This channel is so cool. As a young man who loves his lore, I love that I can now learn more of it from the legend himself. This is awesome and you're awesome Ed!
I cannot wait for Aglarond, Calimshan and Halruaa. I've been reading Faerunian lore since 14 (now 36). A sincere pleasure to have you on UA-cam Mr. Greenwood!
Cormyr, Silverymoon... Places I'd probably want to visit. You know... Not as insanely dangerous as other places :) Especially Silverymoon... Because if magic exists, THAT'S where I want to learn it, the place evokes such a sense of beauty and wonder :)
@@edgreenwoodofficial Cormyr is the antidote to all that moral relativism and inversion plaguing modern story telling. Mr Greenwood Im not an expert in DnD lore but I wonder if there is a religious order in the realms that recognises that the local gods that govern the crystal spheres are just created beings as opposed to a an uncreated true god who governs all? This is a logical conclusion at least some wise men must have come to. Meaning is there people in DnD who appeal to a higher truth similar to the platonic monad or the christian god? Do you have an answer to this question?
I had a fabulous opportunity to work in the TSR building . It was after they moved though. When I was working there the building was being sublet to Yunker industries, Gunner Printing and Press, and Chaney Instruments. Gunner Printing was moving out and they were using a bunch of the old TSR furniture still. Well they decided to throw it all out. I, right now have one of the bookcases that was original to TSR in my living room. When I salvage it it was covered in that horrible dark brown paint stain that was common in the 70's. I refinished it. It was made from solid maple. It now has a clear honey finish. The benefits of growing up around and in Lake Geneva. They also threw out 4 cases of D&D books that I grabbed.. The Complete Book of Dwarves, The complete Druids handbook, & the complete Bards Handbook. Best part was I was playing a druid at the time.
I cannot believe its taken google this long to show me mr.greenwoods channel. I mean a portion of my adolescent, and young adulthood was influnced by his writing and imagination. subbed, liked and commented.
Dear, Elminster In the olden days when there were no 'gaming stores' I'd find myself looking through RPG modules found stacked carelessly in the back of Hobby stores beyond the eyes of civilized shoppers. After school my good friends and I would forgo buying a pack of playing cards and collect the adventures we hadn't seen. I still have my Greyhawk, Chainmail, and Forgotten Realms guides to this day. I treasure them all like a greedy Dragon and have read them more times than a sage of Candlekeep, but it was the Realms I fell in-love with. We would play on sheets of graph paper and trace the artwork from the books with a grand speculation of the authors while we shared a single dice set between us all! haha As we read Forgotten Realms we would wonder what this " Ed Greenwood " looked like, after all, he HAS to be a wizard with a name like this! A -few- (Several) years ago I missed my chance to see you at Gen Con, I had traveled out for San Diego and honestly was too nervous to make the introduction and my copy of " Elminster - Making of a Mage " was to go unsigned as I had failed to make the introduction and was with family. But I saw him! I saw the Sage himself! And he looked just as we had imagined. 13 year old me couldn't have been more excited. Here we are now, I sport a full beard and many levels of experience later, I am without my copy of "Making of a Mage" handed down to my good friend whom has crossed into the Astral Plane, but the adventures will never be Forgotten from the Realms. Thank you, Ed You influenced us in ways that made us think like wizards, act with honor like knights, move with purpose like Elves, and live full, joyous lives like halflings. But most importantly, gave us an adventuring party we could never split. Your friend in writing, The Forever Dungeon Master, known as Pinkey
And THIS is why I do this, why I still toil away on the Realms after all these years. Thank you, Pinkey! And if ever our paths cross, don’t be nervous, step right up and get a hug. It is so lovely to read this, to know I have one more friend out there I just haven’t met, yet. Realms forever!
Volo's Guide to Cormyr was sych a great book. It inspired us to use Cormyr as the base for many of our sandbox campaigns. Later we also got Volo's Guide to the North. But those books were all gold for granting inspiration on locations, rumors, NPC and the very feel for a potential campaign.
I meet and played AD&D with Ed at a convention in Colburg “Knight’s March” back in the early 1990s. He was amazing. I still have the character sheet for that game that he signed for me. And my copy of Spellfire.
@@edgreenwoodofficial will always keep them. Seem to recall my character trying to seduce someone and “perform” and we landed on a charisma and constitution check. Thought I was gonna die laughing.
It's actually funny that Cormyr(my favorite city in the Realms)was revealed in 1986, the same year I was born. This actually made my entire day, it also gave me even more reason to love it. This was great. =^_^=
Just found your channel and wanted to express my appreciation! Relatively new to D&D (~5 years, came in via Critical Role), and unfortunately don't have the time/social group for a game, so I got into solo role-playing and journaling. I went looking for a sandbox for my PC to play in, and found a map of Faerûn! Blew my mind, realms upon realms, cultures upon cultures, an entire saga of heroes, villains and historical events. The sheer size and coverage of the Forgotten Realms enables solo players like me to get a genuine exploration experience without having to flesh out an entire campaign in advance. My Moon Elf Lightning-Specialist Eldritch Knight landed in Baldur's Gate after leaving Evermeet and will eventually find his destiny in the Thunder Peaks near Cormyr! Thank you so so much Ed for your commitment in building this world, truly very grateful.
I feel fire in my chest-wonder and thrill at visiting a land of mystery. Brings me right back to when I cracked open the Forgotten Realms boxed set in the 90s. Thanks for making these features!
Awesome , thank you so much for covering some of Cormyr. I have game I have been running at our Public Library for the last two years that has taken place almost exclusively in Cormyr.
I've been fascinated by the Knights of Cormyr since opening the Forgotten Realms boxed set back in 1989. Where have the years gone??? Oh, there they are, in Ed's beard!
Mr. Greenwood, I played DDO for about 5 years straight, every day after work for at least 8 hours. One of the most memorable quests was the one that you narrated. It was the one with the doppelganger, if I remember correctly. My guild and I had so much fun. Thank you so much for that.
I have been running a game for my sister (wood-elf rogue) and her husband (high-elf wizard) in Cormyr for over a year now. They landed on Smugglers stone and started of with U1. The lizardmen needing weapons for a different threat. The wizard found out at the broken tower in Kirinwood that his uncle destroyed the tower and the family, and is the necromancer residing in the swamp and (re)building resources. Thanks for all the great hooks Ed!
I will ALWAYS bring the hooks. And some od them reach far across the Realms, so you may find them in videos about other places entirely, that will still reach into Cormyr...
Cormyr, the home of the character that is nearest and dearest to my heart and my favorite land in the Forgotten Realms. I have worn my Volo's Guide to Cormyr and Cormyr sourcebook down to pieces over these many years. This was a pleasure to watch.
Me and my friends are running a Cormyr campaign right now, and getting to see Ed talk about it is priceless!! PS: I'm glad that google translator knows how to write Cormyr and corrected me while i was writing this kkkk
WOW - I've been an Ed Greenwood fan for maybe 20 years. Never seen him or heard him - not to mention listening to him on video. What a treat. AND I'm 20 pages from finishing Spellfire (HIGHLY recommend) and have no idea how he's going finish it.
Im glad these videos appear to be becoming a regular thing! Wil you cover the more unknown parts of the realms that people might not have heard of yet? There is this interesting plain nestled between Halrua, the forest of Amtar and the river Chanath that i coeldnt find much about. Despite apearing to me as a prime spot to drop a party of adventure hungry player characters down.
We will certainly be covering all sorts of people, places, and organizations in the Realms, some well-known and others not known at all. ;} I'll be sure to add this to the list!
Ah the noble, gallant kingdom and sweet memories of adventuring as the bard of a sellswords company defending it, during the evenings of a particularly cold Istanbul winter in 2005-2006. Ed, your fabulous setting significantly impressed a group of Turkish college sophomores who now fondly remember these roleplaying days as forty-somethings. Kudos, and thank you!
the Cormyr novel is one of my all time favorite Forgotten Realms novels by far. "hello old friend! your match hat is a werebeast I see!" is still my nonsense line. it is so quintessential Greenwood it makes me laugh every time I read it.
I remember Cormyr struck me more than anything else in the grey box campaign setting I opened in the mid 90's. I never played much in the Forgotten Realms but Cormyr still has a special place in my heart. Thanks for covering this material.
While I already know Waterdeep like the back of my hand, I would love for Ed’s lore on it. Every time I hear about the city it becomes just that little bit more alive
Cormyr has a very special place for me because my first D&D character that I got to play a lot, that became a part of my life was from there. Admittedly, "my" Cormyr is a lot different that that which Ed envisioned (I took a lot more from Germanic mythology than Arthurian, and I had the forests home to a pagan Saxon people who were assimilated into the dominant "Purple Dragon" culture. And there being a cooperation between those analogues for Lower Saxony and Dwarves cast out of their mountain homes. And a lot of other details besides.) Even though I got it "wrong", It's still really nostalgic to hear Ed talk about my "home" in the realms.
This is fantastic. I happened upon it and was really disappointed that it wasn’t an older channel because I wanted to gorge on more. I’d love if y’all could do just a few more cut away/fades in reference to what Mr Greenwood is talking about (for this video, art and maps referenced, for instance) Thanks for all of this though. As a person who still holds fond memories of 2e and hasn’t played much since I’m not in the loop on a lot of stuff and the new companion books on Ed’s website were very exciting to hear about.
Great to see you and getting your "founding fossil" take on the worlds you fleshed out. No offense, I still have my 74 Tactical Studies Rules booklets. Much respect.
Always loved Nesmé. A small city on the edge of the Evermoors, flirting with danger...Don't leave it out if you decide to cover Silverymoon and the surrounding regions. =)
A disgruntled Cormyr nobel makes a deal with a terrible entity for great power but it came with the curse of undeath. A darkness grows in the King's forest......Young people have been vanishing... plagues of rats run through the streets and cellars of Suzail..... three war mages have disappeared investigating.....I could see a little dark domain rising there.
Back in the day of 3e, end of last century and beginning of 2000, most of campaigns I played in or de-emmed were set in Cormyr, or the Dales, or Waterdeep and Silverymoon. I remember hours of studying manuals and collecting information, while reading the Elminster and Drizzt's sagas, learning all about Myth Drannor, elven settlements, and the drow lore... - even my current characters, like my elven bladesinger, live or come from these places... Thank you for gifting us with all this, Ed! (Except for the drow lore, of course, for which Salvatore is to be thanked!) For the future, may I suggest Evereska and Tethyr? Long live DnD!
Ed Greenwood = Grand storyteller, indeed! My platonic version of heaven is simply....Cormyr! I have both a hard cover, kindle and audible version of this great and grand fantasy setting and kingdom novel. In the interview, you mentioned the great novelist Michener and that is an apt description of Cormyr. It's a novel that's also a history and lore tome....love it!
I so, so wish I could get the chance to do more. And I know Erin M. Evans wants to get another chance to pen Realms fiction, and Brian Cortijo, too. (In the meantime, Erin has a new non-Realms series that is GREAT, starting with EMPIRE OF EXILES. Don't miss it!)
Would love to have a video on the Border Kingdoms, Vaasa or Damara, Najara or the Backlands in general... I love using the wilder FR spaces to play in. Just finished a one-shot dragon fight in the Forest of Wyrms 🐉 Thanks for the videos Ed!
I'm a huge 2e forgotten realms fan, but would love to see an edition neutral series of elminister's ecologies. Vilion Reach, Vassa/ Damara, The Vast etc.
Agreed. I love "edition neutral." As for ecologies, I contributed to the Amarune's Almanacs series from Vorpal Dice Press, available on the DM's Guildm wherein we explore Deserts of the Realms, Forests of the Realms, etc. Take a look!
Cormyr, the Dales, and the Moonsea are my 3 go to areas of the Realms, love getting lore on all of them. I hate that the Sword Coast/North get so much of the attention from WoTC!
@@TroySavary I used to think this but as I've tried to educate people about how huge, diverse and storied the realms are I still get people saying it's derivative or other negative sentiments.
What’s funny, and I’m aware I’m a year late to this, I chose Cormyr for Tiefling Paladin of Ilmater because I liked just the little bit of info I knew. The land of the purple dragon, the Forest Kingdom. These were cool names, but I knew little about it. Now I i know there are books to be read about this place! And on top of that the idea of my dude being basically from the realm of Camelot and being thrust into Barovia is such a lovely contrast.
Oh my god I just found this! Subscribed and Hit that bell. Love hearing you talk about the realms, its why I decided to write and was the inspiration for Lythinall to begin with!
Back in 1988, my character had a castle in the mountains surrounding Cormyr, and most of our adventured were in the Dale lands. It's kind of sad to me that 5E focuses exclusively on the sword coast.
You're very welcome! And I've been writing lots of Patreon posts about various Cormyrean topics, from what's where on the streets of Suzail to the family trees of certain noble families...
My first wizard was called Nevin, after the road I grew up on, and I picked Eveningstar as his home town. He left Cormyr to learn more about the world of the Forgotten Realms and I think I've played more as Nevin than any other PC. He's at least the character I feel best represents me. So any time Cormyr, or more specifically Eveningstar, gets a mention, I feel like someone is calling out my hometown. I feel the same way about about Eveningstar as I imagine a lot of people feel about Hobbiton.
I would love to have a chance to sit down and talk shop about Cormyr with Ed for as long as he wanted. I think the way I run it is a tad different from his Arthurian/French pastiche, in that I pull more Swedish elements (top dog on a small pond, autocratic monarchy with a strong tradition of personal freedoms for the common folk), but I’d love to talk over it all, and get his thoughts on the kingdom altering wish my players made in a past campaign (which got the God that granted it in a tiny bit of trouble)
Cormyr is my chosen realm for my campaings. I dearly love it. It brings lushness, ancient woods, adventures and a sense of everyday normalcy, that is amiss to Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter or Waterdeep. In my upcomming campangie arc, I have the story planned that it gets attacked by a swarm of dragons, because the adventurers who would have stopped Decent Into Avernus and Rise of Tiamat had failed. Also, a family of actual purpel dragons roams the underdark, exerting controll over the surface world. Ps: Dear Ed, I know that Helms Tier that he shed when he killed Mystra in the Time of Troubles is by Mouth o' Gargoyls in the Kings Forrest.
The biggest thing I remember about Cormyr was that Lady who ruled Arabel. I just remember from one of the novels she liked to sleep around a lot or something. It’s been a while.
Cormyr is easily one of my top three favorite Ed Greenwood novels, along with Elminster in Myth Drannor and probably Elminster's Daughter or maybe The Herald or maybe the Swords of Eveningstar or...yeah it hard to decide number 3.
Both of my 1e games are set in Cormyr... purely by player choice. I run a sandbox game, and the PCs opted to go there, and have subsequently opted to remain... not that it matters - even as civilized as it is, there are plenty of adventures to be had!
Please please please cover Silverymoon! Seems like a Mages tick place, and my party may have a backstory bad guy chilling to the north of them and will inevitably find themselves passing through.
Perhaps I've done a bit of sacrilege by setting my campaign in a later, stranger version of Cormyr set after a failed coup, but I did love the legalism and intrigue of the nation and was drawn to it for the campaign I was mounting. It's mostly hijinks thus far, but I've gotten/planned a couple juicy morsels to help tie things into the broader politics of the realm.
You know what Ed, you've just sold me a book. No disrespect intended but I've only just heard of you now (although I must have seen your work at some point and not realised). What you've just explained about this setting I want to hear more.
Excellent. I'm older than D&D, and created the Forgotten Realms, but I tend to keep a low profile. Don't want to dazzle everyone with my beauty, you understand. But I build worlds and can talk about them until everyone falls asleep.
Do you have a place in the Realms that you'd like to visit more than others? Maybe because it's beautiful? Maybe because it's full of adventure! ;}
Let's take a trip to Impiltur - the Realm of Sword and the Wand
Shadowfell please
Neverwinter ❤
@@grahamward7 Say hello to Dagult for me!
@@Lathlaer Beautiful!
I could sit and listen to Ed talk about the realms for hours
Luckily, I can talk for hours! ;}
Same.
@@edgreenwoodofficialI never thought we’d get a chance!! Thank you!!
For eons
the other guy, not so much
I like to hear the stuff i read and gamemastered for nearly 32 years, and to know that i understood all the stuff correct. Its like coming home.
I could listen to Ed Greenwood all day. I grew up in the Realms Since I was 13 in 1988.
This channel is so cool. As a young man who loves his lore, I love that I can now learn more of it from the legend himself. This is awesome and you're awesome Ed!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad you're getting something out of these videos, and I hope they continue to please.
I cannot wait for Aglarond, Calimshan and Halruaa. I've been reading Faerunian lore since 14 (now 36). A sincere pleasure to have you on UA-cam Mr. Greenwood!
Thank you! I'll write down those locations and we'll work on recording them sometime in the future! I'm so glad you're enjoying the videos.
I second this, especially Halruaa.
the trilogie of Elaine Cunningham is very good and a good start on halruaa
@@edgreenwoodofficial I made Calimshan the background for my tabxi monk in my current dnd game .
Cormyr, Silverymoon... Places I'd probably want to visit. You know... Not as insanely dangerous as other places :) Especially Silverymoon... Because if magic exists, THAT'S where I want to learn it, the place evokes such a sense of beauty and wonder :)
Couldn't agree more!
@@edgreenwoodofficial Cormyr is the antidote to all that moral relativism and inversion plaguing modern story telling. Mr Greenwood Im not an expert in DnD lore but I wonder if there is a religious order in the realms that recognises that the local gods that govern the crystal spheres are just created beings as opposed to a an uncreated true god who governs all? This is a logical conclusion at least some wise men must have come to. Meaning is there people in DnD who appeal to a higher truth similar to the platonic monad or the christian god? Do you have an answer to this question?
I had a fabulous opportunity to work in the TSR building . It was after they moved though. When I was working there the building was being sublet to Yunker industries, Gunner Printing and Press, and Chaney Instruments. Gunner Printing was moving out and they were using a bunch of the old TSR furniture still. Well they decided to throw it all out. I, right now have one of the bookcases that was original to TSR in my living room. When I salvage it it was covered in that horrible dark brown paint stain that was common in the 70's. I refinished it. It was made from solid maple. It now has a clear honey finish.
The benefits of growing up around and in Lake Geneva.
They also threw out 4 cases of D&D books that I grabbed..
The Complete Book of Dwarves, The complete Druids handbook, & the complete Bards Handbook.
Best part was I was playing a druid at the time.
I'm so glad for this video. I'm going to be running a homebrew game in Cormyr!
I cannot believe its taken google this long to show me mr.greenwoods channel. I mean a portion of my adolescent, and young adulthood was influnced by his writing and imagination. subbed, liked and commented.
I'm so glad to have you here!
Dear, Elminster
In the olden days when there were no 'gaming stores'
I'd find myself looking through RPG modules found stacked carelessly in the back of Hobby stores beyond the eyes of civilized shoppers. After school my good friends and I would forgo buying a pack of playing cards and collect the adventures we hadn't seen.
I still have my Greyhawk, Chainmail, and Forgotten Realms guides to this day.
I treasure them all like a greedy Dragon and have read them more times than a sage of Candlekeep, but it was the Realms I fell in-love with. We would play on sheets of graph paper and trace the artwork from the books with a grand speculation of the authors while we shared a single dice set between us all! haha
As we read Forgotten Realms we would wonder what this " Ed Greenwood " looked like, after all, he HAS to be a wizard with a name like this!
A -few- (Several) years ago I missed my chance to see you at Gen Con, I had traveled out for San Diego and honestly was too nervous to make the introduction and my copy of " Elminster - Making of a Mage " was to go unsigned as I had failed to make the introduction and was with family.
But I saw him! I saw the Sage himself!
And he looked just as we had imagined. 13 year old me couldn't have been more excited.
Here we are now, I sport a full beard and many levels of experience later, I am without my copy of "Making of a Mage"
handed down to my good friend whom has crossed into the Astral Plane, but the adventures will never be Forgotten from the Realms.
Thank you, Ed
You influenced us in ways that made us think like wizards, act with honor like knights, move with purpose like Elves, and live full, joyous lives like halflings.
But most importantly, gave us an adventuring party we could never split.
Your friend in writing,
The Forever Dungeon Master, known as Pinkey
And THIS is why I do this, why I still toil away on the Realms after all these years. Thank you, Pinkey! And if ever our paths cross, don’t be nervous, step right up and get a hug. It is so lovely to read this, to know I have one more friend out there I just haven’t met, yet. Realms forever!
@@edgreenwoodofficial HUZZAH!
Thank you kind sir, upon our meeting, the Shadow Dark Ales will be on me!
Here is to you! 🍻
The only writer from the early D&D days I have met in person is Margaret Weiss.
I remember scouring the bins at the back of comic shops for D&D books people traded in for comics. Got a lot of stuff really cheap.
I always loved the symbolism of the purple dragon and how a black dragon became a symbol of good and chivalry and unity of humans and elves
Volo's Guide to Cormyr was sych a great book. It inspired us to use Cormyr as the base for many of our sandbox campaigns. Later we also got Volo's Guide to the North. But those books were all gold for granting inspiration on locations, rumors, NPC and the very feel for a potential campaign.
Be on the lookout for Volo's Guide to Ormpur coming soon! ;}
I'm right there with you. I think in 2nd Edition. I grew up with it and I still convert everything to THAC0 in my head.
As I said in the video... Silverymoon is probably my #1. 😍 I've always been obsessed with how it's portrayed in the literature.
I meet and played AD&D with Ed at a convention in Colburg “Knight’s March” back in the early 1990s. He was amazing. I still have the character sheet for that game that he signed for me. And my copy of Spellfire.
Keep them! Memories forever!
@@edgreenwoodofficial will always keep them. Seem to recall my character trying to seduce someone and “perform” and we landed on a charisma and constitution check. Thought I was gonna die laughing.
It's actually funny that Cormyr(my favorite city in the Realms)was revealed in 1986, the same year I was born. This actually made my entire day, it also gave me even more reason to love it. This was great. =^_^=
now i want to replay wyverns of Cormyr - nwn 1 ee module again!
Just found your channel and wanted to express my appreciation! Relatively new to D&D (~5 years, came in via Critical Role), and unfortunately don't have the time/social group for a game, so I got into solo role-playing and journaling. I went looking for a sandbox for my PC to play in, and found a map of Faerûn! Blew my mind, realms upon realms, cultures upon cultures, an entire saga of heroes, villains and historical events. The sheer size and coverage of the Forgotten Realms enables solo players like me to get a genuine exploration experience without having to flesh out an entire campaign in advance. My Moon Elf Lightning-Specialist Eldritch Knight landed in Baldur's Gate after leaving Evermeet and will eventually find his destiny in the Thunder Peaks near Cormyr! Thank you so so much Ed for your commitment in building this world, truly very grateful.
I feel fire in my chest-wonder and thrill at visiting a land of mystery. Brings me right back to when I cracked open the Forgotten Realms boxed set in the 90s. Thanks for making these features!
That Grey Box. Still the gold standard of what a campaign setting ought to be. Time to dig it out and take a nostalgia trip.
That's funny! I had a friend in the 90's who started a campaign in Cormyr and stressed to us that Cormyr was England and Sembia was France.
Lovely to hear more about my personally adopted part of the realms. My first published adventure on DMsguild is a Cormyr one!
Fantastic!
Awesome , thank you so much for covering some of Cormyr. I have game I have been running at our Public Library for the last two years that has taken place almost exclusively in Cormyr.
That makes me happy to hear! Cormyr has been with me for a long time.
I've been fascinated by the Knights of Cormyr since opening the Forgotten Realms boxed set back in 1989. Where have the years gone??? Oh, there they are, in Ed's beard!
Heh. It's where I keep future snacks, too.
Mr. Greenwood, I played DDO for about 5 years straight, every day after work for at least 8 hours.
One of the most memorable quests was the one that you narrated. It was the one with the doppelganger, if I remember correctly.
My guild and I had so much fun.
Thank you so much for that.
I could listen to Ed Greenwood ramble all day. The man is just an elite orator as well as author of somemofnmy favorite stories.
It put a smile on my face knowing that Ed Greenwood too thinks in AD&D 2nd edition 😁
I have been running a game for my sister (wood-elf rogue) and her husband (high-elf wizard) in Cormyr for over a year now. They landed on Smugglers stone and started of with U1. The lizardmen needing weapons for a different threat.
The wizard found out at the broken tower in Kirinwood that his uncle destroyed the tower and the family, and is the necromancer residing in the swamp and (re)building resources.
Thanks for all the great hooks Ed!
I will ALWAYS bring the hooks. And some od them reach far across the Realms, so you may find them in videos about other places entirely, that will still reach into Cormyr...
So happy to see Ed has a channel! As a big FR lore fan, this is a godsend for lore as I work on my long term campaign.
Cormyr, the home of the character that is nearest and dearest to my heart and my favorite land in the Forgotten Realms. I have worn my Volo's Guide to Cormyr and Cormyr sourcebook down to pieces over these many years.
This was a pleasure to watch.
Thank you for spending your time with me in the Realms.
Thank you so much, Ed. Answering that question makes me so happy!
Great question! Thank you for giving us something to talk about. ;}
Love this channel!
There's so little about sembia. I'd love a tour of the realms around the sea of fallen stars!
Added to the list!
Would love an episode on Myth Drannor and the current state of Evermeet!
Great idea!
Me and my friends are running a Cormyr campaign right now, and getting to see Ed talk about it is priceless!!
PS: I'm glad that google translator knows how to write Cormyr and corrected me while i was writing this kkkk
This is awesome. Elminster is by far my favorite character, and this world is my favorite. This video explains so much.
Keep checking back, I'm just getting started!
WOW - I've been an Ed Greenwood fan for maybe 20 years. Never seen him or heard him - not to mention listening to him on video. What a treat. AND I'm 20 pages from finishing Spellfire (HIGHLY recommend) and have no idea how he's going finish it.
Im glad these videos appear to be becoming a regular thing!
Wil you cover the more unknown parts of the realms that people might not have heard of yet? There is this interesting plain nestled between Halrua, the forest of Amtar and the river Chanath that i coeldnt find much about. Despite apearing to me as a prime spot to drop a party of adventure hungry player characters down.
We will certainly be covering all sorts of people, places, and organizations in the Realms, some well-known and others not known at all. ;} I'll be sure to add this to the list!
@@edgreenwoodofficial Thats owesome to hear! Im very exited.
Ah the noble, gallant kingdom and sweet memories of adventuring as the bard of a sellswords company defending it, during the evenings of a particularly cold Istanbul winter in 2005-2006. Ed, your fabulous setting significantly impressed a group of Turkish college sophomores who now fondly remember these roleplaying days as forty-somethings. Kudos, and thank you!
the Cormyr novel is one of my all time favorite Forgotten Realms novels by far.
"hello old friend! your match hat is a werebeast I see!" is still my nonsense line. it is so quintessential Greenwood it makes me laugh every time I read it.
Phenomenal and charming discussions, but woof, that outro is deafening
Ran my last AD&D 2nd Ed campaign in Cormyr
I remember Cormyr struck me more than anything else in the grey box campaign setting I opened in the mid 90's. I never played much in the Forgotten Realms but Cormyr still has a special place in my heart. Thanks for covering this material.
While I already know Waterdeep like the back of my hand, I would love for Ed’s lore on it. Every time I hear about the city it becomes just that little bit more alive
YES, that's what I'm trying for. And we'll get to Waterdeep, never fear!
Thank you for being on this realm with all of us
Great stuff. I'd love to hear Ed talk more about the Frozenfar Islands of Ruathym, Gundarlun, Tuern
Added to the list for future videos!
Cormyr has a very special place for me because my first D&D character that I got to play a lot, that became a part of my life was from there. Admittedly, "my" Cormyr is a lot different that that which Ed envisioned (I took a lot more from Germanic mythology than Arthurian, and I had the forests home to a pagan Saxon people who were assimilated into the dominant "Purple Dragon" culture. And there being a cooperation between those analogues for Lower Saxony and Dwarves cast out of their mountain homes. And a lot of other details besides.) Even though I got it "wrong", It's still really nostalgic to hear Ed talk about my "home" in the realms.
I’m so glad this channel popped up in my feed. Listening to Ed speak so passionately about the world I love so much is almost therapeutic.
That Indian chief was Uncas of the Mohegan people in Connecticut by the way! Excellent reference sir!
Can't wait for a Calimshan video.
Added to the list, but that one will take some prep.
thanks for creating alot of the cool lore in dnd ed.
We really need more of these videos covering every single region.
I'm glad you think so because that is absolutely what we intend to do!
This is fantastic. I happened upon it and was really disappointed that it wasn’t an older channel because I wanted to gorge on more.
I’d love if y’all could do just a few more cut away/fades in reference to what Mr Greenwood is talking about (for this video, art and maps referenced, for instance)
Thanks for all of this though. As a person who still holds fond memories of 2e and hasn’t played much since I’m not in the loop on a lot of stuff and the new companion books on Ed’s website were very exciting to hear about.
This is a nice UA-cam recommendation. I love Cormyr and the Dalelands.
This is my new favorite channel on UA-cam. Can’t wait to see more! Icewind Dale and Calimsham are some of my favorite regions ❤️
Thank you so much! I'll be sure that these get added to the list.
This is great stuff. Do Moonshea Isles too please. Thank you for offering content for us old school players.
You're very welcome! I'm not sure how soon we'll get to the Moonshaes, but I've added it to the "to do" list for videos here.
I still play Dungeons and Dragons Online, so I'm always in Eveningstar. Always fun to do those quests tho, especially Haunted Halls.
I thought i was the only one who visualized Cormyr as medieval France. omg so happy to relate over how you conceptualized it, guys.
Great to see you and getting your "founding fossil" take on the worlds you fleshed out. No offense, I still have my 74 Tactical Studies Rules booklets. Much respect.
Always loved Nesmé. A small city on the edge of the Evermoors, flirting with danger...Don't leave it out if you decide to cover Silverymoon and the surrounding regions. =)
Great idea!
I'm a spooky Ravenloft girl at heart, but DM for players who love Cormyr. Thanks for helping inform me about a place close to their hearts!
A disgruntled Cormyr nobel makes a deal with a terrible entity for great power but it came with the curse of undeath. A darkness grows in the King's forest......Young people have been vanishing... plagues of rats run through the streets and cellars of Suzail..... three war mages have disappeared investigating.....I could see a little dark domain rising there.
Has always been my favorite place in forgotten Realms
One of the few things that almost kept me
Back in the day of 3e, end of last century and beginning of 2000, most of campaigns I played in or de-emmed were set in Cormyr, or the Dales, or Waterdeep and Silverymoon. I remember hours of studying manuals and collecting information, while reading the Elminster and Drizzt's sagas, learning all about Myth Drannor, elven settlements, and the drow lore... - even my current characters, like my elven bladesinger, live or come from these places...
Thank you for gifting us with all this, Ed! (Except for the drow lore, of course, for which Salvatore is to be thanked!)
For the future, may I suggest Evereska and Tethyr? Long live DnD!
You are VERY welcome; it was a delight to craft the lore. I have added Evereska and Tethyr to the list!
yAAAY it's ED TIME! 😍
Huzzah!
I'm really enjoying these lore interviews. The Thay one was just as good!
"Cormyr, a Novel," is actually my favourite book set in the realms. Nothing quite like it.
Ed Greenwood = Grand storyteller, indeed! My platonic version of heaven is simply....Cormyr! I have both a hard cover, kindle and audible version of this great and grand fantasy setting and kingdom novel. In the interview, you mentioned the great novelist Michener and that is an apt description of Cormyr. It's a novel that's also a history and lore tome....love it!
I so, so wish I could get the chance to do more. And I know Erin M. Evans wants to get another chance to pen Realms fiction, and Brian Cortijo, too. (In the meantime, Erin has a new non-Realms series that is GREAT, starting with EMPIRE OF EXILES. Don't miss it!)
Would love to have a video on the Border Kingdoms, Vaasa or Damara, Najara or the Backlands in general... I love using the wilder FR spaces to play in. Just finished a one-shot dragon fight in the Forest of Wyrms 🐉 Thanks for the videos Ed!
I'll be sure these get added to the list. Thank you!
I'm a huge 2e forgotten realms fan, but would love to see an edition neutral series of elminister's ecologies. Vilion Reach, Vassa/ Damara, The Vast etc.
Agreed. I love "edition neutral." As for ecologies, I contributed to the Amarune's Almanacs series from Vorpal Dice Press, available on the DM's Guildm wherein we explore Deserts of the Realms, Forests of the Realms, etc. Take a look!
Thanks for explaining it to me. I was always kind of wondering.
One of my favorite places in the world I love. Thank you Ed!
I am so happy I found this channel. Great stuff. Thanks so much for sharing all these insights.
Enjoying these, hopefully keep them coming, fun stuff!
Thank you so much for watching. Many more in the works, and I'm looking forward to it!
Cormyr, the Dales, and the Moonsea are my 3 go to areas of the Realms, love getting lore on all of them. I hate that the Sword Coast/North get so much of the attention from WoTC!
It's truly a shame to restrict the adventure to such a small area.
I think some of the anti-FR sentiment in some newer D&D players is because they have no idea how large and diverse the Realms actually are.
@@TroySavary I used to think this but as I've tried to educate people about how huge, diverse and storied the realms are I still get people saying it's derivative or other negative sentiments.
That is the region where my 20 year long campaign started in the 80s and continued In the 90s and early 2000s
so happy to see this UA-cam channel ... thank you for sharing! :) :)
You're everything I thought you'd be Ed. Thank you for sharing the insights in all your work. I still think in 2nd edition as well.
What’s funny, and I’m aware I’m a year late to this, I chose Cormyr for Tiefling Paladin of Ilmater because I liked just the little bit of info I knew. The land of the purple dragon, the Forest Kingdom. These were cool names, but I knew little about it. Now I i know there are books to be read about this place! And on top of that the idea of my dude being basically from the realm of Camelot and being thrust into Barovia is such a lovely contrast.
Oh my god I just found this! Subscribed and Hit that bell. Love hearing you talk about the realms, its why I decided to write and was the inspiration for Lythinall to begin with!
I'm going to watch these videos once a day at least. Thanks again Mr Greenwood
Thanks for the story! I was the one who put three thousand likes under the video
This is fantastic, Mr Greenwood. Excited for more!
9:07 One of the chapters of Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt deals with a variant of this idea.
Subscribed. Looking forward to more. MORE!
And more you shall have!!!
Back in 1988, my character had a castle in the mountains surrounding Cormyr, and most of our adventured were in the Dale lands. It's kind of sad to me that 5E focuses exclusively on the sword coast.
I'm absolutely loving this. I'd love a trip back to Phlan and learn why it's called that!
Added to the list!
Thank you Ed for your hard work! I've been running a campaign in Cormyr for a year now and love it!
You're very welcome! And I've been writing lots of Patreon posts about various Cormyrean topics, from what's where on the streets of Suzail to the family trees of certain noble families...
Thank you Grand Magus. From the mind of the creator to the ears of the pupil.
My first wizard was called Nevin, after the road I grew up on, and I picked Eveningstar as his home town. He left Cormyr to learn more about the world of the Forgotten Realms and I think I've played more as Nevin than any other PC. He's at least the character I feel best represents me. So any time Cormyr, or more specifically Eveningstar, gets a mention, I feel like someone is calling out my hometown.
I feel the same way about about Eveningstar as I imagine a lot of people feel about Hobbiton.
Im so glad i found this!
I would love to have a chance to sit down and talk shop about Cormyr with Ed for as long as he wanted. I think the way I run it is a tad different from his Arthurian/French pastiche, in that I pull more Swedish elements (top dog on a small pond, autocratic monarchy with a strong tradition of personal freedoms for the common folk), but I’d love to talk over it all, and get his thoughts on the kingdom altering wish my players made in a past campaign (which got the God that granted it in a tiny bit of trouble)
Cormyr is my chosen realm for my campaings. I dearly love it. It brings lushness, ancient woods, adventures and a sense of everyday normalcy, that is amiss to Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter or Waterdeep.
In my upcomming campangie arc, I have the story planned that it gets attacked by a swarm of dragons, because the adventurers who would have stopped Decent Into Avernus and Rise of Tiamat had failed.
Also, a family of actual purpel dragons roams the underdark, exerting controll over the surface world.
Ps: Dear Ed, I know that Helms Tier that he shed when he killed Mystra in the Time of Troubles is by Mouth o' Gargoyls in the Kings Forrest.
Ed Greenwood is an absolute legend
The biggest thing I remember about Cormyr was that Lady who ruled Arabel. I just remember from one of the novels she liked to sleep around a lot or something. It’s been a while.
Please do a deepdive on harrowdale and some of the settlements around the moonsea! It's such a fascinating area :).
Added to the list!
@@edgreenwoodofficial huzzah!
Cormyr is easily one of my top three favorite Ed Greenwood novels, along with Elminster in Myth Drannor and probably Elminster's Daughter or maybe The Herald or maybe the Swords of Eveningstar or...yeah it hard to decide number 3.
Both of my 1e games are set in Cormyr... purely by player choice. I run a sandbox game, and the PCs opted to go there, and have subsequently opted to remain... not that it matters - even as civilized as it is, there are plenty of adventures to be had!
Please please please cover Silverymoon! Seems like a Mages tick place, and my party may have a backstory bad guy chilling to the north of them and will inevitably find themselves passing through.
I'll certainly put it on the list!
You are a legend Ed:) now I have to read Cormyr novels damn it!
Heh. Reading is fun. Just don't do it while driving, or lovemaking. Trust me on this.
Perhaps I've done a bit of sacrilege by setting my campaign in a later, stranger version of Cormyr set after a failed coup, but I did love the legalism and intrigue of the nation and was drawn to it for the campaign I was mounting. It's mostly hijinks thus far, but I've gotten/planned a couple juicy morsels to help tie things into the broader politics of the realm.
You know what Ed, you've just sold me a book. No disrespect intended but I've only just heard of you now (although I must have seen your work at some point and not realised). What you've just explained about this setting I want to hear more.
Excellent. I'm older than D&D, and created the Forgotten Realms, but I tend to keep a low profile. Don't want to dazzle everyone with my beauty, you understand. But I build worlds and can talk about them until everyone falls asleep.
As someone who just watched Excalibur, I appreciate all the references.