Asavir's Channel from Tethyr, is a land of raiding
pirates. Farther south, some three hundred miles from
the Moonshaes, is the fabled island of Lan tan, birthplace
of many odd inventions. Well south of there, beyond the
jungles of Ch ult, is the mysterious island of Nimbral.
LANTAN
I had not visited Lantan for over a year when it hap-
pened, but the way most tell it, when magic failed utterly
in this place, all the stored smokepowder and magical
gewgaws in Lantan exploded, one by one, just as great
waves washed over the island. Within a terrifyingly
short time, Lantan was no more.
Or so the stories of survivors went. It appears now
that Lantan was transferred to another world, much like
Halruaa. Halruua, though, had foreseen the calamity
and taken time to prepare. Lantan was not so lucky.
The Lantanese were fascinated-some say obsessed-
with building mechanical wonders. Though they
employed magic from time to time, the whole island
smelled like sawdust, grease, and freshly scraped
metal, as shop after shop worked on refining its latest
and greatest invention. The new creation might have
been little metal knights that walk and fight and knock
each other over, elaborate coffers with locks that latch
themselves, or mechanical arms that copy what a scribe
is writing onto a second sheet of parchment. During
my past visits there, I'd seen all of those and more with
my own eyes.
Were these gewgaws and trifles of help to the Lan-
tanese when the whole world was ripped from under
them? To whom did they turn when in that other world
their prayers to their favored god, Gond, went unan-
swered? What happened in their century away, and
now that they are returned, are they happy to be here,
or does it seem like their world has once more been
ripped away?
Some ships claiming to be from returned Lantan
have appeared in ports along the Sword Coast, but from
what I hear, the Lantanese who emerge from them are
guarded and say little about their homeland. These
traders seek to attain large quantities of raw materials
such as various types of woods and metals, trading
unusual gems and strange gold coins in return. Of their
inventions, folks have seen little, but the few glimpses
attained have fueled much speculation about Lantan's
development of smokepowder weapons and greater
willingness to blend magic with machinery. Indeed,
Lantanese traders have reportedly offered many shield
guardians in private auctions up and down the Sword
Coast, and such golem-like constructs are usually the
province of wizards, not tinkerers.
NELANTHER
Take an old salt's advice and beware the Pirate Isles of
the Sea of Swords, the Nelanther. Here, all manner of
seafaring or sea-dwelling creatures live, from lizardfolk
and minotaurs to ores and ogres, with a smattering of
humans and others thrown in for variety. Where some
pirates hold to their own code of conduct, the folk of
Nelanther care nothing for rules, honor, or even good,
neighborly sense: they attack each another as often
BANNER OF THE
KNIGHTS OF N1MBRALand as viciously as they do any passing ship or convoy.
Simply put, the Nelanther Isles are a chain of reavers
and raiders, who eke out a living fighting whomever
they can find.
No one's ever bothered to count or name all the tribes
of these islands, and I doubt anyone's going to start
now. For one thing, it's a fool's errand: tribes split up
or are destroyed at such a rapid pace that by the time
you finished counting, you'd have to start over anyway.
For another, it's dirty, dangerous work, and dealing
with pirates is a task best left to swift ships, well-armed
navies, and the kinds of fools that would want to count
them in the first place.
If you do find out the name of a tribe in the Nelanther,
be careful about mentioning it to another Nelanther
ship unless you can confirm that the ship belongs to
a friendly tribe. Even so, be advised that alliances are
short as summer storms in these isles, and it's not likely
you'll be around long enough to witness a new one being
forged. Proclaiming your allegiance to a certain tribe
might anger the one you're talking to.
Still, if you're looking for cheap, strong hands, Nelan-
ther may be the place for you, but don't expect much in
the way of loyalty or cleverness out of them. Hiring too
many Nelanther sailors on a ship is just asking for your
ship to be taken from you, sailed back to the islands, and
given new life as a pirate vessel.NIMBRAL
Ever seen an island simply disappear? That is, sup-
posedly, what happened to Nimbral at about the timeCHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTH