Yartar is the largest human settlement in the Dessarin River valley. It serves as both a major port for river traffic and as a central jumping-off point for travelers heading East to the Silver Marches, West to the Long Road and Northern Sword Coast, and South to the High Forest. This bustling city has a little bit of everything, and fancies itself the North's most cosmopolitan city.

The Waterbaron, a formerly hereditary title that has recently become an elected office, is the city's chief administrator. The High Priestess of Tymora is also a major power in the city. The leading unofficial power in Yartar is the Kraken Society, which has long had a major center of operations beneath the streets of the city. The Heroes of Ascore dealt a serious blow to that operation in the recent past, but the Society has since rebounded and is once again a potent force.

There are extensive cave systems in the Yartar region, and they are not all unoccupied. It is rumored that orcs have infested portions of the old delvings of the Delzoun dwarves, and that even more dangerous creatures have taken root in the deep places beneath the city. The streets of Yartar are relatively safe, thanks to regular militia patrols. The caves and dungeons below the city are anything but safe.

The city of Yartar is a non-PvP area. The underground areas in the region are PvP areas.