Lore Assistance

[Maecius]

I am once again available to answer your questions regarding the canonical lore of the FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting. For the most part, you should address your questions to me by replying to this thread; however, if your question reveals some detail of your character's background that you would not like to make public, or is otherwise of a sensitive nature, you should feel welcome to address it to me in a private message.

By way of disclaimer, I must once again state that, although my answers are rooted in the canonical lore of the FORGOTTEN REALMS universe (as sourced from official publications and errata), the DMs and staff maintain final say over what is and is not true with regards to this server.

I fully realize that I am not the only person in this community who is capable of answering questions relating to lore, and I both encourage and welcome other players, DMs, and staff to answer questions posted here, or to augment my own answers with additional details, differences of opinions, or server-specific alterations to the lore.

Thank you all. It is my sincere hope that I will be of assistance to you.

[Aikura]

What are the contenders for the most fearsome drink in the Realms? I'm looking for the kind of beverage that can kill at ten paces, but could have possibly been found hidden away on a dusty shelf at the Blade and Stars.

Thanks.

[Chasted]

http://bgtscc.fomwaa.com/forum/viewtopi ... =49&t=2680

There you go, a list of all the drinks in Faerun. The most potent drink is:

GALLEON IN A BOTTLE: (Temples of Clangeddon Silverbeard) The most potent drink ever brewed is said to be only made by Clangeddon himself! Galleon in a bottle has the same staggering effect on even dwarves, leaving most humans drunk and knocking all elves out cold! Then there are those who actually drink it!

[Aikura]

Bwahahaha! Thanks Chasted that is awesome.

[Chasted]

I would say Con DC 30 or be drunk when the drink is opened.

[Amal'launim]

Poison/Alcohol DC's are based on Fortitude saves, but aye... That's one mean drink! :O

Would be fun if the Staff put some DC's on the drinks, I know there's a section in the Dungeon Master's Guide that specifically deals with alcohol =)

[Randall]

When Randall drink, I often roll a fortitude save. *Considering he put poison in his wine, to strenghen the effects...*

xD

[Higher Porpoise]

I've got a question for you wonderful peoples.

First and foremost, I've seen more than a few people portray Cormyrians as almost French, and I would assume Amn as being more Spanish/Italian. I play a Damaran who speaks with almost a New Jersey/New York accent, with a hint of Italian (think The Sopranos), but I was wondering if any of this has any concrete-ness in Lore, or if we've got them all mixed up.

[magus_taliesin]

There is no concrete ethnic stuff in recent releases of FR sourcebooks, but from novels, and past material the areas of Amn, Calimshan and the like are more Arabic in nature than Latin. There is a couple of lines describing Calimshan, one of the areas in the Lands of Intrigue in which Amn is part. "Its people are heirs to an old empire founded by genies..." Efreets and Harems area also mentioned.

Cormyr is harder to place. By it's description it would fit many themes from northern Europe during the height of the Middle Ages. French, British, or German, but the names of places and people don't really fit either so I think it could easily be deduced that different areas of Cormyr might fall into the French theme.

The Cold Lands, where Damara is has always been portrayed somewhat like the areas in northern Europe, Norway, Sweden, etc. Barbarians are fairly common in the area, and war is pretty much the norm for the people of Damara.

Hope that helps. It's hard with FR to pin places down to Real Earth equivalents unless you are talking about the Hordelands and the east (mongols and asians) or Maztica (latin/mexican), and Calimshan/Amn (Arabic). Most other areas are much like Europe during the Middle ages. Oh, from reading books about the Moonshaes, they are very much like Britain during the early middle ages.

[Maecius]

While the FORGOTTEN REALMS, like many works of fiction, does reflect the real world, there is no official Lore on "which country is based on which country." There are several major ethnic groups, for humans, however:

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Calishite
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Chondathan
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Damaran
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Illuskan
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Mulan
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Rashemi
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tethyrian

And more than a dozen minor ethnic groups:

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bedine
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/C ... hnicity%29
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Durpari
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Ffolk
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Gur
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Halruaan
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Lantanna
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Raumviran
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Shaaran
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Shou
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Sossrim
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tuigan
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zakharan

Each of which have appreciable real-life counterparts; and each have their own cultures. But, again, there is no set-in-stone rule as to which accent belongs where -- the cultures are Lore, but the accents are player-initiated flavor.

[Really Evil Pigeon]

I've been trying to look for anything and everything relating to sorcerers, it's proving really diffcult,

[Maecius]

Sorcerer, as a newer class, suffers some of the lack of development that Warlock does. Both sorcerers and warlocks are developed better in 4th Edition, as they have become staple classes, but before then, the information on either is sparse at best.

There is, of course, the class write-up in the Player's Handbook. The following quote out of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (pg. 27) also shines some light on their role in Faerûn:

Sorcerers are (along with wizards) the foremost practitioners of what Faerûnians refer to as the Art, the study and application of arcane magic. The common folk of Faerûn see little difference between the rigorous studies of the wizard and the mysterious ways of the sorcerer, but in some lands a fierce rivalry exists between the two traditions. Many wizards regard sorcerers as inexpert practicioners of the Art and servants of sinister powers better left alone. Some sorcerers see wizards as arrogant and pompous, deliberately cloaking the Art in mummery and obtuse lore.

Some areas of Faerûn are more tolerant than others of the presence of sorcerers. Aglarond, a forest kingdom ruled by the insuperable sorcerer-queen known as the Simbul, is perhaps the best example of such a place. [...]

But otherwise, you have to look to sources outside of our setting. For instance, Tome and Blood has this to say about "becoming" a sorcerer:

Most sorcerers develop rudimentary powers at puberty, often creating magical effects spontaneously during moments of emotional stress. They are commonly believed to have at least a touch of dragon blood in their veins, which accounts for their magical abilities. This might not be entirely accurate -- the nature of their power seems as varied as sorcerers themselves. Some may indeed have dragon ancestors (or other forebears who passed on some kind of magical legacy, such as fiends or celestials). Many sorcerers claim to be in touch with spirits who provide them with power. These spirits might be ancestors, extraplanar patrons, fey creatures, or simply wellsprings of magical energy that lie in certain places. Other sorcerers carry fetishes or totems that (reputedly) power their spells.

Whatever the truth about sorcerous ability, it is a fact that many sorcerers come to their powers late in life often after they already have embarked on adventuring careers. They usually claim to have discovered some latent magical power that they were able to bring for and control, much as any person might develop skill playing a musical instrument or writing poetry.

If you let me know what you are specifically searching for (if anything), I can try to look around for it, but I am not sure there is a whole lot more in the pre-4th Edition source.

[Jarandel]

Hi. Saw this in the language thread.

Drow(E):See below excerpt about drow.

[...] For the most part drow is a secret language used ONLY among other drow so the likely hood of duerger or other ud races knowing drow is EXTREMELY remote, and even then they probably wouldnt have a good grasp to speak if fluently unless it was given via a magic spell or other mystical means.

1. I think I remember reading that Drow is elven with specialized underdark and drow lifestyle-related vocabulary thrown in. Basically, that the language hasn't suffered such a drift since the Sundering that a speaker of "basic" elven and drow can't mostly understand each other.

2. Undercommon comes from somewhere, as the Underdark's kinda dominant and most open to trading race, Drow is the main source for it.

So while giving them a separate language in the DMFI may be kinda sorta OK if a bit excessive (surface elven speakers *should* roughly understand what's going on as long as Drow-specific matters aren't being broached), rating it as a "supra hard extra secret you can't possibly learn it if you aren't one" seems definitely over the top.

Though yes, in any event a non-drow attempting to pass himself as one would probably be 99.99% spotted and treated accordingly. But not because of outlandish rarity of their language. More because speaking as a native in ANY language or local dialect (even if you can otherwise understand it and be understood just fine) is no small feat & other nonverbal clues.

[magus_taliesin]

Hi. Saw this in the language thread.

Drow(E):See below excerpt about drow.

[...] For the most part drow is a secret language used ONLY among other drow so the likely hood of duerger or other ud races knowing drow is EXTREMELY remote, and even then they probably wouldnt have a good grasp to speak if fluently unless it was given via a magic spell or other mystical means.

1. I think I remember reading that Drow is elven with specialized underdark and drow lifestyle-related vocabulary thrown in. Basically, that the language hasn't suffered such a drift since the Sundering that a speaker of "basic" elven and drow can't mostly understand each other.

2. Undercommon comes from somewhere, as the Underdark's kinda dominant and most open to trading race, Drow is the main source for it.

So while giving them a separate language in the DMFI may be kinda sorta OK if a bit excessive (surface elven speakers *should* roughly understand what's going on as long as Drow-specific matters aren't being broached), rating it as a "supra hard extra secret you can't possibly learn it if you aren't one" seems definitely over the top.

Though yes, in any event a non-drow attempting to pass himself as one would probably be 99.99% spotted and treated accordingly. But not because of outlandish rarity of their language. More because speaking as a native in ANY language or local dialect (even if you can otherwise understand it and be understood just fine) is no small feat & other nonverbal clues.

I believe the quote you found is from someone that believes Drow are the uberness of uberness, and are the coolest things since sliced bread. The only secret drow language is the sign, or hand code, and even that is not all that secret. (after further reading High Drow is also 'secret' in a sense but only because it is almost a dead language) Elminster knows both according to most accounts so not all that secret.

From "Drow of the Underdark" page 95: Deep Drow is the commonly spoken tongue of the dark elves.

"'Deep Drow' (also known as 'Low Drow', or 'Drowic') is the everyday tongue of the drow, corrupted by passing fashions, trade-tongue jargon, and even words from other languages (notably orcish, dwarven, surface elven and human wizardly terms). It has a similar structure to the Common Tongue, used by humans and in most interspecies trade in the Realms (specifically to the dialect known as 'Undercommon,' used in The Realms Below). When written, its flowing letters resemble old elven and freehand Thorass scripts, but a being familiar with both elvish and common writing can puzzle out only 14% of the general nature of a drow inscription.

Deep Drow is a living, changing tongue and varies from place to place in the Underdark,...

Visitors to drow settlements may also sometimes hear 'High Drow,' an archaic, rarely-used dialect known and heard chiefly by the clergy of Lolth (used in spell incantations, or between priestesses when they don't want lesser drow within hearing to understand their speech). High Drow incorporates some specialized gestures (part of the Silent Language), which drow not familiar with it sometimes call 'The Secret Signs'."

So, there is a secret language, but very few drow know it, especially outside the sects of Lolth.

[Cort Thundershot]

I could use some help from the loremaster

I was browsing through maps the other day when I came across Yartor. A fortified city, and member of the Lord's Alliance. In our current timeline, is this city ruled by Belleethe Kheldorna? Or is it still Alahar Khaumfros?