Beyond the Heartlands: The Savage North...

The North, known also as the Savage North and the Savage Frontier, is a wild, untamed, and dangerous land located north and east of Waterdeep. The very definition of the North depends on the definer -- to a merchant from Calimport, everything north of Tethyr, while a native to Silverymoon, the North begins beyond that reasonable city's walls.

The North is a land of barbarians and goblin tribes, and is dotted by walled cities and ancient dwarven fastnesses. The highest mountains in Faerun, the Spine of the World, form the North's uppermost border. Most of its forests are still virgin and untrammeled by human settlement.

As such, it attracts both adventurers and settlers. Adventurers seek the wreckage of the lost kingdoms, the abandoned dwarf holds, and the wizard towers. The settlers look for new lands to farm and new opportunities. As in the Western Heartlands, the region is dotted with the small holds and settlements of this retired adventurer and petty lord. Some, like Loudwater and Leilon, grow into full-fledged cities, while others perish quietly, leaving ghostly reminders of humankind's passage this way.

High Forest...

The greatest forest in the North is the High Forest, and it has remained untouched by woodcutters' blades for centuries. It is the home of powerful druids, half-elves, and elven refugees. Treants dominate the northern quarter, known as the Woods of Turlang. Drow and orcs are said to dwell in the earth deep beneath the forest. Aarakocra nest in the high mountains at the center, which are known as the Star Mounts. A series of escarpments and gorges created by the flow of the Unicorn Run, called the Sisters, lies to the south of the Star Mounts.

The High Forest was part of the old elven kingdom of Earlann, but great stretches of it have never seen a ruler of any race. The woods are regarded as magical, and wizard weather is relatively common within their borders -- blood-red snow, boiling rain, and explosive hailstones being not unknown occurrences. It is said that the Dire Wood, an enchanted section of the forest that once ruined Karse, is responsible for the destructive weather.