User:SunderedShor/sandbox

Pornography, a word not found on Toril itself, was a general term for a wide variety of literature, art, and live performances that were meant to amuse and/or sexually arouse their adult audience.

Culture
Pornographic media took a wide variety of forms in the Realms, including sculptures, chapbooks,  paintings, plays, ballads, and tableux. Such physical media was circulated across the Realms by the various caravan trade routes, while performances were often seen in festhalls, such as Warm Wondra's. And in Waterdeep, some silent broadcryers were employed by festhalls to sell erotic chapbooks.

There existed a variety of terms across the Realms for referring to such content, such as "heaving-bosom" and “hot-bottom”. The latter referred to a sub-genre of romance chapbooks with mild sexual content, generally written for women and by women authors.

Throughout the nations of Faerun there were very few laws banning pornography, with most laws distinguishing it from actual live sexual activity. Most people didn't dwell upon or comment on such things and it was generally understood that part of the allure of such media came from being secretive about it.

Notable Works

 * The Dark Dragon, a notorious erotic chapbook that was set in Dark Dragon Castle.
 * Filfaeril Bound and Willing, a chapbook that depicted Queen Filfaeril Obarskyr of Cormyr in salacious scenarios.
 * Nargeth's Roving Eye, and the Wonders It Witnessed, a lewd yet humorous chapbook revolving around a wizard named Nargeth witnessing various amorous goings-on through means of the arcane eye spell.
 * The Hunting Horn, an Athkatlan printed periodical chapbook that dealt with topics of a sexual nature, usually included art and fiction within its pages.

Notable Makers

 * In Amn, the Church of Sune and that of Sharess both published and distributed chapbooks that contained erotica centered around their respective faith's goddess.
 * Bannermere, a young Herald that penned a number of salacious chapbooks that were often sold as far as Scornubel and Waterdeep.
 * The sisters Daereedrim Therogeon and Mororna Therogeon were both writers of sultry novels rumored to be directly based upon their own romantic exploits. Excerpts from several of them were sold in broadsheet form at record rates.

Notable Partakers

 * The twin brothers Amandar and Melver Minstrelwish sometimes wrote steamy romance chapbooks from their hideout in Deepingdale.
 * Tordon Sureblade, the Lord Magistrate of Ravens Bluff, was rumored to be an avid reader of lurid and trashy chapbook-serials.
 * Redleigh Ambrynrald, the steward of House Raventree, wrote a number of popular lurid romance chapbooks in his off-time. These were all set in a fictionalized version of Waterdeep, wherein all noblewomen yearned for older male servants. He would hide these behind paneling within Raventree Villa, then wait until the Raventrees were away on business to arrange for their printing.
 * Lionar Saraera Delhand of the City Watch of Marsember held that reading of "hot-bottom" romance chapbooks as one of her guilty pleasures in life.
 * Vangerdahast Aeiulvana took to reading lurid chapbooks later in life.