[1/2] In “Spellstorm” El wrested a spark of Mystryl’s divine fire from Manshoon. How did Manshoon get it? She instilled it into him. He (along with Volo, which is how Volo survived the Spellplague and the passage of nigh a century, and Mirt, and a host of others) was one of the many, many beings across Toril she infused with some of her divine fire so she could "come back"…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 29, 2018
[2/2] …after the Sundering. In The Sage Of Shadowdale trilogy, you can read of M's refusal to obey Mystra (as a Chosen, or at all). Mystra foresaw the Sundering and knew her weakened Chosen would become targets for her foes, so she put "herself" into many (some unwitting).
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 29, 2018
Mystra? But in novel, the divine fire belong to Mystryl not Mystra. A/It wasn't the first time Mystra had used that trick, with Manshoon (she did it during the Time of Troubles). The spindle of Mystryl's fire inside that particular Manshoon clone came from then. Mystra inherited or collected all of the silver fire that had been Mystryl's that…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
B/…other deities didn't ensnare. Mystra is unique among the deities of the Realms in that she is the Weave, and so is "everywhere" in Toril, and can feel and sense magic flows, spellfire, divine fire/silver fire–and readily gather it to herself because the Weave is HER. (If…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
C/…you want to grab something, you only have your two hands at the location you stand, whereas Mystra has millions of hands, all over the world.) Yes, Mystra could seize the spindle, but she would not only destroy Manshoon in the process, she'd damage herself (the Weave) by…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
D/…creating a localized rift (dead magic PLUS leakage into other planes in both directions, surrounded by a fringe of intense wild magic). Mystra is all about mortals using more and more magic, creating and innovating with magic, and therefore magic becoming ever more…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
E/…prevalent, so she is NOT going to just destroy powerful mages to get what she wants…but using a mortal mage who'll obey her (El, a Chosen) to get it from Manshoon (even if doing so will kill Manshoon) is okay with her. Not ideal, but if necessary… Each successive…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
F/…Mystra knows less about "being Mystra" than the previous one (like newly-awakened Manshoon clones lacking the recent experience/history of earlier Manshoons), but reacquire their memories and expertise from contact with Chosen (like El) and other long-lived mages and…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
G/…other wielders of the Art (e.g. Larloch, Saharel, the Srinshee) and "reading" what these mortals know/remember…so Mystra now has quite a few of Mystryl's memories and those of her earlier selves, as filtered through others (and so knows about Mystryl's doings, …
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
H/…Manshoon's deeds, the spindle, etc.). Yes, it's confusing to us, in large part because most deities deliberately don't keep mortals fully informed, but also because most deities play a very "long game" (they are working against opposed deities and what is real that they…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018
I/..want altered to further their own aims and ideals with what to mortals is an impossibly long timeframe: aeons rather than ages or centuries, making tiny changes here and there and over there, too, that will bring about changes in reality they favour over MANY mortal lifetimes
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 30, 2018