Alamber Sea and Ash La ke. The dragonborn that have
withdrawn to those areas have lost none of the ir military
tradition, and th eir ability to hold this smaller amount of
te rritory ma ke s it unlikely tha t Unther will pus h farthe r
any time soon- particularly since the Untherite navy
has been unable to ove rcome the great bea s t tha t guards
the harbor of Dje rad Kethendi and the nearby waters of
the Ala mber.
Some of Tyma nthe r 's dragonborn have spread acros s
FaerGn and gained reputations a s compete nt, highly
s ought-afte r me rcenaries.
Unther. Trapped in anothe r world, the people of
Unthe r had s uccumbed to domination by othe rs. The n
among them arose one who calle d himself Gilgeam, and
he reminded them of their former greatness. Under th e
le adership of this reincarnated god, th e people of Unthe r
rose up a s an army to face th eir masters. On the eve of
a great battl e, th e people of Unther wer e miraculously
returned to their home, a nd Gilgeam was te d no time in
le ading them a ga ins t the dra gonborn occupying th eir
ancestral lands. The Unthcritcs have r elake u rnucl1 uf
the land th ey formerly held , while seeking to wipe out
th e "godless lizards" they blame for their time of oppres-
s ion in Abeir.
Gilgeam wants nothing short of a complete return to
Unther 's former glory. This achieve ment will r equire ut-
te rly destroying Tymanthe r, of course, and eventual war
with Mulhorand to recla im lands lo s t centuries ago, but
as every Untherite knows, the great God-King is patient,
for he is eternal.
Westgate. The dismal city of Westgate is n't a romantic
pl ace, but some one seeking e mployment for shady work,
or l ooking to hire someone for th e same, will find few
places better s uited in all of FaerGn.
Westgate is cons id ered by some FaerGnia ns as a har-
binger of the eve ntual fate of places like Arnn and S em-
bi a, where coin rules over all othe r considerations. As in
m a ny such places, one's mora l outlook is less important
in Westgate tha n one's attitude toward bribe ry. The
ci ty's proximity to Cormyr ma kes it a breeding ground
for that nation's enemies, including the Fire Knives, a
guild of thieves and assassins that the na ive pre te nd
doesn't exist.
KARA-TUR
Fa r to the east, past the wastes of th e Hordelands , lie
the empires of S hou Lung, Kozakura, Wa, a nd the other
la nds of the vast continent of Ka ra-Tur. To mos t pe ople
of FaerGn, Kara-Tur is like another world, and the tales
told by traveler s from its nati ons seem to confirm it.
The gods that humans worship in FaerGn a re unknown
the re, as are common peoples s uch as gnomes a nd ores.
Other dragons, neithe r chromatic nor meta llic, dwell in
its la nds and fly its skies. And its mages practice forms
of magic mysterious even to a rchwizards of FaerGn.
S tories of Kara-Tur tell of gold and jade in great
abundance, ri ch s pi ces, silks, a nd othe r goods rare
or unknown in western lands - a longs id e tales of
s ha pechangin g spirit-people, horned gi a nts, and night-
mare mons ters absent in FaerGn.
CHAPTER I I WELCOME TO THE REALMSZAKHARA
Fa r to the south of FaerGn, beyond Calims ha n a nd even
the jungles of Ch ult, are the La nds of Fate. Surrounded
by waters thick with pirates a nd cors ai rs, Zakha ra is
a place less hospitable tha n most, but s till braved by
travele rs who hope to profit fr om its exotic goods and
strange magics. Like Ka ra-Tur, Zakhara seem s a world
away to FaerGnians. It is thought of as a vast desert,
s prinkle d with glitte ring cities like scattered gems. Ro-
ma ntic tales abound of scimita r-wielding rogues riding
flying carpe ts a nd of genies bound in service to huma ns.
The ir m ages, called s ha' ir, practice the ir magic with the
aid of genies a nd, it is said, might carry the lineage of
these ele menta l beings in their bl ood.BEYOND THE TRACKLESS SEA
Farther to the west, past even Evermeet, a re untold, un-
known la nds beyond the Trackless Sea. Many expl orer s
have visited s uch lands, a nd some have even returned,
bearing rales th at cha nge from generati on to generation
about exotic locales, from is la nd cha ins that a re the
sites of countless s hipwrecks, to fearsome feathe r-clad
warriors, a nd vast continents that s uddenly appeared
whe re nothing- or something ver y much differ ent- had
reste d only seasons prior.TIME IN THE REALMS
Although a number of means exis t for m a rking the d ays
and the passage of time during a year, nearl y all folk in
FaerGn have adopted th e Cale nda r of Harptos. Even th e
cultures a nd races that don't favor this method of mark-
ing time are awa r e of it, with the result that it is recog-
ni zed across nearl y all races, languages, a nd cul tures.
A year on Tori! cons is ts of 365 d ays. In the Calen-
dar of Ha rptos, the year i s di vided into twelve months
of thirty d ays, loosely following the synodi c cycle of
S elGne, the moon. A month is made up of three ten-
days, a ls o known as rides. Five annua l holidays, falling
between the months, complete the 36 5-day calendar.
Once every four years , the Cale ndar of Harptos includes
Shieldmeet as a "le ap day" follow ing Midsummer.
Individua l days of a te nday have no special names. In-
s tead, they a re de noted by counting from the beginning
of the period ("fir s t day," "second day," and so on). Days
of the month a re designated by a number a nd th e month
na me. For example, s ages would record an event as oc-
curring on "1 Mirtul" or "27 Uktar." P eople might also
refer to a given day by its relations hip to th e current date
("two te ndays fr om tod ay") or th e nearest holiday ("three
days pas t Greengrass").SPECIAL CALENDAR DAYS
Every nation, faith , and culture across FaerGn has its
own s pecial festivals and holidays, the observa nces of
which a re gove rn ed by the cycles of the sun, t he m oon,
the sta r s, or s ome other eve nt. In a ddition, the Calenda r
of Ha rptos specifies five annua l festivals keyed to the
cha nging of the seasons and one quadrennia l festiva l
that a re observed in a lmost every land, with particul a r