The Sunrise Mountains
The Sunrise Mountains, which many consider to mark the
eastern end of Faerûn proper, run all the way from the
center of Rashemen to just past the southeastern border of
Thay. They form the entirety of Thay’s eastern border, towering
almost 15,000 feet above sea level. To get to the Thayan
portion of the Sunrise Mountains, a traveler must first tackle
the Surague Escarpment. Few find even this to be worthwhile,
as the Sunrises themselves are virtually impassable to
those on foot. As well, the lands above the Surague Escarpment
are wild and untended, nothing like the civilized plains
of the First Escarpment. They are teeming with dangerous
animals and hostile humanoids. From time to time, scouts
from the goblin and kobold tribes living here forage into
Thay proper.
Every now and then, the tharchions of Surthay, Gauros,
Pyrados, and Thazalhar send an expedition into the peaks. Old
Raumviran towers and strongholds lie buried under the snows
of the high slopes, as well as the ancient well-like fortresses
of some even older people now forgotten by time. High and
perilous passes cross the mountains at Daggertooth and
Thazar, but there have long been rumors of a secret passage
through the deeps into the Endless Wastes beyond. If this
could be found and secured, it might divert the trade of the
Golden Way south to Thay and increase tenfold the power of
the tharchion whose people discovered the pass.
Scouts and adventurers have so far failed to discover such
a way through, despite centuries of searching. The dangers of
the mountains multiply the farther one descends from the
surface. The caverns beneath the Sunrise mountains are filled
with horrible creatures, including nagas, chimeras, and things
unspeakably worse.
The patrols along this edge of Thay are not as alert as those
of the nation’s other borders. The denizens of the mountains
rarely descend the Surague Escarpment to attack, and the idea
of invading force coming through the mountains is preposterous.
Border patrol here is considered one of the dullest and
most miserable jobs a soldier can get, so it often draws the less
ambitious of Thay’s defenders. No one ever became a tharchion
on such duty, after all.