Gazetteer to the Realms
This is a primer to the "Forgotten Realms" setting that my group uses in our home campaign. Details may (will) vary considerably from published canon.
First, Ed Greenwood's (creator of the "Forgotten Realms") introduction to the setting.
Conspectus
"Know, O Arch-wizard, that between the years when the deserts swallowed Netheril and the flying cities, and the years of the building of the War-Forged, there was an age undreamed of, when shining realms lay strewn across Faerûn like stolen gems from a dead rogue's hand - the Dalelands, Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, Sembia with its dark-haired women and fanes of shadow-haunted mystery, Cormyr with it's purple-hearted chivalry, Zealous Damara that bordered on the freezing steppes of Narfell, Thay with its undead-guarded cities, the Savage Frontier whose barbarous tribes painted themselves with patterns of tiger, elk, and bear. But the proudest realm of the world was Waterdeep, reigning supreme in the crown of the wizardly West."
The Realms are lands of high fantasy in decline, in the vein of Middle Earth. Once, Elves and Dwarves ruled in an age where Gods walked on the Prime Material and man was stumbling, blinking, into the light of magic. It is now a world where Gods are distant and humanity is emerging as the dominant power, while these elder races recede into obscurity.
Powerful city-states stud the rich and populous lands of the Sword Coast, while a growing feudalism and mercantilism is giving rise to an emergent phenomenon, perhaps the most influential the Realms have ever seen: Human nation-states. For generations of human reckoning these nation-states have known peace and prosperity, guided by the hand of the Sun God Lathander, patron of youthful creatures and of things that grow. But that age is coming to an end.
Today, knights dare the crypts of the fallen dwarf kings of Delzoun, seeking glory and treasure. Rogues prowl the dark alleyways of teeming Sword Coast cities such as Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate. Clerics in the service of the multifarious gods quest against terrifying powers older than they. Wizards plunder the ruins of the fallen Netherese empire, delving into secrets too dark for the light of day. Bards sing of kings, queens, heroes, and tyrants who died long ago.
On the roads and rivers of the Realms travel minstrels and peddlers, merchants and guards, soldiers and sailors. Steel-hearted adventurers from rough frontiers and sleepy villages follow tales of strange, glorious, faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across the world, but these paths are never safe. Fell magic and deadly monsters are the perils one faces when traveling in the Realms. Even farms and freeholds within a day's walk of a city can fall prey to monsters, and no place is safe from the sudden wrath of a dragon.
