If Skullport is 120 ft + 3 levels of Undermountain below the Yawning Portal, is it below sea level? Does the Sargauth empty into the sea or into a below-ground reservoir?Skullport is below sea level. The same magical "elevators" that bring ships to/from it & the Seacaves also transfer the river waters to the sea (except what's piped throughout the upper levels of Undermountain, to feed wells in Waterdeep and pumps in Skullport).#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 30, 2020
I want to start a new campaing for a group of Realms’ fans, and we want to explore some place less traveled. May I ask what is your favorite overlooked, not-enough-visited place in Realms? I honestly don't have a favorite. Truly.
Ask yourself what SORT of setting (city, town, wilderness, subterranean, or marine [surface? under?] and clime, cold to hot) you want for your campaign, settle on your preferred, tell me, and I'll suggest some neglected sites that "fit."— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 15, 2020
Thanks for answering! I am thinking wilderness with interesting places to explore – I am fond of expeditions searching for places long forgotten. And probably hot climates, we haven't travelled southern parts of the Realms enough.
— Dzhuro (@Dzhuro) November 15, 2020
1)
Okay, here we go…
* The Bandit Wastes/Bandit Kingdoms E of Lapaliiya.
* The Rathgaunt Hills.
* The W flank of The West Wall mountain range, where the Mhair jungles meet the rising foothills of the range, and there are old, overgrown ruins infested by monsters.2)
* Veldorn, Realm of Monsters (and the Curna Mountains, that hold a deepspawn, portal, or some other source of far too many monsters, plus the Toadsquat mountain range to the west, where many monsters dwell and even a few dragons lair).
* Ulgarth and the Utter East.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 15, 2020
3)
* Raurin, the Dust Desert (that hides many ruins of ancient Imaskar, that legends insist are rich in books and scrolls of long-lost spells, powerful enchanted artifacts, and underground temples to Set and other fell deities). 4)
References: Little official lore, but I’ve talked about all of these places here on Twitter, in various Wizards website articles, and on Candlekeep (which is the site best suited to searching for discussions of them).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 15, 2020
5)
Take a look at the relevant-clime Amarune’s Almanacs (on DM’s Guild), and at official sourcebooks like the 3e Shining South and Serpent Kingdoms.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 15, 2020
Syllatorizawa @syllafari@TheEdVerse
hey, i have a yuan ti character that needs to dispose of a human body somewhat quickly for the party. dare i ask, could a fully grown pureblood swallow parts whole? and in what sort of timeframe— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2020
1)
Purebloods are the most human-seeming yuan-ti, and so are most like humans in their eating capacity. However, like some serpents, they can temporarily unhinge their jaws to swallow things that wouldn’t otherwise fit, but if… 2)
…they swallow whole (not chewing or masticating, and so not giving their saliva many surfaces to work on, in the ingested material), they end up with lumps in their bodies that are only slowly digested by their stomach acids…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2020
Sounds about as useful as a normal human eating a corpse. 3)
…(4-5 days before the yuan-ti needs to defecate; they won’t be hungry for longer, but could force morsels down to ‘pretend to eat’). The digestion includes bones, so they leave little evidence behind, but the swallowing whole… 4)
…isn’t fast; if done publicly, the yuant-ti will be seen. And the pelvis, skull, and other large-in-span bones would have to be shattered before swallowing is attempted.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2020
Indeed. ;} Faster body disposal methods are: on a nightsoil wagon, under all the dung, and: up on a relatively flat, unoverlooked roof, for the vultures and other carrion-eaters to dismember. Or just disjoint and incorporate into the dishes served by a busy kitchen.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2020
What about people proficient with herbalism or Alchemy kit´s?
Would the alchemist be able to “acid” away the body fast?
And the herbalist might be able to mask the scent of decay from human noses but not birds per chance? Yes, some acids can dissolve bodies rapidly. The usual problem in an emergency is not having a vessel (e.g. the classic bathtub) handy to contain enough acid, long enough, without itself getting eaten away.
(No folks, I'm not a body disposer. I have, however, written mysteries.)— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 6, 2020
When I play games, I usually hoard consumables until the boss fight.
Oh, a dragon landed? Time to eat my 98 wheels of cheese. 🧀
But what if they expired?
You can use this Potion Expiration table to up the grittiness of your #dnd games—or give out consumables more often!
I'm looking forward to my players only ever finding pink cottage cheese labeled "potion of healing" in ancient treasure hoards. 😂More seriously, putting a clock on things is a fun idea to churn the consumables.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) November 11, 2020
This idea almost comes across as someone that’s bordering on being an advisarial dungeon master. As long as the supply of consumables isn't overly constrained and you can be reasonably sure you're going to find more, you're incentivized to use them and not hoard.
The idea isn't to screw players, just give a little nudge to use the cool stuff they find.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) November 11, 2020
3)
…strive for.) Sun elves tend to have more overt vanity.
Both my moon and sun elf descriptions on this topic are of course stereotypes, and may break down entirely when applied to any individual elf, adventurers in particular.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2020
1)
Sure. This topic comes up here at Twitter every year or so, and I’ve answered it many times, so please be aware that I’m generalizing here.
Netherese rarely use surnames. Except for noble or ruling families (like the Tanthuls, … 2)
…of Thultanthar). Here are some other examples of those ‘high’ surnames:
Arimmon, Glest, Heirakaunt, Larezmiir, Maeraklaervel, Norlyal, Orivven, Yadanth#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 18, 2020
3)
Given names often use double-a constructions, end in ‘ol’ more than the namings of other times and cultures, often begin with M, and often include ‘oun’ or ‘aun.’ 4)
Male examples: Aglaren, Bezoarn, Clarbrennus, Dyrar, Eirol, Ethuud (pronounced “Eth-OOD”), Lamorund, Malant, Mlaarol, Naraeyn, Orthol, Rivalagorn, Skord, Tabrakh, Vaereth, Yulvaun.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 18, 2020
5)
Female examples: Althyroun, Aelroune, Cathaele, Ethree, Haele, Jounraele, Kalathe, Maeraele, Nyrindral, Noeene, Olone, Ryndra, Saaraunra, Tylue, Uele (pronounced “Oo-ell”), Vyruil, Woave, Yakla, Yariil, Zoale, Zoare, Zorele. 6)
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any publicly-available Loroos dictionary, just an internal (and NDA'd) Wizards "dropbucket o'added words" file.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 19, 2020
Does a certain Mage still live in Shadowdale? Yes, but he's seldom at home. Mystra keeps him very busy, rebuilding in small ways, here, there, and everywhere, in the wake of the Spellplague.
Certain apprentices, using ventriloquism spells and keeping hidden, have become VERY good at pretending to be his voice. ;}#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 7, 2020
, I have a question you may be able to answer. Since I’m writing something githyanki themed, can you help explain where a gish falls in the githyanki hierarchy?1)
See Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes for 5e lore on the githyanki. A gish is a popular thing to be among gith, but where a particular gish individual stands in local gith society depends on their levels and personal…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 22, 2020
2)
…accomplishments, and where they stand in Vlaakith’s favor. (There are too many gish, and they vary too widely in experience and powers, to have one set place in the social pecking order.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 22, 2020
Artie Pavlov is staying home, and so should you! @Artie_Pavlov
Question about dragons
@TheEdVerse. If a dragon gets killed in her human shape. Does she revert back to her natural form? 1)
This is one of those queries that gets the infamous “It depends” answer. In this case, on the circumstances of the death. (Or the story needs of the DM/writer/game designer. ;} ) However, this is something that has come up in…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2020
2)
…the home Realms campaign twice, and both times I as DM ruled the same way that (unbeknownst to me at the time) Gary Gygax had once answered such a query: yes, the dead dragon does revert at least partially (again, depending… 3)
…on the circumstances). So things could get interesting if space/volume or weight/mass are concerns. Reversion does occur past the point at which observers can tell at a glance this is NOT “just” a dead human (scales, etc.).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2020
Can’t help but imagine a situation where a party slays a dragon in human form in a confined space, and then have to immediately rush out of there to avoid getting crushed by the reverting dragon. Yes! This has happened, in Realmsplay. The PCs knew to flee headlong; guards coming to arrest them did not, and ended up literally plastered all over the chamber walls. (Interesting shades of red still to be seen today.)#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2020
What about song dragons? I’m wondering because it’s my impression that they don’t just assume a human form, but have one. What about druids in wild form? Dead druids return to their own form, and their bodies can be personally recognized, but retain traces of the form they died in (hue, feathers if any, scales or other skin covering).
Song dragons do have a human form; they stay in whatever form they were slain in.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2020
