Faerun

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Faerun

From the bitter, windswept steppes of the Endless Waste to the storm-lashed cliffs of the Sword Coast stretches a wide, wild land of shining kingdoms and primal wilderness. Faerûn is only one continent of the world known as Toril. Other lands lie in distant corners of the world, but Faerûn is the center of it all, the crossroads and crux upon which all else turns. Dozens of nations, hundreds of city-states, and countless tribes, villages, and settlements dot its expanse.

The continent of Fearûn measures more than thirty-five hundred miles from east to west and and twenty-five hundred from north to south. It includes sun-blasted deserts, vast forest deeps, forbidding mountains, and gleaming inland seas. Across this vast expanse travel minstrels and peddlers, caravan merchants and guards, soldiers, sailors, and steel-hearted adventurers carrying tales of strange, glorious, faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across Faerûn. Thousands of restless, young would-be heroes from backcountry farmsteads and sleepy villages arrive in Waterdeep and the other great cities every year in search of wealth and renown.

Known roads may be less traveled, but they are not necessarily safe. Fell magic, deadly monsters, and cruel local rulers are all perils that you face when you fare abroad in Faerûn. Away from the main roads and the great cities, the countryside is far wilder than the city folk remember. Even farms and free holds within a day's walk of Waterdeep itself may fall prey to monsters, and no place in Faerûn is safe from the sudden wrath of a dragon.

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Algarond

Capitol: Veltalar
Population: 1,270,080 (humans 64%, half-elves 30%, elves 5%)
Government: Oligarchic magocracy
Religion: Chauntea, Valkur, Selune, Mielikki, Silvanus, the Seldarine
Imports: Glass, iron, textiles
Exports: Copper, gems, giants, lumber, wine
Alignment: Usually NG, TN, or CG

Situated on a long peninsula that stabs like a knife into the heart of the Sea of Fallen Stars, Aglarond is a land of open water and deep woods. Here humans and elves have intermingled for centuries, and nowhere else in Faerûn is there a greater concentration of half-elves. The land has long stood as a bulwark holding back the Red Wizards of Thay from the western lands. This is a thankless task, but the people of Aglarond take it up not for the survival of other countries, but their own.

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Altumbel

Populated by clannish humans and merchant-pirates, Altumbel lies near the center of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Altumbel is an isolated nation of human fisherfolk and pirates at the westernmost tip of the Aglarondan peninsula, the folk of Altumbel distrust nonhumans -- especially elves. Altumbel is viewed as an insular, almost backward, land by most of its neighbors, but roguish merchants from Spandeliyon roam the Inner Sea in search of profits.

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Amn

Capital: Athkatla
Population: 2,961,520 (humans 83%, halflings 15%, halforcs 1%)
Government: Plutocracy
Religion: Bane, Chauntea, Cyric, Selûne, Sune, Waukeen
Imports: Exotic goods (from Maztica), magic items, mercenaries, pearls, siege weaponry
Export: Ale, armor, beer, caravan items (wagons, wheels), gems, gold, grain, horses, iron, jewelry, weapons
Alignment: Usually LN, LE, or NG

Amn is a nation of merchants, a place where caravans start and end and ships leave for exotic ports and return laden with gold and strange items. The Shadow Thieves have their hand in everything, and the rulers are an anonymous group known only as the Council of Six. Divine spellcasters are respected if their work brings money to Amn, while arcane spellcasters are universally reviled and feared.

Amn maintains a large colony on the distant tropical continent of Maztica and has profited greatly from its trade. The government's disregard for the humanoids in its southern mountains has come back to haunt the country; two ogre mage leaders forged an army and took over much of southern Amn, including its secondary port city. Now Amn struggles to retake its territory while maintaining its trade routes and dominance in Maztica.

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Anauroch

Capital: Shade (none for the Bedine)
Population: 114,048 [not including the city of Shade] (humans 77%, asabi 17%, gnolls 5%)
Government: Magocracy (city of Shade); tribal (the Bedine)
Religions: Beshaba, Elah (Selûne), Kozah (Talos), N'asr (Kelemvor), place spirits, Shar
Imports: Livestock, wooden goods
Exports: Salt, spices
Alignment: Usually NE, CE, or CG

Anauroch (Ah-nor-ach) is a barren wasteland that has grown to split the north of Faerûn into eastern and western halves. Also known as the Great Desert or the Great Sand Sea, Anauroch swallowed the ancient empire of Netheril more than fifteen centuries past, then devoured the shining kingdoms that rose in its wake. For generations Anauroch's relentless encroachment has destroyed realms and driven monsters into the neighboring lands.

Anauroch is the greatest of Faerûn's deserts, but far from empty. A nomadic race of noble barbarians known as the Bedine roams its wastes. Zhentarim garrisons and patrols hold down a line of oases along the Black Road, the trade route that winds west from the ruins of Teshendale to Llorkhninder the eaves of the Graypeak Mountains. Finally - and most significantly - the Empire of Shadows has settled over the anvil once known as the Shoal of Thirst. Shade, a city of Netheril that escaped that land's fall by removing itself to the Plane of Shadow, has now returned to Faerûn, and its masters contemplate the current shape of the world and consider what conquests to undertake next.

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The Border Kingdoms

The Border Kingdoms are little more than names on a map to most folk in the Heartlands of Faerûn. Only a few sages and well-traveled merchants know anything useful about them, thanks to their ever-changing nature, and travel there being hampered by incessant Borderer wars with each other and land-hungry satraps of Calimshan.

According to the sage Meriadas of Westgate: "The Border Kingdoms are the most favored destination for adventurers who want to proudly and boldly conquer a realm or establish their own new kingdom. Lords, counts, dukes, kings and emperors rise, proclaim themselves, and are swept away with the speed and regularity of waves crashing upon a shore. What comes to our ears are a stream of amusing or colorful little tales of their most daring, disastrous, or funny deeds. Few folk go there except those who want to carve out a place for themselves with a sword... Borders and even the names of the realms they define change with each passing month and even tenday; there is no such thing as an accurate history or even map of the Border Kingdoms (which are named thus) because they stand in the way of Calishite expansion, their turmoil and stubborn strength defining the eastern border of that proud realm... south of the Lake of Steam... the Border Kingdoms spread east and south to take in all the lands drained by the River Scelptar as far as the Shieldmaidens (the hills at the western end of the Firesteap Mountains, just east of The Duskwood) and the rising land that defines the northern edge of the vast rolling grasslands known as The Shaar."

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Calimshan

Capital: Calimport
Population: 5,339,520 (humans 94%, halforcs 2%, halflings 2%, half-elves 1%)
Government: Autocracy
Religions: Anachtyr (Tyr), Azuth, Bhaelros (Talos), Ilirandul (dead god, now an aspect of Shar), Ilmater, Shar, Sharess
Imports: Food, slaves, wizards
Exports: Armor, books, gems, jewelry, leather goods, mercenaries, minor magic items, pearls, pottery, rare herbs, rope, ships, silk, spices, weapons, wine
Alignment: Usually LN, TN, or NE

Calimshan is a land obsessed with wealth and unimpressed by magic. Its people are heirs to an old empire founded by genies; and now fear such creatures and ban them from their lands. Familiar with displays of magic, they see the Art as any other skill that can be learned. Some say the blood of the efreet runs in some Calishites, giving them sorcerous powers and a talent for fire magic.

Calimshan is renowned for its chauvinism, exotic markets, thieves' guilds, decadent harems, desert landscape, and wealthy ruling class, as well as its enormous population and many slaves.

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Channath Vale

The Channath Vale is a narrow stretch of land along the southern side of the Shaar, where the River Channath flows west into the River Talar. The North Wall of Halruaa and the Bandit Wastes form its southern boundary, while the Shaar flanks it on the north. The vale consists of three separate woodlands (the Channathwood, the Misty Vale, and the Shaareach Forest), as well as the Dun Hills and the tiny range of mountains known as the Wyrmbones. A major caravan route follows the south side of the vale, connecting the Great Rift with lands west of the Shaar. Several communities have arisen in Channath Vale along this trade way, and their citizens reap the benefits of caravan traffic.

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Chessenta

Capital: Cimbar (theoretically)
Population: 3,386,880 (humans 82%, halflings 6%, dwarves 5%, half-orcs 4%, lizardfolk 2%)
Government: Varies by city (militocracy, theocracy, monarchy)
Religions: Anhur, Assuran (old name of Hoar), Azuth, Lathander, Red Knight, Tahazzar (aspect of Tiamat), Waukeen
Imports: Cheese, glass, horses, magic weapons, mercenaries, perfume, pork, slaves.
Exports: Art, cattle, gold, grapes, olive oil, quality iron, silver, slaves (to Thay), statues, weapons, wine
Alignment: Usually TN, CG, or LN

A group of cities considered a single nation by the rest of Faerûn, Chessenta is anything but united. The cities war against each other over old slights, philosophical differences, or economic leverage. Adventurers and mercenary companies make a good living here, hired by various governments for sneak attacks, strategic planning, or protection.

The culture of Chessenta is obsessed with physical conflict, with war heroes considered very highly. The nation is friendly to dwarves and half-orcs, but uneasy with elves. The Chessentans appreciate the arts and are great fans of theater; the bardic profession is second only to that of fighters.

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The Chondalwood

This long stretch of forest runs from the north side of the Shaar past the north end of the Landrise and behind the Firesteap Mountains, extending all the way to the coast of the Vilhon Reach. Though much of this woodland is beyond the area known as the Shining South, the southern end of it flanks the Old Road,a trade route that connects Chondath with many locales throughout the Shaar. At the very southern tip of the grasslands, the Old Road and the Road of Dust merge at Hardcastle.

The denizens of the Chondalwood actively discourage outsiders from entering its deep, dark interior. In addition to the usual dangerous animals -- such as snakes, spiders, tigers, and so forth -- the forest houses numerous dangerous plants and plant creatures. Various fungi and mushrooms, as well as mistletoe and other parasitic plants, are prominent along the forest floor. Shambling mounds, tendriculoses, assassin vines, and other evil vegetable creatures also sprout here from time to time. But the true menaces to foreigners traveling these woods are the satyrs, centaurs, wild elves, and feral ghostwise halflings. In addition, rumors that a sizable contingent of giants has settled here have been drifting through the nearby towns of late.

The druids who live in the Chondalwood jointly watch over the woodland and keep it healthy. Their enclave, which is even more secretive and aloof than most such groups, has assembled various kinds of creatures into patrols and instructed them to watch for and be wary of any groups other than trade caravans that pass along the Old Road. When evidence of adventurers or loggers comes to light, the creatures begin a campaign of terror against the encroachment, making menacing sounds and displaying strange lights in hopes of scaring off intruders before they set foot beneath the forest canopy. When that doesn't work, the creatures do not hesitate to take more aggressive action.

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Chondath

Capital: Arrabar
Population: 1,982,880 (humans 96%, elves 2%, dwarves 1%)
Government: Confederation of city-states
Religions: Helm, Lliira, Malar, Talos, Tempus, Waukeen
Imports: Metal
Exports: Lumber, mercenaries, salt, spices
Alignment: Usually TN, LN, or NE

To look on Chondath now, a scattering of allied city-states and towns strung along the southern shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars, it's hard to believe this is the same nation that produced the merchants who settled the powerhouse country of Sembia. Most other cities in the Vilhon were once part of its empire or suffered under its cruel armies. Now, Chondath is a land darkened by its fall from glory, by the grasping ambitions of its rulers, and by foes all around it.

Trade keeps a constant flow of folk leaving and arriving in Chondath from afar, and leads to more tolerance of varying ways and outlanders than visitors expect.

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Chult

Population: 440,640 (humans 60%, goblins 20%, lizardfolk 10%, wild dwarves 5%, pterafolk 4%)
Government: Tribal (rural areas); theocracy (in the city of Mezro)
Religions: Eshowdow (an aspect of Shar), Tharrd Barr, Ubtao
Imports: Food, jewelry, weapons
Exports: Furs, gems, ivory, perfume
Alignment: Usually LN, CE, or LG

Located at the westernmost end of the Chultan peninsula, Chult is a mountainous jungle of savage beasts, hulking dinosaurs, and disease-ridden swamps. Reclusive human tribes, fierce goblins, and strange monstrous folk haunt this dangerous land. Nevertheless Chult draws adventurers who search for its legendary riches.

Faith in the many aspects of the deity Ubtao holds dominion in this land, for the divine powers of Faerûn awarded Ubtao the land of Chult in exchange for his vigilance over the threat from under the Peaks of Flame.

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Cormyr

Capital: Suzail
Population: 1,360,500 (humans 85%, half-elves 10%, elves 4%)
Government: Monarchy
Religions: Chauntea, Deneir, Helm, Lathander, Lliira, Oghma, Malar, Milil, Selûne, Silvanus, Tempus, Tymora, Waukeen
Imports: Glass, ivory, spices
Exports: Armor, carved ivory, cloth, coal, food, swords, timber
Alignment: Usually LG, LN, or NG

Founded over a thousand years ago, the kingdom of Cormyr benefits from an enlightened monarchy, hard-working citizens, and an advantageous location. Cormyr is a civilized land surrounded by mountains, forests, and settlements of evil humanoids. Known for its well-trained military and its active group of government-sanctioned spell-casters, Cormyr boasts fine food, honest people, strange mysteries, and abundant contacts with other parts of the world.

In the past decades Cormyr has been challenged by treacherous noble families, a war with the Empire of Shade, armies of goblins and orcs, famine, a marauding ancient red dragon, the death of its beloved monarch, threats from the Far Realm, and most recently an army of undead led by an ancient and powerful lich. Under the rule of the restored Queen Tanalasta, Cormyr is in need of resourceful individuals willing to defend the crown and confront its various monsters and enemies.

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The Dalelands

Population: 602,640 (humans 80%, drow 6%, half-elves 5%, elves 4%, halflings 2%, gnomes 1%, dwarves 1%)
Government: Varies by dale; Dales Council loosely unifies all dales.
Religions: Chauntea, Lathander, Mielikki, Silvanas, Tempus, the Triad (Ilmater, Torm, Tyr)
Imports: Armor, books, glass, jewelry, metalwork, paper, text weapons
Exports: Ale, bread, cheese, fruit, grain, hides, timber, vegetable
Alignment: Usually CG, NG, or TN

The Dales are broad forest vales with rolling farmlands, linked by narrow trade roads running through beautiful woods. Blessed with fertile soil and a temperate climate (aside from the extremely harsh winters), the Dales are the breadbasket of the Heartlands. The Dales' independent spirit and age-old alliance with the elves of Cormanthor have made them the historic birthplace or favored home of many of Faerûn's greatest heroes.

Twelve separate dales exist today, with the Elves of Semberdale having recently seceeded from Deepingdale in 1383 DR. Each dale comes with its own territory, government (or lack of it), militia, trading pacts, ambitions, and character. Archendale and Harrowdale value trade over all else. Tasseldale values industry and craftsmanship. Daggerdale stands alone against a powerful enemy, while Scardale struggles to recover its independence after years of occupation. Meanwhile the other dales respect the old Dales Compact and prefer to be left alone.

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Damara

Capital: Heliogabalus
Population: 1,321,920 (humans 87%, dwarves 6%, halflings 4%, half-orcs 2%)
Government: Monarchy
Religions: Ilmater, Silvanus, Tempus (barbarians)
Imports: Food, livestock, wood
Exports: Gems, gold, iron, silver
Alignment: Usually LN, TN, or NE

North of Impiltur and east of the Moonsea lies the once-mighty realm of Damara, now rebuilding from decades of war against its neighbors and the orcs and gnolls of the mountains. Tolerant of all races and most religions, the country is friendly to visitors, especially those who have skill in slaying monsters. Those interested in politics and adventure can find plenty of opportunities here.

Damara maintains friendly relations with its neighbors and has a thriving gem trade based on its bountiful chalcedony (known as "bloodstone" for its red flecks) mines. However, the leaders of Damara keep a wary eye on the neighboring land of Vaasa and stay prepared for any strange threat that may arise from there.