by Italian Karsus
Loremaster.org went down in 2010, and when it came back up, the interactive interviews in the site were not restored, resulting in the loss of a number of answers by several authors, including Ed Greenwood's. Uniquely, Ed Greenwood's answers are considered canon Realmslore by the Forgotten Realms Wiki, and thus, I am interested in retrieving as much of its original text as possible. I know it's 2023 (2024 now), but waiting still doesn't get us closer, so maybe let's do this now rather that after the robots take over.
My first finds were only those posted by Snowblood to dA, where he cites a few segments on a work of homebrew regarding Illefarn and Sharrven to Ed Greenwood's interviews.
I hardly managed any more of a finding for months after, until I caught a glimpse of something in the archived version of loremaster dot org. One of the questions by user Vercingetorix had been discussed, and a bit of the answer too.
Then a few months later, I was given a link to an archived version of the Wizards of the Coast forums, where I was able to track down a few more answers from Loremaster being discussed.
By mere chance, on 04/01/2024, I found a last answer discussed and paraphrased in Candlekeep.
So now on 11/01/2024 I moved this to a github page, so I can edit it without bugging the peeps over at Candlekeep forums. I ramble a lot.
Won't you believe it, on 28/12/2024, I discovered an answer on Candlekeep which I somehow missed before. I guess that's what I'm getting for not searching thoroughly enough.
Today on 01/01/2025 I took a second look at the WotC dump, and spotted two more.
First of all, I'm dividing the finds between seven sections (effectively five) Those are:
The answer is not paraphrased; in the discussion, however, people agree that the elves of the Yuirwood were likely Eladrin, as is Ed's view.
One answer is cited, apparently in full, at Candlekeep.
I'm more comfortable with playing a character, and like "gaming the system" a lot less; I dislike sitting around a gaming table at which players who don't bother to act/roleplay are all running multi-classed characters complete with "unusual" races, multiple templates and special skills, just so they can "get ahead of other characters" and dominate. To me, that takes the game away from roleplaying and into wargaming - - and if we're wargaming, I'd personally rather play a strategy game with hexes and simulations, than try to play D&D. I want to try to imagine myself in the midst of a fantastical setting and situations, not hover "above it all" and participate in quarterback-like "you do this, then I'll try that" discussions with fellow players, or (as a player, not DM) have to pay more attention to game rules than to roleplaying. I'm not a gamer who plays to win; I play to have a good time. Race, gender, etc. don't matter to me in terms of preferences; I'll have a go at anyone/anything.
http://candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12844Two answers are reported to be here, relating to the conversation linked, by BladeinAmn as of September 19 2009. They explain the answers were in the 17th and 18th respectively, and related to intentions while Realmsbuilding. They are assumed not to contain Realmslore.
http://candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12023&whichpage=84One of the answers to the_silversword here is paraphrased and linked back to the Loremaster interactive interviews. The answer is first discussed in September 24, and their join date is September 22, and thus it can't go any further back than that. It belongs either here, or in Section 2. The part where Ed confirms he wrote Hoar isn't copied, but paraphrased instead, as shown here. A later thread, the year after, reproduces Ed's complete quote here.
Even Some More Hoar Lore!!
Got it from the Man himself (Ed Greenwood)! Hoar/ Assuran is a totally Realmsian deity. No interloper status for him! Hoar is an actual creation of Ed. No designers added him in later. the Untheric and Mulhorandi panetheons as originally enviosed by Ed was asian in nature, but the desighners changed it up. But Hoar is an all orginal creation! Good to know.
You can read Ed's response to my question here.
He also sheds some light on the gods in General, that some of you might find disturbing.
I see Hoar as one of the "Watching Gods", because hes all original baby!
"Here's the real secret: if you read my Realms novels, you'll occasionally "hear" characters swearing by "all the Watching Gods." Well, unbeknownst to all but a few sages and ancient elves, that phrase, "the Watching Gods," refers to an old, old belief among intelligent races that there are far fewer actual gods than most mortals believe, and that these fewer "Watching Gods" are unwittingly worshipped under several names by clergies and devout lay followers who see them as a variety of different beings. Some sages believe the gods themselves are partially or wholly unaware that they are "split personalities" or "aspects" of the same mighty being, while others cling to the view that this is a deliberate deception (insurance, if you will, on the part of a divine being that they will always be venerated regardless of whether this or that named god falls out of favour). A few sages believe Ao and the goddess of magic best known as Mystra are the only "uber-gods" mortals have glimpsed, and that the others are hidden behind their arrays of names (for example, just one being is behind Silvanus, Eldath, Mielikki, and most of the other nature deities). No mortal knows the truth behind all of this, mind you, so a DM can decide whatever he or she wishes - - or choose to NOT decide, being as they can arrange matters so that mortals (including PCs) never know. (Here, I believe, is where I'm supposed to make "Bwoohahahaha" noises.)"
User "quale" mentions Ed Greenwood in a thread, and links to Loremaster, though not to the interactive persistent interviews. I make the assumption those were still interview questions; thankfully it is not a Realmslore question, and I'll consider it as having been, though not preserved, discarded.
User "Baleful Avatar" on Candlekeep mentions a lore drop on Illefarn on October 14, 2009. Snowblood cites one or two answers on Illefarn in his publication regarding Illefarn; however, it intermingles a number of sources, and it's rather difficult to tell apart what is Ed from what is not Ed. Most likely, all of Ed's answer was used. Nonetheless, we cannot be 100% certain. The suspected answers are reproduced in the corresponding Candlekeep thread, linked at the beginning of this article.
http://candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12023&whichpage=88#280799
Sanishiver makes a reference to the October 22 answer on Loremaster dot org in the REALMS-L mailing list, in a mail from December 10, 2010, regarding a character he has designed: Forthin Andramar. However, it holds no copy or paraphrase, just the way he used it in making his own homebrew War Wizards; all we know is that this is when the Bel's Blade is mentioned. It was October 22, 2009.
Another answer was brought up, however, briefly, on October 27, 2009 by sfdragon. In context, it appeared to be recent. I assume sfdragon was Steelfiredragon in Loremaster: if so, his join date is the 19th of September, and cannot have asked before that time. The thread is copied here.
hey dookie, The Most Esteamed Ed Greenwood has replied that the Thunderblessing is heavily NDA'd
Another NDA was discussed by sfdragon, later on October 27 2009. The Volo NDA was not in Candlekeep, so it is assumed to have been brought up in Loremaster. However, it may have been from an earlier questioner, too. A copy of the thread is providedhere.
not as interesting tht RAvencloak is also NDA
Volo is NDA'd
The_silversword made an oblique reference to a question regarding the Roll of Years in October 29, 2009, strongly implying one question about the Roll of Years was answered by citing an NDA. A copy of the thread is provided here.
Interesting discussion going on here. I'm not sure if it could really be answered. I have a feeling an "official" answer would be something like "However you want to do it in your campaign". Personaly I agree that the souls are one with the Plane and the God, so if the god and plane are destyoed, so then are all them souls, however I think Kelemevor has some jurisdiction there and he does have the Fate domain, so maybe he knew something was up and lead souls he deemed worthy to safety? I personaly dont want to see all of Mystras faithful souls get obliterated, now all them Dark Dwarf souls can burn for all I care!
you could ask, but you might get a nda answer
That wouldn't surprise me at all. I am so sick of NDAs. Even ED's answer to my roll of years question was NDAd. Like I'm going to go oh I know all the year names for the next 100 years so I dont need to buy anymore Realms products. They really need to do something with all those outstanding NDAs that will moslt likely never see the light of day, Like make a massive Realmslore article or something. Theyre sitting on a gold mine of Realmslore and should really do something with it.
Another answer is cited by user sfdragon on October 30, 2009. One of Solauren's thread dumps has it, shown here.
btw from my latest qusestion to Ed Greenwood, concerning Laeral ARunson
ed3.pngI'm afraid Laeral's fate is firmly NDA'd at this time. Sorry. I can promise you'll learn SOME fates of SOME Chosen in a year or so. Ed
One answer is discussed by 18DELTA in a November 20 post at Wizards of the Coast.
Solauren's copy is reproduced here.Post from Ed, from Loremaster
You're welcome. :}
I'm not sure when the final Falconfar book (entitled "Falconfar") will appear, because Rebellion bought Solaris from Black Library. However, Simon & Schuster seems to now have it being released in March 2010, in North America.
As for the Feywild and Abeir having a Weave, the answer is: yes and no.
I'm not trying to be funny or evade the question.
Here's why I say both: the Feywild and Abeir, like the Realms we've long known about, have the same sorts of natural forces (wind energy, solar, tides and flowing water, convection currents, gravity, the kinetic energy of soil creep, continental drift and rising and falling tectonic plates and vulcanism, the chemical energies of all flora and fauna, and so on). What was dubbed "The Weave" in Faerun was a way of harnessing these energies, a means of calling on them to power specific effects (spell results). It was a trial-and-error-developed means of making things happen. Divine magic is one set of means, arcane magic another, and "the Weave" was a shorthand term for (one way of) understanding how to connect with and control all of these natural energies.
So the Feywild and Abeir will have their own "Weaves," akin to that of the Realms but subtly different, that may well be called something else locally.
As to those differences, it's something like going to a distant country and trying to plug your toaster into an electrical socket on the wall and discovering the plug won't even fit - - and if you do get it in, the toaster will probably catch fire or blow a fuse. You are encountering an electrical system, yes, but it works differently than the one you're used to. You can readily learn how to use the new local system if you had familiarity with your own system, but if you try to blunder or bull ahead without allowing for the differences, the results are going to be disappointing, perhaps spectacularly so.
Or to put it another way, a Weave is like the Linnaean method of cataloguing living things (Latin species names, divisions into genus, phyla, family, and so forth). There are other ways of cataloguing those same living things, and they aren't altered merely by being catalogued one way or another.
Heh. And just like real-world science and/or classification systems, wizards (and priests) in the Realms can get in to all sorts of arguments over the Weave.
As can gamers, in forum discussions. :}
I have already asked ED a question, to contribute to this thread. Now its your turn...
Two answers are discussed by the_silversword in a November 23 2009 post at Wizards of the Coast. It relates to Abeir and Shadowfell; it is assumed they were recent.
They are part of the same thread, here.Perhaps Ao even favors Abeir over Toril. He did get less headaches from the Abeiran dimension of the Forgotten Realms as he had to step in and reprimand the Gods of Toril during the Time of Troubles. Or did the Primordial lords also needed some firm reminders now and then....?
Well the Elemental Lords were never cast out during the Time of Troubles, or maybe Ao cast them out to Abeir?
And Ed answered my questions about Abeir's Shadowfell & Feywild on loremaster.org
All of the planes are interlinked, in ways most mortals don't fully understand. There are periodic gates between them, they temporarily and in different places impinge on each other (so one can walk "through the mists" from one to another, often without realizing it or in a different place from where such a walk was possible previously. Then there are more or less permanent gate/portal "hubs" like Sigil, ways in which some planes can "jump" travellers into another plane when certain spells are used or rifts or other planar phenomena develop, and so on. I would say the Shadowfell and Feywild accessed by Abeir and Toril are the same planes, but the two worlds access them in vastly different places. How one might travel depends on the purpose, urgency, and nature of the trip (if you see what I mean).
So I would say that this confirms the exsistence of Feyspace and Shadowspace.
The same post makes reference to a different question, as though it were a separate one.
He also ansered my question regarding Abeirspace, which sadly looks like it does not exsist.
If you spelljammed up off Abeir, where you found yourself would depend on WHEN you left the surface of Abeir. If it was immediately before, during, or after its "collision/passing through/intersection with" Toril, you would be in Realmspace (in probably very dangerous "weather" of bursts of spontaneous, uncontrolled lightning, vortices of destructive winds, wild magic, and other hairy, ferocious and everchanging side-effects of the two worlds "passing through" each other). If it was long before or well after that time (more than a perhaps six months or so, either way), you'd find yourself lost in the phlogiston...somewhere. (I.e. up to your DM what the nearest crystal spheres would be.) Or in another dimension altogether (again, according to your DM's desires).
On December 19 2009, user Baleful Avatar in Candlekeep quotes the following in the Questions for Ed Greenwood (2009) thread:
http://candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12023&whichpage=101#286062
Hey, everybody, I just spotted this over at loremaster: Eaerlann's symbol is the maranthae.
Specifically, the maranthae is a small woodlands flower found throughout much of Eaerlann (and almost nowhere else in Faerun). It's faintly phosphorescent, in that it captures and gives off (as a VERY faint glow) sunlight and other radiances (e.g. a lantern). As a badge or symbol, the maranthae is depicted as an eight-petaled flower seen "straight-on" from above (so the long, thin, curved-to-symmetrical-points petals occupy the four cardinal compass points and their bisectors). The petals are, as in nature, a rich blue at their central hub, shading to gold one-third of the way "out," with two-thirds of each petal gold. The maranthae is closely surrounded by a circular wreath of overlapping green leaves, points to the right (clockwise), with the ring of space between flower and circle of leaves being a light sky blue. There. :} Potted Realmslore! Those words were posted by Ed of the Greenwood, in response to a question that boils down to "what is the symbol of Eaerlann?" Goodly Realms goodness!One of the questions was paraphrased on January 19 2010, by user sfdragon in the Wizards of the Coast forums, in January 19 2010. He quotes it as a recent answer. You may consult a transcript here.
Unfortunately, that one is heavily NDA'd. Sorry. There are a lot of matters Realmsian I'd love to talk about, but can't - -and, yes, that's one of them. Cool things, moonblades, so lots of writers, designers, DMs, and players want to play with them.
A paraphrase to an unknown answer from an unknown time, referenced by the_silversword on July 04, 2010 at the now defunct Wizards of the Coast forums. You may find it here.
Yes, gunpowder still doesnt work. I asked Ed about this on Loremaster, unfortunatly that site is underconstruction at the moment so I cant post Ed's quote, but the jist of his answer was that, yes technology still has problems functioning properly in the Realms, but ofcourse the Gondsmen have discovered some exceptions, of course Ed didnt elaborate on these exceptions, so really I guess its up to the DM on whether or not to have gunpowder or ray guns in their Realms.
Another mention by sfdragon of an unrecovered answer, but at least it gives us a clue as to what was said at some point before or on December 01 2009. This one is also mentioned in passing within the same thread, here.
anyway Ed was kind to tell what Elminster's greatest regret over his life was...