1)
One of my players wanted to open up an orphanage on her land that she got for free. But this thread has basically proven that it would be rather difficult. So we’re probably going to think of something else in the mean time. Thanks Ed! 🙂 A pleasure. It would be difficult, but if you find something income-earning for the orphans to do (to pay for food and shelter = the costs of heating the building, nightsoil removal, etc.) it could be done. One thing most guilds don't dislike non-guild workers…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

2)
…doing is repairing small items by hand. (Because they're too much work for guild members to do, as opposed to large and expensive items like wagons, bells, windows as opposed to individual panes, etc.) In the "home" Realms campaign there's an orphanage that…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

3)
…collects broken glass and tries to either restore the fractured item if it's of sentimental value to the owner (i.e. it'll be visibly cracked all over, but "together again"), or more often, pulverise the broken glass, re-melt it, and make window panes of it.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

4)
Please note that most of the difficulties come from guilds and from the "red tape" of a surveyed, crowded city. Orphanages out in the countryside are FAR easier to set up and run (orphans can cut wood for fuel, coppice woodlots for more, grow their own food, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

5)
…dispose of their own manure, and so on. Guesthouses (simple rentals of secure-locking-door rooms with good beds) are a VERY good use of land in most cities in the Realms, because there's never enough low-cost accommodation.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

My fool’s quest to reverse engineer your original Realms continues. In FR6, did these aspects come from you: Red Wizards using Eltab to win independence from Mulhorand, Eltabbar being a glyph that weakens when mapped, 1 zulkir for each magic school, gnoll enforcers? One zulkir for each magic school is mine. Eltab was a Gary creation, being shoehorned into the Realms. The other two aren't my "originals," either.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

They weren't. I think a few of mine, renamed, were included, but just a few. Thayd is mine. And yes, so far as I recall, Eltab was Gary's and was around ere TSR bought the Realms.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 9, 2019

Ah, it was my understanding that in your original Thay, the Red Wizards had “recently” wrested dominance from the merchant-kings of the old noble houses. But if Thayd is yours, that implies the Red Wizards founded Thay (assuming he’s the nation’s name-sake), as in TSR’s Realms. The Red Wizards had indeed recently wrested dominance from the old noble houses, when we first saw the Realms in the 1350s DR.
Thay's history is complicated: at the DM's Guild, see "Tyrants in Scarlet: the Founding History of the Zulkirs of Thay" (George Krashos & Ed Greenwood).

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 10, 2019

Sage, again I come bearing a question that should be fun for you to answer, and I’m sorry for lacking Realms knowledge to work this out all by myself(working on it!). I’m developing a random table for cool encounters that can happen during a workweek on+ +Trollskull Tavern, nad a big part of it is also that I would like some cool random people that could stop by and give(or take) something to the characters. I thought about Minsc coming up and getting into a brawl, Mordenkainen coming up and offering a Charm, etc.+

— Sanderson Tavares (@Sands_Tavares) April 27, 2019

@TheEdVerse+Would you have cool ideas(as many as you want to give!) for famous(or not) people they could meet around the 1490s in there? Any cool encounters that could happen? I’ll be sure to share the result of my work on this with the community, and your help to make it canonically+ interesting would make sure it resonates with more people. Thank you kindly, yet again!

PS: I forgot to tag you on a couple of tweets but the thread is linked so I don't think it will be an issue.

— Sanderson Tavares (@Sands_Tavares) April 27, 2019

2)
…Order magist visits and is concerned about what they see or hear, Mirt may drop by either to try some shady investments dickering if it sounds like adventuring is going on he could profit from (OR come by as Laeral's spy), and Elminster is playing "head of…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 28, 2019

3)
…Laeral’s secret service” right now (head of the City Watch and secret police of thw Watch, the City, and the Palace, keeping eyes on all of them) and could drop by for a look if intrigued about anything. As might any adventurers you want to be working for…#Realmslore 4)
…various city nobles, guildmasters, wealthy Deep residents, and shady crime bosses who might want to size up the folks at the Trollskull to be dupes, hired muscle, or sponsored adventurers to run interference or undertake dangerous missions. Or to put it…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 28, 2019

5)
…another way: Undermountain won't clean ITSELF out. ;}#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 28, 2019

I have a question about dwarves and nobility. Are there dwarven nobles in FR’s strongholds? Are there any on human cities? Is there a difference on how they act in regards to humans? Like all social groups, dwarf clans have hierarchies. Some have titled nobility, others don't use titles. All dwarves trained to lead are taught to see "long view" consequences in race relations, but individual dwarves act based on their own characters, not nobility.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 22, 2019

In case of the Delzoun, do they use titles (would it be dukes, barons knights…?). Although they are not expansionist would Bruenor or other Kings assign a noble to care for an outpost/land or raise a character social status to do so? Or neither, it’s solely based on ability? It's based on ability/merit, these days. It has to be. The dwarves came so close to extinction (and know it) that they can't afford bad results. Some Delzoun use "Lord" and "Lady" as honorifics for clan elders, but not titles (aside from military ranks).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 22, 2019

Thank you lord Ed! A pleasure! Happy to help.
There are quite a few dwarven clans who have barons and baronesses (hold lords) addressed as "Lord" and "Lady" (and so are their children and/or designated heirs, though they don't use formal titles).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 23, 2019

1)
YES! 1002 backers for FORBIDDEN LIBRARY, so as promised, I’ll tweet some D&D-related library stories. First: back in 1986, Jeff Grubb called me out of the blue to see if I was interested in selling the Forgotten Realms to TSR to be the…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2019

2)
…setting for the 2nd edition of the game. I said yes, and so began years of back and forth phone calls and FedEx shipments. About a month into this, someone who didn’t identify themselves called the library and I replied with my usual…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2019

3)
…sultry bass “Good afternoon, Brookbanks Library, how may I help you?” They hung up. And called back about five minutes later; one of my bosses (I was the only male, and lowest ranking) answered. The caller identified himself as with…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2019

4)
…TSR’s legal department and asked who’d answered him the first time. “Ed Greenwood” was the reply. “Oh, I thought it was a phone sex worker,” said the TSR lawyer. “He might well be,” said my boss. “Do you want to talk to him anyway?”

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2019

5)
"Well, he IS the party I'm trying to reach, actually."
"Thought so. Most of the crazies call for Ed."
;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 20, 2019

@TheEdVerse Forgive this crude question, but as “dick jokes” can be pretty common in our culture, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a similar practice in the Realms? If so, how would they even refer to the subject of the jest, for “dick” evolved in our etymology from “Richard”? 1)
In the Realms, they're "rampant" jokes, and the humour usually centers on the ridiculous things people (not just guys) will do, say, dress up in, and contemplate in the interests of "getting some."#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 2, 2019

2)
Here's a mild example: "Him? Oh, he used to LOVE having sex on galloping horseback."
"Used to?"
"Until a horse explained to him how hard it was on the horse. Forcibly."
(Not particularly funny, but one that's often told in taverns and while on caravan.)#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 2, 2019

Can you enlighten me as to some specific slang words in Common for dick, because I can only make so many dagger analogies before it’s edgy and painful? >_> [2/2] This has (ahem) come up several times before, but some of the more polite euphemisms are: horn, bornblade, and thrusting limb. Less polite: darkdelver, jackarel, lubber, mighty banner, mimic-tickeler, throatsnake.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 2, 2019

Wow, that is really weird.
OK, I have one more question about the small folk: I’m curious how you picture their voices. Personally, as a DM, I find myself having male gnomes speak like Billy Barty (he played the wizard in Willow’s village and Gwildor in Masters of the Universe). I'd say Billy Barty is spot-on for young male gnomes. Ranging down to Oscar the Grouch for cantankerous old ones. Female gnomes: soft but deep mezzos, mainly.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 26, 2019

Nice! Are hin similar? Yes, but most of them have more nasal (potential "smart-ass") voices, like Terry O'Reilly on the radio programme Under The Influence, or the narrator of the TV program Hope For Wildlife. And most hin who live in human cities are such good mimics that they pitch…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 26, 2019

2)
…their voices, and modulate the timbre, to sound human, out of sheer habit (i.e. automatically).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 26, 2019

Like how many liches are there in the Forgotten Realms? Arch-liches? Baelnorns? @TheEdVerse About how many liches do you figure call Toril home? https://t.co/QCpfBK1ruF

— WebDM Jim (@therealjimdavis) April 23, 2019

Indeed. Between Larloch and Thay alone, there are nigh a thousand liches. There are still "high hundreds" of baelnorns. They're not all bent on world conquest or affecting the lives of those around them, and so many escape notice except by those who blunder into…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 24, 2019

2)
…their presence (e.g. adventurers). The desire of live forever is NOT uncommon among sentient beings, and the sheer scope of lichnee variants found in the game (and alternatives like minds bound into enchanted items) should clearly indicate that a lot of folks…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 24, 2019

3)
…try it, with varying degrees of success. So it follows that there are a LOT of liches around. Many of them have decayed past the point of "upright mobile biped in rotting robes" stereotype, though. ;} Certain crawling claws are really all that's left of liches.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) April 24, 2019