correct someone writing the screenplay for one of the upcoming Harry Potter films. In some ways, that's exactly the way it should be. Unless someone comes right out and tells you their sexuality, you simply wouldn't know since sexuality is not black and white and one shade of grey, it's a full spectrum of grey. (Kinsey was right.))
(Where is the "Gandalf is gay" thing coming from?) |
Zandilar
~amor vincit omnia~
~audaces fortuna iuvat~
As the spell ends, you look up into the sky to see the sun blazing overhead like noon in a desert. Then something else in the sky catches your attention. Turning your gaze, you see a tawny furred kitten bounding across the sky towards the new sun. Her eyes glint a mischevious green as she pounces on it as if it were nothing but a colossal ball of golden yarn. With quick strokes of her paws, it is batted across the sky, back and forth. Then with a wink the kitten and the sun disappear, leaving the citizens of Elversult gazing up with amazed expressions that quickly turn into chortles and mirth.
The Sunlord left Elversult the same day in humilitation, and was never heard from again. |
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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2007 : 00:51:38
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Got a somewhat more personal question for Ed o' the Greenwood:
I recently read your Q&A on Amazon.com - you stated that one of your top choices for a CD/album you would want on a desert island is "Selling England by the Pound". I'm absolutely tickled that you are a Genesis fan, and this is a great album (Scene's from a Night's Dream being a personal favorite, followed closely by Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - which I once used as an adventure hook!), but I wondered why you wouldn't have selected The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?
Just curious!
Melfius |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2007 : 01:38:57
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Hot on the heels of my astrological question for Ed, I ask another, spurred by my completion of one Realms novel trilogy.
Earthly astrological theory originally posited that each celestial body had a guiding intelligence (spirt, god, aion, mover ... whatever) which kept it in its course and could, in Hermetic theory, be contacted for magical purposes. Ed, for DM knowledge, do such entities exist in Realmspace? More practically, is there -- or are there -- any Power(s) whose "job" is to keep the celestial bodies in their "appointed" courses and resist attempts to move them elsewhere? (I omit details lest this become a spoiler.) One might suppose that Selune (the deity) would care for Selune (the celestial object) and Lathander and/or Amaunator would take care of the sun, but that leaves a lot of celestial bodies in Realmspace unaccounted for, vis-a-vis guardian deities
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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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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2007 : 02:58:42
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Hello again, all! Some short but swift responses from the ever-overworked Ed this time around, as follows:
Scribe Melfius asked this: “I recently read your Q&A on Amazon.com - you stated that one of your top choices for a CD/album you would want on a desert island is "Selling England by the Pound". I'm absolutely tickled that you are a Genesis fan, and this is a great album (Scene's from a Night's Dream being a personal favorite, followed closely by Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - which I once used as an adventure hook!), but I wondered why you wouldn't have selected The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?
Just curious!”
Ed replies:
I like both albums (and a lot of other Genesis releases, too), but for me (YMMV), “Selling” struck the perfect mix; it has more quasi-medieval melodies and intrumental bridges than “Lamb,” which has more hard-edged synth and parodies. Selling is more soft, misty England, and Lamb is more brassy, pounding Broadway America. However, certain cuts on Lamb (Back in NYC, Anyway, Lilywhite Lilith, Counting Out Time, In The Cage, and The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging) are favourites, too.
So saith Ed. Who also had something to say in response to this, from Zandilar: “Seriously though (yes, I know the original post was tongue in cheek), I doubt El is straight (in the conventional sense of the word)... After all, he's lived over a thousand years, and spent at least some of that time (probably only a fraction of a fraction) as a woman. I'd be very disappointed if Ed saw the need to "prove" Elminster's "heterosexuality" just because J K Rowling's "Elminster-alike" (which he's really not) wizard, Dumbledore, turned out to be gay. (I personally think it's great, Rowling introduced the idea very subtly, to the point where people didn't realize (though smart people might have picked it up in Deathly Hallows). To the point where she had to politely correct someone writing the screenplay for one of the upcoming Harry Potter films. In some ways, that's exactly the way it should be. Unless someone comes right out and tells you their sexuality, you simply wouldn't know since sexuality is not black and white and one shade of grey, it's a full spectrum of grey. (Kinsey was right.))”
Ed says:
I agree. Unless there’s a STORY need to spotlight a character’s sexuality, there’s no need for a writer to go into detail. (And, yes, in porn there IS a story need. :} ). And no, I don’t feel the need to “prove” anything about El (being as a great majority of gamers seem to believe all sorts of things about the character that are just plain wrong, anyway; I doubt they’d “buy” any explanation I attempted). Elminster was our viewpoint/spokesman/unreliable narrator character for the Realms by TSR’s choice, remember. I created a cast of thousands, not one old guy with a beard and some spells. :}
So saith Ed. And to Mkhaiwati’s query: “(Anyone ever get the mental picture of poor Ed chained to a wall or dungeon, with an amazingly tall pile of questions before him and the Lady Hooded with a whip behind him?)”
Ed replies:
Yes, I do. But the Lady Hooded with a whip is so distracting that I can’t get anything done until someone snaps me out of THAT particular fugue. Such as (ahem) the real Lady Hooded stepping in front of me wearing [only] a hood, a smile, and boots, with a whip in her hands.
Which reminds me. Lovely one? Ahem? Yoo-hoo?
So saith Ed. You WISH, dear. Now be good and go and write Wizards a few more chapters of whatever they need most urgently, or I WON’T come and lash you. So there.
Ahem.
More from Ed later.
Love to all,
THO
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Edited by - The Hooded One on 27 Oct 2007 17:41:31 |
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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2007 : 06:12:11
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Wow! I have ta say Ed and I have some VERY similar tastes! That's about the same list of songs I'd have named (with the exception of his omission of The Colony of Slippermen - that one's just too funny!)
Thanks for the swift reply! |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2007 : 06:55:29
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| I generally prefer the harder rocking Genesis of Foxtrot and Nursery Crymes, but I strongly feel that The Lamia should be added among the highlights of The Lamb. Hm, time to start the mornings vinyl-diving . |
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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2007 : 17:07:11
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Yay! More Genesis fans! Wait...this is a D&D forum, ain't it? Oops!
Ooookay, lemme see . . . I KNOW I have an actual D&D question here . . .
Got it! For Ed (via the wonderfully enticing Hooded One):
Dolblunde, that former gnome stronghold that now serves as housing for the nastiest of nasties, Daurgothoth: What more can you tell of it? Thus far, information is scarce at best. Basically, what I've said here is all that I've found. Doesn't matter if it's current information or just more on what it was like in ages past. Just something more to help me flesh out a campaign I've been working on.
Thankee sai! |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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Warrax
Learned Scribe
Canada
128 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2007 : 04:20:12
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| It's totally all about Firth of Fifth... :D |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2007 : 17:55:20
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Now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag vis-a-vis who killed the goddess Murdane, can Ed now tell us the details of her death?
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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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Melfius
Senior Scribe
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2007 : 19:00:57
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| Yes, Warrax, I also particularly the more heavily-instrumental type! |
Melfius, Pixie-Priest of Puck - Head Chef, The Faerie Kitchen, Candlekeep Inn
"What's in his pockets, besides me?"
Read a tale of my earlier days! - Happiness Comes in Small Packages |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 01:40:48
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Wow! Trying to decode the last few pages has made my eyes water....
a bit dis-jointed.
Could we please stay closer to topic?
Perhaps we need a Scroll for Music & FR
And I would love to see the sex talk move over to the Sex and the Realms scroll.
http://www.forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7278 |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 01:56:08
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Indeed. I'm inclined to agree with the Red Walker.
Fellow scribes, I've asked you repeatedly to limit the non-Ed chatter. It's proving to be a distraction for other scribes reading this particular scroll. So, please, ensure that your comments are specifically related to the purpose of this scroll. 
As it is, I think I may just go back through the last couple of pages and remove some of the more unnecessary posts. So if there's any particular non-Ed related posts that some of you have made over the last fortnight or so, and you want to keep them, I'd suggest that you save them now.
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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 30 Oct 2007 01:58:11 |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 02:01:05
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Our apologies oh wise Sage.
Hey Kuje, since Ed hasn't posted much in the way of answers (You know-the whole work thing) would you think it a good idea to post the Caladnei and Alusair posts I sent you?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 03:54:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Our apologies oh wise Sage.
Hey Kuje, since Ed hasn't posted much in the way of answers (You know-the whole work thing) would you think it a good idea to post the Caladnei and Alusair posts I sent you?
Uh, I did last week. :) |
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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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 09:39:27
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Oh, here's the "When souls are made" answer from So Saith Ed part 7.
quote:
Yes, souls (for those races having them) ARE "made when the child is first conceived with no divine 'intervention/interference' at all." It can't be otherwise, in a situation where divine power is related to number of worshippers, or the deity with the assigning-souls portfolio would be the ONLY deity.
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 15:38:56
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Awww, Sage, please don't edit out past posts. I agree we shouldn't clutter up this thread, but, hey, they're part of history, now - - and a lot of threads here at the Keep are almost ALL chatter and banter. Not that I dislike that.
However, I DO have a question for Ed, about music in the Realms, as it happens: how prevalent, in various parts of the Realms, is "street music"? How often do taverns (or fine eateries) have musicians playing? (If they do, what sort, when, how long, any details like that you'd care to share.)
Thanks!
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe
242 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 17:29:33
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Hmmm. Kuje, where are these Ed Realmslore replies you and Charles have just referred to? On a page in this thread?
Thanks! |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 17:47:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm
Hmmm. Kuje, where are these Ed Realmslore replies you and Charles have just referred to? On a page in this thread?
Thanks!
See my sig. :) Charles emailed them to me, since they were private replies between Charles and Ed, and I threw them into Ed's 2007 replies last week. |
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 |
Edited by - Kuje on 30 Oct 2007 17:48:20 |
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe
242 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 18:10:41
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Thanks, Kuje. I was searching, and searching...
Another lore question for Ed, while I'm online.
Plates and bowls and such (to eat off of, not cook in): metal? Carved wood? Ceramic? Earthenware? What predominates, where made, etc? Thanks! |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 18:12:40
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Hey, Ed, do you consider Alustriel not helping Bruenor repulse the Orcs from their lands to be out of character?
Not sure if you've had time to read the Orc King. |
My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 21:39:38
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Hello All,
Ed, are there beings within faerun that are simialr to the constructs Inevitables that seek to maintain the balance of those who cheat death constantly, haphazardly I should say, or those who keep returning to life beings that can't seem to avoid dying? Have ou ever used such beings as the inevitables in your games? |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2007 : 00:31:47
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Hello again, all. I just received a Realmslore reply from Ed re. this, from scribe Jamallo Kreen: "Hot on the heels of my astrological question for Ed, I ask another, spurred by my completion of one Realms novel trilogy.
Earthly astrological theory originally posited that each celestial body had a guiding intelligence (spirt, god, aion, mover ... whatever) which kept it in its course and could, in Hermetic theory, be contacted for magical purposes. Ed, for DM knowledge, do such entities exist in Realmspace? More practically, is there -- or are there -- any Power(s) whose "job" is to keep the celestial bodies in their "appointed" courses and resist attempts to move them elsewhere? (I omit details lest this become a spoiler.) One might suppose that Selune (the deity) would care for Selune (the celestial object) and Lathander and/or Amaunator would take care of the sun, but that leaves a lot of celestial bodies in Realmspace unaccounted for, vis-a-vis guardian deities."
Ed replies:
You are quite correct re. Selune and Lathander. Primitive cults and unorganized "folk belief" in the Realms have always believed that the world (including the starry sky, and the Realms Below) have "place spirits" (in rivers, pools, waterfalls, mountain peaks, caves, hills, and so on). All priesthoods of other deities have picked up on this and incorporated it in their prayers and teachings, but tell very different tales about those place spirits (a priestess of Loviatar will tell you place spirits are souls of mortals who especially pleased Loviatar, so she installed them as place spirits to remain "alive" in perpetual torment for her to visit and personally lash - - whereas a priest of Helm will tell you place spirits are all vigilant guardians, rewarded by Helm for their mortal deeds and services by being made place spirits so they can continue eternally in vigilance . . . and so on). The stars and "shooting stars" (plus floating rocks like The Temple In The Sky) are no different from valleys and ponds and other surface features in terms of having place spirits, in the views of most mortals (elves and the fey "know" that place spirits are most closely akin to them, not humans, etc.).
So saith Ed. Who is hard at work on the Realms, on several fronts.
love to all,
THO
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2007 : 22:32:54
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Realms questions still popping into my mind, here. This time, an everyday one: In the Dales, Cormyr, and the Sword Coast lands (I realize this may mean three different answers), how easy is to find and buy new ropes, string, waxed cord, and wire? Are there lots of makers, everywhere? Or only in big cities? Does one usually place an order and wait? Or usually buy from reels of already-made stuff? (In other words, are supplies abundant, or can the makers not ever keep up?)
Thanks! |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2007 : 23:54:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Blueblade
Realms questions still popping into my mind, here. This time, an everyday one: In the Dales, Cormyr, and the Sword Coast lands (I realize this may mean three different answers), how easy is to find and buy new ropes, string, waxed cord, and wire? Are there lots of makers, everywhere? Or only in big cities? Does one usually place an order and wait? Or usually buy from reels of already-made stuff? (In other words, are supplies abundant, or can the makers not ever keep up?)
Thanks!
While it may not be my place to say, I would venture a guess:
with the very low cost of these materials, I would say that they are plentiful in all areas. That is only a guess based on the price listed in the Player's Handbook. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2007 : 03:07:59
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I'm inclined to agree, dalor_darden, though of course Ed may see things differently. The wire, however, may well be far rarer and more expensive than rope or cord, unless one is trying to purchase it near a plentiful supply of metal AND a skilled gnome or dwarf smith. I seem to recall strangling wire and jewelers' wire being expensive indeed when we Knights went looking (Torm made a handsome profit buying some "junk" and reselling just the wire, and most stranglers used fine rope, not wire).
As for the Realmslore, I haven't any. Ed is leaving in the morning to drive down to Pentacon in Fort Wayne, Indiana; he'll be there informally Friday night and doing events Saturday and Sunday. He leaves exhausted but upbeat, he tells me, having had glimpses of future Realms fiction and future game lore today that pleased him. He said to tell scribes: "The sky is not falling, folks. We may be bouncing up to meet it a couple of times, but view that as unusual but good fun, and we'll all be okay."
Any day in which he creates two new [NDA] and details enough [NDA] to last any campaign for four years or so is a good one.
I'm hoping he'll be back in touch this coming Wednesday - - but keep the questions coming, scribes. As long as you're asking, Ed knows he's wanted. 
love to all,
THO |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2007 : 03:54:00
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Cost was never a factor in availability, unless I am mistaken and Edward Greenwood did conside this. Core rules always had prices that made no sense.
Mr. Greenwood have you adderessed the issue of supply and demand in any of your writings?
I have seen in some D&D products a scarity of items, but no price increase. |
"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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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2007 : 20:52:21
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Consider me lazy for asking this question:
Where can I find more information about Ed's works that are NOT related to the Forgotten Realms? |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2007)
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