Faerun

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Thindol

Capitol: Thindar
Population: 1,263,413 (humans 87% [Chultans 55%, Tashalans 45%], gold dwarves 7%, kuo-toa 3%, lizardfolk 2%, yuan-ti 1%)
Government: Council of Cities
Religions: Dwarven pantheon (gold dwarves), Savras, Squamata the Black (Sseth [now Set]), Talona, Ubtao, Umberlee
Imports: Grains, wine, wood.
Exports: Gold, iron, seafood, tropical fruits and vegetables, weapons.
Alignment: Usually LG, LN, TN, NE, or CE

The Realm of Running Waters encompasses the entire Thindol Basin. Its lands are encircled by the Hazur Mountains to the east and north, the Tching Mountains to the northwest, and the Sanrach Mountains to the west. At the heart of Thindol lies the Thingulph, a large sheltered gulf that is fed by six major rivers and opens onto the Great Sea. The flatlands of Thindol are covered by tall grass and scattered orchards, and the Hazur Mountains contain productive veins of gold and iron sufficient to meet the local need.

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Turmish

Capital: Alaghôn
Population: 1,693,440 (humans 78%, dwarves 9%, halflings 7%, elves 3%, gnomes 2%, half-elves 1%, half-orcs 1%)
Government: Republic
Religions: Chauntea, Eldath, Helm, Lliira, Loviatar, Nobanion, Silvanus, Selûne, Tempus, Tyr
Imports: Luxury goods, metal
Exports: Glass, grain, lumber, mercenaries, salt
Alignment: Usually TN, LN, or LG

Turmish lies in the northwest of the Vilhon Reach. It is a rich, fertile, farming land of villages and few cities - peaceful, civilized, and well managed. Turmish features rolling fields divided by hedges or dense rows of trees, with ample room for wild creatures. The mountains to the west harbor orcs, kobolds, and other monsters, but few raid Turmish thanks to well-organized mercenary bands that serve as local militias.

Turmish's natives have an excellent reputation as fair traders, welcome throughout the Inner Sea. The area is remarkably popular with adventurers despite its lack of monsters. Buried treasure abounds (at least according to bards' tales), and the area offers plenty of ruins and wild lands to explore.

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Unther

Capital: Messemprar (formerly Unthalass)
Population: 4,263,840 (humans 94%, dwarves 3%, halflings 2%)
Government: Magocracy (formerly direct theocracy)
Religions: Bane, the Mulhorandi pantheon, Mystra, Tempus (mainly by Chessentan mercenaries), Tiamat
Imports: Food, mercenaries, slaves, weapons
Exports: Ceramics, cloth, gold, iron, minerals, sculpture, seed oil
Alignment: Usually CN, CE, or TN

Once, a great empire like its sister nation Mulhorand, Unther fell far under the rule of the cruel manifestation of the deity Gilgeam. With Gilgeam's death at the claws of Tiamat, Unther was plunged into chaos. Slaves rebelled, commoners rejoiced at the death of the tyrant, and clerics of Gilgeam and nobles struggled to maintain order. The armies of Mulhorand took advantage of this unrest, invading southern Unther and placing conquered areas under martial law.

Now Unther is a country divided between those who cling to the old ways and those who hope the pharaoh of Mulhorand will treat them better than their old ruler did. Unther is a land of opportunity, where military force, diplomacy, subterfuge, and intrigue all play a part in survival and power.

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Vaasa

Capital: None
Population: 145,440 (humans 60%, dwarves 30%, orcs 9%)
Government: None (formerly dictatorship)
Religions: Dwarven pantheon, orc pantheon
Imports: Food, weapons
Exports: Furs, gems
Alignment: Usually CE, LN, or TN

This untamed wasteland of frozen moors and tundra was the seat of power for the evil lich Zhengyi the Witch-King until his defeat by a band of adventurers. Vaasa is once again a lonely land dotted with scratch farms and inhabited by evil humanoids and other monsters. What the land lacks in hospitality it makes up for in untapped wealth, as the mountains of Vaasa are rich in metals and gems, particularly bloodstone. Miles of mountainside go unclaimed by any civilization, and many well-armed prospectors make the trip to Vaasa hoping to find gems as large as a grown man's fist - and survive long enough to sell them.

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The Vast

Capital: None
Population: 1,308,960 (humans 78%, dwarves 9%, halflings 5%, elves 3%, gnomes 2%, half-elves 1%, half-orcs 1%)
Government: City-states and feudal holdings; most cities are ruled by councils of merchants and landowners
Religions: Chauntea, Clangeddin, Eldath, Mystra, Tempus, Torm, Tymora, Waukeen
Imports: Glass, luxury goods, salt
Exports: Copper, grain, iron, livestock, nickel, parchment, silver, textiles
Alignment: Usually LN, TN, or NG

The Vast is a verdant farming and hunting area on the eastern shore of the Dragon Reach, best known for its thriving ports: evil Calaunt, ever-changing Tantras, the adventurers' haven Ravens Bluff, and regimented Procampur. Orcs and dwarves vie for supremacy over the nearby mountains. Orc raids on the lowlands are rare, but troublesome enough to keep the human population concentrated along the coast. Intrigues between rival factions and a wealth of dwarven ruins beckon to adventurers.

Thanks to the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Vast enjoys a mild climate year round, with long, cool summers and short, mild winters. Most of the Vast is rolling farmland with fields divided by low walls made from rubble. Small wooded lots appear among the farms. Dozens of brooks and streams crisscross the land, but they seldom join the major rivers. Instead, they end in pools that drain into subterranean rivulets flowing toward the Inner Sea. The jigsaw water table owes its existence to broken and tilted layers of rock that lie under the deep soil of the vast. Small sinkholes, caves, and rifts are plentiful.

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The Vilhon Reach

Capital: None
Population: 5,705,840 (humans 95%, dwarves 2%, elves 1%, lizard-folk 1%)
Government: Various kingdoms and independent city-states
Religions: Eldath, Helm, Lliira, Malar, Nobanion, Silvanus, Talos, Tempus, Tyr
Imports: Metal
Exports: Fish, horses, slaves, stone, wine
Alignments: Usually TN, LN, or LG

This region shares its name with the body of water called the Vilhon Reach, a long southern arm of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The region encompasses much of the southern shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars, from the mouth of the Reach west and north to the mouth of the Wet River, and south to the Golden Plains. It is a fertile, rich land divided up into quarreling city-states and petty nations. For all its unrest, the Vilhon remains vital to the whole of Faerûn: It forms the trade link between the Lake of Steam, the Shaar, and the rest of the world through its ports on the Sea of Fallen Stars.

With the subtropical and humid weather of the Vilhon Reach, winter temperatures rarely reach the freezing point, snowfalls are rare, and heavy winter rains are common. Spring arrives early, and summer comes hard on its heels with scorching temperatures and oppressive humidity. Autumn brings cooler weather and lower humidity, but an autumn day in the Vilhon can be as warm as high summer in more northerly regions.

The three important nations of the Reach are Chondath, Sespech, and Turmish. In addition, a large number of independent city-states and minor local authorities occupy the region.

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Veldorn

Known as the Land of Monsters, Veldorn is bound together by the loose promise of all its monstrous inhabitants to defend one another if any of them are attacked. In times past, Durpari armies marching on one of the so called beast-chieftains have provoked a response by a dozen more, leading to bloody, pitched battles. The beast-chieftains prey on the caravans of the Trade Way and generally leave each other to their own devices, intervening only if some power threatens them all.

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Waterdeep

Population: 1,347,840 (humans 64%, dwarves 10%, elves 10%, halflings 5%, half-elves 5%, gnomes 3%, half-orcs 2%) (City of Waterdeep, Metropolis, 132,661)
Government: Oligarchy (the Lords of Waterdeep, anonymous meritocratic rulers)
Religions: All, especially Deneir, Mystra, and Oghma
Imports: Grain, livestock, leather, ore, timber, and exotic goods from all lands
Exports: Ale, arms, cloth, furnishings, leather goods, pottery, refined metals, and all other sorts of finished goods

Waterdeep is the major cosmopolitan power of Faerûn. It benefits from an excellent harbor, wise rule, a tolerant spirit, and a powerful magical tradition that generally produces stronger good wizards than evil wizards. Waterdeep contains at least one of nearly everything, but it's not a melting pot - instead, it's like a gem grinder, smoothing individuals' rough edges so that their talents shine brighter.

The city's nickname, the City of Splendors, is never said sarcastically. People know that Waterdeep is a marvel and that life is better, or at least more bizarre, there. If Waterdhavians have one notable fault, it's a tendency to think that there is nothing new under the sun, and they treat the entire sum of human and nonhuman experience as their potential cultural heritage. This fault is not always a bad thing.

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The Wealdath

Home of the two surviving local tribes of elves, the Suldusk and the Elmanesse, the Wealdath forest also contains fey creatures that vigorously defend it against encroachers. Gnolls, lycanthropes, giant spiders, wyverns, and dragons (two greens, a brown and a gold) pose occasional dangers, although they have learned to avoid the elves. Portals leading to the plane of the lythari (elven shapechangers) exist in the forest, although only the lythari know how to open them.

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The Wizard's Reach

Along the southern shores of the Aglarondan peninsula lie the cities of the Wizards' Reach. Between the Sea of Fallen Stars and the Yuirwood stretches a broad, sunny plain more than 300 miles long and up to eighty miles wide. Unlike the northern coastal plain, the Wizards' Reach is low, marked by extensive tidal marshes and barrier islands, which makes east-west travel difficult.

The Wizards' Reach is not part of the kingdom of Aglarond and never has been. It is so named for the powerful magical empires that dominated this stretch of water for thousands of years. Its cities were founded by the people of ancient Unther (and Chessenta, which was subjugated by Unther at the time), and over, the last ten centuries they have been Untheric colonies, independent, a loose league of their own, Chessentan conquests, independent again, and finally Thayan conquests, which is the current situation.

In practice, the Red Wizards hold Escalant in strength, Laothkund loosely, and Delthuntle not at all.

The Wizards' Reach has always been wilder and less settled than the lands to the north. It has been nearly three centuries since any single power grasped these cities in one hand, so communications and settlement in the lands between are haphazard. Monsters shelter in the southern eaves of the Yuirwood, roaming the wilder places of the coastal plains, and the marshes are home to dangerous lizardfolk and sivs. Most travel and trade between cities is by sea - ruined settlements and forgotten towers are common along the abandoned coastal roads.

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The Western Heartlands

Capital: None
Population: 1,641,600 (humans 78%, elves 7%, half-elves 4%, halflings 4%, half-orcs 3%, gnomes 2%, dwarves 1%)
Government: City-states, each with a different government
Religions: All
Imports: Ale, fish, herbs, iron, rugs
Exports: Gold, pottery, silver, wool

The Western Heartlands cover a vast area between the Storm Horns of Cormyr and the Sword Coast south of Waterdeep, from the Lizard Marsh in the northwest to the Lonely Moor on the fringes of Anauroch in the northeast, down to Beregost and Green Fields in the southwest and Easting on the border of the Dragon Coast in the southeast.

To the caravan drivers of Amn and Sembia, the Western Heartlands are known as "miles and miles of miles and miles" - windswept, grassy flats skirting impassable bogs, badlands, rolling hills, high moors, and lonely forests, all of which are filled with monsters. The farmers, frontier folk, walled-city dwellers, and other hardy souls who live here are strong and independent enough to carve successful lives out on the frontier where skill and intelligence count for more than one's bloodline. The Western Heartlands are home to dozens of separate walled cities, racial enclaves, farm towns, monasteries, fortified strongholds, and armed domains.

The Western Heartlands welcome ambitious adventurers. A dozen crumbled empires have sought to conquer or dominate the region, leaving behind fortifications built upon by waves of subsequent would-be monarchs. Others left behind treasure troves, high and perilous magic, or both. Unlike the densely packed regions in the Heartlands and the North, the Western Heartlands require long stretches of overland travel between destinations - but at least no one freezes en route.

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The Yuirwood

The Yuirwood is named for the Yuir, the ancient star elves and green elves who once made this part of the world their home. Once this vast, green forest covered almost the entire peninsula, but today Aglarond's largest cities and most of its people are scattered along its rocky northern coast. In six centuries of human settlement, its northern edges have receded up to fifty miles from the coast at some points, but the tenacious forest seems to be making a comeback.

The Yuirwood is a temperate deciduous forest, with milder winters than typical of a land at this latitude. In the spring and summer, it is a sweltering tangle of brush and dense thickets, virtually impassable to anyone who doesn't know its ways. A low but rugged spine of forest-covered hills runs the length of the peninsula, and from these well-watered highlands innumerable streams descend to the coastal lands, although few are large enough to be termed rivers.

Game is plentiful but wary, as dangerous beasts and monstrous predators hunt through the green gloom. Few truly malevolent creatures haunt the forest, but foul-tempered beasts such as boars or monstrous spiders are every bit as dangerous to the unwary traveler.

Strange enchantments and old, strong magic are thick in the Yuirwood. The ancient star elves were masters of powerful magic, and they left behind two legacies that continue to be useful. First, the Yuirwood is impenetrable to detection and scrying magic. Attempts to pierce the Yuirwood's leafy canopy reveal the wood, but that's it. They cannot reveal any specific location, nor can they magically locate or track anyone under its boughs. The subject is not shielded in any way - it just seems not to be there, or anywhere else, at all.

The Yuirwood is littered with ruins, remnants of the great elven society that once called this land home.