A handful of classic Forgotten Realms locations have been confirmed for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It's no secret at this point that Paramount's live-action Dungeons & Dragons adaptation will take place in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Created by fantasy novelist Ed Greenwood, Forgotten Realms is the most well-known world associated with the D&D ruleset.
In addition to serving as the foundation for numerous Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, the Forgotten Realms has been the driving force of a long list of books and video games. Hundreds of books have explored the various cities, forests, and oceans that make up Greenwood's world. Quite a few video games take place there as well, with the most notable examples being Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Neverwinter Nights. Joining them is Honor Among Thieves, which will follow a group of Dungeons & Dragons heroes looking to undo a crucial mistake that has put the entire world in danger.
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Plot descriptions, the Dungeons & Dragons trailer, and interviews have revealed that the main characters' adventure will take them to some iconic locales Forgotten Realms. Rather than keep the focus on one specific area, Paramount's movie will send its party of adventurers to at least four of the biggest corners of the Forgotten Realms setting. Here's every classic D&D location confirmed for Honor Among Thieves.
Found on the western side of Faerûn, the largest continent in the Forgotten Realms, is a region known as the Sword Coast. The Sword Coast is lined with several major Forgotten Realms locations, including Baldur's Gate, Daggerford, the Cloud Peaks, and Neverwinter. Thanks in large part to being the setting of classic RPG video game Neverwinter Nights and the popular MMO Neverwinter, the city is a place rich with Dungeons & Dragons lore. Built right on the western coast of Faerûn and known as the Jewel of the North, Neverwinter received its name from its unusual weather. Heat from the neighboring volcano, Mount Hotenow, keeps the city from ever experiencing any cold seasons.
If the Honor Among Thieves trailer is any indication, Neverwinter will be the primary setting of the new Dungeons & Dragons movie. It was featured in multiple shots, including the 0:19 mark, which showed off a grandiose building that can be easily identified as Castle Never. Castle Never is the city's main stronghold and the headquarters of the person who holds the title, Lord of Neverwinter. Depending on the direction of the story, Castle Never may be much more than just a part of the background. The characters could visit it directly and perhaps venture into the surrounding areas, such as the Neverwinter Wood and the High Road.
Curiously, Waterdeep was mentioned in an interview with D&D senior story designer Chris Perkins about the different elements and monsters of the Forgotten Realms that have a presence in the film [via YouTube]. As for where it fits into the story, there's a good chance that Waterdeep will be a stop along the way for the party. That would make sense, especially since Waterdeep is on the Sword Coast and not too far south of Neverwinter. Traveling along the High Road from Neverwinter will take them straight to Waterdeep, the biggest city in the Forgotten Realms. Often referred to as the City of Splendors, Waterdeep has a reputation as a spectacular, metropolitan area and a hotbed for all sorts of merchants and scholars.
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Waterdeep comes with a ton of potential in regards to storytelling and action. Its huge, diverse, population should allow for multiple cultures and races to be touched upon in the movie. And hidden beneath the city is an enormous network of dwarven-constructed dungeons called the Undermountain, which may or may not be utilized in Honor Among Thieves' story as a plot device.
The icy wasteland seen at 0:57 in the Honor Among Thieves trailer is none other than Icewind Dale. Located at the northeast corner of Faerun, Icewind Dale is a vast, tundra-filled wilderness plagued by freezing temperatures. The region was used as the setting of two early-2000s RPG video games, Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale II. But it first rose to prominence in Dungeons & Dragons lore in R.A. Salvatore's book, The Crystal Shard, which led to the Icewind Dale trilogy. Since then, the region has been integral to the D&D universe. Most recently, it was explored in the 2021 video game, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance.
Icewind Dale's purpose in the Dungeons & Dragons movie appears to be related to Revel's End, one of the region's key locations. Introduced in the Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign, Revel's End is a large prison built on a frozen cliffside. Interestingly, it was actually introduced in response to Paramount's plans for the movie. Perkins explained that Revel's End was written into the D&D world when the studio asked Wizards of the Coast if there was a prison in the Forgotten Realms that could be used for the movie. Perkins said that since there wasn't one currently in existence, they decided to develop Revel's End to fill that role. It would seem that Revel's End is the stone building where Michelle Rodriguez and Chris Pine's characters are being held captive in the trailer.
Several clips in the trailer place Dungeons & Dragons' main characters in underground caverns that represent the Underdark, a massive world that exists underneath the surface of Faurun. One of the most dangerous places in the Forgotten Realms, the Underdark is populated with a multitude of subterranean species, some of which being intelligent races who have their own societies. Among them are the Svirfneblin (pale, hairless gnomes), the Duergar (gray-skinned dwarves), and the Drow (dark elves). Feared and hated across the Forgotten Realms for their evil ways, the Drow are one of the most notorious races in Dungeons & Dragons. They haven't been confirmed for the movie yet, but the place spotted at the 1:30 mark is clearly a Drow city.
The Dungeons & Dragons movie making use of the Underdark isn't necessarily surprising, as it's ripe with unique monsters like the Mind Flayers, the Beholders, and the Kuo-toa. Plus, it's the home of the biggest hero in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Drizzt Do'Urden. The protagonist of a book series that encompasses more than 30 novels, Drizzt is a Drow ranger who turned his back on his people and emerged as a major player in the D&D universe. Evidence suggests that the franchise is getting an Underdark TV spinoff possibly centered on Drizzt, so this is certainly a place that's likely to be explored in even greater detail at a later date. The Underdark portion of the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' story could even offer a Drizzt cameo.