The Anauroch is a sandy desert formed due to phaerimm magic in the former region of Netheril. It is commonly divided into three general regions: the northern High Ice (including the Frozen Sea), the middle Plain of Standing Stones, and the Sword in the south. For a millennium after the creation of the Anauroch desert, the nomadic Bedine were its primary humanoid inhabitants. Then, in the mid-1300s DR, the Zhentarim invaded the desert with plans of creating a permanent trade route. Some decades later in 1372 DR, the Shadovar returned from the Plane of Shadow with the goal of restoring the land of Netheril, until the fall of their flying city called Shade in 1487. Below the dunes of Anauroch lurks what remains of the evil phaerimm, a race of spellcasters with near-unrivaled mastery of the Art.
