TM ™ CREDITS Design Art Director Ed Greenwood Kate Irwin Editing Cover Illustrations Susan Morris, James Wyatt Jesper Ejsing (front) Tyler Jacobson (back) Editorial Assistance Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Matt Sernett Graphic Designer Soe Murayama, Emi Tanji Managing Editor Kim Mohan Interior Illustrations Ed Greenwood, Eric Belisle, Julie Dillon, Rick Development and Editing Lead Drennan, Wayne England, Randy Gallegos, Jeremy Crawford Ralph Horsley, Tyler Jacobson, Michael Komarck, Howard Lyon, Patrick McEvoy, William D&D R&D Senior Producer O’Connor, Lorraine Schleter, Mark Tedin, Christopher Perkins Beth Trott D&D R&D Group Manager Photography Mike Mearls Jen Glicksohn D&D Senior Creative Director Graphic Production Manager Jon Schindehette Angie Lokotz D&D Brand Team Prepress Manager Nathan Stewart, Liz Schuh, Laura Tommervik, Jefferson Dunlap Shelly Mazzanoble, Chris Lindsay, Hilary Ross Imaging Technician Carmen Cheung Production Manager Cynda Callaway 62039888000001 EN Current Customer Service U.K., EIRE, & SOUTH AFRICA EUROPE ISBN: 978-0-7869-6034-7 contact info: Wizards of the Coast LLC Wizards of the Coast p/a Hasbro First Printing: U.S., CANADA, ASIA PACIFIC, c/o Hasbro UK Ltd. Belgium NV/SA October 2012 & LATIN AMERICA P.O. Box 43 Industrialaan 1 Wizards of the Coast LLC Newport, NP19 4YD, UK 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 P.O. Box 707 Tel: +08457 12 55 99, Belgium Renton, WA 98057-0707 Email: [email protected] Tel: +32.70.233.277 +1-800-324-6496 Email: [email protected] www.wizards.com/customerservice Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster’s Forgotten Realms, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters, and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. Printed in the USA. ©2012 Wizards of the Coast LLC. Visit our website at DungeonsandDragons.com 2 CONTENTS FOREWORD 4MONEY MATTERS 102 WORK FOR ALL ........................103 INTRODUCTION 6DAY JOBS FOR ADVENTURERS ..............103 GUILDS ..............................109 TRADE AND MERCHANT PRINCES ...........113 LIFE IN THE REALMS 10 COINAGE .............................118 RACIAL V IEWPOINTS .....................11 TRADE GOODS ........................123 REALMSPEAK: TALKING THE T ALK ............13 SLAVE T RADE .........................130 THE W RITTEN W ORD .....................19 E AND FESTIVALS ...................27 VENTS GODS AND FOLLOWERS 132 LEARNING THE ROPES, AND MORE ...........31 ACTING AND THE T HEATER .................34 HOW FOLK W ORSHIP ....................133 MEDICINE .............................37 WHY PUT UP WITH EVIL? .................134 ILLNESS AND HYGIENE ....................40 CHARITY .............................136 DRUGS ...............................41 TEMPLE INCOME .......................137 POISONS ..............................42 PRIESTHOODS OF THE REALMS .............138 CURRENT CLACK ........................44 THE ART 178 LAWS AND ORDERS 46 HOW MAGICAL IS THE REALMS? ...........179 CLASS AND NOBILITY .....................47 SPECIAL BLOODLINES ...................183 JUSTICE ...............................53 ALCHEMY ............................184 PROPERTY LAW .........................56 WORDS OF AWAKENING ..................185 CORMYREAN NAMING AND T RADE LAWS .......57 BARDIC MATTERS ......................186 SENTENCING THE GUILTY ..................61 ELVEN MUSIC .........................188 THOSE W HO ENFORCE ....................63 SPELLSONG ...........................188 PACTS AND ALLIANCES ....................67 MORE MAGIC .........................189 THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE ZHENTARIM .....70 AFTERWORD 190 HEARTH AND HOME 76 WHERE ONE’S HAT IS HUNG ...............77 INNS AND T AVERNS .......................79 WHAT’S TO EAT? ........................82 REGIONAL CUISINES .....................84 FOOD FROM THE W ILD ....................91 DRINKS OF CHOICE ......................92 THE LATEST FASHION ....................96 3 FOREWORD A (relatively) young Ed Greenwood summons up his alter ego, Elminster, before the unfurling of a proclamation of great import. 4 To all who peruse this volume, these: This is the chief reason why adventuring bands—as opposed to strictly ordered profes- Well met, as always, and welcome to the latest sional mercenaries—are suffered to exist in any tome from the pen of Ed of the Greenwood that land where there are laws and lawkeepers. In purports to lay bare secrets of the world I dwell frontier areas, brigands and monsters are preva- in, the place best known to ye as “the Forgotten lent enough to demand that the prudent go Realms.” armed, and the young and penniless have ample A world so vast and rich that its secrets could opportunity to win wealth and reputation by fill libraries—to say nothing of the myriad pass- dealing with locally marauding perils. Yet were I ing details of everyday life, the strivings of folk foolish enough to want to sit on a throne some- mighty and simple. Beggars and humble crofters where, I would take great care to spy tirelessly and can change the Realms as much as kings do, and attentively on all adventuring bands within my its heroes are not always those lauded. Like thy realm and nigh my borders. I would expect my world, the Realms needs splendid deeds from us foes to be hiring them, or manipulating them, or all for life to hold a goodly measure of pleasures both, against me. and rewards. Yet down the years, other than briefly covering In short, it needs thee to make a difference. the charters that Cormyr grants adventurers to at one stroke allow them to buckle their swashes This book, like all guides, seeks to steer readers. and at the same time enact a measure of control Luring them here, and turning them aside from over them, I see that Ed of the Greenwood has there. ’Tis true no book is thick enough to hold neglected this root fact of life in the Realms. everything, but ye should beware the scribe who Which means it’s high time for a book such as is ruthless in omissions of lore that just might this. keep ye alive. Just as much ye should cherish the In recent times, the Realms has seen the sage who reins in his tongue, and never shares rise of broadsheets, or printed scraps of cur- in the first place what dare not be shared. I have rent news and salacious rumors masquerading as tried not to doom the Realms by what I’ve let slip news—something hitherto left to the tongues of down the decades. minstrels, peddlers, and caravan merchants, with Yet some omissions have been born of the the ever-increasing distortions that their retellings urgency of the moment or the lack of pages, inevitably embroider everything with. time and again, and not been set down for all to The pervasiveness of this form of written com- peruse. munication encourages reading, and foments I see Ed is finally seeing, in however paltry and propaganda—and, though it pains me as a sage to slapdash a manner, to some of those gaps, here say it, the reckless sharing of some things better and now. kept secret. I have long thought that the Realms must seem There is a high price to telling all. strange indeed to ye, who’ve not been told any- Why, even to impart the makings of some al- thing comprehensive or coherent about this little loys that the dwarves prize highly would be to detail here, and that little detail, there. shift balances better left as they are, among the For instance, bards’ tales and fireside folklore ever-uneasy threats and counterthreats and pru- simply bristle with mention of evil tyrants—yet dences of rulers and those who desire to rule. in the Realms I know, only nobles and rulers Not all secrets hold that much power, yet any who utterly lose their tempers or who are spoiled might well shift attitudes and beliefs and desires brutes habitually take open and public violent across the Realms, and so have their own effects. action. I see the vast, sophisticated majority of So you’ll not find everything within these nobles and rulers in the Realms habitually using pages. Yet I know I’ve shared more than enough adventurers (and guilds, and costers, and oth- juicy bits to keep ye thinking for a while . ers they can manipulate instead of paying) as their agents (sometimes through several layers of go-betweens). 5 upon the world. (Yes, they see they can accom- INTRODUCTION plish far more working together, as a united band Welcome to the Forgotten Realms®, the world of adventurers, and act accordingly.) My players I began crafting when I was six, before there was run characters of various classes with different anything called Dungeons & Dragons® or a role- interests and obligations. For instance, clerics are playing game industry. The world I still work on, under constant pressure from church superiors every day. to do this, that, and the other. And yet, they also It’s been a long, rich, rewarding road, and the continuously pursue their own pet projects (nota- Realms now grows around me courtesy of many bly investments and trade negotiations), as well as loving creators, toiling busily. We’re building a engaging in adventures with the Knights of Myth world that never has to end, a setting that can for- Drannor. Many play sessions begin with the ever be home to novels and roleplaying campaigns characters holding a council wherein they debate and board games and much, much more. and decide what to do next, rather than running This book is a peek at the beating heart of the through a prepared adventure. I lay out the buf- Realms, at what makes it work and seem alive. A fet, and they sample what catches their eye. bright buffet of lore, with buckets of little details 2. The Realms is constantly unfolding. I keep about all sorts of things. A grand gallimau- a flow of current events (and rumors) burbling fry of matters Realmsian, for your perusal and past my players’ ears to make the world seem enjoyment.