AT A GLANCE: Sembia is a wealthy merchant kingdom situated east of Cormyr on the western edge of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
It is a land of rolling farms and
rich plains, dominated by a handful of
large, wealthy cities. It is a well-run,
organized nation which may in time
rival the old kingdoms of the south and
east.

ELMINSTER'S NOTES: The wealthy
merchant-kingdom of Sembia is a land
of good farms, busy ports, skilled textile
makers, and prosperity, with a vigilant
army to keep it that way. The arms of
Sembia are "the Raven && Silver." The
Raven represents Rauthauvyr "the Raven,"
long-ago founder of the realm, who
never ruled Sembia but instead commanded
its armies for a succession of
merchant rulers. The silver coins represent
Sembia's trading wealth.

Sembia was settled by men coming to
the Sea of Fallen Stars from the south,
originally for its stands of huge, high-quality
iliyr-wood timber which was
much prized in shipbuilding. As the forests were
cleared, over the years, the
treecutters came into increasing conflict
with the elves, who feared the loss
of their entire woods. This would
undoubtedly have occurred if the
hastily-gathered mercenary troops of
the fledgling land had defeated the
elves, but the Elven Nations defeated
them soundly at Singing Arrows (884
DR) and afterwards repeatedly slew or
forced back men venturing north of the
river Ashaba and Lake Sember.

The Dragon Sea's mineral wealth was
discovered by men at about this time,
and pressure began to grow in Sembia
for a trade-road through the elven
woods, to make Sembia the world?s
gateway to all this wealth. The land
grew strong as farms prospered in its
newly-cleared lands, and craftsmen
arrived from the south to take advantage
of this chance to acquire land and
wealth, bringing their trades with
them. Rauthauvyr insisted on maintaining
a standing army, which he kept in
practice by policing Sembia's borders
and improving its roads.

Finally The Raven went alone as an
envoy to the Elven Court, and asked the
elders of the Elven Council to approve a
road north from Ordulin to the shores
of the Dragon Sea, open to men. He pro
posed that the elves choose its route
and retain control of it and their woods
around, so that no woodcutting or
human settlement occur, and that Sembia's men
build it with them.

Though the elves had earlier made
similar arrangements with the Dalesmen,
and had no difficulties with the
men of Velarsdale (now Harrowdale),
refused, neither wanting or needing
such a road. The Raven then threatened
to exterminate the isolated elves
in Arnothoi, the last embattled remnant
of the elves in Sembia if the Elven Court
did not cooperate, and leave Arnothoi
unmolested and its elves free to come
and go and trade or not as they wished,
if the road was built.

The elves agreed, and Sembia?s financial
future was secured. The elves built
Hillsfar on the shores of the Dragon Sea
as their commercial ?meeting ground?
with men, and over the years the elves
of Arnothoi came north to join their
brethren or slipped away to seek Evermeet,
and that wood gradually disappeared.
The route the elves chose ran at
the base of the Standing Stone, as a
reminder of earlier, less-hostile dealings
between men and elves.

Sembia grew rich, under merchantleaders
of increasing wisdom, such as
Saer (for whom Saerb was named, and
Chondathan later renamed Saerloon)
and Selgar (Chancelgaunt was renamed
Selgaunt at his death, when he was buried
there). Rauthauvyr the Raven, ere
his death, saw that these merchants
had a strong standing council of merchant
elders to advise them, and to
ensure that no ruler could hold on to
power by force of arms. Then this farsighted
man, creator of a nation, now
half-blind and infirm from old warwounds,
rode north into the elven
woods and disappeared. None knew
what happened to him or where his
bones lie, save perhaps some few elder
elves.

Sembia today is a strong kingdom,
quick to defend threats to its sovereignty
(such as the rise of Scardale), and
first in financial wealth of all the western
Inner Sea Lands. Its ruler is called
the Overmaster, and is elected to a
seven-year term by a council of merchants.

This merchant-council is presently
based in Ordulin, and is twenty-two
strong. The incumbent ruler, Elduth
Yarmmaster, has but two years left on
his first term, and although there are
always those ambitious for the Overmaster's chair,
or dissatisfied with its
present occupant, there is a good
chance Elduth, an elderly and wise man
of kindness and humor, will be reelected.
Some in Sembia have urged
Elduth to take advantage of the recent
disappearance of the elves to take over
the lands from Hillsfar to the Dragon
Reach, to Misteldale and the Thunder
Peaks, but so far Elduth has refused. He
quotes the old saying, "swords speak,
but they do not listen."

GAME INFORMATION: The details of
Sembia, its armed forces, cities, and
personalities are left for DM development
for their own campaigns, as noted
in the the DM's Guide to the Realms.
This includes the following cities of
Sembia:

    Daerlun (Dare-LOON)
    Huddagh (HUHD-agh)
    Kulta (KUHL-tab)
    Mulhessen (Muhl-HEH-sen)
    Ordulin (ORE-dyoo-linl
    Saerb (Sairb?See HIGH DALE)
    Saerloon (Sair-LOON)
    Selgaunt (SELL-gont)
    Surd (Serd)
    Tulbegh (Tull-beg)
    Urmlaspyr (Erm-LASS-peer)
    Yhaunn (Uh-HAWN)

and the lands around them.

19) Sembia was originally a territory that scheming merchants came from in Ed’s campaign, and we didn’t have a lot to go on past that point. The book was already groaning for space, so I decided that Sembia was to remain open space for players to toss their existing campaigns into. Later, the book department decided that for the Horde trilogy, the Tuigan Horde would roll through Sembia, and on that basis, I broke my own promise and went there in a comic book story. Then Horde ran out of steel in Impiltur. Hah! Fooled me!
- Realms and Remembrance, by Jeff Grubb