Corsairs of Luskan
[This cultural analysis spends a good number of pages on Luskan...] Tucked like a gold filling (or some would say a pus-filled abscess) at the mouth of the River Mirar, Luskan is a city of merchant princesses, swarthy bandit princes, and the most diverse, cutthroat, and fractured cabal of pirates on Toril. Torn into factions, these piratical groups are known as 'Ships.' [Here the book details each faction with a frankly dizzying attention to detail. The one point of interest is that the Ship Kurth faction are in fact controlled by a secret mercenary company of drow.]