Utter East

The Utter East was a land in the south-easternmost part of Faerûn, bordering the continents of both Kara-Tur and Zakhara.

Geography
The Utter East lay on the isthmus joining the great continents of Faerûn and Kara-Tur in the north to Zakhara in the south. It was the only easily traversable land-bridge between the continents; the Sempadan Forest on the eastern side was much too dense. The southern arm of the massive Yehimal Mountains ran down the center of the isthmus like a spine, leaving a narrow landscape less than 100 miles wide (160 kilometers). The Utter East lay on the western side, between the mountains the sea.

The coastline was dry and rugged. It was lashed by the Great Sea, which in its wake formed whirlpools and maelstroms.

Vast and uncharted plains lay in the north, which bordered the eastern side of Ulgarth.

Society
It contained the Five Kingdoms ruled by the Ffolk.

Barbaric hordes dwelled in the northern plains, and regularly raided into Ulgarth in the north, or else massed in hordes and invaded.

Relations
For much of their history prior to the 14th century DR, the cultures of Faerûn and Kara-Tur saw the isthmus as only a bridge to nowhere, not seeing the lands of Zakhara to the southwest, and so, for the most part, turned their backs on the Utter East. The Utter East therefore marked the end of the Western Realms of Faerûn. Western folk saw instead the Shining Lands around the Golden Water as the last "civilized" realm before one ventured into the Utter East. Even so, as the Durpari people of the Shining Lands had acquired some cultural practices and weapon and armor styles from their Utter Eastern neighbors, they were seen as barely Faerûnian themselves. Thus, the Utter East was a little-known and bizarre collection of lands, with only legends considered too fantastic and fanciful to be taken as fact filtering back to Faerûn.

History
The Year of Rogue Dragon, 1373 DR, saw Shining Lands merchants journey to the Utter East, as well as to places as far-flung as Waterdeep, Zakhara, and even Maztica, in order to purchase wares for trade.

Magic
The Utter East had a local magic unfamiliar to the spellcasters of Faerûn.

Background
The "Utter East" was first mentioned in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987), but where it actually lay has varied over subsequent sourcebooks, with earlier lore altered to refer to different locations. On page 81 of the Cyclopaedia of the Realms, it is said that ivory from the Utter East arrives in Suzail, but the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition: A Grand Tour of the Realms (1993), page 55, changes this to the Unapproachable East. Forgotten Realms Adventures (1990) on page 105 refers to the "mysterious Utter East", but says this is Kara-Tur. Page 45 of the Campaign Set's DM's Sourcebook of the Realms mentions the Blue Diamond, a flying ship created in the Utter East, but The Shining South (1993) associates these skyships with Halruaa. The The Forgotten Realms Atlas (1990) finally located the Utter East, placing it beyond the far south and east corner of Faerûn, somewhere past Ulgarth, and joining Zakhara. The Shining South followed suit. Nevertheless, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition (2001), page 209, still describes the Golden Way as connecting Faerûn and the "Utter East"—meaning Kara-Tur.

The Utter East became the site of the Blood & Magic computer game in 1996. It would be developed further in 1998, with the novels Faces of Deception, the Realms of Mystery short story "Darkly, Through a Glass of Ale", and the Double Diamond Triangle Saga all published in that year and set in and around the Utter East.

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * Faces of Deception
 * Double Diamond Triangle Saga
 * Realms of Mystery: "Darkly, Through a Glass of Ale"


 * Games:
 * Blood & Magic