D&D’s principal story designer and essentially Candlekeep Mysteries’ lead editor, tells SYFY WIRE during a press reveal.
Candlekeep itself is a location that has appeared in every edition of
Dungeons & Dragons. Perkins describes it as “a huge fortress that perches on the edge of a sea. It’s this magically warded fortress that houses the greatest trove of lore that the Forgotten Realms has ever had.” However, there is deliberately nothing about Candlekeep in this book nor anything in the various adventures contained within that are specific to the Forgotten Realms setting, as the team wanted to make the book usable to DMs who play in a different or homebrewed setting.