OFFICIAL GAME ADVENTURE Empires of the Sands by Scott Haring Table of Contents Introduction . .2 Geography and Climate ................. 24 Amn . .3 Money and Commerce .................... 25 General Description . .3 Cities ............................... 26 Languages . .3 Places of Interest . 41 Social Customs . .3 Characters ....................... .45 Monsters . .4 History . .. 4 Calimshan . 48 Government and Politics . 5 General Description . 48 Religion . .. 6 Languages . 48 Geography and Climate . 7 Social Customs . 49 Money and Commerce. .7 Monsters . 49 Cities. .8 History . 50 Places of Interest . 13 Government and Politics . 50 Characters . 18 Religion . 5 1 Geography and Climate . .. 52 Tethyr . ... 21 Money and Commerce . 52 General Description . 21 Cities . 53 Languages . 21 Places of Interest . 58 Social Customs . 21 Characters . 62 Monsters . 23 History. 22 Index . 64 Government and Politics. 23 Religion. 23 Pull-out Section . 27-38 Credits: Editing: Karen S. Martin Cartography: Dave LaForce Cover and Interior Art: Jeff Easley Typography: Betty Elmore Keylining: Stephanie Tabat TSR, Inc. TSR UK Ltd. POB 756 The Mill, Rathmore Road Lake Geneva, Cambridge CB1 4AD WI 53147 USA United Kingdom ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D BATTLESYSTEM, FORGOTTEN REALMS, PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc. and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork presented herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc. ©1988 TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A. ISBN 0-88038-539-1 $7.95 US 9224 9224XXX1501 INTRODUCTION Introductions (particularly introduc- Other sections cover the history, gov- less sacrifice. tions to games and game supplements) ernment and politics, religion, geogra- As part of the center pull-out section invariably fall into three categories. phy and climate, and money and we have included campaign-tailored They can be truly useful overviews of commerce of the different countries. character sheets, specific to the Forgot- the product, with good advice on Together, they give a detailed back- ten Realms. Seven of these are filled in, where to start and what to do. They can ground to each country, filled with the and one is left blank for your personal be self-congratulatory, indulgent tripe little details (names of coins, typical ex- photocopying use. in which the author tries to convince pressions, etc.) that make roleplaying Please address any questions regard- the reader what a tremendous amount more fun. ing this product to: FR3 Questions, c/o of work went into the project, and how Of course, the action-lovers out there Scott Haring, TSR, Inc., POB 756, Lake lucky he is to even have it in his hands. will have plenty to do, too. The remain- Geneva, WI 53147. The last type is an obsequious, fawning ing sections list dozens of opportunities thank-you note in which the author for bands of hardy adventurers to right Indulgent Tripe tries to mention every friend he ever wrongs, bring criminals to justice, alter had by name, detailing the invaluable the course of history, or just make a lit- When I think of this project, I dont contributions of third-grade teachers, tle profit and pick up a little treasure. think of it as a labor of love, or a labor of girlfriends, pets, and other people you The Cities section provides descrip- duty, but just a labor. Deadlines fell vic- couldnt care less about. This introduc- tions of every city listed on the two-part tim to procrastination and self-doubt, tion has to fill an entire page, so Ill give map provided in this sourcebook. (The and soon even my friends began to you a little bit of all three. maps, by the way, are the same scale as shun me like a leper. Friendly (and not- the detailed maps in the FORGOTTEN so-friendly) hints were dropped with Useful Overview REALMS campaign set, and fit to- the subtlety of a falling brick. Office gether with them. If you also add the supplies were destroyed. There was With a title like that, this had better be map in FR2Moonshaeyou are well much wailing and gnashing of teeth. good, huh? Anyway, Empires of the on your way to having a map of the For- But finally, I finished. And I cant help Sands is a sourcebook for the gotten Realms that will completely but think that despite the delays, its a FORGOTTEN REALMS world setting cover your wall!) pretty good product. Normally, an in- for the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & After the cities are described, all the troduction like this is written well be- DRAGONS® game. It covers three major other places of interest are discussed fore the art and maps are finished. But areas in the southwest corner of the (in a section titled, appropriately this thing is so late that Ive already seen main continent of the planet: Amn, enough, Places of Interest). The the art and mapsIm very pleased, and Tethyr, and Calimshan. They are called mountains, swamps, ruins, castles, is- I hope you like them, too. And I promise the Empires of the Sands because of lands, and riversplus the dangers and to start earlier next time. their generally warm climate and large rewards which lurk thereare de- areas of dry, inhospitable land. The scribed. Fawning Thank-Yous book is divided into three main sec- Last, but not least, is a section called I want to thank my editor, Karen Mar- tions, each dealing with one of these Characters which lists some of the im- tin, for being so patient; my boss, Jim countries. portant people and groups of people in Ward, for destroying only selected por- Opening each section is a General De- the Empires of the Sands, along with tions of my office and not the entire scription, which includes a discussion the necessary statistics for play. The list thing; Warren Spector, for understand- of the races (both human and non- includes heroes and villains, potential ing; and the other TSR staffers, espe- human) present, the languages spoken, enemies and possible allies, people who cially Mike Breault, Douglas Niles, and and the social customs of the land. The will have an impact on campaigns set in Jeff Grubb, for letting me bounce ideas social customs section will be particu- this area. off them; and my mother, for letting me larly valuable to those wanting to un- My goal was for a typical DM to take use her computer to write part of this derstand the personality of a resident any single city, place, or character de- book. of one of these lands for better role- scription, and be able to come up with And a big thank-you to Ed Green- playing. For example, trying to bribe a an adventure stemming from the cir- wood, whose 10-year-old AD&D® cam- judge will have a totally different result cumstances described that would en- paign is the basis of the Forgotten in Amn than it will in Calimshan, and tertain his or her players. Taken as a Realms, and whose extensive notes pro- understanding the social customs and whole, there should be enough ideas vided the skeleton for this work. personality of the two countries will here for a campaign to run for a very help the DM know what to do. long time, with a mix of high drama, low humor, great enrichment, and self- 2 Amn General Description halfling population, it is also true that The display of wealth is the only way the halflings tend to live in their own to gain and retain status. It is not un- sections of town and do business with common for a family to scrimp and save Of the three nations said to comprise their own kind. But a halfling with a tal- for a year, then blow it all on a party for the Empires of the Sands, Amn is the ent for business can rise quickly in Amn the entire town that is completely be- only one that is, truly, a nation. Ruled society, just as a human can. yond their means. Even the simplest for over 20 years by a Council of Six Gnomes are rarely seen in Amn; the and most humble stores have trays of made up of the richest and most cun- appearance of one in a town would be a expensive sweets and other delicacies ning merchants in the land, Amn has cause of great interest. Half-orcs are for their customers. And big-money enjoyed unprecedented years of peace also almost unheard of, with the excep- merchants regularly give each other and prosperity. tion of the town of Purskul, which has a the most outrageous and ridiculous Amns borders are the Cloud Peaks sizable half-orc population (see below). gifts as tokens of goodwill before em- and the Troll Mountains to the north; barking on delicate negotiations. the Snowflake Mountains to the east; Languages Dress, as you may imagine, is gaudy, the Sea of Swords to the west; and the bright, intricate, and all too expensive. northern edge of the Forest of Tethir to Amn is a merchant nation. As such, a Elaborate headdresses are common the south. This includes the Tethir Road traveler could enter the country speak- among the women, while the men are and all the towns along it, from Riatavin ing practically any known language, more fond of long capes of the finest to Murann.