Chapter 2: The Sword Coast and the North
HIS CHAPTE R DETAILS MANY OF THE
locales of the Sword Coast and the North,
as seen through the eyes a nd recollections
of a pers on living in Faen1n. Ra th er tha n
being exhaus tive de s criptions, what
follows are snippets of information drawn
from the experience of five individua ls
who have traversed , lived in , and expl ore d the s e area s.
Like any other narrators, they have opinions and biases,
a nd m ay be drawing conclusions from incomplete
information. No one in the Re alms knows everything
about a ny subject, e ven its oldest and most l earned
s ages, and the views forme d from such incomplete
information can often suggest a n inaccurate conclus ion.
This is not t o say that any of the information th e
narrators provid e is false, only that th ey may not be
entirely knowledgeable in their de clarations.
The details given here only be gin to scratch the
s urface of the adventuring possibilities in th e North.
Although som e of these locales are virtually unknow n
to outs ider s, e ntire books longer than this one could be
(and have been) written about others. If the descriptions
leave you wa nting to know more, conside r th em a n
inducement for you a nd your compa nions to visit these
places a nd experie nce them fir sthand.
Be aware, a ls o, that ther e is a great deal more to the
North tha n what is presented here. Ther e are ruins
without na mes, and settle ments so small as to not
even warrant me ntion in this tome. What lurks in the
uncha r ted a reas, wa iting to ta ntalize or perhaps ter-
rorize, is all the more formidabl e because it can't be
a nticipated.The Lords' Alliance
F O R A CENTURY AND A HALF, AND MORE , THE LORDS'
Alliance has stood as the most important and influentialgroup in the North. Its power has kept towns safe from the
predations of larger powers, has kept the ambitions of Lus-
kan in check, and has taught the rulers o f many cities that
it is better t o cooperate, even f or a time, then to merely shut
one's doors and allow the s torms to rage outside. It was this
philosophy that led to the founding of Luruar, and when the
lesson was lost, so too were the Silver Marches. But it serves
no purpose to dwell on th e f olly of the past. Better instead
to look to the f uture, repair th e walls, and wait f or wordfrom the watching sentries.
- Andwe Cururen, agent of the Lords' Alliance
T he Lords' Allia nce is n't a nation unto itself, but a
partnership of the rulers of towns and cities across
the North, who have ple dged peace with one another
a nd promised to share information a nd effort agains t
common threats such as ore hordes and Northlander
pira tes. It is a loose confederation of those settlem entsand the ir agents, all of whom owe allegiance first to
their homelands, and second to the Lords' Alliance.
In the ha rsh lands of the North, where winters are
cold a nd monsters and human barbaria ns regularly
stream out of the mounta ins to pilla ge outlying s e ttle-
m ents, la rge nations are ra r e indeed, particularly in the
curre nt s tate of the world. Ins tead, great city-s tates have
eme rged, e nriched by tr ade and protecte d by stout walls
and loya l defender s. Such ci ti es - including Ba ldur's
Gate , Miraba r, Neverwinter, Silve rymoon, a nd Wate r-deep-exte nd their influence into nearby regions, often
cr eating or a ccepting vassal s ettlem e nts, but in the end,
these realms are citi es, drive n to consid er their own pro-
tection a nd future before othe r concerns.
In the years soon afte r its founding more than one
hundre d fifty years ago, the re was more inte rest in mem-
be rs hip, a nd the Alliance accepte d s ome me mber s from
farther s outh. S ince the n, e vents such as the growth of
Elturgard into a power in its own ri ght, and the recent
fall of the Silver Ma rches, have caused the group to
draw in on itself, restricting its member s hip to powe rs
in the North. The current membe rs of the Allia nce a re
Amphail, Baldur's Gate, Daggerford, Longs addle, Mira-
bar, Mithra! Hall, Neverwinte r, Silve rymoon , Wate rdeep,
and Yartar. Ther e is some doubt that Mithra! Hall will
be pa rt of the alliance for much longer, but until ruler-
ship of the dwa rve n city is more firmly establis hed, it
remains a member.
It is impossible to ascribe an ove rall cha racter to
the individual me mbers of the alliance. As a group,
the agents of the members are inte rested in the pres-
ervati on of civili zation in the North, and they share
what information they can-and oppose what thre ats
they mus t- to further that goal. In the end, though, a
me rcha nt of Waterdeep a nd one of Ba idu r 's Gate are
concerned ma inly for their own purses a nd the welfare
of their home cities, a nd a re unlikely to care what hap-
pens to the othe r, e xcept inasmuch as it affects trade.
The advice and in sights in this section come from
Andwe Cururen , a half-elf native of Silve rymoon who
was once a Knight in Silver (a me mber of th e city's
army), and now s er ves as a n emissary and, whe n neces -
sary, an active a ge nt for the Lords' Allia nce. She trave ls
the North on behalf of the Allia nce, representing its
interests and gathe ring and updating information on its
s ettlem ents for her s uperiors, fellow agents , and poten-
tial recruits, including adventurer s who might serve the
Alliance or one of its me mbe rs.AM PH AIL
Name d for its founde r, a former warlord of Waterdeep,
the sm all town of Amphail is home to jus t ove r seven
hundred s ouls, yet it s ought a nd received member ship
in the Lords' Alliance just unde r a century ago, thanks
to the ma neuverings of the noble familie s that control
its lands. Whe re once it was simply an example of
the extent ofWate rdeep's reach, Amphail became the
playground of that city's noble families, a place where
they can schem e aga in s t their rivals and send the irCHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COA T AND THE NORTH