Forgotten Realms - story segregated from mechanics?

[hymer]

I've recently been studying a bit on Cormyr, with the possible intention of having a campaign in the region. Something struck me as odd, though. It seems there are plenty of high level spellcasters of various kinds around, but (to take one example) the Crown Princess dies in childbirth? How the four-letter-word did they let that happen? And if there really was nothing they could do, why not raise or resurrect her after? Or three Waterdhavian wizards are studying the area that used to be Tilverton, but they're only progressing slowly and basically only know that powerful magic did it (the shock!). Did they all bar divination?
Is there an explanation for these sorts of thing (which seems rather rampant from my initial readings), or is it a case of segragation between story and game mechanics?

How do you handle FR campaigns?

[Alleran]

And if there really was nothing they could do, why not raise or resurrect her after? Or three Waterdhavian wizards are studying the area that used to be Tilverton, but they're only progressing slowly and basically only know that powerful magic did it (the shock!). Did they all bar divination?
In these two cases:

1) It's mentioned in one of the Knights of Myth Drannor books that if a member of the Cormyrean royal family is raised or resurrected, they must forfeit all claim to the throne.

"When this realm was founded, the first Obarskyrs to dwell on these shores entered into agreements with the elves who held this land, just as the elves had with the dragons who ruled here before them. Down the years, there have been many disagreements as to just what happened back then, and what was agreed to - and to quell ceaseless civil war using such pretexts as its banners, solemn treaties have been written, and laws devised and passed pertaining to those treaties. In short, no matter what really befell, Cormyr has agreed to commonly accept and abide by a certain version of events and rules tied to them. If this agreement is broken, we are taught (and so the heads of households grand and rude all across this kingdom believe) the Dragon Throne will shatter, the dragons will return in great numbers to hunt humans, and the realm will be swept away."

"So a treaty dictates what will happen, if my- if the king and queen die."

"Indeed. Simply put, in Cormyr, nobles of the realm cannot be magically restored to life, it is expressly forbidden to resurrect ruling monarchs and regents, and all other members of the blood Obarskyr will only be brought back if they agree to this before death, and do not principally follow a faith that forbids such customs. Heirs cannot be recalled to life and still remain heirs; no one who has died and been returned to the living can inherit the Dragon Throne, or even sit upon it by right of conquest. Even if the royal family is extinguished, and the succession passes to other houses - a process that almost certainly will plunge the realm into bloody civil war."
In the case of Tanalasta (I assume she's the Crown Princess you're referring to), the events of the Cormyr trilogy show the scene and what was happening in full, so you can have a look at that.

2) Shadow Magic and the Shadow Weave was, at the time, a near-total unknown, assuming you take how the Return of the Archwizards trilogy portrayed it. And Vangerdahast detonated a giant Weave bomb in the middle of a Shadow Weave megaspell, when the interaction between the two had been previously understood to be... well, dangerous. In a "nuclear explosion" kind of way. It also twisted and damaged the Weave in the area, which makes spells tricky at best.

[hymer]

Thanks for straightening that out, as far as it can be straightened. :smallsmile: