The Crystal Shard is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore . The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy , it was his first published novel.
122-551: Even in the remote far northern region of Icewind Dale , the renegade dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden is not fully accepted, except by the dwarves whom he had eventually befriended. He roams the tundra, hunting down yeti and giants that threaten the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale. When the Dale's native barbarians band together to slaughter the people of Ten-Towns, whom they view as invaders, Drizzt, with his drow stealth and ranger's knowledge of
244-525: A chance". Banophernalia gave 3 stars for The Crystal Shard . The Crystal Shard was #5 on CBR 's 2020 "10 Of The Best DnD Stories To Start Off With" list — the article states that "The reason why this book is a great entry point is that it provides a great introduction to the Icewind Dale region of Faérun that is featured in a ton of other D & D products. The trilogy also has a neat familial dynamic to its party of heroes that can be used to spice up
366-478: A fantasy world that can no longer be accessed. Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons game in 1975, and became a serious role-playing enthusiast with the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ) game releases in 1978. Greenwood brought his fantasy world into the new medium of role-playing games when a university student named September invited him to play AD&D with her. The setting became
488-616: A few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the setting for a token fee. He noted that TSR altered his original conception of the Realms being a place that could be accessed from Earth, as "[c]oncerns over possible lawsuits (kids getting hurt while trying to 'find a gate') led TSR to de-emphasize this meaning". Jon Peterson, author of Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History , said that Greenwood "was that rare obsessive DM who just seemed to have more ideas and energy to pour into his world than even
610-476: A huge campaign world?", and Greenwood answered "yes" to both questions. TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than its epic fantasy counterpart Dragonlance , and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd edition . Greenwood agreed to work on the project and began working to get Forgotten Realms officially published. He sent TSR
732-432: A hundred novels , several computer and video games and a film use Faerûn as the setting. Economically and technologically, Faerûn is comparable to Western Europe during the late Middle Ages , giving most new players using this campaign setting an intuitive grasp of the way the society functions. Gunpowder, known here as the magical substance smoke powder and different in its composition from historical gunpowder,
854-481: A manuscript for what would become his 1990 novel Echoes of the Fourth Magic . She liked it, but asked if he could rewrite it to take place in the Forgotten Realms. She sent him Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglas Niles , the only novel at the time set in the Forgotten Realms. Salvatore sent her a proposal for a sequel to Darkwalker , but Kirchoff sent back a large map of the Forgotten Realms and told him she wanted
976-584: A module based on the computer game Pool of Radiance , was also released in 1988. The boxed set Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms was released in 1988. It gives details of the lands of Kara-Tur , and was designed to be used with the 1986 book Oriental Adventures , which officially placed the book in the Forgotten Realms world. In 1989, DC Comics began publishing a series of Forgotten Realms comics written by Grubb. Each issue contains twenty-six pages, illustrated primarily by Rags Morales and Dave Simons . Twenty-five issues were published in total, with
1098-827: A mystical field called the Weave , the source of magical energies on Toril . Faerûn has a pantheon of deities that are worshipped by the followers of this region. These are comparable to mythological deities of the ancient Greek pantheon and cover a range of ethical beliefs and portfolios of interests. Faerûn is home to many non-human creatures of varying degrees of civilization or barbarism. Among these are several different races of dwarves , gnomes , halflings and elves , as well as goblins , orcs , lizardmen , ogres , various giants , and even dragons . There are several organized alliances in Faerûn, with each pursuing their particular agenda. A few are dedicated to decent and honest causes, such as
1220-462: A new story set in a different part of the Realms. After two weeks of phone calls, Salvatore found a spot on the map that was not already designated for another project, and he located Icewind Dale there. According to Salvatore, the book was "set on the Moonshae Isles , because at the time I thought that was the Realms. When I found out how big the Realms were, I moved the story a thousand miles to
1342-603: A new way for TSR to market its Battlesystem rules, which it had supported with the Bloodstone adventure sequence which started with Bloodstone Pass ; the last two adventures in the series, The Bloodstone Wars (1987) and The Throne of Bloodstone (1988), were unambiguously set in the Forgotten Realms. Some characters from Egg of the Phoenix (1987) by Frank Mentzer were incorporated into The Savage Frontier (1988). The compilation module Desert of Desolation reworked
SECTION 10
#17328770268011464-434: A once-civilized people gone feral under the debased rule of women". The 4th edition update to the Forgotten Realms brought massive lore changes which were "tied to a number of other design philosophies" and the Forgotten Realms "simultaneously had become a grittier setting, on the edge of collapse, while also becoming a more fantastic one, full of wonder and mystery". Jason Wilson, for VentureBeat , highlighted that unlike
1586-435: A patron deity to secure a good afterlife. A huge number of diverse deities exist within several polytheistic pantheons; a large number of supplements have documented many of them, some in more detail than others. Greenwood created a pantheon of gods for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, in his Forgotten Realms world, which were introduced in his article "Down-to-earth divinity" from Dragon #54 (October 1981). When
1708-468: A player's party in D & D ." In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "Even though I ended up finding the writing more tolerable than I had suspected, the book is deeply, deeply flawed to say the least. So for my rating, The Crystal Shard rolls a 3 on a 1d20." Icewind Dale (region) Faerûn ( / f eɪ ˈ r uː n / fay- ROON )
1830-568: A series of six books per year – consisting of three core rulebooks as well as three setting books – beginning with the Forgotten Realms. The company started the cycle with the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008), the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (2008), and Scepter Tower of Spellgard . These books updated the Forgotten Realms to the newest rules system which altered the setting drastically to make it fit with
1952-479: A setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&;D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels , role-playing video game adaptations (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to use graphics), comic books, and
2074-593: A short battle, the magical heat of Crenshinibon destabilizes the snow cap, and an avalanche kills Kessel and takes Drizzt back down the mountain. Crenshinibon, buried under the avalanche and blocked from the light of the sun (its power source) and weakened by Regis' destruction of Cryshal-Tirth, loses its control over the remaining orcs and goblins, who are ultimately slaughtered. Bruenor, faking mortal injury, tricks Drizzt into agreeing to search for Mithral Hall , Bruenor's boyhood home. In 1987 R.A. Salvatore sent Mary Kirchoff , then managing editor of TSR 's book department,
2196-660: A timeline advance were introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition in 2001 with the release of the hardcover book the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting , which won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001 in 2002. The timeline was officially advanced from 1358 DR to 1372 DR. The adventure City of the Spider Queen (2002) did not meet its projected sales targets, so Wizards of
2318-471: A vast region of steppe that separates it from Kara-Tur . In the north are massive glaciers, named Pelvuria and Reghed, and a region of tundra . South of the continent, separated by the Great Sea, is a sub-tropical land called Zakhara. To the northwest, Faerûn is a region of wilderness, difficult winter weather, hordes of orcs, and barbarous human tribes. This region is generally referred to as "The North". It
2440-467: A wide variety of locations, each with its own hazards and potential rewards for the participants. Likewise, the region that the players explore can determine what types of monsters they will face, which famous individuals they will encounter, and what types of missions they assume. Besides the exterior coastline to the west and south, the most dominant feature on the continent is the Sea of Fallen Stars. This
2562-477: Is a fictional continent and the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms . It is described in detail in several editions of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (first published in 1987 by TSR, Inc. ) with the most recent being the 5th edition from Wizards of the Coast , and various locales and aspects are described in more depth in separate campaign setting books. Around
SECTION 20
#17328770268012684-434: Is a familiar, almost traditional, medieval-styled fantasy setting, it boasted unprecedented scope". "It is, quite simply, Dungeons & Dragons at its very core." Aubrey Sitterson, for PC Magazine , included the Forgotten Realms in a 2015 roundup of the "11 Best Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Settings" and wrote that "for most people, Forgotten Realms is synonymous with Dungeons & Dragons , and with good reason: it's
2806-755: Is a mostly-untamed region that lies between the large Anauroch desert in the east and the expansive Sea of Swords to the west with a mountain range at the far north called the Spine of the World. This area contains huge wooded regions such as the High Forest and the Lurkwood , the frozen Icewind Dale to the north, and an untamed region called the Savage Frontier, which includes the Silver Marches (Luruar). The coastal region
2928-400: Is an eclectic land, rich in history, that has witnessed the rise and fall of kingdoms, forever bearing the scars of centuries of war." A major difference between the setting and Earth is the presence of magic . The system of magic is subdivided into divine and arcane categories, with the former empowered by a Faerûnian deity , and the latter by rituals or innate abilities which manipulate
3050-508: Is an irregular inland sea that keeps the neighboring lands fertile and serves as a major trade route for the bordering nations. Next in significance is the Shaar, a broad region of grasslands in the south that, together with a large body of water called the Lake of Steam, separates the area around the inland sea from the coastal nations at the southern edge of the continent. To the east, Faerûn is bordered by
3172-511: Is called the Sword Coast, "a haven for adventurers". Here lie the "iconic locastions" of the city-state of Neverwinter and the large port city of Waterdeep. Undermountain is a vast dungeon crawl under the area of Waterdeep, rated among the "deadliest" and most iconic in the game. The Ten Towns are located within Icewind Dale with the Sea of Moving Ice at the northernmost place in known Faerûn. In
3294-444: Is part of the fictional world of Abeir-Toril (usually just called Toril ), an Earth-like planet with many real-world influences and consists of several large continents. It was first detailed in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set , published in 1987 by TSR . The other continents of Toril include Kara-Tur , Zakhara , Maztica , and other yet unspecified landmasses. Kara-Tur, roughly corresponding to ancient East Asia ,
3416-401: Is retroactively considered to be a part of the Forgotten Realms, although it was not until the module The Bloodstone Wars was released that it became the official setting for the module series. Douglas Niles had worked on a novel trilogy with a Celtic theme, which were then altered to become the first novels set in the Forgotten Realms, starting with Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987). It
3538-527: Is starting to make an appearance, but much of the armament is still dominated by pre-gunpowder weaponry such as swords, spears, and bows. Most of the population of Faerûn consists of farmers, who are organized somewhat loosely in a semi- feudal system . There are also several notable cities and trade between nations is common, as in the Renaissance era. Likewise, there are regions where more barbaric tribes and customs persist. Home to many different cultures, "[i]t
3660-582: Is the first book in The Moonshae Trilogy , which predates the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set by one month. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Set was later released in 1987 as a boxed set of two source books ( Cyclopedia of the Realms and DM's Sourcebook of the Realms ) and four large color maps, designed by Greenwood in collaboration with Grubb. It sold ca. one hundred fifty thousand times in its first two years. The set introduced
3782-472: Is the last of a series of ground-shaking events. It really affects the whole world of the Forgotten Realms in a major way. You may remember when the Spell Plagues began, the two worlds of the Forgotten Realms, Abeir and Toril, crashed together. That created both geographic changes (the map of the Forgotten Realms and Faerûn actually changed due to that collision), and also changed the way magic works. It changed
The Crystal Shard - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-611: The Neverwinter Campaign Setting was released which launched the 4th edition's first major multimedia release. The Forgotten Realms city setting spawned four novels by R. A. Salvatore called the Neverwinter Saga , a comic book, and a board game called The Legend of Drizzt , as well as two video games – the Facebook game Heroes of Neverwinter (2011–2012) and a MMORPG called Neverwinter (2013). Laura Tommervik, from
4026-613: The Arabian Nights setting Al-Qadim , are also on this continent. Maztica , home of a tribal, Aztec -like civilization is far to the west, across an Atlantic-like ocean called the Trackless Sea. The subterranean regions underneath Faerûn are called the Underdark . Faerûn includes terrain that is as varied as that of Europe , western Asia , and much of Africa is on our planet Earth . Role-playing campaigns in Faerûn can be set in
4148-506: The Wizards of the Coast marketing team, explained the approach: "We use Neverwinter as the connective tissue across multiple product categories. The transmedia campaign is an opportunity for fans to experience the brand however they choose to". In 2013, Wizards of the Coast announced a year-long event called the Sundering which acted as a multimedia project to transition the Forgotten Realms to
4270-530: The drow character Drizzt Do'Urden . Drizzt has since appeared in more than seventeen subsequent novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list . In 1988, the first in a line of Forgotten Realms role-playing video games, Pool of Radiance , was released by Strategic Simulations, Inc . The game was popular and won the Origins Award for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988". Several supplements to
4392-468: The 1990s, which led to the setting being hailed as one of the most successful shared fantasy universes of the 1990s. By the first quarter of 1996, TSR had published sixty-four novels set in the Forgotten Realms out of the 242 novels set in AD&;D worlds. These novels in turn sparked interest in role-playing by new gamers. Numerous Forgotten Realms video games were released between 1990 and 2000. Eye of
4514-470: The 4th edition changes to the Forgotten Realms: [B]asically, we authors were handed a document and told how things were going to be. We were asked our opinions, but they mattered very little – the changes were being driven from a different direction. [...] To have characters that have built such a strong history, then have that upset on the orders of someone else was very disconcerting. I will admit that
4636-467: The 4th edition concept of "Points of Light". The main lore change centered around an event called the Spellplague in 1385 DR. This cataclysm was unleashed when the goddess of magic Mystra was killed, "transforming whole nations and altering creatures. In addition, parts of Toril have fused with its long-lost twin world Abeir, whisking away some countries and adding new ones. The Underdark is more open to
4758-584: The Beholder (1991), Icewind Dale (2000), the Neverwinter Nights and the Baldur's Gate series. Ed Greenwood began writing stories about the Forgotten Realms as a child , starting at the age of eight. He came up with the name from the notion of a multiverse of parallel worlds; Earth is one such world, and the Realms another. In Greenwood's original conception, the fantastic legends of Earth derive from
4880-407: The Beholder for MS-DOS was released in 1990, which was followed by two sequels: the first in 1991, and the second in 1992. All three games were re-released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems on a single disk in 1995. Another 1991 release was Neverwinter Nights on America Online , the first graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG ). In 1998, Baldur's Gate ,
5002-502: The Coast took over publication of Dungeons & Dragons after purchasing TSR in 1997, they trimmed production down from six campaign settings to Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance , and completed AD&D 2nd edition production sometime between 1998 and 1999. They later hired Rob Heinsoo as a member of the D&;D Worlds team to focus on Forgotten Realms in the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons . An official material update and
The Crystal Shard - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-462: The Coast cut back on production of new adventures. In 2002, BioWare released Neverwinter Nights , set in the northern reaches of Faerûn and operating on the revised 3.0 rules for D&D. It was followed by two expansion packs : Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark . A sequel using version 3.5 of the rules was produced by Obsidian Entertainment in 2006, and was followed by
5246-406: The Coast's 5th edition publishing strategy, which focuses on the Forgotten Realms and newer intellectual property for campaign settings, has created a rift in the fan base where some "feel that this push for new players has come at the cost of keeping the game's current players sated" by not updating campaign settings that "predate the Forgotten Realms". Hoffer highlighted that Wizards of the Coast has
5368-644: The Companions of the Hall, Cowled Wizards, Cult of the Dragon, Drow houses (like Baenre and Do'Urden), Elk Tribe, Flaming Fist, The Four (Mirt the Moneylender, Durnan, Asper and Randal Morn), Harpers, Iron Throne, The Kraken, Moonstars, Red Wizards of Thay, Seven Sisters, Shadow Thieves, and Zhentarim. Vartha Do'Urden was the previous matron mother of House Do'Urden whose unexpected death allowed her daughter Malice to take control of
5490-461: The Forgotten Realms as "a classic fantasy backdrop" and highlighted that "at one time in our history, our world and this one were connected, but over time this magical realm was, well, forgotten. It is an ideal place for any D&D adventure, inspiring limitless possibilities for any smirking dungeon master". In 2019, academic Philip J. Clements called the "highly popular" Forgotten Realms "an unusually well-developed D&D setting" and "more-or-less
5612-439: The Forgotten Realms was published as a setting in 1987, the pantheon added Waukeen, the goddess of trade, money, and wealth, who was created by one of Jeff Grubb 's players, and added to the Forgotten Realms by Grubb. Tyche was replaced with Tymora, and the elemental lords from Melniboné were replaced by Akadi, Grumbar, Istishia, and Kossuth. Much of the history of the Forgotten Realms detailed in novels and source books concerns
5734-517: The Forgotten Realms were briefly supported in the early 1990s. Three more modules were produced for the Kara-Tur setting. The Horde boxed set , released in 1990, detailed the Hordelands, which featured a series of three modules. The Maztica Campaign Set , released in 1991, detailed the continent of Maztica . The original gray boxed set was revised in 1993 to update it to AD&D 2nd edition, with
5856-475: The Forgotten Realms. The focus of the Forgotten Realms setting is the continent of Faerûn, the western part of a continent that was roughly modeled after the Eurasian continent on Earth. The lands of the Forgotten Realms are not all ruled by the human race, with populations of many humanoid races and creatures ubiquitous in fantasy fiction works such as dwarves , elves , goblins , and orcs . Technologically,
5978-555: The Forgotten Realms. In July 1990, the RPGA Network's Polyhedron Newszine began publishing a monthly column by Greenwood entitled "The Everwinking Eye" detailing various locations and personalities in the Realms. The Network used the Forgotten Realms city of Ravens Bluff as the setting for their first living campaign . Official RPGA support for this product line included the Living City module series. A number of sub-settings of
6100-504: The Golden (collectively called the Shining Lands ), Luiren, the land of Halflings, Ulgarth, the easternmost extent of Faerûn, and Veldorn, the land of monsters, as well as The Great Rift, a large, powerful nation of dwarves, within a titanic canyon The immense complex of caverns and passages that lie beneath many parts of the continent of Faerûn is known as the Underdark. It contains cities of
6222-516: The Great Glacier dominate the landscape in blinding white. To the south are the equatorial jungles of Chult and the tropical coasts of Halruaa. It's bordered on the west by the Trackless Sea and on the east by the Endless Wastes and the Hordelands that separate it from Kara-Tur". Kara-Tur, which was the original setting of the D&D Oriental Adventures campaign setting, and Zakhara , home to
SECTION 50
#17328770268016344-606: The Harpers, who protect the good-natured races and seek a balance between civilization and nature. The Harpers are opposed by evil organizations, including the Red Wizards of Thay and the nihilistic Cult of the Dragon . In the northern lands, the Zhentarim is an evil network seeking to dominate the region. Their efforts are being resisted by the Lords' Alliance, a council of knights that pursues
6466-583: The Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items , monsters, and spells . When Gary Gygax "lost control of TSR in 1985, the company saw an opportunity to move beyond Greyhawk and introduce a new default setting". In 1986, TSR began looking for a new campaign setting for AD&D , and assigned Jeff Grubb to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon . Greenwood states that Grubb asked him "Do you just make this stuff up as you go, or do you really have
6588-533: The Realms. The wizards rebelled from the Egyptian-based Mulhorand, while their occupied land is somewhat reminiscent of India. However the best parallel to Thay may actually be Stygia, an evil land from Robert E. Howard's Conan stories". Tharsult is an island of unscrupulous traders in the Shining Sea. To the southwest lies along the great Chultan peninsula that juts out toward the west. The waters to
6710-545: The Sea of Fallen Stars drained into the Underdark. The northern Realms were less affected by the Spellplague, but during the 100-year gap between the third and fourth editions of the setting, it was revealed that the Netherese wizards of the city of Shade had eliminated the desert of Anauroch, returning the land to its pre-Fall state. The borders of some of the kingdoms were changed to reflect this. In addition to these changes, floating islands of earth known as 'earthmotes' appeared in
6832-404: The Sea of Swords. The west includes the city of Baldur's Gate (named for the great seafaring hero Balduran), the library-fortress of Candlekeep, both considered among "D&D's most iconic locations", the nations of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, the region of Western Heartlands and the elven stronghold of Evereska. These regions were the setting for the Baldur's Gate series of computer games. To
6954-500: The Spell Plague. Markings that marked spell-plagued people and animals will fade and go away. It's really about moving the Forgotten Realms forward, but also about bringing it around to the most beloved and most fondly remembered Forgotten Realms. The result of The Second Sundering, in game terms, was the transition from 4th edition rules to 5th edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons , published in 2014. When D&D 5th edition
7076-711: The Time of Troubles cataclysm, the 4th edition Spellplague cataclysm was "one players never embraced in the same manner as the earlier disaster". Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , wrote: [The 4th edition] Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide may be the most controversial D&D book ever produced by Wizards. That's entirely due to the large-scale destruction of the Realms. Similar updates have been tried by other companies — to reinvigorate settings, to make them more accessible to new players, or to make them more adventuresome. [...] It never seems to go well, because old fans feel left behind. With that said, some folks did love
7198-576: The Time of Troubles, or Godswar, as seen in The Avatar Trilogy . The setting is home to several noteworthy recurring characters that have gained wider reception, including: In his book The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible , Sean Patrick Fannon describes the Forgotten Realms as being "the most ambitious fantasy game setting published since Tekumel ", and that it "may be the most widely played-in game setting in RPG history". Similarly, in literature,
7320-416: The abrupt changes forced me into an uncomfortable place, and from that place came some of the better things I've written, but I very much preferred the way it was done this time, with 5th Edition and the changes, where we, the authors, were told what was happening to the game and asked how we could make the world and the lore live and breathe it. Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com , reported that Wizards of
7442-512: The actions of various deities and The Chosen (mortal representatives with a portion of their deities' power) such as Elminster , Fzoul Chembryl, Midnight (who later became the new embodiment of the goddess of magic, Mystra ), and the Seven Sisters. Above all other deities is Ao, the Overlord, who does not sanction worshipers and distances himself from mortals. He is single-handedly responsible for
SECTION 60
#17328770268017564-486: The adventures seem to develop themselves." Greenwood has stated that his own version of the Forgotten Realms, as run in his personal campaign, is much darker than published versions. Starting in 1979, Greenwood published a series of articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon (now Dragon ) magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst . Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon , and used
7686-468: The aid of the fire-banishing properties of the scimitar Icingdeath, he manages to defeat Errtu, banishing it to the abyss for one hundred years. After defeating the demon, Drizzt uses his stealth and Guenhwyvar's unnatural eyes to find his way into the Crystal Tower, Cryshal-Tirith, where he fights his way past Akar Kessel's orcs and trolls to face the wizard himself. The wizard, sure of victory, imprisons
7808-406: The barbarian attackers. Drizzt personally meets the barbarian king, Heafstaag, in combat. He wounds Heafstaag many times, including a stab to the stomach that should have been fatal, but the king manages to survive and escape after wounding Drizzt. Meanwhile, Bruenor clashes with a young barbarian standard bearer, who breaks the shaft of his banner over the dwarf's head to no effect. Bruenor then slams
7930-476: The campaign setting and explained how to use it, and reserved space on the map for SSI 's Gold Box computer role-playing games set in the Forgotten Realms. TSR began incorporating elements by other designers into the Forgotten Realms, including the Moonshae Isles by Douglas Niles , the "Desert of Desolation" by Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman , and Kara-Tur by Zeb Cook . The setting also provided
8052-416: The changes, because the setting was now more playable, more accessible, more fantastic, and more PC centered. [...] Meanwhile, a series of adventures and novels called The Sundering (2013–2014) reversed many of the 4e changes to the Realms, but without rebooting the timeline. Instead, the Realms continues to evolve and advance, as it has since its earlier days. R. A. Salvatore was also publicly unhappy with
8174-625: The coastline of the Moonsea with the infamous Zhentil Keep, and the bitterly cold steppes of The Ride. Along the east coast of the Dragon Reach (a northern branch of the Sea of Fallen Stars) is a temperate region called The Vast, consisting of farmlands, forests and the Earthsea mountains. This area includes the city of Ravens Bluff, which for many years was home to the RPGA 's Living City role-playing campaign and
8296-434: The dragon. As Akar Kessel moves on Ten-Towns, his armies sweeping aside the disorganized defense with little trouble, Wulfgar takes the horns of Icingdeath and challenges Heafstaag for kingship. He wins the challenge, killing the old king. Drizzt, sensing the demon Errtu, and recognizing the balor from his days living in the deep underground drow city of Menzoberranzan , calls the demon and faces it alone with Guenhwyvar. With
8418-429: The drow in a cage of magical light, and taunts him with images of the barbarians joining the battle for Ten-Towns, thinking that Heafstaag still led them. However, Wulfgar leads his people not against Ten-Towns, but against Kessel. With the help of Regis, a halfling prisoner in the tower, Drizzt escapes his cage, and follows Kessel through a portal to the top of Kelvin's Cairn, the sole mountain in Icewind Dale. There, after
8540-485: The elf-related drow including the infamous Menzoberranzan and the ruins of Ched Nasad, as well as Maerdrimydra, Llurth Dreir and Sshamath; cities of duergar such as Gracklstugh and Dunnspeirrin; and almost unpronounceable cities of creatures called the kuo-toa , illithids , and beholders . When the third edition of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting was released in 2001, the designers took
8662-443: The end of Wulfgar's indenture, Bruenor forges Aegis-fang , a magical warhammer, for his adopted son. He then takes Wulfgar to be trained in the ways of battle, choosing Drizzt as the young man's instructor. Despite his ambivalence about training under a drow, Wulfgar quickly comes to respect and admire the dark elf, and Drizzt turns the young man into a formidable warrior. The two of them clear out an entire lair of verbeeg (the least of
8784-483: The existence of that other world – hence the name Forgotten Realms. The original Forgotten Realms logo, which was used until 2000, had small runic letters that read "Herein lie the lost lands" as an allusion to the connection between the two worlds. Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular D&D settings , largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous role-playing video games, including Pool of Radiance (1988), Eye of
8906-575: The expansion sets Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir . The Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition compilation was released in 2006, containing the Baldur's Gate series (excluding the Dark Alliance games), Icewind Dale series, and all Neverwinter Nights games before Neverwinter Nights 2 . With the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition in 2008, Wizards opted for a publishing plan featuring
9028-527: The failed wizard Akar Kessel, left to die in the Spine of the World , finds Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, a magical, sentient crystal with the ability to lend power to its wielder, make tower sanctuaries in the likeness of itself, and insinuate itself into the minds of others, including that of its wielder. Crenshinibon, obsessed with gaining power, twists Akar Kessel's mind into doing its will. Kessel, oblivious to
9150-419: The film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves . Forgotten Realms is a fantasy world setting, described as a world of strange lands, dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and supernatural phenomena are quite real. The premise is that, long ago, planet Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected. As time passed, the inhabitants of Earth had mostly forgotten about
9272-562: The first in a line of popular role-playing video games developed by BioWare and "considered by most pundits as the hands-down best PC roleplaying game ever", was released. The game was followed by a sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn , in 2000 and Icewind Dale , a separate game that utilized the same game engine as Baldur's Gate . Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was released in 2001. Several popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden and Elminster made minor appearances in these games. When Wizards of
9394-483: The flagship setting for D&D". He also noted that it has received the greatest number of supplements. In a retrospective on the legacy of Dungeons & Dragons , academic Daniel Heath Justice commented that the " Forgotten Realms was explicitly based on the civilized-versus-savage binary and leaned in hard on racial essentialism in its sadistic black-skinned drow led by vicious matriarchs and their terrible spider goddess, firmly melding anti-Blackness with misogyny,
9516-404: The folks at TSR did. Naturally when TSR was shopping for new campaign worlds as part of their cross-media strategy, they had to get the Forgotten Realms. R. A. Salvatore took Greenwood's world and created characters and stories for it that made him a bestselling author and sustained TSR as a major fantasy book publisher". In 1985, the AD&D module Bloodstone Pass was released by TSR and
9638-424: The giant species, around a height of ten feet), led by a frost giant named Biggrin with only the help of Drizzt's magical black panther companion Guenhwyvar. Wulfgar then leaves to hunt down a white dragon , Ingeloakastimizilian , more commonly known as Icingdeath. Drizzt tracks him, and the two of them kill the dragon. Drizzt finds a scimitar in the treasure hoard and claims it for his own, eventually naming it after
9760-428: The gods being cast down was planned by TSR management from the top-down and started with Hall of Heroes (1989) and continued with a three-adventure Avatar series (1989) and a three-novel Avatar series (1989), and some stories in the comic book. TSR adjusted the timeline of the Forgotten Realms by advancing the calendar one year forward to 1358 DR, referring to the gap as the Time of Troubles. In early 1990,
9882-410: The hardcover Forgotten Realms Adventures by Grubb and Greenwood was released, which introduced the setting to AD&D 2nd edition; the book also detailed how the Time of Troubles had changed the setting. The Ruins of Undermountain (1991) was one of the first published mega-dungeons. The Al-Qadim setting by Jeff Grubb was released in 1992, and the setting was added to the southern part of
10004-563: The home of Greenwood's personal campaign . Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep before creating a group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in the Shadowdale region. Greenwood felt that his players' thirst for detail made the Realms what it is: "They want it to seem real, and work on 'honest jobs' and personal activities, until the whole thing grows into far more than a casual campaign. Roleplaying always governs over rules, and
10126-419: The house. The sub-continent of Faerûn is set in the northern hemisphere of the planet Toril , or, more formally, "Abeir-Toril". The continent has a "landmass of approximately nine and a half million square miles". Faerûn is the western part of an unnamed supercontinent that is quite similar to real-world Afro-Eurasia . Within the setting, "sub-arctic extremes chill its northern reaches, where ice sheets like
10248-528: The interests of the northern cities. Other organizations of Faerûn include the magical Seven Sisters, a band of assassins called the Fire Knives, a group of ruthless thieves operating out the city of Waterdeep named Xanathar's Guild, and the mysterious Shades—the returning survivors of the long-fallen Netheril empire. Faerûn is home to a large and diverse pantheon of deities, including: Numerous organizations of different types operate throughout Faerûn, including
10370-463: The last being released in 1991. A fifty-six page annual Forgotten Realms Comic Annual #1: Waterdhavian Nights , illustrated by various artists, was released in 1990. Curse of the Azure Bonds , a module based on the role-playing video game of the same name , was released in 1989. To transition the Forgotten Realms from first edition AD&D to the ruleset's second edition, a story involving
10492-480: The manipulation, decides to conquer Icewind Dale for his own. He enslaves the goblins and orcs of the nearby mountains, building them into his own army, their wills completely destroyed by Crenshinibon. He even manages to gain control of Heafstaag, and through him the tribes of barbarians. He also acquires the services of a balor demon named Errtu to be his general, though the demon has more interest in obtaining Crenshinibon for himself than in serving Akar Kessel. Near
10614-567: The module Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden , the titular Frostmaiden Auril makes her home on an island in this sea. Deep inland are the ancient dwarven citadels of Mithral Hall, Citadel Felbarr and the largest of the three, Citadel Adbar, which was featured in the Legacy of the Drow series of novels. This area is one of the most popular regions for role-playing campaigns set in Faerûn, and has been
10736-525: The new edition, the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015), was released on November 3, 2015, and only covered a fraction of the Forgotten Realms. It describes the 2013 Sundering event, referred to as the Second Sundering in the book, and its consequences in game terms and lore. The video game Sword Coast Legends (2015) published by Digital Extremes was also released in the same month as
10858-586: The next edition of the game. This release included a weekly D&D Encounters in-store play event, a free-to-play mobile game Arena of War (2013), and a collaborative novel series: The Companions (2013) by R. A. Salvatore, The Godborn (2013) by Paul S. Kemp , The Adversary (2013) by Erin Evans , The Reaver (2014) by Richard Lee Byers , The Sentinel (2014) by Troy Denning , and The Herald (2014) by Ed Greenwood. Liz Schuh, Head of Publishing and Licensing for Dungeons & Dragons , said: The Sundering
10980-462: The north are named the Shining Sea, a body bounded by Calimsham to the north and joined to the Lake of Steam through the Straits of Storm. To the south of the land is the Great Sea. Located in this area are Chult, Lapaliiya, Samarach, Tashalar, and Thindol. South of the Sea of Fallen Stars is a region somewhat isolated by the Lake of Steam in the west, and the vast length of the Shaar. It is bordered along
11102-482: The north." Salvatore had planned to include some characters from Darkwalker but when his editor moved the setting of the book to the far north of the Realms in Icewind Dale, he replaced Tristan and his animal companion Canthus with new characters of his own creation, Drizzt Do'Urden and his magic panther companion Guenhwyvar. Salvatore had sent an early version of The Crystal Shard (what would become his first published novel) to TSR, and one day Kirchoff called him. She
11224-408: The novels have been among the most requested books by fans of the fantasy genre. D&D chroniclers Michael Witwer et al. , in the book Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana , noted that the "level of Tolkienesque history and detail that Greenwood had infused in his creation - and almost "real world" quality - granted the Realms an irresistible allure [...]. While at its core the Forgotten Realms
11346-530: The novels written in the Forgotten Realms setting have formed one of "the industry's leading fantasy series". Over time these novels have gained "unprecedented popularity", which led, as Marc Oxoby noted in his book, The 1990s , to the novels having an "extraordinary shelf life", remaining in print for many years. This popular reception has also been reflected in public libraries; for example, Joyce Saricks states in The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction that
11468-492: The opportunity to redesign the continent of Faerûn. Its size was reduced slightly to remove 'empty space' from the map and the Chultan Peninsula was moved several hundred miles north, reducing the size of the empty grassplain known as the Shaar. Additionally, the designers slightly adjusted the projection of the map to better reflect the curvature of the planet. There was no in-universe explanation given for these changes as it
11590-582: The original boxed set were released under the first edition rules, beginning with Waterdeep and the North , which was followed by Moonshae in 1987, and Empires of the Sands , The Magister , The Savage Frontier , Dreams of the Red Wizards , and Lords of Darkness in 1988. The City System boxed set was released in 1988, and it contained several maps of the city of Waterdeep. Ruins of Adventure ,
11712-404: The pantheon of the gods. The Sundering is all about those two worlds separating—coming apart—and the process of that separation is really the story that we're telling over the next year. At the end of this story arc, Abeir and Toril will be separate again, and many of the things that happened when they crashed together will go back to the way they were before. So magic will be much like it was before
11834-457: The people of Ten Towns that if not for Drizzt Do'Urden, they would now be dead, which grants Drizzt a measure of acceptance and respect in Icewind Dale. Five years pass, with Wulfgar indentured to the dwarves. Bruenor teaches him to smith and mine, and comes to love him like a son. Though Wulfgar initially resents the dwarves and his indenture, he grows to respect and even love Bruenor, like his own father who had died years past. During this time,
11956-526: The previous adventures to fit as part of the Forgotten Realms. The module Under Illefarn published in 1987 is set in the Forgotten Realms, as is the module released in 1988, Swords of the Iron Legion . R. A. Salvatore wrote his first novel for the Forgotten Realms, The Crystal Shard (1988), which was originally set in the Moonshae Islands before being moved to a new location and introduced
12078-534: The relatively peaceful Western Heartlands and the more savage North along the Sword Coast. The village of Daggerford lies along the Shining River along the Sword Coast. The sunken city of Northkeep was the first city built around the Moonsea by humans. Miyeritar and Ilythiir were ancient elven empires. The western part of Faerûn includes the nations south of Waterdeep and north of the Shining Sea , that border along
12200-452: The release of a new Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting boxed set containing three books ( A Grand Tour of the Realms , Running the Realms , and Shadowdale ) and various "monster supplements". Additional material for the setting was released steadily throughout the 1990s. Forgotten Realms novels, such as the Legacy of the Drow series, the first three books of The Elminster Series , and numerous anthologies were also released throughout
12322-513: The release of the 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting , the setting was given its own distinct and separate cosmological arrangement, with unique planes not explicitly connected to those of the other settings. Religion plays a large part in the Forgotten Realms, with deities and their followers being an integral part of the world. Deities interact directly in mortal affairs, answer prayers, and have their own personal agendas. All deities must have worshipers to survive, and all mortals must worship
12444-482: The scenes by spiritual witches, and it is the location of the Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer computer game. The lands of Damara and Vaasa were described in a 1989 publication, FR9, The Bloodstone Lands . This area formed the setting for the " H Series " of modules that used the Battlesystem rules to resolve battles. Secomber is a small town of nearly 1,500 that acts as a de facto border town between
12566-697: The sea extends far to the west, ending close to the Western Heartlands. To the south, the Vilhon Reach forms a second arm leading to the southwest. The notable areas within this region include Chondath, Cormyr, the Dragon Coast, Hlondeth, the Pirate Isles and Prespur, Sembia (and its largest city of Selgaunt), Sespech, Turmish, and the Shining Plains. Along the eastern expanses of the Sea of Fallen Stars,
12688-412: The setting for a number of popular role-playing video games . Another city is Mirabar, the mining center for the Sword Coast. North of the Sea of Fallen Stars is a region that stretches from the wide Anauroch desert in the west to the eastern edge of the inland Moonsea , in the northern region of the continent. It is a region of contrasts, with the forested Dalelands, the desert wastes of Anauroch,
12810-503: The setting that played home to the massively popular Baldur's Gate video game, as well as R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt books. Currently, it's the only campaign setting actively supported by D&D makers Wizards of the Coast, which would be restrictive if Forgotten Realms wasn't such an incredibly diverse place, housing classic European middle ages tropes, as well as a heroic fantasy take on African, Middle Eastern, and other real-world cultures". Brian Silliman, for SYFY Wire in 2017, described
12932-507: The site of the Living City series of game modules . The Dragonspine Mountains , which house the infamous Citadel of the Raven on their western slopes, is a mountain range northwest of the Moonsea. Northeastern Faerûn is a remote area that begins in the cold, forbidding lands along the great ice sheets and continues south toward the northeastern shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars. It is bordered on
13054-468: The skies above Faerûn and the continent of Maztica across the western ocean vanished along with the Faerûnian colonies on its east coast. Mithral Hall Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy role-playing game . Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as
13176-561: The south by the Great Sea; to the west by the Chultan peninsula region, and in the east by Luiren. The south includes the Border Kingdoms, Dambrath, the Great Rift, Halruaa, the Lake of Steam, and The Shaar. South and east of the grassy plains is an area known as the Shaar, along the shores of the Great Sea opposite the land of Zakhara. The region includes the lands of Durpar, Estagund and Var
13298-443: The south of Chondath and Chessenta. Thay is a magocracy ruled by the Red Wizards which was described in the 1988 publication FR6: Dreams of the Red Wizards . The nation has made multiple attempts to invade neighboring countries and following a civil war, the lich Szass Tam became Thay's leader. Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , highlighted that "Thay doesn't have an obvious real-world derivation like some of
13420-618: The surface. Thay has become a nightmare land of death and the Elves, sensing the newfound connection to the Feywild, have returned to Faerûn in force". The event moved the fictional world's timeline 94 years into the future to 1479 DR. The Spellplague acted as "a narrative justification for design changes". In 2008, the Forgotten Realms also became the setting for the RPGA's sole living campaign, Living Forgotten Realms , replacing Living Greyhawk . In 2011,
13542-597: The tabletop campaign guide. 5th edition details on "the rest of Faerûn had been untouched until the Tomb of Annihilation (2017), an adventure that leaves the northern Sword Coast for the southern jungles of Chult". The official Dungeons & Dragons actual play web series Rivals of Waterdeep , which premiered in 2018, is set in the Forgotten Realms. It has adapted adventure modules such as Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (2018), Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (2019) and Candlekeep Mysteries (2021) which are also set in
13664-399: The terrain, discerns their plan and relays the information to his friends, the halfling Regis and the dwarf Bruenor . Regis, on the council of Ten-Towns, uses persuasion and a magical hypnotic ruby pendant to convince the stubborn leaders of the towns to work together to thwart the barbarian attack. Because of the warning and their unified efforts, Ten-Towns and the dwarves successfully repel
13786-457: The water forms a long arm that travels to the east before turning south to become the Alamber Sea. The northern nations of this mysterious area are termed the "Unapproachable East" and the southern nations the "Old Empires" in campaign setting publications. This region includes the nations of Aglarond, Ashanath, Altumbel, Mulhorand, Murghôm, Thay and Unther. Chondalwood is a long, forested region to
13908-457: The west by the mountain-hemmed land of Vaasa and stretches east to the vast steppes of the Hordelands, with its largest city of Winterkeep. This region also contains the lightly populated kingdom of Damara, the druidic forests of the Great Dale, the coastal kingdom of Impiltur, the fallen and once evil empire of Narfell, and the trading nation of Thesk. Mystical Rashemen is a land ruled from behind
14030-529: The west in the vast ocean called the Trackless Sea is a multitude of islands, collectively named the Nelanther Isles. Other island kingdoms include the gnomish realm of Lantan, the country of Nimbral and, further west, the Moonshae Isles. With the exception of the Shining Plains, the interior lands of Faerûn lie along the irregular coastline of the western Sea of Fallen Stars. In the north the Dragonmere arm of
14152-436: The world of the Forgotten Realms resembles the pre-industrial Earth in the 13th or 14th century. However, the presence of magic provides an additional element of power to the societies. There are several nation states and many independent cities, with loose alliances being formed for defense or conquest. Trade is performed by ship or horse-drawn vehicle , and manufacturing is based upon cottage industry . The Forgotten Realms
14274-407: The youth with his shield, rendering him unconscious. After the battle, Bruenor saves him from being killed in cold blood by the townspeople, instead taking the young man, Wulfgar, son of (the late) Beornegar into his care. Bruenor also defends the wounded and unconscious Drizzt, slamming Kemp to the ground and breaking the nose of his lieutenant when he finds them kicking the injured drow. Bruenor tells
14396-399: Was classified as a retcon . The fourth edition of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting , released in 2008, saw major changes to the geography of Faerûn and the world of Abeir-Toril . Due to a magical cataclysm known as the Spellplague, the southern parts of Faerûn were devastated. Chult became an island detached from the mainland, the kingdom of Halruaa was utterly destroyed, and parts of
14518-544: Was later the focus of its own source book Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms , published in 1988. There is also a vast subterranean world called the Underdark beneath the surface. In early editions of the setting, The Realms shared a unified cosmology with various other campaign settings called the Great Wheel. In this way each of the Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings were linked together to form one interwoven world connected by various planes of existence. With
14640-453: Was on her way to a marketing meeting concerning the book, and informed him that they could not use one of the characters. He asked for time to think, but she was already late for the meeting. Off the top of his head, Salvatore said he had a Dark Elf. Kirchoff was skeptical, but Salvatore convinced her it would be fine because he was just a sidekick. She asked his name, and he replied Drizzt Do'Urden. She asked if he could spell it, and he said "not
14762-404: Was published in 2014, Wizards of the Coast announced that the Forgotten Realms would continue to serve as the official campaign setting for its upcoming published adventure materials. The village of Phandalin in the Forgotten Realms acted as the primary setting for the new 5th edition Starter Set (2014) which was published before the release of three new core rulebooks. "Tyranny of Dragons"
14884-660: Was the first multimedia storyline for the new edition and included two adventure modules, Hoard of the Dragon Queen (2014) and The Rise of Tiamat (2014), and an update to the Neverwinter (2013) video game. The next two storylines, "Elemental Evil" which included Princes of the Apocalypse (2015) and "Rage of Demons" which included Out of the Abyss (2015), were also set in the Forgotten Realms. The first campaign guide for
#800199