A Conversation With Elminster About Abeir

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

I'm thrilled to finally be sharing so much information about the land of Abeir! Has your party ever been there? Perhaps to Laerakond instead? I would love to hear about how your group found its way to Abeir and what glorious adventures you've had (and whether it aligned with what I've said here)! Please consider becoming a Protector of the Realms to help support these videos as well as all my other content: patreon.com/EdGreenwood

[@ArakkoaChronicles]

I got an Abeiran dragonborn in the group. Sent him this immediately. :D

[@theprofessorkeen1911]

That is a whole new world to roam in!?! Oh I can dream of the adventures in there.....

[@AzraelThanatos]

One question that seems to come to mind from this is with the transfer of Dragonborn between the worlds, how do the major Dragonborn species tie into things like the Dragonborn of Bahamut from 3.5 where they were a specific transformation thing

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

I used Abeir for a Council of Wyrms campaign setting with the Age of Dragons still continuing and other races are just servants.

[@DogofSinope]

I thought this would be about Elminster's favorite adult beverage.

[@Ducq33]

It’s like listening to a high quality audiobook. He transports you to distant lands with every word lol

[@IH8Usernam3s]

I honestly tried getting into the Elminster books on Audible and they are just unlistenable with the narrator they have. If they redid the books with Ed narrating them, I'd probably listen to them over and over.

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

I've never understood why they just didn't ask me to read them. they asked me to spend hours pronouncing all the names correctly, and recording it...and then seemingly didn't use those recordings at all! @@IH8Usernam3s

[@kodoyama]

⁠I couldn’t think of anyone better to read them! I would buy them all

[@Venar-rz9yn]

@@edgreenwoodofficial I would eat a netherese orb to have you as a forgotten realms Audiobook narrator!

[@idleeidolon]

Ed Greenwood, Mike Pondsmith.... why do all these RPG creators have "DM Voice"?

[@CarlosLopez-wb2qn]

Man, I would kill for a map of all those lands!

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

A true Realms fan is working on one...see his work on my Greenwood's Grotto Discord channel...

[@CarlosLopez-wb2qn]

@@edgreenwoodofficial Thanks Ed!

[@BrettskiD20]

Love this! Thank you! You mention wizards, which I find interesting based on no weave in Abeir, which you also mention. My party is about to be sent there and start a section of our campaign I’m calling “Escape from Abeir”, so I’m very excited. It’ll be a challenge for the spell-casters since there’s no weave, and the cleric since there are no gods, but I’ve created some solutions including patronage offered by a weakened primordial, who wants revenge on three particular dragons in this region of Abeir. For those dragons I’ll be using the Purple, Yellow and Orange dragons featured in Dragon Magazine and have them scheming to resurrect my imagined “Tiamat’s Sister” - a slain three headed dragon goddess filling in the colour wheel. Tiamat killed her and I’m calling her Trechendara (based on an Irish mythological name). I’ve been planning this for a while as it’s a bit of a blank playground right now, but any development from your esteemed self would be of course amazing - including this video! Thanks again :)

[@shadowstep420]

It would be amazing to have a sourcebook for abeir like you with thay that be amazing. I love your sourcebooks they are the best hands down.

[@diverdan44]

Need a map of this.

[@LightStreak567]

It's been a long time since I've been thrilled by a storyteller. It's a long lost art to hear someone describe a fictional world so vividly, as if he has actually visited that world.

[@Greenknight3]

Abeir would be an amazing game setting.

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

I will get there eventually!!!

[@Greenknight3]

@@edgreenwoodofficial Holy buiscits, I wasn't expecting a reply. and thats amazing thank you.

[@lazydave9761]

I'd love nothing more than to be able to write a letter to Ed, expressing just how much I appreciate the world that he's created for us. No other setting elicits more magic and wonder for me than the Forgotten Realms.

[@JimCullen]

I'm curious, apart from those caused by the Spellplague or the Second Sundering, how many people have travelled from Toril to Abeir, or vice versa? I'm familiar with the travels of Farideh & Friends, from _The Devil You Know,_ but how many others have made the voyage? How difficult is it compared to other forms of interplanar travel, like going to the Plane of Fire or Mechanus?

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

More than a few, but those are among the great untold tales of the Realms.

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

I don't think that would be interplanar travel. Isn't Abeir just on the opposite side of the sun? So that would be something like super complicated teleport, but with extra math? Maybe, since they don't have the weave, you couldn't teleport, so you'd have to have a spelljammer? Idk, they're in the same sphere, so planeshift might not be required

[@johnbert974]

@@johntheherbalistg8756 !spelljammer

[@venkelos6996]

This was fun! I have to say, as a person who has been playing in FRCS for over 20 years, and been a big fan of it for over 25, I know NOTHING about Abeir; it might as well be another, separate setting, like Greyhawk, Eberron, or Cerilia. It's neat to get to hear about it, and fix that discrepancy, even if just a bit.😊

[@ruairiblake]

The talk about flying ships and looking at the same moon has filled my head with so many questions about spelljamming. But the main one is this: How would one fly to Abeir rather than Toril? I don't know if there's already an answer somewhere for that, but if there isn't then I have some work to add to my Spelljammer prep!

[@DavidShepheard]

I'm going to bring this up with the Wiildspace team and see if one of us can write an article for the fanzine.

[@tommygreene47]

You're the best El😃

[@Jowjoneking]

I love the Dragonborn lore. Imagine being the spitting image of the being you most despise in this world. A culture of misunderstood former slaves that take pride in their self suficience and sense of justice. A hate for Dragons so deep any chromatic or winged/tailed dragonborn are considered a genetic failure and either killed or banished. It's amazing, they could just be bipedal dragon people but they are one of the most unique races.

[@JimCullen]

Agree! The vayemniri culture and politics are also fascinating. Mostly self-sufficient clans that elect a central leader who deals only with matters that can't be dealt with in-clan. A strong culture of oral storytelling as a way to remember their history and struggles and teach important lessons to hatchlings. And you can really see how these aspects would have grown out of their history as slaves who broke free through great struggle. The vayemniri are one of the best-developed cultures in Toril, IMO.

[@aroncarver9013]

As always you prove to be a world class story teller, Ed! It is truly mind blowing how the world you've breathed so much life into has been able to bring together people from so many far reaching demographics. Per usual, thank you! P.S idk what your secret is but you clearly have the ability to pronounce names and words outside the range of what a human larynx can produce. We're on to you.

[@nasir6r996]

Eddy, baby! I wish I knew you had a youtube channel earlier! Love from the Maritimes!

[@brandondoane332]

This is the first time I've ever heard of this. It's so cool.

[@goatsuckervonsasquatch644]

I love this guy.

[@tkc1129]

Whoa! You addressed a subject I requested in a KZbin comment! Thanks, Ed and co!

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

Love the lilting and traveling narration.

[@lorensoth4365]

So excited. Love that we finally got a glimpse of this hidden world. It answers many questions.... but still leaves a few unanswered questions. So Maztica didn't switch out....as there is only a Boiling Sea. So what happened to those lands? Surials I guess are not from Abier, so Malar must of got them from elsewhere....unless dragonborn and Surials are considered the same.

[@black_foresst]

Hi Ed! What did you think of Larian Studios' adaptation of your work? Especially with the inclusion of Elminster in Gale's storyline?

[@ninjagamer1359]

Why am I just now finding out Ed Greenwood has a KZbin channel?! Subscribing right now! Can’t wait to binge videos!

[@chiengdc]

I wonder... Feywild is the Echo of Prime Material plane with the geography mirroring Toril. Is there another planet in Feywild that mirrors Abeir?

[@JimCullen]

What a fantastic question!

[@pedrostormrage]

Just some editing feedback (perhaps it could be used in the future whenever there's a location being described): it would have been interesting to see a "world map" of Abeir at the start (so we can get the big picture), and then see each location highlighted right before Ed started talking about it (maybe it's because I'm a visual learner, but at least to me that would have made it easier to absorb the descriptions - it's like placing each piece on a puzzle). Placing pictures of the most characteristic things from each location on the map (like how old maps used to show mythical creatures attacking ships) would have been helpful/cool too (in the case of the Forgotten Realms, "Here be dragons" can have a literal meaning!).

[@gab.americano]

Fantastic content mr. Greenwood, as always!

[@RyllenKriel]

Thank you for sharing Abeir, but perhaps we could share a few more in the future?

[@tentaclestv2476]

I’m so chuffed over this video. This is something I’ve been wanting for so long, thank you!!! More more more! 😂

[@dungeonsanddragonsbutformo9835]

I just picked up a book of yours about elminster for $3 at value village, only to find out it was signed after I bought it. I'm excited to read one of your books, I've only previously read Drizzt books so far.

[@hunterdavis262]

Ed Greenwood KZbin channel ….. what!!!!!! Awesome

[@theobserver6579]

Greetings Ed! I would like to say that you've been an inspiration for me in writing my own fantasy setting, and that I especially appreciate your attention to detail and lore consistency. Hopefully i can get my works published soon, and that I'll have the opportunity to send you a copy. Hope to see more content from you soon.

[@pelijer]

Another Abeir-Questioneer here! Can Abeir be reached by travelling the astral plane? Thank you

[@canaldojoaodebarro5856]

This is very important

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

It can indeed.

[@sarahmanalapan8443]

a master story teller. Thank you ed

[@alexeisenhauer5874]

Were there ever any source books for Abeir?

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

None at all. Hence this beginning.

[@matthewsinclair4322]

In the recent Heroes Feast: Saving the Children’s Menu adventure, it’s revealed that there is a scion of Grolantor sleeping underground at Holrow Homestead but it doesn’t say anything else. Could you give some information about the scion, like it’s name, gender and relationship with Grolantor and it’s other parent/family, along with it’s history?

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

I'll have to check with others to see how much I can reveal.

[@docnecrotic]

That was very interesting! Leave it to Ed to create something cool out of constraints placed on him by Hasbro. Yeah, I still don't like 4th, but this makes me further admire Ed's dedication and creative mind. Edit: Also, neat to see him reuse the Hin term from his contribution to Mystara!

[@mahiknight]

Are there any books or other media that take place in Abeir as well? No doubt an interesting setting!

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

No, not yet. This vid is the beginning...

[@stokelyandhisboys2773]

Hey Ed. Near the end of the video you say there are wizards in towers and flying ships but then say there is no weave over Abeir? How then do wizards and flying ships work? Sorry if I misunderstood something. I've been waiting for a video on the sister world for several years now. Hopefully we can get some maps and campaign settings. Thank you for the videos and insights to my favorite universe.

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

The Weave is Mystra, and calling on it is only one way of casting arcane magic. There are many others (yes, I know, future vids about them ;} )

[@adventurous_soles9899]

Do the gods of Toril also rule over Abeir? I know Ao separated the two, but do the gods of Toril have the ability to visit and/or influence Abeir? With their being no weave, it would follow that Mystra certainly isn't there, is that true for all gods?

[@honorolson6411]

Hello El! Are there any dragons on Abeir that stand out amongst the rest? Whether by personal acts, reputation, or simply personal power. As always, thank you for all of your knowledge of the Forgotten Realms!

[@carloscostacox]

YAAAY information about Abeir! My dragonborn character is desperate to find a way to help Abeir

[@FlameForgedSoul]

Ha! We've been pronouncing it correctly all this time! Wonderful! Also We're woefully behind on Realms lore, so...much...reading ahead.

[@anathema1828]

Absolutely stunning content! Thank you

[@carlborneke8641]

Imagine a campaign where you travel back and forth between Abeir and Toril. Especially if you play as a Dragonborn. Maybe the 2 worlds are at risk of colliding with each other again and you must find a way to stop it before too much damage is done to both worlds. Maybe you need to gather allies and work with several people from both worlds and at the end you can help decide if the border between Abier and Toril should be tightly closed or remain opened for people to freely travel between them. Imagine how such an event would change the Forgotten Reals setting. That’s definitely a campaign I would love to play.

[@jackbuchanan6441]

This is what I play 4th edition for. The Spellplague is a perfect backdrop/excuse for something like this to happen

[@Jerrysteward59]

A place where Dragonborn of metallic and chromatic can lay with each other is just beautiful it defies the division of the family of dragons because of the great bloodline

[@Ceaudrious]

Can we get information powerful genie houses too.. Maybe genie prince that are as powerful as demon lords, devil lords and archangels... I am sure there are genie houses that works for akadi, grumbar, istesha and kossuth

[@absolutleynotanalien8096]

Dungeon Dad said hi.

[@agustinvenegas5238]

One of my 10-odd backup characters for my regular campaign is a dragonborn barbarian born in abeir, Norixius Arjdazyx, Adrastos for ease on the tounge, and finally learning a bit more of his native Abeir is wonderful

[@DeanNatheos-i2t]

Do they have a city like waterdeep and thank you for the video it's excellent 👍.

[@jasonmed2119]

Fantasic

[@Kailes_]

Greetings! Couple a days ago me with my friends play in Basic DnD in Mystara setting. My character is a halfling so we travel in Five Shires, so master use your gazetteer. This was unbelievably cool, towns described beautiful and detailed and small adventure (where wizards kidnapped halflings) was very enjoyable. I understand that this channel is about FR lore not Mystara, but it will be so amazing if you and your team make a video about your work on gazetteer and lore of mystarian halfings. Also I am extremely interested in one shire tavern keeper, I think his name was Korvin Bloodstar, fighter ex-adventurer. This so edgy name. Is he someone’s character who lately become an npc?

[@eddiebendigo7317]

Dungeon Dad says hi.

[@danielzarkos]

I'd love to hear everything about the Anauroch Desert. I'm DMing a campaign now that the players lived for a while in The Netherese Empire, and then traveled to the future when Karsus Folly happened, they were saved by Azoquam, an Archmage that used the Chronurgy Nether Scroll that they had recovered.

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

It's hot during the day 🥳

[@dustinduffy5870]

first off....that shirt is classy AF

[@justinc5967]

Can you all make a mod for BG3 replacing Elminster's lines with VO from Ed Greenwood? I would (Pay)treon for that.

[@tombirmingham7033]

I liked rhe egyptiam and mesopotamian people in toril Tiamat came into Toril by the slave religion of the Zigguar people. My character playing an OLD old module found a ring from a dead pharoah that was in a pyramid in a glass dessert. Wonder what he was

[@HistoryVideoGamesMiscStuff]

I'm curious about the being known as Asgorath. His/her efforts were supposed what caused Ao to split the Realms into Abeir and Toril during the Tearfall. They have been referred to as a god, a primordial, an aspect of the World Serpent, and even an overgod. I'm curious as how this all works out. Is Asgorath a singular entity, are the seemingly different beings avatars of the same entity, or is Asgorath just a cool/family name in draconic and multiple separate beings share the name?

[@mercurialsilver5688]

I thought wizards couldn’t work magic in Abeir?

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

Wizards can't call on the Weave in Abeir, but there are other ways of casting arcane magic.

[@draynaruegames]

How does Abeir connect to the other planes, like the inner and outer planes? Or is it entirely isolated?

[@Oskanderstine]

So, Ed is Elminster? I told my cousin, many years ago, Ed Greenwood was Elminster. Too bad my cousin isn't around to see it.

[@matthewsinclair4322]

Can you travel to Abeir by spelljammer and if not, how does one travel between Abeir and other worlds?

[@ArakkoaChronicles]

Abeir as a separate world has only been first mentioned after OG Spelljammer has been discontinued, and has not been alluded to in the new Spelljammer books. Therefore, we can only speculate. We are told Abeir is located physically in the same space but somehow in another dimension, or pocket dimension. One could guess from that it's somehow in another Material Plane. If that is the case, a traditional spelljammer would be unable to reach it. Perhaps it's just "out of phase" with our reality, in that case perhaps some kind of modification to the spelljammer can help. And others have put it as a "antichthon" of sorts, orbiting on the same orbit as Toril but on the opposite end of the orbit. In that case, it would be very easy to rich, though it has not been mentioned at all in Spelljammer publications - and you could argue it should've been if it was there.

[@edgreenwoodofficial]

You need special magic or a special helm to "twist dimensions" in the right place...and it's dangerous to the mind of the being navigating the ship (usually drives them mad).

[@Spectre2434]

The Great Fens...

[@windalfalatar333]

It seems like a lot of Abeir is similar to Greek city states of the Classical period, or Vendel or Viking Era isolated homesteads or strongholds. Am I over-generalising or is there some truth to this? I understand, especially from this video, that there is extreme complexity, but it was just something that struck me.

[@chainsawsubtlety9828]

LOUDER, please. Some of us were in the military.

[@JoesphEKerr]

I thought Abeir-Toril meant The Cradle of Life. I thought that it never made sense when they "cracked" Abeir into another world. It was like Hasbroke bought a product that they didn't understand and... broke it. No offense Elminster - but I choose to disbelieve this illusion, I mean, conversation. Regardless, thumbs up anyway.

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Twelve Suddenly, before he knew it, he was back on the edge of the shelf overlooking the lake again. There was nowhere else left for him to go. He glared at the fiery morass in defiant rage. “I gave you what you wanted!” he bellowed, “honour your side of the bargain! I demand it!” The columns of flame sizzled and spat, their light searing his skin and forcing him to cover his face with his arm. A roar like thunder resounded around the cavern and then trailed away. The fires died down and a calmness settled over the lake. Breathing hard, Carmie lowered his arm and peered cautiously down at its depths. There was a grotesques sucking sound and something was spat up from its quivering folds. He started in surprise as the object landed next to him. Steam drifted up from its polished surface and Carmie was dumbfounded as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. It was a gauntlet, crafted from gleaming blue and green scales, each finger sculpted into a rending talon of marbled nacre. Spotlessly clean, the item radiated with a throbbing energy that made him tingle with deep-seated desire even from this distance. The gauntlet was calling out to him in seductive whispers, urging him to pick it up. He suddenly remembered the two monsters closing in on him. He ripped his gaze away from the beautiful gauntlet and saw that they had come to a halt. They remained still as stone, staring moronically ahead. Carmie watched them warily and then bent over to pick up the gauntlet. The sense of power magnified as his fingers made contact with its cold surface and without a second thought slipped it over his left hand. The gauntlet fitted like a glove, clinging to the contours of his arm; almost as if it had been specially made for him, and a tsunami of new found strength crashed over his aching body. He raised his hand and the gauntlet crackled with green fire. This was it. Power. It pulsed through his bloodstream and he tasted the raw hunger of the gauntlet, howling to be used to wreak destruction. The two aberrant fish men lowered their misbegotten bodies to the ground, abasing themselves before their new master. Carmie made his gauntleted hand into a fist and a cold cruel smile spread across his lips. Finally, he could have his revenge on Spencer. End of Part Twelve

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Eleven Silence followed. So complete and beautiful that Carmie thought he had gone deaf. But then the sound of the slobbering churning of the hellish lake licked at his ears again. Of Lewys or the . . . thing that had taken him, there was no sign, and he could have easily imagined the whole horrific scene, only Lewys was gone forever and Carmie had gotten what he wanted; the favour of the Qua. “The offering has been accepted,” he called, having to scrape the words out of his desolate throat. He paused as he tried to recall the rest of the recitation Shadow Weaver had taught him. “In accordance with the Sacred Code of Abhoth, Protoplasmic Father of all that is Unclean, I request a boon from the Sovereigns of the Vile Depths. Grant me one of your fabled weapons of power so I might go forth to smite all that is holy and good and hasten the coming of the Dark Rapture when all the souls of the innocent will be laid bare and devoured by the blessed corruption of the Demogorgon!” He licked his dry lips and waited in taut suspense. Nothing stirred upon the vast lake. As the minutes ticked by, he began to grow restless and started to wonder if any of the Qua had actually heard him. He cleared his throat and prepared to call out the recitation again when a jarring shudder ran along the rock shelf. Down below, the lake started to bubble with an even more violent intensity. Its repugnant surface blistered and burst open in a dozen places, vomiting ramrod columns of sulphurous yellow flame that shot upwards to create a forest of burning blasphemous lights. Another shudder came, more intense than the first, and a large chunk of one of the overhanging stalactites plunged downwards to shatter close to his feet. A jolt of fear went through Carmie and he turned and made a run for it before the whole cavern collapsed on top of him. More pieces of rock came crashing down like rain and he had to dodge left and right to miss being hit. The small mouth of the cavern was up ahead and he put on an extra burst of speed. As he pierced the thick gloom to get to it, he suddenly came to a stuttering halt. At the cavern’s only way out, two hulking humanoid shapes stood guard. Strong and stooped, with thickened arms and legs and spiny frills sprouting along their muscled backs, they were hideous amalgamations of man and fish. Bulbous grey eyes stared emptily out of snouted, toad-like faces and they padded slowly towards him on splayed webbed feet. Panicked, Carmie backed away from them. Lewys had been right all along. The old hag had betrayed them. He cursed Shadow Weaver under his breath as another tremour sliced through the cave. The upheavals did not faze the two subterranean creatures and they plodded closer and closer, meaning to capture him or worse. Like a cornered rat, Carmie scurried back to the lake, now utterly at a loss as to what to do next. He visualised the look on Lewys’s face when the tentacle took him and refused to accept the same fate. He had to get away somehow. End of Part Eleven

[@gabrielgreene420]

You say Lhoraun, I say Rokon.

[@idleeidolon]

Ed Greenwood, Mike Pondsmith.... why do all these RPG creators have "DM Voice"?

[@DavidShepheard]

🍺

[@12oshinko]

I play a Triton Undying Tome-lock who time traveled to the last few years of Abeir-Toril and got stuck. He's now over 33k years old

[@grimmdm1]

This Setting Needs to be published….

[@Cezili]

I wonder if anyone would be interested in making a DMsGuild or other 3rd party sourcebook for Abeir. I've always been curious about Toril's twin world, but there's nothing really written about it (before this video). When I sent my party to Abeir, I winged it with a mix of MTG Tarkir, and Dark Sun's Athas.

[@koshu4]

Arabella said I should listen to Beard Man. Beard Man said “don’t call me Beard Man”. Then I blinked and ended up here.

[@jamesberghuis8231]

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE

[@minnumseerrund]

where's the hat

[@Brian2Taiwan]

That font is nearly undreadable…

[@GameTimeWhy]

Adding my voice to the weave.

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Nine The chamber beyond was at least twenty times larger than the one they had just left; a vast space of tubular ebon rock crusted over with pallid blue frost. The soporific heat of the previous cave dared not to venture here, surrendering to the frigid breath of sepulchral cold. Diamond-like ice crystals crunched like broken glass underfoot as they shuffled into this new environment and their faces stung from the caress of the chilled air. From the ceiling which soared so far overhead that it became lost in a sea of roiling mist, shimmering stalactites the size of great oak trees descended, bathing everything in a ghostly blue light. They gave off enough illumination for the companions to see clearly that the floor dropped abruptly away into a deep chasm several feet ahead and as they moved closer to investigate the edge found themselves atop a shelf of sheer rock staring down at a massive lake of gelatinous slime. It oozed and slathered with repulsive grandeur, a vivid purple expanse of primordial filth under lit with an aberrant phosphorescence. The disgusting lake stretched out to fill the whole cavern before disappearing into the misty gloom beyond. Lewys stared down at its depths in horror, transfixed by the bubbling morass. “There’s no way across,” he said, stood on the very edge of the shelf and leaning forward as far as he dared. A quiver of hope danced in his stomach. “No way down either. We’ll have to go back now.” Carmie didn’t answer. He stood directly behind Lewys, his body coiled. The blood pounded in his ears and he barely heard his friend. A haunted look transformed his face into a death mask and his eyes remained glued to the boy’s back. Then, just before Lewys was about to turn round, Carmie sprang like a wildcat. He rushed forward and shoved Lewys straight off the edge. End of Part Nine

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Ten He thought Lewys had screamed, but he couldn’t be sure. All he could hear was his own heart, roaring in fury and threatening to burst straight from his chest. His breathing came shallow and sharp and every fibre of his body trembled like a newborn. Clenching his jaw he regained his composure and forced himself to move forward to look down over the edge of the cliff. Lewys lay sprawled on the rocky shore, a few feet away from the seething lake. One of his legs was twisted unnaturally to one side and he was using his arms to try and lift himself up. He let out a sharp screech as he managed to turn his head to look up at Carmie. “Wha - no,” he moaned, the wildness in his pain-clogged eyes a cocktail of agony and outrage. “Damn you Carmie! Why!” Carmie stared down at the broken figure in bleak silence. “To bargain with the Qua one must first throw them a treat,” Shadow Weaver had advised him, her raspy sibilant voice dripping with venom. “A living sacrifice of succulent flesh and vibrant mind. The Memory Vampires will accept nothing less.” A hunchbacked ridge of slug green flesh, festering and spiny, emerged briefly out of the poisonous lake before quickly disappearing again. Swollen ripples of disturbance suddenly broke across the viscous surface as the dark impression of something huge beneath it moved with ravenous haste towards Lewys’s prone form. Lewys must have sensed its coming for his head snapped back towards the lake. His elfish face iced into a snapshot of naked terror. Desperate, he tried to pull himself away from the oozing shore, his ruined leg retarding his progress. Giving up, his wet eyes upturned to where Carmie still stood looking down. “Help me!” he sobbed. “Carmie, please!” What happened next was so quick Carmie’s fogged brain barely registered it. There was a great upheaval near the shore of the lake as a muscular leprous tentacle burst free of its foetid depths and snatched up Lewys in its dank grip. The boy wasn’t even allowed one final scream before the tentacle shot back into the endless filth taking its prize with it. End of Part Ten

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Eight Coming to the opening, which was nothing more than a ragged oblong cut into the rock, they were just about to pass through it one at a time because it was too small to allow the two of them to walk through together, when a powerful wind blasted out of it, knocking them backwards. The icy wind almost sent them sprawling onto the ground and they withered beneath its howling, charnel breath. It snuffed out the torches completely and the boys dropped them in their surprise. The wind stopped as abruptly as it started, leaving behind a shockwave of silent terror. Carmie was the first to recover. He started moving forward toward the opening again, when Lewys suddenly grabbed his arm. “No more,” he begged. “We have to get out or we’ll die, I’m certain of that now. This place doesn’t want us here.” Carmie smiled, not unkindly. “We have to go on,” he said gently. “Don’t be afraid.” He leaned forward and kissed Lewys tenderly on the cheek. “I’ll look after you,” he whispered. Lewys didn’t reply and his fear didn’t abate, but he made no further protest and followed Carmie through the cavern mouth. End of Part Eight

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part One Ice clawed winds slashed at the two travellers without mercy as they trudged up the steep and narrow ridge. The sky above their covered heads was a bleak grey bruise and thick snow choked their way, colder than death and coming up to their knees. To one side of them rose a sheer mountain wall of grizzled rock, while on the other the land fell away in a deadly drop beyond which the great expanse that was the Tarksarks revelled in all their grim cruel beauty. The taller and broader of the two travellers found himself many times glancing over at this mountain range, magnetised to the tangle of desolate valleys, baroque rock formations and sweeping jagged peaks. He could sense this was a place of secrets and power and creeping things that had never seen the light of day and were best left alone. His companion, lithe framed and wiry, spared little time on appreciating the gloomy aesthetics of their surroundings. He sweated and swore and many times stumbled as he waded through the unnatural snow whose tiny crystals were as sharp as glass. He called to his ally to slow down, but went unheeded, and glared at the straight back in front of him as it marched on with relentless purpose. Eventually they came upon the knife slash defile in the mountain wall that had been marked on the witch’s map. Quickly, they ducked down it gaining respite from the battering winds and paused to catch their breaths. The smaller of the two pulled the thick scarf down from his face and rounded on his companion. “About time!” he snapped. “I need a drink!” Carmie removed his own face covering and shot his partner a contemptuous look. “Why so sour, Lewys? Don’t you find this place exhilarating?” “It’s a nightmare!” whined Lewys. “This whole journey has been a nightmare! Why did we have to come in the first place? There’s nothing here!” Ignoring him, Carmie took the hip flask from his backpack and chucked it over to Lewys. The boy quickly opened it and took a greedy swig, the whisky blazed down his throat and a comforting warmth spread through his chest. Carmie took out the ragged parchment made of human skin that Shadow Weaver had given him and consulted the crude map she had drawn upon its surface. “We’re close,” he said, before folding it away and slipping it into one of the deep pockets of his padded overcoat. “Close to what? Freezing to death?” sneered Lewys. “I want to go home! This world is vile!” “Give me that,” Carmie ordered, indicating the hip flask. Lewys took another swig and thrust it into Carmie’s hand, his petite heart-shaped face set into a pettish scowl. “I hope you choke to death.” Carmie threw him a sarcastic grin. “If I did that you’d never get off Abeir. I’m the only one who can activate the dimensional portal, remember, gerbil-brain?” “That’s not much good to either of us stuck out here miles away from the temple in Carngor,” Lewys bit back. “I think you’ve been had. That old crone has set us up!” The Ur-Priest ignored him. He took a sip from the flask and gazed around at the defile. Two sheer walls of rock thrust upwards on either side lurching drunkenly together near the top, reducing the sky to a thin slither that created a permanent half twilight all around them. The path ahead was a twisting assault course of broken rock and corpse-white snow leading off into deeper impenetrable darkness. Presented with such a desolate scene, Carmie was almost inclined to agree with his devious confederate. Perhaps Shadow Weaver had really betrayed him? It would take many weeks to get back to the temple and then return to Toril and most likely she could be long before he had time to return to her hovel and exact a sweet and painful revenge on the shrivelled up crow. “Seek the Qua,” her spidery voice hissed in his ear as he replayed in his head their last conversation before setting off on this expedition to Toril’s sister planet. “They are the key to true greatness, my young lord. Sovereigns of the Obscene Darkness, Masters of the Hell Oceans, they possess all the filthy secrets condemned by Nature. Bargain fairly with the Abominations Out Of Time and all your forbidden dreams will be made flesh.” A chill that was not from the cold sliced through him and he took another tot of whisky to burn away the Weaver’s corrupt whispers. He stoppered the hip flask and returned it to his backpack. A low wailing that might or might not have been the wind limped through the defile and as he stared ahead he thought he saw a ragged shadowy figure beckoning him onwards. “Come on,” he said to Lewys and marched on down the defile, not bothering to look behind him to see if the boy was following. It was too late to turn back now. This was his destiny. End of Part One

[@cyrotek3518]

Wait, Abeir has wizards? I thought they didn't due to no weave which was also the reason for why Dragonborn that ended up on Toril had a history of sorcerers but no wizards. Edit: Ah, just noticed this was answered in another comment.

[@zainabalansari3549]

Mr Greenwood are you going to play Baldur’s Gate 3 ?!!

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Five For endless moments, gravid with fear and expectation, Carmie stared into the open doorway. It leered back, a gaping wound of shadow and smoke. Lewys, eyes rabbit bright with fear, peered over his shoulder. “Carmie, what have you done?” Carmie regarded the opening with a long steady look. “I have revealed the way to riches and power,” he declared, suddenly feeling giddy and reckless. “My gamble paid off as it always does.” He turned and gave Lewys a shark-like grin. “Let’s go make a little social call, shall we?” “I’m not going in there!” Lewys exclaimed. “I’m leaving right now!” “If you think you can make it all the way back to Carngor without me then go right ahead,” Carmie drawled in a sardonic tone. “I don’t need you now anyway.” A look of raw hurt flashed across the other boy’s face, before it was quickly concealed by a sullen scowl. “I’ll break out the torches,” he muttered. End of Part Five

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Seven The staircase wound its way deeper and deeper into the bowels of the cancerous earth, cutting a jagged zigzag along which the two boys relentless followed; Carmie spurred on by the twisted lust for power and hapless Lewys because he no longer had any other choice. Time was meaningless in this subterranean realm and the darkness was an all pervasive oppressive force. Eventually though, the passage widened out into a crumbling vestibule and a new light, a sickly green glow, leaked from a vast archway directly opposite them. The archway had been carved to resemble the nightmarish face and open maw of a colossal shark, and long fangs of gleaming steel hung down from its intrados, seemingly ready to bite down on anyone foolhardy enough to pass beneath them. Carmie and Lewys moved in awed silence toward the arch, and both held their breaths as they walked through the grotesque façade and out the other side. The teeth had mercifully stayed in place and the pair relaxed slightly once they were clear of them, neither of them daring to look back. The green light was at its strongest on this side of the archway, and Carmie saw that it was coming from dozens of pustule-like growths that covered the sweeping, cavernous walls of the cathedral like chamber they found themselves in. A crepuscular haze clung to the fetid air and outré and unnatural vegetation spread like a plague all around them. The floor was a mat of oozing moss that yielded like putrefying flesh beneath their feet, splitting open in several places to release noxious yellow streams of bile. The tropical heat in the chamber forced Lewys to remove his face covering, now reduced to nothing more than a damp rag, and he wiped at the sticky sheen of sweat that plastered his skin. He blinked myopically through the steaming murk and spotted a small opening in the far wall. It seemed to be the only exit out of the loathsome cavern and he nudged Carmie and pointed toward it. Carmie nodded in grim silence, the heat and dryness in his throat making speech too much of an effort, and they waded across the fermenting moss to reach it. All the time he felt eyes watching him, and glimpsed misshapen shadows flit here and there, vanishing before he could get a good look at them. End of Part Seven

[@drakoxion]

To Bargain With The Qua - Part Six Down they went, struggling to keep their balance on the flight of steep steps that had been crudely hacked into the rock; the flickering light of their torches barely scraping against the thick carapace of darkness that smothered the narrow passageway. The cloying heat had returned with a vengeance carrying with it the rancid stench of damp decay. Lewys was forced to pull up his face covering as far as it would go and his movements became stiff and listless. Carmie ignored the foul conditions, his attention focused solely on his goal. The jaundiced glow of his torch showed glimpses of the rugged rock walls on either side of them, interspersed with the remnants of grandiose cyclopean stonework, festooned with dire Satanic symbols. The bleeding carcass of the infernal power engraved in them choked his mouth, dripping down icy gobbets of sin into the pit of his stomach that drove him half-mad with ravening hunger. The unhuman voices now spoke to him again, whispering a single word over and over again; “Soon.” End of Part Six

[@CozyCoyote]

.... why do he look like a wizard. stop that

[@hallking7441]

His name is Ed. Dont enable the crazy.

[@lacecap]

You must be a hoot at parties...

[@AncientRylanor69]

l

[@BaronPorkface]

What was the point of introducing Aebir/Laerakond intro 4th edition from a game design perspective?

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

It was an excuse to change the map and how magic functions. New map adds a reason to buy the 4e campaign setting.