Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

Foreigners view Rashemen as a mysterious, magical
land of harsh winters ruled by masked witches and
populated by berserkers. Far away from the southern
climates and the warming oceans, it is a barren waste of frozen
plains and snow-covered mountains where a person can freeze
to death overnight even in the middle of summer. Such talk is
exaggeration, but it is based in truth. Much of Faerûn owes its
safety and security to Rashemen, for this small nation has held
its own against the armies and collected magic of Thay time
and again, sparing Thay’s other neighbors from the attentions
of the Red Wizards.
Geographic
Overview
Rashemen is about the same size as Cormyr, running approximately
330 miles from its southern border at Lake Mulsantir
to its northern reaches at the Icerim Mountains, and
270 miles from Lake Ashane, its western border, to its curving
eastern border that ends at the southeast arm of the Icerims.
The Sunrise Mountains and two small but thick forests
divide Rashemen’s lower third from the rest of the country,
and most of its citizens inhabit this smaller portion. Although
its size is comparable, Rashemen’s harsh climate and remote
location mean its population is less than half that of Cormyr.
The lower third of Rashemen is a cool, hilly land of pine
forests and heather-grown downs. The land climbs toward the
128
east, quickly becoming quite rugged as one approaches the
Sunrise Mountains. The northernmost reaches of the Sunrise
range are lower and snowier than the southern portion
bordering Thay, and from these well-watered peaks, innumerable
rivers and streams flow west to Lake Ashane. Ages
ago, glaciers scarred this land, carving deep U-shaped
canyons in the mountains and trapping hundreds of tiny lakes
behind moraines.
The North Country, Rashemen’s upper two-thirds, is
mostly bleak, windswept plains with little vegetation other
than hardy grass and scrub. The southerly reaches of this area
consist of knife-edged rocky ridges with steep ravines covered
with a thick pine forest, but the landscape flattens as one
moves north, becoming a vast cold steppe unbroken for more
than a hundred miles before the foothills of the Icerims rise
up from the plains. The North Country lies 3,000 feet above
sea level, as does much of the rest of Rashemen, and this altitude
contributes to its harsh winters.
On Rashemen’s western flank is a veritable inland sea, the
great lakes of Ashane and Mulsantir. Stretching over 500
miles in length and more than eighty miles wide at their
broadest point, these lakes occupy deep rift valleys between the
high plateaus of Ashanath, Thay, and the North Country.
Rivers from the surrounding elevations drain into these lakes,
which have no surface outlet. However, they are freshwater,
not salt, which suggests that one or both are linked to seas or
subterranean rivers in the Underdark.
Magic has sculpted Rashemen’s geography as much as
wind and weather. Caught between the warring nations of
Narfell and Raumathar long ago, Rashemen is a place of ancient
wizardry and powerful spirits (called telthors) tied to the
features of the land. Spirits guard the forests, mountains, and
waterways against defilers—in some places, every stone and
sapling has its own guardian. The local folk respect and take
care to not offend the spirits, which are said to punish those
who are callous toward them and bear grudges against communities
for years.
In addition to its native spirits, Rashemen features many
old sites of battle between the dead warring nations, and from
time to time dormant spells are awakened, rocking the land