My copy of Dragon 359 arrived yesterday, and I enjoyed it immensely.
On reading the article on unsolved mysteries, Ed Greenwood's answer to "What is Abeir (of Abeir-Toril)?" struck me as slightly odd. But perhaps I am just over-analysing:
"Over the years," adds Ed, "most designers and gamers have shortened Abeir-Toril to just Toril, for reasons that will soon become apparent..."
Am I missing something here, or is something going to happen to the Realms and remove half its name?
My copy of Dragon 359 arrived yesterday, and I enjoyed it immensely.On reading the article on unsolved mysteries, Ed Greenwood's answer to "What is Abeir (of Abeir-Toril)?" struck me as slightly odd. But perhaps I am just over-analysing:
"Over the years," adds Ed, "most designers and gamers have shortened Abeir-Toril to just Toril, for reasons that will soon become apparent..."
Am I missing something here, or is something going to happen to the Realms and remove half its name?
Heh, good eye.
I would guess upheaval in the Realms associated with the release of 4E.
Heh, good eye.
Tease. :)
What, you missed the "Year of the Cloven World-Name" entry in the Roll of Years?
On a slightly more serious note, "Abeir-Toril" meant "Cradle of Life." Perhaps "Toril" simply means "cradle," meaning that the "Life," or more positive connotation might be at issue here?
The Roll of Years doesn't seem to have any years with ominous titles (e.g. cloven world) in it (well, from ~1370 to ~1400 anyhow) and 1385, which is AFAIK when the RSE is going to happen/finish, is called the Year of Blue Fire.
Your idea of the Abeir meaning Life is interesting; perhaps Ed's comment there refers to a lot of people dying during the Spellplague, or something.
The Roll of Years doesn't seem to have any years with ominous titles (e.g. cloven world) in it
I don't know, The Year of Rogue Dragons is pretty ominous to me. :)
Heh, good eye.
"Good eye?" It's all right there in black and white (well, red and white), along with the only other thing we get out of FR adepts: "No, Elminster is NOT Ed, please stop asking" that we haven't gotten, oh, once a year, for the last twenty years or so...
Perhaps what it means, is that in 4E, the only character choice available in the FR is a:
JOKE WE'VE HEARD ONCE A WEEK FOR THE LAST TWO DECADES! ^_^!!!
Any chance I could establish "Greenwood's Law?" Yeah: Anyone attempting to use Drizzt as though it were ever funny, loses the thread. If not the entire internet.
Yeah. There we go.
Add to this speculation the fact that the next adventure after Cormyr and Shadowdale is called Anauroch: The sundering of the world. Considering the adventure theme of unstable/dead magic, perhaps Shar finally manages to oust Mystra's weave from certain areas of the world?
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Add to this speculation the fact that the next adventure after Cormyr and Shadowdale is called Anauroch: The sundering of the world. Considering the adventure theme of unstable/dead magic, perhaps Shar finally manages to oust Mystra's weave from certain areas of the world?
Maybe FR is about to experience some kind of world-altering calamity, the kind that will leave hundreds of thousands (if not millions) dead, and change the face of the entire campaign for ever.
Who knows, maybe they will kill off Selune, then crack the moon in half, unleashing unmitigated destruction. 4E will pick up a couple hundred years later, with the remnants of civilizaton trying to pick up the pieces. Commmunities will be isolated pockets of order in a sea of wilderness chaos. And into this realm will come....
R'randuht the Swordsman, wielding the twin blades of an ancient hero. With his companions, Alguu the Ogre and Princess Leira, he travels the land righting wrongs, helping the epic level characters behind every other tree to tie their shoelaces, and slaying the dragons with ridiculously long and impossible to pronounce names.
*NOTE* This is a work of sarcasm (for the most part). Any resemblance to writings that insult the Forgotten Realms is unintentional (for the most part).
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Who knows, maybe they will kill off Selune, then crack the moon in half, unleashing unmitigated destruction. 4E will pick up a couple hundred years later, with the remnants of civilizaton trying to pick up the pieces. Commmunities will be isolated pockets of order in a sea of wilderness chaos. And into this realm will come....
Beautiful.
Who knows, maybe they will kill off Selune, then crack the moon in half, unleashing unmitigated destruction. 4E will pick up a couple hundred years later, with the remnants of civilizaton trying to pick up the pieces. Commmunities will be isolated pockets of order in a sea of wilderness chaos. And into this realm will come....
Crack the moon in half?
Didn't they do that in that low budget sci-fi series from long ago called 'Space 1999'?
I was trying to add something to the discussion... But cracking the moon in half is fun too.
The did it in the cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian".
(*And a tip of the hat to Aberzombie for the humorous reference.)
Crack the moon in half?
Didn't they do that in that low budget sci-fi series from long ago called 'Space 1999'?
Actually, the moon in 'Space 1999' got shot outta orbit, and the crew of Moonbase Alpha were stuck on the runaway no-longer-satellite.
I'm sure there was some kind of nuclear explosion. And if it was a big enough explosion to send the moon out of orbit then I'm sure it cracked the moon.
But who cares? I'm just rambling.
In case anyone is interested, this has been circulating from the ARC's of R A Salvatore's The Orc King, which we have been told has some "hints" at the future of the Realms as we go into 4th edition:
It also mentions the founding of the Empire of Netheril.
Looks like the "points of light" thought process isn't just for the "implied" setting . . .
Maybe FR is about to experience some kind of world-altering calamity, the kind that will leave hundreds of thousands (if not millions) dead, and change the face of the entire campaign for ever.
Who knows, maybe they will kill off Selune, then crack the moon in half, unleashing unmitigated destruction. 4E will pick up a couple hundred years later, with the remnants of civilizaton trying to pick up the pieces. Commmunities will be isolated pockets of order in a sea of wilderness chaos.
ROFLMAO!
I'm seeing Gamma World meets D&D.Verrrrry nice. <grin>
Beautiful.
Who knows, maybe they will kill off Selune, then crack the moon in half, unleashing unmitigated destruction. 4E will pick up a couple hundred years later, with the remnants of civilizaton trying to pick up the pieces. Commmunities will be isolated pockets of order in a sea of wilderness chaos. And into this realm will come....
OMG! Reading this post so made my morning! Thanks and many pats on the back for satire and a somewhat obscure pop culture reference. Bravo!
In case anyone is interested, this may shed at least some light on this:
I'm really glad they made all of these changes in the setting that people that don't use the setting have complained about, because I'm sure all of them will start using it now. At least for their sake I hope so, because a lot of old fans won't be.
In the 1st edition Forgotten Realms boxed set, there it says that the world is called Abeir-Toril, but that most people just call it Toril. This isn't exactly new.
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In case anyone is interested, this may shed at least some light on this:
I'm really glad they made all of these changes in the setting that people that don't use the setting have complained about, because I'm sure all of them will start using it now. At least for their sake I hope so, because a lot of old fans won't be.
After reading that I have to say it looks like some major changes are in store for FR. Just looking at the following lines...
before the rise of the Empire of Netheril, the coming of the aboleths, and the discordant and disastrous joining of two worlds
...makes me wonder, could that be something to do with the whole Abeir-Toril mystery. Either way, it should be interesting to see how people will react to what seems will be massive changes in FR.
