Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

The Endless Wastes
The Endless Wastes encompass some of the most inhospitable
terrain on all Toril. This is a vast, waterless wasteland alleviated
by only a handful of oases. The only people who live here
are the Tuigans, which is why this region is also known as the
Hordelands. For many years, raiders here plagued the merchants
traveling along the Golden Way between the Unapproachable
East and Kara-Tur. These same raiders united
under the banner of Yamun Khahan and invaded Faerûn.
They were destroyed in a massive battle in the heart of Thesk,
greatly reducing the power of the Tuigan folk.
Today, those who travel the Golden Way only occasionally
have to worry about bandits. The greatest danger now comes
from the monsters that roam the wastes, creatures that were
previously kept in check by the now-reduced Tuigans.
The Golden Way
As the main trade route to the east, the Golden Way has long
been one of the most important assets of the Unapproachable
East. As it passes east out of the mountains and down into the
wastes, the Golden Way ceases being a proper road. Instead, it
becomes a series of stone markers, each visible from the last,
leading out into the broad expanse. The Golden Way is valuable
not because it’s well maintained, but because it connects
oases and other precious sources of water. Without these vital
watering holes, it would be nearly impossible to cross the
Hordelands without dying of thirst.
The Shadowmasters and the Red Wizards both have big
plans for the Golden Way and the communities along it. With
the Tuigans out of the picture, both groups feel the time is
right to expand into Shou Lung and the rest of Kara-Tur. This
is a vast, untapped market for peddling their particular brands
of evil.
Lake of Mists
The Lake of Mists—so named for the water that continuously
evaporates off its surface—is the largest body of fresh water
in the Hordelands, a veritable paradise in the desert. This
means, of course, that it is the likeliest place for brigands to
settle, which is one reason why the Golden Way gives its shores
a wide berth.
Few people have extensively explored the Lake of Mists,
and most who have gone off to do so have never come back.
Legend has it that it once covered most of the Endless Wastes,
but some nameless evil in its center created a permanent gate
that drains away most of the lake’s water to this day. For what
purpose this may have been done, no one can say. If the legends
are true, finding and sealing the gate could flood the
whole of the Hordelands, transforming the region from a
barren waste into the largest lake on the face of Toril.
BORDER AREAS
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Great Ice Sea
The Great Ice Sea is a large body of salt water in the far north
of the Endless Wastes, about 150 miles north of the Golden
Way. Most travelers have no reason to deviate from their
path to reach the always-frozen waters of this massive sea.
Long ago, the Raumathari kings used to winter in a palace
on the Great Ice Sea’s southern shore, at a place called Winterkeep.
The city has long since been abandoned, and all that
is left is a set of ruins where the palace once stood. The Tuigans
in the region give Winterkeep a wide berth despite the
legends of great riches in the underground levels beneath the
palace ruins. These same legends also tell how the angry ice
gods of the sea rose up from the frozen waters to seal the Raumathari
in solid blocks of ice. These ice gods—or “ice demons,”
as many of the Tuigans call them—are said to still haunt Winterkeep’s
weathered remains.
Icerim Mountains
The Icerim Mountains form the northern border of this portion
of Faerûn. Beyond these perpetually snow-mantled peaks
there is little but snow and ice.
The Icerims are home to all sorts of cold-loving creatures
that don’t care for the relatively warm plains of the North
Country of Rashemen: frost giants, frost worms, remorhazes,
taers, and white dragons. Only the hardiest of peoples would
dare to live in such an environment, much less thrive on hunting
such beasts. Yet the tribes of humans, dwarves, and orcs that
live here do just that—although the dwarves cheat a bit by
living in the sheltering warmth of the mountains themselves.
There are stories of a warmer land beyond the Icerims,
almost at the top of the world, surrounded by a ring of active
volcanoes that keep the place steamy. Another legend has this
pleasant valley centered upon a permanent gate that permits
creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire to wander about
the place. However, no reliable sources have ever been able to
verify such tales.
Narfell
Narfell, frigid land of barbarian tribes, was once the heart of a
vast empire that included all of the Great Dale, much of Thesk,
and part of the Plateau of Thay, among other lands. In those
days, evil priests ruled Narfell, maintaining power through
horrid blood-pacts with demon lords. However powerful it may
once have been, this great civilization fell over 1,500 years ago
in a climactic battle with its ancient enemy Raumathar.
The few survivors from the old empire fell back to Narfell’s
current borders to nurse their wounds, vowing to rebuild their
mighty realm. That dream has long since fallen by the wayside.
Today, most Nars have little inkling of their high and