I tend to try to use geography and phonemes to get an idea of a Faerunian region’s real-world cultural referent when applicable.But I notice Icewind Dale geography borrows from French, Welsh, some Romance languages. It's kind of all over the place.

— bigbys pantomime j/o (@bizmarkiedesade) July 11, 2017

Is that supposed to reflect the diversity of its inhabitants? I’m trying to pick an IRL cultural tradition to be the basis of character nameI avoided real-world cultural referents when designing the Realms, but other designers haven't been as evasive. Icewind Dale was created…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 12, 2017

. . . by @r_a_salvatore and the names therein are his! Here's the thing: SOME of its inhabitants went there from all over Faerun. So… :}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 12, 2017