Greetings
Sending a question on behalf of a sage from Candlekeep: Hello Ed! Can you please explain if the word “Thaele” from Elminster’s Evasion has any special meaning?
Chris @cberwick11
Does the word “thaele” have any special meaning to Elminster? 1)
Elminster concocted the word “thaele” because he was unlikely to utter that syllable for any other reason than to trigger an Elminster’s Evasion spell cast on himself. To him, it was a unique nonsense word.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 16, 2022

2)
“Rathraele” was the closest ‘real’ word to it he knew, and that was the short-name of a weredragon (song dragon) who was dead by the time El first crafted his Evasion spell. Her name was pronounced “RATH-rail” and so, was… 3)
…highly unlikely to trigger an Evasion accidentally.
Interestingly, “meerithaele” is the name of a secret “utter painkiller” drink used by halflings and gnomes to prevent shock and suffering in someone dying or sorely wounded.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 16, 2022

4)
Elminster now knows about this “physic” (medicine), but again, the pronounciation is “MEER-ih-thail” and so, unlikely to be an inadvertent Evasion trigger.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 16, 2022

So that disclaimer in “Thay: Land of the Red Wizards”…
Is this… is this what I think it is?👀👀👀 I'm not sure. That depends on what you think it is. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 20, 2022

I think I’ve been referenced and I’ve been excitedly losing my mind about it all morning.
Did Szass enjoy the song, at least? You have stumbled upon a Great Secret of the Realms: Szass Tam can be ENTRANCED by the right songs. He will court almost certain doom to linger, doing nothing but listening and swaying, to enjoy more music.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 20, 2022

@TheEdVerse since my polycule is finally doing Yule together in one place, could you ask El if he's got a favorite winter solstice recipe for hot cocoa or something like that? We'd love to give it a spin.

— SteamCelt Resists While Vaccinated (@WyrdhavenArts) December 23, 2021

1)
Elminster doth. Here you go, and enjoy!
Gather ye:
2 cups high-fat milk (Elminster recommends the source be Deepingdale or Mistledale cows)
1 cup of almonds, pulverized with mortar and pestle into a flour or paste 2)
…
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Dark chocolate, in any form (lump, shavings, chopped), 1 cup or a little more, as rich as ye can get
Whipped cream (again, Elminster recommends the source be Deepingdale or Mistledale cows)
…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

3)
…
{Optional spices, see end of recipe}
Then:
Boil thy milk over a few coals for a three-count (three seconds), then move to a lower-heat part of the hearth (boil briefly in a medium sauce pot over medium-high heat, then lower… 4)
…heat to medium).
Add in the chocolate and whisk with vigor until it is all melted.
Then add in the almond paste and cornstarch, whisking throughout, until all is dissolved (thy pot should contain a smooth, thick mixture).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

5)
Pour into mugs or tankards that will not shatter, and top with the whipped cream.
Optional: over each, sprinkle the tiniest pinch of pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and a generous pinch of cinammon (powdered form, all, of course6)
Elminster adds that if ye have imbibers who cannot have nuts, omit the almonds (and mayhap the nutmeg, too, though it’s a seed and not a nut), and make a slightly less rich drink flavored by pouring it over dried cherries…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

7)
…(cranberries, if ye cannot get cherries) put at the bottom of each mug and allowed to steep for “a long song” (four to six minutes).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

Whole milk and heavy cream should be fine; that's what I use. ;}
Give El our thanks. We’ll need to pick up some almonds, and I’m afraid heavy cream and whole milk from standard earth supermarket sources will have to suffice, but we’ll happily try this concoction. What should we call this delightful brew? El calls this Chocolate Thickflagon, and I suspect he didn't create the name, and is just quoting it.
He also said he sometimes roasts the almonds before crushing them.
And thanks shall be conveyed. :}#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

When they're whole.
Ooooooh, roasting the almonds would actually make grinding them fine a bit easier, so I think we might try it that way. Is the measurement on the almonds while they’re whole, or ground up?You can use less; I'd never go more or it risks turning the smooth into sludge.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 24, 2021

Fair… so an alcoholic elven wild mage invited to participate in the choosing of a new high priest of Mithral Hall *could* accomplish this feat, but it would be a once-in-a-lifetime event if so? Yes, or nearly (it might happen two or even three times in a long, long life, if careful prep was made for all occasions after the first). So no one should ever even begin to think "I can do this whenever I want to."#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 25, 2021

Baerauble helped some early noble and knights' daughters to escape death with a spell that transformed them into cat form. He later drafted the law to protect the safety of anyone else this was done to, by any of his successors (as Royal Magician).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 21, 2022

I’m not sure if you have any insight into this but it appears to me that Elves and Dryads on rare occasions can mate and have offspring.
I’m assuming that means Dryads give birth similar to other humanoid species? 1)
This has never made it into published Realmslore because for so many years TSR's Code of Conduct prevented ALL discussion of matters sexual (incl. pregnancy, childhood development, etc.), but in the Realms, I saw dryads as engaging in sex on rare occasions and…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022

2)
…then having absolute control over whether or not they conceive. If they do, they use “their” tree as the womb, bringing whatever trace nutrients it lacks for development of the child-to-be, and mother the child within the tree; it emerges only when able to… 3)
…walk, talk, see, reason, control its body with balance, etc. and so is far less helpless than, say, a human infant…and it's not tied to its parent or the parent's tree.
Totally unofficial (this is a creature I was never asked to write an Ecology article for).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022

My PCs are on the hunt for the skull of Alaundo. Here's where I am putting it for them, gives us a chance to revisit Port Nyanzaru as a group, we had fun running ToA. pic.twitter.com/Y4mxpvBMHL

— NewbieDM (@newbiedm) March 1, 2022

You do know Alaundo's still using it, yes? ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2022

pic.twitter.com/o16lHx4Qck

— NewbieDM (@newbiedm) March 1, 2022

Heh. Alaundo is a Weave ghost (spectral undead) still tied to his skull (can speak through it, when he wills). The rest of the time, he's just an invisible presence, flying silently about watching and listening and unleashing thunderwave and chill touch attacks.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2022

Alaundo can use his skull as a "watching and listening outpost" for him while he's elsewhere. And he can also cast the few attacks and magical effects he can muster through it (beyond the attacks, such things as dancing lights, message, etc.).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2022

He's interested in finding out ever more about the world, in hopes of regaining the Voice within him (whose identity he's never known, and yearns to learn) that gave rise to his prophecies.
(He felt special, and wants to feel so again.)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2022

What makes a good Underbelly such as The Guild of Baldurs Gate? Should one focus on a specific goal for such a group? How complex should their organization be? Great question! Considering the nature of that group, it should be pursuing a single focus at first clash with the PCs, but be riven by simmering/covert schisms as all members pull for their own aims, behind the scenes. DM works main aims out, so can pivot instantly.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 30, 2022

@TheEdVerse Hey Ed, the question came up recently and I checked the numbers. In City of Splendors there was a map according to which Waterdeep is ~5,7 mi² (~14,8 km²). Yet it has like 1,3 Million citizens. I live in Hamburg, Germany with 1,8 Million citizens on 755,09 km². Population density is usually higher in Europe then in the US. But,… ahh… where do all these Waterdhavians live? Or is the City bigger then previously imagined?

— Sascha Morlok (@modgamers) January 29, 2022

Most Waterdhavians live in rented rooms above shops (often 3 or 4 floors). Density is high. But see the FRCS: population of the city proper is 132,661, but Waterdeep has an “official” pop of 1,347,800, due to the Deep-ruled farmlands around the city (40 miles out). Folk with means and lifestyle to do so often relocate south for the winter months (so population totals dip). The "comfortable" built capacity of the city proper is likely around 225,000 (meaning, housing stock could hold that many without rebuilding/expansion).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022

So we have to think of the “City State” of Waterdeep not as a literal State that ends and the city wall, but more in the sense of a Greek City State, that usually own many of the surrounding area and smaller villages. Oh, yes. From the outset, Waterdeep needed "open land" for caravans to assemble and disassemble, linking with the deepwater port. Then warehouses, and all of that, very much including granaries and paddocks. The vicinity is well-watered, but the food always has to…#Realsmlore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022

…come from somewhere. The guards for the early encampments and stockpiled goods patrolled well beyond bowshot to curb surprise bandit raids and monster attacks. From the moment the Deep was a governed area, it defended a "home ring" of surrounding farms.#Realsmlore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 29, 2022