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Dracandos the Spellsage
Senior Scribe
466 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 16:41:00
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Greetings, does anyone know if there is a drinking age in the realms?
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Death strips away the masks men don to hide their true nature - The Slayer's Guide to Undead
The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos shall be sown from their passage - So Sayeth the Wise Alaundo
Whenever magic one doth weave, 'tis never ever wise to deceive - Elminster
Strength and power come from knowing and controlling what others do not, but never reveal all that you know - Vecna
I have been known to cast a blue mage spell now and again - Dracandos the Spellsage |
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 16:54:34
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I'd say it depends on the beverage and the amount of parental control/caring, and varies from person to person.
For example a tavern run by a conscientous and responsible person would be likely to refuse serving patrons that are deemed to young, whereas you average hole-in-the-wall, low-class tavern, run by someone who's more interested in making money than what the effect of his drinks may have on his patrons, would probably serve a newborn baby if it was able to produce the coin.
And even those that would only serve people of a certain maturity would probably have the age for that significantly lower than your average modern-day Earth-country. One of the demands of the first Swedish organisation working for a reduction of drinking among the common people was that children under six should not be allowed to drink...
...more than one glass of burned wine (strong liquor) a day. |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 16:56:54
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I have seen no such law concerning the consumption of brews or strong drink for any part of the realms. It certainly is posible some regions do have such laws.
Laws would be more concerned about drunkeness then actually drinking.
The realms, while not directly comparable to Medival time period, might very well consume leak beers and ales at any age. This was because water often was not safe to drink in many places. The brews in effect a variation of boil water orders that occur today when water supply becomes contaiminated. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 17:08:22
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I think that drinking age is more of a modern concept that it is a historical one. It's just another thing for people to have hang-ups about.
From what I understand, real-world countries that have no drinking age (or one considerably lower than the US drinking age) have few problems with alcohol abuse.
I'd imagine in the Realms that young children would be served watered-down wines and ales, and that as they got older the amount of watering-down would be diminished. |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 17:15:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
I have seen no such law concerning the consumption of brews or strong drink for any part of the realms. It certainly is posible some regions do have such laws.
Laws would be more concerned about drunkeness then actually drinking.
The realms, while not directly comparable to Medival time period, might very well consume leak beers and ales at any age. This was because water often was not safe to drink in many places. The brews in effect a variation of boil water orders that occur today when water supply becomes contaiminated.
All true and well said, indeed! I was also thinking about how even children used to drink leak beers and ales during the Middle Age. But, we cannot compare this to Realms, where drinkable water is plentiful.
I believe there are no such official laws in Faerun, but usually alcohol is only served for "grown ups", and too young boys/girls trying to get a drink would be laughed at ("Hey, lad, no drinks for children here!").
Also, what Kajehase said above about sense of responsibility and morality "holds water" for me - well put!
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"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 20:09:15
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I had heard that in the past it was common in Europe for even young children to drink wine with their meals, but as Wooly said the kids' wine was diluted very liberally with water.
Another drink that used to be popular in germany and austria was something called "essig schling" (sp?) which was water with a shot of vinegar and some sugar or honey. It tastes surprisingly good and was considered a refreshing drink on a hot day in the days before softdrinks and other modern beverages came along.
I imagine that kids in the realms would also be raised on ciders both soft and graduating to hard.
There also used to be a medieval drink called a posset which was milk or cream mixed with wine or other liquor and sometimes other spices. I wonder if children in the realms might not drink their milk in this fashion? |
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Beowulf
Learned Scribe
Canada
322 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 20:23:31
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For the folk of preChristian NW Europe ale, beer, and/or mead played a role in their religion ... similar, but not identical to the role of wine in Catholicism.
Generally, the beer halls of the anceint were alot like pubs in the 50's and understood to be the province of men. Likewise the drinking and the talk. Lords might have a son or a butchy daughter hang around, but usually being allowed an actual seat in the beerhall, as opposed to hanging around with the edges with the servants, was a sign of maturity. And a lad was mature enough whenever his male kinfolk said. Neither before, nor after ... as ultimately the kin would answer for his misdeeds.
I'm not sure how things worked in more, ahem, "civilized" Europe, but I'd imagine much the same. Alcohol plays a role in all Indo-European religious worship, and that influences social perception and custom.
Different parts of the Realms and different Churches might have different attitudes.
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"Ill tempered the wretch, who laughs at everyone. He cannot recognize, as he should, that he is not without faults." the High One, Poetic Edda |
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Dracandos the Spellsage
Senior Scribe
466 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2005 : 22:23:18
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Well met. This has answered my question enough. My thanks |
Death strips away the masks men don to hide their true nature - The Slayer's Guide to Undead
The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos shall be sown from their passage - So Sayeth the Wise Alaundo
Whenever magic one doth weave, 'tis never ever wise to deceive - Elminster
Strength and power come from knowing and controlling what others do not, but never reveal all that you know - Vecna
I have been known to cast a blue mage spell now and again - Dracandos the Spellsage |
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Ironstar
Acolyte
Germany
19 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2005 : 07:00:15
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| I'd suppose that atleast in dwarven communities ale is served for a dwarven baby at the day he/she was born :P |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2005 : 15:22:36
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Kentinal has it right: there are no laws regarding drinking age in the Realms. Some cities have laws (overnight jailing and fines) for being (aggressively, or you won't get arrested in the first place) public drunkenness.
love to all,
THO |
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Thureen Buroch
Learned Scribe
169 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2005 : 22:42:49
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| Generally, I'd say that bars and taverns would bar people from their taverns who were younger than fifteen or sixteen. That's humans, though. Just look in chapter six of 3E PHB for adult ages. These should give you some ideas |
Goblins? *Slash* *Scream* *Thunk* What goblins? |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2005 : 05:48:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Gray Richardson
I imagine that kids in the realms would also be raised on ciders both soft and graduating to hard.
I commend to the attention of all the discussion of apples in the recent book The Botany of Desire. The author makes several very interesting points, including: apple trees do not "breed true" from seeds (i.e., if a tree bears terrific apples, the seeds in those apples will not produce a tree like the one they came from) and the only way to preserve a good trait in an apple tree is to graft a branch with a desirable trait onto some other rootstock; because apples don't breed true, it was impossible until the late nineteenth century to market good eating apples beyond the locality in which they grew; because apples vary so much, the only way to get anything consistent out of apple trees grown from seed is to make cider from the apples; (aside: Johnny Appleseed was so beloved because his apple trees and seeds were used to grow apples for cider, not for eating); apple cider was always "hard" (i.e. alcoholic) until Prohibition, but it was the standard beverage on farms throughout the United States (and presumably Canada, too); the few rare "eating" apples which were grown were the standard of sweetness throughout most of the Earth until the late nineteenth or early twentieth century when refined sugar became widely available (honey and maple syrup were too expensive or too rare for most people). (The author's discussion of his young son's discovery of sugar is enlightening.)
I think that we may safely assume that Gray is correct about children drinking cider. Certainly in a metropolis like Waterdeep there will not be an abundance of fresh drinking water. One of the great achievements of the Roman Empire was a vast system of water aqueducts throughout Europe. I have heard of nothing comparable in Faerūn, which means that huge cities will simply not have enough water for everyone. In cities built over the Underdark (as is Waterdeep), the likelihood of urban water wells within the walls is negligible. Smaller cities or those not built over Underdark have a greater likelihood of fresh water availability. (Orofin, now in Anauroch, had a large well. Recent experiences with things crawling up from below in Orofin illustrate how unlikely it is that cities built over Underdark realms would have water wells.)
On the other hand, people in the Realms seem to bathe an awful lot, so magic may supply water if it is so abundant that people can afford to wash their bodies and clothes in it and use it to wash away the contents of chamberpots. (Apropos of the latter, I think we may safely conclude that people do that if sewers are as widespread as they are.) One Decanter of Endless Water would suffice to supply water to an entire neighborhood if it was set for geyser or stream mode. I think a Decanter of Endless Cider (or Calvados ... mmm, Calvados ... <drool>) would be more Medieval or Renaissance-y, but I don't think WOTC is ready for that yet. (Oh dear. Now I'm thinking about the Para-Elemental Plane of Calvados. I wonder if it is accessible from the Demi-Plane of Cognac or the Cristal Sphere of Champagne?) |
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Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2005 : 07:59:16
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Well, create water is a zero level spell for a cleric. If you cast it on a fountain and make it permanent, bingo! enough H2O to quench a neighborhood. With a few of these located strategically around town, I should think it would be easy to supply water for an entire city.
I like to think, however, that a more interesting and refreshing plan would be to summon an alemental from the pseudo-elemental plane of beer. Not sure how many pints are in an alemental, but with a few friends armed with lots of mugs, even one should be enough to supply a small party.  |
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Drinking Age in the Realms?
