Flamsterd was a bleak wasteland of an island in the Moonshae Isles archipelago. It was notable for having been settled by wizards and other magic-users.[3][4]
Geography[]
It lay in the southwest of the Moonshaes to the west of the southern tip of Gwynneth on the Trackless Sea.[5][6] A tall peninsula that had once comprised most of the southern half of the island lay submerged beneath the ocean following a huge magical cataclysm, and was known as the Underwater Realm of the Wizard.[2][3][7]
Flora & Fauna[]
The island could support only poor agriculture. The surrounding waters had fish and the shores were home to toads and salamanders.[3]
Hideous monsters and bizarre horrors wandered the island. These were creatures created or summoned by wizards long ago, such as owlbears and leucrotta.[3]
Government[]
The island had no governing body as of the mid–14th century DR, however it was a de facto magocracy overseen by the wizard Flamsterd. While he did not perceive himself as the island's ruler, he was the most powerful inhabitant and warded it against Northlander raids.[4]
History[]
The island was among the lands traditionally settled by the Ffolk following their arrival in the Moonshaes during the 2nd century DR.[8][9]
At some point before the 13th century DR,[9] the Waterdhavian wizard Flamsterd purchased the island[10] and emigrated to it along with many of his apprentices, seeking a place to practice and study magic in privacy. Flamsterd was welcomed by the native Ffolk of the isle, and even began taking on apprentices from local Ffolk settlements. He constructed a tower atop a promontory on the southern peninsula from which he and his apprentices greatly improved the quality of life on the isle: crops and livestock thrived while storms would divert course from the area.[3]
As Flamsterd's apprentices grew in power, they began to compete with each other and to turn against their teacher. Flamsterd himself seemed to take no action to stop them, and as their competition grew more violent, several young mages died, dangerous creatures began to roam the land, and the southern peninsula became a desolate wasteland, forcing the native Ffolk to flee from the lands around the wizards' tower.[3]
One night in the Year of the Hooded Falcon, 1291 DR, Flamsterd finally lost his temper with his apprentices, and either drove them from the island or turned them into amphibians if they refused to flee. However, the rest of the world only knew of what he did next: his tower exploded in a huge cacophony, as did most of the southern peninsula. This cataclysm destroyed and sunk nearly half of the land mass of the island, and left the rest as a wasteland. No one knew what had caused the blast or what had become of Flamsterd and his apprentices.[3][9]
Flamsterd did not die in the chaos, but had sunk his part of the island to the bottom of the sea with the aid of powerful druids. There, he worked in peace in his tower surrounded by a bubble of air.[3] He remained hidden and was believed to be dead through the middle of the 1330s DR,[3][11] however he was once again making appearances around the Moonshaes and welcoming mages to join and study under him by the mid–14th century DR.[4][12]
Inhabitants[]
As of the mid–14th century DR, the island was home to small villages of poor Ffolk farmers and fishers.[3] Meanwhile, Flamsterd welcomed spellcasters to live alongside him, promising a home free of persecution and suspicion where young mages could come to study. It was said that the island hosted one of the densest concentrations of mages in all of Faerûn.[4] Flamsterd and his servants dwelt at his undersea tower,[3] and mages were said to outnumber the Ffolk.[13]
No major settlements had been founded on the island as of the late 15th century DR, nearly two hundred years after the explosion.[2]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ Map included in Douglas Niles (February 1989). Darkwell. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-88038-717-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Shawn Merwin (November 2011). “Backdrop: Moonshae Isles”. In Steve Winter ed. Dungeon #196 (Wizards of the Coast) (196)., pp. 5–6. Archived from the original on 2015-11-03.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Douglas Niles (November 1987). Moonshae. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 58. ISBN 0-88038-494-8.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Douglas Niles (November 1987). Moonshae. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 8. ISBN 0-88038-494-8.
- ↑ Douglas Niles (November 1987). Moonshae (Map). Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-88038-494-8.
- ↑ Cover map of the Moonshae Isles. included in Ed Greenwood (1991). Halls of the High King. (TSR, Inc).
- ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad (August 1990). The Forgotten Realms Atlas. (TSR, Inc), p. 29. ISBN 978-0880388573.
- ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad (August 1990). The Forgotten Realms Atlas. (TSR, Inc), p. 27. ISBN 978-0880388573.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Brian R. James (December 2007). “Grand History of the Realms: The Moonshaes”. Dragon #362 (Wizards of the Coast). Archived from the original on 2009-06-01.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb (August 1987). “DM's Sourcebook of the Realms”. In Karen S. Martin ed. Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (TSR, Inc.), p. 68. ISBN 0-88038-472-7.
- ↑ Douglas Niles (November 1987). Moonshae. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 35. ISBN 0-88038-494-8.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1991). Halls of the High King. (TSR, Inc), p. 4.
- ↑ Douglas Niles (November 1987). Moonshae. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 31. ISBN 0-88038-494-8.