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Travel in Thay - Jechal - 10-31-2008
There are multiple options for PCs to get to distant destinations in Thay, all of which have been custom-created to be unique for the Thay PW. These options allow travel via ship to a destination with a port, travel via caravan to an inland destination, or travel via horseback or foot over the overland interior of Thay - possibly looking for adventure or simply to save some coin.
Overland Travel (Dynamic Areas)
Most locations in Thay can be reached by travel on horseback or foot by overland travel. Overland travel in Thay is much like overland travel in PnP. When you are traveling between cities or major points of interest you will travel a 'league' at a time to reach an 'encounter region' (i.e. - overland area).
Each of the overland areas that are reached by traveling an overland league represent only a small portion of the land of Thay - a portion which contains something of interest, something that requires you stop, or something of value. Note that on your travels through Thay, these overland areas may not necessarily be the same. If you travel three leagues from Bezantur, that third league may end up being a region you passed through before but had nothing of interest which required you to stop, so you continued on. The basic idea behind this concept is to make overland travel more realistic, since not all exciting encounters in Thay always happen at the same spot, or even in the same area!
Each overland area must be passed through to continue on your way. Once you reach the appropriate corner or side of the area’s map, your journey automatically continues another league in that direction. Do note though that you will need to wait and recover for shortly over a minute before you can continue your journey and travel another league. The primary reason for this is that the overland area your PC ends up in is not an entire 'league' in itself, but rather just a small area of interest or danger approximately a league from where the PC last was; so traveling across it is theoretically easier and not as exhausting on your character as traveling for an entire league.
Distances within Thay
Distances between cities and major points of interest are measured by leagues of travel. For example, you may be told the town of Murbant is 8 leagues west and 1 league south of the city of Bezantur. This means you must travel through 8 overland areas west from Bezantur and head south from the 8th region to get to Murbant.
The following list provides some of the more commonly traveled routes in Thay, given in leagues as the crow flies. Note that geographical obstructions may exist which must be traveled around in order to get to from one location to another.
Eltabbar to Bezantur ----------- 13 leagues south, 5 west
Eltabbar to Tyraturos ---------- 7 leagues south, 1 west
Eltabbar to The Citadel -------- 4 leagues west
Eltabbar to Ruins of Delhumide - 4 leagues north, 3 east
Eltabbar to Amruthar ----------- 6 leagues south, 6 west
Eltabbar to Pyarados ----------- 8 leagues south, 5 east
Eltabbar to Thralgard Keep ----- 2 league south, 2 west
Eltabbar to Surthay ------------ 13 leagues north, 6 west
Tyraturos to Bezantur ------- 6 leagues south, 4 west
Tyraturos to Amruthar ------- 1 league north, 5 west
Tyraturos to Pyarados ------- 1 league south, 6 east
Bezantur to Murbant --------- 9 leagues west, 1 south
Bezantur to Thasselen ------- 3 leagues west, 3 south
Bezantur to Keep of Sorrows - 4 leagues west, 4 north
Amruthar to Nethwatch Keep -- 4 leagues west, 2 north
Amruthar to Keep of Sorrows - 3 leagues west, 3 south
Amruthar to Nethjet --------- 6 leagues west, 4 north
Pyarados to Kepetur Ruins --- 2 leagues west, 3 south
Pyarados to Moszabbar ------- 2 leagues east, 3 south
Pyarados to Thazar Keep ----- 2 leagues north, 4 east
Surthay to Umratharos ------- 6 leagues south, 6 east
Surthay to The Long Portage - 3 leagues south, 1 east
Surthay to Gauros Keep ------ 3 leagues south, 9 east
Moszabbar to Kepetur Ruins -- 4 leagues west
Moszabbar to Thazar Keep ---- 5 leagues north, 2 east
The Citadel to Thralgard Keep ----- 2 leagues south, 2 east
The Citadel to The Smoking Keep --- 6 leagues north
Umratharos to The Long Portage ---- 3 leagues north, 5 west
Umratharos to Ruins of Delhumide -- 3 leagues south, 3 east
Umratharos to Chur Gathos --------- 3 leagues south, 9 east
Umratharos to The Smoking Keep ---- 1 league south, 4 west
Gauros Keep to Umratharos --------- 3 leagues south, 3 west
Gauros Keep to The Long Portage --- 8 leagues west
Gauros Keep to Ruins of Delhumide - 6 leagues south
Gauros Keep to Chur Gathos -------- 7 leagues south, 6 east
Nethjet to Nethwatch Keep --------- 2 leagues south, 2 east
Nethwatch Keep to Thossos Ruins --- 10 leagues north, 1 west
The Smoking Keep to Thossos Ruins - 7 leagues west
Maps of Thay
Characters can buy or acquire a ‘Map of Thay’ from certain merchants which will have the special ability to use it. If used in an overland area, it will perform a hidden check based off a couple different factors such as wisdom and lore. It will then check the areas within a radius of your location. Druids and Rangers have a slightly larger radius that gets checked, and they also get a bonus to the hidden skill check roll.
There is a small chance that you miserably fail the check, in which case your character (and maybe you as a player!) is essentially lost. However, you should be able to determine the Tharch you are in if your roll beats a relatively low DC. If there is a town, city, or other known point of interest nearby, it will also tell you the general direction it is located. Finally, if you beat a mid-range DC, it will even tell you the number of leagues to the nearest location (keep in mind it must be within the limited radius of leagues that the character can check). This will pick up multiple locations nearby (such as the area just north of Bezantur which will tell you that Bezantur is one league to the south and the High Road Escarpment is one league to the north).
DMs using this map in an overland area will automatically give them the nearest location(s) within the same range as if you were a Ranger or Druid (the maximum range). Also, DMs never fail on the hidden check.
Caravan Travel
Characters may choose to charter passage on a caravan by speaking to a Caravan Master, found in most of the more important towns and cities of Thay. Caravan travel is generally one of the safer, if more expensive, modes of travel between locations; however the occasional encounter may still occur. The caravan guards will do their best to ward off attackers if the encounter proves hostile, however they may need assistance from those traveling with the caravan as well.
Ship Travel
Characters may choose to charter passage on a ship, boat, or skiff by speaking with a deckhand of larger ships or the captains of smaller ships while they are in port. Ship travel is generally one of the safer, and in some cases the only, modes of travel between locations; however the occasional encounter may still occur. The ship’s crew will do their best to ward off attackers if the encounter proves hostile, however they may need assistance from those traveling on the ship as well.
RE: Travel in Thay - Balanor - 11-28-2010
Updated 11/28/10 to include information on ship travel, the new caravan travel system, and revisions to overland travel.