The Lands of Intrigue

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

The Lands of Intrigue, also called the Empires of the Sands, comprise the nations of Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan.

Neighboring nations and regions include the Sword Coast to the north, the Shining Plains and the Lake of Steam to the east, the Shining Sea to the south, and the Trackless Sea to the west. The Nelanther, home to pirates, is also a threat to the west.

The year, in the Xaeyruudh campaign, is 1365 DR. No one individual can be said to control the Lands of Intrigue.

Source

  • A Grand Tour of the Realms [1085a] page 125-127

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Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Shining Plains

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

The Shining Plains is a large open area between the Sea of Fallen Stars and the Lands of Intrigue.

Neighboring nations and regions include the Dragon Coast to the north, the Orsraun Mountains and beyond them Turmish and the Vilhon Reach to the east, the Deepwash to the south, Amn and Tethyr to the west, and the Giants’ Plain to the northwest.

The year, in the Xaeyruudh campaign, is 1365 DR. No one individual can be said to control the Shining Plains.

Source

  • A Grand Tour of the Realms [1085a] page 125

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Giants’ Plain

At a Glance

The Giants’ Plain is a small region east of Amn and west of the Dragon Coast.

Neighboring nations and regions include the Sword Coast to the northwest, the Dragon Coast to the northeast, the Shining Plains to the southeast, and Amn to the southwest.

The year, in the Xaeyruudh campaign, is 1365 DR. No one individual can be said to control the Giants’ Plain.

Source

There are many sources for this general information, beginning with the 1e and 2e campaign settings.

Dragon Coast

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.


At a Glance

The Dragon Coast is the southern shoreline of the Dragonmere and Starmantle Reach, from Elversult to Telpir.


The Dragon Coast

Points of Interest

Sources

Primary Sources
Passing Mention
  • Cormyr [9410] page 35
  • Dragon Magazine #267 — The City of Sunken Spires
Maps
  • Forgotten Realms [1085] (2e campaign setting) — A Grand Tour of the Realms page 20
Other Resources

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Sea of Fallen Stars

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.


At a Glance

The Sea of Fallen Stars, also called the Inner Sea, is a large landlocked sea which forms the center of the subcontinent known as Faerûn.

Some sources, such as the Cyclopedia entry for Orlumbor —the shipwrights there specialize in saltwater boats, rather than galleys and other boats normally found on the Inner Sea— suggest that the Inner Sea is freshwater.


Civilization

Geological Divisons

There are five named reaches:


Sources

  • Old Empires [FR10/9274] pages 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19, 33, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 62, 63, 67
Passing Mention
Maps
Other Resources

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Some Thoughts on Beljurils

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

Beljurils are gemstones unique to the Forgotten Realms, a setting for the D&D role-playing game. If that’s not what you meant to read about, I’m sure you’ll find some comfort in clicking your Back button.

Beljurils are translucent, a deep sea-green in color, smooth as glass in their natural state, and roughly spherical in shape. They are not typically cut into faceted forms, but may be shaved into more perfectly spherical shape, and are often polished to maximize the impact of their unique appeal.

They’re famous among those who love stones and light (and infamous among most dwellers-in-darkness) for the dazzling flashes of light they emit at somewhat unpredictable intervals.

Some Ideas

Volo’s Guide mentions that the majority of beljurils are 3 to 5 inches in diameter. But there is a range in size. So some basic math yields the following table.

% diam volume surface range value wt
001-004 1 0.5 3 0 200 (4d4 x 20) 0.1
005-023 2 4 13 2 800 (4d4 x 80) 0.6
024-110 3 14 28 6 1800 (4d4 x 180) 2.0
111-500 4 34 50 15 3200 (4d4 x 320) 4.8
501-890 5 65 79 30 5000 (4d4 x 500) 9.5
891-977 6 113 113 52 7200 (4d4 x 720) 16.3
978-996 7 180 154 85 9800 (4d4 x 980) 25.9
997-000 8 268 201 123 12800 (4d4 x 1280) 38.7

Range

Range (in feet) is the radius of the energy absorbing-effect. The frequency and magnitude of the energy “inputs” in the environment around the gem, within this radius, determines how often the gem flashes. In this table, the range is based on the volume of the gem.

Value

Value (in gold pieces) means the same thing it does in the tables given in the DMG and the FRCS… the base price of an “average” gem of that type. There is a range taking these things into account, as indicated in the table. Defects (cracks, inclusions, etc) will reduce the value, something which makes a particular gem extraordinarily attractive (usually size) may somewhat increase the value. In the case of beljurils, a more perfectly spherical shape could also command a higher price. Also, there will usually be some markup attached by individual merchants depending on their trouble bringing the gem to market. As always, prevailing conditions in each market will have the final say. In this table, the value is based on the surface area of the gem.

Weight

Weight (in pounds) is pretty self-explanatory. In this table, beljurils are given the same density as corundum: 3997 kg per cubic meter, or approximately 250 lbs per cubic foot. This is 150% of the density of quartz or granite, so beljurils will be noticeably heavier than most other stones of similar size.

Final Thoughts

One very exclusive seafood eatery in Delthuntle features a small “underdark river” flowing through the center, the bed of which is lined with hundreds of beljurils.

Another restaurant, this one in Phannaskul, invites children to thwack a halfling-sized statue of a fiendish man (a cambion) with a rattan cane; if the statue’s beljuril eyes flash in reply, the child eats for free. Kicks, punches, and righteous shoves are also honored.

Several human and dwarven merchants and collectors are known to be interested in beljurils of exceptional quality. More than a few dragons are also keen to acquire such stones.

Sources

Beljurils are described in the 3e FR Campaign Setting (page 300) and Volo’s Guide to All Things Magical (page 37).

Everything that’s not in the official sources was made up. By me. Today. In my living room.

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Power Outages in a Magical World

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

First, a Real-World Anecdote…

Okay, so occasionally events in "real life" suggest corollaries in an imaginary world. We got a large snowfall on Tuesday night, which thawed just enough that when it froze Wednesday night most of the snow on the trees turned to ice. Thursday seems to have brought a little bit of wind, and branches started falling. Several trees split into thirds or quarters, pulled in opposite directions by their ice-sheathed branches. So it should have come as no great shock when, around 7pm on Thursday, the power went out.

It was raining instead of snowing by then, and some of the snow was melting, but that wasn’t much of an improvement since slush of the right consistency is just as hard to drive over as ice is… and this was the right consistency of slush. And given that this was happening over the entire western part of the state, estimates of when we were going to get our power back ranged from 2 days to over a week.

So Thursday night was chilly. After spending half of Friday griping about the unfairness/stupidity of businesses getting power restored… not only while homes were still dark, but also while those businesses were closed due to the owners being unable to get out of their own driveways… my lights came back on about 8:30pm. Total time freezing my buns off: less than 27 hours.

It did remind me of why I’m interested in policy and social reform and environmentalism, though… the property damage caused by falling trees would have happened regardless, but the loss of electricity (in itself a significant cause of revenue loss for some businesses, even when they get their power restored first) might have been avoided if all the lines were underground.

Applications to Faerûn

Today, I wondered about whether the Realms suffers "power outages" — times when magic is temporarily unavailable. Not just the obvious stuff like the Fall of Netheril, or the semi-permanent magic-dead zones in the wake of the Time of Troubles. I’m thinking about power outages that are brought about by mortal carelessness or sadism, which last a day or a week and affect only a relatively small localized area.

The Weave doesn’t depend on tangible wires, but what if the strands could be disrupted? If we think of it as a swatch of cloth, or as a spiderweb, it should be easy to say yes… the weave should be vulnerable to some form of cutting or blocking or something. Ley lines might be another way to visualize it.

So how would that work? What would an area like this look like, to the trained or untrained eye? What would it feel like, to mages or to extraplanar creatures?

I dunno, but it’s something fun to think about. Maybe more on this subject later.

Disclaimer

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The Knights of the Unicorn

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

This large adventuring band is recently reorganizing into several smaller allied bands, called the Order of the Unicorn. They number about 50 members, and venerate Lurue. Senior members include

Sources

  • Powers and Pantheons page 39
  • Forgotten Realms Adventures [2106] page 76

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Silver Herd

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

The Silver Herd is a dozen unicorn stallions (of maximum stats) who follow a ghostly silver unicorn (Lurue herself). When one of Lurue’s devout followers is threatened by a large force, the Silver Herd sometimes appears nearby and charges to the rescue.

Source

  • Powers and Pantheons page 37

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Stalkers of the Silent Path

This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

At a Glance

This organization is comprised of rangers who venerate Gwaeron Windstrom and Mielikki. They are most active in the northern lands, in and around Ardeep Forest, the Cold Wood, the Far Forest, the High Forest, Kryptgarden Forest, the Lurkwood, the Moonwood, Neverwinter Wood, and the Westwood, but they also range southward and technically may be found in any forest of the Realms.

Source

  • Powers and Pantheons page 28

Disclaimer

Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC.