the Realms

Biodata

Cosmology and Deities

• Ao is the Overgod, a power above the Realms’ deities. He fashioned its heavens and created a crystal sphere to keep out the outer reaches 5.
• Deities govern concepts through divine portfolios, but a portfolio does not dictate how its holder must act. Amaunator and Lathander, for example, understood the sun differently 50.
• Divine realms exist beyond the mortal world. The Moon Gate contains the Sacred White Courtyard, a domain of the gods 50.
• Worship is commonly polytheistic and practical: people may invoke different deities as circumstances demand. Belief in the gods also matters after death, when the faithless risk the Wall of the Faithless 1.
• Cosmic balance: Ao maintains the balance between order and Chaos, good and evil. The surrounding planes—including Mount Celestia, the Abyss, Mechanus, Baator, and Arborea—also contribute to a balance that prevents existence from falling into ultimate darkness or lifeless stillness 363.
• Divine governance: The Supreme Heaven is a higher plane inhabited by gods. Contracts filed in Ao’s domain, the Pole Star Encampment, are exceptionally sacred; challenges to them require Ao’s arbitration. Greater Deities are qualified to attend the Realms’ High God Council 110.
• Divine obligations: Gods receive prayers and grant power to followers, but must also discharge the responsibilities attached to their portfolios. Neglecting those responsibilities can endanger their authority 621.
• Intervention: Direct divine intervention can destabilize the Realms. Even powerful gods and their agents may therefore be constrained by duties, balance, and the consequences of acting 451.

Creation and the Oldest Gods

After Ao created Realmspace and its crystal sphere, Selûne and Shar emerged from the primordial void. They initially shared divine domains, with Selûne representing the first light and Shar primordial darkness. The sphere excluded the flammable phlogiston of the outer reaches 5.

Chauntea, the Earth Mother, subsequently arose as the deity representing the primary material planet. Unable to endure the cold and darkness, she asked the sisters for warmth. Selûne answered by bringing an Eternal Flame or seed from the Elemental Plane of Fire and using it to kindle the sun, giving the world light, heat, and life 5 288.

The sisters’ ancient conflict remains a major influence on the Realms. They briefly cooperated against the Chaos Gods and sealed the Old Ones’ Portal, but resumed their rivalry after the immediate threat passed 446.

Realmspace and the Multiverse

• Restrictions on divine passage: Ao’s rules allow entry into Realmspace but prohibit departure, restricting the movement of divine power. These restrictions make it difficult for the Chaos Gods to enter and for local deities to leave 239 680.
• World Tree exception: Communication with other celestial realms and planes through the World Tree is permitted. Aaron recognizes that a mature World Tree in his Divine Realm could extend his influence and divine magic throughout the Multiverse without the usual Realmspace restrictions 680.
• Multiversal gods: Corellon, Moradin, and Gruumsh have worshippers in many crystal spheres, unlike gods whose principal authority is confined to Realmspace. Tyr came from another world and belongs to both the Realms’ religious order and the Asgardian tradition 110 505 588.
• Aspects and avatars: Gods appearing in different worlds may be interconnected while remaining distinct. Their aspects and avatars have complex relationships with their true selves and are not merely puppets 237 505.
• Kara-Tur’s Celestial Emperor: The Celestial Emperor is generally considered an aspect of Ao. Elminster’s encyclopedia records a parallel upheaval in Kara-Tur during the Time of Troubles, when the Celestial Emperor’s mortal apostle disrupted its gods’ affairs 306 680.
• Sigil: The Lady of Pain occupies Sigil, described as the center of the Multiverse 363.
• Travelers from Earth: Elminster identifies Aaron as an Earth-born Traveler and says he once knew Greenwood, the author who imagined the Realms. He tells Aaron that he cannot return to the same original world 237.

Divine Realms and the Lands Between

Divine realms reflect their owners’ identities and purposes. Oghma’s resembles an immense library and lecture hall; Midnight’s contains castles, magic classes, students, and research facilities. Talos’s realm consists of destructive thunderclouds, with petitioners becoming balls of lightning 622.

Aaron establishes the Lands Between in the Astral Plane with the Emperor’s help. Initially a fog-shrouded, Chaos-tainted battlefield around a Golden Tree and Royal Castle, it supports repeated death and reincarnation. Victorious souls can receive the Golden Tree’s blessings, become holy spirits, or return to mortal life; repeated defeat can instead lead to Chaos corruption. The realm also permits transformation in the opposite direction, exposing daemons to law and the Golden Tree 622.

The Chaos Expedition subsequently becomes a long-term world quest within the Lands Between. Adventurers repeatedly challenge Lorgar and Perturabo, wearing down their corruption through successive battles 623. Aaron later unveils the realm as a developed home for many peoples, with farmland, roads, rivers, cities, forests, and fortified settlements. Buer, Grudge, and Zariel receive divine or quasi-divine roles, Eleanor presides over the Court of Love, and Eilistraee provides moonlight, seasons, song, and dance 684.

Changes in the Pantheon

Magic and Power

Raw magic permeates matter throughout the Realms, but it is dangerous for mortals to use directly. Most spellcasters rely on the Weave, a structure sourced from Mystra that connects their consciousness to that power 25.

• Creatures are measured by six basic attributes: strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. Mortal attributes have limits; exceeding them requires outside power, such as divine intervention 7.
• Adventurers are broadly divided into four tiers. Apprentices handle minor local troubles; elites can address crises affecting towns, cities, or small countries 15.
• The Realms also recognize master- and legendary-level figures. A master-level powerhouse can rule a region, while legendary spellcasters may greatly extend their lives 16 39.
• Martial magic: Fighters can draw on latent bodily magic through disciplined practice, producing abilities such as Second Wind and Action Surge 34.
• Ki: Monks employ ki for supernatural combat techniques. It is described as a special energy of the Multiverse, while Kara-Tur’s Samurai can condense a Warrior Spirit through mental strength 138 327 472.
• Druid circles: Recognized circles include Land, Moon, Stars, Wildfire, Dreams, Spores, and Shepherds. Their traditions specialize in different relationships with nature and forms of magic 349.
• Psionics: Duergar, Githyanki, and Githzerai possess psionic talents 295.
• Cosmic Sorcery: Cosmic Sorcerers use energy conversion, channeling stamina into magic, strengthening their bodies with magic, and transforming one kind of power into another 137.
• Professional influence: Master-rank professionals commonly serve as nobles, senior administrators, important retainers, or faction leaders. Legendary figures are difficult to recruit, although spellcasters’ costly research can make financial patronage attractive 251.
• Practical rarity: Despite jokes about ubiquitous Legendary figures, Elite adventurers are often the strongest people encountered in ordinary adventuring life 374.

Legendary and Epic Magic

Following Netheril’s fall, magic above the ninth tier was sealed. Barrel describes the Weave as a shared resource managed by the Goddess of Magic, with the restrictions imposed in response to Netherese misuse of epic spells 353.

Epic magic is not wholly impossible under the Third Goddess of Magic. A caster must demonstrate qualification to draw on power above the ninth tier and obtain the goddess’s permission to lift the restriction. Elven High Mages retain the ability to conduct large-scale legendary rituals 353.

The Shadow Weave, associated with Shar, is suggested as a possible route around the Weave’s restrictions. Shar can also revoke access: when Shade Enclave’s ruler and princes defy her, she cuts all fourteen off from the Shadow Weave 353 594.

Divinity and Renown

• Sources of Divinity: Gods can grant Divinity to offspring and Chosen. Mystra’s Silver Fire is one example. Powerful planar beings can also possess Divinity derived from planar laws or inherited bloodlines, including fiends, genies, fairy queens, legendary dragons, and ancient treants 100.
• Godspawn: Before their deaths in the Time of Troubles, Bane and Bhaal created numerous offspring carrying traces of their Divinity, intended as reserves against disaster 45.
• Legendary renown: Renown does not directly increase combat strength, but becomes important for entering the Legendary realm and ascending to godhood. It reflects the stories attached to an individual rather than replacing actual power or accomplishment 60 325.
• Faith as power: Be’lakor initially cannot replenish the foreign power he expends in the Realms. By impersonating Bhaal and consuming worshippers’ faith, he discovers a means to restore his strength and pursue native godhood 369.
• Chaos intrusion: Aaron’s use and growth of Chaos power make him a beacon for invasions. Slaanesh’s successful descent establishes a lasting connection to the Realms, allowing her corruption to spread 85 86.

Alignment

Alignment can change with conduct and experience: Aaron’s early tests shift from lawful good to neutral good 34. The narrative distinguishes good and evil primarily through tendencies toward altruism and self-interest, rather than treating them as interchangeable with every conventional understanding of righteousness and wickedness 143.

Shared alignment does not guarantee identical moral judgment. Kong and Reynard, both expressing lawful-good principles, disagree over whether low-ranking dragon cultists should be killed or given an opportunity to face justice 140.

History

The Time of Troubles forced deities into the mortal world as avatars. Helm guarded the Celestial Stairway on Ao’s orders, preventing other deities from returning to their realms; the upheaval also saw the fall of the Dead Three and major changes in divine power 10 17. It took place two years before Aaron Salian’s journey 5.

Older civilizations remain visible through their ruins and histories. Netheril left floating cities and a lasting mark on the northern Realms, though its former territory is now a barren desert scarred by magic 24.

Ancient Civilizations and Migrations

Cormanthor, Myth Drannor, and Dalereckoning

After the Crown Wars, sun, moon, and wood elves established kingdoms in Arcorar. Several eventually united, and Coronal Iltarglin extended their ideal of cooperation beyond elves to humans, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and other goodly peoples 268.

The agreement inviting humans to cultivate land near the forest established the Dalelands and began Dalereckoning, with its signing marking Year 1. Later, Elminster’s diplomacy and a city-spanning mythal helped transform the capital into Myth Drannor, whose prosperity rested on cooperation among multiple peoples 237 268.

Myth Drannor declined after the loss of its Coronal and ensuing succession struggles. Elven opposition to non-elven participation in the Rite of Choosing destroyed interracial trust, while the later Council of Twelve became an arena for factional competition 270.

Recent Upheavals

Life and Travel

• Wilderness: Monsters, cults, ruins, and hidden treasure make travel dangerous and adventuring common. Villages organize militias and patrols for protection 8 9 15.
• Roadside inns: Many are fortified. Large inns serve as places for lodging, trade, supplies, news, recruitment, and meetings between travelers 10 11.
• Literacy: More than eighty percent of humans in the Realms cannot read. Even Waterdeep and Silverymoon, among the most literate places named, barely exceed forty-percent literacy 11.
• Cormyr: One kingdom within the Realms, it has a powerful army and War Wizards. Its patrols and roadside inns make travel comparatively safer than in many other regions, though its forests and mountains still hold dangers 9 15.
• News and reputation: Information spreads much more slowly than in Aaron’s former world. Even widely witnessed feats can remain unknown outside nearby regions for months 93.
• Territorial development: Establishing a recognized domain often requires decades or centuries of intermittent warfare against monsters and hostile neighbors, alongside settlement, construction, and cultivation 16.
• Inns as institutions: Coaching inns also serve royal messengers and patrols. Inns and bathhouses are gathering places for political discussion and the formation of secret societies 11.
• Long-distance rulers: Lords and Legendary spellcasters can leave their domains for extended periods, provided they retain means of contacting their people 370.

Regions and Settlements

Knowledge, Trade, and Technology

• Candlekeep: A permanently neutral fortress, a major center of Oghma’s worship, and the holder of the Realms’ largest and most comprehensive book collection when introduced. It is associated with Alaundo, the renowned prophet whose writings are consulted for predictions of major events 410.
• Aaron’s libraries: The Silvermoon Library opens as a vast, magically tiered repository with intelligence-based access restrictions. Permits become valuable on the black market; the later Silver Grand Library allows mages to work in exchange for additional access 336 368.
• Maritime commerce: Amnian fleets travel to Waterdeep, Karinport, Kara-Tur, and the New World. In Cormyr, blocked land routes increase dependence on shipping and the navy 42 369.
• Interstellar commerce: Waterdeep’s spaceport and Kara-Tur’s fleets demonstrate that trade beyond the local world already exists. Aaron’s proposed Astral Express is intended to connect crystal spheres and ease travel between divine realms 295 306 472.
• Firearms: Firearms have existed since Imaskar, but ordinary muskets compete poorly with supernatural archery and enchanted attacks. Later, Helm’s guards carry firearms supplied by Eleanor, while Aaron’s technological advances become a source of political concern 252 548 550.
• Magical consumer goods: Silver Lotion, stockings, Silver Incense, and Life Cola contribute to the Sunset Lands’ prosperity and Aaron’s wider influence 368 477.
• Agricultural and medical magic: Life magic can heal illness and accelerate plant growth. Buer’s blessings improve harvests, heal people, and restore limbs, while Aaron’s magical springs offer healing, mana recovery, physical enhancement, and cosmetic treatments 118 336 355.

Society and Institutions

• Uneven political systems: The Realms contain hereditary kingdoms, merchant oligarchies, free ports, and communities that choose outside rulers. These systems differ substantially in their treatment of authority, trade, and ordinary residents 267 306 353 369.
• Legal legitimacy: Claims, treaties, and recognized authority matter even in a world dominated by supernatural strength. Aaron uses Bedine submission and their grievances against the Zhentarim to legitimize his northern campaigns 576.
• Religious and noble networks: Churches and noble families supply much of the available administrative talent. Mystra’s long-lived Chosen and their descendants form influential networks across the Realms 267 558.
• Gender and authority: The Realms do not follow a uniform male-dominated social order. Many gods appear as women; Drow society historically privileges women under Lolth, while Talos-worshipping Amazons on the western coast maintain a strongly female-dominated society 287 631.
• Reform in Cormyr: Alusair’s reforms include reclaiming illegally held land, easing curfews and military controls, and reducing taxes and tariffs to encourage trade 247.
• Adventuring as opportunity: Dangerous ruins and supernatural expeditions attract people seeking wealth, status, and increased power. The Chaos Expedition becomes especially prominent because of its potential rewards, despite the possibility of death or corruption 93 368 623.

Seas and Remote Frontiers

Beyond familiar routes such as Evermeet, the Endless Sea contains poorly charted reaches. Sailors tell stories of unusual lands, islands built from shipwrecks, feathered warriors, and landmasses that appear seasonally 434.

Balduran’s Isle contains Joyfort and an Old Ones’ outpost. Its residents suffer inherited lycanthropy and confinement under a weakening guardian spell, while Rogal Dorn maintains a barrier against Chaos for millennia 437 444.

After Aaron and Dorn lift the curse, the islanders depart for land near Shale in Cormyr. Balduran’s Isle erupts and sinks because its existence depended on the Old Ones’ outpost and its departed purpose and key figures 446.

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