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Abeir-Toril

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Abeir-Torilis thefictionalplanetthat makes up theForgotten RealmsDungeons & Dragonscampaign setting, as well as theAl-QadimandMazticacampaign settings, and the 1st edition version of theOriental Adventurescampaign setting.

The name means "cradle of life" in an archaic fictional language of the setting. It consists of variouscontinentsandislands,includingFaerûn,Kara-Tur,Zakhara,Maztica,[1]Osse,Anchoromeand Katashaka, a sub-Saharan-like continent south of Maztica,[2]where humanity appeared.[3]Toril was originally the name ofJeff Grubb's personal campaign world before part of it was merged withEd Greenwood's Forgotten Realms setting.

Publishing history

[edit]

Toril was the name ofJeff Grubb's campaign world,[4]and was adopted as the name of the planet upon which the continent of Faerûn existed when he andEd Greenwoodwere designing the originalForgotten Realms Boxed Setin 1987.[5][6]Greenwood had written tales for his world "as far back as 1967" and "it had been the setting for his homespun D&D campaigns since 1978".[6]Abeir- was added as a prefix to the planet's name so that it would be the first entry in the alphabetical encyclopedia of terms included in the set.[7]The setting's entire planet underwent a major change during the 1989Avatartrilogy,which detailed a series of events called the Time of Troubles, during which gods walked the earth and magic became unpredictable.[8][9]These events caused permanent changes in gameplay that were outlined in theAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons2nd edition campaign setting books.[10]In this edition, Abeir-Toril was considered one ofD&D's three main worlds, along withKrynnandOerth.[11]

In a significantretconof the setting's history,Forgotten Realmsmaterial for thefourth editionofDungeons & Dragons"reveals" that the world was split in two in prehistory, divided between the primordials (Abeir) and the gods (Toril). Toril is the world that has been showcased so far. A cataclysm called the Spellplague has caused several parts of the two worlds to switch places,[12][9]displacing portions of Faerûn and the entire continent of Maztica,[13]with regions of Abeir: Tymanther, Akanûl, and Returned Abeir. A subsequent event called "The Sundering" reverted many of these changes and restored much of the pre-Spellplague Toril.[13]

Abeir-Toril is the default world for the 5th edition ofDungeons & Dragons.[11][14]

Fictional continents

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Anchorome

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Anchoromeis almost unexplored and is at the North ofMaztica.Its best-known inhabitants are theAzuposi,as well as the defunctEsh Alakaransand the xenophobic Poscadar elves. There is also asahuaginrealm called Itzcali located in the sea nearby.

The character Balduran, a sea captain and founder ofBaldur's Gate,sails to Anchorome and returns with a great wealth which is used to build the wall around the fledgling Baldur's Gate. In theBaldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coastexpansion, it is revealed that Balduran returns to Anchorome and retrieves a second hoard of treasure from the Native kingdoms. When he attempts to take on a number of locals to replenish his crew, he discovers they are infected with lycanthropy. The resulting battle shipwrecks Balduran on an island, which is later discovered by a Merchant Guild from Baldur's Gate and subsequently by the player who is sent to confirm the finding, where both the original crews' and the natives from Anchorome's descendants are locked in a bloody lycanthrope feud. The fate of Balduran himself is never clearly revealed.

After the discovery of Maztica by the mercenary captain Cordell, mercenaries from theFlaming Fistare sent to Anchorome. They build a keep, Fort Flame, in the shores of Balduran's bay (which is actually far below Balduran's resting place) but other than this it has been a complete disaster.

It is speculated that it is the land where theCreator Raceknown as theAeareeretreated a long time ago. It is rumored that several tribes ofthri-kreenmake their home in Anchorome's western regions.

Faerûn

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Further information:Faerûn

The continent of Faerûn is the primary setting of theForgotten Realmsand the part of Toril most detailed in stories and supplements.[9][15][16]

Kara-Tur

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Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval regions of East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and others.[17][18][19]According toJim Bambra,"while primarily drawing on Japan for inspiration, [Kara-Tur] also contains elements of medieval China and Korea".[20]Kara-Tur was first described in the original 1985Oriental Adventuresbook.[21]A reviewer forWhite Dwarfcalled the long background section of Kara-Tur in the book, a "bonus".[21]Originally intended as a western part of the continent of Oerik in theGreyhawksetting, the description of Kara-Tur in theOriental Adventuresrulebook made no attempt to link it with another D&D game-world. The first map of Kara-Tur appeared in the adventure module OA1:Swords of the Daimyo(1986), where the setting was still world-neutral.[22]: 108 The 1987Forgotten Realms Campaign Setleft the eastern half of its continent reserved for the future publication of Kara-Tur.[18][19][23]In 1988,TSRreleased a boxed set,Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms,describing the region in greater detail, with two 96-page books and maps.[22]In the process of adapting the setting to the Forgotten Realms, the size of the continent was scaled down significantly.[24]

The ten distinct nations and regions described in the boxed set and their real-world analogues include:[17][22][25][26][27]

In 1989 a printing ofTrail Mapsfor Kara-Tur appeared as part ofAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons2nd edition. In 1990 the maps were again included inThe Forgotten Realms Atlas.[30]Later that year TSR converted the monsters of Kara-Tur to second editionAdvanced Dungeons & Dragonsrules as part of theMonstrous Compendiumseries.[31]After 1990, TSR ceased publishing new material related to Kara-Tur. The setting was, however, occasionally referred to by other TSR products such asSpelljammerandRavenloft.

The setting of Kara-Tur still exists on Abeir-Toril inDungeons & Dragons3rd edition and is often mentioned in Forgotten Realms supplements. Characters and artifacts from Kara-Tur sometimes show up in Faerûn, but beyond that there is little interaction between the continents. The 2015 release ofSword Coast Adventurer's Guide,a supplement forDungeons & Dragons5th edition, introduced Kara-Tur to the fifth edition ofDungeons & Dragons.[19]There is a brief description of the land along with references throughout the book to its culture and how certain classes or backgrounds might fit in there.[32]

Reviewer Michael Mullen, looking at the setting of Kara-Tur before the publication of the boxed set, stated that players would probably like the world, but that it would depend largely on how familiar the DM was with Oriental culture or Japanese movies and television. He remarked that the "usual opposition, if not human, will be from the spirit world", rather than more conventional battles versusmonsters.[26]Game studies scholar Aaron Trammell commented: "Although Gary Gygax envisioned a campaign setting that brought a multicultural dimension toDungeons & Dragons,the reality is that by lumping together Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Philippine, and 'Southeast Asian' lore he and co-authors David 'Zeb' Cook and Francois Marcela-Froideval actually developed a campaign setting that reinforced western culture's already racist understanding of the 'Orient'. "[33]

[edit]
Modules
[edit]

The Kara-Tur campaign setting inspired the following eightadventuremodules(in chronological order):

Books
[edit]

Threechoose your own adventurestyle books (one was actually released before the originalOriental Adventuresbook) were published:

One of novels inThe Empires Trilogyis set in Shou Lung of Kara-Tur.

  • Denning, Troy(1990).Dragonwall.Forgotten Realms: The Empires Trilogy, Book 2. Wizards of the Coast.ISBN0-88038-919-2.OCLC22340289.
Other
[edit]
  • Dragon#315, for information on ancestor feats and martial arts styles specific to the Kara-Tur setting, as well as updated information on the 10 empires and regions of Kara-Tur.

Maztica

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Maztica,called by its inhabitantsThe True World,is a fictional continent that is a land ofjunglesand (to the Faerûnians) mystery. The area was heavily inspired byAztecandMayanculture.[13]

Early in its fictional history it was a land fought over by the gods Qotal the Plumed Serpent and his brother Zaltec. For a crime against his sister, Qotal retreated from Maztica for an age but returned in recent times.

It was 'discovered' byAmnianexplorers led by one Captain-general Cordell and his Golden Legion in 1361DR.Amn was quick to carve out its claim to the land for trade benefits, establishing the port city of Helmsport, and the church of Helm led the encroachment into the new land. The native peoples were devastated by foreign diseases and the ruthlessness of the invaders, and this, coupled with the difficulties encountered on Maztica backfiring against them, caused the church of Helm to come under heavy criticism.Lantanalso claimed some lands.

Maztica is divided into the nations of Nexal, Kultaka, Huacli, Kolan, Pezelac, and Payit. The region known as Far Payit neighbours Payit, both in the east around Helmsport. The native people of Maztica from Payit and Far Payit are known as Payits, whereas natives from the other nations are known as Mazticans. There are also the human races known as the Dog People and the Green Folk. Many monstrous races also live in Maztica, including wildhalflingsand Chacs—jaguarspirits. In very old times,couatlcame from Maztica to fight the Yuan-Ti ofChult.

Some scorpionfolk from Maztica found an Underdark passage to theUnderdarkof Faerûn.[34]

North of Maztica is the continent ofAnchorome.South of it (and separated by a strait) lies an unknown continent.

Maztica was detailed for 2nd EditionDungeons & Dragonsin theMaztica Campaign SetbyDouglas Niles,and in the Forgotten Realms novels of the Maztica Trilogy—Ironhelm,ViperhandandFeathered Dragon—also by Douglas Niles. It was based onhistorical Central America.[35]

In a retrospective review inBlack Gate,Scott Taylor found Maztica unimpressive because the continent too closely mirrored theMesoamericanworld, down to the history of theConquistadores,rather than creating a uniquely fantasy version inspired by the "colorful and diverse" reality that is Mesoamerica.[36]CBRauthor Matthew England considered it "a rarity in the fantasy genre" to base a continent on these cultures.[13]

Mazticawas also the name of the elder goddess who embodied the land of Maztica. Killed by her own son Zaltec, she was the wife of dead Kukul, but unlike her husband, continues to live on in the continued existence of the continent.

In 4th edition, the Spellplague caused byMystra's death caused Abeir and Toril to briefly merge and then instantly rip apart again. As a result, Maztica is no longer a part of Toril, having been replaced with a continent called "Returned Abeir". On some maps, it has been renamed Anchorome.

Zakhara

[edit]

Zakharais afictional realmstyled after the themes and setting depicted in theArabian Nights.[37]The land is the setting of theAl-Qadimcampaign settingfor theDungeons & Dragonstabletop role-playing game.Zakhara is a giantpeninsulaof the samesupercontinentthat hostsFaerûnandKara-Turon the planet Abeir-Toril. Zakhara is located east of Faerûn, and the closest Faerûnian lands to Zakhara areDambrath(by sea) andUlgarthor arguably Konigheim (by land). Zakhara is mostly isolated from the rest of the world, as the peninsula is separated from the main mass by the World Pillar Mountains (also known as Wu Pi Te Shao inKara-Tur).

TheZakharan pantheonconsists of several cultures, like the culture of Enlightenment and more savage deities, such as Ragarra.

Waters around Zakhara are bountiful withpiratesand corsairs who charge traders tolls to cross "their" seas, such traders willingly pay these exorbitant fees as Zakhara's exotic trading goods tend to be well worth the price back in Faerûn. Occasionally the pirates decide to completely cut off Zakhara from Faerûn.

The land is full of secretive cities, unwelcoming to travellers, huge deserts, lush oases and powerfulgenieswho meddle in the affairs of humans frequently. The continent is ruled by a theocracy headed by the Grand Caliph, and tales tell of demon-infested cities and godless sorcerers (like the genie-bindingSha'irs) wielding strange magic. Powerful magic and great warriors of every like are to be found in Zakhara.

Zakharans are firmly convinced they are more civilized than the rest of the world and treat "barbarians" accordingly.

The capital city of Zakhara is Huzuz, the "City of Delights".[38]

In the view of Myles Balfe, the Fantasy "Orient"of Zakhara has been designed as a new and exotic counter-realm for players to experience, contrasting with more common settings depicted as" a moralized neo-medieval Europe ". It is presented" as a chaotic, alien space ". In some depictions Balfe sees theArabic-style cities of the continent connected to erotic ideas of theharemand the "Arabian courtesan", tropes fromOrientalistfiction. In his view the ruling Grand Caliph – "the symbolic figurehead of the entire Land of Fate" – is depicted as impotent to protect his own harem, so that he and his land are dependent on western-style heroic characters to save them.[38]

Other features

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Tears of Selûne

[edit]

TheTears of Selûneare a pack of asteroids trailing Abeir-Toril's moon,Selûne.

Wu Pi Te Shao

[edit]

Known as theWorld Pillar Mountainsin Faerûn orWu Pi Te ShaoinKara-Tur,the "Roof of the World" is the largest mountain range in the fictionalfantasyworld of Toril. It is inhabited by evil Yak-men and separatesZakharafrom the rest of thesupercontinent.

Yal-Tengri

[edit]

Yal-Tengri(also known asThe Great Ice Sea) is Toril's equivalent of theArctic Ocean.It is barely known at all. In the ancient time, the major city on its shore wasWinterkeep;it is now the trade city of Naupau, inSossal.Far in the north of the sea is a small island dominated by a cathedral-like spire, inhabited by gnomes of Gond.

The Yal-Tengri is free of ice for the six summer months of the year

TheEndless Ice Seais the name of the western Faerûn part of it. Somewhere there is Jhothûn, the long-forgotten capital of a mighty empire of Giants.

Reception and analysis

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Philip J. Clements referred to "the world of the highly popularForgotten Realmsseries "as" an unusually well-developed D&D setting ", which has great variety among its fantasy races. A number of human cultures in different regions take their inspirations from real-world cultures.[39][40][13]

Daniel T. Kline summed up Abeir-Toril as a "vast, high-fantasy, neo-medievalist world".[41]

CBRwriter Jared King considered the history of the world of Toril "full of deep lore crafted over decades of editions" and found the Dawn War, a conflict involving the gods in the ancient past of the setting, especially fascinating.[42]

In comparison to otherD&Dworlds, Aidan-Paul Canavan found Toril "more illustrative" and that it "became further codified and developed over time" than the world ofGreyhawk,and "militarily more stable and thus may lead to more 'adventure' based missions" compared to the focus on wars withinKrynn/Ansalon.In Canavan's view, Toril more closely resembledRobert E. Howard'sHyborian Age,as both are "constructed as a patchwork or mosaic of kingdoms, realms and lands, many borrowing directly from historical settings". Even though "pseudo-medieval European analogues" were predominant, a great variety in environments and cultures could be encountered in the setting. The regions of Toril were given many details and relationships among each other in various game products. As a world designed for role-playing games it has a static character: where main characters in fantasy settings designed for novels could drastically change the world, the descriptions of Toril have to be "re-usable" for various groups of players.[40]There were, however, significant changes made to the world to accommodate rule changes between different editions of the game,[9][8][13]explained through magical events within the fictional universe.[43]

Areas of the planet inspired by non-Western real-world cultures, namelyChult,Kara-Tur, Maztica andAl-Qadim's Zakhara, have been criticized for perpetuating simplistic and harmful stereotypes.[44][14]In July 2020,Wizards of the Coastadded a sensitivity disclaimer to digitally sold products describing such regions, to acknowledge and distance themselves from problematic content.[44]

Medievalist Amy S. Kaufman listed Kara-Tur and theAnaurochdesert of Faerûn in 2010 as two of the few fantastic realms based on non-European medieval cultures to date. She remarked that the setting descriptions "reinforce their distance from the" real "Middle Ages","which suggests that the [non-Western] realms may be outside the imaginative limits of designers, at least for now ".[17]

Screen Rantauthor Derek Garcia questioned the use of Abeir-Toril "as the default setting of modern-dayDungeons & Dragons",as he saw many problematic stereotypes published in the game's history as associated with this world.[14]

References

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  1. ^Bornet, Philippe (2011).Religions in play: games, rituals, and virtual worlds.Theologischer Verlag Zürich. p. 286.ISBN978-3-290-22010-5.
  2. ^Tom Costa (2005)."Africa in the Realms".Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2006.RetrievedMarch 19,2007.I know several folks (myself included) who transplanted Atlas Games' excellent Nyambe (with some tweaks), which also built off many of the old 2E articles in Dragon on African gaming, tothe large undefined continent southwest of Nimbral and southeast of Maztica
  3. ^James, Brian R.(May 2006)."A Grand History of the Realms"(PDF).p. 8. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on March 6, 2007.Today, many sages surmise thathumanity first appeared in the northern savannas of Katashakaaround -34,000 DR
  4. ^"TSR Profiles".Dragon(#111).Lake Geneva, Wisconsin:TSR, Inc.: 64 July 1986.
  5. ^Grubb, Jeff(November 1994).Mohan, Kim(ed.). "First Quest: Mammals and Dinosaurs".Dragon.No. 211. pp. 8, 22.
  6. ^abWitwer, Michael; Newman, Kyle; Peterson, Jonathan; Witwer, Sam; Manganiello, Joe (October 2018).Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: a visual history.Ten Speed Press.p. 200.ISBN9780399580949.OCLC1033548473.
  7. ^"Volume 1 Issue 13 – Ampersands & Alliteration".Rfipodcast.com.April 13, 2010.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.
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  9. ^abcdCarbonell, Curtis D. (2019).Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic.Liverpool: Oxford University Press. pp. 100, 105–108.ISBN978-1-78962-468-7.OCLC1129971339.
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  12. ^Baichtal, John."Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide Chronicles the World's Epic Changes".Wired.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.
  13. ^abcdefEngland, Matthew (June 8, 2020)."10 Hidden Details About D&D 5e Lore Everyone Completely Missed".CBR.com.RetrievedMay 25,2022.
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  17. ^abcKaufmann, Amy S. (2010). "Medieval Unmoored".Studies in Medievalism.19:1–11.
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  19. ^abcHergenrader, Trent (2019).Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers.Bloomsbury Academic. p. 49.ISBN978-1-3500-1667-5.
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  21. ^abShepherd, Ashley (February 1986). "Open Box: Dungeon Modules".White Dwarf(74).Games Workshop:9–10.ISSN0265-8712.
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  24. ^Applecline, Shannon (2014).Designers & Dragons: The '70s.Evil Hat Productions.p. 73.
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  26. ^abcdefghMullen, Michael (January 1988). Jaffe, Anne (ed.). "Ah, So Desu Ka? (Oriental Adventures Review)".Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer(81). Allen Emrich: 28–30.
  27. ^abGary Gygax;David Cook;François Marcela-Froideval(1985).Oriental Adventures.TSR, Inc.p. 4.ISBN0-8803-8099-3.
  28. ^Schick, Lawrence(1991).Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games.Prometheus Books. p. 109.ISBN0-87975-653-5.
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  30. ^Appelcline, Shannon."The Forgotten Realms Atlas (2e)".Dungeon Masters Guild.RetrievedFebruary 11,2021.
  31. ^Appelcline, Shannon."MC6 Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix (2e)".Dungeon Masters Guild.RetrievedFebruary 11,2021.
  32. ^Kim Mohan,ed. (2015).Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.Wizards of the Coast.ISBN978-0786965809.
  33. ^Trammell, Aaron (2016)."How Dungeons and Dragons Appropriated the Orient".Analog Game Studies.3(1).ISSN2643-7112.
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  38. ^abBalfe, Myles (2004). "Incredible geographies? Orientalism and Genre Fantasy".Social & Cultural Geography.5(1): 75–90.doi:10.1080/1464936042000181326.S2CID145553724.
  39. ^Clements, Philip J. (December 2019).Dungeons & Discourse: Intersectional Identities in Dungeons & Dragons(PhD thesis). p. 78.RetrievedMay 5,2022.
  40. ^abCanavan, Aidan-Paul (April 2011).Looting the Dungeon: The Quest for the Genre Fantasy Mega-Text(PDF)(PhD thesis). pp. 130–131, 238.
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  42. ^King, Jared (January 26, 2022)."10 Wild Pieces Of D&D Lore To Include In Your Next Campaign".CBR.com.RetrievedJuly 8,2022.
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  44. ^abBlum, Jeremy (July 11, 2020)."'Dungeons & Dragons' Book 'Oriental Adventures' Receives A Sensitivity Disclaimer ".HuffPost.RetrievedMay 14,2022.
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