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Culture and technology

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 smoke powder and different in its composition from historical gunpowder, 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 a number of notable cities, and trade between nations is common, comparable to the Renaissance era. Likewise, there are regions where more barbaric tribes and customs still persist.

A major difference in the setting from 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 a mystical field called the Weave, the source of magical energies on Toril. Faerûn has a pantheon of deities that are worshipped by the inhabitants 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 a number of 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 a number of organized alliances in Faerûn, with each pursuing their own particular agenda. A few are dedicated to decent and honest causes, such as 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 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 the Xanathar's Guild, and the mysterious Shades—the returning survivors of the long-fallen Netheril empire.

Northern regions

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 is a mostly-untamed region that lies between the large Anauroch desert in the east and the expansive Sea of Swords to the west. 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 is called the Sword Coast. Here lies the city-state of Neverwinter and the large port city of Waterdeep. Deep inland is the ancient dwarven citadel of Mithral Ha.

Geography

The sub-continent of Faerûn is set on the planet Toril, or, more formally, "Abeir-Toril". Faerûn is the western part of an unnamed supercontinent that is quite similar to real-world Afro-Eurasia. This continent also includes Kara-Tur, and Zakhara, home to the Arabian Nights setting Al-Qadim. 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.

Besides the exterior coastline to the west and south, the most dominant feature on the continent is the Sea of Fallen Stars. This 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 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.

Yal-Tengri (also known as The Great Ice Sea) is Toril's equivalent of the Arctic Ocean. It is barely known at all. In the ancient time, the major city on its shore was Winterkeep, it is now the trade city of Naupau, in Sossal. Far in the north of the sea is a small island dominated by a cathedral-like spire, inhabited by gnomes of Gond. The Yal-Tengri is free of ice for the six summer months of the year. The Endless Ice Sea is the name of the western Faerûn part of it. Somewhere there is Jhothûn, the long-forgotten capital of a mighty empire of Giants.