Lantan

Lantan was an island-nation in the Trackless Sea north of the Chultan peninsula, known for its advanced technology and the population's devout worship of Gond. It consisted of three separate islands: Lantan proper, which the Sambar Run separates from the southern Suj, and the eastern most and almost uninhabited Orlil. The inhabitants of Lantan are rock gnomes and humans called the Lantanna.

After captain Cordell from Amn discovered Maztica, the Lantanna, being the westernmost extension of Faerûn along with the reclusive Evermeet and the enigmatic Nimbral, also claimed some lands.

When the Spellplague erupted in 1385 DR, the sudden shifting of continental bodies sent tsunamis all along the island and coastal regions of Faerûn, devastating them all. Lantan was hit harder than most, the entirety of its islands flooding, killing all the inhabitants and cleaning away their advanced technology. The size of Lantan is now greatly reduced; the eastern island of Orlil is completely submerged, and the southern island of Suj has become two much smaller islands. The waters around the island are said by the pirates of Nelanther to be haunted by some sort of monster, destroying any ship that approaches.

Cities

 * Sundrah
 * Sambar
 * Anchoril
 * Lethtar
 * Illul
 * Darluj
 * Dtakkar
 * Baelrah
 * Sujjar
 * Tsan

Technology first
Lantan as a whole is a country focused primarily in the arts and sciences, unlike that which is found in the rest of Abeir-Toril. The Gnomes of Lantan eventually hope to initiate a kind of renaissance in its scientific and mechanical achievements to finally bring about a global age of peace to all gods, races and sub-races. Its greatest mechanical achievement is said to be that of flying machines. As a result, very few Lantanese gnomes ever delve into the Arcane Arts of spellcasting, but those who do will usually take up residence on the Island of Orlil.

Lantan is by far the most technologically advanced country on Faerûn (arguably on the whole of Toril too if they surpass the Chou empire, which is very possible). After the Avatar crisis known as the Time of Troubles, the god of craftsmanship, Gond, revealed the secret of smoke powder to the gnomes of Lantan. They are currently on the verge of inventing the printing press, and non-magical portals. They are still a minor power as, due to the emphasis and reliance on magic in Faerun, technology is seldom used.

However due to the numerous deaths of Mystra, and the frequency at which arcane magic ceases to function many individuals are beginning to look to divine magic and technology as substitutes. Including the creation of Mechanical Mythals to protect cities, and fortresses.

The Lantan Portal and Bartok Silverhammer
Created by a team of highly trained gnomes, led by a gnome called Bartok Silverhammer (a specialist in interspatial dynamics), and funded by the Gondar clergy, the Lantanese Portal is unique in a land filled with oddities—some would call it an abomination. Bartok and his crew intend to create the first non-magic portal in the whole of Faerûn. The Lantanese Portal, or the LP as it is more simply called, is identical to the portals described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting except for the following details.

First of all, the LP is not finished. The team has a temporary magic portal working through the confines of the one that they hope will replace it eventually. The future non-magic portal will not radiate a magical aura. As such, the spell detect magic will not reveal its presence, or so Bartok hopes. Though it's currently a magic portal, Bartok and his team are working on a set of tremendous steam engines, which were designed by Bartok, that will replace the magic version of the portal. As such, the LP cannot be moved—both because of the magical stricture preventing it, as is the case with most portals, and also because the apparatus that provides power to the LP is too vast and complicated to be moved. Even now, the steam engines and their use are tied into the functionality of the magic portal due to the way it was created (see below for more on the "keyed" aspect of the portal). Dispel magic, gate seal, and Mordenkainen's disjunction will eventually become useless against the LP, or so Bartok believes. However, a disintegrate spell (or other spell that destroys objects) could conceivably damage a part of the LP's mechanism and prevent it from working until it can be repaired. It would certainly ruin the current keyed aspect of the magic portal.

At this time, the magic LP leads to a single destination: a desolate region of the Mulhorandi Dust Desert. Bartok believed this would be a safe target that would not needlessly jeopardize life and property. Bartok also believes that he can overcome the stricture common to magic portals that prevents a destination from changing once the portal has been created. His technicians are working on a device he calls the difference engine which, once complete, will allow the nonmagic version of the LP to be reprogrammed to target different destinations with each use.

Such a massive project is not without its pitfalls, however. First, the LP can currently be considered a malfunctioning portal, per the rules in the Forgotten Realm Campaign Setting. It works as intended only about half the time, with dire consequences resulting the rest of the time. Several teams of intrepid gnome test subjects have been dropped far off from their intended destination, and one team was killed outright. Still another team of test subjects disappeared after passing through the LP and have not been seen or heard from since. The LP is also a random portal. Any successful use allows 1d6+3 creatures through. The LP then does not function for 1d6 days.

Further, the portal is keyed, for all intents and purposes, so that only Bartok and his two closest associates can activate it. This is not a design feature of the LP. Rather, it is a result of the device's immense complexity, which currently only Bartok and his disciples can grasp. Should Bartok's dream come true, though, and the portal become completely nonmagical in nature, he knows his users will require training to run the machine. In the meantime, even in its magical version, the portal requires some key actions in terms of what switches to pull and which buttons to push to gain the end result of a rush of a precisely measured amount of steam pressure against one specific section of the portal's metal archway. As a result, learning to activate the LP requires close observation of the actions of Bartok or his associates.

Should Bartok succeed, he will have achieved an immense triumph for Gond and gnomekind by creating a portal that is nonmagical and that can be reprogrammed to target new destinations based on the desires of the technicians using it.

Lantan/Samarach Portal System
Aside from a small amount of native iron, Lantan is resource-poor. Yet serious invention requires considerable resource expenditure. The Lantanese regularly trade goods with their Tashalaran and Calimshan neighbors, and they trade sporadically with other places. But Lantan lacks abundant supplies of wood, copper, tin, gems, and a list of other goods a gnome’s arm long. Importing all these raw materials is a lot of trouble, and it puts money in other people’s hands.

Several Lantanese trading companies recently decided to put an end to such heavy reliance on outside materials, and place more reliance on different sources of outside materials. So they created a consortium to explore and exploit natural resources in less developed parts of the world.

After a few months of scouting a good location, the consortium found a good site in the Samarach jungle near the Chult border. They talked to the locals to find a good site, and they made sure they showed proper respect for local laws. During their talks, they discovered that the locals had a fear of something that they couldn't explain. The consortium decided not to deem it a significant threat to their enterprise, but agreed to help the locals however they could. The gnomes rose to the challenge and settled upon providing illusory defenses. In exchange for advice and local labor, the gnomes have shown the locals how to improve their illusory defenses and have given them the wonders of Lantanese clockwork toys. The relationship is not blatantly exploitive, but it does favor the consortium, which is fine with the gnomes.

Finally, the consortium set up a small compound at the site and made it the base of operations for a logging camp. Once the compound was established, the consortium had a portal erected, a standard 15-foot circle in a simple metal frame, to cart timber home. The gnome overseers and workers usually go home at night and take the day’s work with them. The weight limit of what can be taken through a portal (850 pounds) is occasionally a nuisance, but a heavy saw machine on the Samarach end solves the problem with minimal fuss.

The Samarach natives who work with the consortium are superstitious about the jungle, but confident enough in the daytime. They do not like talking about what happens at night though, when they shut their communities up behind tall wooden palisades and barricade their homes.

This set-up is, of course, prime fodder for prankster-happy gnomes. The gnomes are not ignorant to the possibility that something truly dangerous might be lurking in the Samarach wilds, but danger is never a reason to avoid having a little fun. Since the natives never seem to get the joke, the gnomes usually leave them out of tricks. But they often use the eerie feel of the jungle and the tales of the locals as springboards for elaborate pranks on each other. Their favorite targets are newcomers to the camp, especially non-gnomes.

The camp had been operating for a few weeks when problems started cropping up.

First, the heavy saw machine, which is ten feet long and weighs several hundred pounds, is occasionally found moved in the morning. It is never broken or inoperable, but it often has been dragged around to a different place in the compound, its legs leaving long, deep ruts in the dirt.

Next, the wood started causing problems. Uncut logs were no problem, but once the wood was cut and used in items, the wood would occasionally hum and vibrate. The humming is quiet and intermittent, but definitely noticeable. Very few of the consortium’s customers have traced the problem back to their lumberyard, but more are beginning to notice.

Finally, the portal stops operating sometimes. It starts back up within ten minutes to an hour, and no one has been hurt, but its failure is a disturbing prospect.

Any or all of these occurrences could be some gnome playing a prank. This is what most of the workers assume, and since no one wants to be "got" by someone else’s prank, everyone acts normal, as if nothing has been happening. The strangeness could also be a spirit or creature in the Samarach jungle that doesn’t like the logging camp. If this is the case, why haven’t the occurrences been more destructive? Why have no demands been made? It’s also possible that all the problems are completely unrelated. This option is probably the most unsettling one. Regardless, the consortium needs to know more about this before they have to shut down the camp and lose all their investment.

Lantan/Nelanther Isles (Pirate) Portal, Gimlet Watersprecht
Pirates can get their hands on things other people can’t. Expensive things. Rare things. Combustible things. And they ask for so little in return: gems and exotic weapons—things gnomes have in plenty.

A "retired" gnome pirate, Gimlet Watersprecht, saw this as an opportunity. Gimlet had returned from the Pirate Isles nearly five years ago to settle down and fish in the waters around Lantan, which is his homeland. Retirement lasted nearly six months before the old pirate got bored. Then he started looking around for ways to get back into the old business. What he saw shocked him.

First, the Lantanese black market appeared mainly to come through the unsavory Nelanther pirates. These foul orcs, lizardfolk, and ogres (or worse) possessed a far more treacherous and bloodthirsty streak than the pirates of Gimlet’s experience. Sometimes Lantanese traders didn’t come back from meetings with the Nelanther pirates, with no ransom ever offered. Gimlet was distressed that otherwise reasonable gnomes with perfectly good gems dealt with unreliable riffraff when he knew of Pirate Isle riffraff who had predictable and somewhat respectable codes of behavior.

Second, the goods that Nelanther pirates dealt in were nothing an honest black marketeer couldn’t get from just sailing to Calimshan, Tethyr, or the Sword Coast in person. They were just smelly, dangerous middlemen who marked the price up. Pirate Isle mateys, on the other hand, had swag from faraway Sembia, Turmish, and Unther.

Third, Nelanther pirates were amateurish and sloppy. They had no style. Further, any decent illusionist could run them into their own islands. It was practically criminal to continue giving them business when clever, respectable pirates were sailing around the Inner Sea looking for safe places to unload booty.

Gimlet practically felt a mandate to work up a real pirate operation, for the good of rogues and unlawful business people all over his homeland. Over the next year and a half, Gimlet assembled a small crew of pirates and had a portal constructed to open a pirate trade route between the Sea of Fallen Stars and the Trackless Sea.

On the Pirate Isles side, the portal activates over the mouth of a shallow cave on one of the smaller, uninhabited isles. The cave is half-submerged, low, but wide. When activated by the key (any spell in the Illusion school will do), a rowboat or narrower keelboat with its mast struck can pass through easily. No sane person would row a keelboat through here when the portal was not activated, as the ship would smash into the back of the cave about 10 feet later. Anyone taller than a halfling or gnome must duck going through the portal.

On the Lantan side, most of the good nooks and crannies were spoken for by someone else’s experiment or scheme. So Gimlet made his own. About a day’s sail east of Lantan, two blue metal posts jut from the waves in parallel, 4 feet above the water and about 15 feet apart. Both posts are actually long, immovable rods that extend another 4 feet below the water. The activation buttons are on top, above the water, but have been capped with metal hoods and fused into place so that the rods are not accidentally deactivated. The rods delineate the area of the portal.

With his crew and portal set up, Gimlet began a ridiculously lucrative gunrunning operation to the Pirate Isles, raking in treasures of the nations all along the shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The Nelanther pirates have noticed the drop-off in their business, and the Nautical Spyglasses (the semi-formal coast guard of Lantan) has recorded a slight increase in piratical activity in Lantan. Of the two organizations, the Nelanther pirates are the ones more likely to take action to put a stop to the trend.

Gimlet knows that success is perhaps more dangerous than failure in the pirate business, so he intentionally constructed the portal to be small. Large ships cannot possibly pass through the portal, and Medium-size or Large humanoids can’t get through without effort. The poles on the Lantan side are the same color as the water and are barely visible to those who know about them. As extra insurance, he used his unusual grasp of Aquan to recruit a tojanida as part of his "crew." The adult elemental keeps an eye on things on the Lantan side of the portal. Gimlet himself keeps an eye out for strangers who ask too many questions (especially half-orcs), and he has illusion spells prepared for a moment’s use.

Now Gimlet has a better retirement than he ever could have hoped for.