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The Vast was a land in north Faerûn resting along the north coast of Inner Sea, bounded by the Dragon Reach in the west; the Earthspur Mountains, the Gray Forest, and Impiltur in the east; and the Moonsea and Damara in the north. It was a land of open spaces and rolling farmlands, sparsely settled but far from empty. It was home to fertile fields and hunting grounds; long rivers like the Fire and the Vesper; old-growth forests like the Brynwood and Adhe Wood that survived logging, as well as new-growth woodlands; and the great mountain ranges of the Earthspurs that girded it and the Earthfasts that ran through to meet the sea at sheer cliffs.

Over its history, the Vast was home to many great cities and realms. There was the ancient elf city of Ylraphon, an outpost Cormanthyr and once the abode of the famed Srinshee. Among the oldest human cities north of the Inner Sea were Procampur, orderly, mannered, and proud; and Tsurlagol, oft-ruined yet the Gateway to the Unapproachable East; both settled by the fallen Jhaamdathan Empire. There was also Vastar, for which the land was named, an ancient orcish nation with a turbulent history of strife and hordes that poured into other lands. It fell to the dwarf kingdom of Roldilar, the Realm of Glimmering Swords, a brief but shining surface holding for the Stout Folk. Next came the so-called Time of Glorious Fools, a fresh wave of human settlement and human adventurers who carved a new land out of the ashes of the old, giving rise to the new cities of Calaunt, corrupt and gloomy and foul; Tantras, boisterous and home to many temples, and once even the god Torm the True; and finally the famous Ravens Bluff, the Living City, freewheeling, vibrant, and a city of adventurers. Lastly, these three united in the nation of Vesperin, a neutral land of trade and intrigue in the 15th century.

The peoples of the Vast were diverse: there were orcs and goblinkin; dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and elves; and a variety of human immigrants, Chondathan, Damaran and even immigrants of far-eastern Thesk. On one hand, Vast folk oft-preferred to keep to themselves, satisfied with home and community, feeling one with their land. On the other, they were known as adventurers, explorers, and pioneers, with a spirit of daring, optimism, and opportunity, more so than anywhere else in Faerûn. Here all the monsters and evils of the world seemed more easily defeated and the heroes to win out more often, by pluck, determination, or luck. (Archive | Read more...)