@TheEdVerse hello! I like desert settings, love FR Anaouroch and Empires of the Shining Sea! How would you describe the differences between Faerun Deserts? Calim, Anaouroch, Raurin, Plain of Purple Dust. Thanks!

— 🐉Fabio Foggetti (@foggio) June 1, 2020

)
This answer is a simplication through generalization, but: Anauroch is a low-water desert of all sorts from hot sands (summer only; cold sands in winter) through wind-scoured rock to frigid ice-sheathed rock as one moves north.
Calimshan is a hot sands desert 2)
…(blowing dunes, like much of the real-world Sahara) all the time. Raurin is like the Serengeti: arid plains/savannah with water-storing trees for much of the year, that has a brief "wet season" when rivers and lakes form, plants grow like fury, and herds…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 1, 2020

3)
…drink deep. And the Plains of Purple Dust are literally PURPLE, due to the minerals in the pulverized rock that blows in frequent sandstorms, and (the lightest grains) hangs in the air the rest of the time, tinting even “empty air” a deep amethyst purple. The 4)
…Plains are actually well-watered, but there's so little soil (as opposed to rock-dust and gravel) that very little beyond lichens and mosses and ground-hugging broadleaf plants and tumbleweeds grow: the rains that do fall, though as frequent as twice a…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 1, 2020

5)
…tenday, “sink right in,” the water hastening deep down into the Underdark and leaving behind a desert. So folk who have barrels and bowls and catchbasins can easily grow gardens and even small-scale crops, and live and travel quite comfortably in the Plains 6)
Deep aquifers make life in Raurin sustainable for those who know how to tap them, or keep to known wells and oases.
Anauroch is too large to cross alive for someone who doesn't know its oases (and desert ways), and the Calim Desert is a heat- and parch- killer.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 1, 2020

Travis Mayes @TLMayesing
Replying to @TheEdVerse
Thank you very much for your time and information sir. As a follow up, and you tell me anything about the followers of Myrkul and how they operate?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

1)
The Gray Ones (or disparagingly, “the Fingerbones”) are back, like the deity they serve, though so far they are as rare as they were before Myrkul was first supplanted as Lord of Death: black-robed priests who bear scythes 2)
…and wear skull half-masks or helms (their robes are always cowled and ankle-length, tied at the waist with a white sash or cord, and in public they often wear full armor beneath them—whereas in temples, they may bare their…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

3)
…faces and go barefoot).
Although they spread fear of death, they are dedicated to the care of the dying and deceased. They tend folk on deathbeds to make them as comfortable as possible, will communicate their wishes to 4)
…others, and (in return for a “skull fee”) act as an agent for a dead person after death, carrying out provisions of a will and doing deeds the deceased couldn’t complete in life (even when these involve adventuring, long…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

5)
…journeys, expense or danger).
They travel the Realms to do this, offering burial and funeral services (for modest fees) to the bereaved of the recently-deceased. When assisting the dying, they nurse them, putting comfort and…#Realmslore 6)
…freedom from pain first, and treatment to prevent death a close second, but reassuring the dying and their loved ones that death is a natural inevitable, and desirable transition from life to the arms of the gods, and other…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

7)
…existence, beyond.
Myrkulyte priests preside over funerals, serve as undertakers (preparing bodies for burial), and tend all-faith cemeteries across the Realms (as burial-ground caretakers). They hunt down and take vengeance… 8)
…on anyone who vandalizes a cemetery, so such descecrations are very rare.
As before, the Lord of Bones charges his clergy to spread two views of themselves among other mortals: that they are holy servants of utter patience and…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

9)
…trustworthiness, and that touching a priest of Myrkul will bring certain death. (This isn’t literally true, but there are a handful of Doombringers once more, whose actions spread real fear; they are champions of Myrkul who… 10)
…travel the Realms slaying those who mock Myrkul or do violence to Myrkul’s priests.)
Priests of Myrkul are experts about matters of undeath, and often animate skeletons as bearers, aides, and temple guardians. They have…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

11)
…very few temples, as before, and most of these are reoccupied former temples: crematoriums or mausoleums above dungeon-like subterranean catacombs (burial tunnels and chambers) that are generously supplied with stone 12)
…statues (of dead and decaying humans), gargoyles, and roaming undead.
Kelemvor remains the Lord of the Dead; Myrkul is the Lord of Death, and Undeath, and his priests concern themselves with dying, death, and undeath.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 4, 2020

For those who are knowledgeable in the #dnd forgotten realms & #alqadim zakhara

How would someone journey from Waterdeep in the Sword Coast to Huzuz in Zakhara? Loooong sea voyage.

You’d have to sail around Chult, then cut across the sea for about the same distance it is between Chult and Waterdeep to reach the northern coast of Zakhara.

THEN sail around eastern Zakhara to get into the Suq Bay.

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

I found a couple of maps of the FR. I didn't realize Zakhara was so large.

Map article: https://t.co/s1keSxGQow

It's probably easiest by sea, though it's going to take you quite a while. I recommend a teleportation circle instead!#dnd #alqadim pic.twitter.com/cWgfFDtpFK

— Justice Arman 🔜 Gary Con (@justice_arman) February 5, 2020

Yeah, Zakhara's ginormous. Lots going on in there. It almost looks like there's a channel between the Great Sea (north) and the Crowded Sea (south), but not quite.

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

I was thinking of writing letters from a traveler taking this journey.
Sea is too dull & magic is too quick.

It’s an opportunity for me to read and learn lore along the way slowly while trying to put myself in their curious perspective.

Maybe magic between *some* locations Letters delivered by djinnlings? Or elemental falcons?

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

I haven’t thought that far ahead 😅

I just had this idea of a Zakharan born & raised in WD, decides to journey to his ancestral homeland to reconnect, having little to no information other than a name in Huzuz.
As he journey, he writes letters to his friend in WD sharing his exp So it's a novel in form of letters 😁

— 20 Arabia RPG (@20arabiaRPG) February 5, 2020

Neat! For very rough comparison purposes, a sea voyage from England to India took about 6 months.

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

To further elaborate
When I was a kid I was fascinated by "brotherly letters", a popular from of prose during the Abbasid era.
Yes, and I have to keep track of ports and then letters will pile until next port stop.
So land is my current preference. I doubt I could replicate it English, but I thought it would be a fun creative experiment and challenge 😊

Sadly I couldn't find translation to show

— 20 Arabia RPG (@20arabiaRPG) February 5, 2020

That's an interesting concept

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

There’s a Silk Road leading from Faerun to Kara-Tur via the Tuigan hordelands. I don’t think there’s an easy overland route to Zahara as the Utter East has some pretty tough terrain. Ship or magic makes more sense. There’s pretty much no way a caravan can cross through the World Pillar mountains without being eaten or enslaved by yakfolk, yeah.

— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 5, 2020

Belial Lyka @TimeBust
Been developing an Amaunatori character with a pet hyena and wanted to name it after one of the deity's 13 giant hyena/hyaenodon servitors (mentioned in his Netheril… and Faiths & Avatars profiles), do any of them have names and particular traits?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020

1)
They all share the trait of disciplined savagery: they explode into battle, working together to tear open and tear apart foes (biting down on limbs and tugging hard as their fellows bite into joints), only when allowed by the…#Realmslore 2)
…god to do so. However, they are always alert and have standing orders to defend the person of the deity or any mortal Amaunator designates, until he commands otherwise (they obey his voice INSTANTLY). They are cunning, and…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020

3)
…will swiftly recognize attempts to encircle or slip away screened behind distractions. They understand disabling any opponent with visible magic items, and limiting the range and reach of items with barriers and terrain. 4)
All of them can stand on their hind legs, carry weapons and tools in their paws (but not wield them), and cooperate with each other with precision in combat.
These thirteen hyenas look very much alike, save for three: two are…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020

5)
…visibly older (gray to white muzzles and ear- and tail-tips), and a third is darker (grayer) and larger than the rest. These two elders are female, and the biggest hyena is male.
The older of the two female elders has an eye… 6)
…that won’t open (the left eyelid won’t lift) due to a terrasque-dealt scar across her face. Her name is Horgaera. The other female elder is Raeglarra, and the largest hyena is Brahaligor.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020

do you by chance have an idea of what current year it is in Faerûn, if you have a timeline at all? I’ve based it of of #dnd content, but am curious what you think. Waterdeep: Dragon Heist takes place in 1492 DR, The Year of Three Ships Sailing. Depending on which season you use in your campaign for that adventure, and how much time elapses during play at your table, it might now be 1493 DR or even later.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 18, 2020