Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

Thesk has had its share of trouble over the years.
Besides being a constant target of slave raids from
neighboring Thay, the Tuigan Horde nearly overran
the place a few years back. To top it all off, the city of Telflamm—largest
and wealthiest in the country—has fallen
under the rule of the Shadowmasters, a powerful thieves’ guild
associated with the worship of Mask.
Despite this, the people of Thesk are honest, hardworking
folk. As the gateway from Faerûn to Kara-Tur, a vast number
of caravans pass through its borders each year, some of which
are initiated by its own shrewd merchants. Those parts of
Thesk that aren’t based around the Golden Way consist of
broad, prosperous farmsteads and forests with an occasional
mining community.
Geographic
Overview
Thesk lies between the Great Dale to the north and Aglarond
and the Sea of Dlurg to the south. To the west is the Easting
Reach, while Thay and Rashemen are to the east. The country
is nearly 300 miles from north to south and a little less
than 500 miles across. Like the Great Dale to the north,
Thesk climbs as one travels east; Two Stars is about 2,000 feet
above sea level.
Thesk is surrounded by water on two sides. The waters of the
Easting Reach batter the western shore, but they also carry
eager merchants to the two port cities of Telflamm and Nyth,
places ripe for the plucking (or so it seems to such ambitious
people). To the south, the Dragonjaw Mountains define much
of the land’s lower edge. These steep slopes tumble precipitously
into the waters of the Sea of Dlurg, across which the
northern shore of distant Aglarond is visible on a clear day.
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The border with Thay is more ephemeral, defined by few geographical
landmarks. To most Theskians, their land ends
wherever the Thayan patrols begin. Over the past few years,
this border has been more stable: The tharchions of Lapendrar
and Eltabbar have made few efforts to edge farther into
Thesk. The River Sur is well within Thayan territory, as is the
River Umber. The Thesk Mountains and the vale between
those peaks and the Dragonjaws to the south are Theskian, although
settlements grow few and far between within fifty
miles or so of Nethentir.
Lake Mulsantir and Lake Ashane form the rest of Thesk’s
eastern border. The Theskians have good relations with the
Rashemi, and both parties have respected this border for
decades. The southern edge of the Forest of Lethyr marks the
boundary between Thesk and the Great Dale. Few Theskians
live along the road from Tammar to Kront, conceding the
forests to the rangers and druids of the Circle of Leth; they
know that the penalty for trespassing there is often
death. Theskian woodsfolk claim only the portion of the
Lethyr that lies south of the River Flam, logging the southern
eaves of the forest.
The Thesk Mountains (after which the entire country is
named) dominate the center of the land, a range of low,
rugged, scrub-covered peaks stretching more than 100 miles
east from Phent. The mountains are inhospitable enough in
their western vales, but as one travels east, they grow higher,
more rugged, and more desolate. Snows persist on their northern
faces until the end of summer, but the snow is usually
gone by the middle of Eleasis. The sere brown peaks are visible
from just about every point in the country, and travelers
use them as landmarks.