Ben Rowe @CineastBenRowe@TheEdVerse
What are major roads in the Realms made of? I'm thinking of the Trade Way specifically, but it is just one of the major highways. Cobblestone?

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

1)
As it happens, I answered a very similar query two weeks back. Here you go:
Some major roads in places like Waterdeep are wider than 50 feet; the idea being that you can easily turn a large wagon drawn by three pairs of oxen 2)
…yoked in harness one in front of the other. (See real-world American brewery wagons, back in horse-drawn days.)
Dotted-line-on-maps roads/wagon trails have at least 30 feet of ‘crown’ (traveled area), with a grassy verge of…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

3)
…about another three or more feet per side before pitching down into grass-lined drainage ditches, on either side. The idea here being that wagons can easily pass each other without danger of wheels catching, or 4)
… projecting-to-the-side loads snagging on each other. So, 30-foot minimum, except when cutting through rock (mountain passes/prime ambush areas!), and wherever the road comes out onto exposed bedrock, the cleared area widens…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

5)
…into a layby/stopping area/turning area.
Follow up question: In town (in Amphail) would the Long Road be dirt, cobblestones, or Roman
road?
In Amphail, it would be a combination of crushed-rock gravel, crushed-old-pottery-roof- 6)
… -tiles gravel, and flagstones. (So, yes, Roman roads. ;} ) Dirt is to be avoided, as it turns into mud and potholes too readily.
For this mud-and-potholes reason (which in turn causes subsidences and eventually building…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

7)
…collapses), cities that have sewers/gutters/catchbasins and other ‘guided drainage’ will have a layer of cobblestones over top of the gravel. Cobblestones are heavy and expensive, so will be used elsewhere only if necessary 8)
(Cities have residents who can be taxed annually, or by special levies, to pay for paving work.)
Swampy areas tend to have ‘log roads’ (VERY bumpy), with gravel and dirt laid over them and relaid every spring (winter frost…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

9)
…and frost heave logs up, and the rest of the time they slowly sink into the swamp, so many such roads are several log-layers deep), or more often if need be.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 29, 2020

My party is around Ten towns for a while and it’s an early winter (accursed tower -> legacy of the shard adventures) so I do have a question: do the lakes by Ten towns freeze during winter? Even if the winter is colder and harsher due to Auril’s chosen one’s presence?

— Artie Pavlov 🥀 (@Artie_Pavlov) March 3, 2020

1)
In spring and fall, they all get “shore ice” (freeze right along the shoreline, wherever there isn’t water flowing into them). This extends farther and farther out, and gets thicker and thicker (so it can be walked on) until in the cold heart of winter, almost…2)
…every part of all three lakes, barring the river mouths, can safely be walked on (and across), and fishing is done by drilling holes and letting down lines. Auril's chosen would make all ice thicker and more reliable, and even the rivers might freeze over.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 3, 2020

@TheEdVerse What were your thoughts on rumors on guns being added into the norm of Forgotten realms novels? I like the medieval flavor and dependence of magic.

When I play as a DM I just tweak the lore to make sure gunpowder is harder to maintain hehe

— Ted Imperius (@Xjandinast) April 14, 2020

1)
I wrote a Firearms article, and a sequel, for Dragon magazine back in the day to nudge the idea of guns in the Realms into the “very impractical” category (as an editorial assignment, as they were already in the game; a wizard 2)
…of Greyhawk had a ‘boom wand’ in the Gary Gygax/Jim Ward/Rob Kuntz play sessions, way back when). Gunpowder doesn’t work in the Realms (doesn’t explosively ignite, so can’t propel bullets). Instead, the Realms has something…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 15, 2020

3)
…called “smoke powder” (which many gamers over the years have confused with sorts of gunpowder called “smokeless powder” or “smokepowder”). This was an idea borrowed, with Roger’s permission, from Roger Zelazny: in his…#Realmslore 4)
…Chronicles of Amber, gunpowder doesn’t work in Amber. Instead, what in the shadow known as Earth is known as jewelers’ rouge can be used in firearms. And yes, it is hard to obtain, making any firearm a “rare and preciously firing”…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 15, 2020

5)
…weapon. ALL firearms in the Realms are single-shots, not automatic or semi-automatic. And every time they’re fired, there’s a chance the weapon will explode, endangering the being firing it more than any target. This keeps 6)
…the focus on magic and medieval-flavour weapons.
Not that any of this is a new notion in fantasy. H. Beam Piper’s classic LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN focuses on a gunpowder theocracy on an alternate-timeline Earth, and what…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 15, 2020

7)
…happens when a modern-times Pennsylvania state trooper who knows how to make gunpowder winds up in that ‘otherwhen.’#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 15, 2020

Nope. Compressing a fireball causes it to "go off" (explode), right there and then. (Usually 'goodbye caster.') If you want to hurl multiple mini-fireballs, use the Melf's Minute Meteors spell. ;}#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 16, 2020

Does it happens with the Firearms from Lantan too? Yes, the firearms Lantan sells are just as prone to blowing up as any others. (They keep the better ones for themselves.) And are single-shot, though they do sell double-barreled guns (and have their own with up to 5 barrels) allowing fast firing ere reloading.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 16, 2020

Are the Batrachi somehow related to the Slaad or the kuo-toa? I always felt like there could be a great opportunity to use them as these sort of ancient “Lovecraftian” elder ones who just mostly died off.

— Leslie Courtney (@LeslieCourtne14) March 31, 2020

1)
I agree, a great opportunity for an elder ones role.
As Eric Boyd and I wrote in SERPENT KINGDOMS, a few sages of the Realms correctly believed that most of the Batrachi escaped to Limbo, and over time became the slaadi, a 2)
…handful remained in the swamps of Toril but likely went extinct before the 1300s DR, and (see SERPENT KINGDOMS and POWERS & PANTHEONS) the Batrachi created or were the ancestors of many shapeshifting, amphibious, and piscine…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 31, 2020

3)
…Faerûnian races, including the bullywugs, doppelgangers, kopru (see the 3e MONSTER MANUAL II), kuo-toa, locathah, sivs, and tako.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 31, 2020

Greetings and salutations! I’ve a burning question from the Shining South – what is the state of Underhome now that Underchasm is filled post 2nd Sundering?
By iron – lower evils sealed away,
Might Deep Lords give Underhome a new day?
Abundant thanks!Dwarves have fought and reclaimed it, and are rebuilding (re-tunnelling and relining and shoring up, after all the collapses) despite persistent attacks from the Underdark. So Underhome lives! (But it's adventure time!)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 26, 2020

Hi @TheEdVerse ,

Hi Ed, I've heard of Iltyr the "Blind but All Seeing" as a beholder cult that preceeded worship of Tyr in Cormyr. I'm also aware of the Xraunrarr as a beholder group trying to infiltrate and control parts of Cormyr's society. Are the two linked in any way?

— FR Alt Dimensions (@FRAltDimensions) March 8, 2020

1)
No, they’re competitors. The Xraunrarr repeatedly tries to manipulate the Cult of the All-Seeing (which is what they call themselves these days), and the Cult resents it and tries to harm Xraunrarr members. The Xraunrarr 2)
…adopted the usual attitude of superior disdain most beholders do towards “foolish” humans, but this has recently been shaken by the realization, in the wake of Cult attacks on Xraunrarr members, that the Cult knew where…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 8, 2020

4)
Several merchant cabals and minor noble families are under the sway of either beholder group, but it’s up to the DM which ones.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 8, 2020

4)
Several merchant cabals and minor noble families are under the sway of either beholder group, but it’s up to the DM which ones.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 8, 2020

It's so funny that evil alignment beholders worship a good alignment deity. What is the cult's dogma and how do Tyr and his priests think of this cult?

— coolguy (@coolguy73360922) March 9, 2020

1)
Cult beholders worship Iltyr because they define “justice” as what they want it to be.
Bringing law and order to society, so that everyone obeys them, as they see themselves as rightfully atop the pecking order and not making errors.
So if the Cult prevails, 2)
…they'll assume their "rightful" place atop society, served by humans and other "lesser creatures," and this will be accepted, so they'll not have to concern themselves with revolts, violence against them, and so on.
Other Tyrrans want adherence to justice, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 9, 2020

3)
…and so will (sighingly) accept those who do it for their own self-interested reasons, just so long as they do it.@Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 9, 2020

do you have a favorite dragon in the realms? I’m forever biased for Mist. She was just so sassy! Yes, but I'm keeping her name secret—unless you guess it. She’s a female human character, NOT a novel headliner, who is really a gold dragon (but almost no one knows it, so there’s ALMOST no hint of her true nature in print).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

Why are they your favorite? She's been part of so many moments near and dear to me, as a human, and blended so well into human life that she's fooled most everyone for so long, and been a good person. (I see a lot more of the Realms than makes it into print.)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

Can I ask if you created her or someone else? I did. Which narrows it down to, ah, most of the dragons in the Realms. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

I know! She was in my first Realms novel I read and I love her and loved her mention in Cormyr novel… but! Was I right in naming Vala? Well that excludes Mist, no? It does. Jeff and Kate came up with Mist.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

Nope. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

So.. this is a random and a desperate attempt … Srinshee? No, the Srinshee's the Srinshee. ;}
I don't know if 'my' wyrm is on the FR wiki (like any wiki, its contents can change over time), but she is obscure in published FR lore.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 14, 2020

@TheEdVerse
Why didn't Mystryl prevent Karsus's Folly? Did she not see it coming, or would it have been against her own doctrine to stop magical advancement, even when it affected her directly? #RealmsLore

— William Strong (@William21Strong) May 1, 2020

1)
Mystryl did not foresee all the details of the consequences, but she did watch Karsus working and striving, and did nothing to stop him because, yes, to do so would have been to act against her very nature and purpose, the… 2)
…primary aim she was dedicated to, and because part of that mortal striving to master arcane magic was the “lesson to all” of the follies and pitfalls of overreaching.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 2, 2020