In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially).
The Fourth Crown War
Circa 10,460 BDR, the Aryvandaari broke the brief peace to annex Ardeep, the small colony-state of Shantel Othreier located at the mouth of the River Dessarin. Aryvandaar was becoming much more ruthless in its pursuit of its goals, and two respected rulers of Ardeep – Ilitharath and his grandson Tarosspur – were killed in the process, triggering further discontent against the Vyshaan.
A decade later, Ilythiir began its next move. Believing Aryvandaar had exhausted itself in warfare against the other nations, Ilythiir’s forces marched west again Keltormir. Keltormir held a strong defensive line along the Lake of Steam coast and the river later called Mintar, lacking the strength for a counter-offensive but also being careful not to expend its defensive power too recklessly. In reality, Keltormir spent the next century and a half building a further series of defences behind the main line, along the mountains of the Iltkazar Range and the passes between the peaks. They also carefully kept an eye on what Aryvandaar was doing to the north.
In 10,300 BDR, the Keltormiri judged that Aryvandaar was prepared to move its troops to attack them from the north. They pulled their forces back from the eastern frontier, redeploying along the defensive redoubts along the line they called Highlands’ Edge. Even the Ilythiiri were daunted by the scale of the defences Keltormir had established, massive defensive lines of stone, anchored between the mountain peaks west and north-west of the Thornwood and extending between the peaks. Rumours that the dwarves of Shanatar had aided the elves in the construction of these redoubts were never confirmed.
However, the layout of the defences left a fairly open route due north, east of the Iltkazar Range and across the Shining Plains, leading all the way into Shantel Othreier’s eastern fringes, now held by Aryvandaar. The Ilythiiri realised they were being offered the opportunity to avoid warfare with Keltormir in return for a route being given to them to engage their true foes, the ones they held responsible for the Sundering and the Dark Disaster. The Ilythiiri were wary of a trap, but realised the Keltormiri had no love for the Aryvandaari either, and it was in their interest for Aryvandaar and Ilythiir to batter one another senseless.
In 10,270 BDR, the ruling Clan Hune of Ilythiir ordered its armies to engage the Aryvandaari forces directly, sparking the Stone and Claw Campaigns. The two empires’ armies and mages engaged in ferocious battle, but their strength was too evenly matched. In 10,110 BDR Ilythiir evoked dark magic on a huge scale to turn the tide in their favour, destroying over two-thirds of Shantel Othreier’s tree cover in half a century. Horrific monsters were sent to destroy Aryvandaar’s armies, and cruel rites were carried out under the trees in service to the Ilythiiri dark gods.
The Descent of the Drow
It was only through the nihilistic tactics of the Fourth Crown War that the true depredations of the dark elves of Ilythiir became clear to all the other elven nations. Their use of forbidden, bleak magic and their utter rejection of the Seldarine (aside from a small number who worshipped Eilistraee and sought the redemption of their kindred) set them aside even from the increasing ruthlessness of Vyshaan-led Aryvandaar, who at least nominally still worshipped the Seldarine and venerated the light.
The elven High Mages and high priests of all of the elven nations of Toril began praying for the Seldarine’s intervention in the war, believing that the loss of life over the preceding two millennia had become unsustainable for the slow-breeding elves, and the growth in power of the dark elves’ evil had become an existential threat to the entire species.
Almost exactly ten thousand years before the rise of the Standing Stone, the Seldarine responded. In an awesome display of divine magic, Corellon Larethian cursed the entire dark elven people, declaring them dhaerow, “the accursed.” The dark elves were granted a horrific aversion and weakness to the sunlight, so they could not abide the light of the day any more. Over the next few months, the dark elves abandoned the surface realms, fleeing into the caverns and tunnels of the Underdark. Many died of starvation, but others conquered subterranean realms and established new holdings far below the ground. They became known as the drow, and many of them sank even further in their worship of evil gods like Lolth.
Eilistraee protested that even her followers had been cursed along with their kindred, but Corellon told her that she and her followers must work from within to redeem all the drow, and on the day that the last drow repented their evil nature, they might be allowed to rejoin elven civilisation.
The Founding of Elven Court
With the drow banished from the surface realms, Ilythiir collapsed and its cities were swiftly abandoned. The threat to the other elven kingdoms from that quarter was over, or so it was believed. The rulers, High Mages and high priests of all of the elven kingdoms were ordered to come to the eastern forests to receive the judgement of the Seldarine.
In that great eastern forest, near the Inner Sea, the Seldarine forged a meeting place they called Elven Court. Their priests summoned the leaders of the extant elven realms and told them the Crown Wars were over. No elf would slay another elf again, and all disagreements would be solved by the power of Elven Court. No surface elf would go down the path of evil and selfishness like the elves of Ilythiir. The judgement of the Seldarine was absolute.
Even the prideful Vyshaan agreed to comply. Coronal Giilvas Vyshaan declared an end to Aryvandaar’s expansionism and the beginning of a new era of peace, tranquillity and prosperity.
He lied.
Within just a few tendays of the proclamation at Elven Court, Aryvandaari agents struck at and killed several of the High Mages of other kingdoms. High priests began to follow. Coronal Giilvas made it clear that he did not believe he was subject to the whims of even the gods. He ordered the deaths of all High Mages and priests not under his direct command to ensure that Aryvandaar would not be destroyed as Ilythiir had been.
The Fifth Crown War
In 9900 BDR, the armies of Aryvandaar crossed the Dessarin Valley and seized both Illefarn and its colony-state in the Llewyrrwood to the north-east. Over the next century Aryvandaar’s armies established control of the entire west coast of Faerûn from the Sea of Moving Ice to the Great Sea, bar only the territory of Keltormir, which was still heavily fortified and defended, and the newly-founded Elven Court, which was protected by the Seldarine.
By 9800 BDR, the Vyshaan had directed the fleets formally under the control of Illefarn to sail west in search of new lands to conquer. They found the great island of Evermeet in the Trackless Sea and began its colonisation, but the elves already there were unwilling to surrender but also unwilling to fight. Instead, they ignored their new overseers, and the Vyshaan-appointed rulers of the island found themselves strangely unwilling to undertake any acts of violence on the island.
Further cracks began to appear in the rule of the Vyshaan. Elves began to flee the lands that were now called the “Vyshaan Empire,” settling in areas far to the east such as the forested peninsula of the Yuirwood. The vast forest of the far east, the Riildath, was likewise colonised by the Lethyr elves, formerly a clan of Shantel Othreier. However, the Lethyr discovered signs of tremendous evil within the forest. Seven centuries earlier, the Ilythiiri Clan Sethomiir had established a fortress outpost under the forest, the Narathmault (“Dark Pit”). In the Descent of the Drow, the Sethomiir had abandoned the Narathmault and fled south and east to the lands later called Delhumide, and then Thay, and established new redoubts in the Underdark far below the central mountains of that land. The Lethyr now found the Narathmault to be the home of powerful demons, and resolved to contain or defeat them by any means necessary.
Likewise, the Llewyrr elves of Illefarn found themselves persecuted by the Aryvandaari and determined to leave Faerûn altogether. They travelled by ship south and eastwards, landing on an island off the coast. They established the realm-in-exile of Synnoria, located on the island today called Gwynneth, part of the Moonshae chain.
By this time more elven realms in exile had been established, including Ilodhar, located along the shores of Lake Miir, to the north-west of Elven Court. The realm’s founding can be traced back to the aftermath of the Third Crown War, with exiles from Miyeritar and Shantel Othreier establishing refuges along the lakeshore. These settlements grew in size and strength, but were wary that Aryvandaar was not too distant to the west, so kept a low profile.
In 9200 BDR, the city of Elven Court made its Great Proclamation, transmitted by magic to every corner of Faerûn and beyond, to Synnoria and Evermeet. With the blessing of the holy Seldarine, the elders of House Vyshaan were proclaimed traitors to elfkind. Their arrest and execution were ordered. The Vyshaan laughed, believing the proclamation to be meaningless and that their power was unchallengeable.
They were wrong. Evermeet arose in rebellion, even its Vyshaan-appointed governors rejecting the authority of Aryvandaar and sending troops and a large fleet to the mainland. The elves of Illefarn and the remnants of Shantel Othreier and Miyeritar arose in mass rebellion. Keltormir emerged from behind its fortifications, sending a huge army towards the Aryvandaari capital. Common elves on the streets of Aryvandaar’s cities, long kept under oppressive surveillance, rioted and rebelled. Aryvandaari armies fled, or turned on their leaders. The Proclamation gave every single elf of Aryvandaar who had ever harboured a single doubt over their actions the licence to make themselves heard. Even the Aryvandaari High Mages found their magic no longer obeying their commands.
In approximately 9000 BDR, after three millennia of warfare, the Crown Wars ended for good. The Vyshaan clan was either destroyed in battle or executed as criminals. Aryvandaar itself collapsed and was dissolved. The High Forest was either abandoned for a time, or left to dissolve into small, localised communities of elves re-seeking a connection with nature after centuries of conflict. Keltormir endured, Illefarn regained its independence, but the age of the great elven empires was drawing to a close, and the time of unchallenged dominance by the elves was also coming to an end.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially).
The Second Crown War
With Miyeritar under attack in the north, Ilythiir decided to begin its long-planned war of vengeance against the northern kingdoms for the disaster of the Sundering, as well as continuing to worship gods considered anathema to the Seldarine.
In 11,700 BDR, Ilythiir ordered Orishaar to halt its trade and supply agreements with Aryvandaar by sea. Orishaar refused, believing that Ilythiir would not dare test their power and their alliance with Aryvandaar. They were wrong. The dark elves of Ilythiir invaded Orishaar with overwhelming force, deploying magic on a staggering scale. Aryvandaar was too busy securing Miyeritar to come to their aid. Orishaar was overrun and conquered within just months.
Thearnytaar and Eiellûr marshalled their strength and fortified the coast of the Lake of Steam, fearing a surprise Ilythiiri strike across the sea. But the Ilythiiri made other plans and instead sent a large army far to the east, striking Syòrpiir from the south and south-east. By 11,600 BDR Syòrpiir had been destroyed, with the Ilythiiri employing fire on a huge scale to burn out the enemy and divide their territory from Eiellûr to the west. The Golden Plains and Naga Plains were formed at this time.
Thearnytaar and Eiellûr formally allied and declared war on Ilythiir in 11,500 BDR. After forming a holding line to the east for fifty years, they invaded Ilythiiri territory by sea, with the intention of bringing Ilythiir’s rulers to justice, in a campaign known as the Sable Wars. But the dark magics of the dark elven gods were employed against them, and their forces were slaughtered, or transformed into hideous, crazed half-spider creatures known as driders, which were then unleashed against their own homelands. By 11,400 BDR Eiellûr had fallen, again through the use of fire. By 11,200 BDR Thearnytaar had likewise collapsed.
The growing chaos of the Crown Wars did have an unexpected impact elsewhere. Elven refugees fled to the lands of the Inner Sea and sought help from their aquatic elven brethren. In 11,743 BDR the sea elves of Aryselmalyr, a rising power of the Inner Sea, founded the great city of Coryselmal and employed magic so surface-dwelling elves could take refuge in the city. By 11,400 BDR the torrent of refugees had become enough that Aryselmalyr had to expand its borders through the Inner Sea, bringing it into conflict with the sahuagin for the first time. In 11,003 BDR, Coryselmal was confirmed as the capital of Aryselmalyr, marking the first year of the Calendar of Serôs, as the sea elves called the undersea realms below the Inner Sea.
Other refugees, fearing the ocean deeps, would flee elsewhere in Faerûn, to the vast forests east of the Inner Sea known as the Riildath and the Yuirwood, or north-east to the Great Forest on the Inner Sea’s north-eastern shores, beyond the plains east of Aryvandaar and Miyeritar.
Three years later, a huge, organic craft originating from elsewhere in Realmspace made planetfall in the Shining Plains, the area of open land east of Shantel Othreier and Keltormir, and to the west of the Inner Sea. This craft brough the very first illithids, or mind-flayers, to Toril. They soon disappeared into the caverns and caves below the plains where they founded the great city of Oryndoll, some twenty-six miles below the surface.
The Founding of Shanatar
In 10,800 BDR, there was a schism within the great dwarven kingdom of Bhaerynden over whether to establish further colonies or focus on their own affairs, especially given the chaos engulfing the elf kingdoms far above their heads. Finally, Taark Shanat, known as the Crusader, led his eight sons and a large number of followers out of Bhaerynden. They travelled westwards by paths unknown (possibly through what was already becoming known as the Underdark) and emerged in the mountainous lands west of the Lake of Steam. They continued westwards, eventually discovering the great underground city of Rringlor North (located just west of what are now called the Marching Mountains), a city inhabited by the species known as cloakers.
The dwarves took the nearby caverns of Alatorin as their stronghold and fended off cloaker attacks, as well as slaying four dragons from the Rift of Dhalnadar. The four dragon skulls were fused together by holy magic, blessed by Dumathoin, to form the Wyrmskull Throne. The site was renamed Brightaxe Hall, the capital of the newly-established kingdom of Alatorin. But Alatorin was merely the first of nine great kingdoms which would arise in the region. It would be joined by Barakuir, Drakkalor (under the Kuldin Peaks), Iltkazar (under the Omlarandin Mountains), Korolnor (under the Troll Mountains), Sondarr, Torglor (under the Snowflake Mountains), Ultoksmarin (under the eastern Marching Mountains) and Xothaerin (underneath Amn), each founded by one of Taark’s sons. The further kingdom of Holorarar was subsequently founded below what are now the Clovis Fields of Tethyr. These kingdoms were all part of the greater dwarf-empire of Shanatar, the Shield-Kingdom. The inhabitants of Shanatar became known as the shield dwarves.
Lying mostly under the territory of Keltormir, the dwarves of Shanatar established trade contacts with the elves above and began supplying them with weapons and armour, of which they would soon be in dire need.
The Third Crown War
With the conquest of Miyeritar completed, Aryvandaar turned its eyes southwards to Shantel Othreier. Shantel Othreier was larger and more powerful than Miyeritar, with a longer history and powerful magic at its command. However, Shantel Othreier also had other concerns: it had lost forces fighting dragons, and lost more troops which it had sent to aid Thearnytaar and Eiellûr against Ilythiir.
Shantel Othreier tried to discourage Aryvandaari aggression, but failed. In 10,900 BDR, Aryvandaar’s armies invaded Shantel Othreier from the north and north-east, using staging areas in Miyeritar and powerful magic learned from the fallen solar Malkizid, who had rebelled against the Seldarine almost twenty thousand years earlier.
In 10,700 BDR the elves of Shantel Othreier launched a counter-offensive, planning to swing far to the east through the Gods’ Theatre with a very large force and attack Aryvandaar’s supply lines, forcing them to withdraw or starve. Getting wind of the plan, Aryvandaar sent forces to intercept. This resulted in the Battle of the Gods’ Theatre, in the modern Tunlands. Battle was joined and the outcome hanged in the balance until a vast horde of orcs swept out of the Sunset Mountains. More than seventy thousand elves were slain in the resulting massacre, one of the most severe losses of elven life in recorded history.
Shantel Othreier bore the brunt of the casualties and was permanently weakened by the loss. By 10,600 BDR, Coronal Ynloeth had died and Shantel Othreier surrendered to Aryvandaari occupation. However, Aryvandaar’s losses were also severe, weakening both their frontier armies and their occupation forces in Miyeritar. Resistance forms sprang up across both Shantel Othreier and Miyeritar, leaving the Aryvandaari having to commit vast forces to defending against hit-and-run attacks rather than preparing for the next stage of their campaign.
Tremendous pressure was now applied to Keltormir, lying as it did between the hammer of Ilythiir to the south-east and Aryvandaar to the north, unable to bring its full strength to bear against one less it be attacked on the other flank. The Keltormiri braced themselves for an impossible struggle.
The Dark Disaster
With the conclusion of the Third Crown War and the defeat of Shantel Othreier by Aryvandaar, Faerûn held its breath to see where the winds of war would blow next. The smart money was an invasion of Keltormir by Aryvandaar or Ilythiir, or both, and that realm accordingly prepared for conflict.
But the Aryvandaari were pinned down by constant rebellion, uprisings and rebel attacks throughout Miyeritar and Shantel Othreier, aided, or so the Aryvandaari suspected, by the remaining free kingdoms of the west, Ardeep and Illefarn. These attacks became so serious that Aryvandaar several times had to delay its planned attack on Keltormir to address them.
Then, in 10,500 BDR, a disaster of a magnitude not seen since the Sundering struck Faerûn. Dark clouds formed above Miyeritar and rapidly spread. A horrendous, poisonous rain struck the ground, accompanied by lightning and firestorms. The elves called it the Killing Storm, and it spread out to encompass most of the central part of Miyeritar’s territory.
It lasted at least days, possibly weeks, maybe even months. By the time it had ended, Miyeritar had been scourged from the face of the continent. A vast, blasted wilderness was left behind, an utterly dead wasteland that in later millennia would be called the High Moor. The death toll was certainly in the tens of thousands at the very least, maybe vastly more.
The calamity, the Dark Disaster, shocked Faerûn into an undeclared ceasefire that would last forty years. No precise explanation was ever found. Some believed that Aryvandaar’s High Mages had caused the catastrophe themselves, but many Aryvandaari occupation troops and civilians had themselves died in the event. Some believed that the rebel Miyeritari had caused it, but it was their own people who had borne the brunt of the casualties. Many concluded it was an act of High Magic brought about by one side but which had gotten out of control.
Whatever the cause, the Ilythiiri squarely blamed Aryvandaar, citing it as evidence that the Aryvandaari desired the death of every dark elf in Faerûn, something they could not allow to happen. They would now be urged to ever greater actions of destruction and evil, claiming it was in self-defence against the threat of genocide.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially).
The Crown Wars were a lengthy series of conflicts that tore apart elven civilisation on Toril and marked the beginning of the end of elven domination of Faerûn. The conflict raged for three thousand years, beginning circa 12,000 BDR (Before Dalereckoning) and concluding in 9000 BDR, involving almost every major elven power of the day and also drawing in humans and dwarves, amongst others.
As related previously, during the era known as the First Flowering, five great elven empires came into existence stretching down the western coast of Faerûn. There were as follows:
Ilythiir (founded 27,000 BDR): a vast empire of dark elves, descendants of earlier jungle and wood elves who had settled the vast woodlands spreading across much of southern Faerûn. The Ilythiiri forsook the Seldarine to worship the dark gods Vhaeraun and Ghaunadaur before they were fully subsumed into the worship of Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The Ilythiiri capital, Atorrnash on the Shining Sea, was destroyed in the Sundering (the creation of Evermeet), cementing their hatred of their elven kindred.
Aryvandaar(23,900 BDR): the vast northern empire of elves, centred on the High Forest with its capital at Sharlarion. Originally home to elves of all kindreds, the sun or gold elves became dominant and increasingly arrogant, elitist and power-hungry, especially the Vyshaan clan (which assumed leadership in 15,300 BDR).
Shantel Othreier (23,600 BDR): a large kingdom of sun and moon elves located in the Wood of Sharp Teeth, in those days much enlarged and merged with the Snakewood of modern Amn.
Ardeep (c. 23,400 BDR): a colony of Shantel Othreier, founded by the latter in the forest lands around the mouth of the River Dessarin.
Syòrpiir (23,100 BDR): a kingdom of wood elves located in the modern Chondalwood, then known as the Satyrwood.
Illefarn (22,900 BDR): a wild elf kingdom founded to the west of Aryvandaar, in the lands west of the Dessarin Valley and abutting the Sword Coast North.
Orishaar (22,500 BDR): a moon elf kingdom located south of the Lake of Steam.
Thearnytaar (21,400 BDR): a wood elf kingdom located in the modern Thornwood, at the western end of the Lake of Steam, along the north shore.
Eiellûr (21,000 BDR): a wood elf kingdom located in the modern Winterwood, then part of the same vast Satyrwood as Thearnytaar and Syòrpiir.
Miyeritar (18,800 BDR): a wild and dark elf kingdom made up of those who had left Aryvandaar due to the growing arrogance of the rulers. They settled south of the Delimbiyr in what is now the High Moor, then a lush and vast forest.
Keltormir (17,800 BDR): a moon and wood elf kingdom located in what is now the Forest of Tethir and Forest of Mir, then one vast woodland.
The elven empires traded with one another in peace, but there was mistrust and disquiet between them. The three-century War of the Three Leaves (17,100-16,800 BDR) between Syòrpiir and Thearnytaar, largely fought on the territory of Eiellûr which divided them, had been instigated by Ilythiir to stop the three kingdoms unifying into one powerful empire. Although Ilythiiri involvement was eventually uncovered, the distrust cemented between the three nations was successful in keeping them disunified.
Other species were also present in Faerûn: the giant nation of Ostoria remained extant, although it was now limited to the northern-most parts of the continent. Human tribes had settled the mouth of the Wurlur River in Keltormir, and as time passed, they could also be found just north of the Kingdoms of the Three Leaves, as well as on the Chultan Peninsula after its formation in the Sundering, along with scattered settlements of couatl (in the west) and yuan-ti (in the east). Dwarves had emerged from under the vast Yehimal mountains of the far east and had begun to settle new mountain kingdoms across southern and eastern Faerûn. Most notable was the great city and kingdom of Bhaerynden, built thousands of feet beneath the jungles of Ilythiir itself c. 15,000 BDR.
The Eve of Disaster
The build-up to the First Crown War began with the ascendancy of House Vyshaan to the rule of Aryvandaar in 15,300 BDR. Coronal Ivósaar Vyshaan put forth his vision of a single elven nation ruling all of Faerûn and Toril beyond, a mighty power that would make the planes and worlds tremble. At first, he believed this could be achieved peacefully. In 14,700 BDR he extended the hand of alliance and friendship to Miyeritar, the great kingdom of wild and dark elves located south of Aryvandaar and made up of self-declared exiles, who had left Aryvandaar four thousand years earlier in disgust at perceived Aryvandaari arrogance and imperialism.
The Vyshaan plan for a rapprochement between the two empires sounded to the Miyeritari very much like annexation, and they turned down the suggestion almost out of hand. Ivósaar rejected the path of violence and died with his dreams unfulfilled. But the dream remained alive in his descendants.
To the growing anger of the Vyshaan, their southern neighbours underwent a Renaissance of art, culture and power. In 13,900 BDR Miyeritar was acknowledged the centre of elven art, learning and High Magic on Toril. New wizard colleges in Miyeritar became immensely popular, and those in Aryvandaar declined. In 13,200 BDR Aryvandaar accused Miyeritar of blocking its trade with the other elven kingdoms, whereas in reality the quality of Miyeritari goods had surpassed their own, and Miyeritar now became the preferred market for such goods. Aryvandaar suspended trade with Miyeritar and tried to get other kingdoms to follow suit, but these efforts failed.
Tensions between the two kingdoms continued to rise, and other elven nations put themselves forwards as mediators, such as Shantel Othreier and Ardeep. These efforts faltered, and in 12,000 BDR the armies of Aryvandaar crossed the Delimbiyr in force.
The First Crown War
Aryvandaar sent its soldiers and mages across the River Delimbiyr, the River Shining, approximately twelve thousand years before the rise of the Standing Stone. Aryvandaar ordered the rulers of Miyeritar to surrender, and were shocked when the Miyeritari instead stood and fought. Colossal spell-battles, epic blade duels and other feats of might took place all along the border.
Miyeritar put up a strong fight, and its resistance inspired songs of bravery across Faerûn. Some Ilythiiri travelled north to join their dark elven brethren, a fact the Aryvandaari made use of in their propaganda, for the Ilythiiri did not worship the Seldarine and wished to spread their heathen beliefs among the other elven peoples. Aryvandaar also tried to elicit aid from the other elven kingdoms, particularly Shantel Othreier to the south. Aryvandaar wanted Shantel Othreier to invade Miyeritar and help crush it between their forces. Shantel Othreier refused, especially in the light of veiled threats made by Aryvandaar. Other elven nations also came to Miyeritar’s aid, with Illefarn (and possibly Ardeep) secretly smuggling Miyeritari refugees out by sea.
Miyeritar fought heroically, but the Aryvandaari were more numerous and richer, and the Miyeritari capital city (possibly the Library City of Faer’tel’miir, today reincarnated as the hidden city of Rhymanthiin, located in the High Moor) was captured around 11,800 BDR. But, to Aryvandaar’s fury, Miyeritar refused to capitulate. Each settlement had to be taken in combat, and Miyeritari irregulars took to the forests and attacked from the shadows, slaying a few invaders here and a few there. The Aryvandaari had to pay a tremendous cost in blood for their conquest. It took until 11,300 BDR for Miyeritar to finally surrender and be fully annexed to Aryvandaar’s control, and even then isolated acts of defiance and rebellion would continue all the way to the event history would call the Dark Disaster.
Although Aryvandaar’s hostility took all Faerun by surprise, it showed that one nation could strike at a weaker one without the other powers intervening. Far to the south, the dark elves of Ilythiir were taking notes.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
This map is an update of my previous map of Toril (the Forgotten Realms planet) from 2019, mostly maintaining the same appearance but with some adjustments to better fit canonical information. As per the previous map, this depicts Toril as of the year 1372 DR (Dalereckoning) during the Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition/3rd Edition transition period; my initial plans to update the map to the “current” year of 1496 DR (5th Edition) foundered because there is insufficient information to create such a map (D&D 5th Edition focuses on the Sword Coast to the exclusion of almost everything else, as has been well-covered previously).
The World of Toril
The world of the Forgotten Realms is an Earth-sized planet formerly known as Abeir-toril, “Cradle of Life,” in an ancient tongue. In ancient times, some thirty thousand years ago, the world was threatened with destruction in a war between the gods and the primordials, so it was divided into two separate versions of itself. Abeir became the home of the primordials whilst Toril became the home of the gods. This event had faded to less than a rumour before it was spectacularly proven relevant again a century ago in the cataclysm known as the Spellplague, which briefly re-merged the two worlds, leaving scars behind that are fully yet to heal.
Toril’s equatorial circumference is approximately 24,000 miles, with a surface area somewhat less than 197 million square miles. Toril is the third of eight planets circling its sun, with Anadia and Coliar (the Dawn Heralds) orbiting inside Toril’s orbit and Karpri, Chandos, Glyth, Garden and H’Catha (the Five Wanderers) orbiting beyond it. Toril has one large moon, Selûne (also the name of the goddess of the night sky), and a string of asteroids orbiting in its wake, known as the Tears of Selûne. Toril orbits its sun once every 365¼ days (with an extra leap day added every fourth year) and rotates on its axis once every 24 hours.
Toril possesses enormous ice caps which extend well into the temperate zones. During the hottest summers, the frozen ocean around the north coast of Faerûn sometimes breaks up and permits travel from the Trackless Sea to the Great Ice Sea (with ships from far Sossal occasionally seen in Sword Coast ports). There appear to be no continents or landmasses at either the north nor south poles.
Toril is divided into multiple continents, although the exact number of continents and even the definition of a continent (versus a large island) are fiercely debated between sages and cartographers. Still, the following continents are generally accepted as being extant:
Faerûn: The most famous continent on Toril, the home of note worthies such as Elminster of Shadowdale and Drizzt Do’Urden, and the location of cities such as Neverwinter, Baldur’s Gate, Calimport and Waterdeep, and nations such as Cormyr, Halruaa, Calimshan, Mulhorand, Sossal and Thay. Faerûn makes up the western portion of a larger supercontinent and also contains offshore islands such as the Moonshaes, Lantan and Nimbral.
Kara-Tur: The largest and most populous continent on Toril, located to the east of Faerûn and making up the eastern part of the main supercontinent. If Faerûn is the land of kingdoms and city-states, Kara-Tur is the land of empires, in particular the vast Shou Lung Empire which dominates much of the landmass. The offshore island chains of Wa and Kozakura are counted as part of the continent. Cloudspire, the tallest mountain on Toril (exceeding 35,000 feet), is located in Kara-Tur.
Zakhara: The Land of Fate is the southern-most part of the main supercontinent and forms a large peninsula extending south-west from Kara-Tur. It is dominated by vast deserts, ancient ruins and great cities such as Golden Huzuz, the City of Delights. The continent also includes the vast island chains of the Crowded Sea.
Maztica: Known to its inhabitants as the True World and to Faerûnian as the New World, this continent is located some three thousand miles to the west, across the Trackless Sea. Maztica was “discovered” in the year 1361 DR (Dalereckoning) by explorers from Amn and colony-states were established (the people who actually live there “discovered” it some considerable time earlier, of course), but clashes between the native gods and the Faerûnian pantheon resulted in demarcation lines being established and full-scale colonisation of the continent was subsequently averted. Maztica vanished during the cataclysmic event known as the Spellplague and returned a century later; its fate during the intervening period is unclear.
Katashaka: A vast jungle continent to the south of Maztica, south-west across the Great Sea from Faerûn. Unvisited by Faerûnians, but some Katashakans have visited Faerûn and settled there.
Arandron: A highly mysterious and little-known continent in the southern hemisphere. Some traders from this land have established ties with the island-kingdom of Lantan.
Ossë: A continent located to the east of Kara-Tur and west of Maztica and Katashaka, on the far side of the world to Faerûn. Its nature is unknown and even maps of it are speculative (Elminster of Shadowdale has indicated maps show the continent as significantly larger than is the case), although some spirit-shamans of the continent have allegedly visited Faerûn as part of their spiritual quests.
In addition to these, other, rumoured continents exist:
Anchôromé: A vast island-chain located to the north-west of Evermeet. The provenance of this name is subject to bitter conflicts between cartographers of Baldur’s Gate and Amn. The notables of Baldur’s Gate claim that Anchôromé is the name of the entire continent to the west, as discovered and claimed by their great explorer Balduran some centuries ago, as well as the islands. However, Amnian sources claim that Balduran only discovered the islands off the coast and never made landfall on the continent, citing the absolute lack of evidence for its existence prior to the “discovery” of Maztica. The Amnians claim the entire landmass is Maztica, and have named it as such (adopting the native name). The actual inhabitants of Maztica also reject the “coloniser” name of Anchôromé, which they regard as meaningless. Some have suggested a compromise of splitting the continent in two, with Maztica in the south and Anchôromé in the north, but there is no known geographic feature to mark such a split (as opposed to Faerûn, Zakhara and Kara-Tur, which are divided from one another by the massive mountain range known as the Yehimal). The actual inhabitants of “Anchôromé” – incredibly hostile wild and jungle elf tribes – have also not been consulted on what they themselves call the landmass. The only geographic feature known to exist on this landmass is the vast Mount Havraquoar, an ancient colony of the Aearee-Krocaa. The debate continues.
Myrmidune: A name of debatable provenance, applied to the very large island (or small continent) immediately west of Maztica. This island is believed to be the ancestral home of the aeraee in ancient times.
Akota: A substantial island chain to the west of Zakhara. Largely unknown, the people of Akota conduct limited trade with Zakhara via a colony-city (also called Akota) on the south-western coast of Zakhara.
Laerakond: During the Spellplague, the small continent of Laerakond was somehow transplanted from the world of Abeir to Toril, materialising in the Great Sea south-west of Faerûn (where it was known as “Returned Abeir” for a time). For a century, Laerakond traded with mainland Faerûn whilst Faerûnian adventurers travelled to Laerakond to explore that land further. However, in the Second Sundering, the event that signalled an end to the Spellplague and separated the conjoined worlds of Abeir and Toril, all contact with Laerakond was lost and has not yet been re-established. It is unclear if Laerakond remains on Toril or returned to Abeir in the Sundering; learned sages of note have claimed both versions of events. Further clarification is awaited.
Additional large islands or small continents are located north-west of Maztica, beyond the northern polar ice line, and to the south-west of Zakhara. There are also very large island chains in the Western Ocean between Ossë and Maztica which are still unexplored.
Toril possesses several notable oceans:
The Trackless Sea lies to the west of Faerûn, separating it from Maztica and the islands of Anchôromé. Marginal seas of this ocean including the Sea of Moving Ice (off the north-west coast), the Sea of Swords (between the coast and the Moonshae Isles) and the Shining Sea (between Calimshan and the Chultan Peninsula). The Bay of Balduran and the Sea of Azul lie off the coast of Maztica. Chult and the island of Nimbral mark the southern end of this ocean.
The Great Sea lies to the south of Faerûn, separating it from Zakhara to the south and Katashaka to the south-west.
The Southern Ocean lies to the south of Katashaka, Kara-Tur and Ossë, and encompasses the frozen southern polar region of Toril. Marginal seas of this ocean include the Crowded Sea off the southern coast of Zakhara and the Segara Sea between Zakhara and Kara-Tur.
The Eastern Sea lies to the east of Kara-Tur, separating it from Ossë and extending north of that enigmatic continent. Marginal seas of the Eastern Sea include the Celestial Sea and the Yellow Sea, off the coast of Kara-Tur.
The Western Ocean lies to the west of Maztica and Katashaka, separating those continents from Ossë.
The Endless Ice Sea lies to the north of Faerûn, Kara-Tur and Maztica. The “sea” is actually an immense frozen ice pack extending across the polar regions of Toril and extending onto the landmass of the main supercontinent. The Endless Ice Sea links to the large glacial masses in Faerûn (Reghed Glacier, the High Ice and the Great Glacier of Pelvuria), as well as the Land of the Snow Spirits in northern Kara-Tur. The only notable marginal sea of this ocean is the Great Ice Sea, which cuts southwards to separate northern Faerûn from Kara-Tur.
Notes on World Maps of Toril
Ed Greenwood began writing stories about daring-do as a very young child, inspired by the stories his father read to him from his voluminous library. By around 1967, when he was eight, these stories had coalesced into a – somewhat – consistent setting, an area known as the Sword Coast, where a rotund, brawling merchant called Mirt got into hijinks in cities like Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate. Greenwood later added elements such as Durnan, a brave warrior who retired to run a tavern in Waterdeep, and the wise sage Elminster. Through the 1970s he expanded the world to encompass the entire continent, which he called Faerûn, and then a wider world, which had no name. In 1978 he converted the Realms for use in an ongoing game of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and began writing articles for Dragon Magazine, referencing elements of his home setting in his articles.
By 1986 TSR had run into a problem with its existing “traditional” settings, namely that the World of Greyhawk setting had become awkward to use after creator Gary Gygax had been ousted from the company in a boardroom takeover, and their more recent Dragonlance setting had been designed to tell one story and one story alone, and was not suitable for long-term exploration (amongst other things, the signature continent of Ansalon was pretty small and almost every corner of it had been explored in the initial campaign and related novels, not leaving too many unexplored areas for players to tell their own stories). They needed a replacement and TSR editor Jeff Grubb contacted Greenwood to enquire about this setting he’d been quietly establishing in Dragon Magazine over the past seven years. Impressed by the voluminous notes and maps that Greenwood sent (some of which rendered TSR’s offices almost unusable due to their sheer size), TSR bought the setting and fleshed it out for an official release in 1987. Accompanying the initial release were numerous maps of Faerûn and various regions and cities, but no world map. The world at least now had a name courtesy of Jeff Grubb: Toril, later adjusted to “Abeir-toril” to ensure the world name would come first in any encyclopaedia about the setting (Toril remained the common name, however).
Ed Greenwood’s 1986 map of Faerun, complete with the additions of the Moonshae Isles and the Bloodstone Lands overlaid on the original map.
A world map did exist, though. In 1982 Greenwood had already created the first global view of his setting, complete with numerous continents beyond Faerûn’s shores and a Mercator projection. However, when TSR bought the Realms, they were primarily interested in the highly-developed Faerûn and not necessarily the other lightly-sketched-out lands. They were also keen to use Greenwood’s world to incorporate other areas already developed in other projects. In short order, the “Desert of Desolation” series of adventures (from 1982-83) were retconned into the setting, in the Dust Desert of Raurin, whilst the “Bloodstone Lands” series (1986-88) was moved into Faerûn, with Grubb and Greenwood rolling back the Great Glacier to make room for the lands of Vaasa and Damara. TSR also rescued a semi-abandoned Celtic setting that had been in the works at the now-defunct TSR UK and recast it as the Moonshae Isles, off Faerûn’s west coast. TSR also made the considerably larger-scaled decision to add the entire continent of Kara-Tur to the setting. Originally developed for the Oriental Adventures sourcebook in 1985 and an accompanying series of adventures, the Asian-themed land was bolted onto the far eastern side of Faerûn.
TSR later added more landmasses to Toril: Maztica appeared across the Trackless Sea to the west in 1991 and Zakhara, the Land of Fate, was added to the south of Faerûn in 1993, as the home of the Al-Qadim campaign setting. Taan, or the Hordelands, the intermediary lands between Faerûn and Kara-Tur, were fleshed out in a new product line in 1990.
Further exploration of Toril was curtailed: products set in Faerûn itself, and thus more immediately accessible in ongoing Forgotten Realms campaigns, seemed to sell better. Also, there were concerns over the degree to which Toril had moved from being an original fantasy setting to a near-carbon-copy of Earth. The lands Ed Greenwood had focused on in his fiction and original D&D campaigns had no real-world analogues: the Sword Coast, the North, Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate, the Dalelands, Cormyr, Sembia, Thay, the Moonsea and the Great Desert of Anauroch had various inspirations and influences, but they were not 1:1 mapped to real historical settings. When TSR took over and started giving regions of the Realms to other writers to develop, they tended to fall back on copies of existing cultures: the original, much weirder version of Mulhorand became “fantasy Egypt” and Calimshan became “fantasy Arabia.”
The new continents took this problem to new extremes: Kara-Tur was based on Asia to such an extent that in some cases names were barely even changed (“Tabot” and “Koryo” feel a little too-on-the-nose), whilst Maztica was Mesoamerica transplanted to Toril with even historical events unfolding almost exactly as in real life (Captain Cordell of Amn is a carbon copy of Cortés). Taan, the Hordelands, was a riff on Mongolia, although at least they introduced some originality, in particular acknowledging that a Mongol Empire in a world with magic would be a very different kind of polity. Zakhara became Arabia writ large.
The decision after 1994 or so was to refocus on Faerûn and many of the following sourcebooks reinforced explored areas whilst also branching out to less-explored regions, like the Vilhon Reach. Steven Schend, a particularly skilled writer brought into the fold, even performed emergency surgery on Calimshan to remove its more overt Arabia-ness, and later developed the very original, alien underwater world of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Other writers explored the deep history of the Realms through material set in the distant part, like Netheril: Empire of Magic (1996) and Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves (1997).
By this time Greenwood had revised his world map, taking into account the additions of Kara-Tur, Maztica and Zakhara, and given copies to TSR. If TSR wanted to publish a world map, they could easily do so, and they soon had the opportunity.
The world map of Toril as it first appears in The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas (1999).
In 1993, a British company called ProFantasy Software released Campaign Cartographer, a programme to create fantasy maps in a variety of styles. A revised version, Campaign Cartographer 2, was released in 1998 and the most recent version, controversially called Campaign Cartographer 3, in 2006 (although it’s been updated many times since). ProFantasy took out advertising in Dragon Magazine and, apparently due to the high success of the move, became a constant stalwart in the magazine with adverts for not just the core programme but spin-offs like City Designer and Dungeon Designer. TSR contacted ProFantasy with a view to a collaboration, resulting in the release of a more limited but accessible version called Campaign Mapper (included with the Dungeons & Dragons Core Rules 2.0 CD-ROM), and a much bolder project called The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas (1999).
Developing the interactive atlas – a noninteractive atlas had been published in 1991, but only covered Faerûn and Kara-Tur – took several years with some very bold ambitions, namely to allow users to zoom in from a map of all of Realmspace to individual rooms in an inn in Waterdeep. This wasn’t exactly Google Toril, though. The maps were derived from all of the maps published so far for the setting in hundreds of campaign settings, adventures, magazine articles, video games and novels. The maps were arranged as hyperlinks, with “jumps” of detail from different scales. For 1999 it was pretty good, although the interface is somewhat janky by modern standards.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, TSR did not provide a map based on Ed Greenwood’s own world map. In fact, it’s not entirely clear where the hitherto unknown continents came from, although the existence of a South America-analogue continent beyond Maztica had been hinted at in products like Gold & Glory (1992) and given the title “the Dark Continent” in a 1999 Dragon Magazine article on languages. Where the very large new continent in the far east of the world came from is also unclear.
Although the Interactive Atlas was both hugely impressive and hugely useful, its canonicity – assumed from being an official TSR product – was in some question due to it not using Greenwood’s original material. In 2001 the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, 3rd Edition was released and, despite the core map of Faerûn being bizarrely shrunk by 15% for the new edition (it was thankfully restored to its original size for 5th Edition in 2014), the world map from the Interactive Atlas was canonised in the “Scholar’s View of Abeir-toril” map at the back of the book. The 2004 novel Lady of Poison finally gave the far eastern continent a name, Ossë, and an accompanying Dragon Magazine article on shaman-like magic hinted that it was effectively a merging of Australia, New Zealand and various Polynesian influences.
The “scholar’s view of Abeir-toril,” it appears in The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, 3rd Edition (2001).
The continent south of Maztica was referenced further in Serpent Kingdoms (2004) and finally given a name, Katashaka, in The Grand History of the Realms (2007). The island-continent west of Maztica was also given a name, Myrmidune, in the draft version of The Grand History but the name does not appear in the final text, leaving its official status unclear.
In 2008, the Forgotten Realms setting was effectively destroyed in an event known as the Spellplague, with the 4th Edition of the setting developed as a post-apocalyptic setting. Needless to say, this went down like a lead balloon with the fanbase, but it did offer the opportunity to shake up the setting. Greenwood was able to use one of his other continents from his earlier world maps, Laerakond, on the basis that the Spellplague had seen Toril collide with its “shadow world” in another plane, Abeir, and swapped some landmasses with it. Laerakond, initially known as “Returned Abeir” before the other name was adopted, was explored somewhat in the 4th Edition materials. However, with 4th Edition bombing in sales, the decision was made to return Forgotten Realms its late 2nd Edition status quo through an event known as the Second Sundering. The timeline changes were maintained, but Toril was restored to its original appearance and the overlapping lands from Abeir mostly disappeared. The status of Laerakond was unclear, with Greenwood noting in his materials that the continent remained on Toril, but Wizards of the Coast in their official material seeming to indicate it had returned to Abeir.
In fact, Wizards of the Coast took a hands-off approach to expanding the lore of 5th Edition Forgotten Realms. Almost all adventures and sourcebooks focused on the Sword Coast of Faerûn, with even the status of nearby iconic locations like the Dalelands and Tethyr left something of a mystery, let alone other continents. Even the first-ever live-action movie in the setting, Honor Among Thieves, and the mega-successful video game Baldur’s Gate III (both 2023) remain focused on the Sword Coast region.
Whether this position shifts with D&D launches its next major revision in 2024 (an update of 5th Edition rather than a brand new 6th Edition) remains to be seen. If they open up the Forgotten Realms to further exploration, hopefully we’ll get a new world map combining the previously-established material with Ed Greenwood’s original vision, or at least as much as possible.
I have, of course, globified the map and it can be seen here.
Changes from the Previous Map
I have removed the very speculative names “Braaklosia” and “Aurune.” These names had doubtful canonicity. I have retained “Myrmidune” as it is moderately more common in fan spaces and appeared in the draft of The Grand History of the Realms, but noted it as a name in-universe of unknown provenance.
I have added Ed Greenwood’s name of Arandron for a continent in Toril’s southern hemisphere, although it is unclear if this landmass is what he was referring to.
The erroneously tiny Malatra Plateau of eastern Kara-Tur (a mistake dating back to 1999’s Interactive Atlas) has been removed and a more lore-accurate Malatra Plateau in south-western Kara-Tur has been added as per the reasoning given in my Kara-Tur map. This is based on Realms cartographic expert Markus Tay’s reasoning from many years ago.
Using the known location of Toril’s equator, I have added the tropics and polar circles, also drawing on Markus Tay’s research on this matter from some years ago.
As well as the main map from The Interactive Atlas, I also consulted several other maps included in the package to add more islands to the Anchôromé region and to the ocean between Ossë and Maztica/Katashaka.
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The flying enclaves of Netheril were once among the greatest sights in all Faerûn. Netherese arcanists, using mighty magics beyond the reach of even the greatest living mage today, sheared off the tops of mountains, inverted them, floated them and used the flat space to build great cities. Thousands, even tens of thousands of people went about their daily business not even thinking of the fact they were eating, sleeping and living thousands of feet above the ground.
The enclaves of Netheril effectively ceased to exist in in the 3,859th year of the Netheril Calendar (NY), 339 BDR (Before Dalereckoning) by the modern calendar. The archarcanist Karsus carried out a mighty ritual which he believed would transform him into a god, allowing him to steal the powers of the Goddess of Magic, Mystryl. The ritual succeeded, but Karsus was simply unprepared for the flood of magical energy that he would receive, which petrified and killed him on the instant. He was also unprepared for the fact that seizing Mystryl’s power would kill her altogether, and let the Weave go into chaos. Access to magic across the entire globe of Toril was cut off for approximately five minutes. In many places this was a mild inconvenience, in others it caused limited mayhem, but in Netheril, which relied upon magic to function, it was cataclysmic. The mythallar, the great magical devices keeping the cities aloft, failed and the flying cities simply plummeted into the ground from heights often exceeding ten thousand feet. This was invariable fatal for everybody on them, especially if the cities started tumbling on the way down. The impacts also obliterated everything around them for miles in all directions, and the cumulative dust raised from the impacts hastened the spread of the Great Desert. Ironically, the three highest-flying cities – Anauria, Asram and Hlondath – managed to survive because they took so long to fall that magic and the Weave was restored before they could hit the ground. Mystra, the new Goddess of Magic, slowed their descent and was able to allow their people to disembark relatively safely (albeit many with nightmares for the rest of their lives).
A map depicting northern Faerûn and showing the locations of the resting places of the known Netherese enclaves. Please click for a much larger version.
According to history, the Netherese built fifty-four flying cities. The first, Xinlenal, was raised by the archarcanist Ioulaum in the 905th year of the Netherese calendar (2954 BDR). The last we know of, Lathery, was raised in 3357 NY (502 BDR), twenty-four centuries later by the arcanist Veridon.
Today we know the names of thirty-one of the enclaves, and their approximate, “usual” locations. Although the cities could fly where their masters willed, in most cases it was unnecessary and keeping the cities within certain areas facilitated mundane trade. In a few cases, it appears an arcanist would create a city and it would then never move at all, with the act of creation being done to merely show the arcanist’s powerful. The elves of neighbouring Cormanthyr and Eaerlann considered such displays of power for the sake of ego to be hubristic in the extreme.
In fact, only seven Netherese enclaves are known to have been destroyed beyond Netheril’s borders (now the Great Desert of Anauroch): Eileanar (Karsus), Jiksidur (Larloch), Nhalloth, Orbedal (Sanctuary), Sakkors, Ythryn (Necropolis) and, of course, Thultanthar (Shade), the enclave out of time. Two additional enclaves are still missing, their fates unclear: Doubloon, the Pirate Enclave, which vanished without a trace in 442 BDR (a century before the Fall) and Selûnarra, also called Opus, the centre of the Selûnite faith in Netheril and the bitter foe of Thultanthar, which reportedly vanished from Toril just seconds before the Fall. Some cast doubts on this latter story.
The preceding map shows the known resting places of the Netherese enclaves:
Akintaer (Quagmire): Crashed in the Marsh of Simplicity on the south-western banks of the Narrow Sea; now lost beneath the High Ice in Anauroch.
Aquessir (Shadowtop Borough): Crashed into the Jannick River, a dried-up tributary of the modern River of Gems in Anauroch, near the Shattered Tower.
Anauria: Soft-landed in the south-east of Anauroch, near the Lost Vale and Desertsmouth Mountains. Its survivors founded the realm of the same name (339 BDR – 111 DR).
Arongahurr: crashed above the north-eastern-most peaks of the Shadowmount Peaks (south-east of Yal Tengri, the Great Ice Sea; north of the Horse Plains; north-east of Taan and west of Ama Basis in northern Kara-Tur; not shown on this map.
Asram: Soft-landed in the south-west of Anauroch, south of the Wall of Fallen Djinn and Shoal of Thirst. Its survivors founded the realm of the same name (339 – 33 BDR).
Delia: Crashed into the ground north of the mountains of Azirrhat, south of the River of Gems where it terminates at the Throat, in Anauroch.
Doubloon: Vanished without a trace roughly a century before the Fall and not seen since; its former location was just north-west of the peak known as the Pillar of Tauros, on the Plain of Standing Stones in Anauroch.
Eileanar (Karsus’ Enclave): Reportedly Ground Zero for where Karsus cast the spell that caused the Fall, with some suggestions that it was atomised as a result and Karsus’ petrified corpse came plummeting to a crashing rest in the High Forest, where the city of Karse was later founded.
Farenway: Fate unknown.
Hlaungadath: Crashed in the far north-west of Anauroch, not far north-east from the ruined dwarven port of Ascore, west of Maedrin’s Rift.
Hlondath: Soft-landed in the east of Anauroch, just west of the Border Forest and north of the Desertsmouth Mountains. Its survivors founded the realm of the same name (339 BDR – 329 DR).
Jethaere: Fate unknown.
Jiksidur: Former stronghold of Larloch, crashed from a low altitude onto the south-eastern part of the Great Glacier. The glacier later retreated from its location. The crash site on modern maps, now referred to as Hark’s Finger, is on the plains of Narfell, just east of Icelace Lake and north of the town of Peltarch. Larloch and Szass Tam later recovered numerous Netherese artefacts from the enclave. One of the few enclaves to survive semi-intact (although everyone on it was still killed in the crash; Larloch had fled on dragonback just before).
Jockteleg: Crashed in the western foothills of the northern Abbey Mountains, south-west of the Frozen Forest.
Kolthunral: The Fortress Enclave, a new enclave built after the return of Shade. Location and fate unknown.
Lathery (Lachery): Crashed into the Narrow Sea near the Channel Mountains (the Targorlar) and sank, taking the entire population with it. Later buried under the High Ice.
Lhaoda: Destroyed by the phaerimm, who disabled its mythallar and brought it crashed to the ground roughly a century before the Fall. Its crash site is unknown.
Maunator (Sunrest): Vapourised in 1657 BDR by a magical experiment which went wrong, encouraging later Netherese high-energy magical research to move to fortified laboratories under the Nether Mountains. No trace remained. The site of the accident was west of the modern Snout Mountains in central-western Anauroch, near Oreme, the oldest city on Toril.
Negarath: Fate unclear. The ruler of the enclave, Barze, was driven from the enclave for criminal acts; he fled to the vicinity of modern-day Vaasa (then covered by the ice of the Great Glacier) and founded a kingdom of the same name.
Nhalloth: Engaged in long-range exploration of the Sea of Fallen Stars when the Fall took place. As a result, it tumbled into the Inner Sea and cracked apart. Its ruins lie just south-west of the Altumbel Peninsular, west of Aglarond, amidst the islands known as the Thousand Swords (aka the Altumbel Archipelago). Nhalloth is one of the best-preserved enclaves, and during the Spellplague was briefly accessible due to reduced sea levels.
Orbedal (Sanctury): Originally assumed destroyed in the Fall, with the enclave either crashing into the Bay of Ascore and being buried beneath the High Ice, or landing on the shoreline between the sea and the Sanguine Mountain (easternmost of the Nether Mountains). However, it was later revealed that the city apparently shifted in space at the last second, possibly via an attempt to avert its destruction by teleportation magic. Due to the chaos of the Fall, the attempt failed and the enclave materialised over southern Trollbark Forest near the mouth of the Winding Water, on the Sword Coast, where it promptly crashed anyway, in the north-western foothills of the Troll Hills. Later claimed by Larloch, it became known as Warlock’s Crypt.
Palter: Crashed on the banks of the Netheril River (the River of Gems). Intriguingly, the city appears to have been floating low at the time: some people survived the crash and the ruins became a still-extant hill known as Heroes’ Helm, on the Plain of Standing Stones in Anauroch.
Phylornel (Buoyance): Fell into the Netheril River (River of Gems) from a very low height: there were more than a hundred survivors. The crash-site was north-east of the mountain known as Aerithae’s Rest in the north-eastern Plain of Standing Stones, not far south from the Ice Wall.
Sakkors: The Sentient Enclave. Fell into the Sea of Fallen Stars, just north-east of what is now Starmantle, west of the Isle of Prespur and south-west of Saerloon in Sembia. Rediscovered by Erevis Cale, Chosen of Mask, just before the Spellplague. The city was located by the returned Shades of Netheril, who re-floated it as their second floating city, but just before the Second Sundering its mythallar suffered a terminal failure. The city was deliberately flown into the Ordulin Void in 1484 DR, destroying the city and sealing the void.
Selûnarra (Opus): The centre of Selûne-worship in Netheril. Located on the south-eastern shores of the Basin Lake (now the Bowl of Loneliness in south-eastern Anauroch), presumed destroyed in the Fall, falling in the vicinity of the Lost Vale. However, more recent evidence suggests that Selûne intervened during the Fall and shifted the entire city into her divine realm. According to myth, Selûnarra was to return to Toril to battle the Shades of Thultanthar, but this did not transpire at any point during the Spellplague or the Second Sundering. Whether the enclave truly survived, or survives still in Ysgard, or was destroyed as it appears, is unknown.
Spiel: Fell on the north-western shores of Basin Lake, which is now the Bowl of Loneliness near the Lost Vale and the Desertsmouth Mountains. The enclave survived semi-intact, with the mountainous ruins still visible just west of El Rahalat Oasis. However, it appears the entire population was wiped out in the Fall.
Synod: Fell into the Stonelands and partially survived, becoming a tall, craggy hill. Its precise location remains unknown.
Tanathras: Destroyed 300 years before the Fall during an internal power struggle. Fell onto the southern face of the Azirrhat (a mountainous peak eastern Anauroch, north-east of At’ar’s Looking Glass).
Telarrazhard: In the high Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains, part of the Yehimal, north-east of the goblin kingdom of Nix, in far south-western Kara-Tur, south-west of Tabot. Not on this map.
Thultanthar (Shade): The centre of Shar-worship in Netheril. According to history, the enclave crashed just north of Heip Lake (now the Dark Bones Rift in the western Plain of Standing Stones), but in reality, it was shifted into the Shadowfell by its Shar-worshipping inhabitants seconds before impact. After enduring the Shadowfell for 1,700 years, it was returned to Toril by the elves of Evereska, who were desperately seeking allies in their war against the resurgent phaerimm. The Shades of Netheril, as they became known, sought to restore Anauroch to its former state and refound Netheril. However, they made enemies of many of the extant factions of Faerûn in the process. During the Second Sundering in 1487 DR, Elminster brought the city crashed down on top of the restored elven city of Myth Drannor in the Cormanthor Forest, destroying both.
Tith Tilendrothael: Destroyed by the phaerimm roughly a century before the Fall. Location unknown.
Undrentide: Located somewhere near Netheril’s eastern border with Cormanthyr. Precise location unknown. The city’s mythallar was briefly reactivated in the early 1370s DR and the city nearly took to the skies again, but the mythallar was subsequently destroyed.
Urvraunt: In the north-eastern-most Mountains of Amara, a subrange of the Koryaz Mountains on the far northern border of Shou Lung in Kara-Tur. The crash-site is in the north-eastern most peaks, due north fo the Talmaruk Islands and south of the Wu-Haltai tribelands of eastern Ama Basin (not shown on this map).
Xinlenal (Ioulaum’s Enclave): The very first enclave. Crashed into the south-eastern eaves of Neverwinter Wood, in an area called the Forest of Hides. The Shades of Netheril were trying restore the enclave when they were recalled to Shade to battle Elminster in Cormanthor, resulting in their deaths; the enclave’s ruins have subsequently been abandoned.
Ythryn: Destroyed four years before the Fall when it tumbled out of the skies over Reghed Glacier, north-west of Icewind Dale, whilst engaged in magical research. The ruins were frozen over by Auril’s magic, leaving the city surprisingly well-preserved, later becoming known as the Necropolis. Rediscovered by adventurers in 1489 DR.
The names, locations and details of the remaining twenty-three enclaves remains unknown to us, nor what possible treasures remain within them.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially)
Merrouroboros on the eve of the Sundering, showing the major elven empires which had arisen in the preceding millennia.
The elves had established many great civilisations stretching across much of Merrouroboros. Their power and greatness were unmatched, but many elves were wary and weary, feeling their new kingdoms were becoming too concerned with maps and borders. They yearned for the simpler life they had known in Tintageer and Arvandor, bound to the land spiritually rather than materially. But they also did not want to forsake Toril, at least not yet. They decided to create a new homeland for the elves on Toril, but away from the hustle and politics of the mainland.
To this end, circa 17,600 Before Dalereckoning, the elven High Mages came together in a ritual like nothing seen since the days of Tintageer. The elves chose a mighty fulcrum of magic, the High Mage Starleaf, and through her cast a spell which combined the best of the material world with the best of Arvandor, with the blessing of the Seldarine themselves. Some elves were uneasy about the prospect, recalling myths that it was a High Magic ritual gone awry which destroyed Tintageer, but their fears were dismissed.
The ritual began in a mighty white tower, erected in the very centre of the continent. Magical energy coursed outwards, consuming all of the High Mages in the ritual bar only Starleaf. Then it found faultlines and fissures deep underground, extending through the very rocks of Toril for dozens, maybe hundreds, of miles below the surface. The world tore apart, the single supercontinent of Merrouroboros blowing apart to form a number of lesser landmasses, scattering islands like leaves in its wake. The land quaked and the seas rose. In far Ilythiir to the south, where the dark elves did not worship the Seldarine so had not been invited to take part in the ritual, the seas rose and destroyed the capital city of Atorrnash, consuming it outright. Ka’Narlist, ruler of the realm, was killed. The devastation was extensive, and the dark elves furious when they discovered their erstwhile cousins were responsible.
By all rights, such a cataclysm – the Sundering, now sometimes called the First Sundering – should have destroyed Toril outright, or at least rendered the planet unable to sustain life. But, it is believed, the gods and Ao himself intervened to dissipate the damage with magic, even scattering the forces involved through time. Histories of this period are confused in the extreme, speaking of the Shining Sea, the Chultan Peninsula and the Sword Coast many millennia before they were formed in this event.
The elves assumed their plan had failed and returned to their lives, relieved that their realms had survived the cataclysm mostly intact. But Starleaf awoke to find herself on a peaceful island far out in the new sea that had formed to the west of the elven homelands (the continent they continued to call Faerûn, now just one of many). This was the promised land of the elves, the island called Evermeet, a piece of Arvandor incarnated in the mortal Realms. Starleaf became the first ruler of Evermeet, but for now the island was cloaked in magic. The time was not right for the elves to learn of the success of their plan.
The continent of Faerûn that formed in the wake of the Sundering. The major elven and nonelven powers are depicted roughly 12,000 years before the beginning of Dalereckoning, on the eve of the Crown Wars.
In the aftermath of the Sundering, the three elven kingdoms of the Satyrwood – Thearnytaar, Eiellûr and Syòrpiir – continued their discussions for an alliance. Alarmed, the dark elves of Ilythiir used magic to slay the leader of the Syòrpiir delegation, framing the representatives from Thearnytaar for the murder. War broke out between the two kingdoms, and in their haste to come to blows they violated the territory of Eiellûr that lay between them. The War of the Three Leaves raged for three centuries (17,100-16,800 BDR) before it was confirmed that Ilythiiri agents were responsible. Ilythiir disavowed their actions, and the three kingdoms ceased their conflict, but were now too mistrustful of each other to continue their discussions for an alliance.
This was also the era when other sentient species began to call Faerûn home. From the east came the dwarves, a diminutive people who had build vast mines and mansions under the towering Yehimal for many millennia. The origins of the dwarves, whether they were created on Toril by their god Moradin Soulforger or came to this world from elsewhere via magical means, is unknown. What drove them from their homes under the Yehimal is also unknown, although historians note the proximity of their exodus with the Sundering. By 15,000 BDR, it is known that the dwarves had tunneled under the plains of the Shaar, which narrowly extended from the Satyrwood to Ilythiir, and then under northern Ilythiir itself to established the kingdom and city of Bhaerynden.
From the west came another species, known as humans. The origin of humans is likewise unknown, although it is believed with greater certainty that they originated on a different world and were brought to Toril by the Creator Races. The earliest reports of humans speak of small, primitive tribes dwelling in what is now Katashaka as early as 32,000 BDR. Some human tribes had spread through Katashaka into what is now Chult and Mhair ere the Sundering, and there had fallen under the yoke of the yuan-ti. Other humans later crossed the Shining Sea to settle along the forested banks of the River Wurlur (the modern Ith, in Tethyr). The elves of Keltormir viewed their arrival with initial mistrust, but, around 14,000 BDR, granted them tracts of land to take as their own and co-existed with them with success for millennia afterwards. Around 11,700 BDR, when dragons burned the southern forests of Shantel Othreier, clearing much of what is now the kingdom of Amn, humans were also granted those lands to dwell in.
Around 15,300 BDR, Ivósaar Vyshaan became Coronal of Aryvandaar, marking the ascendancy of House Vyshaan. The Vyshaan had a powerful vision, of all Faerûn united under the rule of Aryvandaar, united in a single powerful elven empire that would make all of the worlds and all of the planes tremble. In 14,700 BDR, Aryvandaar extended a proposal of alliance and friendship to the dark elves of Miyeritar. But the Miyeritari remembered their disdainful treatment in Aryvandaar many millennia earlier and turned them down. To the fury of the Vyshaan, Miyeritar then underwent a Renaissance of art, culture and power. In 13,900 BDR, Miyeritar was acknowledged the centre of elven art, learning and High Magic on Toril, and elven High Mages flocked to the wizard colleges of Miyeritar to learn the ways of sorcery, disdaining those of Aryvandaar. Circa 13,200 BDR, Aryvandaar accused Miyeritar of blocking its trade routes to the south and trying to stymie Aryvandaari growth.
Tension between the two powers continued to rise, despite efforts by the other elven kingdoms to mediate. But by 12,000 BDR it was clear these efforts had failed.
What followed is known to the elves by many names, such as the Time of Great Regret, but to both the elves and other species it is better-known as the Crown Wars.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially).
The supercontinent of Merrouroboros during the time of the domination of the giants and dragons, when the elves had only just first appeared on Toril.
The coming of the dragons, spawned some say in the Tearfall, ended the time of the original Creator Races on Toril. The aearee were destroyed, or forced to flee to remote corners of the globe. The dragons were triumphant, but the nature of dragons is individualistic and they soon fell to bickering and infighting. The murder of Nagamat, General-Priest of Tiamat, by followers of Xymor (as Bahamut was then called), triggered the Dragonfall Wars, themselves part of a wider religious conflict known as the Draco Holy Wars. The dragons eroded their own numbers, slaughtering themselves in the thousands. The early draconic “nations” of Argissthilliax, Caesinmalsvir and Tharkrixghontix were soon destroyed, leaving only Darastriverthicha to survive somewhat longer in the lands later claimed by Netheril. Notable at this time (c. 30,000 Before Dalereckoning) was the establishment of Darastrixhurthi, a vassal-state of the horned, lesser dragon-kin known as kobolds.
As the rule of the dragons weakened, there was a resurgence from the giantkin. As already related, the titan-led Jotunbrud clans had emerged from the uttermost north to establish dominion over parts of the continent before being driven back by the ferocity of the batrachi and their primordial allies. The giantkin then returned to establish the Colossal Kingdom of Ostoria and its allied states of Darchar, Grunfesting, Helligheim, Nedeheim and Rangfjell.
Relations between the dragons and giants were respectful if cool. The giants of this age were powerful warriors and employed mighty sorcerers and wizards among their ranks. They were also vastly more numerous than the dragons. The dragons decided that coexistence was a wiser course than conflict, and since, for the most part, their territorial requirements did not overlap, there was plenty of room for everybody.
However, the fourth Creator Race now began to impugn upon Toril. The Fey were not native to Toril, having instead established control of their own plane or dimensional realm known as Faerie, or, in more recent terminology, the Feywild. The Feywild had been created by the primordials circa 34,000 BDR, but the Fey had now taken it as their own and was used by them in their creation of lesser species including the korreds, pixies and sprites. The Fey also had a strong kinship with the eladrin and the elves, the species native to the realm of Arvandor (on the plane of Arborea). Many eladrin and elves moved to the Feywild, attracted by its magical nature.
The relationship between the Feywild and the primordials gave the Fey the ability to observe events on Toril, a world much to their liking. They were wary of the raw power of the dragons, fearing what would happen should they gain access to the Feywild, so starting c. 27,000 BDR, the Fey sent their minion species to Toril with the aim of undermining the power of the dragons. These minion races took root in the vast forests covering much of Merrouroboros. The first elves soon followed, including aquatic elves, avariel (winged elves) and lythari (elvish lycanthropes). Some of these settlements were more successful than others, with the aquatic elves flourishing in both the inner and outer seas, but the avariel being decimated in conflicts with the dragons and other winged species. A second wave of green and wild elf settlement began within a few centuries, settling the vast southern jungles and negotiating with the dragons to establish the first elven kingdom on Toril: Ilythiir, with its capital at Atorrnash.
In 26,000 BDR the detente between the dragons and giants ended at the command of the draconic god Garyx, who ordered his followers to destroy the Colossal Kingdom. The resulting Thousand Year War saw both giantkin and dragonkind bloodied, and the dragons reduced to a bare few thousand in number. Realising both species were threatened with destruction, at least according to legend, the giant god Annam All-Father and Garyx played a game of wah-ree to decide the matter. The game ended in a draw, so it was decided to end the war with the battle lines where they stood. Ostoria were reduced to the northern fringes of Merrouroboros (in the land now called Hartsvale, and some parts eastwards), several of the other giant kingdoms were destroyed, and others became enclaves in territory otherwise controlled by the dragons.
Merrouroboros on the eve of the Sundering, showing the major elven empires which had arisen in the preceding millennia.
Circa 30,000 BDR, the Seldarine, the (relatively) newly-established pantheon of elven gods, was riven by war and civil war. Araushnee, the elven goddess of destiny and artisans, had become the lover of Corellon Larethian, the chief god of the Seldarine. But she was also jealous and bitter, desiring his power. She arranged for a coalition of the enemies of the Seldarine to invade Arvandor and slay Corellon so she might usurp him. She was aided in this task by her son, Vhaeraun, but opposed by her daughter, Eilistraee, whom history and myth would later call the Redeemer.
During the final battle in Arvandor, Araushnee’s machinations were exposed and thwarted by Eilistraee and Sehanine Moonbow. Corellon was saved from death and he condemned Araushnee and Vhaeraun to exile. Eilistraee volunteered to go into exile as well, so she might redeem those whom her kin would seek to corrupt. Araushnee was given a further punishment, transformation into a tanar’ri, a demon of hideous, spider-like aspect. She took a new home on the 66th layer of the Abyss and also a new name and title: Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
Almost five thousand years later, c. 25,400 BDR, the great island kingdom of Tintageer, in Faerie, was attacked by unknown warriors. The elves used High Magic to destroy the invaders, but this display of power had an unintended side-effect, namely the flooding of Tintageer and its inundation. Barely fifty elves, led Prince Durothil of the sun elves and Sharlario Moonflower of the moon elves, escaped through a portal. They found themselves on Toril, in what would later be called the High Forest, and Durothil uttered the word the elves would take to describe their new home: “Faerûn.” The elvish word for “One Land.”
Almost immediately the elves found themselves in a battle for survival with the ruling dragon of the region, Mahatnartorian, but were aided in their struggle by both lythari and avariel. They built the first great elven city of the north, Sharlarion, and Sharlario and his son travelled this new world in search of allies. Hearing of an elven kingdom in the far south, they arrived in Ilythiir and struck up friendly relations with its ruler, Ka’Narlist. However, they were wary of the dark gods Vhaeraun and Ghaunadaur worshipped in the kingdom. Eilistraee also appeared to Sharlario in a vision to warn him of the southern elves’ amoral nature. Ka’Narlist gifted Sharlario with a dagger ensorcelled so he might spy on events in the north. Upon Sharlario’s return home, he witnessed the great battle between Durothil and his silver dragon ally, Silverywing, and the dragon Mahatnartorian. All three perished in the conflict.
In 25,000 BDR, elven High Mages unleashed the power of their sorcery to create the Dracorage Mythal, an artefact of tremendous power. Drawing on the magic of the Kingkiller Star, they drove every dragon on Toril insane for several days, resulting in mass casualties among the draconic race. Every few centuries, the Rage of Dragons would strike again, keeping draconic numbers low enough so that they would never threaten the elves again.
Six centuries later, the demonic lord Haeshkaar invaded Toril with a vast horde of orcs, the first of the creatures to appear on the planet. He destroyed the gold elf city of Occidian but was unable to take Sharlarion. His forces were defeated, but he captured the high priest Anarallath in the process. Anarallath’s lover, the great archmage Kethryllia Amarillis, purused him back to the Abyss and, aided by the capricious goddess Kiaransalee, slew Haeshkaar in battle and rescued her lover. To this end she employed the magical dagger of Ka’Narlist. The presence of this weapon in the Abyss drew the attention of Lolth to Toril, where she located Ka’Narlist and allied with him, subverting of the worship of the Ilythiiri to her dark cause. By 23,200 BDR, Ilythiir had strengthened its hold over a vast swathe of the south, extending from the fringes of the Mhair Jungles through what would later be the Forest of Amtar and Lluirwood.
Occidian’s destruction saw Sharlarion become predominantly a sun or gold elf city. After their victory over the orcs, the elves flourished and numerous colony towns and cities were established across the High Forest, the vast woodland located south-west of the Narrow Sea. By 23,900 BDR these communities had allied into the kingdom of Aryvandaar.
Other elven kingdoms followed. Other sun and moon elves allied to found the realm of Shantel Othreier around 23,600 BDR, located in the forests north of the Cloud Peaks and extending east to the Gods’ Theatre (the modern Tunlands). A moon or silver elf colony state was also established at Ardeep to the north, near the mouths of the Dessarin and Delimbiyr, the two great rivers of the north. Syòrpiir was founded in the what later became the Ankhwood and Chondalwood (23,100 BDR), followed by Illefarn to the north-west of Ardeep, in the forested mountains along the coast (22,900). Orishaar was established in the lands immediately to the north-east of the Pourounkorokale (22,500), and Thearnytaar in what would become the Thornwood (21,400). Eiellûr followed in the Winterwood (21,000).
Relations between the kingdoms were mostly good, but occasionally strained. Orishaar and Ilythiir’s borders clashed south of what is now the Border Kingdoms and the two skirmished for a time around 20,000 BDR before settling a common frontier. The three kingdoms of the vast Satyrwood, namely Eiellûr, Thearnytaar and Syòrpiir, also had initial tensions before becoming more friendly and allied, known as the Kingdoms of the Three Leaves. Indeed, their rulers would occasionally ponder the positives of allying together into a single empire to rival Ilythiir or Aryvandaar.
Circa 18,800 BDR, a major political schism within Aryvandaar saw the nation’s wild and dark elf kindreds, fed up with centuries of being treated as inferiors, departing the realm. They crossed the Delimbiyr and established the realm of Miyeritar. In 17,800 BDR, moon and wild elf explorers from Thearnytaar crossed the mountains of the Iltkazar Range to colonise the vast woodlands that later generations would call Tethir, Darthiir and Mir. The great kingdom of Keltormir grew up in this region.
Despite their sheer power and profligacy, some elves began to experience pangs of regret for their species’ increased interest in politics and borders, and a retreat from the spirituality and mysticism their ancestors had experienced in Arvandor and Faerie. Many elves began to call for the creation of a new homeland, a land apart from the petty concerns of the mainland where the true spirit of elvenkind could be enjoyed. The elven High Mages began to prepare for the casting of a tremendous spell to establish such a homeland, where the mortal world of Toril and the elven spiritual homeland of Arvandor could mingle.
The effects of this spell would be extremely far-reaching…and disastrous.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will look at the history of the Forgotten Realms world and publish a series of maps depicting the continent of Faerûn and the wider world of Toril at various points in its past. Like my previous series, Nations of the Forgotten Realms, this series draws on The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas and other Dungeons & Dragons resources for the setting, particularly The Grand History of the Realms, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Lost Empires of Faerûn.
The work of Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Eric L. Boyd, James Butler, Thomas Costa, Ed Greenwood, Dale “slade” Henson, Brian R. James, George Krashos, Steven Schend and Travis Stout was particularly useful in compiling this series, along, obviously, with the work of everyone who has ever put pen to paper for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (officially or unofficially).
The supercontinent of Merrouroboros, which existed in the millennia preceding the First Sundering. The supercontinent later split apart to form the continents of the modern era: Maztica, rumoured Anchôromé, Katashaka, Faerûn, Zakhara, Kara-Tur and Ossë. Please click for a larger version.
This first world map looks at Abeir-Toril, as it was then called, in the period after the Age of Creation. This is circa 40,000 BDR (Before Dalereckoning), some 41,500 years before the present day.
According to myth, the star system of Realmspace was created by the Hidden One, the entity Ao of whom little is known. Ao charged the first two gods of this realm, the twins Selûne and Shar, with nurturing life within the system. The two goddesses created a third, Chauntea, to help them in this task. Chauntea’s recommendation was to create light and warmth within the system, but the twin sisters quarrelled; Shar, Sister of Night and Darkness, hated the idea. The two sisters warred and Selûne proved victorious, creating the Sun. However, this activity attracted the attention of the primordials, powerful beings who desired dominion over all worlds in the multiverse. The goddesses united their power to defeat the primordials, driving them into hiding or imprisoned in remote corners of Realmspace. A fourth goddess, Mystryl, Lady of Magic, was created during this period. Mystryl withheld her powers from both sisters, bringing an end to their warring.
Although life flourished on all worlds in Realmspace, the most promising was Abeir-Toril, third planet from the Sun. The planet was completely covered in water, but a multitude of life grew in the deep oceans, during what became known as the Blue Age. Many other gods formed at this time, as sentient life spread through Abeir-Toril’s oceans and their need for faith and worship grew.
Alas, the primordials returned. One of the mightiest of their number, Dendar the Night Serpent, consumed the Sun to plunge Realmspace into freezing cold, an era known as the Shadow Epoch. His opposite number, the god known as Ouroboros, the World Serpent, led the gods of the system into battle. A long war resulted, but the two sides were too evenly matched. In the end, the primordials were defeated by one of their own; Ubtao swapped sides, helping the gods defeat the primordials in return for lands and worshippers of his own. The primordials were destroyed, or forced to flee across the planes.
The Sun was kindled into life once more, and Abeir-Toril again flourished. But this time the seas had retreated, much of their mass being locked away into ice. A single, enormous supercontinent was revealed: Merrouroboros. More than 10,000 miles across, the landmass contained all the lands that would later be scattered as the continents of the modern day.
For untold millennia or maybe even tens of millennia, life on Abeir-Toril developed. Then, circa 36,500 years ago, the first sentient lifeforms began to build cities, learn the ways of magic and ascend to greatness. This marked the beginning of the Days of Thunder, also known as the Age of the Creator Races.
A map of western Merrouroboros, depicting the reign of the sarrukh. Three powerful sarrukh empires ruled over the lands between c. 35,000 and 33,500 Before Dalereckoning. The sarrukh created the successor races known as the yuan-ti, naga, lizardfolk, pterafolk, troglodytes and other types of serpentfolk and scalykind.
The Creator Races, or Iquar-Tel’Quessir in the tongue of the elves, were immensely powerful, pre-human and even pre-elven species that ruled over Toril and, before it, Abeir-Toril, in the earliest of days. There are five credited Creator Races, although only three existed in this remote epoch.
The first to arise were the sarrukh. Also called the saurians or Progenitors of the Scaled Ones, the sarrukh established the first-known empires: Okoth, Mhairshaulk and Isstosseffifil. They also built the oldest-known surface cities in the Realms: Sar’Rukoth, the capital of Okoth, now believed to be buried under Azulduth, the Lake of Salt south of Mulhorand; and Oreme, long-since buried under the sands of Anauroch, the Great Desert. They worshipped the World Serpent, who first accepted their faith directly but then through vassal incarnations.
The sarrukh were also the first power – but far from the last – to suffer the depredations of the phaerimm. They encountered the phaerimm in the lands north of Oreme, where the creatures seemed to hail from caverns many miles below the surface (the ancestor tunnels of the modern Underdark). The origins of the phaerimm are unknown, but the creatures, then as now, were unrelentingly hostile. The sarrukh did successfully defeat the phaerimm and drive them back into the Underdark, but only through the unleashing of powerful magic to shift the entire course of the Narrow Sea, flooding the caverns below with millions of gallons of water.
Roughly 2,500 years after their first rise to power, the sarrukh peaked as a civilisation. Isstosseffifil collapsed as a result of the war with the phaerimm, although its capital Oreme endured as a multi-species library city for the study of magic. Mhairshaulk endured under the rule of the yuan-ti, but its sarrukh rulers left to explore other planes. Okoth continued to endure until around 31,000 BDR, when it abruptly vanished. Sages assumed it had declined and faded away, but some evidence suggests that the realm was transferred to the shadow-world of Abeir instead. The truth of the matter remains unclear.
A map of western Merrouroboros, depicting the reign of the batrachi. Four powerful sarrukh empires ruled over the lands between c. 33,500 and 31,000 Before Dalereckoning. The batrachi created the successor races known as the bullywugs, doppelgangers, kopru, kuo-toa, locathah, sivs and tako. The rule of the batrachi came to a rather abrupt end in the event known as the Tearfall.
Next to emerge were the batrachi, an amphibian species originating in the seas around Merrouroboros. With the sarrukh in decline, the batrachi were able to emerge onto the dry land and forge their own empires: Nadezhda, Boitumelo, Kolophoon and, greatest of them all, Zhoukoudien, the domain of the High One. These empires flourished for two thousand years before they came into contact with the Jotunbrud, a towering race originating from the freezing lands in the north-east. This race, whom history would recall as the first titans, were formidable but appeared slow and ungainly. Bazim-Gorad, ruler of Nadezhda, urged caution in dealing with the creatures, but the High One Zhoukoudien scoffed at such an idea and treated them with disdain. This led Omo, the titan thane, to slay Zhoukoudien in battle. This sparked a bloody war between the two species.
The titans proved the batrachi’s match and more, driving them back in defeat. In desperation, the batrachi sought magical allies and and found them in powerful spirits imprisoned in various parts of the world. Unfortunately, these were not allies at all, but some of the imprisoned primordials from the most ancient times. The primordials renewed their war against not just the titans, but also the gods of the Realms, who were taken by surprise by the return of their foe. Despite this, the gods were more numerous and more powerful, and quickly gained the upper hand.
In apparent desperation, the primordial Asgorath, the World-Shaper, also known as Io, hurled a moon of ice at Abeir-Toril, intending to destroy that which the primordials could not conquer. The moon was destroyed before it could hit the planet, but the resulting inundation of meteorites, rocky fragments and ice caused widespread destruction. The centre of the continent, between four great lakes or small seas, collapsed, resulting in the creation of the Sea of Falling Stars, also called the Inner Sea. Many of the smaller fragments of the moon which missed the planet looped back around it in a never-ending orbit, becoming known as the Tears of Selûne. Batrachi civilisation collapsed and the titans beat a hasty retreat into the lands of the uttermost north. This apocalyptic event became known in history as the Tearfall, and took place circa, 31,000 BDR.
Ao intervened, furious that, one again, the Balance that was in his care had been endangered. He split Abeir-Toril into two worlds, identical but separated by a whisper of a thought. He gave Abeir to the primordials and Toril to the gods, and split them apart so the two worlds could not meet or be travelled between, thus ending the great war.
But the Tearfall had an unexpected consequence: many of the rocks and stones that had poured out of the shattered moon were actually eggs. And, soon after the Tearfall, they began to hatch.
A map of western Merrouroboros, depicting the reign of the aearee. Three mighty aearee “flocks” ruled over the lands between c. 31,000 and 30,000 Before Dalereckoning. The aearee created the successor races known as wyverns, aarakocra, kenku and owlbears.
The third Creator Race to emerge were the aearee, an avian species originating on a large island in the Silver Sea. Some of the aearee had been enslaved by the batrachi, so the rest of the species kept a low profile until the destruction of the batrachi in the Tearfall. The aearee then moved to the mainland, establishing mighty holds at Viakoo (on Mount Havraquoar, in the lands north of what is now Maztica), Phwiukree (on the Star Mounts of the High Forest) and Shara (in the Orsraun Mountains of modern Turmish.
The rule of the aearee was rather brief. Having established three great holds, the aearee were hard-pressed fighting against enemies such as the lammasu (who assailed Viakoo but were driven back by vast numbers of wyverns) and the gnolls of Urgnarash, who sought to destroy Shara using a plague. The desperation of the times saw the aearee reluctantly join forces with their old enemies, the few surviving batrachi and sarrukh at Oreme, where they undertook great magical feats together. There, the magic of the three races united to create the greatest repositories of magical knowledge in the history of the world. Later history would call them “the Nether Scrolls.”
But word was already spreading from the east of a ferocious new threat, winged and fanged creatures of immense strength and cunning, not to mention magical power. The dragons born of the Tearfall had, after a thousand years, come of age. Led by Nagamat, a draconic general and worshipper of the goddess Tiamat, the first great Flight of Dragons seen on the face of Toril scoured the three aearee holds from the face of the world. The surviving aearee, sarrukh and batrachi were destroyed or forced to flee across the planes. Some believe that some aearee survived on Toril by returning to their original homeland in the uttermost west, but the truth of the matter remained unclear.
The Days of Thunder had ended and the Dawn Age, the Time of Dragons, had begun.
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In this series I looked at each of the individual nations of Faerûn in turn, in alphabetical order. This series was based around the status of each nation as of 1371-72 Dalereckoning (at the end of D&D 2nd Edition and the start of 3rd Edition). The maps are drawn from The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas CD-ROM and their respective 1st and 2nd Edition sources. They are not necessarily current for the 5th Edition of the setting (which is set c. 1496 DR), as borders have changed and some towns and cities have fallen, whilst newer ones have risen.
A “master map” of the Nations of the Forgotten Realms series. Please click for a larger version.
Some more coverage of the Realms is to come in the future, with historical maps and a guide to some of the other regions of the continent.
Thank you for reading The Atlas of Ice and Fire. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content before it goes live on my blogs.
In this series I will be looking at each of the individual nations of Faerûn in turn, in alphabetical order. This series is based around the status of each nation as of 1371-72 Dalereckoning (at the end of D&D 2nd Edition and the start of 3rd Edition). The maps are drawn from The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas CD-ROM and their respective 1st and 2nd Edition sources. They are not necessarily current for the 5th Edition of the setting (which is set c. 1496 DR), as borders have changed and some towns and cities have fallen, whilst newer ones have risen.
A map of the region surrounding Waterdeep. Please click for a larger version.
Waterdeep
Ruler: The Lords of Waterdeep, represented by Open Lord Piergeiron Paladinson
Population Density: 21 people per mile² (8.41 people per square km²)
Area: 61,853 miles² (160,198.53 km²) – very approximate area of influence
Military: The City Guard (inc. the Griffon Legion), the City Watch, Force Grey, various mercenary and adventuring companies, the clergy of Tempus, a formidable number of resident powerful mages and clerics
Imports: Grain, livestock, leather, ore, timber, exotic goods from other lands
Sources: Waterdeep and the North (Ed Greenwood, 1987), The Savage Frontier (Jennell Jaquays, 1988), City System (Jeff Grubb, Ed Greenwood, 1988), Eye of the Beholder (video game, Westwood Studios, 1991), Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (video game, Westwood Studios, 1992), City of Splendors (Steven E. Schend, Ed Greenwood, 1994), Volo’s Guide to Waterdeep (Ed Greenwood, 1994), The North (slade, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, Julia Martin, Steven E. Schend, Jennell Jaquays, Steve Perrin, 1996), City of Splendors: Waterdeep (Eric L. Boyd, 2005), Environs of Waterdeep (Eric L. Boyd, 2006), Mike Schley’s Map of Daggerford (2023)
Overview
Waterdeep, the Crown of the North or, more famously, the City of Splendours, is the largest and grandest city-state on the north-western coast of Faerûn. Located at the meeting point of the Trackless Sea and the Sea of Swords, at the far southern end of the Sword Coast North (or the far northern end of the Sword Coast proper; cartographic blood has been spilt in the debate), where the North meets the Western Heartlands, the city is superbly placed for trade, defence, political influence and supply. The city also projects immense and unrivalled soft power over much of the north-western quarter of the continent.
Waterdeep lays no formal political claim to any land beyond its walls, but in practice the forty miles or so immediately surrounding the city is covered in farmland dedicated to feeding the city and supplying it with raw materials. The land for a further sixty miles beyond that is regularly patrolled by Waterdeep’s militia and aerial cavalry. The hamlet of Rassalantar and the larger village of Amphail are both defended by Waterdeep’s military and their economies depend on trade with the larger city, although they remain autonomous in terms of their civil governance. The abbey at Goldenfields is also aligned with Waterdeep. Waterdeep also maintains a garrison at Zundbridge to defend the mouth of the Dessarin from pirates and raiders. As many people live within Waterdeep’s sphere of protection as do in the entire kingdom of Cormyr.
Waterdeep is also the de facto head of the Lords’ Alliance, a formidable military, political and economic bloc dominating western Faerûn and acting as a bulwark to the ambitions of groups such as the Black Network of the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards of Thay and the Cult of the Dragon. Other members of the Alliance include Silverymoon, Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, Amphail, Berdusk, Elturel, Goldenfields, Gundarlun, Iriaebor, Leilon, Longsaddle, Mirabar and Sundabar. The founding of the kingdom of Luruar in 1369 brought the entire Silver Marches into the Alliance as well, including Everlund, Citadels Felbarr and Adbar, and Mithral Hall. Several nearby towns are not formal members of the Alliance, but had friendly ties to it, including the towns of Secomber and Yartar, the elves of Evereska, the kingdom of Cormyr and the island kingdom of Moonshae.
Waterdeep itself is an impressive sight, with the city located on the flanks of the mountain of the same name, rearing over the ocean. The city extends for around two miles along its longest axis and is surrounded by stout walls, not to mention the sheer cliffs and escarpments of the landward side of the mountain. The mountain forms the western boundary of the city, acting as something of a windbreak against the worst storms rolling in off the Trackless Sea. Deepwater Isle performs much the same task to the south. Castle Waterdeep, the centre of governance, is located on the south-eastern edge of the mountain, whilst the mountain peak is the home of the city’s griffons.
The city is divided into six districts: Sea Ward, North Ward, Castle Ward, Trades Ward, South Ward and Dock Ward. A seventh subdivision is applied to the City of the Dead, the city cemetery, which also doubles as a park and place of reflection. Deepwater Isle is sometimes named as an eighth subdivision, although it is reserved for military use. The floor of Deepwater Harbour is also home to a merfolk village (Tharqualnaar) and a sea elf settlement (T’Quession), both of which are formally allied to Waterdeep and help keep the harbour clear of aquatic threats.
Waterdeep is home to over 132,000 permanent residents and during the height of the trade season the population can swell immensely with an influx of merchants and visitors. During such times tent towns form beyond the city’s gates to provide additional accommodation. Requests to expand the city beyond the walls have so far been denied by the Lords for security reasons, although it is becoming something of a necessity to deal with the population increase.
Waterdeep has a legendary reputation for wealth, fairness and equality. The city goes to immense lengths to keep crime to a minimum, if not eliminated altogether. However, it is something of an open secret that the subterranean city of Skullport lies below Waterdeep, and is where the region’s criminal activity is centred. Fortunately, the scoundrels of Skullport spend so much time bickering and scheming against one another that their ability to hurt the people of Waterdeep proper is limited. Some believe a more organised thieves’ guild does exist both in and under Waterdeep, headed by a beholder named Xanathar (despite near-annual rumours of the beholder’s death), but this is unconfirmed, and may just be a rumour.
More disturbing is the colossal dungeon which lies below the city. Undermountain, the largest known dungeon in Faerûn, extends for many levels and thousands of feet into the Underdark below the city. The dungeon is the playground of the so-called Mad Mage, Halaster Blackcloak, but he mostly keeps his crazed interests to himself. The upper levels of Undermountain are considered safe enough for adventurers to explore without too much concern (the main entrance is even located in a popular bar, the Yawning Portal), but the lower levels are considered extremely lethal. The status of Undermountain is monitored by various worthies, including the city’s famed archmage, Khelben Arunsun, the Blackstaff, but far from putting off visitors and migrants, the dungeon seems to attract them.
A map showing the location of Waterdeep (the city symbol) and its rough area of influence (in red) on the continent of Faerûn.
History
The site where Waterdeep stands today was, of old, part of the great elven realm of Illefarn. Founded in 22,900 BDR (Before Dalereckoning), Illefarn extended down the far north-western coast of Faerûn, including the then-forested flanks of the single mountain in the area. In 17,600 BDR, the Sundering took place and the modern coastline was formed. Illefarn was plunged into the Crown Wars (12,000 – 9000 BDR) which afflicted the six Great Elven Empires, resulting in the destruction of four of them (Aryvandaar, Miyeritar, Shantel Othreier and Ilythiir). Only Illefarn and Keltormir far to the south (in the forests of Tethir and Mir) survived.
Illefarn suffered severely during the Crown Wars, being defeated by its eastern neighbour of Aryvandaar and undergoing occupation. After the end of the Crown Wars, Illefarn underwent a renaissance of power. This led to the decision to found a new capital city, Aelinthaldaar, in 8500 BDR. Aelinthaldaar grew to impressive size and became surrounded by a mythal, which encompassed the entire mountain and city around it, preventing the mountainous plateau from collapsing despite mining activities below the surface.
In 1288 BDR, a shield dwarf explorer and prospector named Melair visited Aelinthaldaar and petitioned the Coronal to be allowed to explore the area under the mountain for rare minerals. The Coronal agreed and Melair discovered significant deposits of mithral. The elves and dwarves came to an agreement for the dwarves to mine the mountain and the elves would sell their goods on. The mountain became known as Mount Melairbode and within a few centuries was all but hollowed out, as the dwarves of Clan Melairkyn mined out substantial quantities of mithral and other metals.
In 1100 BDR the Coronal called the Great Retreat, ordering all the citizens of Aelinthaldaar to leave the city for Evermeet. In an impressive feat of High Magic, the city was apparently dissolved into nothing, leaving behind no trace it had ever existed. The dwarves were left to mine the mountain alone. The elves did leave the mythal intact, however, lest the dwarves’ delving cause the entire plateau to collapse.
The capital was abandoned and Illefarn effectively dissolved, although some nearby elven sub-kingdoms decided not to follow the call and remained behind. Most notable were Ardeep, Iliyanbruen and Rilithar. Remarkably, the remaining elves and dwarves in the region would later (around 342 DR) ally and found a new or successor kingdom also called Illefarn, which would encompass later realms such as Phalorm.
Around 1088 BDR, the first humans settled the area, with formerly nomadic tribes settling the bay. The fortunes of these tribes would wax and wane considerably, with them sometimes establishing fairly significant towns only for them to be swept away by an orc horde or civil war and the area left uninhabited for years or decades before a new settlement was established.
Around 800 BDR, the Netherese established an outpost in Mount Melairbode with the permission of the dwarves (as part of Netheril’s alliance with both Illefarn and Delzoun, the greater Shield Kingdom of the North). Sargauth Enclave was used as a base of operations for magical experimentation in the safety of the underground vaults. When Netheril collapsed in 339 BDR, the resulting chaos in the Weave resulted in Sargauth’s supporting pillars failing and the underground city being destroyed. The thirteen most powerful mages of the enclave survived, after a fashion, as their skulls were converted into magical, free-floating entities, later called the Skulls of Skullport.
In 34 DR, a combined army of drow and duergar invaded Mount Melairbode and routed the dwarves, forcing them into the deeper levels. By 211 DR the dwarves had been forced out of the mountain altogether, and the drow claimed ownership of the dwarf-halls instead, which they named Kyorlamshin.
In 168 DR, the mysterious and ancient mage known as Halaster arrived at the foot of Mount Melairbode and founded a holdfast. Using the holdfast as a base, he struck into the mountain to explore its secrets. The drow grew annoyed by his intrusions and tried to kill or enslave him, but failed miserably; Halaster’s magic was far too powerful and soon all the drow of Kyorlamshin were dead, mad or ensorcerelled puppets of the mage.
By 307, Halaster had effectively moved into the mountain and abandoned his holdfast, which fell into ruin (today the Yawning Portal Inn stands on its site). As he explored further into the dungeon, he populated the levels with various monsters to study them in this unusual habitat. He eventually disappeared into the lowest levels of the mountain, reappearing usually only to deal with intruders or those who vexed him, such as the Guild of Naturalists of the elven empire of Cormanthyr, who started investigating the dungeon themselves in 658, stealing monsters away to study them. Halaster retaliated by kidnapping elf-mages to experiment on. When the Guild stopped invading his territory, Halaster ceased retaliating. The elves may have taken stronger action to recover their missing mages, but this was precluded by the destruction of Cormanthyr and its capital, Myth Drannor, in 714.
In 472, Ulbaerag Bloodhand united the human tribes in the vicinity of Mount Melairbode and founded a primitive castle overlooking the harbour, with the first proper palisades built around it. This expanded into a small village. In 882 Nimoar the Reaver then invaded the area, capturing the castle and village, which he renamed Nimoar’s Hold. The Hold resisted several attacks by orcs, rival tribes and pirates and expanded, with the first stone buildings being erected. The mountain had become known as Mount Waterdeep and the bay as Deepwater Harbour. “Waterdeep” became an established nickname for the Hold by the early 10th Century.
In 932 the First Trollwar saw vast numbers of trolls spread down the Dessarin River Valley from the Evermoors, bringing death and destruction in their wake. Nimoar led a retaliatory strike which seemingly eliminated the threat. However, the Second Trollwar (940-952) proved much more devastating and displaced thousands of refugees down the Dessarin, many of them settling in Nimoar’s Hold. They were followed by the powerful wizard Ahghairon of Silverymoon, who settled in the Hold in 952 and was soon named the first Archmage of the town.
Under Ahghairon’s guidance, the town fortified Deepwater Isle and accepted the founding of a temple to Lathander, which brought many worshippers of the Morninglord to the nascent city. By 1010 the city had constructed its first stone walls and exceeded Silverymoon in size. It was formally renamed Waterdeep by this point, with Lauroun as its first Warlord and Ahghairon as the first Archmage.
Lauroun died in combat with the Black Claw orc tribe in 1026 and her deputy, Raurlor, became Warlord. In 1032 Raurlor decreed the founding of the “Empire of the North,” and ordered Waterdeep’s army to prepare for a war of conquest. Instead, Raurlor was summarily executed by Ahghairon, who took over direct governance. Ahghairon proclaimed that wisdom, temperance and reason would rule Waterdeep, not aggression and greed. Ahghairon then created a council known as the Lords of Waterdeep to help him rule, with the other Lords’ identities kept completely secret.
In 1235, the city withstood siege for several months as the Black Horde of orcs overran much of northern Faerûn. The orcs were unable to breach the walls and the city remained resupplied by sea and magical means. The orcs eventually fled before they starved themselves. During the siege, the city’s defenders tamed the griffons of the mountain and used them for reconnaissance, leading to the formal establishing of the city’s Griffon Cavalry.
In 1246, the wizard Kerrigan, a masked Lord of Waterdeep, tried to seize control of the city. He was defeated by Ahghairon. In 1248 the Guilds of Waterdeep were founded to regulate trade in the city.
Waterdeep expanded enormously in this time, spreading along the mountainside and then out onto the northern fields. Its economy boomed, as did its political power. However, there was grumbling and discontent over the government structure, especially from the Guilds. In 1256, when Ahghairon died of old age, the Guildmasters launched a coup. They identified and killed the Secret Lords, though two – Baeron the woodworker and Shilarn the wizardess – survived and went to ground. The Council of Guildmasters ruled for six years before turning on one another, unleashing the Guild Wars in 1262. When the dust settled, the two surviving Guildmasters – Lhorar Gildeggh of the shipwrights and Ehlemm Zoar of the gemcutters – proclaimed themselves the Lords Magister.
The Magisters’ rule was unpopular. Lawlessness increased and Waterdeep’s reputation turned sour, with cities like Neverwinter and Baldur’s Gate benefiting from increase trade as merchants chose to avoid the chaotic city. The Shadow Thieves gained a toehold in the city at this time as well.
Baeron and Shilarn returned in 1273 and slew the Lords Magister. They refounded the Council of Lords, but enlarged it and recruited more widely from all ranks of the city. By 1276 the council had expanded to sixteen lords, with Baeron as the Open Lord. The city had also opened talks about a formal alliance with Tethyr, but the talks were constantly sabotaged with numerous deaths of Tethyrian nobles and even one king. A Waterdhavian noble was eventually found to blame and was executed.
The Lords of Waterdeep restored honour and integrity to the city, but rooting out the lawlessness took longer. Lhestyn, daughter of Baeron and Shilarn, infiltrated and destroyed the Shadow Thieves in 1298. Baeron died in 1308 and Lhestyn became Open Lord. She in turn died in 1314 and was succeeded by Piergeiron Paladinson, a young and intelligent officer of the City Watch. Piergeiron maintains his position to this day.
In 1306 the famed adventurer Durnan founded the inn known as the Yawning Portal in Waterdeep, sponsoring expeditions into Undermountain in search of treasure and ancient knowledge. In 1312 Durnan founded the Red Sashes as a vigilante group to keep peace and order in Waterdeep when the City Watch failed to do so.
In 1322, Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun became the Archmage of Waterdeep. A powerful wizard and known ally of Elminster, the Old Sage, Khelben would single-handedly save Waterdeep from magical plots many times over the next five decades, and commission adventurers to help defend the city many more times. In 1357 Khelben would rescue Laeral Silverhand of the Seven Sisters, who had been cursed to madness by a magical item known as the Crown of Horns. Laeral would take up residence in Blackstaff Tower, providing Waterdeep with a second mage of absolutely formidable power (adding to the dozens more of middling and impressive power residing in the city at any one time).
In 1358, Faerûn was struck by the Time of Troubles, when gods walked the Realms as mortal avatars. Waterdeep initially sat out the crisis, but as it approached its climax it became clear that Ao, Overgod of Realmspace, had established a Celestial Stairway atop Mount Waterdeep. Ao’s decree was that the Godswar would continue until the missing Tablets of Fate were returned to him. The adventurers Midnight, Kelemvor and Cyric recovered the Tablets of Fate and defeated the undead legions of the God of Death, Myrkul, who sought to stop them in Waterdeep (Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul had stolen the Tablets themselves, precipitating the crisis, and paid the price). The three companions succeeded, but Cyric betrayed his companions and (apparently) slew Kelemvor to seize one of the Tablets to present to Ao. Ao restored normality to the Realms, raising Cyric to godhood to replace Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul and Midnight to replace the slain Mystra.
The death of Myrkul – who fairly spectacularly exploded in the skies over Waterdeep – resulted in strange and bizarre happenings being reported in the city for some considerably time afterwards until his magical essence finally dissipated.
Shortly after the Time of Troubles ended, Khelben Arunsun hired an adventuring party to investigate rumours of a thieves’ guild operating in the sewers of Waterdeep. The party slew the beholder known as Xanathar, apparently ending the threat. However, within a few months the guild was operational again, with another beholder taking up the name of Xanathar.
The same adventurers were later dispatched to investigate the disappearance of one of Khelben’s agents as she investigated the mysterious Temple Darkmoon. The adventurers discovered a draconic priest raising an army in the temple and slew him, with Khelben later destroying all trace of the temple himself. In 1363 Waterdeep then allied with Daggerford to defeat an army of monsters out of Dragonspear Castle.
The discovery of the western continent of Maztica in 1360 sparked interest in Waterdeep. By 1365, Waterdhavian adventurers had established their own colony called New Waterdeep north of the native kingdom of Kultaka, with which it attempted to forge good ties. New Waterdeep proved successful enough to spawn a second colony, Trythosford, within a couple of years.
In 1368-69, Waterdeep lent military and supply support to Zaranda Rhindaun in her attempt to restore order to Tethyr. Her Reclamation War was successful. By the end of 1369, Waterdeep had established strong trade and political alliances with both Tethyr and Moonshae, following a state visit by Queen Alicia Kendrick.
Also in 1369, Waterdeep played a key role in the defeat of Iakhovas the Taker, after his war against the undersea nations of Faerûn had raged across the Inner Sea and then, via portal, into the Trackless Sea.
A map of the city wards of Waterdeep. Please click for a larger version.
Government
Waterdeep is ruled by a sixteen-member council known as the Lords of Waterdeep. The council, controversially, keeps all but one of its members a secret. The methods by which the Lords are chosen are unknown, but the Lords are believed to represent every social strata of the city, from nobles to commoners, usually with representation from the guilds, the City Watch, the clergy and the mages.
Since an attempted coup a century ago where the Lords were assassinated, the identities of the Lords are kept secret by magical means – notably the Lords’ Helms that all members wear in public which obscure their faces – and augmented by a bewildering array of rumours, misdirection and flat-out lies, to the point where each the number of rumoured lords outnumbers the actual council by at least ten-to-one at almost all times.
The remaining post on the council is made up of the Open Lord, whose identity is known publicly and who speaks on behalf of the council, negotiates with foreign emissaries and directs the defence of the city in times of trouble. The current Open Lord, Piergeiron Paladinson, a paladin of Tyr, is hugely respected for his political skill, military leadership and sense of civic duty.
In addition to the Lords of Waterdeep, the city Archmage commands tremendous respect and authority. The current Archmage, Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun, is one of the most famed mages in all of Faerûn. A close ally of the Harpers and the Old Sage, Elminster of Shadowdale, Khelben commands considerable power and even greater respect. He was widely-suspected to be one of the hidden Lords of the city, which he confirmed in 1367 and promptly resigned from the post.
Waterdeep has a strict code of laws, enforced by the well-organised City Watch and the judiciary, known as the Magisters. The Magisters dispense justice and can refer appeals directly to the Lords should it prove necessary.
Waterdeep’s extremely thorough law enforcement system means that the surface streets are largely clear of organised criminal activity. Such activity is restricted to Skullport, a subterranean city below Waterdeep Harbour. Skullport is technically a sovereign city-state so Waterdeep does not enforce its laws there. It’s also believed that the Lords think it may be useful to have Skullport as a “pressure valve” so villainy and criminal behaviour can find an outlet far from the streets of the city itself.
The closest to a criminal guild operating in Waterdeep is the rumoured Xanathar Thieves’ Guild, led by the beholder of the same name, which came to light in the late 1350s and was promptly destroyed by adventuring companies operating at the behest of the Open Lord. However, rumours persist that the guild has since reformed and continues to operate in the city’s sewers, with redoubts in nearby Undermountain where the City Watch does not operate.
Waterdeep’s direct writ extends directly to around 40 miles out from the city and indirectly out to around 100 miles. Most settlements within this area can expect a swift response if they call upon Waterdeep for aid. Around 130,000 people in Waterdeep directly, but around ten times as many live within the authority and area of protection for the city, exceeding many entire “proper” nations in population.
Waterdeep is the central trade hub for the entire north-western quadrant of Faerûn. The city is the natural outflow for goods from across the North and the Western Heartlands, despite competition from Luskan and Neverwinter to the north and Orlumbor and Baldur’s Gate to the south. Cities and towns far inland, up the Dessarin-Surbrin-Rauvin river network, can ship their goods to Waterdeep by river at speed and from there to markets along the Trackless Sea and Sea of Swords, and even down into the Shining Sea. If something cannot be bought in Waterdeep, it may not be possible to buy it anywhere in the Realms.
The city is defended by two military forces: the City Guard is the city’s standing military force and holds the walls and patrols the surrounding countryside. The Griffon Cavalry patrols the city’s skies and undertakes long-range reconnaissance and scouting to prevent sneak attacks on the city. Allied merfolk and sea elf forces patrol the bottom of Deepwater Harbour to prevent a sneak attack by sea.
The City Watch is the local police force and operates mainly within the city walls, keeping a lid on crime, investigating murders and ejecting troublemakers from the city’s many inns and festhalls.
For more clandestine operations, Waterdeep is rumoured to operate Force Grey, a deniable intelligence agency which specialises in eliminating problems behind the scenes before they become pressing. Waterdeep is also the base of operations for at least a dozen adventuring and mercenary companies of repute, including the Dawnbringer Company, the Company of Crazed Venturers, the Defenders Three and the Heroes of Waterdeep. Waterdeep is also home to more retired adventurers, powerful mages and high clerics per square mile than almost anywhere else on the continent, most of whom would happily turn out to defend their home. The city can also call upon extremely powerful allies from across the Realms, most of whom could teleport to the city in an instant. Several gods also take a direct interest in the welfare of the City of Splendours, most notably Mystra, the Goddess of Magic who ascended to godhood from the top of Mount Waterdeep just thirteen years ago, and Siamorphe, the closest thing the city has to a local, patron goddess.
Despite this formidable array of defences, various hostile forces have tested the city over the years. Most formidable of these was Myrkul, the God of Death, himself, who assaulted the city with an army of undead at the culmination of the Time of Troubles. This did not end well for him, with the ashes of the deity being cleaned off the streets for some time after the battle.
Religion
In terms of faith, Waterdeep is the most cosmopolitan city in the Realms. Oghma, Tyr, Tempus, Gond, Selûne, Mystra, Silvanus, Mielikki, Lathander, Sune, Tymora and the gnomish deity Baravar Cloakshadow all have temples in the city. Chauntea, Lliira, Sharess and Siamorphe also have shrines and minor holy houses dedicated to them. There is also a large non-denominational temple called the Plinth, which open for the use of all faiths.
Worship of the dark gods is unpopular and discouraged in the city, although Shar, Auril and Umberlee have shrines in or near the city. The clergy of Cyric practice clandestine pilgrimages to Waterdeep, as their deity ascended to godhood from atop Mount Waterdeep at the end of the Time of Troubles, along with Mystra.
The worship of Eilistraee and Valkur is also gaining ground in the City of Splendours, though as yet they do not have formal sites of worship.
Waterdeep was also the home of the Cult of Ao, which formed after the Time of Troubles and saw people worshiping the enigmatic “Overgod” of Realmspace directly. Ao did not respond to any of their prayers or supplications and after a while the cult disbanded due to lack of interest.
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