The Sentinel's Shrine
A Forgotten Realms Compendium
Est. 1987 DR · The Year of the Grey Box
"In the world of Toril, magic is as real as the ground beneath your feet, and the gods walk among mortals when the mood strikes them."
From the first whisper of the Weave to the mending of the Second Sundering — a chronicle of every era.
Before elves, before humans, the Creator Races shaped Toril in an age of impossible titans. The sarrukh, batrachi, and aearee built empires that would collapse into myth. This is the deep time — when dragons were young and the world itself was still choosing its shape.
The great elven civilizations of Aryvandaar, Illefarn, and Miyeritar rise from the ancient forests. High magic reshapes reality itself. The Crown Wars shatter this golden age in a catastrophic series of conflicts between elven nations — and Lolth's corruption seeds the birth of the drow.
The most powerful human civilization in Faerûn's history. Netherese arcanists push magic beyond all known limits — floating cities drift above the desert, and the archwizard Karsus dares to steal the power of a goddess. His folly collapses the Weave itself and sends Netheril crashing from the sky.
The age most adventurers know. Waterdeep rises as the City of Splendors, Cormyr consolidates its noble kingdom, and the Zhentarim weave their dark networks across the land. Ed Greenwood's original vision takes shape — first in Dragon Magazine, then in the legendary Grey Box set (1987) that invites us all into the Realms.
Ao the Overgod casts the deities down to walk among mortals. Gods die. Gods are reborn. Mystra perishes and the Weave screams. Cyric ascends on a throne of madness, and the young mortal Midnight takes up the mantle of the new Mystra. The entire divine order is rewritten in blood and starlight.
The era that made the Realms legendary for a generation of fans. Drizzt Do'Urden carves his path from the Underdark to Icewind Dale. Gorion's Ward discovers the taint of Bhaal in their blood. The Seldarine and Shar wage secret wars. This is the Realms at its most beloved — vast, dangerous, and dripping with story at every crossroads.
Cyric murders Mystra. Again. The Weave shatters. Blue fire scours the world, rewriting geography and magic in an instant. Continents shift, the Underdark is torn open, and spellscarred survivors struggle with wild, uncontrollable power. A controversial era that remade the Realms — loved by some, mourned by others, undeniably bold.
The gods return in full. Ao rewrites the Tablets of Fate. The world heals, old borders reassert themselves, and the Realms settle into a form both familiar and new. Designed as a homecoming for longtime fans — a restoration that honors the past while leaving room for every table's story.
A new generation discovers the Realms through Larian Studios' magnum opus. The elder brain threatens to consume Faerûn, the Dark Urge wrestles with Bhaal's legacy, and the streets of Baldur's Gate blaze with tadpole-fueled intrigue. The Realms have never been more alive — or more dangerous.
The gods who shaped the Realms — from the light of Lathander's dawn to the cold embrace of Shar's shadow.
The places that haunt our memories — from glittering citadels to the endless dark below.
The City of Splendors. A vertical metropolis of a million souls, ruled by masked Lords and shadowed by the vast dungeon of Undermountain beneath its streets. If the Realms has a capital, this is it.
City of the drow. A cavern of impossible scale lit by faerie fire, where matron mothers scheme in Lolth's name and every shadow hides a poisoned blade. Birthplace of the most famous dark elf who ever lived.
A sprawling port of merchants, pirates, and Bhaalspawn. From the patriars of the Upper City to the desperate alleys of the Outer City, this town has been the stage for some of the greatest RPG stories ever told.
Ten-Towns huddles against the howling wind at the spine of the world. Here, survival is the first adventure. The Crystal Shard sleeps in the tundra, and Drizzt first found a home worth fighting for.
The greatest library in all Faerûn, perched on a sea cliff and guarded by monks who demand a book for entry. Gorion raised a Bhaalspawn here. Alaundo's prophecies echo in its vaults to this day.
A magocracy ruled by the lich Szass Tam and his Red Wizards. A land of undead armies, enslaved elementals, and the most ruthlessly ambitious spellcasters on the planet. Never accept a gift from a Red Wizard.
The secret societies, noble orders, and shadowy networks that shape the Realms from behind every throne and beneath every floorboard.
A semi-secret network of spellcasters and spies who advocate equality and covertly oppose the abuse of power. They've been disbanded and reformed more times than anyone can count — and every time, they come back stronger. Their symbol: a silver harp and crescent moon.
Good · DecentralizedA coalition of rulers from cities and towns across Faerûn — Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Silverymoon, Neverwinter, and others — who band together for mutual security and prosperity. As noble as their goals sound, politics always get messy when crowns are involved.
Lawful · Political CoalitionDruids, rangers, and wilderness folk who maintain the delicate balance between civilization and nature. They don't oppose progress — they oppose the destruction that unchecked expansion brings. Cross them in a forest, and the forest itself will fight back.
Neutral · Wilderness GuardiansFaithful warriors and holy knights devoted to smiting evil wherever it lurks. Paladins and clerics of Tyr, Helm, and Torm form the backbone of an order that doesn't do subtlety — they kick down the door, smite the lich, and ask questions never.
Lawful Good · Militant FaithThe Black Network. Once an openly evil mercenary company, now a vast mercantile and mercenary organization that operates in shades of grey. They'll protect your caravan — for a price. They'll smuggle your goods — for a bigger price. Loyalty is a transaction, and the Zhentarim always collect.
Neutral Evil · Shadow NetworkThe feared arcane order of the magocracy of Thay. Tattooed, shaven-headed, and utterly ruthless. Under Szass Tam's undead reign they've become merchants of magic items abroad and masters of necromancy at home. Never trust one. Especially when they're smiling.
Neutral Evil · Arcane MagocracyJarlaxle's mercenary company of drow outcasts and misfits — those who couldn't or wouldn't fit into Menzoberranzan's brutal matriarchy. They operate on the surface and below, dealing in espionage, mercenary work, and the kind of favors that always come due. Fabulous hats optional.
Chaotic Neutral · Drow MercenariesWaterdeep's most powerful criminal syndicate, led by a paranoid beholder who loves goldfish more than people. The Xanathar's network runs the city's underworld from a lair in the Undermountain — and if the Xanathar decides you're a problem, you disappear. Permanently.
Chaotic Evil · Criminal EmpireThe heroes, villains, and unforgettable souls whose names echo through the ages.
The drow who walked away from everything his people believed. With Twinkle and Icingdeath in hand, he carved a legend from Icewind Dale to Gauntlgrym across more than thirty novels. He is the heart of the Realms for millions of readers.
Over a thousand years old and still meddling. Ed Greenwood's original character and the Realms' greatest wizard — a pipe-smoking, dimension-hopping, insufferably wise archmage who has saved the world more times than he can remember.
You. The player character who escaped Candlekeep, defeated Sarevok, descended into the Underdark, and chose whether to embrace or reject the tainted blood of a dead god. One of the greatest player-driven narratives in RPG history.
The most charming, dangerous, and well-accessorized drow in the Underdark. A mercenary leader who plays every side against the middle and somehow always lands on his feet — usually in a fabulous hat.
The lich who conquered Thay through patience, cunning, and an army of the dead. He has been the Realms' most persistent arcane threat for decades — always planning, always three moves ahead, always terrifying.
The newest legend of the Realms. A blank slate with murderous instincts and a terrible inheritance, whose story in Baldur's Gate 3 proves that the Bhaal bloodline still has stories left to tell — and that redemption (or damnation) is always a choice.
Consult the Oracle for a fragment of forgotten wisdom. Each roll draws from the deep well of Realms lore.
Essential tools for any traveler of the Sword Coast. Roll the dice, name your character, and choose your fate.
Choose your die and let fate decide.
A name worthy of the Realms.
What whispers have you heard?
Notices, links, and lore pinned to the board at the Yawning Portal. Take what you need, leave what you will.
The single greatest repository of Realms lore. Thousands of articles. Lose yourself for hours.
Visit →Larian's masterpiece. The game that brought the Realms to a whole new generation. Essential.
Visit →The creator of the Forgotten Realms. Start with the Elminster saga if you haven't.
The Legend of Drizzt. 39+ books. Start with "The Crystal Shard" or "Homeland."
Official digital toolset. Character sheets, rules, everything you need to play.
Visit →The cartographer behind many official Realms maps. Stunning work for any DM's table.
Visit →Ambient audio for your sessions — taverns, forests, dungeons, and the howling Underdark.
The subreddit where lore debates never die. Excellent community of sages and scholars.
Visit →Some places on the web, like some places in the Realms, have stood longer than memory.
Before there was a wiki, before there was a subreddit, before social media existed at all — there was Candlekeep. The oldest and most enduring Forgotten Realms fan site on the internet, tended by sages who have kept the fires of Realms lore burning for nearly three decades.
If this shrine is a candle, Candlekeep.com is the bonfire we all gathered around first. Its forums, its articles, and its community helped shape the Realms fandom into what it is today. Ed Greenwood himself has walked those halls.
"This shrine is dedicated to Ed Greenwood, who dreamed a world so vivid that millions of us have lived in it; to every author, designer, and developer who built upon that dream; and to every player who has ever sat at a table and said, 'My character walks into the tavern.'"— The Sentinel, Keeper of This Shrine