Ruathym The island of Ruathym ( ROO - uh - Thim ) was one of the larger islands north of the Moonshae Isles in the Trackless Sea . Geography . Ruathym located more than 200 miles north of the Moonshae Isles . It was a rocky island with rugged coasts , narrow coves , green hills , forested purple mountains , and a few villages . It was barely 100 miles long from north to south and not even half that wide at its widest point . Its coast was pockmarked with deep fjords and dotted by clear bays with the exception of the south coast which boasted white , sandy beaches . Some impressive stands of pine grew on the island , surviving only thanks to the preservation effort of the First Axe of Ruathym . Farms and a few small villages occupied the majority of the landscape but a couple of areas were left wild . A spine of tall rocks ran down the middle of the island which were occasionally snow - capped . Environment . As an island in a subarctic climate , the sea played a large role in the environment . 8 months of the year , Ruathym experienced wintry temperatures with fog that clung to the island until quite late in the day ( if it left at all ) . Seas were often stormy and waves pummelled the coast mercilessly when they flew in . During the winter itself , the sea froze all around the island and by Alturiak the ice could reach out a mile from land . On clear days in summer though , the sun could bake the southern beaches . History . Background . Supposedly one of the islands left above water after the First Sundering and originally called Arauwurbarak , the dwarves of Haunghdannar built a stone fortress they named Rethgaard on the island to serve as a naval base some time around - 4600 DR . Less than three centuries after that realm fell , human mariners from across the Trackless Sea arrived and set up a colony on the island , which they called Ruathym . Many of these mariners continued their journey north and east , leading to the proliferation of the Illuskan people on the mainland of Faerûn but some decided to stay , creating a tribal kingdom on the island that lasted in peace for three millennia . Unfortunately , their numbers came to outweigh the resources that the rocky island could provide . To avoid fighting between the four tribal factions , many ships were sent from Ruathym laden with colonists who went on to found settlements on the other islands in the Trackless Sea as well as on the mainland . And so the people of Ruathym endured , taking what they needed from the sea and neighbouring islands then raiding the Sword Coast or the Moonshaes for everything else . They were a barbaric people , seemingly constantly on the cusp of descending into true barbarism . However , in their raids they sometimes acquired powerful magic items . A collection of magical tomes was stored in the royal library known as the Green Rooms . One of these books , the " Tome of the Unicorn " , was stolen by a Calishite mage called Shond Tharovin in 1356 DR . Ignorant of the true culprit , the last foreign ship to leave the island - - a caravel from Luskan - - was attacked and sunk . In response , Luskan declared war on Ruathym . The Luskanites destroyed Ruathym ' s fleet and landed troops on the island . Luskan / Ruathym War . With help from the Holgerstead tribe , First Axe Ulphron Lithyl ' s forces managed to drive the Luskanites back into the sea after a few months of warfare . Luskan attacked again however the following year . This time they were much more successful , managing to conquer the entire realm save for scattered pockets of resistance . It was at this time that Aumark Lithyl , Ulphron ' s son and a member of the famous Knights of Myth Drannor , returned home . After his father died in battle just before the winter storms set in , he managed to unite the four tribes of Ruathym under his banner . Before the year was out , the Lords ' Alliance threatened war against both sides unless they came to an accord . Realising that Luskan and the northlander island realms had more in common than any other coastal city , Ruathym , Luskan , the Whalebones , and Tuern declared an alliance called the Captain ' s Confederation ( also known as the Captains ' Alliance ) the following summer and began raiding shipping and coastal settlements up and down the Sword Coast in concert . Conspiracy . Later in the year , much destruction was caused on the island when the avatars of Labelas Enoreth and Clangeddin Silverbeard fought each other there . Four years after that , in 1361 DR the Captain ' s Confederation was dissolved when Luskan attempted to conquer Ruathym a second time . Luskan , with the help of the Kraken Society , began a conspiracy ( mainly involving pickled sea elves placed in Ruathen casks ) intended to provoke Waterdeep and the Lords ' Alliance against Ruathym , but the conspiracy was discovered by Liriel Baenre . The attacking Luskan navy , led by High Captain Rethnor , and a merrow army led by Vestress of the Kraken Society , was defeated by the Ruathen with her help . The mind flayer Vestress , self - proclaimed Regent of Ascarle , sent a merrow army against Ruathym but the Northmen managed to repel them . Threatened with war by Waterdeep , Luskan withdrew its forces . Neverwinter Nights 2 . A third war was instigated between Luskan and Ruathym when Black Garius sent men to steal the " Tome of Iltkazar " from the Green Rooms in 1374 DR . Economy . Ruathym had little to trade although a few merchants in Ruathym became very rich selling magic items acquired by raiding parties and , rarely , dug up from the ground . Industries were restricted to hunting seals and whales , farming and ship - building due to the lack of natural resources on the island – - though Northlander dragonships were some of the fastest boats to sail the Trackless Sea – - the making of which was a skill passed down from thousands of years of tradition . Most of the islands income came from raiding minor or independent vessels plying their trade along the Sword Coast . Ruathen raiders were known to operate from the Sea of Moving Ice all the way down to Calimshan and occasionally to Nimbral . Though such efforts obviously suffered when Luskan destroyed their ships during the wars . People . The people of Ruathym were known as the " Ruathen " or the " Northmen " . An unnamed Waterdhavian mercenary recruiter once described the people of Ruathym as " two steps up from barbarians " and with the possible exception of First Axe Lithyl , this would be a very good description of them . After all , out of Ruathym came Uthgar Gardolfsson , the father of the various Uthgardt barbarian tribes , the Reghedmen barbarians of Icewind Dale and the barbarians of Dambrath . However , the island also spawned many of the civilised settlements of the Sword Coast as well as the runecaster s known as the Rus so they do have the potential for greater things . They are an ancient , unpredictable people . The Ruathen said to be ancestors of the Rashemi people . They were generally tall and fair with light blue eyes . Ruathen women wore crude jewelry , fabric boots , brightly colored embroidered cloth . Culture . The dead were cremated in large funeral bonfires that escorted them on their way to the Halls of Tempus . Language . The Ruathen had their own language , which was a dialect of Illuskan , although most spoke Common . " Dock - alfar " meant dark elf . " Hamfriggan " ( literally " shapestrong " ) referred to the shapeshifters of Ruathym .