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Originally posted by tauster

Hi Bruce,

I just finished "Stardeep" (SPOILERS AHEAD, everyone!) which I enjoyed thoroughly. I liked the depiction of Sildeyuir and the Star Elves as well as the different, more "technical/modern" feeling of the magic in Stardeep's fortress.

...but now I'm extremely curious about Xxiphu, the Aboleth Sovereignty (I guess that's one and the same, right?). So the question is:
Can you tell us more details about Xxiphu, and about aboleth in the Realms in general?

More specifically:

1) How many aboleth cities do you suspect are in the realms?
2) Are most of them simply in the lowerdark or are there more than just Xxiphu in their own "neighboring plane"? (The latter would make these places of horror more accessible for adventures, that's partially why I ask)
3) Do Faerun's aboleth know of Xxiphu or is it even for them more like a legend/myth?
4) In case they know of Xxiphu's existence, do they want to liberate it or are they happy that the "big shots" are locked away, so the current aboleth are the biggest fish (sorry for the pun) in the pond?

5) Are there any known or mythical interactions between aboleth and the other inhabitants of the Realms?
I don't need a recollection of established lore (I already did an extensive lore check), instead I'm looking for what you would add to that. Conflicts between aboleth and the ancient elven realms for example. I can even imagine that the dwarven spawn wars were caused by aboleth influencing them - after all, dwarves do not typically work well together with aberrations like deepspawn, so I suspect they were driven by some outside force...


Since you wrote "the Illthiad" and co-authored "Underdark", I guess you are kind of an expert on aberrations :o) - thus, another question, on which I don't necessarily need a "rules-answer", just your personal opinion:
Do you think aboleth can project into the Astral Plane?
(2e rules about the planes preferred, at least in my campaigns...)
I'm running the 2e boxed set "Night Below" which features a complete aboleth city in the underdark that the PC have to destroy (or at least parts of it). I imagine that my players will try to tackle it from the astral plane, shifting back and forth for more mobility. While the most important buildings are protected against such tactice, I can imagine that the city is kind of "duo-planar", in the sense that some of the aboleth use the astral plane for better mobility (because it's your intellect that determines your speed there) instead of slowly crawling from building to building. The city has illithid as well, who also might use the astral plane. ...or is the Astral inaccessible in the lowerdark?

And finally: anything else you can share about my favourite evil fish guys?

Sorry for such a bunch of questions! They kept piling up for the last few months...

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Originally posted by sfdragon

can you tell us Kiril's stats please?

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Originally posted by Veritas

Just finished the Abolethic Sovereignty (I'm late to the party, I know).
Two questions pervade.

1) Why would the builders of that citadel in the void make a key to open it? From the novels, it seems like the structure was designed to keep the Far Realms locked. Maybe they went through and intended to come back?

2) Who were those builders anyway?

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Originally posted by Gyor

Now the you work for Monte WotC, are you allowed to write for the Realms even as a Freelancer now?

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Unless he signed a contract with a rather strict non-compete clause, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to freelance for WotC or for anyone else.

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Originally posted by Zeromaru X

Hi, Bruce. I'm reading the novels of the Abolethic Sovereignity, I cannot avoid to notice you used the "4e evil stars" in the novels. Specially Caiphon, but you used other stars as well. I have a few questions, hope you can answer.

1. Are all the 4e evil star part of "Realmspace"? Even stars you didn't mentioned like Hadar or Allabar? (stars mentioned in 4e Monster Manual 3)

2. What kind of relationship has Nihal with Kyuss?

Thanks in advance.

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Obviously, he wanted something to do with them at one point, since he wrote books for them.

Pretty sure WotC hasn't quite reached the level of enlightenment necessary to embrace hentacles, though.

Seriously, though, more than one past author has expressed interest in working with WotC again. Some have expressed a desire for a little more compensation for doing so, but I've seen more authors say they'd go back to the Realms than I have seen say they wouldn't.

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Originally posted by BruceCordell

1. They potentially could be, but Caiphon is the only Far Realms/Star Pact entity I specifically brought in. Depending on how things go in Key of Stars, there could be far more, and more explicitly.

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Originally posted by Zeromaru X

I was reading your "Wandering Stones" short-story, and I wonder: is this "countdown" that Arambar was doing to bid his time related somehow to the Second Sundering? Or is about another event? Though, I can't think of events as important as to making the spirit of an old primordial marking the time with so much care.

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Originally posted by Bragi

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for the great Forgotten Realms novels that you've written. I've recently been re-reading them in preparation for a new D&D campaign. It seems like I'm going to be creating a campaign that incorporates many of the settings and themes you have touched upon. I have a monk from Telflamm who practices Xiang Do, a star elf, a human druid from The Great Dale, a half-elf from Aglarond and several other characters. I'm trying to determine what 5e monastic tradition would best fit the Xiang Do martial arts form.

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