a quick Q @TheEdVerse what century did Lady Monster live in Waterdeep? 14th? or late 15th? Lady Monster has lived on Tower March since 1479 DR, and is still there in the 1490s (when last I checked). She's no longer young, but is still vigorous, and may well last for another 20 years, or even longer.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 4, 2021
Olore’! Quick question: what do the Mar people of the Utter East look like? Thanks! 1)
Your timing is right on! I JUST got to the box in Shipping Container 1, the long hi-cube, with my Mar notes. Which are scanty. :}#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 4, 2021
2)
So: generalizations, of course, but the Mar are a gray-skinned, short, stocky race, with fine, black, almost invisible body hair, “sharp” (thin and pointed) noses and chins, and golden to crimson eyes. Those who’ve interbred…3)
…with other human races over the years tend to have offspring with dark brown or even tawny-hued skin, and longer, heavier hair.
Music is a big part of their culture. Chanted verses preserve Mar history.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 4, 2021
@TheEdVerse if you would be so kind as to spare a moment of your time for a question. Do the different peoples in the Realms hand count differently? I find the various methods around the world fascinating, and was very curious about this.
— Tristan Mers (@TristanMers) October 18, 2021
1)
Yes, both by race/species and regionally. Dwarves and gnomes count along knuckles, left hand being “ones” and right hand “tens.” Halflings count around bases of fingers on inside palm, tapping the center of the palm with the thumb of the base hand for every ten. 2)
Elves count with raised forefingers and then make a cupping, sweeping motion of the left hand for every subtotal, adding the right hand in a crossing motion (cupping right palm to back of left hand) for a final total/result. I put some description of that into…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 18, 2021
3)
…the Knights novels and the Shadows of the Avatar trilogy, but checking them, I see that those passages got edited out.
Many human merchants have two ways of counting: cupped-palm-hidden for private transactions, and slow/broad/showy for public totalling.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 18, 2021
I wonder if I might ask something a little bit heavy: how is mental illness treated in Faerûn? I kinda doubt someone can cast cure wounds at someone’s head and their anxiety, depression, or whatever is gone.
I play Lliiran priests and actually 1/2 Have depression, so I’ll use it. I track down a joybringer & they would try to help me. Is their only offer nothing more than we have: cheering potions & therapeutic conversation, or do the gods grant a few more options to the situation?
Thank you so for your joyous self
2/2— 🏳️⚧️Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) April 19, 2021
1)
Priests of almost all faiths, and family matriarchs, all across Toril, are indeed the first line of defense against what most folk of Faerûn call “afflictions of the mind,” and their first reaction is usually to comfortingly “be with” the afflicted, to banish…
#Realmslore
…loneliness and let them talk of what they're feeling. Tea and cordials (often mixed with "a little something" herbal) are always part of this. From there, things progress to alchemists and "wise women," plus local priests (or traveling holy folk), and their…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 19, 2021
3)
…stores of “physics” and “remedies” (liquid medicines), plus priestly “mindease” spells (induced sleep, “open the gates of the mind” dreaming, and then the more powerful enchantments; remember that feeblemind can be a ‘buy time for self-healing’ casting, not…
…just an attack). Like postal/message and item delivery services, treatment of the grieving and in shock and exhausted and mentally ill is a "standard" temple service, and one of the main reasons clergy (and not just deities) are so accepted/financially…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 19, 2021
5)
…supported by the populace. Like any treatment, priests and the spells they use vary in efficacy and skills and success when it comes to individual cases, but at the very least, treatment can buy time for minds (and family members or friends) to rest.
And more…
…then a few folk have realized the usefulness of a trip, or an adventure, or a change in location to bring "a new life" to a person, as opposed to leaving them in the situation they're in when suffering.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 19, 2021
@TheEdVerse Ed, was Mintiper Moosilver primarily a lore piece or did he actually interact much with the PCs in your home relams, and if so, in what role?
— stephen parlin (@smparlin) September 6, 2021
1)
Mintiper was an active NPC in home Realmsplay. Although the PCs rarely saw him, as he was tirelessly traveling (adventuring), he left word (usually tips and warnings) for them with many Harpers and innkeepers across the Sword Coast North, and their paths did… 2)
…cross a few memorable times (he saved their behinds at least twice with timely interventions in battles they were losing). The irrepressible Torm (the thief, not the god) even fell into the habit of calling out a greeting to him in the thick of a hard fray, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 6, 2021
3)
…in hopes he’d appear and aid the Knights. Yet Mintiper was primarily a provider of subplots for the buffet in front of the PCs, for them to choose from. Like most major NPCs, I charted his life-path (in general, not in detail) so I knew what he was up to… 4)
…and striving for, as the years passed.
And then, of course, the master Realms scholar Eric L. Boyd adopted him for a series of Wizards website columns that enriched us all!#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 6, 2021
got a quick #realmslore question for you.
Did Karsus of Netheril (the momentary god) have any siblings or family?
Thanks for your awesome world!At the time of his momentary godhood, Karsus had only one surviving kinsman: a nephew, Raent. Who detested everything his uncle did, and was.
Raent was an arcanist with his own "wild talents" (i.e. a sorcerer as well as a mage). And disappeared, likely deliberately.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2021
Do you have a favorite character in the forgotten realms that you just relate to or like above the rest? Like Elminster, Drizzt, Artemis, or Minsc for a couple examples. Like does one stand out in your creation above the rest.No, I love all my children. ;}
TSR asked me to play Elminster for years at GenCons, so I got good at portraying him (and he says the outrageous things Ed would never say, so fun), but the world works best if no one plays favourites. Everyone deserves their moments.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2021
I always thought you had a soft spot for Volo Volo's soft spots are the crotch, the backside, and right between the ears.
As more than a few irked ladies of the Realms will tell you, some of them with smiles steeped in satisfying memories.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 16, 2021
If Waterdeep had an equivalent in our real world, what city would it be?
(For me, it’s maybe the New York from GANGS OF NEW YORK… that’s my best guess) I try never to do real-world equivalents for the Realms.
If I did, I'd say Stuart- into Georgian-era London, England might be closest.
New York as of Gangs of NY is too crowded and too-large-share-immigrant a population to really fit, but if you're stretching for a US equivalent.— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2021
That might work, except for the climate. The Big Easy is WAY too hot for Waterdeep, most of the time. ;}
But perhaps I was wearing too many beads.— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2021
I didn’t mean the heat, but more the esoteric magic that seems to perfume the air the bones of the land, and the beautiful cultural mix from the port trade. 🙌👑💜🍩🫖💕💖🎉🎶💜 Okay, that I'll buy. :}
And big hugs!!!!— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2021
