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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 05 Nov 2021 :  22:31:56  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Razz

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
As for magic, while it can be a great aid for exploration, you still have to know where you're going, first. Most wizards aren't going to say "I'm going to teleport 2000 miles that way and see where I land" -- especially since the less imprecise the location, the greater the potential for adverse consequences on arrival. Most scrying magics aren't going to have the range, and those that do, you still have to know where you're looking. A wizard could pick a random spot to start looking, then move his scrying sensor, and still be days or even weeks from land.



With magic that can create sky cities, disintegrate entire armies, rip inhabitants of another world from 2 separate points of time, summon massive tidal waves, sunder an entire continent, and steal the divine essence of a goddess of magic, I find it extremely incredulous that no one developed a spell similar to our real world satellites to map the world, a spell that creates a vision of the entire world, and a caster can mentally “zoom in and out and scan” as they please.



Or simply transported to the moon, which they can simply sit upon and gaze at the world below and map it over time. But I agree, there are solutions out there. Its very hard to believe they wouldn't be used.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 05 Nov 2021 22:39:08
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 05 Nov 2021 :  22:37:27  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus

quote:
Originally posted by Razz

Ironic how we have more information on extraplanar realms in the setting than we do on what lies across the oceans!


-Kind of like how we know more about space, or our solar system, than we do about deep down in the ocean.



Not really. Travel into the deeper parts of the ocean are extremely dangerous for us, and they typically won't lead to some way to go "elsewhere". It is somewhat natural that people show an interest in being able to leave our planet in the hopes of finding another habitable place (because if this one goes back, likely the oceans will as well).

Meanwhile in a comparison, discovering the land right across the water, that's perfectly habitable, and probably filled with resources you can explore.... it only makes sense that they'd be using the means that are at hand to try and discover those places.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 05 Nov 2021 :  22:57:07  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Razz

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
As for magic, while it can be a great aid for exploration, you still have to know where you're going, first. Most wizards aren't going to say "I'm going to teleport 2000 miles that way and see where I land" -- especially since the less imprecise the location, the greater the potential for adverse consequences on arrival. Most scrying magics aren't going to have the range, and those that do, you still have to know where you're looking. A wizard could pick a random spot to start looking, then move his scrying sensor, and still be days or even weeks from land.



With magic that can create sky cities, disintegrate entire armies, rip inhabitants of another world from 2 separate points of time, summon massive tidal waves, sunder an entire continent, and steal the divine essence of a goddess of magic, I find it extremely incredulous that no one developed a spell similar to our real world satellites to map the world, a spell that creates a vision of the entire world, and a caster can mentally “zoom in and out and scan” as they please.



But to what end? Exploration is largely driven by a need for resources, and wizards aren't going to need to look halfway around the world for resources. Also, what wizard is going to think "Hmmm, maybe if I create an eye in the sky I can use it to look down at some place thousands of miles away even though I've got absolutely no reason to?"

Even in Spelljammer, artificial satellites are orbital bases or isolated dwellings, not spy satellites.



Because diamonds don't grow on trees in Faerun (maybe they do elsewhere in the world, maybe they should go see)? Maybe there is some creature on another continent like a deepspawn, but it eats coal and excretes gems. Because not every type of tree that can grow in the world may be represented in Faerun, and there might be some that have some weird special affinity for magic? Because there might be an island on which the flowers grow tremendously huge (for instance off the coast of kara-tur) and maybe they should go get some of that soil and mess with it to see what it can be used for? Because there might be some other mundane resources that just don't grow elsewhere that might be useful to them, or something that they already have but don't know some secret to using, and they just don't know about them until they find out from another culture... because wizards are not omniscient... and there's other kinds of magic, like that used by the people on other continents.

I mean why go explore the dangerous outer planes when you can explore your own world and possibly find something extremely interesting here as well.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 06 Nov 2021 :  01:38:50  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas


Because diamonds don't grow on trees in Faerun (maybe they do elsewhere in the world, maybe they should go see)? Maybe there is some creature on another continent like a deepspawn, but it eats coal and excretes gems. Because not every type of tree that can grow in the world may be represented in Faerun, and there might be some that have some weird special affinity for magic? Because there might be an island on which the flowers grow tremendously huge (for instance off the coast of kara-tur) and maybe they should go get some of that soil and mess with it to see what it can be used for? Because there might be some other mundane resources that just don't grow elsewhere that might be useful to them, or something that they already have but don't know some secret to using, and they just don't know about them until they find out from another culture... because wizards are not omniscient... and there's other kinds of magic, like that used by the people on other continents.


So you're saying that rather than look for resources on your own continent, where you speak (or can learn) the relevant languages and know the geography and wildlife and people, it's a better idea to blindly try to find another continent that you don't even know exists, and then hope to survive all the locals and such, and hope to find the resource there?

That's like going to a 7-11 in Des Moines for a Butterfinger, finding they don't have any, and hopping a flight to Cambodia in hopes of finding one there.

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

I mean why go explore the dangerous outer planes when you can explore your own world and possibly find something extremely interesting here as well.



Because the outer planes are a known quantity. You know where they are, you know what you need to get to them, how to survive there, and who and what is there.

There's a hell of a difference between "Hmm, all these books tell me what I need is on the Quasielemental Plane of Ale, where on the plane it is, and how to acquire it" and "Hmm, I need this thing, let's going scrying on this random spot 7000 miles away and see if what I need is there."

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 06 Nov 2021 :  01:41:54  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas


Meanwhile in a comparison, discovering the land right across the water, that's perfectly habitable, and probably filled with resources you can explore.... it only makes sense that they'd be using the means that are at hand to try and discover those places.



You're assuming it's habitable, you're assuming that it has resources you want, you're assuming you can find both readily, you're assuming there's nothing there to stop you from taking those resources, and you're assuming that the costs of doing so will be less than the costs of finding other sources.

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Razz
Senior Scribe

USA
749 Posts

Posted - 04 Dec 2021 :  00:22:53  Show Profile Send Razz a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I dunno, it all really just sounds like a ton of extremely contrived reasons why after thousands of years with such magics at one's disposal that none of the inhabitants of the world bothered to map it entirely or gather a ton of knowledge about it.

They'll have tons of books on traversing the Abyss, an infinite plane roiled in evil and chaos, but yet Maztica was such a huge mystery until the 1360s DR...

Heck, I know more about the inhabitants of the moon Selune than I do Katashaka!

Shaundakul and Oghma need their portfolios taken by someone more capable of actually traveling and cataloging the world.

Edited by - Razz on 04 Dec 2021 00:23:42
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TBeholder
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2382 Posts

Posted - 05 Dec 2021 :  19:21:25  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Name... in which language?

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
1141 Posts

Posted - 06 Dec 2021 :  03:46:35  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm more than happy to accept the answer that Faerunians do know about and explore the other continents. It's a matter of meta/out-of-game reasons why we have no access to those knowledge/lore or have 'misinterpretations' of them (e.g., WoTC/TSR, what Ed is allowed to tell us, what El tells Ed).
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 06 Dec 2021 :  05:07:51  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by questing gm

I'm more than happy to accept the answer that Faerunians do know about and explore the other continents. It's a matter of meta/out-of-game reasons why we have no access to those knowledge/lore or have 'misinterpretations' of them (e.g., WoTC/TSR, what Ed is allowed to tell us, what El tells Ed).



That does make more sense, honestly, though it begs the question of why WotC made a point of giving us a world map with "unknown" lands on it. It would have made more sense to keep the map focused on the one continent they gave us.

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questing gm
Master of Realmslore

Malaysia
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Posted - 06 Dec 2021 :  05:23:04  Show Profile  Visit questing gm's Homepage Send questing gm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

That does make more sense, honestly, though it begs the question of why WotC made a point of giving us a world map with "unknown" lands on it. It would have made more sense to keep the map focused on the one continent they gave us.



I'm also happy to add that in the answer of 'WotC making poor decisions to irk fans', but at the same time, it makes sense to have free creative real estate for DMs to spread their wings ('Want a continent that is not Faerun, Kara-Tur, Maztica, or Zhakara? Here!), which is part of Realm's tenet of letting those who dabble in the Realms to make their OWN Realms (before Realmslore, published or otherwise, encroaches into what is ACTUALLY there for the fanbase like here craves).

Edited by - questing gm on 06 Dec 2021 05:32:07
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 06 Dec 2021 :  23:37:43  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder

Name... in which language?




Yep, that's why when I started this thread I said

Second, obviously continents can have 500 names. Some may be relevant at certain times/eras. Some might be relevant to certain cultures. So, one person's Katashaka or Osse might be called something else my someone else.

So, for instance, what "modern Faerunians" call Anchorome and what "others" called Anchorome might be two separate things due to misunderstandings (kind of like the "story" of how there are human tribes known as Tabaxi in Chult and cat folk known as Tabaxi in Maztica and even other worlds).

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe

Australia
401 Posts

Posted - 07 Dec 2021 :  08:00:12  Show Profile Send BadCatMan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
FWIW, Ed liked my tweet about locating Arandron off the coast of Katashaka and somewhere near Akota for the wiki, so I'm considering that tacit approval. It does make for a melange of campaign settings, canons, and continuities in the area, but we're used to that.
https://twitter.com/TheBadCatMan/status/1467413953949011970

(Coincidentally, Arandron is listed as a male elf name in the fan-made Elves of Faer#251;n book, which I and several posters here contributed to years ago, along with many recognisable elf names, so it may have a connection to past lore, though I've yet to find something.)

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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2442 Posts

Posted - 07 Dec 2021 :  15:03:28  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And were would you locate Tluin? We only know is south of Laerakond.

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 07 Dec 2021 :  19:48:36  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

And were would you locate Tluin? We only know is south of Laerakond.



There's a continent named Tluin?

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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2442 Posts

Posted - 07 Dec 2021 :  20:54:15  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
My bad, it's Thuin:

There is no Maztica (or Osse) in the original Realms, but instead: Laerakond, and SE of it/SW of Faerun, there's Thuin, a N/S-long-axis continent with dark-skinned human peoples (many squabbling city-states)

https://twitter.com/TheEdVerse/status/1145397200958230528?t=HQGBtqjvSmtJqq4OSIGW5A&s=19

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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe

Australia
401 Posts

Posted - 07 Dec 2021 :  23:17:52  Show Profile Send BadCatMan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That Thuin is on Ed's own planet, not the published Toril, so it's not something we would try to document on the FRW. Presumably it's replaced by Katashaka and Maztica.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 08 Dec 2021 :  00:27:47  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

And were would you locate Tluin? We only know is south of Laerakond.



I know it was a simple mistake, but that just tickled my funny bone, as I interpreted you to mean "Where would you locate the land of go F yourself"

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 08 Dec 2021 :  00:38:24  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

FWIW, Ed liked my tweet about locating Arandron off the coast of Katashaka and somewhere near Akota for the wiki, so I'm considering that tacit approval. It does make for a melange of campaign settings, canons, and continuities in the area, but we're used to that.
https://twitter.com/TheBadCatMan/status/1467413953949011970




That works, I'd been calling that spot "East Katashaka" recently because we had no "official" name for which one was Katashaka either (though I'm very much of the mind that the big one below Maztica should be Katashaka, just because so many other things have referenced it as that). I'd much rather name one Katashaka and the other Arandron. I know Akota wasn't "his" addition, but I like making it one of the bigger islands near Arandron. I kind of felt like I was shoehorning that to be named Thuin.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 08 Dec 2021 00:47:42
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
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Posted - 08 Dec 2021 :  00:47:51  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I can imagine some people in-universe will use this to sent people back to where they came from

quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

That Thuin is on Ed's own planet, not the published Toril, so it's not something we would try to document on the FRW. Presumably it's replaced by Katashaka and Maztica.



Well, the same can be said of Arandron, as it only has been mentioned on Twitter.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 08 Dec 2021 :  12:08:09  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

I can imagine some people in-universe will use this to sent people back to where they came from

quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan

That Thuin is on Ed's own planet, not the published Toril, so it's not something we would try to document on the FRW. Presumably it's replaced by Katashaka and Maztica.



Well, the same can be said of Arandron, as it only has been mentioned on Twitter.



Yeah, but he made reference to Arandron to other public realmslore, whereas Thuin he says something along the lines of "in mine, its different". I will add to that that there is nothing that I could find that was the shape he described for Thuin (an island that looks basically like a spade). That being said, I'm all about giving names to stuff that's just been sitting there for 3 decades as a rough shape on a map if we can find anything that remotely fits what he described.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2442 Posts

Posted - 09 Dec 2021 :  02:29:49  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

I will add to that that there is nothing that I could find that was the shape he described for Thuin (an island that looks basically like a spade).



In the same thread about Arandron Ed said that the world map we have of the Realms is not accurate, so, that there is not spade-shaped island in that map doesn't that it doesn't exist. If we go by Ed words, it just mean that map is wrong.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11689 Posts

Posted - 09 Dec 2021 :  21:54:47  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

I will add to that that there is nothing that I could find that was the shape he described for Thuin (an island that looks basically like a spade).



In the same thread about Arandron Ed said that the world map we have of the Realms is not accurate, so, that there is not spade-shaped island in that map doesn't that it doesn't exist. If we go by Ed words, it just mean that map is wrong.



True, and maybe some of the islands between Katashaka and the Utter East are just "Misshapen", or there's an extra one not shown. Not a big thing in my book. After all nothing he's given us on any of the "name only" continents that I know of has even remotely given us an idea as to their size.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 09 Dec 2021 22:36:58
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe

502 Posts

Posted - 10 Dec 2021 :  17:49:46  Show Profile  Visit Gelcur's Homepage Send Gelcur a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Have any of are amazing cartographers attempted to make these changes into a map we can visualize?

Personally I am always a fan of trying to bring as much of Ed's original work back into the Realms. At least as much as he is willing to share. There are so many bare spots in the Realms we can fill and shift things around.

The party come to a town befallen by hysteria

Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good.
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
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Posted - 10 Dec 2021 :  22:24:38  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
By no means an amazing cartographer, but at least covering some of the stuff Seethyr and myself did with Anchorome, Maztica, and Lopango, I have a map that shows a goodly portion of the world that's not been heavily detailed with a correlation of where some major faerunian icons/cities are to reference. That being said, I have deliberately changed a few things (some islands off the coast of Anchorome, kept Laerakond, etc...). On my home PC I also have my own work in progress for Katashaka as well. If you'd like to see it, you can get a copy on several of my products, but this one is pay what you want (so 99% of the time people download it for free).

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/349805/Races-of-the-Adusgi-Forest-and-Surrounding-Environs?filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0_0_0

That being said, that's kind of why I started this thread, to try and get a general consensus of what people thought some of these place "should be" named. As far as including "Ed's original realms", he's released so little about these continents that they mostly consist of information that can consist in a tweet. Not really a whole campaign. Still, we can try to gather the information and formulate a general picture.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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TBeholder
Great Reader

2382 Posts

Posted - 12 Dec 2021 :  14:04:39  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert


As for magic, while it can be a great aid for exploration, you still have to know where you're going, first. Most wizards aren't going to say "I'm going to teleport 2000 miles that way and see where I land" -- especially since the less imprecise the location, the greater the potential for adverse consequences on arrival. Most scrying magics aren't going to have the range, and those that do, you still have to know where you're looking.

So it's fairly easy even without researching something new. Just time-consuming. But then, it's still much less time-consuming (and much less dangerous) than blind sailing.
High-altitude scrying could help to "cross" the oceans at their narrow parts.
Using migratory birds (whether via some variation of sight link, or "marking" one with a ring on the leg and aiming at the ring) could trace a path too.
But better options involve direct line of sight. And the best lines of sight on an arbitrary areas are, of course, available via leaving the atmosphere altogether. As in, use a really good spyglass from orbit (one of Tears or even better, a spelljamming craft), then "zoom in" at a chosen area by popping the scrying spot closer. Once the general shape of a landmass is clear, further series may begin at this point, so the "explorer" can stow that spyglass and start proper mapping.

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

So, one person's Katashaka or Osse might be called something else my someone else.

Indeed. But also, phonetics seems familiar. Arandron, arandur...

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch

Edited by - TBeholder on 12 Dec 2021 14:07:37
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 12 Dec 2021 :  15:54:41  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert


As for magic, while it can be a great aid for exploration, you still have to know where you're going, first. Most wizards aren't going to say "I'm going to teleport 2000 miles that way and see where I land" -- especially since the less imprecise the location, the greater the potential for adverse consequences on arrival. Most scrying magics aren't going to have the range, and those that do, you still have to know where you're looking.

So it's fairly easy even without researching something new. Just time-consuming. But then, it's still much less time-consuming (and much less dangerous) than blind sailing.
High-altitude scrying could help to "cross" the oceans at their narrow parts.
Using migratory birds (whether via some variation of sight link, or "marking" one with a ring on the leg and aiming at the ring) could trace a path too.
But better options involve direct line of sight. And the best lines of sight on an arbitrary areas are, of course, available via leaving the atmosphere altogether. As in, use a really good spyglass from orbit (one of Tears or even better, a spelljamming craft), then "zoom in" at a chosen area by popping the scrying spot closer. Once the general shape of a landmass is clear, further series may begin at this point, so the "explorer" can stow that spyglass and start proper mapping.


Sure, there are ways to use magic for finding and mapping unknown lands. But the time-consuming nature of it is going to be a really big deal, and I don't see it happening without a very good reason.

And I agree that spelljamming is a great way for mapping an entire planet. I even pointed out, within this discussion, that Spelljammer canon talks about identifying cities and various terrain features from orbit.

But, as I also said, "If we play the spelljammer card, then we have to question why those lands are unknown. It can't be both ways -- it doesn't work to say that spelljammers have been used to extensively and accurately map coastlines but haven't bothered with interiors or landing anywhere other than Faerūn."

quote:
Originally posted by TBeholder

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

So, one person's Katashaka or Osse might be called something else my someone else.

Indeed. But also, phonetics seems familiar. Arandron, arandur...



I've long resisted the idea that similar words imply a connection. After all, just look at the English language. The words care, cart, carp, and card are all very similar, but have nothing in common with each other. House and mouse are similar words. Boot and toot are similar. And the list goes on and on...

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Zeromaru X
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Colombia
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Posted - 12 Dec 2021 :  16:19:53  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That is the problem of trying to maintain a medieval feel and tine by force. At some point, this would make no sense if compared with the internal logic of the lore.

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 12 Dec 2021 :  18:12:33  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

That is the problem of trying to maintain a medieval feel and tine by force. At some point, this would make no sense if compared with the internal logic of the lore.



If we follow WotC's lead and pretend Spelljammer doesn't exist, the whole mapping issue is greatly simplified.

And yeah, I know, there have been isolated references here and there, but those references have been few and far between and mostly focused on the flying ship aspect and not the space travel aspect.

I will always love Spelljammer, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that it needs to be entirely rebuilt from the ground up, and in particular, entirely separated from existing campaign worlds. And the latter is kind of an issue, since connecting the existing campaign worlds was part of the design objective. It's never really been integrated into anything, and even when it was being published, there was a lot of disconnects between the various design teams, leading to problematic and even contradictory lore. I'm not convinced it's worth the effort, though -- I love it, but I think the concept didn't work for most people.

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 12 Dec 2021 18:41:57
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Zeromaru X
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Posted - 12 Dec 2021 :  20:55:02  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Even if we remove all the Spelljammer lore, there are still details within Realmslore that makes this an issue. Magic, for starters. Ed has mentioned commerce with unknown lands since many years before the 1300s DR. It makes no sense that people will not be curious enough to at least try to catalogue those places.

We don't know of those lands for meta reasons only. I don't know if all the blame goes to the authors or to TSR/WotC,
(I personally blame the grodnards) but we are stuck to Faerun just because in medieval times people only knew about Europe. But in medieval times people didn't had magic, elves and actual gods...

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...

Edited by - Zeromaru X on 12 Dec 2021 21:04:37
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 13 Dec 2021 :  00:52:11  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

Even if we remove all the Spelljammer lore, there are still details within Realmslore that makes this an issue. Magic, for starters. Ed has mentioned commerce with unknown lands since many years before the 1300s DR. It makes no sense that people will not be curious enough to at least try to catalogue those places.

We don't know of those lands for meta reasons only. I don't know if all the blame goes to the authors or to TSR/WotC,
(I personally blame the grodnards) but we are stuck to Faerun just because in medieval times people only knew about Europe. But in medieval times people didn't had magic, elves and actual gods...



It's a lot less of an issue without Spelljammer.

Looking at real-world history, I don't find it at all unreasonable for there to be lands unknown to the people of Faerūn. Yeah, there's magic and gods, but magic isn't cheap and even if someone does think to say "Hey, Patron Deity, can you tell me about other continents on this world?" it doesn't mean said deity is going to be forthcoming with information.

In fact, the argument could be made that magic and gods would complicate find out more about the world -- just look what it's like trying to get to Evermeet. Maybe Umberlee actively hampers longer sea voyages. Maybe there are magical effects that get in the way. You wouldn't even need much of either for it to discourage other attempts.

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