Trey @arkanjil@TheEdVerse
…the 5e Sword coast map has some wide lands in the north and east; do you have current or past lore on such places as the Frozen Forest, Turnback Mountains, or the lands about these?
[May 21]
Long Reply Thread 1:

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

1)
The best coverage of this area is in Dungeon 170, in the superb MONUMENT OF THE ANCIENTS adventure by Brian R. James and Matt James. Complete with maps of the city of Phlan, the gnoll-held settlement of Frozen Flindyke, and a…2)
…closeup map of the region (full-page map on pg 56 of the magazine).
If you’re venturing north from the Moonsea, you’ll come to the Dragonspine Mountains first. Beyond them is the Ride (cold grassy plains roamed by rothé and…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

3)
…wolves and fierce, nomadic, feuding tribes of human barbarians), then the White Mountains. North beyond that range are the Tortured Lands (The Leewai), and then the Abbey Mountains; Turnback Mountain is a distinctive tall… 4)
…peak about a third of the way west along the range from its eastern end, and in the heart of it (it’s a “middle mountain” with other peaks north and south of it).
Beyond the Abbey Mountains is the Frozen Forest; a chillingly-…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

5)
…cold icewater river, the Alaphaer Run, flows north out of the western Abbey Mountains into the Frozen Forest (and almost right to the step pyramid known as the Monument of the Ancients).
The Moonsea North region is known for…
#Realmslore 6)
…its sudden changes in weather, often marked by fast-moving fronts that bring violent storms on their leading edges, usually blowing to the northeast. The fiercest weather occurs in afternoon or early evening, and in spring is…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

7)
…often marked by thunderstorms with racing, widespread lightning strikes. Winter storm fronts often bring abrupt flash freezes, temperatures plummeting and slaying unprotected creatures caught out in the open, only to rise… 8)
…slowly over a matter of days ere the next “icejaws” front hits.
Where the Ride is grassy and verdant, naturally well-watered (so growth is inhibited largely by the cold climate and short growing season), the Tortured Lands…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

9)
…are for the most part parched, though the River Pelauvir does rise at about its east-west midpoint, to run east, bolstered by the Shattersoul River draining out of the Great Glacier; Flindyke stands on its north bank at the… 10)
…only bridge over it in the region, Maram’s Span. The western Tortured Lands are rocky, windswept, and largely bare of all life but stunted shrubs and ground-hugging mosses and lichens, a place of foothills, and canyons…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

11)
…where water once flowed, in warmer times.
The eastern Tortured Lands are mainly dunes of frozen sand, sculpted by the fierce winds into jagged, strange shapes (hence the region’s name). The rugged landscape and severe… 12)
…night-day temperature swings make the Tortured Lands a place to traverse as quickly as possible, not to try to tarry or dwell in. Caribou herds and the thick-pelt wolves (and well-armed gnoll hunting bands, with their…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

13)
…fierce dogs) that prey on them are the most numerous living things roaming the Tortured Lands.
The Abbey Mountains have had their name since the days of ancient Netheril, when Netherese worshippers of Selûne built the Abbey…14)
…of the Moon (now a toppled ruin of shattered stone columns, foundations, and monster-haunted storage cellars) atop Selûne’s Crest, the highest peak of the range. To the gnolls, these are the Rabrae Hyuk (“hyar” is rock or…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

15)
…loose stone in the gnoll tongue, “hyukla” is a crag or spire, and “hyuk” is a mountain or range of mountains; “Rabrae” is the name of these mountains, an obvious echo/corruption of “Abbey”). The peaks are frigid and… 16)
…windswept, only the topmost peaks snow-capped (in contrast to the White Mountains range to the south, whose name comes from their permanent cloaks of snow) and hold relatively few veins of ore worth mining; …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

17)
…“Turnback Mountain” got its name when a group of long-ago prospectors guarded by several bands of hired adventurers against the gnolls and ogres of Thar and hobgoblins, finding little of worth but endless creatures wanting… 18)
…them dead, got disheartened by heavy losses and nigh-ceaseless attacks, and decided to turn back.
Perhaps they were prudent, but more recent explorers have reported no less than two dragon lairs and three shattered but… #Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

19)
…extensive ruins—perhaps remnants of fallen Netherese flying cities—in the deep and nigh-unvisited-by-humans valleys in the heart of the range.
The foothills along the northern face of the Abbey range are known locally as the… 20)
…“mammothbacks,” and for centuries have been where treasure is cached, Ride barbarian chieftans are entombed, and gnolls lure rothé and caribou herds into natural “killing trap” funnels caused by the topography.
[Thread 1 ends]#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

@TheEdVerse Would you classify the gods of Forgotten Realms as just people with greater power than most?

— Lysbeth Raven (@LysbethRaven) May 13, 2020

Most of them are, yes; they have foibles, make mistakes, overlook things, have lapses in logic, and are fallible. So they have far greater power than mortals, but can be as flawed. Others have more mysterious origins and natures (e.g. Entropy).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 13, 2020

Sorry for bothering, but if they are merely “powerful people”，why should mortals worship them？ I don’t think people will worship a, let’s say, archwizard, but why would they worship the gods? What’s the key difference between an “almost almighty mortal” and a deity? Mortals worship gods because the gods can send aid/answer prayers/provide beneficial magic (spells to clerics). And "favor" rather than acting against them. Most FR gods, like old-time Greek and Roman deities, are "super" but essentially human (not perfect, but understandable.)

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 13, 2020