1)
“Right, plundering done, everyone? Good. Chant, see to our, ah, benefactors. Fatally.”
“But of course. Your Majesty, could you stand rearguard?”
“Er, I suppose. That means look back the way we came, yes?”#epicfantasy 2)
“AND cry warning if anyone—or anyTHING—comes.”
“Yes, yes! I’m not a COMPLETE dunderhead!”
“Yes, Sire. Complete dunderheads I can work with; most of the Castle staff are such.”
“But?”
“But you’re my King.”#epicfantasy

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 26, 2019

3)
“Well, heh-heh, don’t let that stop you, m’dear.”
“Oh, I won’t. I just don’t know the full limits of your idiocie—folly. Kings FAR outstrip complete dunderheads.”#epicfantasy

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 26, 2019

Did each dragon use its own unique rune, like a mage sigil, or was it more like Japanese, with a particular (possibly unique) combination of characters forming their name?

— Greysil (@Greysil_Tassyr) October 7, 2019

Each dragon used their own unique sigil.#Realmslore https://t.co/nacYVPRszr

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019

Did those unique sigils have similar protections to mage sigils, preventing their misuse or forgery? Or was there some sort of cultural imperative in avoiding misuse of these sigils? Do dragons still use those unique runes, and is there a term for them?

— Greysil (@Greysil_Tassyr) October 8, 2019

1)
The sigils bear no magic to prevent their misuse or forgery, but any dragon misusing or forging would be shunned by other wyrms, and deemed mad; such behaviour is just ‘not done.’ It is ‘beneath a dragon.’ Madwyrms are to be 2)
…cast out and if possible destroyed, and in any event no other dragon will aid them or make common cause with them.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

3)
Yes, dragons still use such sigils, and they are known as “othwaer” (oth = self + waer = rune, sigil, symbol of meaning). (In ancient times, “oth” was rendered “auth.”)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

“not done” seems like such a strong taboo–to be sure, even if there were a great tactical advantage to a forgery, even if it could likely be pulled off without repercussion or culpable evidence, would it still be “too low” for even the most unscrupulous dragon? It would be "too low." Meaning a desperate (e.g. dying, so nothing to lose) or consumed-by-revenge dragon might do it, but otherwise, it's simply "off the table," meaning a dragon wouldn't even think of doing it.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

)
Have a battle-scarred angel visit the paladin and challenge him to answer, on the spot, “What would you do?” when confronted by a law that is being misused, or has overly harsh consequences because of its wording 2)
E.g. the law that some Dragonreach cities had (Mulmaster still has it on the books) that an orc who tries to live in the city, or stay there overnight, must be forcibly put outside the gates—and if they persist, put to death… #Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

3)
…on the spot.
What if a bewildered orc babe is found, alone, with no parents to be found anywhere in the city? But it clings to humans and weeps, and when put outside the gates crawls hurriedly back in again? Should it be put 4)
…to death on the spot?
If the character chooses “no,” then the character should declare for Tyr, who punishes all wrong (and taking the Oath of the Ancients does mean the character is putting themself in the roles of judge, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

5)
…jury, and executioner.
If the character chooses “yes,” then they are for Torm, who cleaves to duty and loyalty and would uphold the law. They might petition that the law be altered, but until it is, it must be followed. 6)
Make the choice clear by having the angel ask, “Is it YES…” (and Torm manifests, as a floating, glowing-with-a-white-halo white gauntlet) “…or NO?” (and Tyr manifests, as balanced scales resting atop a head-upright warhammer).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

That is amazing! My game is in Baldur's Gate, so is there a similar law that would generate a dillema? Also, far be it for me to question your authority on this, but isn't Tyr blind justice? I would have thought their roles to be switched in this situation. Would love to knowmore

— Sanderson Tavares (@Sands_Tavares) October 12, 2019

1)
Tyr WAS blind justice, but recall the history of the two deities (Tyr raising Torm to lesser deity status, abdicating his godhood and portfolios to Torm, then being restored along with all the other gods after the Sundering). Tyr now punishes wrong, above all 2)
So Tyr is the SPIRIT of the law, and Torm is now the LETTER of the law. (Back in the 1300s DR, Tyr was the letter of the law and Torm was the "what the heck, we're adventurers, we can look the other way" leeway.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

3)
So in Baldur’s Gate, there is still a law that says that if a citizen or visitor is given a direct order by a uniformed member of the Flaming Fist (or a requisition of anything from a sword to a potato to their house is demanded of them), they must obey or be 4)
…subject to martial punishment on the spot (loss of an ear, a hand, their tongue, or even their life).
In recent years (as you'll see in DESCENT INTO AVERNUS) the Fist has become a corrupt organization. What if a Fist member clearly abuses this law to seize a…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

5)
…shopkeeper’s supper, takings for the day, and tools? And then the same from the NEXT shopkeeper? (Tossing them in a requistioned cart to go and sell, except for the food that they’ll eat.)
Uphold the law? (Torm) Or stop the Fist member because the law’s 6)
…being misused? (Tyr)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 12, 2019

1) Hey Ed, in your original gods article (Dragon #54), you said you wanted all of the outer planes to have ruling deities, so you placed Bane in Archeron so as not to conflict with Asmodeus. But who did you envision ruling Concord. Opp., Silvanus or Oghma? And … 2) … in Hades, Shar, or Myrkul? Since you adopted all the non-human gods from DDG, who rules the 7 Heavens, Tyr, Moradin, or Yandalla? Same for Sune and Corellon in Arvandor. Is Azuth ruler of Arcadia despite being (at that time) a demigod?
Thanks, and may you recover swiftly!

— AdamDravian (@AdamDravian) October 4, 2019

1)
Hi, Adam! Thanks for the good recovery wishes!
So back in the mists of time, when thinking through the gods of the Realms, I wrote up much lore that didn’t make it into that article 2)
And can tell you that I saw most of the first layer of ARCADIA as being ruled by the deity Clangeddin Silverbeard, with another part of it ruled by Marduk.
As my conception of the Outer Planes developed detail and depth, I…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

3)
…envisaged the second layer being ruled by the Mulhorandi (Egyptian) deities (Ra, Isis, Osiris, and Horus-Re), with Azuth SECRETLY controlling conditions in Arcadia from behind the scenes (from his abode on the second layer) 4)
…rather than “ruling.” Marduk was like a ‘mad bull’ deity who challenged and fought any deity he detected, so Azuth kept him deceived and walled away. Savras kept trying to free Marduk—which meant Savras got attacked by…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

5)
…Marduk repeatedly, and this weakened Savras, so he rarely challenged Azuth 6)
I envisaged ARVANDOR as being ruled by Corellon (holding sway over a fey court of elven deities and visiting mortal supplicants and elf spirits, in a vast forest dominated by trees whose leaves glowed a soft blue in…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

7)
…moonlight). I saw SUNE as dwelling on the plane, and welcome in Corellon’s court as Hanali Celanil, but possessing an essential personal nature disinterested in ruling, dominance, or authority. 8)
I saw the plane of CONCORDANT OPPOSITION as ruled by Oghma, the Binder, as I saw Silvanus tied firmly to the forests of Toril and interested in the cycles of life there (particularly trees).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

9)
I saw HADES as being ruled by Myrkul, with Shar preferring to reign in the Void—that is, the dark places of all planes, including the Astral Plane/Astral Sea, where the bodies of dead gods float. Shar doesn’t want to be tied 10)
…to any one plane that can be attacked, and that might distract her with obligations or neighbours; she wants to be everywhere, beholden to none—and is attracted to the chaos where planes meet planes, and there is destruction.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

11)
THE SEVEN HEAVENS I saw as a verdant paradise ruled by Yondalla (Chauntea), with Tyr, Moradin, and others welcome to dwell there unchallenged, and to shape ‘their’ parts of the Heavens as they see fit (Yondalla simply keeps… 12)
…growing things thriving, to enshroud and renew the paradise regardless of what others do).
Hope this is of help.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

So Chauntea and Yondalla were one entity, and Sune and Hanali Celanil were also a single entity? Hard for mortals to know. Aspects of each other, so: linked. The truth? Still mysterious. Both deities and their clergy "spin," to use modern parlance. "Lie," to speak more plainly, as in elder days. ;}#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

As I remember, Marduk is a manifestation of Bahamut. Is that means Bahamut the Lesser Power rules de facto a large part of Arcadia? No, it means Marduk rules a small, walled-off part of Arcadia.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 5, 2019

1) Much appreciated! Though I’m on a fool’s quest to run a pre-TSR Realms (relying on your early Dragon articles and lore you & THO have shared online), so I’m not sure how much of that applies. In Dragon #52, you said the only DDG content in use are the non-human deities 2) … the two giant Norse gods, and some of the animal gods. Also, you didn't originally envision Sune and Hanali being the same, did you? I thought that was introduced in 4e in the Great God Outer Plane Conversion.

— AdamDravian (@AdamDravian) October 5, 2019

1)
The pre-TSR Realms didn’t have the Known Planes of Existence as envisaged by Gary Gygax (and published in issue 8 of The Dragon). So none of my answers apply.
I was trying to remain true to “official” D&D as it developed, 2)
…and so, shifted (as mentioned in my article in Dragon 54) deities and their lore to match what got added to the game, as it appeared. Pre-D&D, I had latched onto the notion that deities could appear to mortals, and be…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 6, 2019

3)
…worshipped, as different ‘aspects,’ because I wanted to have HUNDREDS of secretive cults worshipped in back rooms or cellars or upper rooms or in clubs, by masked secret societies—without having hundreds of gods to keep 4)
…track of. Yet while Sune was part of my original, pre-D&D Realms, the entire elven pantheon (not the idea of elves having gods, but the named deities of the elves that appear in the game) came ‘aboard’ in my Realms from the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 6, 2019

5)
…D&D game (my original elven deity was ‘the Lady,’ a forest-dwelling feminine nurturing goddess…
who flashed tall and terrible, blue and silver, when angered and manifesting in power, to do battle on behalf of imperiled elves, 6)
…and the rest of the time was a softly whispering voice on a breeze of silver sparks, or two floating, watching eyes {Mystra did the floating eyes thing, too}).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 6, 2019

I was speculating on the potential properties and costs of gates, and wanted to know if something like the following exists in your world. Do there exist, in your Toril, gates which impose an alignment change, or conformation to a particular alignment or axis, or which place a geas/quest/other compulsion upon those passing through?

2/6

— Random.Queriant (@RandomQueriant) November 5, 2019

Possibly, are there gates which change the race/species, ethnicity, gender, or even the home plane of those who traverse them? Any which cause those who cross them to each arrive in the body of a different traveler? Any which rob a traveler of a skill or language, or impart one, or possibly mixes them up so a person passing through one might lose one skill, but collect one lost by a previous traveler?

4/6

— Random.Queriant (@RandomQueriant) November 5, 2019

Or in such a way that certain languages or skills never leave, or never enter, through that gate?

Would such a thing, assuming such a thing exists at all, be the work of gods, mortals, or just some natural accident such as nature tends to produce?
If there are any notable examples of any of the above, can you share?

6/6

— Random.Queriant (@RandomQueriant) November 5, 2019

2)
…just what each gate does a mystery, so DMs can tailor gate effects to their campaigns. A few (in FR0/The Old Gray Box and in Undermountain, for example) have been nailed down in print, and a few more in my fiction, over the years. TSR had a "top secret"…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2019

3)
…reference document I penned of many specific gate effects, and they paid me for it, so that means I can’t share its contents without permission. So your mission, should you choose to accept it. 4)
I can say that Eric L. Boyd and others penned various articles for the Wizards website, over the years, that dealt with specific gates; one series of articles featured a different gate of the Realms in each instalment.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 5, 2019

Odd question, does Bane know he died before his ascension or does Bane believe (due to worshipers) he went to Jergal as a mortal to challenge him for godhood?

— Tevapotrans (@Lord_Toast13) October 3, 2019

1)
Bane’s clergy will tell you (and all of Toril) that Bane challenged Jergal as a mortal. Most non-sages know nothing of Jergal’s planning and manipulation of those who became the Dead Three, and believe they decisively defeated 2)
…Jergal. But all of the deities involved know better. They just don’t like to admit it to anyone. In the case of Bane, there’s also the question of whether Iyachtu Xvim, his son, was destroyed as a sentience by Bane, when…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2019

3)
…Bane took over his body, or whether he lurks in Bane’s mind still. Bane’s clergy don’t like to talk about Xvim at all, but will tell you Bane “utterly destroyed” him for “betrayals and insolence.” Yet Elminster “knows” 4)
…vestiges of the Godson migrated to several weak-minded mortals and took up residence in their minds. What’s an open question is whether or not Bane did this, too, as an insurance policy against his own future destruction…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2019

5)
…(again). Jergal certainly has.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2019

Is Bane’s soul still theoretically at the mercy of Jergal, or did that end with his ascension? (I kind of like the idea of the god of tyranny being little more than a puppet) Bane’s soul is indeed still at the mercy of Jergal, though Bane has forgotten this (with Jergal’s help). Jergal has no intention of treating Bane like a puppet until he has to (it’s another of his “insurance policies”).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 3, 2019

Don't know when it'll be done, but it'll be on DM's Guild (the D&D storefront of DriveThru RPG). Lore questions abound, which means this thing is going to be THOROUGH. :}#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 7, 2019

Is it too much of a stretch to think there might even be a link to even older and deeper tunnels that could maybe be traced to ancient Ilefarn?

— I am a Hotdog (@dhodgs) October 8, 2019

1)
It’s not too much of a stretch at all. ;} Those Underdark monsters had to come up via SOMETHING.
And when it comes to Illefarn, I can recommend two Realms releases to everyone: UNDER ILLEFARN ANEW by Eric L. Boyd (http://www.candlekeep.com/downloads/UnderIllefarnAnew.pdf …) and the forthcoming2)
…CROWN OF EARLANN by Alexander Boyd, Eric L. Boyd, and George Krashos.
Essential Realmslore!#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

I did. (And the draft I've seen has over 600 pages.)

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

No, this is an uber-sourcebook, mit adventures!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

Heh. Wait for CROWN OF EARLANN to elucidate a bit on who/what the Terraseer was.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 8, 2019

@TheEdVerse In earlier editions, the printing press existed but was still new. Some recent 5e adventures have Volo signing copies of his books. Does that mean printing press technology has advanced to the point of mass production? If not, where are we at in the 1490s? #Realmslore

— Tatoskok Studios (@tatoskok) September 29, 2019

1)
The Spellplague and Sundering smashed through existing societies and trade flows like sledgehammers, delaying and creating chaos; a lot of individuals most interested in publishing (printing and distributing) went mad or 2)
…died. So there was huge disruption and much delay. However, “simple” printing (one-page broadsheets [=newspapers], handbills [advertising], and forms/permits) wasn’t disrupted at all in particular cities or among the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

3)
…courtiers of a given realm.
So they went right on, and chapbooks (short booklets) very soon recovered, because they can be collated from pages that are essentially broadsheets (in terms of production, if not content). What 4)
…this meant was that all of the major port cities up and down the Sword Coast and around the Shining Sea, cities of wealth or rallying wealth like the cities of Cormyr and Sembia, and Westgate and Zhentil Keep, and centers of…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

5)
…books and readership like Derlusk in the Border Kingdoms, had small, hand-operated printing presses that did more than just broadsheets (the first offshoot growth industry? Official letterhead stationery for royalty and 6)
…nobility, then guilds; the second: tickets for attending special events at clubs and fairs) by the 1420s DR, and these became faster, larger (assisted by improvements in making larger sheets of rag and pulp paper) throughout…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

7)
…the 1400s. Good leather bindings, and page-edge treatments like gilding and waxing, started to appear in Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate in the 1440s, and were swiftly copied elsewhere (the cities of the Tashalar swiftly became 8)
…known for jewel-hued inks and a LOT of gilding, on pages).
By the 1470s, the concept of (for a price) keeping “forms” of previously-printed letterpress pages in warehouses for reprintings caught hold in higher-paying markets…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

9)
…(often because nobles and other wealthy patrons) wanted to swiftly be able to get new printings of their memoirs to hand out, or little tomes of their philosophies or poetry, or the lyrics and poems of bards they were 10)
… sponsoring. Volo took advantage of this, as did the authors of other travel guides and lurid romance chapbooks. Bookshops became fixtures of the Sword Coast port cities and all major Heartland trading cities and ports by…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

11)
…1475 DR, and places like Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Derlusk, Baldur’s Gate, and Suzail had local bestsellers and a marketplace of “here’s what’s coming” and “read a chapbook excerpt from the forthcoming new sequel to X by12)
…talented and famed Author Y” by 1478 DR. Traveling merchants (and simple peddlers, going from hamlet to village) since then have aided in spreading this ‘culture’ everywhere.
So Volo is signing copies of his latest as just…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019

13)
…one author among many (albeit a notorious one who can claim a long and successful career), by the 1490s.
One important difference from real-world history: religious tomes haven’t been part of this 14)
…development, because they were ALWAYS on the scene, written out in duplicate by hand in monasteries and temples, and then by (in monasteries and temples, along with papermaking and binding) printing press.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 30, 2019