General Realm Details

There are some realms and political groups are not fully detailed in this gazetteer section. Often, there will be mention of some of these smaller, secluded, or less significant enclaves within the entry of other states. Generally speaking, very small independent or semi-independent strongholds of a few thousand citizens or less (such as fortified human or halfling towns, underground dwarf or gnome communities, and tiny islandstates) do not appear in the gazetteer. Usually such places are isolated from the rest of the civilized world and beyond the easy reach of any army. Details on certain larger nonhuman realms are included in other sections (for example, the Glorioles kingdom of the dwarves in the section on the kingdom of Sunndi).

One notable minor realm is the underground "citystate" called Garel Enkdal, located in the westernmost arm of the Griff Mountains near Stonehold. Some explorers estimate the population here to be in excess of twenty-five thousand orcs, with significant numbers of ogres, orc-ogre crossbreeds, half-orcs, and other beings. Garel Enkdal is not well known outside the northeastern Flanaess, and the kingdom interacts little with the rest of the world except to attack hunters, trappers, scouts, and herders of Stonehold. It could pose a major threat to Stonehold but apparently is content to keep to itself. Gruumsh is the major deity here.

Also excluded from this gazetteer are orc- or goblinoid- dominated enclaves such as Blackthorn in the Gnarley Forest; legendary realms such as Esmerin (a mountainous land where halflings and giants are said to live together in peace "faerie kingdoms" of sprites and such in the Axewood, Silverwood, Menowood, and Welkwood; and those bizarre places known as Fading Lands, where other planes of existence intruded upon the material world. Human-dominated castles and strongholds holding no allegiance to outside powers are fairly common across the Flanaess. Between the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj and the Domain of Greyhawk, along the Buffer Zone, are several independent strongholds, notably Castle Mastryne and Pascorel (the town known for its Cockatrice Riders, a bandit cavalry). Any of the hills and major forests could hold a dozen or more similar spots, even deep within the territory of a major state like Keoland. Chaotic lands such as the Empire of Iuz doubtless hold many tiny holdings whose lords refuse fealty to all, such as the notorious, lich-ruled "Dahlvier's County" near the Fellreev. Small independent towns such as Dullstrand, Dustbridge, and Knurl, which have little overall political effect, are excluded in this gazetteer though they do trade with, raid, or otherwise interact with the outside world to some degree. Brief details on these towns are included in other sections. Loosely organized barbarian tribes that do not interact significantly with the rest of the Flanaess. These groups can be nomadic or only partially so, including human tribes in the Burneal Forest, Bright Desert, Amedio Jungle, Sea of Dust, and northern Hepmonaland; cavemen in the western mountains, particularly the Crystalmists; sylvan elf and grugach bands in deep forests like the Hornwood, Gnarley Forest, Celadon Forest, or Grandwood; and minor humanoid or nonhuman tribes of lizard men, aarakocra, bullywugs, beastmen, centaurs, kech, gnolls, mongrelmen, yuan-ti, and so forth. Nomadic races and ethnic groups who are civilized but stateless, particularly the migrant Rhennee of the waterways of the central Flanaess. Several groups descended from the Bandit Kingdoms of past years are thought to be fighting the forces of Iuz in and around the Fellreev Forest, the Tangles, and Rift Canyon, and a few of these folk have the rudiments of ethnic identity because of a longestablished, shared background. A group of closely related nomadic merchant families in Ahlissa has wandered much of the old Great Kingdom's lands along the famous Windmarch, a vast annual circuit of mercantile trade fairs; little is known of this colorful group, called the Peregrines. Transnational political, religious, economic, and military organizations, alliances, and guilds, such as the Circle of Eight, the Iron League, the Northern Alliance, the druidic Hierophants, and all transnational orders of knighthood, such the various branches of the Knights of the Han, the Sheldomar Valley's Knights of the Watch and Knights of Dispatch, Celene's Knights of Luna, and the Shield Lands' Knights of Holy Shielding. Some of these entities are dealt with in other sections. The Scarlet Brotherhood has an extensive espionage ring on this level. Any political realms of the subterranean Underdark, which are poorly known, despite the extreme danger they present to explorers and surface civilizations. Places here include the infamous Vault of the Drow (a cavern under the Hellfurnaces reported to contain the drow-ruled city of Erelhei- Cinlu), and various underground cities reportedly populated by mind flayers, kuo-toa, wererats, troglodytes, derro, duergar, aboleth, ghouls, albino humans, bullywugs, etc. Any political realms under the seas, which appear to be almost completely dominated by tribes of nomadic barbarian nonhumans—for example, mermen, aquatic elves, locathah, tritons, ixitxachitl, and merrow. Notable in this group is a longsuspected sahuagin realm near the northernmost island of the Sea Barons; this realm is probably connected in some manner with the famous and haunting Aerdi tales of a "Sinking Isle" in the same location.

The name at the top of each gazetteer entry is the common name most often used by people of the Flanaess for that political region.

Proper Name: A political region's own official name for itself, which might differ considerably from what others call it.

Ruler: The current head of state, appropriately titled and addressed. (Additional titles are omitted for reasons of brevity.)

Government: This is a brief description of how the realm's government is structured and functions, with notes on royal and noble families and their powers, where applicable. For a realm to call itself a "kingdom" is no small matter, as it challenges the authority of all surrounding states, particularly any larger state that once claimed that realm for its own. Isolated realms have less of a problem. Keoland, in the Sheldomar Valley, eliminated all rivals long ago and had no serious challengers afterward. The Suel barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula can have all the kingdoms they wish, since no one else cares for that distant, frigid region. Furyondy and Nyrond, however, challenged every aspect of the Great Kingdom's rule over them and wished to end all show of fealty, freely establishing their own regional influence. Thus, they called themselves kingdoms with the consequence of endless hostility with the old empire. Sunndi essentially did the same, cutting all ties with the Great Kingdom and its successor states. Some rebellious realms hope to eventually rejoin their rejected kingdoms, given a satisfactory change of monarchs, or hope to avoid continuous conflict with their large neighbors; thus, they usually keep their old titles (duchy, principality, county, march, etc.), even if completely independent. In a theocracy, the clerics of a particular faith are in charge. Deities are described either in the Player's Handbook or in this volume. Capital: The nation's central government resides in the city or town named here. Major Towns: Important cities and towns are given here alphabetically. Other towns may exist in large states, but they are not as important or populous as those given here. Provinces: The major political subdivisions of each realm are given here; they might be further detailed elsewhere. Resources: Native materials produced in quantities great enough to allow for exportation are named here. Every realm is assumed to produce sufficient resources to maintain itself, unless noted otherwise. As a general rule, a country cannot import more than it exports, so the degree of exports also determines a country's ability to buy foreign goods and services. In a few cases, the resources named are not exported, being used entirely for internal consumption, but are produced in qualities worthy of note. Foodstuffs consist of livestock, game animals, fish, grains and breads, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, and alcoholic drinks; certain food items are specifically named if they figure prominently in trade. Gems are given in four categories: I (base value 10 gp), II (base value 50 gp), III (base value 100-500 gp), and IV (base value 1,000 gp: "fine gems"). Coinage: The monetary-exchange system (1 pp = 10 gp = 20 ep = 100 sp = 1,000 cp) was established many centuries ago by the Great Kingdom at its founding, based on a similar system of coinage developed by the kingdom of Aerdy. As the Great Kingdom spread across the Flanaess, similar currencies were adopted by other peoples to better trade with this vast empire, particularly after magic was used to assess coin purity and weight. After much debate, Keoland changed its own coinage system to match the Great Kingdom's in 331 CY, and even realms like the Frost, Ice, and Snow Barbarians have roughly similar systems. If a realm mints its own coinage, the names of each official coin are given, with the denomination type: pp (platinum piece), gp (gold piece), sp (silver piece), ep (electrum piece), cp (copper piece). Other forms of currency are given if important. Population: This shows the distribution of various races as a percentage of the overall population. The classification "Other" at the end of the entry indicates that miscellaneous beings round out the population. Census figures were reported in mid-590 CY; all figures are estimates. Previously published population figures for the Flanaess were often very low given poor census-taking methods and outright falsification. Parenthetical notes give the general ethnic composition of some groups, where statistics are available. The ethnic mix for humans includes the following code letters: B = Baklunish, F = Flan, O = Oeridian, R = Rhennee, S = Suloise, Z = Olman. A lower-case letter indicates an ethnic group is in the minority in a realm; an upper-case letter indicates that the group is widespread. All figures for gnomes are for rock gnomes. Unless noted otherwise, assume elves are high or sylvan, dwarves are hill, and halflings are lightfoots. Orcs, goblins, gnolls, giants, and the like are rarely counted into population statistics, even if they are very common. Languages: Languages are given in descending order of usage in each population. All languages named here are understood and spoken (if not read or written) by 5% or more of the population of that country, or by at least ten thousand persons. Other languages can be surmised if an appropriate population is present (for example, a dwarf minority likely speaks Dwarven). Humans often use many nonhuman tongues as well. Alignments: The most common alignments among the population of each nation appear here. The alignment marked with an asterisk also happens to be that of most local government and law-enforcement officials. "L" indicates a predictable, firm adherence to the written laws of the land. "C" shows unpredictability in law enforcement, perhaps because laws are not written down, are confusing, or can be interpreted in many ways. "G" indicates that the laws benefit a majority of people in the realm and aid the common welfare; torture is restricted, and justice is fairly applied to all. "E" shows that the laws benefit only a chosen few within the realm (certain rulers, religions, races, or ethnic groups), with few rights for other citizens. "N" indicates a balance between extremes. Religions: The major gods worshiped in each state are given. An asterisk points out that a deity is state favored. Most people worship or pay tribute to more than one deity every day, often up to a dozen or more during the year, though a person might hold one particular god as a personal favorite. "Oeridian agricultural gods" stands for five particular deities usually worshiped as a group: Atroa (spring), Sotillion (summer), Wenta (autumn), Telchur (winter), and Velnius (weather). Berei and Beory ate the main Flan agricultural gods (often with Obad-Hai Phyton is the Suloise agricultural god. "Dwarf pantheon" refers to the pantheon of dwarf gods led by Moradin. "Elf pantheon" stands for the Seldarine, the pantheon of elf gods led by Corellon Larethian. "Gnome pantheon" refers to the pantheon of gnome gods led by Garl Glittergold. "Halfling pantheon" stands for that group of halfling gods led by Yondalla. "Orc pantheon" refers to those orc gods led by Gruumsh. True pantheonic worship (worshiping all the gods of a given ethnic group or race) is rare among humans. Most people are pragmatic and worship only those gods they deem important to their daily lives, regardless of the origins of those gods. Even nonhumans, who tend more toward pantheonic worship than humans, might give offerings to gods of human origin, if the latter offered benefits the nonhumans want or need. Ehlonna, Ulaa, Fortubo, Jascar, and Bleredd are important examples of human gods with significant followings of elves or dwarves. Hextor, Erythnul, Nerull, Syrul, and Beltar are often worshiped by orcs or goblinoids who also worship their own racial gods. Allies: States and organizations that most often offer support to a realm are named here. Some alliances are shaky or complicated (subject to changes in politics or national mood or forced into alliance by enemy). Enemies: States that actively attempt to bring down the current government of a realm, by means overt (raiding or warfare) or covert (assassination, sabotage), are given here. Some states are greatly distrusted and have sanctions applied against them. Overview: A geographic overview of each state is given with details on climate, unusual flora and fauna, major transportation and communication routes, and a brief look at the country's military situation. History: The origins and major past events of each state are covered briefly, with a focus on the recent past, particularly since 570 CY.