Can I get an overview? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can I get an overview? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Leon_Lionheart
09-25-07, 01:16 PM I'm new to the Forgotten Realms. By "new" I mean that I've only got a one-dimensional view of the world, and that view (as you might have guessed from my choice of avatar) is through the lens of the Drizzt novels. I've actually been reading the books for quite a long time, but I still consider myself a novice. (Case in point: I know absolutely nothing about Elminster or Khelben. Stupid, I know.) I've read all of the Drizzt books and the first Sellswords novel by R.A. Salvatore, and I have a cursory understanding of some of the wider Realms history from various bookshelf items read in the computer games Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Other than that, I'm an idiot, unfortunately.

So, I was hoping someone might give me an overview, or direct me to where I might find one without having to buy some book. (I'm broke at the moment. Otherwise I'd just buy the book. Probably will buy it anyway...) Just a little background information on the world, where everything is, and on some of the staple characters and groups. (Elminster and Khelben for example, the Zhentarim I heard so much about in Baldur's Gate for another...) Also, what the heck is Spellplague? Drizzt mentions this in the prologue of The Orc King, and I'm lost. From passing comments I've read elsewhere, it seems to be another bit of the wider Realms at work, like the Time of Troubles that cut into the drow war in Siege of Darkness, but I don't know what it is or where it came from. If Spellplague is too off-topic for this part of the forum, then can you point me in the direction of a thread where I can ask about it? (Or just point me in the direction of whatever book or product the Spellplague storyline originates from?)
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
09-25-07, 01:28 PM If you don't want to buy books, why not search the internet? I can say that www.candlekeep.com is a wonderful, reliable site for FR lore. Or search around right here on these boards.

Asking us for an overview of the entire setting is too much to ask, IMO. It's a huge, detailed setting, and cannot (and should not) be "summarized" in any fair way.
ExtinctionBeta
09-25-07, 01:40 PM No no no friend, you musn't read such filth about Drow. I enjoy some of the new stuff for I am sort of new as well but not as new. Try war of the Spider Queen and hope all the drow die off. Quite and pointless and silly race they are. There are none more ignorant and usless than those who seek power underneath the surface of our feet and pray to a deity who seeks pleasure in their demise should it ever happen.
Anyway, I enjoy the darker novels. Unclean-Undead-Unholy trilogy. Twlight wars Shadowbred-ShadowStorm-ShadowRealm. I actually started with these 2 and enjoyed the amount of potential threat they had to the FR world. Where as I just finished a good amount of Sell Swords and Silent blades series, to find that the only thing thier story conflict would threaten is the character him/herself. Small stuff if you will. Please don't have a misconception of me. I am not at all saying that these books are not of intrest, but merely giving you a perception of my own taste and views. I guess one could say I like to read about the knighthood of things rather than the knight itself.
And as for your intrest in Elimenster, you've got some reading to do. He starts from being excited to creating a fireball to becoming the 1st chosen of Mystra (Godess of magic). From what I read of RAS novels, other than the Spider Queen herself, knowlege of other deitys is scarce. Sure Drizzt is a one of the more popular characters..but with RAS "hands off" policy, you can't really learn much about FR from his novels...(ED Greenwood should just give RAS his own little world to write in instead of FR since he sucludes himself so). Maybe try another novel from a differnt author and see what style of FR reader you are. I'm sure others here will give you a more diverse and wider viraeity of suggestions than I. Hope you find what you are looking for.

And for the Record, I like Squall as well. Just remember Cloud wears purple...Zidane is a monkey...Tidus crys like a 10 year old girl every 5 minutes and Vans is a Metro Sexual. Final Fantasy 8 is the best in my own opinion.
Leon_Lionheart
09-25-07, 02:10 PM If you don't want to buy books, why not search the internet? I can say that www.candlekeep.com is a wonderful, reliable site for FR lore. Or search around right here on these boards.

Asking us for an overview of the entire setting is too much to ask, IMO. It's a huge, detailed setting, and cannot (and should not) be "summarized" in any fair way.

Alright, thanks.
Leon_Lionheart
09-25-07, 02:21 PM No no no friend, you musn't read such filth about Drow. I enjoy some of the new stuff for I am sort of new as well but not as new. Try war of the Spider Queen and hope all the drow die off. Quite and pointless and silly race they are. There are none more ignorant and usless than those who seek power underneath the surface of our feet and pray to a deity who seeks pleasure in their demise should it ever happen.

I like the drow. They're my favorite Realms race. (I say "Realms" because I have no knowledge or interest in any of the other WotC worlds like Eberron and such--just the Realms, one big fantasy world is enough to keep me occupied and to empty my modest wallet, thanks.)

Anyway, I enjoy the darker novels. Unclean-Undead-Unholy trilogy. Twlight wars Shadowbred-ShadowStorm-ShadowRealm. I actually started with these 2 and enjoyed the amount of potential threat they had to the FR world.

I'll check that out, thanks.

Where as I just finished a good amount of Sell Swords and Silent blades series, to find that the only thing thier story conflict would threaten is the character him/herself.

If everything were a massive Spellplague upheaval, the Realms would get boring fast, methinks. The small stuff is good, in my opinion. Just stories to add a bit at a time to the world they're building...

Small stuff if you will. Please don't have a misconception of me. I am not at all saying that these books are not of intrest, but merely giving you a perception of my own taste and views. I guess one could say I like to read about the knighthood of things rather than the knight itself.

More interested in the story than the character, you mean?

And as for your intrest in Elimenster, you've got some reading to do. He starts from being excited to creating a fireball to becoming the 1st chosen of Mystra (Godess of magic). From what I read of RAS novels, other than the Spider Queen herself, knowlege of other deitys is scarce. Sure Drizzt is a one of the more popular characters..but with RAS "hands off" policy, you can't really learn much about FR from his novels...(ED Greenwood should just give RAS his own little world to write in instead of FR since he sucludes himself so).

That's why I say my knowledge of the Realms is lackluster, even after seventeen books. Although the recent story arc--Obould Many-Arrows and the Orc King book that just came out--have been somewhat less secluded. The Hunter's Blades Trilogy was a good deal more apocalyptic than the books that came before it, and from what I know of The Orc King, the effects of that arc aren't so secluded.

Maybe try another novel from a differnt author and see what style of FR reader you are. I'm sure others here will give you a more diverse and wider viraeity of suggestions than I. Hope you find what you are looking for.

Was planning on it.

And for the Record, I like Squall as well. Just remember Cloud wears purple...Zidane is a monkey...Tidus crys like a 10 year old girl every 5 minutes and Vans is a Metro Sexual. Final Fantasy 8 is the best in my own opinion.

I like all of the FF games, but Squall's my favorite protagonist. I can relate to him in a lot of ways.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
09-25-07, 07:38 PM If everything were a massive Spellplague upheaval, the Realms would get boring fast, methinks. The small stuff is good, in my opinion. Just stories to add a bit at a time to the world they're building...

There are actually plenty of great smaller-scale stories, they just don't get jaws flapping the way the large-scale, controversial ones do. Check out anything by Greenwood, Cunningham, the "class" novels (The Wizards, The Priests, etc.), the Dungeon series (two novels are out so far), the Sembia series. There are more than the ones I named off the top of my head, too.:)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Leon_Lionheart 09-25-07, 01:16 PM	I'm new to the Forgotten Realms. By "new" I mean that I've only got a one-dimensional view of the world, and that view (as you might have guessed from my choice of avatar) is through the lens of the Drizzt novels. I've actually been reading the books for quite a long time, but I still consider myself a novice. (Case in point: I know absolutely nothing about Elminster or Khelben. Stupid, I know.) I've read all of the Drizzt books and the first Sellswords novel by R.A. Salvatore, and I have a cursory understanding of some of the wider Realms history from various bookshelf items read in the computer games Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Other than that, I'm an idiot, unfortunately. So, I was hoping someone might give me an overview, or direct me to where I might find one without having to buy some book. (I'm broke at the moment. Otherwise I'd just buy the book. Probably will buy it anyway...) Just a little background information on the world, where everything is, and on some of the staple characters and groups. (Elminster and Khelben for example, the Zhentarim I heard so much about in Baldur's Gate for another...) Also, what the heck is Spellplague? Drizzt mentions this in the prologue of The Orc King, and I'm lost. From passing comments I've read elsewhere, it seems to be another bit of the wider Realms at work, like the Time of Troubles that cut into the drow war in Siege of Darkness, but I don't know what it is or where it came from. If Spellplague is too off-topic for this part of the forum, then can you point me in the direction of a thread where I can ask about it? (Or just point me in the direction of whatever book or product the Spellplague storyline originates from?)
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 09-25-07, 01:28 PM	If you don't want to buy books, why not search the internet? I can say that www.candlekeep.com is a wonderful, reliable site for FR lore. Or search around right here on these boards. Asking us for an overview of the entire setting is too much to ask, IMO. It's a huge, detailed setting, and cannot (and should not) be "summarized" in any fair way.
ExtinctionBeta 09-25-07, 01:40 PM	No no no friend, you musn't read such filth about Drow. I enjoy some of the new stuff for I am sort of new as well but not as new. Try war of the Spider Queen and hope all the drow die off. Quite and pointless and silly race they are. There are none more ignorant and usless than those who seek power underneath the surface of our feet and pray to a deity who seeks pleasure in their demise should it ever happen. Anyway, I enjoy the darker novels. Unclean-Undead-Unholy trilogy. Twlight wars Shadowbred-ShadowStorm-ShadowRealm. I actually started with these 2 and enjoyed the amount of potential threat they had to the FR world. Where as I just finished a good amount of Sell Swords and Silent blades series, to find that the only thing thier story conflict would threaten is the character him/herself. Small stuff if you will. Please don't have a misconception of me. I am not at all saying that these books are not of intrest, but merely giving you a perception of my own taste and views. I guess one could say I like to read about the knighthood of things rather than the knight itself. And as for your intrest in Elimenster, you've got some reading to do. He starts from being excited to creating a fireball to becoming the 1st chosen of Mystra (Godess of magic). From what I read of RAS novels, other than the Spider Queen herself, knowlege of other deitys is scarce. Sure Drizzt is a one of the more popular characters..but with RAS "hands off" policy, you can't really learn much about FR from his novels...(ED Greenwood should just give RAS his own little world to write in instead of FR since he sucludes himself so). Maybe try another novel from a differnt author and see what style of FR reader you are. I'm sure others here will give you a more diverse and wider viraeity of suggestions than I. Hope you find what you are looking for. And for the Record, I like Squall as well. Just remember Cloud wears purple...Zidane is a monkey...Tidus crys like a 10 year old girl every 5 minutes and Vans is a Metro Sexual. Final Fantasy 8 is the best in my own opinion.
Leon_Lionheart 09-25-07, 02:10 PM	If you don't want to buy books, why not search the internet? I can say that www.candlekeep.com is a wonderful, reliable site for FR lore. Or search around right here on these boards. Asking us for an overview of the entire setting is too much to ask, IMO. It's a huge, detailed setting, and cannot (and should not) be "summarized" in any fair way. Alright, thanks.
Leon_Lionheart 09-25-07, 02:21 PM	No no no friend, you musn't read such filth about Drow. I enjoy some of the new stuff for I am sort of new as well but not as new. Try war of the Spider Queen and hope all the drow die off. Quite and pointless and silly race they are. There are none more ignorant and usless than those who seek power underneath the surface of our feet and pray to a deity who seeks pleasure in their demise should it ever happen. I like the drow. They're my favorite Realms race. (I say "Realms" because I have no knowledge or interest in any of the other WotC worlds like Eberron and such--just the Realms, one big fantasy world is enough to keep me occupied and to empty my modest wallet, thanks.) Anyway, I enjoy the darker novels. Unclean-Undead-Unholy trilogy. Twlight wars Shadowbred-ShadowStorm-ShadowRealm. I actually started with these 2 and enjoyed the amount of potential threat they had to the FR world. I'll check that out, thanks. Where as I just finished a good amount of Sell Swords and Silent blades series, to find that the only thing thier story conflict would threaten is the character him/herself. If everything were a massive Spellplague upheaval, the Realms would get boring fast, methinks. The small stuff is good, in my opinion. Just stories to add a bit at a time to the world they're building... Small stuff if you will. Please don't have a misconception of me. I am not at all saying that these books are not of intrest, but merely giving you a perception of my own taste and views. I guess one could say I like to read about the knighthood of things rather than the knight itself. More interested in the story than the character, you mean? And as for your intrest in Elimenster, you've got some reading to do. He starts from being excited to creating a fireball to becoming the 1st chosen of Mystra (Godess of magic). From what I read of RAS novels, other than the Spider Queen herself, knowlege of other deitys is scarce. Sure Drizzt is a one of the more popular characters..but with RAS "hands off" policy, you can't really learn much about FR from his novels...(ED Greenwood should just give RAS his own little world to write in instead of FR since he sucludes himself so). That's why I say my knowledge of the Realms is lackluster, even after seventeen books. Although the recent story arc--Obould Many-Arrows and the Orc King book that just came out--have been somewhat less secluded. The Hunter's Blades Trilogy was a good deal more apocalyptic than the books that came before it, and from what I know of The Orc King, the effects of that arc aren't so secluded. Maybe try another novel from a differnt author and see what style of FR reader you are. I'm sure others here will give you a more diverse and wider viraeity of suggestions than I. Hope you find what you are looking for. Was planning on it. And for the Record, I like Squall as well. Just remember Cloud wears purple...Zidane is a monkey...Tidus crys like a 10 year old girl every 5 minutes and Vans is a Metro Sexual. Final Fantasy 8 is the best in my own opinion. I like all of the FF games, but Squall's my favorite protagonist. I can relate to him in a lot of ways.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 09-25-07, 07:38 PM	If everything were a massive Spellplague upheaval, the Realms would get boring fast, methinks. The small stuff is good, in my opinion. Just stories to add a bit at a time to the world they're building... There are actually plenty of great smaller-scale stories, they just don't get jaws flapping the way the large-scale, controversial ones do. Check out anything by Greenwood, Cunningham, the "class" novels (The Wizards, The Priests, etc.), the Dungeon series (two novels are out so far), the Sembia series. There are more than the ones I named off the top of my head, too.:)