The Sword Coast, also nicknamed the Empty Lands, is the region in western Faerûn that lays along the coast of the Sea of Swords and extends inward into to the vale.

It is an expansive tract of wilderness, dotted with independent cities and overrun by bands of monstrous creatures, that some see as merely a place through which you had to travel in order to reach an actual meaningful destination. It is much more than that of course, a rich and vibrant land with a long and storied history that encompassed some of the most important cities in all the Realms.

It is considered one of the rougher locales of Faerûn, both geographically and by virtue of its people.

Some say the Sword Coast took its name from the white cliffs that rose up sharply for hundreds of miles along the coastline between the River Dessarin and Baldur’s Gate. Traveling author Volothamp Geddarm attributed the region’s name to its dangerous inhabitants, both humanoid and bestial.

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