The Forgotten Realms are a world very similar to the Earth of the 13 th and 14th centuries. Most of the are until recently was covered by wild forests and unsettled grasslands. Civilization is still a novelty in much of the world, even in the oldest cities on the inland sea, or the founding of Waterdeep, the greatest City of the North, are within the memory of the oldest living elves of Evermeet.

The people of these realms (including man, dwarf, elf, gnome and halfling) are similar in mindset and advancement to the men of the 13th century. City-states are common, and nations on the increase as more of the wild lands are pushed back and gathered under a single king or government. Skills such as metalworking, farming, and craft-industry are common in the civilized lands, so that swords and heavy metal armour are all too available to the warrior. Literacy and the quest for knowledge is on the rise, with the recent introduction of printed hand-bills in Waterdeep. The merchant class is increasing in both wealth and power as more markets and resources open up. Faith, while not dominant as in Europe of this period, is a major force in the lives of the people.

There are great differences between that world and this as well. Great beasts and evil humanoids wander the wild (and not-so-wild) country of the Forgotten Realms. Ruins of ancient cities and towers may be found among the underbrush, old lands and names that are lost to memory and the past. And there is magic.

Some individuals of the Forgotten Realms have the ability to channel magical energies, allowing them to perform mighty task. Others receive such abilities with the blessing of extra-planar beings known as Powers. The magic users and clerics can reshape the face of the world and indeed have done so over the millennia. Hills and forests may appear where there may have been none before, and mountains may move several miles. A great sandy waste has been moving further south in the heart of the Realms, matched by the sheet of ice, equally relentless, to the east. Neither of these may be the fault of nature alone, but the meddling of spell-casters, human and otherwise.

Finally, the Realms are a land of adventure, and therefore adventurers. It is the time of heroes, when one man of pure heart (or with powerful artifact) may hold his own against enemy hordes, where legions of evil forces may muster and be destroyed by the actions of a few, where nations rise and fall on magical tides which mere men can control. It is a time when the bold and the lucky may make their fortunes and gain great power over their worlds.

The information presented here is as known to myself, on my word as a sage nothing within these pages is false, but not all of it may prove to be true.

Elminster of Shdadowdale
30th and last day of Nightal
Year of the Prince, 1357 Dalereckoning

Hey E I have some new races think I can drop them into this world... After you look them over of course.... Also I'm trying to reply since nobody wants to say anything