@TheEdVerse Is there any interesting wildlife that makes its home in waterdeep? something a druid or ranger might like to befriend (animal messenger/beastmaster companion/speak with animals)

— Nat jane (@enjidee) November 17, 2018

1/6) Like any temperate Sword Coast ocean port, Waterdeep has its share of gulls and rockdoves (pigeons), but except in the outermost harbor, they’re surprisingly scarce, due to the following predators: rats (which infest…#Realmslore https://t.co/ZJh7TwmSx1

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

2/6) …Dock Ward, the harbor part of Castle Ward, and Field Ward, and in lesser numbers can be found all over the city); a handful of hardened tressym (the descendants of escaped nobles’ pets) that have “gone wild” to dwell on…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

3/6) …city rooftops, gargoyles, and chimney-angles; owls and fishhawks (osprey-like harriers that also eat rats, mice, and birds); voles; bats (Waterdeep has several small, omnivorous varieties); a handful of “tree cats”…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

4/6) …(squirrels), which have almost died out in the Deep; and perhaps of most interest to druids and rangers, the “veller” (formally velorn). This is an intelligent, alert, curious, adept-at-climbing, prehensile-tailed, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

5/6) …gray-furred four-legged raccoon-or-monkey-eco-niche-equivalent opportunistic omnivore (eating mainly human food scraps and waste, but also birds’ eggs) creature for which (with the addition of climbing even wet and/or…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

6/6) …vertical walls at 20 ft.) the Weasel stats in the MONSTER MANUAL can be used. It’s native to the Sword Coast North from Amn north to the Spine of the World, and east to Anauroch and Tunland. Hope this is of help!#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

What do vellers look like? Brown fur with darker (to black) back, build like a vervet monkey, looks like a raccoon but without the mask. Very smart (can learn at one go: e.g. see someone open a catch or work a lock, they can do it too, including see where the key went, to try to filch it later).

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

I’m reminded of the grumpy curtness with which Tolkien answered his professional mail…and the fond, giving, merry, exhaustive replies he’d write to fans who asked him about his world & its inhabitants.

The medium has changed…but the tradition of generous fantasists endures.🧙🏽‍♂️ Sharing the Realms seems to have become my life's work. I lterally do it every day. But love doing it. :}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 18, 2018

What is the official and proper style of address for Waterdeep nobles? “The Honble. Lord/Lady [surname]”? “The Lord/Lady [Name] [Surname]”? And in speech, “My lord/lady” followed by “Sir/Ma’am”? It seems every Realms author has their own ideas on this… 1)That's because every Waterdhavian NOBLE has their own ideas on this. (And fashions change over time.) You know the old joke that goes: Q:What do you call a god?/A:Whatever HeSheIt wants you to ?? Applies here. "saer" is what anyone in polite Faerunian society calls someone to..

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

2)…be VERY polite them, and is the norm for when you're not sure of someone's rank/status but don't want to offend. Lord/Lady is standard (and "my lord" and "my lady" for retainers, guards, courtiers WORKING FOR the person). "Lady/Lord Summerstar" would be formal, or usual…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

3)…at first greeting, with just "Lord/Lady" thereafter. Some individuals will answer the initial greeting with "Call me X," and it's then polite to do so; a Watch officer about to arrest or question you would refrain from saying X and stick with the formal, as a warning…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

4) I had actually decided things would vary with individuals in Waterdeep and Cormyr (and with the less formal rulers of the Dales) when writing my own stories, before D&D existed, so it was easy, when we started the TSR published Realms, to convey that freedom/variance via…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

5)…Jeff Grubb to the TSR Books Department. It made things MUCH easier for SSI and other licensees, too. So it's always varied, deliberately. See my own novels, and my collaborative novel with Elaine Cunningham, and the "Eddie Presents" Waterdeep novel; feature, not bug. :}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

As always, your replies are robust and prompt. I always get excited when I have a Realms question because I get to ask the Archmage himself and will most likely get an answer. Thanks! A pleasure!
True story: early in writing for Dragon, I sent one of the staff a homemade Christmas card written in mock medieval prose style ("To X, Exalted YYY of ZZZ, these: Wish you the brightest of joys this Yuletide, and XXXetc.)…and got a bewildered request for translation

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

…so when TSR started publishing the Realms as an official setting, I knew that things like many characters sharing the same name (how many Jeffs or Johns or Steves do you know, in real life?) would have to go away, to Dispel Confusion. So ALWAYS build in wiggle room so max…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

…number of writers, designers, artists, DMs, and players can play without having to refer to a "bible" of "exact Realms terms" that's several bookshelves long!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 9, 2018

One of my players for an upcoming W:DH campaign is a Cleric of Mask who pretends to be a cleric of Waukeen and seeks to gain money to buy his way into the Gray Ribbon. Any cool ways I could incorporate this particular faction in the story? Information on how they are? I'll pen you a lore reply as soon as I can. Some I can do faster than others, despite when they arrive in my lap, because I know exactly where the lore is to answer with. Hang on!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 12, 2018

1/10) In Waterdeep, the Gray Ribbon is officially absent, and in truth maintains a VERY low profile: spying more than anything else. Past Open Lords (Piergeiron in particular) and the current one (Laeral) have moved swiftly and…#Realmslore https://t.co/QBOUZbdAUp

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

2/10)
…ruthlessly to smash even small thieving cabals (the policy being: “There will be no more thieving guilds in Waterdeep. Period.”) and they have been aided in this by the Blackstaff (no matter who it is at the time), …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

3/10)
Elminster, Mirt, The Serpent (Elaith Craulnobur), and many Waterdhavians who have connections among fences and smugglers. In other words, they have been thorough and effective. The Watch can’t stop thievery in the Deep, …#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

4/10)
…but they can sure by all the Watching Gods stamp out any thieving organizations (including street gangs of above a certain strength and reach). The lawful guilds of the city all enthusiastically aid in this, as do the…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

5/10)
…nobles, because EVERYONE stands to lose if there’s an effective thieves’ guild operating and rooted in the Deep. The Xanathar survives and succeeds in small part by being “too deep down” to effectively eradicate, and in…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

6/10)
…and in large part by maintaining iron discipline that prevents the Xanathar’s operatives from becoming so big a nuisance that they need to be eliminated, no matter the cost.
The Circle of the Gray Ribbon may be many…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

7/10)
…things, but “stupid” isn’t one of them. Seeing that there’s “no room” in Waterdeep to establish any presence beyond a religious one, they instead treat the Deep as a “viewing gallery” where all they do is watch. Watch… #Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

8/10)
…like hawks. Seeing who owns what, who does what, and who deals with whom. They pounce well away from Waterdeep, using the information gained from spying in Waterdeep, but do nothing except worship Mask (in secret chapels…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

9/10)
…in secret chapels in cellars, attics, and the like) in Waterdeep. So, your cleric is on his own in anything he does to gain coin in the Deep, but will be watched and judged continuously, by more than three spies at all…#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

10/10)
…times. The Circle will strongly disapprove of anything that brings unwanted attention to the clergy of Mask or the Circle, but otherwise will merely appraise his performance as a thief, swindler, and (gasp) legit trader.#Realmslore

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

My guess: Neverwinter or Baldurs Gate.

But i imagine they have a mutually beneficial relationship with the Knights of the Shield in trading information And both of those guesses would be correct. Luskan, too. And "right out in the open" in Scornubel.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

Sooo, What about…. Less-than-savory clerics/paladins? Death domain, oathbreakers, or those in servitude of, say a newly revived members of the Dark Seldarine? Basically “Behave and you’ll have no problems but, we’re watching you.” ? Exactly. Waterdeep is a tolerant crossroads trading city, "where coin is king." If you're not disturbing the peace openly, generally folk will look the other way.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 13, 2018

@TheEdVerse Great Sage, I was wondering if you could provide some insight on on ancient waterdeep, like when the Shoons (Specifically the 3rd and 4th were in power)

— Pastor Plague (@PastorPlague) November 3, 2018

1/6) The best QUICK overview can be found on p7 of the 3e City of Splendors: WATERDEEP tome penned by Eric Boyd. The short answer is: there was no city of Waterdeep at this time.
During the reigns of the third and fourth Shoons, … https://t.co/HFOQpUqLQJ

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

2/6) the plateau above Deepwater Harbor, and the harbor shore, were being farmed by Illuskans who’d spread from the city of Tavaray (at the mouth of the River Delimbiyr). Earlier, they’d come from Ruathym, fleeing civil strife there.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

3/6) Halaster Blackcloak and his apprentices arrived in 168 DR and built a tower, Halaster’s Hold, at the heart of the plateau. It also became known as Blackcloak Hold, and the latter name clung to the settlement that grew up around it, …

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

4/6) …among the farms. Halaster built the hold as his base from which to wrest what’s now known as Undermountain from the drow, and he and the Seven (his apprentices) were busy doing so until well after the end of Shoon IV’s reign…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

5/6) … (the Seven “went below” in 307 DR). So while the Shoons were, ah, “flourishing” (not a word most of their subjects would have agreed with), what would become Waterdeep was an increasingly productive and prosperous farming…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

6/6) … community trading with Tavaray (mainly overland, by mule-train). Orcs and hobgoblins lurked, but the drow and the elves of Ardeepforest kept them largely at bay, and once Halaster was in residence, he kept the drow at bay.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

Afterword: If you want “Waterdeep” to exist as a name (a town), you need to be at 900 DR or later, which is well after the last Shoon achieved lichdom, faked his own murder, and went into hiding.

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 3, 2018

You're very welcome. Always happy to talk Realmslore!

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 4, 2018

Reading through some different @Wizards_DnD books shows some differences in spelling.

Is it 'Waterdavian' or 'Waterdhavian?'@ChrisPerkinsDnD @JamesIntrocaso

(this is a largely unimportant question, I'm just curious)

— Human Spice Latte (@TheOtherTracy) September 14, 2018

Language (spoken AND written) changes, in the real world and the Realms. (Cormyrean, Cormyrian, and Cormyte are all in use, right now). That's what's happened here, too. (Says the guy who came up with "hin" long ago, because search-and-replacing "halflings" with it let me…

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 14, 2018

Yep.
I saw the early playtest text of Dragon Heist, and didn't even mention it. As I figure we literally all got at least a third of a page more of useful gaming text as a result of excising the 'h'. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 14, 2018

I’m going to interpret that as “I prefer it with an “h” also…but it’s alright”. 🙂