A grand tour of the real.., p.1
A Grand Tour Of The Realms, page 1
Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb "A Grand Tour Of The Realms"
(C)1993 TSR,Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Contents
The World of the Realms
The Planet and its Continents
Faerun
Hordelands
Kara-Tur
Maztica
Zakhara
Races in the Realms
Humankind
Dragons
Dwarves
Elves and the Elven Nations
The Goblin Races
Gnomes
The Half-Elven Peoples
Halflings
The Giants
The Underdark Races
Other Races
Character Classes in the Realms
Fighters
Rangers
Paladins
Wizards
Specialist Wizards
Priests
Druids
Rogues
Bards
Faerun
The Regions of Faerun
The Underdark
Time in the Realms
The Calendar of Harptos
Special Calendar Days
Marking the Years
The Roll of Years
Present Reckoning (PR)
Names in the Realms
Languages of the Realms
Languages of the Realms List
Currency in the Realms
Character Description Abbreviations
The Dales and the Elven Court
The Dalelands
History
The Dalelands Mindset
The Dales Council
Archendale
Battledale
Daggerdale
Deepingdale
Featherdale
Harrowdale
The High Dale
Mistledale
Moondale
Scardale
Sessrendale
The Elven Woods
Other Features of the Dales Area
Cormyr
Government
History
Lords of Cormyr
Cormyte Defense
Wizards in Cormyr
The Cormyrean Mindset
Customs
Adventuring in Cormyr
Locations of Interest
Sembia
History
The Overmaster
The Sembian Mindset
Locations of Interest
The Moonsea
History
The Moonsea Mindset
Interesting Features
The Vast
History
The Vast Mindset
Interesting Features
The Dragon Coast
History
The Dragon Coast Mindset
Interesting Features
The Western Heartlands
History
The Western Heartlands Mindset
Interesting Features
Merchants of the Realms
Waterdeep
History
Government
Defense and Justice
Other Important Factions
The Waterdhavian Mindset
Religions in Waterdeep
Thieves' Guilds in Waterdeep
The Wards of Waterdeep
Beyond the Heartlands
The Island Kingdoms
Evermeet
Lantan
Mintarn
The Moonshaes
The Nelanther
Nimbral
Orlumbor
Ruathym
The Savage North
Barbarian Peoples
Citadel Adbar
Hellgate Keep
High Forest
Icewind Dale
Llorkh
Luskan
Mirabar
Neverwinter
Silverymoon
Sundabar
Anauroch
The Cold Lands
Damara
Glister
The Great Glacier
Narfell
The Ride
Sossal
Thar
Vaasa
The Unapproachable East
Aglarond
Impiltur
The Great Dale
Rashemen
Thay
Thesk and Telflamm
The Old Empires
The Alamber Sea
Chessenta
Mulhorand
Unther
The Vilhon Reach
Chondalwood
Chondath
Gulthmere
Hlondeth
Nimpeth
Sespech
The Shining Plains
Turmish
Empires of the Sands
Amn
Calimshan
Tethyr
The Shining South
The Great Rift
Halruaa
Jungles of Chult
Lake of Steam
Luiren
Raurin
The Shaar
Lost Empires
The World of the Realms
=======================
Faerun is no more than a small territory hugging a larger world,
which in turn is only the third world of eight orbiting a central sun,
which is entirely encapsulated in a crystal sphere within a swirling
chaos, which in turn is only one in myriad alternate dimensions. But
for the races of Toril, for the elves and dwarves and gnomes and
halflings and humans, Faerun has a very important name: It is home.
The Planet and its Continents
-----------------------------
Abeir-toril (Ah-BEER Tor-RILL), more commonly called Toril, is the
name of the orb that y II Faerun and the Forgotten Realms are set upon,
just as Earth is the orb that Eurasia is set upon. The name is
archaic, meaning cradle of life, and is rarely used in everyday speech.
Abeir-Toril is an Earth-sized planet dominated by a large continent
in its northern hemisphere as well as a number of other large
landmasses scattered about its surface. This northern continent is
called Faerun in the west, Kara-Tur in the east, and Zakhara in the
south. It is the primary purpose of this tome to deal with the western
portion of this huge landmass, in particular the region in Faerun
between the Sword Coast and the Inner Sea.
Abeir-Toril has a single satellite, Selune (also the name of the
goddess of the night sky and navigation). This luminous, heavenly body
is followed in its path across the sky by a collection of shining
shards, called the Tears of Selune. These tears are said to be nothing
more than a cluster of ordinary asteroids and debris that trail the
moon in its path, yet the Tears remain reflective and bright even when
the moon is new in the sky.
In addition to the moon, there are seven visible planets that wander
against the star-misted sky. They are dusky Anadia, green Coliar, blue
Karpri and Chandos, ringed Glyth, odd-appearing Garden, and disk-shaped
H'Catha. All follow regular paths around the sun. The stars are distant
and eternal, and form themselves into patterns and constellations that
each culture names according to its own desires.
A Torillian year is 365 days of 24 hours each. An orbit of Selune is
roughly 30 days. For further information on the calendar, refer to the
Time in the Realms section in the "Faerun" chapter.
Faerun
Faerun (Fay-ROON) is the cradle of the Realms, the heart of the
FORGOTTEN REALMS' campaign setting. In discussion, Faerun and the
Realms are used interchangeably. Faerun consists of the north-west
quarter of the dominant continent on Toril. It is bounded on the west
by the Trackless Sea, on the south by the Great Sea, on the east by the
wide expanses of the Hordelands, and on the north by the ice of the
uttermost north. The continent includes a number of large off-shore
islands, including Lantan, Nimbral, the Moonshaes, fabled Anchorome,
and Evermeet.
Hordelands
Beyond the lands of Thay and Rashemen is a land of endless
emptiness, paling with its vast openness even the Shaar to the south or
the Fields of the Dead in the Western Heartlands. It is a treeless land
occupied by barbarian herdsmen and raiders, the hollow link between
Faerun and Kara-Tur. It is called the Endless Waste in old texts. Its
people call it Taan and themselves the Tuigan. The modern natives of
Faerun call it the Hordelands, for out of this land came the engine of
destruction known as the Horde.
Two years after the Time of Troubles, the barbarian tribes of this
land united and like a swarm of ants surged westward into the lands of
Faerun. They conquered all that stood in their way, and even the Red
Wizards of Thay paid kind words and hard tribute to their majesty.
Under the leadership of Yamun Khahan, they boiled into the civilized
lands of the Unapproachable East.
The Horde was turne d back by the combined efforts of an alliance of
western nations under the leadership of King Azoun IV of Cormyr. Yamun
Khahan was slain and the Horde disbanded, some of its elements
returning to their barren land, others settling on the lands of their
newfound conquests.
The Horde has left its mark on the Realms, with a new flood of
refugees and immigrants moving westward into Impiltur and the Vast. The
Sea of Fallen Stars has carried these newcomers to all of its ports and
beyond, and new heroes and legends have erupted in their wake.
And still the Hordelands sit like a watchful beast eying both Faerun
and Kara-Tur, and none know when they will erupt again in another
Horde, and who can turn it back if they do.
Kara-Tur
Beyond the emptiness of the Hordelands lies a mystical and magical
land known as Kara-Tur (Kah-rah-TOUR). It is a region very different
from the lands of the Realms, and in the past only the hints of
whispers of legends have come across that land to this. With the
coming of the Horde and the wave of refugees pressed before it, more
facts, legends, and tales of this land have passed from talespinner to
talespinner. Many stories that cannot be placed elsewhere are said to
come "from Kara-Tur when the world was still new."
The more amazing of the tales, of mortals passing through walls
without magic, steam-breathing dragons, or warriors with hidden powers,
are easily discounted or explained. However, it remains that the lands
of Kara-Tur are very much unlike the native Realms.
Kara-Tur is known for two of its great nations, Shou Lung and
Kozakura. Shou Lung may be the mightiest empire in the world,
overshadowing the early days of Mulhorand, and the entire empire is
ruled from a central city by an sage king advised by the spirits of his
predecessors. Kozakura is equally famous as an island of warriors where
duty and honor mean all to the loyal samurai and wandering ronin.
Kara-Tur's influence on Faerun is only distantly felt, and then
mostly in the form of some tavern tale of great riches and wise
dragons, or in some mysterious artifact which appears in the court of a
distant king. However, there are occasional travelers, both merchants
and adventurers, from west to east and vice-versa, and care must be
taken before challenging one of Kara-Tur's legendary warriors in
combat.
Maztica
Beyond Evermeet in the Trackless Sea is a continent until recently
unrevealed, known to its inhabitants as Maztica (Mahz-TEE-ka), the True
World, Its existence has been hinted at in various tales over the
millennia, but only with the voyage of Captain Cordell in 1361 DR was
the drape of isolation ripped aside and the True World revealed.
Maztica is a wild and almost untouched land, dominated by great
jungles and thick forests. Its peoples live simply in small communities
or religion-based city-states. Their magics derive not from
conventional (read "elder kingdoms") forces, but through focii of
feathers and claws. The entire scope of these abilities, and the True
World's new gods, is unknown.
The revelation of Maztica has had little effect on the bulk of the
Realms, as there are more than enough new places to go and new monsters
to vanquish without making a long sea voyage. The greatest effects have
taken place in the Empires of the Sands and the island kingdom of
Lantan, all of whom have laid claims to wide swaths of the new land
(without consulting those who were living on it before the revelation).
New riches have poured into these lands, making their rulers more
powerful, but sending costs skyrocketing for commoners.
Six years after the revelation, much is still unknown about this far
land. Maztican individuals and artifacts have been drifting into the
Realms, a subject of comment and curiosity. The strange feather magic
(pluma) and claw magic (hishna) have daunted sages, new vegetables have
appeared in Faerun, brought from Maztica, and the warriors of Maztica,
like warriors throughout the world, are judged by the strength of their
arms and the spirit in their hearts.
Zakhara
Far to the south, beyond the fabled lands of Halruaa and Luiren, of
Durpar and Var the Golden, is a very different world, as alien as
Maztica and as powerful as Kara-Tur. Located on the far side of the
Great Sea, it is a hot, dry land of deserts and rocky mountains, its
great cities bugging the coastlines for trade and water. It is a land
of magic unknown in the north, of powerful monsters and more-powerful
rulers. It is known as Zakhara (Zah-KARR-ah), the Burning World, the
Land of Fate.
Zakharan culture at first blush seems to be related to that of the
Empires of the Sands, or the desert tribes of Anauroch, and indeed
there may be a long-distant connection, magical or otherwise. But the
Land of Fate is a solid, unified culture unsullied by what the
inhabitants laughingly call the Barbarian North. Its gods are unified
into a single pantheon, and its leaders call heavily upon genies to
solve every problem that confronts them. Items such as djinn rings and
flying carpets that are infrequently encountered in the Realms are
rumored to be sold on the open market in Zakhara, and every person born
to that land is said to be royalty. The truth of such claims may be
distorted by the distance the tales have traveled.
Zakhara, like Kara-Tur, is separated from Faerun by a great empty
expanse, such that those who brave the Great Sea are most often
adventurers and merchants who seek the new, the novel, and the
profitable. The traveler should be warned, however, that Zakharans are
firm in their belief that they are much, much more advanced and
civilized than any other people, and treat others accordingly.
Races in the Realms
-------------------
The Realms are home to a myriad number of sentient races, most of
which are in direct competition with each other for land, food, and
survival. Humankind is the most successful of the major races in
Faerun, but the race's supreme position is by no means a sure and
secure one. Humans share their position with other older, generally
benevolent races: dwarves, elves (and human-elf hybrids), halflings,
and gnomes. Yet humans and the other elder races are regularly
threatened by goblins of all descriptions, underwater and underground
races, and most importantly, the powerful and dangerous dragons.
Humankind
The most populous and strongest of the major races of the Forgotten
Realms, humans are considered the dominant race in Faerun. Humankind in
Faerun comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Individuals sometimes
show the height of the halflings, the stockiness of the dwarf, or the
slenderness of the elf, yet remain completely human. Human skin color
ranges from the pale, almost translucent Lantanese to the dusky,
dark-eyed natives of Unther, with all shades in between.
The concept of subraces, common in other races such as halflings and
elves, does not exist in humankind. All nationalities and races of
humans can interbreed without difficulty, and their children, unlike
the elves, will have traits of either or both parents. After a time,
any isolated group of humans tends to establish its own traits, which
may change in a few generations with the introduction of new settlers
or invaders. This easy assimilation may account for the success of the
race over others.
Humankind is also one of the most aggressive of the major races,
approaching the goblins in ferocity and the dwarves in its
