Faerun

The main landmass comprises three continents or subcontinents, called Faerun in the west, Kara-Tur in the east and Zakhara in the south.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

Faerun is the principle campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms world.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

Whilst all of Faerun is covered in various Forgotten Realms products, a strip of land running west from the Sea of Fallen Stars' north-western shores to the Trackless Sea has received more development than any other part.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

These dungeons include one of the biggest dungeons ever detailed for the game, Undermountain located underneath Waterdeep and the tantalisingly-described fallen city of Shoonach, once the capital of the most populous human empire in the history of Faerun, sprawling across tens of square miles of above and below-ground sites, but the size of the dungeon defied any kind of detailing in game products.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

Canon world map of the Forgotten Realms in late 2nd Edition, before the shrinking of Faerun for 3rd Edition and the nuking of it for 4th.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

After the success of this big event, TSR repeated it two years later with the introduction of the Hordelands, a new, Mongolian-influenced sub-setting located between Faerun and Kara-Tur, and the invasion of a horde of barbarians into the eastern Realms.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

During his watch the Arcane Age sub-setting, which explored the backhistory of iconic fallen Realms empires such as Netheril and Cormanthyr, was developed whilst the long-neglected south-western kingdoms of Faerun such as Calimshan and Tethyr were also radically updated.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

The popular Bloodstone Lands series of adventures beginning in 1985 was retconned into the setting, as was the even more popular Oriental Adventures landmass of Kara-Tur, which was bolted onto the eastern side of the Realms core continent of Faerun.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

Approximately 3,500 miles across, the continent is based on Europe and the Middle-East in the medieval period, although Faerun is considerably larger than Europe.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009

In the manual was a small map showing the west coast of Faerun taken from Karen Wynn Fonstad's very fine Atlas of the Forgotten Realms and the lands within several hundred miles of Waterdeep and I was immediately intrigued by the scope of the setting.

The Worlds of D&D: Forgotten Realms Adam Whitehead 2009