#realmslore

"Well, here's the thing: as drow of old used tattoos to mark slaves, many drow detest tattoos. However, early Lolth priestesses used progressively-augmented tattoos (down their right inner thighs, eventually to the ankle) to mark ascending clerical rank.

Drow who don't venerate Lolth usually dislike tattoos (on drow) for that reason, in addition to the slavery. However, among Vhaeraun worshippers in the early 1300s DR, a fashion arose to tattoo around one's right eye (bare ring around the eye, then an elaborate design radiating out over brow and cheek on one side of the face only). This was regarded as beauty enhancing, not a mark of devotion to the god. In addition, certain drow sorceresses hit upon the notion of storing self-renewing spells in right forearm tattoos.

So as you can see, drow are split, just as the gamer debate is. Most drow detest tattooing, seeing it as marring drow natural beauty. However, drow who see themselves as ugly usually reason that they have nothing to lose by getting tattoos. And a drow who bears slave tattoos and gets the opportunity to do something about them will almost always expand the tattoos into a larger, more beautiful design that seeks to obscure the original slaving marks." Ed on Twit, 7/10/24

In the course of my recent research on Bane for a lore request fill, I found myself coming across a lot of very interesting information, previously unknown to me, about the other gods of the Forgotten Realms — in particular Silvanus. There was enough there that it inspired me to direct some extra research hours into this writeup, exploring all the reasons why Halsin is a quintessential Silvanite.

If you would like any more information on anything included here, please feel free to drop a comment or an ask, as there is truly so much that I just don’t have the space to include. (I usually end up with about 12-13 pages of source quotes before I begin one of these meta posts.)

My usual note that, as ever, these writeups will align with current 5e lore, and draw from 3.5e for additional supporting information. On rarer occasions – and always noted – I will reference 1e and 2e, but with the caveats that there is much more in those editions that is tonally dissonant with the modern conception of the Forgotten Realms, and thus generally less applicable.

Silvanus is easily one of the most misunderstood gods of the Faerûnian pantheon. This is even pointed out directly within his section of the 3.5e Faiths & Pantheons (an incredible resource if you are looking for more detailed information on the gods of the Forgotten Realms!): 

Nevertheless, most outsiders view the church of Chauntea, as patrons of agriculture, as being favorably inclined toward the expansion of civilization, while the church of Silvanus is the implacable foe of those who would settle new lands. Neither impression is correct, yet the church of the Oak Father is often perceived as little different from those faiths that venerate the Deities of Fury.¹ [emphasis added]

I finished the first draft of my first ever fanfic today. I joined a Secret Santa and the exchange is an art/fiction one based on our pale elf friend. As a writer, I thought it would be fun and, so far, it is.

I was thinking about my first finished save today because I loaded a late save and ran the epilogue party last night. It was lovely (and I've been putting up pics). I realized that Anne, my cleric of Lathander, being "Mrs Tav Dekarios" now would likely have changed her name. Then I had a thought, which is something fanfic writers of Lathanderian clerics may not know.

Clerics of Lathander (almost) always have a second name. You can choose your Lathanderian name when you become a Lightbringer (devote yourself to service as a priest). You can also keep your Lathanderian name a secret that's known only in church circles, or even just between you and The Morninglord. It depends on how you run your cleric and what your Faerûn is like.

I have some examples of how this woks, based on my TTPG clerics of Lathander.

Helena Peach (level 11) works under her real name but her Lathanderian name is known only by her mentors and closest contacts at The House of The Morning: Heulwen Starwater. Heulwen is a name she chose based on her given name and Starwater comes from the river that runs through her hometown of Eveningstar, right beside her family's orchard. So if she gets a request, letter, send, etc from someone at House of the Morning and it calls her Heulwen Starwater, she knows it's legit.

Bianca Ashborn (newly level 6: yay!) adventures under her Lathanderian name. Her given name is Beatrix Bianca Stanwyck. Ashborn symbolizes a new beginning and also incorporates her sister Ashcaeda's name into hers. She chooses to be known as Bianca everywhere except at home, where her parents and sister still call her either "Bebi" or "Trixie."

So when you're writing a fanfic about the cleric of Lathander you created for BG3, you can have some fun with their name. Is it the name you chose? Do they have a secret or semi-secret Lathanderian name? What does their Lathanderian name say about them? Did they even have one chosen before they were thrust into this adventure? Here's a prompt for you: show your cleric's process of choosing or changing a Lathanderian name based on their adventure.

FTR: Here's Anne Rosymorn, Annika Dekarios to her friends.

Transcript:

February 8, 2023

illuminatirob — Hello @Ed Greenwood! I am so happy to be here. I've been a heavy user of Candlekeep's forums over the years, and I have some questions that have been argued extensively, and I'd love to have the ultimate input on then I might be so fortunate?  (Even though, I may get flak over this, haha) Is Khelben evil? I ask the question from the lens of normative ethics, regarding his having taken the Scepter of the Sorcerer King, and giving it to Fzoul. The ensuing carnage and problems were extensive, and in light of them, and the fact that Khelben is one of the Master Harper's that came up with the code of the Harper's, how can he say he lived by those tenets and doing the right thing, with everything that came of his actions in the end? I mean no disrespect: I just love analyzing characters, and I've run through this a million times in my head. Khelben is one of my favorite characters ever. So compelling!

Ed Greenwood — Khelben is an "end justifies the means" person, who (like, say, James T. Kirk of STAR TREK fame) won't hesitate to break laws or rules to "win." He can be harsh and arrogant, too, as he believes he KNOWS the right end goal, and will push for it against the "blindly ignorant." Whereas most of the Seven believe it's not just what you do, or why, but HOW you do it; if you run roughshod over "little people" to forge a better kingdom for them, how are you better than the next tyrant? So Khelben can certainly be seen as evil. That's the thing about the Realms: everyone is a shade of gray. We watch their moral journeys in the novels, and lore, and adventures, and none of them are static. Elminster is generally nicer and more whimsical than straight-shooter Khelben, but also more sly. It takes all sorts to make (and mar) a world.

illuminatirob — Hey @Ed Greenwood, Thank you so very much for that answer, and right away too! I'm honored. I figured Khelben was a consequentialist, and I've had long debates about it, but this is great: thee answer. That's the most amazing thing about ethics: you're "good" in someone's book, and "evil" in another's, simply by the fact that the rules set is different for evaluating morality. Thank you!

Ed Greenwood — You're very welcome! Steven Schend "adopted" Khelben and has penned novels starring him, and he and I have discussed Khelben's character extensively over the years. One other thing to bear in mind: Mystra's Chosen are all very old, and "play the long game," and have suffered much grief, as they outlive kin, friends, and even the realms they grew up in; they're not sane by how we judge things. My Realms tales look at how power corrupts, and how long life claws at psyches, and so on. Khelben became a "hardcase" because it worked for him, to serve Mystra best; the ruthless manipulator and negotiator. Others took different paths.

– From the Greenwood’s Grotto Discord server.

“Monsters” tend to eat other creatures, often raw, but sentient races of the Underdark eat:

Fungi. Lots and lots of fungi.

Snails.

Slimes.

And lizards (worn-out or injured pack lizards, and all of the smaller varieties).

These things form the bulk of drow diets. Drow also, due to surface raids and trade, have access to other foodstuffs, but due to ongoing rarity these are “treats” (expensive). Most drow rear herds of pack lizards and farm “forests” of fungi in guarded caverns.

Thanks to the prevalence of fungi, a texture that can best be described as “rubbery to chewy” is prevalent in Underdark cuisine. Things that crunch are rarities.

Edible fungi cover a broad range of colours (though dun-browns to darker browns predominate, with purple being the next most popular—and never attempt to eat any fungi that look green) and shapes, from flaky spikes and “ledges” to shelf fungi, spears like asparagus, and various cap shapes with stalks, from tall and smooth to short and shaggy; literally just about everything.

These Underdark fungi offer flavours from salty or bitter and smoky to an almost vanilla-like sweetness; again, just about everything, including flavours that a blindfolded surface-dweller sampling them might mistake for roast beef or braised rothé.

Certain common fungi can be cooked to mush and then to an oil that thickens into a spreadable paste when taken off the heat, and this serves as a hummus-like “butter” (that can take on the flavour of herbs stirred into it, like garlic or dill into “real butter” derived from the milk of surface-dwelling creatures) when spread on other edibles. This is usually called “rarthree” by folk of the Underdark, regardless of species (though deep gnomes tend to shorten this to just “rarth” in casual speech).

The meat of the many edible lizards is often sliced into thin steaks and fried in rarthee, and tend to taste rather like real-world kangaroo meat; slightly gamier than boar or beef or rothé, but still striking the palate as “red meat” rather than fish or reptile. Pack lizards have the strongest taste, increasing with age and size, and Volo found it to be a curious cross between the fat of very well-marbled steaks, and bacon fat—without grease or the heaviness of fat.

Soups in the Underdark tend to all be thick enough to be called “stews” on the surface world, with diced chunks of meat or fungi, and almost all of them use simmered, reduced fungi as a base. “Superior” soups include the blood of slain edible creatures, which enriches the flavour and thins the texture.

Large root vegetables such as potatoes are almost unknown in Underdark cuisine, yet their blandness would cause them to be “shrug” curiosities, not highly prized novelties, if sampled.

There are very few “wild” deep rothé herds left in the Underdark; they’ve been captured and are now the carefully-farmed exclusive food larders of particular communities. So they’ve disappeared from “general Underdark” larders and tables.

Lolthite drow cities who control those herds do indeed roast and thin-slice-and-fry deep rothé meat as a staple of their cuisine.