Table of Contents (* for new or updated topics)

 1.3.      Geography of the Realms
*1.3.1.    What game settings comprise the Realms?
 1.3.2.    What and where is Anchorome?
 1.3.3.    I thought the Realms were on the same planet as Greyhawk;
           does that mean Maztica is really part of Greyhawk?
           (Also known as "I heard it on the net so it must be true.")
*1.3.4.    Where can I put [Insert generic module here] in the Realms?
*1.3.4.1.  How to place T1-4 in the Realms:
*1.3.4.2.  How to place A1-4 in the Realms:
*1.3.4.3.  How to place G1-3 in the Realms:
*1.3.4.4.  How to place U1-U3 in the Realms:
*1.3.4.5.  How to place "B1: In Search of the Unknown" in the Realms:
*1.3.4.6.  How to place "L1: Bone Hill" in the Realms:
*1.3.4.7.  How to place the "Keep on the Borderlands" and the return to
           same in the Realms:
*1.3.4.8.  How to place " The Shattered Circle" in the Realms:
*1.3.4.9.  How to place  "The Night Below" super-module in the Realms:
*1.3.5.    How large is Toril/Faerun/the Heartlands?
 1.3.6.    Where is Toril's equator?
 1.3.7.    What's Luruar? It's not on my map...
 1.3.8.    How long does it take to travel in the Underdark?
 1.3.9.    What was the origin of the High Moor?
*1.3.10.   What is the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas?
*1.3.11.   What/where are the "Burning Lands"?
*1.3.12.   Is there a list of all of the mythal cities?
*1.3.13.   What are exactly the functions or use of the Mythals?
           I always thought they were centers of magic energy or
           dweomers?
*1.3.14.   Is the Moonsea salt or fresh water?

===========================================================================
1.3. Geography of the Realms
----------------------------
1.3.1. What game settings comprise the Realms?

Well, there's the Forgotten Realms product line, but I'm betting you'd
figured that part out. :-)

Some settings have been set in the Realms, but otherwise have only the
most tenuous of connections. Others were meant as limited-release lines
and were meant to flesh out the line. Here's the most current list of
what Realms product lines there are (or were):

o Forgotten Realms

o Kara-Tur (Oriental Adventures, currently defunct): Kara-Tur is at the
other end of the continent from Faerun, which is what we usually think
of as "the Realms".  It's a fairly homogeneous blend of Japanese,
Chinese, and other East Asian societies.

o Al-Qadim (Arabian Adventures, a limited-release line): Zakhara, the
Land of Fate, is a southern subcontinent with a generic Arabian feel
(lots of genies, sand, and camels).  It was meant as a two-year product
line, but was extended for a third year by gamer request.  Recently, TSR
published a new Al-Qadim adventure, "Reunion", previously available only
through the RPGA.

o The Hordelands: These lands lie between Faerun and Kara-Tur, and
present a pretty standard barbarian culture.  Apart from one boxed set,
a trilogy of novels, FR12, and a trilogy of modules, nothing has been
released for the Hordelands.

o Maztica: For everyone who's ever wanted to play a "colonize the New
World" game, complete with strange feathered serpents, gold, and human
sacrifice.  Like the Horde, there was only one boxed set, one trilogy of
modules, and one trilogy of novels released.

Arcane Age (including Cormanthyr and Netheril): This line has been
discontinued.
TOP | Intro

1.3.2. What and where is Anchorome?

In Ed Greenwood's original conception, Anchorome was a joke archipelago;
each island was a dungeon, and at the bottom of the dungeon were just
enough supplies and a map to the next one. With the release of the
Maztica mini-setting, Anchorome became the northern end of the new
continent. It has not been detailed in any fashion apart from a couple
of brief mentions here and there.

[BTW, it's pronounced AN-chor-oh-MAY.]
TOP | Intro

1.3.3. I thought the Realms were on the same planet as Greyhawk; does
that mean Maztica is really part of Greyhawk? (Also known as "I heard it
on the net so it must be true.")

It's not true.

For one thing, Spelljammer products clearly indicate that FR and GH are
in different crystal spheres. For another, neither the FR team nor the
GH team had ever indicated so (although, to be fair, we should admit
that at one time, a joke article appeared on the TSR web page claiming
it was true).

But, if it makes you happy, run with it.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4. Where can I put [Insert generic module here] in the Realms?

These questions are often posed to the list and get many replies.  The
best tends to be "wherever you want".

Eric Boyd posted some ideas on how to incorporate the Greyhawk
"super-modules" to the list a few years ago:
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.1. How to place T1-4 in the Realms:
    My suggestion - replace Iuz with Iyachtu Xvim. Replace Zuggtmoy with
Moander. (As noted in Faiths & Avatars, Moander is dead. His cult has
been resurrected with the backing of Lolth as a way to corrupt a new
wave of surface elves, like she did with the drow so long ago.)

Place the entire complex in the Flooded Forest, and expand Hommlet into
the town of Ylraphon.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.2. How to place A1-4 in the Realms:
     Make the Iron Throne a front for the slave lords. Change the
humanoids to hobgoblins driven out of Impiltur. Replace Highport with
Spandelyion and change the Altumbel peninsula into the Pomarj. Place the
actual Slave Lord city, Suderham, in a volcano on the Isle of Earthspur
in the center of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.3. How to place G1-3 in the Realms:
Buy "Giantcraft". Send the PCs up to the Ice Spires as the number of
giant raids increase. Replace the giant steadings of Hartvale with G1,
G2, and G3.

Eric Boyd's ideas for setting G1-3 in the South:

a) There are known hill giants in the Tejarn Hills of Amn and the
eastern Small Teeth. I would place G1 there.
b) Frost Giants are unlikely to come this far south. However, if they
do, they probably live in the Snowflake Mts., the Cloud Peaks, or the
Giant's Run Mts. I would probably pick a remote part of the Cloud Peaks
or skip this part altogether.
c) Fire giants probably live in the vicinity of a volcano. That suggests
the twin peaks known as Kossuth's Eyes in the Small Teeth might harbor a
fire giant hold.

If you do all this, I would suggest linking G1-3 to the Sythillusian
Empire troubles. The hill giants are already part of this, simply have
the frost and fire giants be part of the monster armies besieging Amn.

If you decide to add D1-3 to this as well, I would have the drow be from
Guallidurth (under the Calim Desert, mentioned in DDGttU) or from
Karsoluthiyl (off the coast of Baldur's Gate, under the sea floor,
mentioned in DDGttU). I would probably pick Guallidurth, and tie its
actions back to the Night Wars (see the history section of LoI and
EoSS).
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.4. How to place U1-U3 in the Realms:

Paul Westermeyer had an idea about U1-U3
 I had a lot of luck setting U1-3 near the Town of Daggerford.  There's
a swamp w/ lizardmen nearby, and the smugglers operation makes a bit of
sense as well.  It worked especially well when I added Under Illefarn
(N2?) to the mix.  The North Boxed set has a pretty detailed set up for
Daggerford, most of which is straight from Under Illefarn.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.5. How to place "B1: In Search of the Unknown" in the Realms:

Steve Allen placed B1: In Search of the Unknown near the source of the
Esmei River in the Troll Mountains in Amn.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.6. How to place "L1: Bone Hill" in the Realms:

Jeffrey David Bray placed L1: Bone Hill just below the Misty Forest in
the little nook created by the forest and the High Moor, with Restenford
being almost hard against the Moor
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.7. How to place the "Keep on the Borderlands" and the return to
same in the Realms:

I put it in eastern Cormyr; along the East Way just on the east edge of
the Hullack Forest. I explained the absence of the garrison as a result
of the Crusade (the Lord and most of his troops rode off the battle the
Horde -- and did not return).

Jay A. Johnson's ideas on the Keep on the Borderlands:
Given the dominance of low-level undead used by the Hidden Temple
(especially in the original version of Keep) I'd use Velsharoon, the
Demipower of Necromancy as one of the temple's patrons.  Perhaps the
temple was originally dedicated to Myrkul and now that Velsharoon has
taken over the portfolio of necromancy, his priests have re-opened the
temple and re-activated the coalition of nonhuman tribes. However, I
like the possibility of a joint temple with Shar - that would be a
frightening and wicked combination.
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.8. How to place "The Shattered Circle" in the Realms:
Michael Austin says, "The Shattered Circle was one of the first
adventures I ran for my group in the Realms.  I placed it in Shadowdale,
within the Druid's Grove.  This worked great for me.  I didn't run into
any problems incorporating it into my campaign."

Barry Smith ran The Shattered Circle in northeast Turmish, around the
small village of Sword Lake Creek.

Jeremy Worst says " I placed The Shattered Circle roughly 60 miles
northeast of Secomber, about 30 miles east of the Unicorn Run, and about
20 or so miles south of the edge of the High Forest.  I placed a small
abbey to Lathander a day's journey northwest of the Circle (a paladin of
Lathander was the nominal leader of the party) and that is where they
began the module.  I had been placing some rumors of missing shepherds
and such beforehand, so when the abbot asked them to investigate the
strange disappearances, the party was more than willing to help--with
some encouragement from the LG paladin.  The abbot suggested they might
want to investigate those strange stones lying in a circle to the
southeast, as that fit the general area of the missing folk
TOP | Intro

1.3.4.9. How to place "The Night Below" super-module in the Realms:
And here are several ideas for The Night Below super-module:

David Dodge--
I put it just north of the shining plains near the Orsraun Mountains
(this area is south of Westgate and the Guithmere, north of Assam and
Ormath (these are in the Northwest part of the Vilhon Reach Map)). This
area was relatively undetailed at the time I ran my game, but even with
the publication of the Vilhon Reach game I think you can use the area
without disturbing too much. I liked the location.  The geography meshed
well (explanation follows) and the location was fairly close to my core
campaign area of Cormyr.  I put the valley of Haranshire just west of
the Orsraun Mountains.  This worked out well, as the Flooded Forest area
became one of the wetland/marsh areas on the southwest corner of the
Haranshire area map.  The hills on the west side of the Haranshire map
became the foothills of the Orsraun Mtns. I had the north-south road
parallel the river (name escapes me) that runs north to south through
the shining plains.  The Haranshire rivers merely flowed into it.  I
started the game in Westgate with the young adventurers assigned to
deliver the package.

Chris Perry--
   Try Delimyir Vale. Eliminate most of the surface sub-adventures and
set up a keep taken by Cyricists somewhere northwest of Llorkh. Perhaps
the Zhentarim in Llorkh are concerned about mage kidnappings, or perhaps
a cell within their organization has been taken over by the aboleth (or
whoever). Put the goblins near the High Moor or on the western edge of
the Greypeak Mountains. The magical stone was placed in some part of
Southwood. If one has to start in a small village, they can start in
Zelbross (west of Loudwater).

Jeremy Patrick--
I placed the Night Below in the North, with the Garlstone Mines in the
hills southeast of Beliard and the two villages east of the River
Dessarin.  This way the PCs had Waterdeep accessible.

N. Todd Antill--
I placed The Night Below south of Raven's Bluff around Sevenecho... It
fits in pretty well there, and you can always make use of the New
Raven's Bluff info.

Daniel Meyer--
I placed NB just south of the Cloven Mountains and High Peaks. A close
look at the maps shows that the water systems match perfectly. And the
name of the woods in NB is the same also. Stretch out some light forest
from the Thornwood to the south and the similarity is uncanny. Besides
taking advantage of the new material like EotSS, Calimport, the Erlkazar
area from LoI, and Vilhon Reach, it makes sense for the story line in
other aspects related to the Realms.   [some spoilers followed which I
have deleted--AH]
TOP | Intro

1.3.5. How large is Toril/Faerun/the Heartlands?

Let's get our terminology straight first.  Toril (Abeir-Toril) is the
planet the Realms are found on.  It's roughly Earth-sized, according to
the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Faerun is the continent on which most Realms adventures take place.  It
stretches from Waterdeep and the Sword Coast in the west to the edge of
the Hordelands in the east.  The map in the old Grey Box clearly shows
that Faerun is larger than North America by quite a bit. A quick
calculation using the FR ATLAS reveals that Faerun has an area of ~ 14
million square miles. The areas of North America, Africa, and Asia are
9, 12, and 17 million square miles, respectively.

The Heartlands (3.5 million square miles) are the central portion of
Faerun, centered around Cormyr, the Dales, and the northern Sea of
Fallen Stars.  They cover roughly the same area as the United States
(3.6 million square miles).
TOP | Intro

1.3.6. Where is Toril's equator?

Looking at the map in F&A, we can see that the equator runs through the
southern part of Maztica (just below the published map), through the
northern portion of Zakhara, and through the southern reaches of
Kara-Tur. It falls a little south of Nimbral (I think that's Nimbral)
and well south of Chult.

Abeir-Toril, according to every published source, is roughly equivalent
in size to Earth.  However, part of what determines the size of the
tropics and the intensity of the seasons is whether or not it has the
same axial tilt.  Since there are very definite summers and winters, I'd
say the axial tilt is the same or perhaps even a little greater (23.5-25
degrees, as a ballpark guess).

Note also, from the same map, that even including Maztica we've only
seen about a third of the surface area of Toril.  There's a LOT of room
for more lands to explore, to the west of Maztica and/or the east of
Kara-Tur (as well as to the south of everything).
TOP | Intro

1.3.7. What's Luruar? It's not on my map...

Luruar is the new confederation in the North, formed and headed by
Alustriel of Silverymoon. It debuted, unnamed, in the North boxed set,
and was named by a vote of gamers at Gen Con 1997. The first appearance
of Luruar in print was in an article by Steven Schend in the DRAGON
Annual #1.
TOP | Intro

1.3.8. How long does it take to travel in the Underdark?

Eric Boyd explains:

Here's a rough rule of thumb you can use for estimating Underdark travel
times, assuming the travelers have sufficient magic & equipment to
handle the terrain.

a) Locate the starting point and destination on a map of the surface
Realms. Determine the distance in miles between the two points as the
crow flies.
b) If there is a regular trade route between the two points, triple the
distance.
c) If not, determine if either point is wholly cut off from the rest of
the Underdark.
d) If not cut off, multiply the distance by 10.
e) If cut off, repeat the algorithm twice, but this time calculate the
distance between the starting point and the nearest surface exit, the
time to travel to the destination from the nearest surface entrance, and
add those times to the time it takes to travel across the surface.
f) Once the distance is established, use the movement charts in the FR
boxed set for rough terrain.
g) Don't forget to use the tables in the DMG for determining if the
travelers have gotten lost.

The motivation for the multipliers is to account for the difficulty of
terrain and for the tendency of Underdark tunnels to weave, twist, and
double back. It's a three-dimensional labyrinth after all...
TOP | Intro

1.3.9. What was the origin of the High Moor?
A poster on the realms list asked:

I have discovered two very different creation stories for the High Moor.
The North box set talks about an incident that occurred during the Crown
Wars. The text reads, "Perhaps the greatest calamity to befall the Fair
Folk was the Dark Disaster, a killing magic that took the form of a
dark, burning cloud.  It enshrouded the kingdom of Mieyritar, and when
it faded away some months later, not an elf lived -nor were trees left;
only an open blasted moor: the High Moor.

An excellent, epic creation story.  However, it is directly contradicted
by the information presented in the Elminster's Ecology on the High Moor.
In this book, a rather unpleasant local druid explains that, "The High Moor
wasn't always a desolate moor.  Quite a lot of evidence suggests that the
High Moor was once covered with rich woodlands.  However, early peoples
cleared the forest for crops and to provide themselves with building
materials.  These early peoples were mostly human tribes...In other words,
the High Moor is an environment created by humans.  It is not a very
pleasant place, and it clearly demonstrates the negative impact that
humans can have on an environment."

Andrew Phelps responded:

I consider this misinformation from the druid.  This druid is probably
not an historian, so doesn't know about the Crown Wars.  His explanation
is typical of a bitter, cynical druid who has seen humans destroy large
tracts of land and assumes the same happened here.  The fact that he
begins his whole lecture with "quite a lot of evidence suggests that..."
shows that he doesn't know for sure.  He can tell you that evidence
points to the High Moor being covered in rich woodland in the distant
past, but can only speculate as to what went wrong (like I said, he's a
druid, not a historian).  As it turns out, the creation of the High Moor
was caused by nothing so mundane as deforestation.  Humans can be blamed
for a lot of things, but the High Moor isn't one of them.  This one
falls to the elves.

If you read the history, you will find that events lead up to the Dark
Disaster that make it rather less unbelievable that elves might do such
a thing.  In any case, it's a WAR.  War ain't pretty.  It's a lot like
in Vietnam, where Americans used a poison (agent orange?) that killed
the trees.  Nobody thought about the implications, as everybody just
wanted to win the war.
TOP | Intro

1.3.10. What is the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas?
It is PC based software. The Atlas contains over 830 maps of the Realms.
These include all published maps and many heretofore unpublished ones.
For updates to the Atlas, see:
http://www.wizards.com/electronic/downloads.asp
TOP | Intro

1.3.11. What/where are the "Burning Lands"?

According to Steven Schend:

"The Burning Lands" was Jeff Grubb's original working title (from 1990
through 1992) for what became the lands of Zakhara, aka the AL-QADIM(R)
setting. As I always liked the title and it was too generic for TSR to
copyright, I still use it as an infrequent honorific subtitle when I
make references to the far south. That's all there is to say about
it---just another name for the land of the djinni...
TOP | Intro

1.3.12. Is there a list of all of the mythal cities?

Eric Boyd:
There are/were a lot more than three mythal cities, and there are many
"near-mythals" as well. True mythals include those created by wizards
and those created by elven High Mages. (I've often wondered if there's
not a priestly variant as well.) I think Myth Drannor falls in the
former camp and Myth Nantar in the latter camp, but I don't know for
sure. "Near-mythals" are usually extensive magical wards, such as those
created by the wizard spell "Wardmist" (detailed in various Volo's
Guides). Of the true mythal cities, these are the ones we currently know
about ...

Myth Drannor (detailed in Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Ruins of Myth
Drannor)
Myth Nantar (mentioned in RoMD and detailed in Sea of Fallen Stars and
(partially) in the Wyrmskull Throne)
Myth Lharest (mentioned in RoMD, briefly described in Lands of Intrigue:
Amn and Faiths & Avatars (Selune write-up))
Myth Glauroch (mentioned in RoMD)
Myth Dyraalis (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr
Myth Rhynn (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr)
Myth Unnohyr (discussed in Lands of Intrigue: Tethyr)
Myth Ondeth (mentioned in VGtATM and Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves)
Myth Iiscar, a flying city which as fallen onto the isle of Lantan
(discussed in Cormanthyr)
Myth Adofhaer, last city of Siluvanede in the High Forest, placed, along
with its inhabitants, into stasis and removed from Faerun until certain
conditions are met to restore it and its people to the Realms.
(discussed in Cormanthyr)
Ascalhorn (the mythal is mentioned in The North and Hellgate Keep)

Of course, one wonders why Ascalhorn wasn't called "Myth Ascalhorn" or
something like that ... ;-)

Although it's not a city, I seem to recall that Herald's Holdfast is
protected by a mythal as well. I don't have my references handy to
check.

Also, for info on Myth Ondeth, see Eric Boyd's Mintiper's Chapbooks at:
http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/FR_Features.asp
TOP | Intro

1.3.13. What are exactly the functions or use of the Mythals? I always
thought they were centers of magic energy or dweomers?

The function of mythals is to provide defense and a pleasant environment
for those who dwell within. Some also serve as a common meeting ground
for races that cannot normally survive in the same environment. The
powers of Myth Drannor and Myth Nantar are best known, so you might want
to check the appropriate references (RoMD and C:EoE in the former case
and SoFS in the latter case) for details. No two mythals are alike, but
all have a wide range of major and minor powers. I often think of them
as the "climate controlled utopia" of Disney's 1950's version of the
future.

Mythals are essentially living things and can become corrupted, such as
happened to Myth Drannor, and then their powers can get wild and/or
dangerous. One way of destroying them is the Gatekeeper's Crystal
(mentioned in The North and detailed in VGtATM).
TOP | Intro

1.3.14. Is the Moonsea salt or fresh water?

The Moonsea is freshwater, as is the River Lis. The Sea of Fallen Stars
is generally saltwater, although both the Lake of Dragons (Dragonmere)
and the Vilhon Reach might be considered "brackish", i.e. somewhere in
between. The latter in particular is uncomfortable for many aquatic
saltwater dwellers.
TOP | Intro