A bit of fluff that I didn't know until today: the Thayans are not from Abeir-Toril.

[AnonymousPepper]

The Mulhorandi and Untherics are of course not from around those parts either - being the descendents of Egyptians and Mesopotamians abducted by the Imaskari - but what I did not know is that the overwhelming majority of (edit for clarity) plot-important Thayans are also from the same stock, i.e. one of the bigger baddies of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is quite literally not of that world, but of Earth.

This is fascinating. Fault Ed Greenwood all you want for the qualities of Elminster, but the lore for his campaign setting is intriguing.


This gives me a wonderful idea for my 3.PF Planescape-setting game (incidentally, takes place pre-Spellplague), after they get through this campaign and I start the next. Very brief contact has already happened in my game between authorities in Sigil, the former Qadiran government (yep, PCs wrecked that one), and a few members of Earth's population... and I can't help but wonder how the Thayans (and others descended from the place, but especially them) might feel if they were to find out that contact is possible with their ancestral home.... :smallamused:

[WeaselGuy]

Citations, please.

[AnonymousPepper]

Citations, please.

FRCS, don't have a page number because my pdf is a little silly, but I'm looking at it right now, and I have two relevant portions right in front of me. The first is the section detailing the regional history of Mulhorand lists Thay as a breakaway state of the former. The second is the regional history of Thay itself, which details Ythazz Buvarr's takeover of Thay on behalf of the Red Wizards, as being Mulhorandi (or rather, the Red Wizards as being so) and that's after a very long time being subjected to Mulan Mulhorandis. So specifically it is the upper class - the lower class are Rashemi - but 99 times out of 100, when talking about Thayans as relevant to a region-spanning area, you're talking about the upper class of Thay. In other words, yep. The rulers of Thay are (ultimately) NOT from Toril.

In the case of the Mulan ethnic group - that which makes up Mulhorand and Unther - being of Earth: it's in the very beginning of Mulhorand's regional history; "The wizard-rulers of Imaskar opened a pair of great portals to another world, pulling forth over one hundred thousand humans... The Imaskari enslaved and oppressed these people (the Mulan), and the slaves offered countless prayers to their deities that went unheard because of the Imaskaran barrier." Then Ao stepped in and allowed the Mulans' deities to cross over between worlds in the forms of avatars, and then Imaskar fell. The deities of the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons are, just flat-out are, Earth deities, the Egyptian and Mesopotamian pantheons respectively.

Again, can't give page citations because wonky pdf, but it's all there in the FRCS.

[j_spencer93]

Actually all you said is true. In older editions they weren't the only gods from earth. Matter of fact somewhere (idr where off top of my head) it is stated a pocket of norse are located somewhere too. Forgotten realms was meant to connected to earth (actually stated by Ed) hence why it looks the same geologically. It is kinda like an alternate earth.
Also another reason i love FR. Maztica is the same i think, if i am remembering right but i am not 100% sure on that part.

[Thurbane]

The Mulhorandi and Untherics are of course not from around those parts either - being the descendents of Egyptians and Mesopotamians abducted by the Imaskari...

http://i57.tinypic.com/2jebguv.jpg

[j_spencer93]

http://i57.tinypic.com/2jebguv.jpg

Actually Stargate is a good way to think about the weird planar crap that happened in the history of Faerun. Also yes Maztica was from people pulled over from earth.

[BWR]

Actually all you said is true. In older editions they weren't the only gods from earth. Matter of fact somewhere (idr where off top of my head) it is stated a pocket of norse are located somewhere too. Forgotten realms was meant to connected to earth (actually stated by Ed) hence why it looks the same geologically. It is kinda like an alternate earth.
Also another reason i love FR. Maztica is the same i think, if i am remembering right but i am not 100% sure on that part.

Maztica is part of the same planet as the Realms.
Fr is hardly unique in that respect; look at the map of Mystara (http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/Mystara/FrenchSiteMaps/outermap.jpg).
Oh, and House Sylaire of Glantri were basically stolen from Averoigne.

[j_spencer93]

Maztica is part of the same planet as the Realms.
Fr is hardly unique in that respect; look at the map of Mystara (http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/Mystara/FrenchSiteMaps/outermap.jpg).
Oh, and House Sylaire of Glantri were basically stolen from Averoigne.

Ya Maztica is part of the planet, was talking about the people there. Almost 100% sure they are another displaced people. Really not putting the effort into looking it up at the moment but fairly confident I read that somewhere.
Like i said though I could be wrong on this one. Something keeps telling me I am right but honestly idk where i would have read that.

Going to say i am wrong because I can not find it at the moment, although it originally was it's own setting so maybe that is what i was thinking of???
Faerun has accumulated a few "campaigns" into their own world.

[Sian]

Moonshea Isles and/or Illuskans (can't remember which or if it was both, as its quite some time ago i read it) are generally considered to have ties to the Earthern Norse, Tyr is merely the most obvious interloper Deity they brought with them, with a majority of the other deities having been assimilated or joined with other entries (or were aspects of the same trans-dimensional deity), Tempus for an example have assimilated parts of Thor, (everything but his fertility attributes), while Uthgardt also have some of the same parts.

Tyche was also clearly spelled out (in 2E's 'On Hallowed Ground') to have been from Olympus which she abandoned, moving to FR sphere and splitting into Tymora/Besheba