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Sample file Cyclopedia 04: the Realms

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Introductions 4 About this Product 5 Time in the Realms 6 Names in the Realms 7 Languages of the Realms 8 Currency in the Realms 9 Religion in the Realms 10 Cyclopedia Entries 19 Anauroch Map 23 Arabel Map 24 Cormyr Map 33 Cormyr Royal Lineage 34 Dalelands Map 36 Immersea Map 53 Mages' Sigils 58, 59 Merchant Company Banners 63 Myth Drannor Maps 66, 67 Scornubel Map 75 Old Skull Inn Map 76 Map 78 Suzail Map 82, 83 Westgate Map 90, 91 Zhentil Keep Network 93 Appendix: The Shadowdale Census 94

Credits Graphic Design: Stephanie Tabat Calligraphy (Runes, Sigils, Languages): Paula M. Holz Design: Deity/Faith Symbols: David E. Martin Design and Development: Typography: Betty Elmore Editing: Karen S. Martin Cover Art: SampleKeith Parkinson file Interior Art: , , Tim Conrad Printed in the U.S.A. Cartography: Diesel, Dave Sutherland, Dennis &, Ron Kauth ISBN 0-88038-472-7 1031 Advanced Dungeon

TSR, Inc. TSR UK Ltd. POB 756 The Mill, Rathmore Road Lake Geneva, WI Cambridge CB1 4AD 5314Sample7 fileUnited Kingdom

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&.D, , PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book trade in the by Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distribu- tors. 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. ^MS? TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. hat which follows is a brief intro- cal energies, allowing them to perform T duction to the world of the Forgot- mighty tasks. Others receive such abili- ten Realms, with hopes to entertain, ties with the blessing of extra-planar illuminate, and provide information in beings known as Powers. These magic- campaigns using the ADVANCED users and clerics can reshape the face DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® system. This of the world, and indeed have done so tome and the cyclopedia it contains, over the millennia. Hills and forests with its companion volume, the DM's may appear where there have been Sourcebook of the Realms, should allow none before, and mountains may move the creation of an individual campaign several miles. A great sandy waste has setting using this world. been moving further south in the heart The Forgotten Realms are a world of the Realms, matched by a sheet of very similar to the Earth of the 13th and ice, equally relentless, to its east. Nei- 14th centuries. Most of the area under ther of these may be the fault of nature discussion here has until recently been alone, but the meddling of spell-casters, covered by wild forests and unsettled human and otherwise. grasslands. Civilization is still a novelty Finally, the Realms are a land of in much of this world, even the oldest adventure, and therefore adventurers. of cities on the Inland Sea, or the found- It is the time of heroes, when one man ing of Waterdeep, the greatest City of of pure heart (or with a powerful arti- the North, are within the memory of fact) may hold his own against enemy the oldest living elves of Evermeet. hordes, where legions of evil forces The people of these realms (including may muster and be destroyed by the man, dwarf, , gnome, and ) actions of a few, where the nations rise are similar in mindset and advance- and fall on magical tides which mere ment to the men of the 13th century. men can control. It is a time when the City-states are common, and nations on bold and the lucky may make their for- the increase as more of the wild lands tunes and gain great power over their are pushed back and gathered under a worlds. single king or government. Skills such The information presented herein is as metalworking, farming, and craft- as known to myself, those about me in industry are common in the civilized the lands north and west of the Sea of lands, so that swords and heavy metal Fallen Stars, and those I have encoun- armor are ail-too available to the war- tered in my travels. On my word as a rior. Literacy and the quest for knowl- sage nothing within these pages is false, edge in on the rise, with the recent but not all of it may prove to be true. All introduction of printed hand-bills in stories presented are as I have heard Waterdeep. The merchants-class is them and had them recorded, all infor- increasing in both wealth and power as mation is checked as best as possible more markets and resources open up. given the limited resources of an old Faith, while not as dominant as in man in a small town (even if that old Europe of this period, is a major force man has the power to flatten moun- in the lives of the people. tains, mind you). As you adventure in There are great differences between this world, be warned that not that world and this as well. Great beasts all things are as they appear, and trust and evil humanoids wander the wild (and to your wits, your weapons, and your not-so-wild) country of the Forgotten common sense in surviving and profit- Realms. Ruins of ancient cities and tow- ing from the Forgotten Realms. ers may be found among the under- brush, old landSamples and names that are lost file to memory and the past. And there is As recorded by Lhaeo, Scribe to the magic. Sage OF SHADOWDALE, Some individuals of the Forgotten 30th and last day of Nightal, Year of the Realms have the ability to channel magi- Prince, 1357 Dalereckoning About this PRodact

he FORGOTTEN REALMS™ Boxed which are of interest or influence in the from the texts of the Sage of Sha- T set contains two books, four maps, area (such as the land of Red Wizards, dowdale, this section includes all and two sets of plastic overlays. The Thay) are included as well, as are local manner of details, notes, gossip, plastic overlays are used to determine legends and stories that might easily be legends, tales, and other general distances in the realms without need of known to those living in these times. information on the area or indi- overlaying hexes or other grids on the The second book, The DM's Source- viduals encountered. surfaces of the maps themselves. Two book of the Realms, is written to • GAME INFORMATION: Often, of the maps are drawn to provide a gen- emphasize the use of the Realms for the eral overview of the Realms, running something will be mentioned in AD&D® game system, including tables the section of Elminster's Notes from the Moonshae Isles in the west to and information necessary for running the land of Thay in the east, and from a campaign, advice on the different which may require further expla- the Spine of The World Mountains in types or styles of campaigns, some sam- nation for the AD&X) game player, the North to the Jungles of Chult in the ple adventures, and items specially such as suspected levels of a ruler south. These maps have been drawn geared to the FORGOTTEN REALMS or guard-captain, the numbers of with that information available to our setting. a patrol or armed force, or stats representative in the Realms, Elminster for ships or types of alcohol. Rath- This book is divided in two portions: er than digress in the text, or refer the Sage, and represents what is known the first a general overview on the of those lands from the mindset of the the curious game-player to Realms and those things common to another section, those topics are Dalelands and Cormyr. most of the Realms (Currency, Calen- covered under this heading. The other two maps are detailed dar, major gods, and language), the sec- blow-ups of sections of the former ond being a Cyclopedia section, which Also provided within this text are var- maps, covering that region from the is an alphabetical description of the ious and sundry maps of cities and Sword Coast to The Dragon Reach in major regions of the Realms, their towns within the Realms, ranging from great detail, for use in adventuring races, and the power groups which Scornubel the Trade-city to Suzail, capi- through the Realms. As more of the influence the world. tal of Cormyr, to Shadowdale—a very world is fully explored, more maps of The Cyclopedia entries are further small town with some very powerful this and scale will be made available for split into three sections. They are: protectors. The City of Splendors, use in Realms-related products. • AT A GLANCE: This is information Waterdeep, is mentioned in passing, The book you are reading; The Cyclo- readily available to individuals in and a full description of the largest city pedia of the Realms, is intended as a the Realms, such as how a town in the North is left to a project which general overview of life in the Forgot- looks when riding into it (is it can do justice to the space required to ten Realms, concentrating on those walled or open? Are there trading discuss it. Also included here is the Cen- areas best-known to our source. That is companies? Any large temples?). It sus of the town of Shadowdale, taken to say, this book concentrates primarily is a brief summary of information from its "Book Of Days," on the eve of a on those areas detailed in the large- with a minimum of detail. recent battle, to note the typical inhab- scale maps. Areas beyond their borders itants of such an area. • ELMINSTER'S NOTES: Culled Sample file 3. Ches of the Sunsets. March often continues for the length of the TIME IN THE REALMS harvest, so that there is always food for Tbe calendar*, and ROJI of 4. Tarsakh of the Storms. April those coming in from the fields. There yeans Special Day: Greengrass is much traveling about on the heels of the feast, as merchants, court emis- The following calendar is specifically 5. Mirtul; The Melting. May saries, and pilgrims make speed ere the tailored for the kingdom of Cormyr. 6. Kythorn; The Time of Flowers. worst of the mud arrives and the rain The year consists of 365 days: 12 June freezes in the snow. months of exactly 30 days each (due to the single moon and its followers), plus 7. Flamerule; Summertide. July The Feast of the Moon is the last great festival of the year. It marks the arrival 5 days that fall between months. These Special Day: Midsummer days are special occasions. Leap year is of winter, and is also the day when the retained purely for social convenience, 8. Eleasias; Highsun. August dead are honored. Graves are blessed, the Ritual of Remembrance performed, and provides a sixth special day that is 9. Eleint; The Fading. September used as the basis for long-term agree- and tales of the doing of those now gone ments and such. Special Day: Higharvestide are told far into the night. Much is said of heroes and treasure and lost cities Months are subdivided into three ten- 10. Marpenoth; Leafall. October underground. day periods. These are known various- ly as "eves," "tendays," "domen," "hyrar," 11. Uktar; The Rotting. November Once every four years, another day is or "rides" throughout the Forgotten Special Day: The Feast of the Moon added to the year in the manner of Feb- Realms. Rides is the standard term used ruary 29 in the Gregorian calendar. in Cormyr and the Dalelands, and is 12. Nightal; The Drawing Down. This day is part of no month, and fol- used for reference in these texts. December lows Midsummer Night. It is known as the Shieldmeet. It is a day of open coun- Although the months themselves are Special CalendaR Days cil between nobles and people; a day for standardized, the system of dating var- the making and renewing of pacts, ies from place to place. Usually, years Midwinter is known officially as the oaths, and agreements; tournaments, are numbered from an event of great High Festival of Winter. It is a feast tests and trials for those wishing to political or religious significance; each where, traditionally, the lords of the advance in battle fame or clerical stand- nation or region has cultures with land plan the year ahead, make and ing; for entertainment of all types, par- unique histories, and thus different renew alliances, and send gifts of good- ticularly theatrical; and for dueling. reckonings. The system in naming the will. To the commonfolk, this is months is named for its inventor, the Deadwinter Day, the midpoint of the Wars, by the way, are often but not long-dead wizard Harptos of Kaalinth, worst of the cold. always fought after the harvest is done, and is in use throughout the North. continuing as late as the weather per- Greengrass is the official beginning of mits. The bulk of the fighting takes spring, a day of relaxation. Flowers that place in the month of Uktar, and the Tbe CaJeodaR of Hanptos have been carefully grown in inner ironic practicality of the Feast of the rooms of the keeps and temples during Moon is readily apparent. The name of each month in the Calen- the winter are blessed and cast out dar of Harptos is listed below, from the upon the snow, to bring rich growth in Years ("winters") are referred to by beginning of a calendar year to the end. the season ahead. names, each one consistent across the Each month's name is followed by a col- Midsummer, called Midsummer Night Realms, because each kingdom or city- loquial description of that month, plus or the Long Night, is a time of feasting state numbers years differently, usually the corresponding month of the Grego- and music and love. In a ceremony per- to measure the reign of a dynasty or the rian calendar in parentheses. formed in some lands, unwed maidens current monarch, or since the founding Special days are listed when they are set free in the woods and "hunted" of the country. The current year is 1332 occur between months and appear in by their would-be suitors throughout in Cormyr, and 1357 in the Dales italic type. Each special day is described the night. Betrothals are traditionally (Dalereckoning, or DR). The Cormyr in a paragraph following the calendar made upon this night. It is very rare Reckoning derives from the foundation itself. indeed for the weather to be bad dur- of House Obarskyr, the dynasty which ing the night—such is considered a very still rules that land. Dalereckoning is 1. Hammer;Sample Deep winter. January taken filefrom the year that men were first bad omen, usually thought to foretell famine or plague. permitted by the Elven Court to settle Special Day: Midwinter in the more open regions of the forests. Higharvestide heralds the coming of Dates given within this tome are in 2. Alturiak; The Claw of Winter, or The fall and the harvest. It is a feast that Claws of the Cold. February Dalereckoning for the sake of conven-