Possibly Ten
Knight Champion
Hopefull CEP new weapon type!
Posts: 805
|
Post by Possibly Ten on Jul 16, 2009 10:36:11 GMT -5
SWORD COAST
AT A GLANCE:
The Sword Coast is the western shore of Faerun, running from Candlekeep and the Cloak Wood in the South, to Luskan in the north.
ELMINSTERS NOTES:
The Sword Coast is a rough, brawling area dominated by the City of Splendors, Waterdeep. The coast itself is treacherous, filled with undersea reefs, rockoutcroppings, and soft, mucky bottoms that extend out for miles. True ports are few and far between on the Coast, which is the reason that the best harbor capable of handling sea vessels, Waterdeep, has grown into one of the most important cities of the North.
Scholars and sources disagree on the effective length of the Sword Coast, and some extend it further south, into the lands of Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan, to Calimport. The southern kingdoms resent this categorization, for they consider the lands of the Sword Coast dangerous wilderlands, and its people little better than barbarians.
Taken from Cyclopedia of The Realms Source: pg 81 2nd ed.
|
|
|
Post by sandcastles on Apr 3, 2011 14:24:40 GMT -5
The Sword Coast North
A region of costal mountains, forests, and cities of smoke-wreathed ironworks, the Sword Coast North is dominated by Waterdeep at its southernmost end. The Lord's Alliance, a loose league of like-minded rulers led by Waterdeep, allies the good cities and small settlements of the Dessarin valley in this region. The Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan and the insidious Kraken Society oppose their efforts, seeking to rule this region by spell, sword, and trade.
Between Waterdeep and the Spine of the World lies a wedge-shaped land along the coast of the Sea of Swords, roughly six hundred miles north to south and more than three hundred miles east to west at its uppermost extent. Around the westernmost end of the Spine of the World is Icewind Dale, the northernmost settled land in this part of Faerun, which lies between the Sea of Moving Ice and the Reghed Glacier. The Long Road stretching from Waterdeep to Mirabar defines the eastern extent of the Sword Coast North.
FRCS; pg 176
Regional History
The Story of the Sword Coast North is the story of the vanishing of old, nonhuman realms and the establishment of Waterdeep and the Northlander cities. The first greater realm to rise in this part of the world was Illefarn, a kingdom of elves and dwarves that existed thousands of years ago. The first dungeons under Mount Waterdeep were delved by these folk.
Illefarn was a contemporary of Netheril and survived its fall, lasting until its elven rulers abandoned Faerun for Evermeet a few hundred years before the beginning of Dalereckoning. After the fall of the great realms, humans migrated into these lands and built freeholds, towns, and keeps along the river valleys and at the harbors. The first Northlander longships arrived in the region during the last centuries of the Illefarn empire. The Northlanders colonized the island of Ruathym and spread to all the islands in the northern seas. Others migrated north, past the Spine of the World, and became the founders of Icewind Dale.
In the wake of Eaerlann's fall in the 9th century DF, elves, dwarves, Northlanders, and Netherese descendants from Ascalhorn formed Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns, which attempted to mirror the accomplishments of Myth Drannor to the east. It lasted only a century before orc hordes swept it away. Its successor, the Kingdom of Man, had an even briefer existence. Civilization lost its grip on these lands until Waterdeep grew strong enough to drive the orcs back to the Spine of the World. The city of Luskan was founded on the wreckage of the orc realm of Illuskan and the towns of the Dessarin valley, Triboar, Longstaddle, Secomber, and others - were settled.
With Prosperity and civilization come new threats. No orc horde can sweep away the well-established cities of this region, but powerful forces conspire to rule this land in other ways.
FRCS; pg 177
|
|