Cairngorm

Cairngorm is one of the northernmost regions in the Forgotten Realms. While the communities in Cairngorm are diverse, with cosmopolitan towns and cities, they tend to stick together. The fiercely independent and secretive high elves of Dal Riada, along with their ancestral kin such as the Eladrin and Feyling Elves, inhabit the southern forests and highlands. The hardy Nords and Goliaths, or their Reotan neighbors living in the Northern ice-covered mountains and valleys. There are the Dragonborn inhabiting their frigid and otherworldly archipelago, the erudite Orcish Biomancers dominating the island of Voortham, and the dozens of Drow, Ashkin, Myconids, and Urnaigh populating the swamps, mountains, and warm islands in the west.

Until recently, Cairngorm remained relatively isolated. Situated northwest of the continent of Faerun, beyond the Sea of Moving Ice, travel between the regions became more pronounced after The Breaking, a seismic event caused by the forced relocation of the Elven province of Dal Riada. The act of breaking away from the mainland of Cairngorm sent tremors throughout the Northern Hemisphere, which could be felt all the way in Faerun. Although the tremors initially received little attention, over the next five centuries, they gradually caused the breakdown of the previously impassable ice shelf that had hindered passage between Cairngorm and Faerun. The Dal Riadans were the first to establish contact with Faerun, sparking interest in this new and foreign land. Since then, many individuals have begun traveling between the two continents, whether in search of new lands, treasures, or simply to escape their pasts in search of a new future.