Anauroch

Anauroch (pronounced: ah-NOR-ach or an-OAR-ock-h or a-NAW-rock or an-OAR-ock), or The Great Sand Sea, is a magical desert in northern Faerûn. It holds the remnants of the once-powerful Netherese Empire, their flying enclaves having crashed to the ground in their downfall.   The northern area of the Anauroch is a frozen land of rocks and the black glacier known as the High Ice. The middle area is the dry Plain of Standing Stones, where winds abrade jagged rocks that stand in the middle of a sea of gravel. Lastly, the southern part is commonly known as the Sword, a hot sandy desert. Anauroch is bordered on the west by the Silver Marches, the Savage Frontier, and Evereska; on the south by Cormyr and south-east by the Dalelands; on the east by the Moonsea and the Ride.