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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gyor" data-source="post: 7716138" data-attributes="member: 6670153">Forgotten Realms is more complex then that. Also not all of the realms developed from Ed Greenwood's original vision. Mulhorand and Unther,  the Moonshaes (sort of),  Kara Tur,  Zakahara,  the Cold Lands, none of these were Ed Greenwood's idea.  The catalyms make sense,  it's almost certain to occur when you have frequent divine interventions and a lot of magic in a setting.  The Gods are both ultra powerful individuals that actively use their powers to shape events,  but they are also the essence of Platonic ideas,  so that their interplay shapes the Forgotten Realms physics,  Sharess isn't just the Goddess of Cats,  she's the Platonic ideal of cats as well as this divine being.  And there are major racial groups like in grey whose migration and interaction shaped the realms. The Imaskari kidnapped the Mulan's ancestors, who interbreed with the Imaskari,  becoming the Mulan,  who then migrated to healthier land,  to found Mulhorand and Unther,  who then expanded into Thay and future Chessenta which eventually gained their independence. They also interbreed with other regions such as Mulgohm.  Mulan and Calishites tend to respect each other culturally in a way they don't with most other cultures.  The effects of major magic usage and divine acts causes so much chaos that human and other races migrate often so that creates a more tolerant society. Also a profusion of sex gods (Sune,  Shares,  Llirra,  Isis,  Ishtar, Lovitar,  Henali Celani, Inanna,  and so on)  have encouraged a certain tolerance for diverse sexual orinentions compared to a world with more sexually repressed gods.  It's a result of Gods and Godlike beings being allowed to run amok throughout the cosmos beyond what even AO can easily control.  It's a living setting,  unlike Eberron which really doesn't change much between editions,  which is largely a static setting. So in practice the Forgotten Realms is a setting of settings that are interlinked.  You have the Sword Coast which WotC is basically treating as a setting,  the lands of intrigue (Calimshan,  Tethyr,  Amn)  which act as their own setting,  the Old Empires (Mulhorand,  Unther,  and Chessenta and arguably Tymanther as well now), the Cold Lands,  Chult,  Kara Tur,  Moonshaes,  Zakhara,  Abier,  and so on. Each is complex enough to be it's own setting.  The Unapproachable East is basically the Conan setting for example,  although I'd include Thay as both unapproachable East and a part of the Old Empires.  But it's more then simply a kitchen sink setting as none of it's just random,  it all fits into the broader theme,  the Forgotten Realms (hence the name).</blockquote>

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