Journal Entry — Goomy uncovered the following information in Wakanga’s personal library: Chult has been both an island and a peninsula. During the Spellplague (1385 DR, about a century ago, marks the beginning of 4e), it was cut off from the rest of the world when it separated from the peninsula to become an island. Mezro was ruined, as were the regions of Thindol and Samarach to the east.
During the Second Sundering (took place over the last decade in the 1480s DR), the geographic changes of the Spellplague were largely undone, and Chult reunited with its peninsula, meaning you could travel to Chult from Baldur’s Gate by land, though sea would be much quicker (and less dangerous).
Port Nyanzaru is the only standing settlement on Chult, and the region’s people consist of Chultans, aarakocra, Batiri (goblins), dwarves (including albino dwarves), pterafolk (“terror folk”), and tabaxi. There are rumors of weretigers, grungs (frog folk), and yuan-ti (snake people). The deep jungle is overrun by skeletons, zombies, ghouls, and other types of undead, but it is hard to decipher which depictions are real from those that are pure, albeit terrifying, fiction.
Port Nyanzaru earned its independence from Amn about nine years ago, and has been under the control of the seven merchant princes ever since (with Wakanga O’Tamu being one of those merchants). The city appears to be quite affluent, comparable to the Sword Coast cities of Baldur’s Gate or Waterdeep. Each of the seven merchants operates a monopoly on various trade goods; Wakanga, for example, has a monopoly on magic items and Jobal on guides and sellswords. Most people do not interact with the merchant princes directly. Instead, merchants and traders operate on their behalf, selling goods at prices determined by the merchant princes. Despite the arrangement, it appears that the Merchant Princes have Port Nyanzaru and her people in mind, because you see little evidence of corruption.