@TheEdVerse I started this account just to ask you a couple questions, (for now.)
First, you said, some…months ago, that smokeless powder doesn't work in the Realms..(although it's not explosive…technically). Does Kossuth eat the power of internal combustion engines, too?

— Random.Queriant (@RandomQueriant) June 16, 2019

2)
1)
It’s not Kossuth who nerfed gunpowder in the Realms, it’s Gond. As explained in a Tweet thread May 29th (I can dredge it up if you’d like).
Smokepowder (which is not the same thing as the “smokeless powder” used with firearms here on Earth) does work in the Realms Internal combustion engines do work on the Realms as long as your gasoline and oil (lubricant) hold out. Which means 2-strokes, which can run (badly) on fish oil and the like, have a longer life than the computerised, fuel-injected car engines of today.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 17, 2019

3)
Yes, this is official Realmslore because Gary Gygax and Dave Sutherland and I tag-teamed a charity D&D game set in the Realms once, in which hunters from modern Earth inadvertently took their open “Springbok” runabout motorboat through a gate into the Realms 4)
Kossuth does drink napalm and other flame-boosting substances, yes.
As for someone who doesn't venerate any FR deity dying in the Realms…it depends. Sometimes they get "adopted" by a close-to-their-faith FR deity, and more often Kelemvor sends their soul…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 17, 2019

5)
…'home' (through a gate/portal, to their own world). In rare cases, the body gets sent, too…the origin of some of the unexplained deaths on Earth, where a body not clad for such surroundings gets found on a glacier, desert mesa, dormant volcanic caldera, etc.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 17, 2019

The priests of Kossuth will TELL you it was Kossuth. It seems Kossuth left them with that impression. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 17, 2019

Are there magically animated portraits in the Realms, similar to those seen in the Harry Potter series? I created some for my own campaign (1 minute “gif” paintings, some of which have trapped souls, rarity “rare”), but wondering about “canon” 🙂 Oh, yes. Mentioned several times over the years in lore products, and of course in dungeons (including, if it wasn't edited out, in the Halls of the Beast-Tamers in the original Realms boxed set). There are several in the first level of Undermountain.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 9, 2019

is there a particular phrase used when saying someone is insane, or do people use the typical phrases we would use? in the Realms, someone is said to be a "madwits." If they are given to fits/frenzies/running amok, they are "barking madwits" or worse, "howling madwits" or worse "roaring madwits."#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 27, 2019

Hi!
1. I love them all; they're all the Realms.
2. Yes, before first release (TSR was giving me approval as the game used the name of a broadsheet (newspaper) in the Realms), and loved it. (No time to play computer games!)
3. See above: NO TIME! Sorry!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 12, 2019

Ed, thank you so much. My daughter (10) wants her character (wood elf ranger/druid) to start a business selling fried bananas out of a stall/stand. She was worried she wouldn't be able to get any.

— Lou Anders (@LouAnders) May 13, 2019

Uh… sure. As a DM I’d have them imported from points south.

I have no idea on a canon banana position. I haven’t found the documents on setting produce distribution, but I’ll double check the folders. 😛 #WotCStaff

— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 13, 2019

1)
Sorry, Lou. Didn't see your query: Twitter weirdness. It says I can't see your posts because I've muted you, when I've never muted or blocked anyone (and Twitter confirms that I'm no…huh?) Anyhoo, bananas all the way up the Sword Coast, ports only, except when…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 13, 2019

2)
…the harbors ice in during the depths of winter. Popular crop from the Tashalar south, many varieties, and the small green ones, if shielded from the sun, take forever to ripen and so are ideal for bulk shipping (vendor in a port city exposes just what they…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 13, 2019

3)
…want to sell on the morrow to the sun). Rare outside the ports, uncommon but not hard to find within them, priced about the same as good melons (so, affordable). The small green bananas, known as "knuth" (NUT-hh), have a caramel-like, semi-sweet taste.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 13, 2019

for Far Traveler background, one of the locations of origin that’s suggested is Sossal. I’m firmly aware of at least some lore and culture for the rest of the locations suggested, but I know nothing about Sossal besides what is brought up in the background. Online/ What little I've managed to publish on Sossal is mainly on Candlekeep. I can tell you very little, thanks to NDAs. Someday, perhaps…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 18, 2019

@TheEdVerse, well met again! Is there anything you can share about your original concept for the "god-kings" of Mulhorand and Unther? I've read that you imagined Mulhorand as a land of dusky-skinned Set worshippers and slavers. How did Set tie-in to the god kings of your Realms?

— AdamDravian (@AdamDravian) May 25, 2019

1)
My original Realms had no ancient Egyptian/ancient Babylonia/Gilgamesh elements; “my” Mulhorand and Unther had desert areas and a hot climate and therefore the human inhabitants were darker of skin than the Sword Coast North humans. There were some slavers, …#Realmlore 2)
…selling criminals, the heavily in debt, and captured outlanders (from Raurin and points east) to Thay as slaves, but neither Mulhorand nor Unther had legal, country-tolerated slavery (whereas Thay did). When I was asked by early GenCon gamers where best to…@Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

3)
…”plug in” the worship of Set into Faerun, I pointed to Mulhorand and Unther as the best places. Left to my own devices, I would never have had such close real-world (or Hollywood) analogues in the Realms as Old Empires portrayed them to be, but remember that…#Realmslore 4)
…TSR wanted the Realms to be the broad canvas that had room for jungle, pirate, "Oriental," etc. etc. adventures, putting in the Desert of Desolation modules and others, so Mulhorand and Unther became what you see in print.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

5)
My original Mulhorand and Unther were thus: Unther had broken away from oppressive warring-with-each-other (and pouring conscripted farmers into their armies to do so) Mulhorandi kings: the armies turned on their masters and.. 6)
…forced independence (breakaway country). Both were remnants of older great (fallen) empires, and were scrabbling in tombs and underground "dungeons" (the cellars of vanished cities) for the treasure (especially magic) of the gone elder glory…but making…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

7)
…little headway because horrific monsters were lurking down there (when D&D came along, I latched onto beholders [with my inventions: death tyrants, as their undead guardians] and mind flayers as the horrific monsters) and because the climates of both Unther 8)
…and Mulhorand were drying, fast; the land was changing from verdant to arid with frightening rapidity (yes, I had climate change in the early 1960s, ahead of my time as usual ;} ). I wanted to explore how a fast environment change forces social change, but. :{#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

Wow, thanks for the great response, Ed.
But just to be clear, you’re saying that your Unther & Mulhorand were ruled by mortal kings as opposed to “god-kings”? If so, I’m a bit surprised, since the god-kings are mentioned as early as FR0 … but then again so is Kara-tur. 1)
My Unther and Mulhorand were one country ruled by two rival mortal kings, who warred with each other. Both declared themselves "god-kings" (one after the other) in a PR attempt to establish rightful supremacy over the other. Complete with fake priests.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

2)
Shar (chaos, discord) backed both, to bring about the downfall of mighty Mulhorand…and succeeded: Unther broke away into independence.
So, yes, the TERM "god-kings" was mine. Kara-Tur was not. Jeff Grubb and Karen Boomgaarden (now Karen Conlin) compiled FR0…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

3)
…from my lore and from TSR's needs/existing plot set-ups, and setups for products in the pipeline. I sent Jeff around 20 "Look At The FR" weekly packages, and TSR drew on those to get the boxed set done fast.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

I have to admit, getting the inside scoop on your original concepts is really fascinating. I really enjoy delving back into the early days of the Realms. For one thing, it takes me back to when my joints still worked, the world was an oyster before me, and all of that. ;} A lot of folks don't even realize the Realms is a STORY world that predated D&D and all FRP games.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 25, 2019

I love this kind of insight. Thanks for indulging me, Ed. You are the gem of our North.
I’ll absolutely be using this in my game. Might I inquire the names of these kings?Sure. The two rival kings were Vaznurhor and Narlmur. Vaznurhor, whose seat of power was in the southwest and among the old nobles, claimed divinity first; Narlmur, the younger "reformer" (for more equality in society) followed suit. Both became ruthless madmen.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 26, 2019