Alex McClay @AlexMcclay2000 · 9h
…Now onto my question, with all the research that I have done in Iriaebor I realized that in every source that Lord Bron is mentioned that we do not get a description on how he looks like. So, how do Lord Bron look like?
Thanks in advance!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2020

#Realmslore
1)
Lord Bron is a human of mixed heritage, but has Calishite blood in his past, and so has dusky brown skin, dark brown eyes, and light brown hair that’s going grizzled gray. He customarily goes clean-shaven, except for2)
…“daggerboard” sideburns, and keeps his hair helmet-cropped (what in a real-world modern female is sometimes called a “pixie cut”).
He’s of burly build, stands a shade under six feet tall and is a shade less than two feet…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2020

3)
…across at the shoulders (so, “heroic-looking” build), has rugged, weatherbeaten, “leathery” skin that makes him look to be in his fifth decade, has a hook nose that got broken long ago and healed “twisted to his left, in the…#Realmslore 4)
…middle,” and is a soft-spoken, firm man of few words, who usually dresses in leather armor with a metal back-and-breast and bracers (reputed—correctly—to be magical; they have at least the protections of a brooch of…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2020

5)
…shielding, and likely more). Lord Bron has an air of authority that has nothing of bluster or arrogance in it, but a calm confidence; he can effortlessly dominate a room, without uttering a sound or doing anything dramatic.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2020

…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 2:1)
The frigid tundra between them and the Frozen Forest was once extensively patrolled by ice archons, now (in 5e) more commonly known as “ice elemental myrmidons,” and a few still roam the area, attacking all intruders.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

2)
A greater peril on these plains are marauding remorhaz, who come south out of the Great Glacier to wander and devour. They concentrate most on attacking gnoll caravans (ore-laden sledges coming along the Remorhaz Ride caravan…3)
…trail from Mount Ghaethluntar, a huge mountain honeycombed with caverns linked by natural and carved-out tunnels, and inhabited by thousands of flind and gnolls).
The Alaphaer Run is a fast-flowing, icy river of drinkable…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

4)
…water that’s normally iced over (it runs under a roof of ice thick enough to support a heavily-laden sledge, or even a landing dragon). The river is blessed by the goddess Auril (“Alaphaer” is one of her older names), and… 5)
…runs through the Planes of Existence as it descends from the mammothbacks, flowing into and out of Auril’s Deep Wilds home realm several times as it heads for the Frozen Forest.
The Frozen Forest itself gets its name from the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

6)
…glittering ice that sheaths the needles and boughs of its close-standing conifers (at the forest’s edge, most are bent over under the weight of the ice; in the forest depths, the trees stand too close to bend, and are in fact… 7)
…often welded together by ice, high up, and can’t bend much). Almost entirely evergreens (the few hardwoods tend to be long-dead, bare trunks), the Frozen Forest is vast and has very few clearings (the Monument of the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

8)
…Ancients occupies one) and animal tracks, and no human-cut roads or trails.
The Forest is wreathed in everpresent, drifting ground fogs, which persist for the same reason the trees of the forest don’t shatter and die of the… 9)
…cold, and their roots can drink flowing water: warm magma flows near the surface of the earth, beneath the forest (the presence of these flows, and the running-water and forging opportunities their warmth provides, are the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

10)
…reason why such subterranean cities as Forlarn of the gnomes, and Glanderultok, can exist in the region).
Caribou winter over in the Frozen Forest, lynx (and even a few giant lynx) dwell in it, preying on the abundant hares, … 11)
…“tree-cats” (squirrels), voles, foxes, and grouse. Owls and a handful of giant owls also make this forest their home, as do fey who do not love sentient intruders of any sort. Moose, elk, and rothé forage endlessly along its…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

12)
…verges, moving constantly to where they can find and eat new growing shoots, and moving to the lee of the forest when the worst storms hit.
At various warmer times in the past, humans have tried to settle in the Frozen… 13)
…Forest, and found the tumbled ruins and foundations of even more ancient settlements, in which enchanted weapons (including a crossbow of speed known as “The Army Scythe,” encountered in the Baldur’s Gate computer game) were…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

14)
…found. Persistent hobgoblin attacks decimated these settlers, until the few survivors fled south to the cities of the Moonsea shore. Not all of these ruins (from early Netheril?) have been thoroughly explored, for even… 15)
…then, fell monsters lurked in their deepest underground passages and cellars. SOMETHING, Elminster warns, has prevented dwarves and gnomes from establishing permanent settlements or forges under the Frozen Forest.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

16)
And there you have it. [Long Reply Thread 2 ends.] Hope this is of help!#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020

whenever some of the big-name wizards in FR lore are brought up, they are often compared to other wizards of great power. If you had to rank Elminster, Gromph Baenre, Halaster Blackcloak, Szass Tam, and Larloch in terms of wizardry alone, where would you put them? As far away as possible. In another universe should be far enough. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

1)
However, to answer you seriously: by wizardry alone (mastery of spells, experience with using them, creativity in making new ones and modifying existing ones, and understanding the underlying raw magic—and leaving out the… 2)
…sanity of the caster, their arsenal of enchanted items and spell library, and any divine assistance or favor), I’d put them like this:
Larloch a shade ahead of Halaster Blackcloak, then Elminster, then Gromph Baenre, then…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

3)
…Szass Tam. (With the Srinshee ahead of them all, and The Simbul and then Khelben just a whisker behind Elminster.)
If you do factor in sanity and rank them by effectiveness in battle, on their own and without items and not on… 4)
…their home turf with any wards, defenses, and so on, then the order shifts to Elminster a shade ahead of Larloch, then Khelben, Gromph, Halaster, The Simbul, and Szass Tam.
El’s strengths are his flexibility and vast practical…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

5)
…field and back-alley experience, as well as Weavemastery, and Larloch’s are his utter calm and his many, many years of patiently mastering a vast and growing library of spells.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

How about Ioulaum? I always considered he is the most powerful one. But he is unable to move freely as a downside. Ioulaum is one of the most CREATIVE/innovative spellcasters. Yet years behind re. current spells and castings, lacks back-alley/street-fighting experience, and can readily be fettered in any battle against a Weavemaster (such as El). So: just behind Larloch.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

A pleasure. I really dislike ranking spellcasters against each other, as the real answer is always "it depends on the situation/what else they're doing, trying, or enduring at the time," but seeing my thinking can be DM-helpful.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

I had a couple questions, @TheEdVerse.

1) What’s Fzoul Chembryl’s status in the current 5E Realms? Is he still an exarch, has he returned to the mortal coil, or is he dead?

2) Is the Pereghost still around?

3) Any chance Zhentil Keep will be rebuilt anytime soon? Details of all of these are NDA at the moment, but the short answers are:
1. Returned to the mortal coil, and to Zhentarim membership.
2. Yes. Head of the Zhentarim.
3. Yes. Rebuilding has been underway for some time.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 21, 2020

Mr.Greenwood, if Myth Dannor means “City of Songs”,Myth Nantar means”City of Mystery”,then what is the exactly meaning of Myth Rhynn locates in the Wealdath? Myth Rhynn is the City of Serene Slumber, but please note that NONE of these city names are translations (i.e. "Rhynn" has no direct linguistic meaning).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020

@TheEdVerse Hi Ed, how are you? Can you help me with your vast knowledge? I would like to know more details about the elements that appear in this symbol. Can you help me ? pic.twitter.com/R8eV9PCDF7

— DM´s Party (@dms_party) August 23, 2020

1)
There’s a lot to unpack in that cover sigil, and believe it or not, there are still NDAs relating to some meanings (what I can say is that one of the messages is akin to “Behold and enjoy your Realms”). So let’s look at that… 2)
…writing, and we can readily see that it’s a ring of Dethek runes with a ring of Espruar script around it. The Dethek runes read: “The secret fires of our hearts burn with the memory of wars lost and heroes slain, but like the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

3)
…stone from which we came, we endure” and is an age-old saying of the dwarves. The Espruar runes read “We remember cities now in ruin and forests murdered, yet still we sing to the stars and hope for renewal,” and is an elven…
#Realmslore 4)
…saying during the time of the Retreat (“cities” being spelt “sities” as there’s no “C” in Espruar).
These rings of script encircle a central symbol of three linked rings that denote the Multiverse or the Cosmic All or Ao, … #Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

5)
…depending on your tradition (who in the Realms taught you what those rings stand for). The three diamonds are from the sagecraft, and denote the Realms Below (the Underdark), the Realms Above (the surface world), and the… 6)
…Starry Void (Realmspace, or what we might call the heavens, or the Outer Planes of Existence, again depending on your tradition).
You’ll see a “bump” between the 7-o’clock and 8-o’clock position on the innermost ring around…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

7)
…Ao, that’s a crescent moon with a dot ‘above’ the crescent/between its horns. This is, of course, the symbol of Elminster, and it’s there because he is, however unreliably, our main source of information about the Realms. 8)
There’s another symbol that stands out as immediately recognizable, between the 4-o’clock and 5-o’clock position, jutting out of the outermost ring. It’s the symbol of Mystra, and she’s there as “the” deity of the Realms, for…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

9)
…she is the Weave that almost all beings use to source magic.
The sword symbol at the 9-o’clock position of the outer ring is the Sword of Tyr, but is also there to represent Tempus, and war.
The symbol at the 10-o’clock… 10)
…position similarly stands for multiple deities and concepts, one of them being Lolth (her web); I can’t find my old notes on this at the moment (they’re likely in a box out in the larger shipping container, so expect more… #Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

11)
…revelations months from now).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

So the lore has been subsequently explained, but legally you’re not allowed to talk about it? In many cases, yes.
In others, it's never been explained in print/in public, so it's a missing spot DMs and players can fill in as they see fit (and we're still not allowed to talk about it).
Sometimes I check old emails, see precisely what I was told not to say, and "workaround"

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020

@TheEdVerse Although he doesn't seem to be the most skilled at it if levels are any indication, Volo's been a wizard for a long time, has he authored any spells of his own?

— Belial Lyka (@TimeBust) June 19, 2020

1)
Oh, yes. Some are NDA, some’ve been published, and there’s Volo’s Snatch, a 1st level spell that plucks 1 caster’s fist or smaller item within the caster’s sight, to fly through the air, to the caster’s hands. Dex check to catch each one; Volo usually uses it to…2)
…steal tarts, but has managed to get keys to rooms or cells he's confined in, timely-useful weapons and tools, and so on. Caster can pluck 1 item for every 4 arcane class levels they possess. Spell can't break chains, rings, or hasps to fetch secured items.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 19, 2020

3)
Naked fleeing Volo once used this to garner a wardrobe (frilly lingeries, but still) while racing through a shop, after a husband came home earlier than anticipated. I left that out of a manuscript, for reasons of good taste that escape me now.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 19, 2020

hello. is the arcane brotherhood back in power in luskan ? are they pushing some evil plots ? or are they still consolidating and recovering from the hole greeth debacle? The Arcane Brotherhood is back in power, but keeping a low profile (Luskan retains its lawless recent nature) as the Brotherhood currently has other fish to fry (so, YES, they're pushing MANY evil plots!).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 14, 2020