By the 1370s DR, Suzail has firm urban planning in the form of which building permits (and "maintenance orders") are issued by the Royal Court inspectors and clerks, and their wording. They also issue licenses to "badge" or anoint building crews (and can revoke them if a building crew does substandard work and something collapses or fails an inspection, or too many public complaints accrue), but such building crews are independent small companies.
Suzail has long resisted guilds taking hold (following the lead of Sembia, where city guilds are small and non-exclusive; they CANNOT force anyone to join them, or establish any sort of monopoly over professions), and as a reaction against what prevails in Waterdeep; families like the Rallyhorns and Roaringhorns, who dwell in both Suzail and Waterdeep, have warned against allowing guilds any sort of control (both because prices rise, and because "guildmasters have the effrontery to know better than the nobles who are paying for it all").
So someone building a theater would need to hire a "builder" (combination of architect and engineer) who would have to get permits from the Royal Court (effectively, approval of the design, which must be "stable" and must not "intrude" upon the street or neighboring structures—i.e. you can't jut out into the street, and you can't block your neighbors' access or "all off" all of their views by building at an angle out in front of them.
Suzail at that time had six major builders (wealthy, respected older men and women) and about twice that many small, rising, or struggling competitors; the six major ones almost never had trouble getting permits, or changes made to their designs in order to get permits. My lore notes only have the names of two of the six: Nalaerra Tronsival, a smart and forceful woman from Chessenta who has many suitors but little interest in most of them, and Brordryn Halavar, a white-haired old sophisticate whose dry courtesy keeps him on the very edge of being haughty.
The builder would recommend crews of carpenters and roofers (the aforementioned "building crews") to put up the structure, but the patron can choose to hire others. "Carpenters" by the 1340s included masons and bricklayers (specialty mason crews are usually hired only for sculpted stonework like ornate pediments and anything involving pillars), and roofers were then (and are now, in the 1490s DR) always separate crews from carpenters.
In the 1370s, Suzail had two established playhouses, with many taverns and clubs hosting live music and minstrels or bards doing standup oratory and comedy. These establishments are Randalanter's Roistery and Taertranth's House.
Randalanter's Roistery: north front (northeasternfront, really) Ilvander's Lane, between the two alleymouths, with Randalanter's Board eatery (large dining hall) being the attached building on the south, end-on to the Lane, and the playhouse being the more northerly building side-on to the Lane; to locate it on the Blando Suzail mao, find The Golden Goblin, feature #66, and look east-northeast across the road (Ilvander's Lane) to the cluster of buildings between the two alleymouths. The Board is a brown brick box with a tile "barn hip roof," and the timber-and-stucco playhouse recently got as matching tile "barn hip roof." The playhouse has "Randalanter's" spelled out all along its streetfront side in man-high, crimson-painted wooden individual letters standing proud of the wall on spikes, but the Board has no sign at all, just two hanging iron cage lanterns flanking its front entrance double door. Patrons customarily enter the playhouse through the eatery, though the playhouse has two emergency exits and a wagon-wide 'stage door' out back, into the interior of the city block, and the Board also has back and side doors.
Maerest Randalanter is a flamboyant, still-handsome, aging patriarch (goatee, long flowing hair, dyed chestnut brown now that it's going white, and large beaky nose and bright emerald eyes) who was formerly a "leading man" actor (and, popular gossip rushes to assure us, the lover of more bored noble wives in his day than anyone but Azoun IV himself). He's now wealthy and successful, a dozen-property Suzail landlord who invests in vineyards near Kirinwood, and makes more coin from the Board than it costs to run the playhouse. He and his large family (wife Oroana, son Rilvrand, and all six daughters are thespians, and Oroana and eldest daughter Thaya are both superb "smoky alto" singers) all direct (and from time to time appear in) plays, mainly comedies of manners but with a few family-romance dramas centered around tumultuous historical times in Cormyr; the reign of Duar is a favourite setting). Some productions they write themselves, but most are revamped versions of "classic" Cormyrean plays. All tend to play to seventy-to-eighty-percent full houses, day in and day out, an afternoon and an evening production every day around the year except the big "common calendar" festival days.
and:
Taertranth's House: northfront Arhorn Ride, two doors east of Sheath Alley (on the Blando map, find the Trueshield Trading Priakos yards, feature #68, go due north from the "8" until you hit a building, and it's the building next door, to your right). A former warehouse with a new light gray tile roof, this looks like a beam, post, and board barn from the outside, and has a signboard proclaiming it to be "Taertranth's House" over the row of four front doors (there's a stage door at the back, but not for the use of the public).
The House is owned and run by Roysaera Taertranth, a tall, striking brunette of an actor who's infamous for being a superb mimic (infamous because she rose to fame not as an actress, but for her mimicry of various nobles, when hired by rival nobles to play pranks) and is a stubborn, iron-willed but gracious and polite woman good in business but spectacular onstage. Now in her late thirties (and fending off half a dozen hopeful noble suitors, young and old, of both genders), she's easing into directing and managing, letting younger women play some of the leads now, where before she starred in everything. Her House is home to most of the tragedies, experimental plays, and "forays" (plays consisting of three to five separate acts that are really plays all their own, but that share a common place or family or major characters, often at different times to show a family down generations, or a castle under different lords) mounted in Suzail, and some haughty nobles and fans of plays consider it the place to see "superior" or "serious" theater: it's the home of "acting that actors admire."
Building a third competitor to the Roistery and the House might be a likely way to lose a lot of money unless you are offering something different by way of entertainment—and opera would indeed be that; most plays may have brief songs or snatches of songs incorporated, often as prophecies or divine words of guidance chanted by actors portraying clergy, but entire productions of music and song are rare. The way to swift success would of course be to make it socially popular by involving (and flattering) noble families as sponsors.
Fronting on the Promenade would be the most desirable location for an opera house, but getting such a spot would be difficult and expensive; there's intense competition for such locations, permits will be more exacting and difficult to obtain for this frontage than for anywhere except adjacent to city gates, the docks, and military buildings, and there will be a public backlash from those who lose whatever "favourite" establishments you displace.
Taking over and converting an existing building as opposed to building new is the one way to get a desired location; all you need for this is so much money that the building owner can't resist your offer.
Hi! Not frivolous at all! When creating that area of the Realms, which is incredibly mining-mineral-rich to the north of the Moonsea (the reason for the human explorations and settlement, the rise of the Zhentarim, etc.), I wanted to underscore the abundance/richness of the presence of metal-rich veins by having them taint the water. It's not a nod to anything real world aside from that.
Oh, yes. The wealthy, successful Kadantur and Shaur merchant families of Athkatla are both known (repeated gossip, down the years) to be able to “stroll unscathed through fire” (after the Shaur family rescued ledgers and deeds from a mansion fire, seen by many). There’s also the Barandur family in Baldur’s Gate, who’ve recently ‘miraculously’ survived some devastating fires.
Right. I'll have to do some hunting for my detailed lore, but the bases are: folk who ingest the "special" food gain temporary protections or buffs (usually effectively lasting for a day/24 hours, with only +2 or +1 or "with advantage" saving throw adds for about 7 hours after that) that do such things as: minimize undead attack effects like drains and necrotic damage, confer minor self-healing (1 to 2/even/odd roll hp per round), protect against good and/or evil, "soak" 1d4 hp off damage in excess of 10 hp suffered in 1 round, confer VERY short-range darkvision (arm's length distance), and so on. I should write these benefits, and some of the rare ingredients and how they should be used in dishes, up as a free Patreon entry... Another important aspect: although some effects can be enhanced by the eater having prepared themselves beforehand by eating or drinking or other actions, foodomancy works on EVERYONE of a particular race (certain races have higher or lower benefits from certain ingredients); no "attunement" or class membership or requirements or levels apply.
Certainly. Fzoul wanted to be able to cast and benefit from certain arcane spells in addition to the divine spells he was granted, largely for self defense. As senior Banite priests often wear forehead-gems to denote their rank, Fzoul decided to replace his gem with one that would have spell storing capabilities. So he sought some way of gaining constant access to a ring of spell storing or equivalent, preferably one that had a far greater capacity than the rings he knew of: arsenals of “ready” arcane spells he could cast by silent act of will (in 5e, as a bonus action). He found a source and made a deal with her to craft a spell gem for him, which she did; he then attuned himself to the gem in a ritual that bonded it to his forehead and made him mentally able to access all of its stored spells, each of which returned to the gem a day (24 hours) after being cast, if Fzoul performed the right (sacrificial) ritual.
The name of the night hag who crafted the gem, how she did it, and the specifics and consequences of Fzoul’s deal with her are all heavily NDA’d (thanks to a planned adventure that will probably never appear), but I can reveal the contents of Fzoul’s spell gem, updated to 5e terms (all cast as if by a wizard of 8th level): the cantrips blade ward and message, and the spells disguise self, feather fall, unseen servant/darkvision, misty step, pyrotechnics, see invisibility/bestow curse, counterspell, gaseous form, nondetection, vampiric touch, water breathing/arcane eye, blight, charm monster, dimension door, fabricate, fire shield, polymorph, and stoneskin.
Gond can foresee potential: what raw materials can work with which others (in alloys and amalgams), but NOT infusions or collisions with magic. Gond knows all about electricity. He knows about radiation and waves moving through ether. He does not know about radio as a tech, but he does know about natural radio waves (radiation; our tech is a means of capturing, modulating, and generating our own). Gond knows about jigs and automating processes, mechanically, but not about semiconductors and the miniaturization of circuit boards into chips. Tech in the Realms is not our real-world tech, and may not develop the same way (as we don't in our real world have "zap" instant magic). My father was a radar physicist who ended up a university prof teaching it after a long career in military and commercial applications, and we had long conversations about tech developing atop tech; he cautioned me not to assume our real-world tech is "absolute" and historical was more primitive, and that the way our world had gone was "the" way. Battery technology, for example, has lagged behind "what we want to do" for decades. And mortals, in the Realms, cannot know what gods know and don't know. WE know that the gods of the Realms are fallible, and their foreseeing is really good guessing, not absolute and mistake-free. Gond inspires his clergy to talk to inventors about this and that, and to experiment with this and that themselves (and sometimes prohibits experimentation [e.g. gunpowder], to try to "steer" innovation, so he obviously can know what mortals can't see yet. However, it's best for DMs to leave this as nebulous/fuzzy as possible, not have guiding principles and limits set in stone. The fine art of worldbuilding NEEDS wiggle room as breathing space.
Yes, I ran it myself (and gave copies away to all of my players when the session was done). I made it a race against Lashan's takeover, with a warband he'd sent hastening after the PCs through the "dungeon," to build urgency (no listening at doors and checking every ten feet for pit traps ;} ). The players loved it and wanted to go on playing that night in my hotel room, but Jen vetoed that, telling them "If Ed is in our room, he's playing with ME, thank you very much!" ...so we played it in one of their rooms, until 1 am. ;} The second sesh, the next day, included some TSR staffers (though I didn't know that until later) who were apparently impressed. Doubly so when they got their free copies and said to each other (about the copies), "Why aren't WE doing this?"
Although there may be some local exceptions, in small Sword Coast North villages and hamlets that have often been raided by orcs, there’s no treason in trading with orcs or other goblinkin, and no laws against it. Many individuals may be frightened to engage in contact with orcs or other goblinkin, unless in large armed groups, but it’s not a legal thing.
The Nine Jewels of Neverwinter is canon Realmslore, and Manshoon is not related to the Shoon dynasty.
Certainly. The dwarven mines in those areas are following separate veins of iron, of nickel, and of zinc. So, “boring but useful.” With the exception of a small but rich silver deposit at the southwestern end of the Storm Horns, worked out by 1212 DR.
Myrcrest became a tiny dragonet alongside Vangey, when Vangey took dragon form, but didn't survive the battles Vangey, Myrmeen, et al had, as guardians of Cormyr. (One more thing that hit the cutting room floor, in editing.)
Neverwinter has no ‘official’ language. Most folk speak and write Common, as do Lord Dagult Neverember and other recent rulers and notable local citizens. Most decrees and documents are in Common. Both Chondathan and Illuskan dialects and pronunications are heard, but most folk use them as useful additions to Common, in the same way that real-world English borrows phrases and words from French and other languages for everyday use.
The Common Tongue is like English in our real world: where it has gaps, it borrows words or entire phrases from other languages (like lumps not stirred into a stew), and so it's always becoming larger, broader, and more versatile. There are racial traits (like differences in acuity of vision, and therefore shades of color) that can be hard to explain to someone who can't experience them, which is why those "borrowed" words and phrases get borrowed, but otherwise there wouldn't be all that many difficulties unless situations impose word limits (cutting down on explanations to overcome vocabulary shortfalls). And of course occupations and guilds use their own jargon. And yes, there are increasing numbers of urban dwellers whose native tongue is Common.
Except in rural areas or in situations where speakers are trying to exclude someone (an outlander, someone lower class, or someone not part of a guild or society), Common is increasingly, in the 1490s DR, spoken more than anything else. In cities, particularly ports and cities on major trade routes, Common (with a sprinkling of local words and phrases) is predominantly spoken.
Orcs among the Zhents are mixed in with other races, often used as a “heavy squad” of well-armored brutes who can charge to disrupt strong foes. This usage was born of Zhentilar commanders not trusting orc-only units to be loyal, and to work well with others (some were of the opinion that as orcs might eat their fellow soldiers, they’d not care if many got wounded, or overwhelmed by foes and slain, because it would mean more meat for dinner—and it doesn’t matter if this thinking was correct or well-founded, because it was often followed).
The Zhentilar recruit dockside at many Inner Sea ports, offering good pay (which they follow through on; this is NOT a deception) to arrivals who can’t find steady work, or the amount of coin they thought they’d make from a landed cargo, or who’ve been tossed off a crew for behavioral reasons. They also quietly offer to take “inconvenient” prisoners (political or too-well-connected-to-punish) incarcerations off the hands of many city rulers (who can claim, later, that these vanished folk escaped from custody, and are now whereabouts unknown), and transport and enroll these in the Zhentilar ranks forcibly, but feed and pay them well during training (making sure they’re deployed in places where desertion will be a likely death sentence, not an easy way to slip away).
Everyone does it, regardless of class. Those who don't are those who don't want to advertise their availability (again, regardless of class).
Although this is a stereotype and like all such, breaks down when applied to individuals, the Thultanthans tended to be racist; they looked down on Low Netherese, and looked down from a far greater mental height on non-Netherese, and from an even greater mental height on non-humans. Including elves. Again, not every individual held such views, but the culture in Thulthanthar did. (Not every Netherese flying city was like this.)
Older nobles in Cormyr are more "traditional," meaning: everyone could have any bedpartner that wasn't a "monster" or "evil" (so, no night hags or drow), but no one publicly talked about it. In other words, open secrets. Anyone can adopt, but as with blood nobles brought back from the dead, they can't inherit. So adopted children can be full nobles, just as commoners who "marry in" can, but they can't be heirs, so can't carry on the main family line. Younger nobles might be more open in their talk/public discussion and proclamation, but for most, it's still "open secret" time. For your Lord-Whats-His-Face example, he wouldn't openly proclaim his wife is any sort of figurehead. Even if he openly went to bed with a male consort, his wife would still be his wife in every sense, and it would be the children she bore him that would carry on the family line. And there would be no deception on his part when they were courting. If she wanted to have lovers openly, and ended up pregnant as a result, the War Wizards and the Heralds would be magically checking genetics to make sure the children that resulted were "blood" or illegitimate. Like most kingdoms in the Realms, blood inheritance has strict rules. However, there ARE variances from family to family about heirs: in some, eldest child regardless of gender, in some, eldest female, in most eldest male. (I.e. families have their own rules.) In the same way, an Obarskyr (the royal family) can't inherit the crown if they've been brought back from the dead. (On paper, anyway.)
Yes, usually. Stalls and hawkers are sometimes allowed, but they are usually forced to work from portable carts and wagons, and move when ordered or face arrest and confiscations/forfeitures (so no “Oops my mule is lame/cart’s wheel is broken, I can’t move, sorry, ha ha” situations).
And Eric's guess is correct!
None of them. The Suzail Royal Theatre burned down in 1496 DR, and is still being rebuilt (many courtiers fighting over details).
There are many, from numerous doppelgangers and hags (everyone always seems to forget them! There are LOTS), changelings, shifters (yes, they're in the Realms), lycanthropes, some dragons, and all of the many, many beings who can use spells to change their own shape. And three or four dozen "monsters" who can change to human shapes, to lure.
Heh. The sight and “iron tang” smell of red blood makes vampires hungry, human blood most of all regardless of what race the vampire is, but being hungry isn’t the same as starving and will eat anything, RIGHT NOW. Vampires who aren’t brain-damaged or mentally influenced by magic or poison or whatever to not be thinking clearly are always thinking of quality blood meals at the right time, and procuring and protecting a reliable future supply of same. So they might stealthily drink from one person but not reveal their presence to others, even though it means bless now, because it means more blood later.
I DO see vampire “camp followers” in the Realms traveling with armies, not drinking blood from a single living, hale soldier because they can sup from the battle dead and the dying left on the battlefield to get all they need.
Blood makes vampires hungry but they are NOT insatiable; they can get “uncomfortably full” and just stop imbibing. Which is a very long-winded answer of saying only a desperate vampire would likely rush to consume vomited blood or a bloody stool; the quality of blood in such sources is lessened. It’s like eating spoiled food when you think good hearty food can soon be had.
The "magister" is the judge presiding in a trial. The magister has the authority to demand parties produce evidence, or create it in the form of handwriting that can be compared with evidence, and so on. I was pointing out that the judge's authority, in customary practise, extends this far.
They are pounded thin, then candied, and then pickled in an almond brandy (that’s rather like real-world Amaretto).
Yes. The Leaves of Learning temple of Oghma in Highmoon has a Holy Gate (portal) hidden in its innermost rooms that is a two-way means of accessing several dry, warm chambers deep within the Thunder Peaks due west of Deepingdale.
The clergy of Oghma and Deneir worked together in a frantic combined effort, calling in favors from the Harpers, the Heralds, and even the Chosen of Mystra to aid them in transporting magical tomes to the Leaves of Learning, and translocating (by various specialized teleportation magics) all non-magical tomes and papers, to the Leaves, where they were rushed through the Holy Gate and into safe storage, along with some mysterious [NDA’d, so don’t ask] sort of divine guardian.