Chondath

Chondathans are generally slender, tawny-skinned folk with brown hair ranging from almost blond to almost black. Chondathans have green or brown eyes. Elves and half-elves are tolerated but not loved, and nonhumans in general are a quiet minority here.

Most Chondathans spend their lives engaged in intrigue , covert manipulation, and trade with distant lands (or at least investments in trade conducted by others). Chondathans strive to perfectly control their voices, faces, and mannerisms to reflect only those emotions they desire to display.

Chondathans distrust wizards and the bold use of magic. Folk in Chondath assume that Arrabar still holds deadly plague-hurling magic for a future lunatic to unleash. Chondathans are warlike, indulging in hunting games from an early age. They dress in a wide variety of fashions drawn from all over Faerun, though leather armor and head coverings are common, thanks to the warm, damp climate.

Chondath includes territory stretching from the Nunwood in the northeast to the Nagaflow River in the west, and south to the River Arran, though its political control over the whole area is in doubt.

Chondalwood: The Chondalwood is a large expanse of forest south of Chondath. It is a rarity in that its borders continue to expand, particularly to the north. Satyrs and centaurs roam this land, as well as various plant creatures such as shambling mounds and tendriculoses. Mistletoe and other parasitic plants are common, as are all sorts of mushrooms and other fungi. The druids who live within the heart of the Chondalwood are savage, angry dervishes, as willing to attack paladins as orcs in their protection of the woodlands.

A sizable nation of elves also calls the Chondalwood home. These wild elves never joined the Retreat, and they remain hidden in the depths of the wood today, ready to repel human encroachment. The secretive ghostwise halflings live here as well, a barbaric folk of nomadic clans deep within the forest.

Along the Vilhon Reach, the population repeatedly outstrips even prodigious crop yields. As a result, the Vilhon has been the source of many wars, and the cradle of mercenaries and merchants who seek their fortunes elsewhere. Chondath was created in 144 DR by the spreading influence of the rich city of Arrabar, whose lords built the Emerald Way trade road to Shamph and eventually to Hlath.

This road allowed Arrabar to gather lands and cities under its sway. Five hundred years ago, Chondath was one of Faerun's mightiest trading empires, expanding into what is now Sembia. Chondath's greatness was shattered on the battlefield. First came a short war wherein Chondath was defeated with contemptuous ease by the elves of Cormanthor, then forced to abandon its northern holdings and their rich lumber. Hard on the heels of this strife came the infamous Rotting War, a struggle between the coastal cities of Arrabar, Hlath, and Reth. The war ended at the Battle of the Fields of Nun in 902 DR with the slaughter of Chondath's best warriors and the release of a magical plague. The country was reduced to widely separated and independent cities, wary to this day of plague-bearing outsiders and strong magic of all sorts.

Chondath is now a coastal verge of city-states that turn their backs on the wild country near the monster haunted Chondalwood. the coast east of the River Nun is a lawless land where mercenaries skirmish endlessly, and wolves and leucrotta roam untended farms and devour unburied dead. The Shing Lord of Arrabar nominally rules all the land between the rivers Arran and Nun, but the cities of Orbrech and Timindar and forty-odd smaller settlements lie in ruins or are held by independent adventurer-lords. These minor lords eke out a hard living by hunting, raiding, and trading, and they spit on decrees sent out by "Shining Arrabar."

Eles Wianar longs to restore Chondath to its former glory, and many of his countryfolk feel the same way, even if they have no love for Wianar. A cold and calculating man with his own personal network of spies all over the Vilhon Reach, Wianar does nothing to stop the intrigues his nobles launch against each other, and he even lets them wage war outside Arrabar as they please (and can afford). He knows such pursuits keep the nobles busy fighting each other and serve to cloak his own acts against the lands and independent cities around Chondath.