Oliphant?[]
I have a question about Murder in Cormyr: In 1st/2nd edition, an oliphant was described as a variant of elephant, "probably a modern-day relative of the Pleistocene mastodon", on average somewhat smaller but more intelligent, not just another name for elephant. Is there something in Murder in Cormyr that suggests oliphant is a Realms synonym for the regular elephant? Otherwise I think we should treat it as separate as mastodon or mammoth. Daranios (talk) 13:17, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
- I wasn't aware an "oliphant" was a separate creature, I just assumed it was intended to be an old-fashioned word for an elephant, as in the real world. While author Chet Williamson did a great amount of research, he'd never even played D&D (as he says here), so I wouldn't expect him to pull out an obscure critter.
- In any case, it's only referenced offhandedly in two lines: "He could've had an oliphant in his other hand for all I knew." and "...what looked like a small mass of men and horses riding all together. Men and horses? Say rather ogres on oliphants." So based on this, I wouldn't conclude oliphants exist in the Realms. If I did, it would mean they're well known enough to farmfolk in Cormyr that they distinguish oliphants from elephants, which is very unlikely. BadCatMan (talk) 13:50, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
- Looks like oliphant is a 1e leftover that appeared in Murder + 2e MMs as a subtype of an elephant. In FRA 2e oliphants are listed as mounts for paladins in tundra, and in Horde 2e as appearing in the Hordelands. So. Looks like they are a 1e leftover, name for a wooly mammoth... and never appeared past 2e in the realms. Artyom.pavlov (talk) 14:09, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
- I would advocate joining Olyphant, Mammoth, and Mastodon... they are too similar and in real world Mammoth and Mastodon are close relative that differed in size basically... Think these 3 exist in the realms due to lack of oversight if anything else ... Artyom.pavlov (talk) 15:42, 21 March 2021 (UTC)