Hey @TheEdVerse, quick question. I'm going to run King Lareths council in the Galena Mountains on the 14th of Marpenoth, 1372 DR In around 12 hours. How tall are the Galena Mountains, and what temperature would it be around that time of year?
Thanks!#Realmslore #dnd

— Alex McClay (@AlexMcclay2000) September 20, 2020

1)
So Marpenoth is the Torilian equivalent of October, and the Galena range (named by TSR, by the way, after a resort they used to go to on retreats, which was of course named for the mineral) is roughly as northerly as… 2)
…“halfway north up Canada” in climate terms. The Galenas themselves are tall, jagged fangs of very sharp, rugged rock, tall enough to be permanently topped with ice and snow (which at that latitude means they must all be over…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020

3)
…8,000 feet in elevation; my notes have them as around 11,000, with the tallest summits being just over 14,000). The range is only about 25 miles wide, with nigh NO level ground, and cascading streams and rivers rather than…
#Realmslore 4)
…navigable ones (the Galena Snake being the most well-known named river), plus of course lots of hostile resident giants, orcs, hobgoblins, and goblins. There are rich iron, silver, and bloodstone deposits (and heck, to make…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020

5)
…the name fit, lots of galena). So in October, daytime in-sun temperatures would be above freezing in the lowest reaches of the mountains only. At night, particularly with windchill, “deep freeze” indeed. Yes, exposed PCs… 6)
…could readily freeze to death. PCs in caverns would likely be okay, but not comfortable. The Galenas are not known for gales or frequent high winds, though.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020

Speaking of the Galenas, the map on p.9 of Elminster’s Forgotten Realms shows that your home Realms had only a few mountains east of Thar. Is there a mountain range north of where that map cuts off, as in the published Realms, or was that added along with the Bloodstone Lands? That map is just part of one 8.5"x11" map panel (out of 55 of them). There is a mountain range north of that, and glaciers, and lots of rugged frozen country, stretching north and east (if you go far enough east, you reach Sossal).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 21, 2020

Shayan Ghorbanian @ShayanFilmStuff@TheEdVerse
in the 14th century, Waterdeep's Harbour was very clear, but by 1479 it had become brown and murky. Under Laeral, has the harbour cleared up? Also, how did the merfolk let it get so dirty?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2020

1)
First, Mistshore was burned to get rid of most of it—which means everything aboard the ships plunged down into the harbor when the fire reached vessel waterlines. Not only did that dump poisons and even some living aquatic… 2)
…monsters into the harbor, the taint killed some merfolk and forced many of them to relocate away into the Outer Harbour to avoid being sickened and dying.
Very shortly thereafter, some of the Xanathar’s agents diverted some…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2020

3)
…sewers to give themselves more subterranean space—and a lot more foulness began to flow daily into the harbour. Merfolk who tried to fix the latter were slaughtered by an undead eye of the deep Xanathar servitor. 4)
The Xanathar’s reach is long.
However, Laeral’s is even longer, so that servitor is gone and remedial sewer work has been done and some mighty spells cast, and the harbour waters are clearing up.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2020

stephen parlin @smparlin@TheEdVerse
ballpark average, late 1300 DR – how much could a moderate successful Inn & Tavern in Trades Ward Waterdeep make net per month if it takes good care of its staff and serves higher end food and drink, in your opinion?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 4, 2020

1)
So many variables would affect takings, but the 1330s DR are boom times, both before and after the Spellplague hits (in the wake of its initial chaos, inns/taverns became refuges for many, who craved good food, good company, 2)
…and chances of casual employment), so the amount made depends largely on the size of the place (how many drinkers and diners it can seat, how many beds it can hire out for the night). If it can cram, say, 60 folk into its…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 4, 2020

3)
…taproom, with 40 having table space to dine, and rent out 24 beds a night, and serves good food and pays its staff well, the net per month should be in the vicinity of 180 gp (60 gp/night). A typical inn and tavern, that… 4)
…waters its ale and serves a lot of small beer, and pays its staff more poorly in return for giving them room and board, would likely net 240 gp/month or so. (Grosses would be more than double those figures, but…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 4, 2020

5)
…running expenses are always high.)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 4, 2020