There is a Disclaimer.

I have Opinions about fictional settings and I empty them here. Rule 1: Please assume before telling me basic DnD and Realmslore that I know it, my attention span isn't equiped for revision. I am both in possession of incredibly bad ADHD and am an unpleasant bitch. Rule 2: I am a fan, not an official writer. While I can quote the sources and what they say is canon, my personal opinions or extrapolations are educated guessing, don't take me as gospel 100% of the time. I just come here and empty the contents of my brain. Might be lore posts, might be about the Dark Urge. Or the vampire.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Lore Compilations (+ this blog's tagging/filter list at the end)

A WIP of a pinned post table of contents to tidy up the blog while I empty my fixations onto it plus a lore accuracy disclaimer (so I don't have to keep typing one), because why not. I like tables of content.

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Disclaimer regarding lore accuracy:

'On my word as a sage nothing within these [sourcebooks] is false, but not all of it may prove to be true.' - Cyclopaedia of the Realms

'Just as each plane of existence contains an infinite amount of space, each plane of existence is also permeated (or enveloped, depending on oneís point of view) with an infinite amount of time. Therefore, alternate timelines do exist; in fact, each individual game campaign played in the FORGOTTEN REALMS counts as a distinct and separate timeline.' - Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves

There is no “right” way to play D&D ® or to conduct a Realms campaign, and many gamers won’t use or want everything in this book. Yet if it spurs adventure ideas, or provides elements an overworked Dungeon Master can pick up and use rather than having to think through and create anew, it will be useful. It’s not an attempt to convince anyone to abide by every detail of canon, but rather to provide lore for those who want to use it, to make more time for unfolding adventures around the gaming table. - Elminster's Forgotten Realms

...this chapter contains words and phrases for DM use in creating [the vocabulary and phrases of Toril's conlangs as it works their own games] - Drow of the Underdark (2e)

If you combine 50 years, 5 editions, 10+ settings, god knows how many novels, and then all the writers who all retcon and contradict each other's work then what you get is a clusterfuck. The lore I show here is compiled from all five editions of the game. You will likely see stuff out there that contradicts some things I say, or stuff I didn't mention/know. That's the lore for you. If you were the Dungeon Master making your own story, your job would be to pick and chose and build your own take on the setting out of it. Larian absolutely did this with Baldurs Gate 3 - frankly, I don't think they even know half this lore even exists, and Bioware took some liberties in the original games too. Wizards of the Coast themselves trample D&D into the ground all the time! All D&D is near enough fanfiction built on fanfiction. (I, personally, heavily favour older lore.) Therefore, if you find any information useful you may take it, leave it or tweak it to your desire for your own story, because it's D&D lore, and that's how it works.

Disclaimer regarding Larian's canon (and Bioware, and Obsidian): The setting shown in BG3 does not really match up to the setting as presented in sourcebooks (and sometimes novels, previous games, and 'word of god). I'm always talking about the latter and reframing the story and characters within the latter.

Disclaimer regarding asking me for my opinions on how [x] works in canon: I can make an educated guess based on the sourcebooks, but there are many gaps in many places and however educated the guess, unless it comes from a sourcebook, novel, or writer, it's just my own headcanon.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS [WIP] (I make no promises as to the speed or order at which any of this is produced - and some of these need updating)

Abeir-Toril Why it's called the "Forgotten" Realms

[Some of this is getting revamped at some point] History | Time & Festivals | Lexicon [1] [2] | Languages | Living in Faerûn [1] [?] | Notable Organisations | Magic | | Waterdeep | The Underdark | Geography and Human Cultures

Baldurs Gate: The City #1 | Demographics | Law & Legal System | Aministration & Government | ???

Human Names | Clothes and Fashion | Music | Dating, Sex, Marriage etc [part 1] [part 2] |

Religion How religion works in the Realms, the different pantheons in the world and then individual posts dedicated to the gods as individuals, how and why to worship them and how their churches function

Religion | Priesthoods and Temples | Deities

Death and the Afterlife Dying | Judgement | Afterlives

What A God Is | Divine Ranks, Types and Further Abilities | Gods in Toril | Worship and the entire Faerûnian Pantheon* *Needs fixing, a bit

Deities in BG3 Shar | Selûne | Bhaal | Mystra | Jergal | Bane | Bane #2 | Bane #3 | Myrkul | Lathander | Kelemvor | Tyr | Helm | Ilmater | Mielikki | Oghma | Tempus | Silvanus | Talos | Corellon | Moradin | Yondalla | Garl Glittergold | Eilistraee | Lolth | Laduguer | Gruumsh | Bahamut | Tiamat | Amodeus |

The rest of the Faerûnian Pantheon Gods of Magic & Knowledge | Nature Deities | Cyric | The Elemental Lords | Good Deities | Evil Deities | Neutral Deities |

Arcane Magic

Public Perception | Types of Mages | The Weave | Specialisations | Obscure types of magic | Elven High Magic | ???

Vampires Feeding | "Biology" | Hierarchy & Powers | Weaknesses & Cures | Psychology

Elves The Complete Book of Elves once said ‘The elves of Toril do not follow the standards of most other worlds,’ which yeah, pretty much. The Player’s Handbook is not necessarily going to be accurate when talking about the Tel’Quessir.

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and Age Categories | Homes | Language | Art | Entertainment | Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

Drow Culture | Other Drow Cultures

Planars & Planetouched Tieflings | Githyanki | Bhaalspawn | Devils

Dwarves Overview | Culture | Specific Cultures | Magic | Religion | History

Orcs

Hin - That's "halfling", if you're over 3'4" Overview | Names | Culture | Homelands | Religion

Gnomes Culture | Names | Homelands | History | Religion

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Tagging system:

Various lore things that don't go in the larger compilations are tagged lore stuff. Things that aren't lore will get tagged babbling.

For sensitive material, such as if I feel like poking at the various delightful topics presented in the game:

I'll use edgelord hours as the generic "reader discretion advised"

The tag villainous nonsense means Dead Dove Do Not Eat.

the family circle is an extra warning for discussing the themes and subtexts such as those present with Bhaal's cult and the Bhaalspawn: including reproductive horror and sexual abuse, including the incest.

When babbling about my ideas for a World of Darkness AU specifically Vampire the tag is wod shenanigans.

If I feel like posting anything I scribbled ("art"), the tag will be the scribbles

When I'm making posts and being negative or complaining about video games and trivial stuff, it will be filed as: griping.

Whenever I find or consider something new about the Dead Three and/or want to rant and scream insults at Bane again, my tag is the idiot three

When I babble about my characters, I tag it OCs, and the ocs are also tagged by name. So far I've only mentioned Vel

If I don't want to put my babbling about certain characters into the tags, I'll just put the / in front. /astarion, /orin, /gortash, /durge, etc

When I want to babble about stuff happening in my game as I play it, they're tagged playthrough shenanigans. The original games are bg2 playthrough shenanigans.

When I start talking about my oc's romance with Astarion I'll tag it petty murder boyfriends

[y-rhywbeth2]

BG2 party, who know raise dead and true resurrection, encountering an orphan weeping over the corpse of his father: 'Here, let me fix that for you.'

BG3 party, in my experience, at least, also knowing those spells, encountering a pregnant widow seeking to resurrect her husband (it would cure the zombification): 'Well, sucks to be you. Time to move on as a single mother still grieving her parents, husband and two brothers. Nothing else for it.'

[y-rhywbeth2]

The idea of the party having to get to know Durge all over again in Act 3, after (some of) their memories return (something that fundamentally altered mine, as pre-amnesia Durge overlaid and in some places displaced their fragile new fledgling identity of Acts 1 and 2) is a plotline that intrigues me.

[y-rhywbeth2]

While I don't doubt there would be opportunities to play protector, I feel like Astarion would prefer to be comforted by him being the one doing the comforting. Sort of. If that makes any sense. Like him getting snippy whenever the pc offers to protect him; it's offending his low self-esteem and desire for control and feeding his sense of helplessness. Mutual comfort or you play the little spoon and let him hold you even if he's the one who needs support.

[y-rhywbeth2]

In terms of scaly people: True Dinosaur ≈ True Dragon > Lizardfolk ≈ Aarakocra* > Yuan-ti pureblood > Kenku* > Draconic sorcerers > Kobold > Half-dragon >Dragonborn > The other yuan-ti castes and anybody else not on the list

*extant Theropoda counts

And Thri-Kreen > Everyone else. Because.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Jurassic Park is currently on my tv, reminding me again that as a ranger I should've been allowed to return from Chult with a dinosaur minion. Or several.

Also occuring to me that - as a being who has been described as grafted from Bhaal's 'seed' likely having spliced many species together (as per the thing about the door, Sceleritas lecturing you if you lose, etc) Durge has much in common with the gene spliced mad scientist murderous experiments. Since Bhaal either had or is a shape-shifting t. rex, they also have that in common. Sort of.

Anyway. Dinosaurs.

God, I wish Aarakocra was a playable option. Or lizardfolk.

[y-rhywbeth2]

I choose to believe that Faerûnians attribute frequently occuring typos with Deneir's displeasure. (Local shrines will gladly take offerings attempting to gain the god's favour and ward off stupid spelling accidents...)

[y-rhywbeth2]

Icy cold clinical and unemotional traditional Bhaalist Durge with the order and elegant swift violence is beautiful.

Borderline feral Durge who is always at the end of their very short, very frayed tether and sometimes seems more beast than mortal human[oid] who is messy and who growls at warlocks who dare help the Banite win the argument the two of you were having is also fun

Both? Both.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Astarion could certainly borrow/stop repressing some cues from his AU ascended self. Mostly the 'MINE MINE MINE'. (Leave the rest: Vel will bite you if you condescend to him too much and he's accustomed to biting hard enough to bite flesh off).

Respecting your partner's presumed boundaries and individuality, allowing them freedom to discover the autonomy they've never known: Terrifying. Cruel. Don't you love me?? Are you sure? What about now? Tomorrow? Next year?? But I can't ask that because being too weak in faith and needy leads to being discarded...

Possessiveness, calling your partner 'yours': Provides much needed structure that prevents uncertainty and subsequent anxiety to a more neurotic class of lawful aligned who absolutely does not want the stress of constant independent thought.

(I'm sure they can negotiate something reasonably healthy between them for their myriad mental health problems)

[y-rhywbeth2]

One day I will make a pure classed character, I tell myself, as I multiclass another character just like I've done to every single other character I've ever made for 20 years with no exception.

[y-rhywbeth2]

I crave a sourcebook on medical lore, in particular. Specifically diseases as applied to fantasy species, who reacts differently to (x) disease, for better or worse and what pathogens are incapable of cross-species transmission and which are zoonotic? What fantasy illnesses might one contract from one's gnomish roommate? Random lore off the top of my head is:

We know some of them. The undead are fantastic vectors of disease, unsurprisingly (mummy rot, ghoul fever). Demon fever can be contracted from night hags by any humanoid. Devil chills from pit fiends. Though, tbh, these are more curses than anything elss.

Psions are capable of picking up cerebral parasites that feed off of their psychic energy. (Unrelated to ceremorphosis). Probably not a concern for most, but githyanki may wish to practice careful brain hygiene.

Apparently, iirc, Toril's pool of potential diseases is a bit funny, because cross-species transmissions as humans get underfoot everywhere (shortly before declaring that your house is theirs now) has built up a lot of herd immunity to a lot of things.

Elves find the bubonic plague to be a mild illness. Humans, presumably, continue to experience it as life threatening.

[y-rhywbeth2]

It's easy to lose perspective because the misfits rolling dice on your table are getting into op shenanigans, but then you remember that level 6 is considered extremely powerful to most of Toril. There's your average high priest, most favoured of the temple. They can't even cast raise dead.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Spells that record visuals and audio exist, therefore, silly pet videos and ludicrous amounts of 'photos' of familiars should exist amongst mage communities.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Another quirk of having ot being on the brink of having (because you 100% should've reached at least level 13 after killing several illithid, a red dragon and a Netherese quasideity elder brain) plane shift is that you can ditch the Prime at will post-canon.

Want to visit Karlach and/or Hope? Lae'zel in Limbo? Visit somewhere with 'sunlight' but no sun (that isn't Sigil, yet, because you have to do a little more work to get there)? Just fucking ditch this plane and go where nobody knows you? Well, you can!

[y-rhywbeth2]

Considering that there is enough xp to surpass level 12 (and that the spell is accessible at lower levels in other editions) there is actually a third option for choosing between Bhaal and your friends. Moving to the Outer Planes clearly doesn't trigger the tadpoles, so if you want to spare them then you can take a step further than just releasing them into the wild when you become the BBEG and plane shift them somewhere nice and safe and then become Bhaal's Chosen and burn the filthy world to the ground.

[y-rhywbeth2]

On the one hand, a crpg player character who is customisable but has an established background (BG1+2, NWN2, DA:O, DA2, BG3, etc.) is a certain kind of fun because you get to play with how that background defined them. On the other hand, often you have to play through the entire game, sometimes multiple times, to actually know your own character's lifestory which is annoying as fuck.

Then there's when games don't come with volumes of setting lore so you have no idea what your character's life looked like. I don't even know my character's culture, how am I to roleplay in these conditions?? (Pillars of Eternity, I mean you.)

(Yes, I can just make it up. Personally, I don't want to write original fiction and make it up, I want to play within the rules of an established setting.)

[y-rhywbeth2]

So turns out that planetouched, including tieflings and some Bhaalspawn, can probably quite comfortably stick their hands in open flames and lava with, at worst, some mid-moderate burns if they're unlucky (disclaimer that this is still 3.5e rules). - Tieflings get resistance to cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5. - Bhaalspawn (may) develop resistance to cold 5 and/or fire 5 (Further disclaimer that logic may not apply to the temperatures that were chosen for damage calculations by the writers of the 3.5e Dungeon Master's Guide)

You don't really need to worry about heatstroke, able to exist comfortably in temperatures bellow 140° F/60° C. At that temperature and above you are now risking your health, but you can weather it for a short while. -

Hot metal on your bare skin is mildly uncomfortable or not worth noting. Glowing red-hot may cause blisters and/or moderate burns. -

Standing in the middle of a fire/being on fire isn't a major deal, though you will, again, slowly get some blisters and moderate burns and you're going to want to douse it as soon as possible. For your clothes, equipment and the surrounding environment's sake, if nothing else. Also you can't breathe smoke. That will still very much kill you. -

Having heat resistance means you can ignore any damage calculations and stick your hands in magma! You can go swimming in magma! But if you still need to breathe you can drown in it. If you want to ignore heat-resistant beings getting immunity to lava because it makes other temperature damage look bizzare, then touching the lava is uncomfortable with a 16% chance of blisters and moderate burns. You might survive falling in, but you will not have a good time. -

Boiling water, somehow more dangerous than molten rock, will still seriously hurt you if you're immersed in it. Sticking your hands in is a low chance of blisters and burns again. -

Cold is trickier. You can manage to walk around naked in temperatures bellow 40° F/4.44° C, though unlike heat it will not be comfortable and you run the risk of a minor case of hypothermia or frostbite. Cold temperatures do 1-6 non-lethal damage every hour at 40 F/4.44 C: you might get away ok, but don't push it. Once it drops bellow 0° F/-17.78° C the damage occurs every minute. At -20° F/-28.89° C you are going to start taking lethal damage and start dying, albeit very slowly at a 16% chance of taking 1 damage every minute. However you're still in a better position than everybody else, who will be dying rapidly. -

As with heated metal, cold metal ranges from comfortable to handle to causing minor-moderate frostbite symptoms. -

As for electricity: Judging by call lightning, getting hit in a thunderstorm will range from a harmless jumpscare to dangerous. It's a gamble, as usual. Other sources of mundane electric shocks range from 16% chance of minor-moderate electrical burn to not noticing it at all.

[y-rhywbeth2]

I suddenly realise that tieflings and possibly Durges in general (let us ignore how underpowered they are, just headcanon. Pretend they developed their Bhaalspawn powers and one of them was fire resistance) can possibly hug Karlach pre-upgrade. Hold hands. Or at least walk away with a few mild blisters and some discomfort instead of third degree burns.

Planar heritage could also contribute to why she's not automatically burning alive or dying of heat exhaustion or other complications herself.