@TheEdVerse Roughly how long would it take to sail from Waterdeep to Port Nyanzaru?

— Jonathan Longstaff (@pukunui81) August 5, 2020

1)
Depends on the weather, strength of prevailing winds and currents (which vary by time of year AND weather elsewhere), and what you’re sailing (sail area, hull drag; caravel faster than cog or nao, costal raker faster still). 2)
But on average, a newish, fast large cargo caravel could make a clear-weather but never becalmed voyage in 21 days. So that’s “best case;” add on days to that total for ports of call along the way, detours for pirate or storm…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 5, 2020

Looking at maps, it seems to me like the most obvious route would be to sail from Waterdeep past Mintarn to the Moonshaes, then straight down to Chult (to bypass the pirate-infested Nelanther Isles and the Tethyr Peninsula).

Does that seem reasonable?

— Jonathan Longstaff (@pukunui81) August 6, 2020

1)
Certainly, but you’re now in the very decision-making position that most seacaptains find themselves in: do you make the faster run, closer at all times to land and in calmer, less stormy waters, but risking pirates and… 2)
…running aground on shoals or being driven ashore by storms because you’re nearer to land?
If you take the “outer run” you’ve described, sailing times increase from best-case south/outbound 21 days and best-case…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 7, 2020

3)
…north/return/inbound 26 days to: best-case south 26 days and best case north 31 days, with about a 30 percent greater chance of storms bad enough to blow you well off course (almost always east towards the coast), and around… 4)
…a 55 percent chance of heavy weather bad enough to shred a sail and cost you some lines [rigging ropes].
Sailors must make these life-and-death, profit-and-loss choices all the time. Which is why many carry extra masts and…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 7, 2020

5)
…complete extra sets of sails (costing them profits by taking up cargo space).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 7, 2020

Hi, me again.

The Chultan Peninsula was sunk during the Spellplague; and is restored to a peninsula after the Second Sundering. What do you think the current state of the Mhair Jungle, Thindol/Tashalar, and Samarch is? I am SO tempted to say "wet." ;}
Seriously, the hot wet jungles of Mhair, and the Mediterranean-like verdant climate of the Tashalar, are back to what they were before, due to prevailing winds and currents, and the temperature ranges of their latitudes.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2019

You have the same sense of humor as me! I made that joke elsewhere 🙂

Thank you!

Do you think it would be fair to say that, even though its mostly like it was, that the Spellplague was not without its scars on the area? New magical beasts, that sort of thing? Yes. "Living spells" wander the landscape, new beasts galore (oddities like gibbering mouthers, jellies, oozes, and tentacled things, and beings (including wild humans) who now have "wild talents" (e.g. can telekinese things, have true sight, blink, produce flame).#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 1, 2019

Our fearless crew be settin’ sail from Waterdeep for Port Nyanzaru. What are we taking in trade, what are we bringing back, where would the trade winds have us stop along the way, and how long would the journey take? Many thanks! #dnd #noteleporting 1/4): Finished ironmongery (nails, bolts, hooks, hasps, hinges, pots, pans) and good boots always popular cargoes from the Deep to Chult area. Food, spices, herbs for medicines always popular in the other direction.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 1, 2018

2/4): Sword Coast prevailing winds and currents let you stop just about anywhere up and down the coast that’s good anchorage (and doing so to sell and buy small amounts of cargo, and reprovision with fresh water and crew food, is the norm.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 1, 2018

3/4): Tharsult is the “crossroads neutral ground” port of call where prices are lowest because competition highest). Time of journey depends entirely on weather, time of year, but provision for the worst case: two tendays.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 1, 2018

4/4): That allows time to remast and repair after being caught in a bad storm. The trip can be done in almost half that time if EVERYTHING goes your way (strong, steady favorable winds, no fog or pirates or sea monsters, etc.). Safe voyage!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 1, 2018