Cormanthor The forest of Cormanthor was long the place of the elven empire of Cormanthyr . It is a large , dense forest made up of a variety of species of plants , including some trees that can grow over 100 ' ( 30m ) high deep in the woods . It is largely abandoned today because of the Retreat , when over 90 % of the elven inhabitants left for Evereska and Evermeet or other places in the west . It remained a large mysterious forest with old secrets for many centuries and only recently , with the revival of Cormanthyr , has it come alive again . Geography . Although Cormanthor can be seen as one forest , it is actually made up of four forests : the Elven Court , Semberholme , the Tangled Trees and the Vale of Lost Voices . The first three of these four roughly correspond to the old elven communities of the same names . The forest is also divided roughly according to tree types , with the following divisions : Rimwood . The rimwood is mainly made up of pine s and is the least dense part of the forest . It is an area that runs around the edge of the forest ; a ten or twenty mile border between the interior forest and the rest of the world . The soil here is not rich in minerals and quite sandy , so it lacks the variety of vegetation found deeper in the forest . The main bulk of the trees are blueridge and needleleaf pine s but they are spread quite far apart , rarely touching one another , and don ' t often grow over 20 ' ( 6m ) . Because these pines drop slow - to - decompose needles on the forest floor , other foliage struggles to grow , except for softwood fern s . The hillsides can be home to willow , spruce and clumps of wiregrass . Although the lack of vegetation causes a lack of animal species in the rimwood , insects such as beetle s , lice , mosquito es , red ant s and red leafhopper s thrive here . Major roads running through the rimwood include : Halfaxe Trail , Moander ' s Road , Moonsea Ride and Rauthauvyr ' s Road . Midwood . The midwood consists chiefly of white ash and beech . The trees here are packed densely enough to provide a mostly unbroken canopy . It separates the rimwood from the starwood and accounts for roughly half of the total area of the forest . There is a wide variety of other vegetation ( in part thanks to the rich soil ) including chestnut s and red maple s in the hills north of Mistledale , honeysuckle and snapdragon s in meadows and cherry tree s and blue cedar s in groves near Essemore , and ivory moss , moonfern , alder s , hickories and bitternut s . Some of the weirder vegetation includes beetle palm , foxberry and roseneedle pine . The Moonsea Ride skirts this area . Starwood . The starwood is made up mostly of giant oak s and maple and is the most dense part of the forest . The maples average a height of 200 ' ( 61m ) and some of the oaks can reach 400 ' ( 122m ) . The soil here is rich enough to be almost black and is almost constantly moist . This produces a wide variety of undergrowth , and travelling through this can be difficult because of its density . Because of the high humidity , a variety of lichen s and moss es grow here . The starwood is rich in animal species such as deer , dire wolves , elk , emerald constrictor s , finch es , manticore s , owl s , porcupine s , skunk s , weasel s and wood rat s . There are also some unusual types of vegetation found here . These include medquat , chime oak , hinnies and zebra grass . This area of the forest is split roughly into four , each with its own distinct tree types , but all areas of the starwood contain tall oaks , maples and hickories . The central starwood is west of the River Ashaba , and home to spruce and hemlock trees . The north starwood is rich in cedar s , and home of Myth Drannor , the ruined elven city . The east starwood contains the Elven Court and Tangled Trees regions ( both former elven communities ) , and is home to fir s and elm s . Finally , the west starwood has poplar and gum trees , and contains Semberholme . Edgelands . The edgelands are patches between the areas of forest where magic can go haywire and small animals ' diets will alter greatly . They are roughly circular areas no more than 60 miles ( 97km ) in diameter and there are usually only two or three in the forest at any one time . They are caused by energy drifts from Myth Drannor and only occur between spring and autumn . They faintly radiate magic , cause spells to fail or go wrong , interfere with the powers of magic items , and cause unusual weather effects such as snow during summer . The Rivers . Cormanthor is home to two major rivers which provide water to its inhabitants : the Duathamper ( or the Elvenflow ) , and the River Ashaba . The Duathamper runs along the southeastern border of the forest . The river is generally deep ( more than 30 ' or 9m in most places ) and wide , although it does become narrow and shallow enough in places to wade across . It has a large population of bass , catfish and trout . The Ashaba cuts the forest roughly in half , from Shadowdale in the Dalelands to Semberholme . The river is several hundred yards across , and deep , more than 30 ' ( 9m ) in places . Its banks slope steeply in most places , and it is home to carp , walleye and bullhead , ( the carp in particular can grow to a very large size – large enough to be a threat to a human - sized creature ) . Portals . Cormanthor contains several portals , such as the Cormanthor Portal to Cormyr , Glister and the River Chionthar ; and the Elven Unification Portal created by Jhaurmael and leading to Evermeet . History . Cormanthor was once called Arcorar ( the " Great King Forest " ) , and was an immense woodland realm stretching to the Dragon Coast to the west and south , and over the Dragon Reach to the east . Many old elven kingdoms were found there , including Jhyrennstar , Rystall Wood , and Uvaeren , along with some of the existing settlements of Elven Court and Semberholme . Arcorar was colonized after the Crown Wars , during what was called the Founding Time , when elves sought new domains to start their lives fresh after the bloody time in their past . After the unification of Cormanthyr and other events which sundered the woods into pieces ( not to mention the growth of various kingdoms such as Cormyr and Sembia grew ) , the realm eventually became known as Cormanthor . Cormanthor was home to the elven empire of Cormanthyr for nearly five thousand years , until the death of Coronal Eltargrim Irithyl in 661 DR initiated the Dusk , which led the decline of the realm until its collapse at the hands of the Trio Nefarious and the Army of Darkness in 714 DR . Since that time , Cormanthor has been a dangerous place to visit . For centuries to follow , the elves tried to contain the fiendish evil in Myth Drannor , where the fiends left over took hold of their power . The realm became scattered and divided , and ultimately in 1344 DR the elves began the Retreat , when more than 90 % of their population abandoned Cormanthor ' s woods for other settlements in the west . The woods of Cormanthor became infested with drow after the retreat , who moved into the abandoned habitats of their kin . These drow attempted to seize the mythals and use the power for their own purposes . However , their plans never came to fruition as Myth Drannor was invaded by Sarya Dlardrageth and her Daemonfey , who attempted to take control of the region in 1374 DR . In a complicated conflict involving the Zhentarim , Sembia and Hillsfar , as well as an Elven Crusade from Evereska , the Cormanthor War was fought in the woods and surrounding Dales . Eventually , House Dlardrageth fell to the Crusade , which became the Army of Myth Drannor led by Ilsevele Miritar . The Army of Myth Drannor eventually defeated the Zhentarim and seized control of Cormanthyr for the first time in seven centuries . In 1377 DR , the Srinshee returned and granted the Rulers ' Blade to Ilsevele , who drew it successfully and became the first Coronal of the Present Age . Settlements . Comanthor is host to four major communities today , the four communities that survived after the fall of Cormanthyr . The Elven Court . Elven Court was once the place where elves would seek advice and justice from their gods , the Seldarine . It was the seat of power for its own realm until it joined Cormanthyr during its founding , but remained a place of council for the Elves . After the fall of Myth Drannor , it became the seat of power for the Elves again during the Interim Years . Myth Drannor . The former capital Myth Drannor , was once considered to be the most beautiful and largest of any of the cities in Faerûn . Unfortunately , the city was reduced to ruins for many centuries following the Weeping War and its subsequent infestation by fiends and later the Daemonfey . The city was once protected by a magical mythal which shielded Myth Drannor from harm , though the mythal languished in disrepair . Recently ( 1374 DR + ) reclaimed by the elves under Ilsevele Miritar , the future of this city is bright . Semberholme . Semberholme occupies the forests around Lake Sember atop a hilly region in southwestern Cormanthyr . During the height of Cormanthyr , it was known as a place of refuge for women , children , and the sick of the elven lands , as well as a safe haven with hidden limestone caverns where elves could hide in the event of war or disaster . It remained largely hidden and secret throughout most of its history . The Tangled Trees . Tangled Trees is a hidden realm in Cormanthyr where the worship of Rillifane Rallathil is dominant . The place is largely xenophobic , and many non - elves have been attacked or killed in efforts to enter the place . Climate . The forest is served year - round by a light rain , and the ground is usually moist , keeping humidity high . Winds cannot penetrate the thick dense canopy , so the forest is calm at ground level . At the height of the summer , the sun provides direct light for 16 hours a day . The long daylight period allows crops to grow quickly , and summer storms can come and go in just an hour . There are often patches of dense fog in the forest , especially near the northern Elvenflow . In the Starwood , this fog is thick and grey in colour , allowing visibility of only a few hundred feet . According to Elminster , Cormanthor ' s favourable weather could be accounted for due to the magic of Myth Drannor . Extremes . It is not unknown for climate extremes to strike the forest , and with them , their effects . Wildlife . The fyreflies in the forest can cause wild blazes , especially on clear summer nights , when they congregate in huge swarms . In the past , efforts have been made to control their population , including introducing giant wasp s to eat their food supply ( cornflower s ) , but they simply moved onto pigweed and quack grass instead . The elven mage Horquine attempted to breed a variety of azmyth that would eat the fyreflies , but they could not digest their abdomens ( the source of the flames ) and they had to spit them out , yielding a burst of flame . Green dragons . Although dragons are incredibly rare in the forest today , hundreds of years ago , green dragon s were common . Because of the dragons ' over - hunting of the centaur s , their numbers began to dwindle and the dragons began to blame one another for the lack of food . This triggered a civil war in which much damage was caused to the starwood and there are only a small number of green dragons remaining . Green warders . During the Retreat , the elves left behind thousands of green warder s . By 1371 DR , Dalelanders began complaining about warders on the fringes of the forest that were acting far more aggressive than usual .