In Cormyr I know the demihumans are generally well regarded but I can’t help notice none are higher up the social order than Respected Shopkeep. None seem to be members of the noble or royal families. Is this by coincidence or some policy of law/tradition? / Connectedly I know half-elves are prevalent in the fiction due to their long being a PC race in D&D, and I seem to recall you had a human-halfling (or was it dwarf … something short) in … El’s Daughter? (Don’t own a copy, read 10 El books in a week yrs ago) and /
— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) March 15, 2019
Some game products have referenced human/demi halfs (just a mechanic of 3e I think … never really played that or 4). But what about demi/demi halfs? An elf-dwarf or halfling-orc? I can imagine they’re rarer but is there anything inherent in Toril’s make up that excludes this?
— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) March 15, 2019
1)
Demi/demis have never been featured in published lore, so the few I’ve created for the home Realms campaign (elf-dwarf, mainly) have never been “seen.” Culturally they’d be rare because of the paucity of opportunities for pairings between certain races.#Realmslore 2)
In Cormyr, there are fewer dwarf crossbreeds because fewer dwarves because it was dragon territory and then elf territory before the coming of the humans, and fewer elf crossbreeds because the early humans saw the elves as competition to be pushed out or …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
3)
…shunned, and that “set attitudes.” Hence the lack of representation in the royal (one human family line!) and noble families; if a noble family wasn’t oldblood or founding, it was ennobled for service to the monarch, which meant courtiers or sponsors or…#Realmslore 4)
…military of Cormyrean stock, which again meant human. In recent times, with Vangey's paranoia lessening, and all the upheavals, attitudes have been shifting, so any "keeping bloodlines pure" racist thinking is fading fast.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
Okay, so if a noble was taking an interest in an elven lass they’re not risking more than a few snide comments from certain of their elders and peers. Not forced disinheritance by royal decree or any such business, same as any noble+commoner/foreigner pairing Exactly. And the snide comments would be more of the "going for the hotness, eh? I've heard about elves!" nature than the "always knew your family was low and coarse" or "there's always one who can't resist dishonouring" sort. Most folk, noble or otherwise, think who someone…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
…befriends, romances, or weds is the business of the individuals involved, and no one else's. Except for royalty, where everyone in the realm has an opinion on whom a monarch, prince, or princess should consort with, and some elder nobility, who place reputation and "what our..
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019
…house can gain from this union as opposed to that one" above all else.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 15, 2019