That raises another question I had. Netheril was an empire, and empires have emperors (or a ruling council, at least). I’d always fancied that to be Ioulaum – a single unconquered ruler, ruling for millennia from his original enclave (until he abandoned it). Is that correct? Like real-world Rome, Netheril has a long, complex history.
Ioulaum was a war-leader/innovator among the Netherese during the 500-year Mythallar Era, and was succeeded by the High Mages of Netheril ruling council in the Silver Age; see p97 of LOST EMPIRES OF FAERUN.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 10, 2020

@TheEdVerse1)
It’s normal, all right. He IS really annoying. Most annoying would depend on who you are; if he did something that enraged you, then whatever it is becomes his most annoying exploit, to you. I would say that among his most… is it normal to find Volo REALLY annoying? What's the most annoying thing he's done?

— Dr Andrew Duckworth (@optickled) March 1, 2020

3)
…scurrilous rumor about particular guilds, talk to disaffected or expelled guild members about said gossip, then publish the results in broadsheets, wait for incandescent-with-rage guildmasters to confront him about what he’d 4)
…published, and use what they said to worm “the truth” out of them (or their version of the truth), then publish that in subsequent broadsheets, wait for disgruntled citizens to protest that the guildmasters’ claims were…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2020

5)
…bumpf, and record their complaints as facts to be presented to the Masked Lord. Who was ridiculed by his fellow Lords in (closed) council, when he presented them as such and they decried them as falsehoods, and him as a fool. 6)
Enough annoyance to generously go around, wouldn’t you say?#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 1, 2020

@TheEdVerse Heya Ed, I've been reading up on yakfolk and I was wondering, is the yakfolk village on Mount Hamarhaast in the Ice Spires (as described in Storm King's Thunder) indicative of recent far-reaching northward Yikarian expansion, or are they there for some other reason?

— Belial Lyka (@TimeBust) January 19, 2020

1) The yikaria village on Mount Hamarhaast exists due to the near-exhaustion of metallic ores in the Zakharan mines traditionally worked by the miner genies of the yakfolk. Forced to seek iron, copper, nickel, and the like 2)
…elsewhere to fashion their best tools and weapons from, they prayed to their Forgotten God (Faceless God) for guidance, and the deity sent dream-visions to certain yikaria of where they might find such needed access: the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 19, 2020

3)
…Mount Hamarhaast site of their village, which sits atop a particular natural cavern where they could gain access to mineral-rich ore veins without extensive digging—and without warfare with the dwarves of Citadel Adbar, as 4)
…the yakfolk don’t trade in metals in competition with the dwarves, nor take much (they mine and smelt only to supply all yikaria).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 19, 2020

You said, though, that one of the battles "resulted in over a hundred deaths, including neighbors and curious onlookers" and that there was also a carriage explosion… The Lords didn't do anything in response?

— Greysil (@Greysil_Tassyr) February 2, 2020

2)
…noble houses (which is, sadly, standard procedure in the city; nobles, like anyone else, who don't pay taxes in full get property seized in lieu).
When considering "justice" in Waterdeep, consider that the Masked Lords are largely drawn from the ranks of, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

4)
…that unfettered nobles will be leading, driving forces in local investment, sponsorship of the arts and social good efforts, and fashion/high society that will boost the image of the city). Add to that the thinking that prevails in Waterdeep and elsewhere: …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

6)
…get suspicious, and wonder what they were REALLY up to, behind closed doors.
And on top of THAT, a lot of the violent feuding occurred in alleys by night after drinking at clubs, and at revels and feasts hosted by nobles, late at night, both settings in which…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

8)
…visit and trade, and feel safe in doing so. But for the very same reason, Waterdeep must also maintain a reputation for being tolerant. (One of the reasons adventurers are allowed to walk the streets armed.) Yes, it's a tightrope to walk, so the Lords do…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

10)
The average Waterdhavian gets irked or exasperated when "The Lords are silent." (In fact, that bitter sentence is a local complaint of yore.) So the Lords won't be silent. But they might not customarily do more than issue a proclamation and tweak local…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

12)
…with a new swindle that creates a loophole that in turn needs filling. Waterdeep is far from a tyranny.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 2, 2020

some moons ago, you mentioned that all the gods have returned in one form or another, when i asked about Moander. Was just reading the GHotR and one thing occurred to me: Karsus was also – however briefly – a god. Is he back too? No. Karsus tried to become a god, and some refer to him as 'the momentary god,' but although he seized the POWER of a deity, he never achieved godhood.
He's now a vestige because Ao bound his soul to the Prime Material. Ao also prevented his return in any manner.@Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2020

PastorGall @PastorGall@TheEdVerse
i dont think rudolph van richten is one of your creations? But is there a un/known order of specifically undead slayers in tje realms. Reasonable within the churches maybe, but any independant organizations? Or slayers of note?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 6, 2020

1)
No, Van Richten isn’t one of mine. :}
I don’t know of any unknown order of undead slayers in the Realms, just orders part of established faiths who fight against undead (or support them, like the Myrkulytes). Aside from a few… 2)
…adventuring bands dedicated to cleansing specific areas of undead, I don’t know of any independent organizations, circa 1479 DR. However, there ARE some independent slayers of note, including Grim Gartheldra of Saerloon, who…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 6, 2020

3)
…travels the Realms destroying undead who have become a nuisance to locals (she lets ‘sleeping undead lie,’ and is a scarred, hardened woman in battered plate armor who goes into battle festooned with magic items and… 4)
…weapons against undead given to her by grateful beneficiaries and priests who value her work); the lich-mage Vorhardruil of the Wealdath, who hates ‘nuisance’ undead whose activities cause widespread fear and hatred of…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 6, 2020

5)
…undead in the general populace, and acts to destroy such undead; and the vampire Tesheldra Marimmon of Luthcheq, who slaughters lesser undead of all sorts to drink their ‘undeath’ into a strange magic item she bears (a gem… 6)
…she wears embedded in her always-bleeding breast), that somehow increases her own power. Azuth and Mystra have become alarmed enough by her successes that they’ve told the Chosen of Mystra to begin to keep an eye on her.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 6, 2020