Once Around the Realms

Once Around the Realms is a stand-alone novel by Brian Thomsen.

“

Volothamp Geddarm ("Volo" to his public), traveler, author, renaissance man of the Realms, has been known to brag on occasion, and to bet even more often. So when a discussion, as to who is the greatest traveler in the Realms takes place in his presence, of course he is going to defend his hard-won reputation, no matter what the consequences. Soon Volo and his erstwhile companion, Passepout, are on a grand tour the likes Toril has never seen. From Chult to Kara Tur, from Suzail to the Shining South, even from the Land of the Dead to Maztica, Volo and Passepout make their way around the globe... little suspecting that this simple bet masks a dark conspiracy unlike any other.

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Summary[]

Volothamp Geddarm is tricked into accepting a bet by Hlaavin to travel around the world, dropping off necromancer gems to mark his progress. Hlaavin hopes to use the gems to create a teleportation network to expand the Unseen, his Doppelganger network. Volo sets out with Passepout, a thief/actor he met in Suzail. They pick up Curtis, a young Cormyrian noble, in Khaerbaal, and rescue Shurleen Laduce, a servant of the heiress to Lord Bleth of the Seven Suns Trading Coster from a Tuigan tribe. They mistake Shurleen for the heiress, and she and Curtis fall in love. Eventually, Hlaavin kidnaps Volo and reveals his plan. The companions rescue him, and they hasten to Suzail, informing Khelben Arunsun and Vangerdahast of the plot. The wizards modify the gems so that they only teleport to one destination: a gem dropped inside a volcano.

Publication History[]

Once around the Realms was an attempt by TSR's fiction department to have other authors write for characters created by and associated with freelance authors. Although all work submitted by freelancers was done under a work-for-hire contract and therefore belonged to TSR, if the ownership of the characters was ever challenged in court, having a novel written using those characters by a TSR employee (Thomsen was TSR's Managing Editor for fiction) would put TSR in a much better position to defend its intellectual property rights and thereby make it easier to assign a new author to certain characters.

Index[]

Characters

Creatures

Locations

Appendix[]

Notes[]

↑ Although the "Presenting...Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction" timeline places Once Around the Realms in 1367 DR, the novel refers to Volo exposing the Hanging Lantern festhall in the in-universe Volo's Guide to Waterdeep as being "seven years ago". According to "The Candlekeep Collection" article, Volo's Guide to Waterdeep was written over 1363–1365 DR. It is unknown when it was published, but since City of Splendors mentions the event and is set in 1368 DR, it must be in 1365–1368 DR, likely earlier. This suggests Once Around the Realms is set c. 1372 DR or later; assuming "seven years" is a rough estimate and it should be in the 2^nd-edition era, one may presume 1371 DR. However, the novel also mentions the in-universe Volo's Guide to Cormyr as being "upcoming", and it was written over 1367–1368 DR, while the novel is a series of cameos and visits of contemporary Realms storylines. Ergo, "seven years" seems unsupportable or is based on a much earlier writing by Volo. To further complicate the issue, the "Prologue" and "Epilogue" framing story of Realms of Magic follows Once Around the Realms but "Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction" dates it to 1366 DR.

References[]

↑ Eric L. Boyd, Ed Greenwood, Steven E. Schend (2000). Presenting...Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-06-21. Retrieved on 2015-08-12.

[2] Although the "Presenting...Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction" timeline places Once Around the Realms in 1367 DR, the novel refers to Volo exposing the Hanging Lantern festhall in the in-universe Volo's Guide to Waterdeep as being "seven years ago". According to "The Candlekeep Collection" article, Volo's Guide to Waterdeep was written over 1363–1365 DR. It is unknown when it was published, but since City of Splendors mentions the event and is set in 1368 DR, it must be in 1365–1368 DR, likely earlier. This suggests Once Around the Realms is set c. 1372 DR or later; assuming "seven years" is a rough estimate and it should be in the 2^nd-edition era, one may presume 1371 DR. However, the novel also mentions the in-universe Volo's Guide to Cormyr as being "upcoming", and it was written over 1367–1368 DR, while the novel is a series of cameos and visits of contemporary Realms storylines. Ergo, "seven years" seems unsupportable or is based on a much earlier writing by Volo. To further complicate the issue, the "Prologue" and "Epilogue" framing story of Realms of Magic follows Once Around the Realms but "Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction" dates it to 1366 DR.

[P7M-1] Eric L. Boyd, Ed Greenwood, Steven E. Schend (2000). Presenting...Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-06-21. Retrieved on 2015-08-12.

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