![]() Kara-tur, which is a further eastern land, separated from Faerûn by a vast steppe. “Ohhh Thay can you thee…”Īnd if that’s not enough for you, there are whole other continents to explore, including: a mysterious jungled land that is totally not based off of Mesoamerica, called Maztica. Ladies and gentlemen, please clutch your staff of power for our National Anthem. Or there’s the nation that was briefly ruled by a red dragon who attempted to ascend to godhood. I mean, you’ve got Thay, which is a nation of evil wizards, who think being an evil wizard is awesome, and of course their society is perfect, it’s just the way it should be: with the Red Wizards of Thay on top. It really earns the moniker “The Unapproachable East.” Not that you’d really want to go there. Home to exotic lands where they take slaves and where evil wizards practice forbidden arts, the east is rife with peril. Speaking of Tolkien and Howard: the eastern parts of Faerûn are shrouded in mystery. Here you’ll find places like Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan–so in one stretch of the continent you go from standard vaguely European high fantasy to vaguely middle-eastern merchant princes and sultans, where you can find djinn and efreets warring with tribes of humans.īy subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The west is one big coastal region, whether up against the actual coast or butting up against the Sea of Fallen Stars, a massive inner sea formed in days of legend. It is also the setting for the first official 3.x D&D game, and I believe you can still find multiplayer servers active to this day. Here you’ll find cities like Waterdeep and Neverwinter–which gets its name either because the Neverwinter river (and the city’s water supply) is heated by fire elementals and so the water never freezes, and the heat from the water makes it temperate, OR, the city is named after its founder Halueth Never, and was originally called Never’s Winter. ![]() Here you’ll find huge forests, like the Lurkwood and frozen regions like Icewind Dale, as well as more civilized places along the Sea of Swords. In the north, you’ve got untamed forbidding icy wastelands clashing with hard-fought civilization. Going through various entries for just humans, we’ve got: Chondathans, Calishites, Tethyrians, Damarans, Illuskans, Rashemi–you get the idea–and they’ve all got their own languages, customs and names. The main region, Faerûn, is an ecologically diverse continent and there are diverse peoples that inhabit it. The whole thing feels very well developed the setting is on an actual planet, Toril. Geographically speaking, the Forgotten Realms are home to just about everything you could want. With so much of the RPG landscape having been shaped by this setting, I thought it might be fun to see just what makes them tick. And it all comes back to the Forgotten Realms. I don’t think it’s too hyperbolic to say that without games like Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II, you wouldn’t have things like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, or even Knights of the Old Republic. Heck, even if you’ve never heard of any of those, if you’ve ever played a video game RPG, you’ve been influenced by it. In those lists you can find the names of legends: Icewind Dale, Neverwinter, Water Deep, the windswept coastline of the Sea of Swords, and Candlekeep. ![]() It’s no surprise, really–Faerûn is the setting for literally hundreds of stories spread across novels, comics, video games, magazines, and campaign books. ![]() How does one land hold so much adventure? Even if you’ve never rolled a d20, odds are good you’ve at least heard of the Forgotten Realms. Welcome to Faerûn – the home of the Forgotten Realms! Faerûn. Today we delve into one of the most iconic settings in all of D&D. ![]()
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