What do smaller humanoids like goblins and kobolds do to seem more fearsome and intimidating in battle?
In the Realms, they mainly beat in unison on massed drums, and shriek en masse when charging. When marching to a battle or deploying on a battlefield, they make much use of banners on tall spears, waving them about. During battle...
2025-12-22 18:33:29 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm back from filming the epic conclusion of LEGACY OF WORLDS, with Devin Wilson as our Dungeon Master. Check out this long-running epic, wherein a band of adventurers tries to save all the worlds of the fantasy multiverse: Elisa Teague as Elise, the runaway bride of Victorina Von Mordenheim (Ravenloft), Keith Baker as Baron Merrix D'Cannith (Eb...
2025-12-22 18:07:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi! I'm back from filming, so here's a new "Little Lore" to tide us all over until Monday. (Filming? The epic conclusion to the Ravenloft wanderings of the heroes of several worlds, trying to save them all! A baron of Eberron, played by Eberron's creator Keith Baker; the runaway bride of Victorina Von Mordenheim, played by Elisa Teague; a time p...
2025-12-18 16:53:21 +0000 UTC View Post
And where would a Lost Lore be without a Little Lore flying along beside it? :}
So, here we are:
How would the Zhentarim react to an agent of theirs going rogue, splitting from the main body and using their cell to take over, let’s say the Ten-Towns?
Badly. Within the Brotherhood, “freelancing” is us...
2025-12-08 20:47:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes, feels early, I know, but I'll be silent next Monday (off filming Legacy of Worlds, which if you're into D&D you really should watch! Look for it on the Six Sides of Gaming YouTube channel), so here's another foray into the lore of the Forgotten Realms! Enjoy!
Time to take a look at an oft-neglected god of the Realms...
<... 2025-12-08 20:27:17 +0000 UTC View Post
A fun grab bag this time around; enjoy!
Fruit In The Sword Coast North
The severe climate of the North means very little fresh fruit is available in winter (after freeze-up, when ships stop sailing into Waterdeep and other ports) except in processed (jams, brandies, pickled or honeyed) form. Berries (literally...
2025-12-07 20:24:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi there! I'm about to fall offline and silent until around December 18th (THIS December, he hastened to add!) to go filming (Legacy of Worlds), so I'm going to post a Lost Lore today, and another one tomorrow, to tide you over, so to speak.
With that said, it's also time for a Little Lore snippet, for everyone. So here you go!
What ...
2025-12-07 19:51:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Brief Lore Snippets From Greenwood’s Grotto (with thanks to my supporters therein, who put these questions to me, for the illumination of us all).
How are the streets of Suzail lit at night? Streetlamps and continual light spells? Or are the roadways left dark?
The Promenade, three branching streets off its ...
2025-12-02 19:41:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Once more into the lore vaults and back out again...
How Elminster Got A Grand-Nephew
Elminster’s parents, Prince Elthryn Aumar and Amrythale Goldsheaf, were married in 210 DR, and had a daughter, Narrune (named for Amrythale’s grandmother) in early 211 DR.
When she was four months old, Narrune vanis...
2025-12-01 16:29:54 +0000 UTC View Post
If I Could Visit The Realms “For Real,” Where I’d Go And What I’d Take With Me
I’d bring these things to the Realms:
Lots and lots of candy to use in bribery, to get people to do things to aid me. My maps of the Realms. Lots of pencils and a tiny knife to sharpen them with, and notebooks to make lots...
2025-11-24 23:42:00 +0000 UTC View Post
My friends, fellow wanderers of the Realms,
You’ve journeyed with me through many corners of Faerûn over the years, and today, it brings me tremendous joy to announce something truly special. Our next great adventure: RealmsBound, a brand-new Forgotten Realms project launching on the Dungeon Mas...
2025-11-19 17:35:50 +0000 UTC View PostMy friends, fellow wanderers of the Realms,
You’ve journeyed with me through many corners of Faerûn over the years, and today, it brings me tremendous joy to announce something truly special. Our next great adventure: RealmsBound, a brand-new Forgotten Realms project launching on the Dungeon Mas...
2025-11-19 17:16:22 +0000 UTC View Post
This time, a look at gates (or portals, if you prefer the later game edition term) of the Realms...
Four Gates (Portals) Of The Realms
Most gates in the Realms today that aren’t under the control of a ruler, powerful dragon, faction, priesthood, or powerful cabal of wizards, tend to be controlled by...
2025-11-17 19:56:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This time around, Suzail and Sigils. Late again because of life (again). I'll not stop digging for lore!
Enjoy, I hope...
How To Find The Society Of Stalwart Adventurers, And Some Features Of Its Neighborhood
To begin, please procure the map of Suzail found in the 2nd Edition Realms boxed set (specifical...
2025-11-11 00:01:51 +0000 UTC View PostWhat’s in a name? Well, a lot as it happens, and figuring out the right meaning can keep you alive—or doom you to a horrible death…or undeath!
You see, years in the Forgotten Realms all have names, thanks to the prophecies of seers who—dimly—foresaw what would turn out to be important in that year. Sometimes the...
2025-11-06 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Life continues to get in the way of what I hoped would be a hiccup-free steady schedule of posting lore snippets from the Realms, but here we are: right day, if a lot later than I intended. Yet, here we go!
What Does Music In The Realms Sound Like?
Here are real-world pieces of music that can be used to try to...
2025-11-04 03:09:56 +0000 UTC View PostSo who married the Witch-Duke? And who or what is a Witch-Duke, anyway? Well…
It’s a colorful name for a tavern, to be sure, particularly an alehouse that used to be called The High Tankard, and was known as the cleanest, most orderly alehouse in Suzail, catering to the rich and highborn, courtiers, wealthy travelers, and others who wa...
2025-10-30 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm back! Gamehole Con and Phantasm are sadly behind me (great to meet so many of you! More big hugs!), and it's back to creating! The new official Forgotten Realms books are on the verge of appearing in all of our hands, and SOULS FOR THE TAKING (Rhys Yorke and I penned it for the Realms) is not far behind! (Look for it on DM's Guild; it was a ...
2025-10-27 17:40:33 +0000 UTC View PostEverybody needs a hero.
Most of the time, everyone WANTS a hero.
And all too often, we get the heroes we deserve.
But what if Drizzt is busy? Elminster is temporarily turned into a giant amoeba fighting the dark germs of Bane in bloodstreams all over the Realms?
And you and your fellow heroic adventurers are triple-booked...
2025-10-24 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Delayed due to GameholeCon and a fatal computer crash, but here now!!! I'm off to Phantasm in Peterborough, Ontario for the weekend (a GREAT local con), and then the NEXT Lost Lore will greet you!!!
Here we go....
The Political Career of Lord Dagult Neverember
Dagult came to Neverwinter to repair it (and...
2025-10-24 03:49:43 +0000 UTC View PostTHE SWORDS OF VALOR
Hire this shining band of adventurer heroes for your next spot of trouble! But don’t be surprised if they’re all monsters, when they show up!
Ooops!
Overly boastful names for adventuring bands are rightly mistrusted in the Realms, though they have a long and inglorious history. Calling y...
2025-10-17 17:47:45 +0000 UTC View PostSZASS TAM’S LATEST NEFARIOUS PLOT
The lich who rules Thay, Szass Tam, is known for ambitious schemes to conquer neighboring realms, or the entire Forgotten Realms, or even other worlds and planes of existence, making a bid for godhood in the process.
He’s also known for these ventures failing, time and again, be ...
2025-10-16 22:10:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Once again life disrupts the intended schedule: it's Canadian Thanksgiving, but dark and early tomorrow I begin the drive to GameholeCon, which is NOT to be missed! That trip will likely make the NEXT instalment of Lost Lore a few days late, but never fear...it SHALL appear!
In the meantime, enjoy this one!
Wild Edible...
2025-10-12 21:11:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I present my latest unearthed Realmslore, for your entertainment.
Waterdeep features prominently, this time around.
Enjoy!
TREATMENT OF HUMAN REMAINS IN WATERDEEP
If no one's trying to hide a body (or found bones), the Watch is always called. (Most Waterdhavians will be suspicious if they know someone die...
2025-10-06 20:16:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Once again the vicissitudes of life interrupt my preferred schedule for bring you new snippets of Realmslore, and the wondrous GAMEHOLE CON will do it again NEXT week, so...early once more, fellow Realms fans!
Aye, the dusty books and fading scrolls speak to me, they do, whispering their secrets as enticements as I stumble through the gloo...
2025-09-29 01:45:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Life keeps getting in the way and delaying my Lost Lore posts, and that's going to happen again tomorrow (day job early shift at the bucolic country branch, bills to pay, insurance to renew), so I'm going to post this early so as not to keep you waiting...
My lore diggings have turned up more, so herewith I set before you a new grab...
2025-09-22 03:14:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Yet more vintage Realmslore to hopefully enrich your Realms enjoyment. Most of this one is from a long-ago Realms column on a defunct website—not a TSR or Wizards of the Coast “official” web column or enhancement.
It concerns:
THE DARK STREETS CAMPAIGN
Early on in my D&D days (the latter half o...
2025-09-15 23:54:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Real-life medical matters (nothing serious; it seems I still have a heart) delayed this by a day, but once more down passages unmapped, through cobwebs unhinged, have I fared, scrabbling through yet more dusty lore to bring you yet another grab bag of Realmslore!
What The Written Script Of The Common Tongue Looks Like 2025-09-09 18:15:59 +0000 UTC View Post
I made it back from GrandCon, so...
Through the dim recesses of my faded notes and failing memories I trudge, scooping up yet another grab bag of Realmslore!
Taxation, Fees, And Business In Waterdeep
Waterdeep’s annual taxes (as opposed to city-levied fees, like docking fees for ships, and annual busin...
2025-09-01 21:21:36 +0000 UTC View Post
If you're within reach of Grand Rapids, Michigan this coming weekend, I'll be at GrandCon for the first time in a decade. Catch me at these events:
Friday August 29th 3:00pm to 4:00pm: World Building Beginners with Steven Schend, Pete Petrusha, and me; breakout room, Grand Gallery C
Friday 5:30pm to 6:30pm, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Th...
2025-08-25 03:31:02 +0000 UTC View Post