D&D Lore: Forgotten Realms History - Volume 3 (Tearfall)

[@carlcascone1202]

Just a clarification. Abeir-Toril was listed in the 1987 FR Campagin GUide for AD&D. Jeff Grubb who brought the Realms to TSR just simply said he wanted the World information to appear first in the Index.

[@A_majorGaming]

Another banger from my favorite channel. I am so glad that he keeping his own voice and not using AI for the entirety. Because his narration and delivery can not be duplicated. Its the draw to the channel for me. I can't help but think every time I watch a video of Riches and Liches, that this is what this whole website of KZbin should be about. True creativity, and true education, true exploration, enlightened entertainment. Truly a great channel to watch for lovers of fantasy.

[@Ever_J13]

Hear hear!

[@YoutubeDictatorship2024]

Amen

[@vocalityovertime]

All the words sound right, even.

[@Lucius_Tenebri]

Thank you my friend. This video truly deepened my understanding of the history of the Forgotten realms. Really dense and nourishing ❤. I knew supporting your channel was a good decision. Much appreciated...

[@OnixDDixon]

thank you SO MUCH for making these! I have been gathering notes in this same category of lore for YEARS but you managed to stitch this together in a way i'm not sure a lot of people appreciate. Just want you to know someone else gets it, how the obscurity and madness is hinting at a coherent and tremendous story. This is vital material for experienced DMs.

[@RichesandLiches]

That means a lot... so awesome to read comments like this! Thank you!

[@arminiuschatti2287]

I’ve read that Abeir is out of phase with Toril, which means Abeir’s gravity could be witnessed but neither World could interact with the other without immense effort. However, the Nautiloid in the Baldur’s Gate 3 Trailer could Planeshift, so it is possible a Spelljammer could be attuned to Phaseshift. Why do I bring it up? Abeir may have other pieces of knowledge that are unavailable on Toril and vis-a-vis.

[@twilitlloyd7167]

I’m 100% willing to accept that as canon in my own world. It only makes sense for knowledge of magic, alchemy, artifice, and essentially any other field to develop very differently in a world where Primordials hold power rather than Gods. I imagine that the Primordials are somewhat more chaotically inclined than the majority of Gods. So it would make sense to me if things like massive areas of wild magic were fairly common, so people would often create artifacts specifically to limit the number of possible effects in a small zone whenever there was a wild surge. Perhaps causing the DM to roll a D4 to decide which 25 options of the wild magic table to roll for. Or perhaps 4 separate types of artifacts, that obviously could not be used simultaneously, which lock the 25 effects you can personally experience or cause during a wild magic surge. Conversely, the artifacts could be used to lock you out of experiencing a specific 1/4 of the wild magic table.

[@KyloB]

Mate this is outstanding. If you keep pushing out content like this I think you'll pretty much become a one-stop-shop for DND Lore. I've unfortunately never played DND (scheduling + no interested friends), but I've always been really into the lore and stories for years now, and you're very quickly becoming one of my favourite channels. Thank you so much

[@duanebradway1627]

Another fantastic lore reading. I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into the research needed to streamline the chaotic fragments that are the world of Toril.

[@mxmadifae]

loving this series, the chapters can’t come fast enough! totes understand the time it takes as evidenced by the depth and care put into each essay, they’re just so good that i’m eager for more… 😅

[@usedport100s]

Thank you for making this series 🙏 You're not the hero we deserve, but the one we need.

[@davidmadly]

I love your stuff, but I have to make a slight clarification. While Abeir as a separate place is a 4e invention, referring to Toril as Abeir-Toril is not. You can find a reference on page 19 of the Cyclopedia of the Realms from the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set box. I love your videos. Thanks for all the hard work!

[@RichesandLiches]

Thank you for the clarification!

[@roscom5123]

From the 1987 Cyclopedia of the Realms: “Abeir-Toril, more commonly called Toril, is the name of the orb that Faerun and the Forgotten Realms is set upon… The name is archaic, meaning “Cradle of Life,” and is rarely used in everyday life.”

[@roscom5123]

Love your videos, by the way. Subscribed!

[@MrPeabody67]

I'm also fairly sure that Abeir-Toril is mention in the BG 1&2 spellbooks that came with the games. If not, I'm fairly sure I was aware of the name because of 2nd Ed sources

[@TheFattdragon]

WoW!!! love the detail to history, the colorful scenes, and the epic music all enhancing the chapters as they flow one into the next. I grew up reading mostly Dragon Lance, and Spell Jammer so this fills in alot of info for me. Maybe once you have a chance, make a video on an epic space voyage from one world setting to another.

[@anthonygorman94]

This is right up there with my other two fave lore channels for D&D/ Forgotten Realms. Now it’s three! None in any particular order , by the way, 😜

[@RichesandLiches]

Thank you... I am both happy and humbled to be included among your favorites! /bow

[@properlydicedonyon3624]

My personal canon changes or recontextualizes some details I'll list below: -Zotha, at least by the time of the events of the Tearfall, was either on the side of the primordials, or had willingly transformed into one. If we accept the lore regarding Catastrophic dragons, this becomes much easier to believe and understand. -Asgorath and Io are separate beings who worked in tandem with one another. Io was killed by the primordial Eren-Hus, with his two halves becoming Bahamut and Tiamat, while Asgorath took on the proper role of the god of the dragons. This distinction is important, as in order for Tiamat to assist in the otherwise unrelated event of crafting the ruby rod during this time period, she (and by extension, Bahamut) needs to exist before the Tearfall, and in order for Asgorath's involvement in the Tearfall to make sense, he needs to be alive by the time the Days of Thunder role around and the Batrachi start unleashing primordials. This idea of two beings taking up one deific role does have some backing in the form of gods like the Elven triune deity Angharradh, or perhaps the form Selune and Shar had back when they were of one mind, though I will admit it is stretching things. -The idea that the Tearfall did in fact introduce most of the draconic species into the forgotten realms. This idea conflicts with the statement of dragons fighting in the Dawn War, and the existence of Io during the Dawn War in general, but it gives us a unique opportunity to tie a few other random pieces of lore together. Remember the epic dragons introduced back in 3rd edition? The Prismatic, Time, and Force dragons were the original dragons that fought alongside Io and Asgorath in the Dawn War. Because of all this, my take on this part of the timeline states that the Batrachi did in fact let loose several primordials. Among them was Zotha, a former god who defected to the side of the Primordials during the Dawn War, causing many dragons to defect alongside him. When he set his sights on devouring the inhabitants of Toril, Asgorath intervened. The resulting conflict resulted in the death of Zotha, his remains spilling out onto Toril in the fashion described in the Red Dragon's creation myth, as well as the continental drift described in the Elven myth. However, this second conflict that could have easily spiraled out of control revealed to Ao that the gods and primordials could no longer vie for control over the same planet, and as such, he sundered Abeir-Toril around the same time as described in the third myth. Over time and generations, the details of this event slowly twisted and morphed as they were passed down, as all history is, resulting in the disparate legends we have today. There's more to this thread of storytelling, such as a concrete explanation for Ferrous, Gem, Lung, and Song Dragons along with their respective dragon deities, but it's not really related to the Tearfall, moreso the Dawn War. That being said, I'm happy to discuss this with anyone else as enthused about writing in the Forgotten Realms setting as I am as of late!

[@YoutubeDictatorship2024]

I hope to one day understand this lore as well as you do. I’m about 2 weeks into just discovering it all and I can’t get enough of it. It is overwhelming, especially taking it all in at once, but it is truly fascinating. I wish I had all the lore books as physical copies but I would have to had been born earlier and also collected them all. I am grateful for the internet though. Along with these videos would you recommend anything else besides the forgotten realms wiki to acquire all this knowledge. I am going to buy “Grand History of the Realms” and “Ed Greenwood presents Elminister’s Forgotten Realms” because they are affordable. They have PDFs for the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting and Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Are there books of these for each edition. I’m kind of confused on the campaign setting book, I think the pdf I have is from first edition. Thank you in advance of you respond haha

[@leegoesrunning281]

Keep them coming ,this series is fantastic

[@emergencypestwildlife8399]

Love these videos. Great presentation and I learned a lot about the creator races. Thanks so much. Happy New Year!

[@TurboWulfe]

Thanks again, great to bone up on history. We'll done. Keep on keeping on 😎🤘🍻

[@Slazh]

Loving the volumes/series. Can’t wait till we reach the times of troubles

[@Jeezusehchrist]

Absolutely wonderful stuff. Thank you for sharing your research!

[@kpeckham1]

The planet's been named Abeir-Toril since at least the 1st edition AD&D Grey Box. That nitpicky statement aside, continue to love and appreciate your thoroughness and clarity on such dense, convoluted subjects.

[@Carlosmgcosta]

He’s still half right. Abeir was not initially in its name. It was meant to just be Toril sand Abeir was added as an afterthought. Just it wasn’t in 4e but was, as you say, in the original release. Abeir- was added as a prefix to the planet's name only so that it would be the first entry in the alphabetical encyclopedia of terms included in the set.

[@glutton85]

Wasn't Abeir the moon?

[@strider3574]

Another Great Great video for sure. This whole series has been fantastic as always.

[@RichesandLiches]

Glad you enjoyed it and really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment!

[@Thennix]

Very intresting to listen and watch !

[@andrewgiles1977]

Awesome video dude. 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@ryanbird5142]

Point taken! Yep, impeccable job!

[@MathewLink801]

I _LOVE_ your videos. Please keep them coming they are so entertaining!

[@RichesandLiches]

You keep watching and I will keep making :) Thank you for the kind words and the comments, they really help and inspire.

[@Thanatos--]

Looking forward to the next video. 👍

[@RichesandLiches]

Got three in the works... hopefully very soon! Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

[@TomiTapio]

Thanks mate good #bedtimelistening

[@CharlesOakes-j4u]

my name is gerald.. Dm,life time forgotten relms A.O...lol ull know me as lantern..in ever text...thank you..ur great..its great..and as it should be..i do not us words likelly..ur work.is passion is EPIC...please keep going..ps.i learned somethings i didnt know

[@jameshall2775]

17:20 The d60 of Divination?

[@ilttheDude]

do you do your own art? or have AI do it? or is this all from wizards of the coast products? or all of the above? and if you do all three, what is the breakdown % between the three of them? which do you use the most? regardless, thanks for all your hard work!

[@RichesandLiches]

I own the rights to all the art that is not labeled/credited in the videos via a commerical license to make it. While technically that means I "created" the art, its a matter of prompt engineering as I dare not tread on the ground of artists. That said, I do strongly advocate for a portion of the hefty annual price I pay (four figures) to be directed to the many artists who inspired the work. I know its a touchy subject, but I won't run from it. It is just like the internet of 30 years ago and the printing press before that... in the history of mankind technological progress has never been stopped and only barely slowed. We must adapt and the laws need to change and will change, hopefully for the benefit of all. I know that is likely more information than you asked for but I get this message a couple of time a month and thought I would create and single thoughtful message and start replying with it. So yours is the first, I will just copy this message moving forward (the only time I will not write out my responses individually BTW :) Thank you for watching and the comments!

[@ilttheDude]

@@RichesandLiches thanks for the response!

[@Alon.Lipelis]

Thank you so much for these videos!

[@tora17]

Looking forward to the video on the air deity

[@RichesandLiches]

Yes... and that script is almost done, might be able to sneak that one out quickly before the next big epic on the realms and hells. thanks for the feedback!

[@tora17]

@@RichesandLiches no worries I just found your channel back about a month ago so I have plenty to catch up on. I'm really enjoying it

[@Mourndarkv]

4e was a mess. Lol.

[@HistoryVideoGamesMiscStuff]

I wonder if Asgorath isn't an individual but rather a title.

[@RichesandLiches]

Stick around... whole video going down the Asgorath/Io rabbit hole is coming soon!

[@AGS363]

To be honest, often the "corporate lore" is more crazy, hilarious and interesting than the setting lore. 4e especially leaves you with the question, "What were they thinking?"

[@carlcascone1202]

The man that wrote the spellplague 'solution' was a very experienced Realms ALum. He has said the biggest mistake they made with 4e was the Forgotten Realms change. I probably would have stuck with 4e if they didn't mess up the Lore.

[@rpghorrorstories]

Asgorath: Primordial, Deity, Primal Spirit aspect, what's next, a Great Old One?

[@uzunaruMelonness]

"Don't tempt him yet. He has... much other creature to cover." The lone figure gazes upon the storm of flesh that fly by the void. "Our time has yet to come into being."

[@LittleCrowYT]

More hate for 4e 😢 feels bad man, cause I love 4e I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like it didn't have its issues, or that it wasn't a huge departure from 3.5 and thus was kind of doomed from the start, but it did so much right and doesn't deserve the hate it gets. The way it helped martials feel as powerful, capable, and varied as casters. The way it leaned into the power fantasy of, well, a high magic, high fantasy playground. The minions and bloodied mechanics. And it did so much for the lore & mythology of its main setting and it's one of the specific things I can point to for inspiring my own desire to worldbuild. I especially loved the way it dealt with Spirits and how it introduced them into the setting. I keep hoping some group out there with the resources and patience will do for 4e what Paizo did for 3.5

[@RichesandLiches]

Oh boy... well you might not want to watch the next video coming up this week (Asgorath, Draconic Deity). I have gone on record and said that 4e as a stand alone system if decent, perhaps even great. My problem is the lore that it unravled/retconned. For example... the Spellplague and the Primordial retcons. They are actually really cool, fun ideas... EXCEPT that they retconned 30+ years of lore. Have you looked into what 4e did to the nine hells and the abyss? It is a weird situation, because I hold no animosity toward players that learned on 4e or just grew to like it... I completely understand that. But it is FAR and AWAY the system that did the most damage (or change if you are a fan) of the older lore, something that I grew up with and that 5e has confirmed by undoing a lot of it. My final point is the "WHY" they 4e made all the changes. It was - IMO - not because they just wanted new and exciting lore... something I will be covering in a video at some point. But please know that I respect your love for the version, but if I am not honest in my videos (even if it garners some push back) then what's the point. Hope we can find some common ground, but i appreciate your obviously sincere comment, so I felt it needed an equally sincere reply.

[@setelliott9683]

What if chapter 4 was not battle, but mating? 🤯

[@RichesandLiches]

There was a lot of that going on... that's how we got all these species in the realms :) But the Dragons and the Aearee? That would likely give us some powerful feathered dragons I suspect!

[@setelliott9683]

@@RichesandLiches like the Cuoatals?

[@setelliott9683]

@@RichesandLiches I meant the devourer ray thing and the dragon god Io

[@RichesandLiches]

Just released the Asgorath/Io video this morning :)

[@ThatMissQuin]

Anyone else here because of bg3? Im on my 5th playthrough and having so much fun.

[@blakel5824]

God this guy is such a nerd **opens up notebook and clicks pen**

[@RichesandLiches]

You might not think so if you saw me... but you are definitely NOT wrong! :)

[@blakel5824]

I hope you know I was saying I am a huge nerd myself, love your work! Keep it up!@@RichesandLiches

[@RichesandLiches]

Oh I got it! ... we are on the same page. :) Thanks so much, I love the interaction!

[@carlcascone1202]

Elder Scrolls Lore = Forgotten Realms lore in greatness

[@DJBVWA]

Anyone else just ignore post 3e Lore? I havent looked too much at 5e, but 4e left me apathetic.

[@RichesandLiches]

I am very partial to 2e/3e and actually do enjoy 5e. I have openly said that 4e would probably be a fine system if it was not D&D. I am trying my best to find the nuggets of good in 4e... in fact I have a lore video coming soon that exists only in 4e.

[@josephbobenriethiii1927]

Chapter 6. I knew of Abeir-Toril from 1st ed FR boxed set, 2nd ed D&D. I am pretty sure Abeir-Toril was mentioned and explained a little with the original sundering, might have to dig a bit as 4th did not come up with it. They used what was already there to sunder Eds' IP to fit their tt videogame, it is WoTC property now I know. Unfortunately Ed had to stand back and watch it burn, he still or has to incorporate the spell plague on his YT channel. I'm sure there are videos years ago of his thoughts, diplomaticly of course. Also saying thats not what he would of done. But I digress. Abeir-Toril was a thing before 4th. Yes I would like to hear more on the 'WTF 4TH?' Go down the rabbit hole, and the other side tracks you mentioned. I poo-poo the game and mechanics, as you had described some of the new mythology and stories are a good listen.

[@DocMosquito]

HAHA SOMEONE WHO ALSO PRONOUNCES AO LIKE THAT!! FINALLY!!!!!

[@pepperino-hotterino]

This is how i explain the Sundering to my players: Zero-Sundering - after the war of gods and primordials Ao gave each faction their own planet so they stop fighting. Its called Zero Sundering because it was not recorded and only discovered later in 1300 DR or so by scolars. (This is not canon, only my own justification for the naming) First Sundering - Elfs wanted to creat Arvandor on Toril by connecting to the Zero-Sundering Magic. They were not adapt enough and failed which trigered the planets to colide again. Gods stepped in => First Sundering. Its called first because its the first discovered by scolars in ancient elfen texts. Second Sundering - 3 Gods stole tablet. Ao punished all. Planets started coliding bringin Dragonborn and so on. Ao thinking he made his point recreated the tablets. In an Interview with Ed he explained that the first sundering sent a ripple back and forth in time. Therefor creating the Zero and Second Sundering,but there is a rumor about a 4th sundering, but i dont get it

[@TheSonAchilles]

Elden ring lore < DnD lore

[@RichesandLiches]

Appreciate the comment but you wont find any Elden Ring lore here... :)

[@TheSonAchilles]

@@RichesandLiches dont need it, hence dnd greater than elden ring

[@larrybrown2481]

Not with the new game ...very basic..nothing special no dept at all...a simple game for simple people...losing the flair that Gary created...sad to see with new leadership of D&D...stories better than game

[@carlcascone1202]

I use Castles and Crusades to play FOrgotten Realms. And I ignore any lore rooted in 4e and most of 5e unless it can reflect back on pre 4e lore favorably.

[@hennebux]

You mispronounce Circa

[@d.sm.4146]

I know I'm late to the party and this comment is nit-picking, but can we stop using the decimation in such fashion. I mean, a tenth is an acceptable loss in the big scheme of things.

[@IdiotinGlans]

A lot of inspirations for my campaigns once I run on Faerun again

[@Warchin007]

Great stories, enjoy your life.🦴